The financial news that actually matters
For the first time, millions of tipped workers, overtime earners, and car-loan holders are claiming brand-new federal tax deductions this filing season, and the early results are showing up in refund checks. Through the week ending March 20, 2026, the average federal refund reached $3,571, according to IRS filing-season statistics. That is $3,571 minus last…
A teacher in suburban Dallas who drives 45 minutes each way to work told a local CBS affiliate in May 2026 that she now spends more on gasoline every month than on her car payment. She is not an outlier. Since the United States launched military operations against Iran in late February, American households have…
Somewhere right now, a college senior is building a post-graduation budget around an $80,000 salary. They are picking apartments, estimating student loan payments, and mapping out a life that assumes nearly $6,700 a month before taxes. The problem: most employers have a very different number in mind. The Class of 2026 expects to earn an…
Cape Coral, Florida, once one of the most sought-after housing markets in the country, now holds a distinction no homeowner wants: the steepest price decline of any major U.S. metro. Median sale prices in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area fell about 9% year over year in early 2026, according to quarterly data from ATTOM, a…
Turn 67 in 2025, file for Social Security with a perfect earnings record, and the government will send you $4,018 a month. That is the absolute ceiling for a worker who earned at or above the taxable maximum for 35 straight years and claimed right at full retirement age. After a 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment,…
Shopify just delivered record revenue, record gross merchandise volume, and a gross margin that most software companies would frame and hang on the wall. The stock dropped 7%. The Canadian e-commerce company reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $3.17 billion, up 34% from $2.36 billion a year earlier, according to a Form 8-K filed with the…
A gallon of regular gasoline cost $4.48 at the national average as of June 2, 2026, according to AAA’s daily fuel gauge. The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly retail survey confirms the number. That is roughly 50 percent higher than the $2.94 average the EIA recorded in early 2025, before the Iran conflict disrupted tanker…
For two years, would-be homebuyers told themselves the same thing: wait for rates to drop. By late May 2026, many of them stopped waiting. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 6.22% for the week ending May 22, its highest point in a month, according to the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey published through…
The first paychecks of 2026 delivered a jolt to millions of older workers who earn six figures. Take-home pay dropped, even though salaries stayed the same. The culprit: a new federal rule that forces higher-earning employees to make their 401(k) catch-up contributions on an after-tax Roth basis, wiping out an upfront tax deduction many had…
Millions of Americans who paid penalties or interest on federal tax returns filed during the pandemic may be owed refunds they don’t know about. The problem: the IRS has no plans to send the money on its own, and the deadline to claim it is July 10, 2026. The Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent watchdog…