The financial news that actually matters
Roughly 7.7 million federal student loan accounts have fallen into default, representing about $180 billion in unpaid debt. At the same time, the one repayment plan designed to keep monthly bills affordable for lower-income borrowers has been permanently blocked by federal courts. Together, these two developments have created the most precarious moment for student loan…
Ticket buyers who used StubHub during a three-day stretch last May are about to get money back. The Federal Trade Commission announced in April 2026 that StubHub must pay $10 million in automatic refunds to customers who purchased U.S. live-event tickets between May 12 and May 14, 2025, after the agency charged the company with…
As of late May 2026, roughly 8 million federal student loan borrowers enrolled in the defunct SAVE repayment plan have about 62 days before loan servicers start sending notices that will force a decision. Beginning July 1, 2026, those servicers will notify SAVE borrowers that they have 90 days to switch to a different repayment…
A routine blood draw at an independent doctor’s office might cost a Medicare patient $20 in copays. The same blood draw, performed by the same type of technician in a clinic recently acquired by a hospital system, can run two to three times that amount, thanks to an added “facility fee” that the patient never…
Barclays set aside roughly $1.1 billion to cover bad loans in the first three months of 2026, a 33 percent jump from the same quarter a year earlier and a clear signal that one of Europe’s biggest banks is bracing for a tougher credit cycle. The British lender reported £0.8 billion in credit impairment charges…
For years, selling on Amazon meant accepting a growing list of fees as the cost of reaching the platform’s massive customer base. But since early 2024, when Amazon introduced an inbound placement fee and a low-inventory-level penalty on top of already-rising fulfillment and advertising charges, many merchants say the economics have tipped from tight to…
A graduate student starting a social work program this fall at a school that charges $65,000 a year could, until now, borrow every dollar of that cost through a single federal loan. Starting July 1, 2026, that option disappears. New graduate and professional students will no longer be eligible for Direct PLUS loans, the federal…
Paying $550 a year for a credit card used to feel like a stretch. That number is now a relic. Chase has raised the annual fee on its Sapphire Reserve to $795, and American Express has pushed the Platinum Card to $895. Together, the back-to-back increases represent the steepest hikes either card has ever carried,…
Picture a 2022 SUV purchased at the height of the pandemic car-buying frenzy for $42,000. Three years and roughly $18,000 in payments later, the owner still owes $30,000 on a vehicle now worth about $24,000. That $6,000 gap is negative equity, and it is showing up at dealerships across the country this spring as pandemic-era…
A gallon of milk in Baltimore could soon cost you more than it costs your neighbor, not because of a sale or a coupon, but because an algorithm decided you’d pay it. Maryland Governor Wes Moore wants to make sure that never happens. In April 2026, Moore announced legislation that would ban grocery retailers, including…