BUSINESS

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The economic shock from the Iran conflict can take on outsize importance for those close to or in retirement

Gold has been falling. Silver has been falling faster. That gap is not a coincidence, and it tells investors something important about what is really driving the precious metals selloff right now.Silver fell to $66.93 per ounce on March 19, a $10.84 fall in a single session. That follows a 3% slide on March 18, when the metal hit its lowest level in about a month. Gold has pulled back sharply too, but nowhere near as hard. The gold-to-silver ratio has widened significantly, a sign that silver is absorbing extra punishment that goes beyond the broader precious metals selloff.To understand why, you have to understand what silver actually is. It is not just a safe-haven asset. It is an industrial metal first, and that double identity is working against it right now.Why the Fed decision hit silver harder than goldThe Federal Reserve held rates steady on March 18 at 3.5% to 3.75% and signaled just one rate cut for all of 2026. That is bad for gold. It is worse for silver.Gold pays no interest. When real yields rise and rate cuts get pushed out, holding gold becomes more expensive relative to Treasuries. Silver faces the same problem, but with an added layer. Around 60% of silver demand comes from industrial uses: solar panels, electric vehicle batteries, electronics, and medical equipment. When the macro environment turns hawkish and growth slows, industrial demand weakens alongside investment demand.More Gold and Silver:Gold, silver surge after record drop flashes technical signalSilver and gold tumble triggers major reset for mining stocksJ.P. Morgan revises gold price target for 2026″Global markets have seen broad selloffs as investors search for the quickest assets to sell,” Paul Surguy, managing director at Kingswood Group, said in comments to CNBC. “Perhaps we are now seeing the next leg of this phase where the perceived safe haven assets are sold to fund purchases of those that may have overreacted to the current situation.”That framing captures the dynamic precisely. Silver is being sold not because its long-term story has changed, but because it built up enormous speculative positioning during the 2025 rally and investors are now unwinding those bets.How silver got here: a stunning rally followed by a brutal reversalTo understand the current selloff, the starting point is January 2026. Silver surged to an all-time high of $121.60 per ounce on Jan. 29, driven by a combination of safe-haven demand, dollar weakness, and heavy speculative buying. The rally had been extraordinary, with silver up 135% over the course of 2025 alone.Then on Jan. 30, everything reversed. Silver plunged 33% in a single session, its worst day ever recorded, as President Trump announced the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair. Warsh is widely viewed as an inflation hawk. Markets immediately repriced rate cut expectations higher, the dollar surged, and leveraged precious metals positions collapsed.Silver has been attempting to stabilize in the weeks since, trading in the $75 to $80 range. The March 18 and 19 sessions represent a fresh leg lower, driven by the Fed’s hawkish hold and continued dollar strength.What is weighing on silver right now:Fed holding rates at 3.5%-3.75% with only one cut penciled in for 2026, removing a key tailwind for non-yielding metalsDollar Index strength is making silver more expensive for international buyers and suppressing global demandIndustrial demand concerns as manufacturers and solar panel makers pause buying amid price volatilityLeveraged fund liquidations are unwinding speculative positioning built during the 2025 rallySilver’s industrial identity is both its strength and its weaknessSilver’s long-term bull case is built on its industrial role. Solar panel manufacturing alone is expected to consume record amounts of silver in 2026. Electric vehicle production, 5G infrastructure, and AI data center construction all require significant quantities of the metal. The Silver Institute has projected a sixth consecutive year of structural supply deficit in 2026, with demand outpacing mine supply.

