Personal finance

Filippobacci | E+ | Getty Images If your home boasts certain trendy outdoor features, you may be able to sell it for more in today’s market. At the top of the list is outdoor TVs, which may help home sale price to 3.1% more than expected, representing a $10,749 boost based on the average home,

Maria Korneeva | Moment | Getty Images The Biden administration has set a key deadline for student loan borrowers hoping to get forgiveness. Those with multiple federal student loans who request a consolidation by April 30 — which will leave them with one, larger loan — could benefit from the U.S. Department of Education’s overhaul

Photographer, Basak Gurbuz Derman | Moment | Getty Images When it comes to investor maladies, fear of missing out, or FOMO, is the clinical term for buying a security after a meteoric price increase because you don’t want to be left behind. There is no known cure for this condition, which has been linked to

Female firefighter putting on her protective equipment inside the fire station in response to an emergency Trevor Williams | Digitalvision | Getty Images The Biden administration’s latest student loan forgiveness announcement contained good news for more people than the 77,700 borrowers eligible for this round of aid. Starting next week, the administration said, President Joe

Laylabird | E+ | Getty Images Breaking up in old age can be costly, especially for women. The rate of “gray divorce” — a term that describes divorce at age 50 and older — doubled from 1990 to 2019, according to a 2022 study published in The Journals of Gerontology. It tripled for adults over

Fangxianuo | E+ | Getty Images There can be ample roadblocks during a job hunt, including so-called “ghost” jobs. These can be phantom listings for jobs that don’t exist, or those posted such a long time ago that it seems the job may not be available. Luckily, there are ways for job seekers to sidestep

South_agency | E+ | Getty Images House Republicans unveiled a plan this week that calls for raising the Social Security retirement age. Meanwhile, Democrats and advocates for the program are ramping up their calls to tax the rich to enhance benefits. “On the right, there is a line in the sand against tax increases,” said

Fatcamera | E+ | Getty Images We’ve all been told that following a routine is important in many aspects of life — for physical fitness, good eating habits, solid work patterns and so on. But many experts are telling us that establishing a routine is also necessary for successful investing and building wealth. At an

Urbazon | E+ | Getty Images The tax deadline is approaching and the IRS has already issued more than 43 million refunds worth nearly $135.3 billion. As of March 8, the average refund was $3,145, up from $2,972 the same week in 2023, the agency reported last week. However, the average refund could change as

Maskot | Maskot | Getty Images After a year full of supply shortages and climbing borrowing costs, 2024 is shaping up to be a better time to buy a car. The average transaction price for a new car in the U.S. last month was $47,244, down 2.2% from February 2023. That’s also down 5.4% from

As problems with the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid persist into the spring, harsh words are being directed at the U.S. Department of Education. Former top student loan official Wayne Johnson accused the Education Department of “malicious negligence” in a recent letter written to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and other senior officials and

The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it will leave interest rates unchanged, delaying the possibility of rate cuts as well as any relief from sky-high borrowing costs. Overall, expectations that the Fed is pulling off a soft landing have increased, but that offers little consolation for Americans with high-interest debt. And now there may be fewer interest rate

Former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-MD), President Biden’s nominee to be the next Commissioner of Social Security, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on November 02, 2023 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images Three months into his role as commissioner of the Social Security

Woman shopping for groceries in Brooklyn, NY, on September 15, 2023. Paola Chapdelaine | The Washington Post | Getty Images A recession that was in the forecast for 2023 never came to fruition. That has led to optimism that the Federal Reserve can reduce inflation and slow the economy without a recession, in what is

Martin-dm | E+ | Getty Images Millions of Americans are scrambling to file returns as the federal tax deadline approaches. But U.S. expatriates have extra filing rules — and the burden is making some expats question their American citizenship. Nearly one-third of U.S. expats have plans to renounce their American citizenship or are “seriously considering

The Good Brigade | Digitalvision | Getty Images Over the last few years, the Biden administration has repeatedly announced that it was forgiving student debt for small groups of qualifying borrowers. So far, it has canceled the loans for almost 3.9 million people, totaling $138 billion in relief. Those who haven’t qualified for the aid

Affordability is the No. 1 issue among college hopefuls. And yet, fewer students are applying for financial aid. Problems with the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid have discouraged many high school seniors and their families from completing an application, experts say. At the current rate, the number of FAFSAs submitted by the end of August will

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the Pieper-Hillside Boys & Girls Club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on March 13, 2024. Sara Stathas | Bloomberg | Getty Images The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 made student loan forgiveness tax-free at the federal level through the end of 2025. President Joe Biden wants to extend that policy

Kate_sept2004 | E+ | Getty Images Investing can seem overly complicated, and that complexity may paralyze Americans into doing nothing. But investing — and doing so smartly — doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, getting started can be relatively easy, according to financial experts. “You don’t need to be a rocket scientist. Investing is

  Sturti | E+ | Getty Images Spring, the season when home buying and selling activity kicks off, is around the corner.  Available housing supply is already rebounding: The number of new listings jumped 14.8% from a year ago, the largest annual gain since May 2021, according to new data from Redfin, a real estate