The financial news that actually matters
Older taxpayers filing 2026 returns stand to combine two separate tax breaks that, together, could cut taxable income by as much as $8,050. The first is the inflation-adjusted additional standard deduction of $2,050 for filers aged 65 and older under IRC Section 63(f). The second is the newer $6,000 enhanced senior deduction, which can be…
HexClad, the cookware brand backed by celebrity endorsements and aggressive online marketing, agreed to pay $2.5 million to resolve allegations that its products labeled “toxic-free” actually contained PFAS, the synthetic compounds widely known as forever chemicals. The settlement centers on California’s restrictions against misleading chemical-safety claims on cookware, and it raises a pointed question: did…
Six Jamaican nationals face federal charges for allegedly running a sweepstakes fraud operation that impersonated Publishers Clearing House, targeted elderly Americans across the country, and siphoned their savings and Social Security payments. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut announced the charges, describing a scheme in which the defendants purchased lead lists of…
Workers younger than 59½ now have a narrow but real escape hatch from the 10% early-withdrawal penalty on retirement savings. A provision added to the tax code by SECURE 2.0 lets participants in 401(k) and similar defined-contribution plans pull up to $2,500 a year, penalty-free, to pay qualified long-term-care insurance premiums. The rule took effect…
A Chicago-area investment adviser allegedly funneled his own father-in-law’s retirement accounts into a pooled fund, used the inflated asset base to attract outside investors, and then lost more than $3.6 million through trading failures and personal spending, according to parallel federal enforcement actions filed this month. John Myers, who operated through Sterling Capital, LLC, and…
The U.S. Treasury promises that every Series EE savings bond purchased today will be worth twice its purchase price after 20 years, regardless of the fixed interest rate it earns along the way. With the current EE bond rate set at 2.40 percent, that fixed rate alone would not double a bond’s value within two…
Robert D. Christensen and Anthony M. Matic, co-owners of a local real estate investment company in Oregon, have been sentenced to federal prison for running a fraud scheme that stretched from January 2019 to June 2023. Christensen received 63 months behind bars, while Matic was sentenced to 33 months. The scheme promised investors returns of…
Roughly one in seven Americans has unclaimed money sitting in a state treasury, and most of them have no idea it exists. State governments across the country collectively hold an estimated $70 billion in dormant assets, ranging from forgotten bank accounts and insurance payouts to old 401(k) balances and utility deposits. The money keeps piling…
Americans age 65 and older gained access to a $6,000 income deduction for Tax Year 2025, but claiming it requires a brand-new IRS form that did not exist before this filing season. The deduction, created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law as Public Law 119-21, stacks on top of the existing…
Four people tied to a decade-long, $72 million Ponzi scheme run through a Toledo-based investment firm called Northwest Capital were sentenced this week in Lucas County Court of Common Pleas. Richard Scheich, James Delverene, Doug Miller, and Nancy Rathbun each pleaded guilty after a joint investigation by the Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Securities…