Personal finance

Victor Dyomin | Moment | Getty Images Many wedding costs, such as meals, invitations and favors, are based on your headcount. The average cost of a wedding ceremony and reception in 2023 was $35,000, according to The Knot 2023 Real Weddings Study. The total cost is a $5,000 increase from 2022. “The No. 1 way to save money on

Sean Gladwell | Moment | Getty Images Even as many Americans go cashless, some don’t have the option to choose that lifestyle. About 6% of Americans were unbanked in 2023, meaning they’re living without access to any traditional financial services such as savings accounts, credit cards or personal checks, according to data from the Federal

Tom Merton | Ojo Images | Getty Images Job seekers have been sour on the job market for awhile now — and with good reason. “The soft landing in the U.S. labor market is in danger,” Nick Bunker, Economic Research Director for North America for Indeed Hiring Lab, wrote in a statement on Friday. “Yellow

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff descend from Air Force Two in Wilmington, DE, U.S., July 22, 2024.  Erin Schaff | Via Reuters Vice President Kamala Harris‘ personal financial records are under fresh scrutiny now that she is running for the highest office in the United States. Experts say recent tax

Record inflation may have people questioning whether homeownership is still a good investment. Home prices have been rising faster than incomes, which can be a problem for homeowners because as the value of a home rises, so does the cost to maintain it. More than 1 in 4 homeowners with mortgages are considered “cost-burdened,” meaning

Lisa5201 | E+ | Getty Images Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked legislation that would have expanded the child tax credit, a key tax break for millions of families. Despite strong bipartisan support for the House bill passed in January, the legislation met resistance from Senate Republicans. Thursday’s procedural vote wasn’t expected to clear the 60-vote

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks as he announces a new plan for federal student loan relief during a visit to Madison Area Technical College Truax Campus, in Madison, Wisconsin, U.S, April 8, 2024.  Kevin Lamarque | Reuters The Biden administration is sending emails to tens of millions of borrowers this week about its new plans to cancel student

Artisteer | Istock | Getty Images It’s not unusual to hear people struggling with their student loan debt bemoan that they feel like they’ll be paying until they die. Which begs the question: What happens to the debt at that point? It may be a question increasingly on people’s minds, as the number of older

Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 30, 2024. Elijah Nouvelage | Afp | Getty Images “Building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency,” Vice President Kamala Harris said at a political event in Atlanta on Tuesday evening. “When our middle

The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday that it will leave interest rates unchanged. However, recent signs of economic growth and cooling inflation are paving the way for a widely anticipated September rate cut, which is welcome news for Americans struggling to keep up with sky-high interest charges. “Consumers should feel pretty good about the U.S. economy,”

Two federal judges in Kansas and Missouri on Monday at the urging of several Republican-led states blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from further implementing a new student debt relief plan that lowers payments. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Biden administration is gearing up to try to forgive the student debt of tens of

Visitors walk during a long-duration heat wave impacting much of California on July 9 in Death Valley National Park, California.  Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty Images Amid surging summer heat, the earth reached a new hottest day on record on July 22. That day, the global average temperature was almost 63 degrees

Sdi Productions | E+ | Getty Images Home affordability has slightly improved for buyers this summer, according to a recent report.  The median new mortgage payment was $2,167 in June, a 2.4% decline from $2,219 in May, according to new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The index measures how new monthly mortgage payments change

Valentinrussanov | E+ | Getty Images The Federal Reserve is poised to make the first interest rate cut in years this fall, which can influence mortgage rates to go down. Even small cuts in interest rates could make a meaningful difference in what a homebuyer will pay. To that point, people in the market to

Former President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures while giving a keynote speech on the third day of the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee on July 27, 2024. Jon Cherry | Getty Images News | Getty Images With the price of bitcoin hovering around $70,000 again, experts have tax advice for new

Commuters sit in traffic on southbound Interstate 5 during the afternoon commute heading into downtown San Diego on March 12, 2024 in San Diego, California.  Kevin Carter | Getty Images Young professionals may be falling back in love with the nine-to-five aesthetic — known as “corpcore” — but few are logging the hours at the

Richard Behar Courtesy: Lizzie Cohen You probably haven’t heard Bernie Madoff‘s name in awhile, but that doesn’t mean the infamous fraudster’s story is over, or the pain he inflicted. Irving Picard, an 83-old court-appointed trustee, still spends his days trying to claw back money from the those who benefitted from Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, and to

If you are a W-2 employee and get paid biweekly, there are two months out of the year when you will receive three paychecks instead of the usual two. August may be one of those months. This is a great opportunity to give your financial standing a boost, experts say. “Receiving three paychecks in August

Even as home prices hit new highs, experts say there are signs that the housing market is becoming better for buyers in some locations. The median cost of an existing, single-family home in the U.S. was $426,900 in June, a new all-time high, according to the National Association of Realtors. About 3.89 million homes were

A development towers over the Lyric Theater in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood. Greg Iacurci MIAMI — Nicole Crooks stood in the plaza of the historic Lyric Theater, a royal blue hat shielding her from the midday sun that baked Miami. In its heyday, the theater, in the city’s Overtown neighborhood, was an important cultural hub for