Personal Finance

Noel Hendrickson/Getty Images Even with signs that the housing market is cooling, homebuyers are still feeling the sting of elevated prices and higher interest rates. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.7% as of Friday, up from 3.3% at the start of 2022, according to Mortgage News Daily. Alongside that, home prices

Skynesher | E+ | Getty Images It’s still an employees’ market, even amid high inflation and talk of a possible recession. But there are some signs that could start to change. One key reason: The Federal Reserve’s 0.75 percentage point interest rate increase announced on Wednesday likely won’t be its last as it moves to

Ronnie Kaufman | DigitalVision | Getty Images For some new retirees, there’s an extra step needed when it comes to signing up for Medicare. That is, you may need to appeal so-called income-related adjustment amounts, or IRMAAs, if your income as a new retiree is lower than when you were working. Those extra charges kick

Forget getting a deal; these days, anyone in the market for a new car could pay thousands over the sticker price before they drive off the lot. Limited inventory due to a persistent shortage of computer chips, along with other supply-chain challenges, helped propel new car prices up 10% from a year ago, according to

The Federal Reserve raised the target federal funds rate by 0.75 percentage points for the third time in a row, in an effort to cool down unrelenting inflation. Fed officials have raised the benchmark short-term borrowing rate a total of five times this year, including 75 basis point increases in June and July, marking an unprecedented pace.

This week, the Federal Reserve will likely raise rates by another three-quarters of a percentage point for the third consecutive time in an effort to cool down the high cost of living.  The U.S. central bank has already raised interest rates four times this year, for a total of 2.25 percentage points.  Fed officials have

Brandon Bell | Getty Images News | Getty Images The White House released an analysis on Tuesday of how many people in each state stand to benefit from its student loan forgiveness plan, including a count of borrowers who received a Pell Grant. More than 3.5 million people are eligible for debt cancellation in California,

Shapecharge | E+ | Getty Images Certain married couples may qualify for federal student loan forgiveness even if their income appears too high to do so at first blush.   That’s due to how married couples file their annual tax returns and how the federal government is interpreting income qualifications for debt forgiveness. President Joe

hept27 | iStock | Getty Images Student loan debtors are poised to get some breathing room after President Joe Biden unveiled a plan last month to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loans per borrower. But some experts say the one-time presidential pardon will not do much to alleviate the student debt crisis affecting

Going to the grocery store isn’t getting any cheaper. Rising food costs helped push inflation higher again last month, despite a drop in gas prices. The food index alone rose 11.4% over the past year, according to the latest consumer price index figures — marking the biggest 12-month jump since May 1979. The food-at-home index, a measure

Fabio Formaggio / 500Px | 500Px Plus | Getty Images Last year, I moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. At 28, I was living alone for the first time. It was tremendously exciting, but I also had a problem: I had no furniture. For weeks I slept on an air mattress that would be

The party may be over for “buy now, pay later.” The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday that these installment payments come with “several areas of risk of consumer harm,” including data harvesting, debt accumulation and “loan stacking” — or juggling multiple payment plans at once. Buy now, pay later lenders — including companies such

Sporrer/Rupp | Image Source | Getty Images As talk of Social Security reform heats up heading into the November election, one congressional proposal to expand the federal program has received a new endorsement from California lawmakers. In August, a joint resolution passed both the state’s senate and its assembly. Now, it goes to Capitol Hill

If you’re expecting relief from President Joe Biden‘s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student loans, you may have state income tax liability, depending on where you live.  While legislation is evolving, it’s possible that seven states — Arkansas, California, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina and Wisconsin — may tax student loan forgiveness, according

A Social Security Administration office in San Francisco. Getty Images Social Security’s average wait time for an initial disability decision hit an all-time high in August of more than six months, or 198 days — almost three times higher than it was a decade ago. That is just one of many signs that Social Security’s

Pekic | E+ | Getty Images The U.S. Department of Education continues to put out new information on how President Joe Biden’s historic student loan forgiveness plan will work. Some of the latest details include how forgiveness will be applied to your balance: which federal student loans can get the relief, and in what order.

