Personal finance

Credit card interest rates reached record highs last year and there is still more to come in 2023, according to Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. Credit card rates are now more than 19%, on average — an all-time high — after rising at the steepest annual pace ever, in step with the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes to combat

Financing a new or used car is more expensive than ever, new research shows. Amid rising interest rates and elevated auto prices, the share of new car buyers with a monthly payment of more than $1,000 jumped to a record high, according to Edmunds. For the first time, just over 15% of consumers who financed a

dowell | Moment | Getty Images Investors have many options when saving for short-term goals, and those choices have become more complicated amid high inflation and rising interest rates. While there have been signs of slowing inflation, the Federal Reserve is expecting higher interest rates to continue. “It looks like this year might be a

Many Americans are setting financial goals for the year ahead. An extra paycheck could help. If you are a W-2 employee and get paid biweekly, there are two months out of the year when you will receive three paychecks instead of the usual two. The months in which you get three checks depends on your

President Joe Biden signed a $1.7 trillion legislative package on Dec. 29, 2022 that has several updates for retirement savers. Drew Angerer | Getty Images News | Getty Images A new law is changing rules governing how and when certain retirement savers can withdraw money from their nest eggs. Tax-advantaged accounts earmarked for people’s golden

Valentinrussanov | E+ | Getty Images As the Federal Reserve continues to hike interest rates, you may assume you’re earning more on the money in your savings account. But that may not be the case. related investing news Three painful lessons for investors in 2022. How to put them to work in the new year

FatCamera | E+ | Getty Images Anyone without health insurance has about two weeks left to get 2023 coverage through the public marketplace — and subsidies could make it affordable. Open enrollment for the federal health care exchange runs through Jan. 15, with coverage taking effect Feb. 1. (If your state has its own exchange,

Labor activists hold a rally in support of a national $15 minimum wage on May 19, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images News | Getty Images As the calendar turns to 2023, workers in more than half of all states have something to look forward to this year: a higher minimum wage.

Malerapaso | Istock | Getty Images With the national average interest rate on credit cards at historic highs, many Americans are being dinged with higher monthly charges than ever on on their balances. As a result, they may be wondering if it’s a good idea to tap their retirement savings to pay off the debt.

Olivier Douliery | AFP | Getty Images Winning $640 million wouldn’t be a bad way to close out the year. That’s the Mega Millions jackpot amount for the next drawing, which is set for Friday night. The top prize has been growing since Oct. 14 when it was reset to $20 million after two tickets

Getty Images After a year of high inflation, stock market volatility and rising interest rates, it’s easy to see why many feel uncertain heading into 2023. But rising costs have prompted updates from the IRS, broadly affecting Americans’ finances, including retirement savings and taxes. And recent legislation may present further options for the new year.

Xavier Lorenzo | Moment | Getty Images When it comes to financial resolutions for 2023, there’s one goal at the top of many people’s lists: building an emergency fund. A recent survey from Personal Capital found that 31% of respondents want to increase their emergency savings, topping other goals like purchasing a car, with 15%;

Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Nov. 15, 2022. Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images Former President Donald Trump paid millions of dollars in state and local taxes from 2015 through 2020, according to income tax returns publicly released Friday by the House Ways and Means Committee. But while the returns show associated tax deductions

D3sign | Moment | Getty Images The surge in egg prices has stood out in a year when Americans saw their bills balloon across the grocery store. Average egg prices jumped 49.1% in November compared with those a year earlier — the largest annual percentage increase among all grocery items in that period, according to

Creatas | Creatas | Getty Images It’s been a strange time for people with federal student loans. The bills have been on pause for nearly three years, and we still don’t know exactly when they’ll resume. President Joe Biden in August announced that he would be forgiving up to $20,000 for tens of millions of

bymuratdeniz | E+ | Getty Images For retirees, a new year means adjusting to changes in a variety of Medicare costs, including premiums, deductibles and copays. For 2023, some of those costs will be higher than they were this year, while others are going down. Although each change doesn’t necessarily involve a huge dollar amount,

Daniel De La Hoz | Istock | Getty Images If the Supreme Court decides to strike down President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, it will be a bigger loss for some groups than others. That’s because the $1.7 trillion education debt crisis has hit certain populations especially hard. Since Biden unveiled his plan to cancel

The $1.7 trillion federal spending bill includes a new change that will curb the abuse of tax incentives for land conservation. Pictured, Montana. Mike Kemp | In Pictures Ltd. | Corbis Historical | Getty Images The $1.7 trillion federal spending bill includes a change designed to curb the abuse of tax incentives for land conservation.

In this article EFX Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Cash payments that were approved as part of Equifax‘s settlement over its 2017 data breach are now reaching consumers. The money — which comes from a $425 million consumer restitution fund created as part of the settlement — began

In this article TREE Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Pedestrians view the holiday windows at a store in New York on Dec. 2, 2021. Christopher Occhicone | Bloomberg | Getty Images High inflation and rising interest rates mean holiday shoppers who turned to credit cards and other methods of borrowing are left with bigger