Personal Finances
Why Hitting the Debt Ceiling Would Be Very Bad for the U.S. Economy
WASHINGTON — Washington and Wall Street are bracing for a revival of brinkmanship over the nation’s statutory debt limit, raising fears that the fragile U.S. economy could be rattled by a calamitous self-inflicted wound. For years, Republicans have sought to tie spending cuts or other concessions from Democrats to their votes to lift the borrowing […]
Know More
Education Department Expands Student Loan Relief Programs
The Education Department finalized a flurry of new rules on Monday for its student loan programs, rolling back changes made during the Trump administration and making adjustments that will reduce the total sums owed by many borrowers. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona called the new rules “a monumental step forward in the Biden-Harris team’s efforts to […]
Know More
Millennials Want to Retire at 50. How to Afford It Is Another Matter.
“You don’t want to have all of your savings in pretax retirement accounts that can be costly to use before age 59.5,” he said. Mr. Northrup will sometimes recommend that his millennial clients reduce their retirement savings to have more cash available for shorter-term goals like buying a house, taking a trip or paying down […]
Know More
Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan: Your Questions, Answered
President Biden announced on Wednesday that the federal government would cancel up to $20,000 worth of federal student loans for millions of people. But not everyone with debt will qualify. The action includes rules that will maintain the balances of debtors who currently have high incomes. Those who do qualify will need to navigate the […]
Know More
Advice for Handling Retiring During a Financial Downturn
Most Americans finance their retirement with a certain amount of faith: Investing will help their savings keep pace with inflation, institutions will continue to work as they always have, it will all work out in the end. It’s challenging to maintain that optimism in moments like these, when it seems just about everything is at […]
Know More
The Companies That Take Money Straight From Your Paycheck
At any given time, millions of workers are overdue on at least one bill. But it is the rare employer that is late in cutting its paychecks or that bounces them altogether. Therein lies an opportunity for lending companies like Kashable and OneBlinc and for retailers that do business at sites like payrolljewelry.com and purchasingpower.com: […]
Know More
If the Economy Is Shaky, Why Are Company Profits Still Strong?
In its earnings report, Ally Bank, a big auto loan maker, provided data on past-due auto loans in the second quarter for borrowers at a range of income levels. Past-due loans were either at or close to prepandemic levels for borrowers with lower incomes. Ally declined to provide the same data for earlier quarters, making […]
Know More
How Wall Street Escaped the Crypto Meltdown
Only a small subset of Goldman’s clients qualified to buy investments linked to crypto through the bank, said Mary Athridge, a Goldman Sachs spokeswoman. Clients had to go through a “live training” session and attest to having received warnings from Goldman about the riskiness of the assets. Only then were they allowed to put money […]
Know More
Payment Data Could Become Evidence of Abortion, Now Illegal in Some States
Digital payments are the default for millions of women of childbearing age. So what will their credit and debit card issuers and financial app providers do when prosecutors seek their transaction data during abortion investigations? It’s a hypothetical question that’s almost certainly an inevitable one in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade […]
Know More