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Comics on the day’s news

Claude spent the weekend fixing other models’ bad habitsCoyote vs. Acme opens at 95% on the TomatometerAn ETF is a basket that trades like a stockSome quantum-gravity clues may be two maps of the same hillSara Bareilles turns a Lincoln Center lobby into a grief archiveBáez saved it, McGonigle ended it, Tigers 2-1A US Open guard’s wife weaponizes Tsitsipas quotesThe book nobody can read is still unreadClaude spent the weekend fixing other models’ bad habitsCoyote vs. Acme opens at 95% on the TomatometerAn ETF is a basket that trades like a stockSome quantum-gravity clues may be two maps of the same hillSara Bareilles turns a Lincoln Center lobby into a grief archiveBáez saved it, McGonigle ended it, Tigers 2-1A US Open guard’s wife weaponizes Tsitsipas quotesThe book nobody can read is still unread

Finance

Finance

Comics

Four-panel full-color finance comic. Panel 1: cartoon office worker pointing at a bright IRS 2026 LIMITS board. Panel 2: colorful piggy banks labeled 401k 24500 and IRA 7500. Panel 3: catch-up badges for age 50+ and ages 60-63. Panel 4: cheerful checklist with Roth and Saver credit tiles.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: IRS.

Finance

IRS: 401(k) limit rises to $24,500 and IRA limit to $7,500 for 2026

IRS IR-2025-111 educational explainer: elective deferrals $24,500; IRA $7,500 ($8,600 age 50+ with $1,100 catch-up); age 50+ 401(k) catch-up $8,000; ages 60–63 higher catch-up $11,250.

September 21, 2026 at 7:00 AM PDT

Four-panel full-color educational finance comic. Panel 1: chalkboard marking 2026 SIMPLE IRA employee limit $17,000 was $16,500. Panel 2: pink piggy bank and sticky note about small-business employee savings. Panel 3: age 50+ catch-up $4,000 and ages 60–63 higher catch-up $5,250 card. Panel 4: January 2026 IRS COLA calendar stamped educational plan-ahead timeline.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: IRS.

Finance

2026 SIMPLE IRA employee limit $17,000; ages 60–63 catch-up $5,250

IRS: SIMPLE IRA salary reduction $17,000; age 50+ catch-up $4,000; ages 60–63 higher catch-up $5,250 (SECURE 2.0); nonelective compensation up to $360,000. Educational only — not advice.

September 20, 2026 at 7:00 AM PDT

Four-panel full-color finance comic. Panel 1: cartoon HSA jar. Panel 2: big $4500 and $9000 badges. Panel 3: HDHP deductible checklist. Panel 4: calendar marked wait for IRS retirement limits.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: Finance Pulse. Educational, not advice.

Finance

2027 HSA limits are official: $4,500 self-only, $9,000 family

Finance Pulse explainer: Rev. Proc. 2026-24 locks HSA caps; 401(k)/IRA still forecasts until IRS autumn notice. Educational only — not advice.

September 19, 2026 at 7:00 AM PDT

Four-panel full-color educational finance comic. Panel 1: chalkboard marking elective deferrals 2026 at $24,500 was $23,500. Panel 2: cartoon 401(k) elective deferral form stamped $24,500. Panel 3: sticky notes for catch-up age 50 and up $8,000 and ages 60-63 $11,250. Panel 4: IRS COLA calendar card labeled educational plan-ahead timeline.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: IRS.

Finance

2026 elective deferrals rise to $24,500; age 50+ catch-up $8,000

IRS COLA: elective deferrals $24,500 (was $23,500); catch-up 50+ $8,000 (was $7,500); ages 60–63 higher catch-up $11,250; DC plan limit $72,000. Educational only — ceilings, not advice.

September 15, 2026 at 7:00 AM PDT

Four-panel full-color educational finance comic. Panel 1: Roth IRA 2026 phase-out chalkboard. Panel 2: singles and heads of household jar $153,000 to $168,000. Panel 3: married filing jointly jar $242,000 to $252,000. Panel 4: ceiling not advice sticky.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: IRS.

