Personal Finance
Day-to-day money decisions for individuals and households. Practical guidance on budgeting, saving, spending, credit, debt management, and financial planning.
Latest in Personal Finance
Amazon is sending automatic payments of up to $51 to Prime members, and the claim window for everyone else closes July 27
Millions of Amazon Prime subscribers are receiving automatic refund payments of up to $51 from the Federal Trade Commission, with no action required on their...
5% savings accounts are still here for now after the Fed held rates steady
Savers earning 5 percent annual percentage yields on their deposits got a reprieve this month after the Federal Reserve chose not to cut its benchmark...
Series EE savings bonds will double in value in 20 years, backed by the U.S. Treasury
Anyone who buys a Series EE savings bond from the U.S. Treasury today receives a federal guarantee: the bond will be worth at least twice...
1 in 7 Americans is owed unclaimed money, with the average claim worth about $2,080
Millions of Americans have money sitting in state treasuries and federal accounts that they have never collected. The chance that any given person, or someone...
A mini-fridge recall has grown to nearly 1 million units that can catch fire
Nearly 964,000 Frigidaire-brand mini-fridges sold through Target now carry a federal recall warning after Curtis International expanded its earlier action to include a fifth model....
Oklahoma homeowners now pay $5,298 a year for insurance, 121% above the national average
Oklahoma homeowners are spending $5,298 a year on home insurance, a figure that sits 121 percent above the national average and reflects a widening gap...
Used-car inventory is finally rising, giving budget buyers more room to negotiate
Budget-conscious car shoppers are gaining ground this summer as used-vehicle supply grows and federal price data signals softening costs. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics and...
States are holding billions in forgotten cash, from old paychecks to deposits to refunds, and the official MissingMoney.com search is free
Millions of Americans have money sitting in state treasuries right now, turned over by banks, employers, and insurance companies after accounts went dormant. At the...
Home insurance climbs another 4% in 2026 to about $3,057, with California up 16%
American homeowners are absorbing yet another round of premium increases in 2026, with the national average climbing roughly 4% to about $3,057 per year. In...
Wartime veterans and their surviving spouses can claim a monthly VA pension for care costs that thousands never apply for
Surviving spouses of wartime veterans can receive a monthly VA pension designed to offset care costs, yet thousands of eligible households never file a claim....
Top one-year CDs still pay around 4%, locking in today’s rate
Savers hunting for guaranteed returns can still find one-year certificates of deposit paying around 4 percent at leading banks and online institutions, but the window...
You can shrink a big hospital bill by asking for the cash price or a payment plan
Patients who receive a large hospital bill can often reduce what they owe simply by asking for the facility’s cash price or requesting a structured...
Automatic transfers on payday build savings before the money ever reaches your checking account
Workers who want to build savings face a simple timing problem: once a full paycheck lands in a checking account, spending decisions compete with saving...
Naming a power of attorney now spares your family a costly court fight if you’re incapacitated
Families who skip basic estate planning before a medical crisis often face a painful choice: petition a court to appoint a guardian over a loved...
The “rule of 72” shows how fast money doubles: divide 72 by your interest rate
A saver with $10,000 earning 6 percent annual interest can estimate when that balance will reach $20,000 in roughly two seconds: divide 72 by 6,...
A CD ladder locks in today’s roughly 4% yields with cash coming due each year
Savers who split cash across one- through five-year certificates of deposit right now can lock in annual yields near 4 percent and guarantee that a...
An emergency fund of three to six months of expenses keeps a job loss from becoming credit-card debt
Workers who lose a job without a cash reserve measured in months, not weeks, face a fast slide toward revolving debt. Federal regulators, industry researchers,...
Thermos is recalling 8.2 million food jars and bottles after the stoppers ejected and blinded three people
Three people lost their vision after stoppers shot out of Thermos food containers with enough force to cause permanent eye damage. On April 30, 2026,...
Freezing your credit at all three bureaus is free and blocks crooks from opening loans in your name
Anyone who has had personal data exposed in a breach, or simply wants to prevent identity thieves from taking out credit in their name, can...
Money-market funds are paying around 4% right now, beating the near-zero rates big banks still pay on savings
Savers holding cash in traditional bank accounts are losing hundreds of dollars a year in potential interest while money-market funds pay roughly 400 times more...