Author: Brian Lund
-
Self-employed and gig workers owe their next estimated tax payment by September 15
For anyone whose income arrives without taxes already taken out, the IRS expects to be paid as you go, not just at filing time. That means a quarterly estimated tax payment, and the third-quarter deadline for 2026 lands on September 15. Freelancers, gig drivers, independent contractors, small-business owners, and retirees living on investment or retirement…
-
Overtime pay is now deductible up to $12,500 on your 2026 taxes
If you work overtime, part of that extra pay can now come off your taxable income. Under the same law that created the tip deduction, workers can deduct qualified overtime pay on their 2026 federal return, up to $12,500 for a single filer or $25,000 for a married couple filing jointly. It is a real…
-
Leaving $10,000 in a big-bank savings account can cost about $400 a year versus a 4% online account
The cash sitting in your savings account is either working for you or quietly working against you, and at most big banks it is the latter. Many of the largest banks still pay close to nothing on savings, often around 0.01 percent, while a top online savings account pays roughly 4 percent right now. On…
-
Laid off with no warning? A federal law may owe you up to 60 days of pay
A layoff that lands with no notice can knock a household budget flat before there is any time to react. For workers at larger companies, federal law tries to soften that blow by requiring advance warning, and when an employer fails to give it, the missing notice can convert into real money. Under the WARN…
-
Georgia SunTrust customers can claim up to $1,000 from a $240 million overdraft settlement by September 14
If you banked with SunTrust in Georgia years ago and got hit with overdraft fees on debit or ATM transactions, there may be a check with your name on it. A $240 million settlement is paying eligible Georgia account holders between $5 and $1,000, and the striking part is that you do not have to…
-
Lucent Health breach victims can claim a flat $80 by September 5
Some settlement money asks you to prove a loss, add up receipts, and wait. This one does not. If you received a data-breach notice from Lucent Health Solutions, you can claim a flat $80 without documenting a single dollar of harm, as long as you file by September 5, 2026. It is a small payout,…
-
A Georgia financial adviser got the maximum 20 years for a $380 million Ponzi scheme
A guaranteed 10 percent return every three months is the kind of promise that sounds like a gift and works like a trap. On August 14, 2026, the man who built one of the largest investment frauds in Georgia history was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in federal prison, after taking roughly $380 million…
-
You have 60 days to dispute a credit card billing error and can withhold payment
When a wrong charge shows up on your credit card, you are not stuck paying it and hoping for the best. Federal law gives you a clear right to dispute a billing error in writing, and while the card company investigates, you can withhold payment on the disputed amount without it being treated as late…
-
Report a lost debit card within two days and you can lose at most $50
Losing a debit card feels like an emergency, and how fast you react decides how much it can cost you. Federal law caps your losses from unauthorized charges on a lost or stolen debit card, but the cap climbs sharply the longer you wait. Report it within two business days and you can lose at…
-
The Fed may raise rates in September, but top CDs already pay about 4.5%
For most of the past year the story on interest rates was that they were heading down, and savers were told to lock in yields before they fell. The picture has shifted. After cutting rates late in 2025, the Federal Reserve has held steady through 2026, and with inflation and oil prices climbing again, markets…
