MoneyWatch

Sick and wondering if you may have either COVID-19 or the flu? A new test cleared for use by the Food and Drug Administration promises to tell you just that.  The Lucira COVID-19 & Flu Home Test is available over the counter and delivers results from a self-collected sample in …

A growing number of Americans are struggling to sock away funds for an emergency due to high inflation and climbing interest rates, a recent Bankrate survey suggests.  More than a third of survey respondents, or 36%, told Bankrate last month that they have more credit card debt than emergency savings. …

Colgate-Palmolive is recalling 4.9 million bottles of Fabuloso all-purpose cleaner because of possible bacterial contamination. The cleaners were sold at Dollar General, Family Dollar, The Home Depot, Sam’s Club, Walmart and other major retailers, as well as online at Amazon.com elsewhere, between December 2022 and January 2023. The manufacturer is …

The cost of buying a place to live in the U.S. shot through the roof last year as surging mortgage rates pushed the price of homeownership beyond many families’ budgets.  Real estate has gotten so expensive that in most American cities, residents would save money by renting, according to a …

In investing terms, a “glide path ” describes how a mix of investments changes over time. Typically, the mix gets more conservative — with fewer stocks and more bonds, for example — as the investor approaches a goal such as retirement. You also can create a glide path into retirement …

Charlie Javice launched her company Frank in 2017 when she was 24 and a recent Ivy League grad with the goal of helping students apply for college financial aid. By 2021, she was lauded as a business visionary and had sold her startup to JPMorgan Chase for $175 million.  Now, …

You’ve got big financial plans for 2023. Maybe they include buying a home or car, or getting a new travel rewards credit card to help pay for your next trip. There’s a key piece of these plans you may not have considered: building your credit score. A better credit score …

Long viewed as healthier than other sweet treats, some brands of dark chocolate contain potentially dangerous amounts of heavy metals, according to research released on Thursday by Consumer Reports. Scientists at the nonprofit advocacy organization recently measured the amount of heavy metals in 28 popular brands of dark chocolate bars …

A growing chorus of critics is questioning how the media and other groups rank the nation’s colleges, arguing that such lists help neither students nor their families and may obscure better ways of judging the quality of higher education. Millions of high school seniors are currently picking colleges to apply …

This holiday shopping season is shaping up to be longer, pricier and in some ways more chaotic than in previous years, which makes it easy to overspend. But there are also opportunities for significant savings if you know where and how to search for them. “There are supply-chain issues, inflation, …