Personal finance

Foto Sipsak | Getty Images For decades, a college education was the “golden ticket” to the American Dream, translating into higher lifetime earnings and better job security. To that point, the median college graduate makes a total of $2.8 million throughout their career, compared to $1.6 million (a 70% difference) earned by their high school

Luis Alvarez | Digitalvision | Getty Images Inflation is hovering near 40-year highs. The Consumer Price Index, a key inflation metric, increased 8.3% in April from a year ago, the largest jump since the summer of 1982, the U.S. Department of Labor said Wednesday. While a slight reduction from the 8.5% rate in March, the

Joe Raedle | Getty Images News | Getty Images Social Security beneficiaries could see another record cost-of-living adjustment in 2023, based on the latest government data showing persistent high inflation. But that increase may not be enough to pare the loss in buying power recipients have experienced over the years, according to a new analysis

Sallie Krawcheck, CEO and co-founder of Ellevest and author of “Own It: The Power of Women at Work.” Slaven Vlasic | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images Sallie Krawcheck knows what it is like to be one of the few women in the room. She led the wealth management business of a major Wall Street

Sarote Pruksachat | Moment | Getty Images The stock market has been off to a rough start this year. The S&P 500 Index is currently down more than 16% year to date through Monday’s close. That’s sparked worry for some investors. Some 43% said they’re too nervous to invest in the market right now, according

Hero Images | Getty Images Deciding when to claim Social Security retirement benefits is a complicated decision. But when two people are in the mix — particularly a couple where one spouse is the primary breadwinner — the decision may be even more complex. New research from Lafayette College takes a look at how Social

Jessie Casson | DigitalVision | Getty Images Stocks are sliding. But there may be a silver lining for investors. An investment loss poses an opportunity to trim your annual tax bill, via a mechanism called tax-loss harvesting. Here’s the basic premise: You sell an investment that’s in the red, and then use that investment loss

Kevin Dodge | The Image Bank | Getty Images About 14,470 students may have been underpaid $59.5 million in Social Security benefits, according to estimates from the Social Security Office of the Inspector General in a recent audit. The organization, which provides independent oversight of the Social Security Administration’s programs and operations, conducted an investigation

Sam Edwards | Getty Images Those annoying required minimum withdrawals from retirement accounts that kick in at age 72 may come with a silver lining: helping you make your money last through your lifetime. Generally speaking, if you were to take only your yearly RMDs it would mean those accounts wouldn’t be depleted in your

fizkes | iStock | Getty Images For anyone getting started with adulthood, the financial stuff can be among the trickiest aspects to navigate. That can be the case even for those who go on to be financial advisors. For these professionals, some advice they regularly give clients now — after years of extra education and

Nirat | Istock | Getty Images It’s no secret the Covid-19 pandemic has been tough on millions of moms. Trying to juggle work amid ongoing child care uncertainties has left many mothers frustrated into the third year of the pandemic. While tough choices between work and parenting were a shock for middle- and upper-income women,

For decades now, the country’s outstanding student loan debt balance has only trended in one direction: Up. Today, around 44 million Americans owe a combined $1.7 trillion for their education. But it didn’t have to be this way. Legislation like the GI Bill, the National Defense Education Act, and Higher Education Act of 1965 paved the way for

Guido Mieth | DigitalVision | Getty Images Banks are starting to pay a higher return on your cash — good news for savers who’ve seen their stockpiles languishing from a gruesome combination of low interest rates and high inflation. However, some banks are moving faster than others. Some, particularly traditional brick-and-mortar shops, may not budge

FG Trade | iStock | Getty Images After rebounding from the short-lived pandemic recession, the U.S. economy has faced multiple threats in 2022, sparking investor fears of a prolonged downturn.  Annual inflation reached a 40-year high in March, prompting the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark rate by half a percentage point, the biggest hike

Bymuratdeniz | E+ | Getty Images Workers continue to see pay increases at a fast clip, but there are signs of a slowdown ahead. Average earnings for all workers grew by 0.3% in April, to $31.85 an hour, the Labor Department said Friday. That’s a modest reduction from the 0.4% pace in March. It also

Tom Werner | DigitalVision | Getty Images The IRS may have the ability to automate nearly half of tax returns, according to a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research. The agency could correctly auto-fill an estimated 62 million to 73 million returns with information it already has, covering 41% to 48% of

Prasit photo | Moment | Getty Images U.S. stocks have a case of whiplash. Stocks slumped Thursday in one of the worst sessions seen so far this year. During intraday trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 1,000 points or 3%, while the S&P 500 lost 4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped

A customer purchases lemons at a supermarket on April 12, 2022 in San Mateo County, California. Liu Guanguan | China News Service | Getty Images Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell may have said it best when he addressed the public at a Wednesday press event following the Federal Open Market Committee’s half-point rate hike. “Inflation

Parents and children participate in a demonstration organized by the ParentsTogether Foundation in support of the child tax credit portion of the Build Back Better bill outside of the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 13, 2021. Sarah Silbiger | Bloomberg | Getty Images Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., took to the Senate floor Wednesday to decry the

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is seen in the U.S. Capitol during a Senate vote on Feb. 10, 2022. Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images The federal government has no business interfering with the ability of American workers to invest their 401(k) plan savings as they see fit. Sadly, that’s not the Biden