We’re living through what many are calling “unprecedented times.” Again. From tariffs and inflation to interest rate uncertainty and political whiplash — the headlines paint a picture of chaos. And for business owners, it’s tempting to pause, pull back, and wait it all out. But this moment isn’t an outlier. Much of our environment is the byproduct of everything we’ve already endured and adapted to over the past few years. If you made it through the supply chain breakdowns, rising labor costs, shifting customer behavior, and the COVID-era rollercoaster, you’re not walking into a new storm — you’ve been training…

Some insurance payments are treated as tax-free by the IRS. For example, if you pay for car insurance and your insurance carrier later repairs your car after an accident, the amount of the repair bill is not attributed to you as income. There are special tax rules for some insurance in disasters too. For example, the tax code allows you to exclude from income amounts from insurance for temporary additional living expenses created by the loss of the your principal residence. Insurance and Disaster Losses But the expenses must be reasonable and necessary, such as rental payments for temporary replacement…

Pope Francis’ sweeping reforms cleaned up some of the mess at the scandal-plagued Vatican Bank, but his management also left its coffers severely depleted. Inside the Holy See’s murky financial future. Choosing a successor to Pope Francis comes at a critical time for the Catholic Church. There are the obvious hot-button theological divisions —including whether priests should be allowed to marry as well as the church’s views on gay rights and divorce—but Vatican insiders report that religious issues will not be the only ones debated by the 135 cardinals gathering for the upcoming Papal Conclave. Some are also concerned with…

Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors’ opinions or evaluations. Home insurance covers your house if it’s damaged or destroyed and you need to rebuild. You want to make sure you have enough replacement cost value coverage so that your insurance company would provide enough money to rebuild if your house is damaged by a fire or other problems covered by homeowners insurance. Your home insurance company can figure out your home’s replacement cost value. You can also use an online replacement cost estimator to see how much you…

It’s no secret that banks have been aggressive adopters of generative AI thus far. Some have used it to rewrite legacy code into more modern programming languages, while others have rolled out gen-AI powered tools to their employees for various use cases. But for all the excitement around how gen AI could take waste out and put value back into banking, the technology presents security risks that must be carefully managed. Deepfakes targeting customers and employees now rank as the most frequently observed threat by banks, according to Accenture’s Cyber Threat Intelligence Research. There have even been instances where hackers…

The United States’ eight globally systemically important banks have recently reported first quarter earnings that outperformed analysts’ forecasts. While the higher earnings are important for banks’ capital formation and liquidity, banks’ increase in provisions for future credit losses is a significant warning that earnings this year are in jeopardy. The volatility of stock, bond, and currency markets is helping the big banks with their profits, but the vast number of American banks, which do not have trading desks, will not receive a similar earnings boost. Globally Systemically Important Banks in the U.S. JPMorgan, Citibank, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Morgan…

In a novel fusion of tradition and innovation, a number of economists, Bitcoin advocates, and financial insiders are rallying behind a proposal to reshape U.S. fiscal policy through the issuance of what the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) calls Bitcoin-Enhanced Treasury Bonds—also referred to as BitBonds or ₿ Bonds. First outlined in a white paper by Andrew Hohns and Matthew Pines, and supported by a wide range of policy advisors and investors, BitBonds promise a tantalizing trifecta: fiscal relief, strategic asset accumulation, and wealth-building for everyday Americans. This isn’t just economic theory. On March 6, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued…

For the past two decades, fintechs have helped drive innovation in financial services. New products brought to market by large technology providers and start-up fintechs have placed sophisticated technology into the hands of financial institutions and investors, speeding the adoption and spread of dynamic new solutions like robo-advising, digital payments, mobile banking, blockchain (bitcoin), artificial intelligence-powered analytics and open banking. The industry has benefited greatly from all this innovation. However, I believe fintechs have more to offer—not just to financial services firms, but to companies and organizations of all types. Fintechs are built to thrive in today’s fast-paced and fast-changing…

Look, feel, ease of clicks. These seemingly simple elements of online banking are critical to attracting clients, making customer interactions convenient, and building long-term brand loyalty. “In terms of keeping your customers, to me, the digital experience is what the bank is to that customer,” says Jordan Sternlieb, a senior partner in the financial services practice at West Monroe, a global consulting firm. A bank’s online presence, he adds, is “continuing to be more and more important for how the consumer sees the brand.” For Tangerine, a neobank (meaning it operates exclusively online), founded as ING Direct Canada in 1997,…

Trump’s onslaught of tariffs heralds a new industrial policy era in the U.S. where the government will intervene more in free markets, and companies will have less flexibility in their decision making. The likelihood that countries will retaliate with a range of tariffs aimed at the U.S. will hurt individuals and businesses, making it more challenging for banks to be profitable. Trump has barely been in office shy of 75 days, yet the volatility that he has inserted into economic policies in the U.S. and globally has been very significant. The U.S. Economic Policy Uncertainty Index is practically at a…