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The Money Overview

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Tyler Foster

Latest Articles by Tyler Foster

Cost of Living

American paychecks shrank in real terms for the first time since 2023 — wages grew 3.6% but prices rose 3.8%

A worker earning the national average hourly wage of $31.27 took home a bigger number on their pay stub in April 2026 than a year...

Social Security & Medicare

Social Security’s 2.8% COLA added $56 a month — but the Medicare Part B premium hike swallowed $17.90 of it, leaving retirees with just $38 more

Five months into 2026, the extra money from Social Security’s latest cost-of-living adjustment has had time to settle into retirees’ budgets. For most, the verdict...

Mortgages & Rates

The 30-year mortgage averaged 6.37% last week — up from 6.02% in April — and the spring rate dip that buyers were counting on is gone

The numbers were finally cooperating. During the week of April 17, 2026, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.02%, its lowest point of the...

Stocks & Wall Street

The S&P 500 closed at a record 7,413 today — its seventh straight week of gains — while oil climbed back above $104 on the Iran deal collapse

The S&P 500 closed at a record 7,413 today, its seventh straight week of gains, while oil climbed back above $104 on the Iran deal...

Economy & The Fed

Only 191 ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz in April — down from the usual 3,000 a month — and the blockade is why gas went from $3 to $4.52 in ten weeks

The price on the pump at a Wawa outside Richmond, Virginia, read $2.96 on the last day of February. Ten weeks later, the same station...

Insurance & Protection

Florida homeowners pay $10,240 a year for insurance — 189% above the national average — but Citizens just approved an 8.7% rate cut starting this spring

When Maria Gonzalez opened her Citizens Property Insurance renewal notice at her Hialeah home last spring, she braced for another increase. Instead, her annual premium...

Credit & Debt

Credit card debt crossed $1.33 trillion — and 42% of Americans say they expect to carry that balance until they die

Forty-two percent of Americans carrying credit card balances say they expect to stay in debt for the rest of their lives or for years to...

Loans & Lending

The average new car payment just hit $773 a month — and 1 in 5 buyers is now locked into payments above $1,000

A $773 monthly car payment would have been unusual five years ago. Now it is the average. According to Edmunds’ Q1 2026 auto financing data,...

Economy & The Fed

The April CPI report drops tomorrow morning — economists expect 3.7% inflation, the highest annual reading since early 2024, driven almost entirely by gas

The April CPI report drops tomorrow morning – economists expect 3.7% inflation, the highest annual reading since early 2024, driven almost entirely by gas Americans...

Economy & The Fed

The Senate voted 49-44 tonight to advance Kevin Warsh as Fed chair — the man who once called for “regime change” at the central bank is now one vote from running it

By a margin of five votes, Kevin Warsh survived the toughest test between him and the most powerful economic job in the world. The Senate...

Smart Spending

Americans will spend a record $38 billion on Mother’s Day — Gen Z is averaging $922 per person while boomers spend $168

A 22-year-old buying her mom a spa weekend and a 70-year-old picking out a card and a bouquet are both celebrating Mother’s Day. They are...

Social Security & Medicare

Social Security’s May checks reflect the full Medicare Part B deduction — retirees who expected a $56 COLA raise are netting $38 after the $203 premium

Social Security’s May checks reflect the full Medicare Part B deduction – retirees who expected a $56 COLA raise are netting $38 after the $203...

Mortgages & Rates

Four straight weeks of mortgage rate increases wiped out the spring dip — the 30-year is back to 6.37%, and the average new home loan hit a record $467,300

A month ago, a buyer financing $467,300 over 30 years could lock in a rate near 6.16%. That window is closed. The 30-year fixed mortgage...

Stocks & Wall Street

Nvidia pumped $40 billion into AI startups this year — $30 billion to OpenAI alone — and critics call it a circular deal where Nvidia funds its own chip customers

When Nvidia wired $30 billion to OpenAI earlier this year, it did not just write the largest check in its 33-year history. It tied its...

Markets & Investing

SpaceX plans to file its IPO in two weeks at a $1.75 trillion valuation — 10 times larger than the biggest public offering in history

SpaceX, the rocket and satellite company Elon Musk founded more than two decades ago, is on the verge of becoming the most valuable company ever...

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