Milan Markovic | E+ | Getty Images The average 401(k) savings rate has maintained a record high, as some retirement plans make it easier for workers to enroll and contribute. In 2024, the average combined savings rate for employee deferrals and company deposits was an estimated 12%, according to Vanguard’s newly released yearly analysis of […]
‘Big beautiful’ bill health care cuts may add to medical debts: report
The Good Brigade | Digitalvision | Getty Images Proposed federal spending cuts to health care in Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” may increase some families’ medical debts by as much as $22,800, according to a new report from Third Way, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The Republican budget bill proposes $1.1 trillion in cuts […]
GOP ‘big beautiful’ bill would end many clean energy tax credits
Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images Legislation that Republicans are trying to pass by the Fourth of July would end a slew of popular consumer tax breaks tied to clean energy, leading some experts to call on households to act now to collect the savings. Many tax breaks on the chopping block were created, […]
Why electricity prices are surging for U.S. households
Kilito Chan | Moment | Getty Images Electricity prices are rising quickly for U.S. households, even as overall inflation has cooled. Electricity prices rose 4.5% in the past year, according to the consumer price index for May 2025 — nearly double the inflation rate for all goods and services. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated […]
GOP’s ‘big beautiful’ bill may change student loan bills
US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Republican from Louisiana, speaks during a news conference after a House Republican conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on June 4, 2025. Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act could result in higher monthly payments for many federal student loan […]
3 student loan changes in Republicans’ ‘big, beautiful’ bill
Staff members remove a sign following a press conference after the House passage of the tax and spending bill, at the U.S. Capitol on May 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images Republicans’ “big beautiful” bill, if enacted as drafted, would make some of the biggest changes to the federal student loan […]
Social Security Administration releases new trust fund depletion dates
A Social Security Administration office in Washington, D.C., March 26, 2025. Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images The trust fund Social Security relies on to pay retirement benefits may be depleted in 2033, according to an annual report released by the Social Security Board of Trustees on Wednesday. That is unchanged from last year’s projections. […]
Senate ‘big beautiful’ tax bill has $1,000 baby bonus
How Trump accounts work Not unlike a 529 college savings plan, Trump accounts come with a tax incentive. Earnings grow tax-deferred, and qualified withdrawals are taxed as long-term capital gains. Under both the House and Senate versions of the bill, withdrawals could begin at age 18, at which point account holders can tap up to half […]
‘SALT’ deduction in limbo as Senate Republicans unveil tax plan
U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speaks at a press conference following the U.S. Senate Republicans’ weekly policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 10, 2025. Kent Nishimura | Reuters As Senate Republicans release key details of President Donald Trump‘s spending package, some provisions, including the federal deduction for state and […]
Student loan defaults may spike under Senate GOP plan, expert says
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., leaves the senate luncheons in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images Senate Republicans’ proposal to overhaul student loan repayment could trigger a surge in defaults, one expert said. The Senate GOP reconciliation bill’s higher education provisions “would cause widespread harm […]