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☆ Don't forget about your old 401(k) if you quit a job or are laid off. What departing workers need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Peopleimages | Istock | Getty ImagesWhether you're leaving your job by choice or not, don't forget about your 401(k) plan. You have three basic choices for an old 401(k)Broadly speaking, you have several options for your old 401(k). Basically, finding old 401(k) accounts can be tricky if you lose track of them. Some large 401(k) plan administrators — Fidelity Investments, Vanguard Group and Alight Solutions — also have teamed up to offer their own lost and found. Be aware that if you have a Roth 401(k), it can only be transferred to another Roth account.

☆ Hasbro delays new Dungeons & Dragons licensing rules following fan backlash
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

CNBC obtained copies of Hasbro's reformed licensing agreements — open game license 1.1 and an FAQ section for OGL 2.0. Leaders in the Dungeons & Dragons community greeted the news of the delay with cautious optimism. The attempt to create a new game license comes as Wizards of the Coast looks capitalize on a surge in popularity of Dungeons & Dragons. Chaotic neutralThe reworking of Hasbro's open game license is not an unexpected move for the business, MKM's Handler said. There were growing concerns that the community would fracture if publishers were forced to move away from the Dungeons & Dragons game mechanics to develop their own gaming systems.

☆ 10 best credit cards for elite status travel benefits
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Ariana Arghandewal | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +23 min

Best credit card for Delta SkyMiles elite status perksGetty ImagesElite status: No automatic elite status; however, you’ll earn up to 60,000 MQMs per year with Status Boost. Best credit card for United MileagePlus elite status perksGetty ImagesElite status: No automatic elite status; however, card holders can earn up to 8,000 Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs) per calendar year toward elite status. The best credit card for IHG One Rewards elite status perksIHGElite status: Complimentary Platinum Elite status as long as you remain a card holder. The best credit card for Hilton Honors elite status perksHiltonElite status: Complimentary Hilton Honors Diamond elite status. Frequently asked questions about credit cards with elite status benefitsIf you travel frequently enough, elite status can be worth it.

☆ Here's how to get your student loans forgiven — even if Biden's plan falls through
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"Income-driven repayment plans are also student loan forgiveness plans," Kantrowitz said. The best way to find out if your job qualifies as public service is to fill out a employer certification form. Full-time teachers who work for five consecutive years in a low-income school may be eligible for up to $17,500 in loan forgiveness under the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program. The Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program allows certain nurses to get up to 85% of their student debt cancelled. Meanwhile, there are numerous state-level student loan forgiveness programs.

☆ Phishing attacks are increasing and getting more sophisticated. Here's how to avoid them
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Bob Violino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

That's a 61% increase in the rate of phishing attacks compared with 2021. Criminals using phishing attacks based on tax season, shopping dealsOne of the iterations of phishing that people need to be aware of is spearphishing, a more targeted form of phishing that often uses topical lures. Phishing themes can also be generic, such as an email that appears to be from a technology vendor about resetting an account, McNamara said. What people should do to ward off phishing attemptsIndividuals can take steps to better defend themselves against phishing attacks. Another good practice is to use anti-phishing software and other cyber security tools as protection against potential attacks and to keep personal and work data safe.

☆ I'm the senior director of a $5 billion data company — here's how a mix of programming and leadership courses skyrocketed my career since college
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Julia Pugachevsky | Read More | Read Less | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Focusing on hard skills like data analysis as well as management helped me move up in my career. But what really put my career on a rocket ship was taking online courses from platforms like Coursera, edX, and LinkedIn Learning. For anyone looking for a big career jump, here are four lessons I learned from taking online courses — and how to make the most of online learning. Taking management courses helped me advance much faster. Mike CrabtreeBecause of taking online courses, my career advanced very quickly in a short amount of time.

