Personal finance

Eva-katalin | E+ | Getty Images Retirees are still feeling the impact of higher prices. Yet one buffer for the effects of inflation — the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, — may be lower next year. As the rate of inflation moderates, the Social Security COLA for 2025 might be 3%, according to the

Tolgart | E+ | Getty Images Cybercriminals are targeting wealth accounts by tapping into a victim’s emotions. So-called romance scams involve building a relationship and trust with the victim so that the target willingly provides access to their accounts or transfers money to the criminal, explained Tracy Kitten, the director of fraud and security at

Former President Donald Trump gives the keynote address at Turning Point Action’s “The People’s Convention” in Detroit, June 15, 2024. Bill Pugliano | Getty Images At a June 18 campaign rally in Racine, Wisconsin, former President Donald Trump slammed the Biden administration’s efforts to forgive student debt as “vile” and “not even legal.” “The students

Skaman306 | Moment | Getty Images It wasn’t long ago that investors earned practically 0% returns on cash. As the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates high to combat high inflation, you can easily earn 5% annual percentage yields on savings accounts and other low-risk vehicles. Some experts are now warning it’s possible to get

Maryna Terletska | Moment | Getty Images Individual retirement accounts are getting bigger — and it can cause tax issues for retirees or their children who inherit the assets, experts say. The median IRA or self-employed Keogh balance was $87,000 in 2022, up from $81,144 in 2019, according to a June report from the Employee

Klaus Vedfelt | Digitalvision | Getty Images Although the unemployment rate has spent 30 months at or below below 4% — a near record — not everyone who wants a job has one. And not everyone even wants a job at all. Some, referred to as “NEETs,” which stands for “not in employment, education, or training,” are

Recep-bg | E+ | Getty Images The U.S. Department of the Treasury and IRS on Friday released final tax reporting rules for digital asset brokers — and crypto investors have limited time to prepare, experts say. Mandatory yearly reporting will phase in starting in 2026, with digital currency brokers required to cover gross proceeds from

US President Joe Biden gestures after speaking about student loan debt relief at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wisconsin, April 8, 2024.  Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images A federal appeals court will allow a key part of President Joe Biden‘s student loan relief plan to resume as the legal challenges against it

Peopleimages | Istock | Getty Images To effectively plan for your retirement, experts say, you need to watch your savings rate and total nest egg. But how much you really need to have set aside depends on another number — your life expectancy. Yet that figure is also the most elusive — no one knows

Nortonrsx | Istock | Getty Images If you buy health insurance via the federal marketplace, your premiums could increase significantly after 2025 — unless Congress takes action. The premium tax credit makes health insurance purchased via the marketplace more affordable. Participants can use the credit to lower insurance premiums upfront or claim the tax break

Some people could find themselves wrangling with summer travel bills well after Labor Day. To that point, 36% of Americans said they plan to take on debt in order to travel this summer, according to a March survey from Bankrate. The payment methods for summer travel expenses ranged from personal loans (5%) and buy now,

Spotmatik | Photodisc | Getty Images While lawmakers have a growing interest in taxing the ultra-rich, last week’s Supreme Court ruling could threaten future wealth tax proposals, experts say. In Moore v. United States, the Supreme Court blocked a challenge to the “mandatory repatriation tax,” a one-time levy on certain foreign investments enacted in 2017.

Republican presidential candidate former U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic Party presidential candidate U.S. President Joe Biden speak during a presidential debate in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., June 27, 2024 in a combination photo. Brian Snyder | Reuters The future of Social Security and Medicare may be greatly impacted by whoever occupies the White House following

U.S. President Joe Biden is flanked by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona as he speaks about administration plans to forgive federal student loan debt during remarks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington on Aug. 24, 2022. Leah Millis | Reuters The Biden administration is pausing student loan payments for about

A group of guys enjoy a dinner at Cassias outdoor patio as the much loved restaurant re-opens its indoor dining and continues outdoor dining on Wednesday, May 5, 2021 in Santa Monica, CA.  Jason Armond | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images Consumers aren’t sacrificing dining out, even with prices on the rise — but

Joe Biden and Donald Trump 2024 Brendan Smialowski | Jon Cherry | Getty Images President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will face off Thursday in the first presidential debate of the 2024 general election — and the presumptive nominees could show voters where they stand on tax policy, experts say. One key issue is the

Miodrag Ignjatovic | E+ | Getty Images Americans firing up their grills for Fourth of July celebrations will likely pay more for some traditional barbecue staples this year. That’s largely due to inflationary pressures in the U.S. economy and supply shocks related to specific foods such as beef and lemons, according to agricultural economists. The

Vm | E+ | Getty Images Buying a home and maintainingit is expensive, but selling it is costly, too, according to a new report. It typically costs $54,616 to sell a house in 2024, according to a June 17 report from Clever Real Estate. Almost half of surveyed home sellers, or 42%, said their costs

Erin Collins, national taxpayer advocate at the Taxpayer Advocate Service, speaks at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., on May 19, 2021. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Many taxpayers are experiencing “long delays and uncertainty” amid a backlog of roughly 1.4 million pandemic-era small business tax credit claims, according to the national

Tourists walk through a park in Chicago, on May 26, 2024.   Jamie Kelter Davis/Bloomberg via Getty Images Many major U.S. cities have seen apartment prices soar in the past year, even as the typical American has seen pandemic-era rent inflation cool substantially. For example, renters in Syracuse, New York, saw monthly rents for one- and