Retirement funding looks very different depending on where you live. While the United States leans heavily on voluntary 401(k)-style savings plans, other nations rely on mandatory contributions or more traditional pensions to ensure broad coverage and steady income. Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index takes these structural differences into consideration when ranking some of the…
dowell | Moment | Getty Images With the stock market hovering near record highs, you may have large profits sitting in a taxable brokerage account. Upon selling, you could owe capital gains taxes, levied at 0%, 15% or 20%, based on taxable income, if you own the assets for more than one year. There’s also a…
Damircudic | E+ | Getty Images Delayed loan relief may trigger a new ‘penalty’ The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 made student loan forgiveness tax-free at the federal level through the end of 2025. Trump’s “big beautiful bill” did not extend or make permanent that broader provision. Without action from Congress, student loan borrowers who get their debt forgiven…
Marco Vdm | E+ | Getty Images For many investors, workplace retirement plans build long-term savings via automatic paycheck deferrals. But most employees don’t make Roth contributions, which can grow tax-free. Some 86% of retirement plans, such as 401(k)s, offered Roth contributions in 2024, but only 18% of investors with the option participated, according to…
People in Tijuana, Mexico, look though the U.S.-Mexico border wall at Border Field State Park on Aug. 17, 2025 in Imperial Beach, California. Kevin Carter | Getty Images News | Getty Images Early evidence suggests that White House policy is reducing the size of the immigrant labor force, in turn contributing to a recent drawdown…
Alistair Berg | Digitalvision | Getty Images While you may hope to step out of the workforce sooner rather than later, it’s easier said than done, experts say. On average, surveyed Americans, asked “What age should you be” for retirement, said 58, according to a recent report by Empower, which polled 1,001 adults on June…
A local house with a porch in Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA. Wolfgang Kaehler | Lightrocket | Getty Images A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. The great wealth…
A student studies in the Perry-Castaneda Library at the University of Texas at Austin on February 22, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell | Getty Images When the Trump administration first announced in April that it would soon resume student loan collection efforts, it said notices for wage garnishment would resume “later this summer.” It’s…
D3sign | Moment | Getty Images If you want to access investments typically reserved for the wealthy, regulators may someday let you — provided you can pass a test. That in itself may not be easy, considering that many consumers can’t pass a basic financial literacy quiz. But coming up with an exam that helps…
Lorene Cowan, 44, thought she would own a home by now. However, in New York City, where Cowan lives and works, home prices have soared beyond reach. “I would love to buy a home. That’s the next step,” said Cowan, a business and life coach. But “in New York, the entry in became so much…