☆ Banks' war against fintechs is a battle they're destined to lose
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

And while this shouldn't bother banks — they make plenty of money doing what they do best — this is Wall Street. In fact, the face of Wall Street, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, literally declared war on fintechs on an earnings call in 2021. But, as Insider's Bianca Chan and Reed Alexander recently outlined in a fantastic feature, banks' bid to topple fintechs is hopeless. Whether it's JPMorgan's digital-only bank Finn or, more recently, Goldman Sachs' Marcus, banks' attempt to cosplay as fintechs rarely ends well. Click here to read more about why banks are doomed to keep failing in their fight against fintechs.

☆ Here are key things you need to know if you’re eyeing a Medigap policy alongside basic Medicare
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

For about 23% of Medicare's 65.1 million beneficiaries, the solution for covering those outlays is a so-called Medigap plan. The reasons that some beneficiaries instead choose Medigap alongside basic Medicare vary from person to person, according to Elizabeth Gavino, founder of Lewin & Gavino and an independent broker and general agent for Medicare plans. watch nowHere's what to know about Medigap policies if you're considering purchasing one. There's huge variation in costDespite Medigap policies' standardization, the premiums can vary greatly. The way a Medigap plan is 'rated' also mattersAnother difference in Medigap premiums can come from how the plans are "rated."

☆ Homeowners spent up to $6,000 average on repairs, maintenance in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"For a $400,000 home, the [$4,420] in maintenance and emergency spending in our report is closer to 1%. Maintenance costs may reduce repair expensesWhile it's wise to have money set aside, maintenance can help reduce what you spend on unexpected repairs, Hicks said. "We're seeing an increased focus on maintenance activities, which is good to see," Hicks said. While the specifics of a necessary roof repair determine the cost, the average is $1,000, according to thisoldhouse.com. That compares to an average $3,342 shelled out for water-damage repairs, according to Angi.

☆ Here are some strategies that can help you dig out of holiday debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Sharon Epperson | In Sharoneppersoncnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

A new LendingTree study found 35% of Americans amassed holiday debt in 2022. And 37% of those taking on holiday debt said it would take them at least five months to pay it off. If you want to pay off your holiday debt well before this summer, here are seven steps you need to take now. Using less than 30% of your available credit can help you maintain your score, credit experts say, while using less than 10% can actually help raise that number. "A 0% balance transfer card, if you have good enough credit to get one, is the best weapon against credit card debt," said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree.

☆ Here are some key things to consider before tapping your retirement savings to pay off credit card debt
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

As a result, they may be wondering if it's a good idea to tap their retirement savings to pay off the debt. Stopping your 401(k) contributions for a while — or at least cutting back — and redirecting those funds to debt payoff might make sense. For most others, though, there are more appealing options than a withdrawal, Rossman said. "Using a 401(k) loan to pay off high-interest debt, like credit cards, could reduce the amount you pay in interest to lenders," said Jessica Macdonald, head of editorial content at Fidelity Institutional. Other benefits to a 401(k) loan, Macdonald said, are that they don't require a credit check and they don't show up as debt on your credit report.

☆ After a record-breaking 2021, European investors and founders are ready to take it slow
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Our Big Tech team was constantly chasing the biggest stories, from alleged executive misconduct at Microsoft to injuries in Amazon warehouses. After a record-breaking 2021, European startups raised $16 billion in the third quarter — a 44% annual drop. The solo founder joined YC in January 2022, and has since raised millions from investors like Alexis Ohanian. The risk of debilitating muscle and joint injuries at Amazon warehouses is off the charts, workplace regulators have said. Amazon workers shared why they planned to vote against unionizing.

☆ 4 new ways to avoid a tax penalty for early individual retirement account withdrawals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

New exceptions to the 10% tax penaltySavers generally incur a 10% tax penalty if they withdraw money from a retirement account before age 59½. The following list outlines rules in the new legislative package that waive the 10% early withdrawal penalty for IRA owners. Terminal illness A terminally ill person wouldn't be penalized for withdrawing retirement funds before age 59½. Disability Certain disabled retirement savers under age 59½ aren't beholden to the tax penalty. IRS levy You won't incur a penalty if the distribution results from an IRS tax levy (i.e., if the IRS takes your retirement funds to satisfy a tax debt).

