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
A federal flood policy caps payouts at $250,000 for the home and $100,000 for belongings
Homeowners who suffer flood damage through a federally backed insurance policy can collect no more than $250,000 toward rebuilding their home and $100,000 for destroyed...
The penalty pause on inherited IRAs is over, and heirs who skip a withdrawal now face a 25% hit
Heirs who inherited retirement accounts under the 10-year distribution rule and skipped annual withdrawals during a two-year IRS grace period now owe a 25% excise...
The national gas average sits near $4.05, still elevated after the spring spike
American drivers are paying roughly $4.05 a gallon for regular gasoline, a price that has eased only slightly since the spring surge pushed the national...
Connecticut households are projected to pay about $944 to stay cool this summer
Connecticut residents bracing for a hot summer face a projected $944 in cooling costs over the season, even as state regulators and the governor have...
Standard home insurance doesn’t cover flood damage, and a new flood policy takes 30 days to kick in
Homeowners and renters who assume their standard insurance policy will cover flood damage face a costly surprise: it will not. FEMA states plainly that neither...
Credit card balances slipped to start the year but remain $70 billion higher than a year ago
American households entered 2026 carrying less credit card debt than they held at the close of last year, but the relief is relative. Revolving credit...
Home cooling bills are set to hit a record this summer, averaging $792 to run the air conditioning
American households face a summer of record cooling costs, with the average air-conditioning bill projected to reach $792 for the season. The U.S. Energy Information...
Heirs whose parent had already started withdrawals must now take a yearly distribution too
Families who inherited an IRA from a parent who had already begun taking required minimum distributions now face an obligation many did not expect: they...
Electricity prices have jumped 39% in five years, far outpacing overall inflation
American households and businesses are paying sharply more for electricity than they were five years ago, with retail power prices climbing 39 percent over that...
Summer electricity bills are set to rise 10.5% to a record this year
American households are heading into the summer of 2026 facing the steepest electricity bills on record, with residential costs projected to climb roughly 10.5 percent...
One in six U.S. households has fallen behind on its utility bills as energy costs climb
Roughly one in six U.S. households has fallen behind on utility payments as residential energy costs continue to rise, according to federal survey data tracking...
Flood policies leave out your car, pool, and the cost of temporary housing during repairs
Homeowners who assume their flood insurance will cover a ruined car in the driveway, a damaged backyard pool, or a hotel stay while their house...
A non-working spouse can keep saving for retirement through a spousal IRA
Couples in which one spouse has left the workforce or has no earned income can still set aside up to $7,500 in an IRA for...
No real agency will ever tell you to pull out cash and hand it to an “officer” for safekeeping
Scammers posing as federal agents are convincing Americans to withdraw cash, buy gold bars, and hand the assets to couriers who claim to be keeping...
You generally get just three years to claim an old tax refund before the money reverts to the Treasury
Every year, taxpayers across the United States leave refunds on the table simply by not filing a return. Federal law sets a hard deadline: file...
Nearly 70% of this year’s filed tax returns have come back as refunds
Roughly 99 million American tax filers have already received refund checks or direct deposits from the IRS this filing season, accounting for about 68.4 percent...