The Trump administration has already begun carrying out its plans to close parts or all of the Department of Education, which is responsible for underwriting student loans, disbursing college aid and ensuring equal access to education. President Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to “find and remove the radicals who have infiltrated the federal Department of Education,” and suggested

Asiavision | E+ | Getty Images Collectively, Americans now owe a record $1.21 trillion on their credit cards, according to a new quarterly report on household debt from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Credit card balances jumped by $45 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, driven in part by holiday spending, and

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images Sorry, lovebirds, but that chocolate you’re buying for your sweetie this Valentine’s Day probably comes with a bigger price tag. Candy is the most popular Valentine’s Day gift, beating out other tokens of affection like flowers, cards and jewelry, according to the National Retail Federation. Additionally, chocolate accounts for

Cavan Images | Cavan | Getty Images More than 3.2 million individuals scored a legislative victory due to a new law that will increase the Social Security benefits for which they are eligible. However, many of those individuals now face a lengthy wait for the extra benefit money coming to them. The Social Security Fairness

Artistgndphotography | E+ | Getty Images As millions of Americans gather paperwork to file their returns, many could see a tax form for business payments “for the first time ever,” according to the National Taxpayer Advocate. For 2024, if you had more than $5,000 in business transactions from apps such as PayPal or Venmo, along

Sanja Radin | E+ | Getty Images It seems that love is in the air, and so is the spending as more people are apparently getting into the Valentine’s Day spirit this year. Americans shopping for their significant others are expected to spend $14.6 billion this year, according to the latest annual survey by the

A customer at a food market in Palma, Mallorca, Spain. Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images As economists ring alarm bells over the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy on consumers and the U.S. economy, there’s a group of Americans who may benefit: tourists traveling abroad. That’s due to the impact of tariffs on the

Prapass Pulsub | Moment | Getty Images If you have a tax bill or bigger than expected refund this season, it may be time to update your paycheck withholding, which can be tricky, experts say.   Typically, there’s a refund when you overpay taxes throughout the year, and a tax bill when you don’t pay enough.