Personal finance

JGI/Jamie Grill | Tetra images | Getty Images Make 2020 the year you nail your taxes: The IRS has released the final version of its new tax withholding form. The new Form W-4 goes into effect for 2020. Employees use it to tailor the amount of income tax that’s withheld from their paychecks. The document

Before the calendar flips to 2020, you might want to see if there are some moves you can make to take advantage of the tax breaks for medical expenses. Experts say it’s worth exploring, as the cost of health care continues its upward climb. The U.S. spent about $3.5 trillion on health care in 2017,

Charles Taylor | Getty Images There are less than four weeks left in the year, and your chances of a holiday gift at work are looking pretty good. About 2 in 3 companies anticipate giving workers a year-end bonus or perk, according to new data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. The Chicago-based recruiting firm polled 250

Caiaimage/Paul Bradbury | Caiaimage | Getty Images You’ve got your holiday shopping list made and you’re checking it twice. But are you getting the right gifts for the right people? And what should you do if you are strapped for cash? Following some simple gift-giving rules can help you easily navigate the holiday season. They

Investment expert Mellody Hobson is the epitome of the American Dream. The youngest of six kids, she was raised by a single mother. “We had a lot to overcome financially when I was a child,” she said in a recent interview with CNBC’s Wilfred Frost. Her childhood included frequent evictions from their homes in Chicago

Peloton holiday ad. YouTube If you cover your eyes on Christmas morning, are you expecting to open them up and see a Peloton? If you haven’t already heard, that’s the premise of a new holiday commercial from the home fitness company. And it’s attracting some criticism on social media. That’s in part because the ad

Hero Images | Hero Images | Getty Images It pays to be smart this Cyber Monday. While there are steps to take to make sure you are getting the best deals, there are also potential traps you can fall into. “Having a strategy for Cyber Monday is imperative, especially if you’re looking to save money,”

Pictured: (l-r) Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute and Steve Carell as Michael Scott in an episode of “The Office.” Justin Lubin | NBCU Photo Bank If you’re like many workers, you’ll be shopping online while you’re working today. A recent survey from Robert Half Technology, a human resources consulting company, found that 52% of employees

Simon Jarratt/Corbis/VCG | Corbis | Getty Images This holiday season, donate to charity and give yourself the gift of an attractive tax break. Taxpayers in search of last-minute savings can give directly to the organization or use a tax-advantaged account known as a donor-advised fund. If you itemize on your taxes – meaning your deductions

Virojt Changyencham | Moment | Getty Images Dreaming of a big city escape somewhere around the world, yet dreading a big credit-card bill when you get home? Booking an urban adventure packed with excitement, entertainment and cultural engagement doesn’t have to bust your budget, according to U.K.-based Starling Bank. The firm analyzed 35 cities worldwide,

Holiday shopping is in full swing. Consumers are expected to spend around 5% more this year, with the average gift-giver shelling out $740, according to some surveys. But being able to afford those gifts for all of your loved ones can be difficult. Especially if you have a tendency to spend on yourself while also

Don’t be surprised if a proposal billed as a middle-class tax cut emerges from the White House at some point next year. With the president’s hope to make it an election issue — as recently described by his top economic policy advisor in an interview with CNBC — the idea is to lower taxes on America’s middle earners

Black Friday has arrived. Certified financial planner Ted Jenkin, CEO and founder of Atlanta-based financial advisory firm oXYGen Financial, has some tips for people heading out to shop. To begin, there are several apps that can help you find the best deals, he said. With Flipp, plug in your zip code and the biggest discounts

If you hit the Mega Millions jackpot in Friday night’s drawing, don’t forget that good ol’ Uncle Sam will be hovering with palm out. After more than two months of twice-weekly drawings with no one matching all six numbers — your chance of doing so is 1 in about 302 million — the top prize

Petko Ninov | E+ | Getty Images Here’s something that will stoke your road rage: You’re spending thousands of dollars just getting to work. Residents in the Washington, D.C., metro area are coughing up $12,015 each year on average just driving to the office, according to an analysis by Clever Real Estate. The real estate

Getty Images If you’ve been racking your brain about where to retire on a budget, it might be time to think outside the U.S. A report by International Living, which publishes information about living overseas, lists destinations where you can coast through retirement on less than $30,000 a year. To be sure, retiring in a

Anyone planning to roll over all their assets from a traditional individual retirement account to a Roth version might want to pause before making the move. While Roth IRAs grow tax-free and withdrawals generally also are untaxed — and they come with no lifetime required minimum distributions, or RMDs — traditional IRAs have some potential

Samantha Vuignier | Getty Images Whether you’re resolving to cut your 2020 tax bill or save more for retirement in the new year, it’s time to start planning. It’s hard to believe, but we’re staring down at the third year under the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — the overhaul of the tax code

New York state governor Andrew M. Cuomo Wang Ying | Xinhua | Getty Images Four blue states that had unsuccessfully sued the IRS over a new $10,000 cap on the federal deduction for state and local taxes filed an appeal on Tuesday. The states — New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland — originally filed

Senior man celebrates his 90th birthday Urbazon / Getty A change proposed by the IRS could alter how much retirees are required to withdraw each year from their traditional retirement accounts. The reason? People are living longer now than when the agency last issued its tables for required minimum distributions in 2002. As a result,