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
Trump called Iran’s counteroffer “garbage” and put the ceasefire on “life support” — gas just hit $4.52, 49 cents from the all-time U.S. record
The national average price of regular gasoline hit $4.52 a gallon in May 2026, its highest level since the summer of 2022 and just 49...
The new student loan repayment plan launches July 1 — it caps payments at 10% of income, takes 30 years to forgive, and replaces every IDR plan
Starting July 1, 2026, the federal government will begin replacing every income-driven student loan repayment plan with a single new option. It is called the...
Jet fuel hit $8.57 a gallon in May — up $2.09 from a year ago, and that’s why summer flights cost 22% more this year
A family of four booking a round trip from Dallas to Orlando this July will pay roughly $400 more than the same itinerary cost last...
Home prices are now projected to be flat in 2026 — Zillow cut its forecast from 4-5% growth to 0% because 6.5% mortgages killed buyer demand
Spring 2026 was supposed to rescue the housing market. Fresh listings, warmer weather, motivated sellers ready to test the waters. Instead, the season opened with...
Parent PLUS loan rates climb to 9.07% on July 1 — borrowing $40,000 for college now costs $507 a month for 10 years
A parent who borrows $40,000 through the federal PLUS program for the 2026-27 school year will owe roughly $507 every month for the next decade,...
401(k) plans can now hold private equity for the first time — Trump’s executive order opens $9 trillion in retirement money to assets that don’t trade on public markets
A 35-year-old software engineer in Austin who has never picked a single fund in her 401(k) could soon own a slice of a private equity...
Bitcoin dropped below $79,000 over the weekend — institutional ETFs pulled out $635 million in a single day, the biggest crypto exit since January
Bitcoin dropped below $79,000 over the weekend – institutional ETFs pulled out $635 million in a single day, the biggest crypto exit since January Investors...
Top high-yield savings accounts still pay up to 5% APY — but the national average just dropped to 0.38%, so most savers are leaving 13x their interest on the table
When the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation published its national rate benchmark for April 2026, the average savings account yield had slipped to 0.38%, according to...
Dubai police raided 9 pig butchering compounds last month — 275 arrests, and U.S. authorities call it the biggest crypto scam crackdown of the decade
Across nine buildings scattered through Dubai, hundreds of people sat at screens running what looked like a customer service center. They messaged strangers on dating...
Meta starts laying off 8,000 workers Wednesday — the same week the company is spending more on AI than the GDP of 130 countries
Starting Wednesday, roughly 8,000 Meta employees will begin receiving notifications that their jobs no longer exist, according to the Associated Press. The cuts represent about...
Wall Street expects $78 billion in Nvidia revenue Tuesday — at 7% of the S&P 500, the chipmaker now moves every 401(k) and IRA holding an index fund
Nvidia will report first-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday, and the number that flashes across trading screens will land, within seconds, inside the...
Brent crude hit $111 the morning Iran’s ceasefire expired — Trump posted “there won’t be anything left of them” as a drone hit the UAE’s nuclear plant
A single drone crossed into the western United Arab Emirates on the morning of May 17, 2026, and struck an electricity generator on the outer...
Oil markets need until 2027 to rebalance even if the Iran war ends tomorrow — Aramco says Hormuz exports take months to restart, and the consumer pays the bill
Saudi Aramco’s chief executive told investors during the company’s first-quarter earnings call that restarting full crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz would take “many...
132,000 tech workers have been laid off in 2026 — Walmart cut 1,000 corporate roles this week, the only major company that didn’t blame AI
Walmart quietly eliminated roughly 1,000 corporate jobs at its Bentonville, Arkansas, headquarters during the last week of May 2026. The cuts hit supply chain coordinators,...
The 2027 Social Security COLA is now projected at 3.2% to 4.5% — today’s 3.8% inflation and $4.52 gas guarantee it lands at the high end
A retired postal worker in Tampa pulling $1,800 a month from Social Security stands to gain roughly $81 per check starting in January 2027. A...
The new student loan repayment plan launches July 1 — caps payments at 10% of income, takes 30 years to forgive, and replaces every IDR plan
If you’re one of the roughly 11 million federal student loan borrowers enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan, your plan is about to disappear. SAVE,...