Author: Brian Lund
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Americans now owe $1.263 trillion on credit cards, and the average rate on cards charged interest reached 22.15%
Start with the rate on the card in your wallet rather than the number in the headline. If you carry a balance from one month to the next, the Federal Reserve puts the average rate on accounts like yours at 22.15 percent for the second quarter of 2026, up from 21.52 percent three months earlier.…
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California’s minimum wage hits $17.40 in January, lifting the salary that exempts a worker from overtime to $72,384
If you are a salaried employee in California and your pay lands somewhere in the low seventies, a number just moved on you. The statewide minimum wage rises to $17.40 an hour on January 1, 2027, and because California ties its overtime-exemption salary to twice the minimum wage, that hourly change drags a salary floor…
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A woman who helped collect gold bars from about 300 older victims in at least 37 states was sentenced this month
The knock comes at a time you agreed to. The person on the step is calm and polite and knows your name, and you hand over a package of gold bars you bought that week with cash pulled from your own bank account. A voice on the phone spent days explaining that a government courier…
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Lands’ End data-breach victims can claim $60 with no proof through October 22
Most class-action settlements are built to be annoying. They want the receipt, the bank statement, the log of hours you spent on hold, and most people give up somewhere between the second and third document. The Lands’ End data-breach settlement includes an option that asks for none of that, and it stays open until October…
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An Atlanta man was convicted of laundering $2.7 million stolen from romance and online scam victims
Romance and online scams do not end when a victim wires the money. The stolen funds have to be moved, hidden, and pushed overseas so no one can claw them back, and that job falls to a network of people who launder the cash. A recent federal conviction pulls back the curtain on that machinery,…
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New tariffs could add hundreds of dollars to your next refrigerator or washer
If a major appliance in your home is on its last legs, the timing of the replacement may matter more than usual this year. Federal tariffs on steel and aluminum have been extended to cover major household appliances, and industry analysts expect that to push prices up. On a big-ticket item like a refrigerator or…
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Social Security can withhold half your monthly check to recover an overpayment
Few letters land harder than one from Social Security saying you were overpaid and the money has to come back. What makes it worse is how the agency now recovers it: by default, it can hold back up to half of your monthly benefit until the balance is repaid. For someone who counts on that…
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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…
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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…
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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…