The financial news that actually matters
An Alabama retiree watched his life savings vanish after a person he trusted online steered him into cryptocurrency deposits on unfamiliar platforms. Federal agents later seized $222,000 connected to the scheme, but the retiree’s path to recovering those funds remains uncertain. The case fits a pattern that federal agencies have tracked with growing alarm: romance…
Depositors at FDIC-insured banks hold protection up to $250,000 for each ownership category they maintain, a rule that determines how much money the federal government will return if a bank fails. That cap applies per depositor and per bank, meaning a married couple with a joint account and separate individual accounts at the same institution…
Millions of American households earning less than $30,000 a year are running out of room in their budgets, and the discount retailer that depends on them most is feeling the squeeze. Dollar General has described its core shoppers as “very stretched,” a characterization that aligns with federal data showing persistent price increases on groceries and…
Eddie Bauer LLC, the 104-year-old outdoor retailer, filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the District of New Jersey on Saturday, setting the stage for a court-supervised sale of the business. All 175 of the company’s U.S. and Canadian stores face permanent closure if no buyer emerges during the process. The filing came with…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Texas resident Nathan Fuller with running a crypto fraud scheme that collected approximately $12.3 million from about 150 investors. Fuller allegedly pitched proprietary AI-powered trading bots capable of high-frequency crypto arbitrage, a claim the SEC says was fabricated. The alleged conduct stretched from at least October 2022 through…
Homebuyers shopping for a 30-year fixed mortgage now face an average rate of 6.55 percent, a level that adds hundreds of dollars to monthly payments compared with early 2025 and arrives just as futures traders have shifted their bets toward a Federal Reserve rate increase rather than a cut. The move puts borrowers and the…
Taxpayers who contribute to a Roth IRA hold a flexibility that most other retirement accounts do not offer: the money they put in can come back out at any time without triggering income tax or an early-withdrawal penalty. That right rests on a specific set of federal ordering rules, codified in regulation and tracked through…
Walmart shoppers are pumping less than 10 gallons of gas per trip for the first time since 2022, a shift the retailer’s chief financial officer has called “an indication of stress.” The pattern points to real-time pressure on lower-income households as fuel prices stay elevated and broader inflation continues to climb. With consumer sentiment falling…
American households are paying sharply more for staple goods than they were at the start of the year. The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, climbed from 2.9% year-over-year in February 2026 to 4.1% by May, a steep acceleration over just four months. Grocery prices, restaurant tabs, and broader consumer…
Workers saving for retirement through a 401(k) or IRA will have more room to stash pre-tax dollars starting in 2026, with the elective deferral ceiling climbing to $24,500 and the IRA cap rising to $7,500. Those higher limits, announced by the IRS, let savers build bigger balances faster. But larger balances carry a less obvious…