Smart Money Guide

On Tuesday, November 3, 2026, Americans vote in the midterm elections. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 Senate seats, and 36 governorships are on the ballot. The new Congress takes office on January 3, 2027. That date matters for your money — but not the way election-night headlines suggest. Here are the five money questions the new Congress will decide, and what changes nothing on November 4. 1. What is actually decided on November 3? Voters decide who controls the House and the Senate, and who governs 36 states. That control decides which bills get a vote: tax law, health-care funding, and retirement policy all start in Congress. But election night does not settle everything. The first polls close at 6 PM Eastern on November 3, and results that night are preliminary. Close races can take days or even weeks to resolve. So do not make a money move on November 4 based on a headline about who "won" — wait until control is actually decided. The same day bri...

  Your 2027 Social Security raise is already decided — a 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) announced by the Social Security Administration (SSA) on October 14, 2026, worth an average of about $75 more a month for retirees. But the letter that tells you YOUR exact new amount follows a deadline most people have never heard of: November 18, 2026. Miss it, and you wait weeks longer to see your number. Hit it, and you see your raise online before almost anyone gets a paper letter. What the 3.6% raise means for your check The 3.6% COLA applies to Social Security retirement, survivors, and disability benefits, and to Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The timing splits two ways: Social Security benefits: the higher amount applies to benefits for December 2026, which are payable in January 2027. Your January 2027 deposit is the first one with the raise. SSI: increased payments to about 7.3 million SSI recipients begin December 31, 2026 — because January 1 is a holiday, the J...

Open enrollment for 2027 health coverage opens today, Sunday, November 1, 2026 — and it opens with a jolt. Benchmark Silver plan premiums will cost 13% more on average in 2027, according to a KFF analysis published Friday, October 30, based on newly released federal plan data. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its own Plan Year 2027 fact sheet the same day; it did not give an average premium change. This is the second year of marketplace coverage without the enhanced federal premium help that expired at the end of 2025. That matters more than the headline number, because the help that used to soften premium increases is gone — and the prices you see on HealthCare.gov now reflect that. Here is what the 13% figure actually means, and the five moves to make before you pick a plan. What the 13% rise really is The benchmark Silver plan is the second-lowest-cost Silver plan in your area, and federal subsidies are pegged to it. When KFF says benchmark premiums ri...