Retirement

The labor market appears hot, but the share of people who are either working or actively looking for a job still hasn’t quite recovered. As the United States emerges from the pandemic, employers have been desperate to hire. But while demand for goods and services has rebounded, the supply of labor has fallen short, holding

Most Americans finance their retirement with a certain amount of faith: Investing will help their savings keep pace with inflation, institutions will continue to work as they always have, it will all work out in the end. It’s challenging to maintain that optimism in moments like these, when it seems just about everything is at

Women break into their savings to cover all kinds of expenses: home down payments, repairs, medical bills. That can hurt them years later. Vickie Elisa was already playing catch-up with her retirement fund when she withdrew $17,000 to fix a plumbing disaster in her Atlanta-area home. The bleeding from that Roth individual retirement account had

And a SoftBank-backed start up that wants to save your 401(k). Ready to act.Daniel Roland Europe finally takes on inflation The European Central Bank increased its benchmark interest rates today for the first time in a decade, as inflation surges across countries that use the euro. The bank’s benchmark interest rates, before the increase, had

A new report finds that I.R.A.s may charge seemingly modest higher fees than workplace retirement accounts. But over time, the difference can add up to tens of thousands of dollars. Americans who are moving money from a workplace retirement plan to an individual retirement account may be tripped up by seemingly modest increases in fees

A bear market can be great for your future wealth, if you use broad, low-cost funds to buy stocks and bonds steadily for decades, our columnist says. I wouldn’t wish this bear market on anyone. A lot of people have been losing a lot of money — not just billionaires, but ordinary working people who

Steep downturns of stocks by 20 percent or more are relatively rare, but how long they last could portend damage — for you and the economy. The S&P 500 on Monday dropped into its second bear market of the pandemic, crossing a symbolic and worrisome threshold as stocks plunge following a meteoric rise over the

You can’t leave money in your I.R.A. forever, as dictated by I.R.S. rules. This can put retired investors in a tough spot. Financial planners warn investors against trying to time the market. It is notoriously difficult to guess exactly when sentiment on Wall Street will reverse course — even professionals are likely to get it

But there are rules around opening one for a child. First: The child must have earned income. Has your teenager landed a summer job? Good! Now, consider putting your child’s earnings to work long term by opening a Roth individual retirement account. It may seem odd to think about retirement savings when your child could

After leaving the labor force in unusual numbers early in the pandemic, Americans approaching retirement age are back on the job at previous levels. When Kim Williams and millions of other older Americans lost their jobs early in the coronavirus pandemic, economists wondered how many would ever work again — and how that loss would

Their houses are piggy banks, their retirement accounts are up and their bosses are eager to please. When the boom ends, everything will change. This is an era of great political division and dramatic cultural upheaval. Much more quietly, it has been a time of great financial reward for a large number of Americans. For

There may be years when you have to drum up your own work — and create your own retirement plan. Cecile Corral had been feeling optimistic about her retirement savings. For a decade, she was making good use of an employer-sponsored 401(k), contributing 6 percent of her salary and receiving a match of as much

Five New York City employee pension groups that own stock in Activision Blizzard, the embattled video game maker, are suing Activision, saying that the company failed to turn over financial records as the groups try to investigate whether Activision secured a fair price in its planned sale to Microsoft. The lawsuit, filed in Delaware state

The employer that oversees the retirement savings plan would have to decide to include the digital assets account. Fidelity, the nation’s largest provider of 401(k) plans, said on Tuesday that it would enable its participants to put a slice of their retirement money into Bitcoin — if their employers are willing to allow it. The

Financial infidelity destroys trust. It can deliver a serious blow to your post-career planning, too. Jessica Matthews knows what it’s like to be the victim of infidelity — the financial kind. Ms. Matthews, herself a certified financial planner, dealt with it after she discovered years ago that her husband was hiding more than $30,000 in

You may still be able to reduce your tax bill by contributing to an I.R.A., for instance. And if you have questions, the I.R.S. is offering free walk-in help on Saturday. After two years of extended deadlines, tax filing in April is back — and fast approaching. The pandemic led to delays in filing deadlines

Ned Johnson, the longtime leader of Fidelity, changed the way the middle class thought about its money. The DealBook newsletter delves into a single topic or theme every weekend, providing reporting and analysis that offers a better understanding of an important issue in business. If you don’t already receive the daily newsletter, sign up here.

Social Security benefits and your savings can be taxed. But in general, older Americans’ tax bills go down. If you dread tax day every year, here’s a bit of good news: Your tax burden probably will lighten when you retire. You’ll still pay taxes on income you receive from sources that haven’t been taxed yet,

Retirement investments that are fine in tax-sheltered accounts can generate big headaches without that protection. Vanguard’s target date funds are a case in point. Tax bills are bad enough when you know they are coming. When they are unexpected and large, and come from what seemed like a safe and reliable place, they are infuriating.

A growing array of investment options make it easier to put digital tokens alongside traditional investments. Here’s what to know. Larry David travels through the ages, pooh-poohing many of the world’s greatest innovations — indoor plumbing, the dishwasher and, lastly, cryptocurrency. “Don’t be like Larry,” the Super Bowl commercial urges. “Don’t miss out on the