The holiday season is a time filled with joy, celebration, and, often, a lot of expenses. As the festivities wind down, many find themselves facing the reality of depleted bank accounts, credit card debt, and the daunting task of rebuilding their financial safety nets. An emergency fund serves as a…
Money is an uncomfortable topic for many, yet it’s an important ongoing conversation to have in a relationship. Financial secrets undermine trust. And for many, it may even feel like betrayal. More than 2 in 5 U.S. adults (43%) believe keeping financial secrets is at least as bad as physical…
Sixty percent of Americans under age 65 — that’s about 164.7 million people — receive their health insurance through their employer, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. That means losing a job can feel like a one-two punch: the loss of both income and health insurance. Then comes the…
Would you be upset if you found out your partner had a credit card you didn’t know about? On the flip side, have you ever fudged the numbers with your spouse about a recent shopping spree? Romantic relationships can come with mixed feelings about money. That’s why we asked more…
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The nation’s 75 million Social Security recipients will receive a 2.8% cost of living adjustment (COLA) increase in their benefits…
Historically Black colleges and universities are on the frontlines of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s new limits on parent…
The big new fees JPMorgan Chase is planning to charge some financial technology companies may well trickle down to consumers,…
With artificial intelligence beginning to eat away at many white-collar entry-level jobs, and the unemployment rate for recent college graduates…
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Images by Getty Images; Illustration by Hunter Newton/Bankrate A construction loan is a short-term, high-interest loan used to finance building a home. Funds are paid out in phases over the course of construction and typically cover land, materials, contractor labor and permits. They tend to…
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These entrepreneurs, traders and investors are making an outsized impact in fintech, crypto and traditional financial services.By Jeff Kauflin, Hank Tucker and Nina…
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The final six months before retirement are some of the most important. During this window, you’ll want to fine-tune your income plan. This means you should assess your tax exposure, make sure your investment mix supports your goals and double-check your paperwork. Even if you’ve been planning for years, the…
Buying a home is an exhilarating and exhausting process, one that tests the wits and resolve of even experienced buyers. And some of the very people you turn to for guidance might not always have your best interests in mind. Some of the industry’s sales tactics can make it unnecessarily…
We all know that inflation has greatly affected our purchasing power in recent years. Prices have risen an average of 22.7 percent since the beginning of 2021 and wages have grown 21.5 percent, according to Bankrate’s 2025 Wage to Inflation Index. This is a major contributor to the low consumer…
Key Takeaways October is Financial Planning Month: a reminder to take charge of your finances, review debt, and set long-term goals. Multiple debt relief options exist: including debt management plans, debt consolidation, debt settlement, and bankruptcy; each comes with benefits and risks. Nonprofit credit counseling offers safe solutions: organizations like…
Congratulations! Becoming debt-free is a game-changer. Making that last payment on credit cards, student loans or whatever debt burden you carried must have been a huge weight off your shoulders. After having paid off $300,000 of debt, I know that feeling well. But when the celebratory vibes wear off and…
Sometimes, two seemingly incongruous things can be true at the same time. For example, it’s true that U.S. homeowners have amassed an extraordinary amount of home equity these days — roughly $34.5 trillion. And according to ATTOM’s most recent home equity report, more than 47 percent of homeowners are “equity…
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images Feeling the strain of making ends meet without a regular paycheck? You’re not alone. On top of the more than 7 million people who are currently unemployed, 750,000 federal employees are now on furlough and without pay due to the current government shutdown. And it…
Once you begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) at age 73, you must withdraw a set amount each year from your pre-tax retirement accounts. If you don’t need that money for living expenses, you can still use it productively. Many retirees choose to reinvest their RMDs in a taxable brokerage…
Image by GettyImages; Illustration by Bankrate Home equity rates ticked lower in the latest week, reaching levels not seen since 2023. The $30,000 home equity line of credit fell five basis points to 7.84 percent, according to Bankrate’s national survey of lenders. Meanwhile, the benchmark 5-year $30,000 home equity loan…
Image by PM Images/Getty Images; Illustration by Hunter Newton/Bankrate Mortgage rates held steady again this week, with the 30-year fixed rate averaging 6.39 percent, unchanged from 6.39 percent the previous two weeks, according to Bankrate’s latest lender survey. Current mortgage rates Loan type Current 4 weeks ago One year ago…
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