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☆ Overpacking, shrinkflation may mean you get less for your money for Valentine's Day gifts this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

That heart-shaped box of chocolates may be only half full this Valentine's Day. The issue was brought to Dworsky's attention this week when a reader who bought a box of chocolates wrote to express his outrage about the contents. Upon further investigation, Dworsky found Russell Stover and Whitman's Sampler chocolates, which sell for around $7.99, only contained between nine and 11 candy pieces, in the 9-inch-by-10-inch-size box. That leaves about two-thirds of the box seemingly empty, according to Dworsky. Whitman's and Russell Stover brands are sold by the Russell Stover Chocolates company, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

☆ State of the Union brings brief unanimity on Social Security, Medicare. Why experts say there's still reason to worry
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

That would include Social Security and Medicare. The Republican Study Budget Committee, which included a host of House GOP leaders, has also suggested other changes — raising the retirement ages for both Social Security and Medicare, as well as changing the measurement for annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustments. More recently, former Vice President Mike Pence called for reforming Social Security with the creation of private savings accounts. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., has led a House bill that would apply reapply payroll taxes on $400,000 in earnings while also making benefits more generous. Biden similarly proposed expanding benefits and increasing payroll taxes on high earners during his presidential campaign.

☆ Seniors urge Congress to protect Social Security, Medicare ahead of State of the Union
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

President Joe Biden speaks about protecting Social Security, Medicare, and lowering prescription drug costs, during a visit to OB Johnson Park and Community Center, in Hallandale Beach, Florida, on Nov. 1, 2022. Kevin Lamarque | ReutersSocial Security and the debt ceiling debateThe future of Social Security and Medicare have increasingly come up in the debate around the debt ceiling. Both Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have vowed to keep changes to Social Security and Medicare off the table. That would include Social Security's pension and disability, Medicare Part A and highway trust funds. Social Security changes require bipartisan support

☆ Savers poised for 'biggest win' in 2023 as inflation falls. Where to put your cash now
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Xavier Lorenzo | Moment | Getty ImagesAs interest rates go up, 2023 is shaping up to be a good time for savers who stand to earn more money on their cash. As the unemployment rate hit a 53-year low in the latest jobs report, the interest rate increases are expected to keep coming. Online savings accounts tend to pay the highest rates, with rates like 4% or 4.5% becoming more common. Series I bonds have 'become a better deal'Series I bonds are accrual type savings bonds tied to inflation that are issued by the government. If you cash in the I bond in the first five years, you will lose three months' interest, McBride said.

☆ Democrats renew push for national paid family and medical leave program
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Had a federal paid leave policy been in place, many of those women may have been able to stay employed, she said. "Imagine if, during the pandemic, we had had a national paid leave program," Gillibrand said. The Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act, or FAMILY Act, was reintroduced by lawmakers including Gillibrand and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., with the goal of creating the first paid national family and medical leave program. "It is a reasonable, pragmatic way to get to paid family leave," Duckworth, who is a co-sponsor of the bill, told CNBC.com in an interview. The Education Support Professionals Family Leave Act would provide education support workers such as school bus drivers with unpaid leave under FMLA.

☆ As some retirees worry about surprises this tax season, these resources may help
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Seniors may also seek help from other tax professionals this year to meet the April 18 deadline to file their federal returns. Where to find free tax helpAARP's Tax-Aide program is the largest volunteer-based tax assistance program in the country, according to Lee-Villanueva. The program works in collaboration with the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA, and Tax Counseling for the Elderly, or TCE, programs, which provide free basic tax return preparations to individuals who qualify. The government temporarily made the child tax and earned income tax credits more generous during the Covid pandemic. Tom O'Saben director of tax content and government relations at the National Association of Tax Professionals

☆ Wait until age 70 to claim Social Security: 'The return on being patient is huge,' says economist
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"The return on being patient is huge with Social Security," Kotlikoff said. Why it pays to wait to claim Social SecurityEligibility for Social Security retirement benefits starts at age 62 for workers who have earned 40 credits, or 10 years of qualifying work. Those contributions count toward the Social Security retirement benefits workers may claim later in life. For each year delayed past full retirement age, 8% is added to Social Security benefits. The return for waiting to claim Social Security benefits may also beat stock market returns, which are highly risky, Kotlikoff noted.

