Introduction Debt is rarely all good or all bad. A mortgage at a low fixed rate may be a useful financial tool. A credit card balance carrying a 25 percent interest rate is a drain on every other goal a household has. Effective debt management starts with understanding which debts are working for you, which […]

Introduction Financial literacy used to be a quiet concern, mentioned in passing during high school home economics classes that have largely disappeared. In 2026, the stakes are different. American households face a financial environment more complex than at any previous point. Multiple investment vehicles, retirement accounts with different tax treatments, fluctuating interest rates, evolving insurance […]

Introduction Personal finance and the broader economy are connected in ways that are easy to overlook in day-to-day life. The choices made by tens of millions of households about how to save, spend, borrow, and invest add up to forces that shape interest rates, housing markets, and consumer demand. When household behavior shifts in any […]