The financial news that actually matters
New home construction permits in the United States fell 3.1% in January 2026, dropping to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,376 thousand units, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s monthly residential construction report. The pullback comes as borrowing costs remain elevated, a backdrop that can weigh on new-project economics. For prospective homebuyers and renters…
Homeowners in a handful of states pay dramatically less in property taxes than the national norm, a gap that can amount to thousands of dollars in annual savings. Federal data from the U.S. Census Bureau and analysis from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy show that states with the lowest effective property tax rates often…
Older Americans who claim Social Security before reaching full retirement age got a little more room to keep working in 2026 without triggering benefit withholding. The annual earnings test limit for beneficiaries who remain below full retirement age for the entire year rose to $24,480, up from $23,400 in 2025. That change may not sound…
Median asking rents are easing in enough large U.S. markets that a threshold which once looked untouchable is starting to give way again. In a dozen major metros, median asking rents are now back under $2,000 a month, a notable turn after the pandemic-era run-up pushed that level from warning sign to baseline in many…
The 2026 tax filing season is officially underway, which means millions of Americans can now begin sending in their federal returns for the 2025 tax year. For early filers, the opening of tax season is the moment when returns stop sitting in a queue and start moving through the IRS system for processing. For most…
Workers 50 and older will be able to put more money into workplace retirement plans in 2026, with the IRS raising the standard catch-up contribution limit to $8,000. That is up from $7,500 in 2025 and comes alongside an increase in the regular employee deferral cap to $24,500. For older Americans trying to make up…
As the 2026 filing season approaches, federal tax officials are again warning that scam activity tends to rise when Americans begin gathering documents, checking refund status, and looking for ways to cut what they owe. The familiar tactics are still around, but they are getting sharper, faster, and more convincing. For taxpayers, that means a…
Several tax breaks available to households in 2025 are scheduled to disappear once the calendar turns to 2026, creating a narrower set of ways to reduce federal taxes. That matters for families weighing whether to move up home upgrades, lock in marketplace health coverage assumptions, or finish projects they had planned to tackle later. For…
The Internal Revenue Service has raised the annual 401(k) contribution limit to $24,500 for 2026, up from $23,500 in 2025. For workers who already save aggressively through an employer plan, that is a meaningful increase. It creates another $1,000 of tax-advantaged room, whether contributions are made on a traditional pre-tax basis or as Roth salary…
The IRS is discontinuing Direct File for the 2026 filing season, shutting down the government-built tax filing option after expanding it just a year earlier and branding it as a permanent free alternative for taxpayers. The reversal leaves eligible filers heading into tax season with fewer government-run options and sends them back toward a mix…