☆ Fed officials see lots of room to shed bonds from balance sheet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Michael S. Derby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

It now aims to unload just shy of $100 billion per month, and so far that approach has taken nearly $420 billion of bonds off the Fed's balance sheet. Fed officials and outside observers don't expect that to happen again. "So I would expect, you know, the process of balance sheet reduction to continue as it is." When the Fed announced its run-off plans last year, "all the interest rate effects from balance sheet tightening happened right away. Still, Fed balance sheet cuts should "stay intact until early 2024," analysts with forecasting firm LH Meyer wrote.

☆ Social Security, Medicare should be 'off the table' in debt ceiling talks, McCarthy says. Democrats worry it's code for benefit cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., conducts a news conference in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall on Thursday, January 12, 2023. Social Security and Medicare should be "completely off the table" when it comes to debt ceiling negotiations, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in a Sunday interview. "If you read our Commitment to America, all we talk about is strengthening Medicare and Social Security," McCarthy told CBS's Face the Nation. Republicans unveiled their Commitment to America plan last September, which calls for holding Washington accountable by addressing Social Security and Medicare, among other proposals. More from Personal Finance:How House GOP lawmakers would change MedicareWhy some worry about Social Security in debt ceiling talksHow a debt ceiling standoff may affect your moneyDemocrats and advocates for the programs worry the language is code for benefit cuts.

☆ Colorado baker loses appeal over transgender birthday cake
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The Colorado baker who won a partial U.S. Supreme Court victory after refusing to make a gay couple’s wedding cake because of his Christian faith lost an appeal Thursday in his latest legal fight, involving his rejection of a request for a birthday cake celebrating a gender transition. The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that that the cake Autumn Scardina requested from Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop, which was to be pink with blue frosting, is not a form of speech. Scardina, an attorney, attempted to order her cake on the same day in 2017 that the Supreme Court announced it would hear Phillips’ appeal in the wedding cake case. Phillips then filed a federal lawsuit against Colorado, accusing it of a “crusade to crush” him by pursuing the complaint. In March 2019, lawyers for the state and Phillips agreed to drop both cases under a settlement Scardina was not involved in.

☆ Almost half of Americans think we’re already in a recession. Here's how to prepare if they're right
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

For those who fear a recession may be coming, the only question is when. Many economists and CEOs, in fact, expect a recession may be on the horizon this yearA recession is traditionally defined as two consecutive quarters of declining economic growth. Almost half of U.S. adults — 46% — think the nation is already in a recession, a recent Morning Consult survey found. "We're not officially in a recession," said Amanda Snyder, finance reporter at Morning Consult. The survey found 31% of more than 2,200 respondents have started taking steps to prepare for a recession.

☆ Suze Orman: Americans are short on emergency savings amid 'dangerous scenario' for economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"You have to have an emergency savings account, whether you're in recession or not in a recession," Orman said. Americans living paycheck to paycheckThere's never been a better time to have emergency cash set aside. A new survey from Bankrate.com finds that most adults — 57% — are unable to afford an emergency $1,000 expense. At the end of a year, people are often surprised by the sums they save, whether it be $600 or $1,000, Orman said. "Once you start seeing how easy it is to save, the more you like to save," Orman said.

☆ As interest rates climb, here's why proposed caps on debt may not help reduce costs for consumers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Rising credit interest rates have made it even more expensive to carry debts. But the changes did not effectively result in enhanced consumer protections, the Urban Institute's research found. The research focused on individuals with subprime credit scores because they are more likely to have higher annual percentage rates when they borrow, and therefore be affected by caps on those rates. Because lenders were already charging rates at or below 36%, the policy did not affect their rates. "It was well intentioned," said Thea Garon, associate director at the Financial Well-Being Data Hub at the Urban Institute.

