Billions in scam-refund checks the FTC mailed out were never cashed — see if your name is on the unclaimed list at ftc.gov/refunds
Somewhere in a landfill, a shredder bin, or a junk-mail pile, there is almost certainly a government check with someone’s name on it. According to the FTC’s 2024 annual highlights report, the Federal Trade Commission has returned a cumulative total of more than $11 billion to scam victims since 2017 through its enforcement actions. But […]
Read MoreBillions in scam-refund checks the FTC mailed out were never cashed — see if your name is on the unclaimed list at ftc.gov/refunds
Somewhere in a landfill, a shredder bin, or a junk-mail pile, there is almost certainly a government check with someone’s name on it. According to the FTC’s 2024 annual highlights report, the Federal Trade Commission has returned a cumulative total of more than $11 billion to scam victims since 2017 through its enforcement actions. But […]
Read MorePersonal Finance
Budgeting & Saving
The security deposit your old utility or landlord never returned is likely sitting with your state — a free search reunites owners with billions each year
You moved out, forwarded your mail, and never saw that security deposit again. Your old landlord may have mailed a…
Personal Finance
Budgeting & Saving
The security deposit your old utility or landlord never returned is likely sitting with your state — a free search reunites owners with billions each year
You moved out, forwarded your mail, and never saw that security deposit again. Your old landlord may have mailed a…
Markets & Investing
Banking & Credit Cards
Fraud & Scams
Billions in scam-refund checks the FTC mailed out were never cashed — see if your name is on the unclaimed list at ftc.gov/refunds
Somewhere in a landfill, a shredder bin, or a junk-mail pile, there is almost certainly a government check with someone’s name on it. According to...
Fraud & Scams
Ask your bank to add a verbal password to your account — it stops a scammer who has your details from talking their way past phone support
Picture this: someone calls your bank, recites your full name, your address, and the last four digits of your Social Security number. The customer service...
Fraud & Scams
Fake debt collectors are pressuring people to pay debts they don’t owe — demand written validation, which real collectors must send within five days
The call comes out of nowhere. Someone on the line says you owe $1,200 on an old account, rattles off a case number, and warns...
Fraud & Scams
A 78-year-old Texas retiree was told his bank was hacked — so he turned $2 million in savings into gold bars and handed them to a courier at his door
The caller told him his bank had been breached. Hackers, the voice on the line explained, had already accessed his accounts. If he wanted to...
Bank Accounts & Fees
Big banks still pay about 0.4% on savings while online banks pay near 4% — leaving the same $10,000 earning $360 less every year
Big banks still pay about 0.4% on savings while online banks pay near 4% — leaving the same $10,000 earning $360 less every year Put...
Fraud & Scams
See every piece of mail before it arrives with free USPS Informed Delivery — it flags stolen checks and new-card envelopes before a thief beats you to them
In late 2023, a Cincinnati letter carrier was walking her route when 19-year-old Lamarion Gray put a gun to her and stole her master mailbox...
Real Estate
Mortgages & Rates
A low home appraisal can sink your sale or refinance — but lenders must now offer a “reconsideration of value,” and solid comps often raise the number
A seller signs a contract at $425,000, then the appraisal comes back at $400,000. The buyer’s lender will only finance…
Retirement & Taxes
A surviving spouse can switch to the higher earner’s Social Security check — and timing the switch right can mean hundreds more a month for life
A new $6,000 tax deduction for everyone over 65 can wipe out the tax on your Social Security — but it shrinks once income tops $75,000
Three Medicare programs will pay your $202.90 Part B premium in full and save you $2,400 a year — yet millions who qualify never sign up
Working before full retirement age can shrink your Social Security check — but that money isn’t gone; benefits are recalculated upward once you reach full retirement age
Your first required retirement withdrawal can be delayed to April — but that forces two taxable withdrawals into one year and can spike your Medicare premiums
Claimed Social Security too early? You get one 12-month do-over — repay what you’ve received and restart later for a permanently bigger check
Earning too much to fund a Roth IRA doesn’t actually lock you out — a “backdoor” contribution is legal and most high earners don’t use it
A 1% fee on your 401(k) can quietly cost six figures over a career — yet most savers have never checked their funds’ expense ratios
After 70½ you can send up to about $108,000 a year from your IRA straight to charity — tax-free, and it counts toward your required withdrawal
Old 401(k)s from past jobs often sit in high-fee default funds — rolling them into a low-cost IRA can save tens of thousands over time
A spouse who never worked can still collect up to half of your Social Security — a spousal benefit many married couples don’t realize they can claim
The beneficiary form on your 401(k) and IRA overrides your will — an outdated one can send your savings to an ex instead of your family
The federal pension agency is holding unclaimed benefits from shut-down plans — search by your name and the last four of your Social Security number
Drawing down taxable accounts before tax-deferred ones and Roth last can stretch retirement savings for years — a sequence most retirees get backwards
Converting part of a traditional IRA to a Roth in a low-income year locks in today’s tax rate — before RMDs and Medicare surcharges hit
Social Security is mailing retirees demands to repay overpayments within 30 days — miss the 90-day appeal window and it can withhold half your monthly check
Scammers are filing tax returns under stolen Social Security numbers — but a free six-digit IRS PIN locks them out, and any taxpayer can request one
The income limits that make Social Security benefits taxable haven’t budged since 1984 — so every year, more retirees owe federal tax on checks they assumed were safe