David Keller, Author at The Financial Wire

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Student loan borrowers have 40 days to leave the SAVE plan — miss July 1 and the government auto-enrolls you in standard repayment by September

David Keller5 months ago5 months ago015 mins

About two years ago, roughly 8 million federal student loan borrowers were placed into administrative limbo. Courts blocked the SAVE repayment plan before it could fully launch, servicers stopped collecting payments, and monthly bills dropped to zero. Now that limbo has an expiration date. The U.S. Department of Education has confirmed that loan servicers will…

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Your “fixed” mortgage payment isn’t fixed — rising property taxes and insurance are adding about $180 a month to 65% of escrow accounts

David Keller5 months ago5 months ago015 mins

A homeowner in suburban Houston who locked in a 2.9% mortgage rate in early 2021 recently opened her annual escrow analysis letter and found a $247 increase in her monthly payment. Her interest rate hadn’t changed. Her principal balance was shrinking on schedule. But her county had reassessed her home’s taxable value up by 28%,…

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Social Security’s final May payment lands May 27 for birthdays after the 20th — but 3.8% inflation has already erased the 2.8% COLA’s $56 raise

David Keller5 months ago5 months ago011 mins

When Social Security’s last May deposit hits bank accounts on May 27, 2026, retirees born after the 20th of the month will collect a check that looked like a raise back in January but has since been overtaken by rising prices. The 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment added roughly $56 a month to the average retirement…

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SNAP work requirements just expanded to ages 55 through 64 — an estimated 2.4 million Americans are projected to lose benefits over the next decade

David Keller5 months ago5 months ago019 mins

The following scenarios are hypothetical composites, not based on specific interviews, but they reflect circumstances documented in federal labor and nutrition data for adults ages 55 through 64. Picture a 60-year-old warehouse worker in rural Ohio who picks up 25 hours a week but can’t get more shifts. A 57-year-old home health aide in Mississippi…

Workers aged 60 to 63 can now stash an extra $11,250 in 401(k) catch-up contributions this year — a “super catch-up” most eligible savers miss

David Keller5 months ago5 months ago016 mins

A 61-year-old engineer in Dallas maxing out her 401(k) in 2025 could have socked away $3,250 more than her 58-year-old colleague down the hall, and most people in her position never touched the extra room. That gap exists because of a provision buried in the SECURE 2.0 Act that created a higher catch-up contribution limit…

Two young women looking at a tablet with credit card.

Student loan borrowers have 41 days to leave the SAVE plan — after July 1, the government auto-enrolls you in standard repayment at triple the payment

David Keller5 months ago5 months ago012 mins

A federal student loan borrower earning $40,000 a year with $35,000 in debt was paying roughly $120 a month under the SAVE repayment plan, according to estimates from the Department of Education’s Loan Simulator. Under the Standard Repayment Plan, that same borrower would owe about $370. That is not a hypothetical scenario playing out years…

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Krispy Kreme’s data breach settlement pays up to $3,500 for documented losses — and the claim deadline is June 21

David Keller5 months ago5 months ago010 mins

The deadline to file a claim in the Krispy Kreme data breach settlement is Saturday, June 21, and anyone who received a notification letter has only days left to act. The settlement offers up to $3,500 per person for documented out-of-pocket losses tied to the late 2024 cyberattack that knocked out the doughnut chain’s online…

a man and a woman are hugging in front of a house

For the first time in 2026, more homes hit the market than sold — giving buyers the most negotiating leverage since the pandemic

David Keller5 months ago5 months ago010 mins

A year ago, a buyer in suburban Virginia who asked for a home inspection risked losing the deal. This spring, that same buyer can request repairs, negotiate closing credits, and still have time to sleep on it. The shift is showing up in hard numbers: in April 2026, new listings across the Mid-Atlantic outpaced new…

Young woman small business owner with a credit card payment system

Thirteen consumer-finance rules now sit unenforced in 2026 — overdraft caps, junk-fee limits, and payday protections still exist on paper but no longer bite

David Keller5 months ago5 months ago013 mins

Maria Gonzalez, a home health aide in San Antonio, pulled her credit report in April 2026 and found the same $4,200 emergency-room bill that had dragged her score below 600 two years earlier. A federal rule finalized in January 2025 was supposed to strip medical collections from credit reports nationwide. Months later, a Texas judge…

Housing affordability has improved eight straight months as inventory hit a 3-year high of 1.47 million homes — the first real opening for buyers since 2020

David Keller5 months ago5 months ago012 mins

Buyers have not had this much room to maneuver since before the pandemic scrambled the housing market. The National Association of Realtors’ Housing Affordability Index has climbed for eight consecutive months through March 2026, the longest sustained improvement since mortgage rates began their sharp ascent in 2022. Active inventory hit 1.47 million homes in April,…

David Keller

Student loan borrowers have 40 days to leave the SAVE plan — miss July 1 and the government auto-enrolls you in standard repayment by September

Your “fixed” mortgage payment isn’t fixed — rising property taxes and insurance are adding about $180 a month to 65% of escrow accounts

SNAP work requirements just expanded to ages 55 through 64 — an estimated 2.4 million Americans are projected to lose benefits over the next decade

Workers aged 60 to 63 can now stash an extra $11,250 in 401(k) catch-up contributions this year — a “super catch-up” most eligible savers miss

Student loan borrowers have 41 days to leave the SAVE plan — after July 1, the government auto-enrolls you in standard repayment at triple the payment

Krispy Kreme’s data breach settlement pays up to $3,500 for documented losses — and the claim deadline is June 21

For the first time in 2026, more homes hit the market than sold — giving buyers the most negotiating leverage since the pandemic

Thirteen consumer-finance rules now sit unenforced in 2026 — overdraft caps, junk-fee limits, and payday protections still exist on paper but no longer bite

Housing affordability has improved eight straight months as inventory hit a 3-year high of 1.47 million homes — the first real opening for buyers since 2020

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