By Dawn Allcot More From Your Money: Choose a high-interest saving, checking, CD, or investing account from our list of top banks to start saving today. 1. Snag the Free Trial 2. Get Six Months Free as a Student If you’re a higher education student, you’re eligible for six months of free Prime services. After that, you can receive the student discount to receive 50% off your Prime membership....
By Gary Dudak The Big Lead: Social Security Spiraling inflation could kick the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security to 9% or more in 2023 — a historically high increase that might still leave beneficiaries with less spending money, if recent precedent is any indication. Read the full story here Business Spotlight: Sweatcoin It’s rewarding to work up a sweat and get into physical shape, but it’s even more rewarding to earn crypto for it....
A credit card can be a powerful financial tool — it can help build your credit score, allow you to earn rewards and travel, and get you cash back on all of your purchases. But with so many options available, it can be hard to choose the best credit card for your needs. By Gabrielle Olya Here’s a look at which credit cards made the cut for our Best Credit Cards of 2023....
Update: Some offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer available. View current credit card offerings from our partners at CardCritics here on the issuer’s website. By Gabrielle Olya If you’re going to be spending money, you may as well be getting rewarded for it — and for many consumers, these rewards are a major motivator to swipe. A recent GOBankingRate survey found that the No. 1 reason people use credit cards is for the rewards and perks....
An emergency fund is pretty much what it sounds like — a financial cushion set aside in the event that something unexpected happens to you, from losing a job to having to pay for a sudden, big expense. While the common advice recommends having around a six-month fund, if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that there may be times it’s necessary to have a much more significant amount of money set aside, such as 18 months’ worth....
With home prices soaring to record highs and mortgage rates already ticking higher in 2022, house hunters have to be creative to gain entry to the real estate market. For many younger Americans, this means buying a home without seeing it first or buying at auction, according to a new homebuying report. By Vance Cariaga See: House Inventory To Return to Pre-Pandemic Levels by 2024, New Zillow Survey SaysFind: 10 Lies About Investing in Real Estate...
The Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2022 was 5.9%, the highest in 40 years. Now, some experts say that the COLA for 2023 could be even higher to make up for inflation. By Josephine Nesbit See: Social Security: You Can Stop Working and Delay Your Benefits To Earn More Later Find: 7 Reasons You Might Not Receive Social Security Benefits The Senior Citizens League, a non-partisan senior advocacy group, says that the 2023 COLA could be as high as 7....
Early on in Mayim Bialik’s career, she portrayed the child version of Bette Midler’s character in the 1989 movie “Beaches.” Depending on the decade of television you grew up in, you might know Bialik best as the spunky Blossom Russo on NBC’s “Blossom” in the early 1990s. Or you might be more familiar with her role as Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler on the CBS sitcom “The Big Bang Theory,” which premiered in 2007 (though she didn’t join the show until 2010)....
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP EBT, formerly known as food stamps, helps individuals and families afford groceries, nonalcoholic beverages, and seeds for food-bearing plants and trees. By Dawn Allcot About SNAP Income Qualifications Gross Income Limits Net Income Limits Additional Resources for Assistance See: This Credit Score Mistake Could Be Costing Millions of Americans If you are having trouble making ends meet, especially with today’s record-high inflation, you may wonder if your household income qualifies you to receive SNAP EBT benefits....
When your grandparents, and probably your parents, were just starting out, there was one perceived path to success and prosperity: a college education. By Jami Farkas Dive In: Explore the Cost of Education in the United States Find Out: Can You Afford Education in America at These Prices? But over the past few years, questions have arisen as to whether a four-year degree is a requirement for a career, and they’ve only gotten louder amid the COVID-19 pandemic as we’ve seen people not only survive but thrive by launching their own businesses or taking part in the gig economy....
President Joe Biden declared this week that June is National Homeownership Month. “I call upon the people of this Nation to recognize the enduring value of homeownership and to recommit ourselves to helping more Americans realize that dream,” Biden said in a proclamation released by the White House. But if you’re in the market for a home, you may be frustrated as existing inventory gets swiped up by eager buyers before you can even schedule a showing at your home of choice....
