If it seems like the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales start earlier and earlier every year it’s because they do.
Or at least it feels that way.
But that doesn’t mean these awesome discounts and special perks on travel are to be ignored. Timing is everything.
Sure, a flooded inbox can be a turnoff but don’t let a minor annoyance cost you big-time savings this holiday season.
Airlines, cruise lines, hotels and resorts, tour operators and other travel suppliers are already offering up notable deals on travel whether you’re looking for one last getaway in 2024 or lining up your dream vacation for the New Year.
In many cases, travelers will have to be patient and book during special Black Friday and Cyber Monday windows that start just ahead of Thanksgiving and wrap up in early December.
Black Friday is November 29 and Cyber Monday is December 2 but oftentimes these offers extend beyond these dates.
Nonetheless, having a plan could net you some major deals, including an additional $1,055 in resort credits at Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico (November 21 to December 3), for example.
Airlines like Southwest are even extending their bookable flight schedules so that fast-acting travelers can book a getaway well in advance.
It’s true that some offers require travelers to leave home by the end of the year but there’s a sea of savings for those who want to have something to look forward to in 2025 while keeping their budget intact.
Working with an experienced travel adviser could score you even more special savings and perks, as these professionals have access to additional discounts and connections that will only enhance your trip while saving you headaches this holiday season.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, McLean County, Illinois, was known mostly as the home of State Farm Insurance in Bloomington and Illinois State University in Normal.
Now, the area illustrates a trend that’s bringing more factories to small cities with lower costs of living: It has thousands of new jobs manufacturing Rivian electric vehicles and a new candy factory that will produce Kinder Bueno and other Ferrero candies.
“Food and electric cars. This is not something we were known for before 2019,” said Patrick Hoban, president of Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council in McLean County.
“We’re primarily an insurance and university town that’s just now seeing a rise in manufacturing. Rivian has ramped up from 300 to 8,000 employees, and I don’t think anyone realized how fast that was going to happen,” Hoban said.
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to rebuild American manufacturing, and he won handily in most areas hollowed out by the movement of factory jobs overseas. But the rebound Trump promises has already been underway in many places: McLean County is part of an unusually strong jump in manufacturing jobs between 2019 and 2023 — the first time manufacturing employment has recovered fully from a recession since the 1970s, according to a recent report from the Economic Innovation Group, a bipartisan public policy organization in Washington, D.C.
There were about 12.9 million manufacturing jobs in 2023, slightly more than in 2019. However, the number of manufacturing jobs has declined precipitously since the all-time peak in 1979, when there were 19.4 million of them and they were a much larger share of overall employment.
Joseph McCartin, a Georgetown University professor and labor history expert, said manufacturing has been on an upswing since 2010 as the nation started recovering from the Great Recession. The pandemic interrupted the trajectory, but the United States recently saw a hopeful increase in pay for the new jobs, he said, as the Biden administration aimed to increase both wages and jobs through the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
“The Biden administration tried to use policy to ensure that more of these would be union jobs or at least offer union-level wages,” McCartin said. “This approach is almost certainly dead due to the results of the election.”
Employers may have a hard time filling lower-paying manufacturing jobs such as meat processing if the new Trump administration deports the immigrants who fill them, said William Jones, a University of Minnesota history professor and former president of the Labor and Working Class History Association.
“These will be hard hit if Trump follows up on his deportation plan,” Jones said. “The political rhetoric is that a bunch of native-born workers will move into these jobs, that they’re getting squeezed out, but that’s actually not the case. Some of these industries are extremely dependent on immigrant labor.”
Where growth happened
Small urban areas such as McLean County got most of the increase in manufacturing jobs between 2019 and 2023, according to the Economic Innovation Group report. Rural areas lost those jobs, and large cities saw no change.
It was mostly Sun Belt and Western states that saw the increases during those years, according to a Stateline analysis of federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
The largest percentage changes in manufacturing jobs were in Nevada (up 14%), Utah (up 11%), and Arizona and Florida (each up 9%). The largest raw numbers of new manufacturing jobs were in Texas (up 48,200), Florida (up 35,100) and Georgia (up 22,900).
Southern states such as Alabama and Mississippi also have seen more automotive jobs as manufacturers have taken advantage of lower costs and state “right-to-work” laws that weaken unions. Vehicle manufacturing jumped by 7,800 in Alabama and 6,600 in Mississippi, the largest increases outside California.
Meanwhile, traditional Rust Belt states have seen continued declines, with manufacturing jobs down about 2% in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and also in Illinois — despite McLean County’s success.
Manufacturing is playing a critical role in Nevada as it tries to diversify its tourist-oriented economy so it can better weather downturns such as the one during the pandemic, said Steve Scheetz, research manager for the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development.
