As people watch their savings sink under inflation’s pressure, one provision in the congressional year-end spending deal aims to make it easier for workers to save money for life’s unexpected expenses...
Tag: Society/Community
IRS pauses rule requiring people to report PayPal, Venmo transactions over $600. Here’s what went wrong.
To avert taxpayer confusion in the upcoming tax season, the IRS is delaying a rule that would have required e-commerce sites and payment platforms like eBay EBAY, +0.12%, Etsy ETSY, -0.32% and PayPal ...
Why Atlanta Tops the Hottest 2023 Real Estate Markets
Atlanta is hot. Georgia’s capital tops the National Association of Realtors’ list of markets to watch in 2023, based on 10 metrics, including housing affordability, employment conditions, and populati...
New tax rule for eBay and Venmo will cause ‘significant confusion,’ CPAs say
As Congress concludes 2022 with a sprint to pass laws and a spending deal, tax accountants are joining a chorus of e-commerce companies and pay platforms who say a revamped tax form is about to cause ...
My mom spent $90K on bitcoin and gifts in a romance scam. Can the tax code help her?
My mom went into debt to buy bitcoin for a scammer because she thought she was in a romantic relationship with him. She also racked up credit-card debt to mail computers and gift cards to the scammer....
Vanguard sees a recession in 2023 — and one ‘silver lining’ for investors
The last 12 months was a year of fast-rising inflation, fast-rising interest rates and fast-rising questions about a future recession. Prices went up while stock markets and savings account balances w...
Just 1 in 3 Americans understands this crucial component of planning smartly for retirement — and that lack of knowledge could prove very costly
Are you sure you’re ready to retire? No, really … are you sure? Although some 73% of American workers say they’re on track for a comfortable lifestyle in retirement, a recent report from Transamerica ...
Gas prices are now lower than at this time last year. Could they fall below $3 a gallon in the months ahead?
Gas prices on Thursday were slightly less on average than they did one year ago — with a slim one-cent margin — but experts say there could be cheaper gas in the weeks and month to come. Thursday’s na...
I sold my late mother’s home for $250,000. I make $80,000 and have $220,000 in student debt. I want to buy a house. Should I use all my inheritance for a down payment?
My mom passed away, and left me her house, which I just sold and will net $250,000. I’m 41 years old with no real retirement savings. I make $80,000 a year, and I am maxing out contributions to my emp...
Dear Tax Guy: Our accountant charged us $486 for a simple gift-tax return. Why on earth would it cost so much?
We gave our daughter money towards a down payment on a home and learned we had to file a gift tax return. Our accountant charged us $486 for this. Why can’t you just add a form to your regular tax ret...
The U.S. job market is strong, but layoffs are on the rise. Is this a good — or bad — time to ask for a raise? Experts weigh in.
Is this an opportune time to ask for a raise? Or, given the recent spate of tech layoffs, is it better to lie low for a while? The good news: Employers are giving pay raises. The increase in wages ov...
‘Cash-stuffing’ has 700 million+ views on TikTok. How it can help you save more
What is cash stuffing? Getty Images/iStockphoto Thanks to a mild obsession with so-called “cash stuffing” — which has racked up more than 700 million views on TikTok — Gen Z has made an old-school mon...
Hardship withdrawals from 401(k)s reach ‘concerning’ all-time high, Vanguard says
Amid stubbornly high inflation, a record-breaking share of Americans are turning their 401(k) accounts into emergency piggy banks, according to Vanguard. Dissecting data from a sample of the approxima...
Suze Orman says, ‘We’re heading downhill very fast,’ unless employers start providing this lucrative benefit to their workers
Americans trying to save some cash for unforeseen expenses are up against a lot — months of red-hot inflation, wages that don’t keep up, the sheer difficulty of delayed gratification in a time when pe...
Private-prison stock hits two-year high as analysts cite potential for more detention beds, detention alternatives
Shares of private-prison operator GEO Group Inc. jumped to their highest level in roughly two years on Tuesday after Wedbush analysts upgraded the stock, citing a GOP-controlled House, possible change...
More people use ‘buy now, pay later’ for holiday shopping, but experts say that’s a double-edged sword
Online purchases using the BNPL rose by 13% year-on-year in November, according to Adobe Analytics. That figure does not take into account Thanksgiving or Black Friday spending. “In an uncertain econo...
‘Most economists are predicting a recession in 2023’: I own a rental property. Is it a good time to take out a bank loan and renovate — or should I wait?
Dear MarketWatch, Along with a sibling, I own a rental property of more than 40 rooms in the Caribbean, where we do weekly rentals. It’s near downtown but in need of repairs and renovation. Is this ...
Apple iPhone wait times have doubled in 4 weeks to 38 days, UBS says
It’s too late to buy an Apple iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max in time for Christmas, as supply disruptions have caused wait times to double over the past four weeks, according to UBS research. As a result, i...
I got laid off by a big tech company. What’s my next career move?
Being let go from a job is hard, especially at a moment when the cost of living is rising and a recession is looming. This Thanksgiving, tens of thousands of recently laid-off tech workers will be ask...
‘My elderly relative determined she could no longer care for herself’: Are her assisted-living facility costs tax deductible?
I have an elderly relative in an assisted-living arrangement in Indiana. She was basically directed to go there from a rehabilitation post-surgery, because they determined that she could no longer car...
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 ...
Black Friday surprise: Jeff Bezos tells people not to buy cars, refrigerators and other big-ticket items. Critics call him out.
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...
FTX bankruptcy: Can account holders expect to get their money back?
FTX, the unraveling cryptocurrency exchange, has plummeted from its high-profile perch straight into bankruptcy court. On Friday morning, FTX and related entities including Alameda Research, its affil...
Opinion: Opinion: Household wealth falls $13.5 trillion, second worst drop on record
American households lost about $6.8 trillion in wealth over the first three quarters of 2022 as the stock market SPX, -0.73% DJIA, -0.90% COMP, -0.70% shed more than 25% of its value, the Federal ...