The financial news that actually matters
Servers, bartenders, hairstylists, and other tipped workers across the United States can now shield up to $25,000 of their annual tip income from federal income tax when they file their 2025 returns. The Treasury Department and the IRS finalized regulations under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill that define which occupations qualify and how the new…
Georgia residents who lose money to scammers at cryptocurrency kiosks will soon have a direct path to demand refunds from the machines’ operators. Gov. Brian P. Kemp signed HB 945, enacted as Act 478, creating a consumer-protection regime for virtual currency kiosks that takes effect July 1, 2026. The law gives new customers a 72-hour…
Americans flying for the Fourth of July this year will pay roughly $830 for a domestic round-trip ticket, a 5% jump from 2025, according to AAA’s booking data for the holiday period. The increase lands as AAA projects 72.2 million people will travel during a nine-day window around Independence Day, a figure that would set…
American drivers who saw their car insurance bills shrink last year should brace for a reversal. After premiums dropped 6% in 2025 to an average of $2,144, costs are projected to climb back to $2,158 by the end of 2026. That national figure, however, masks a sharp divide: drivers in 35 states will pay more,…
Pet owners searching for a lost dog or cat now face a new threat: scammers armed with AI tools that can generate fake photos and videos showing a missing animal in distress. The Federal Trade Commission flagged this tactic in a June 2026 alert, warning that fraudsters steal real pet images posted online and use…
Target Corporation posted its strongest sales growth in four years during the first quarter of fiscal 2026, drawing more shoppers into stores even as those same customers spent less on the apparel and home goods categories that generate some of the retailer’s highest margins. The quarter ended May 2, 2026, and the results arrived alongside…
The GENIUS Act, signed into law on July 18, 2025, gave federal banking regulators one year to finalize the rules that will govern who can issue payment stablecoins in the United States. That clock is now ticking toward its final months, and the FDIC has already approved a proposed rule covering reserves, redemption, risk management,…
American drivers now pay sharply more to insure their cars than they did just five years ago. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics motor vehicle insurance component of the Consumer Price Index has climbed 64 percent over that span, a pace that dwarfs the broader CPI-U increase for all items. The gap between what households…
CoreWeave ended 2025 carrying $21.615 billion in total principal debt, nearly triple the $8.033 billion on its books just twelve months earlier. That rapid buildup now sits behind shares held in broad equity indexes, meaning millions of Americans with 401(k) accounts tied to index funds have indirect exposure to a company whose borrowing grew faster…
More than 500,000 identity-theft victims are stuck waiting for the IRS to resolve their cases, with average processing times stretching to roughly 20 months. For filers who depend on tax refunds to cover rent, groceries, or medical bills, that delay can mean nearly two years of financial limbo. The Taxpayer Advocate Service has formally set…