Financial stress is so common that certified financial planner Katie Lindquist says almost every client she has tells her they are feeling it.

“They don’t know what they should be doing with their money, and they feel like they should know. They feel shame around their money habits, which is a huge driving force of stress,” Lindquist says.

To alleviate that tension, Lindquist helps them get organized and take inventory of their financial accounts and goals. “People who have financial plans are a lot less stressed because they know where they are and where they want to go,” says Lindquist, who is based in Madison, Wisconsin.

To combat overwhelming feelings of money stress, financial experts suggest taking these steps:

Normalize the feeling

Knowing how common financial stress is can help people realize there isn’t something wrong with them when they feel it, says Bari Tessler, author of “The Art of Money” and a financial therapist in Boulder, Colorado.

“Increased financial anxiety has everything to do with interest rates, inflation, job challenges, life curveballs and world events,” Tessler says. Those stressors impact almost everybody. It can lead people to freeze and ignore their finances or to check them too obsessively, she says, neither of which is helpful.

Check in with your body

Sometimes, your body can alert you to financial stress first. Sonya Lutter, director of financial health and wellness in the School of Financial Planning at Texas Tech University, says when people experience financial stress, their fingers often get cold because they are experiencing a fight-or-flight response that affects blood flow.

“You can easily train yourself to notice when you are physiologically stressed,” Lutter says. Then, you can avoid making big financial decisions until you are in a calmer state. Otherwise, she says, fight-or-flight “leaves us to make very myopic decisions. You just want to get through right now, and definitely don’t care about 10 years from now, which is horrible for financial decision-making.”

If you’re making money choices with a partner, Lutter adds, you can gauge if you’re both in the right mindset by first holding hands to check in on temperatures and stress levels. You might decide to tackle the topic later when you’re both more relaxed.

Learn your triggers

Sometimes, negative experiences around money from childhood can lead to a high-stress response whenever the topic comes up as an adult, says Jannese Torres, author of the forthcoming book “Financially Lit!” and host of the podcast “Yo Quiero Dinero.”

The idea of negotiating for a salary or bartering at the car dealership could send you into an emotional tailspin, Torres explains. She says exploring those early life experiences can help people learn to navigate financial conversations rather than avoid them.

“The more you know what triggers you, the easier it is to look objectively at your finances and realize you can handle it,” she adds.

Look for ways to reset

Tessler suggests slowing your mind down before a big decision, which could be done through activities like hiking, meditation, taking a shower or listening to music. Sometimes, getting a snack, going outside or lowering your shoulders can go a long way toward resetting, she says.

“I would literally take a deep breath. Nobody even has to know. Walk away and analyze the situation,” Lutter says.

“It’s OK to pause and come back” to the decision later, she adds.

Take the first step to regain control

Because stress can cause us to freeze in the face of financial decisions, Stacy Dervin, founder of Tailored Financial Planning in Eugene, Oregon, suggests tackling one thing at a time. “Trying to solve everything at once can be really overwhelming. Just focus on the next right thing to help build your confidence,” she says.

Lindquist says creating a spreadsheet to list all of your accounts, logging in to a workplace retirement savings plan, tracking spending or making a net worth statement to look at assets and liabilities are all great ways to regain a feeling of control over your finances.

Sara Zuckerman, a CFP in Scottsdale, Arizona, and founder of Reset Financial Planning, says focusing on organizing your finances can bring you back to your own goals instead of comparing yourself to others, which can exacerbate stress.

“To really understand what you have and where it’s going is the biggest step toward putting that initial feeling of control in place,” Zuckerman says.

This article was written by NerdWallet and was originally published by The Associated Press.

The article 5 Ways to Calm Financial Stress originally appeared on NerdWallet.

It wouldn’t be Easter without colorful eggs and chocolate bunnies. But threats to the supply of these holiday essentials are pushing prices up at a time when shoppers are worn out by years of high inflation.

Here’s a look at why inflation is having an outsized impact on your Easter basket.

Cocoa prices soar with no relief in sight

Chocolate prices have risen nearly 38% since 2020, the year before inflation started heating up, according to NielsenIQ market research data provided to NerdWallet. Recently, price hikes have stemmed from the soaring cost of chocolate’s key ingredient: cocoa.

A series of bad weather events, as well as disease, have devastated cocoa crops in West Africa, where about 70% of the world’s cocoa is grown. As a result, cocoa prices are at record highs.

So far, there aren’t any signs of cocoa prices turning a corner, says Billy Roberts, food and beverage economist with CoBank, a Colorado-based lender specializing in agriculture. Initial reports on next season’s harvest — which occurs in late summer and early fall — aren’t as optimistic as the industry hoped. Until crop yields improve, cocoa prices will likely stay high.

Roberts says chocolate makers have realized ever-higher chocolate prices aren’t sustainable. While shoppers spent more money on chocolate in each of the past two years, they did so while buying less of it, according to NielsenIQ data.

But that doesn’t mean prices will come down. Instead, Roberts says, packages will shrink. “It’s not necessarily that they’re trying to fool the consumer, but they’re trying to deliver a product at a price point that consumers are comfortable paying.”

Egg prices have increased 47% since August

While chocolate might be an indulgent purchase by grocery shoppers, eggs are a staple. So, even when it isn’t Easter, consumers tend to watch egg prices closely, says Brian Earnest, an animal protein economist with CoBank.

“People know the last dozen eggs, what it cost them, just like they remember the last time they filled up the gas tank,” Earnest says.

Just like with gas prices in recent years, there’s been a lot to watch. The average cost of a dozen Grade A large eggs was $2.02 around Easter 2020, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, retrieved from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ FRED site, a 38% jump from January of that year. That short-lived spike was brought on by sudden changes in consumer demand because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Easter 2021, the average price of a dozen eggs was $1.62. The next year, it jumped to $2.52, and prices continued to skyrocket through 2023.

