The financial news that actually matters
A general consumer finance category covering everyday money decisions, budgeting, saving, debt management, credit behavior, and personal financial improvement strategies.
Millions of American households holding cash in standard savings accounts are watching their money shrink in real terms, even as banks advertise “interest-bearing” deposits. The national average savings rate stood at just 0.39% for the $2,500 tier as of February 2026, a figure that trails consumer price increases by a wide margin. That gap between…
Key Takeaways Contact the credit card issuer first and ask the fraud department to close the unauthorized credit card account. Report identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov to create an Identity Theft Report for disputes and recovery. Pull credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion and check for unauthorized accounts, inquiries, personal loans, auto loans, insurance applications,…
Millions of American households are watching their credit-card statements climb, with the typical balance now sitting near $7,000 per person. That figure, drawn from the Federal Reserve’s tracking of revolving consumer debt, reflects years of rising balances that have not retreated even as borrowing costs have increased. The real pressure falls hardest on households already…
Millions of people avoid pulling their own credit reports each year because they believe the act itself will drag down their score. That fear is unfounded. A consumer requesting a personal credit report triggers only a soft inquiry, which carries zero scoring penalty, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The distinction between soft and…
Every American consumer can lock down their credit files at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion without paying a cent, a protection that federal regulators call the single strongest defense against new-account identity theft. The right has been codified in federal law since the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act took effect, and it extends…
More families are juggling late payments on credit cards, auto loans, and student debt at the same time, according to new credit-bureau analysis prepared for Bloomberg News. Researchers at the Urban Institute report that student loan delinquency has climbed back to prepandemic levels and is now concentrated among borrowers carrying larger balances and more types…
Any consumer in the United States can lock down their credit files at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion at no cost, blocking most attempts to open fraudulent accounts. That right, established by federal statute and in effect since Sept. 21, 2018, requires each bureau to accept freeze requests by phone, website, or mail and to lift…
Scammers posing as distressed grandchildren or threatening government agents stole billions of dollars from Americans last year, and three federal agencies agree on one blunt rule: no legitimate person or institution will ever demand payment by gift card or wire transfer. Reported losses to fraud hit $12.5 billion in 2024, and gift cards remain one…
Older Americans lost an average of more than $38,000 each to fraud last year, according to the FBI, with gift cards still ranking among the most common payment methods scammers demand. That per-victim figure lands hardest on people over 60, many of whom are on fixed incomes and have little chance of recovering funds once…
Cardholders carrying revolving credit card debt at an average rate of 21.52 percent face a steep cost for sticking with minimum payments. Federal regulations require every monthly statement to spell out exactly how long payoff will take and how much extra interest will pile up, yet the gap between reading that warning and acting on…