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Retirement is not the same as it was even a decade ago — it’s changing. Some people are choosing to retire later. Some people are choosing to retire earlier, partly due to the FIRE(financial independence, retire early) movement. And once retired, many people (even those from older generations) don’t stop working. Instead, they turn to side hustles. What do experts think about all these changes? Are they for better or for worse?...

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking into crypto trading platforms being “registered and regulated much like exchanges,” Chair Gary Gensler said April 4. By Yaёl Bizouati-Kennedy Discover: The Best and Worst Things To Buy Generic More: 10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Buy “In crypto, there is lots of innovation, but plenty of hype. As in other start-up fields, many projects likely could fail. That’s simply part of the entrepreneurial spirit in the U....

In California, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is distributed through what is known as “CalFresh.” CalFresh is for low-income individuals and families who meet federal income guidelines in order to receive money each month to buy fresh food and groceries. By Georgina Tzanetos SNAP Crisis Averted: Indiana Bill To ‘Weaponize’ Benefits for Delinquent Child Support PulledSNAP & Medicaid COVID-19 Benefits: Expire on April 15 — These States, Territories Will be Impacted...

Millions of Social Security recipients got a 5.9% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) increase in 2022 — the biggest in decades. If inflation continues at its current rate, next year’s COLA could be much higher. By Josephine Nesbit Find: 20 Best Places To Live on Only a Social Security CheckReminder: Social Security Will No Longer Extend Timeframe for E-Verify Cases After July 15 According to a new prediction from the non-profit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), the COLA for 2023 could be as high as 10....

McDonald’s is thanking America’s educators with a free breakfast meal next week. In an exclusive interview with USA TODAY, the fast-food giant said that school staff and administrators can get a free “Thank You Meal” starting Monday Oct. 11 through Friday, Oct. 15 at participating restaurants nationwide during breakfast hours. By Josephine Nesbit Best Senior Discounts at Restaurants: Never Pay Full Price for a Meal Again Find Out: Here Are the Best and Worst Deals at Starbucks...

The song is piped through the speakers in our favorite stores all season long. Your kids may sing it endlessly on car rides. It’s “The 12 Days of Christmas.” But where did it come from and, apart from their practicality, would it even be affordable to give all these gifts in 2021? By Dawn Allcot See: 6 Holiday Purchases That You Should Only Make at Costco Find: 11 Gifts You Should Buy for Christmas Now — Before They Sell Out...

Time is running out for holiday shopping–and with supply chain issues this year, so is inventory. You might have walked into your local department store and seen that the rows were already torn through before you got there. Due to the supply chain delays, those aisles likely will not be restocked before the holidays. However, there are still some online deals you can snag from Target that will arrive before December 25....

If you’re planning for retirement in light of an impending recession and a bear stock market, your plans may have changed slightly. Especially if your retirement is coming up soon, you may not have as much money from the interest and dividends you were hoping for. By Dawn Allcot See Our List: 100 Most Influential Money ExpertsRead More: The Best Cities With Great Weather To Retire on $2,000 a Month...

By Vance Cariaga See: Jeff Bezos Warns Consumers Halt Big Purchases Ahead of Prolonged Economic DownturnFind: What Happens to Employees When a Company Files for Bankruptcy? Other tech firms either planning or announcing job cuts include Stripe, Salesforce, Microsoft, Zillow, Snap and Robinhood. More From Your Money: Choose a high-interest saving, checking, CD, or investing account from our list of top banks to start saving today. The fact that so many high-profile tech names are reducing their workforces has led to speculation over what it might mean for the economy at large....

The holiday season and company layoffs go hand in hand. As the holidays draw closer, companies are facing lower consumer confidence and are thus evaluating plans for the 2023 fiscal year. By Josephine Nesbit See: 95% Will Cut Someone From Holiday Gift List — Other Ways Americans Are Cutting Costs This SeasonFind: States Whose Economies Are Failing vs. States Whose Economies Are Thriving More than 24,000 tech workers across 72 companies have been laid off this month, NPR reported, totaling 120,000 tech jobs lost this year....

