Investing

The IRS is waiving roughly $1 billion in late-payment penalties for millions of taxpayers with balances under $100,000 from returns filed in 2020 and 2021.
Penalty relief is automatic, however failure-to-pay fees for unpaid balances from 2020 and 2021 will resume April 1, 2024.
“IRS is providing a financial breather to taxpayers,” said certified financial planner Sean Lovison, founder of Purpose Built Financial Services.

Jgi/jamie Grill | Tetra Images | Getty Images

The IRS is waiving roughly $1 billion in late-payment penalties for millions of taxpayers with balances under $100,000 from returns filed in 2020 and 2021.
Some 4.7 million individual taxpayers, businesses, trusts, estates and nonprofit organizations are eligible for the relief, which amounts to about $206 per return, the agency said Tuesday.

“IRS is providing a financial breather to taxpayers,” said certified financial planner Sean Lovison, founder of Philadelphia-area Purpose Built Financial Services. He is also a certified public accountant.
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The penalty removal is automatic and filers who already paid late-payment penalties for the 2020 and 2021 tax years will receive a refund or credit, the IRS said. However, late-payment penalties for unpaid balances from 2020 and 2021 will resume April 1, 2024.
“December to April is clearly a time taxpayers want to put this away” and make a plan to pay off balances to avoid enforcement, said Darren Guillot, national director at Alliantgroup, who previously served as IRS deputy commissioner of the agency’s small business division.

December to April is clearly a time taxpayers want to put this away.

Darren Guillot
National director at Alliantgroup

The waiver applies to the failure-to-pay penalty, which is 0.5% of unpaid taxes per month or partial month, capped at 25%.

However, eligible taxpayers may still be subject to the failure-to-file penalty and interest, the IRS said. The late filing penalty is 5% of unpaid taxes per month or partial month, with a maximum fee of 25%. Interest rates are currently 8% per year, compounded daily.

‘Normal collection mailings’ will resume in 2024

The penalty relief comes as the IRS prepares to resume collection notices that were temporarily paused in February 2022 due to “high inventories” created by the Covid-19 pandemic. In some cases, taxpayers with 2020 or 2021 balances may have only received an initial notice before the pause.
“As the IRS has been preparing to return to normal collection mailings, we have been concerned about taxpayers who haven’t heard from us in a while suddenly getting a larger tax bill,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement. “The IRS should be looking out for taxpayers, and this penalty relief is a common-sense approach to help people in this situation.”

Starting next month, the IRS will send a “special reminder letter” to inform taxpayers about their liability, ways to make a payment and details about the penalty relief.
“You can’t bury your head and pretend it will go away,” Guillot said, noting the importance of taking action after receiving an IRS notice.
Taxpayers have “flexible” payment options for unpaid balances and most filers can set up payment plans by scanning the QR code from their IRS notice, he said.

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Today’s Social Security beneficiaries may move in and out of the workforce before fully retiring.
That may trigger a rule called the retirement earnings test, which can temporarily reduce benefits.

GlobalStock | Getty Images

How the retirement earnings test works

The retirement earnings test applies to Social Security retirement beneficiaries who are under full retirement age, which is generally between age 66 or 67 depending on date of birth.

If a beneficiary is under full retirement age and continues to work, they may have their benefits reduced by $1 for every $2 they earn over a certain threshold.
In 2023, the rule applies to income over $21,240. In 2024, that will get pushed up to $22,320.
Notably, the rule is different for the year in which a beneficiary reaches full retirement age, when $1 is deducted for every $3 over a separate limit. In 2023, that applies to earnings over $56,520 only for the months before a beneficiary reaches full retirement age. In 2024, that limit will go up to $59,520.

Why the retirement earnings test is misunderstood

The Social Security Administration’s policy calls for its field office staff to discuss the retirement earnings test with all retirement benefit applicants to whom the rule may apply.
However, that does not always happen, according to the Social Security Advisory Board.
Moreover, those conversations also often do not happen with prospective beneficiaries who have stopped working. Since today’s workers are more likely to move in and out of the workforce before they fully retire, those beneficiaries may be affected by the rule if they choose to return to work.
The Social Security Administration could also make the information it provides on the retirement earnings test on its website easier to understand and related tools easier to use, according to the report.

