Are you nearing your second half?
What nobody tells you about the 10 years surrounding retirement.
It isn't the downhill side — it's the part where you finally know what you're doing. Medicare, money, family, and everything in between: checked, dated, and written in plain English.
We built this because most sites either patronize this stage of life or ignore it entirely. This one won't do either. Short, straight answers — no jargon, no fine print you need a magnifying glass for, no assumption that getting older means slowing down.
— The Second Half Guide
Just published
The newest pieces. Everything stays filed under its topic below — this is simply what went up most recently.
We built the retirement calculator we wanted to exist
Most calculators stop at the Social Security check. Ours follows the decision into savings, spending, work, couples and Medicare timing.
NewSocial Security’s claiming ages are getting new names
Congress sent the President a bill renaming Social Security's early, full and delayed claiming ages. The new names, and why no age or dollar…
NewThe Medicare Part B drug test that starts in 2027, and who is in it
CMS finalized GLOBE, a mandatory Part B drug pricing test for Original Medicare patients in randomly chosen areas. Who is in it, when it starts,…
NewThe Medicare website that is really an ad
The FTC warns that paid search ads can imitate Medicare.gov before open enrollment. How to spot a paid result and where the official site and…
NewWhen your 401(k) catch-up must go into Roth, and what changes in 2027
Since 2026, 401(k) catch-up contributions for workers 50+ over a prior-year wage threshold must be Roth. Who is covered, which wages count, what…
NewThe 2027 Medicare plan numbers, and what an average can’t tell you
CMS projects lower 2027 Medicare Advantage premiums, a Part D deductible of up to $700 and a $2,400 cap. What an average can't tell you about your…
NewETIAS: the EU travel authorization that isn’t live yet
ETIAS, Europe's €20 travel authorization, has no start date, and sites charging for it aren't the EU. What actually applies to Americans at the…
What we're covering
Eighty-six pieces published so far — the dates, thresholds and dollar figures worth knowing as you approach 60, plus the parts of this stage that have nothing to do with paperwork. Tell us what to write next in the form below.
Medicare & health insurance
Enrollment windows, what the drug cap really covers, and where Medicare stops working.
Money & the tax year
The dated facts — deduction amounts, claiming ages, the thresholds that move each year.
Paperwork that matters
Wills, beneficiary forms, digital accounts — explained without the law-school vocabulary.
Scam & fraud protection
The current phone, email, and gift-card scams — and exactly what to do if one gets through.
Aging in place
The home changes that actually matter — and the ones that are just upsells.
Travel & discounts
Where the real discounts are, what changes at the airport, and the logistics that decide whether a big trip works.
Grandparenting & family
Staying close across the distance — and the boundaries that keep everyone happy.
What matters most to you right now?
Pick as many as you like, or just write in. We're building the first guides from what people actually ask for.
We set the type larger than most sites and picked a typeface built for easier reading, on purpose. If anything here is still hard to read, that's useful for us to know — say so in the form above.