The financial news that actually matters
As of May 27, 2026, Parent PLUS borrowers who have not yet consolidated their federal loans have roughly 34 days to file paperwork that will determine whether they can ever access income-driven repayment. After June 30, the door closes for good. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on July 4, 2025, eliminates…
A bill that would add $200 a month to every Social Security, SSI, and veterans benefit check for six months has been sitting in a Senate committee since last October, and as of early June 2026, not a single dollar has gone out the door. The Social Security Emergency Inflation Relief Act (S.3078), introduced by…
The IRS will not send you a reminder, and there is no grace period. On June 15, 2026, the second quarterly estimated tax payment for the year comes due. Every self-employed worker, freelancer, and gig-platform earner who falls short will owe a penalty on the unpaid balance, plus interest that compounds daily until the money…
Your phone buzzes: “IRS Notice: Your tax refund of $3,284.00 is pending. Verify your identity to receive payment.” A blue link sits right below. It looks official. It is completely fake. The IRS has never sent refund notifications by text message, and the agency has stated explicitly that it never will. Every text, email, or…
For the past several years, Congress has made veterans wait. Each fall, as Social Security recipients learn their automatic cost-of-living adjustment, roughly 5.3 million veterans drawing disability compensation and hundreds of thousands of surviving military families have had to hope that lawmakers would pass a separate bill granting them the same inflation protection. Some years,…
Picture a 75-year-old homeowner who has lived in the same house for decades, never borrowed a dime against a reverse mortgage, and owes nothing on the original loan balance. Now picture that homeowner receiving a foreclosure notice. Not because the bank called the loan due or the balance ballooned beyond the home’s value, but because…
A 63-year-old retiree who claimed Social Security early and still works part-time earning $30,000 a year might assume both a paycheck and a full monthly benefit will land in the same bank account. In 2026, they will not get both. The Social Security Administration will withhold $2,760 of that retiree’s annual benefits, suspending entire monthly…
Consider a 65-year-old single filer who retired in January 2026, has not yet claimed Social Security, and is living off savings. Her modified adjusted gross income for the year will land around $40,000. She wants to convert $30,000 from her traditional IRA to a Roth. Combined MAGI: $70,000. That keeps her under the $75,000 phaseout…
A borrower earning $40,000 a year with $35,000 in federal student loans was paying about $50 a month under the SAVE repayment plan. Under the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan, that same person would owe closer to $350, a sevenfold increase that hits before rent, groceries, or child care get any cheaper. That jump is now…
Atlantic hurricane season officially opens on June 1, 2026. For a coastal homeowner whose dwelling is insured at $400,000 with a 5% wind deductible, that date carries a specific price tag: $20,000 out of pocket before the insurance company writes a check. Not $500. Not $1,000. Twenty thousand dollars, due at the worst possible moment,…