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KEY POINTS When you’re on a tight budget, It can be tough to decide between contributing to your retirement savings or to your emergency fund — especially during periods of economic uncertainty. And the banking crisis has added to fears of a recession, with further stock market volatility triggered by the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Although the… Read More »Retirement vs. emergency savings: How to prioritize in a shaky economy

(Reuters) – Bank of America and UBS trimmed their terminal rate expectations on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted that it might pause its rate-hike campaign due to the turmoil in the banking sector. The Fed’s benchmark rate stood in the range of 4.75-5% following a quarter percentage point hike on Wednesday. While the Fed’s… Read More »BofA, UBS trim forecast for Fed funds rate amid banking crisis

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues are expecting a sharp dropoff in economic activity through the rest of 2023 — at least, that’s the implication from new economic projections they published this week.  The figures show policymakers now expect the US to eke out a 0.4% expansion this year, down from the 0.5%… Read More »New Fed Forecasts Suggest Central Bank Is Bracing for Recession

The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation unit investigated nearly 1,000 tax and money laundering cases related to COVID-19 relief, with the alleged fraud totaling $3.2 billion.  The 975 cases include a broad range of criminal activity, including fraudulently obtained loans, credits, and payments meant for American workers, families, and small businesses. Of those cases, 458… Read More »IRS investigators uncover billions in COVID tax fraud

62, 65, 67, 70. All these ages are important when it comes to Social Security and Medicare. And these ages are also targets in the contentious debate over how to shore up the shaky finances of the massive entitlement programs. Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley recently zeroed in on raising the retirement age for Americans in their… Read More »Here’s why retirement age matters for Social Security and Medicare

KEY POINTS The Federal Reserve raised the target federal funds rate by a modest 0.25 percentage points on Wednesday, after nearly two weeks of turmoil in the financial industry. Still, this marks the ninth consecutive increase in one year since the central bank began the current rate-raising cycle to combat rising prices. Over the last 12 months, inflation spiked to… Read More »Here’s what the Federal Reserve’s 25 basis point interest rate hike means for your money

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve extended its year-long fight against high inflation Wednesday by raising its key interest rate by a quarter-point despite concerns that higher borrowing rates could worsen the turmoil that has gripped the banking system. At a news conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell sought to reassure Americans that it is safe to… Read More »Fed raises key rate by quarter-point despite bank turmoil

Despite last year’s upheaval, many investors are sticking with long-term plans and tightening their budgets instead of moving money out of stocks and bonds. Heightened geopolitical tensions, soaring inflation, and the subsequent tightening of monetary conditions recently decimated the longest-running bull market in history and ushered in a rare bear market for both stocks and… Read More »Investors Nearing Retirement Show Patience With Markets

(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs is expecting a pause this week from the U.S. Federal Reserve after a year-long rate increase campaign as Wall Street banks scale back their hawkish expectations in the aftermath of the ongoing global banking turmoil. Bets of a 50 basis points rate hike at the start of the month following evidence… Read More »Global banking turbulence prompts Wall Street banks to trim hawkish Fed bets

New York (CNN) — It’s difficult to overstate the influence that Silicon Valley Bank had over the startup world and the ripple effect its collapse this month had on the global tech sector and banking system. While SVB was largely known as a regional bank to those outside of the tight-knit venture capital sphere, within certain circles it had… Read More »Silicon Valley Bank left a void that won’t easily be filled