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Ok, so here's the good news. The average cost of full coverage car insurance only increased by 12% from 2024 to 2025. What? I didn't say it was great news. 🤷 Bankrate's 2025 True Cost of Auto Insurance report is out! While no one is thrilled to see the national cost of auto insurance at $2,638 per year, an increase of $289, there is a silverish lining. Drivers desperately need auto rates to slow down, and so far, car insurance in 2025 is doing just that. As of now, the national median household income is $77,719 per year, meaning households spend 3.39% of their income on auto insurance. Looking back, from 2023 to 2025, full coverage rates surged by 31%, with the average cost in 2023 being $2,013 — $625 less than today. Depending on where you live and your driving record, your cost of car insurance is higher or lower than the national average. Florida drivers have experienced the most significant jump in premiums from 2024 to 2025, with annual full coverage costs now $782 higher than last year. Conversely, Missouri saw a surprising decrease, with rates dropping by $314 from 2023. However, it's important to note that Missouri's rates had increased from 2023 to 2024, so the current decrease still leaves them higher than two years ago. Mid-2024, many insurance carriers stated they were nearing rate adequacy and predicted a rate slowdown for 2025. But a lot has changed since then, what do you think? Will rates continue to stabilize? Or is 2025 a blip, a pause before a chaotic 2026? https://lnkd.in/gz6Y-2Zx

How much does auto insurance REALLY cost? According to Bankrate’s latest study, the national average cost for full coverage car insurance is $2,638 per year, which is 3.39% of median annual household income. Drivers living in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro area have the highest annual average cost of car insurance, while drivers in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area have the lowest. For a breakdown of the most and least expensive metros and states for auto insurance, please visit:https://lnkd.in/eDUD_fXq

What’s ahead for January’s CPI release, the main gauge of prices at the retail level? Economists are forecasting increases of 0.3% in both the headline and core rates (which excludes food and energy). This follows December's notable uptick in gasoline prices, which surged 4.4%. We saw annualized inflation rates of 2.9% in the headline and 3.2% in the core, still above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Federal Reserve officials, having recently paused after interest rate cuts, are in a virtual wait-and-see mode ahead of the next scheduled announcement on March 19th. This cautious approach reflects uncertainties related to the new administration and the global economy. Among the questions is what happens with tariffs, inflation, and the job market. The typically newsworthy CPI release should provide updated insights into recent inflation trends and possible future moves in monetary policy.

If you’re not sure what it means to be “middle class” in today’s economy, raise your hand 🙋🏻♀️ My Bankrate colleague Lane Gillespie did some great reporting on this since there’s been a lot of confusing messaging around what it means to be middle class, especially over the last few years with rising inflation, stagnant wages, higher interest rates and an unaffordable housing market. Historically, Americans have associated the middle-class lifestyle with owning a home, not living paycheck to paycheck, being able to make discretionary purchases and still have some left over to save for the future. But what is a reasonable salary to support that lifestyle today? That’s certainly part of the confusion, and American’s definition of that has been changing. Middle income and middle class are terms that are often used interchangeably, yet many middle-income earners don’t feel like they make enough to support a middle-class lifestyle. Pew Research Center defines middle income as a household that makes two-thirds to double the national median income after adjusting for household size. The latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau finds that national household median income stands at nearly $81,000 annually. As of 2024, Bankrate research finds that Americans say that they’d need to make over $186,000 per year on average to feel financially secure or comfortable 🤯 Data from the Pew Research Center shows the percentage of middle-income households has dropped from 1971 to 2022. Richard Fry, a senior researcher at Pew, notes a shift: more Americans are now either lower or upper income, contributing to the "vanishing middle." Fry and Megan Doherty Bea, an assistant professor of consumer science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said this is happening for several reasons: - Skyrocketing inflation: Wages haven’t kept pace with rising prices. - Automation and new technology: These have replaced many middle-income jobs. - Rising debt: More items are financed today, and debt repayments limit the ability to achieve middle-class stability. I want to know what you think: Is there a disconnect with what it means to be middle class in today’s economy, or is the “middle class” lifestyle becoming increasingly unattainable? Read more: https://lnkd.in/eZurRgRY

The January jobs report should provide some reassurance for people in the labor force, those working or looking for work. The nation's unemployment rate dropped to 4%, and hiring has been generally solid over the past three months. However, there was a slight cooling in January, with 143,000 jobs added. For more on the economy and how it affects your personal finances, check out Bankrate. Here's my video on the main takeaways. Please share your thoughts on what you are seeing and any tips for people looking to change jobs. #breakingnews #economy #finances #money