Finance

IRS lifts 2026 Roth IRA contribution phase-out ranges

IRS newsroom: for 2026, Roth phase-outs run $153k–$168k for singles and heads of household and $242k–$252k for married filing jointly; MFS stays $0–$10k.

September 10, 2026 at 7:00 AM PDT

Four-panel full-color educational finance comic. Panel 1: Saver's Credit 2026 chalkboard. Panel 2: AGI jars $80,500 MFJ, $60,375 HoH, $40,250 single. Panel 3: piggy and 50/20/10 meter. Panel 4: ceiling not advice.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: IRS.

Finance

IRS lifts 2026 Saver’s Credit AGI ceilings

IRS newsroom: for 2026 the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit tops out at $80,500 MFJ, $60,375 head of household, and $40,250 single or MFS.

September 9, 2026 at 7:00 AM PDT

Four-panel full-color comic explaining Fed monetary aggregates, M1 versus M2, digital money-like assets, and measurement checklist items.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FEDS Note).

Finance

How the Fed’s money measures work — and why stablecoins complicate M1 and M2

A September 4 FEDS Note walks through the monetary base, M1, and M2, then sketches an educational checklist for tokenized deposits, tokenized money funds, and payment stablecoins.

September 7, 2026 at 7:00 AM PDT

Four-panel full-color finance explainer comic. Panel 1: cartoon jobs report stamp 162,000 vs forecast 56,000. Panel 2: cartoon trader seesaw labeled HIKE ODDS rising. Panel 3: yield arrows up, stock arrows down, dollar up. Panel 4: calendar for mid-September Fed meeting with CPI sticky note.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: Reuters via Euronext Live, Sept. 4, 2026.

Finance

What a 162,000-job beat does to rate odds (an explainer)

August payrolls nearly tripled the forecast; yields rose, stocks eased, and futures priced a higher chance of a mid-September Fed hike—here is the classroom version.

September 5, 2026 at 7:00 AM PDT

Four-panel full-color educational comic. Panel 1: cartoon piggy bank IRA 2026, sticky note ceiling not homework. Panel 2: jar $7,500 annual limit, up from $7,000. Panel 3: age-50-plus cartoon with +$1,100 catch-up backpack. Panel 4: chalkboard phase-out ranges as lids, educational not advice.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: IRS. Educational, not advice.

Finance

The 2026 IRA contribution ceiling is $7,500

IRS newsroom: annual IRA limit rises from $7,000, with a $1,100 catch-up at 50. A limit is a lid, not a homework assignment.

September 4, 2026 at 7:00 AM PDT

Four-panel full-color educational comic. Panel 1: a cartoon piggy bank labeled HSA 2026. Panel 2: two coin jars, self-only $4,400 and family $8,750. Panel 3: a 55-plus cartoon with a +$1,000 catch-up backpack, not on Medicare. Panel 4: a chalkboard, HDHP deductible at least $1,700 / $3,400, employer plus you share the cap.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-19. Educational, not advice.

Finance

The 2026 HSA cap is $4,400, or $8,750 for family

IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-19 set Health Savings Account contribution limits and HDHP deductible floors for 2026. A limit is a ceiling, not a homework assignment.

September 2, 2026 at 7:00 AM PDT

Four-panel full-color educational comic. Panel 1: two cartoon piggy banks labeled 2025 $23,500 and 2026 $24,500. Panel 2: a glass IRA jar filling to $7,500. Panel 3: a worker with an $8,000 catch-up backpack, age 50+. Panel 4: a $11,250 super catch-up star for ages 60 to 63 and a chalkboard reading IRS Notice 2025-67.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: IRS, IR-2025-111 / Notice 2025-67.

Finance

401(k) employee cap is $24,500 in 2026

The IRS raised the 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457, and TSP elective-deferral limit to $24,500, with a $7,500 IRA cap and higher catch-ups for workers 50 and up.

