Economists have been predicting a recession for the U.S. economy ever since the Federal Reserve began aggressively raising interest rates in 2022. This is Econ 101. High interest rates, which make it more expensive to borrow, are intended to tame inflation by slowing business and consumer spending. A rapid and extreme increase in rates, as
The Department of Education recently launched the most generous federal student loan income-driven repayment (IDR) plan to date — the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan. The SAVE Plan comes after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked federal student loan cancellation in June and before payments are set to restart in October after more than
In its annual Retirement Confidence Survey of current workers and retirees, the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that workers’ confidence in their ability to fund retirement fell by the largest extent since the financial crisis of 2008, to levels not seen since 2018. Retirees’ confidence also took a substantial hit. Overall, just 20% of respondents
Three important developments occurred recently in the world of federal student loans: the U.S. Supreme Court blocked an executive order offering loan cancellation to certain borrowers; Congress set an expiration date for the payment moratorium that has been in effect since March 2020; and new student loan interest rates have been set for the 2023–2024
On June 8, 2023, the S&P 500 index closed at 4,293.93, just over 20% higher than its lowest recent closing value of 3,577.03 reached on October 12, 2022.1 According to a common definition of market cycles, this indicated that the benchmark index was officially in a bull market after a bear market that began in
A chatbot with uncanny human-like writing abilities has become the poster child for artificial intelligence (AI) since it was released in late 2022, inspiring new levels of attention, excitement, and concern about recent advances in this life-changing technology. As the race among tech companies to monetize AI picks up speed, it’s worth considering how widespread
The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, signed into law on June 3, 2023, suspends the federal debt ceiling until January 2025. The legislation also includes a number of spending cuts. It is estimated to reduce federal budget deficits by about $1.5 trillion over the 2023-2033 period relative to the May 2023 baseline projections, according to
On Monday, May 22, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met at the White House to discuss raising the statutory limit on U.S. government debt, generally called the debt ceiling. Although both leaders termed the discussion “productive,” there was no resolution, and their respective negotiating teams continued discussions.1 Here are some answers to
A March 2023 survey found that more than 90% of Americans worry about the Social Security program, and about half of those said they worry a great deal.1 A separate survey the same month found that more than 80% of Americans worry Medicare will not be able to provide the same level of benefits in
Approximately 78% of people who work for companies with fewer than 10 employees and about 65% of those who work for companies with 10 to 24 employees do not have access to a retirement plan at work.1 That’s unfortunate, because workers with a retirement plan are far more likely to save for retirement than those
