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Many mutual funds in 401(k) plans charge a revenue-sharing fee.
Employers sometimes opt to allocate those fees to plan expenses like administration and record keeping.
Revenue-sharing fees differ according to the fund an investor selects. That means some workers pay more for services than others.

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Workers who participate in a company 401(k) plan pay fees for a host of associated services. Among them is the cost of administering the plan — for example, tracking daily fluctuations in account value, facilitating trades and issuing regular notices to investors.
But based on how your employer structures its retirement plan, you may unknowingly be subsidizing colleagues’ 401(k) fees.

The dynamic is a function of the investments you choose and how the 401(k) plan pays costs for administrative expenses.
Retirement savers (like players in the broader investment world) may be unaware of the fees they pay. Many financial firms inside and outside the 401(k) ecosystem often levy an annual fee directly from client accounts instead of asking them to write a check.
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Mutual funds in 401(k) plans are no different.
The overall cost of those funds may include a “revenue-sharing” fee (also known as a 12b-1 fee, a distribution fee or shareholder services fee, for example). The fund manager collects this fee and then passes it along to the 401(k) plan’s administrator.

This behind-the-scenes infrastructure is how many plans pay for record-keeping and other services delivered by firms such as Fidelity Investments, Empower Retirement and TIAA-CREF, which are among the largest 401(k) administrators.

Small plans more likely to use revenue sharing

Just 8% of workplace retirement plans such as 401(k) plans use revenue sharing to pay for plan administration, according to a recent annual survey published by Callan, a consulting firm. That’s down from 16% last year and about 40% a decade earlier.
However, its prevalence may be more widespread than the Callan survey suggests. The bulk of respondents have workplace retirement plans with more than $1 billion in worker savings — among the largest in the country.

But small 401(k) plans use revenue sharing more often to pay for services. A separate poll by the Plan Sponsor Council of America, an employer trade group, across a broader swath of plan sizes indicates almost 40% use funds with revenue sharing, and about three-quarters of those employers use the fees to pay for plan expenses.

‘There can be some inequalities’ for workers

This fee sharing is a somewhat opaque practice since it occurs behind the scenes. The practice also sometimes leads some workers to pay more for 401(k) administration than their peers — effectively subsidizing the service for colleagues.
That’s because not all investment funds carry a revenue-sharing fee. For example, actively managed funds levy such a fee more often than index funds. (Of course, there are exceptions.)
“There can be some inequalities in terms of who’s paying for what,” said Greg Ungerman, a senior vice president at Callan who leads a team working with workplace retirement plans.
The dynamic means a saver invested solely in index funds may not pay any revenue-sharing fees for 401(k) plan expenses, whereas another worker in the same 401(k) plan invested solely in actively managed funds may pay the fees.

There can be some inequalities in terms of who’s paying for what.

Greg Ungerman
senior vice president at Callan

Hence, the latter subsidizes costs for the former, even though they get the same services.
Employers have begun moving away from the practice, amid a flurry of lawsuits around excessive 401(k) fees and federal fee-disclosure rules to boost transparency, which were adopted about a decade ago.
Furthermore, money managers have increasingly offered versions of their investment funds that strip out a revenue-sharing fee. In this case, a 401(k) administrator would deduct a fee for their services from workers’ accounts separately, instead of getting paid by the fund manager directly.
Many employers have indeed shifted toward this type of fee model, Ungerman said. Often, that takes the form of a flat fee expressed in dollars, charged per plan participant.

Sometimes, employers may not have much of a choice — they are somewhat at the mercy of the investment firms. A particular mutual fund family may always include revenue sharing, for example.
But technology has evolved such that many plan administrators are able to capture the revenue-sharing fee and funnel the money back to the investor who paid it — a workaround to make the 401(k) plan more equitable. However, this function isn’t always available, and the employer has to choose the option.
“It’s up to the plan sponsor to make that determination,” Ungerman said. More

Half of parents with a child age 18 or over provide them with at least some financial support, according to a recent report.
For parents, however, supporting grown children can be a substantial drain at a time when their own financial security is at risk. 
“Kids have to realize that the quid pro quo here is that they’re going to be expected to take care of their parents,” says economist Laurence Kotlikoff.

