The financial news that actually matters
American drivers are paying $3.99 a gallon for regular gasoline at the national level, a sharp retreat from the $4.56 peak recorded in late May 2026. The drop of roughly 57 cents per gallon arrived faster than many analysts expected, raising questions about whether falling crude prices or swelling regional fuel inventories deserve more credit…
A two-year increase in Social Security’s full retirement age, from 67 to 69, would shrink a typical retiree’s monthly check by $345 to $741, depending on when they file and when they were born. The Congressional Budget Office has modeled exactly this scenario, and the Senate Budget Committee’s Democratic leadership has called it what the…
The Federal Trade Commission is alerting consumers to a new scam that disguises malware installation as a routine CAPTCHA verification. Instead of asking users to identify traffic lights or crosswalks, the fake CAPTCHA box instructs them to press a specific keyboard sequence that silently pastes and runs malicious code. The tactic exploits a basic assumption…
Savers who keep cash in a standard bank account are earning a fraction of what top online competitors pay, with the gap between the best available rates and the national average now stretching to roughly tenfold. The FDIC’s posted national rate for savings deposits has stayed well below half a percent, while a subset of…
American drivers are paying less than $4 a gallon for regular gasoline for the first time since March, a relief tied directly to the reopening of oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The price drop followed the U.S. Treasury Department’s issuance of General License U on March 20, 2026, which cleared certain Iran-related…
Millions of homeowners facing renewal notices in 2026 have a concrete way to fight back against rising premiums: shopping around before signing. Federal data shows that average homeowners insurance costs rose 3% annually in real terms between 2019 and 2024, with steeper increases concentrated in disaster-prone regions. Projected rate growth of roughly 4% this year,…
Patients of Cardiovascular Consultants who had protected health information exposed in a data breach can file claims for up to $5,000 each through a class-action settlement, but the window closes on July 1. With fewer than three weeks left, affected individuals face a narrow timeline to determine eligibility, gather documentation, and submit their claims. The…
Stolen-identity refund fraud has cost the U.S. Treasury billions of dollars, according to the Department of Justice, and the single most direct defense any taxpayer can deploy against it is free. The IRS offers a six-digit Identity Protection PIN that blocks anyone else from filing a federal tax return under a given Social Security number…
Taxpayers who owe the IRS money will see the cost of carrying that debt jump sharply on July 1, 2026, when the agency’s underpayment interest rate rises to 7 percent from 6 percent this quarter. The one-percentage-point increase, driven by a mechanical formula tied to the federal short-term rate, means every dollar of unpaid tax,…
Millions of tipped and hourly workers across the United States gained access to new federal tax deductions for 2025, with qualified tips deductible up to $25,000 and overtime pay deductible up to $12,500 for single filers or $25,000 for joint filers. The deductions were enacted through H.R. 1, the reconciliation measure passed under H. Con….