Main Street Dollars

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Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation approved homeowners insurance rate decreases at four companies this month, cutting premiums for more than 62,000 policyholders by amounts ranging from 3.2% to 10.4%. Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky signed off on the reductions at One Alliance, Safe Harbor, Unique and Vyrd on September 22, 2026. The approvals mark a rare…

USDA expects beef prices to climb 9.4% this year while eggs fall 29.4%

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in Groceries & Gas

In its latest Food Price Outlook, released Sept. 25, USDA’s Economic Research Service forecasts supermarket beef and egg prices moving in opposite directions this year. Beef and veal are projected to average 9.4% higher in 2026 than in 2025, while egg prices are expected to fall 29.4% over the same period. The swing reflects a…

Fannie Mae will let mortgage companies tell homeowners when rising home values may let them drop private mortgage insurance

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in Housing & Rent

Fannie Mae will update its mortgage-servicing guide so loan servicers can proactively tell homeowners when a rising home value or a paid-down balance makes them eligible to cancel private mortgage insurance, under a directive from FHFA Director Bill Pulte. The change would let a servicer reach out once a loan’s balance falls to 80% of…

An October 15 IRS hearing will weigh tax-free employer deposits into Trump Accounts

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in 401(k) & IRA

The IRS has scheduled a public hearing for Oct. 15, 2026, to take comment on a proposed rule that would let employers put money directly into an employee’s child’s Trump Account, tax-free, up to $2,500 a year. The hearing follows a written-comment period that closed Sept. 25, and it addresses the employer-funded side of a…

Paying a household worker $3,000 or more in 2026 triggers payroll taxes

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A family that pays a nanny, a home health aide, or a regular housekeeper $3,000 or more in cash wages during 2026 becomes an employer for tax purposes under IRS rules. Once wages to that one worker reach the $3,000 threshold for the year, Social Security and Medicare taxes apply to the full amount paid,…

IRS offers in compromise are automatically accepted after two years without a decision

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An offer in compromise that the IRS neither accepts nor rejects within two years of receiving it becomes automatically accepted, under a provision spelled out on the agency’s own offer-in-compromise page. The two-year clock starts on the date the IRS receives a complete offer, not the date it was mailed. Submitting one costs $205 upfront…

An IRS long-term payment plan costs $29 to set up online with direct debit but $178 by phone or mail

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A long-term IRS payment plan costs $29 to set up online with direct debit, and $178 to set up by phone, by mail or in person, a gap of about $149 for choosing one channel over the other. The IRS lists both figures on its payment plans page, along with a lower fee for applicants…

IRA savers who put in too much for 2025 and filed an extension have until October 15 to remove it or owe 6% a year

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in 401(k) & IRA

Putting more into an individual retirement account than the 2025 limit allowed does not by itself create a tax bill, as long as the excess amount comes back out by the extended filing deadline. For savers who filed for more time on their 2025 return, that deadline is October 15. Missing it turns a simple…

Americans with more than $10,000 in foreign accounts have until October 15 to file an FBAR, with non-willful penalties up to $16,536

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More than $10,000 sitting at any point in the year across a person’s foreign bank, brokerage or mutual fund accounts triggers a federal reporting duty separate from an income tax return, and the deadline for it lands on October 15 this year. The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network jointly administer…

Washington, D.C., postponed its sales tax increase to 7% until October 2027

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