To keep up with rising costs, many young adults turn to a likely safety net: their parents.
From buying groceries to paying for their cell phone plan or covering health and auto insurance, 45% of parents with a child age 18 or over provide them with at least some financial support, according to a recent report by Savings.com.

On average, these parents are spending more than $1,400 a month helping their adult children make ends meet, the report found.
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In the last year, inflation has posed a challenge for those trying to achieve financial independence. Soaring food and housing costs are just some of the significant hurdles for young adults just starting out.
For parents, however, supporting grown children can be a substantial drain at a time when their own financial security is at risk. 
And parents nearing retirement contribute the most to their children — to the tune of about $2,100 a month, on average, while putting only $643 a month into their retirement accounts, Savings.com found. 

Overall, America’s retirement preparedness has declined as the economy has faltered, Fidelity’s 2023 Retirement Savings Assessment also found. In 2020, 83% of savers had the income they would need to cover estimated expenses during retirement. Now, only 78% do.
With their retirement security in jeopardy, nearly half, or 48%, of retired Americans believe they’ll outlive their savings, according to a separate report by Clever Real Estate.

‘It has to go both ways’

“Everybody is everyone else’s lifeboat when it comes to hitting an iceberg,” said Laurence Kotlikoff, economics professor at Boston University and president of MaxiFi, which offers financial planning software.
However, “it has to go both ways,” Kotlikoff said. “Parents are providing a lot of support, and the kids have to realize that the quid pro quo here is that they’re going to be expected to take care of their parents.”
Having an open dialogue can help, he added. “Once that conversation gets going, it can continue for the next 40 years.”Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. More

After being suspended three years, federal student loan payments are expected to resume soon.
But borrowers have options to keep the bills on pause.

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Payments likely to resume within months

The Education Department in November said student bills would resume 60 days after the litigation over its student loan forgiveness plan resolves. If the high court hasn’t ruled on the plan by the end of June, or if the Education Department is unable to carry out its relief by then, the bills will pick up at the end of August.
It’s possible the White House could try to extend the pause again, Kantrowitz said. He noted that the Education Department had said on two occasions that a previous extension of the payments pause would be the final one — only to prolong the pause yet again.
Still, it would be wise for borrowers to be prepared for the bills to resume sooner rather than later.

Deferments may keep interest from accruing

When the break ends, you may be able to postpone your student loan payments for more time by requesting a deferment or a forbearance.
Borrowers should first see if they qualify for a deferment, because their loans may not accrue interest under that option, whereas they almost always do in a forbearance, experts say.
If you’re unemployed when student loan payments resume, you can request an unemployment deferment with your servicer. If you’re dealing with another financial challenge, you may be eligible for an economic hardship deferment.

Those who qualify for a hardship deferment include people receiving certain types of federal or state aid and anyone volunteering in the Peace Corps, Kantrowitz said.
With both a hardship and an unemployment deferment, interest generally doesn’t accrue on undergraduate subsidized loans. Other loans will rack up interest, however.
The maximum time you can use an unemployment or hardship deferment is usually three years per type.
Other, lesser-known deferments include the graduate fellowship deferment, the military service and post-active duty deferment and the cancer treatment deferment.

Forbearances also keep bills on hold

Student loan borrowers who don’t qualify for a deferment may request a forbearance.
Under that option, borrowers can keep their loans on hold for as long as three years. However, because interest accrues during the forbearance period, borrowers can be hit with a larger bill when it ends.
Kantrowitz provided an example: A $30,000 student loan with a 5% interest rate would increase by $1,500 a year under a forbearance.

A deferment or forbearance should be a last resort, but they are better than defaulting on the loans.

Mark Kantrowitz
higher education expert

If a borrower uses a forbearance, he recommends they at least try to keep up with their interest payments during the pause to prevent their debt from increasing.
“A deferment or forbearance should be a last resort, but they are better than defaulting on the loans,” Kantrowitz said.
Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a nonprofit, said she recommends borrowers only use a forbearance or deferment for short-term hardship, including a sudden big medical expense or period of joblessness.
Struggling borrowers are best off finding a payment plan they can afford, said Mayotte. 

