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 30-year mortgage just spiked to 6.57%, its highest level since late March — because Friday’s bond selloff pushed Treasury yields to 18-year highs
The 30-year mortgage just spiked to 6.57%, its highest level since late March — because Friday’s bond selloff pushed Treasury yields to 18-year highs The...
Total consumer fraud losses hit $15.9 billion in 2025, up 33% from 2024 — and the FTC now gets 3 million fraud reports a year
Total consumer fraud losses hit $15.9 billion in 2025, up 33% from 2024 — and the FTC now gets 3 million fraud reports a year...
Federal student loan rates jump to 6.52% on July 1 — and the 30-year Treasury at 5% guarantees next year’s class will pay even more
A college freshman signing loan paperwork this fall will pay 6.52% interest on every dollar borrowed from the federal government, a rate that sticks for...
Gold dropped 1.4%, silver fell 2%, and Bitcoin slid below $81,000 — investors fled inflation hedges the same day Treasury yields hit 18-year highs
At 1:03 p.m. Eastern on May 15, 2026, the U.S. Treasury closed the books on a new 30-year bond auction. The clearing yield came in...
Friday’s bond rout pushed the 30-year Treasury back above 5% — every new mortgage, car loan, and student loan in America just got more expensive
If you are shopping for a house, a car, or a college degree this summer, the price of borrowing just jumped. On May 13, 2026,...
Americans haven’t been this pessimistic about their finances since 2018 — 32% of households now expect things to get worse in 2026
A gallon of milk costs 26% more than it did in January 2020. Average rents in major metro areas have jumped by a similar margin....
Credit-card APRs hit 22.12%, the highest average in three decades — and a 10% interest cap bill has been stalled in Congress for six months
Every month, roughly half of American credit-card holders open a statement showing interest charges calculated at rates that have never been this high. The Federal...
The Education Department predicts 4 million more borrowers will default this year — pushing the total to 1 in 4 Americans with federal student debt
Sometime in the next few months, a federal employee earning $45,000 a year could open a paycheck and find that 15 percent of her disposable...
Builder confidence just crashed to its lowest level since September — 24 straight months of negative readings is now the longest sentiment slump in NAHB history
Home builders have not felt good about the housing market in two full years, and the latest data shows their mood just got worse. The...
Iran’s ceasefire expires tomorrow — gas is $4.52, oil hit $109, and the last time Brent was this high, gas crossed $5 within three weeks
Fill your tank today. By this time next week, $4.52 a gallon could look like a bargain. The ceasefire between the United States and Iran,...
Oil surged past $107 a barrel after Trump said he’s “losing patience” with Iran — the last time Brent was this high, gas crossed $5 nationally within three weeks
The last time Brent crude held above $107 a barrel for more than a week, American drivers watched the national gasoline average blow past $5...
Fidelity flagged a $15 billion fraud wave targeting Americans’ savings — scammers send 100,000 texts a day and AI voice clones need just 3 seconds of audio
The text message looks like it came from your bank. The voicemail sounds exactly like your daughter, panicked and begging for money. Neither is real....
132,000 tech workers have been laid off in 2026 — Walmart just added 1,000 more, and it’s the only company that didn’t blame AI
When Walmart quietly cut roughly 1,000 technology and corporate employees earlier this year, the announcement barely registered against the avalanche of layoffs rolling through the...
Social Security’s 2.8% COLA added $56 a month — but with inflation at 3.8% and the 30-year Treasury at 5%, retirees’ fixed-income investments are losing ground too
The $56 raise was supposed to help. When the Social Security Administration announced a 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment last October, the bump looked like a...
The 30-year mortgage was 6.27% this morning — but the 30-year Treasury just crossed 5%, and the last time that happened, mortgages hit 7.79%
If you’re shopping for a home in June 2026, a 30-year fixed rate of 6.27% already stings. But the bond market is signaling it could...
Scam losses doubled in a single year and 40 million Americans were targeted — AI voice clones now need just 3 seconds of your audio to impersonate you
A mother in Scottsdale, Arizona, picked up the phone and heard her teenage daughter sobbing, pleading for help. The voice was unmistakable. The terror was...