Health insurance is one of the largest and most consequential expenses facing freelancers, consultants, and small business owners — and 2026 has made the decision harder. The enhanced ACA premium tax credits that made marketplace coverage affordable for millions expired at the end of 2025, and unsubsidized marketplace premiums have risen an estimated 26%–58% depending … Read more
Homeowners insurance has become one of the fastest-rising costs of owning a home. National averages now range widely depending on the data source — from roughly $2,500 to over $3,500 a year for a mid-size policy — and one in three homeowners reports their premium increased in the past 12 months. The good news: the … Read more
Roughly 45 million Americans carry student loan debt, and industry estimates suggest fewer than 10% of eligible borrowers have ever explored refinancing — the equivalent of never checking the price tag on a bill you’re already paying every month. With federal loan protections narrowing in 2026 and private refinance rates sitting in a genuinely competitive … Read more
Starting or growing a small business almost always runs into the same wall: you need capital before you have the revenue history most lenders want to see. The good news for 2026 is that startup-specific financing has genuinely expanded — the SBA closed its most recent fiscal year with a record $44.8 billion in guaranteed … Read more
Mortgage rates have spent most of 2026 hovering in a tight band around 6.5%, a level that’s neither the crisis-era lows homeowners remember from 2020–2021 nor the near-8% peaks of 2023. For the millions of Americans who bought or last refinanced during that high-rate window, that band matters — it may finally represent a real … Read more
Health insurance is one of the largest and most consequential expenses facing freelancers, consultants, and small business owners — and 2026 has made the decision harder. The enhanced ACA premium tax credits that made marketplace coverage affordable for millions expired at the end of 2025, and unsubsidized marketplace premiums have risen an estimated 26%–58% depending … Read more