Personal Finance

There’s a lot of speculation lately about whether the U.S. is officially in a recession. Both President Joe Biden and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said we’re not there just yet, pointing to the strong labor market and rising wages. The official declaration typically comes from the National Bureau of Economic Research, and it has

Getty Images President Joe Biden has promised to make his decision on student loan forgiveness “by the end of August.” That means tens of millions of Americans could learn the future of their debt within days or weeks. Here are 5 things borrowers can do while you wait for more news, to be prepared for

Kelvin Murray | Getty Images A combination of record high prices and a record number of job openings has been encouraging more retirees to go back to work. The trend, called “unretirement,” rebounded this spring to pre-pandemic levels. About two-thirds, or 68%, of retirees would consider returning to work, according to a recent CNBC All-America

In this article TRU There’s no doubt Americans are falling deeper in debt. As prices jump across the board, consumers are increasingly relying on credit cards to make ends meet. The number of people with credit cards and personal loans hit record highs in the second quarter of 2022, according to TransUnion’s latest credit industry

Sporrer/Rupp | Image Source | Getty Images Market drops may stoke retirees’ fears that they will no longer have enough assets to live on. But it turns out that may not be the biggest financial risk they should be watching for in retirement. Instead, longevity — the prospect retirees may live longer than expected and

Nosystem Images | E+ | Getty Images Student loan forgiveness could be coming as soon as this month. The Biden administration is considering a number of different ways to move forward with cancelling education debt. The biggest uncertainty is how much of the debt it will relieve, if any. On the campaign trail, President Joe

Getty Images If you took out a loan earlier this year, there’s a chance you’ll be hearing from your bank about a flub that may have been part of its lending decision. One of the three big credit-reporting companies, Equifax, announced this week that a coding issue resulted in the company providing inaccurate consumer credit

Morsa Images | Digitalvision | Getty Images While the Federal Reserve raises borrowing costs aggressively to tame stubbornly high inflation, remote work may be serving as an unlikely ally to the U.S. central bank. The Fed increased its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage points last week, after having raised it by a similar amount

zimmytws | iStock | Getty Images There are just 13 years before Social Security may not be able to pay full benefits, according to a recent annual report from the program’s trustees. In 2035, just 80% of benefits will be payable if Congress doesn’t fix the program sooner. Shoring up the program will generally mean

d3sign | Moment | Getty Images Would-be travelers looking to fly this fall may want to book their plane trips now, with travel app Hopper reporting that airfares are dropping this month from peak summertime prices. “September and early October will be the cheapest times to travel, while August and early September will be the

Insta_photos | Istock | Getty Images Many Americans are pessimistic about the future of Social Security, and the pandemic has made it even worse. A recent survey found 59% of people now worry more about Social Security running out of funding than they did before the onset of Covid-19, according to Nationwide Retirement Institute. And

Designer491 | Istock | Getty Images The U.S. Department of Education is expected to lose close to $200 billion from federal student loans made over the last 25 years, due in part to pandemic-era relief pausing the bills for borrowers. Originally, the Education Department estimated these loans would generate around $114 billion in income; they

A customer shops in a Kroger grocery store on July 15, 2022 in Houston. Brandon Bell | Getty Images As experts debate whether the U.S. is on the brink of an economic downturn, many Americans are already bracing themselves for a recession. To that point, 66% of Americans worry that a major recession is right

Nirunya Juntoomma | Istock | Getty Images It’s no secret that households with sufficient emergency savings are more the exception than the norm. Two proposals in the Senate aim to change that. And, experts say, tackling the problem could lend itself to workers saving more for their golden years. “One of the best ways to

A record number of workers have quit their jobs, looked for new ones and renegotiated along the way. But with all the opportunities the current labor market offers, there are challenges, too — especially when it comes to standing out in a sea of job applicants. About one in five workers, or 22%, said they

