Personal finance

Mementojpeg | Moment | Getty Images The Biden administration has forgiven a record amount of federal student debt. But in about two months, President-elect Donald Trump, a vocal critic of student loan forgiveness polices, will enter the White House. Under Trump, the U.S. Department of Education is likely to abandon its efforts to deliver wide-scale

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 13, 2024. Allison Robbert | Via Reuters Congressional lawmakers will soon debate expiring tax breaks and new promises from President-elect Donald Trump. Agreeing on cuts and spending, however, could be a challenge. With a

Boogich | E+ | Getty Images Lenders often encourage federal student loan borrowers to enroll in automatic payments. It can seem like a good idea to do so: Borrowers don’t need to worry about missing a payment and often get a slightly lower interest rate in exchange. However, the decision can backfire in a lending

This week, the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid expanded its “phased rollout“ so all students can now apply for aid for the upcoming academic year. Up until Monday, the 2025-26 FAFSA was only available to limited groups of students in a series of beta tests that began on Oct. 1. Now, the form is

Oscar Wong | Moment | Getty Images John Healy began investing in exchange-traded funds when he was about 18 years old. Back then, Healy said he worked as a security guard in a beach club earning an hourly wage of “$12 a pop” and relied on message boards on the internet to figure out what to

If you still haven’t booked your holiday travel plans, take note: Prices tend to rise the closer you get to the days you’re looking to travel.  To afford holiday trips, about 50% of respondents are cutting back on other expenses while 49% are picking up discounts and deals, according to the 2024 Holiday Travel Outlook

Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/Picture Alliance via Getty Images The number of older Americans who report losing more than $100,000 to fraud in a given year has more than tripled since 2020, according to the Federal Trade Commission, a trend that experts say represents a grave and growing threat to older adults’ financial security. In 2023, about 4,600

Approximately 1 in 3 U.S. adults ages 18 to 34 live in their parents’ home, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The pandemic caused more young adults to return home or remain living with their parents into their late 20s and 30s, but aside from that spike, the numbers have remained fairly consistent in recent

Baona | E+ | Getty Images Americans are determined to travel this holiday season — and certain workarounds are helping them take those trips.  The ability to work remotely is a major leg up when planning out itineraries. About 49% of employed travelers are “laptop luggers” — those who plan to work at some point

A customer visits Macy’s Herald Square store in New York City during early morning Black Friday sales, Nov. 24, 2023. Kena Betancur | Getty Images Typically, the five days beginning Thanksgiving Day and ending Cyber Monday are some of the busiest shopping days of the year. This year, the number of people shopping in stores

Voters line up to cast their ballots at a voting location in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 5, 2024. Samuel Corum | Afp | Getty Images When asked, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” the answer for many older voters ages 50 and over was “no,” according to a new post-election

Izusek | E+ | Getty Images Despite a strong year for the stock market, you could still be sitting on portfolio losses. But you can leverage down assets to score a tax break, experts say. The tactic, known as “tax-loss harvesting,” involves selling losing brokerage account assets to claim a loss. When you file your

Pekic | E+ | Getty Images Mortgage rates seem to have steadied. That may be a good sign for the market, experts say. The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage in the U.S. slightly dipped to 6.78% for the week ending Nov. 14, barely changed from 6.79% a week prior, according to Freddie Mac data via

97 | E+ | Getty Images As inflation has throttled back from pandemic-era highs, consumers have seen prices decline outright for many household items. This dynamic, known as deflation, generally doesn’t occur on a broad, sustained scale in the U.S. economy: With limited exceptions, businesses are generally loath to lower prices once they’ve increased, economists

Thomas Jefferson, 1848/1879. Artist George Peter Alexander Healy. Heritage Images | Hulton Fine Art Collection | Getty Images In “All The Presidents’ Money,” author Megan Gorman takes readers into a side of U.S. presidents that is often overlooked: how they managed their own money. Gorman writes about commanders in chief who were obsessively frugal, and

Collectively, Americans now owe a record $1.17 trillion on their credit cards, according to a new report on household debt from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Credit card balances rose by $24 billion in the third quarter of 2024 and are 8.1% higher than a year ago. Despite that increase, credit card delinquency

A student student sits in a lecture hall while class is being dismissed at the University of Texas at Austin on February 22, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell | Getty Images Nearly a third, 30%, of federal student loan borrowers say they’ve gone without food or medicine because of their monthly bills. That grim

Maskot | Getty Images A bipartisan bill to change Social Security benefit rules for pensioners passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, with 327 lawmakers voting to support the measure. Now, the proposal heads to the Senate, where the chamber’s version of the bill has 62 co-sponsors, “surpassing the majority needed to pass the

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid for 2025-26 will be available for all students and contributors on or before Dec. 1, the Education Department says. Typically, students have access to the coming academic year’s form in October, but this year’s delayed release follows a “phased rollout” meant to address reported issues from the 2024-25

Jamie Grill | Tetra Images | Getty Images For investors who want income, dividends may provide an answer. Dividends are corporate profits that companies pay to shareholders in the form of either cash or stock. In comparison to other income-paying investments — such as certificates of deposit, bonds or Treasurys — dividends may provide the