Jetta Productions Inc | Digitalvision | Getty Images If you earned overtime pay in 2025, you could see a bigger refund during the 2026 filing season based on a new tax break enacted via President Donald Trump‘s “big beautiful bill.” But missing details on tax forms, such as on your W-2 from an employer, could…
Parents who took out student loans for their child’s education could be excluded from affordable repayment plans and loan forgiveness programs in the coming months if they don’t take certain steps soon, consumer advocates warn. “I’m hearing a lot of anxiety from parents about losing access to income-driven repayment plans,” said Kathleen Boyd, a certified…
Lechatnoir | E+ | Getty Images Employers don’t appear eager to mix their 401(k) plans with emergency savings options for workers, new research suggests. Although companies have been permitted since 2024 to allow $1,000 emergency withdrawals from retirement savings and to offer 401(k)-linked emergency savings accounts, there’s been little adoption, according to a Vanguard report…
Momo Productions | Digitalvision | Getty Images For homeowners who sell their house later in life, that timing may come with a cost, new research suggests. Once sellers reach about age 70, they start getting lower sale prices for their houses compared with younger homeowners, according to a January research brief published by the Center…
Carl Smith | Fstop | Getty Images Social Security benefits are typically adjusted every year to keep up with rising prices. Social Security beneficiaries saw record-high COLAs in 2022 and 2023, when the annual increases climbed to 5.9% and 8.7%, respectively. Yet as the pace of inflation subsided, the size of the annual COLA increase…
D-keine | E+ | Getty Images The average tax refund is 10.9% higher so far this season, compared to about the same point in 2025, according to early filing data from the IRS. The 2026 tax season opened Jan. 26, and the average refund amount was $2,290 as of Feb. 6, up from $2,065 about…
Cavan Images | Cavan | Getty Images At the start of 2025, during President Joe Biden’s final weeks in office, lawmakers pushed forward with last-minute major legislation that provides Social Security benefit increases to certain public pensioners. The Social Security Fairness Act was passed with an overwhelming bipartisan majority in both the House and Senate,…
A worker stocks beef filets in the meat section of a grocery store in Washington. Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images Inflation decelerated in January as price pressures eased across a range of consumer staples such as food and gasoline, though they remain elevated for certain categories, including electricity and home heating,…
Signs of rising financial stress, particularly among middle-income Americans, are warning flags about the U.S. economy’s health in 2026, experts say. Spending growth for higher-income Americans remained relatively stable between January 2025 and January 2026, according to internal transaction data from Bank of America Institute released this week. However, spending growth slowed for lower- and…
Hispanolistic | E+ | Getty Images The average tax refund is 22% higher so far this season, Treasury Secretary and acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday. The 2026 tax season opened Jan. 26, and the IRS has not yet released official filing data. It’s unclear how many days of returns…