Xavier Lorenzo | Moment | Getty Images As many Americans see higher tax refunds this season, some are facing payment delays amid the IRS push to phase out paper checks. House Ways and Means Committee Democrats this week sent a letter to Treasury Secretary and acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent, seeking answers about the more…
After the Supreme Court struck down a large portion of President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda last month, the possibility of getting tariff dividend checks was seemingly discarded too, experts said. “Tariff dividends were a long shot from the beginning,” certified financial planner Stephen Kates, a financial analyst at Bankrate, told CNBC at the time. Any such broad-based benefit program would…
Ariel Skelley | Digitalvision | Getty Images Potential homebuyers who’ve been looking forward to the spring selling season may be watching with trepidation as interest rates on mortgages tick higher. As of Thursday, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a conforming loan balance — that is, $832,750 or less — was 6.35%,…
Amid a war in Iran, inflation pressures, a weakening job market and an uncertain outlook for tariff policy, Federal Reserve officials will meet next week and announce a decision on interest rates. The federal funds rate, set by the Federal Open Market Committee, is the rate at which banks lend to one another overnight, but it…
A school bell from Milford, Pennsylvania, stands in front of the Department of Education’s headquarters on March 06, 2025 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News | Getty Images The U.S. Department of Education has scaled back its oversight of the companies that manage federal student loans, a new congressional watchdog report found….
Milan Markovic | E+ | Getty Images If you’re married and in a single-income household, there’s still time to boost your 2025 retirement savings through a lesser-known strategy. The move entails using a spousal individual retirement account, which is a separate Roth or traditional IRA for non-earning spouses. The last chance to make retroactive contributions…
Kate Wieser | Moment | Getty Images Elevated oil prices may push up inflation in the coming months, which could lead to higher estimates for the 2027 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. “Geo/political tensions are driving up the price of oil right now which will continue to drive up my estimates of the COLA,” Mary Johnson,…
An increasing number of Americans are turning to balance transfers and personal loans to consolidate and manage debt. It can save them money in the short term, but without a change in spending habits, that strategy is likely to fail, experts say. “If they didn’t fix whatever issues were causing them to overspend and charge…
High gas prices are listed at Chevron gas station in Los Angeles on March 9, 2026, as gasoline prices surge amid the ongoing war with Iran. Frederic J. Brown | Afp | Getty Images “I don’t get any sense that inflation is decelerating,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s. “It feels like it’s uncomfortably…
The U.S. Department of Education headquarters is seen on March 06, 2025 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News | Getty Images A federal appeals court has ordered the end of the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan, the Biden-administration-era repayment program that brought lower monthly bills to millions of student…