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But in the short term, that industrial identity creates a vulnerability that gold lacks. When inflation fears rise and rate cuts get pushed out, manufacturers slow their purchasing. When the economy looks like it might weaken, solar project timelines get delayed. Industrial demand is not as steady as central bank gold buying, and silver feels that uncertainty more acutely.The current environment has handed silver both problems simultaneously: a hawkish Fed killing the investment thesis, and industrial demand uncertainty killing the fabrication thesis.What silver needs to find a floorThe path to stabilization for silver runs through the same macro forces that knocked it down. A softer inflation reading that revives rate cut expectations would relieve pressure on the dollar and make non-yielding assets more attractive. Any sign that industrial demand is holding up, particularly from solar manufacturers and EV battery makers, would help close the gap with gold.The long-term structural case for silver has not changed. Supply deficits, growing industrial demand from clean energy, and silver’s role in the technologies reshaping the global economy remain intact. The question for investors right now is whether the short-term macro headwinds will ease before the next leg of that structural story plays out.For now, the dollar is strong, the Fed is tight, and silver is paying the price for both.Related: Analysts have a message for investors on the silver price drop

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Gold, often a haven during times of stress, has been falling. Meanwhile, stocks are down, but not as much as many expected.

Millions of seniors are now filing their 2025 tax returns with a brand-new deduction that could significantly lower their federal income tax bills this year. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act created this temporary tax break as a replacement for President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits.If you are 65 or older and meet the income thresholds, you could save hundreds of dollars on your federal tax return during this current filing season. The White House estimates that roughly 33.9 million seniors will benefit from this new provision, with an average after-tax income boost of about $670 each.But there is a serious catch that most retirees have not yet heard about, and it could reshape the very program they depend on for retirement income.How the $6,000 senior deduction actually works under current lawThe deduction allows individuals aged 65 and older to reduce their taxable income by up to $6,000, on top of the existing deductions already available under prior law. Married couples filing jointly where both spouses are eligible can claim up to $12,000, according to the Internal Revenue Service. The deduction starts to phase out for single filers with modified adjusted gross income above $75,000 and joint filers above $150,000. You can claim this deduction whether you choose to itemize or take the standard deduction, which makes it unusually flexible compared to most other tax breaks.This benefit is strictly temporary and applies only to tax years 2025 through 2028, after which it expires, unless Congress decides to vote on an extension.Who benefits from the new senior tax deductionThe Peter G. Peterson Foundation found that fewer than half of all older adults will actually receive any meaningful financial benefit from claiming this particular deduction on their returns. The lowest-income retirees gain nothing at all because their taxable income already falls below the standard deduction, meaning they carry no additional tax liability.Who gains the most from the new Social Security tax deductionMiddle-income seniors are projected to receive an average tax cut of approximately $220 in 2026, which equals roughly 0.30% of their total annual income.Upper-middle-income seniors receive the largest average benefit at roughly $300 per year, representing about 0.20% of their total income, per the foundation’s analysis.The highest-income seniors in the top 20 percent of earners see very little benefit because the income phase-out reduces or eliminates the entire deduction for them.About 88 percent of all Social Security beneficiaries would effectively pay no federal tax on benefits, according to the White House Council of Economic Advisers’ analysis.The hidden cost that could accelerate Social Security’s funding crisisHere is the part that most retirees are missing entirely right now: Revenue generated from taxing Social Security benefits flows back directly into the program’s trust fund.The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the expanded senior deduction and related tax cuts will reduce that critical revenue stream by roughly $30 billion every single year going forward. More Social Security: AARP raises a red flag on Social Security, MedicareDave Ramsey warns Americans on Social Security, 401(k)sDave Ramsey warns of big Social Security problemThat $30 billion annual revenue shortfall is not abstract or theoretical for you; it directly accelerates the timeline for when the trust fund’s reserves run out completely. The Congressional Budget Office’s February 2026 Budget and Economic Outlook report projects the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund will be exhausted by 2032.What Social Security trust-fund depletion would mean for your monthly checkTrust-fund depletion does not mean Social Security disappears entirely, but it does mean the program can only pay out what it collects in real-time revenue. The CRFB estimates that upon insolvency, all beneficiaries would face an across-the-board benefit cut of roughly 24 percent, regardless of age or income bracket.Related: Social Security has a $184,500 problem no one talks aboutThe CBO’s illustrative scenario published in its February 2026 report suggests that reductions could start at roughly seven percent in 2032 and then grow to about 28 percent in subsequent years, CBS News reported.For you, that translates to real money lost every single month: If you currently receive $2,000 in monthly benefits, a 24 percent cut drops it to $1,520.