Eggs have been expensive the past two years primarily because of a highly contagious and deadly avian flu that has wreaked havoc on the U.S. egg supply. The virus is the main reason U.S. consumers saw the average price of a dozen eggs more than doubled between January 2022 and January 2023, when it peaked at $4.82.

Prices descended to an average of $3.27 per dozen around Easter last year and continued that way until the fall. That was partly owed to the fact that egg producers weren’t seeing new cases of bird flu and had an opportunity to rebuild their flocks. But farmers reported a new outbreak in November.

Over the past six months, egg prices have marched upward. In February, the average cost of a dozen eggs was $3 — 47% higher than the August price of $2.04.

Earnest doesn’t expect this outbreak to push prices as high as they were in 2022 and 2023, in part because chicken farmers have made changes to better protect their flocks. But now it’s spring again, and that brings more than the Easter bunny to chicken farms. Migratory birds, which have caused outbreaks of avian flu by spreading the deadly virus to stock animals, are a threat once again as they fly north.

Despite fewer new cases of bird flu in recent weeks, “we’re still in a period of seasonally higher risk to the flocks,” Earnest says.

The article Egg and Chocolate Prices Are Hopping — Just in Time for Easter originally appeared on NerdWallet.

A 2023 report from investment firm Vanguard estimates that about a quarter of Americans age 60 and over could move to a cheaper housing market and use the equity in their homes to upsize their retirement savings — making retirement more secure and enjoyable.

Those with home prices near the national median could have cleared about $99,000 in equity, on average, in 2019 (the year the data was gathered). Homeowners in top-priced markets could have cleared an impressive $346,000, on average.

“We’re at a peak of where housing prices have been, ever, in history,” says Matthew Gottshall, a certified financial planner in Westlake, Ohio. “It’s been more and more common for people to weigh the option of, ‘Do I downsize? Do I take the equity that’s grown in my house?’”

Here are the steps to take as you consider the option.

Assess the market

Selling (and potentially downsizing) your home and pocketing the equity is a good strategy in a market where you can make it work. This is easier in pricier housing areas, when you may be able to trade your high-value home for a smaller place in a more affordable market. Vanguard’s analysis noted that relocators in California, for instance, were more successful at clearing equity in their homes than those in lower-priced markets like New Mexico and Texas.

Selling property also isn’t a slam-dunk task. “Just because you want $800,000 for your home, the market may not care,” says Andrew Herzog, a CFP in Plano, Texas. “You may be in the mood to move, but if nobody wants to buy your place in the first place, you’ve got nothing.”

Additionally, you have to make sure you can afford to buy a replacement home that you like. Check home prices in your desired location before putting the “For Sale” sign out.

“My parents — the price of their house has gone up fairly substantially, but everything they want to sell and move into has increased even faster,” Gottshall says.

Research the costs

Make sure you understand property taxes and the basic costs of living in your desired locale, as well as the costs for selling your home. (Hint: The real estate agent commission is generally about 5.5%, although that may change after the recent legal settlement by the National Association of Realtors.) Also, if you’re picking up a mortgage on the new home, there will be closing costs, and rates are probably higher than they were when you last purchased property. All these numbers could chip away at your net sale profit.

“We’re at a place where 30-year mortgages are at 6.5% to 7%,” Gottshall says. “It could very well mean your monthly payment on a much lower-priced house is almost equivalent to the home that you’re in right now.”

In an area with a very low cost of living, do some digging to make sure you understand what to expect from the municipality. Are the streets and sidewalks maintained? How is garbage collected? Is the fire department responsive?

“I had one client who had a beautiful home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” says Ralph Bender, a CFP in Temecula, California. “I said, ‘Wow, you must like it, you basically pay no taxes down there,’ and he said ‘Yes, but you get no services either.’”

Weigh the current price of upkeep

Keeping your house could mean maintaining a big yard, replacing an old roof and managing a second-story primary bedroom into your later years. Selling gives you a chance to downsize your responsibilities and look for something that makes it easier to age in place.

“You have people with these four- and five-bedroom houses that no longer have kids staying with them,” Gottshall says. Moving to a home with less to clean and fewer stairs can make it easier to stay in your home long term.

Think about family

You don’t necessarily have to move closer to loved ones — but it’s helpful. Bender recalls a client who moved with his wife to South Carolina because they liked to golf. When the client died, his wife moved back to California because she didn’t know anyone in the area.

“There’s got to be a support network for the family,” Bender says. A community, he says, encourages social participation and contributes to overall longevity.

Test-drive the location

If you’re buying in a new city, visit in every season to ensure you like the area year-round, even in the snow or blazing sun. Vacation there if you can.

“Every area has its negatives,” Bender says. “You have to find out what they are before you move there and be prepared to deal with them.”

Hazel Secco, a CFP in Hoboken, New Jersey, remembers clients who moved from New Jersey to North Carolina and found that the lifestyle wasn’t what they expected. “I think they were visualizing and thinking about the difference theoretically, but I don’t think they fully grasped the implications,” Secco says. “They had to come back after selling the North Carolina [house], so it just ended up costing so much more.”

This article was written by NerdWallet and was originally published by The Associated Press.

The article Selling Your Home Could Boost Your Nest Egg — But Is It Worth It? originally appeared on NerdWallet.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday announced its final regulations to limit emissions from automobiles, as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to combat climate change.

The administration’s new, stricter standards on tailpipe emissions are expected to have ripple effects on electric vehicle production. But it also gives automakers more time to comply with the new rules. When the rules were originally proposed last year, the initial emissions limits had a shorter time frame for adoption.

The announcement comes as electronic vehicle demand has begun slowing down in recent months, despite a record 1.2 million in U.S. EV sales in 2023, according to Kelley Blue Book.