Andresr | E+ | Getty Images For retirement “super savers,” good financial habits appear to go far beyond fattening up their nest eggs, a new study shows. Most of these workers — whose 401(k) contributions are at least 15% of their pay or 90% or more of the maximum allowed — also pay their bills

Globalstock | E+ | Getty Images If you feel like your income hasn’t kept up with rising prices, you’re not alone. More than half, 55%, of respondents in a new survey from Bankrate.com say their incomes have not kept up with rising household expenses amid persistent high inflation. Only 33% of respondents said their incomes

Fizkes | Istock | Getty Images There’s good news for the millions of people with federal student loans who’ve made payments on that debt during the Covid pandemic: many of them will be eligible to get the money back. The U.S. Department of Education says that many borrowers eligible for President Joe Biden‘s student loan

Sollina Images | Tetra Images | Getty Images Despite falling gas prices, inflation was higher than expected in August, curbing optimism for lower day-to-day expenses. But some retirees won’t feel the sting of elevated costs, experts say. Annual inflation rose by 8.3% in August, fueled by growing costs for food, shelter and medical care services,

Peopleimages | Istock | Getty Images As open enrollment season gets underway, you may find yourself having to decide whether a health savings account should be part of your 2023 medical coverage. These tax-advantaged accounts let users save for medical expenses. Many companies will soon — or already have started to — hold their annual

Olena Ruban | Moment | Getty Images By next month, tens of millions of Americans should be able to start applying for student loan forgiveness. For a number of reasons, experts say borrowers should fill out their application sooner rather than later. These are 4 dates that should be on your radar, including three before

James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers looks to pass against the Toronto Raptors during game five of the Eastern Conference First Round on April 25, 2022. Tim Nwachukwu | Getty Images For NBA player James Harden, boosting financial know-how among young adults is personal. Harden, a point guard and shooting guard who recently signed a

Damir Khabirov | iStock | Getty Images Young adults in majority Black and Hispanic communities tend to have lower average credit scores compared with those who reside in majority white communities, according to new research from the Urban Institute. The research found 25- to 29-year-olds in majority Black communities have a median credit score of

Helen Cortez / EyeEm | Getty Images Determining who benefits most from student loan forgiveness — the poor, middle class or wealthy — may sound like a straightforward exercise. But an exact calculation is difficult, according to economists and education experts. Aside from challenges related to the available data, future financial benefits that will accrue

In this article CTRN Peopleimages | Istock | Getty Images Citi is expanding a program to encourage homeownership in diverse communities, as part of a new set of initiatives to broaden access to its lending products. The program, called HomeRun, seeks to help eliminate the key barriers to homeownership, particularly with regard to cost and

Like many borrowers, Halid Hamade, 28, is poised to benefit — at least somewhat — from student loan forgiveness. After President Joe Biden announced he will forgive $10,000 in federal education debt and up to $20,000 for recipients of Pell Grants who meet the income threshold, Hamade said he was happy. Still, “it’s not enough,”

In this article GS AAPL The Apple Card is getting a lot of attention lately. It doesn’t hurt that the credit card can score you a discount on the newest iPhone 14 and other devices purchased directly from Apple. Apple’s new iPhones are available to order starting Friday, and although there was no price hike

A student walks to class at Rice University in Houston on Aug. 29, 2022. Brandon Bell | Getty Images News | Getty Images The application for student loan forgiveness will be ready by early October, the U.S. Department of Education says. After people apply, they could see the relief within six weeks. While borrowers wait

Inflation is a Scrooge. Although the holiday season is still months away, consumers are already concerned about how they will afford this year’s gifts as prices continue to rise, several studies show. Roughly 40% of holiday shoppers said inflation is changing the way they shop, with most trying money-saving strategies, according to a new Bankrate.com