It’s National Hiking Day! If you live in an area where the weather is nice and you have a bit of extra time, go for a quick hike on one of your local trails. Once you’re done, don’t forget to catch up on today’s top financial stories. By Heather Taylor The Big Lead: More Than Half of Renters Think They’ll Never Own a Home — 5 Tips To Improve Your Prospects The combination of soaring inflation, high rents and rising mortgage rates have many Americans doubting whether they’ll ever be able to buy a home....
Today’s teens are more financially aware than we realize. According to the latest research, teens are learning about investing and finance from other sources besides their parents — social media.See: Investing Apps for Teens: Educational or Risky?Find: The Surge of Young Investors: Shocking Number Entered Market in Past 6 Months By Josephine Nesbit A new survey from Wells Fargo & Co. revealed that 57% of teenagers said they learned how to handle finances from their parents, 47% said they took finance classes at school, 35% from social media and 34% from websites and online articles, reports ThinkAdvisor....
One thing you can always count on is that scam artists will keep coming up with new and inventive ways to commit fraud. Lately, many of them have used fake job ads — often on popular job listing and social media sites — to create fraudulent unemployment benefit accounts and bilk taxpayers out of billions of dollars. By Vance Cariaga See: Unemployment Fraud — Suspected Colorado Scammers Net Over $73M in BenefitsFind: Entry-Level Job Seekers Still Struggling to Get Hired Despite Labor Shortage...
Inflation-weary consumers tired of paying high prices have been scouting deep discounts this year, prompting retailers like Walmart and Target to slash prices on items to help move excess inventory off the shelves. But while the operating environment is similar for both retailers, the financial impact has been much different. By Vance Cariaga Explore: Your Biggest Money Etiquette Questions AnsweredSee Our List: 100 Most Influential Money Experts On Tuesday, Walmart posted a 23% year-over-year gain in earnings per share for its fiscal second quarter, topping analyst expectations....
Employers in Colorado are now required to include compensation on their job posts, but that is before taxes and doesn’t include any benefits. How much will you actually see on your check if you get a job that pays $70,000 per year? By Diane Fogle How Much $70,000 Is Net Pay Factors $70,000 a Year Is How Much an Hour? A annual salary of $70,000, working 40 hours per week — assuming it’s a full-time job of 8 hours per day — will get you $34....
The chilliest season of the year has officially arrived. If you haven’t already stocked up on all of your winter necessities, Costco has you covered. By Jennifer Taylor Coats, jackets, gloves, boots and other cold-weather necessities can add up fast, but the membership-only warehouse club offers seriously competitive prices. This can allow you to get everything your family needs without going over budget. Ready to get shopping? Here’s a look at 15 deals on coats, jackets and winter necessities you can find at Costco right now....
A slight deceleration in the U.S. inflation rate in April led one senior citizens advocacy group to lower its 2023 cost-of-living adjustment estimate for Social Security recipients, though it’s still likely that next year’s adjustment will be the highest in more than 40 years. By Vance Cariaga See: 27 Ugly Truths About RetirementFind: 25 Things To Sell When You’re Ready To Retire On Wednesday, the nonpartisan Senior Citizens League updated its 2023 COLA estimate to 8....
Are you making New Year’s resolutions surrounding money in the week ahead? If you are, you’re not alone. The annual New Year’s Financial Resolutions Study from Fidelity Investments found that 68% of Americans are making financial resolutions for 2022, which is an increase from 2020, said Stacey Watson, Fidelity Investments’ head of Life Event Planning. By Dawn Allcot See: 13 Brilliant Ways To Save Money on Your New Year’s ResolutionsExplore: These New Year’s Resolutions Can Save You $1,000 or More...
Retiring early is easy to talk about, hard to plan for and even harder to do — but with a little sacrificing and strategizing right now, you just might be able to pull it off. By retiring at 62, you ask your nest egg to sustain you for longer than it should have to despite denying it roughly half a decade of growing time. By Andrew Lisa See: How Long $1 Million in Retirement Will Last in Every StateFind Out: 5 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000...