What you need to know

• The new tighter rules for vehicle emissions are expected to roll out more slowly than initially proposed last April. But eventually, the emissions limits will align with the EPA’s target.
• The new standards apply to passenger cars, light-duty trucks and medium-duty vehicles for all model years 2027 through 2032.
• The new rule doesn’t require automakers to produce a certain number of EVs, and gas-powered vehicles will still be produced.
• To comply with the stricter standards, automakers will likely accelerate the production of full-battery EVs, along with hybrids and plug-in hybrid EVs.
• The emissions goals are expected to be reached by 2032 if more than half (56%) of all new vehicle sales are electric and 13% are hybrids, according to the EPA.

Why this matters

• Emissions from cars and trucks are the largest contributor to atmosphere-warming greenhouse gasses in the U.S., accounting for roughly one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA.
• The new rules are expected to eliminate 7.2 billion tons of carbon emissions in the U.S. by 2055, according to the EPA.
• For drivers, the new rules are also expected to result in $62 billion in reduced annual costs for fuel, maintenance and repairs, according to the EPA.
• Auto manufacturing employment is also expected to get a boost from the new regulations as the industry increases EV production.
• There are, unsurprisingly, health benefits to cleaner air: the EPA says the new regulations “provide $100 billion of annual net benefits to society, including $13 billion in annual health benefits.”

Consider this

• EV adoption hasn’t been easy for consumers largely due to a lack of charging infrastructure for drivers to power up.
• A 2023 analysis of federal data by Coast, a fuel card company, found there are an average of 22 EV charging ports per 1,000 road miles compared to an average of 104 gas pumps.
• The sticker price for EVs is higher than the equivalent non-luxury gas-powered car, according to a study released in July 2023 by Kelley Blue Book. But EVs are more affordable than they once were — prices dropped 20% year-over-year.

What this means for you

• The new time frame for meeting emissions standards means automakers don’t have to rev up EV production right now, but in the coming years, consumers can expect more affordable EV options.
• Consumers are likely to save money with EVs once manufacturers beef up the inventory of less expensive EVs. Once the new standards are fully implemented, the EPA estimates the average U.S. driver will save $6,000 in fuel and maintenance costs.
• There are also other benefits: EV buyers are also entitled to a tax credit. For 2024, that’s up to $7,500 for new EVs and up to $4,000 for used EVs.

More From NerdWallet

• Should I Buy an Electric Car?
• Electric vs. Hybrid vs. Plug-In Hybrid Vehicles: How to Choose
• Leasing vs. Buying an Electric Car: How to Compare

Anna Helhoski writes for NerdWallet. Email: anna@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @AnnaHelhoski.

The article Tailpipe Emission Rules Give Automakers More Time to Ramp Up EVs originally appeared on NerdWallet.

Spring break is just around the corner, and many Americans will soon flock to Mexico’s white sand beaches and bustling cities to enjoy their time off. But those opting for a road trip will need to sort out their car insurance coverage first. Mexico legally requires all drivers, including American tourists, to have liability insurance, and failing to purchase enough insurance could land drivers in jail should they cause an accident.

Standard U.S. auto insurance policies won’t cover drivers south of the border, so it’s vital to purchase Mexican car insurance before making the trip.

Liability car insurance is crucial when driving in Mexico

Many large U.S. insurance companies partner with Mexican insurers to offer Mexican car insurance to their customers. Plans are flexible, starting at a single day of coverage and going for as long as a year. Another option is to purchase insurance from a U.S. broker that specializes in Mexican car insurance.

Mexico requires drivers to hold 100,000 Mexican pesos (around $5,800) for bodily injury and death liability coverage and 50,000 Mexican pesos (around $2,900) for property liability damage. If you’re caught driving in Mexico without this minimum coverage, you may face a fine of at least $200. If you cause an accident while driving uninsured in Mexico and cannot pay for the damages you caused, you could face jail time. That’s because in Mexico, all car accidents are considered criminal offenses, not just civil matters.

“If you don’t have insurance and you cause an accident, you can be held by the authorities,” says Geoff Hill, vice president of business development at Baja Bound, a California-based agency that specializes in Mexican auto insurance. “If you’re at fault, they will hold you until you can come up with the money to pay for the damage you [caused]. If you had insurance, you wouldn’t be on the hook for that.”

Oscar Arrieta, an Allstate insurance agent in El Paso, Texas, stresses the importance of having strong liability coverage above all other protection while driving in Mexico. The country’s liability insurance requirements are likely not enough to protect you and your finances if you cause an accident. “To me, protecting your vehicle is secondary,” he says. “It’s [about] the damage you create.”

Arrieta recommends a policy that has at least a $300,000 combined single limit, which is one larger liability limit to cover both bodily injury and property damage. Baja Bound only sells policies that start at that $300,000 limit and go up to $500,000 in liability coverage.

Other types of car insurance coverage worth having in Mexico

Because there’s a possibility that a car accident could land you in jail, many Mexican insurance policies include legal assistance coverage. This benefit can help you find and pay for an attorney and post bail, up to your policy’s limit.

Mexican insurers also typically offer hands-on support at the scene of an accident. If you’re in a car accident, an adjuster from your insurance company will arrive at the accident to examine the scene and determine how to proceed with other drivers’ insurers. That’s a big difference from how things work in the U.S., where adjusters won’t get involved until later.

To drive with peace of mind, it might be wise to consider strengthening your Mexican car insurance policy by purchasing medical payments coverage, which pays for the cost of treating your and your passengers’ injuries after an accident.

Even though it’s legally required, only a small portion of drivers in Mexico have car insurance, according to Mexico’s National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Users of Financial Services. And those who do might only satisfy the $2,900 property damage liability coverage requirement.

That is why you should also consider buying physical damage coverage and theft coverage which, combined, offer similar coverage to collision and comprehensive insurance in Mexico. These cover the cost of repairing or replacing your own car after it’s stolen or damaged in various situations, up to its current market value. Some U.S. insurance companies offer limited insurance coverage in Mexico, as long as you’re within a certain distance of the border, so check with your insurer to see if damage to your vehicle is covered in Mexico.