Senior couple planning ahead by balancing immediate tax savings with the possibility of reduced Social Security benefits in the future.kali9/Getty Images

Why the Social Security tax savings now could cost you significantly more in retirementCongress will almost certainly step in before the trust fund is fully depleted, but the solutions currently on the table could raise your costs in other ways.Possible Congressional fixes that could increase costs for retireesLawmakers could raise the Social Security payroll tax rate, which currently sits at 6.2 percent for employees, increasing the overall burden on every working American household.Congress could lift the taxable earnings cap, currently set at $184,500 for 2026, so that higher earners pay Social Security taxes on a much larger share of income.The government could increase the benefit tax rate that seniors pay, effectively reversing the relief that the new $6,000 senior deduction currently provides to qualifying retirees.Lawmakers might raise the full retirement age beyond the current 67, which would reduce monthly benefit amounts for everyone who claims their benefits before reaching that age.If the senior deduction expires after 2028 as currently scheduled, your federal tax bill could jump noticeably in the 2029 tax year without any new action from you.The Peterson Foundation also warns that this deduction adds to an already unsustainable national debt and creates planning uncertainty for retirees navigating income phase-outs and changing eligibility rules.Smart moves to protect yourself, regardless of what Congress decidesYou cannot control what Congress ultimately does with Social Security, but you can position yourself to absorb the impact no matter which direction the program’s future takes.Steps you can take right now to strengthen your retirement planUse the $6,000 deduction strategically by directing the tax savings toward a Roth conversion, as Schwab’s Hayden Adams recommends, to build lasting tax-free retirement income streams.Maximize your 401(k) contributions while you still can; the 2026 contribution limit is $23,500 with a $7,500 catch-up available for workers who are 50 and older.Consider delaying your Social Security claim past full retirement age if you can, since your monthly benefit increases by eight percent for each additional year you wait.Diversify your retirement income across part-time work, rental income, dividend investments, or annuities so that no single program controls your entire financial future going forward.Keep your fixed monthly expenses as low as you reasonably can because lower overhead gives you significantly more flexibility if your Social Security benefit is ever reduced.The more income you build outside of Social Security right now, the less exposed you will be to whatever changes Congress ultimately makes to the program going forward.The bigger picture for Social Security’s long-term financial survivalSocial Security began spending more than it collected in revenue back in 2021, and the CBO projects spending from the OASI trust fund will climb from $1.5 trillion in fiscal 2026 to more than $2.5 trillion by 2036. A slowing economy only adds further pressure to the program; real GDP growth fell to 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, reducing payroll tax collections significantly.Related: AARP warns Medicare costs are outpacing Social Security againMax Richtman, CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, captured the urgency in comments to CBS News, saying the country does not have much time to spare in addressing this growing funding shortfall.The bottom line for you is clear. Take the deduction, save the money it offers, but do not assume that Social Security will remain unchanged heading forward. Your retirement security in 2032 and beyond will likely depend on the financial cushion you build between now and whenever Congress finally acts on meaningful reforms.How to claim the senior deduction on your 2025 federal tax returnThe $6,000 senior deduction is not automatically applied to your Social Security payments or your withholding, so you must actively claim it when you file your return.Key steps to claim the deduction correctly this filing seasonConfirm that you turned at least 65 years old by Dec. 31, 2025, and that your filing status is anything other than married filing separately in order to qualify.Calculate your modified adjusted gross income carefully to determine whether you fall below the $75,000 single or $150,000 joint threshold for the full deduction amount available.Report the deduction on Schedule 1-A of your Form 1040; this is a below-the-line deduction that reduces your taxable income after adjusted gross income has been calculated.Consult a qualified tax professional if your income falls near the phase-out range, since strategic timing of IRA withdrawals or capital gains could preserve your full eligibility.Filing with IRS Form 1040-SR is recommended for seniors because it includes the higher standard deduction for older taxpayers built directly into the calculations on the form.Related: How to boost your tax refund

