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As inflation weighs down on American consumers, a host of government and financial rules are changing to help fight rising prices that have reduced your spending power. In many cases, the changes are intended to help people pay lower taxes and save more, too. The 12-month inflation rate hit 8.2% in September. That was down slightly from the 8.3% seen in August, but still near a four-decade high. Starting in 2023, everything from Social Security benefits to state and local minimum wages are set to adjust — in most cases at rates not seen in a generation. Some analysts and business leaders say that inflation has already peaked and that, even as prices rise , it will not be as severe as it was this summer. “Inflation continues to be a stubborn force globally, though we’ve started to see some moderating impacts in certain areas of our businesses compared to earlier in the year,” Abbott Laboratories CEO Robert Ford said Oct. 19, CNBC reported. But that higher inflation has already been bak...

America's housing market is slowing down. Monthly payments are climbing out of reach for many prospective homebuyers and some sellers are hesitant to pull up stakes, unwilling to face a real estate environment where you get less house for your money, with mortgage rates approaching 7%. But the wheels of commerce must keep turning, and some realtors are finding creative ways to close deals. Everything is on the table: from pitching adjustable rate mortgages to offering free pilates lessons and more. On the financing front, a so-called buydown incentive is now surging in popularity, experts say. Under this type of arrangement, a seller "buys down" the interest rate a home purchaser will have to pay in the initial years of their mortgage. For example, in a 2-1 buydown scenario, the buyer's interest rate will be 2% below the contract rate during the first year. In the second year, it changes to 1% below. After those first two years, the mortgage payment returns to th...

WASHINGTON — Home buyers feeling financially squeezed by higher interest rates are increasingly being steered by real estate agents and mortgage brokers to potentially riskier types of mortgages, similar to those seen ahead of the 2008 financial crisis, causing concern among some consumer advocates and industry analysts.  Among the loans being promoted to home buyers are adjustable rate mortgages, so-called 2-1 buydowns, which artificially lower rates for the first two years, and interest-only mortgages in which borrowers pay a lower monthly payment for several years by only paying the loan interest, according to interviews with real estate professionals, industry data and a review of marketing material from real estate agents and mortgage brokers.  In all instances, borrowers can find themselves with monthly payments that increase by hundreds of dollars a month after the introductory period, a dynamic seen in the run-up to the last housing market crash when predatory lending resulted...

The Good Brigade | Digitalvision | Getty Images Mortgage rates are projected to decline next year — but that doesn't mean prospective homebuyers should necessarily delay a purchase for the prospect of lower financing costs. The rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage will fall to an average 4.5% in 2023, according to a recent housing forecast published by Fannie Mae, a government-sponsored lender. That dynamic would offer relief to would-be homebuyers who've seen mortgage rates balloon this year. The Federal Reserve started increasing its benchmark interest rate in March to tame stubbornly high inflation, which has resulted in higher borrowing costs for consumers — who may feel a sense of whiplash from 2020, when rates bottomed out near historically low levels. More from Personal Finance: 13 states may tax student loan forgiveness Fewer Americans living paycheck to paycheck as inflation starts to ease How to figure out if you qualify for student loan forgiveness Average rates are exp...