Warren Cohen, Author at The Financial Wire

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The OCC’s bank fee rule takes effect in 27 days — federal preemption overrides every state cap on interchange fees, including Illinois’s ban on tips and sales tax

Warren Cohen3 months ago3 months ago013 mins

Restaurants, retailers, and card-issuing banks operating in Illinois will lose a state-level shield against interchange fees on tips and sales tax in less than a month. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued an interim final rule, effective June 30, 2026, that confirms national banks can charge non-interest fees, including interchange fees…

April housing starts fell to a 1.465-million annual rate — down 2.8% from March — and single-family starts dropped 9% to 930,000, the weakest pace since 2023

Warren Cohen3 months ago3 months ago013 mins

American homebuilders broke ground on fewer houses in April than at any point in more than two years, a pullback concentrated in single-family construction that threatens to deepen the country’s housing shortage. Total housing starts fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.465 million units, a 2.8% decline from March. Single-family starts dropped 9%…

a man laying in a bed with a cast on his arm

The VA just added hypertension, MGUS, male breast cancer, urethral cancer, and paraurethral cancer to the PACT Act presumptive list — veterans with those diagnoses skip the exposure-proof step

Warren Cohen3 months ago3 months ago08 mins

Veterans diagnosed with hypertension, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS), male breast cancer, urethral cancer, or cancer of the paraurethral glands can now file for service-connected benefits without assembling individual proof of toxic exposure during deployment. The Department of Veterans Affairs added all five conditions to its PACT Act presumptive list, shifting the burden of…

Sutter Home Winery in St. Helena, Napa County, California. This house is the one featured on the wine labels.

Home insurance is set to rise for the 5th straight year — California faces a 16% jump and Nebraska and Louisiana households now pay over $6,000 a year

Warren Cohen3 months ago3 months ago09 mins

American homeowners are heading into a fifth consecutive year of rising insurance premiums, with households in disaster-prone states bearing the steepest costs. California faces a projected 16 percent jump tied to emergency rate settlements, while families in Nebraska and Louisiana already pay more than $6,000 a year. The increases reflect a collision of wildfire and…

tax forms with dollars pen and calculator

Quarterly estimated taxes are due in 12 days — self-employed and gig workers who underpay by June 15 get hit with an 8% IRS penalty plus daily interest

Warren Cohen3 months ago3 months ago08 mins

Self-employed workers, freelancers, and gig-economy earners face a fast-approaching deadline: the second-quarter estimated tax installment is due June 15, 2026. Those who underpay or skip the payment entirely risk an addition to tax that is calculated as an annualized percentage of the shortfall, plus interest that begins accruing the day after the deadline and does…

Young Asian man working with documents in surveillance center

Top bank reward checking accounts now pay 5.30% APY on the first $10,000 — but the rate drops to 0.05% any month you miss 10 debit transactions

Warren Cohen3 months ago3 months ago012 mins

Checking account holders who meet strict monthly spending rules can earn more than 100 times the return of those who fall short, creating a sharp divide between advertised headline rates and what most customers actually collect. Several banks now market reward checking accounts paying around 5.30% APY on the first $10,000 in deposits, a figure…

OPEC+ ministers meet June 7 to decide July output — seven members already raised June production 188,000 barrels a day, the third unwind of the 2.2-million-barrel voluntary cut

Warren Cohen3 months ago3 months ago017 mins

Seven oil-producing countries will pump an additional 188,000 barrels per day starting in June, the third step in rolling back the 2.2-million-barrel voluntary production cut that OPEC+ members adopted to prop up prices. The group’s ministers are scheduled to reconvene on June 7 to decide whether July output will rise further, hold steady, or slow…

Graduate hat on dollar banknotes closeup Tuition payment

The new student loan Repayment Assistance Plan launches July 1 — payments scale to AGI, drop $50 per dependent, and unpaid interest is subsidized for borrowers who pay full on time

Warren Cohen3 months ago3 months ago013 mins

Federal student loan borrowers with dependents and moderate incomes stand to see their monthly bills drop sharply when the Repayment Assistance Plan takes effect on July 1, 2026. Created by Public Law 119-21, which was enacted on July 4, 2025, RAP ties payments to a borrower’s adjusted gross income through a progressive percentage schedule, cuts…

Title: Federal National Mortgage Association, or "Fannie Mae," headquarters building in Washington, D.C Physical description: 1 transparency : color ; 4 x 5 in. or smaller Notes: Title, date, and keywords provided by the photographer.; Digital image produced by Carol M. Highsmith to represent her original film transparency; some details may differ between the film and the digital images.; Forms part of the Selects Series in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive.; Gift and purchase; Carol M. Highsmith; 2011; (DLC/PP-2011:124).; Credit line: Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHA just opened mortgage lending to VantageScore 4.0 — and FICO 10T historical credit data starts publishing this summer for a broader 2027 rollout

Warren Cohen3 months ago3 months ago05 mins

Mortgage borrowers gained a new option on April 22, 2026, when the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac simultaneously cleared VantageScore 4.0 for use in home loan underwriting. The move breaks a decades-long period in which FICO was the only credit scoring model accepted by the government-sponsored enterprises and the…

The 2026 Earned Income Tax Credit pays up to $7,830 for families with 3 or more qualifying children — but earned income above $59,899 single makes you ineligible entirely

Warren Cohen3 months ago3 months ago08 mins

Working families with three or more children stand to receive a larger Earned Income Tax Credit in 2026, with the maximum credit rising to $8,231, up from $8,046 for tax year 2025. But the credit phases out entirely once a single filer’s earned income crosses the threshold, creating a sharp cutoff that can erase thousands…

Warren Cohen

The OCC’s bank fee rule takes effect in 27 days — federal preemption overrides every state cap on interchange fees, including Illinois’s ban on tips and sales tax

April housing starts fell to a 1.465-million annual rate — down 2.8% from March — and single-family starts dropped 9% to 930,000, the weakest pace since 2023

The VA just added hypertension, MGUS, male breast cancer, urethral cancer, and paraurethral cancer to the PACT Act presumptive list — veterans with those diagnoses skip the exposure-proof step

Home insurance is set to rise for the 5th straight year — California faces a 16% jump and Nebraska and Louisiana households now pay over $6,000 a year

Quarterly estimated taxes are due in 12 days — self-employed and gig workers who underpay by June 15 get hit with an 8% IRS penalty plus daily interest

Top bank reward checking accounts now pay 5.30% APY on the first $10,000 — but the rate drops to 0.05% any month you miss 10 debit transactions

OPEC+ ministers meet June 7 to decide July output — seven members already raised June production 188,000 barrels a day, the third unwind of the 2.2-million-barrel voluntary cut

The new student loan Repayment Assistance Plan launches July 1 — payments scale to AGI, drop $50 per dependent, and unpaid interest is subsidized for borrowers who pay full on time

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHA just opened mortgage lending to VantageScore 4.0 — and FICO 10T historical credit data starts publishing this summer for a broader 2027 rollout

The 2026 Earned Income Tax Credit pays up to $7,830 for families with 3 or more qualifying children — but earned income above $59,899 single makes you ineligible entirely

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