David Keller, Author at The Financial Wire

Filers earning over $1 million face an IRS audit rate of about 1 in 38 in 2026 — versus 1 in 313 for households under $200,000, the lowest audit risk on record for middle-income earners

David Keller3 months ago3 months ago013 mins

A wage earner in Dallas who reports $85,000 on a W-2 and claims the standard deduction has, statistically, almost no chance of sitting across from an IRS examiner this year. A hedge-fund partner in Greenwich pulling seven figures through a web of K-1s faces odds roughly eight times higher. That contrast, already stark, is on…

The FDIC’s new “debanking” rule takes effect in 11 days — after June 9, banks can no longer close your account because of your political views

David Keller3 months ago3 months ago015 mins

As of May 29, 2026, a joint final rule from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC, and the National Credit Union Administration is 11 days from taking effect. When the FDIC released a batch of internal documents in early 2025, the letters inside confirmed what gun dealers, crypto firms, and religious…

a woman sitting at a table looking at her cell phone

Federal law gives you 10 business days to move money out of an account a bank decides to close — but the bank isn’t required to tell you why it closed it unless an adverse credit mark triggered the decision

David Keller3 months ago3 months ago014 mins

Your debit card stops working on a Tuesday. By Friday, a letter arrives: your bank is closing your account. You have 10 business days to withdraw your funds. The letter offers no explanation. When you call, the representative reads from a script that restates what the letter already said. No reason. No appeal. No next…

Aerial view of destroyed house roof and walls damaged of hurricane in Florida Natural disaster and its consequences

Hurricane season starts in 3 days — and most standard home policies pay only depreciated “actual cash value” on roofs over 10 years old, cutting claim checks by up to half

David Keller3 months ago3 months ago011 mins

A homeowner in Galveston with a 14-year-old asphalt shingle roof and a $15,000 replacement estimate could collect barely $8,000 from a standard insurance policy after a hurricane. The rest, thousands of dollars, would come out of pocket. That scenario is not hypothetical. It is how “actual cash value” roof provisions work in a growing number…

Banking problem mobile service shocked woman angry woman talking on phone worried with bank fraud

One phone call asking for a “goodwill adjustment” can erase a late-payment mark from a credit report — most major card issuers quietly approve first-time requests within 30 days

David Keller3 months ago3 months ago020 mins

A single missed credit card payment can crater a FICO score by 60 to 110 points, according to FICO’s scoring breakdown. (FICO has published research showing that range for consumers starting near 780, though the specific data set is not linked from its public education pages.) For someone sitting at 780, that kind of drop…

a large building with columns on the front of it

The OCC’s new bank fee rule takes effect in 32 days — your state can no longer cap the swipe fees banks charge on tips, sales taxes, or tipped service charges

David Keller3 months ago3 months ago014 mins

On June 30, 2026, a federal preemption order will strip Illinois of the power to stop nationally chartered banks from collecting swipe fees on credit card tips and sales taxes. The state’s Interchange Fee Prohibition Act was supposed to take effect one day later, on July 1. That single-day gap is not a coincidence. The…

Confused senior husband and wife paying bills on Internet

Every Roth IRA conversion triggers its own separate 5-year clock — touching converted money before that date adds a 10% penalty even for filers already over 59½

David Keller3 months ago3 months ago016 mins

A 57-year-old engineer converts $80,000 from a traditional IRA into a Roth in January 2024, planning to let it grow tax-free through retirement. Three years later, at 60, she pulls $30,000 to cover a roof replacement. She is past 59½, so she assumes the withdrawal is penalty-free. Then her tax preparer delivers the bad news:…

The sign for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation mounted on the exterior wall of a building. 550 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20429.

Both FDIC and NCUA cap deposit insurance at $250,000 per person per bank — and naming a second owner on a joint account doubles the coverage to $500,000 with no extra paperwork

David Keller3 months ago3 months ago012 mins

A married couple keeps $400,000 in a savings account at a single bank, titled in one spouse’s name only. If that bank fails tomorrow, federal deposit insurance covers $250,000. The remaining $150,000 is exposed. Had both spouses been listed as co-owners on the same account, the entire $400,000 would have been insured. No second bank,…

The 30-year mortgage just held at 6.47% heading into June — pricing the typical median-home buyer out by about $1,150 a month compared with January’s 5.75% rate floor

David Keller3 months ago3 months ago014 mins

Five months ago, a buyer shopping for a median-priced U.S. home could lock in a 30-year fixed mortgage near 5.75 percent, a level that, if reached, would represent the lowest reading on the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey since late 2024. (Freddie Mac’s PMMS showed rates in the 6.6 to 6.9 percent range through…

a large cargo ship in the middle of the ocean

The New York Fed just confirmed that U.S. households absorb nearly 90% of the tariff bill — roughly $1,300 a year per family, even after two Supreme Court defeats struck down the original orders

David Keller3 months ago3 months ago016 mins

A family of four in Columbus, Ohio, is still paying roughly $1,300 more per year on imported goods because of tariffs that the Supreme Court has since declared illegal. That figure comes from applying the pass-through rate established by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to the dollar volume of duties collected…

David Keller

Filers earning over $1 million face an IRS audit rate of about 1 in 38 in 2026 — versus 1 in 313 for households under $200,000, the lowest audit risk on record for middle-income earners

The FDIC’s new “debanking” rule takes effect in 11 days — after June 9, banks can no longer close your account because of your political views

Federal law gives you 10 business days to move money out of an account a bank decides to close — but the bank isn’t required to tell you why it closed it unless an adverse credit mark triggered the decision

Hurricane season starts in 3 days — and most standard home policies pay only depreciated “actual cash value” on roofs over 10 years old, cutting claim checks by up to half

One phone call asking for a “goodwill adjustment” can erase a late-payment mark from a credit report — most major card issuers quietly approve first-time requests within 30 days

The OCC’s new bank fee rule takes effect in 32 days — your state can no longer cap the swipe fees banks charge on tips, sales taxes, or tipped service charges

Every Roth IRA conversion triggers its own separate 5-year clock — touching converted money before that date adds a 10% penalty even for filers already over 59½

Both FDIC and NCUA cap deposit insurance at $250,000 per person per bank — and naming a second owner on a joint account doubles the coverage to $500,000 with no extra paperwork

The 30-year mortgage just held at 6.47% heading into June — pricing the typical median-home buyer out by about $1,150 a month compared with January’s 5.75% rate floor

The New York Fed just confirmed that U.S. households absorb nearly 90% of the tariff bill — roughly $1,300 a year per family, even after two Supreme Court defeats struck down the original orders

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