Misunderstanding of the retirement earnings test often prompts beneficiaries to delay claiming benefits until full retirement age, according to Emerson Sprick, senior economic analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
“In general, we think that is a good outcome,” Sprick said.
Beneficiaries who claim at full retirement age receive 100% of the benefits they earned, while those who claim earlier have their benefits permanently reduced.
“But the fact that that’s being done because of a misunderstanding of what the retirement earnings test does, is certainly not a good way to achieve that,” he said.
For the vast majority of people who are affected by the retirement earnings test, there is no effect on the amount of their lifetime benefits, Sprick noted.
However, a misunderstanding of the rule’s consequences may prompt people to reduce their earned income.
“You see folks who would perhaps work more working less to ensure that their income stays under that threshold,” Sprick said.
The Bipartisan Policy Center has advocated for the Social Security Administration to better communicate how it works, as well as possibly eliminate the rule altogether due to the labor disincentives it may create.
Instead of calling the rule a retirement earnings test, the language could be changed to “temporary benefit withholding” to better convey the benefit consequences, Sprick said.

How to avoid a ‘real problem situation’

Many financial advisors incorrectly describe the retirement earnings test as a tax and neglect to explain that the benefit reductions will lead to a higher monthly benefit once beneficiaries reach full retirement age, the Social Security Advisory Board report notes.
“Number one, it’s not a tax,” said Joe Elsasser, a certified financial planner and founder and president of Covisum, a Social Security claiming software company.
“Number two, your benefit is adjusted at full retirement age,” he said.

Additionally, as beneficiaries continue to work, they also continue to pay Social Security payroll taxes, which may increase their benefits if that time falls within their highest earning years the program uses to calculate benefits.
Importantly, those beneficiaries need to watch for a “real problem situation” that may arise if they do not properly report their projected wages to the Social Security Administration, Elsasser noted.
That will ultimately catch up to beneficiaries come tax season, when the IRS reports wages to the Social Security Administration.
If they determine benefits have been overpaid, they will withhold benefits until they recoup that sum, prompting an unexpected shortfall for beneficiaries.
“That’s the surprise to try to avoid,” Elsasser said. More

One of TikTok’s latest trends, coined the “silent depression,” aims to explain why Americans feel so bad about their own financial standing, even when the country is in good shape.
Key expenses such as housing, transportation and food account for an increasing share of the average American’s take-home pay.
Still, that doesn’t mean we are experiencing a depressed economy, economists say.

A shopper carries several bags in the Magnificent Mile shopping district of Chicago on Dec. 2, 2023.
Taylor Glascock | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The U.S. economy has remained remarkably strong but affordability is worse than it has ever been, some social media users say, even when compared to The Great Depression.
One of TikTok’s latest trends, coined the “silent depression,” aims to explain how key expenses such as housing, transportation and food account for an increasing share of the average American’s take-home pay. It’s harder today to get by than it was during the worst economic period in this country’s history, according to some TikTokers.

But economists strongly disagree.
“Any notion from TikTok that life was better in 1923 than it is now is divorced from reality,” said Columbia Business School economics professor Brett House.
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Compared to 100 years ago, “today, life expectancies are much longer, the quality of lives is much better, the opportunities to realize one’s potential are much greater, human rights are more widely respected and access to information and education is widely expanded,” House said.
Even when just looking at the numbers, the country has continued to expand since the Covid-19 pandemic, sidestepping earlier recessionary forecasts.

Officially, the National Bureau of Economic Research defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.” There have been more than a dozen recessions in the last century, some lasting as long as a year and a half.

‘This is hardly a depression’

The only depression the U.S. has ever experienced in industrial times spanned a decade, from the stock market crash of 1929 until 1939, when the U.S. began mobilizing for World War II.
A depression is a “totally different order of magnitude,” Susan Houseman, research director at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, told CNBC. “We haven’t seen anything like it for 80 to 90 years.”