But no matter what, if you’re driving in Mexico, it is crucial to purchase liability insurance coverage at the very least — even if your insurer will cover damage to your car while driving in Mexico.

Mexican rental car insurance

If you’re planning to rent a vehicle for your trip, the best move will be to do so once you’re in Mexico. Many U.S. rental companies restrict or prohibit their cars from being driven into Mexico. The coverage options available at Mexican rental counters will all comply with the local minimum requirements, so that will be one less thing to worry about when your only concern should be finding the best taquería in town.

The article Driving to Mexico? Make Sure You Have the Right Car Insurance originally appeared on NerdWallet.

Both major national lottery jackpots continued their march upward after drawings Monday and Tuesday, with Mega Millions inching tantalizingly close to an estimated $1 billion top prize. Only five previous Mega Millions jackpots have hit that mark.

The Powerball jackpot rolled over again on Monday night and now stands at an estimated $687 million, with its next drawing tonight (Wednesday, March 20).

• Mega Millions: $977 million estimated jackpot, next drawing Friday, March 22.
• Powerball: $687 million estimated jackpot, next drawing Wednesday, March 20.

If either or both continue to elude a winner in upcoming draws, 2024 could see its first billion-dollar-plus jackpot, a mark that has become more common in recent years. Powerball had a $1.765 billion jackpot (won by a single ticket) as recently as October 2023.

Powerball and Mega Millions tickets are sold for $2 apiece in 45 U.S. states, as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

• To play Mega Millions, pick five numbers between 1 and 70, and a sixth number between 1 and 25. If you don’t want to pick the numbers yourself, you can get a set of numbers generated for you.
• To play Powerball, pick five numbers between 1 and 69 and a Powerball number from 1 to 26 (or have them randomly generated).

How much is the Mega Millions jackpot?

The current jackpot is estimated at $977 million.

Winners can opt to take their winnings in the form of an annuity or as a single lump sum, known as the cash option. The cash option for the current jackpot is estimated at $461 million.

By taking the annuity option, the winner would get the full jackpot advertised by Mega Millions, but it would be spread out in payments over 30 years.

No matter how lucky you are, you won’t get around paying taxes on a lottery jackpot. After mandatory federal income tax withholding, you’d get roughly $350 million, if you took the cash option. How much more you’d pay come tax time depends on whether you take where you bought the ticket — and where you live. To prepare, make sure you know the ins and outs of how the lottery works.

When is the next Mega Millions drawing?

• The winning numbers will be drawn Friday, March 22 at 11 p.m. Eastern Time.
• If there’s still no jackpot winner, the grand prize will continue to grow.
• The odds of winning the jackpot are roughly 1 in 303 million.

How much is the next Powerball jackpot?

The current jackpot is estimated at $687 million.

Like Mega Millions, winners of Powerball can choose between an annuity that pays out over 30 years or a single lump sum. The cash option for the current jackpot is $327.3 million. After mandatory federal taxes, the holder of a single winning ticket would keep about $248.7 million, minus any state taxes.

When is the next Powerball drawing?

• The winning numbers will be drawn Wednesday, March 20 at 11 p.m. Eastern Time.
• If there’s still no jackpot winner, the grand prize will continue to grow.
• The odds of winning the jackpot are roughly 1 in 292 million.

The jackpot isn’t the only way to win. Both games have prizes for ticket holders whose chosen numbers match the drawing in a variety of combinations.

10 largest lottery jackpots

• $2.04 billion (Powerball, Nov. 8, 2022 — one winning ticket).
• $1.765 billion (Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023 — one winning ticket).
• $1.586 billion (Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 — three winning tickets).
• $1.58 billion (Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023 — one winning ticket).
• $1.537 billion (Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 — one winning ticket).
• $1.348 billion (Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 — one winning ticket).
• $1.337 billion (Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 — one winning ticket).
• $1.08 billion (Powerball, July 19, 2023 — one winning ticket).
• $1.05 billion (Mega Millions, Jan. 22, 2021 — one winning ticket).
• $977 million (Mega Millions, pending).

The article Lottery Jackpot Approaches $1 Billion originally appeared on NerdWallet.

Car incentives nearly vanished during the past several years, thanks to pandemic-driven supply chain issues for auto manufacturers. As vehicle inventories dwindled and consumer demand outweighed supply, automakers had no reason to offer incentives like rebates or low-rate financing. The good news is that auto incentives, while still below prepandemic levels, are starting to return.

According to Kelley Blue Book, a Cox Automotive company, auto incentives — as a percentage of the average new-vehicle price buyers paid — reached 5.9% in February 2024. That’s compared with a general range of 10% to 11% before COVID-19 hit and 2% in fall 2022. In February, auto manufacturers spent an average of $2,808 per vehicle in incentives, up 88% from a year ago.

With inventories returning to normal and some auto manufacturers again sweetening deals to move vehicles, here’s how you can find and possibly save with car incentives.

Tips for saving with auto incentives

Although new car prices have declined since peaking in late 2022, the average price a buyer pays remains around $47,000. Incentives are one way to whittle down that price tag, and certain strategies can help maximize savings.

Be flexible about the vehicle you buy

Traditionally, auto dealers strive to have 60 selling days’ worth of cars in stock. As auto production has returned, some manufacturers — like Toyota — remain well below the 60-day mark, while others — including Ford, Nissan and Buick — are overstocked and more likely to offer incentives and discounts to move cars.

“The key right now is to be flexible about which vehicle you consider,” says Sean Tucker, senior editor for data company Cox Automotive. “If you had your heart set on something from Toyota, you’re probably not going to find a great deal. They just don’t have trouble selling cars right now.”

