Personal finance

Feeling “rich” is increasingly elusive. Even among millionaires, only 8% would characterize themselves as wealthy these days. Roughly 60% of investors with $1 million or more of investable assets said they are more likely upper middle class, according to a recent Ameriprise Financial survey of more than 3,000 adults. To that point, 31% consider themselves

Credit card debt is mounting. Americans now owe $1.08 trillion on their credit cards, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Tuesday. Balances jumped 15% from a year ago, according to a separate quarterly credit industry insights report from TransUnion, while the average balance per consumer hit $6,088, the highest in 10 years. Persistent inflation has put

Simpleimages | Moment | Getty Images Heading into 2024, consumers should “economize” their budgets, pay down debt and save money, if possible, to boost their personal finances, Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, said Thursday at CNBC’s Your Money event. This “three-point action plan” is important for households since there’s “a high risk

Klaus Vedfelt | Digitalvision | Getty Images Travel was expensive and busy in 2023, leading jetsetters to seek out cheaper, less-trodden alternatives to popular hot spots. It’s a great way to save money on trips heading into 2024, according to experts. This concept — seeking out cheaper duplicates, or “dupes,” of pricey products — was

Tom Werner | Digitalvision | Getty Images If your partner got down on one knee and asked you to marry them today, would you say yes? What if you found out the ring destined for your finger boasts a lab-grown diamond? The chances of that engagement ring bearing a man-made diamond are higher than you

Richard Stephen | Istock | Getty Images The clock is ticking for Congress to shore up Social Security benefits. The latest projections from Social Security’s actuaries show the program’s trust funds are due to run out in 2034, at which point 80% of benefits will be payable. If Congress does not act by 2034, the

After the Supreme Court rejected President Joe Biden’s sweeping forgiveness plan earlier this year, the president announced a series of other relief measures for student loan borrowers.  Already, Biden has managed to erase $127 billion in education debt for more than 3.5 million borrowers, largely through Public Service Loan Forgiveness and income-driven repayment plans. The most beneficial so

Americans now owe $1.08 trillion on their credit cards, according to a new report on household debt from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Credit card balances spiked by $154 billion year over year, notching the largest increase since 1999, the New York Fed found. “Credit card balances experienced a large jump in the third quarter,

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen outlines the improvements the IRS will deliver to taxpayers in 2024, during remarks at IRS Headquarters in Washington on Nov. 7, 2023. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday announced IRS goals for the 2024 tax filing season and shared agency updates amid continued scrutiny from some Republican

In this article ZIP Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Commuters arrive from Metro North Railroad trains in Grand Central Station in New York. Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images Rising pay transparency is causing a new kind of competition among employers — and it’s not necessarily for talent. Instead, the shift in

Peopleimages | Istock | Getty Images Social Security beneficiaries will soon get notices showing exactly how much money to expect in their monthly checks for 2024. Those recipients are slated to get a 3.2% boost to their benefits starting in January with the 2024 annual cost-of-living adjustment. Retirement benefits are expected to go up by

Arik Armstead of the San Francisco 49ers at the NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Jan. 29, 2023. Kevin Sabitus | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images It’s no secret that professional athletes are often higher earners — but one football player revealed his pay stub on social media to show how much

Kathrin Ziegler | Digitalvision | Getty Images Exchange-traded funds have become a pillar of the investment world since their debut in the early 1990s. In the three decades since inception of the first U.S. ETF — the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), in 1993 — investors have poured $7.2 trillion into such investment funds,

Miniseries | E+ | Getty Images Homebuyers are dealing with record-high costs this year amid interest rate hikes and shrinking supply. While shopping for homes is increasingly competitive, prospective buyers should consider an additional factor when weighing the pros and cons of a given property: the homeowners association, or HOA. Homeowners associations are run by

Turner worker working on drill bit in a workshop Rainstar | E+ | Getty Images The Social Security retirement age is currently moving to age 67, and some lawmakers have called for pushing it even higher. But that may be a problem for a certain cohort: older workers in physically demanding jobs, according to a

Morsa Images | Digitalvision | Getty Images Retiring early is out and “soft saving” is in — at least according to Gen Z. Younger American adults are taking a more relaxed approach to their long-term financial security, a recent Prosperity Index study by Intuit found.  In the current climate, newly minted adults between the ages of

Jobseekers wait in line at a Nov. 2, 2023 career fair in Los Angeles. Frederic J. Brown | Afp | Getty Images The job market continues to show signs of cooling, but alarm bells aren’t ringing just yet, economists said. The U.S. economy added 150,000 jobs in October, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported

A man walks by the Bank of America headquarters in New York on July 18, 2023. Eduardo Munoz | View Press | Getty Images Customers at several big banks on Friday wrestled with direct deposit delays stemming from an industry-wide processing issue. There was a surge of “outages” reported by banking customers Friday morning, including

Matt Le Blanc as Joey Tribbiani, Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing, Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green and Courteney Cox as Monica Geller on NBC’s “Friends.” NBC | Getty Images Matthew Perry, the beloved actor best known for his role as sarcastic, wise-cracking Chandler Bing on the sitcom “Friends,” died Saturday at age 54. He left

Eric Audras | PhotoAlto Agency RF Collections | Getty Images Series I bonds are now paying 5.27% annual interest through April 2024, up from the 4.3% yearly rate offered since May — and experts have tips for short- and long-term investors. While the new rate is down significantly from the record 9.62% offered in May 2022, investors can