enRICHed: volume 193
wee-woo, wee-woo, major money news this week!!
Sunday August 02, 2026
Volume 193
Hey besties!
Nothing raises your blood pressure quite like opening your mail and seeing that your health insurance denied something you thought was covered. And the worst part? Insurance companies are counting on you to get overwhelmed, give up, and just pay the bill.
This week on Networth & Chill, I sat down with Zach Veigulis, co-founder of Claimable, a company working hard to fight back against health insurance companies and their bad behavior. He breaks down why health insurance claims get denied in the first place and exactly what you can do if it happens to you. We’re talking about the biggest mistakes people make after receiving a denial, the steps to successfully appeal a claim, what “medically necessary” actually means, and how to tell the difference between a real denial and a simple billing error. We also cover what to do if you can’t afford the bill while you’re waiting on an appeal and who to call if your insurance company still won’t budge.
If you’ve ever opened an Explanation of Benefits and had absolutely no idea what you were looking at... this episode is for you.
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HYCU, pronounced haiku: how the news impacts you and your wallet, aka How You Can Use
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Now that you’re up to speed, let’s get you enRICHed.
Fed’s Holding Stead 💸
In what was being called the “most unpredictable” Fed Reserve meeting in years, brand-new Trump appointee Chairman Kevin Warsh announced this week that the US’ Central Bank would be holding interest rates steady.
The Dow sank by 1,153 points and the 30-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since 2007 as investors worried that the Fed was not moving quickly enough to bring down inflation.
Most experts have been bracing for a rate hike later this year, which would likely help to slow inflation. But the Fed’s explanation for holding rates steady was basically the same as the last meeting, which just means that we have no real clues as to whether or in what circumstances the committee might raise rates later this year.
A part of why the stock market responded so badly, and why they were calling this meeting so unpredictable, was because Warsh was choosing to do more of a surprise reveal rather than the historic Fed strategy of “forward guidance,” also known as dropping hints before the actual announcement. No teaser meant people were really surprised by the actual release, and as one Fed watcher explained it to CNBC: “Warsh didn’t convey the message clearly or explicitly, and the bond market puked on him.”
HYCU; Will we see higher interest rates later this year? A big part of this announcement is that three of the twelve Fed Reserve voters dissented from the decision, which is a pretty notable amount of disagreement. If economic data continues to look like hot garbage, we might see more internal division in the Fed’s next decision. My theory is that because President Trump installed Warsh in hopes that the new Chair would start cutting those interest rates down, this “hold steady” was the best Warsh could do without making it so obvious that he was aiming to please. But that’s just me speculating. What we do know for sure is that if the lack of forward guidance continues, we’ll see more volatile swings in our investments the day after Fed meetings, and we’ll find out soon enough just how long those ripple effects last.
So…War’s Back 🫥
One month ago, the US and Iran were approaching peace talks. This week, that dream is pretty much gone, as heavy waves of attacks on Iran have renewed once again, this time killing at least 20 and injuring 32, according to reporting from CNN.
The attacks are in response to an Iranian attempt to fire missiles on American bases in Jordan, which the government intercepted pretty easily. President Trump said we’d be “hitting them hard” in the response. Three civilians were killed in this latest attack — a couple and their two-year-old child were struck by a drone in their residential building, according to Iranian state media.
It’s not just retaliation now, either; the fighting is expanding after a drone strike hit an Egyptian port on the Suez Canal (remember her?) by the Mediterranean sea, causing a fire on ships carrying gasoline. No party has claimed responsibility so far, but Egypt said it will take measures to protect its own national security, and it’s not clear if that means any other impacts on the pace of global trade (i.e., if that means less gas for us).
The current military conflict is particularly confusing because Trump has given constantly-reneged upon statements about what he’s going to do. Literally last weekend, he rejected a return to full-scale war, but here we are again, reading headlines about more attacks. The US abruptly stopped bombing Iran earlier this week to give diplomacy a chance, allegedly, but I guess they changed their minds. The weird thing is that Pakistan, the child of divorce in all this, is insisting that US–Iran negotiations are still underway, so no one really seems to know what’s going on.
HYCU; In case you need a refresher on why this is all happening, five months ago, Israel and the US started up this fight with Iran because they really don’t want Iran to control the Strait of Hormuz anymore. They want some control of the world’s most valuable choke point for global oil, and that’s why our gas prices are so affected. Right now, the resumed fighting is threatening to push oil prices back up again, which will have outwards impacts on everything from flight tickets to medicine to groceries. For now, there’s no clear trend as to how things might change, so in order to give yourself peace of mind, figure out where you can save a little extra in your budget to prepare for rising costs, whether it’s shopping for your food at wholesale retailers, using GoodRx for prescription discounts, or using a gas price comparison tool to find the cheapest pump near you.
I Came Here For Lo…an Repayment 🏝️
For weeks all summer, people come together to discuss Love Island USA — the drama, the beef, and which couple is most deserving of the $100,000 prize money. This year, it was the goofy pair Trinity and Bryce, and they just revealed how they’re spending their hundred bands: they’re paying down their debt.