☆ Here are the people who will lose out most if student loan forgiveness falls through
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

People of colorThe student debt crisis is cited as a main factor for the wide racial wealth gap in the U.S. today. Black college graduates owe an average $7,400 more than their white peers, a Brookings Institution report found. And that inequity only gets worse with time: Black college students owe more than $52,000 four years after graduation, compared with around $28,000 for the average white college graduate. WomenWomen were widely recognized as the biggest winner of Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, since they owe two-thirds of the country's outstanding student debt. "Women will be the most affected if loan forgiveness fails," Kantrowitz said.

☆ Here's what Secure 2.0 means for you if you're getting close to retirement
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Insta_photos | Istock | Getty ImagesIf you're getting close to retirement age, there are some upcoming changes enacted as part of a government funding bill that may be of interest to you. Catch-up contributions are poised for changesUnder current law, anyone age 50 or older can make "catch-up" contributions to their 401(k) account. Unlike contributions to traditional 401(k) plans, money put in a Roth 401(k) or individual retirement account doesn't get you a tax break, but qualified withdrawals in retirement are tax-free. This Roth requirement means "if you don't have a Roth option in your plan, catch-up contributions wouldn't be allowed," Dickson said. "If their plan allows it, [workers] can elect to have employer matches be designated as Roth contributions," Dickson said.

☆ The market's most political stock picks had a bad year, but they'll be back in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Tim Mullaney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Analysts who follow the industry say ESG funds' performance has been held back, most clearly, by the fact that many sustainable or ESG funds avoid companies that make fossil fuels. The average large-cap stock ESG fund had lost nearly 20% in 2022 through Dec. 21, according to Morningstar. Morningstar energy strategist Stephen Ellis thinks that's unlikely, since "we see the stocks as fairly valued to expensive," particularly in the oil part of the petroleum business. ETF – which emphasizes gambling and alcohol along with pharmaceuticals, without major holdings in oil and gas – is down 18%. ESG fund flows in Europe have held up much better than in the U.S, which Morningstar's Stankiewicz says is because of more pro-ESG regulations.

☆ Goldman Sachs' year-end bonuses are going to be brutal, and everyone's pointing fingers on who's to blame
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

When things were going good, Goldman Sachs' CEO David Solomon could seemingly do no wrong. Last year, thanks to a booming M&A market and a favorable trading environment, life was good at the elite Wall Street bank. Top tech executives from 10 Wall Street firms, including Goldman Sachs, Citadel, and KKR, share their predictions for the top public-cloud trends next year. Bad news: You're not the only one waiting for rates to drop to buy a home; so is Wall Street. Here's what a home-buying spree from Wall Street could mean for the entire industry.

☆ Here are 10 ways to avoid the early withdrawal penalty for individual retirement accounts
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

But there are some situations in which account owners — both those with savings in individual retirement accounts and workplace plans like a 401(k) — can access that money early without penalty. "The worst thing you can do is take from your retirement account before its intended purpose, because then what will be for your retirement?" The list below outlines situations in which IRA owners wouldn't owe the 10% early withdrawal penalty. watch nowThe IRA withdrawal can be used for you, a spouse or your child, among other qualifying family members. The IRA withdrawal must also occur the year you received unemployment, or in the following year.

☆ Some Wells Fargo customers have already received their share of the $2 billion misconduct settlement. Here's what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

wdstock | iStock Editorial | Getty ImagesPeople owed a piece of the $2 billion that Wells Fargo has agreed to pay to customers affected by some of its banking practices could soon receive those funds. related investing news Wells Fargo ordered to pay $3.7 billion for past scandals. Here's why we see it as a positive Wells Fargo also agreed to pay a $1.7 billion civil penalty — the largest ever doled out by the CFPB. "We have already communicated with many of the customers who may have been impacted by the matters covered in the settlement, and those efforts are ongoing," a Wells Fargo spokesperson told CNBC. watch nowIn other words, if you are among the affected customers, you may already have received your share of the $2 billion, or you will automatically hear from Wells Fargo.

