The financial news that actually matters
Midsize banks across the United States stand to pay lower deposit insurance bills after the FDIC board voted on June 25, 2026, to raise the asset threshold separating “large” from “small” institutions from $10 billion to $30 billion. The change, which also trims related assessment fees, shifts dozens of banks onto less demanding scorecards and…
Workers saving through a 401(k), 403(b), or most 457 plans can set aside up to $24,500 in 2026, a $500 increase over the 2025 cap. The IRA contribution limit rises to $7,500 for the same tax year. Both changes, driven by the annual cost-of-living adjustment process, give savers slightly more room to shelter income from…
Florida homeowners face an average annual insurance bill approaching $8,500, more than double the national average, according to federal data tracking premiums in disaster-prone states. The gap between what Floridians pay and what the rest of the country pays has widened steadily over the past five years, driven by hurricane-risk modeling, reinsurance costs, and a…
Sixteen class-action settlements are accepting claims this month, and eleven of them require no proof of purchase or documentation at all. Among the highest-profile cases, the Federal Trade Commission is actively processing refunds tied to Amazon Prime subscriptions, with claim notices first sent out in January 2026. For consumers who qualify, the barrier to collecting…
Investors who hold a single total stock market index fund gain exposure to thousands of companies in one transaction, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. That breadth of ownership, achieved without juggling multiple accounts or paying active management fees, sits at the center of a long-running debate: do retail investors need several funds…
Twenty-five people now stand convicted in an international email fraud scheme that stole approximately $215 million from more than 1,000 victims spread across 47 states and 19 countries. A federal jury in Toledo, Ohio, delivered the final three guilty verdicts on April 24, 2026, after a four-day trial, closing a prosecution that ranks among the…
Investors who split their money between stocks and bonds have long counted on one simple pattern: when equities fall, government bonds tend to hold steady or rise, cushioning the blow. That relationship has been tested sharply since 2021, when inflation surprises pushed both asset classes down together. An IMF analysis published on February 18, 2026,…
Borrowers whose monthly debt payments exceed 43% of their gross income still face a harder path to mortgage approval, even though federal regulators loosened the strict cap years ago. That 43% threshold, first codified in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s General Qualified Mortgage definition and echoed by FHA benchmark ratios of 31% for housing costs…
Anyone who inherited a traditional IRA from a family member who died after December 31, 2019, now faces a hard deadline: the entire account must be emptied within ten years of the original owner’s death. The rule, created by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019, ended the old “stretch” strategy…
Volkswagen plans to cut 19,000 jobs from its German workforce, a reduction that CEO Oliver Blume is expected to detail for investors at the company’s annual general meeting. The figure represents the largest single workforce reduction announced by any major employer this month. Roughly 20,000 workers have already agreed to leave through voluntary early-exit packages…