Other options for struggling borrowers

Income-driven repayment plans aim to make borrowers’ payments more affordable by capping their monthly payments at a percentage of their discretionary income and forgiving any of their remaining debt after 20 or 25 years.
Currently, the Biden administration is working to roll out a new repayment option under which borrowers would pay just 5% of their discretionary income toward their undergraduate student loans. The savings would be huge.
According to an example provided by Kantrowitz, a borrower who made $40,000 a year would currently have a monthly student loan payment of around $151 under the existing Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment, or REPAYE, plan. But with the new option, that monthly bill would plummet to $30.
And some borrowers wouldn’t owe anything each month.
To determine how much your monthly bill would be under different plans, use one of the calculators at Studentaid.gov or Freestudentloanadvice.org. More

Social Security may no longer be able to pay full benefits by the 2030s if no changes are made sooner.
While lawmakers contemplate possible fixes, a new web tool from the American Academy of Actuaries lets you decide exactly exactly what changes should be made.

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You may have heard that Social Security’s funds are running low.
If that doesn’t change, that may interfere with the program’s ability to pay full benefits in the next decade.

Now, a new virtual tool from the American Academy of Actuaries lets you explore Social Security’s woes and decide exactly what changes you would make to restore its solvency.
The journey starts in Townsville, a virtual city that aims to show the perspective of everyday Americans, according to the web app created by the nonpartisan professional organization.
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At the outset, users learn the dilemma Social Security currently faces. Based on the Social Security Administration Board of Trustees’ annual 2022 report, the funds may be depleted in 2035. At that point, 80% of benefits would still be payable.
“A common misconception is that the trust fund exhaustion would mean Social Security benefits could not be paid at all,” said Linda K. Stone, a senior pension fellow at the American Academy of Actuaries.

The urgency of Social Security’s issues has caught lawmakers’ attention recently.
During the State of the Union address in February, President Joe Biden prompted leaders from both sides of the aisle to stand to show their support for protecting Social Security and Medicare.

But solving the program’s woes won’t necessarily be clear cut.
Generally, it will require either raising taxes, cutting benefits or a combination of both.
Multiple proposals have been put forward in Congress. However, the difficulty is getting both sides of the aisle to agree. For any Social Security reforms to pass, they must have bipartisan support.
“When you’re dealing with Social Security, it’s really important for everybody involved from a political standpoint to be willing to hold hands and jump together,” said Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center.

‘More needs to happen’ to fix Social Security

By using the American Academy of Actuaries’ web app, titled “The Social Security Challenge,” players may visit different locations in Townsville to hear locals’ opinions and concerns about the future of the program.
At locations like the park, the gym and the post office, residents discuss their concerns or opinions about possible changes such as increasing the amount of payroll taxes the wealthy pay or increasing benefits for the lowest earners.
Players can also access a journal with notes that provides key information on the topics they’ve heard.
Once they have explored all the locations in Townsville, users then go to Town Hall, where they can decide exactly what changes they would make to improve the program.

Users learn about the wide variety of options available to address the insolvency issues …

Linda K. Stone
senior pension fellow at the American Academy of Actuaries

Users are presented with nine buckets of options. They may choose from all, some or none of the buckets when choosing from the menu of reforms.
Notably, this may include improvements to benefits that add costs, as well as other changes that would result in savings.
This may include changes to help bring in more revenue into the program, such as applying payroll taxes to earnings over $250,000. In 2023, those levies are capped at $160,200 in earnings.
Or it may include benefit increases such as changing annual cost-of-living adjustments to be more generous or making it so years out of the work force devoted to childcare are included toward Social Security benefit calculations.
“The important point is that users learn about the wide variety of options available to address the insolvency issues and the different impacts of adopting some of these options,” Stone said.

As policy makers’ debate over Social Security’s future heats up, the tool may help increase the public’s understanding of the discussions, Stone said.
The tool may also help them see that implementing just one change — such as increasing payroll taxes — might not be a silver bullet solution to restore the program’s solvency.
“People select options that they think, ‘Oh, this will solve the problem,” and then they can clearly see, no, that’s not enough,” Stone said. “More needs to happen.”
The American Academy of Actuaries is encouraging policy makers to share the web app with constituents to educate them about Social Security and get their feedback on what changes they would like to see.
To decide how you might fix the program, check out the tool here. More

Matthew Desmond’s new book, “Poverty, by America,” explores why the U.S. poverty rate hasn’t improved in half a century.
These figures show how bad the problem is.

