Jeanne Sahadi

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday decided yet again to stand pat on interest rates. Despite the Fed’s inaction, there are still opportunities to maximize the interest you earn on your savings or reduce what you pay on your debts.

If you plan to call it quits at work within a decade, or you’ve just retired, you may want to take steps to minimize what’s called sequence risk, which is the risk that the market falls, reducing the value of your portfolio, during the earliest years of your retirement.

Employers have already started making moves in anticipation of possible scrutiny from the Trump administration.

“This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy!” Elon Musk, center, told the audience at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference on February

Reports of the Department of Government Efficiency’s so-called “tech bros” accessing federal systems that hold vast troves of Americans’ personal data have raised many questions about whether they can legally see – never mind copy, alter or share – such sensitive details on hundreds of millions of people.

When people think of Social Security, they typically think of monthly benefits — for the roughly 69 million retirees, disabled workers, dependents and survivors who receive them today.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — the special entity created by President Donald Trump and run by Elon Musk to bring about greater “governmental efficiency and productivity” — has been pressing for authorized access to IRS data systems right in the middle of tax-filing season.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the so-called cop on the beat protecting Americans from financial abuse, is now under strict orders to do nothing.

Elon Musk, head of the chaos-causing Department of Government Efficiency, made an assertion this week that raised questions in some people’s minds about the status of the IRS Direct File program. That program enables tax filers in 25 states, if they choose, to file their taxes for free on the IRS website, if their tax returns aren’t too complex.

The Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to keep its overnight bank lending rate where it is — following a full percentage point cut last year — means you still have an opportunity to enjoy solid, inflation-beating returns on your savings if you’re smart about where you put them.