Personal finance

President Joe Biden returns to the White House from a day trip to Minneapolis on May 1, 2022. Stefani Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images President Joe Biden recently said that he’d be making his decision around student loan forgiveness within weeks. That means borrowers uncertain of the future of their debt, who’ve been hearing

Camille Tokerud Photography Inc. | Stone | Getty Images A federal benefits program for blind, disabled and elderly individuals could get a long-overdue update if a proposal in Washington is approved. Two Ohio senators — Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown and Republican Sen. Rob Portman — have teamed up to introduce a bill to update the

Choreograph | iStock | Getty Images For Medicare beneficiaries wondering whether their Part B premiums could be reduced, the waiting continues. More than three months after Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra ordered a reassessment of this year’s $170.10 standard monthly premium — a bigger-than-expected jump from $148.50 in 2021 — it remains uncertain

Luis Alvarez | Digitalvision | Getty Images The surge in worker pay that was a key feature of the 2021 labor market showed signs of fading early this year, as businesses’ demand for workers has moderated a bit from last year’s record levels. Wages and salaries in the private sector grew by 5% in the

Golibtolibov | Istock | Getty Images Taxing the wealthy is a big topic in Washington these days. President Joe Biden recently proposed in his 2023 annual budget a so-called billionaire minimum income tax that would increase levies on the country’s wealthiest households. Under the plan, people with a net worth of $100 million or more

Lifestylevisuals | E+ | Getty Images Adjustable-rate mortgages are making a comeback. With interest rates surging, more buyers are turning to ARMs, which offer lower initial rates than fixed-rate loans. However, after a certain period, the rate on the ARM adjusts to reflect current market conditions. “You have double the number of borrowers out there

miodrag ignjatovic | E+ | Getty Images If you have a Medicare supplement plan — aka, Medigap — there may be times when it’s worth making sure it’s still the best fit for you. Medigap policies are standardized — same-named plans offer identical benefits no matter which private insurance company sells it — but the

Getty Images If you’re eligible for health savings account contributions, you can deposit more money starting in 2023, thanks to an inflation adjustment from the IRS. In 2023, you can save up to $3,850 with an individual health insurance plan, up from $3,650 in 2022, the IRS announced Friday. And you can soon contribute up

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp makes remarks during a visit to Adventure Outdoors gun shop as he pushes for a new state law to loosen requirements to carry a handgun in public, in Smyrna, Georgia, January 5, 2022. Alyssa Pointer | Reuters High school students in Georgia will soon have guaranteed access to a personal finance

Mint Images | Mint Images Rf | Getty Images Americans may be getting more information about a big financial choice regarding pension benefits. Pension plans traditionally pay retirees monthly streams of income that last for the rest of their lives. Companies may also offer a lump sum to current and former employees, allowing them to

U.S. President Joe Biden announces additional military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine as well as fresh sanctions against Russia, during a speech in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, April 28, 2022. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters President Joe Biden said on Thursday that he’ll have his answer on student loan forgiveness within

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the jobs report for the month of March from the State Dining Room of the White House on April 1, 2022 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images News | Getty Images The tens of millions of Americans saddled with student loans may finally hear soon what the

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images If you play Powerball, there’s a good chance you’ve daydreamed about how you would spend the money if you hit the jackpot. With the lottery game’s top prize at an advertised $454 million for Wednesday night’s drawing, you may also want to give thought to what you’d actually do if

Consumers are putting more purchases on plastic — and paying more for the privilege. Rising prices have caused many Americans to feel suddenly cash-strapped and more dependent on credit cards to make ends meet. After consumers paid off a record $83 billion in credit card debt during the pandemic, helped by government stimulus checks and fewer opportunities

At the country’s top colleges, the most recent application season was the most competitive on record, but getting accepted at several schools may have been the easy part for students. Now they have less than one week to decide on which school they’ll attend ahead of National Decision Day on May 1, the deadline for

Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images Fidelity Investments is offering bitcoin to 401(k) investors. But before retirement savers get access, employers must give the green light — and that’s often much more complicated than it sounds. Fidelity administered almost $2.9 trillion of 401(k) and other workplace retirement plan assets (representing over a quarter of the

Getty Images Some investors may soon be able to add cryptocurrencies to their 401(k) accounts. Fidelity Investments announced Tuesday it will begin allowing investors to put cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin in 401(k) retirement accounts, making it the first provider to do so. The offering will be available midyear for the 23,000 companies that use Fidelity

Gece33 | E+ | Getty Images In the continuing war for talent in the American workplace, employers have been adding more perks to attract and retain employees. That includes paying more attention to the financial well-being of their workers. “I’m seeing greater interest in financial-wellness programs because of the Great Resignation, coupled with an increasingly

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc | Getty Images As midterm elections loom, advocates for voters ages 50 and up are hoping Congress will take up one issue that could help rein in rising costs — prescription drug prices. A proposal to let the government negotiate some prescription drug prices covered under Medicare was included in Democrats’

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images There’s a chance — a tiny one — that a Powerball player will manage to turn $2 into $421 million on Monday night. That’s the jackpot amount heading into the week’s first drawing, which comes on the heels of 29 pulls — three weekly — with no one