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The rising cost of college and ballooning student loan balances have caused more students to take a closer look at the return on investment.
Earning a degree is almost always worthwhile, research shows, but some majors pay off more than others.

For decades, research has showed that earning a degree is almost always worthwhile.
Recent college graduates working full-time earn $24,000 more a year than those with just a high school diploma, according to newly released data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Additionally, finishing college puts workers on track to earn a median of $2.8 million over their lifetime, compared with $1.6 million if they only had a high school degree, according to “The College Payoff,” a report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

In general, bachelor’s degree holders earn 75% more over their career, the report found — and, in many cases, the higher the level of educational attainment, the larger the payoff.
However, a lot still depends on the choice of major, research also shows.

College majors with the highest and lowest return

A recent study published in the American Educational Research Journal found that engineering and computer science majors provide the highest returns in lifetime earnings, followed by business, health, and math and science majors. Education and humanities majors and arts majors had the lowest returns of the 10 fields of study considered.
“Our cost-benefit analysis finds that on average a college degree offers better returns than the stock market,” said Liang Zhang, a professor of higher education at the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and co-author of the study. “However, there are significant differences across college majors.”

Overall, the researchers found that the benefits of higher education have held up, even as enrollment has declined and the labor market outcomes for those without a college degree have improved, Zhang said.
The analysis took into account wage differentials between college and high school graduates as well as other factors, including tuition and financial aid and the opportunity cost of deferring full-time entry into the workplace. 
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Students who pursue a major specifically in science, technology, engineering and math — collectively known as STEM disciplines — are projected to earn the most overall, the Georgetown Center also found.
In addition to STEM, health and business majors are among the highest-paying, leading to average annual wages that are higher at the entry level and significantly greater over the course of a career compared with liberal arts and humanities majors.
For workers with a bachelor’s degree, education was the lowest-earning field of study, followed by psychology and social work, and the arts.
“Students need professional guidance on the economic outcomes of college and career pathways before they make one of the biggest decisions of their lives,” Ban Cheah, a senior economist at the Center on Education and the Workforce and co-author of the report, said in a statement.

Students question the value of college

Between the sky-high cost and student loan burden, more students are taking a closer look at college’s return on investment.
Most Americans still agree that a college education is worthwhile when it comes to career goals and advancement. However, only half think the economic benefits outweigh the costs, according to a report by Public Agenda, USA Today and Hidden Common Ground — and young adults are particularly skeptical. More

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The U.S. Federal Reserve will likely cut interest rates by a cumulative 0.75 percentage points to 1 point in 2024, investment strategists said Wednesday.
The Fed will likely achieve a so-called “soft landing” as it navigates interest rate policy, they said.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell prepares to testify before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on March, 7 2024. 
Kent Nishimura | Getty Images News | Getty Images

West Palm Beach, Fla. — The U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to start cutting interest rates by the end of second quarter despite recent “hotter than expected” inflation data, according to Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco.
The U.S. economy is also likely to dodge recession as the Fed calibrates interest-rate policy, she and other strategists said Wednesday at Financial Advisor Magazine’s annual Invest in Women conference in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The Fed has raised borrowing costs for consumers and businesses to rein in high inflation during the pandemic era. That has pushed up rates for mortgages, credit cards, auto loans and other forms of lending.

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Inflation has declined significantly from its peak in mid-2022. However, it’s still well above the Fed’s 2% target level.
The question has become, at what point — and how quickly — does the central bank start to cut rates in order to avoid plunging the economy into a downturn?
Fed chair Jerome Powell said last week that the Fed may not be far off from throttling back.
Despite hotter-than-expected inflation data issued this week, the central bank is likely to start reducing borrowing costs by the end of June, with cumulative cuts of 0.75 percentage points or 1 point in 2024, Hooper said.

History may be a guiding principle, she said. The Fed last raised interest rates in summer 2023; in prior interest-rate-hiking cycles, the Fed began cutting rates about 8½ months later, Hooper said.
Jenny Johnson, president and CEO of Franklin Templeton, also expects the central bank to begin cutting rates this year, though in the second half of 2024 at Fed policy meetings in July or September.
Forecasts have changed from prior months.
Moira McLachlan, senior investment strategist in AllianceBernstein’s wealth strategies group, said the firm had earlier expected five or six cumulative rate cuts this year, but now expects three or four.

