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
One-fifth of the world’s oil is now trapped behind the Strait of Hormuz — the largest energy supply shock ever recorded, and it just pushed gas to $4.53
The pump reads $4.53. For millions of American drivers filling up in June 2026, that number is the most visible consequence of a crisis unfolding...
The IRS’s new crypto tax form leaves out one number — and it could make the agency think you owe thousands more than you actually do
Say you bought $14,000 worth of Bitcoin, sold it for $15,000, and owed tax on the $1,000 profit. Simple enough. Now imagine the IRS received...
Student loan wage garnishment restarts this fall — 5 million defaulters face an automatic 15% paycheck cut, and no court order is required
Sometime this fall, millions of Americans could open a pay stub and find a chunk of their income missing. The federal government is preparing to...
Zillow cut its 2026 home-price forecast from 4-5% growth to flat — JPMorgan and NAR are following, and 36% of sellers are already cutting list prices
A year ago, Zillow’s economists were telling the housing market to brace for another 4% to 5% jump in home prices. That projection is dead....
Fidelity is flagging a $15 billion fraud wave hitting Americans’ savings — scammers send 100,000 spoof texts a day, and AI clones a voice in 3 seconds
The text message looked routine: a $4.15 unpaid toll, a link to settle it, and a warning about a $50 late fee. Scenarios like this...
Jet fuel prices are up 80% since the Iran war started — Delta says higher fuel costs alone will add $2 billion this quarter, and that bill lands on every summer flight
A round-trip flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles cost about $280 last June. This summer, the same route is pricing north of $400 on many...
AAA expects a record 45 million Americans to travel this Memorial Day weekend — at $4.53 gas and $800 average flights, the holiday is now the priciest since 2022
A family of four driving from Dallas to South Padre Island this Memorial Day weekend will spend roughly $135 on gas alone, about $25 more...
The average 401(k) balance hit a record $168,000 last year — and a record 6% of workers also pulled hardship cash from their accounts, mostly to stop foreclosure
The average 401(k) balance climbed to an all-time high of $168,000 in 2024, according to Fidelity Investments’ quarterly retirement analysis. In the same year, a...
The Trump administration ordered Fannie and Freddie to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds — the most direct rate-pressure move since the 2008 crisis
A homebuyer taking out a $400,000 mortgage today pays roughly $500 more each month than someone who locked in a rate in early 2021. That...
Older Americans lost $4.3 billion to investment, romance, and impersonation scams last year — nearly twice what younger adults lost, and the median per-victim loss tripled
In March 2024, the Department of Justice announced criminal charges against more than 400 defendants accused of stealing over $900 million from older Americans. The...
Senior scam losses over $100,000 now make up 68% of all elder-fraud dollars — a five-fold jump since 2020, even though most victims never report
A retired teacher wires $140,000 to what she believes is a government-backed investment platform. A widower drains his IRA after a caller claiming to be...
If you sold crypto in 2025, your broker will send a Form 1099-DA in January — the IRS gets a copy, and 125 AI models match every entry automatically
Sometime in February, a tax form you had never seen before likely showed up in your Coinbase, Kraken, or Gemini account. Form 1099-DA, the IRS’s...
Brent settled near $108 the morning Iran’s counteroffer collapsed — refiners typically pass crude hikes through to the pump in 7 to 10 days
Drivers filling up this week are still paying late-spring prices. That window is closing fast. Brent crude, the international benchmark that sets the cost of...
55% of cardholders say they’re carrying balances just to cover essentials — credit card debt hit $1.33 trillion at a 21.52% average APR
A family of four in Phoenix charges $400 in groceries to a Visa card, not because they overspent on steak, but because the paycheck ran...
Spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled out $1 billion last week — the worst exit since early February, as BTC slid under $77,000 over the weekend
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs shed roughly $1 billion in net outflows during the trading week ending Friday, June 6, 2025, their steepest weekly drawdown since...
Memorial Day gas hit $4.53 today — the average road tripper will spend $54 more than last year to drive 1,000 miles
Filling up for a Memorial Day road trip has not stung this badly since 2022. The national average price of regular gasoline reached $4.50 per...