Personal Finance

Inflation in the United States hit a record high in June 2022. Consumer prices soared by 9.1% compared with a year prior — the largest annual increase since 1981. While wages are rising, they’re not keeping up with inflation. Wage growth has been consistent with an inflation rate of about 4.5%. Meanwhile, as of November,

Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images In the latest inflation reading, used cars are one of the few categories with prices that are lower than they were a year ago. While the consumer price index — which measures price changes for a variety of consumer goods and services — was up 7.1% in November from

The Federal Reserve is expected on Wednesday to raise interest rates for the seventh time this year to combat stubborn inflation.  The U.S. central bank will likely approve a 0.5 percentage point hike, a more typical pace compared with the super-size 75 basis point moves at each of the last four meetings. This would push

HOUSTON, TEXAS – AUGUST 29: Students study in the Rice University Library on August 29, 2022 in Houston, Texas. Brandon Bell | Getty Images News | Getty Images After President Joe Biden’s historic announcement that tens of millions of Americans would get up to $20,000 in student loan forgiveness, borrowers’ celebrations were short-lived. Conservative groups

Kathrin Ziegler | Digitalvision | Getty Images As inflation has kept prices high in 2022, Social Security beneficiaries may look forward to a record high cost-of-living adjustment in 2023. “Your Social Security benefits will increase by 8.7% in 2023 because of a rise in cost of living,” the Social Security Administration states in the annual

Charday Penn | E+ | Getty Images If you’ve accepted payments via apps such as Venmo or PayPal in 2022, you may receive Form 1099-K, which reports income from third-party networks, in early 2023. But there’s still time to reduce your tax liability, according to financial experts.  “There’s no change to the taxability of income,”

House and Senate champions and impacted families appear at a Dec. 7 Washington, D.C., event for expanding the child tax credit during the lame duck session. Tasos Katopodis | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images Millions of children were lifted out of poverty in 2021, thanks to a more generous child tax credit that included

In this article .SPX Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Santa Claus looks on at the 98th Annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 1, 2021 in New York. Bryan R. Smith | Afp | Getty Images If history is a guide, stock investors may be poised to get

Smiling female professor reading an e-mail on a computer in the classroom. Copy space. Skynesher | E+ | Getty Images In October 2021, the Biden administration announced a one-year opportunity for student loan borrowers pursuing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness to get closer to being debt-free. Signed into law by then-President George W. Bush in

Thomas Barwick | Stone | Getty Images The share of retirement savers who withdrew money from a 401(k) plan to cover a financial hardship hit a record high in October, according to data from Vanguard Group. That dynamic — when coupled with other factors like fast-rising credit card balances and a declining personal savings rate

Tim Robberts | Digitalvision | Getty Images Coming up with enough money for retirement is a challenge for all workers. Women are more likely, at 50%, to say they’re behind, versus 35% of men, a new report from Goldman Sachs found. What’s more, 24% said they are “very behind schedule,” compared with 14% of men.

Matthias Clamer | Getty Images Long-term wealth-building strategies should not be an all-or-nothing game. Yet videos on YouTube, TikTok or Instagram may sometimes tout seemingly urgent get-rich-quick schemes. “At the end of the day, if there is some misinformation that’s keeping people on the platform for a very long time, that video might get surfaced

Ascentxmedia | E+ | Getty Images The CEOs of some of the biggest American companies believe the economy may be heading for a recession. “It could be a hurricane,” JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday morning. Yet financial advisors warn against too much certainty, or pessimism, over what’s next. ‘It’s possible

Student loan debt holders take part in a demonstration outside of the White House staff entrance to demand that President Biden cancel student loan debt. Jemal Countess | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images The fate of the Biden administration’s sweeping student loan forgiveness plan now rests with the Supreme Court. That may be bad

Travel demand has surged this year, although not everyone can afford the sky-high tab. Along with rising costs for hotels and rental cars, travelers can expect to pay up to 39% more for a round-trip flight around Christmas compared with last year, according to data from the travel booking app Hopper. Young adults, in particular, are shifting

