Personal finance

Chris Ryan | Getty Images Prices are rising, squeezing consumer budgets more than they’ve seen in the last 40 years. It also means that for many investors, it may be more important than ever to continue to put their long-term savings in the stock market. That’s because over time, investing in equities is generally a

A sign reflects the price per gallon of fuel at a gas station on March 10, 2022 in Miami, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images Americans are feeling the pinch of rising gas prices. Now two states — Maryland and Georgia — are temporarily suspending their gas taxes in order to help their residents save

Weekend Images Inc. | E+ | Getty Images Americans are being squeezed by higher inflation. That may have retirees on a fixed income concerned about getting by or running out of savings during their golden years. Inflation rose 7.9% in February from 12 months ago, the highest in more than 40 years, according to the

Tom Werner | DigitalVision | Getty Images If you haven’t filed your taxes, there are four weeks until the federal deadline, which is April 18 for most Americans.   Some 63.5 million payers have sent returns through March 11, according to the latest IRS filing data, with an average refund of $3,352. However, millions of Americans have

A man walks past a bitcoin symbol in the window of a company that offers blockchain application services on Dec. 21, 2021 in Berlin, Germany. Bitcoin and other virtual currencies rose strongly in value in 2021. Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images Financial advisors have been reluctant to integrate cryptocurrency into client

Poba | E+ | Getty Images Getting financial advice online is easier than ever before. Even so, many investors are likely to discover that there is no substitute for a human financial advisor. The problem, however, is selecting the right one. One thing an investor should consider is the advisor’s investing acumen. Low-cost funds that

Eakgrunge | Istock | Getty Images Ageism is one of the most unfair paradoxes in the labor market: People put in decades of hard work and then find themselves penalized for having done so. And the problem is only worsening: Nearly 80% of older workers say they’ve seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace,

Allison Greenwald, senior product manager at The Alley Group, spent five weeks in Alaska while working a flexible schedule. Courtesy: Allison Greenwald Millions of Americans are quitting their jobs and rethinking what they want when it comes to work and work-life balance. Companies are responding, meeting their employees’ needs in areas like remote work, flexible

Brauns | E+ | Getty Images Siraba Keita survived New York’s deadliest fire in decades — only to see her bank freeze the savings she needed to pick up the pieces. Her story reflects the hardship of many low-income Americans in a system that seems to prioritize debt collectors over a bank’s customers, according to

In this article TRU EXPN-GB EFX A medical worker walks past a row of ambulances parked outside of Houston Methodist Hospital amid the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). in Houston, Texas, U.S., June 22, 2020. Callaghan O’Hare | Reuters A large number of U.S. consumers will have their medical debt wiped from their

IRS commissioner Charles Rettig testifies during the Senate Finance Committee hearing on June 8, 2021. Tom Williams | Pool | Reuters The IRS is still digging through tens of millions of unprocessed tax returns with roughly four weeks until the 2021 filing deadline. But Commissioner Charles Rettig expects the backlog to clear by year-end. The

Fg Trade | E+ | Getty Images If you’re planning a wedding this year, you’re in good company. A record number of weddings — about 2.5 million — are expected in 2022, the most since 1984, according to wedding market research firm The Wedding Report. That’s up from 1.9 million in 2021 and 1.3 million

In this article TREE Tetra Images | Getty Images Many Americans are planning to use any refunds they get from the IRS to grow their personal wealth. Some 46% of people plan to save their refunds, according to a LendingTree survey of more than 1,000 taxpayers conducted online Feb. 7 through Feb. 10. That figure

Alexanderford | E+ | Getty Images Americans are paying more for a broad swath of household goods these days. Even items without a higher sticker price may still cost more — it’s just hard to notice at first glance. That’s because some companies have reduced the contents of their packaging. A cannister that used to

Westend61 | Getty Images The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is degrading Americans’ financial outlook, sparking the desire to save more and postpone investing, according to a survey from MassMutual. But steering clear of stock market volatility may be a mistake, financial experts say. Two-thirds of Americans worry the conflict will hurt their wallets, with nearly half

Nine-year-old student Roberto Nieves Fernandez studies personal finance topics on his laptop using online resource center SmartPath. SMARTPATH More states are requiring students to take personal finance education courses before they graduate high school. There are currently 23 states that mandate a personal finance course for students, according to the 2022 Survey of the States

Forty-eight percent of respondents told Kind Traveler their greatest challenge in traveling sustainably is finding accommodations that are both “sustainable and socially conscious.” Klaus Vedfelt | Digitalvision | Getty Images Everyone likes a bargain when it comes to booking travel, but many also want the money they spend to do some good where they’re headed,

The Federal Reserve raised its target federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point from near zero at the end of its two-day meeting Wednesday. The first increase in the benchmark rate in three years will lay the groundwork for six more hikes by year’s end. “The war in Eastern Europe gives the Fed reason to act more cautiously, but

Getty Images As inflation rises, many Americans are shifting life milestones, including retirement. Some 13% of Gen Xers and baby boomers say they have postponed or considered delaying plans to leave the workforce due to soaring costs. That’s according to a survey from the Nationwide Retirement Institute, showing a cross-generational wave of Americans canceling or

Yongyuan | E+ | Getty Images Workers who save in a 401(k) plan offered by a small business pay fees that are twice as high as those paid by employees who work at the largest companies in the U.S. The smallest workplace retirement plans (those with less than $25 million in aggregate savings) charge total