Are your savings at risk?

Happy Saturday. Most of us treat the number in our accounts as the finish line. Hit it, and the hard part is supposed to be over. In reality, a savings balance is never fully settled, and the work of protecting it tends to start right when you think you're done building it. That's the thread running through today's issue.

On The Money Today:

Let's get into it.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh says inflation has been too high for too long, and a top Fed official is warning that $40 trillion in federal debt will eventually come due. Ray Dalio has explained how that bill could reach your savings: not as a missing balance, but as dollars that buy less every year. $100 today has the buying power $11.61 had in 1970.

That's why many investors keep part of their money in something the Fed can't print. With Newport Gold, you can own physical gold inside an IRA and roll over an existing IRA or 401(k) tax- and penalty-free. Its Liberty bundle covers setup, shipping and storage for up to three years, plus a no-fee buyback program if you ever need to sell, and the free gold guide comes with up to $20,000 in complimentary silver on a qualifying purchase. Gold works best as one part of a diversified portfolio, and the full story covers two more time-tested ways to keep your cash from falling behind.

Why it matters: The Fed just hiked rates for the first time in three years, but banks set their own deposit rates. That means your account can keep growing on paper while what it actually buys keeps shrinking, a gap that compounds every year for anyone holding a large share of their savings in cash.

When the Fed hikes rates, savers are supposed to come out ahead. This chart shows how rarely that happens at the bank. Even when the Fed's benchmark rate topped 5% in 2023, the average savings account never paid more than half a percent, and today it earns 0.37% while the Fed sits at 4%. Inflation takes its cut from whatever is left. The Must Read above lays out three ways to keep your cash from falling further behind

Rates are on the move again, and Bonaventure built its Multifamily Income Trust (BMIT®)† with 98% of property-level debt at fixed rates, mostly long-term HUD and agency loans at a 3.8% weighted average rate, which reduces refinancing risk and limits exposure to rate volatility. The principal-led firm brings more than 26 years of operating experience and $2.9 billion in assets under management, and it has put more than $148 million of its own capital into BMIT.

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The headlines make it sound like most Americans are heading into retirement broke. The data tells a very different story, especially once you narrow it down to people in their 60s. Find out how your own balance compares, and what to do next if you're still short of the half-million mark.

Why it matters: Roughly 1 in 5 Americans over 50 have no retirement savings at all, according to AARP, so even a modest balance can put you ahead of a big share of your peers. The article also lays out different catch-up moves depending on whether you're under $250,000 or between $250,000 and $500,000.

Caring for a sick spouse means covering medical bills, groceries and everything in between, often from whichever account is closest. Long after the fact, a relative who wasn't there can question every one of those withdrawals. Attorneys break down the two questions that decide whether a surviving spouse could be forced to pay any of it back.

Why it matters: Half of cancer caregivers report high emotional stress and a quarter report financial strain, the exact conditions where record-keeping tends to slip. Attorneys say the bank statements and receipts you keep while caregiving can become your strongest defense if a family member ever challenges how the money was spent.

The correct answer is D) $15 million. The 2025 tax law set the exemption at $15 million per person for 2026, which means very few families will owe federal estate tax. The fights that actually hit most households tend to be about who gets what, not what the IRS takes.

Today's newsletter was written by Shirley Sze and edited by Rudro Chakrabarti. Stories by Vishesh Raisinghani, Christy Bieber, Jing Pan, Danni Santana, Brian O'Connell and Chris Morris.