A woman looks through a garbage can in Manhattan in New York City.
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1. Wages rose slowly for the poorest Americans

Since 1979, the bottom 90% of income earners in the U.S. experienced annual earnings gains of only 24%, Desmond writes, while the wages of the top 1% of earners more than doubled. His findings are based on data from a number of sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Pew Research Center.
Looking at inflation-adjusted earnings, ordinary workers have seen their pay tick up just 0.3% a year for several decades, Desmond writes. “Astonishingly, the real wages for many Americans today are roughly what they were 40 years ago.”

2. More government aid for the financially comfortable

“Most families who enjoy those subsidies have six-figure incomes and are white,” Desmond writes. “Poor families lucky enough to live in government-owned apartments often have to deal with mold and even lead paint, while rich families are claiming the mortgage interest deduction on first and second homes.”

3. 1 in 18 live in ‘deep poverty’

In his book, Desmond, analyzing data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources, reports that 1 in 18 people in the U.S. live in what’s considered “deep poverty,” or what he calls “a subterranean level of scarcity.”
In 2020, this category included people who make less than $6,380 a year, or families of four living on less than $13,100. In 2020, almost 18 million people in America lived in these conditions, including some 5 million children.
“There is growing evidence that America harbors a hard bottom layer of deprivation, a kind of extreme poverty once thought to exist only in faraway places of bare feet and swollen bellies,” Desmond writes.

Arrows pointing outwards

4. Racial wealth gap is as large as in the ’60s

Looking at the work of other authors and Federal Reserve data, Desmond found that the racial wealth gap is as wide today as it was more than five decades ago.
In 2019, the median white household had a net worth of $188,200, compared with $24,100 for the median Black household.
“Our legacy of systematically denying Black people access to the nation’s land and riches has been passed from generation to generation,” he wrote.
Most first-time homebuyers, he explains, get down-payment help from their parents. And many of those parents are able to assist their children by refinancing their own homes, “as their parents did for them after the government subsidized homeownership in white communities in the wake of World War II.”

5. Overdraft fees mostly paid by the poor

In 2019, the largest U.S. banks charged Americans $11.68 billion in overdraft fees, Desmond found, looking at a number of reports, including from the Center for Responsible Lending.
Just 9% of those account holders paid the lion’s share, 84%, of those charges — customers who carried an average balance of less than $350.
“The poor were made to pay for their poverty,” Desmond wrote. More

As the cost of living remains high, 62% Americans now say they are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent report.
More people have found a side hustle to help make ends meet.
This is also a good time to make a few key changes to your spending and savings plan, one expert says.

It’s getting harder to keep up with higher prices.
As of February, 62% of all U.S. adults were living paycheck to paycheck, up from 60% a month earlier, according to a new LendingClub report.

To make ends meet, more people have picked up a side hustle, the report also found.
As pandemic-related benefits are scaled back, “many have turned to supplemental income with a side job or alternative income sources to improve their financial standing,” said Anuj Nayar, LendingClub’s financial health officer.
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Nearly half, or 44%, of Americans have a side hustle amid inflation, which is a 13% jump compared to 2020, according to a separate survey by LendingTree. Another report from FlexJobs found that 69% of employed professionals either have a side job or want one.
“What is clear: No matter your income bracket, having supplemental income greatly impacts financial stability and can often mean the difference between living without difficulty and living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to pay monthly bills,” Nayar said.

How to improve your financial picture

Instead of — or in addition to — earning more to help cover monthly expenses, consumer finance expert Andrea Woroch offers these spending and savings tips to beat inflation.
1. Refresh your budget. “Inflation has likely thrown your spending and savings plan out of whack,” she said. Start by going over your expenses and negotiate with current providers, or cut costs where you can, such as increasing your auto or homeowners insurance deductible to lower your monthly premium.
2. Purge useless services. Review each recurring expense and eliminate unnecessary services like unused subscriptions or memberships and premium movie channels you never watch, Woroch said.

