By Nathalie Voit In its annual report on the long-term status of Social Security, the Treasury Department issued an upgraded outlook for the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Funds, the program's two separate funds. According to the updated report, the OASI Trust Fund is expected to remain fully financed until 2034, one [...]
By Nathalie Voit In a statement released on May 26, the U.S. International Revenue Service (IRS) said it had doubled its audit rates for high-income individuals. Between September 2021 and May 2022, the agency said audit rates for taxpayers in every income category above $100,000 doubled. Audit rates for those making between $500,000 and $1 million, for [...]
By Nathalie Voit More than half of American teenagers feel unprepared to finance their futures, new research from Citizens Financial Group and Junior Achievement found. According to the fifth annual JA Teens & Personal Finance Survey, 54% of teenagers do not feel financially ready to tackle their futures. More than two-thirds of teenagers (69%) said the [...]
By Nathalie Voit The White House said it would cancel all outstanding federal student debt for borrowers who attended schools owned or operated by Corinthian Colleges. In a press release published on June 1, the U.S. Department of Education said it would approve $5.8 billion in full loan discharges for 560,000 former Corinthian College students. “As of [...]
By Nathalie Voit Mortgage rates rose steeply for the first time this week after three weeks of gradual declines, according to data from Mortgage News Daily. After ending the week of May 27 at 5.25%, the average rate on the popular 30-year fixed hit 5.36% on May 31 and moved even higher to 5.47% the next day. [...]
By Nathalie Voit Home prices soared more than 20% year-over-year in April even as mortgage rates remained well over the 5% mark, Zillow said in its latest Real Estate Market Report. According to Zillow's home value index, the typical house in the United States is now worth $344,141, 20.9% more than one year ago. April marked the [...]
By Nathalie Voit Twitter shareholders are suing Elon Musk and the social media company itself over their mishandling of a tumultuous takeover bid that is still in progress. The stockholders' lawsuit, Heresniak v. Musk et al., was filed in a San Francisco federal district court on May 25. According to the docket report, Twitter shareholders allege that Musk violated [...]
By Nathalie Voit Consumer demand for new vehicles is expected to take a hit this month as vehicle shortages prompted by ongoing supply-chain challenges push car prices to a near record-high, automotive analytics firms J.D. Power and LCM Automotive said in a joint press release. According to the joint forecast, retail sales of new vehicles in [...]
By Nathalie Voit The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed two rule changes on May 25 to prevent misleading or deceptive claims by publicly traded companies and enhance U.S. funds' disclosure requirements on their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. The "Names Rule" would require registered investment firms whose name suggests a focus on [...]
By Nathalie Voit A federal appeals court blocked the state of Florida on May 23 from enforcing a new law intended to punish social media companies for silencing political candidates and moderating political content on their platforms. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled unanimously on Monday that the Sunshine State's social media law [...]
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