Personal finance

Fotostorm | E+ | Getty Images For a rising share of car owners, monthly auto loan payments appear to be evolving into a problem. While borrowers who are behind on their payments by more than 60 days represent a tiny portion of all outstanding auto loans — 1.84% — their ranks are growing, according to

Thomas Barwick | Digitalvision | Getty Images American workers are in the throes of a historic job market, characterized by low unemployment and layoffs, relatively fast-rising wages and a high degree of job-seeker confidence. Job trends in recent months reveal “a juggernaut” of a labor market, said Nick Bunker, head of economic research at the

Shapecharge | E+ | Getty Images As of this year, people new to Medicare won’t face big delays in coverage — an unenviable situation that some beneficiaries used to find themselves in. Thanks to legislation passed in late 2020, months-long delays in certain Medicare enrollment circumstances are now eliminated. Additionally, individuals who missed signing up

For most Americans, inflation and rising interest rates are a one-two punch. On the heels of another rate hike this week by the Federal Reserve, credit card annual percentage rates are already near 20%, on average, and set to climb even higher. At the same time, more consumers are leaning on credit to afford increasingly expensive

Simpleimages | Moment | Getty Images There’s a decent chance that your state is holding money or other assets that belong to you — and government officials want you to have it. About 1 in 7 people — 33 million altogether — collectively have an estimated $70 billion worth of unclaimed property being held by

Douglas Rissing | Istock | Getty Images Shortly after President Joe Biden announced an unprecedented plan to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars of the country’s outstanding federal student loan debt, the legal challenges piled up. Republicans and conservative groups have now brought at least six lawsuits against the president’s plan, arguing it is harmful

AsiaVision | E+ | Getty Images Most Americans can file their taxes for free — but many don’t seize the opportunity. Roughly 70% of taxpayers qualify to use IRS Free File, but only 2% used it during the 2022 filing season, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate’s annual report to Congress. A public-private partnership between

andresr | E+ | Getty Images More than 50 million workers quit their jobs in 2022, according to federal data, breaking a record set the year prior and demonstrating the resilience of a hot labor market characterized by ample job opportunity. The trend of workers voluntarily leaving their jobs began in early 2021, as the

The Federal Reserve raised the target federal funds rate for the eighth time in a row on Wednesday, in its continued effort to tame persistent inflation. At its latest meeting, the central bank approved a more modest 0.25 percentage point increase after recent signs that inflationary pressures have started to cool. “The easing of inflation pressures

Moyo Studio | E+ | Getty Images The first Social Security check was issued 83 years ago. The check, for $22.54, went to retired legal secretary Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont. Today, in 2023, the average retirement benefit is $1,827 per month, according to the Social Security Administration. The maximum Social Security benefit for

Milan2099 | E+ | Getty Images For Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in an Advantage Plan, now’s the time to change your 2023 coverage if it’s not a good match. Each year between Jan. 1 and March 31, beneficiaries unhappy with the choice they made during Medicare’s annual open enrollment period — which ended Dec. 7 —

Westend61 When homeowners look for ways to fund home improvement projects or other expenses, sometimes a home equity line of credit emerges as an option. HELOCs, as they’re called, let you borrow money against a portion of your home’s equity — the difference between your mortgage balance and the house’s appraised value — up to

Shoppers in San Francisco on Dec. 21, 2022. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Months of high inflation have weighed heavily on households. As of December, 64% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent LendingClub report — up from 61% a year earlier and in line with the historic high first

Simpleimages | Moment | Getty Images Long Covid is keeping people out of work and may reduce on-the-job productivity for others, contributing to a labor shortage and weighing on the U.S. economy at large, according to a new study. Long Covid — also known as long-haul Covid, post-Covid or post-acute Covid syndrome — is a

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., conducts a news conference in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall on Thursday, January 12, 2023. Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images Social Security and Medicare should be “completely off the table” when it comes to debt ceiling negotiations, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in a

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce its eighth consecutive rate hike at this week’s policy meeting.  This time, Fed officials likely will approve a 0.25 percentage point increase as inflation starts to ease, a more modest pace compared with earlier super-size moves in 2022. Still, any boost in the benchmark rate means borrowers

Bloomberg Creative | Bloomberg Creative Photos | Getty Images It’s possible that the U.S. Supreme Court will strike down the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan, leading to a reversal for the millions of Americans who had been expecting the debt cancellation. President Joe Biden in August announced that he’d forgive at least $10,000, and

People wait in line to attend a job fair at SoFi Stadium on Sept. 9, 2021, in Inglewood, California. Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images These days the U.S. unemployment system is somewhat of an anomaly. Almost three years after the Covid-19 pandemic caused the worst jobless crisis in the U.S. since the

Wirestock | Istock | Getty Images The U.S. Department of Education has “fully approved” more than 16 million people for federal student loan forgiveness and sent their applications to loan servicers, the Biden administration announced Friday. The administration gave a state-by-state breakdown of the number of borrowers who have applied and been approved for its

John Miller | iStock | Getty Images A group of House Republicans is revisiting the Fair Tax Act, which would replace certain federal levies with a national sales tax and decentralize the IRS. While the plan may not get a floor vote and wouldn’t make it through the Democrat-controlled Senate, policy experts say the plan