My Plan Keeper My Plan Keeper Learn
Grace AI

Financial Insights — Sunday, October 25, 2026

News that affects your money, your health, and your future — explained by Grace AI.

Healthcare · Medicare · Consumer

Americans’ Challenges with Health Care Costs

KFF reports that 43% of U.S. adults have not taken medication as prescribed in the past year because of cost. Some skipped doses, split pills, did not fill prescriptions, or substituted over-the-counter drugs.

Source: Kff ·

Grace AI Grace's Take

Medication avoidance due to cost is already widespread—and that gap between prescribed and actual treatment tends to widen once you stop working and face fixed income reality. For someone retiring in 10 years, this 43% figure signals that prescription affordability won't solve itself. Healthcare spending often absorbs a meaningful portion of retirement income, and skipped doses compound into larger medical events down the line. Worth checking during open enrollment whether your current or future drug plan covers your likely medications, and exploring whether you qualify for any manufacturer assistance programs before retirement income shifts.

  • •Prescription costs cause some patients to skip or alter treatment.
  • •Health care affordability remains a major household concern.
  • •Retirees should review drug-plan costs and assistance programs during enrollment.
Retirement Impact

Higher prescription costs can reduce retirement income security and may require a larger health-care reserve or a review of Medicare drug coverage.

Consumer · Economy

Gas, Groceries and Electricity: Where Prices Stand

Annual inflation reached 3.7%, while food prices rose 2.5% year over year. Energy, gasoline and electricity costs increased monthly, continuing to pressure household budgets.

Source: Fortune ·

Grace AI Grace's Take

Your grocery bill and energy costs are quietly eroding the purchasing power you're counting on in retirement—and 3.7% annual inflation means that erosion compounds every year you're still working. For someone 10 years from retirement, food prices rising 2.5% annually means the groceries you budget for today will cost noticeably more when you're living on a fixed income. Energy costs are climbing month-to-month, which matters especially if you're planning to age in place or in a warmer climate where cooling is a meaningful portion of annual expenses. Worth checking whether your catch-up contributions and Roth conversions are accounting for inflation when you model your retirement spending.

  • •Overall annual inflation was 3.7%.
  • •Food prices increased 2.5% year over year.
  • •Energy-related household costs rose during the month.
Retirement Impact

People approaching retirement may need larger spending buffers because persistent food and energy inflation can reduce the purchasing power of fixed income.

Market Overview

Retirement Savings & Safety Net

  • If you've been quietly watching your 401(k) balance and wondering whether to lock in some gains, you're not alone. With the Fed nudging rates higher again, short-term cash is paying real yield — which means the old 'bonds vs. stocks' conversation now has a third guest at the table, and that reshuffles how near-retirees think about sequence-of-returns risk.
  • Social Security remains the backbone, but AARP's reminder this week that Medicare Part B premiums get pulled straight from your check is worth sitting with. Translation: the benefit number you see on your statement is not the number that hits your bank account, especially if your taxable income tips you into surcharge territory. A Roth conversion today could quietly lower your Medicare bill years from now.
  • For the 50-plus crowd still stuffing catch-up contributions into a 401(k), the question is less 'how much' and more 'which bucket' — pre-tax, Roth, or taxable brokerage. The right mix depends on where you think your tax rate lands in retirement, and that's a conversation worth having before year-end.

Cash, Rates & Cost of Living

  • The headline this week: Popular Direct is advertising 5.00% APY on a 24-month CD with just a $500 minimum. On a $30K cash reserve, that's meaningful income — but it also means your money is parked until 2028, so a CD ladder tends to beat a single big bet when you still need liquidity.
  • After the latest Fed hike, more than 180 additional CDs crossed the 4% APY line, with Popular Direct and Barclays listed at 4.50% APY for one-year terms. Shorter maturities are suddenly competitive again, which is useful if you're building a near-retirement cash bridge rather than locking in long.
  • Inflation is still the uninvited guest at the table — running at 3.7% annually with food up 2.5% and energy climbing again month over month. For anyone within a decade of retirement, that's the quiet case for a bigger spending buffer than the old rules of thumb suggest.

Life, Health & Protection

  • A sobering KFF stat: 43% of U.S. adults skipped doses, split pills, or didn't fill a prescription in the past year because of cost. If that's happening to working-age adults with employer coverage, it's a flashing yellow light for anyone budgeting Medicare Part D and supplemental coverage into their retirement plan.
  • The FTC reports fraud losses among adults 60-plus hit roughly $3 billion in 2025 — nearly five times the 2020 figure — with investment scams alone climbing 42% to more than $1 billion. Many started on social media. Worth a conversation with aging parents, and worth a mental note that 'guaranteed return' pitches from a DM are the new boiler room.
  • AARP also flagged Medicare fraud as a growing drain on beneficiaries' finances and care access. Unexpected calls asking for your Medicare number are the modern equivalent of a stranger asking for your house keys — and reviewing your Medicare Summary Notice each quarter catches most of it.

Global & Policy Watch

The Fed's latest rate move is the policy story shaping retirement math right now — it props up cash yields but tightens the screws on anyone still carrying variable-rate debt into retirement. Persistent food and energy inflation keeps the pressure on fixed-income plans, which is why cash reserve sizing deserves a second look before year-end.

What to Check This Week

  • Medicare Open Enrollment runs through December 7 — a quick look at your Part D drug plan against next year's formulary catches the kind of coverage gaps that lead to the skipped-doses stat KFF just published.
  • If you're sitting on more than six months of expenses in a checking account earning next to nothing, those 4.50% APY one-year CDs from Popular Direct and Barclays are a reminder of how much yield is being left on the table right now.
  • A quarterly review of your Medicare Summary Notice (or a parent's) is the kind of safety-net check almost no one does — and it's the single best defense against the Medicare fraud AARP flagged this week.
  • Year-end Roth conversion windows close December 31. Running the numbers now — before the holiday chaos — matters because today's conversion income can quietly bump future Medicare premiums into surcharge territory, a trade-off worth asking an advisor to model.

Insights Archive

Every daily edition, kept permanently.