Good morning. The rules you've been playing by are changing. What you're owed in retirement, what it means to be wealthy and even how safe your accounts are online all look different than they did a year ago. Today's issue is about staying one step ahead.
On The Money Today:
The government is eyeing a hard cap on how much Social Security you can actually collect
The average American family is technically worth over $1 million — but that number is hiding something important
That routine "verify you're human" box could be handing scammers the keys to your financial life
Let's get into it.
Social Security is six years from running out of money, and the fixes being floated aren't painless. One proposal now getting serious attention would cap annual benefits at $50,000 for individuals. Most retirees wouldn't feel it today — but that changes over time, and younger workers with higher earnings could be the ones who get hit hardest.
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The Federal Reserve says the median household net worth just crossed $1 million, which sounds like most Americans made it. But that headline buries the real story. Liquid millionaires — people who could actually access that wealth today — are a much smaller club than the stats suggest, and whether you're in it comes down to how your money is structured.
You've done it a thousand times — clicked a box to prove you're human and moved on. Hackers are now using that reflex against you. A new scam turns a routine captcha prompt into a trap that puts malware directly onto your device, and the reason it's so dangerous is that you install it yourself without knowing. By the time your antivirus would normally catch something, it's already too late. Here's what to do if you see it.
MONEY IQ:
Roughly what percentage of American adults are millionaires when you exclude the value of their primary home?
ALSO MAKING THE ROUNDS TODAY
NEWS: Ben Affleck sold his AI company to Netflix for $600 million and says it will create more human work in Hollywood, but his patent tells a very different story
MANAGING MONEY: A South Carolina man says his ex-wife's infidelity sent him into a $169,000 debt spiral and The Ramsey Show gave him an exact plan to climb out
NEWS: A Florida man found $30,000 in cash in a Wawa bathroom and turned it in. Would you do the same
RETIREMENT: Dave Ramsey says Americans over 55 are sleepwalking into 3 costly retirement mistakes and most won't realize it until it's too late
MONEY IQ: HOW DID YOU DO?
The correct answer is D) 2.2%. Strip out home equity and the millionaire club shrinks dramatically. Only about one in 45 American adults qualifies as a liquid millionaire, meaning they could actually access that wealth today.
That's a wrap for today! Before you go, we'd love to know what you thought of today's newsletter. Hit REPLY if you have more to share — we read every one.
See you soon with another quick roundup of the financial news that matters.
