Hero Images | Getty Images Deciding when to claim Social Security retirement benefits is a complicated decision. But when two people are in the mix — particularly a couple where one spouse is the primary breadwinner — the decision may be even more complex. New research from Lafayette College takes a look at how Social
Personal finance
Jessie Casson | DigitalVision | Getty Images Stocks are sliding. But there may be a silver lining for investors. An investment loss poses an opportunity to trim your annual tax bill, via a mechanism called tax-loss harvesting. Here’s the basic premise: You sell an investment that’s in the red, and then use that investment loss
Kevin Dodge | The Image Bank | Getty Images About 14,470 students may have been underpaid $59.5 million in Social Security benefits, according to estimates from the Social Security Office of the Inspector General in a recent audit. The organization, which provides independent oversight of the Social Security Administration’s programs and operations, conducted an investigation
Sam Edwards | Getty Images Those annoying required minimum withdrawals from retirement accounts that kick in at age 72 may come with a silver lining: helping you make your money last through your lifetime. Generally speaking, if you were to take only your yearly RMDs it would mean those accounts wouldn’t be depleted in your
Nirat | Istock | Getty Images It’s no secret the Covid-19 pandemic has been tough on millions of moms. Trying to juggle work amid ongoing child care uncertainties has left many mothers frustrated into the third year of the pandemic. While tough choices between work and parenting were a shock for middle- and upper-income women,
Jeff Farschman, 72, is a serial cruiser from Delaware who spends months at sea in retirement. Jeff Farschman For nearly two decades, Jeff Farschman, 72, has spent his golden years like many other adventurous retirees — enjoying leisure cruises to exotic ports of call. But unlike many of his fellow cruise passengers, Farschman basically lives
Guido Mieth | DigitalVision | Getty Images Banks are starting to pay a higher return on your cash — good news for savers who’ve seen their stockpiles languishing from a gruesome combination of low interest rates and high inflation. However, some banks are moving faster than others. Some, particularly traditional brick-and-mortar shops, may not budge
For decades now, the country’s outstanding student loan debt balance has only trended in one direction: Up. Today, around 44 million Americans owe a combined $1.7 trillion for their education. But it didn’t have to be this way. Legislation like the GI Bill, the National Defense Education Act, and Higher Education Act of 1965 paved the way for
Bymuratdeniz | E+ | Getty Images Workers continue to see pay increases at a fast clip, but there are signs of a slowdown ahead. Average earnings for all workers grew by 0.3% in April, to $31.85 an hour, the Labor Department said Friday. That’s a modest reduction from the 0.4% pace in March. It also
Tom Werner | DigitalVision | Getty Images The IRS may have the ability to automate nearly half of tax returns, according to a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research. The agency could correctly auto-fill an estimated 62 million to 73 million returns with information it already has, covering 41% to 48% of
Prasit photo | Moment | Getty Images U.S. stocks have a case of whiplash. Stocks slumped Thursday in one of the worst sessions seen so far this year. During intraday trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 1,000 points or 3%, while the S&P 500 lost 4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped
A customer purchases lemons at a supermarket on April 12, 2022 in San Mateo County, California. Liu Guanguan | China News Service | Getty Images Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell may have said it best when he addressed the public at a Wednesday press event following the Federal Open Market Committee’s half-point rate hike. “Inflation