Trinity announced that her $50,000 share is going “straight to my student loans,” while Bryce said that “I have some bills I’ve got to pay.” They’re not the only financially savvy couple to win Love Island USA: Season 6 winners Serena and Kordell revealed that they put all their winnings into savings and investment accounts, with the only spending being on business-related expenses.
Historically, every Love Island USA winner has split $100,000, but the value of that number has changed a lot with inflation. The first season’s couple also won one hundred grand in 2019, but in today’s currency, it’s over $130,000. Not to mention, in the same time between Season 1 of Love Island USA and Season 8, consumer prices have compounded upward 30.6%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Just to give you a picture of how much has changed over the past few years.
Maybe that’s why the reality stars aren’t blowing their winnings on shopping and clubs and cars the way they used to — the prices are too damn high to be buying a diamond chain for no reason. I mean, they used to spend all their money on random stuff! In 2012, The Hills star Heidi Montag said that she lost around $1 million after leaving the show, blaming it on major lifestyle creep, including spending on clothes, hair and makeup, plus her new team of managers, publicists and lawyers. In the past, $50,000 might have covered a whole lot, but now, it doesn’t even sound like it’ll cover the entirety of Trinity’s principal on her student loan.
HYCU; If I were Trinity, and looking to pay down my student loans fast with my $50,000, here’s what I would do: If I had a private loan, I’d first do my research and check to see how my interest rate compares to other loans on the market, and if I find a better deal, refinance for a lower rate. Then, before I make any payments, I would contact my lender and specify that I want all my overpayments to go to my principal only, so that way I’m not stuck in a loop of paying down monthly fees and interest first, and I know for sure that my overpayments are putting a dent in my original loan balance. And if I had a federal student loan, I’d enroll in autopay, and get the 1% rate discount that’s being offered when you sign up before September 30. Now, if I were Bryce, and I had a decent amount of credit card debt I needed to pay off, I would get a personal loan, which would get me out of the bonkers 29% APR world and into a more reasonable interest rate of 7 to 15%, and then hit it with the $50,000. But if any of my interest rates were below 7%, I’d actually just stick to making the minimum payments and invest everything else, because putting money into index funds actually has an annual average return rate of 8 to 10%, which means it’s actually the smarter route to getting rich.
Susan asks: “What are the best ways to claim my divorce settlement without having to put it in savings? If I invest it, that means I will lose a sum for taxes. It is still held in escrow. If you were in my position, how would you invest or grow it?”
Here’s the deal, the tax picture on a divorce settlement depends a lot on what kind of settlement it is, because not all divorce money is taxed the same way.
Property division is generally not taxable. If your settlement is a division of marital assets (like a house buyout, cash from joint savings, or a retirement account transferred via a QDRO), the IRS typically doesn’t treat that as income. You’re not “earning” money, you’re receiving what was already yours. So if your settlement is purely a property split, you may not owe taxes on it at all when you receive it, which changes the whole equation.
In regards to alimony: for divorces finalized after 2018, alimony is no longer deductible for the payer or taxable for the recipient under federal law. So if your settlement includes spousal support, that’s also generally tax-free to you.
Where taxes do come in is if you later sell an asset you received (like a home or investments) and there’s a gain, or if a retirement account transfer wasn’t handled properly (without a QDRO for a 401k, for example, it could trigger taxes and penalties). That’s a key reason to make sure the escrow and transfer are structured correctly before anything moves.
Once the funds are released, here’s how people in this situation typically think about growing it: Max out tax-advantaged accounts first. If you have a 401k through work with an employer match, capturing that match is always the first move. Secondly, A Roth IRA is one of the most powerful tools available to you. For 2026, the contribution limit is $7,500 if you’re under 50. You pay taxes on the money going in, but it grows completely tax-free and you never pay taxes on withdrawals in retirement. The earlier you start, the more compounding works in your favor.
A taxable brokerage account for the rest. Whatever exceeds your tax-advantaged contribution limits can go into a regular brokerage account. The key to keeping taxes low here is holding investments for longer than one year, which qualifies you for long-term capital gains rates (0%, 15%, or 20% depending on income) rather than ordinary income tax rates, which are higher. Broad index funds are a popular choice here because they’re tax-efficient by nature, they don’t generate a lot of taxable events just by sitting there.
I-Bonds can work as a middle ground. If you want something low-risk and inflation-protected while you figure out your longer-term plan, Series I savings bonds are currently offering a composite rate of 4.26% (through October 31, 2026). You can buy up to $10,000 per year through TreasuryDirect.gov. The interest is exempt from state and local taxes, and you can defer federal taxes until you redeem them.
I’d also suggest looking into a High Yield Savings Account (HYSA) for any portion you want accessible. If part of the settlement is your near-term safety net, top HYSAs right now are paying a pretty competitive APY. That’s not “investing” but it’s also not losing to inflation while you decide your next move.
Given that your settlement is still in escrow, now is the perfect time to nail down exactly what type of settlement it is before it’s released, because that determines your tax exposure. I’d strongly recommend working with a CPA or tax professional on this one, since the tax treatment of divorce settlements can get nuanced depending on the specifics of your agreement.
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