Where do you stand financially? Get a score on this quiz — and our advice. (2024)

The higher cost of necessities — rent, gas and food prices — has led to an increase in homelessness and millions more fear they’ll lose their homes.

Read more: Workers are picking up extra jobs just to pay for gas and food

How Gen Z teens accidentally blew up the myth of the lazy millennial

Millions of student loan borrowers are waiting to see how the Supreme Court will rule on the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program.

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He took out a student loan in ’77. Today, he’s barely cracked the principal

Could SCOTUS strike down loan forgiveness under PSLF?

With student-debt relief in limbo, borrowers must spend or save refunds

Many American adults can’t cover a $400 emergency, such as a car repair or a modest medical bill, without borrowing from a friend or family member, or using a credit card and paying it off over time.

The Secure 2.0 retirement law passed in 2022 contains two provisions related to emergency savings. In 2024, retirement plans can allow employees two ways to save. Under one provision, they would be able to withdraw up to $1,000 for an emergency expense. This withdrawal is not subject to the usual 10 percent early withdrawal penalty for people under 59½. There’s also a provision that, if implemented by an employer, would permit employees to contribute to a Roth IRA that is designated as an emergency fund.

Read more: Michelle Singletary’s money milestones for every age

Despite inflation and recession concerns, total retirement contribution rates remained steady in 2022, compared with a year earlier, according to Fidelity Investments.

But if you don’t have a retirement account, you are not alone. According to the Federal Reserve, only about half of American households have a retirement account.

Read more: 401(k) balances are up, but the number of millionaires is down

The average credit card balance as of late February was $5,221, according to bankrate.com. Rate increases by the Fed have made credit card debt more expensive. The average credit card interest rate now tops 20 percent.

The share of credit card revolvers, or those who carry over a monthly balance, was 40.3 percent nationally in the second quarter of 2022, according to the American Bankers Association.

Read more: 7 ways to lower your credit card debt after the Fed rate hike

The national average for a gallon of regular gas was just under $3.50 in mid-March, according to AAA. Prices have dropped significantly since last year, when fuel costs were straining the budgets of commuters and vacationers.

Read more: High transportation costs limit mobility, fueling inequality

Mortgage rates are still high compared to what buyers have been used to pre-pandemic. The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage topped 7 percent last fall, which was the highest level in two decades. Rates have eased and are now roughly half a percentage point lower.

Interactive: Calculate how much more mortgages will cost as interest rates rise

Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) could be impacted by Fed rate increases.

Read more: Five reasons why you shouldn’t buy a house right now

The median asking rent rose 2.4 percent year over year to $1,942 in January, the smallest increase since May 2021, according to Redfin.

Read more: With higher inflation, living with your parents makes economic sense

A global semiconductor chip shortage is led to steep markups in prices for new and used cars.

Read more: From chicken wings to used cars, inflation begins to ease its grip