The financial news that actually matters
A 62-year-old worker earning $120,000 can now put up to $35,750 into a 401(k) in 2026. That is roughly $4,250 more than the same worker could have contributed last year, and it reflects the largest single-year expansion of late-career retirement saving capacity in more than a decade. The jump comes from two changes landing at…
A baby born on the Fourth of July last year already has $1,000 waiting in a savings account she has never seen. So does every other child born in the United States since that date. The money is real, it is federally funded, and starting July 4, 2026, parents will finally be able to access…
For the first time in more than two years, the U.S. economy may have created fewer jobs in a single month than it takes to keep pace with population growth. Economists polled by Reuters and Bloomberg expect that employers added roughly 55,000 nonfarm jobs in April 2026, a steep decline from the 178,000 positions created…
On May 8 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will publish the April 2026 Employment Situation report, and the number economists are bracing for is not a comfortable one. The Reuters consensus survey of private-sector forecasters puts the estimate at roughly 55,000 new nonfarm payroll jobs. If that holds, it would represent…
If you bank at Wells Fargo and overdraw your checking account by $6 buying coffee, you’ll pay a $35 fee for the privilege. That was supposed to change. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule in December 2024 that would have capped overdraft charges at the nation’s largest banks at as little as $5….
In 2014, a licensed firearms dealer in Wisconsin opened a letter from his bank and learned his account was being shut down. No fraud allegation. No overdraft. No explanation beyond a form paragraph about a “business decision.” He was one of dozens of gun retailers, payday lenders, and tobacco sellers who reported identical treatment during…
Savers earning north of 4% on their cash have had a remarkably long run. The Federal Reserve just extended it, but also made clear it won’t last forever. At its May 2025 meeting, the Fed held its benchmark interest rate steady for the third consecutive time, keeping the federal funds rate in the 5.25%-to-5.50% target…
Jerome Powell will stop running the Federal Reserve on May 15, but he will not stop voting on interest rates. And the White House says that is fine. When his term as chair expires later this month, Powell plans to remain on the Board of Governors, a seat he holds through January 31, 2028. The…
Kevin Warsh is one vote away from running the Federal Reserve. The Senate’s full vote is expected May 11, 2026, and it could be the most partisan Fed chair confirmation in history. Warsh cleared the Senate Banking Committee on a strict 13-to-11 party-line split, with every Republican voting yes and every Democrat voting no, according…
A gallon of milk costs 18% more than it did two years ago. The average credit card is charging north of 20% interest. And the 3.8% raise the typical American worker received over the past year? After inflation, it barely moved the needle. That is the math confronting households in the spring of 2026, even…