3. Clear up debt. To keep up with higher prices, more Americans are leaning on credit cards and carrying debt from month to month, many reports show. If you’re struggling to pay off a balance, switch to a 0% balance transfer card, which may offer up to 21 months with no interest.
4. Tidy up your financial profile. Transfer your savings to a high-yield online savings account to earn a better interest rate and check that your bank isn’t charging monthly maintenance or service fees for overdrafts or insufficient funds.
5. Change your spending habits. Going forward, a good way to reduce the amount you spend is to avoid impulse purchases. Woroch advises shoppers to turn off sale notifications in store apps, unsubscribe from retail newsletters and avoid walking into stores like Target just to browse.
LendingClub’s paycheck-to-paycheck report is based on a survey of more than 4,000 U.S. adults in February.
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The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank continues to prompt scrutiny of FDIC coverage limits, which are generally $250,000 per depositor.
On Friday, President Joe Biden said the FDIC may guarantee deposits above $250,000 if further instability occurs.
However, experts say it is possible to get more insurance on your deposits on your own.

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When it comes to bank deposits, $250,000 is the key number experts are talking about in light of recent financial shocks in the banking sector of a severity not seen since the Financial Crisis.
That amount is the threshold for which bank depositors should be mindful of when it comes to whether or not their money is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC. Coverage limits are per depositor, per ownership category, per bank.

Deposits below that amount are covered, while money above that threshold may not be insured if unforeseen circumstances occur at a financial institution.
Yet the government recently made an exception for people with more than $250,000 on deposit at Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
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On Friday, President Joe Biden said if further instability occurs, the FDIC may guarantee deposits above $250,000 again.
The $250,000 threshold was set by Congress in 2010. Some experts say that isn’t enough and should be raised.

Congress can temporarily suspend the limit. However, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said uninsured deposits should only be covered in the event a “failure to protect uninsured depositors would create systemic risk and significant economic and financial consequences.”
Generally, most consumers do not have to worry about their deposits.

“If you have under $250,000 in a bank account, this is of no concern to you — you are fully insured,” said Jill Castilla, president and CEO of Citizens Bank of Edmond, a community bank located in Edmond, Oklahoma.
“It’s just whenever you are starting to see those limits that you might have some exposure,” Castilla added.
Experts say there are still ways to gain FDIC coverage even if you are over that $250,000 limit.

Find institutions guaranteeing higher deposits

FDIC insurance generally covers $250,000 per depositor, per FDIC-insured bank, per ownership category. But certain financial institutions may work around those limits by working with other financial institutions to guarantee higher deposit levels.
Citizens Bank of Edmond offers additional coverage, with a limit of $150 million per depositor, through IntraFi Network.
“If you’re able to use IntraFi, then you don’t necessarily have to go to another bank to get another $250,000,” Castilla said.

If you have under $250,000 in a bank account, this is of no concern to you — you are fully insured.

Jill Castilla
CEO of Citizens Bank of Edmond

Because the bank’s average deposit is typically $25,000, Citizens Bank of Edmond does not use the amplified coverage often, Castilla said.
To enroll, customers need to sign an agreement to allow the bank to use IntraFi to cover their deposits.
Customers can also review the list of banks in the IntraFi network and exclude those with which they prefer not to have deposits, Castilla said.
Those who sign up with IntraFi can choose from different products with either variable or fixed rates provided through money market funds or certificates of deposit, Castilla noted.

From the depositor’s standpoint, the process should be easy.
“The banker should be having these conversations with them if they have uninsured deposit exposure,” Castilla said.
Of note, there are ways of obtaining coverage for balances in excess of $250,000, including the Depositors Insurance Fund, which is privately sponsored by the industry. Some states also provide backstops for FDIC insurance, Castilla noted.
Other kinds of accounts may offer different protections, such as the National Credit Union Administration for credit union deposits or Securities Investor Protection Corp. for brokerage accounts.
To be sure, it is best to read the fine print to fully understand your coverage limits.

Add beneficiaries to your account

Another way of getting more than $250,000 in coverage for your deposits is to add beneficiaries.
If you have $1 million in deposits, for example, you would only have $250,000 covered on your own, Castilla said, leaving $750,000 uninsured.
But if you add four beneficiaries — a spouse and three children — that provides another $750,000 in coverage, or $250,000 per person, so long as those beneficiaries do not have other deposits at the bank, Castilla said.
Before you use this strategy, you should carefully consider how this will fit into your estate plan.

