Personal finance

Heide Benser Congress has squashed a strategy that allows wealthy people to pass large retirement accounts to heirs. Accountants and lawyers are already coming up with workarounds. The Secure Act became law at the end of 2019, and took effect on Jan. 1, 2020, overhauling the way many people save for retirement. The new legislation

Jacobs Stock Photography Worried about your debt? Consider this: The U.S. is $23 trillion in the red. Today, the country owes over four times more than it did in 2000, when the national debt stood at around $5 trillion. How did we get here? “Like any budget that you have in your household, we have

It’s becoming a common scenario: You’re creeping closer to your 65th birthday, which means you’ll be eligible for Medicare, yet you already have health insurance through work. Sound familiar? If so, you might have options. While workers at businesses with fewer than 20 employees generally must sign up for Medicare at age 65, people working

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) gestures as democratic presidential candidates (L-R) South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Tom Steyer await the start of the Democratic presidential primary debate at Loyola Marymount University on December 19, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Mario Tama

If you waited more than a month for the IRS to process your tax return and get a refund last year, you’re in good company. While the IRS prevented $2.7 billion in refunds from being issued to fraudsters between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, 2019, more than a few legitimate tax returns were held up

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) speaks to guests during a campaign stop at Fisher Elementary School on January 12, 2020 in Marshalltown, Iowa. Scott Olson | Getty Images Presidential contender Sen. Elizabeth Warren said on Tuesday that she would begin to forgive student loan debt on the first day of her administration, using

Peter Griffith You might have the know-how to strengthen your finances, yet odds are you’re still making bad decisions with your money. Three out of 4 people consider themselves to be financially savvy,  although more than half have admitted to making poor money choices in the past year, according to a survey from KeyBank. The

Rene Carillo, 51, regrets not investing more when the stock market dropped. Rene Carillo We all have financial regrets. Things we bought, bills we paid late, decisions we didn’t research. Turns out, according to personal finance site MagnifyMoney, investing brings a host of bad feelings. The top one is not investing at all, according to

If you hit the $296 million Powerball jackpot in Wednesday night’s drawing, remember that good ol’ Uncle Sam will be celebrating alongside you. The top prize has been climbing for more than two months through twice-weekly drawings with no one matching all six numbers. And while the odds are stacked against snagging the jackpot —

lovelyday12 | Getty Social Security benefits are helping to narrow the gap between the haves and have-nots who are approaching retirement. But they don’t go far enough. That’s according to new research from The New School Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis in New York. The analysis took a look at one age group in

 Hero Images | Getty Images New parents will have one new source to tap for money — their retirement savings. The Secure Act, which was passed by Congress in December, is ushering in some of the biggest changes to retirement savings since the Pension Protection Act of 2006. But experts warn that tapping your retirement

For older Americans, required minimum distributions from retirement accounts are undergoing a bit of a makeover. On top of the age rising to 72 from 70½ for when those annual withdrawals must begin — effective this year, due to congressional approval of the Secure Act — updated life expectancy tables proposed by the IRS for

Prasert Krainukul If you think that Republicans and Democrats can’t see eye to eye these days, try sitting in a room with financial professionals who are for and against annuities. The inability to agree is real. And both sides hold steadfast to their positions. Annuities are insurance or investment contracts that give investors regular payments

kate_sept2004 It’s about to get a little easier for you to figure out how to break even or get a bigger tax refund from Uncle Sam. The IRS kicked off the new year with a revamp of its tax withholding estimator tool, a calculator that helps you fine-tune the amount of federal income taxes that

Should you stay or should you go? Deciding whether you should renovate your current home or buy a new house isn’t easy. It comes down to asking yourself three big questions, according to Drew and Jonathan Scott, the stars of HGTV’s “Property Brothers” and “Property Brothers: Forever Home.” “Am I in the right location? Can

In the few short weeks leading up to the holidays, Americans went all out on spending. It will take much, much longer to pay it off. The surge in spending last month may have contributed to the best holiday shopping season in years. Through Dec. 24, holiday retail sales rose 3.4%, while online sales jumped

Jamie Grill | Blend Images | Getty Images A new retirement law could soon put annuities in front of more 401(k) investors — and some financial experts question whether that’s a good thing. The Secure Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last month, eases rules for employers offering a 401(k) plan around how

Ponte de Lima, Portugal THEGIFT777 | iStock Unreleased | Getty Images Didn’t save enough for retirement? One solution: Spend your golden years in a country where life is less expensive than it is in the U.S. More Americans are doing just that. The number of retirees who are collecting Social Security abroad rose 40%, to

Thomas Jackson Treat money with respect. Don’t crumple it. Think of it as an ally and a force for good, not evil. Your beliefs can affect your finances. If you don’t believe it, check out the experiences of personal finance bloggers who started with nothing (or very little) and now have hundreds of thousands of

Traffic is at a near standstill heading into New York City via the Holland Tunnel from New Jersey. Andria Patino | Corbis Documentary | Getty Images Blame it on brutal winters, high taxes or the New Jersey Turnpike: The Garden State is the last place where people want to be. More two-thirds of all New