In fact, the latest quarterly gross domestic product report, which tracks the overall health of the economy, rose more than expected, while the Federal Reserve’s effort to bring down inflation has so far been successful, a rare feat in economic history.
The central bank signaled in its latest economic projections that it will cut interest rates in 2024 even with the economy still growing, which would be the sought-after path to a “soft landing,” where inflation returns to the Fed’s 2% target without causing a significant rise in unemployment.
“To be sure, the economy is slowing, and the job market is cooling, but we are not in a depression,” said Sung Won Sohn, professor of finance and economics at Loyola Marymount University and chief economist at SS Economics.

The unemployment rate declined to 3.7% in November, the U.S. Department of Labor most recently reported, and the ratio of openings to available workers is 1.3 to 1 — a far cry from the 25% unemployment rate in the 1930s. 
“Now wages are rising faster than inflation, boosting buying power,” he said. “This is hardly a depression.”

‘Inflation has been hitting the poor more than the rich’

But regardless of the country’s economic standing, many Americans are struggling in the face of sky-high prices for everyday items, and most have exhausted their savings and are now leaning on credit cards to make ends meet.
Lower-income families have been particularly hard hit, said Tomas Philipson, a professor of public policy studies at the University of Chicago and former acting chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

The lowest-paid workers spend more of their income on necessities such as food, rent and gas, categories that also experienced higher-than-average inflation spikes. 
“Inflation has been hitting the poor more than the rich, in terms of share of real income lost, because it has been relatively higher for categories that make up larger shares of household budgets,” Philipson said.

The housing market weighs on sentiment

Housing, especially, has weighed on many Americans’ opinion about how the nation, overall, is faring regardless of what other data says. Year to date, home prices nationally have risen 6.1%, much more than the median full calendar year increase over the past 35 years, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index.
Mortgage rates have pulled back but are still above 7%, and there remains a very low supply of homes for sale.
That explains why Americans feel so bad about their own financial standing, even when the country is in good shape, House said. “Since homeownership is the biggest investment decision most people make in their lifetimes, the real estate market is likely dampening many Americans’ feelings about the U.S. economy.”
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ETF Strategist

With big-tech stocks soaring, the success of single-stock ETFs, which are leveraged, is not particularly surprising.
Still, the investing approach seems “here to stay,” according to Bryan Armour, director of passive strategies research for North America at Morningstar.
Not all the ideas have hit it big, with single-stock ETFs tracking Nike and Pfizer closing down.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters

More than a year after single-stock exchange-traded funds hit the U.S. market, risk-seeking investors continue to dive in.
Single-stock ETFs were first introduced in Europe in 2018. There are now nearly four dozen single-stock ETFs in the U.S., many of which track the so-called “Magnificent Seven” stocks — Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Nvidia, Amazon, Tesla and Meta. Other names on Morningstar’s list of single-stock ETFs include Coinbase and Alibaba.

Collectively, single-stock ETFs have about $3.3 billion of net assets, according to Morningstar. 
The growth of these single-stock ETFs, which are leveraged, is not particularly surprising, given that the Nasdaq is up more than 40% this year and big-tech stocks in particular are soaring. But they’ve likely earned a long-term spot in the market.
Single-stock ETFs “are here to stay,” said Bryan Armour, director of passive strategies research for North America at Morningstar. The strategy “taps into some of the gambling mindset that exists in markets,” he said.

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Here’s what investors need to know about the growth of the single-stock ETF market and where it could be heading. 

Where the single-stock ETF action is, starting with Tesla

There are 45 single-stock ETFs in total, according to Morningstar, from a handful of providers including Direxion, AXS, GraniteShares and YieldMax. These ETFs follow bull, bear or option income strategies.

The largest by asset size is the Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 1.5X Shares, which tracks Tesla. In July, it became the first of its kind in the U.S. to surpass the $1 billion asset mark. 
The second-largest single-stock ETF by asset size is the YieldMax TSLA Option Income Strategy ETF, which had around $841 million of assets at the end of November, according to Morningstar.
In third place by asset size is the GraniteShares 1.5x Long NVDA Daily ETF, which tracks Nvidia and has soared in a year dominated by artificial intelligence optimism and the gains for chipmakers. It had about $245 million in assets at the end of November, Morningstar data shows.
To achieve their stated returns, leveraged and inverse ETPs often use a range of investment strategies. This can include swaps, futures and other derivatives as well as long or short positions, according to a FINRA explainer.

