Personal finance

A billboard showing the debt limit is seen in Washington, D.C. on April 17, 2023. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images As lawmakers work to hammer out a debt limit deal, experts already say more needs to be done to curb the nation’s spending, and that could include Social Security and Medicare reform. The

Collectively, Americans owe nearly $1 trillion on credit cards. Total credit card debt stood at $986 billion at the start of 2023, unchanged from the record hit at the end of 2022, according to a new report on household debtfrom the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Typically, balances fall in the beginning of the

Nirunya Juntoomma | Istock | Getty Images An emergency fund is a key piece of your financial plan, especially amid economic uncertainty. But the right amount of cash depends on your household and occupation, according to financial experts. Most Americans aren’t prepared for a financial emergency, according to a recent CNBC/Momentive survey of more than

Toondelamour | E+ | Getty Images Have a losing investment? You may need to wait longer than you think to regain that loss. The answer lies in simple arithmetic. Yet, “investors always misunderstand this,” said Ted Jenkin, a certified financial planner based in Atlanta and a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council. Here’s an example:

Rockaa | E+ | Getty Images Although the Biden administration’s sweeping student loan forgiveness plan and the legal troubles around it have gotten the most headlines, the U.S. Department of Education has already canceled more than $66 billion in education debt under existing programs. More than 2 million borrowers, including defrauded students and those who

Dobrila Vignjevic | E+ | Getty Images Amid a stalemate on federal debt ceiling negotiations, some government officials are warning the Social Security checks sent to more than 65 million beneficiaries each month could be at risk. On Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned a “Social Security shutdown” could happen if the U.S.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.; President Joe Biden; and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., meet in the Oval Office on May 9, 2023 to discuss the debt ceiling. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images News | Getty Images The U.S. may be weeks away from being

Ponywang | E+ | Getty Images This story is part of CNBC’s College Money Guide 2023, a series to help students and recent graduates understand their money and start their adult life off on a solid financial path. Getting your first full-time job out of college is exciting! It’s thrilling to know that someone wants

A protestor holds a sign reading “64 years is a no” during a May Day (Labor Day) demonstration in Lille, France, on May 1, 2023, more than a month after the government pushed an unpopular pensions reform act through parliament. Sameer Al-doumy | Afp | Getty Images French citizens have taken to the streets to

Regardless of where the Supreme Court comes out on President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, education debt isn’t going away. College is only getting more expensive. Tuition and fees plus room and board at four-year, in-state public colleges rose more than 2% to $23,250, on average, in the 2022-23 academic year; at four-year private colleges, it increased

Economists have been forecasting a recession for months, and that looming downturn is one of the most anticipated in U.S. history. But it’s not yet materialized, in part due to strong consumer spending. “Consumer spending represents more than half of the economy,” said Curt Long, chief economist at the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions.

Sunrise at Laguna Torre in Patagonia, Argentina. © Marco Bottigelli | Moment | Getty Images Travel in 2023 has been expensive. Indeed, some prices — like those for international flights — have hit record highs. Americans are unleashing their wanderlust en masse after a few years of pandemic-era trip delays, making for a busy —

For soon-to-be college grads without a job lined up, the future is daunting. “I’m definitely pretty stressed about it,” said Naomi Watson, 22, a senior at Santa Clara University in California. The political science major plans to move back in with her mom while she continues her search. With student loan payments on the horizon

A shopper in Greenville, New York, on April 30, 2023. Robert Nickelsberg | Getty Images News | Getty Images Inflation in April notched its lowest reading in two years, as price pressures for consumers continue to moderate from multi-decade highs and costs for household staples appear to be in retreat. The consumer price index, a

Bernardbodo | Istock | Getty Images New government data shows inflation is cooling, and that means Social Security beneficiaries will likely see a lower cost-of-living adjustment next year. The Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2024 could be 3.1%, according to a new estimate from The Senior Citizens League. That’s well below the 8.7% increase to

Damir Khabirov After years of low returns, money market mutual funds have recently become more attractive, thanks to a series of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. But some investors worry about increased risk as the debt ceiling debate intensifies. Money market funds — which are different than money market deposit accounts — typically

New college grads negotiating their first salary may be in for a rude awakening. In the midst of a historically strong job market, characterized by low unemployment, rising wages and a high degree of job-seeker confidence, those armed with a degree are feeling relatively good about their earning potential. In fact, today’s undergraduates expect to make $84,855

Ja’crispy | Istock | Getty Images As the president of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a member on the Business Cycle Dating Committee, James Poterba helps determine when a recession officially starts and ends. Why is that important? What do those dates tell us? When the NBER was founded in 1920, its economists

Enes Evren Many investors are bracing for the economic fallout of the deadline for the U.S. to raise the debt ceiling or default on its obligations. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday said that failing to raise the debt ceiling will cause a “steep economic downturn” in the U.S., reiterating the country’s early June deadline.

Orna Guralnik Source: Showtime Not long after I began working as a personal finance reporter at CNBC in 2018, I started psychoanalysis. The form of therapy had long intrigued me, with the intensity of its three sessions a week and its search for answers among our dreams and pasts. Because I’d heard that psychoanalysis was