I’m 56 and plan to retire at 62. I’ll have both a state retirement plan and Social Security — but I also have a child starting college, which I want to pay for. Do I need professional help?

Getty Images/iStockphoto Question: I’m 56 years old and working for a state university, so I will have a state retirement plan. I previously worked full time and contributed to Social Security for 20 ...

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...

Opinion: Opinion: High debts and stagflation will bring mother of all financial crises

NEW YORK (Project Syndicate)— The world economy is lurching toward an unprecedented confluence of economic, financial, and debt crises, following the explosion of deficits, borrowing, and leverage in ...

Dear Tax Guy: ‘I’ve accumulated a lot of junk.’ I plan to make $6,000 selling stuff on eBay. Can I put it into an IRA instead of paying income tax?

I am retired with Social Security and a state pension. Over the last 30 years I’ve accumulated a lot of “junk” from eBay EBAY, +0.17%. Now, I’m also trying to clean out my house, and sell it at cost o...

‘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...

Responsible AI Relishes Preeminent Boost Via AI Ethics Proclamation By Top Professional Society The ACM

Latest AI Ethics precepts as provided via a major computing profession association that carries some … [+] hefty weight. getty Did you see or hear the news? Another set of AI Ethics precepts has...

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...

Why ‘work longer’ isn’t great retirement advice

Financial planners typically advise you to work for as long as you can, so you can juice up your retirement savings while holding out for a fatter Social Security check. But such advice presumes that ...

E-Commerce Aggregator Society Brands Has ‘Robust’ Pipeline Of Acquisitions; Rolls Out Tech Stack

Society Brands, an Amazon aggregator, is aggressively growing its portfolio. Getty Images Tech-enabled consumer products company Society Brands, which acquires e-commerce native brands that primarily ...

Cardano NFT Column: Fast Society

This week’s guest on the Cardano NFT Column is a project that is launching a Play And Earn (P&E) mobile game on both Cardano and Solana: Fast Society. The previous guest was a project developing a...

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...

Opinion: You can’t rely on Social Security to fund your retirement — it’s time to rethink your retirement savings strategy

Following a period of record inflation, Social Security’s latest cost of living adjustment (COLA) means retirees will see the biggest bump to their benefits checks in 40 years. While this move will pr...

Investors may be whistling past the graveyard of a recession with latest rally in stocks

Investors feeling giddy about last week’s sharp rally for stocks might want to give a listen to Tom Waits’ song, “Whistlin’ Past the Graveyard” from 1978, to sober up for the dangers that still lurk a...

Pension problems, caregiver burnout, saying ‘no’ to nursing homes and more retirement news

From MarketWatch Retirement:  Here’s why you should be worried about state and local pensions. About 26 million people are relying on state and local pension plans to take care of them in their retire...

Judge Blocks Student Debt Relief Program. What That Means for Navient.

A federal judge from Texas blocked President Joe Biden’s student debt relief program on Thursday. This could be good news for lenders like Navient In August, Biden announced his student loan debt plan...

‘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...

Here’s why you should be worried about state and local pensions

America, about 26 million people across America are relying on state and local pension plans to take care of them in their retirement years. That figure includes 15 million retired teachers, police of...

‘It’s a touchy subject’: My in-laws live in our basement. They gave us our 20% down payment. Should we charge them for renovations?

Last year, my husband and I approached my in-laws to see if they wanted to live with us. We had learned that my father-in-law had terminal cancer but could still live five to seven years in remission,...

Credit carnage spurs bargains on bonds tied to $16 trillion pile of U.S. household debt

Big bargains have made a roaring comeback on bonds tied to the $16.2 trillion pile of U.S. consumer debt. Higher borrowing costs, tighter credit conditions and sharp losses have been defining forces o...

If I sell my rental I can pay off my primary mortgage and be debt-free. Is that a good idea in this housing market?

Dear MarketWatch,  I have a rental property that’s worth $175,000, and I owe $53,000. My primary home is worth $265,000 and has $108,000 left on the mortgage. My question is this: Should I sell my ren...

Ex-housekeeper sues Jeff Bezos, claims discrimination, unsafe working conditions

SEATTLE — A former housekeeper for Amazon AMZN, -0.90% founder Jeff Bezos says she and other employees suffered unsafe working conditions that included being forced to climb out a laundry room window ...

What Would a Cashless Society Look Like?

Since the beginning of time, people have been seeking evolution. There was always the feeling that everything could be done better, faster, cheaper, or safer.   We don’t have to rely on pigeons to del...