Key Changes for 2026
Big Picture Retirement®
Devin Carroll
4.7 • 545 Ratings
🗓️ 1 December 2025
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, Devin and John break down the key tax and retirement planning changes coming in 2026 and what they mean for your income, benefits, and long term strategy. We cover the latest Social Security COLA update, the expected increase to Medicare Part B premiums, and the new Social Security earnings test thresholds. We also walk through the shifting rules around capital gains, the standard deduction, and the return of the SALT cap. For charitable giving, we outline the new above the line deduction, the AGI floor for itemizing, the cap tied to the highest tax rate, and the updated QCD limit of one hundred eleven thousand dollars. If you want to understand how the 2026 landscape could affect your plan, this episode gives you the practical guidance you need.
Although this show does not provide specific tax, legal, or financial advice, you can engage Devin or John through their individual firms.
📍Contact Devin's team at https://carrolladvisory.co/podcast1
📍Contact John's team at https://www.rossandshoalmire.com/
If you're thinking, "I love the Big Picture Retirement podcast!" please consider rating and reviewing this show! This helps us support more people -- just like you -- move toward a confident retirement. Just scroll down to the "ratings and reviews" section, tap to rate with five stars, and select "Write a Review." Then be sure to let us know what you loved most about the episode!
Also, if you haven't done so already, follow the podcast. We add new content every week, and if you're not following, you'll likely miss out. Follow now!
Don't miss the Big Picture Retirement Planning Cheat Sheet. We've distilled the essential brackets, thresholds, and rules of retirement into an easy-to-digest, three-page summary. https://www.carrolladvisory.com/pl/2148282517
Want to ask Devin or John your question? Just visit https://www.bigpictureretirement.com/ and click on the "Ask A Question" menu selection.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The Big Picture Retirement Show does not provide tax, legal, or financial advice. |
| 0:04.3 | Listeners are encouraged to seek out their own advisors in these areas. |
| 0:11.4 | Hey, everyone, welcome to The Big Picture Retirement Show. |
| 0:14.2 | I'm your host, Devin, joined by my co-host, John Ross. |
| 0:17.4 | Howdy. |
| 0:18.0 | John, a new year is right around the corner. |
| 0:20.4 | So it is. And we've got some big changes coming. A few. John, and New Year is right around the corner. So it is. |
| 0:21.0 | And we've got some big changes coming. A few. Just like we have every year, though. Yeah. So nothing. Some things changes every year. Huge. Some adjustments. Let's call them adjustments instead of changes. So we see things like Social Security benefits are going to increase. The Medicare premiums are going to increase. Tax rates. well, not the tax rates, but the actual brackets are increasing. |
| 0:41.2 | Yeah. are going to increase. The Medicare premiums are going to increase tax rates. Well, not the tax rates, but the actual brackets are increasing. Yeah, I'm just trying to think of some stuff |
| 0:43.1 | off the top of my head, and I'm already out. I've got three out. And there's some new laws with |
| 0:48.5 | the one big beautiful bill, some things that are changing and stuff like that. Let's just knock out |
| 0:53.1 | a few of these that come to the |
| 0:55.1 | top of our head, just as we're sitting here riffing on these, that we think will have the most |
| 1:00.3 | impact on our audience. Let's talk about the Social Security Cost Living Adjustment. Now, a lot of our |
| 1:04.6 | audience, they're not on Social Security yet, right? Nor are they even 62. Some of them are, |
| 1:10.5 | some of them are not. But we've got both of |
| 1:12.8 | the updates, whether you're on, whether we're 62 or not. And I want to hit both of those because |
| 1:17.2 | it's, it's pretty interesting. So the Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment for 2026, which is |
| 1:23.2 | going to be effective with the December 2025 benefit, which is payable in January, is going |
| 1:29.9 | to be 2.8%. |
| 1:31.5 | Okay. |
| 1:32.9 | Doesn't feel all that substantial after the year we had. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Devin Carroll, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Devin Carroll and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.