Personal finance

courtneyk | E+ | Getty Images After a rough year for the stock market, investors may not expect to receive a surprise tax bill from year-end actively managed mutual fund payouts, experts say. When a fund manager sells underlying assets at a profit without losses to offset it, those gains are passed along to investors.

New laws are making it easier than ever to know how much a given job pays. Pay transparency legislation is gaining momentum in cities and states across the country, from New York City to California and Washington state. Being armed with information about the salary range for a position you’re interested in can be the

Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images It’s open enrollment season, the time each year when millions of American workers and retirees must choose a health plan, whether new or existing. But picking health insurance can be a dizzying venture. Health plans have many moving parts — which may not come into focus at first

In this article UAL AAL TSLA NFLX SHOP-CA LYFT Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Wanan Yossingkum | Istock | Getty Images The labor market is still strong, but layoffs are picking up. This year Peloton, Netflix, Shopify, Lyft, and, most recently, Twitter, all announced significant staff reductions. Meanwhile, executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray &

Getty Images As Americans head to the polls, several key personal finance issues are weighing on voters’ minds and wallets. This week, the Federal Reserve enacted its fourth consecutive 0.75 percentage point interest rate increase to fight inflation, triggering further stock market losses. Meanwhile, recession fears are growing, with 84% of Americans worrying how a

dowell | Moment | Getty Images As the year-end approaches, you may be looking for ways to lower your 2022 tax bill — and certain tax-saving moves have rules you must follow in order to qualify. One option, adding money to your pretax individual retirement account, may be attractive if you make too much for

Supreme Court nominee and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 21, 2020. Ken Cedeno | Reuters The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a second request to block the Biden administration’s student loan debt relief program. Justice Amy Coney Barrett denied an emergency application to block the program

Gift buying and gift returning typically go hand in hand. On average, retailers expect about 18%, or $158 billion, of merchandise sold during the holiday shopping season to be returned, according to the National Retail Federation’s most recent data. For 2021 overall, the return rate was about 16.6% of total U.S. retail sales, or $761

SKLA | iStock | Getty Images Close to 26 million Americans have applied for student loan forgiveness, and the Biden administration has already approved 16 million of the requests, the White House said Thursday. Yet its entire loan cancellation plan could be in jeopardy due to the legal challenges brought by Republicans, it warned. “If

Tim Boyle | Bloomberg | Getty Images Although prices for new cars are moderating a bit, financing a vehicle purchase hasn’t been getting any cheaper. With the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate hike — the sixth this year — auto loans are poised to become even more expensive. The Fed’s move has a ripple effect,

In this article CTRN Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Despite growing economic uncertainty, employers are still waging a war for talent, and employees are coming out ahead. Now, more businesses are expanding their benefit offerings with free college programs to attract and retain workers. Most recently, Fidelity Investments said it will offer fully funded undergraduate

FatCamera | E+ | Getty Images For some Medicare beneficiaries, an Advantage Plan ends up not being a good fit. If you’re in this situation and are thinking about dropping your plan to return to basic Medicare — Part A (hospital coverage) and Part B (outpatient services) — there are some things to consider before

The Federal Reserve raised the target federal funds rate by 0.75 percentage point for the fourth time in a row on Wednesday, marking an unprecedented pace of rate hikes. The U.S. central bank has raised the benchmark short-term borrowing rate a total of six times this year, including 75 basis point increases in June, July and

Jayk7 | Moment | Getty Images As we head into the fourth quarter, investors lack much to be excited about. Through Sept. 30, the S&P 500 Total Return Index declined by 23.87%, almost ensuring equity investors won’t enjoy anything close to the 31.4%, 18.4% and 28.7% returns the index delivered in 2019, 2020, and 2021,

The U.S. Treasury Department in Washington. Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images Investors purchased Series I bonds in record numbers from the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Friday, just beating a key deadline to lock in a historically high rate of return. I bonds are a nearly risk-free asset tied to the rate of inflation.

Skynesher | E+ | Getty Images As inflation has pushed the cost of living higher, those eligible for Social Security retirement benefits may be tempted to claim benefits sooner than they had planned. Social Security beneficiaries stand to get a record 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment in 2023 that will help them contend with higher costs. But

In this article .RUT Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT marekuliasz | iStock | Getty Images Some big names suffered large stock losses last week as they reported earnings. Four companies — Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook parent Meta and Microsoft — collectively shed more than $350 billion from their market cap, the measure of

Voters file down the hall as early voting begins for the midterm elections at the Citizens Service Center in Columbus, Georgia, on Oct. 17, 2022. Cheney Orr | Reuters Investment advisers say it’s not wise to try to time the market, but it does make sense to periodically adjust your portfolio. So with the midterm

Catherine Yeulet | Getty Images As investors brace for another interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve, many are closely watching signals about the future of the economy. This week, investors are expecting the fourth 0.75 percentage point increase, which may continue to affect government bond yields. As the Fed takes further action to fight

This week, the Federal Reserve will likely raise rates for the sixth consecutive time to combat inflation, which is still running at its fastest pace in nearly 40 years.  The U.S. central bank has already raised its benchmark short-term rate 3 percentage points since March, including three straight 0.75 percentage point increases ahead of its