Automotive and other battery manufacturing and recycling, driven by electric carmaker Tesla and battery recycling firm Redwood Materials, account for much of the increase in Nevada manufacturing, Scheetz said.
As in Illinois, the job growth tended to be in smaller areas outside big cities, such as Storey County, just east of Reno, with a population of about 4,200.
“Fifteen years ago, this small county in rural Nevada was relatively unknown,” Scheetz said, adding that jobs and economic output has risen tenfold and the number of total jobs — including manufacturing — has grown from less than 4,000 to almost 16,000 in those 15 years. The county also is home to plants making building materials, industrial minerals and molded rubber, among other products.
The Biden administration focused on bringing more blue-collar jobs to small cities like Normal and Bloomington, said Jones, the University of Minnesota professor.
“Much of the growth is due to [President Joe] Biden’s manufacturing investments. There was a conscious strategy to focus on small towns to get the political benefit in places that tended to vote Republican,” said Jones.
If there was a play for political benefit, it got mixed results: Vice President Kamala Harris carried McLean County, Illinois, on Nov. 5, but she lost Storey County, Nevada, by the largest margin for a Democrat in 40 years.
Blue-collar wages
The decline of unions and the availability of cheaper labor overseas have dampened U.S. factory job wages in recent decades. Even so, manufacturing jobs remain an attractive path for blue-collar workers.
Manufacturing pay still ranks fairly high among the blue-collar fields at an average $34.42 per hour as of October — less than wages in energy ($39.98) or construction ($38.72), but considerably more than hospitality ($22.23) or retail ($24.76). That also was the case in 2019, and it has led many state and cities to seek more factory positions to balance out the lower-paying service jobs that have blossomed as manufacturing has waned.
But in the past year, state Republican leaders have pushed back on a burgeoning Southern labor movement that aims to bring higher wages and better benefits to blue-collar workers.
In Alabama, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed a new law in May that would claw back state incentives from companies that voluntarily recognize labor unions. GOP leaders in Georgia and Tennessee also passed laws pushing against a reinvigorated labor movement, viewing unions as a threat to the states’ manufacturing economies.
Much of the increase in Alabama manufacturing jobs has been in the northern part of the state, near Tennessee and Georgia. Since the pandemic began, Mazda Toyota Manufacturing came on line with the goal of hiring 4,000 vehicle production workers and another 2,000 in nearby parts factories as other manufacturers also boosted hiring. Private investment in Alabama automotive manufacturing totaled $7 billion over the same time frame, Stefania Jones, a spokesperson for state Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair, said in a statement to Stateline.
Supply-chain problems during the pandemic illustrated the advantages of American-made goods, said McCartin, the Georgetown University professor. However, without union support, today’s factory workers are unlikely to achieve the middle-class lifestyle enjoyed by earlier generations, he said.
“The growth of manufacturing itself is unlikely to become a panacea for what ails working-class America,” McCartin said.
Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a national nonprofit news organization focused on state policy.
Workers lower an R1T truck body onto a chassis in the assembly line, April 11, 2022, at the Rivian electric vehicle plant in Normal, Illinois. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS)
LONDON (AP) — If you’re tired of memorizing passwords, then give passkeys a try.
You might have noticed that many online services are now offering the option of using passkeys, a digital authentication method touted as an easier and more secure way to log in. The passkey push started gaining major momentum after Google started accepting them about 18 months ago.
Passkeys are seen as eventual replacements for passwords, but if you’re still not sure what they’re all about, read on:
What are passkeys? And how do they work?
Forget about memorizing an optimized 14 character password consisting of letters, numbers and symbols. Passkeys do away with that because you never need to see them. Instead you are using existing biometrics like your face or fingerprints, digital patterns or PINs to access your accounts.
Passkeys are made up of two parts of a code that only makes sense when they’re combined, kind of like a digital key and padlock. You keep half of the encrypted code, typically stored either in the cloud with a compatible password manager or on a physical security dongle. The other half is stored on the participating apps, services or accounts you want to access.
When you want to log in to your Gmail account, for example, both parts of the code will then communicate directly with each other and give you entry.
Do they offer better security?
A passkey won’t work with any website except the one it has been created for, eliminating the security risks associated with traditional passwords.
That means bad actors carrying out phishing scams won’t be able to trick you into entering your details into a copycat login page for your bank. And because passkeys use cryptographic security, they also can’t brute force their way into your account by trying passwords exposed in previous data breaches or guessing them.
Where can you use passkeys?
Some 20% of the world’s top 100 websites now accept passkeys, said Andrew Shikiar, CEO of the FIDO Alliance, an industry group that developed the core authentication technology behind passkeys.
