Personal finance

Shapecharge | E+ | Getty Images Certain married couples may qualify for federal student loan forgiveness even if their income appears too high to do so at first blush.   That’s due to how married couples file their annual tax returns and how the federal government is interpreting income qualifications for debt forgiveness. President Joe…

hept27 | iStock | Getty Images Student loan debtors are poised to get some breathing room after President Joe Biden unveiled a plan last month to forgive up to $20,000 per borrower in federal student loans. But some experts say the one-time presidential pardon will not do much to alleviate the student debt crisis affecting…

Jamie Grill | Getty Images As Americans grapple with soaring prices, experts say it’s likely we’ll see higher than usual inflation adjustments from the IRS for 2023 — covering tax brackets, 401(k) plan contribution limits and more. Built into the tax code, these yearly IRS changes aim to prevent so-called “bracket creep,” when inflation bumps…

Going to the grocery store isn’t getting any cheaper. Rising food costs helped push inflation higher again last month, despite a drop in gas prices. The food index alone rose 11.4% over the past year, according to the latest consumer price index figures — marking the biggest 12-month jump since May 1979. The food-at-home index, a measure…

The party may be over for “buy now, pay later.” The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday that these installment payments come with “several areas of risk of consumer harm,” including data harvesting, debt accumulation and “loan stacking” — or juggling multiple payment plans at once. Buy now, pay later lenders — including companies such…

Sporrer/Rupp | Image Source | Getty Images As talk of Social Security reform heats up heading into the November election, one congressional proposal to expand the federal program has received a new endorsement from California lawmakers. In August, a joint resolution passed both the state’s senate and its assembly. Now, it goes to Capitol Hill…

A Social Security Administration office in San Francisco. Getty Images The Social Security Administration’s average wait time for an initial disability decision hit an all-time high in August of more than six months, or 198 days — almost three times higher than it was a decade ago. That is just one of many signs that…

Cecilie Arcurs | Getty Images There’s about one month until the Oct. 17 tax deadline extension, and experts say filers need to prepare, especially for more complicated returns. An estimated all-time high of 19 million American taxpayers filed an extension for their 2021 returns, according to the IRS. Kevin Brady, a certified financial planner and…

If you’re expecting relief from President Joe Biden‘s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student loans, you may have state income tax liability, depending on where you live.  While legislation is evolving, it’s possible that seven states — Arkansas, California, Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina and Wisconsin — may tax student loan forgiveness, according…

Pekic | E+ | Getty Images The U.S. Department of Education continues to put out new information on how President Joe Biden’s historic student loan forgiveness plan will work. Some of the latest details include how forgiveness will be applied to your balance: which federal student loans can get the relief, and in what order….

Andresr | E+ | Getty Images For retirement “super savers,” good financial habits appear to go far beyond fattening up their nest eggs, a new study shows. Most of these workers — whose 401(k) contributions are at least 15% of their pay or 90% or more of the maximum allowed — also pay their bills…

Malerapaso | Istock | Getty Images HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Professional athletes are faced with a difficult task early in their careers — learning to deal with big sums of cash as they’re thrust into stardom, often at a young age. Isaiah Thomas, an all-star basketball player, and major league baseball player Dexter Fowler sat…