Expect more high-risk ETFs to hit the market

Rich Lee, head of program and ETF trading at Robert W. Baird & Co., expects to see more single-stock ETFs with an options overlay strategy and income component. YieldMax offers several of these ETFs that seek to generate monthly income by selling/writing call options on single company stock exposures.
There is continuous appetite for single-stock ETFs, and there will continue to be innovation, combining themes and exposures under the ETF wrapper, Lee said. “It’s a way to get quick exposure with leverage.”

While the number and assets within these ETFs has mushroomed, there have been duds. Single-stock ETFs tracking Nike and Pfizer — the former whose shares are close to flat this year and the latter whose shares are down 45% — among a few others, closed down. Some stocks are too bland to get investors riled up one way or another, Armour said. If an ETF can’t get enough traction, investment managers have to decide where to focus their resources, he said. It’s something for investors to keep in mind: What’s on the market today may not be in a few months.

Using single-stock ETFs is not a long-term strategy

Performance is all over the map. The Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 1.5X, for instance, had a total one-year return of about 12% through November, but it’s up about 148% year to date through Dec. 15, according to Morningstar. The GraniteShares 1.5x Long COIN Daily ETF, which tracks Coinbase, had a one-year return through November of about 206% and returned about 488% year to date through Dec. 15, according to Morningstar.
Not surprisingly, single-stock ETFs that take a bear strategy have seen negative returns of late.
But performance over time isn’t really the point.
The market for these vehicles is mostly traders and individual investors with an extremely high risk tolerance. There are other ways to gain leverage, without needing to pay fees in the 1% range, but for some more sophisticated retail investors who don’t have experience with leverage, a single-stock ETF can be a safer option, Armour said. “It’s just not a smart long-term strategy. It’s a very costly way to gamble in the stock market.”

The SEC’s warning to retail investors

These vehicles are appropriate for sophisticated retail investors and professionals that are willing to take a short-term view and are willing to monitor their positions daily, said Ed Egilinsky, head of sales and distribution and alternatives at Direxion.
“These are not buy-and-hold products,” he said. “If someone is looking to buy something and not pay attention to it, this is not the vehicle.”
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued an investor warning in August, reiterating the extra risks inherent to single-stock ETFs. “Because leveraged single-stock ETFs in particular amplify the effect of price movements of the underlying individual stocks, investors holding these funds will experience even greater volatility and risk than investors who hold the underlying stock itself,” the SEC said.

“You definitely have to understand what investing or hedging investment you’re trying to achieve with these products,” Lee said. “For a lot of these leveraged products, people are using it to get intraday exposure or use it for some sort of hedging.”
Which stocks could be targeted for the next hotly traded single-stock ETF?
Success is determined in part by assets, daily volume and scale, said Egilinsky. While he declined to be specific about where Direxion is next looking to add to its single-stock ETF lineup, he did say AI is a hot area. “We’re going to let this play out over time. It’s still in its infancy stages and we’ll continue to look for single stocks that make sense for us to bring to the market.” More

Year-end Planning

Year’s end is a good time to take stock of investment-related tax strategies that may have been left on the table.
Here are three potential tax moves recommended by advisors with firms on CNBC’s annual Financial Advisor 100 list.

Catherine Falls Commercial | Moment | Getty Images

The page has almost turned on 2023 — and that means time is running out to make certain tax moves by year’s end, or else risk missing out on their benefits.
Here are some tax strategies to consider before ringing in the new year, according to advisors from CNBC’s FA 100, an annual ranking of the nation’s top financial advisory firms.

1. Take your RMDs

Investors who own certain retirement accounts — like pretax individual retirement accounts and 401(k)s — must take “required minimum distributions,” or RMDs, after reaching a certain age.
Basically, they need to withdraw a minimum amount of money from those accounts or risk a tax penalty.
That penalty is 25% of the RMD amount that wasn’t withdrawn, though it can be reduced in some cases.
“Put RMDs on your calendar every year,” said Michelle Perry Higgins, principal and financial advisor at California Financial Advisors, which ranked No. 30 on CNBC’s FA 100 list. “You just can’t forget to take it.”

