Category: Saving & Banking
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U.S. Bank waives its $12 checking fee at $1,500 in deposits or balance
Checking accounts that once came free with a debit card and a smile increasingly carry a monthly price tag, and U.S. Bank’s flagship consumer account is no exception. The bank’s Smartly Checking account lists a $12 monthly maintenance fee in its current pricing disclosure, and unlike a flat, unavoidable charge, dodging it depends on clearing…
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Household debt fell $13 billion last quarter, but 10.6 percent of student-loan balances are now 90 days late
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s newest household debt report tells two stories about the same set of borrowers, and only one of them is reassuring. Total household debt fell by $13 billion in the second quarter of 2026, a 0.1 percent dip to $18.8 trillion, according to the New York Fed’s Center for…
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Student loan borrowers who switch on auto pay by September 30 keep a 1 percent interest cut through mid-2028
The U.S. Department of Education is offering federal student loan borrowers a real discount for doing something most servicers have offered for years: paying automatically. Borrowers who enroll in auto pay by September 30, 2026, or who are already enrolled, get their interest rate cut by a full percentage point starting July 1, 2026, quadrupling…
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A Missouri credit union was liquidated this month, and two more sit in conservatorship
When a small credit union fails, most of the country never hears about it, but the roughly 183 people who banked there want to know exactly what happens next. In early August 2026, federal regulators closed a tiny credit union in the St. Louis suburb of Saint Ann, Missouri, while two other credit unions, one…
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A secured credit card with a refundable deposit can rebuild damaged credit
For anyone with a thin or damaged credit history, one of the most reliable tools to rebuild is also one of the most misunderstood: the secured credit card. It works like a regular card but is backed by a refundable deposit the cardholder puts down. Used carefully, it reports positive payment history to the credit…
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Credit unions often pay higher savings rates and charge lower fees than big banks
For a household trying to earn more on savings and pay less in fees, one of the simplest moves is also one of the most overlooked: switching to a credit union. Because credit unions are not-for-profit and owned by their members, they often pay higher rates on savings and charge lower fees than big commercial…
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Adding beneficiaries or account types can insure well beyond $250,000 at one bank
A lot of savers believe the FDIC only protects $250,000 at any one bank, so anyone with more must spread it across several institutions. That is a misunderstanding that can cost convenience and, occasionally, money. The $250,000 limit applies per ownership category, not per person per bank, which means a household can often insure far…
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Credit card interest now averages about 22%, and late payments just hit a 15-year high
The math on carrying a credit card balance has quietly turned brutal. The average interest rate on cards that carry a balance now sits around 22%, and Americans are falling behind at the fastest pace in fifteen years. Together those two facts describe a squeeze that is hitting fixed-income households especially hard, and they also…
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A certificate of deposit locks your rate, but cashing out early usually costs months of interest
A certificate of deposit is one of the most predictable products a bank offers, and that predictability is exactly what trips people up. The deal is simple on the surface: lock the money away for a set time and the bank guarantees a fixed interest rate. What many savers underestimate is the cost of breaking…
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A pension you forgot may be waiting in the government’s unclaimed-pension database
Millions of Americans earned a pension at a job they left decades ago and never collected a dime of it, often without realizing the money still exists. Companies get bought, merge, or go out of business, and the paperwork that was supposed to follow a worker into retirement gets lost along the way. The federal…