personal finance

A fixed $6.25 billion gift met a far bigger pool of auto-enrolled children, so the Dell money stopped short of the $150,000 line announced in December. Here is who lost out, and where a family's next dollar should go.

Families aged 75 and older top the Fed's new survey, but the gap to 65-to-74 is smaller than the margin of error. Read in dollars, the poorest's "56% loss" is $2,100.

Non-renewal notices, due by Oct. 2, are reaching about 390,000 UnitedHealthcare and 600,000 Humana members. The deadline most of them haven't heard about is March 4, 2027, the last day to apply for Medigap without health questions.

Money left in a health FSA when the plan year ends is forfeited unless your employer allows a carryover or a grace period. The IRS ceilings are $3,400 to contribute and $680 to roll over in 2026.

Chocolate makers locked in cocoa at last year's prices, retail prices rarely retrace, and the bean market has already bounced back. Here is what that means for your candy bowl.

Heat pumps can deliver up to three times more heat than the electricity they use. Backup resistance strips deliver one-to-one, and in some homes they end up doing much of the work.

The fall switch to winter gasoline shaves real cost off every gallon. This year, it is being swamped by crude oil near $90 a barrel and a record September at the pump.

Social Security's 2027 raise won't be announced until Oct. 14 — not because of red tape, but because the law requires inflation data that doesn't exist yet.

In Manila the bonus is guaranteed by a 1975 law. In Memphis, it's whatever the employer feels like giving. Here's why the gap exists.

Private-label groceries hit a record 21.3% of US dollar sales in 2025, growing nearly three times faster than national brands — and grocers are betting the shift is permanent.

Pay transparency laws forced companies to publish salary ranges. Few laws say how wide those ranges can be, and research shows women pay the price.

Gift cards are protected by federal law for years. Loyalty and rewards points aren't, and companies can wipe them out overnight.

The U.S. Mint struck its last circulating penny in November. Now state legislatures are racing to write the rounding rules cash registers will actually use.

Regulation CC doesn't let banks hold your money as long as they want, it caps how long they can. Here's the real day-by-day schedule, the six exceptions that extend it, and the outer limit federal law allows.

Most homeowners never file a title insurance claim. For the few who do, it can be the only thing standing between them and a multi-year lawsuit to reclaim a forged deed.

Miss an insurance payment and a mortgage servicer can buy its own policy and add the bill straight to your mortgage, coverage that protects the lender, not you.

The CARD Act gives every gift card a five-year floor. What happens after that depends on which state you're standing in.

Roughly half of FSA holders forfeit money every year, while HSA balances never expire. The difference traces back to a single line in the federal tax code.

A single word in your benefits packet decides whether your employer's 401(k) match is actually yours. Here's how cliff and graded vesting differ, and what leaving early costs.

The federal government's new Repayment Assistance Plan went live July 1. Here's what the payment formulas actually mean for three different borrowers' monthly budgets.