Personal finance

Some workers are phoning it in, and it shows. After mostly trending up for years, workplace engagement has flatlined. Now, only one-third of full- and part-time employees are engaged in their work and workplace, while roughly 50% are not engaged — reflected in the evolution of “quiet quitting” — and the rest, another 16%, are

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, June 22, 2024, in Philadelphia. Trump is seeking to distance himself from a plan for a massive overhaul of the federal government drafted by some of his administration officials. Chris Szagola | AP As the presidential election heats up, both parties are talking

Ramon Montiel-García, 18, a graduate of KIPP Northeast Denver Leadership Academy in Colorado. Credit: Ramon Montiel-García Ramon Montiel-García, a newly minted high school graduate from KIPP Northeast Denver Leadership Academy in Colorado, was accepted to his first-choice school, Wheaton College in Massachusetts.  However, with a sticker price of nearly $80,000 per year, including tuition, fees, and

Alexandra Pavlova | Getty Images The Biden administration’s efforts on student loan forgiveness have repeatedly been met with legal challenges. The Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden‘s first attempt at wide-scale forgiveness last summer. Now, its new income-driven repayment plan (the Saving on a Valuable Education plan known as SAVE) is partially suspended after

97 / Getty Inflation has throttled back significantly since peaking two years ago. The U.S. economy is even seeing some prices deflate for consumers. Deflation measures how quickly prices are falling for a consumer good or service. It’s the opposite of inflation, which gauges how quickly prices are increasing. Physical goods have accounted for much

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images Inflation fell further in June as lower gasoline prices combined with other easing price pressures to bring relief for consumers’ wallets. The consumer price index, a key inflation gauge, rose 3% in June from a year ago, down from 3.3% in May, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday. The

A shopper scans coupons in a grocery store in Washington, D.C., on May 23, 2024.  Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images The pace of inflation is coming down, which continues to point to a lower Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for retirees and other beneficiaries in 2025. The Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, or

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump participate in the CNN Presidential Debate on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images Inflation decelerated again in June, bringing further relief to consumers’ wallets. The consumer price index rose 3% in June 2024 from June 2023, down from a

US President Joe Biden and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump participate in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024. Andrew Caballero-reynolds | Afp | Getty Images Presidential election outcomes don’t significantly affect market performance, but many investors still feel nervous

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Danny Werfel testifies before the House Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 7, 2024. Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images News | Getty Images The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS on Thursday announced what they called a “major milestone” of collecting more than $1 billion in tax

Getty Images The share of people with medical debt in collections that shows up in their credit reports has fallen in the past decade. Yet unpaid balances due to health care costs continue to burden individuals and families. In 2013, 19.5% of Americans had medical debt in collections, while 10 years later, in 2023, that

Young family with a baby boy going over finances at home. Pekic | E+ | Getty Images Inflation is still causing financial stress for most Americans, and surveys show that many people also blame a lack of savings and mounting credit card debt for their anxiety over their finances.  Earning greater income to cover your

Svetikd | E+ | Getty Images Roth individual retirement account conversions are a popular way to reduce future levies on pretax 401(k) or IRA withdrawals — and you can smooth out the upfront tax hit with a “Roth conversion ladder,” experts say. Roth conversions transfer pretax or nondeductible IRA money to a Roth IRA, which offers future tax-free

Inflation is slowing down, but prices are still high — and likely to stay that way. That’s generally considered good news. The economy is expanding amid a lower rate of price growth and a strong job market. However, even a broad pullback in price increases underscores another bitter reality: We’re still paying more for many goods and

Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images I was packing up to head home from work last week when I noticed something that made my stomach sick. The space in my backpack normally occupied by my wallet was empty. I searched every nook and cranny of my bag and even crawled under my desk to search

In this article CVX Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Students study in the Perry-Castaneda Library at the University of Texas at Austin on February 22, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell | Getty Images A number of recent developments could spell trouble for student loan borrowers, experts say. The Republican-led legal challenges to the

Grace Cary | Moment | Getty Images Whether you’re mid-career or nearing retirement, it’s important to know where you’re investing — and how those accounts could impact future taxes, experts say. Many workers are heavily concentrated in tax-deferred savings via a pretax 401(k) plan or traditional individual retirement accounts, which incur regular income taxes on

Ridvan_celik | E+ | Getty Images Employment scams surged last year, as criminals leveraged artificial intelligence to steal money and personal information from unsuspecting job seekers, experts said. Consumer reports of job scams jumped 118% in 2023 from the prior year, according to a recent report by the Identity Theft Resource Center. Thieves generally pose