Throughout history, economists have quipped that U.S. households bought into the idea of the “American Dream” because of the installment loan. Rarely do consumers have enough cash on hand to purchase the homes, cars, appliances, and more that they aspire to own. Credit was believed to equalize opportunities, giving all Americans, not just the affluent, a chance to ascend. But what happens if credit starts to become tougher to access? Nearly half (48%) of Americans who’ve applied for a loan or financial product over the past 12 months have faced rejection on at least one application, according to Bankrate's annual Credit Denials Survey. Experts interviewed by Bankrate attribute this to a complex web of economic challenges. It starts with the post-pandemic inflation surge that squeezed households’ budgets and continues as financing costs rapidly rise. Coinciding with rising rejection rates, New York Fed data shows that the most Americans in over a decade are falling behind on their bills, which is a concern to lenders whose utmost priority is getting paid back. However, inflation hasn’t hit all households equally. Upper-income, affluent Americans are better positioned to weather the surge in prices and are more likely to get approved for loans, while lower-income households are finding it tougher to access credit. Parents with children under 18 (55%), Generation Zers (65%), millennials (59%), and lower-income Americans (59%) who applied for a loan or financial product over the past 12 months were among those most likely to face rejection. Applicants with credit scores under 670 were more than twice as likely (64 percent) to face rejection than those with exceptional credit scores (29 percent for scores between 800-850). Lower-income applicants (those making under $40K a year) were also more likely to be denied (59%), compared with those making between $40,000-$79,999 (43%) and those making $80K more or more (43%). The financial repercussions for those denied are significant. When faced with a denial, a majority (65%) reported negative impacts on their personal finances, including increased financial stress (22%), borrowing from family or friends (20 percent), inability to access needed credit (17%), turning to alternative financing like payday loans (14%), and delaying major financial milestones (13%). “We as a nation have prided ourselves on the ability of those at the bottom to rise up, that there was a clear economic ladder. I worry that not only have the rungs been removed from the ladder, but that the ladder itself is now missing,” one economist told me. Let me know: Has credit tightened more, or less, than you expected, given just how much interest rates surged? https://lnkd.in/guMsQbwu

Meet Bankrate’s Principal U.S. Economy Reporter, Sarah Foster. 🌟 Sarah covers the Federal Reserve, the U.S. economy and economic policy for Bankrate, where she helps readers understand how the world’s most powerful policymakers in Washington D.C., impact their personal finances. Sarah is a member of the premiere association for business journalists, the SABEW, has been selected as a Goldschmidt data fellow in both 2019 and 2020 and was named a Top Voice in Finance by LinkedIn in 2024. Read more of her latest work here: https://lnkd.in/eFJX-zmJ Give her a follow on social media: - X: https://x.com/sarahffoster - Instagram: https://lnkd.in/eKb8q3qh - TikTok: https://lnkd.in/eeGFX-GW

The Federal Reserve has opted to keep its benchmark interest rate steady, interrupting a series of rate cuts last year. This presents opportunities and challenges for households and individuals and their finances. More so than with other recent Fed policy meetings, the central bank gave little guidance about the future direction of rates. This quiet, wait-and-see approach is because of a high degree of uncertainty about the outlook, including what’s happening in Washington and with still elevated inflation. Borrowers with fixed-rate loans are sitting pretty, while potential or new borrowers could struggle to access new credit. Those with floating-rate debt can breathe easier with rates in a holding pattern. Credit card holders should remain vigilant, continue aggressive debt management (in other words, paying it down or off), and consider zero percent balance transfer offers to ease the financial burden. In the mortgage market, rates remain high due to the influence of the 10-year Treasury yield, posing challenges for homebuyers. However, HELOC rates should stay stable for a while. Stock investors have had a good run in recent years, following double-digit percentage increases in the S&P 500 over the past two years. Last fall, investors were betting that inflation would be better behaved and that interest rates would fall this year. Those assumptions have come into question. That has implications for the stock market as well. For long-term investors, the notion is that “steady and slow wins the race” and that requires caution and commitment. What about yields on savings accounts and CDs? They’ve come down, but competitive rates can still be found, including with online banks and credit unions. Locking in longer-term CDs is a good move for those who won’t need their money for a while. Otherwise, go with a high-yield savings account. To fail to save is to take the biggest risk of all. https://lnkd.in/gPcVAA4x

NEWS: The Federal Reserve looks to be in wait-and-see mode. After cutting interest rates a full percentage point across three consecutive meetings in 2024, officials at the U.S. central bank announced at their first meeting of 2025 that they were officially pressing the pause button on interest rate cuts. Officials still appear to retain a bias toward cutting rates (They retained a phrase in their post-meeting statement about considering the extent and timing of additional adjustments to their key benchmark interest rate). Yet, officials are wanting to give inflation more time to cool — and give themselves more time to assess just how much President Donald Trump’s policies might impact the U.S. economy. That’s despite the president saying in his first week back at the White House that he would  demand interest rates drop “immediately.” “I think I know interest rates much better than they do, and I think I know it certainly much better than the one who’s primarily in charge of making that decision,” Trump said. Later, from the Oval Office, he said he plans to speak with Fed Chair Jerome Powell (whom he appointed in 2017) “at the right time.” Trump’s policies might be part of the reason why Fed officials are holding interest rates steady. Economists we survey at Bankrate say the chief executive’s economic policy playbook (lower taxes, deportations and tariffs) could potentially reignite inflation. Back in December, Powell said that some policymakers had already boosted their inflation forecasts and erased some rate cut projections because of it. For now, the Fed looks like it might just be caught in the middle of a clash it doesn’t want. Vice Chair Michael Barr already stepped down from his role as the head of banking supervision, citing that “the risk of a dispute over the position could be a distraction from our mission.” Powell will likely be under pressure to prove that he isn’t bending to political pressure — and to give Fed watchers more clarity on just how much they’re incorporating these policies into their outlook. And the message for consumers as Fed officials await for some of this uncertainty to clear: Interest rates are not coming down as quickly as they surged. How long will the Fed be on pause? We break it all down here: https://lnkd.in/earW4GfT

The first Federal Reserve meeting of the year is set for this week, and the Fed is expected to hold rates steady as inflation remains high. All eyes are on Fed Chair Jerome Powell as consumers wonder how long interest rates will remain at their current levels. Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride, CFA breaks down what the Fed’s decision will mean for your finances. Follow along with Bankrate's live Fed blog starting tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM to see the latest news from our experts. https://lnkd.in/eEkg3Cv