Dreamstime Text size The second major piece of retirement legislation in little more than two years advanced in the House on Tuesday, putting required minimum distributions in line to rise to age 75 o...
Tag: Personal finance
Retirement-Reform Bill Could Slash Taxes
Congress is working on some major revisions to the 2019 law that overhauled retirement tax rules for older Americans – and the changes could mean big savings for your investment portfolio and nest egg...
How to Plan for Part-Time Retirement
Phased retirement arrangements might be a good fit for older employees who want to scale back on work but aren’t yet ready to leave for good. “It requires some planning,” said Elliot Dole, an adviser...
We took out $55K in student loans and 22 years later, the balance has not budged
How to get out of student loan debt. Getty Images/iStockphoto Question: I graduated in 2000 with about $35K in student loan debt. My wife also had about $20K in student loan debt. They were mostly f...
Most medical debt to come off credit reports. What to do if it doesn’t
Maskot | Maskot | Getty Images If you have medical debt weighing down your credit score, it may be wiped off your credit report in a few months. Yet before you cheer the good news, first make sure you...
These money and investing tips can help you read the stock market’s changing signs
Don’t miss these top money and investing features: Sign up here to get MarketWatch’s best mutual funds and ETF stories emailed to you weekly! INVESTING NEWS & TRENDS How to future-proof your stock...
Opinion: The economy is in much better shape than the headlines would tell you
Inflation is through the roof. There’s an oil crisis. A looming food crisis. You name it. War is raging in Europe. Russia’s president is starting to sound unhinged. And headlines are now linking him w...
Signs Start to Emerge That High Energy Prices Are Sapping Demand
Text size Vehicles heading east out of Los Angeles. Vehicle miles traveled in California are starting to flatten out as gasoline prices remain high. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images Oil prices h...
Here Are 3 Ways to Get Better Yields Than Bonds, With Some Measure of Safety
Despite the recent surge in bond yields, some alternative investments provide much better yields with varying degrees of safety. They include Treasury savings bonds, multi-year guaranteed annuities fr...
What happens when the kids leave home?
A key part of your retirement financial plan may be based on a faulty assumption. I’m referring to whether you’ll save and invest more for your retirement after your children become financially indepe...
Opinion: I want to leave a Roth IRA to my sister with special needs — what’s the best way to do that?
Q.: I have a Roth IRA that I would like to leave to my sister. She has mental-health issues and I want to have a way to leave money to be distributed monthly without paying it all out in handling fees...
Companies bet employee benefits will help them in ‘Great Reshuffle’
Paul Bradbury | OJO Images | Getty Images Millions of Americans are quitting their jobs and rethinking what they want when it comes to work and work-life balance. Companies are responding, meeting the...
How to avoid a tax filing rejection if last year’s return is pending
Drakula & Co. | Moment | Getty Images The IRS is backlogged and still sifting through tens of millions of pending returns, including many of last year’s filings. If your 2020 return is part ...
Opinion: Preparing for the great sunset: What you need to know if tax code provisions expire
The hot equities and housing markets have contributed to a surge in U.S. household wealth during the pandemic. According to the Federal Reserve, household wealth grew by $19 trillion to $137 trillion ...
Opinion: Convinced the stock market’s next two years will be like the past two? Don’t bet on it.
Don’t fall into the trap of believing the U.S. stock market’s spectacular return over the past two years represents the new normal. Not only will the market’s return in coming months likely be a lot l...
Weekend reads: the slowing housing market and inverted yield curve signal a coming recession
It is human nature to fear missing out as prices skyrocket, But all bubbles burst eventually. Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics predicts a 25% decline in U.S. home sales. What will that do to...
Vanguard reclaims top target-date fund manager spot it lost in 2020
Thomas Barwick | Digitalvision | Getty Images Vanguard Group captured the most new investor money in its target-date funds last year relative to other asset managers, reclaiming the top spot it’...
How to take a sabbatical even if your company doesn’t offer one
Katherine Ullman spent part of her sabbatical in Colombia. Courtesy: Katherine Ullman Katherine Ullman was burned out from working intensely during the Covid-19 pandemic and was questioning her next c...
Robinhood Takes a Shot at Fidelity, E-Trade With New Tool
Robinhood, the trading app used by many retail traders during the meme-stocks frenzy that began in 2020, is once again taking on its more traditional competitors by testing a stock-lending function in...
I’m 65 and have $220K in student loan debt. I have a lot of health issues and am only working part-time. Can I somehow erase this debt?
Remember, if you’re having difficulty making payments due to low or no income, you may be eligible for a low or $0 payment by enrolling in an income-driven repayment plan Getty Images/iStockphoto Ques...
Wait, There Are Americans Happy About High Gas Prices?
Drivers in the United States and around the world are experiencing unprecedented gasoline price increases. Nationwide, the average price for a gallon of regular gas Tuesday was $4.242, according to da...
Opinion: Russia just made a case for owning gold—and nobody noticed
Here’s a strong argument for adding some gold bullion to your retirement portfolio right now, alongside those stocks and bonds. And it comes courtesy of Pavel Zavalny, the head of the Russian parliame...