The financial news that actually matters
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…
Home insurance is becoming one of the fastest-rising housing costs in America, and the increase is no longer confined to a handful of disaster hotspots. Premiums are climbing because insurers are pricing in a harsher reality: more destructive wildfires, more expensive flooding, and repair costs that keep rising after every major event. What was once…
Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment for 2026 is set at 2.8%, giving beneficiaries a modest increase after the unusually large raises of the past few years. For the average retired worker, that translates to about $56 more per month, according to federal estimates. The increase reaches far beyond retirees alone. The adjustment affects Social Security and…
American homeowners are sitting on one of the largest paper fortunes in modern U.S. housing history. Collective home equity has climbed to roughly $35 trillion, a towering gap between what owner-occupied housing is worth and what households still owe on it. On paper, that is a remarkable show of financial strength. In practice, much of…
National apartment rents have started to move in the other direction after years of relentless increases, giving tenants some long-awaited leverage. The shift is modest, but it matters. After rent spikes helped drive household stress and keep inflation stubborn, a softer market is finally emerging as thousands of newly completed apartments reach lease-up at the…
Social Security’s financing debate just took a sharper turn. A new Congressional Budget Office forecast moved up the expected depletion date for the program’s main retirement trust fund. The new estimate puts the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance fund, the account that pays retirement and survivor benefits, on track to run out of reserves in 2032….
Most retirement savers picture their nest egg as locked away. Money goes into a 401(k) or IRA, sits inside familiar funds, and waits for retirement. However, the reality is less reassuring. Federal rules allow brokers and other financial firms to invest some of the cash and collateral tied to customer accounts in approved investments, and…
Adoptive families filing 2025 federal tax returns have access to a benefit that could put real cash back in their pockets, even if they owe little or no income tax. For the first time in years, part of the federal Adoption Credit is refundable, allowing eligible filers to receive up to $5,000 per child as…
A handful of popular tax deductions created by the 2025 tax law are set to expire after 2028. The breaks cover seniors, tipped workers, and employees who earn overtime. Millions of Americans who may have come to rely on them could face a bigger tax bill when they disappear. Below is a quick look at…