Daniel Harper
Daniel is a finance writer covering personal finance topics including budgeting, credit, and beginner investing. He began his career contributing to his Substack, where he covered consumer finance trends and practical money topics for everyday readers. Since then, he has written for a range of personal finance blogs and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, straightforward content that helps readers make more informed financial decisions.
Latest Articles by Daniel Harper
The IRS pays 8% interest on any federal refund delayed past 45 days — the rate just reset for Q3 2026, and the agency owed billions to late filers
If your federal tax refund is late, the IRS is paying you 8% annual interest on every day it keeps your money past a 45-day...
SECURE Act 2.0 forces most non-spouse heirs to drain inherited IRAs within 10 years — but spouses, minor children, and disabled beneficiaries can still stretch withdrawals
A 52-year-old marketing director in Dallas inherits her late father’s $600,000 traditional IRA. Under rules that would have applied a decade ago, she could have...
Cash-out refinances just hit a 14-year high — homeowners are trading sub-3% mortgages for 6.51% to pay off credit cards, often adding $900 a month to the payment
Somewhere in America, a homeowner who locked in a 2.75 percent mortgage during the pandemic is sitting at a kitchen table, staring at $25,000 in...
Adjustable-rate mortgages locked in at sub-3% during 2021 are resetting this year — the average reset adds about $700 to the monthly payment
The first wave of payment shock is arriving. Homeowners who signed 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgages in 2021, when introductory rates dipped below 3 percent, are now...
New federal ABLE-account rules let people with disabilities save up to $19,000 a year without losing SSI or Medicaid eligibility — the cap doubles for working ABLE-eligible adults
A person receiving Supplemental Security Income is allowed to hold exactly $2,000 in countable assets before the federal government starts clawing back benefits. That ceiling...
New-car buyers who financed in 2025 will see Form 1098-VLI from their lender next January — the OBBB lets them deduct up to $10,000 in interest on U.S.-built vehicles
A borrower who financed $35,000 at 7.5 percent over five years for a new pickup truck assembled in Fort Worth, Texas, paid roughly $2,500 in...
A $1 million personal umbrella policy costs about $200 a year — and a single at-fault accident or teen-driver lawsuit can shred homeowners and auto limits in one stroke
A 17-year-old runs a red light, T-bones a minivan, and sends three people to the hospital. The medical bills alone clear six figures before anyone...
A goodwill letter to your card issuer can erase a single late payment from your credit report — banks routinely remove first-time slips for long-tenured customers who ask
In May 2026, a billing address change can send a cardholder’s statement to the wrong mailbox. By the time the mistake surfaces, the payment is...
Brent crude jumped 2.5% Tuesday to $98.47 — Iran’s foreign ministry now says vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz “will have costs” as part of any ceasefire deal
Iran is no longer just threatening to weaponize the Strait of Hormuz. It is billing for passage. Brent crude settled at $98.47 a barrel on...
The average personal loan rate just hit 12.27% — but a 0% balance-transfer card freezes interest on $10,000 of credit-card debt for up to 21 months
If you owe $10,000 on a credit card charging 22% APR and make only slightly-above-minimum payments, roughly $1,830 of what you send in over the...
Older Americans handed $333 million to scammers through Bitcoin ATMs last year — Indiana became the first state to ban the machines outright on March 9
The scam almost always follows the same script. A phone rings. The caller claims to be from the IRS, a bank’s fraud department, or a...
AT&T’s $177 million data breach settlement is finally distributing this spring — anyone who filed before December 18 gets up to $7,500, no extra paperwork required
Roughly 18 months after AT&T admitted that hackers had stolen call and text records belonging to nearly all of its cellular customers, the company’s $177...
Atlantic hurricane season starts in six days — and homeowners with a 5% wind deductible pay $20,000 out of pocket on a $400,000 home before the insurer pays a cent
Hurricane season opens June 1, 2026. When it does, millions of homeowners along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts will carry a financial blind spot baked...
A new federal Equal Credit Opportunity rule takes effect July 21 — lenders that deny credit must give the exact reason in plain language, not boilerplate codes
You apply for a credit card. A few days later, a letter arrives: “Application denied. Failed to achieve a qualifying score.” No further detail. No...
A new Social Security retirement calculator went live inside the my Social Security portal this month — it shows your monthly check side by side at every claiming age
For years, the Social Security Administration told you what your benefit would be at three ages: 62, full retirement age, and 70. If you wanted...
If you haven’t rebalanced your 401(k) since 2022, the stock-and-bond mix that felt safe then is wildly different now — most plans rebalance with two clicks
Picture the 401(k) allocation you chose sometime in 2022. Maybe it was 60% stocks and 40% bonds, a textbook moderate mix. You picked it during...