Broadcast Retirement Network’s Jeffrey Snyder discusses how artificial intelligence is changing the relationship with your physician with bioethicist and pediatrician John Lantos, MD.Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement NetworkJoining me now, Dr. John Lantos. Dr. Lantos, so great to see you. Thanks for joining us this morning.Pleasure to be here. I am really excited to talk to you about this. And as I was saying in the virtual green room, AI has creeped its way into everything.I’m not saying it’s good or bad. I’m sure you may have some opinions. But my first question to you is, how has AI been integrated in healthcare?And has it gotten in the way of the relationship between the primary caregiver, the doctor, and their patient?John Lantos, MD, Bioethicist and PediatricianThere’s almost two distinct generations of AI in healthcare. One is before the more recent large language models, CHAT-GPT, CLAWD, all those, where a more primitive version of AI was being used to read cardiograms, interpret radiographs, help with electronic health records, give reminders for doctors to follow clinical practice guidelines and those sorts of things. So in that sense, AI of one sort or another has been around for 30 or 40 years.But these last couple of years have seen the exponential growth of the more interactive, human-like large language models. And the only accurate answer to that question is nobody knows how much it has permeated medicine because it’s available to everybody on their phones. So patients are clearly using it.Doctors are clearly using it. Some doctors are advocating for more use. There’s no regulation.It’s not an FDA-approved product. So we just don’t know.Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement NetworkYou mentioned that, just to paraphrase, AI in some way, shape or form has been around for 30 or 40 years, assisting doctors. Google has been around for a long time. A lot of patients go into Google and kind of do the same thing and say, what is this?And I’m sure doctors, they probably don’t like that as much because they want to do the diagnosis. How important is the relationship between the human doctor and their patient? I would argue they’re the ones that went through medical school, very rigorous, and they’ve been working for years and years.It just seems like it’s a pretty important relationship to maintain.John Lantos, MD, Bioethicist and PediatricianSo one of the fascinating things to me about what the large language models are doing is they’re allowing us to ask that question in a way that we never could before. You’re right. For the last 25 years, doctors have disparaged patients who would go to Dr. Google and come in and say, I think this mole is a melanoma. I pulled up an article and it said blah, blah, blah. That world is gone. The other way that people use social media, digital media, rather than AI in particular, was through connecting with each other in groups of people with unique problems or particularly rare diseases.So in my experience, even 20 years ago, people with rare genetic syndromes would find each other around the world and create Facebook groups or wikis or all sorts of things. The big difference now though, and the reason your question is pertinent now, is that it’s not as one way tapping of information. When you do a Google search, you put in a query, it generates some stuff that may or may not be relevant.You can’t question it. You can’t have a conversation. You can’t push the issue.Whereas now you can get an answer and you can say, wait, I don’t understand that. Can you explain the part about my electrocardiogram a little better? Explain it the way you would to an eighth grader.Ah, what does that mean? And the kinds of conversations that used to be unique to a human interaction in the examining room now can take place online.Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement NetworkYou mentioned that maybe some doctors are advocates for this type of technology. Others are not. Let’s talk about the American Medical Association.Do they have, and I’m not saying you’re a representative, but do they have a position? Do most doctors at least agree that we need guardrails? That you have to have guardrails.Sure, use the technology, but we need to come up with some uniform standards across the industry. Much like any industry, manufacturing, financial services, got to have some guardrails to protect the doctors, but also the consumers. So doctor.John Lantos, MD, Bioethicist and PediatricianSo to say that we should have guardrails is I think a widely held, almost universally held opinion. It masks disagreements. So it begs the question, which guardrails?What should the regulations say? Things like privacy or the low hanging fruit. Of course, these should not be publicly available if you’re disclosing personal health information.But the more tricky problem is figuring out a way to evaluate the accuracy of a particular large language model or generative artificial intelligence. Because the nature of the product is that it’s constantly changing and learning with every bit of new information that comes along. So you can evaluate yesterday’s large language model, but it won’t give you the same answer as today’s.So thinking about regulation in the traditional way, is this product safe and effective? Just isn’t going to be applicable here.Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement NetworkYeah, I mean, I think you make a lot of sense. I’m just trying to think about, as you were talking about that, I mean, do you actually have AI to police AI, but then you kind of get into this whole, you know, this whole thing where how can you trust the AI that’s evaluating the AI? I mean, you know, we’re kind of at a, I wouldn’t say, I don’t want to be all doomsday.I don’t think that that’s helpful. I mean, certainly technology is helpful, but maybe making the consumer doctor a better arbiter of what they should and shouldn’t think about when it comes to especially medical decisions.John Lantos, MD, Bioethicist and PediatricianI mean, what the AMA is proposing and what I think a lot of leaders in the field are talking about now is developing new kinds of hybrid methods of delivering care where doctors and patients both collaborate with AI in a way that might resemble the way that we would collaborate with online searching before. If you were my patient and you came to me and said, look, I’m having these four symptoms and I talked to ChatGPT or Claude or whatever about it. And it said, this might be eczema or it might be psoriatic arthritis.And I’ll say, what other symptoms are you having? And maybe type it into my large language model. We’ll pull up pictures together of something that looks like your rash and say, does it look like this?Do you have these other symptoms? And the large language models will be like a 24 seven always available consultant that both of us can use that will hopefully lead to better communication and better treatment.Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement NetworkLes, I got about a minute left. I guess my last question is, I mean, you don’t ever envision a point where we have like on the Starship, what was it, Voyager where they had the doctor or maybe it was, yeah, maybe it was the Voyager, Star Trek Voyager where they had the doctor that was really like an avatar. And he forget the act.Oh, it was Robert Picardo. I think his name is. And he would portray the doctor and the doctor could treat almost any malady.Are doctors gonna go away or is it really, what we’re talking about here is more just integration.John Lantos, MD, Bioethicist and PediatricianHard to say at this point. Yeah, I think. Well, let me give you an example from outside of medicine.Jack Clark, who’s the co-founder of Anthropic was recently interviewed by Ezra Klein on a New York Times podcast about how large language models might affect job creation or job growth. Clark said Anthropic is no longer hiring coders. It used to be their main, a big chunk of their workforce.They don’t need it anymore because AI does it better. So all the basic coding is now done by machines. They are still hiring.They’re hiring people who can look at the product of the machines and evaluate A, whether they’re high enough quality and B, to think about what they could be most useful for or how they could be combined. Something similar, I think, is likely to happen in medicine where a lot of the tasks that doctors once were most valued for will be done better by machines. And when that happens, the only thing that would keep doctors in the loop would be the political power that we command to say, you got to pay us for the work the machine is doing.But that makes no sense in terms of quality or outcomes or access.Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement NetworkBut the thing I rely on for the doctrine, I do have to close out. So maybe 30 seconds on this and maybe it’s not a 30 second. Answer so we’ll have to bring you back.But there’s ethics. A doctor swears to the Hippocratic Oath or at least they used to, I don’t know if they still do, but they swear to the Hippocratic Oath. A machine doesn’t.They can have parameters, but they lack that qualitative ability to navigate things like ethics. So wouldn’t the doctor still be there from an ethical point of view?John Lantos, MD, Bioethicist and PediatricianAs with all your other questions, AI enables us to ask questions about that we never used to be able to ask before. So to whom or to what is a large language model committed ethically? Is it to the patient’s wellbeing?Is it to the doctor’s revenue? Or is it to the revenue of the company that built the AI? Or in the science fiction versions, does it strike out to find its own freedom?We don’t know. Yeah, yeah.Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement NetworkWell, I certainly TBD to be determined. And like I said earlier, we’re going to have to bring you back to talk more about it. Dr. John Lantos, great to see you. Thanks for joining us. Great article. And we look forward to having you back on the program again very soon, sir.Thank you. I’d love to be back.

