Personal Finance

The U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. Caroline Brehman | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images The Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it was moving to make sweeping changes to the federal student loan system, including making it easier for public servants to get debt forgiveness and setting new limits on the accrual

zimmytws | iStock | Getty Images Congressional leaders can agree on one thing — Social Security needs to be fixed before the program’s funds are unable to pay full benefits in 2035. But that is where the consensus ends. Leaders from both the Republican and Democratic parties have each recently discussed the issue on Capitol

The Supreme Court last week limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions to fight climate change — and that may leave eco-conscious investors wondering what they can do. Certain investment managers offer funds meant to promote values such as environmental preservation and social good, and those funds have become more popular

For years, fewer teenagers were looking for summer jobs, opting instead to bolster their college applications with academic programs or unpaid internships. But as the economy bounced back from the pandemic, employers were almost begging for workers and some opportunities were too good to pass up. With more flexible work arrangements and better pay, the

Sdi Productions | E+ | Getty Images The student loan crisis has made it clear that many borrowers have gotten in over their heads, said Sheila Bair, who has served as both a bank regulator and college president. She blames the lack of transparency and confusion around this category of loan. About 44 million Americans

Carol Yepes | Moment | Getty Images It’s right there on the U.S. Department of Education’s website: Student loan payments to restart after Aug. 31, 2022. Skeptical? It’s understandable. The Education Department has repeatedly set an end date for the payment pause on federal student loans, which began in March 2020, and then revised it

Luis Alvarez | Digitalvision | Getty Images For employees today, job satisfaction is about much more than just pay and benefits. New hires are increasingly looking for companies that affirm their values. Tyrese Thomas, who graduated from college in May with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, East Asian studies and business management, was careful in

miodrag ignjatovic | E+ | Getty Images If medical debt you’ve already paid has been lingering on your credit report, you may want to see if that has changed. As of Friday, the first phase of changes to when such debt will show up on credit reports takes effect. Specifically, the three large credit reporting

Valerie Macon | AFP | Getty Images Customer service wait times from Social Security may be improving, at least for mail correspondence. A new report from the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General details the results of an investigation into deficiencies in the agency’s handling of U.S. mail during the Covid-19 pandemic. In

Yellow Dog Productions | The Image Bank | Getty Images Investors discouraged by a bond market where yields are savaged by inflation may find relief in what, for many, is an unfamiliar fixed-income vehicle: closed-end municipal bond funds. These funds, less common than the open-ended variety, are offered by large financial services companies. Some are

andresr | E+ | Getty Images IRA rollovers — transfers from 401(k) plans to individual retirement accounts — are a common financial move when workers switch jobs or retire. But rollover IRAs can cost Americans billions of dollars in extra fees over decades, according to a study issued Thursday by The Pew Charitable Trusts, a

Emmanuel Faure | Getty Images Understanding the ins and outs of Social Security’s many rules around claims will help you make the best decisions when accessing retirement benefits. But a recent MassMutual poll given to people near or already in retirement shows that many have some brushing up to do on the program’s rules. The

Ric Edelman, founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals. Heidi Gutman | CNBC Bitcoin’s recent rout — including its recent drop below $20,000 — has given some cryptocurrency naysayers an “I told you so” moment. “How do you make a million? Invest a billion in bitcoin,” one panelist joked at a conference for

In this article TREE Some shoppers say “buy now, pay later” may not be all it’s cracked up to be. After experiencing explosive growth during the pandemic — spending on BNPL in the U.S. soared 230% since the start of 2020 — the hype around installment buying is fading as costs for everyday items rise

AscentXmedia / Getty Record high inflation and gas prices have many Americans hoping for financial relief. And in California, that’s exactly what approximately 23 million residents stand to get, thanks to the state’s new budget deal, which is slated to give qualifying taxpayers new direct payments. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic legislative leaders

Getty Images Baby boomers aren’t the only generation focused on retirement. Millennials are almost twice as likely to be thinking about retiring early compared to Gen Zers and almost three times as likely as Gen Xers, according to a recent study by Northwestern Mutual. When asked what age people expect to retire, millennials had the most

Getty Images Americans are increasingly turning to side hustles to make more money amid economic uncertainty and persistent high inflation. Some 44% of Americans are working at least one extra job to make ends meet each month, according to survey from Insuranks, a small business insurance marketplace. The online survey of more than 1,000 adults

The Good Brigade | Digitalvision | Getty Images If you get your health insurance through the government Health Insurance Marketplace, you may want to brace for higher premiums next year. Unless Congress takes action, enhanced premium subsidies (technically tax credits) that have been in place for 2021 and 2022 will disappear after this year. The

d3sign There has been a lot of chatter recently about the possibility of a recession. Yet what exactly does that mean — and what would a potential downturn look like? A recession is defined as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and that lasts more than a few months,”

Photo by Mike Kline (notkalvin) | Moment | Getty Images Just three years after the Secure Act ushered in the first major changes to the U.S. retirement system in more than a decade, a slew of additional modifications could be on its way. With recent committee approval of proposals in the Senate and an already-passed

Sporrer/Rupp | Image Source | Getty Images The biggest piece of advice that people in retirement would pass along to their younger selves is simple: start saving earlier for the end of your career. Roughly 70% of retirees said that changing their habits to save or invest more and earlier is the top advice they’d

A Social Security Administration office in San Francisco. Getty Images A new Social Security trustees report points to a slightly longer time horizon for the program’s trust funds. But even with a new depletion date of 2035 — a year later than projected last year — the program still faces a 75-year deficit. A one-year

President Joe Biden remarks on efforts to lower high gas prices at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C. on June 22, 2022. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images President Joe Biden has called on Congress to put a three-month federal gas tax holiday in place to help ease the financial pain drivers

Trevor Williams The 60/40 portfolio is under fire. But should investors sound the death knell for the classic investment strategy? Financial advisors and experts don’t think so — but it likely needs a tweak. “It’s stressed but it’s not dead,” said Allan Roth, a certified financial planner based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. More from Personal

If there is one investment every person should have right now, it is a series I bond, according to personal finance expert Suze Orman. The bond’s variable interest rate is based on inflation, which means the asset currently has a high yield. The Consumer Price Index rose 8.6% in May, the highest rate since 1981.

IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig testifies before the Senate Finance Committee on April 7, 2022. Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images News | Getty Images The IRS backlog of tax returns has swelled over the past year, despite efforts to clear the pileup, according to an agency watchdog. There were 21.3 million unprocessed paper returns as of

Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, testifies during a Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on April 26, 2022. Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau signaled a crackdown on late fees charged by credit card companies on Wednesday, as inflation threatens to

Drazen_ | E+ | Getty Images The stimulus checks sent out during the coronavirus pandemic were wildly popular. Nearly 4 in 5 voters were in support of the direct payments to American families. And Democrats and Republicans alike rallied behind the policy, an increasingly rare sight in Washington. Still, the checks were not without controversy.

Fuel prices at a Chevron gas station in San Francisco June 9, 2022. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images For months, drivers across the U.S. face have faced eye-popping prices when they fill up their gas tanks. Now, President Joe Biden is weighing a new remedy — a federal gas tax holiday. A gallon of

Hill Street Studios | Digitalvision | Getty Images American parents, already grappling with rising inflation, are facing another soaring cost: child care. Some 63% of parents report child care has become more expensive over the past year, according to a survey by Care.com. That has many concerned about whether they can afford care and what