Personal finance

The Good Brigade | DigitalVision | Getty Images Older Americans have just a few days left to evaluate their Medicare coverage for next year. Medicare’s annual open enrollment period for health plans and prescription drug coverage runs until Dec. 7. Experts say it’s worthwhile for Medicare’s 67.8 million beneficiaries to make sure they have the

Medianews Group/orange County Register Via Getty Images | Medianews Group | Getty Images It’s easy to swipe your credit card or send a check when donating to charity. But you could score a bigger tax break by gifting another asset. Some 34 million U.S. adults gave $3.1 billion for Giving Tuesday 2023, up by 0.6%

A driver for an independent contractor to FedEx delivers packages on Cyber Monday in New York, US, on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. Stephanie Keith | Bloomberg | Getty Images Consumers are increasingly concerned that their online orders may not arrive in time for the holiday — and rightfully so. More than half of shoppers —

Images By Tang Ming Tung | Digitalvision | Getty Images Parents who want to help jumpstart their kid’s credit score and credit history can take one fairly easy step, money experts say: Add your child as an authorized user to your credit card account. The goal is to have a child build credit from a

Mementojpeg | Moment | Getty Images Federal student loan borrowers who fall behind on their bills will once again face financial consequences. After the Covid pandemic-era pause on the payments expired in September 2023, the Biden administration offered borrowers another year in which they would be shielded from the impacts of missed payments. With that

Oscar Wong | Moment | Getty Images Americans traveling to Europe next year may be in store for some bargains. That’s due to euro-U.S. dollar exchange rates. The euro has weakened against the U.S. dollar in recent weeks and is poised to fall further in 2025 and perhaps into 2026, economists said. “That’s a good

Tomas Rodriguez | Corbis | Getty Images President-elect Donald Trump has made his dislike for student debt relief clear. Experts expect he will abandon or roll back many of the Biden administration’s student loan efforts — which on the campaign trail he called “vile” and “not even legal.” Assuming the Trump administration abandons the U.S.

Shoppers carry their purchases on Black Friday in New York City on November 29, 2024.  Adam Gray | AFP | Getty Images When Bernadette Joy graduated with an MBA in 2016, she and her husband had around $300,000 in debt, including student loans and mortgage balances. By 2020, they were debt free. As Joy sought

Ascentxmedia | E+ | Getty Images Many workers dream of an early retirement. In reality, more than half of workers — 58% — retire earlier than they planned, usually due to unforeseen circumstances, according to new research from Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies in collaboration with Transamerica Institute. The median age they call it quits

10’000 Hours | Digitalvision | Getty Images As families gather for Thanksgiving this year, money is one topic that likely won’t be discussed. Yet experts say it’s a perfect time to start the conversation, particularly with aging parents. More than half of Americans — 56% — say their parents never discussed money with them, according

Shoppers walk along 5th Avenue on Black Friday in New York, US, on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Retailers hype Black Friday sales, and it works. This year, the number of people shopping between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday could hit a record, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual

Mixetto | E+ | Getty Images As year-end approaches, you may be eyeing a donation to charity — and certain gifting strategies can boost your tax break, experts say.   In 2023, U.S. charitable giving hit $557.16 billion, up roughly 2% compared to 2022, according to Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy’s annual report released