The financial news that actually matters
January tends to bring a flood of financial resolutions, but advisors say the best reset is usually a simple one. Instead of overhauling everything at once, they often steer clients toward a short list of moves that can improve cash flow, strengthen savings habits, and make the rest of the year easier to manage. That…
A new year is bringing a long list of rule changes for workers, renters, homeowners, and patients across the country. On January 1, 2026, a mix of wage hikes, housing-related protections, and healthcare reforms is taking effect at the state level, with California, Minnesota, and Oregon driving some of the biggest shifts. What makes this…
When the Bureau of Economic Analysis first published its June 2024 estimate, the personal saving rate landed at 3.4% of disposable personal income. That was a strikingly weak number. Coming after months of concern about stubborn living costs and thinning household buffers, it fed a simple story: Americans were still spending, but they were not…
Families using 529 plans to save for college head into 2026 with a mix of steadier federal rules and more movement at the state level. The biggest national threshold did not rise this time around: the federal annual gift-tax exclusion stays at $19,000 per recipient for 2026. But that does not mean nothing changed. In…
American consumers pushed online holiday spending to a new high during the 2025 season, underscoring how firmly digital shopping is now woven into the way people buy gifts. U.S. online sales reached a record $257.8 billion from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31, according to Adobe Analytics, while separate retail tracking showed e-commerce growing faster than…
When the federal student loan payment pause finally ended, roughly 28 million borrowers were pushed back into repayment at once. The restart closed a relief program that had shielded households from monthly bills and interest charges for more than three years, but it did not mark a clean return to normal. Instead, it opened a…
American shoppers spent a record $964.4 billion during the 2023 holiday season, a 3.8% increase from the year before, cementing one of the clearest signs that consumer spending remained surprisingly durable even as higher interest rates and inflation continued to pressure household budgets. The number quickly became a benchmark for retailers because it showed that…
American consumers appear to have carried solid spending momentum into November as the holiday shopping season moved into full swing, with early retail signals pointing to another healthy month for household demand. The official government reading on personal spending had not yet been released, but the available evidence suggested shoppers were still spending at a…