Personal Finance

Miguel Cardona, U.S. Education Secretary, at the Queen Theatre on Dec. 23, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. Joshua Roberts | Getty Images News | Getty Images More than 100,000 borrowers will receive student debt forgiveness thanks to policy fixes made to the public service loan forgiveness program. The relief amounts to more than $6 billion, according

Morsa Images | Digitalvision | Getty Images To achieve financial success, knowledge is key. Yet many Americans lack financial literacy. That can impact everything from the amount of money saved to debt owed. The situation is dire for more than a few. More than half of Americans can’t cover a $1,000 emergency expense with savings,

Filling up at the pump comes with a hefty dose of sticker shock. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and global supply concerns have sent gas prices to record highs — hitting $6 in some parts of the country. To combat the spike in energy costs, the White House said it will release 1 million barrels of

A job seeker receives information from a recruiter during a job fair in Miami on Dec. 16, 2021. Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images The ranks of the long-term unemployed fell again in March, edging closer to pre-pandemic levels as the job market offers ample opportunity for workers. Long-term unemployment is a period of joblessness

No-mad | Istock | Getty Images The four-day workweek just became a reality for dozens of companies across the U.S. and Canada, at least for the next several months. The pilot program, being led by 4 Day Week Global, kicked off on Friday and is expected to last six months. Participating organizations include crowdfunding platform

Antonio_diaz | Istock | Getty Images Women under 30 outearn their male counterparts in 16 metropolitan areas around the country, a new Pew Research Center analysis found. In addition, they are at pay parity in six metro areas. To be sure, their pay still lags men’s in 228 locations. Yet, the news is encouraging, said

Prasit photo | Moment | Getty Images Many Millennials and Gen Zers who invested in the stock market over the last year wish they had done things differently. Some 57% of Gen Z investors and 50% of millennials regret how they invested in the last 12 months, outpacing their Gen X and baby boomer counterparts,

The Good Brigade | Digitalvision | Getty Images The IRS says it is no longer deploying $1,400 stimulus checks and plus-up payments that were due to qualifying Americans in 2021. However, there may still be people eligible for those checks, or additional funds, once they file their returns this tax season. A Treasury Department report

Fatcamera | E+ | Getty Images Sometimes, new retirees who sign up for Medicare may find themselves paying extra monthly charges for premiums. Yet for those whose income drops at retirement, it may be possible to change that. Roughly 7% of Medicare’s 63.3 million beneficiaries with income above a set threshold pay “income-related monthly adjustment

In this article INTU Kimberly White | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images The Federal Trade Commission sued Intuit in federal court on Monday, claiming it has deceived customers for years by marketing its TurboTax software as free and then charging most users when they file their income taxes. Around 56 million people filed their

Oliver Rossi | Stone | Getty Images When it comes to money, couples face a big question: Combine finances, keep them separate or do a combination of both? Now, research finds that those who do pool their money are more likely to stay together. The study, titled “Pooling finances and relationship satisfaction,” found that whether

Tetra Images | Tetra images | Getty Images The tax deadline is fast approaching, and there are still a few ways to trim your bill — including a contribution to your traditional individual retirement account. You have until this April 18, the tax filing deadline for most Americans, to make IRA deposits for 2021. But

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during an event at the Royal Castle, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Warsaw, Poland, March 26, 2022. Aleksandra Szmigiel | Reuters President Joe Biden’s proposed budget for 2023 aims to give the Social Security Administration more funding to improve services. Some groups say the increase doesn’t go far enough.

