Personal finance

Marko Geber If you couldn’t max out your individual retirement account in 2021, don’t despair. There’s still time to make a contribution to traditional and Roth IRAs. The deadline for putting money into IRAs for this year is April 15, 2022, giving savers an additional four months to contribute. For 2021, the maximum contribution to

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images New Year’s Day luck could end up making a Powerball player a few hundred million dollars richer.  No ticket matched all six numbers drawn Wednesday, which means the jackpot has climbed higher: It’s an advertised $483 million for Saturday night’s drawing, up from $441 million. The top prize

President Joe Biden walks to the Oval Office upon his return to the White House on Dec. 20, 2021. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters When Scott Heins heard that the Biden administration was giving student loan borrowers another three months before they’ll have to start making their payments again, he had mixed feelings. On one hand,

Samuel Corum/Bloomberg Democrats seem to have nixed the idea of taxing returns on unsold stock and other assets, favoring other ways to raise revenue as part of a nearly $2 trillion social and climate bill. Scrapping that tax on “unrealized capital gains” would primarily benefit the richest Americans, who hold the bulk of the country’s

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc | DigitalVision | Getty Images Coming off several years of outsized gains in the stock market, investors may be hoping 2022 is like deja vu again. Don’t count on it. While future performance is impossible to predict with certainty, many financial advisors expect returns will come back down to Earth. “We

More Americans got into the spirit this holiday, even if it meant spending more than they could afford. Between buying presents, plane tickets and party supplies, 36% of consumers went into debt, owing an average of $1,249, according to a survey by LendingTree. Most holiday borrowers with debt put it on their credit cards, although

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images After making payments on her student loans since 2005, Karen Tongson is finally free of her debt. In November, Tongson, an English and gender studies professor, signed into her loan account and discovered her balance had fallen from $47,000 to $0, thanks to

FatCamera | E+ | Getty Images Open enrollment for the public health insurance marketplace lasts a month longer than usual this year — which means there’s still time to get coverage. Through Jan. 15 — unless your state has a different closing date — you and your family can sign up for a plan through

Portra Images | Getty Images Many Americans may be experiencing a spending hangover after the holidays. This year, it may have been easier than ever to spend more than intended. Some families were able to gather together after being apart last year, and inflation and supply chain issues have driven up the cost of many

Victoria Popova | iStock | Getty Images Student loan borrowers got some happy news this holiday season: They’ll have an additional three months before they have to start making their payments again. The payment pause, which has been in effect since March 2020, was scheduled to expire Jan. 31, but the Biden administration announced it

Integrity Pictures Inc | The Image Bank | Getty Images The share of employers allowing Roth 401(k) savings surged last year, giving more workers access to the financial benefits that accompany such contributions. A Roth is a type of after-tax account. Workers pay taxes up front on 401(k) savings, but investment growth and account withdrawals

John M Lund Photography Inc | DigitalVision | Getty Images The “Great Resignation” may be about to pick up steam again in the new year. Kathryn Minshew, co-founder and CEO of careers website The Muse, is predicting another wave in January and then again once companies start finalizing their back-to office plans. Right now, she

Whenever Anne Helen Petersen and her partner Charlie Warzel, both journalists, were on a trip, they’d find themselves talking about moving to wherever they were visiting. “It would happen when we went to Santa Fe and to the Catskills,” Petersen said. “It was every single place.” That told them that they weren’t happy in New

The Jet offers one-by-two luxury seating in its 14-passenger coaches between New York and Washington, D.C., along with at-seat attendant service and UV air filtration. The Jet For New York City resident James Gilmer, 28, long-distance travel by bus usually means something very specific: getting to and from his hometown of Pittsburgh during the holidays.

Maria Teijeiro | OJO Images | Getty Images ‘Tis the season for charitable giving, and retirees eyeing a year-end donation may still score a write-off with transfers from their individual retirement account.   Qualified charitable distributions, or QCDs, are direct gifts from an IRA to an eligible charity. Investors age 70½ and older may donate up

A graduate who calls himself “April Vendetta” protests student debt in New York’s Washington Square Park on May 19, 2021, after New York University’s virtual commencement ceremony. Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images Most Americans want the government to forgive at least some of the $1.7 trillion in outstanding student loan debt. Some

RgStudio | E+ | Getty Images It’s almost time to ring in the new year. Before you do, there are some smart money moves you can still make that can set you up for success in 2022 — and beyond. To be sure, practicing good financial health is important all year long. However, there are

The crypto ecosystem has expanded significantly in recent years. While institutions such as the IMF are starting to embrace its innovation, they are also calling for investors to exercise caution. Jakub Porzycki | NurPhoto via Getty Images Cryptocurrency donations to charity are booming, with gifts still rolling in as the calendar winds down. There was

Nederland, Colorado resident Nick Emery clears mountains of snow from his driveway on March 14, 2021. Helen H. Richardson | Denver Post | Getty Images It’s gearing up to be an expensive winter, especially for those grappling with rising heating costs. In the last year, about 20% of Americans struggled to pay their energy bill

RgStudio | E+ | Getty Images Just in time for winter travel, gas prices are ticking up again. Nationwide, the average price for a gallon of gas is $3.34, up 2 cents from a week ago, according to GasBuddy.com. However, that’s down from about $3.43 a month ago. Average prices range from about $2.84 in