The financial news that actually matters
May 31, 2026
- Brent crude just posted its worst month since the COVID crash — plunging 19% in May to $92 a barrel — as a 60-day Iran MOU sits on Trump’s desk awaiting signature
- The 30-year mortgage climbed to 6.53% this week — the second straight weekly increase after briefly touching a 6.41% low earlier in May — adding $30 a month to a $400,000 loan
- The median U.S. home just hit $417,800 in April — up just 0.4% year over year — the weakest annual appreciation since 2012 as inventory builds faster than sales revive
- April real wages just turned negative for the first time in three years — average hourly earnings climbed 3.3% but PCE inflation hit 3.8%, quietly erasing the raise every worker got this year
Latest Insights
Brent crude just posted its worst month since the COVID crash — plunging 19% in May to $92 a barrel — as a 60-day Iran MOU sits on Trump’s desk awaiting signature
On the last trading day of May 2026, Brent crude settled near $92 a barrel, capping a decline of roughly 19% from the $113-plus levels where the global benchmark closed April. That figure, drawn from daily spot prices in the Federal Reserve’s FRED database, makes May the worst single month for Brent since April 2020,...
Read MoreBanking & Regulation
Loans
Student loan borrowers have 32 days to leave the SAVE plan — miss July 1 and the government auto-enrolls you in Standard Repayment by September
A borrower carrying $35,000 in federal student loans at 5.5% interest could see their monthly payment jump from roughly $150 under an income-driven plan to about $380 under Standard Repayment. That swing, more than $2,700 a year, is what’s at stake for the millions of people still enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan as the...
Loans
The average HELOC rate just hit 7.41% and home equity loans 8.05% — tapping $50,000 of equity now costs about $3,700 a year in interest alone
Four years ago, a homeowner could pull $50,000 from a home equity line of credit and pay less than $1,500 a year in interest. That era is over. As of late May 2026, the average HELOC rate has climbed to 7.41%, and fixed home equity loans average 8.05%, according to Bankrate’s latest national survey. On...
Fees and Policy Changes
The OCC’s bank fee rule takes effect in 31 days — federal preemption overrides every state cap on interchange fees, including Illinois’s ban on tips and sales tax
In 31 days, a pair of interim final actions from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will give every national bank and federal savings association explicit authority to charge interchange fees on the full amount of a card transaction. The orders override Illinois’s Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, the first state law to ban...
Banking & Regulation
Trump’s May 19 executive order gave federal regulators 90 days to review every rule blocking fintechs from direct Fed access — with PayPal, Coinbase, and Stripe lined up for master accounts
On May 19, President Trump signed an executive order that put every federal financial regulator on a 90-day clock: identify every rule, guidance document, and application bottleneck that prevents fintech companies from obtaining Federal Reserve master accounts or bank-like charters. The directive, titled “Integrating Financial Technology Innovation into Regulatory Frameworks” and published on the White...
Loans
The CFPB just cleared the way for lenders to factor a borrower’s deportation risk into ability-to-repay determinations — tightening mortgage and credit-card approval for some non-citizens
Consider a borrower on an H-1B visa: six-figure salary, 780 credit score, five years of on-time payments. Until recently, federal regulators warned lenders not to treat that person differently from a U.S. citizen with the same financial profile. That warning no longer exists. In early 2026, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of...
Loans
The SBA’s 7(a) variable rate now caps at 12.25% after prime held at 6.75% through spring — a $250,000 working-capital loan now costs about $30,000 a year in interest alone
Borrow $250,000 through the SBA’s 7(a) program today, and you could owe roughly $30,625 in interest over the next 12 months without paying down a single dollar of principal. That is not a stress-test scenario. It is the straight math of a prime rate frozen at 6.75 percent and the maximum spread the SBA allows...
Housing & Real Estate
Mortgages and Insurance
The 30-year mortgage climbed to 6.53% this week — the second straight weekly increase after briefly touching a 6.41% low earlier in May — adding $30 a month to a $400,000 loan
Homebuyers who hesitated in early May just watched their window narrow. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.53%…
Market Moves
The median U.S. home just hit $417,800 in April — up just 0.4% year over year — the weakest annual appreciation since 2012 as inventory builds faster than sales revive
A homeowner who bought at the national median price a year ago has gained roughly $1,700 in value. In most…
Market Moves
April new home sales slumped to 622,000 — the slowest pace since 2022 — as builders sit on 9.4 months of unsold inventory and 32% of builders kept cutting prices in May
Across Sun Belt subdivisions from suburban Dallas to the outskirts of Orlando, finished homes are sitting on lots with no…
Retirement & Social Security
Retirement Planning
The Labor Department’s proposed safe harbor to add crypto and private equity to default 401(k) lineups closes public comments tomorrow — then moves to a final vote and OMB review
Most workers in a 401(k) plan never choose where their money goes. They get auto-enrolled, and a plan fiduciary picks the default fund on their behalf. According to Vanguard’s 2024 survey of its recordkeeping clients, roughly 60% of every dollar flowing into 401(k) plans lands in one of those default options. Now the Department of...
Social Security
Senate Democrats just filed a bill to add $200 a month for six months to every Social Security, SSI, and veterans benefit check — $1,200 per person total
Tens of millions of Americans who depend on Social Security, SSI, or veterans benefits could receive an extra $200 per month for six months under a bill filed by Senate Democrats, a temporary supplement that would total $1,200 per person if enacted. The proposal has not passed, no payments have been scheduled, and the bill...
Medicare
The 2027 Social Security COLA forecast just climbed to 3.9% — but the $15.70 Medicare Part B premium increase already projected will eat roughly a third of it
For the roughly 15 million retirees collecting Social Security checks of $1,200 a month or less, a 3.9 percent cost-of-living adjustment in 2027 would add about $47 to their monthly payment. That sounds like relief until the other side of the ledger comes into focus: Medicare Part B premiums are projected to rise by $15.70...