New cars are getting increasingly expensive. But they’re also more durable than before, which means drivers have a better chance of getting their money’s worth. As the average transaction price for new cars reached an estimated $45,872 in November — the highest on record, according to a joint forecast from J.D. Power and LMC Automotive —

Marko Geber | Digitalvision | Getty Images Some men may need a bigger push than women when it comes to participating in their workplace retirement-savings plan, new research suggests. In 401(k) plans with automatic enrollment — meaning employees must opt out if they don’t want to participate — 93% of both men and women remain

10’000 Hours | Digitalvision | Getty Images A recent wave of layoffs in the tech sector may lead American workers to wonder whether their job is next on the chopping block. So far, evidence is scant that the thousands of cuts at major technology firms — Meta, Amazon and Twitter, to name a few —

Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington, April 2, 2021. Erin Scott | Reuters Most American workers dream of a comfortable retirement. Yet many find their money falls short of meeting that goal when they reach their golden years. Much of the problem has to do

Holger Scheibe | The Image Bank | Getty Images The rate of job cut announcements at U.S. employers in November was more than five times greater than a year ago, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Overall, U.S.-based firms announced 76,835 job cuts in November, led by the technology sector. So far this

Momo Productions | Digitalvision | Getty Images Remote work surged in the pandemic era — but this trend, borne of necessity for public health, has now become a fixture of the U.S. job market, one that’s likely to remain entrenched, according to labor experts. Almost 10% of online job searches in September mentioned “remote work,”

Americans are increasingly finding alternative ways to satisfy their holiday wish lists as they continue to grapple with high prices and inflation. In many cases, that means opting for flexible payment plans. On Black Friday through Cyber Monday, buy now, pay later payments through companies such as Klarna, Zip, Zilch, Affirm and Afterpay jumped 85% compared with

Kemal Yildirim | E+ | Getty Images You’ve got about a month left to make sure you get it right when it comes to mandatory withdrawals from retirement accounts. Required minimum distributions, or RMDs as they’re called, are annual amounts that must be withdrawn beginning in the year you reach age 72 — up from age

Viktorcvetkovic | E+ | Getty Images A combination of high inflation and plentiful job openings may tempt some retirees into rejoining the workforce. But if you’re thinking about working, either part time or full time, and you’re already collecting Social Security retirement benefits, there are a few things you may want to know first. Social

Westend61 The fear of loss is a powerful emotion for investors — and, if left unchecked, can cost them big bucks in the long term due to years of forfeiture of investment gains. That fear is a natural product of human evolution. Our brains are hardwired to detect risks — a useful cognitive tool that

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc | Digitalvision | Getty Images In between eating leftover turkey and hunting for bargains amid holiday sales, be sure to review your Medicare coverage, if you haven’t already. The program’s annual open enrollment period, which began Oct. 15 and ends Dec. 7, is when you can make changes, which will take

The BlockFi website on Nov. 17, 2022. Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images Crypto firm BlockFi filed for bankruptcy Monday, the latest cryptocurrency domino to fall after the collapse of FTX two weeks ago threatened to destabilize companies in the broader crypto ecosystem. BlockFi offers a cryptocurrency trading exchange and interest-bearing custodial service for cryptocurrencies. The

The Sweetly Bakery & Cafe in Battleground, Washington Source: Irina Sirotkina It’s the holiday season, yet Americans are feeling a little less generous. With inflation near record highs, cash-strapped consumers have started to tip less — especially when it comes to fast casual dining and carryout. “Tipping is that first sign towards reduced spending,” said Amanda

President Joe Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images It’s been almost three years since people with federal student loans have had to make a payment on their debt, and the Biden administration recently announced that borrowers have even more time. In March 2020, when the

The holiday shopping season is always closely followed by a spike in gift returning. But this year, it may be harder to bring things back for free or at a low cost. Roughly 60% of retailers said they’re making changes to existing returns policies, with fewer promising free returns, according to a recent survey of