Personal finance

The Good Brigade | DigitalVision | Getty Images Up to 23 million California residents are about to receive tax refunds of as much as $1,050, thanks to one-time stimulus payments the Golden State began deploying Friday. The payments, which will total $9.5 billion, mark the largest program of its kind in the state’s history. The

Tempura | E+ | Getty Images The U.S. Department of Education has said its application for student loan forgiveness will go live in early October, suggesting it could be ready any day now. With legal challenges to President Joe Biden’s historic move to cancel up to $20,000 in debt for millions of Americans mounting, experts

A storefront in Ocean City, New Jersey, on Aug. 18, 2022. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images Long-term unemployment declined again in September amid a continued strong labor market for job seekers. The number of Americans unemployed at least 27 weeks — the official barometer of long-term joblessness — fell

Netflix may as well be a necessity. Even as Americans cut back in the face of rising prices and recessionary fears, fewer want to give up their streaming subscriptions, especially when it comes to TV, movies and music services, such as Amazon Prime, Netflix and Spotify. Roughly two-thirds of consumers said they will have to decrease

JGI | Jamie Grill | Blend Images | Getty 401(k) plans hold a whopping $7.7 trillion in retirement savings. But cash-outs of small accounts pull billions from the system each year and can harm investors’ chances of a secure retirement, research shows. A trio of the industry’s largest 401(k) administrators — Fidelity Investments, Vanguard Group

Skynesher | E+ | Getty Images A growing share of car buyers are signing up for monthly loan payments of $1,000 or more amid rising interest rates and elevated auto prices, new research shows. Overall, 14.3% of consumers who financed a new vehicle in the third quarter committed to payments at or above that amount,

Increasingly, high school students are rethinking the value of college, with a growing number of them questioning the return on investment. Some have decided against a four-year degree. To be sure, undergraduate enrollment was falling even before the pandemic, but remote learning — coupled with the sky-high cost of college — triggered a nosedive. The

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., questions IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig at a Senate Finance Committee hearing. Tom Williams | Pool | Reuters Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has outlined five priorities for the nearly $80 billion in IRS funding enacted in August through the Inflation Reduction Act.  Wyden shared expectations for

One of the biggest credit card misconceptions is that carrying a balance month to month will give your credit score a boost. To that point, 46% of Americans incorrectly believe that leaving a small balance on their card is better for their credit score than paying off the balance each month, a recent NerdWallet study

Despite stock market gains in the last couple of days, some investors are clearly tired of seeing losses in their retirement accounts this year. New data from Alight Solutions shows last month the vast majority of daily trades in 401(k) plans went from equities to fixed income. “Almost every time Wall Street has a major

Investors are rightfully worried about volatility. After stocks slumped in September, markets have had a strong start to the month and are now on track to notch the biggest two-day rally since March 2020. The key to navigating the recent ups and downs is “buying high quality stocks that pay dividends that tend to be a

Marko Geber | DigitalVision | Getty Images In times of uncertainty — turbulent markets, high inflation, geopolitical turmoil — we often write about what financial advisors are recommending to clients. This advice often boils down to “stay calm” and “don’t let short-term news lead to impulsive moves that have long-term consequences.” Many advisors also offer

The tens of millions of Americans who’ve been celebrating news of student loan forgiveness are now stuck in limbo as Republicans mount legal challenges to the Biden administration’s plan. In August, President Joe Biden announced that most federal student loan borrowers will be eligible for some forgiveness: up to $10,000 if they didn’t receive a Pell Grant,

Portra | E+ | Getty Images If you’re retired and haven’t made the necessary quarterly estimated tax payments for 2022, there may still be time to avoid late penalties, experts say. Retirees must send tax payments four times per year if they don’t withhold enough from Social Security, pensions, investments or other sources of income. 

Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images With high inflation and rising interest rates fueling speculation that a recession is on the horizon, it may come as no surprise that financial advisors are hearing these concerns from their clients. Year-over-year inflation eased a bit in August to 8.3% from 8.5% in July, but it remains

Dragos Condrea | Istock | Getty Images A bipartisan bill in the House aims to fix a costly enrollment mistake that some older adults make when they transition to Medicare from an employer-based health plan. Under current rules, workers age 65 or older who leave their job but keep their company’s health insurance as allowed

In this article TGT AMZN Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Holiday shoppers are getting a head start on the season, and a few big-name retailers are paving the way. Amazon recently announced a two-day “Prime Early Access Sale” kicking off on Oct. 11, and Target is running its own “Deal Days” starting Oct. 6.

In this article LC Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Almost everyone has felt the sting of rising prices. As of August, 60% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent LendingClub report — a number that hasn’t budged much since inflation hit 40-year highs. A year ago, the number of adults

A recession is a very real possibility. As the Federal Reserve aggressively raises rates to combat persistent inflation, the tough stance could come at a price. Already, falling stock markets have wiped out more than $9 trillion in wealth from U.S. households. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell also warned the central bank’s upcoming moves to fight soaring prices may

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich has brought a legal challenge against the President Joe Biden’s sweeping student loan forgiveness plan, possibly putting the administration’s proposal to wipe out much of the debt of tens of millions of borrowers in jeopardy. “This mass debt forgiveness program is fundamentally unfair, unconstitutional and unwise,” Brnovich said in a