Medicare
Scammers are posing as Medicare fraud investigators and asking seniors to “verify” their numbers by phone — real Medicare never calls to verify anything
The voice on the line sounds official. The caller identifies himself as a Medicare fraud investigator, recites a case number, and warns that suspicious charges have appeared on the beneficiary’s account. To “secure” it, he asks the person to read back the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier printed on their card. The caller ID even shows a...
Retirement Planning
Workers aged 60 to 63 can now stash $11,250 in 401(k) catch-up contributions — but only for those four tax years before the limit reverts to $8,000 at 64
A worker who turns 60 this year and maxes out every available dollar in their 401(k) can now set aside $34,750 in a single tax year. That is not a typo, and it is not available to everyone. Starting in 2025 and continuing through the 2026 tax year, employees who are 60, 61, 62, or...
Retirement Planning
Required minimum distributions now start at age 73 — miss the December 31 deadline and the IRS penalty is 25% of what you should have withdrawn
A retiree who turned 73 last year and holds $500,000 in a traditional IRA owes the IRS a required minimum distribution of roughly $18,868, calculated using the Uniform Lifetime Table published in IRS Publication 590-B. If that money does not leave the account by December 31, the IRS will impose a 25 percent excise tax...
Social Security
The 2026 maximum Social Security benefit is $5,251 a month — but only workers who hit the max taxable wage for 35 years and delayed until 70 will ever see it
Somewhere in the United States, a 70-year-old who just filed for Social Security will receive a deposit of $5,251 this month. That person earned at or above the taxable wage cap for 35 straight years, never filed early, and waited until the last possible moment to claim. Almost no one else will see a number...
Retirement Planning
Workers over 50 who earned more than $145,000 in 2025 just lost the pre-tax 401(k) catch-up — the full $8,000 now has to go Roth starting with this year’s contributions
The first paychecks of 2026 delivered an unwelcome surprise to millions of older workers who earn six figures: their 401(k) catch-up contributions are now being taxed upfront, with no option to defer. Under a provision of the SECURE 2.0 Act that took full effect this year, anyone over 50 whose 2025 FICA wages from their...
Retirement Planning
Inherited IRAs from owners who died after 2019 must be drained within 10 years — and heirs whose parent already took RMDs owe a 25% penalty on any year’s missed withdrawal
Your mother passed away in 2021 at age 74, leaving you a $500,000 traditional IRA. She had been taking required minimum distributions for years. You rolled nothing over, took nothing out, and heard the IRS was waiving penalties while it sorted out the rules. That grace period is over. Starting with the 2025 tax year,...
Retirement Planning
A single-income household can still stash $7,500 in a spousal IRA for a non-working partner in 2026 — doubling the family’s tax-sheltered IRA capacity to $15,000
A family with one paycheck and two adults can shelter $15,000 a year in IRAs for 2026, split evenly between the working spouse and the partner who stays home. That is not a workaround or a loophole. It is a provision written directly into the tax code, and the IRS just made it slightly more...
Medicare
A healthy 65-year-old couple now faces about $345,000 in out-of-pocket health costs across retirement — and Fidelity’s estimate excludes long-term care and nursing home entirely
Picture a couple, both 65, both in good health, retiring this year with solid savings and Medicare cards in hand. According to Fidelity Investments, they should still expect to spend roughly $345,000 of their own money on health care before they die. That figure, drawn from Fidelity’s closely watched annual Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate,...
Social Security
The SSA now withholds 100% of monthly benefits to collect any new overpayment issued after March 27 — asking for a 10% rate or waiver within 30 days pauses collection
If the Social Security Administration flags you for an overpayment today, the agency will take your entire monthly check until the debt is paid off. Not 10 percent. Not a negotiated portion. Every dollar. That has been the reality since March 27, 2025, when SSA restored 100 percent withholding as the default recovery method for...
Retirement Planning
The 2026 Roth IRA income phase-out starts at $153,000 single and $242,000 joint — a backdoor conversion still works above the cap if you have no other pre-tax IRA balance
A software engineer in San Francisco earning $170,000 cannot contribute directly to a Roth IRA in 2026. Neither can a dual-income couple in Dallas pulling in $260,000 combined. The IRS has drawn the lines: the Roth IRA income phase-out begins at $153,000 of modified adjusted gross income for single filers and $242,000 for married couples...
Medicare
Medicare’s IRMAA surcharge adds about $900 a year to Part B premiums above $109,000 in retirement income — but one-time events like a home sale can be appealed with Form SSA-44
A retired teacher in suburban Phoenix sells the house she bought in 1987, pockets a six-figure gain, and moves into a smaller condo. Two years later, her Medicare Part B premium jumps by nearly $1,000 for the year. She has not gone back to work. Her pension has not changed. The only thing different on...
Retirement Planning
The 2026 HSA contribution cap just climbed to $4,400 for single coverage and $8,750 for family coverage — workers 55 and older can add an extra $1,000 catch-up on top
Americans with high-deductible health plans will be able to stash a little more money in their health savings accounts next year. Beginning January 1, 2026, the annual HSA contribution limit rises to $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage, according to Revenue Procedure 2025-19, published by the IRS in May 2025. That is...
Retirement Planning
The Labor Department’s proposed safe harbor to open default 401(k) lineups to crypto and private equity closes its public-comment window Monday — then moves to a final vote
Most Americans never choose what their 401(k) money is invested in. They get auto-enrolled, a target-date fund is selected for them, and their paycheck contributions flow into a mix of stocks and bonds they may never examine. That passive arrangement now sits at the center of a high-stakes federal rulemaking: the Labor Department has proposed...