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Tax figures and content updates, by date.

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For readers checking what's been updated or corrected recently. Sources are listed at the bottom of the page; check their dates before acting.

Tax figures and Bitcoin content update frequently. This page tracks major changes by date. The newest entries are at the top.

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October 2026

Banking and lending accuracy

  • Debt-to-Income Ratio Calculator The 43% "conventional cap" is gone. Limits now come from the Fannie Mae Selling Guide (50% through Desktop Underwriter; 36% of stable monthly income for manual underwriting, up to 45% with the credit score and reserve requirements met), the CFPB's General QM rule (the 43% limit was removed; compliance became mandatory October 1, 2022), and the FHA and VA ratios their handbooks publish. Result messages now change at 36%, 43%, 45% and 50%. The same 43% claim was corrected on the glossary, financial Q&A and cost-of-living pages.
  • How Money Works: credit creation Rewritten to match how banks lend: loans create deposits (Bank of England, 2014), reserve requirement ratios have been 0% since March 26, 2020, and capital, liquidity and creditworthy demand set the limits. The 10% multiplier stays as labelled history. A steelman now covers FDIC insurance, the Federal Reserve's discount window, maturity transformation and capital and liquidity rules, followed by the rebuttal.
  • How Banks Create Money A steelman now precedes the Cantillon critique: bank credit funds home purchases, small businesses and farms, under capital rules that limit the risk a bank can take.
  • SIPC and FDIC: pages that described SIPC like deposit insurance now keep the two apart. SIPC covers missing assets at a failed member brokerage, up to $500,000 including $250,000 for cash, and not market losses; the FDIC's standard insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category.
  • Where to Bank A community-bank section now sits beside credit unions, with its trade-offs. Bank Fees Step one is now asking the bank to waive the fee or move the account to a no-fee option; community banks are listed next to credit unions.
  • Glossary tooltips added for debt-to-income, Desktop Underwriter, qualified mortgage, FDIC, SIPC and maturity transformation, and the FDIC tooltip now uses the FDIC's own wording on every page that carries it.
  • Also in this release: figure corrections from a check of hard-coded constants, listed in the correction log.

July 2026

Pages added

Pages updated

  • A sitewide correctness pass: calculator fixes (capital-loss netting, 2026 SALTState and local tax (SALT)State and local taxes (income or sales tax, plus property tax) that itemizers can deduct on their federal return, up to a cap: $40,400 for 2026, rising 1% a year through 2029, then back to $10,000 in 2030. In 2026 the cap shrinks toward $10,000 once modified adjusted gross income passes $505,000.Full definition cap, refundable child tax credit, IDRIncome-Driven Repayment (IDR)A federal student loan repayment plan that caps monthly payments at a percentage of your income. amortizationamortizationThe process of paying off a loan through regular payments that cover both principal and interest.Full definition, RMDRequired Minimum Distribution (RMD)The minimum the IRS requires you to withdraw each year from traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, and similar accounts, generally starting at 73, or 75 if born in 1960 or later. It equals the prior December 31 balance divided by an IRS life expectancy factor. Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k)s have no RMDs during the owner's lifetime. table through 120+), cross-page 2026 constant alignment, and hand-set figures replaced with build-time data stamps. Every material correction is logged, dated, on the disclosures page.

April 2026

Pages added

Pages updated

Tax figures updated to 2026

  • 2026 401(k) employee deferral: $24,500 (catch-up at 50+: $8,000).
  • 2026 IRA contribution: $7,500 (catch-up at 50+: $1,100).
  • 2026 HSAHealth Savings Account (HSA)A health savings account available only when eligibility requirements are met. Federal tax benefits depend on contribution limits and qualified medical expenses. Health coverage, other coverage and Medicare enrollment can affect eligibility; state tax treatment can differ.Full definition: $4,400 self-only / $8,750 family.
  • 2026 Solo 401(k) total: $72,000.
  • 2026 standard deductionstandard deductionA fixed dollar amount that reduces your taxable income without itemizing. Most people claim this instead of listing individual deductions.Full definition: $16,100 single / $32,200 MFJMarried Filing Jointly (MFJ)A tax filing status where a married couple combines their income and deductions on one tax return. / $24,150 HOH.
  • 2026 Social Security wage base: $184,500.
  • 2026 Roth IRA phase-outs: Single $153,000-$168,000; MFJ $242,000-$252,000.
  • TCJATax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)The 2017 federal tax law that nearly doubled the standard deduction, capped the state and local tax (SALT) deduction at $10,000, and cut individual and corporate tax rates. In July 2025 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made most of its personal cuts permanent and raised most filers' SALT cap to at least $40,000 through 2029.Full definition: One Big Beautiful Bill Act (signed July 4, 2025) made most TCJA individual provisions permanent. The site was rewritten to reflect this throughout.

Yields and rates

  • SPAXX/HYSA references updated from "4-5% APYAnnual Percentage Yield (APY)An annualized measure of deposit interest that includes the effect of compounding. It is not an inflation-adjusted or after-tax return.Full definition" to "approximately 3-4% APY (as of April 2026)."
  • Federal funds rate references updated to 3.5-3.75% as of April 2026.
  • Average credit card APRAnnual Percentage Rate (APR)The yearly cost of borrowing money, shown as a percentage.Full definition updated to approximately 21% (Federal Reserve G.19 Q1 2026).
  • M2 money supply current snapshot added: approximately $22.4 trillion as of January 2026.
  • Australia super rate updated to 12.0% (the legislated final step from 1 July 2025).
  • SS benefit cut framing updated to CBOCongressional Budget Office (CBO)A nonpartisan federal agency that provides economic and budget analysis to Congress. Feb 2026 projection (approximately 7% in 2032 deepening to ~28% by 2036) with the SSASocial Security Administration (SSA)The federal agency that manages Social Security retirement, disability, and survivor benefit programs. Trustees June 2025 alternative also disclosed.

Q1 2026 (earlier)

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Sources

Figures, rates and rules change: check each source’s date before acting on it.

  1. 2026 401(k), IRA, catch-up, and Roth IRA phase-out limits, IRS Notice 2025-67 · irs.gov.
  2. Section 415(c) / Solo 401(k) total limit, $72,000 · irs.gov COLA table.
  3. 2026 standard deduction ($16,100 / $32,200 / $24,150), Rev. Proc. 2025-32 · irs.gov.
  4. 2026 HSA limits ($4,400 self-only / $8,750 family), Rev. Proc. 2025-19 · irs.gov.
  5. 2026 Social Security wage base, $184,500 · ssa.gov.
  6. One Big Beautiful Bill Act, H.R.1, Public Law 119-21 (signed July 4, 2025) · congress.gov.

Last updated . Educational content, not financial advice. Disclosures · How pages are reviewed

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