Do index fund fees really matter, or is a 0.5-percentage-point difference too small to worry about? According to the Investment Company Institute’s 2026 report on fund expenses, the average index equity mutual fund now charges just 0.05% a year, while the average actively managed equity fund charges 0.64% — a gap that looks tiny as … Read more
What credit score do you need for a used car loan? The honest answer is that it depends entirely on which tier you land in, and the gap between tiers is bigger than most shoppers expect. According to Experian’s State of the Automotive Finance Market report for the first quarter of 2026, someone with super-prime … Read more
Is no tax on overtime worth it, or does the name oversell what the deduction actually does? The new federal tax break, in effect for the 2026 tax year, doesn’t make all of your overtime pay tax-free — it only covers the “premium” portion, the extra half in time-and-a-half, according to the IRS’s own updated … Read more
Are I bonds worth it right now, with a headline rate that beats almost everything else in savings? Series I savings bonds bought between May and October 2026 earn a 4.26% composite rate, according to the Treasury’s own rate announcement — made up of a 0.90% fixed rate locked in for as long as you … Read more
Is credit card delinquency rising, or is a scary-sounding headline number telling only part of the story? According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 12.8% of credit card balances were 90 or more days past due as of the first quarter of 2026, up sharply from 7.6% back in late 2022 — a … Read more
Does the 50/30/20 rule still work, or is it asking something most households can no longer do? The rule splits take-home pay into 50% needs, 30% wants, and 20% savings or debt payoff. New government spending data tells a different story about that first number: according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest Consumer Expenditure … Read more
Is it normal to take a 401(k) loan, or does reaching into retirement savings mean something’s gone wrong? A new report released this week by Fidelity says both things are true at once. The average 401(k) balance hit $155,800 in the second quarter of 2026, up 13% from a year earlier, and the average IRA … Read more
Should you lock in a CD rate now, before it potentially disappears? A jobs report released this week just made that question a lot more urgent. August payrolls came in at 162,000 jobs added, more than triple what economists expected, and the surprise strength pushed the odds of a September rate hike to 63%, according … Read more
Pay yourself first is the budgeting method built around a single flip in order: you move money into savings the moment you’re paid, before rent, groceries, or anything else touches the account. It sounds like a small change, but it solves a problem most budgets never fix — there’s rarely anything left over to save … Read more
Is credit card debt normal, or does it just feel that way because everyone around you seems to be carrying some? The numbers say it’s the second one, and they came out just this week: total U.S. credit card balances climbed to $1.26 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, according to the New York … Read more