Passkeys first came to the public’s attention when Apple added the technology to iOS in 2022. They got more traction after Google started using them in 2023. Now, many other companies including PayPal, Amazon, Microsoft and eBay work with passkeys. There’s a list on the FIDO Alliance website.
Still, some popular sites like Facebook and Netflix haven’t started using them yet.
Passkey technology is still in the “early adoption” phase but “it’s just a matter of time for more and more sites to start offering this,” Shikiar said.
How to set up a passkey
I tried setting up passkeys for some of the major online services I use. It was fairly easy for some but confusing for others. Shikiar said his group is constantly working on ways to improve the user experience.
Google users can go to myaccount.google.com and under “How to sign in to Google”, click Passkeys and security keys. Upon reaching the setup screen, I received a prompt to create a passkey while simultaneously my password manager’s browser plug-in popped up offering to save it. I clicked to confirm and the setup work was all done automatically.
So far, pretty easy.
Then, I tried adding more Google passkeys to my Windows-based work laptop and a Yubico physical security key. This time, when I got to the Google setup screen, it asked for my existing passkey to confirm my identity. But then it somehow failed to authenticate through my password manager.
I tried again using other verification methods, including my Google authenticator app that I already had on my iPhone, and it eventually succeeded.
Adding multiple passkeys to my Microsoft account — one on my password manager, another on my Yubico key — involved some head scratching over a few of the prompts, but I eventually figured it out.
Setting up passkeys on LinkedIn and Amazon was much easier. And when I attempted to add a passkey to my WhatsApp account, I discovered I had, apparently, already created one months earlier when I activated the app lock feature requiring a fingerprint scan.
Logging in
Once set up, it was a breeze to sign in to some of my accounts with just a click or two. But there was some friction with my PayPal account because its passkeys don’t work on some browsers, like Firefox.
When I tried to log in with my Amazon passkey, it asked for a one-time verification code from my authenticator app, which confused me because I thought passkeys were supposed to eliminate the need for multi-factor authentication.
Shikiar said it depends on the site, but, in theory, the passkey already has enough protection built in.
“When the primary factor’s un-phishable, other factors aren’t necessary,” he said.
What happens if I lose my passkey?
If you’ve lost the device containing your passkey, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s gone. That’s because the typical method to store passkeys on phones is a cloud-based password manager from Apple, Google, or third-party providers. So just log back into the password manager from another phone or computer.
Passkeys stored on security dongles, on the other hand, aren’t synced to the cloud so there’s no way to recover them if they’re lost. It’d be a good idea to get a second hardware key and keep it as a backup.
And don’t forget you can always mix both cloud and hardware methods to keep multiple passkeys for extra redundancy.
Should I add a passkeys to all my accounts?
Based on my experience, setting up a passkey can be easy, or tedious and bewildering, depending on the service and what other security technology you want to layer in.
So I wouldn’t recommend doing all your accounts right away.
Instead, choose a few of your most important and frequently used services or accounts and focus on a proper setup for those.
What about my passwords?
In theory, you could delete your old passwords. Some services like Microsoft already offer this option. Shikiar says it should be a “personal preference,” because “some people may feel extremely nervous” about going passwordless.
It’s fine to keep your password but make sure there’s also multi-factor authentication set up for it, he said.
Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
FILE – A person works on a laptop computer in Hudson, Wis., Nov. 16, 2022. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
As interest rates start to soften, you may hear more buzz about student loan refinancing as a way to lower your bills.
“Essentially, what it means is you are taking the debt that you owe and you are giving it to another company. They’re going to pay off the debt that you have with the company you currently work with, and then you’re going to pay this new company,” explains Kristen Ahlenius, director of education and advice at Your Money Line, a workplace financial wellness company.
For private loan borrowers who can qualify for a better interest rate, refinancing can shrink your student loan payments with little or no downside. But student loan refinancing comes with a steep opportunity cost if you have federal student loans — even if you can get a lower rate. You’ll transfer your debt from the Education Department to a private lender, and you’ll permanently forfeit federal borrower protections.
If you’re considering student loan refinancing, here’s what to know based on your loan type — plus alternate ways to lower your payments and get student debt relief.
Private student loan borrowers: Consider refinancing if you can save on your interest rate
A borrower with only private student loans is a good refi candidate, as long as they meet credit-worthiness guidelines, says Stanley Tate, a lawyer focused on student loans. Typically, you must have a stable source of income and a credit score at least in the high 600s to qualify for the lowest advertised rates.
Consider refinancing now if you can save at least half a percentage point on your current interest rate, Tate says. Keep an eye on rates even after you refinance — you can refinance multiple times if rates keep falling.
