Good morning. The first day of April is tomorrow, which means someone in your family is already planning something. Stay alert.

In this issue:

If you're 65 or older and filing your 2025 taxes, there's a new deduction you may not have heard about — and it could save you real money.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act created an extra $4,000 deduction for seniors filing single, or $8,000 for married couples filing jointly where both are 65+. It's on top of the standard deduction you already get. You don't need to itemize. You claim it on Schedule 1-A.

Here's what it adds up to. A single filer 65+ can now deduct up to $21,050 before paying a dime in federal income tax — that's the $15,000 standard deduction, plus $2,050 for being over 65, plus the new $4,000 bonus. Married couples (both 65+) can stack up to $45,300.

The catch: It phases out starting at $75,000 for single filers and $150,000 for couples. If you're under those limits, you get the full amount.

The deadline is April 15. If you haven't filed yet, don't leave this money on the table. AARP Tax-Aide offers free tax prep at 3,600+ locations — call 888-227-7669 or visit aarpfoundation.org/taxaide. If you're 60+, the IRS Tax Counseling for the Elderly program is also free: 800-906-9887.

🎙️ The scam call that sounds exactly like your grandchild. This one's unsettling. Scammers are using AI to clone voices from just 3 seconds of audio scraped from social media. You answer the phone, and it sounds exactly like your grandchild — panicked, crying, begging for money. 1 in 4 Americans received a deepfake voice call last year. Seniors report the highest losses at $1,298 per incident. Michigan AG Dana Nessel issued a specific alert on March 4. What to do: Create a family safe word — a silly phrase only your family knows. If someone calls in distress, ask for the code before sending anything. And always hang up and call the person directly.

⚠️ Bed rail recall — 2 deaths, 122,000 units. The CPSC recalled adult portable bed rails from Vive Health and four other brands (MPINOI, KingPavonini, LEACHOI, Neaude) — all sold on Amazon. Two seniors died from entrapment between the rail and mattress. If you or someone you know uses a portable bed rail, check the brand immediately. Stop using recalled rails and contact the manufacturer for a full refund.
→ CPSC recall details

💉 The FDA just approved the first once-weekly insulin. It's called Awiqli — one injection per week instead of one every day. For the millions of seniors managing type 2 diabetes, this is a big deal. Same safety profile as daily insulin, but dramatically simpler. It launches later in 2026. Translation: If you or someone you care for struggles with daily injections, ask your doctor about this when it becomes available.

How to Tell If a Text Message Is a Scam — by Nino C.

With AI scams getting smarter — and the Michigan AG issuing new alerts about fake toll and ticket texts just this month — this piece is more relevant than ever.

Americans lost $470 million to text scams in 2024. The old advice about "look for typos" doesn't work anymore — scammers are using AI now, so the grammar is perfect. I walk through the 7 most common scam texts with real examples and show you how to spot one in about 10 seconds.

I wrote this one because my own parents almost fell for a fake bank text. If it can happen to them, it can happen to anyone.

Read the full article →

A Japanese study of nearly 11,000 older adults found that cooking at home just once a week cut dementia risk by up to 30%. The researchers think it's the planning, the memory, the multitasking — your brain lights up when you're cooking in a way it doesn't when you're reheating. So the next time someone teases you for making dinner from scratch when you could just order in, tell them it's doctor's orders.

Until next Tuesday,
Nino

P.S. Know someone who'd find this useful? Forward it their way. And if you have a tip, a question, or a good recipe — hit reply. I read every one.