Auto manufacturer websites are a good place to research auto deals and incentives — including cash rebates, low-rate financing and lease deals — that are available for various makes and models. Such incentives often vary regionally, so you can usually narrow a search by ZIP code. Also, auto research companies like Edmunds maintain webpages with current car deals and incentives by carmaker.

Tucker suggests that incentives for leasing and electric vehicles are both good sources for saving in the current market. Auto dealerships are trying to restore the leasing cycle that feeds the used car market, so many dealerships are offering lease deals.

“It’s actually relatively easy right now to get a good lease on an EV,” Tucker says. “And that might even be a good idea just from a technology standpoint, because three years from now, when your lease is likely coming up, there may be far better EVs on the market.”

Know what incentives you qualify for

To ensure you receive every incentive available to you, know exactly which incentives you qualify for before engaging with a car dealer. Joseph Yoon, consumer insights analyst at Edmunds, recommends telling the dealer upfront what you expect in the way of incentives.

“The dealer is not going to offer it to you unless they’re deeply desperate to get the deal done,” Yoon says.

As part of your research, be aware of the different types of incentives available, because in some cases they can be combined.

• Auto rebates provide a certain dollar amount to reduce your overall cost of buying, financing or leasing a vehicle. The rebate reduction should be on top of any other discount you’ve negotiated.
• Low-rate financing is an incentive offered by automaker captive lenders — although you’ll need to have good or excellent credit to qualify and may be limited on loan length. As of March 5, 2024, Cox Automotive reported that 14.2% of new vehicle financing transactions had an APR of 3% or less. Only 3.2% of transactions had a 0% APR. While low-rate offers are available, they aren’t plentiful.
• Loyalty incentives may be available if you have a certain car brand and want to buy or lease another one from the same manufacturer.
• Demographic-focused incentives — for example, if you’re a recent college graduate, military member or educator — are also offered by some auto manufacturers and dealers.

Stacking more than one incentive, when possible, can help you take advantage of every dollar available to you. If you have to choose between multiple incentives, for example, either a rebate or low rate from the same manufacturer, use an auto loan calculator to run each scenario and see which will save you the most money in the long run. Also, consider whether taking a cash rebate at the dealer and financing elsewhere could save you even more.

When you buy or lease an EV, stacking manufacturer and other incentives can result in major savings. If you and the vehicle qualify, you can claim the federal EV tax credit of up to $7,500. On top of that, you may find EV incentives from your electric company or state and local governments. The Energy Department’s Alternative Fuels Data Center enables users to search and filter by state and utility/private incentives.

About EVs, Yoon says auto manufacturers and dealers are motivated right now to offer savings on top of the federal incentive, because “there’s still a little bit of inventory left from 2023 that they really, really, really want to get rid of as the 2024 models [are starting to] hit.”

Plan to negotiate and comparison shop

If you know you qualify for a $1,500 car rebate, don’t assume that’s the best you can do — even if the dealer tells you it is. The ability to negotiate car prices for some models has also reappeared, and incentives should be in addition to any amount you negotiate off the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. You can use valuation tools on car-buying sites to see what people are paying for the car you want and whether negotiating a lower price is realistic.

Finally, if you can find more than one dealership with the vehicle you want, present the deal you expect to each and let them compete for your business. Dealers receive factory-to-dealer discounts to help move certain vehicles, usually slower-selling ones. They can choose whether to pass these savings on to you and may be more motivated to do so if they know you’re shopping for the same car elsewhere.

Yoon says if a dealership isn’t willing to “play ball,” you shouldn’t hesitate to walk away. “Cars cost literally more than they have ever cost the consumer, and so you should, rightfully so, fight for every dollar that you can save.”

The article As Car Incentives Return, Here’s How to Find Them and Save Money originally appeared on NerdWallet.

The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.

Now that retirement spans more years than ever, you might need to rethink how you’re envisioning that stage of your life. Although Americans are retiring a little later than they did 30 years ago, they’re also living longer. Retirement isn’t a blip on the life radar — it’s a significant chunk of time.

While your parents may have retired and never worked another day in their lives, you may find that part-time work when you get older fulfills your mental needs and helps your retirement savings last. You may have to be more aggressive with your investments than you expected. And staying healthy is crucial.

“The questions I’m being asked are different, and the conversations clients are bringing to me are different,” says John McGlothlin III, a certified financial planner in Austin, Texas.

Here are the ways retirement might be shaping up for you.

You’ll keep more money in stocks

People used to enter retirement with a conservative-leaning portfolio that held a solid chunk in bonds and cash alternatives. Although advisors aren’t suggesting clients throw caution to the wind, they’re tweaking the investing plan at this life stage.

“We may just stay a little more aggressive, because the day you retire, you don’t need all this money,” says Jonathan Swanburg, a CFP in Houston. “Some of this money is for 30 years from now, some of it is for your kids and grandkids because you’re never going to touch it.”

McGlothlin encourages his clients to exit target date funds at retirement because he thinks they get too conservative. “The moment you hit that retirement date, they all of a sudden go to 50% bonds, and within a few years you’re at 60% and 70% bonds,” he says. “While bond yields are much better than they were a few years ago, I don’t necessarily think I can get clients 20 to 30 years of sustainable withdrawals if I’m that bond heavy.”

You may choose to keep working

The number of adults age 65 and older who are working is almost twice the number who were working 35 years ago, according to a 2023 Pew Research report. Consulting or part-time work in retirement allows you to withdraw less from your savings and potentially delay taking Social Security, and your investments have more time to grow.

“It gives us flexibility in our asset spend-down picture,” says Catherine Valega, a CFP in Winchester, Massachusetts. “The thought of moving to no more income coming in — that’s really stress provoking.”

Valega also encourages clients to pursue work and other activities so they don’t go stir-crazy. “You’re going to have 10 hours in the day that you didn’t have before,” she says. “You can exercise, and that’s great and you should, but beyond that you need some amount of mental stimulation.”