☆ This Social Security change would be ‘easiest and quickest,’ Manchin says. What debt ceiling negotiations may mean for benefits
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

But that should not include cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits, he said. "I've got 60% of my population that that's all they have is Medicare and Social Security," Manchin told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. How raising payroll tax cap could aid Social SecurityIn 2023, wages up to $160,200 are subject to a 6.2% tax for employees and employers that goes to Social Security. Other Democrats have also proposed raising payroll taxes to help shore up Social Security. More from Personal Finance:What the U.S. debt ceiling could mean for Social Security and MedicareApproaching 62?

☆ A bored hacktivist browsing an unsecured airline server stumbled upon national security secrets including the FBI's 'no-fly' list. She says what she found reveals a 'perverse outgrowth of the surveill
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

A Swiss hacker says she found a copy of the FBI's "no-fly" list on an unsecured server. "The ever-expanding scope of these lists are due to the revelations of people in the course of investigations," Gray told Insider. When looking at the list, crimew told Insider, "you start to notice just how young some of the people are." crimew told Insider. "I just hope they maybe learned their lesson the second time," crimew told Insider.

☆ A bored hacktivist browsing an unsecured airline server stumbled upon national security secrets including the FBI's 'no fly' list. She says what she found reveals a 'perverse outgrowth of the surveill
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Easily accessible secretsCrimew told Insider it took just minutes for her to access the server and find credentials that allowed her to see the database. When looking at the list, Crimew told Insider, "you start to notice just how young some of the people are." crimew told Insider. The outcome of the 2021 case is still pending, crimew told Insider. And that really just shows like where the priorities lie," crimew told Insider: "I just hope they maybe learned their lesson the second time."

☆ 75% of retirees fall short of a key retirement income goal. These steps can help
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

But many retirees fall short of that retirement income goal, according to research from Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The gap isn't surprising, considering that more than 40% who are still working say they are behind schedule on their retirement savings. "You have all these competing priorities that can crowd out retirement savings," said Mike Moran, senior pension strategist at Goldman Sachs. What to know about Social Security's 8.7% cost-of living adjustmentWhy applying for Social Security benefits with long Covid is tricky1. Delay claiming Social Security benefitsThe longer you wait to claim Social Security retirement benefits up to age 70, the bigger your monthly checks will be.

☆ Higher Social Security cost-of-living adjustments may affect your taxes. Here's how to plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Social Security recipients are just starting to see the record 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment in their monthly checks. Last year's 5.9% cost-of-living adjustment was like getting a 6% wage bump in 2022, according to Mary Johnson, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst at The Senior Citizens League. A recent survey by The Senior Citizens League found 57% of older taxpayers worry more of their Social Security benefits will be taxed due to last year's 5.9% cost-of-living adjustment. More from Personal Finance:What the U.S. debt ceiling could mean for Social Security and MedicareApproaching 62? However, beneficiaries would be wise to get a jump on their tax planning for next year to mitigate the effects of the 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment.

☆ As debt ceiling deadline looms, here's what it could mean for Social Security and Medicare
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

That has advocates for Social Security and Medicare worried that lawmakers will try to amend those programs. Unlike a government shutdown, where Social Security and Medicare benefits continue to flow, that may not be the case with a default, according to Adcock. However, the Social Security Administration may delay payments to ensure it has enough cash on hand, he said. "Social Security I'm sure will get paid, interest on the debt will get paid," he said. Why some worry about Social Security benefit cuts

☆ Gold edges higher as investors weigh Fed slowdown chances
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Ashitha Shivaprasad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,906.01 per ounce, as of 0252 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1% to $1,906.00. Few Fed officials signalled on Wednesday that they would push on with more interest rate hikes, while Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said they supported a slower pace of tightening. Lower interest rates tend to boost bullion's appeal as they decrease the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset. Spot silver lost 0.2% to $23.38 per ounce, platinum was flat at $1,038.38, and palladium fell 0.1% to $1,716.13.

