The financial news that actually matters
Homeownership has become harder to reach for the typical American household, and the numbers behind that shift have grown difficult to ignore. The National Association of Realtors’ Housing Affordability Index, one of the housing market’s most widely followed gauges, fell to its weakest level on record in data going back to 1989, reflecting the combined…
Medicare beneficiaries will pay $202.90 per month for Part B coverage in 2026, up from $185 in 2025. The increase, announced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, raises the standard premium by $17.90 a month, or about $215 over the course of a year before any doctor visits, outpatient procedures, or lab work…
For many homeowners, the housing boom that followed the pandemic is now showing up in a less welcome place. That place? The property tax bill. Across major cities, newly updated rolls of property tax assessments are translating years of price appreciation into higher taxable values. Owners who once ignored the process are now paying closer…
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. That is because 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…