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 Americans who filled a Chantix prescription to quit smoking may be owed a refund, and the window to claim it is closing. Pfizer has agreed to a $44 million settlement to resolve a class action alleging that its popular smoking-cessation drug was contaminated with a nitrosamine, a compound regulators treat as a probable…
A data breach at a national food-distribution company has produced a modest cash settlement that eligible people can collect without documenting a single dollar of loss. True World Holdings, the parent of a large seafood and sushi-ingredient distributor, agreed to a $325,000 fund to resolve claims that a 2024 cyberattack exposed sensitive personal records. Anyone…
A class-action settlement worth $59.5 million is paying cash to people who used a popular period- and pregnancy-tracking app, and the claim window is open now. The case accused the app’s maker and two technology partners of quietly sharing sensitive health information without proper consent, and eligible users can file for a payment without producing…
The federal government has now returned about $100 billion in import tariffs that the Supreme Court struck down, but the money is flowing to corporations rather than to the households that paid higher prices at the register. A court filing disclosed the milestone in early August 2026, and the pattern it revealed is stark: large…
The federal government is preparing to put a $1,000 investment stake into a brokerage-style account for a whole generation of American children, and the fine print on how that money can be invested is now out for public comment. The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have published proposed regulations spelling out how the…
A set of new food-stamp rules is reshaping who has to work to keep benefits, and the change reaches deeper into the older population than the program’s requirements ever have. The age at which adults must meet a monthly work rule to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits has risen to 64, and a long-standing…
Among the tools older Americans use to organize an estate, the revocable living trust stands out for its flexibility. Unlike arrangements that lock in decisions, this kind of trust can be rewritten, funded, or torn up entirely for as long as the person who created it is alive and mentally competent. When that person dies,…
Retirement income is a favorite target for thieves, and the most vulnerable moment is often the plainest one: a benefit check sitting in a mailbox or a payment diverted before the recipient notices. Two ordinary tools, direct deposit and automatic account alerts, close much of that opening. Neither requires special expertise, and together they let…
A common misunderstanding about estate planning is that signing a will keeps an estate out of court. It does the opposite in one important sense: a will is the very document a probate court reads and enforces. Having one settles who inherits and who administers the estate, but the estate still generally passes through probate,…
Serving as the executor of an estate is often treated as an honor, a sign the deceased trusted a family member or friend to wind up their affairs. It is also a legal job with real financial exposure. An executor who hands out inheritances too soon, before the estate’s taxes and debts are cleared, can…