The financial news that actually matters
The call comes in on a Tuesday afternoon, and the caller ID reads “Social Security Administration.” A stern voice on the other end tells you your benefits are about to be suspended because of suspicious activity tied to your account. You need to act now. Purchase $2,000 in gift cards, read the numbers over the…
Most tax-advantaged accounts ask you to pick two benefits. A traditional 401(k) gives you a deduction going in and tax-deferred growth, but you pay income tax on every dollar you withdraw. A Roth IRA flips that: no deduction upfront, but qualified withdrawals are tax-free. The health savings account doesn’t force the trade-off. Contributions are tax-deductible,…
If you run a restaurant and watch your card-processing bill climb every month, here is the part that stings: you are paying a swipe fee on the sales tax you collect for the state and on the tip your customer leaves for the server. Illinois passed a law to stop that. On June 30, 2026,…
In 2024, Utah’s state treasurer cut checks totaling $37.4 million to residents who had no idea the money existed. The funds came from forgotten bank accounts, final paychecks never picked up, and utility deposits left behind after a move. One mid-sized state, one fiscal year, $37.4 million returned. Now multiply that across all 50 states….
One in five credit reports contains an error that can cost you a loan – and you can now pull all three bureaus free every week A stranger’s unpaid credit card balance sitting on your file. A mortgage payment marked 90 days late when it was never missed. A collections account from a hospital visit…
In fiscal year 2022-23, the most recent year for which the state has published results, North Carolina’s treasurer office mailed thousands of checks totaling more than $108 million to residents who had searched the state’s NCCash.com portal and discovered money they had no idea existed. Old utility deposits. Insurance refunds that bounced back. Final paychecks…
Social Security’s full retirement age reaches 67 this year for everyone born in 1960 or later – claiming at 62 now locks in a 30% smaller check If you were born in 1960, this is the year you turn 67, and it marks a quiet but significant shift in Social Security history. For the first…
When Brittany Cloyd, a Kentucky teacher, went to an in-network emergency room in 2021 for complications during pregnancy, she was treated by an out-of-network physician she never chose. The bill ran into the thousands. “I did everything right,” Cloyd told lawmakers during congressional testimony that helped build the case for federal action. “I went to…
When the IRS opened its electronic filing system for 2025 tax returns in early 2026, it accepted a deduction that had never existed before: up to $25,000 in qualifying tips, subtracted directly from a worker’s taxable income. A full-time bartender in Las Vegas reporting $22,000 in gratuities could keep roughly $2,600 that would have gone…
A parent who borrowed a federal PLUS loan five or ten years ago to help cover tuition may not realize that one administrative step now stands between them and the repayment relief they are counting on. That step is consolidating into a Direct Consolidation Loan, and it must be completed, with the new loan fully…