You may want to save for in-home care

Most adults age 55 and older want to age in place, according to a 2023 survey from the McKinsey Health Institute. Eighty percent wish to live in their own home, and 71% of older adults who aren’t living in their own home wish they could.

With home health aides having a national median cost of $27 an hour, according to Genworth’s 2021 Cost of Care data, planning for in-home care may require working longer to build the nest egg to pay for it, or even relocating to a city where home services are cheaper. Renovations to make a home more accessible or single-story livable are also helpful.

“I think the generation that’s retiring right now, they’ve seen their parents or their family members go into nursing facilities or assisted living facilities and are pretty much unanimously like, ‘I really don’t want that,’” McGlothlin says.

You’ll (really) want to stay healthy

The average 35-year-old woman today can expect to live to about age 81 — which means many will live even longer. David Foster, a CFP in St. Louis, now includes articles related to physical fitness and health alongside financial tidbits in his email newsletters to clients.

“That probably just wouldn’t have been on top of people’s minds 30 or 40 years ago because they weren’t likely to live until they were 90,” Foster says. “Exercise is good for avoiding cognitive decline and helping with your heart.”

Although it may feel a long way off, safeguarding your health now can lower medical costs later, plus help ensure you can work (and play) as long as you’re able. That means exercising regularly, eating reasonably healthy foods and getting enough sleep, among other things.

“You can’t do anything else if you don’t have your health,” Foster says.

This article was written by NerdWallet and was originally published by The Associated Press. 

The article The Evolution of Retirement — and What It Might Mean for You originally appeared on NerdWallet.

A landmark legal settlement between home sellers and the real estate industry could cause a shakeup in the way homes are bought and sold, beginning this summer.

The National Association of Realtors announced Friday that it had agreed to pay $418 million to settle more than a dozen antitrust lawsuits that accused NAR of imposing rules that inflated real estate commissions. NAR admitted to no wrongdoing, according to the news release.

Under the settlement’s terms, negotiations between buyers and sellers might become gnarlier. Home sellers would pay smaller commissions, allowing them to keep more of the proceeds from sales. And buyers, not sellers, would decide how much buyer’s agents are paid.

The settlement would mark a significant change for buyers, sellers and real estate agents. It’s uncertain how real estate markets will make the transition between now and mid-July, when the settlement is due to go into effect.

What the lawsuits are about

The settlement stems from a federal class-action antitrust lawsuit, Burnett v. National Association of Realtors et al., filed in Kansas City, Missouri. Last October, a jury sided with the plaintiffs, agreeing that NAR and large brokerages conspired to inflate commissions paid by sellers.

It’s one of more than 20 similar cases filed in federal courts nationwide, not all of them involving NAR, and the only one that went to trial all the way to a verdict. NAR said the proposed settlement in the Burnett case would resolve all of the lawsuits against the association, and will go into effect in mid-July if the court approves it.

NAR is a trade association with more than 1.5 million members working in the real estate industry. The association said the revised rules would affect anyone who uses a multiple listing service — a database of properties for sale in a geographic area — regardless of whether they are licensed Realtors, which is the designation for real estate agents who are members of NAR.

The lawsuits challenge NAR’s cooperative compensation rule, which requires seller’s agents to make “blanket unilateral offers of compensation” to buyer’s agents. To list a home on an MLS, the seller must make this “blanket unilateral” offer to pay buyer’s agents, who influence which houses their clients consider.

Plaintiffs contend that the cooperative compensation rule extorts sellers into paying inflated commissions to buyer’s agents. “Home sellers have been compelled to set a high buyer broker commission to induce buyer brokers to show their homes to the buyer brokers’ clients,” according to the plaintiffs in a lawsuit in Chicago — Moehrl v. National Association of Realtors et al.

Buyers would set their agents’ pay

With the elimination of cooperative compensation, sellers would no longer have to specify the size of the commission they’ll pay buyer’s agents. In fact, sellers would be banned under the new agreement from setting commissions for buyer’s agents in MLS listings.

Instead, it would be up to buyers to set their own agents’ pay. Some buyer’s agents might charge flat fees, or an hourly rate, or they might charge a fee for each time they accompany a buyer to a showing. Those business models would exemplify the innovation in the industry that the Department of Justice wants to encourage, according to a filing in yet another court case — Nosalek v. MLS Property Information Network et al, in Boston.

Negotiations would be more complex

Some observers worry that the new rule would make it even more difficult for buyers who are short on cash.

“If home buyers have to pay their buyers agent outside of settlement, it will increase their financial burden,” said Victoria Ray Henderson via email. Henderson works exclusively as a buyer’s agent and owns HomeBuyer Brokerage, operating in Washington, D.C., and its suburbs in Maryland and Virginia. Settlement is another term for a real estate closing.

Buyers wouldn’t necessarily have to pay their agents out of pocket. The new rule would allow buyers to ask sellers to pay the buyer’s agents at closing. This means that agent compensation might become part of the negotiation.

“Hopefully they’d negotiate the buyer agent compensation and then that would just be included in the mortgage loan,” says Stephen Brobeck, senior fellow for the Consumer Federation of America.

What it means for buyers and sellers this spring

Sometime between now and when the settlement goes into effect in July, buyer’s agents might start asking buyers to sign contracts that spell out how much the agents will be paid and at what point in the process. Over the same period, home sellers should consult their listing agents to make sure they’re complying with the new rules. This settlement would likely apply to real estate agents whether or not they are members of NAR.

The article What the Big Realtors Settlement Means for Home Buyers and Sellers originally appeared on NerdWallet.

When word got around that the burger chain Wendy’s would start surging prices in 2025, the backlash was swift. What followed was a swarm of media coverage, outraged customers, late-night TV jokes and a bevy of spicy memes.