Getting a job after graduation isn’t a given. While the labor market is strong and college grads are still more employable — and earn more — than their high-school counterparts, the choice of major, and degree, goes a long way toward determining how hirable you will be. A bachelor’s degree in mathematics gives students the

. Mike Segar | Reuters Sure, someone may beat the odds and land the $1.28 billion Mega Millions jackpot that’s up for grabs in Friday night’s drawing. To be clear: The chance of a ticket matching all six numbers drawn is roughly 1 in 302.5 million. Nevertheless, in between daydreaming about how you would spend

FatCamera | E+ | Getty Images As individuals and families grapple with surging prices, there’s one category that has a history of rising faster than inflation: prescription drugs. Now, the new Senate reconciliation bill put forward by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., aims to help give Americans relief from

In this article CTRN The cost of borrowing is getting more expensive for American households. With Wednesday’s 0.75-percentage-point interest rate hike, the Federal Reserve has raised benchmark short-term borrowing rates 225 basis points, or 2.25%, since March in an effort to curb unrelenting inflation. The federal funds rate, which is set by the U.S. central bank, is

Americans want to know: Is this a recession or not? Officially, the National Bureau of Economic Research defines recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.” In fact, the latest quarterly gross domestic product report, which tracks the overall health of the economy, showed

The Federal Reserve raised the target federal funds rate by another 0.75 percentage points at the end of its two-day meeting Wednesday, in an effort to curb unrelenting inflation. Fed officials have already raised benchmark short-term borrowing rates 1.5 percentage points this year, including June’s 75-basis point increase, which marked the largest increase in nearly three decades. The

The Good Brigade | DigitalVision | Getty Images As the Federal Reserve again raises interest rates to combat soaring inflation, some advisors are shifting clients’ investment portfolios. The central bank on Wednesday enacted its second consecutive three-quarters of a percentage point interest rate increase, aiming to curb rising prices without triggering a recession. The move

Paul Bradbury | Ojo Images | Getty Images Federal student loan servicers have been told to hold off on sending out payment reminders to borrowers, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The development suggests the Biden administration could be considering extending the pandemic-era payment pause on federal student loans yet again. The policy,

Activists participate in a rally urging the expansion of Social Security benefits in front of the White House July 13, 2015. Getty Images Two Washington Democrats — Sen. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida — teamed up last week to reintroduce legislation to strengthen Social Security. Their bill, the Protecting and

Twenty/20 The Biden administration is considering wiping out hundreds of billions of dollars in student debt. Its announcement could come as soon as next month. Why would the federal government relieve a large portion of the loans it gave out? These are some of the main reasons, according to experts. 1. A growing sense the

Paul Burns | Getty Images Claiming Social Security retirement benefits early means locking in a lower benefit amount for life. Yet a recent survey of U.S. adults ages 26 and up by Nationwide Retirement Institute found that claiming early is exactly what many Americans are planning to do. The survey found 42% of respondents plan

Glowimages | Glowimages | Getty Images It’s a good time to be an American traveling abroad. The value of the U.S. dollar has been at its strongest in years relative to many major global currencies of late— meaning travelers can buy more overseas than in the recent past. Put another way, Americans are effectively getting

“My goal was to get money,” said Adekunle Adedeji, a former romance scammer from Nigeria who goes by the name Chris. While Adedeji, 23, did not pose as a “Nigerian prince,” he did tap another long running internet fraud: the romance scam. Using someone else’s photos found on Instagram and pretending to be an American

skynesher With the stock market flashing more red than green these days and economists warning that the chances of a recession are rising, some investors may be eyeing the exit sign. But by leaving now you risk missing the best days of the market, experts say. “High volatility doesn’t mean only downside volatility,” said Veronica

Prostock-Studio | Getty Images It only takes a quick scroll through Instagram to see how many people are on vacation right now, going to concerts and enjoying amazing meals out. To be sure, “revenge tourism” — and “revenge spending” more broadly — has been surging, at least as far as social media is concerned. At