I have been married for eight years. My husband and I have had our ups and downs, as most married couples do. We got married young — he was 26 and I was 25 — which was probably not the best idea, as we had only known each other about a year and a half….
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is taking steps toward removing all medical debt information from Americans’ credit reports, a move meant to help the millions of Americans whose credit scores drop after bills for expenses like unexpected hospital visits go unpaid. While the information surrounding most unpaid medical debts has already been removed from credit…
Certificates of deposit have a long history of delivering steady, guaranteed returns. Now with rising interest rates and increased competition among banks and credit unions, CDs have become even more lucrative to depositors, with plenty paying APYs of upwards of 5% (see some of the highest CD rates you may get now here). But before…
The Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hikes are kicking in by slowing growth and cooling inflation, but also making a recession more of a threat, says Rob Waldner, Invesco’s chief fixed-income strategist and head of macro research. “We are increasingly worried about a recessionary environment,” Waldner told MarketWatch late Wednesday, despite what Fed officials said earlier in…
Dear Quentin, I have a question that might appear like a simple one, especially for all the advanced money-management folks out there and for people with more money than I have. I am 50, have very little savings, and I would like to invest $50,000. What is a good type of account to start with?…
“ Organizations bear the responsibility to foster an environment of transparency for their whistleblower programs to succeed. ” In the years leading up to the eventual collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, insiders blew the whistle about the company’s severe governance and regulatory issues. The flouting of internal control requirements and commingling of client funds…
Dear Quentin, I was involved in a workplace accident that rendered me disabled and recently received a lump sum of $185,000 after deductions for lawyer fees etc. In 2011, when I was injured, I was facing foreclosure and couldn’t take care of our minor children, so life for me fell apart. In 2014, I began…
Here are some of the most notable stock movers ahead of Monday’s Wall Street open. Stock gainers: MariaDB PLC shares MRDB, -1.36% jumped 9% in premarket trading on Monday after venture capital group Runa Capital said Friday it had offered to buy the system software group for 56 cents a share in cash, representing a…
The Federal Reserve has been on an inflation reduction campaign for about 19 months, influencing higher interest rates across the economy. The interest rate that could be affecting the greatest share of households is costly, and one they might have overlooked. Ask someone what their mortgage rate is and they’ll probably be able to tell…
The past six weeks have left investors with more questions than answers about the outlook for U.S. monetary policy and, by extension, financial markets. And although the Federal Reserve is expected to leave its policy interest rates on hold Wednesday, Chairman Jerome Powell could still rattle markets as he’s probed for clues about the central…
Car buyers are no longer contending with the chip shortages that led to a scarcity of new cars during the pandemic and sent used-car prices soaring, but anyone looking to purchase a car these days is still in for a bumpy ride. Nearly 13,000 U.S. auto workers went on strike early Friday after the Big…
Elsa Ortega and her husband, David, are expecting a child at the end of October, and the couple closed on a home in El Paso, Texas, this summer. But when they thought about selling their three-bedroom single-family home for a larger three-bedroom house, they initially were hesitant. The listing went up on a Thursday. “I…
American workers are feeling the pinch. The median annual household income in the U.S. was $74,755 in 2022, a 0.8% decline from the previous year after adjusting for inflation, according to the latest data from the Census Bureau. The decline in income is “disappointing,” said Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy…
My husband never goes out, and he only reluctantly takes holidays — except if we stay in a cabin in the mountains, and even then he doesn’t see why we should be paying for our mortgage and paying to rent somewhere else too. He has never bought me a single piece of jewelry in my…
Former Wells Fargo & Co. executive Carrie L. Tolstedt avoided jail time but was sentenced to three years of probation including six months of home confinement on Friday for her part in the bank’s fake-account scandal, which resulted in billions of dollars in fines and thousands of layoffs. Tolstedt’s sentence handed down in U.S. District…
Homeowners may be thrilled when they finally pay off their mortgage, but the accomplishment comes with risks. Retirement Tip of the Week: Be vigilant in protecting your identity and assets, and be aware of how you could fall victim to various scams or theft associated with your home. With title theft, thieves transfer a house…
Managing finances is a crucial aspect of any partnership, especially in a marriage. Disagreements over money can strain relationships, causing stress and conflict. To mitigate such challenges, couples often find establishing clear roles and responsibilities beneficial when managing their finances. One popular approach is to divide financial tasks into the roles of Chief Financial Officer…
Home buyers, beware. With mortgage rates at multi-decade highs, business has dried up for mortgage lenders. Few home buyers are keen to take on a 30-year mortgage with a rate of over 7%, and even fewer homeowners find the need to refinance, having secured ultralow rates from the pandemic days. To drum up business, some…
At a time when Americans are saddled with more credit-card debt and higher interest rates, a new bill is seeking to cap credit card annual percentage rates at 18%. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, this week unveiled the Capping Credit-Card Interest Rates Act, highlighting how APRs have been climbing. “Americans are being crushed…
My wife attended college the same year I was in high school. My wife is four years older than me. My family has never been on the university path so that was not an option for me. I joined the military after high school. In the same month (before we met) she graduated college and…
With student-loan payments resuming after a three-and-a-half-year pause, young people aren’t the only ones feeling the pressure. There are also a significant number of older borrowers who are not ready for payments to resume on Oct. 1, according to an AARP Foundation survey. People 50 and older make up 20% of all student-loan borrowers, yet…