Personal finance
Buy now, pay later is not a boom, it’s a bubble, Harvard researcher says
Most people love the convenience of buy now, pay later. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, installment payments have exploded in popularity along with a general surge in online shopping. Initially, spreading out the cost of a big-ticket purchase — like a Peloton, for example — just made financial sense, especially at 0%. Now, 4 in […]
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Ahead of hurricane season and summer storms, be sure you know how weather events are covered by your homeowners insurance
Win McNamee | Getty Images As spring warmth takes hold, homeowners may want to make sure they’re prepared for the severe weather that will likely soon follow. That preparation should include checking your insurance coverage. Whether you live in an area prone to hurricanes, tornados, flooding, hail, wildfires or severe storms — all of which […]
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‘I made $245,000 in a month’: This 29-year-old got rejected from 15 medical schools—now he runs a $1.5 million business
In 2014, I was fresh out of college and thought I had my life all planned out: Go to medical school, get a six-figure job as a doctor, and make my parents proud. None of that worked out. I realized I hated blood and needles, and got rejected from more than 15 medical schools. My […]
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Tax professionals ‘horrified’ by IRS decision to destroy data on 30 million filers
courtneyk | E+ | Getty Images An audit by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration revealed the IRS has tossed data for millions of payers, sparking anger from the tax community. The material, known as paper-filed information returns in accounting parlance, is sent yearly by employers and financial institutions, and covers taxable activity, such […]
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The job interview question that helped this 25-year-old negotiate her $115,000 salary
Welcome to Paycheck to Paycheck, where workers across the U.S. share how much they earn, how they got to their salary and their best negotiating tips. Ready to join the salary transparency conversation? Apply to be a part of the series here. In this installment, a 25-year-old shares how she makes $115,000 working as a senior data […]
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Op-ed: That college degree is no longer the only path to achieving the American Dream
Foto Sipsak | Getty Images For decades, a college education was the “golden ticket” to the American Dream, translating into higher lifetime earnings and better job security. To that point, the median college graduate makes a total of $2.8 million throughout their career, compared to $1.6 million (a 70% difference) earned by their high school […]
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How fast does inflation cut buying power? Here’s a simple guide
Luis Alvarez | Digitalvision | Getty Images Inflation is hovering near 40-year highs. The Consumer Price Index, a key inflation metric, increased 8.3% in April from a year ago, the largest jump since the summer of 1982, the U.S. Department of Labor said Wednesday. While a slight reduction from the 8.5% rate in March, the […]
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Nearly 7 in 10 Americans want to live to 100, study finds. Here’s how retirement is changing
Despite fears of outliving savings, most Americans still want to live longer, a study on longevity and retirement shows. Nearly 70% of Americans want to live to age 100, with 29 years as the “ideal length” for retirement, according to an Edward Jones and Age Wave report that polled 11,000 adults in the U.S. and […]
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Here’s why a Roth individual retirement account conversion may pay off in a down market
Morsa Images | E+ | Getty Images Soaring inflation, interest rate hikes and the war in Ukraine have sparked ongoing stock market volatility. But there may be a bright spot: the chance to save money on a Roth conversion. The strategy allows higher earners to sidestep the earnings limits for Roth individual retirement account contributions, […]
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UK economy ‘one of the most vulnerable’ in the world right now due to mortgage trends, strategist says
George Clerk | E+ | Getty Images There’s an economic idiosyncrasy in the U.K. that makes it “one of the most vulnerable countries in the world right now,” according to an investment strategist. Mike Harris, the founder of Cribstone Strategic Macro, argues that a major problem for Britain is that its mortgage market is “heavily […]
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