The financial news that actually matters
Millions of Americans saving for retirement anchor their long-term plans to a single number: the S&P 500’s roughly 10 percent average annual return, dividends included. That figure, drawn from a dataset stretching back to 1928, shapes contribution rates, withdrawal strategies, and the assumptions baked into target-date funds. Yet the gap between the long-run average and…
American households carrying credit-card debt are falling behind on payments at a rate not seen since before the pandemic. The seasonally adjusted delinquency rate on credit-card loans at all commercial banks reached 2.9% in the first quarter of 2026, matching levels last recorded in 2019, according to the Federal Reserve’s quarterly release updated on May…
Checking account holders who face occasional shortfalls can avoid steep overdraft penalties by connecting a savings account to their primary account, allowing the bank to move money automatically when the balance dips below zero. Federal regulators have documented this option as one that typically costs far less than a standard overdraft fee, yet many consumers…
Investors who sell a profitable stock on day 364 face a federal tax rate on that gain that can be roughly double the rate they would pay by waiting just two more days. The difference between short-term and long-term capital gains treatment is defined by a single threshold: whether the asset was held for more…
Investors who hold stocks, bonds, or cash at a brokerage firm stand to recover up to $500,000 per customer if that firm collapses and cannot return their assets. The protection comes from the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, a nonprofit created by federal law, which advances funds during a court-supervised liquidation to cover shortfalls in customer…
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Paul Regan with conspiracy, securities fraud, and wire fraud for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme that collected more than $60 million from over 300 investors. The indictment, unsealed in the Southern District of New York, accuses Regan of funneling new investor money into payments to earlier participants through two entities,…
Homebuyers who pay upfront fees to lower their mortgage interest rate face a simple but often overlooked math problem: each discount point costs about one percent of the total loan amount, and the savings only catch up to that cost after years of on-time payments in the same home. For a borrower taking out a…
Workers facing mass layoffs could soon get clearer information about the help available to them before their last day on the job. A federal rule change would require employers covered by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to describe, inside the mandatory 60-day advance notice, exactly how they plan to connect displaced employees with…
Major Wall Street banks have begun clustering their year-end S&P 500 forecasts in the 7,800 to 8,000 range, a bet that the U.S. economy can sustain enough momentum to keep corporate earnings growing through 2026. The forecasts arrive as fresh government data on GDP and long-term fiscal projections give strategists new inputs to stress-test those…
A mortgage broker operating across borders left roughly 1,700 investors facing losses that reportedly reached $300 million before authorities arrested him abroad. The fallout has since landed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, where Chapter 15 proceedings tied to a Canadian receivership are now assigned to a federal judge. The…