Personal finance

A ‘help wanted’ sign is posted in front of restaurant on Feb. 4, 2022 in Los Angeles. Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images The big raises that many Americans got over the past year are starting to get smaller. Workers in the private sector saw average wages grow by 5.1% in the past

Getty Images Federal student loan payments are currently set to resume in May after a pause that’s been extended for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, borrowers might not be ready to restart payments and could therefore fall behind on their loans, according to a recent blog post from the Federal

Thomas M. Barwick | Getty Images Social Security benefits make up about 30% of elderly Americans’ incomes, according to the Social Security Administration. For some beneficiaries, it can be 90% or more. Yet many people do not think of those earned benefits, and the monthly checks that come with them, as a personal financial asset,

Jbyard | Istock | Getty Images President Joe Biden made no mention of student loan forgiveness at his State of the Union address on Tuesday. Yet a spokesman for the administration says cancellation remains on the table. White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said a decision on whether to forgive student debt through executive

Cabania | iStock | Getty Images Plus Despite ongoing challenges, the IRS has sent nearly 30 million tax refunds, worth about $103.2 billion, the agency reported Friday. While 29% of Americans worry about a smaller refund, according to a Bankrate survey, the average is currently $3,473 through Feb. 25, which is $658 larger than last

The four-day workweek is gaining traction. It also has a lot of fans. A whopping 92% of U.S. workers are in favor of the shortened workweek, a survey from cloud-software vendor Qualtrics found. The findings come on the heels of an announcement by Belgium’s federal government that it will allow workers in the country’s public

Morsa Images | DigitalVision | Getty Images Today’s teens are thinking differently about their future employment, and many have decided they don’t want to work for anyone else. About 60% of teenagers are more interested in someday starting their own business instead of working a traditional job, according to a March 1 survey from Junior

Whyframestudio | Istock | Getty Images Anyone who has felt burdened by medical debt may be familiar with that initial bout of panic when a big bill arrives. What may be worse, though, is what can happen to your long-term financial picture if you disregard it. Generally speaking, that debt can end up haunting you. 

Pascal Broze | Getty Images One of the pain points of early retirement is limited access to your nest egg before age 59½ without incurring a 10% penalty. While a new IRS rule makes it easier to tap more penalty-free money, you still need to weigh your options, financial experts say. Generally, early pre-tax 401(k)

Brothers91 | E+ | Getty Images President Joe Biden called for passing a new federal paid family and medical leave policy in his State of the Union Address Tuesday night. However, the timing of when such a law could be put in place is still up in the air. The policy is part of Democrats’

Nitat Termmee | Moment | Getty Images Americans who invest in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds have largely been insulated from financial exposure to Russia amid its conflict with Ukraine. The reasons are twofold: First, fund managers who buy Russian debt or Russian company stock generally do so in small quantities; second, funds that buy

Kemal Yildirim | E+ | Getty Images You may unknowingly be subsidizing your colleagues’ 401(k) fees. The dynamic is a function of your 401(k) investments and how the retirement plan pays costs for administrative expenses, like those associated with trading and ongoing accounting of workers’ balances. Retirement savers (like the broader investment world) may be

A volunteer unloads aid donations for refugees from Ukraine in a school gym in Kroscienko, Poland, on Feb. 27, 2022. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine intensifies, the humanitarian crisis is worsening, as well. More than half a million Ukrainians have fled the country since the fighting began Feb. 24,

Parents and children participate in a demonstration organized by the ParentsTogether Foundation in support of the child tax credit portion of the Build Back Better bill outside of the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 13, 2021. Sarah Silbiger | Bloomberg | Getty Images When President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address on Tuesday,

Anchiy In 2021, amid the ongoing pandemic and “Great Resignation,” Americans filed a record 5.4 million applications for new businesses, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That means a lot of new business owners are facing their first filing season. While many people can file their personal returns on their own, tax experts

A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 25, 2022. Xinhua News Agency | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images Everyday investors may unknowingly have exposure to Russian stocks — but the good news is, those holdings likely represent a small part of their overall portfolios. Investments linked to Russia have taken

Getty Images |  filadendron You’re not alone if you panic sold during this week’s stock market volatility and you’re feeling regret, experts say. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered U.S. stock market swings on Thursday, with the S&P 500 dropping by as much as 2.6% before closing 1.5% higher. The Nasdaq Composite recovered from a nearly

The United States Capitol is seen framed with a canopy of trees from Fort Stanton Park on in Washington, D.C. The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images The Covid-19 pandemic caused unexpected financial shocks for many Americans, particularly low-income service workers who were at higher risk of losing their jobs. The emergency

Lightspeedshutter | Istock | Getty Images After two years of federal student loan payments being suspended because of the Covid pandemic, the government doesn’t expect an easy process to get millions of borrowers back into repayment. That’s the takeaway from a new report by the Government Accountability Office, which found that as many as half

It’s been almost two years since most borrowers have had to pay their monthly student loan bill. And yet, 93% of them are not prepared to resume payments on May 1, according to a survey of more than 23,000 student loan borrowers by the Student Debt Crisis Center. “The payment pause has meant everything,” said