The financial news that actually matters
With the calendar winding down, financial advisors tend to focus clients on moves. Emphasis are on moves that still have a real chance to affect this year’s tax picture. The best year-end tax moves are not broad resolutions or generic reminders to save more. They are deadline-sensitive decisions tied to payroll, investment sales, charitable giving,…
U.S. public pension funds finished 2025 in much better shape than they appeared to be in midyear, as a late market rebound lifted returns and improved funding levels across much of the country. The final numbers gave lawmakers and retirement officials a more comfortable year-end story to tell, especially after a shaky spring had raised…
Americans looking to file taxes without paying software fees still have a path to do it, but the landscape has changed. For the 2026 filing season, the Internal Revenue Service is steering eligible taxpayers to its long-running Free File program. The program offers no-cost federal tax preparation through private-sector partners. The shift matters because the…
Medicare beneficiaries with high prescription drug bills got a major change in 2025: annual out-of-pocket costs for covered Part D drugs are now capped at $2,000. For people who rely on expensive cancer treatments, specialty medicines, or brand-name therapies for chronic conditions, that limit replaces the old system that could leave costs climbing long after…
The U.S. housing market looked a little less punishing for buyers in November, though not dramatically easier. More homes were listed for sale, asking prices softened modestly, and properties took longer to move than they did a year earlier. That combination did not amount to a housing correction, but it did mark another month in…
The IRS spent years trying to force major 1099-K reporting threshold changes in how payment apps and online marketplaces report transactions to taxpayers. What began as a push to lower the Form 1099-K reporting threshold to $600 ended in a sharp reversal. That is because Congress restored the long-standing federal standard of more than $20,000…
Mortgage application activity moved higher in early December as borrowing costs stayed near their lowest levels of the year, offering buyers and refinancers a modest opening after a housing market that has spent much of 2025 under pressure. The gain was real, but it was not the kind of broad-based surge that would signal a…