It seemed the fast food chain’s alleged dastardly plans were dead on arrival. That is, they might have been if surging prices for your Frosty and fries was what Wendy’s was really planning to do. Wendy’s quickly clarified that it wasn’t surge pricing, after all; it was actually using “dynamic pricing.” That distinction is key, but it’s still business-school speak that’s not clear to most people.

“I think they didn’t think through how people would interpret that phrase,” says Robert Shumsky, a professor of operations management at Dartmouth University’s Tuck School of Business.

Here’s the difference: Surge pricing uses real-time supply and demand data to raise — and only raise — prices. If you’ve ever tried to get a rideshare during rush hour, you’ve experienced how surge pricing hikes up the cost of your fare. Dynamic pricing, on the other hand, uses real-time supply and demand data to fluctuate prices up or down.

Rather than raising prices in response to high customer demand, as the public assumed, Wendy’s says it plans to use artificial intelligence algorithms to lower prices during slow times, according to a statement from Wendy’s to NerdWallet on Feb. 27.

All of this is to say that what Wendy’s is doing isn’t all that new. Consumers are already paying for goods and services set by dynamic pricing in lots of industries — including food and hospitality.

However, technology is making it much easier to alter prices in real-time using an algorithm. And the availability of that resource has its appeal to businesses that hadn’t previously been able to price based on real-time factors.

On the surface, the most puzzling piece of the reaction to Wendy’s is that its competitors — McDonald’s and Burger King — already do dynamic pricing. They, along with Starbucks, offer promotions during slow parts of the day and offer perks (and even lower prices) for ordering via apps.

The lesson of Wendy’s is that just because businesses can do that, it doesn’t mean customers will like it — especially if they’re more aware that it’s happening.

“I think the big question now is whether there’s a change in consumer acceptance, over time,” says Shumsky. “When it’s rolled out in an industry, either it’s going to be rejected or it’s kind of become the norm, right? It became the norm in some industries, but as you saw from the reaction to Wendy’s, sometimes that doesn’t work very well.”

Dynamic pricing is all around you

Anyone who has ever booked an airline ticket or a hotel room has already paid an amount set by dynamic pricing. These industries were, and still are, the dominant space for the model.

But those prices are primarily set based on seasonal factors. For example, more people travel in the summer months, so airline tickets are more expensive in the summer. Gas prices go up on holiday weekends when more people will be on the road. Electricity is more expensive when it’s hot out because more people are using air conditioning. Ski lift operators can lower prices when conditions are subpar.

Other influences on pricing include patterns of consumer behavior — the longer you wait to book a flight, the more you’ll pay. Hotel bookings and Airbnbs tend to cost more on weekends. Amusement Parks like Disney World and Disneyland set prices based on historical data, such as how long lines take at the Jungle Cruise during peak months.

But the algorithms used in dynamic pricing are more sophisticated than they once were, and AI can analyze more data than ever before. Data can be collected about the weather at any moment rather than what’s typical during a season. Algorithms can factor in the volume of customers in real time as opposed to relying on long-standing consumer patterns.

E-commerce has also been doing this for quite some time. Amazon, for example, automates pricing based on real-time data about consumer behavior, supply, demand and competitor offerings. All of that data analysis churn enables rapid price changes.

One visible example of dynamic pricing you’ve probably encountered is ordering food through delivery apps. Restaurants can change the prices listed on apps like DoorDash or Seamless at any time. That goes for grocery delivery, too. You’ll typically find higher prices on a third-party delivery service than you would inside a restaurant or store. That’s largely due to the fees that these apps charge restaurants, but there are other supply-and-demand factors at play, as well.

How technology enables even more dynamic pricing

More advanced algorithms means dynamic pricing can be deployed easily and efficiently. In turn, businesses that use AI-enabled dynamic pricing may have more certainty over what they should charge at any given time. But on the flip side, it also means consumers may have less accurate expectations about what they’ll be charged.

Restaurants, for example, have always had happy hours and other common, mostly minor, price fluctuations, says Zach Brown, assistant professor of economics at the University of Michigan. Unexpected price changes are relatively new for restaurants, and consumers might be annoyed and confused to find the cost of an item higher than expected. Brown uses the example of a restaurant that implements dynamic pricing for a $10 item and sometimes charges $8 and other times charges $12 depending on demand.

Digital menus have made price changes even easier. Think of QR-coded menus that were widely adopted for sanitary reasons during the pandemic — many restaurants are keeping those around because it’s a lot easier to change up a menu online than it is to print a new one. Those digital menu boards that Wendy’s plans to introduce next year are what make its dynamic pricing implementation possible.

“I think the issue historically has been that technology was just not available,” says Brown. “You can program software to do it for you so you don’t even need a manager thinking about what prices to set.”

Changing prices digitally rather than manually has made a splash among big chain retailers, as well. Grocery stores like Kroger, as well as the shopping behemoth Walmart, have instituted electronic shelf labels that enable more rapid price shifts.

“At grocery stores they had to, by hand, go around and stick tags on things,” says Shumsky. “Now they can electronically change them, and that makes price changes easier to roll out in real time. There’s also certainly better algorithms behind the scenes to monitor demand and supply and to adjust prices in real time.”

Prices end up being lower for some people and higher for others, says Brown. “You end up with kind of winners and losers,” he says. “I will say that these things typically benefit sophisticated consumers. Maybe they’re checking the price online and they’re saying, ‘OK, let’s go now because prices are lower.’”

All of that data gathering and analysis done by AI doesn’t end at setting prices. The technology can also directly influence shopping habits and encourage cross-selling, says Shumsky. Again, it’s typical for e-commerce brands to use algorithms to offer targeted advertisements and sales to consumers — one scroll through Instagram will show you how that’s deployed. But brick-and-mortar retail is trying to catch up, and the same AI tech that’s used for dynamic pricing can help guide customers toward products and deals, too.

