Personal finance

Thomas Barwick If you’re a Vanguard investor who is hoping to file your taxes early, you may be disappointed. Clients at The Vanguard Group who switched from the firm’s mutual fund platform to its brokerage account in 2019 will receive two sets of tax forms for that year, the company confirmed. These Form 1099s will

Tom Werner | DigitalVision | Getty Images Investing a pot of tax-free cash for medical expenses is a great idea, with apparently few takers. Health savings accounts, which are offered alongside high-deductible health-care plans, come with a bevy of tax benefits. You can contribute to an HSA on a pretax or tax-deductible basis and have

Former Vice President Joe Biden (L) greets Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) before the Democratic presidential primary debate at Drake University on January 14, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa. Scott Olson | Getty Images Top Democratic presidential candidates all want to boost Social Security benefits. But two of the candidates — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and

If you think bringing a new human into the world is daunting, wait until you see what he or she will do to your budget. It will cost a middle-income married couple an average of $233,610 to raise a child from birth through age 17, according to 2015 data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc | Getty Images Lawmakers passed a bill last week that would allow seniors to fight age discrimination in the workplace more easily — and that could help protect older Americans at a precarious time in their financial lives. The House of Representatives passed the Protecting Older Workers against Discrimination Act on

Conversations with kids can be adversarial at the best of times. Combine teens, money and something they want, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a situation. If your family hasn’t been in the habit of holding regular financial chats, the risk is even higher for the talk to turn negative, says Thomas Henske, a

Anastasia Usenko Student debt is consuming an ever larger share of household budgets. Today, more than two-thirds of college graduates have student debt, compared with less than 50% in the early 1990s. And, back then, the average balance was $9,000 – now it’s $30,000. The typical monthly bill is nearly $400. Americans are more burdened

Tera Images If you play your cards right, small everyday purchases put on plastic can add up to big savings over time. That’s thanks to increasingly generous credit card cash-back rewards programs — provided you pay your bills promptly — according to one credit-card comparison website. In addition, the right card for you likely depends

Most American adults own life insurance, yet the buying process can be perplexing and pose traps for the unwary — and cause financial problems years down the road. Around 57% of adults in the U.S. own a life insurance policy, according to a joint study by Limra, a trade group, and Life Happens, a nonprofit

Tip 1: Put your savings on autopilot When it comes to saving, the first step is to make it a habit. Many financial advisors recommend beginning with an emergency fund, which is the key to keep from reaching for a credit card when something unexpected pops up, such as a broken appliance or a medical

Getty Images Earlier this month, scores of high school seniors submitted their applications to college. Now comes the worst part: waiting. In the wake of a college admissions scandal and as the super-low admission rate at many top colleges receives widespread attention, the business of getting in to college is more intense than ever. However,

Senior couple going through their financial bills while paying them online on a terrace. Focus is on woman. skynesher Retirement income is often thought to come from three sources: Social Security, pensions and savings. That combination is often called a three-legged stool, a metaphor for the money retirees use to support themselves once they are

Tom Steyer speaks during the Democratic presidential primary debate at Drake University on January 14, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa. Six candidates out of the field qualified for the first Democratic presidential primary debate of 2020, hosted by CNN and the Des Moines Register. Scott Olson | Getty Images Billionaire Tom Steyer is calling for

If you hit the $296 million Powerball jackpot in Wednesday night’s drawing, remember that good ol’ Uncle Sam will be celebrating alongside you. The top prize has been climbing for more than two months through twice-weekly drawings with no one matching all six numbers. And while the odds are stacked against snagging the jackpot —

John Fedele This year, the IRS will let you slide on a penalty if you didn’t have health insurance in 2019. Your home state, on the other hand, may not be so forgiving. The 2019 tax year marks the first time that filers won’t be required to carry qualifying health-care coverage under the Affordable Care

Guido Mieth Americans are spending more with digital payments and credit cards than ever before, as convenience and technology have relegated cash and checks more to the periphery. Online shopping has proliferated on retail websites such as Amazon, mobile payment apps like Venmo have become more popular, and banks have made it as easy to

People line up outside the Social Security Administration office in San Francisco. Getty Images If you collect Social Security benefits, you’re probably already eagerly waiting to see what your cost-of-living adjustment will be next year. New, early estimates from The Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan senior group, point to a possible 1.5% COLA increase for

Sutthipong Kongtrakool Investors looking to impact society in a positive way, and hopefully turn a profit in the process, shoveled money into so-called sustainable funds in record amounts last year. Mutual funds and exchange-traded funds with a focus on sustainability raked in $20.6 billion of total new assets in 2019, according to Morningstar. Last year’s

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) gestures as democratic presidential candidates (L-R) South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Tom Steyer await the start of the Democratic presidential primary debate at Loyola Marymount University on December 19, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Mario Tama

Most people kick off the new year with a resolution to spend less and save more. Easier said than done. Despite steady income growth over the last decade, household spending has risen more, recent research shows. A CNBC survey found 21% of Americans say they’d increased their spending in the last year. The majority gave