☆ Op-ed: Here are 5 questions to ask your financial advisor before the end of the year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Ivory Johnson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Delpixart | Istock | Getty ImagesThe end of the year is a time to give thanks and celebrate the holidays with our families. It's also an opportunity to reevaluate the previous 12 months and ask your financial advisor some very productive questions. Instead, you should be just as interested in what method your advisor uses to build a portfolio as you are in the result. Ask your advisor to review the holdings and transactions throughout the year to determine if it make sense to capture capital gains and match it against a loss. A financial planner does more than invest your hard-earned money; we also provide estate, long-term-care and education planning.

☆ 11 ancient sites that are mysteriously aligned with the sun on the winter solstice, in photos.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Archaeologists have found many ancient sites that line up with the winter solstice sun. Here are 11 sites that line up with the winter solstice, and what experts think about them. Newgrange, County Meath, IrelandPeople celebrating the sunrise at Newgrange on the morning of the winter solstice in 2018. ShutterstockOne of the most famous examples of ancient architecture lining up with the winter solstice is in Machu Picchu, Peru. "From the winter solstice the days are longer, which was a metaphor of the rebirth of the deceased," he said.

☆ Planned wind farm told it will need to shut down for five months a year to protect parrots
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Margot Kiesskalt | Istock | Getty ImagesPlans for a major new wind farm in Australia were given the thumbs up this month — on the provision its turbines go offline for five months a year to protect a parrot species. Robbins Island is located in waters off the northwest coast of Tasmania, a large island and Australian state. CNBC contacted ACEN Australia via the Robbins Island project's website, but did not receive a response prior to publication. The Ayala Corporation, parent company of ACEN Australia majority-owner ACEN Corporation, did not respond to a CNBC request for comment. In comments reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ACEN Australia Chief Operating Officer David Pollington described the switch-off condition as "completely unexpected."

☆ Student loan forgiveness is headed to the Supreme Court. What that means for the payment pause
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The pandemic-era relief policy suspending federal student loan bills and the accrual of interest has been in effect since March 2020. That development is why borrowers have gotten even more time without a student loan bill. Student loan bills could resume as soon as May 1The Education Department has left things a little open-ended when it comes to the timing of federal student loan payments resuming. During the extended payment pause, however, the Education Department is also ceasing all collection activity, it said. And while interest rates on federal student loans are at zero, it's also a good time to make progress paying down more expensive debt, experts say.

☆ Making these 5 money moves now can set you up for financial success in the new year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Sharon Epperson | In Sharoneppersoncnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Increase your 401(k) plan contributionsA 401(k) retirement savings plan is one of the most highly sought-after workplace benefits. You can contribute up to $20,500 to a 401(k) plan in 2022 — or up to $27,000 if you're 50 or older. Boosting contributions to a traditional 401(k) plan can lower your adjusted gross income while padding your retirement savings. By paying cash, you could in some cases, wind up paying 3% less than the purchase price. You can no longer automatically tax an above-the-line deduction for cash donations; you must itemize deductions on your 2022 tax return.

☆ Gen Z loves Minions, horror and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The short answer: Minions and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, according to new data from decision intelligence company Morning Consult. Minions, Minions, Minions"It might not be too much of a surprise that Gen Z is all over social media," said Saleah Blancaflor, the business of entertainment reporter at Morning Consult. "Minions: The Rise of Gru" is the sequel to the 2015 film, "Minions," and spin-off/prequel to the main "Despicable Me" film series. Those films, and even a lot of the Marvel movies, came out a little bit before Gen Z was starting to come to age." They like to be scaredIn addition to enjoying comedy content, Morning Consult determined that Gen Z likes horror movies significantly more than the general public.

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