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Savers must generally start taking RMDs by a specific age. A recent law, Secure 2.0, raised the age to 73 from 72, starting in 2023. (Those who turned 72 in 2023 must take their first RMD in 2024.)

Secure 2.0 also eliminated RMDs from Roth 401(k) and 403(b) accounts. However, that provision doesn’t kick in until 2024.

2. ‘Harvest’ investment losses

Nobody likes losing money on investments.
But such losses can help reduce investors’ tax bill, said J. Luther King Jr., founder and president of Luther King Capital Management, No. 1 on CNBC’s FA 100.
“Tax-loss harvesting” entails selling investments that are in the red and using those losses to offset profits on winning investments sold during the year. Why? Because investors owe capital gains tax on their profits.
Losses offset profits dollar for dollar. By taking enough losses, investors can potentially eliminate their capital gains tax bill outright. They can carry over any unused losses into future tax years.
Stocks are the typical candidates for such investment losses, advisors said. However, “this is probably the first time in my 40 years of doing this that you can [also] have significant losses in bonds,” said David Rea, president of Salem Investment Counselors, No. 27 on CNBC’s FA 100.
Of course, you should only sell investments if it makes sense to do so. And anti-abuse measures — known as “wash sale” rules — prevent investors from claiming a loss if they buy back the same or a similar security within 30 days.
But if there’s a big cumulative loss in an investment and no strategic reason to keep it for the next 30 days, consider a sale, Rea said.

3. Give to charity to reduce tax bills, RMDs

“As we end the year and reflect on what’s important to us, it’s a great time to orient our wealth with purpose and meaning,” said Fatima Iqbal, a certified financial planner and senior investment strategist at Azzad Asset Management, No. 73 on CNBC’s FA 100.
Doing so might involve charitable giving — and there are tax-efficient ways to do so, advisors said.

For example, people can make a big upfront donation to a donor-advised fund. These allow donors who itemize their taxes to claim a big tax write-off in the year of the donation, but then choose how that money will be doled out to charity in future years.   
This let some taxpayers “amplify their giving by accelerating [tax] deductions to high-income years when deductions are more valuable,” Iqbal said.
Older Americans can also use a “qualified charitable distribution” to give. This involves donating directly from an IRA — and that payment counts toward an annual RMD.
“For people who really give to charity, this is a sweet way to [do it],” Higgins said. More

Renters burdened by unaffordable housing costs may be at a higher risk of dying sooner, according to a new study published in the journal Social Science & Medicine.
An individual paying 50% of their income toward rent in 2000 was 9% more likely to die over the next 20 years compared with someone paying 30% of their income toward rent, the researchers found.

Demonstrators gather during a protest against the expiration of the eviction moratorium outside of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021.
Stefanie Reynolds | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Renters burdened by unaffordable housing costs may be at a higher risk of dying sooner, according to a new study published in the journal Social Science & Medicine.
An individual paying 50% of their income toward rent in 2000 was 9% more likely to die over the next 20 years compared with someone paying 30% of their income toward rent, according to the study from researchers at Princeton University and the U.S. Census Bureau’s Center for Economics Studies. Someone paying 70% of their income toward rent, meanwhile, was 12% more likely to die.

“We were surprised by the magnitude of the relationship between costs and mortality risk,” said Nick Graetz, a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton University and the study’s lead author. “It’s an especially big problem when we consider how many people are affected by rising rents. This isn’t a rare occurrence.”
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Rising rents have far outpaced wages, leaving the typical renter in the U.S. paying 30% or more of their income for housing. In 2019, 4 in 5 renter households with incomes below $30,000 were rent-burdened.
The Princeton researchers collaborated with the Census Bureau to create a dataset that allowed them to follow individual renters from 2000 on. They analyzed millions of records to understand the link between rent burden, eviction and mortality for people.
In addition to the consequences of unaffordable rent, they found that even being threatened with eviction was associated with a 19% increase in mortality. Receiving an eviction judgment was associated with a 40% increase in the risk of death.

