Personal finance

A man stands outside his flooded home after heavy rain in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on April 13, 2023. Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images The warming planet is already proving expensive. U.S. weather and climate disasters cost more than $617 billion between 2018 and 2022 — a record figure, according to the U.S. Department

IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel testifies during the Senate Finance Committee hearing on the fiscal 2024 IRS budget and the IRS’ 2023 filing season, in the Dirksen Building in Washington, D.C., on April 19, 2023. Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images This season, more than 140,000 taxpayers successfully filed returns using IRS Direct

South Pointe Beach in Miami Beach, Florida. Greg Iacurci MIAMI — Daniel Habibian worries about climate change.  His clothing boutique in Miami Beach’s iconic South Beach neighborhood sits just a few blocks inland from the Atlantic Ocean.  Rising seas threaten to swallow much of the Miami metro area in the coming decades as the world

Woman doing bookkeeping at home. Guido Mieth | DigitalVision | Getty Images Borrowers hoping for student loan forgiveness have just a few more days to act before an April 30 deadline. Those who request a so-called loan consolidation before the end of this month — which will combine their federal student loans into one new

Enes Evren When you receive equity compensation from an employer, it typically requires a comprehensive financial plan — and restricted stock units are no exception. In 2000, only 20% of public companies granted restricted stock or restricted stock units, primarily for senior executives or higher, according to the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals. That percentage, however, has

Patchareeporn Sakoolchai | Moment | Getty Images BlackRock, the largest asset manager, has launched a new product to help workers their retirement savings into a regular income stream that mimics the paycheck they receive during their working years. Experts say while the new choice could be helpful, its success will be defined by whether consumers

The Good Brigade | Digitalvision | Getty Images Health care, long an ailing stock market sector, has recovered over the past six months, with currently robust vital signs and strong growth projections. The recovery comes after the sector failed to make good on positive expectations for 2022 based on estimates of pent-up demand for physician

Morsa Images | E+ | Getty Images If you work for a publicly traded company, you may have access to discounted company shares via an employee stock purchase plan, or ESPP. While the benefit can be valuable, you need to know the rules and risks before opting into your company’s plan, financial experts say. In

If TikTok is any guide, more women are taking a traditional approach to romantic partnerships: Some say they are even opting out of the workforce entirely in favor of the so-called “soft life,” centered around their home, their family and their own wellbeing. (Re-)enter the “tradwife,” one of social media’s growing trends. It shows a

US President Joe Biden speaks about student loan debt relief at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wisconsin, April 8, 2024.  Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images After the Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden’s first plan to forgive student debt last summer, his administration set out to create a relief package that would

Delmaine Donson | E+ | Getty Images The federal tax deadline was April 15 for most filers — and if you missed it, you should file your return and pay your balance as soon as possible, experts say. If you still owe taxes for 2023, you’ll continue racking up penalties and interest until you file

Getty Images When it comes to teens and money, there is often a disconnect. Overall, teenagers are taking a greater interest in their long-term financial health — although far fewer understand basic retirement planning. A majority, or 83%, of 13- to 18-year-olds, said they had already thought about their retirement, according to the results of

Jacob Wackerhausen | iStock / 360 | Getty Images If you’ve inherited an individual retirement account since 2020, you could have a shorter timeline to withdraw the money, which can trigger tax consequences. But there are a few things to consider before emptying an inherited account, experts say.  Under the Secure Act of 2019, so-called

When President Joe Biden unveiled the details of his Plan B for student loan forgiveness, he revealed that his hope to make some college free was not dead.   “I also want to make community college tuition free so you don’t need loans at all,” Biden said after including free community college as part of his $7.3 trillion budget for

As enrollment deadlines approach, fewer students have figured out how they will afford college next year. Ongoing problems with the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid have delayed financial aid award letters and even prevented many high school seniors and their families from applying for aid at all. As of the latest update, roughly 7.3 million

Artur Debat | Moment | Getty Images The number of centenarians in the U.S. is poised to balloon in coming decades. That longevity poses a big financial challenge for households. By 2054, there will be an estimated 422,000 Americans age 100 and older — more than four times the 101,000 in 2024, according to a

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Austan Goolsbee speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, U.S., February 14, 2024.  Staff | Reuters CHICAGO — The path to 2% inflation is “more difficult” in 2024, said Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee. “We’re going to get to 2%,” Goolsbee said Friday during

dowell | Moment | Getty Images While the annual rate for newly purchased Series I bonds could fall below 5% in May, the assets may still appeal to long-term investors, experts say. Investors currently earn 5.27% annual interest on new I bonds purchased before May 1. Some experts predict the new rate could drop to around

Sporrer/Rupp | Image Source | Getty Images The largest and final cohort of the baby boom generation — 30.4 million Americans — will turn 65 by 2030. And more than half of that group will primarily rely on Social Security for income, according to new researchfrom the Alliance for Lifetime Income. Deciding when to claim

Hero Images | Getty Images The IRS has again waived required withdrawals for certain Americans who have inherited retirement accounts since 2020. It may not be a good thing for heirs, experts say. Before the Secure Act of 2019, heirs could “stretch” retirement account withdrawals over their lifetime, which reduced year-to-year tax liability. Now, certain heirs