“You should be aggressive in monitoring your rates until you get to a really good rate,” Tate says. “We may not see 2% or 3% anytime soon, but 7.5% versus 8% is way better. It seems small, but over a 20-year loan, that adds up.”
Before deciding to refinance, research lenders and loan terms. A student loan refinancing calculator can help you compare options. Pay attention to all aspects of the loans you’re considering — not just the interest rate.
“Rate is what most people think of, but a lot of times, people don’t think, ‘What happens if I lose my job? Do I need a co-signer? What are the terms of this loan? When can it be in default? What are the collection terms? What are cases where the interest rate may go up or down in the future for this loan?’” says Jantz Hoffman, executive director of the Certified Student Loan Advisors Board of Standards, a nonprofit that trains financial planners to help their clients make student loan decisions. “And because they’re not uniform, those contracts and the language in those contracts matter.”
And if you’re having a positive experience with your current private student loan lender — no issues with autopay, the online portal or customer service — refinancing with a new lender might not be worth it.
“Just consider that sometimes that’s not always the experience,” Ahlenius says. “Unless there’s a significant cost savings, remember that that experience is also worth something.”
Federal student loan borrowers: Think twice before refinancing and forfeiting borrower protections
Refinancing is risky if you have federal student loans.
When you refinance federal student loans, the lender you choose pays off your remaining federal debt and issues a new private student loan. It’s a permanent move: You can never turn your private refinance loan back into a federal loan.
“That decision to give up federal loans for private loans is one that is oftentimes regretted by the borrower,” Hoffman says. “Once that decision is made, there is no ‘Whoops, I wish I would have stayed. I could have gotten Public Service Loan Forgiveness. I lost my job and need forbearance.’”
That’s true even if you can get a lower rate through refinance: “Even if a private refi is long-term cheaper for [borrowers], that opportunity cost of losing potential federal protections usually keeps people from moving to the private space,” Ahlenius says.
You also lose access to any future relief programs. For example, borrowers who refinanced their federal student loans before the pandemic did not benefit from the three-year interest-free payment pause that began in March 2020.
Exceptions when federal borrowers may consider refinancing
A high income, so IDR plans don’t offer a lower payment relative to the standard 10-year plan.
Steady employment, so you can be sure you won’t lose your job in the future and need temporary payment relief.
A good credit score, so you can qualify for the lowest advertised interest rates.
You don’t work as a teacher, nurse, government employee or other type of public servant, so you won’t qualify for 10-year Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
You are not working toward any other loan forgiveness programs, including IDR forgiveness.
Certain borrowers with federal parent PLUS loans may also be refi candidates, since these loans have higher interest rates than those doled out directly to students, Tate says.
“If you’re someone who is several years away from retirement, you’re a high earner and you have a fairly low loan balance in relation to your income, then refinancing can make sense, because you may not reach the [forgiveness] finish line before you would pay off the loan under the income-driven terms,” Tate says.
Flexible repayment plans. Income-driven repayment plans cap your monthly federal student loan bills based on your income and family size, to as low as $0. These plans are not typically available for private loans.
SAVE lawsuit forbearance. Due to SAVE lawsuits, borrowers enrolled in this federal loan repayment plan have an interest-free payment pause until at least April. If you’re not on SAVE, you can still get this forbearance if you apply for the plan now.
Deferment or forbearance. Temporarily postpone your federal student loan bills by asking your servicer for a deferment or forbearance. Some private lenders offer this option, too.
Federal loan consolidation. You can consolidate multiple federal student loans into a single loan and extend your repayment term up to 30 years, which can lower your monthly payment. Consolidation is different from refinancing, because your loans stay in the federal system and you won’t lose any federal borrower protections.
Set up autopay. Get a 0.25% interest point rate deduction by setting up automatic student loan payments through your servicer. If you have private loans, ask your lender about autopay benefits.
Reach out to your lender for personalized help. Do your research before calling your student loan servicer, explain your situation and ask about relief options available to you.
Consider refinancing private student loans if you can get a rate at least half a percentage point lower. If you have federal loans, think twice. (Getty Images)
Consumers broke up with cash during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it doesn’t appear that they’re rushing to reconcile.
Before the pandemic, Steffen Kaplan, a social media and visual consultant in the New York area, preferred using cash to credit cards. When we spoke in September 2020, he said cash helped him avoid overspending, but the coronavirus changed his spending habits.
“I don’t carry cash around with me anymore,” Kaplan said at the time. “Given that we have to remember to wear a mask, not touch anything, and go home and wash our hands every two minutes, it just seems easier to have a credit card rather than be fumbling around with cash,” he added.