CNBC interviewed Graetz about the study findings. The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

‘As rents go up, families cut back on other spending’

Annie Nova: What is it about being rent-burdened that increases mortality?
Nick Graetz: We know housing is the primary cost for American families, and as rents go up, families cut back on other spending, including on essentials that affect their health.
For example, poor households with children who are moderately rent-burdened, devoting 30% to 50% of their income to rent, spend 57% less on health care and 17% less on food compared to similar unburdened households.

AN: Why is eviction, even more than being rent-burdened, linked to higher mortality?
NG: Eviction is a really traumatic event that leads to disenrollment from social safety net programs, such as Medicaid. It can also lead to job loss and a host of other negative consequences.
Eviction can compromise a person’s physical and mental health by exposing them to prolonged periods of intense housing precarity, including homelessness and acute stress.
In addition, eviction can increase exposure to infectious disease, as seen during the Covid-19 pandemic. Even just having an eviction filing on your record can limit your ability to secure future safe and stable housing, which can have impacts on health outcomes.

Current system makes it ‘difficult to retain housing’

AN: What efforts for change do you hope to see in response to your findings?
NG: We demonstrate in this new paper that as rent burdens hit record highs today, we should be considering policies to reduce evictions and guarantee affordable housing as not just housing policy, but as critical health policy.
In general, we live under a system that makes it really difficult to retain our housing whenever we experience a problem. A sudden health issue in your family, a car crash or any other unexpected problem can lead to an eviction in a short time.
It’s especially important to act now: eviction filings are increasing in every city and state that we track.

AN: Are there any policies currently in effect that are making the problem better?
NG: Across the U.S., cities and states are trying different and sometimes overlapping policies to promote housing stability and avoid evictions.
Some important legal aid programs include the right to counsel. When tenants are provided legal counsel, the odds of them remaining in their homes increase dramatically. Under New York City’s right to counsel in eviction court, 84% of represented renters facing eviction remain housed. In Cleveland, 93% of represented renters facing eviction avoid displacement.
Many states and cities, such as Rhode Island and DC, are considering programs like rent control and social housing, characterized by being mixed-income, mixed-use and with more resident involvement in governance than traditional public housing.
We need to create a country where quality housing is affordable to everyone.
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Life Changes

Companies are shedding employees, even as figures still point to low unemployment.
If you’ve been let go, experts say taking these eight steps can help you start to regroup.

Srdjanpav | E+ | Getty Images

When it comes to the holidays, there’s one thing most workers don’t want to receive: a pink slip.
But that’s exactly what some employees are getting this year. Citigroup is in the midst of layoffs as part of a corporate overhaul. Other companies to recently shed workers include e-commerce company Etsy and toy maker Hasbro.

If you’re among those affected, you’re likely just starting your job search amid the holiday rush.
“Companies are hiring right now and in the new year, that’s the good part,” said Vicki Salemi, career expert at Monster.

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It can work in your favor to start looking for a new job now, said Salemi, who noted she extended job offers during the holiday season when she worked as a recruiter.
Or you may decide you need to regroup and table your job search for the new year.
The good news is getting laid off no longer has the same stigma it once did.

“Being let go from a job is not as taboo as it once was years ago,” said Scott Dobroski, career trends expert at Indeed.
“There’s a variety of changes going on in the world of work; there have been a number of layoffs across the nation,” he said.
Experts say there are some steps you should consider to kick-start your job search and shore up your finances.

1. Give yourself permission to grieve

“Losing a job can be tough at any point during the year, especially during the holidays when it’s supposed to be joyous and celebratory,” Salemi said.
As your holiday event calendar fills up, it helps to have a statement ready if you do not want to talk about your job loss.
Alternatively, you may view those gatherings as opportunities to network, Salemi said.

2. Tally how much money may be coming to you

You may receive a severance package from your employer, or get paid for unused time off.
Find out when you might get your last paycheck, and how the pay schedule works to better gauge the size of that deposit, advised Ted Jenkin, a certified financial planner and CEO of Oxygen Financial, a financial advisory and wealth management firm based in Atlanta. Jenkin is also a member of the CNBC FA Council.
If you’re able to find a new job quickly, you may be able to bank the severance pay, he noted.
Also be sure to file for unemployment benefits right away, because getting approved can take weeks.