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Millions of American workers dream of a great retirement after they finish their careers. They have a great job, they contribute to their employer-sponsored 401(k) plan, they expect Social Security to help supplement their retirement income, but then a shock comes.Unfortunately, a large number of Americans make a major mistake when they face some of life’s misfortunes, such as getting laid off or leaving a job because an employment situation simply doesn’t work out for whatever reason.Related: AARP sounds alarm on big Medicare, Social Security problemAARP, the nonprofit advocacy organization for Americans over 50 years old, sends a major warning message to people in this exact situation.”Each month, more than 5 million private-sector employees quit, get laid off or otherwise leave a job, according to federal labor data,” AARP reported. “Among those with 401(k) plans, a recent study found, about 41 percent drain those retirement accounts upon a job separation.”In my many years of reporting and writing about 401(k)s (and other personal finance concerns Americans face), I am urging you to take a strong look at this and realize what a huge mistake this is.AARP warns people not to make big retirement mistakeWorkers who leave a job often treat the balance in their retirement plan as a sudden windfall, and that perception makes them far more likely to cash it out.That is the exact formula to miss out on opportunity cost. For one, there are penalties.”Cashing out a retirement plan before you reach age 59-and-a-half typically means paying a 10 percent tax penalty for early withdrawal — on top of any regular income taxes you owe on the money,” AARP explained.More on personal finance:Zillow forecasts big mortgage change for U.S. housing marketAARP sounds alarm on major Social Security problemDave Ramsey bluntly warns Americans on 401(k)sMore importantly, it is easily argued, making this mistake causes one to miss out on growing investments. “Suppose you’re 40 when you switch jobs. The $20,000 in your ‘old’ 401(k), if kept intact, would grow to more than $108,000 by the time you hit 65, assuming an average annual return of 7 percent,” AARP appropriately writes. “The S&P 500 has averaged a 7.2 percent return over the past 30 years, adjusted for inflation.”That’s undeniably a big investment for one’s future retirement plans.AARP: Don’t risk running short in retirementThat quick boost of cash can leave a lasting dent in your future savings, undermining your ability to sustain a comfortable lifestyle in retirement or manage rising health care costs as you get older.“Cashing out early may have negative implications, the most severe of which could be superannuation or outliving your retirement funds,” says Devin Carroll, owner of Carroll Advisory Group, a retirement planning firm based in Texarkana, Texas. “Even if you don’t get to that point, you may still jeopardize your ability to lead the lifestyle you planned for in retirement.”