Like Kaplan, more Americans shifted to digital payments amid the pandemic, and the number of consumers making the switch is projected to keep growing. According to the 2024 Global Payments Report by Worldpay, a payments technology company, digital wallets were the most popular method of payment for e-commerce in 2023, followed by credit cards. And for in-store purchases, credit and debit cards were consumers’ top choices. Cash accounted for just 12% of in-store payment methods in 2023, and Worldpay estimates it will drop to 8% in 2027.
But for some, contactless payments also come with added overspending risks. “When you are used to a cash-based spending system, it’s extremely easy to overspend when you don’t physically ‘see’ yourself spending the money,” says Eric Simonson, certified financial planner and owner of Abundo Wealth.
If you’ve made the switch to digital payments, but you also want to make sure to avoid debt, here are some strategies.
Try to pay off your credit card balance each month
Paying off your credit card balance each month isn’t always possible. In fact, among those who carry a balance, the average for households is around $21,541, as of June 2024, according to NerdWallet research.
But avoiding such rotating balances is a good goal because credit card debt is so expensive.
“It’s important for those making a transition to credit cards to understand the Sisyphean challenge of getting out of credit card debt,” says Sam Boyd, a certified financial planner and founder of Confido Advice & Investments, a financial planning firm, citing the generally high interest rates on credit cards. According to the Federal Reserve, the average credit card APR among those assessing interest is 23.37% as of August 2024.
Treat your credit card like a debit card, and try not to charge more than you can afford to fully pay off in one billing cycle. One way to guard against it is to pay off purchases immediately after you make them, rather than waiting until the end of the month and having to pay one lump sum.
Give yourself limits
Simonson suggests setting a low credit limit on your credit card if you’re worried about overspending. “Set your credit limit for just above what you normally spend each month on groceries,” he advises.
The downside to doing that is that using more than 30% of your credit limit can hurt your credit score, and it also means you can’t rely on the card in an emergency if you need to purchase more than normal. But the strategy does help keep you from overspending.
He also notes that many credit card companies offer a service where you can be texted as you are approaching your credit limit. “It’s a good idea to turn this on if you are new to using a credit card, to keep track of where you are with your spending throughout the month,” he says.
Jodie Kelley, CEO of the Electronic Transactions Association, says consumers can also stick with debit cards or prepaid cards, which can be added to digital wallets.
Here are a few other ways to set parameters on your credit card spending:
Lock your credit card when it’s not in use, unlocking it strategically for specific purchases.
Consider a card with guardrails. Some financial technology companies like Chime and Varo offer secured cards where you set a spending limit by choosing how much money to move from your bank account to an account tied to the card.
Review your spending regularly
AnnaMarie Mock, a CFP based in Wayne, New Jersey, says there’s nothing wrong with primarily using credit cards as long as you are aware of your spending. “Regularly monitoring and comparing your actual purchases with your budget is critical to identifying any areas where you may be unknowingly overspending,” she says.
Monitoring can be done through apps that track transactions, through your account online or on your bank’s app, or with pen and paper. “Find a method that works for you,” she urges.
Kaplan carefully tracked all of his receipts. “If I come home with anything I bought, [my wife] reminds me or I remember that receipts go right on the desk and then she logs them. There has to be a system in place,” he says, “or you risk being surprised by an extra $200 on your credit card bill.”
If it helps, keep using cash
For some people, cash is a good budgeting tool because “you can’t spend what you don’t have. Once you run out of cash, that’s the end of spending for the month,” says David Tente, executive director at the ATM Industry Association.
When you’re using credit cards, on the other hand, you can keep spending up to your credit limit — but then you’re on the hook to pay it back.
Tracking your spending, using prepaid cards and setting low credit limits can prevent you from spending money you don’t have when using digital payment methods. (Getty Images)
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving — this year, Nov. 29 — and it has typically been the kickstart to the holiday shopping season. Hundreds of retailers launch special in-store and online sales that are meant to encourage shoppers to check items off their list.
Black Friday is a time when businesses are able to move from “the red” (operating at a loss) to “the black” (making a profit). While Black Friday has a rich history, this narrative began in the 1980s and has stuck with the holiday ever since.
Predicting Black Friday trends
You can count on Black Friday sales to deliver intense competition and widespread discounts that stand out from other times of the year. Here’s what else to expect this shopping season.
Record-high holiday spending
The National Retail Federation estimates that winter holiday spending during November and December could reach $989 billion, a record high and up from $955.6 billion in 2023.
Shoppers will spend an average of $902 on “core holiday spending,” with $641 going toward gifts and $261 for seasonal items, the federation said on an Oct. 30 media call.
But that doesn’t mean shoppers are necessarily buying more, says Mark Bergen, professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota.
Because of inflation, “you could be spending more even though you’re buying less,” Bergen says.
