Personal finance

In this article LC TRU Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Just as the holiday shopping season gets into full swing, families are finding less slack in their budgets than before. As of October, 60% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent LendingClub report. A year ago, the number of adults

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about student loan debt at the White House on Aug. 24, 2022 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong | Getty The Biden administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to reinstate its federal student loan program after a federal appeals court issued a nationwide injunction against the plan. The administration’s request,

Violetastoimenova | E+ | Getty Images Even as companies spend more on pay raises in a tight labor market, those increases aren’t yet keeping up with inflation. Overall salary boosts are forecast to be 4.6% in 2023, up from a mid-year estimate of 4.1% and higher than the 4.2% bump that workers got this year,

Vladimir Vladimirov | E+ | Getty Images With the holiday season about to be in full swing, the giving spirit is likely to follow. If you’re among those who plan to make charitable donations before the end of the year, it’s worth making sure you know exactly where your money is going and how it

Taylor Swift accepts an award onstage during the MTV Europe Music Awards 2022 on Nov. 13, 2022 in Duesseldorf, Germany. Kevin Mazur | Wireimage | Getty Images Taylor Swift fans are not having a “Love Story” with Ticketmaster — and may fall victim to scams if they’re not careful when looking for affordable concert tickets.

In this article FIS Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Months of market swings have taken a heavy toll on retirement savers. The average 401(k) balance sank for the third consecutive quarter and is now down 23% from a year ago to $97,200, according to a new report by Fidelity Investments, the nation’s largest provider

Getty Images That offer for a store credit card may sound tempting as you’re shopping this holiday season. But you may want to think twice before you accept. As the Federal Reserve raises interest rates, credit card annual percentage rates — a measure for the yearly cost of borrowing money — are climbing higher. That

In an economy that has produced the highest inflation rate since the early 1980s, Americans are struggling to keep up with day-to-day expenses. More consumers are now relying on credit cards to get by, which has helped propel total credit card debt to $930 billion in the third quarter, just shy of the all-time record, according to

Student loan borrowers gather near The White House to tell President Biden to cancel student debt on May 12, 2020. Paul Morigi | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images Student loan default rates could dramatically spike if the Biden administration’s loan forgiveness plan is blocked, a top official at the U.S. Department of Education said

Marcos Elihu Castillo Ramirez | iStock | Getty Images For some individuals, signing up for Medicare hasn’t translated into coverage starting right away. That’s poised to change: Beginning next year, current months-long delays in certain Medicare enrollment situations will be eliminated. Additionally, would-be beneficiaries who missed signing up when they were supposed to due to

Thomas Barwick | Digitalvision | Getty Images If you haven’t filed a 2021 federal tax return, there may be a chance you could be missing out on some generous tax credits. A simplified filing tool — GetCTC.org — will let you submit your information in order to receive any money due to you. But you

Bloodua | Istock | Getty Images With the legal blows to President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan mounting, it’s possible that the administration could extend the payment pause on the monthly bills yet again, experts say. “I’m sure they have to be considering it as an option,” said Scott Buchanan, executive director of the

An ‘open house’ flag is displayed outside a single family home on September 22, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Allison Dinner | Getty Images There are signs inflation may fall further in coming months, but housing threatens to mute any improvement. The consumer price index, a key barometer of inflation, rose 7.7% in October from

MStudioImages | E+ | Getty Images If you’re one of the masses of new Series I bond owners, there are a few things to weigh before cashing in your assets, experts say.   Investors purchased nearly $7 billion in I bonds in October, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, with $979 million flooding into

High-profile layoffs at Meta and Twitter and planned cuts at Disney have heightened concerns on the part of managers and senior executives at employers nationwide who are struggling with how to lead a team through a round of corporate downsizing.  How a company handles a layoff can have a major impact on its future success.

ronnachaipark | iStock | Getty Images Health-care expenses can often be unpredictable and unwelcome. However, depending on your situation, there may be strategies you can employ that make those outlays a bit less financially painful. Because some of them involve taxes, experts say they shouldn’t be viewed in a vacuum. In other words, you may

Jbyard | Istock | Getty Images When President Joe Biden announced over the summer a sweeping plan to forgive student debt, millions of Americans celebrated the fact their financial situation looked like it would soon improve. But now the Biden administration finds itself unable to start delivering its relief because of a court-ordered stay of

A shopper checks a carton of eggs at a San Francisco grocery store on May 2, 2022. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Which (price change) came first, the chicken or the egg? Grocery prices are increasing at their fastest pace in decades — none more so than eggs. Yet chicken prices fell

Even with college application season in full swing, many families are questioning whether a four-year degree is still worth it.  Some experts say the value of a bachelor’s degree is fading and more emphasis should be directed toward career training. A growing number of companies, including many in tech, are also dropping degree requirements for

martin-dm | E+ | Getty Images Car buyers are usually aware that their new vehicle will start losing value as soon as it’s driven off the dealership’s lot. These days, depending on the car, depreciation may be a lot less than it was in past years, according to a new study from iSeeCars.com. With supply-chain