☆ Fed's Logan supports slower rate hike pace, possibly higher stopping point
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Ann Saphir | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"If you’re on a road trip and you encounter foggy weather or a dangerous highway, it’s a good idea to slow down. "That’s why I supported the (Fed's) decision last month to reduce the pace of rate increases. And the same considerations suggest slowing the pace further at the upcoming meeting." With so much unknown about 2023, she said, the Fed should not "lock in" on a peak policy rate but instead stay flexible by increasing rates in smaller increments. Inflation by the Fed's preferred gauge, the personal consumption expenditures price index, has averaged 5.8% at an annual rate for the past two years.

☆ Fed policymakers call for further rate hikes to beat inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Howard Schneider | Lindsay Dunsmuir | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

(Reuters) -Federal Reserve policymakers on Wednesday signaled they will push on with more interest rate hikes, with several supporting a top policy rate of at least 5% even as inflation shows signs of having peaked and economic activity is slowing. REUTERS/Jason Reed“I just think we need to keep going, and we’ll discuss at the meeting how much to do,” Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said in an interview with the Associated Press. The remarks appeared to reflect a widely shared view among her fellow policymakers, most of whom as of December had penciled in a 5.00%-5.25% policy rate in coming months. Mester said that for her part she expects the Fed’s policy rate to need to go “a bit higher” than that, and stay there for some time to further slow inflation. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan also supports a slower rate hike pace ahead because of the uncertain outlook and the need to be flexible.

☆ Treasury yields fall as traders assess data, Fed outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

U.S. Treasury yields were lower on Wednesday as uncertainty around the outlook for monetary policy and the economy, along with some weak earnings reports from Wall Street, clouded risk sentiment. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell just over 5 percentage points to 3.4812% while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond shed around 4 percentage points to 3.6069%. Stocks sold off on Tuesday and futures pointed to further declines on Wall Street after Goldman Sachs missed earnings expectations on the back of a drop in investment banking and asset management revenues. Four Federal Reserve officials are set to deliver speeches Wednesday: Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, St. Louis Fed President Jim Bullard and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan. Auctions will be held Wednesday for $36 billion of 17-week Treasury bills and $12 billion of 20-year bonds.

☆ More than 1 in 4 checking account holders are paying fees. Here's how to avoid them
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

sturtiEven with broad availability of free checking services, more than a quarter of checking account holders — 27% — are paying fees every month. The personal finance site conducted its online survey Dec. 7-12 and included 3,657 adults, of whom 3,069 have a checking account. Gen Z, who range in age from 18 to 26, comes in at the top of the list, with 46% of that generation's checking account holders paying monthly fees. Millennials, who are ages 27 to 42, come in next, with 42% of account holders paying monthly checking fees, Bankrate.com found. Older cohorts — Gen Xers, who are between 43 and 58, and baby boomers, ages 59 to 77 — are less likely to pay checking account fees.

☆ Corporate profit reports in the week ahead could show whether there's an 'earnings recession'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Patti Domm | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Investors in the week ahead will focus on how much inflation and the slowing economy have chiseled away at corporate profits, as companies including Goldman Sachs , Netflix and Procter & Gamble report earnings. "This is going to be the start of the clock ticking on an earnings recession," said Amanda Agati, chief investment officer of PNC Asset Management Group. Economic recession talk heats up "There's never been a recession without an earnings recession since World War II," Agati said. Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Financial, said this coming earnings week could be an important step towards assessing the health of corporate balance sheets. Week ahead calendar Monday Martin Luther King Jr. Day Markets closed Tuesday Earnings: Goldman Sachs , Morgan Stanley , Citizens Financial, United Airlines, Interactive Brokers 8:30 a.m.

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