Becoming a “better shopper” this holiday season “doesn’t necessarily mean I spend less,” Bergen says. “It means I spend more wisely or spend differently.”
Some shoppers will probably account for rising costs in their budget by spending money on different items — maybe a store brand rather than a name brand or shopping at a discount store instead of a major retailer, says Bergen.
Early Black Friday sales
Speaking of major retailers, many of them are starting their sales earlier in the month.
Costco, Best Buy, Sam’s Club, Target and Walmart all have sales or deals that have either already started, or will start by Nov. 21. Deals this year are also more likely to extend past Black Friday weekend, some into December.
Special access for members
“A big shift this holiday season will be that many of the really big promotions are going to be member driven,” Bergen says. Store memberships — which range from the free Target Circle program to paid programs such as Walmart+, warehouse memberships and Amazon Prime — can unlock special deals, early access and other benefits this holiday season.
Why this special privilege for members when Black Friday deals used to be for everyone?
“Because of inflation, companies have become more sophisticated in their ability to raise prices,” Bergen says. “Part of that has been their realization that they can raise the average prices but give more targeted discounts to their members.”
The bottom line: Taking account of your memberships might make a difference for your budget this holiday season.
A rise in social media-inspired shopping
While retail heavy-hitters will be a go-to for many shoppers, social media platforms will also be popular places to shop, especially for younger generations.
“Facebook Marketplace and TikTok Shop are leading in intentional purchases, while Facebook and Instagram remain popular for more casual browsing,” Janelle Sallenave, Chime’s chief spending officer, said in an email interview. Her observations come from data from Chime’s 2024 “Spendfluence report.”
“Each platform appeals differently to its users: Facebook Marketplace attracts those searching for specific items, like furniture, while TikTok Shop engages trend-seekers,” Sallenave said.
But not all purchases are planned.
“One of the biggest takeaways from our Spendluence report is that ‘just browsing’ leads to a purchase for 99% of Americans with consumers spending an average of $168 on social media shopping in the past six months alone,” Sallenave said.
“This is a good reminder for holiday shoppers to be cautious and intentional with their spending, as platforms and brands will likely ramp up their ads and promotions.”
Store policies that benefit shoppers
Retailers really cater to shoppers during the holiday season. Here’s what you can expect this year:
Expanded store hours: Opening early and closing late gives people the flexibility to stop into stores and make purchases around their busy schedules. For example, Best Buy will be closed on Thanksgiving, but the retailer is extending its store hours during the rest of the season. Check your local retailer to find out specific details for their policies that typically run through Dec. 24.
Smooth and extended return policies: Retailers know that shoppers will probably be making returns after the holidays and want to make it easier. For example, at Best Buy, most items purchased from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 can be returned through Jan. 14, 2025. However most policies have some caveats — such as requiring receipts for returns or excluding items bought from third party sellers — that shoppers should be aware of.
Robust price matching: For example, Target will price match its competitors on items bought within a 14-day window and match its own prices if they drop during the designated window (Nov. 7 through Dec. 24). There are a few notable outliers: Neither Amazon nor Walmart have special holiday price matching policies. Walmart’s current policy doesn’t even match special event prices from its own website, Walmart.com, or match prices from third party sellers.
Tips for shopping during anxious times
Some shoppers might feel uneasy heading into Black Friday this year. The holiday shopping season comes on the heels of a highly contested presidential election, a series of natural disasters and rising costs that have stretched budgets.
These outside forces are stressful and exhausting, which are emotions that affect your spending habits. You may be more likely to make mistakes and be more vulnerable to impulsive decisions when you’re feeling this way.
“Try to shop earlier in the day, when you’re less tired,” Bergen says.
He also recommends waiting a night, if possible, before making a big purchase. Even as retailers rely on one-day deals and lightning sales to draw you in, being rested can clarify your shopping and spending goals and help you stay on track.
With the election over and the holidays approaching, I want to discuss an issue that could affect us all. Especially at a time when so many families will be spending time in busy airports. I’m referring to financial fraud.
Years ago, when writing physical checks was more prevalent, a criminal somehow got hold of my checking account number and had checks made with what was almost my name on it. Instead of Ken, the name on the checks were Kendra.
The sheriff’s department did a great job investigating. They even watched hours of in-store surveillance videos. My bank also did a fantastic job, and at the end of the day I didn’t lose a cent. The fraudulent perpetrator, however, was not caught.
Things are different in today’s high-tech world. Criminals have become far more sophisticated.
While dining at a local restaurant recently, my wife and I decided to apply for a frequent diner card. The staff was hands-on trying to help us register on our cell phones. We tried to input two different credit cards during the process. After the fifth failed attempt, I concluded that it just wasn’t meant to be.
