Personal finance

If you haven’t shopped for a car lately, brace for sticker shock. Not only are vehicle prices at an all-time high, but the interest rate to finance a purchase has also jumped dramatically. A record 15% of new car buyers who financed a new car last quarter committed to a monthly payment of more than

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images Inflation popped in 2022 to a level unseen in four decades. But prices ballooned more rapidly for certain items than others, largely concentrated among food, fuel and airfare. Some of those swings were due to outlying factors that extended beyond broad inflationary pressures such as snarled supply chains, labor

In this article JPM Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT The JP Morgan Chase & Co. headquarters, The JP Morgan Chase Tower in Park Avenue, Midtown, Manhattan, New York. Tim Clayton – Corbis | Corbis Sport | Getty Images Earlier this week, JPMorgan Chase shut down college financial aid platform, Frank, which it acquired in

Kate_sept2004 | E+ | Getty Images It will soon be the Year of the Rabbit, according to the Chinese calendar, but it might as well be the year of the new job. A whopping 96% of workers are looking for a new position in 2023, largely in search of better pay, according to a recent

Geber86 / Getty It’s official: The tax season kicks off for individual filers on Jan. 23, the IRS announced Thursday. For most taxpayers, you must file your federal return and pay your balance by April 18 this year to avoid racking up penalties and interest. “This filing season is the first to benefit the IRS

Hobo_018 | E+ | Getty Images New government inflation data shows the measurement used to calculate Social Security annual cost-of-living adjustments was up 6.3% for the past 12 months as of December. That’s as this year’s 8.7% COLA kicks in for more than 65 million Social Security beneficiaries this month. That new data indicates Social

Kentaroo Tryman | Maskot | Getty Images The inflation rate declined in December as consumers saw prices plummet at the gasoline pump, providing another hopeful sign for households that price pressures are continuing to ease from their highest level in decades. Inflation closed out 2022 with a 6.5% annual reading, as measured by the consumer

Job hopping is widely considered the best way to improve your career prospects and pay. Sometimes, noncompete clauses stand in the way. These contracts are meant to protect the investments companies have put into their businesses and employees. It’s estimated that more than 30 million workers — or roughly 18% of the U.S. workforce — are required

Tim Robberts | Digitalvision | Getty Images Starting this month, more than 65 million Social Security beneficiaries will receive benefit checks that include a record-breaking 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment. Social Security benefits are slated to increase by more than $140 per month on average, according to the Social Security Administration. The average retiree benefit will increase

Valentinrussanov | E+ | Getty Images The Biden administration rolled out a new proposal this week to dramatically lower monthly payments for some federal student loan borrowers. If and when the overhauled income-driven repayment plan becomes available, some people could see their bills decrease by as much as a half, according to the U.S. Department

Stefani Reynolds | Afp | Getty Images The U.S. Department of Education proposed regulations Tuesday that would reduce the monthly bills for certain federal student loan borrowers. Under the proposal, the administration of President Joe Biden would overhaul one of the existing income-driven repayment plans, known as Revised Pay As You Earn or REPAYE, which

Ascent/ Pks Media Inc. | Photodisc | Getty Images Current Social Security beneficiaries are poised to receive an 8.7% boost to their benefits for 2023 starting this month, thanks to the highest cost-of-living adjustment in 40 years. If you’re at or near Social Security’s retirement benefit eligibility age of 62, you may wonder if you

New U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks with reporters in Washington, Jan. 7, 2023. Jon Cherry | Reuters House Republicans on Monday night voted to slash funding for the IRS, following a pledge from newly-elected Speaker Kevin McCarthy to repeal the money approved by Congress last year.    Passing along party lines, the

vitapix | E+ | Getty Images New government jobs data shows the U.S. labor market is still strong, with a record low unemployment rate of 3.5%. “The unemployment rate is the lowest in 50 years,” President Joe Biden said on Friday. ”We have just finished the two strongest years of job growth in history.” Yet as

Skynesher | E+ | Getty Images New year, new you? Probably not. One of the revelations that will likely come in 2023 is that you’re largely the same person as last year. You don’t suddenly love running or taking vitamins. But sometimes it’s good when things don’t change, and the fact that many of the

The IRS building in Washington. Kent Nishimura | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images The IRS has issued tax refunds to 12 million people eligible for a tax break on unemployment benefits received in 2020, when the pandemic caused joblessness on a scale unseen since the Great Depression. The refund payments — which totaled $14.8

Getty Images With President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan on hold and headed to the Supreme Court, tens of millions of Americans are wondering if they’ll ever see the relief they were promised. Legal experts say the president’s policy, which would cancel up to $20,000 for borrowers, faces a narrow path to survival with

Former U.S. President Donald Trump claps as he announces that he will once again run for U.S. president in the 2024 U.S. presidential election during an event at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, November 15, 2022. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters When former President Donald Trump’s tax returns were released last week, the line

Dragos Condrea | Istock | Getty Images If you’re signing up for Medicare, you’ve likely discovered that there are a lot of out-of-pocket costs that come with your coverage. For about 23% of Medicare’s 65.1 million beneficiaries, the solution for covering those outlays is a so-called Medigap plan. These policies, sold by private insurance companies,

Traders at the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 21, 2022. Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images The bond market suffered a significant meltdown in 2022. Bonds are generally thought to be the boring, relatively safe part of an investment portfolio. They’ve historically been a shock absorber, helping buoy portfolios when