The financial news that actually matters
Starting June 9, 2026, federal bank examiners will no longer be able to push banks into closing customer accounts based on political beliefs, religious affiliations, or social views. The new rule, finalized by the FDIC and fellow banking regulators, strips examiners of a tool that critics say was used to quietly cut off lawful businesses…
Heirs who inherit a Roth IRA face the same 10-year withdrawal deadline that applies to inherited traditional accounts, but they keep every dollar they pull out. That split between a fixed timeline and zero federal income tax creates a planning window unlike anything else in the retirement system. For families sitting on large inherited Roth…
In the spring of 2024, more than one in four U.S. banks told the Federal Reserve they had raised the bar for commercial real estate borrowers. The net share of lenders that tightened CRE standards hit 26 percent, according to the Fed’s April 2024 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS). It was the sharpest pullback…
If you are one of the roughly 8 million federal student loan borrowers still enrolled in the SAVE repayment plan, the clock is ticking. The U.S. Department of Education announced that loan servicers will begin sending transition notices on July 1, 2026, giving each borrower 90 days from the date of their individual notice to…
On May 19, 2026, the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond closed at a yield of 5.19%, according to the Treasury Department’s daily par yield curve. That is the highest closing level since 2007, before the financial crisis rewired the global economy and ushered in more than a decade of historically low interest rates. And a majority…
A taxpayer who owed $10,000 on April 15 and filed an extension without sending a check has already racked up roughly $200 in IRS penalties and interest as of late June 2026. By October 15, that figure will climb to approximately $650, and on a $25,000 balance, the damage tops $1,600. The extended filing deadline…
A Medicare beneficiary filling a specialty cancer prescription that costs $15,000 a year will, at some point in 2026, walk up to the pharmacy counter and owe nothing. Not a reduced copay. Not a percentage of the list price. Zero. That moment arrives when their qualifying out-of-pocket spending on covered Part D drugs crosses $2,100…
A restaurant owner in Chicago who runs $50,000 a month in credit card sales might pay $400 or more in interchange fees just on tips and sales tax. Illinois passed a law to eliminate those charges. In 29 days, the federal government will undo that protection. On June 30, 2026, an interim final rule from…
Jerome Powell is not leaving the Federal Reserve. He is stepping down as chair, but he intends to keep his seat on the Board of Governors until his term expires on January 31, 2028, according to his official Fed biography. That makes him the first outgoing chair to remain on the board since Marriner S….
Running a childcare center for employees has never been cheap. In 2026, staffing, licensing, and facility costs in major metro areas can easily exceed $1 million a year for a single site. Until last summer, the federal tax code offered employers a credit that topped out at $150,000, a ceiling that had not moved since…