The staff was sincerely trying to help, but I wondered afterward if it was a good idea to display our credit cards so openly. Were we being too trustworthy? In retrospect, we probably were.
The following day, I came across “State of Scams,” a biannual report issued by Visa. It stated, “there has been a resurgence in physical theft in the last six months, with criminals buying gift cards or physical products using stolen payment info that can be resold or using the card number for money transfers”.
Nonetheless, I prefer using a credit card over a debit card; it’s one way to protect yourself. With a credit card, the card issuer is liable. With a debit card, your own money is on the line, which means you are likely on the hook.
The Visa report used the term “digital pickpocketing”, a term I was not familiar with. Nowadays at the checkout, you no longer have to insert your credit card. You simply have to tap it. It’s very convenient for you, but it’s also convenient for the fraudsters.
Because the same technology that lets you tap, lets them extract information from your card. They just have to get close to your wallet or purse to do so. In a crowded environment, that’s a piece of cake. It’s like having someone picking your pocket without even using their hand.
Ken Morris. (Provided)
There are also a lot of fraudulent websites out there. I recommend that you not transact any business on a website unless you’re absolutely certain it’s legitimate. You could be putting both your money and your sensitive data at risk. As for websites you know and confidently use regularly, many require two-factor authorization. That’s a very good idea.
Most people are naturally trustworthy, so it’s difficult for them to comprehend just how sophisticated the criminal element has become. It’s vital to keep your guard up at all times, but even that might not be enough.
Criminals are increasingly shrewd and devious and will go to any length to access your personal financial data. Please do your best to make that very difficult for them. Don’t become a victim.
Email your questions to kenmorris@lifetimeplanning.com
Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. Society for Lifetime Planning is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS. https://kestrafinancial.com/disclosures
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regard to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results.
A credit card is placed into a credit card machine for processing payments on September 11, 2023 in La Puente, California. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
It’s nearly the end of the year and a majority of Americans have regrets about their money moves, or lack thereof, in 2024. Whether they set New Year’s resolutions that didn’t work out, or just thought they’d be further ahead than they are now, a new NerdWallet survey, conducted in Oct. 2024 by The Harris Poll, finds that 69% of Americans have financial regrets for 2024.
The youngest adult generation — Gen Z (ages 18-27) — is most likely to be remorseful about money this year. Nearly 9 in 10 Gen Zers (89%) say they have financial regrets for 2024, compared to 80% of millennials (ages 28-43), 73% of Gen Xers (ages 44-59) and just 46% of baby boomers (ages 60-78).
Among the top regrets are not saving, overspending and not working on credit score improvement.
If you count yourself among those with regrets, here are some actions you can take starting today to avoid such remorse next year and beyond.
Regret: Not saving for emergencies and financial goals
Nearly 3 in 10 Americans (29%) regret not saving for emergencies and 27% regret not saving enough for their financial goals, like retirement or a down payment on a home, this year.
Take action: Set up automatic transfers to a savings account. Many of us try to save by seeing what we have leftover at the end of the month and transferring that over to savings. But with an endless array of things and experiences to spend on, it takes an immense amount of willpower to end the month with a chunk of money to throw into savings. Instead, flip the order by automating your savings first, and spending what’s leftover.
This could mean setting up a transfer between your checking account and savings account once a month or on each payday. Or, you could see if your employer allows you to set up direct deposit to multiple accounts and send an amount or percentage of your paycheck straight to savings without the detour to your checking account.
Regret: Overspending on entertainment
A quarter of Americans (25%) regret overspending on entertainment, like dining out and recreation, this year. This is a more common regret for Gen Zers (35%) and millennials (32%) than Gen Xers (25%) and baby boomers (14%).
Take action: Set a limit on your outings, not your spending. If setting a budget for the amount you have to spend on entertainment isn’t working out for you, try giving yourself a set amount of outings. For example, instead of “I have to keep my dining out under $200 this month” try “I can go out to dinner twice a week.” Or instead of “I need to make coffee at home more often” try “I can go out for coffee on Fridays.”
This intentional planning can help you prioritize which outings are more important to you — like choosing to forgo takeout on a Tuesday in order to meet friends at a restaurant on Thursday — and will likely lead to lower spending as well. Try it out for the remainder of 2024: Track your spending during this period to determine whether this approach was more effective for you than budgeting a specific amount.
Regret: Neglecting their credit score
More than 1 in 5 Americans (21%) regret not improving their credit in 2024.
Take action: Ensure your payments are on time and your credit utilization is in check. Generally there are five main factors that go into calculating your score, but on time payments and credit utilization are the most important ones. On time payments are self-explanatory and you can ensure you pay on time, every time, by setting up automatic payments or reminders to pay your bills by the due date.
