Billionaire Jeff Bezos, who founded the e-tail behemoth Amazon, has some spending tips as Americans gear up for the holiday shopping season — amid four-decade-high inflation and recession worries. Her...
Tag: Labor/Personnel Issues
The secret to a happier retirement might be in your ‘retirement quotient’
You know all about IQ (intelligence quotient) and probably EQ (emotional quotient or emotional intelligence). But if you’re getting close to retirement or in retirement, you might also want to know ab...
‘Voters are looking for help’: With control of Congress too early to call, here are 3 burning tax questions
A day after midterm elections, it remains uncertain whether either party will end up with Congressional control or whether it will be a divided Congress — and that has consequences for these tax quest...
‘This has gone on too long’: The bank paid itself $18,000 in fees. My late father’s trust has not been distributed. What recourse do I have?
My father’s father set up a trust at a major bank with my father and the bank’s trust department as co-trustees. My father died at the end of last year; upon his death, the trust was supposed to be di...
‘Am I being ripped off?’ I moved into my husband’s home. I pay for groceries. The rental income from my apartment goes into our joint savings.
I read one of your previous columns regarding the boyfriend who wants the letter writer to move in. My case is similar, but we have already made a decision on how to structure our finances as they rel...
40% of households will pay no federal income tax this year. Why that’s good news.
Millions of workers are bouncing back — and making enough money to pay Uncle Sam. Some 72.5 million households or 40% of households will pay no federal income tax this year, down from the pre-pandemic...
When retirement is a month away, here’s what you need to do
When retirement is coming up close—and you have that exciting date in mind—make sure you have everything organized to make it a seamless, enjoyable transition. Retirement Tip of the Week: Before you ...
Why retirement calculators fail the people who need them most — and what to do about it
Or were you so overwhelmed by the steps and questions that you only increased the amount you were saving by a little bit — or not at all? If you fall into the latter category, don’t feel bad. A new st...
‘When we dated for 5 years, he implied he was financially secure’: My husband was always hesitant about his finances. Now I know why.
Dear Quentin, My husband and I make about the same salary, and live modestly. Six months after we married, I found out my husband’s net worth is virtually zero. He owes more money than he has assets (...
Americans think they need $1.25 million to retire. Is that even enough?
Americans think they need $1.25 million to retire comfortably, new research suggests, but while that number may seem hefty — it still may not be enough. A study from Northwestern Mutual released this ...
Millions of working Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck — and running out of cash as another recession looms
Inflation is taking its toll on people’s emergency funds. The share of workers who say they are living paycheck-to-paycheck has surged among middle- to high-income earners — 63% and 49%, respectively ...
Personal savings have plunged — how to boost your savings in case of a recession
As red flags go, this is a big one. The personal savings of Americans have plunged this year, hitting $629 billion in the second quarter of 2022, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St....
‘From Bambi to Godzilla.’ Strategist David Rosenberg skewers the Federal Reserve as he sees a 30% hit to home prices and the S&P 500 returning to an early 2020 low
The last time David Rosenberg shared his outlook for the U.S. stock market and the economy with MarketWatch, in late May, it was depressing enough. Rosenberg is the widely followed president and chief...
IRS releases new federal tax brackets and standard deductions. Here’s how they affect your family’s tax bill.
America’s high inflation rate will produce a 7% increase in the size of the standard deduction when workers file their taxes on their 2023 income, according to new inflation adjustments from the Inter...
New IRS tax brackets and standard deduction could save families hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Now, for the bad news.
In a time of rising costs, the Internal Revenue Service just raised income-tax brackets through new inflation adjustments for next year. It might feel tough sometimes to link the IRS with the concept ...
Intel reportedly to start ‘targeted’ layoffs in November
Intel Corp. is planning on announcing “targeted” layoffs in November, according to a report late Thursday, citing an internal video shared with employees. After the close of markets Thursday, The Oreg...
Workers are disengaged from their jobs — but don’t blame remote work. The real cause lies elsewhere.
Worker disengagement is increasing no matter where a person does their job, whether that’s in the office, at home, or a hybrid of both. And just because people are showing up to the job in person, it ...
How to save a bundle on your tax return
This is Part Two of our list of suggested year-end strategies. Part 1 discusses gaming the federal standard deduction, and managing capital gains and losses. The tax environment is getting friendlier ...
Retirement can mean a loss of identity — how to bring happiness to your next act
For many people transitioning into retirement, the famous lines from the start of “A Chorus Line” resonate: “Who am I anyway? Am I my résumé? That is a picture of a person I don’t know!” Struggling wi...
‘The mood has turned darker’: Desperate to outrun inflation, people are making big (and easy) changes to their habits. You can too.
We never were the same after last summer. Stubbornly high inflation rates in recent months and several interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve are impacting consumer behavior. That’s according...
A shocking number of baby boomers and Generation X plan to work past 70—or forever
Almost half of baby boomers and more than one-third of Generation X expect to work past age 70 or do not plan to retire at all, highlighting the need for backup plans in case life’s unexpected events ...
Intel reportedly plans to lay off thousands of workers, with details potentially emerging alongside quarterly earnings
Intel Corp. may fire thousands of workers by the end of the month, around the same time the chip manufacturer reports quarterly results amid a tough year for semiconductor makers, according to a repor...
FTX victims are setting up GoFundMe fundraisers to try to get their money back
People who say they have lost money in the collapse of crypto exchange FTX are turning to strangers to cover their losses by setting up GoFundMe fundraising pages. They include a man who says that he ...