Unemployment hasn’t been this low for 50 years, but a record one-quarter of student loans from a popular federal program qualified for easier repayment plans to help borrowers avoid default, according to DBRS Morningstar. Income-based repayment plans were being used on 24.7% of $452 billion worth of student loans withRead More →
Dear Catey, I am a 40-year-old law-enforcement officer and hope to retire in 13 or 14 years. At that time, I will have 30-plus years on the job with a pension giving me 70% of my current income with a cost-of-living annual percentage increase around 2% or 3%. Additionally IRead More →
Automobile-loan delinquencies are at a record high, but experts say this may not impact your ability to get a loan for your car purchase. In the fourth quarter of 2019, the outstanding balance on automobile loans and leases hit a record high of $1.33 trillion, according to data from theRead More →
Dear Moneyist, My spouse hides his money and all of his investments are hidden. I have lived in Boston since 2006. I moved from New York and gave up my job of 16 years because we got married and I relocated, leaving my two adult children, who were 21 andRead More →
Fair Isaac, FICO, +1.55% the giant credit score company, recently announced the biggest change since 2014 in how it determines its FICO credit scores. This new FICO 10 system — expected to go into effect by year’s end — could affect your retirement in big ways, possibly for theRead More →
The biggest U.S. dairy farming cooperative struck a $425 million deal to buy dozens of plants from bankrupt milk processor Dean Foods Co., in a deal executives said would preserve jobs and markets for farmers’ milk. The deal, which was proposed by Dairy Farmers of America, requires approval of theRead More →
The human mind often works in fascinating ways that can help or hurt investors. If someone has to deliberately take action in order to participate in something, they are far less likely to do so than if they were signed up automatically with the option of not participating. This opt-in/opt-outRead More →
U.S. Treasury yields traded higher on Tuesday as reports that the spread of COVID-19 may be slowing down helped to cheapen prices for government paper, drawing investors to the Treasury Department debt auction in the afternoon. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified in front of the House Financial Services Committee,Read More →
Mortgage rates are resting near record lows — and that’s spurring a wave of refinancing activity as Americans look to take advantage of the savings a cheaper interest rate could bring. Refinance loan volume jumped to the highest level since 2013 last week, especially among jumbo mortgage borrowers, on theRead More →
The U.S. central bank should keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the time being, as growth is in a good place and inflation should hit the central bank’s 2% annual target, two Federal Reserve officials said Monday. “My own view right now is that we should hold steady forRead More →
Dear Moneyist, My son told me that I’ve amounted to nothing and he doesn’t want anything to do with me. He has nothing to do with me or my side of the family. Do I have to leave my son anything when I die? Should I cut him out ofRead More →
Dear Moneyist, On May 30, 2018 my mother moved out all her belongings and informed my father that she was leaving him after 30 years of marriage, and that she would be seeking a divorce. No papers had been filed at that point. The next day my father went toRead More →
The Federal Reserve could encourage banks to tap a key funding source that has been scarcely used since the financial crisis as a solution to the September dislocations in short-term lending markets, said Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles on Thursday. Quarles said financial institutions should not be afraidRead More →
ING Groep NV on Thursday reported a significant fall in net profit for the fourth quarter of 2019, reflecting increases in risk costs, expenses and effective tax rate. The Dutch bank ING, +1.89% made a net profit of 880 million euros ($972.4 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31Read More →
Eli Manning’s retirement may be as sweet as a winning touchdown, but he won’t be the only one the NFL will treat well in retirement this year. Veteran football players receive a host of retirement benefits after they walk off the field for the last time. Though they may notRead More →
ZURICH (Reuters) – Credit Suisse (S:), which has faced a scandal related to spying on senior executives, also conducted espionage against Greenpeace, Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported. Then-Chief Operating Officer Pierre-Oliver Bouee ordered his head of security to infiltrate the environmental group after Greenpeace disrupted the bank’s annual shareholder meeting inRead More →
The slacker generation is slacking on preparing for retirement. On Thursday, financial firm Fidelity Investments released its biennial Retirement Savings Assessment, which looks at how ready Americans are to retire. Overall, the average American saver has “steadily improved their retirement readiness over the last 15 years to have 83% ofRead More →
Dear Moneyist, My husband and I have five children: two are mine from a previous marriage and three are his. We raised all the children together and they refer to each other as siblings. I consider them all my children. They are all now in their 50s. My husband passedRead More →
A monthlong bout of coronavirus has ravished China, claiming hundreds of lives and sickening thousands but the Asian influenza also has infected the stock market and other assets, chilling bullish sentiment for the moment and stoking uncertainty at a period of lofty valuations. Here are some of the assets andRead More →
European markets fell into the red on Friday, and were headed for the worst weekly loss in months, as the U.K. reported its first cases of coronavirus and data showed softer growth in the eurozone. The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, -0.62% fell 0.5% to 413.07 after closing down 1%Read More →
U.S. Treasury yields fell Thursday, extending their week long drop, as growing concerns about the coronavirus epidemic and the prospect for the World Health Organization to declare it a global emergency kept haven assets in demand. What are Treasurys doing? The 10-year Treasury note yield TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.81% was downRead More →
The most fortunate young Americans are ahead of their older peers when they were their age. A sizeable number have seen a savings bump in recent years. One quarter of millenmials have $100,000 or more in savings, up from 16% two years ago, according to Bank of America’s BAC, -0.69%Read More →
Dear Moneyist, I divorced a little over a year ago, and my ex-husband died suddenly. One of our investment accounts was ordered to be split $30,000/$60,000, as per our divorce agreement. I signed my paperwork, but he never got around to it. Also see: ‘My husband’s kids hate me andRead More →
By John O’Donnell and Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi FRANKFURT/ZURICH (Reuters) – The Credit Suisse (S:) spying debacle risks tipping the bank into a crisis that could engulf its top executives. Switzerland’s market supervisor is scrutinizing Credit Suisse’s oversight of chief executive Tidjane Thiam and his top lieutenants as part of aRead More →
The Federal Reserve seems on course to disappoint financial markets at some point this year, but maybe not this week. Starting early in 2019, the Fed has consistently moved in a market-friendly direction. The central bank cut rates its benchmark interest rate three time since July and started expanding itsRead More →
