_Finance
A deal to raise the debt ceiling would require borrowers of federal student loans to resume paying for the first time since early in the pandemic.After a three-year break, student loan payments are about to come due again.The payment pause on…
Deposits into 529 savings accounts fell last fall and early this year. But experts say the stock market recovery is helping to attract more money.Contributions to 529 college savings programs fell late last year and early this year, according to industry…
Rates for undergraduate loans could top 5 percent next school year, adding pressure on families already struggling to pay for college.Interest rates on new federal student loans are expected to exceed 5 percent for the first time in five years, adding…
Susan Miskin retired from her teaching job in 2019 and didn’t think she’d ever pay off her student loans. Then, her only child stepped in.“I am going to get my mother’s loans forgiven,” read the email that landed in my inbox…
Consumer experts are warning patients that some offerings charge much higher interest rates than regular credit cards.Patients are increasingly being offered special financing to cover medical treatments that, consumer advocates say, can turn out to be more costly than using conventional…
Precious Price ditched her profitable business of renting home stays to tourists to combat the mounting housing crisis.“Making It Work” is a series is about small-business owners striving to endure hard times.When Precious Price bought her first home four years ago…
Changes to fees applied to federal mortgages have led to a misconception that borrowers with low credit scores will pay less at the expense of borrowers with good credit.Mortgage fees usually induce yawns and glazed-over eyes. But when word began circulating…
Premiums are up more than inflation, as insurers deal with rising repair bills and higher car rental rates. But consumers do have some options, experts say.If you’ve recently gotten a more expensive car insurance bill, you’re not alone.Auto insurance costs were…
Each year, we publish a handful of essays by high school seniors. We’d love to read yours. If we use it, we’ll pay you.Mimosa Van at Hamilton College last year.Lexi Parra for The New York TimesGriffin Ayson at the University of…
Schools may try to guess other campuses you’re considering and provide a list of their prices. They may not be accurate.Every year, a new crop of innocents arrive in the marketplace for an undergraduate degree. Very quickly, they get an education…
The forms were originally due in the early days of the pandemic. The I.R.S. estimates that 1.5 million people are owed money, but they must file by July 17.Tax day for 2022 has passed. But another deadline looms for people who…
A self-styled “anti-bank” poached good customers from the federal loan system. When pandemic relief made that harder, it sued the government.The online personal finance company called SoFi first made a name for itself by rounding up money from Stanford alumni to…
Banks are offering the promotional rates to attract deposits. But given concerns about the economy, it’s unclear how long banks will continue to reward savers.It’s a good time to have cash savings.Some banks are offering rates of 5 percent or higher…
Google Flights is joining other booking platforms that aim to assure travelers they’re getting the best price.To buy or to wait? Given the wild fluctuations of airfare prices, that is a frugal flier’s persistent dilemma. A fare found today may tick…
The brokerage giant, which has been swept into the turmoil surrounding the banking sector, seemed to ease fears about its financial health in its latest earnings report.Charles Schwab generated a profit of $1.6 billion in the first quarter of the year,…
Fed up with the lack of clear college pricing and other data, these parents hacked the information they needed into usable tools and guides.Here’s a personal finance pop quiz with an extremely high pass rate.In what industry do so many customers…
The federal rule that requires funeral homes to list their prices didn’t envision the internet. Now, regulators are weighing an update that would require the homes to reveal their prices online.“People are at their most vulnerable when they’re grieving,” Lina M.…
The first Black woman to serve as chief economist at the Labor Department advanced the idea that lifting up people on the margins helps everyone else, too.“Transforming Spaces” is a series about women driving change in sometimes unexpected places.It takes approximately…
Increasing attention to suspicious-seeming transactions has led to some people suddenly losing access to their bank accounts. The reasons are often a mystery.Naafeh Dhillon had just left the holiday light show at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York when he learned…
The average refund is down from last year, but still almost $3,000. One option experts recommend is stashing part of it for unexpected expenses.The average federal income tax refund is smaller this year, but it’s still almost $3,000. And for strapped…
He wrote a program that allowed people to buy and sell stocks on their home computers and co-founded a company that reaped its benefits.Growing up in a working-class family in small-town Oregon, Bing Newcomb would have probably been destined for work…
Financial advisers recommend that business owners examine their accounts now to ensure they are protected in case of a future bank failure.The collapse of two regional lenders, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, last month caused a ripple of panic among…
Like Silicon Valley Bank, the company holds billions in bonds that have declined in value. But it has access to billions in cash, if needed, analysts say, and is much more diversified.Why did Charles Schwab, the nation’s largest publicly traded brokerage…
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which already provides some card details, is asking banks for more information about who qualifies for which cards.Consumers may soon have an online tool from the federal government that is aimed at making it easier to…
Like everything else these days, the cost of a family vacation is rising. With spring break season upon us, here’s how to keep costs under control.In the seasonal surge to the skies and roads, spring break promises a recharge — and…
Banks failed. Rich men became publicly agitated, demanding protection. Regulators stepped in to try to stop the panic. Markets wobbled anyway.And now we everyday actors in the economy are supposed to do what, exactly?It’s not a rhetorical question. Too many people…
Customers of Silicon Valley Bank aren’t going to lose any of their deposits. Neither will the businesses or individuals who have money at Signature Bank.That resolution, however, doesn’t make the upheaval of the last several days any less scary. As stocks…
If you use paper checks and send them through the mail, it may be time to stop.Check fraud linked to mail theft has surged across the country, according to a recent alert to banks from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, part…