Personal finance

Petko Ninov | E+ | Getty Images Here’s something that will stoke your road rage: You’re spending thousands of dollars just getting to work. Residents in the Washington, D.C., metro area are coughing up $12,015 each year on average just driving to the office, according to an analysis by Clever Real Estate. The real estate

Getty Images If you’ve been racking your brain about where to retire on a budget, it might be time to think outside the U.S. A report by International Living, which publishes information about living overseas, lists destinations where you can coast through retirement on less than $30,000 a year. To be sure, retiring in a

Before and after shot of my student haircut experience. Diamaris Martino It can be a hair-raising experience to find a hair stylist that you trust. And even then you have to find one at a reasonable price that fits your budget. For example, the average cost of a haircut in New York state is now

Anyone planning to roll over all their assets from a traditional individual retirement account to a Roth version might want to pause before making the move. While Roth IRAs grow tax-free and withdrawals generally also are untaxed — and they come with no lifetime required minimum distributions, or RMDs — traditional IRAs have some potential

Samantha Vuignier | Getty Images Whether you’re resolving to cut your 2020 tax bill or save more for retirement in the new year, it’s time to start planning. It’s hard to believe, but we’re staring down at the third year under the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — the overhaul of the tax code

I love images | Cultura | Getty Images As consumers check out Black Friday car deals, there’s a good chance some of them will consider heading down a costly path. That is, they’ll go to trade in their existing car for a new one, even though the value of the trade is less than what’s

New York state governor Andrew M. Cuomo Wang Ying | Xinhua | Getty Images Four blue states that had unsuccessfully sued the IRS over a new $10,000 cap on the federal deduction for state and local taxes filed an appeal on Tuesday. The states — New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland — originally filed

Senior man celebrates his 90th birthday Urbazon / Getty A change proposed by the IRS could alter how much retirees are required to withdraw each year from their traditional retirement accounts. The reason? People are living longer now than when the agency last issued its tables for required minimum distributions in 2002. As a result,

GivingTuesday ‘Tis the season for giving. With the holidays around the corner, it’s the time of year when many people think about helping those less fortunate than themselves. A global movement to encourage donations has even been created, called GivingTuesday, which began in 2012 and falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Yet even if you

NFL linebacker Brandon Copeland understands the importance of investing his money. In fact, the New York Jet spends about 10% of his salary and saves the rest. “This career can end at any moment. Any money I make I’m trying to extrapolate that out for life, I’m trying to save as much as possible,” he

Guido Mieth | DigitalVision | Getty Images With a New Year comes a new start, and your retirement is no exception. That’s because the limits for pre-tax saving have gone up for aspiring retirees. And those already in retirement will see a modest boost to their Social Security retirement benefits, along with increased Medicare Part

Oscar Carrascosa Martinez | Moment | Getty Images When Kelly Smith had a mammogram in February 2018, she got a clean bill of health. Yet that April, as she was putting on lotion, she noticed a lump in her left breast. Several follow-up visits to her doctors confirmed the worst: She had stage 3B breast

Oxford University Joe Daniel Price | Getty Images For high-school seniors, the world is their oyster. In fact, a growing number of college-bound students are completing their bachelor’s degrees in foreign lands. Rather than just studying abroad for a semester or two, about 50,000 U.S. students are currently pursuing full degrees abroad, with a little

It’s a family dynamic that is increasingly becoming commonplace — and can make dealing with financial issues particularly challenging. A spouse — or both — has at least one child from a previous marriage or relationship and together they create what’s known as a “blended family.” Think “The Brady Bunch” – just without the rotary

Tom Werner | DigitalVision | Getty Images If you were diligently saving money for medical expenses all year, you may be about to lose it. A health-care flexible spending account, which you may have access to at work, allows you to save pretax dollars in a savings account. You can take tax-free distributions from the

Roger Richter | Corbis | Getty Images Friends don’t let friends buy $3,000 coffee tables. If you’re stuck on a pricey piece of furniture, consider that your money may be better spent elsewhere, like on a solid sofa or a great mattress. Furniture is one of the largest purchases most people make, says Rebecca Hawkins,

Medicare beneficiaries have about two weeks left to evaluate their options for 2020 and make changes for the new year. While you don’t need to take any action if you want to stick with your current coverage, experts say it’s worthwhile making sure it will still suit your needs next year — and that there

Many workers don’t need experts to tell them they aren’t putting enough away for their golden years — they apparently already know it. More than half of U.S. adults (52%) say they are behind where they should be when it comes to saving for retirement, according to a new survey from Bankrate.com. Among pre-retirees, the

Despite the partisan noise swirling around the impeachment hearings in Washington, DC, supporters of at least one bill remain hopeful that the divide won’t derail its passage. The Secure Act, as the measure is called, aims to increase the ranks of retirement savers and the amount they put away. While it cleared the House in

Jamie Grill | Getty Images Sometimes it pays to hold off on that holiday bonus. Workers on Wall Street received an average bonus of $153,700 in 2018, according to a report from the New York State Comptroller’s office. That’s down 17% from the prior year — but still enough to make the holidays happier. Meanwhile,