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The Money Overview

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

Smart Spending

Americans will spend a record $24 billion on Father’s Day this year, about $199 per shopper

American shoppers are set to push Father’s Day spending to $24.0 billion in 2025, a new record that works out to roughly $199.38 per person...

Smart Spending

TOMY is recalling Boon NURSH baby bottles because the outer shell can peel into a choking hazard

Parents who purchased Boon NURSH 8 oz reusable baby bottles at Walmart should stop using them immediately. TOMY is recalling approximately 40,000 of these bottles...

Insurance & Protection

Home insurance costs keep climbing nationwide, driven by severe-weather losses and rebuilding costs

Homeowners across the United States are paying sharply higher insurance premiums as carriers recoup growing losses from extreme weather and face steeper costs to rebuild...

Insurance & Protection

Florida homeowners now have just one year to file a hurricane claim, down from two, under the state’s insurance law

Florida homeowners who suffer hurricane damage now face a filing window half as long as it used to be. Under the 2022 amendment to Florida...

Insurance & Protection

Florida’s state insurer is cutting home premiums 8.7% on June 1 — its first rate cut since 2015, even as Florida still pays double the national average

More than 330,000 Florida homeowners will see lower bills from the state’s insurer of last resort starting June 1, when Citizens Property Insurance begins applying...

Insurance & Protection

New federal ABLE-account rules let people with disabilities save up to $19,000 a year without losing SSI or Medicaid eligibility — the cap doubles for working ABLE-eligible adults

A person receiving Supplemental Security Income is allowed to hold exactly $2,000 in countable assets before the federal government starts clawing back benefits. That ceiling...

Smart Spending

New-car buyers who financed in 2025 will see Form 1098-VLI from their lender next January — the OBBB lets them deduct up to $10,000 in interest on U.S.-built vehicles

A borrower who financed $35,000 at 7.5 percent over five years for a new pickup truck assembled in Fort Worth, Texas, paid roughly $2,500 in...

Credit & Debt

A goodwill letter to your card issuer can erase a single late payment from your credit report — banks routinely remove first-time slips for long-tenured customers who ask

In May 2026, a billing address change can send a cardholder’s statement to the wrong mailbox. By the time the mistake surfaces, the payment is...

Credit & Debt

The average personal loan rate just hit 12.27% — but a 0% balance-transfer card freezes interest on $10,000 of credit-card debt for up to 21 months

If you owe $10,000 on a credit card charging 22% APR and make only slightly-above-minimum payments, roughly $1,830 of what you send in over the...

Budgeting & Saving

State treasuries are sitting on $70 billion in unclaimed property — 1 in 7 Americans is owed money, the average claim is $2,000, and the search at MissingMoney.com is free

Somewhere in a state vault, there may be a check with your name on it. Forgotten bank accounts, uncashed paychecks, old insurance payouts, abandoned safe-deposit...

Insurance & Protection

Atlantic hurricane season starts in six days — and homeowners with a 5% wind deductible pay $20,000 out of pocket on a $400,000 home before the insurer pays a cent

Hurricane season opens June 1, 2026. When it does, millions of homeowners along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts will carry a financial blind spot baked...

Smart Spending

Federal Lifeline gives qualifying low-income households up to $34.25 off the phone or internet bill every month — but most who qualify never sign up to claim it

Roughly 30 million American households qualify for a federal discount on their phone or internet bill, yet fewer than 8 million are currently enrolled. The...

Smart Spending

Federal rules cap any unclaimed-property or heir-finder fee at 10% of what they recover — and the official state search at unclaimed.org is always free anyway

The letter arrives out of nowhere, usually on official-looking letterhead: a company claims you are owed money and offers to recover it for a fee....

Credit & Debt

Paying a credit card down to about 9% utilization beats paying it to zero for your FICO score — lenders want to see active but controlled use

Average credit card interest rates remain above 20 percent as of the most recent Federal Reserve consumer credit data, which means even a modest FICO...

Insurance & Protection

A $1 million personal umbrella policy costs about $200 a year and protects your home, savings, and future paychecks from a single liability lawsuit

A guest slips on icy front steps, breaks a hip, and sues for $800,000. The homeowner’s policy covers $300,000. The remaining $500,000 becomes a personal...

Smart Spending

Cell carriers offer quiet “loyalty” discounts of $5 to $15 a month — but you have to call retention and ask; the operator never volunteers them

Your wireless bill probably has room to drop by $5 to $15 per line, per month. T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T all maintain some version of...

Smart Spending

Ashley Furniture is paying $9 million over mattresses that leaked fiberglass into homes — owners can claim a store voucher per mattress through July 17

If you own an Ashley Furniture memory foam mattress and have ever found tiny, irritating glass-like fibers on your sheets, walls, or clothing, you may...

Credit & Debt

One late payment dents your score for years — but a short “goodwill letter” asking the lender to delete it often works if your history is otherwise clean

A single credit card payment that arrives 31 days late can shave roughly 60 to 110 points off a FICO score, depending on where the...

Insurance & Protection

If you owned a life insurance policy before 2000, insurers like MetLife may owe you stock worth thousands — 60 million shares went unclaimed

Somewhere in a state treasurer’s vault or a federally regulated trust account, shares of MetLife stock are sitting uncollected, waiting for people who may not...

Budgeting & Saving

The security deposit your old utility or landlord never returned is likely sitting with your state — a free search reunites owners with billions each year

You moved out, forwarded your mail, and never saw that security deposit again. Your old landlord may have mailed a check to an address you...

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