Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty Images Key takeaways Short-term loans provide financing with a brief repayment period and often require collateral to obtain. These loans are generally capped at $2,000 and are often used by borrowers who are strapped for cash or who have a low credit score. Loan funds are…
Holiday spending came in at the high end of projected ranges for 2025 despite numerous economic challenges. According to Mastercard, U.S. retail sales (excluding automotive) increased 3.9% year-over-year from Nov. 1 through Dec. 21, 2025. CNBC and the National Retail Federation published a similar increase, reporting holiday sales grew 4.1%…
Maca and Naca/GettyImages The average tax refund tends to be just over $3,000, but that number might climb to north of $4,000 in 2026, thanks to the massive tax bill that became law in 2025. That law included a higher standard deduction amount, more generous tax brackets and other changes…
ljubaphoto/Getty Images: Illustration by Issiah Davis/Bankrate Key takeaways The interest rate on a mortgage indicates how much interest you’ll pay for the amount you borrow. The annual percentage rate (APR) is the interest rate plus additional fees and any points. When comparing loan offers, it’s best to compare APRs to…
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The nation’s 75 million Social Security recipients will receive a 2.8% cost of living adjustment (COLA) increase in their benefits…
Historically Black colleges and universities are on the frontlines of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s new limits on parent…
The big new fees JPMorgan Chase is planning to charge some financial technology companies may well trickle down to consumers,…
With artificial intelligence beginning to eat away at many white-collar entry-level jobs, and the unemployment rate for recent college graduates…
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Would you be upset if you found out your partner had a credit card you didn’t know about? On the flip side, have you ever fudged the numbers with your spouse about a recent shopping spree? Romantic relationships can come with mixed feelings about money.…
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2. Coaching and Tutoring Take stock of your areas of expertise – maybe you speak a second language or solving math equations comes…
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OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANKBankers wants to discuss AI strategy. They’re excited about chatbots, machine learning models, generative AI tools, and AI…
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California has wildfires, high crime rates and plenty of government regulations. All prompt complaints from residents, but in some circles, complaints about taxes loom even larger. The top tax rate in the Golden State is an eye-watering 14.4%. For a decade, California’s top tax rate hovered at 13.3%. Perhaps even…
Daxiao Productions/Shutterstock.com Our writers and editors used an in-house natural language generation platform to assist with portions of this article, allowing them to focus on adding information that is uniquely helpful. The article was reviewed, fact-checked and edited by our editorial staff prior to publication. Having one parent or guardian stay at home to…
Higher medical costs and insurance premiums are one of the unintended, unexpected effects of the new trade and tariff policies. That’s especially true of prescription drug prices. President Trump said he is committed to reducing prices on prescription drugs. One measure he took is to direct major pharmaceutical manufacturers to…
Fixed income markets expected the Federal Open Market Committee to cut interest rates on September 17. However, despite emerging conviction that a cut may be coming, bolstered by Jerome Powell’s recent Jackson Hole speech, significant questions remain for monetary policy for the medium term. Will Trump Influence Monetary Policy? The…
The U.S. Department of the Treasury wants to hear from you. The commenting period has opened for the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act). Specifically, the GENIUS Act requires public comment to identify innovative or novel methods, techniques or strategies that regulated financial institutions use,…
Key takeaways Debit cards let you pay for things with money in your bank account, while credit cards pay with a line of credit. A debit card can be handy for preventing overspending and interest charges, as well as for withdrawing cash. A credit card can help you build your…
If a society is going to make intelligent choices in policy, it helps to understand reality, which includes facts and data. People can, of course, misrepresent or misunderstand either, but without the availability of information, the best of intentions must need move trepidatiously. Or, in less aged parlance, if you…
What could slow the pell-mell stock market advance of artificial intelligence? If there is any pothole ahead, it’s the glitch factor. A host of AI-related screwups is circulating in public and social media. So far, stories about missteps haven’t derailed the AI stock market express, but there is a chance…
The ink on the One Big Beautiful Bill is dry, and some of the targeted tax benefits are, well, big. For decades, founders and investors in startups in Silicon Valley and elsewhere have counted on Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) treatment if they sell stock issued by their fledgling company,…
The collapse of the plastics treaty talks in Geneva was disappointing, but not surprising. Building global consensus on an issue as complex and politically charged as plastic was always going to be difficult. The more important question is: what happens to all the momentum that’s been building over the last…
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