September 1, 2026 at 7:00 AM PDT

Four-panel full-color educational comic: a student aces a flashcard quiz on money words then freezes at a real bank account form; a teacher holds a sign that knowing concepts is not managing responsibilities; a wall chart shows 14 core areas, 61 standards, and more than 1400 learning outcomes scored by plans and tasks not tests; a row of everyday stations labeled first job, savings, banking, credit, first-income taxes, and early housing and transport.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: EIN Presswire / NFEC, Aug. 26, 2026. Educational, not advice.

Finance

Knowing money words is not the same as handling money

NFEC put Applied Financial Capability Standards out for public review: 14 core areas, 61 standards, 1,400-plus outcomes, scored on plans and tasks rather than tests of definitions.

August 31, 2026 at 7:00 AM PDT

Four-panel explainer comic: a single stock ticker next to a shopping cart of many names, a clock that prices the cart all day unlike a mutual-fund once-a-day stamp, a $1,000 pile with a $1.80 fee tag, and inverse and leveraged ETFs locked in a warning drawer.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: Fidelity Learning Center, July 6, 2026. Educational, not advice.

Finance

An ETF is a basket that trades like a stock

Fidelity’s explainer: one fund holds many stocks or bonds, prices all day on an exchange, and is not the same as buying a single company.

August 30, 2026 at 7:00 AM PDT

Four-panel explainer comic: an emergency jar next to a vacation jar, holiday gifts getting turned away, a $1,000 stack pointing at three to six months of rent and groceries, a simple savings account that is not a stock ticker.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: Fidelity Learning Center, July 16, 2026. Educational, not advice.

Finance

An emergency fund is for the bill you did not put on the calendar

Fidelity: start at $1,000, work toward three to six months of must-pay expenses, and keep the cash easy to reach.

August 29, 2026 at 7:09 AM PDT

Four-panel explainer comic comparing a lump-sum pile to equal calendar piles, buying more shares when cheaper, a cracked crystal ball, and a 401k contribution set to every paycheck.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: Fidelity Learning Center, Sept. 25, 2025. Educational, not advice.

Finance

Dollar-cost averaging is a schedule, not a crystal ball

Fidelity’s explainer: invest the same amount on a regular clock so you buy more when the price is down, knowing it does not guarantee a better result.

August 29, 2026 at 7:08 AM PDT

Four-panel explainer comic comparing an index-fund shopping cart to picking every stock on the wall, then choosing a low-fee cart and walking off with the market average.

Comic: Topics / Drew’s Comic Newsroom. Source: Fidelity Learning Center, March 26, 2026. Educational, not advice.

Finance

An index fund is a shopping cart, not a stock pick

Fidelity’s explainer: an index fund copies a list like the S&P 500, so one share buys the basket instead of trying to beat it.

August 29, 2026 at 7:04 AM PDT

Four-panel educational comic. A sandwich tagged $5 last year and $6 this year; a sad dollar; an owl chalkboard defines inflation as a rise in the general price level.

Original comic, Finance desk. Definition: SEC Investor.gov.

Finance

What Inflation Is

Inflation is a rise in the general price level. Not a stock tip.

August 22, 2026 at 2:45 PM PDT

Four-panel educational comic. Owl with a fruit basket labeled stocks, a scale labeled index, a chart of the basket, chalkboard: an index is a score, not a store.

Original comic, Finance desk. Definition: SEC Investor.gov.

Finance

What a stock index is

A stock index is a single number that tracks a defined basket of companies. It is a score for that basket, not a store where you buy the fruit. Averaging is a teaching shortcut, not a weighting lecture. Not advice.

August 22, 2026 at 2:25 PM PDT

Four-panel educational comic. A coin at year 1, 5, and 20 as a jar fills; an owl chalkboard says growth on growth, not a stock tip.

Original comic, Finance desk. Definition: SEC Investor.gov.

Finance

Compound Interest

Compound interest is interest calculated on both the original amount and interest already earned. Same rate, a larger base over time. This is a definition, not a return forecast or advice.

August 22, 2026 at 2:15 PM PDT