Mikolette | E+ | Getty Images Prior to the pandemic’s red-hot housing market, there was a simple profile that constituted an “A” buyer, according to Brian Copeland, a realtor in Nashville, Tennessee. “Four years ago, an ‘A’ buyer was someone who was pre-qualified for a loan, had 3% down and could go out this weekend

Stanford University is considered the ultimate dream school, according to a survey of students and their families. It’s also one of the hardest to get into and among the nation’s most expensive institutions — tuition and fees, room and board and other student expenses came to more than $73,000 last year. And therein lies the problem

Paul Bradbury | OJO Images | Getty Images Millions of Americans are quitting their jobs and rethinking what they want when it comes to work and work-life balance. Companies are responding, meeting their employees’ needs in areas such as remote work, flexible hours, four-day workweeks, compensation and more. This story is part of a series

Katherine Ullman spent part of her sabbatical in Colombia. Courtesy: Katherine Ullman Katherine Ullman was burned out from working intensely during the Covid-19 pandemic and was questioning her next career move. A two-month sabbatical from her job was just what she needed to reevaluate her life. In December, Ullman, who is 33 years old and

John King. Katherine Frey | The Washington Post | Getty Images It was only after John King left office as education secretary under then-President Barack Obama that he finished off paying his own student loans. “I have spent a lot of my adult life paying it down,” said King, who studied government at Harvard and

Chris Whitehead | Image Source | Getty Images The two years since the coronavirus pandemic led to sweeping lockdowns across the U.S. have hit women in the workforce especially hard. Now, the gap between their retirement savings as those of their male counterparts has widened further. Only 19% of women are confident they’re on track

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images High gas prices have put a strain on many Americans’ budgets. Now some Democratic lawmakers are proposing a possible solution: direct rebate payments to Americans. Three congressional leaders have proposed $100 energy rebate payments that would be sent to Americans during any month where the national average

Gas prices stay high as people line up for discounted prices at Costco. Regular at $5.39 per gallon. Robert Gauthier | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images Low-earners bore the brunt of the economic fallout after the initial onset of Covid-19. Now, as gas prices have spiked and historic high inflation drives consumer costs up,

Bloodua | Istock | Getty Images Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are among those calling on President Joe Biden to bypass Congress and forgive student debt through executive order. “You just need the flick of a pen,” Schumer has often been quoted saying on the matter. Yet there

Chris Ryan | Getty Images Prices are rising, squeezing consumer budgets more than they’ve seen in the last 40 years. It also means that for many investors, it may be more important than ever to continue to put their long-term savings in the stock market. That’s because over time, investing in equities is generally a

A sign reflects the price per gallon of fuel at a gas station on March 10, 2022 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images Americans are feeling the pinch of rising gas prices. Now two states — Maryland and Georgia — are temporarily suspending their gas taxes in order to help their residents save

Paul Bradbury | OJO Images | Getty Images First-time home buyers have a steep learning curve, from understanding true affordability and how to qualify for a mortgage to managing their cash flow after their purchase. “When buying your first home, you need to consider that what a lender will let you borrow is not necessarily

In this article SPGI dowell | Moment | Getty Images If you own an investment fund that’s “actively managed,” odds are that your returns lagged in 2021. Those chances are even worse over a multiyear time frame. Mutual and exchange-traded funds are generally “actively” or “passively” managed. In the former, a fund manager selects the

In this article TREE Tetra Images | Getty Images Many Americans are planning to use any refunds they get from the IRS to grow their personal wealth. Some 46% of people plan to save their refunds, according to a LendingTree survey of more than 1,000 taxpayers conducted online Feb. 7 through Feb. 10. That figure

Brauns | E+ | Getty Images Siraba Keita survived New York’s deadliest fire in decades — only to see her bank freeze the savings she needed to pick up the pieces. Her story reflects the hardship of many low-income Americans in a system that seems to prioritize debt collectors over a bank’s customers, according to

In this article TRU EXPN-GB EFX A medical worker walks past a row of ambulances parked outside of Houston Methodist Hospital amid the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). in Houston, Texas, U.S., June 22, 2020. Callaghan O’Hare | Reuters A large number of U.S. consumers will have their medical debt wiped from their

Allison Greenwald, senior product manager at The Alley Group, spent five weeks in Alaska while working a flexible schedule. Courtesy: Allison Greenwald Millions of Americans are quitting their jobs and rethinking what they want when it comes to work and work-life balance. Companies are responding, meeting their employees’ needs in areas like remote work, flexible