Personal finance

Grace Cary | Moment | Getty Images After decades of building your nest egg, you will eventually have to start taking required minimum distributions, or RMDs, from pretax retirement accounts. The first RMD can be tricky, according to financial experts. Since 2023, most retirees must begin RMDs at age 73. The first deadline is April

Morsa Images | Digitalvision | Getty Images Companies can now offer their workers a “match” on their student loan payments in the form of a contribution to their 401(k) plan — and a small but growing number of employers are taking advantage. Traditionally, companies have only paid a 401(k) match to workers based on their

Richard Stephen | Istock | Getty Images New leadership has yet to be sworn in, in Washington, D.C. Yet Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, ignited a debate this week on the future of Social Security with a series of posts on social media platform X. The program, which provides monthly checks to more than 65 million

U.S. President Joe Biden is joined by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona (L) as he announces new actions to protect borrowers after the Supreme Court struck down his student loan forgiveness plan in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on June 30, 2023 in Washington, DC.  Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Brandon Bell | Getty Images News | Getty Images A Labor Department rule that shields retirement savers from getting harmful investment advice is at risk of being overturned during President-elect Donald Trump’s second term — an outcome that would have an element of déjà vu, said legal experts. The Biden-era regulation, issued in April, aims

Hinterhaus Productions | Getty Images As a historic wave of baby boomers reaches retirement age, finding affordable long-term care is a challenge. “We’re going to have a major storm coming in our country with all these folks that can’t take care of themselves,” Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-New York, said Thursday at the Employee Benefit Research

Medianews Group/orange County Register Via Getty Images | Medianews Group | Getty Images It’s easy to swipe your credit card or send a check when donating to charity. But you could score a bigger tax break by gifting another asset. Some 34 million U.S. adults gave $3.1 billion for Giving Tuesday 2023, up by 0.6%

The Good Brigade | DigitalVision | Getty Images Older Americans have just a few days left to evaluate their Medicare coverage for next year. Medicare’s annual open enrollment period for health plans and prescription drug coverage runs until Dec. 7. Experts say it’s worthwhile for Medicare’s 67.8 million beneficiaries to make sure they have the

U.S. President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., November 13, 2024.  Kevin Lamarque | Reuters Investors wondering if the presidential election may usher in a bad or good time for the stock market won’t find any easy answers looking at the past. One

A driver for an independent contractor to FedEx delivers packages on Cyber Monday in New York, US, on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. Stephanie Keith | Bloomberg | Getty Images Consumers are increasingly concerned that their online orders may not arrive in time for the holiday — and rightfully so. More than half of shoppers —

Images By Tang Ming Tung | Digitalvision | Getty Images Parents who want to help jumpstart their kid’s credit score and credit history can take one fairly easy step, money experts say: Add your child as an authorized user to your credit card account. The goal is to have a child build credit from a

Mementojpeg | Moment | Getty Images Federal student loan borrowers who fall behind on their bills will once again face financial consequences. After the Covid pandemic-era pause on the payments expired in September 2023, the Biden administration offered borrowers another year in which they would be shielded from the impacts of missed payments. With that

Tomas Rodriguez | Corbis | Getty Images President-elect Donald Trump has made his dislike for student debt relief clear. Experts expect he will abandon or roll back many of the Biden administration’s student loan efforts — which on the campaign trail he called “vile” and “not even legal.” Assuming the Trump administration abandons the U.S.

Oscar Wong | Moment | Getty Images Americans traveling to Europe next year may be in store for some bargains. That’s due to euro-U.S. dollar exchange rates. The euro has weakened against the U.S. dollar in recent weeks and is poised to fall further in 2025 and perhaps into 2026, economists said. “That’s a good

Shoppers carry their purchases on Black Friday in New York City on November 29, 2024.  Adam Gray | AFP | Getty Images When Bernadette Joy graduated with an MBA in 2016, she and her husband had around $300,000 in debt, including student loans and mortgage balances. By 2020, they were debt free. As Joy sought

Betsie Van Der Meer | Digitalvision | Getty Images The holiday season is a time to give thanks, reflect on the past year, and spend time with family and friends. However if you’re not careful, it can also be a time you overspend on holiday purchases. About 83% of Americans plan to buy gifts for

Ascentxmedia | E+ | Getty Images Many workers dream of an early retirement. In reality, more than half of workers — 58% — retire earlier than they planned, usually due to unforeseen circumstances, according to new research from Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies in collaboration with Transamerica Institute. The median age they call it quits

Xavierarnau | E+ | Getty Images If you’re retired and planning a year-end donation to charity, there’s a key move to maximize your tax break, financial experts say.   Qualified charitable distributions, or QCDs, are direct transfers from an individual retirement account to a non-profit organization. Additionally, retirees can give more in 2024, according to

10’000 Hours | Digitalvision | Getty Images As families gather for Thanksgiving this year, money is one topic that likely won’t be discussed. Yet experts say it’s a perfect time to start the conversation, particularly with aging parents. More than half of Americans — 56% — say their parents never discussed money with them, according

Shoppers walk along 5th Avenue on Black Friday in New York, US, on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Retailers hype Black Friday sales, and it works. This year, the number of people shopping between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday could hit a record, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual