Personal finance

Romance scams have surged during the pandemic, cheating online daters out of millions of dollars in the quest for love. In 2021, consumers reported they lost a record $547 million to romance scams, according to a report from the Federal Trade Commission. That represents an 80% increase compared to 2020 and brought the median personal

With gasoline prices at a 14-year high, it’s hard to imagine paying even more at the pump. Yet prices are only heading higher. On Sunday, the national average for a gallon of gas hit $4.009, the highest since July 2008, according to data from AAA.  An increase in demand along with a reduction in supply

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc | DigitalVision | Getty Images If you have a flexible savings account for health-care expenses, it’s probably worth checking whether any of that money is on the verge of disappearing. An estimated $1 billion in those accounts could be forfeited in 2022, according to an estimate from FSAstore.com. Some forfeitures could

kali9 | E+ | Getty Images You may want to consider some financial issues before walking down the aisle again. When it comes to tackling those financial issues around remarriage, financial advisors recommend couples look at the past — for example, how each person handled finances, and their pre-marital liabilities and assets — the present

LinkedIn employees are treated to “surprise and delight” moments through the tech company’s LiftUp program. LinkedIn Millions of Americans are quitting their jobs and rethinking what they want when it comes to work and work-life balance. Companies are responding, meeting their employees’ needs in areas like remote work, flexible hours, four-day workweeks, compensation and more.

Bloom Productions A retirement-savings option that can be smart at the outset of your career probably needs to be reexamined down the road. Target-date funds, as they’re called, offer a way to put your savings on autopilot: Holdings gradually shift away from riskier assets like stocks and toward more conservative investments (bonds and, perhaps, cash)

The Internal Revenue Service headquarters building in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News | Getty Images The IRS on Friday unveiled a new Taxpayer Experience Office as part of a long-term plan to improve customer service issues. The office will focus on “all aspects of taxpayer transactions,” working closely with the Taxpayer Advocate

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,