Credit utilization is the percentage of credit you’re using at any given time, both per loan account and overall. So let’s say you have two credit cards with limits of $10,000 and $5,000 and balances of $2,000 and $4,000, respectively. This would make the first card’s utilization 20%, the second card’s utilization 80%, and the overall utilization 40%.
While the long-term goal should be avoiding carrying credit card debt from month to month, you might choose to strategically pay down the second card faster than the first to get its utilization rate lower in service of your credit score. A general, though contested, rule of thumb is to keep utilization below 30%, but we say the lower, the better.
If your credit score is suffering despite making on time payments and keeping utilization low, there may be an error on your credit reports. Pull your reports from annualcreditreport.com for free and make sure there aren’t mistakes bringing down your score.
The complete survey methodology is available in the original article, published at NerdWallet.
If you’re retired or planning to retire soon, it’s important to have a plan for your retirement income. For most people, Social Security will play a significant role in this plan, so staying up to date on the latest benefits information is crucial.
The Social Security Administration recently announced several key changes to the program for 2025, including its annual cost of living adjustment (COLA). Here are some key changes to Social Security happening next year – and what you need to know.
Watch for these 5 changes to Social Security in 2024
More than 72.5 million people depend on one of Social Security’s benefit programs, so annual changes to the program and its payouts are always highly anticipated.
This year’s cost-of-living adjustment is lower than last year’s 3.2 percent increase. Still, any additional income is a welcome boost for beneficiaries who live on fixed incomes. (If you need help developing a plan for your retirement income, you may want to consider hiring a financial advisor.)
1. Cost of living adjustment rises
The SSA has announced that benefit checks will rise 2.5 percent in 2025. The 2.5 percent adjustment will amount to an average increase of $50 in monthly benefits for retired workers on Social Security beginning in January.
Specifically, the average check for retired workers will increase from $1,927 to $1,976. For a couple with both partners receiving benefits, the estimated payment will increase from $3,014 to $3,089.
The SSA has linked COLA adjustments to the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W) since 1975. To determine the COLA, the SSA compares the third-quarter CPI-W of the previous year to the third-quarter CPI-W of the current year. The COLA is then adjusted based on the percentage change in CPI-W from one year to the next.
2. Maximum taxable earnings going up
In 2024, the maximum earnings subject to Social Security taxes was $168,600. This means workers paying into the system are taxed on wages up to this amount, typically at the 6.2 percent rate. In 2025, the maximum earnings will increase to $176,100, meaning more of a worker’s income will be subject to the tax. This adjustment is due to an increase in average wages in the U.S.
3. Maximum Social Security benefit also set to increase
The maximum Social Security benefit for a worker retiring at full retirement age will increase from $3,822 in 2024 to $4,018 in 2025. This maximum applies to those retiring at the full retirement age, which is 67 for anyone born after 1960.
The maximum benefit will be lower for those who retire before the full retirement age because benefits are reduced in such cases. On the flip side, those who retire after the full retirement age can increase their maximum benefit by delaying retirement.
4. Average benefit for spouses and disabled workers is increasing, too
The average benefit will increase across the board in 2025, and that includes benefits for people such as widows, widowers and the disabled. Here’s how those figures break out:
The SSA says the average widowed mother with two children will see an increase from $3,669 to $3,761.
Aged widows and widowers living alone will see their benefits increase from $1,788 to $1,832.
The benefit will increase for a disabled worker with a spouse and one or more children from $2,757 to $2,826.
5. Social Security adjusts earnings test exempt amounts
If you receive Social Security retirement benefits before reaching full retirement age, the program may reduce your benefits if your earnings exceed certain limits. This is known as the retirement earnings test, and it can claim a serious chunk of your benefits if you are still working. In 2025, the retirement earnings test exempt amounts will be as follows:
If you start collecting Social Security before full retirement age, you can earn up to $1,950 per month ($23,400 per year) in 2025 before the SSA will start withholding benefits, at the rate of $1 in benefits for every $2 above the limit. In 2024, the maximum exempt earnings were $1,860 per month ($22,320 per year).
In the year you reach full retirement age, this rule still applies but only up until the month you hit full retirement age and with much more forgiving terms. In 2025, you can earn up to $5,180 per month ($62,160 per year) before benefits are withheld, at the rate of $1 in benefits for every $3 earned above the limit (instead of every $2). In 2024, the threshold was $4,960 per month ($59,520 per year).
Bottom line
The 2025 Social Security COLA provides retirees and others with an increase in their benefits. However, this isn’t the only change to the program. Other levels and thresholds have also been adjusted to reflect ongoing cost increases.
Login