The firm’s “base case” is cumulative cuts of 1 percentage point in 2024, she said Wednesday.
Strategists expect the U.S. to dodge a recession as it navigates interest-rate policy, experiencing what’s known in economic parlance as a “soft landing.”
“A soft landing is our best guess in terms of where we’re going to be,” McLachlan said.
“We’re likely to avoid a recession,” Hooper echoed.
“I do worry [the Fed] may be too late to start cutting,” she said. More

Former President Donald Trump has renewed his support for tariffs, which are taxes levied on imported goods from another country.
Trump has proposed a baseline 10% tariff on all U.S. imports and a levy of 60% or higher on imported Chinese products.

This combination of pictures created on February 17, 2024, shows U.S. President Joe Biden waving from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 1, 2023, and former President Donald Trump waving to the media outside the White House on Jan. 12, 2021.
Jim Watson | Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images

As President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump secure enough delegates to clinch their party nominations, policy experts are weighing how proposed tariffs could affect American consumers.
While the Trump campaign hasn’t released many tax policy specifics, he has renewed his support for tariffs, which are taxes levied on imported goods from another country.

“I’m a big believer in tariffs,” Trump said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” suggesting that he’s likely to reinstitute duties if elected for a second term.
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During this first term from 2017 to 2021, Trump added a variety of tariffs to bolster U.S. industries, including levies on China, Mexico and the European Union, among others. The Biden administration has maintained some of those tariffs.
“Here’s an area where the candidates are actually pretty similar — first what Trump imposed and then what Biden maintained,” said Erica York, a senior economist and research manager with the Tax Foundation’s Center for Federal Tax Policy.
“That’s an area to pay attention to,” she added. 

How tariffs could affect Americans consumers

While the Biden campaign hasn’t released specifics on tariffs, Trump has proposed a baseline 10% tariff on all U.S. imports and a levy of 60% or higher on Chinese goods.
“That would be a massive escalation in import taxes and have some really negative ramifications,” York said.
For example, a study from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that 2018 U.S. tariffs cost the typical household $419 per year.
The 10% tariff would raise taxes on U.S. consumers by more than $300 billion a year and could cause “retaliatory tax increases on U.S. exports from international trade partners,” according to the Tax Foundation.

“When Trump was president, he always talked about China paying this tax, but China doesn’t pay it” because American companies pass the added expense to shareholders, workers and consumers, said Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
“If President Trump raises tariffs on imported goods, it means inevitably that American consumers are going to pay more” for both imported and domestic products, he said.
While critics warn that higher tariffs could add to inflation, the consumer price index didn’t exceed the historic average during Trump’s first term.

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While inflation in February was still higher than the Federal Reserve’s target, there are categories where prices are coming down.
Here’s where prices fell year over year in popular consumer categories.

A customer shops for food at a grocery store in San Rafael, California, March 12, 2024.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The U.S. is still grappling with higher inflation, government data released this week shows.
But there are some bright spots for consumers. Inflation is lower than its 2022 peak. And prices are actually falling in some categories, which is known as deflation.

Overall, the U.S. is in a disinflationary process, a slowdown in inflation. This “does not mean prices have come down, it just means that they are increasing at a slower rate,” said Brett House, an economics professor at Columbia Business School.
The consumer price index — which tracks the overall change in prices consumers pay for goods and services — was up 0.4% in February and 3.2% versus a year ago, according to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday.
“It is reasonable that people continue to be frustrated by high prices,” House said.
While inflation is an overall increase in prices, that doesn’t mean all prices go up, said Eugenio Aleman, chief economist at Raymond James.
“Some prices go up, some prices go down,” Aleman said. “But on average, they go up.”

In February, the CPI data shows, certain categories of goods and services actually saw year-over-year declines.