For example, in “Store Mode” on the Kroger shopping app, customers can get personalized recommendations and be navigated toward items they’re looking for. Meanwhile, Wendy’s says AI technology can also nudge customers toward products based on factors like the weather; as the company offered in a statement, “a suggestion of a cool Frosty on a warm summer day.”

AI-driven algorithms are only getting better at optimizing what they spit out and, frankly, that could be concerning, says Brown. “I do think we need more transparency about what these algorithms are doing,” he says. “Some pricing algorithms are probably innocuous and could even benefit consumers in some cases. Some are probably not.”

How do AI-driven algorithms work in dynamic pricing?

Ashwin Kamlani, co-founder and CEO of Juicer, an AI-driven dynamic pricing company, says that AI makes it easier to take mass quantities of data and run analysis on them, but much of what it spits out is experimental. “We are trying to see how to make the forecast and analysis of results more efficient and smarter,” he says.

For example, AI can find patterns using historical data in a very gradual and specific way, says Kamlani. “You need to be able to look for patterns that are repeatable. So how often do we see consistency in a way a certain product is ordered over time to an extent that we can predict, with a certain degree of confidence, that on Thursday between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., this restaurant will sell this many chicken wings on DoorDash at that location.”

AI can be applied to analyze more than just the chicken wings sales on their own. It can take machine learning to see what external factors might have influenced those sales. Kamlani says, “Our solution said that this Thursday based on the fact that there’s a game on and the weather is going to be x, y or z, and this is what happened in the past and this is what we predicted, how accurate was our forecast? And if we’re off, let’s figure out why we were off and try to fix that so our prediction can get more and more accurate.”

Competitive analysis is expected to make an even bigger difference in determining what prices to set at what time and where.

What’s the future of dynamic pricing?

There’s a fundamental barrier that businesses have to get past, says Shumsky: consumer expectation.

“From a consumer point of view, having predictable prices has huge advantages: You want to know how much you’re going to spend on something,” says Shumsky. “And if they’re fluctuating, it can be really, really frustrating.”

Experts say that anyone selling goods is likely to use dynamic pricing without much fallout — it’s what buyers have come to expect. “For everything that’s going to be purchased online, I think dynamic pricing is a real possibility in the future,” says Brown.

Even if dynamic pricing can be deployed more easily and in more business-related industries than ever before, that doesn’t mean it will. If consumers aren’t used to rapid price shifts, they may reject it.

Ticketmaster, the event ticketing goliath and notorious deployer of dynamic pricing, landed itself in hot water with the Department of Justice for its surge pricing fiascos in recent years, when prices for Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen spiked to thousands of dollars per premium ticket. Artists like Swift and Springsteen, along with Harry Styles, Paul McCartney, Coldplay and others have the option to turn off dynamic pricing for their concerts, but they have often chosen not to do so.

When the movie theater chain AMC tried to roll out its own version of Ticketmaster’s dynamic pricing model last year, consumers quickly — and loudly — rebuffed it.

All that said, consumer disdain isn’t necessarily so effective if actual demand remains. Surge pricing for rideshare services like Uber and Lyft have long drawn the ire of users during peak times even though, as Shumsky points out, higher fares increase the cut of the fare for drivers, which often brings more drivers out to increase the supply of drivers, which eventually declines prices. But let’s face it, nobody likes price surging.

Last summer, Lyft CEO David Risher reportedly said during an investing call that the company planned to kill off its policy of surging prices because “riders hate it with a fiery passion,” but in the fall, Risher walked back his comments.

Despite Wendy’s insistence that it never said “surge pricing” and it’s not going to be doing surge pricing, the damage was done. Price-sensitive consumers, already bearing the weight of inflationary cost rises over the past two years, were not pleased.

Now the burger chain is offering what appears to be a mea culpa in the form of $1 burgers through April 10 (it’s ostensibly for March Madness, but the sale looks a lot like a public relations scramble). However, despite the backlash to its dynamic pricing plans, Wendy’s doesn’t say it plans to reverse course: Come 2025, you can expect price fluctuations to roll out on digital screens at certain Wendy’s locations.

Other fast food chains may follow, but Brown says he’s interested to see how common dynamic pricing becomes in the restaurant industry more generally.

“I do think there are some people that are annoyed by prices that are constantly changing; they want some certainty,” Brown says. “I think there are some people that want to go to a restaurant where they’re handed a printed menu. I think it will be awhile before we see an upscale restaurant adopting dynamic pricing — there’s just something a little unsavory about it. But who knows, maybe in five or 10 years the norms will change.”

Customers at high-end restaurants are used to paying market price for certain fish, lobster and oysters. But they might balk at doing the same for a roast chicken, for example.

Shumsky says much of the services sector is less likely to adopt dynamic pricing models. “Many services require relationships and trust between providers and consumers, so if you’re changing your prices you’re violating an implicit contract,” says Shumsky, adding that your massage therapist or physical therapist likely cares more about keeping a client relationship than a few extra bucks. He says health care is also unlikely to adopt dynamic pricing.

“There are certain norms that we’re not going to violate here,” says Shumsky. “It hasn’t reached its limit, but I don’t think you’re going to see it everywhere.”

How consumers can take advantage of dynamic pricing

Dynamic pricing can be downright annoying for the consumer, but it also creates an opportunity to milk the benefits. That is, if you’re willing to put the time and attention into it.

Loyalty programs — often accessed via apps — like those offered by grocery stores, airlines, hotels and fast food chains are a convenient way to keep track of price fluctuations. And, as mentioned before, those programs usually offer perks like points toward free items and small discounts for using the app to make purchases.

You can also likely predict slower periods in any given day or week when companies might offer savings. By the same token, you can reasonably anticipate when there’s going to be higher demand and avoid making purchases during those times.

After all, dynamic pricing relies on timing in order to work. If you, the consumer, can strike at the right time, you too could reap the rewards.

The article Wendy’s Isn’t the First: Dynamic Pricing Is Everywhere originally appeared on NerdWallet.