New data on Americans’ tax returns adds to the growing body of evidence that charities are taking a hit as a result of Trump’s overhaul of the tax system — and it could be worse than some predicted. Taxpayers have itemized $54 billion less in charitable contributions so far thisRead More →
How are you sleeping lately? Some Americans are feeling uneasy. Consumer confidence fell to a two-year low in June, the Conference Board announced last week. It fell to 121.5 this month from a 131.3 in May. That’s the lowest level since September 2017. “The escalation in trade and tariff tensionsRead More →
From the lofty perch of old age, and after a lifetime of thrift, I declare that I am qualified to comment on how not to waste money. We’ve all heard the reports: Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck, a large number can’t come up with $400 for an emergency, andRead More →
More people ended up with a tax bill this tax season compared to a year ago, according to new data from an Internal Revenue Service watchdog. There were 23.4 million returns with a balance due in the 2019 tax season — the first after President Donald Trump’s Tax Cuts andRead More →
Happy Friday MarketWatchers. Enjoy the first summer weekend and don’t miss these top stories: After Trump’s sweeping tax reform, more Americans owed the IRS money The first year under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was a rude surprise for many workers. The road to riches is this simple: DriveRead More →
After a record-breaking 2017, charitable giving by individual Americans fell last year in response to a volatile stock market and the new tax law. Charities raked in $427.71 billion overall in 2018, an increase in total dollars from the previous year. But when adjusted for inflation, the figure represented aRead More →
Jobs are more plentiful, the overall economy has been on an upswing, and yet one-third of Americans say they need to work a side job to pay their routine expenses, according to a new survey. And nearly half — 45% — of U.S. workers earn additional income outside of theirRead More →
Thomas Jefferson said, “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” It’s well known that we tend to believe what we want or what fits our preconceived notions. But this is getting out of control. Here’s what drives me nuts on the misinformation superhighway: 1. “Health care isRead More →
Homeowners are pulling back on their spending on house improvements. Growth in remodeling spending is expected decline in half of America’s largest cities this year, a study released this week by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found. In 29 of the 49 cities studied, spending growth on remodelingRead More →
The economy is doing great, according to most estimates. Jobless claims dipped to 228,000 in early May and the U.S. labor market is on track to break the record for the longest expansion on record. Mortgage rates have hit their lowest level this year. Consumer sentiment rose to a 15-yearRead More →
Not all savings accounts are created equal — and most Americans have the wrong ones. Nearly 70% of Americans have savings accounts paying less than 2% interest, according to a survey of 1,000 consumers conducted by personal-finance website Bankrate. One in five consumers earns less than 1% annual percentage yieldRead More →
It’s been more than 10 years since the Great Recession slammed Americans, and some people’s credit scores are doing better than others. For all age groups, the average 2018 score was 680, still five points down from the 2008 average. However, that only tells half the story. A decade afterRead More →
If college professors are genuinely worried about the costs of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, here’s an idea. Why don’t they help out by… er… cutting the cost of college? It’s one thing to hear complaints about the burden of rising prices on the average American household. It’s another to hearRead More →
The bottle (er, shot): LIQS Cocktail Shot, $8.99 for a four-pack The back story: Americans must be getting lazy when it comes to cocktail-making. How else to explain the growing popularity of the ready-to-drink (or RTD) category, as in cocktails that you can purchase pre-made? (Low-calorie Skinnygirl cocktails, Woody’s PinkRead More →
Sandra Wisham had never heard of cognitive training until her senior center in Coral Gables, Fla., hosted a seminar on aging and invited attendees to enroll in a brain-fitness course. Intrigued, she signed up. “I want to remain independent as long as possible,” says Wisham, 76. She works hard toRead More →
Courtesy Everett Collection New IRS data reveals about taxpayer attitudes on when it’s ever acceptable to cheat on income taxes. Fewer Americans think it’s unacceptable to cheat on taxes. The overwhelming majority of taxpayers still say there’s no excuse to misstate even a penny on their returns — but there’sRead More →
What do we say to our bosses the Monday after “Game of Thrones” ends? Apparently, “Not today.” An estimated 10.7 million Americans will skip work the morning after the feature-length series finale of the HBO juggernaut airs on Sunday night, according to The Workforce Institute at Kronos, either by callingRead More →
Missing more than one paycheck is a one-way ticket to financial hardship for nearly half of the country’s workforce. A new study from NORC at the University of Chicago, an independent social research institution, found that 51% of working adults in the United States would need to access savings toRead More →
President Donald Trump wants legal immigrants to pass a civics exam before they’re allowed to enter the country — but many natural-born Americans may struggle with such a test. Trump proposed the new civics-test requirement Thursday as part of a sweeping overhaul to America’s legal immigration system, which he wantsRead More →
MarketWatch rounds up 10 of its most interesting topics over the past week. 1. Uber’s big belly-flop Uber Technologies UBER, -7.62% fell below its offering price in the initial minutes of its hyped stock-market debut. The car-share company priced its shares at $45 a share and expects to raise atRead More →
The good news: Americans are saving more than they ever have for retirement. The bad news: They’ll probably need to save even more. Employees contributed an average of $2,370 per account to their 401(k) plans in the first quarter of 2019, a record level and 15% more than one yearRead More →
Since Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, announced her plan last month to wipe away the student loans of millions of Americans as part of her presidential campaign, there’s been debate in the policy community about whether it’s a good idea. But some polling data published this week indicates votersRead More →
Days after Luke Perry’s death at 52 from a stroke, a new study on heart-attack rates has another grim reminder that the young are far from invincible — and maybe even more vulnerable than they used to be. Heart-attack rates are rising for adults under age 40, researchers found afterRead More →
It’s all about the money. In honor of April, which is financial literacy month, Google unveiled the 10 questions that Americans ask most about retirement. The question Americans ask the search engine most often about retirement: “How much do I need to retire?” 10 most-asked retirement questions, past year U.S.Read More →
Many Americans say they’re ready to do business with companies giving their employees another shot at a law-abiding life after they’ve been convicted of a non-violent crime. Some 78% of customers say they are comfortable spending their money at a business that employs consumer-facing workers with non-violent criminal records, aRead More →
