Personal finance

Credit cards are practically charging “loan shark interest rates” after hitting historic highs this year, said Barry Glassman, a certified financial planner and member of CNBC’s Advisor Council. A credit card’s interest rate is the price consumers pay to borrow money. It’s most commonly expressed as a yearly rate — the annual percentage rate, or

Hannah Williams poses for her Salary Transparent Street on TikTok Credit: Hannah Williams of Salary Transparent Street For most people, asking others “What do you do for a living?” is just one part of everyday small talk. But for Hannah Williams, posing that question to strangers is, in fact, what she does for a living.

Svyatoslav Balan | Getty Almost regardless of how much you have in the bank, it’s hard to feel financially secure. Across the board, households are facing surging child-care costs, ballooning auto loans, high mortgage rates and record rents amid economic uncertainty and recessionary fears. Of those with more than $1 million in investable assets, as many

Artistgndphotography | E+ | Getty Images The Federal Reserve is likely to pause its aggressive interest rate hikes when it meets this week, experts predict. But consumers may not feel any relief. The central bank has already raised interest rates 11 times since last year — the fastest pace of tightening since the early 1980s. Yet recent

Suriyapong Thongsawang | Moment | Getty Images Inflation is broadly retreating in the U.S. economy. But starting in October, health insurance is poised to act as a countervailing force that buoys inflation for about a year, economists said. That’s significant at a time when policymakers are using inflation data to determine how to set interest

Peopleimages | Istock | Getty Images Unable to come up with the cash for steep college tuition bills all at once, many families opt to pay the tab over time. However, a new report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warns of a number of risks associated with these payment plans, including snowballing charges and

To be sure, 529 college savings plans already had a lot going for them. Now, thanks to ”Secure 2.0,” a slew of measures affecting retirement savers, they’re about to be even more attractive. Starting in 2024, savers can roll unused money from 529 plans over to Roth individual retirement accounts free of income tax or tax penalties. Among other limitations,

mapodile / Getty After several interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, many have braced for stock market volatility in their 401(k) plans. But experts say some plans could face another risk: employer bankruptcy. Generally, your 401(k) is safe from creditors in the case of bankruptcy, based on protection from the Employee Retirement Income Security

Tipping 20% at a sit-down restaurant is still the standard in the U.S., according to most etiquette experts. Diners disagree. After holding steady for years, tipping at full-service restaurants fell to 19.4% in the second quarter of 2023, according to online restaurant platform Toast’s most recent restaurant trends report, notching the lowest average since the start of the pandemic.

Squaredpixels | Getty Images When it comes to saving and investing, many investors tend to think of two key goals — funding emergencies that could crop up in the short term or retirement that may be years away. But as many individuals continue to reconsider their goals following the Covid-19 pandemic, experts say that that

In this article WFC Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., seen at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 11, 2021. Joshua Roberts | Reuters Republican senators Bill Cassidy, M.D., of Louisiana; John Thune of South Dakota and more than a dozen other GOP colleagues introduced a Congressional Review Act resolution this week

Xavier Lorenzo | Moment | Getty Images Not long ago, it was common to earn low returns on cash — less than 1%. But after the Federal Reserve embarked on a series of interest rate increases to tamp down inflation, that has changed. Now, investors may get as much as 5% or more interest on