Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Parents who borrowed for their children’s education are staring at a brief, high‑stakes window to lock in cheaper student loan payments and long‑term forgiveness. Policy changes are closing off a popular workaround that let Parent PLUS borrowers reach income‑driven plans that were never designed for them. Those who move quickly can still reshape their debt…
Eighteen states have won federal approval to ban certain foods and drinks from SNAP purchases, and the new restrictions took effect January 1, 2026. The shift has left millions of benefit recipients sorting through inconsistent state-by-state rules while grocery stores, particularly small independent retailers, scramble to reprogram checkout systems with little centralized guidance. The result…
Debit card fraud pulled from unsuspecting consumers at ATMs, gas pumps, and checkout terminals continues to grow, with reported losses from fraud reaching $12.5 billion in 2024. Criminals have refined their methods well beyond simple card theft, deploying physical skimming hardware and digital impersonation schemes that can drain a checking account in minutes. I have…
Walking into a bank and asking for $10,000 in cash is perfectly legal, yet the experience can feel surprisingly complicated. The transaction triggers a federal reporting process that most customers never think about, and depending on where the funds came from, the bank may not hand over the money right away. This article explains what…
The U.S. Small Business Administration is preparing a rule change that would block many green card holders from its main small-business loan programs. By tightening ownership and residency standards for 7(a) and 504 loans, the agency is moving to treat lawful permanent residents as ineligible owners, even when they live and work in the United…
Amazon shoppers have long been told that low prices are the company’s north star, but new tariffs are now testing how long that promise can hold. In recent public comments, Andy Jassy has warned that many sellers are likely to push higher import costs straight onto customers, even as he insists Amazon has not yet…
Defaulted student loans do not just bruise your credit score, they trigger a legal collection machine that can seize paychecks and tax refunds while shutting you out of new aid. The good news is that federal rules still give you a narrow but powerful escape route if you act before collections fully ramp back up….
Public servants who thought they had finally reached the finish line on their student loans are discovering that the last mile can stretch on for more than a year. Instead of the clean slate promised after a decade of qualifying payments, many are trapped in a bureaucratic holding pattern that leaves their balances, careers and…
Pacific Gas and Electric is again asking regulators to let it charge customers more, even as bills in its territory already rank among the highest in the country. The utility argues that another round of increases is needed to harden its grid, reduce wildfire risk and keep investors on board, but critics say California has…
Millions of federal student loan borrowers who saw their payments frozen under President Biden’s new income-driven repayment program are now facing a very different reality. The temporary pause that shielded 7.6 m people in the Saving on a Valuable Education framework has ended, and the bills that disappeared into legal limbo are coming back with…
How the week's news hits your wallet
One Washington money change, translated every weekday — what it means for your wallet.