At the top of that list is eggs, which saw a 17% decline over the preceding 12 months as of February.
Egg prices are an example of “deep deflation” — where prices are falling dramatically, Aleman said.
Egg prices are an anomaly compared with other categories, since their increases were driven by an avian flu that led to a shortage, he noted.
Other categories that saw year-over-year double-digit declines include health insurance, which was down 19.7%; laundry equipment, which fell 11.3%; and car and truck rentals, which declined by 10%.
Categories of goods and services that were popular during the Covid pandemic and in its immediate aftermath also saw declines, including televisions, furniture, airline fares, and hotel and motel rates.
Used cars and trucks saw year-over-year declines after a very large increase in prices because of the inability to access new cars due to supply chain issues.
“There are sectors that have their own reasons why they are in deflation,” Aleman said.
While consumers may hope prices will subside back to pre-Covid levels, that is not going to happen, Aleman said.
“The biggest reason for that is because salaries and wages have been coming up,” Aleman said.
Real wages — defined as wages adjusted for inflation — are higher overall today than they were in 2019.

Inflation fight ‘won’t be a straight line’

While the Federal Reserve is expected to start lowering interest rates after a series of hikes to curb inflation, experts say that may not happen imminently, based on the February CPI results.
The central bank is aiming for 2% inflation, and typically looks to another inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures price index, which was up 2.8% from a year ago in January.
“We’re getting numbers that I think are broadly consistent with the Fed’s messaging that said it would not be a straight line” to reach its 2% inflation target, Columbia’s House said.
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The Federal Reserve will pay particular attention to core inflation — the change in the costs of goods and services excluding food and energy sectors. Core inflation came in higher than anticipated in February and was up 0.4% for the month and 3.8% for the past 12 months.
“It’s going to be a slow process to bring down inflation,” Aleman said.
High inflation is not unique to the U.S. Global headline inflation is expected to fall to 5.8% in 2024 and 4.4% in 2025, the International Monetary Fund said in January.
However, some countries have much higher inflation rates. In Argentina, the 12-month inflation rate, through February, rose to 276.2%. People who live there tend to take steps to protect the value of their money when they get paid, such as by converting to dollars or depositing it in bank accounts earning short-term interest, Aleman said. More

Social media has put a new spin on keeping up with the Joneses.
Exposure to glorified lifestyles online has left many people, especially young adults, feeling financially inadequate, even if they’re doing relatively well, reports show.

Overwhelming evidence suggests social media has a negative impact on self-esteem.
That’s not only true for how people feel about their appearance and social status but also their financial wellbeing and economic standing.

A new term, “money dysmorphia,” aims to describe the distorted view of their finances that nearly one-third, or 29%, of Americans say they now experience, according to a recent report by Credit Karma, often from comparing their financial situation to others’ and feeling inadequate.
“Money dysmorphia is kind of like today’s version of keeping up with the Joneses,” said Courtney Alev, consumer financial advocate at Credit Karma.
Not surprisingly, money dysmorphia is even more prevalent among younger generations, according to Credit Karma. Roughly 43% of Gen Z and 41% of millennials struggle with comparisons to others and feel behind financially.
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“This has been a problem for a very long time but social media has taken it to a whole new level,” said  Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner and founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida.

Many of those who experience money dysmorphia have above-average savings, Credit Karma also found. However, they are also likely to admit to being obsessed with the idea of being rich.
There is a “distortion between perception and reality,” Alev said.

Only 14% of Americans consider themselves wealthy

That feeling of being well off is increasingly elusive, almost regardless of how much money you have, a separate report by Edelman Financial Engines also found.
The average household’s net worth has soared in recent years, rising 37% between 2019 and 2022, according to the survey of consumer finances from the Federal Reserve.
Still, only 14% of Americans would consider themselves wealthy, according to Edelman Financial Engines, and the bar is only getting increasingly out of reach. In fact, more than half of Americans earning more than $100,000 a year say they live paycheck to paycheck, another report by LendingClub found.
A prolonged period of high inflation and instability has chipped away at most consumers’ buying power and confidence. Instagram is also partly to blame.
“What we found was a really strong connection between feeling badly about your money situation and how much time you spend on social media,” said Isabel Barrow, the director of financial planning at Edelman Financial Engines.

