Personal finance

The floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Spencer Platt | Getty Images August and September are historically the worst months for stocks. That was the case this year, as the S&P 500 index fell 6.5% over that span. Much of the time, however, the rest of the year can provide a respite, helping investors

Creatas | Creatas | Getty Images Before the pandemic, the federal student loan system caused borrowers frustration and confusion. As the Biden administration resumes payments this month for some 40 million Americans after more than a three-year reprieve, the situation has been especially difficult. Borrowers describe receiving incorrect bills and spending hours on the phone

Without broad-based student loan forgiveness, some colleges have a new strategy to keep students from drowning in debt.   Roughly two dozen schools have introduced “no-loan” policies, which means they are eliminating student loans altogether from their financial aid packages. “College is expensive — we have to make sure we keep it accessible,” said Nicole

Prospective buyers visit an open house for sale in Alexandria, Virginia. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters The housing market is dealing with a number of “tricky” dynamics, according to Tracy Kasper, the president of the National Association of Realtors. “What we’ve experienced over the last probably 12 to 18 months is what I really like to

Jozef Polc / 500Px | 500Px Plus | Getty Images Social Security beneficiaries will see a 3.2% boost to their benefits in 2024, the Social Security Administration announced on Thursday. The annual cost-of-living adjustment for 2024 will affect more than 71 million Social Security and Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries. These benefit adjustments are made annually

Aldomurillo | E+ | Getty Images Over a year ago, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that paved the right to abortion, leaving millions of women grappling with the fallout — and Latinas are particularly likely to be affected. Lea este artículo en español aquí. More than three million Latinas who

Maskot | Maskot | Getty Images A new proposal by the U.S. Department of the Treasury would make it easier for consumers to get a tax credit when buying a new or used electric vehicle, according to tax and energy experts. Its proposed rules, issued Friday, would let car dealers offer the EV tax break

Marjorie Bloom was the victim of a “tech support” scam. She lost $661,000 in the fraud. Marjorie Bloom In the spring of 2021, Marjorie Bloom waited for a phone call that would never come. Over the course of the previous month, the retiree had wired hundreds of thousands of dollars into cryptocurrency per the suggestion

Astra Taylor Courtesy: Astra Taylor Early on in Astra Taylor’s new book, “The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart,” she tells a story set in the Brooklyn café where her sister worked until recently. On a quiet day, one of the baristas was talking with a regular customer, a specialist in medieval history,

The U.S. Department of Labor building in Washington, D.C. The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images The U.S. Department of Labor is poised to issue a rule in coming weeks that’s likely to raise protections for investors who roll money from a 401(k) plan into an individual retirement account, according to attorneys

Cecilie Arcurs | Getty Images There’s a staffing shortage in the accounting industry, and it’s not too early to lock in a tax preparer for next season. If you need someone with specialty expertise — such as the employee retention tax credit or cryptocurrency taxes — it may take longer to find a qualified match.

Brian Snyder | Reuters With competition at an all-time high and admissions practices increasingly unclear, it’s not an easy time for college applicants. As colleges are being forced to rethink their policies in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action, more schools are also choosing to end legacy preferences, adding uncertainty to the process. “There’s