Personal finance

Harvard Yard, on the campus of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Maddie Meyer | Getty Images This year’s high school graduating class faced one of the toughest college-application seasons on record. At the nation’s top schools, including many in the Ivy League, “it’s never going to be harder to get in,” said Hafeez Lakhani, founder

Jackyenjoyphotography | Moment | Getty Images Investors who are skittish about the ups and downs of the stock market can borrow an easy 401(k) investment strategy to calm their nerves and be more disciplined with their money — and reap the potential financial benefits. The strategy is called “dollar-cost averaging.” It entails investing money in

Djelics | E+ | Getty Images Richelle Brooks’ budget is already tight. She doesn’t know what she’s going to do when federal student loan payments resume in the fall. The single mother of two has seen all her expenses rise over the last few years amid high inflation. “I go grocery shopping and spend $300

Pixdeluxe | E+ | Getty Images Retirement savers who withdrew money from their accounts in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic may have just days or weeks left to repay those funds and reap the tax benefits. The CARES Act — a federal relief law passed in March 2020 — allowed savers to pull

baona | Getty Images The rate of inflation has shown signs of easing, following the highest spike in four decades. Yet the shock of rising prices continues to have an impact on consumers’ psyches. “The typical U.S. consumer is looking at the gas station or their grocery store and seeing prices elevated and not coming

File photo of graduates of Baruch College participate in a commencement program at Barclays Center, Monday, June 5, 2017, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Bebeto Matthews | AP In the days ahead, 125,000 graduating high school seniors will receive automatic acceptance letters from the State University of New York, Governor Kathy Hochul announced

The Senate voted to repeal President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan on June 1, 2023. Biden —pictured here with U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in October  — is expected to veto the bill. Getty Images | Bloomberg A GOP-led effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s sweeping student loan forgiveness plan passed the Senate

Fizkes | Istock | Getty Images Stubborn inflation has driven households near the breaking point, but the pain of high prices has not been shared equally. By most measures, low-income households have been hardest hit, experts say. The lowest-paid workers spend more of their income on necessities such as food, rent and gas, categories that also

Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images Americans’ confidence they can live comfortably in retirement has dropped the most since the global financial crisis in 2008, according to a recent report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald Research. One reason is high inflation, which has reduced both workers’ and retirees’ belief that their

Djelics | E+ | Getty Images During the past year, the rate at which Americans quit their jobs has steadily declined from a record high back to pre-pandemic levels — seeming to spell the end of the labor market trend that came to be known as the “great resignation,” labor economists said. The “quits rate”

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, arrives to the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, May 31, 2023. Sarah Silbiger | Bloomberg | Getty Images A measure in the debt ceiling deal terminating the student loan payment pause is facing heavy opposition from advocates, progressives and borrowers. “The pause on student

Miniseries | E+ | Getty Images Americans have suffered in “declines in overall financial well-being,” according to a new annual Federal Reserve report on economic well-being of U.S. households released last week. Only 63% of all adults can cover an unexpected $400 expense, the report on 2022 found, down from a high of about 68%