Roughly one-quarter of consumers feel less satisfied with the amount of money they have because of social media, the Edelman Financial Engines study also found. That can even lead some to overspend on such big-ticket items as a vacation, home renovation or luxury good because of the pressure to keep up with the “digital Joneses.”
Barrow, who recently deleted her own Instagram account, advises others to spend less time on social media and remove any payment details stored online to help create “purchase hurdles” that force you to think through buying decisions.
“Sometimes you have to set up guardrails for yourself,” she said.
Then address the financial psychology, added McClanahan, who also is a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council.
“There’s this perception that you have to portray yourself as successful and that means having an expensive watch or nice car and that is so untrue,” she said. “You have to make sure you are happy. Stuff isn’t going to make you happy.”
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The Biden administration’s new student loan bankruptcy policy is making it easier for borrowers to walk away from their debt in court, attorneys say.
“We have gotten forgiveness for a number of clients under the new bankruptcy changes,” said Malissa Giles, a consumer bankruptcy lawyer in Virginia. “The discharge is life changing.”

Bankruptcy Court. Dayton, Ohio. 
Stanrohrer | E+ | Getty Images

The Biden administration’s new student loan bankruptcy policy is making it easier for borrowers to walk away from their debt in court, attorneys say.
“We have gotten forgiveness for a number of clients under the new bankruptcy changes,” said Malissa Giles, a consumer bankruptcy lawyer in Virginia. “The discharge is life changing for them and their families.”

In the fall of 2022, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice jointly released updated bankruptcy guidelines aimed at making the process for student loan borrowers less arduous.
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Previously, it was difficult, if not impossible, for most people to part with their education debt in a normal bankruptcy proceeding.
Amid concerns that students would rack up debts for their education and then try to ditch their obligations, policymakers over the years had added extra stipulations for the discharge of student loans in bankruptcy. Borrowers needed to prove “undue hardship,” or a “certainty of hopelessness,” and government lawyers battled most of the requests.

The Biden administration’s updated policy now treats student loans more like other types of debt in bankruptcy court, experts say. Student loan borrowers can fill out a 15-page form, detailing their financial struggles and making their case for a mulligan.

“While the government used to fight discharge aggressively in almost every case, there is now a policy to agree when the borrower can show financial need and a history of good faith efforts to pay the loans,” said Latife Neu, a bankruptcy lawyer in Seattle.
“I’ve helped several people take advantage of the expanded ability to discharge their student loans in bankruptcy,” Neu added.

Student loan borrowers have other options for relief

While borrowers in extreme financial distress may benefit from the more lenient rules, most people should try to avoid bankruptcy, experts say.
Depending on the type of bankruptcy you pursue, that information can stay on your credit report for up to 10 years, making it a challenge to buy a house, apply for other types of loans and even to rent an apartment.
Most borrowers should look for other relief options instead, said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
Federal student loan borrowers have several ways to reduce their debt burden, including income-based plans with $0 monthly payments and economic hardship and unemployment deferments. There are also loan relief opportunities for borrowers with disabilities and cancer.

Lastly, after President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt was struck down at the Supreme Court, the president started a new effort to forgive education debt. One of the groups that may qualify are those in financial hardship.
As a result, Kantrowitz said, borrowers might want to wait and see what relief the government is able to deliver before they pursue bankruptcy. The Biden administration may announce its revised forgiveness package as soon as November.
Struggling borrowers who are still considering bankruptcy should talk with a nonprofit credit counselor before they file, he said.

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Consumers still grappled with price growth in February, new government data shows.
Here’s which goods and services went up the most.

Shoppers are seen in a Kroger supermarket in Atlanta on Oct. 14, 2022.
Elijah Nouvelage | AFP | Getty Images

Consumers continued to contend with higher inflation in February, according to new government data.
The consumer price index — an inflation measure that tracks changes in the prices of consumer goods and services over time — rose 3.2% from a year ago and 0.4% in February, according to monthly data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Inflation is down from its hottest point in 2022, but is still warm, considering the Federal Reserve’s 2% inflation target. While Americans’ optimism about the economy has improved, many still say that price increases have caused financial hardship, a recent Gallup poll round.
February’s monthly rise was mostly due to increases in gasoline and shelter, according to Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate. Yet food prices overall were flat for the month.

While there has been progress bringing year-over-year headline and core inflation down, there could be some stalling of that progress in the near term, said David Doyle, head of economics at Macquarie, pointing to the spikes in gas and shelter.
“There is more room to fight on the inflation battle,” Doyle said. “And there’s a bit further to go before everyone goes out and declares victory.”

