Personal finance

XiFotos | E+ | Getty Images Nearly 40% of Americans participating in 401(k) retirement plans do not fully understand the fees associated with the accounts, according to a report released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office, a congressional watchdog. The lack of knowledge around how fees work in the employer-sponsored retirement plans persists, the report

Choreograph | iStock | Getty Images Signing up for Medicare sometimes means deciding that a supplement plan — aka Medigap — suits your situation. That is, you want extra insurance to at least partially cover the cost-sharing aspects of Medicare — deductibles, copays and coinsurance. However, Medigap plans do have limitations to be aware of.

A college graduate calls their family on video to celebrate Kemal Yildirim | Getty Images Earlier in August, the U.S. Education Department under President Joe Biden announced it would cancel another $1.1 billion in student loan debt for about 115,000 borrowers who attended ITT Technical Institute, a now-defunct school. This latest round of forgiveness brings

Education Secretary nominee Miguel Cardona testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee during his confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill Washington, DC., February 3, 2021. Susan Walsh | Pool | Reuters The U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday it will cancel $1.1 billion in student debt for 115,000 borrowers. The relief will go

kate_sept2004 | E+ | Getty Images For millions of American families, the new enhanced child tax credit has meant extra money on a monthly basis. Even better, there are other tax credits that were improved during the pandemic that folks will be able to use to boost refunds, or potentially offset tax liabilities. That’s because

Cecilie_Arcurs | E+ | Getty Images With fewer employer pensions these days, some retirees are hesitant to draw down their nest eggs. However, older Americans may spend more freely with a guaranteed source of income, such as Social Security or a private annuity. That’s according to a research paper that examines spending in retirement. The

MoMo Productions | DigitalVision | Getty Images Interest in working remotely has surged during the Covid-19 pandemic and is lingering even as the economy reopens, a new study suggests. The share of online job searches for remote positions jumped 460% in the two years between June 2019 and June 2021, according to an analysis published

JGI/Tom Grill | Tetra images | Getty Images As retirees live longer, many worry about outliving their savings. However, many older Americans haven’t planned for a looming expense: the cost of long-term care. The median cost of a private room in a nursing home was $105,850, and in-home care costs were $53,768 to $54,912 annually,

PeopleImages | E+ | Getty Images In his poem “If,” British author Rudyard Kipling famously wrote that learning to “keep your head when all about you are losing theirs” is part of growing up. That very statement is also part of growing wealth. I wish I could go back to March 2020, when some investors

Job seekers speak with hiring representatives during a job fair at a community center in Beattyville, Kentucky, U.S., on Wednesday, July 28, 2021. Jon Cherry | Bloomberg | Getty Images Most Americans expect to look for a new job as the pandemic continues. Some 55% of people in the workforce, meaning that they’re currently working

kate_sept2004 As the Covid-19 pandemic set in, the federal government stepped up to provide Americans with unprecedented financial relief. In order to access those funds, from stimulus checks to monthly child tax credit payments, most Americans had to file tax returns. But submitting that paperwork could have put some individuals and families in a vulnerable

Peter Cade | Getty Images Most retirees — including those with less wealth — aren’t tapping their nest eggs before their required withdrawals, according to research from J.P. Morgan Asset Management and the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Some 80% of the retirees studied didn’t withdraw money from accounts before their required minimum distributions, known as

Getty Images Divorcing parents often have plenty to navigate. And the latest stimulus package has dumped even more onto the negotiating table in the form of enhanced tax credits. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan provided Covid-19 relief for millions of Americans, including increases to three write-offs in 2021: the child tax credit, the earned

Douglas Rissing | iStock | Getty Images Those who’ve been stuck with a credit card balance may wonder if they should use the savings in their 401(k) plan to clear their debt up. Credit cards, after all, come with high interest rates — the average charge is over 16% a year. Being dinged at that

Klaus Vedfelt | Getty Images The Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2022 potentially will be the biggest in 40 years. Estimates indicate the annual boost could be 6.2%, prompted by rising inflation. But rising prices on grocery store shelves and at gasoline pumps aren’t the only reasons why those bigger monthly benefit checks will likely

Brocreative | Getty Images Since July, millions of American families with children have received monthly checks through the new enhanced child tax credit. Even more will see a larger than usual credit — and potential refund, depending on other aspects of their situation — come tax time next year. So far, the credit has slashed

Hero Images | Getty Images At some point, individuals who are charitably inclined might determine that writing checks here and there to various nonprofits is no longer cutting it. For those who want a more permanent way to help the greater good during their lifetime, and perhaps beyond, options include either a private foundation or

In this article MNTV svetikd | E+ | Getty Images People of color are still lagging behind when it comes to investing, a new CNBC/Momentive Invest in You survey found. Half of Black U.S. adults and 49% of Hispanics don’t currently own individual stocks, mutual funds, bonds, exchange-traded funds, cryptocurrency or real estate. Meanwhile, 32%

There are fun expenses that come with any vacation you’re flying off to — that souvenir t-shirt, a fancy dinner or even a poolside cabana rental — but forking over a fortune to park your car at your home airport while you’re away isn’t one of them. Travelers departing major U.S. airports can often expect

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen answers questions during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on June 23, 2021. Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images) States can pay benefits to the unemployed past a looming Sept. 6 expiration date using pandemic funds that Congress previously allocated to state and local governments, Labor and Treasury Department officials said Thursday. The American Rescue