This will probably ring familiar to anyone who shops at stores: While paying for your items, the clerk tries to get you to sign up for a store credit card. In almost every case, you’re better off forgoing the store card and using a regular credit card instead. By Vance Cariaga Even if you already have one or more store credit cards, it’s probably time to get rid of them. The reason is simple: The disadvantages of using a store card easily outweigh the advantages when compared to other cards....

LeBron James is one of the biggest names in sports. Even football, which has a much larger viewership than basketball, has few names that carry the same weight as “King James.” From his humble beginnings in Akron, Ohio, James has ascended to become a four-time champion and four-time MVP. By Bob Haegele Celeb Money: How Rich Are Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and 43 More of the Wealthiest Golfers of All Time?...

With the return of the NFL and college football, the heating up of baseball’s pennant races and the impending start of the NBA and NHL seasons, September is a fabulous time to be a sports fan. By George Malone Free Sports Streaming Sites Tips for Using Streaming Sites See: This Credit Score Mistake Could Be Costing Millions of Americans But watching sports at home can be expensive. Cable packages can cost more than $200 per month, and even cutting the cord with sites like YouTube TV and Hulu can add up....

Personal finance do’s, don’ts and “should-be-doing-but-I’m-not” are ever-evolving. The COVID-19 pandemic has supercharged that evolution. By J. David Herman “The pandemic has called a lot of financial decisions into question,” said Megan Moore, a vice president at Fidelity Investments. “It has opened people’s eyes to rethinking their finances. Everything is on the table.” In some cases, the financial advice hasn’t changed. Americans are just either unwilling or unable to follow it, due to shifting priorities and tough financial times....

Whether you’re single or married, you need to take several key steps before setting your down payment goal as you prepare to buy a house. Married couples may be able to afford more with two incomes, but they may also have extra complications if one spouse brings a lot of debt or a bad credit record to the marriage. They need to decide whether it’s better to apply for the mortgage together or if they’ll improve their chances by having the spouse with the better credit record and less debt apply alone....

Women tend to be less financially literate than men, but this seems to be due to a lack of confidence rather than a lack of knowledge. A survey conducted by the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center found that “women tend to disproportionately respond ‘do not know’ to questions measuring financial knowledge, but when this response option is unavailable, they often choose the correct answer. […] About one-third of the financial literacy gender gap can be explained by women’s lower confidence levels....

The pandemic has brought on a series of challenges for parents, many of whom had to leave the workforce in order to assume full-time caregiving responsibilities or sink into debt to pay for childcare. Now, many moms and dads are faced with a new problem: how much extra money they’ve spent since their adult kids moved back in with them. By Nicole Spector The Future of Finances: Gen Z & How They Relate to MoneyExplore: Your Biggest Money Etiquette Questions Answered...

By Levi Leidy Learn: 8 Purchases Retirees Almost Always RegretMore: 7 Surprisingly Easy Ways To Reach Your Retirement Goals A lack of savings was the primary reason Social Security was founded in the first place. In the height of the Great Depression, many older Americans were left penniless and without means to retire or even house themselves. The 1935 Social Security Act ensured that, even if older Americans had no savings or pension, they’d still have some form of income to help keep them afloat in their later years....

The worsening pressure of inflation — specifically rising food and fuel prices — coupled with the end of pandemic relief payments brought food insecurity to a five-month high in early December, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. By Dawn Allcot See: Experts Predict What the Economy Will Look Like in 2022Child Tax Credit: You Could Get a Double Payment in February — Here’s Why Nearly 10% of American households (9....

As Americans grow more worried about an impending recession, people may be looking for ways to save money without cutting back on the things that matter most. Surprisingly, only 20% of Americans polled in the recent Country Financial Survey Index have checked in with their home and auto insurance companies to see if they could reduce their rates. By Dawn Allcot See: 9 Bills You Should Never Put on AutopayFind: In Less Than a Decade, You Won’t Be Able To Afford a Home in These Cities...