The Older Americans Act, the umbrella federal law that includes programs such as Meals on Wheels, senior transportation, information services, adult day, and caregiver support was hours from being expanded and winning congressional approval for another five years. Now, its fate has become far more uncertain. Its all because the OAA, despite broad bipartisan congressional support, got caught up in a squabble over an emergency end-of-year spending bill between President-elect Trump and Elon Musk on one hand, and Capitol Hill Republican leaders on the other. The result: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) dropped the OAA from the big budget measure.…

We last visited the pending January 1, 2025, deadline to file the new Beneficial Ownership Information (“BOI”) report in my article, With Deadline Looming, FINCEN’s Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Is A Hot Mess (Dec. 9, 2024). At that time, a U.S. District Court had issued a nationwide preliminary injunction prohibiting FINCEN from enforcing the BOI filing requirement. The article warned that the Treasury Department would be taking an appeal and that it was entirely possible that the preliminary injunction would be lifted. And that is exactly what happened. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Texas Top Cop Shop,…

With the average price of a new vehicle having skyrocketed by around $10,000 over the last five years, car shoppers are justifiably suffering from sticker shock, with the affordability problem being exacerbated by financing rates that have nearly doubled since 2022. They’re slowly heading in the other direction of late, but it still costs a bundle to borrow money on a new car. According to the Experian credit bureau, those having stellar credit ratings are paying an average 10.37% to finance a new car, truck or SUV. However, savvy – and credit-worthy – shoppers can take advantage of what is…

In one of our recent studies, we analyzed all ZIP codes in the state of Michigan and determined which ones are the most expensive in terms of home values. What Michigan revealed as how strong the allure of lake country homes is, not surprisingly considering Michigan and, the state we’re covering here — Wisconsin — are both Great Lakes states. Read on to find out the most expensive ZIP codes in Wisconsin in 2024, relying on data from Zillow’s home value index and the Census Bureau. The Most Expensive ZIP Codes in Wisconsin Using data from Zillow’s home value index,…

Learn how to avoid holiday shopping pitfalls and quickly improve your credit, with ideas for restoring your credit.How can you avoid overspending during the holidays? How can you can help your credit score recover after missed payments? Can rental payments be reflected on your credit reports? Hosts Sean Pyles and Sara Rathner discuss optimizing your financial habits during the holiday season and overcoming credit mishaps that could show up on your credit report. They begin with a discussion of impulsive holiday shopping, providing tips for intentional spending, minimizing waste, and prioritizing experiential gifts over material items. Then, NerdWallet credit writer…

Ascension, a healthcare company that operates 140 hospitals and 40 senior care facilities throughout the country, disclosed on December 19 that it had suffered a data breach going back to May of 2024 affecting 5,599,699 of its patients and employees. Ascension was hacked through a social engineering email from a ransomware gang that lured an employee of Ascension to download malware that enabled the hacker to steal Ascension’s data. According to Ascension, “Although the data involved varies and cannot be confirmed for each individual, it may include medical information (such as medical record number, date of service, types of lab…

The Biden administration walked away from two mass student loan forgiveness plans on Friday, marking an anticlimactic end to the efforts to enact broad student debt relief. Officials withdrew proposed regulations that would have allowed the initiatives to be implemented. The two loan forgiveness plans would have created pathways to student debt relief for broad swaths of student loan borrowers, including those who have experienced runaway balance growth due to interest accrual, and people who are dealing with significant personal or financial hardships. Had the programs been enacted, they could have benefited more than 30 million borrowers. But given ongoing…

Sometimes it’s hard to look at statistics without having the air knocked out of you, like a hard punch to the gut. Just over a week ago, Zumper released it’s 2024 Annual Rent Report. One statement in it represented a large portion of the country getting winded through high average consumer rent: “In 2024, renters spent an average of 42% of their pre-tax income on housing, up from 35% in 2021, even though a majority believed rent should be capped at 30% of income,” Zumper wrote. It’s astounding and disturbing. Never before has the mismatch between what people make and…

Charbel S. Joseph was a construction contractor who decided for whatever reasons not to file or pay his federal income taxes due. On September 1, 2023, Joseph filed a petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky seeking Chapter 7 relief. In later filings, Joseph would claim that he had only $21,095 in assets against more than $10 million in debts. Curious as to the wide discrepancy between the debtor’s assets and liabilities, the U.S. Trustee began to conduct discovery about Joseph’s assets and business activities. The documents that Joseph produced were scanty and seemed to…

If a picture can be worth a thousand words, here are three thousand worth on where the economy stands now. First, inflation using the Personal Consumption Expenditures measure, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure when making decisions: Next, economic growth via gross national product, or GDP: Finally, the unemployment rate: Put succinctly: Inflation is down, the economy is growing, and unemployment is low. This seems like the so-called soft landing, where the economy comes under control without a recession. All’s well for the end of the year. Except that may not be the case given the most recent economic…