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This week’s money news

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This week’s top story: Smart Money podcast on no-spend month 2.0, and recovering from credit damage. In other news: February mortgage rates on the downslope by end of month, having a conversation about fraud with older adults, and how to save your job from laying off.

Smart Money Podcast: No-Spend Month 2.0, and Recovering From Credit Damage
This week’s episode starts with a conversation about how to do a no-spend month that will work for you.

February Mortgage Rates on the Downslope by End of Month
With inflation in retreat, mortgage rates could follow downward.

Have a Conversation (Not a Lecture) About Fraud With Older Adults
Chatting with older adults about fraud and scams could help everybody in the conversation avoid becoming a victim.

Industries Most Likely to See Layoffs + How to Save Your Job
Money News & Moves: As layoffs escalate, these are the jobs most at risk — and how to protect yours.

How to create your retirement glide path

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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 by making gradual changes in your working and personal life in the months or years before you plan to quit work. Retirement can be a jarring transition, especially if you haven’t set up ways to replace the structure, sense of purpose and socializing opportunities that work can bring, says financial coach Saundra Davis, executive director of Sage Financial Solutions, a nonprofit financial education and planning organization in San Francisco.

“People are excited to leave (work), but then once they leave, they feel that pressure of ‘How do I define myself?’” Davis says. “‘Am I important now that I’m no longer in the workforce?’”

In my latest for the Associated Press, learn how to create your retirement glide path.

This week’s money news

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This week’s top story: Smart Money podcast on data breaches, and catching up on retirement savings. In other news: How airline elite status saved the day when airline delays and cancellations strike, which airline elite status should you go for in 2023, and how pay transparency may affect your job search or next raise.

Smart Money Podcast: Data Breaches, and Catching Up on Retirement Savings
This week’s episode starts with a primer on what to do if your data is breached.

I Flew During the FAA Fiasco — and Elite Status Got Me Home
Happily for this Nerd, airline ultra-elites get preferential treatment when delays and cancellations strike.

Which Airline Elite Status Should You Go For in 2023?
Do the math and consider personal preferences when choosing an airline elite status program in 2023.

How Pay Transparency May Affect Your Job Search or Next Raise
As states and cities add rules about disclosing salaries, job seekers and workers can put the data to use.

How to tackle holiday debt in January

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After years of being in debt, Rachel Kramer Bussel came to a realization: “If I don’t become proactive about it, I will be in debt for the rest of my life.” For Bussel, a freelance writer near Atlantic City, New Jersey, that meant scaling back spending and putting any available money toward the debt principal.

“Starting to see it go in the right direction helped me amp it up,” she says. “I felt like, maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel.” Bussel, whose debt came from credit cards, student loans and back taxes, finally paid off all of her debt, which at one point exceeded $100,000, in 2020.

Paying off debt is a common goal as the new year kicks off. Bills for holiday shopping and other end-of-year spending often come due in January, and this year, rising interest rates make debt increasingly expensive. According to the Federal Reserve, revolving debt, which includes credit card balances, continued to rise throughout 2022, increasing at an annual rate of 10.4% as of October, the most recent numbers available.

In Kimberly Palmer’s latest for the Associated Press, learn strategies to attack your debt in January.

This week’s money news

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This week’s top story: Smart Money podcast on investing in 2023. In other news: Small-business trends 2023, privacy hacks that may hurt your credit, and how to avoid hotel resort fees.

Smart Money Podcast: Your Money in 2023: Investing in the Stock Market
This week’s episode is all about investing in 2023.

Small-Business Trends: 6 Predictions for 2023
It’s difficult to predict what 2023 holds, but business owners can use innovative strategies to combat emerging challenges.

Privacy Hacks May Hurt Your Credit + You Won! Can You Hide?
Money News & Moves: Security fails routinely expose your personal financial info. And you can’t even buy privacy.

How to Avoid Hotel Resort Fees (and Which Brands Are the Worst)
NerdWallet analyzed the major hotel brands to find out which ones have the worst resort fees.