AARP warns Americans about financial mistakes on 401(k)s and relying on Social Security when planning for retirement.Shutterstock

Ways to handle an old 401(k) when you leave a jobHere are some very important strategies to explore as you avoid making major mistakes:Ways to handle an old 401(k) when you leave a jobMost plans let you keep the account if the balance is at least $7,000 — a threshold raised from $5,000 under the SECURE 2.0 Act.This can make sense if the plan offers low fees and strong investment choices.You won’t be able to contribute or receive employer matches once you leave.If the balance is under $1,000, your former employer can cut a check; you have 60 days to deposit it into another retirement account to avoid taxes and penalties.If the balance is $1,000 to $7,000, employers generally must roll it into an IRA unless you give other instructions.(Source:AARP)Roll it into an IRAA rollover preserves tax advantages and avoids the costs of cashing out.You can open an IRA at a bank, brokerage, financial adviser, or robo‑adviser, depending on how hands‑on you want to be and what fees you’re comfortable with.After opening the account, request a direct rollover from your former plan administrator.Some IRAs initially park rollover funds in cash; if you want higher‑growth investments, confirm your asset allocation when the transfer happens.(Source:AARP)Roll it into your new employer’s 401(k)If your new job offers a retirement plan, you can move your old balance into it through a direct rollover.You’re not required to consolidate — you can keep the old plan if you prefer its features.Just make sure you don’t lose track of it; millions of workers do, leaving a lot of money in unclaimed retirement savings.(Source:AARP)Related: AARP sounds alarm for American workers on 401(k)s, IRAs