Where inflation was high in February

Certain items have seen double-digit increases in prices year over year, including juices and drinks, up 27.2%, and motor vehicle insurance, with 20.6%.

Drivers also contended with increased prices for motor vehicle repair, up 8.5% year over year. Meanwhile, though gas prices were down 4.2% year over year, they were up 4.1% for the month.
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Certain consumer services, such as admissions to sporting events and tax return preparation, were up 11% and 9.8%, respectively.

Why Americans still feel financial strain

Inflation in the CPI has subsided since its 9.1% peak in 2022. Real wages are on the rise, said Hamrick, which means people are seeing wages adjusted for inflation.
Yet inflation has risen a total of 20% since before the pandemic, Hamrick said. So while those higher wages restore some of what was lost in purchasing power, it is not a full replacement, he said.
“There’s still this sense of having lost something, because purchasing power was truly lost in that transition,” Hamrick said.

One important gauge that shows the economy is strong — the unemployment rate — has been below 4% for the longest stretch since the 1960s, he said.
However, for those laid off as companies shed thousands of jobs in recent months, the employment market may not feel strong. Likewise, inflation may hit some people harder than others. Those experiences tend to shape how people feel about the economy, Hamrick said.
An upward inflection will not feel great for consumers, Doyle said, and also points to a longer time before the Federal Reserve starts to cut rates.
“That doesn’t mean that we’re still not in a disinflationary process,” Doyle said.

When interest rates may subside

One factor that affects how well Americans are doing — for better or for worse — is interest rates.
When it comes to savings, there’s the opportunity to get the highest returns on cash in years. But those with debts — such as credit cards or mortgages — are likely facing higher costs on those balances.
The Fed is expected to lower interest rates this year, after having executed a series of rate increases to try to tamp down inflation. But the central bank’s March meeting likely will be too soon for a cut.
“We don’t perceive there to be like an imminent pressure on the Fed to cut rates,” such as a recession or sudden rise in unemployment, Doyle said.

Before implementing any cuts, the Fed will want to have evidence that its work combatting inflation is done, he said.
“We’re sort of skeptical that over the next couple of months that the Fed will be able to get there,” Doyle said.
The first interest rate reduction may come in July, according to Macquarie’s forecast, with two cuts totaling 50 basis points this year. The firm is also predicting reductions totaling 50 basis points in 2025.
Rate cuts will help borrowers, especially those who are leaning more heavily on their credit cards now, Hamrick said.

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Direct File, a free tax filing program from the IRS, fully opened in 12 pilot states on Tuesday.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury estimates that one-third of federal income tax returns could use Direct File this season and 19 million taxpayers may currently be eligible.

Artistgndphotography | E+ | Getty Images

Estimated state-by-state eligibility

The Treasury estimates that 19 million taxpayers may be eligible to use Direct File this season, with the following breakdown in each pilot state:

California: 5.2 million
Arizona: 690,000
Florida: 2.4 million
Massachusetts: 850,000
New Hampshire: 200,000
Nevada:480,000
New York: 2.8 million
South Dakota: 110,000
Tennessee: 960,000
Texas: 3.8 million
Washington: 1.1 million
Wyoming: 80,000

The agency hopes to see 100,000 filings this season, according to a senior administrative official. That works out to roughly 0.5% of those eligible filers.

IRS Free File returns up nearly 15%

This season, the Direct File pilot is only available in 12 states, but most taxpayers also qualify for another option: IRS Free File.
The program is a public-private partnership between the IRS and the Free File Alliance, a nonprofit coalition of tax software companies. There are eight Free File partners for 2023 federal filings and some include state returns.
You can use Free File if your 2023 adjusted gross income was $79,000 or less. Free File also offers Fillable Forms for all income levels, which is the electronic version of a paper filing.

It’s free, it’s easy to use and it’s available.

Executive director of the Free File Alliance

Some 70% of taxpayers, or roughly 100 million Americans, are eligible for Free File. “It’s free, it’s easy to use and it’s available,” said Tim Hugo, executive director of the Free File Alliance.
While only 3% of taxpayers used the program last season, Free File returns (including Fillable Forms) are up nearly 15% through March 8 compared to the same week last year, according to Hugo.
Other free tax filing options this season include Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, Tax Counseling for the Elderly and private company software. More