Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Food prices have become the most visible pressure point in the cost-of-living squeeze, and low income families feel it first and hardest. As president Donald Trump moves to roll back tariffs on a wide range of imported foods, the central question is whether cheaper trade at the border can meaningfully ease grocery inflation that has…
The IRS has quietly set the rules that will shape how much of your 2026 income ends up in Washington, and the changes are more modest than many taxpayers might expect. Brackets are inching higher, key thresholds are shifting, and some temporary breaks are on track to disappear, creating a mix of small wins and…
California’s latest tax fight centers on a one-time levy aimed squarely at the state’s richest residents, with a union-backed proposal designed to pull in $100 billion from a few hundred billionaires. Supporters frame it as a last-ditch way to stabilize health care and schools without squeezing middle-class taxpayers, while critics warn it could rattle markets…
The White House is treating the Supreme Court tariff case less as a cliffhanger than as a logistical problem to solve. Even if the justices strike down President Donald Trump’s current duties, his team is quietly assembling fallback tools to keep pressure on trading partners and preserve the political narrative that tariffs are here to…
Mike Johnson built his reputation in Congress arguing that lawmakers, not the White House, should control the nation’s trade weapons. His past push to claw back tariff authority from the executive branch now sits awkwardly beside his role as House speaker, where he is under pressure to protect President Donald Trump’s expansive use of those…
President Donald Trump has put a headline number on his latest economic promise: a $2,000 “tariff dividend” that he says will be mailed out to American households starting in 2026. The idea has already been framed as a kind of stimulus check sequel, but the reality of who would qualify, when payments might arrive, and…
Older Americans are heading into tax season with a rare piece of good news: a fresh $6,000 deduction designed to shrink how much of their Social Security ends up taxed. The new break, created as part of a broader federal tax overhaul, applies only for a limited window through 2028, but it has the potential…
Congress is turning its attention to the quiet figure who kept Jeffrey Epstein’s books, probing how his work intersected with a major Wall Street bank’s red flags. Lawmakers now see Epstein’s longtime accountant as a potential key to understanding how large cash movements and internal warnings at JPMorgan Chase failed to stop a client already…
The $600 reporting threshold has become a flashpoint for anyone who earns money through side gigs, payment apps, or freelance work. I want to unpack how that old limit is being reshaped, what the new rules look like in practice, and why the changes matter whether you drive for Uber, sell on Etsy, or pay…
Real estate can quietly generate one of the largest tax bills most people ever face, because the IRS treats profit on property as a capital gain. With the right planning, however, I can often reduce, defer, or even eliminate that tax hit by using a mix of exemptions, timing strategies, and specialized transactions that are…
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