Per FDIC rules, deposits owned by one person without any beneficiaries are considered single accounts. However, once the owner of a single account designates one or more beneficiaries, the account may be insured as a revocable trust account, so long as it meets certain requirements.
Keep in mind that beneficiaries always get priority over a will, noted Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner and founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida.
“If you have a beneficiary account, then that asset is not going to go through your will,” McClanahan said.
Also, if you name your children as beneficiaries, but they are not yet 18, a guardian will have to take control of the money until they become adults, McClanahan noted. That can make it more costly for them to claim the money, she said.
Alternatively, you may establish a trust and specify in your will that the money should be held there until your children are of age. Then, on your bank beneficiary forms, you would name the trust instead of your children.

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Women tend to put other people’s needs before their own, and that sets them back financially, said personal finance expert Suze Orman.
How prepared you are to answer five questions may serve as a financial wake-up call, Orman said.
Plus, here are the three priorities Orman said everyone should have at the top of their to-do lists.

Suze Orman speaks during AOL’s BUILD Speaker Series at AOL Studios In New York.
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At the end of each episode of her long-running eponymous CNBC show, Suze Orman would close out with the phrase, “People first, then money, then things.”
Women took that to mean they should give to other people and be generous, according to Orman. Men, on the other hand, took it to mean they should put themselves first.

Years after those episodes aired, there is still a distinct difference between how women and men handle their finances, Orman told CNBC.com in an interview.
At times, women can be their own worst enemy, said Orman, who is now a co-founder of SecureSave, a start-up working with employers to provide emergency savings accounts.
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Whether or not you take control of your money will have big consequences for your future, she said.
“You will never be a woman who owns the power to control her destiny unless you have power over how you think, feel and act with your money — how you save it and how you invest it and how you spend it,” Orman said.

“And none of you should be dependent on anybody else other than yourself,” she said.
The message is one Orman has been working to get across through her “Women & Money” podcast. The tagline for the show is “and everybody smart enough to listen,” and the show has a “tremendous” male following, according to Orman.

However, many listeners are older women — ages 60 and up — who “have absolutely nobody else to go to,” she said.
A key inflection point in these women’s lives tends to be the deaths of their spouses, Orman said. At that time, many women realize just how in the dark they are about their finances because they let their significant other handle the bulk of the responsibilities, she said.
Over the years, Orman estimates, she has talked to thousands of women in that same predicament.
Savings is one of the first places where women can start to strengthen their relationship with money, a concept that helped inspire Orman to co-found SecureSave in 2020.

You will never be a woman who owns the power to control her destiny unless you have power over how you think, feel and act with your money.

Suze Orman
personal finance expert

“There has never been a time more important for an emergency savings account since 2008 as there is right now,” Orman said.
A recent survey conducted by SecureSave found just 24% of women say they can pay for an unexpected emergency expense in cash, versus 41% of men.
Meanwhile, 64% of women said their personal savings had dropped in the past year, compared with 43% of men.
The results are evidence that women do not put themselves first, Orman said.

A wake-up call for women’s finances

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Women can test just how much they know about their money by asking themselves some key questions, Orman said.
They include:

If you own your home, do you know the interest rate on your mortgage?
Do you know the current interest rate on your savings account?
Do you know whether the money you have invested at a brokerage firm is insured?
Do you know if the money in your 401(k) plan is protected?
Do you know what your 401(k) or other retirement plan is invested in?

If you can’t answer yes to all of these, consider it a financial wake-up call, Orman said.
The less you know about your finances, the more likely it is you will make a mistake, she said.
“I always say to people the biggest mistake you will make is the mistake you don’t even know that you are making,” Orman said.

3 changes women should make now

Beyond brushing up on their financial knowledge, women should also make some key changes.
On a recent “Women & Money” episode, guest Sheila Bair, chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation from 2006 to 2011, said building up your savings now is “absolutely the best thing you can do.”
The ideal places to put that money include a bank, credit union or government short-term money market fund where it can be easily accessed, Bair said.
“The worst thing that happens to people is you get into a recession, they don’t have savings, their income goes down, then they have to borrow,” Bair said. “So they’ve got a debt load, too.”

Every woman should have a savings account, whether it is through their employer or independently, Orman said. Every woman should also have a credit card exclusively in her own name, she said.
As rising interest rates make carrying credit card debt more expensive, paying down those balances, if they have them, should be toward the top of their to-do list.
“They need to make that almost a No. 1 priority, as well,” Orman said.
Join us virtually for Women and Wealth, a CNBC Your Money event, on April 11, where financial experts will share how women can increase their income, save for the future and make the most out of current opportunities. Register for free today.

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