Personal finance

Fluxfactory | E+ | Getty Images Travelers saw prices fall for big-ticket pieces of their vacation budgets in July, offering at least a temporary reprieve after soaring costs earlier this year. Airfares fell nearly 8% from June to July, while prices for rental cars and lodging like hotels declined 9.5% and about 3%, respectively, according

The Biden administration has promised to make a decision on student loan forgiveness within weeks, or even days. And yet, college affordability will remain an issue for years to come, experts say. Increasingly, high school students are rethinking the value of a four-year degree. Many now say it’s just not worth the sky-high cost. “More

In this article WFC Gzorgz | Istock | Getty Images “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” With those classic words, author Charles Dickens famously opened his historical novel “A Tale of Two Cities.” He could easily have been describing the stock market. A new Wells Fargo analysis looked at

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., discusses the Inflation Reduction Act on Aug. 7, 2022 in Washington, D.C. Kent Nishimura | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images Senate Democrats curtailed a tax break for certain pass-through businesses as part of the Inflation Reduction Act passed Sunday. A pass-through or flow-through business is one that reports

Federal student loan payments, most of which were paused during the pandemic, are set to resume in September. And yet, 93% borrowers say they are not financially prepared to restart payments, according to a survey by the Student Debt Crisis Center and Savi. With no break in sight for rising prices, many Americans are simply stretched too

FatCamera | E+ | Getty Images Households that get help paying for health insurance through the public marketplace are likely to continue qualifying for more generous subsidies under a congressional bill moving closer to final approval. The Inflation Reduction Act, which cleared the Senate on Sunday, includes an extension of temporarily expanded health insurance subsidies

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., on Capitol Hill on Sept. 30, 2021. Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post | Getty Images Senate Democrats passed a historic package of climate, healthcare and tax provisions on Sunday. But one proposed tweak to the tax code — a modification of so-called carried interest rules

Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images Senate Democrats’ package of climate change, health-care, drug pricing and tax measures unveiled last week has proponents and opponents debating whether the legislation violates a pledge President Joe Biden has made since his presidential campaign, to not raise taxes on households with incomes below $400,000 a year. The answer isn’t

Getty Images President Joe Biden has promised to make his decision on student loan forgiveness “by the end of August.” That means tens of millions of Americans could learn the future of their debt within days or weeks. Here are 5 things borrowers can do while you wait for more news, to be prepared for

Kelvin Murray | Getty Images A combination of record high prices and a record number of job openings has been encouraging more retirees to go back to work. The trend, called “unretirement,” rebounded this spring to pre-pandemic levels. About two-thirds, or 68%, of retirees would consider returning to work, according to a recent CNBC All-America

In this article TRU There’s no doubt Americans are falling deeper in debt. As prices jump across the board, consumers are increasingly relying on credit cards to make ends meet. The number of people with credit cards and personal loans hit record highs in the second quarter of 2022, according to TransUnion’s latest credit industry

Sporrer/Rupp | Image Source | Getty Images Market drops may stoke retirees’ fears that they will no longer have enough assets to live on. But it turns out that may not be the biggest financial risk they should be watching for in retirement. Instead, longevity — the prospect retirees may live longer than expected and

There’s a lot of speculation lately about whether the U.S. is officially in a recession. Both President Joe Biden and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said we’re not there just yet, pointing to the strong labor market and rising wages. The official declaration typically comes from the National Bureau of Economic Research, and it has

Nosystem Images | E+ | Getty Images Student loan forgiveness could be coming as soon as this month. The Biden administration is considering a number of different ways to move forward with cancelling education debt. The biggest uncertainty is how much of the debt it will relieve, if any. On the campaign trail, President Joe

Getty Images If you took out a loan earlier this year, there’s a chance you’ll be hearing from your bank about a flub that may have been part of its lending decision. One of the three big credit-reporting companies, Equifax, announced this week that a coding issue resulted in the company providing inaccurate consumer credit

In this article ZG Lacheev / Getty As today’s prospective home buyers confront high home prices and rising interest rates, there’s one thing they can do to save money — raise their credit scores. “This is one actionable thing buyers can do to save a little bit of money in this market,” said Amanda Pendleton,

zimmytws | iStock | Getty Images There are just 13 years before Social Security may not be able to pay full benefits, according to a recent annual report from the program’s trustees. In 2035, just 80% of benefits will be payable if Congress doesn’t fix the program sooner. Shoring up the program will generally mean

Anti-abortion activists demonstrate outside the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, June 13, 2022. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters Residents of Georgia may now claim embryos as dependents on their state income tax returns. Any “unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat,” may qualify for a $3,000 state income tax deduction for 2022, effective

In this article TREE For parents already stretching budgets to pay for groceries and gasoline, stocking up on school supplies will be a little harder this year. “Back-to-school shopping is stressful even in the best economic times,” said Matt Schulz, the chief credit analyst at LendingTree. “With inflation running rampant and supply chain issues lingering,

d3sign | Moment | Getty Images Would-be travelers looking to fly this fall may want to book their plane trips now, with travel app Hopper reporting that airfares are dropping this month from peak summertime prices. “September and early October will be the cheapest times to travel, while August and early September will be the