The financial news that actually matters
An unauthorized charge is not just a nuisance to sort out whenever there is time — it is a countdown. Federal law gives account holders real power to reverse a fraudulent or mistaken transaction, but that power fades on a deadline measured from the statement, not from the day the fraud is discovered. Miss the…
Overdraft charges quietly climbed back toward record levels after a brief retreat, and for a retiree living on a fixed monthly deposit, one misjudged debit-card swipe can trigger a fee larger than the purchase that caused it. What many older account holders were never told is that the most common kind of overdraft is entirely…
Most of the people eligible for a new $5.5 million data-breach settlement have probably never heard of the company paying it. Doxim, Inc. is a behind-the-scenes vendor that prepares account statements and tax forms for credit unions, which means it holds sensitive financial details for members who never dealt with it directly. A December 2023…
A privacy lawsuit over one of the most sensitive kinds of personal data — reproductive health information logged inside a phone app — has produced a $59.5 million settlement that is now open for claims. The case targeted Flo Health, maker of the widely used Flo period- and pregnancy-tracking app, along with Google and the…
Comcast has agreed to a $117.5 million settlement over a 2023 data breach that exposed personal information belonging to roughly 35.8 million Xfinity customers, and the window to file a claim is still open. Eligible customers can request a flat $50 payment without submitting any documentation, and the deadline to do so has been extended…
Identity thieves rarely need to touch an existing account to do damage. The more lucrative move is to use a stolen name, birth date, and Social Security number to open brand-new credit — a card, a loan, a store account — and run up debt that lands on someone else’s record. Retirees are frequent targets,…
A phone rings during dinner. The caller says he is from the IRS, that a tax debt has gone unpaid, and that a warrant for arrest will be issued within the hour unless the balance is settled immediately — with gift cards read off over the phone. The threat is designed to trigger panic and…
Paying bills the way it has always been done — a paper check, sealed in an envelope, dropped in the mailbox with the little red flag raised — has quietly become one of the riskiest money habits in retirement. Thieves have learned that a single stolen envelope can be worth far more than the amount…
The corner drugstore and the neighborhood supermarket are quietly disappearing from parts of the map, and the trend shows no sign of slowing this year. Retail-closure trackers that tally announced shutdowns across major chains count roughly 1,400 U.S. stores and restaurants slated to close in 2026, a running figure that analysts expect to climb as…
For most of the past several years, a tax cut that touched nearly every household was living on borrowed time. The larger standard deduction enacted in 2017 was scheduled to expire at the end of 2025, which would have shrunk the flat amount filers subtract from their income and pushed millions back toward the older…