Personal finance

A customer visits Macy’s Herald Square store in New York City during early morning Black Friday sales, Nov. 24, 2023. Kena Betancur | Getty Images Typically, the five days beginning Thanksgiving Day and ending Cyber Monday are some of the busiest shopping days of the year. This year, the number of people shopping in stores

Pekic | E+ | Getty Images Mortgage rates seem to have steadied. That may be a good sign for the market, experts say. The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage in the U.S. slightly dipped to 6.78% for the week ending Nov. 14, barely changed from 6.79% a week prior, according to Freddie Mac data via

Voters line up to cast their ballots at a voting location in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 5, 2024. Samuel Corum | Afp | Getty Images When asked, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” the answer for many older voters ages 50 and over was “no,” according to a new post-election

Izusek | E+ | Getty Images Despite a strong year for the stock market, you could still be sitting on portfolio losses. But you can leverage down assets to score a tax break, experts say. The tactic, known as “tax-loss harvesting,” involves selling losing brokerage account assets to claim a loss. When you file your

A customer walks by a display of fresh eggs at a grocery store on Sept. 25, 2024 in San Anselmo, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images Progress in the fight to tame pandemic-era inflation appears to have stalled out in October, despite lower prices at the gasoline pump and a moderation in other consumer staples

97 | E+ | Getty Images As inflation has throttled back from pandemic-era highs, consumers have seen prices decline outright for many household items. This dynamic, known as deflation, generally doesn’t occur on a broad, sustained scale in the U.S. economy: With limited exceptions, businesses are generally loath to lower prices once they’ve increased, economists

Thomas Jefferson, 1848/1879. Artist George Peter Alexander Healy. Heritage Images | Hulton Fine Art Collection | Getty Images In “All The Presidents’ Money,” author Megan Gorman takes readers into a side of U.S. presidents that is often overlooked: how they managed their own money. Gorman writes about commanders in chief who were obsessively frugal, and

Collectively, Americans now owe a record $1.17 trillion on their credit cards, according to a new report on household debt from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Credit card balances rose by $24 billion in the third quarter of 2024 and are 8.1% higher than a year ago. Despite that increase, credit card delinquency

A student student sits in a lecture hall while class is being dismissed at the University of Texas at Austin on February 22, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell | Getty Images Nearly a third, 30%, of federal student loan borrowers say they’ve gone without food or medicine because of their monthly bills. That grim

Maskot | Getty Images A bipartisan bill to change Social Security benefit rules for pensioners passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, with 327 lawmakers voting to support the measure. Now, the proposal heads to the Senate, where the chamber’s version of the bill has 62 co-sponsors, “surpassing the majority needed to pass the

Jamie Grill | Tetra Images | Getty Images For investors who want income, dividends may provide an answer. Dividends are corporate profits that companies pay to shareholders in the form of either cash or stock. In comparison to other income-paying investments — such as certificates of deposit, bonds or Treasurys — dividends may provide the

Americans tend to overspend during the holiday season. In fact, some borrowers are still paying off debt from last year’s purchases. To that point, 28% of shoppers who used credit cards have not paid off the presents they bought for their loved ones last year, according to a holiday spending report by NerdWallet. The site polled more

10’000 Hours | Digitalvision | Getty Images A popular student loan forgiveness program may be at risk with the reelection of former President Donald Trump. During Trump’s first term, he called for the elimination of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness initiative. Since then, Project 2025, a set of proposals developed by The Heritage Foundation and

Scott Olson | Getty Images News | Getty Images President-elect Donald Trump wants to address housing affordability in the U.S. by fomenting the construction of new homes. “We’re going to open up tracks of federal land for housing construction,” Trump said during an Aug. 15 news conference. “We desperately need housing for people who can’t

Mixetto | E+ | Getty Images The share of Americans with credit-card debt in retirement has jumped considerably — a worrisome financial trend, especially for those with little wiggle room in their budgets, experts said. About 68% of retirees had outstanding credit-card debt in 2024, up “substantially” from 40% in 2022 and 43% in 2020,

Baona | E+ | Getty Images Many Americans haven’t saved enough for retirement. However, a big change to 401(k) plans could provide a boost for older workers. The IRS in November unveiled higher 401(k) contribution limits for 2025, with employee deferrals jumping to $23,500, up from $23,000 in 2024. While the catch-up contribution remains unchanged

Parade attendees wave Puerto Rican flags on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan during the annual Puerto Rico Day Parade.  Luiz C. Ribeiro | New York Daily News | Tribune News Service | Getty Images Young adults in Puerto Rico are on shaky financial ground, a study finds. About 47% of respondents in the U.S. territory are

Bernd Vogel | Stone | Getty Images Brad Klontz was drawn to financial psychology after the tech bubble burst in the early 2000s. Klontz had tried his hand at stock trading after seeing a friend earn more than $100,000 in one year. But he felt immense shame after the market crashed and his investments evaporated.

Businessperson reviewing pie charts and data analysis documents in an office setting. Freshsplash | E+ | Getty Images The trend is clear: Investors continue to seek out lower fees for investment funds. The mass migration to cheaper funds has been a key driver of falling costs, according to Zachary Evens, a manager research analyst for

dowell | Moment | Getty Images Before the election, some advisors increased Roth individual retirement account conversions for clients amid the threat of higher taxes after 2025. Now, tax hikes are less likely under President-elect Donald Trump. However, demand for Roth conversions will continue as investors seek long-term tax planning strategies, experts said. “In general,