Personal finance

Families, parents and caregivers call on Congress to include paid family and medical leave in the Build Back Better legislative package during an all-day Nov. 2, 2021 vigil in Washington, D.C. Paul Morigi | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images Missing a week of work due to illness, child care or other obligations during Covid-19

Source: Getty Images Investors have been pouring money into high-yield bonds, which typically pay more interest for taking on greater risk. But these investments are also known as “junk bonds,” and financial experts urge caution before piling in. After a rocky start to 2022, U.S. high-yield bond funds received an estimated $6.8 billion in net

Customers shop for back-to-school supplies at a Target store in Colma, California. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images As parents know all too well, it’s hard to cut back when it comes to the kids. Despite more households living paycheck to paycheck, this year’s total back-to-school spending is expected to match last year’s

Andrew Biggs, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute American Enterprise Institute When Andrew Biggs, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, was nominated by President Joe Biden to be a member of the Social Security Advisory Board in May, it came at an important inflection point for the program. A report subsequently released by

Evgenia Tsvirko / Getty More than a third of U.S. adults are dipping into their savings accounts to help them afford higher prices, new research shows. In the face of high inflation, 36% of people say they have withdrawn an average of $617 from their savings during the first six months of this year, according

Fizkes | Istock | Getty Images Almost 2,000 consumers who were conned into paying debts they didn’t owe are in the process of getting their money returned to them. More than $1 million, or an average of $516 for each payment, is being returned to the victims either via PayPal or a mailed check, the

Fluxfactory | E+ | Getty Images Travelers saw prices fall for big-ticket pieces of their vacation budgets in July, offering at least a temporary reprieve after soaring costs earlier this year. Airfares fell nearly 8% from June to July, while prices for rental cars and lodging like hotels declined 9.5% and about 3%, respectively, according

FluxFactory New government data points to signs that red-hot inflation is starting to cool. But Social Security beneficiaries may still be in for a record high cost-of-living adjustment in 2023. The Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan senior group, now estimates Social Security benefits may increase 9.6%, based on Consumer Price Index data released on Wednesday.

Amid one of the worst public-health crises in history, a record number of Americans are without health insurance. John Fedele The Inflation Reduction Act just passed by the Senate will cap insulin at $35 per month for Medicare beneficiaries. But that dashed hopes to curb insulin prices for a broader set of the diabetes patient

Jeffrey Coolidge | Photodisc | Getty Images As the Democrats’ spending plan moves closer to a House vote, one of the more controversial provisions — nearly $80 billion in IRS funding, with $45.6 billion for “enforcement” — has raised questions about who the agency may target for audits. IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said these resources

The Biden administration has promised to make a decision on student loan forgiveness within weeks, or even days. And yet, college affordability will remain an issue for years to come, experts say. Increasingly, high school students are rethinking the value of a four-year degree. Many now say it’s just not worth the sky-high cost. “More

Federal student loan payments, most of which were paused during the pandemic, are set to resume in September. And yet, 93% borrowers say they are not financially prepared to restart payments, according to a survey by the Student Debt Crisis Center and Savi. With no break in sight for rising prices, many Americans are simply stretched too

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., on Capitol Hill on Sept. 30, 2021. Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post | Getty Images Senate Democrats passed a historic package of climate, healthcare and tax provisions on Sunday. But one proposed tweak to the tax code — a modification of so-called carried interest rules

FatCamera | E+ | Getty Images Households that get help paying for health insurance through the public marketplace are likely to continue qualifying for more generous subsidies under a congressional bill moving closer to final approval. The Inflation Reduction Act, which cleared the Senate on Sunday, includes an extension of temporarily expanded health insurance subsidies

Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images Senate Democrats’ package of climate change, health-care, drug pricing and tax measures unveiled last week has proponents and opponents debating whether the legislation violates a pledge President Joe Biden has made since his presidential campaign, to not raise taxes on households with incomes below $400,000 a year. The answer isn’t

Getty Images President Joe Biden has promised to make his decision on student loan forgiveness “by the end of August.” That means tens of millions of Americans could learn the future of their debt within days or weeks. Here are 5 things borrowers can do while you wait for more news, to be prepared for

Kelvin Murray | Getty Images A combination of record high prices and a record number of job openings has been encouraging more retirees to go back to work. The trend, called “unretirement,” rebounded this spring to pre-pandemic levels. About two-thirds, or 68%, of retirees would consider returning to work, according to a recent CNBC All-America

In this article TRU There’s no doubt Americans are falling deeper in debt. As prices jump across the board, consumers are increasingly relying on credit cards to make ends meet. The number of people with credit cards and personal loans hit record highs in the second quarter of 2022, according to TransUnion’s latest credit industry

Sporrer/Rupp | Image Source | Getty Images Market drops may stoke retirees’ fears that they will no longer have enough assets to live on. But it turns out that may not be the biggest financial risk they should be watching for in retirement. Instead, longevity — the prospect retirees may live longer than expected and

There’s a lot of speculation lately about whether the U.S. is officially in a recession. Both President Joe Biden and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said we’re not there just yet, pointing to the strong labor market and rising wages. The official declaration typically comes from the National Bureau of Economic Research, and it has