The financial news that actually matters
For many homeowners, the housing boom that followed the pandemic is now showing up in a less welcome place: the property tax bill. Across major cities, newly updated assessment rolls are translating years of price appreciation into higher taxable values, and owners who once ignored the process are paying closer attention. In neighborhoods where values…
Americans who inherited an IRA in the last few years are entering a new phase of the rulebook. After several rounds of IRS transition relief, the agency is now enforcing the inherited IRA 10-year payout rules for distribution years beginning in 2025, which means beneficiaries who miss a required withdrawal can face a penalty that…
Homeowners insurance is getting harder to find in parts of California, Florida, and Texas, and the problem is no longer confined to a few zip codes after a bad storm. In all three states, insurers have been cutting exposure, limiting new business, tightening underwriting, or refusing to renew some policies as catastrophe losses mount and…
Foreclosure pressure was building across the U.S. housing market heading into the end of 2025, with more borrowers falling behind even as the broader economy avoided the kind of collapse that defined the last housing bust. The shift has been gradual rather than explosive, but it has become difficult to ignore. Monthly and quarterly foreclosure…
Manufacturers planning new plants or major expansions just got a tax incentive that can materially change the economics of a project. The new Section 168(n) factory tax deduction allows eligible businesses to deduct 100% of the cost of certain production buildings in the year those properties are placed in service, rather than stretching the write-off…
Home Depot beat Wall Street expectations in its fourth-quarter earnings report, but the results still carried a warning about the American homeowner. Beneath the headline beat was a customer base that is putting off ambitious renovations and sticking to smaller repairs, replacement purchases, and practical upkeep. That matters because Home Depot is more than a…
More than 1.1 million U.S. homeowners ended 2025 owing more on their mortgages than their homes were worth, the highest tally since early 2018. That does not mean the country is heading into a replay of the last housing crash. It does mean the easy-equity era that defined much of the pandemic housing boom has…
Families claiming the federal child tax credit for the 2025 tax year are set to see a slightly larger benefit when they file their returns, after a new tax law raised the maximum credit to $2,200 per qualifying child from $2,000. The change gives many parents a bigger tax break starting with returns filed in…
The age at which many Americans must begin taking required minimum distributions from retirement accounts is set to rise again under SECURE 2.0, moving to 75 in 2033 for savers who fall into the later birth cohorts covered by the law. The shift extends the window for tax-deferred growth and gives retirees more control over…
Homeowners across the country absorbed a sharp jump in property taxes after rising home values and local budget pressures fed into new assessments. In 2023, property taxes levied on single-family homes reached $363.3 billion, up 6.9% from a year earlier, while the average bill climbed to about $4,062. For many households, the increase landed at…