3. Consider enlisting professional help

If your company wants you to sign a noncompete clause, you may want to negotiate for that language to be removed from your severance agreement, Salemi said, as that may free you up to entertain more companies as prospective employers.
An employment lawyer may help you negotiate those terms.
Additionally, if you’re looking to better manage the tax implications of the money you receive, you may want to talk to an accountant, Salemi suggested.

4. Book medical appointments now

Because it’s the end of the year, you’ve likely met all your medical deductibles.
Consequently, now is a great time to get in any doctor’s appointments you need to make while you still have your employer-provided plan and flexible spending account, and before a new deductible or COBRA kicks in in the new year.
That should include dental and vision care, if possible, Jenkin said.

5. Keep tabs on any 401(k) loans you’ve taken

If you have taken a loan from your 401(k), check with your retirement plan provider to see what will happen to that balance after a job loss, Jenkin said.
Some plans may require the loan be paid back within 90 days, while others may allow you to roll the loan to a new 401(k), for example.
“If that loan is not paid back, it can become taxable income,” Jenkin said.

6. Use technology to your advantage

The amount of work it takes to find a new job can be greatly reduced if you use technological tools, according to Dobroski.
Let your social media connections know you are looking for work. Also be sure to update profiles on job search sites with your skills, experience and what you want in a new role.
Using those tools may help you discover roles you may not have otherwise considered, said Dobroski, who has seen bank tellers transition to sales executives after finding the role was also a fit for their skill set.
“We’ve seen some people get jobs quicker and earn salaries of upwards of $30,000, $35,000 or more because they’re finding a job that way,” Dobroski said.

7. Do at least job-hunting task every day

Searching for a job can admittedly be an exhausting and frustrating process.
To keep yourself on track, a good rule of thumb is to commit to doing one thing every day, Dobroski said.
That may include updating your resume, applying for a specific job, creating a new profile on a job search website or talking to a mentor.

8.  Perfect your sales pitch

As you revise your resume, be sure to include any new achievements or skills that could put you at the top of an employer’s list of job candidates.
Be sure to highlight transferable skills, Salemi said, such as ability to lead with empathy, handle deadline-driven work and operate under a company’s budget.
Looking at past performance reviews can help jog your memory, she suggested.
As news of layoffs continues to make headlines, keep in mind that new opportunities are still abundant.
“With the unemployment numbers at 3.7%, clearly there are still a lot of jobs that are out there,” Jenkin said. More

As the holiday season kicks into high gear, 62% of adults said they are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a new LendingClub report.
Households that are stretched too thin are also more likely to have revolving credit card debt and feel financial distress, the report found.

Holiday spending is expected to reach new record

This year, holiday spending from Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 is expected to increase between 3% and 4% over last year to a record total of $957.3 billion to $966.6 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.
Even as credit card debt tops $1 trillion, almost all — or 96% — of shoppers said they expect to overspend this season, a separate TD Bank survey found.
Half of consumers plan to take on more debt to cover those holiday expenses, according to another report by Ally Bank. Only 23% have a plan to pay it off within one to two months.

“Not only is sticking to a budget harder today,” said Sarah Foster, a Bankrate analyst, “but it’s all the more imperative, too.”
“Credit card financing rates have hovered at the highest levels ever recorded since last fall, meaning carrying a balance could cost a heavy price,” she said.

Credit card debt causes financial distress

Because of the high interest rate, revolving debt can be a particularly hard cycle to break.
“Credit cards can be an important financing option that credit-savvy consumers use to better manage their cash flows, though it’s concerning that many consumers revolved their credit card balances regardless of financial lifestyle,” said Alia Dudum, LendingClub’s money expert.
“Credit cards keep many in debt,” Dudum said.
Cardholders who carry a balance are also more likely to feel financial distress, LendingClub found.

Some 74% of Americans say they are stressed about finances, according to a separate CNBC Your Money Financial Confidence Survey conducted in August. Inflation, rising interest rates and a lack of savings contributed to those feelings.
That CNBC survey found that 61% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, up from 58% in March.
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