If you have a rewards credit card that earns cash back, points or miles, you may earn bonus rewards in common spending categories, such as travel, dining and groceries. But card issuers (American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover) differ in how they classify what purchases qualify for extra rewards. Card issuers use merchant category codes (MCCs) to classify purchases. But they have no control over which MCC a merchant receives, so that’s a factor to consider when l

For 32-year-old Heather Taylor of Calabasas, California, paying off her student loans right out of college felt “overwhelming.” By 2014, she’d accrued $16,000 in interest, bringing her total student loan debt to $56,000. After years of struggling to make even minimum payments, Taylor ended up going into default on some of her loans. I can’t even begin to comprehend how I would juggle payments of a car plus rent plus student debt. Video by Courtney Stith In 2018, she applied to refinance her stud

Capital One adds new hotel transfer partnersPreviously, Capital One transfer partners only included airlines, but starting Feb. 4, there are two hotel partners: Accor and Wyndham. Capital One states that no other U.S. card issuer partners with these hotel loyalty programs. JetBlue transfers now receive more valueCapital One miles transfers to JetBlue TrueBlue are currently valued at 2:1 (1,000 Venture or Spark miles are worth 500 JetBlue TrueBlue points). Starting Feb. 4, the new transfer ratio

Billionaire investor Ron Baron told CNBC on Tuesday he’s ardently against implementing a wealth tax. “But the wealth tax I think is an awful idea.” Proposals for a wealth tax have been a key focus for some Democratic presidential hopefuls. Warren’s plan calls for a 2% tax on families’ net worth above $50 million and a 6% tax on household net worth over $1 billion. Entrepreneur and Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang is proposing a 10% VAT, targeting companies such as Amazon and Alphabet.

The safe-haven yen and Swiss franc fell for a second straight session against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, with risk appetite growing as investors were encouraged that the Chinese government was taking measures to contain the coronavirus and limit its economic fallout. In late morning trading, the dollar rose 0.5% against the yen to 109.26 yen, and gained 0.3% versus the Swiss franc to 0.9690 franc. Gains against the yen and franc helped push the dollar index higher to 97.922, up 0.1% on the day.

Gold slid more than 1% on Tuesday as Chinese steps to mitigate the economic impact from the coronavirus epidemic drove some investors away from safe havens and back into riskier assets. Spot gold was down 1.56% at $1,551.79 per ounce, after hitting its lowest since Jan. 22 at $1,550.75. The outbreak has undermined the country’s economic activity as cities are locked down, with travel restrictions and businesses closed. “In case the impact of the virus is less than the market has priced in, it co

Oil pumpjacks in the Permian Basin oil field are getting to work as crude oil prices gain. Oil prices moved lower Tuesday as fears that energy demand would take a long-term hit from the coronavirus outbreak offset prospects for more cuts in crude production from OPEC and its allies. Oil slid sharply over the past two weeks on concerns over the global economic impact of China’s coronavirus. Sources close to the matter told Reuters that OPEC+ was considering cutting crude output by a further 500,0

A strong stock market and low unemployment rate have not dispelled Americans’ fears that the rising costs of everyday expenses threaten their long-term financial health. Almost half (47%) of Americans believe that cost of living is the biggest threat to their financial security and long-term investments, according to TD Ameritrade’s financial disruptions survey, which polled over 1,000 U.S. adults with at least $10,000 in investable assets. The cost of medical care rose 4.6% in 2019, the largest

Recent grads: The three words that should never appear on your resumeSuzy Welch gives her tips and tricks on the best ways to build up your job application and the three words recent grads should never use on their resume.

As a result, flexible and co-working spaces are now the fastest-growing type of office space in commercial real estate. CNBC Make It spoke with experts in the office design space for what workers can expect in 2020 and beyond. This focus on wellness is translating to the office space, design experts say. “It’s the ethos of this generation,” Kane says of office design that promotes wellness. “You want to create an office space where people don’t want to run home at 5 o’clock.”

The first time Lemp bought an RV online, she “didn’t really have a game plan,” but wanted to renovate a camper her family could use for road trips. With the help of her kids and husband, Lemp has since flipped and sold 10 RVs of different styles and types. Before and after of the interior within the “90s RV” Lemp and her family renovated. Before and after of the trailer bed within the “80s RV” Lemp and her family renovated. Before and after of the interior within the “70s RV” Lemp and her family

Research shows that kids who learn to manage money when they’re young will be able to better handle their finances as adults. Yet, up until recently, only 17 states required high school students to take a class in personal finance. Forty-five states now include personal finance education in their curriculum standards for kindergarten through 12 grades, although only 37 states require those standards to be implemented by local school districts. Principal Lionel Hush of West Orange Middle SchoolSt

But rather than exaggerating your skills with fluffy words and phrases, best-selling management author and CNBC contributor Suzy Welch says you should be realistic and transparent about the experience you bring to the table. This means removing common words like “seasoned,” “accomplished” and “experienced” from your resume “right this minute,” she tells CNBC Make It . “Working in PR for two years right out of college does not make you a ‘veteran marketing executive,'” Welch continues. Suzy Welch

Nike said it’s closed half of its stores in China as the government tries to contain a new virus outbreak there, saying it will have a “material impact” on its operations across the country. “This situation was not contemplated at the time we provided Q3 guidance during our Q2 fiscal year 2020 earnings call,” the company said in a statement released after the markets closed Tuesday. “Dynamics continue to evolve and accordingly we will provide an update on the operational and financial impacts on

The State Department’s World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers report published in December 2019 is the latest U.S. assessment of global military spending from 2007 to 2017. The report found that the United States accounted for 79% of the global arms trade, or an average of $143 billion annually. The United States exported four times more arms around the globe than the next nine countries combined. “Countries in the richest quintile of world population appear to have accounted for more th

Democrats shout HR 3, HR 3 after Trump asks for bipartisan prescription drug billPresident Donald J. Trump delivers his State of the Union address to both houses of Congress.

Democratic response to Trump’s State of the UnionThe Democrats offer their response to the State of the Union address by President Donald J. Trump.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump recognized the parents of Kayla Mueller, an American humanitarian aid worker who was kidnapped and imprisoned by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Tuesday during the State of the Union address. “In 2013, while caring for suffering civilians in Syria, Kayla was kidnapped, tortured, and enslaved by ISIS, and kept as a prisoner of Al-Baghdadi himself. After more than 500 horrifying days of captivity, Al-Baghdadi murdered young Kayla,” Trump said after recognizing

That brings the stock’s year-to-date gains to a whopping 112% on a market cap of nearly $60 billion. So, basically, you’re looking at the very start of what’s going to happen with Tesla. Craig Irwin, senior research analyst at Roth Capital Partners, was baffled:”I just can’t believe this freakin’ stock. This is a big separation from those of us who like to pull out the calculators and look at reality. Our idea is Tesla can do 2 [million] to 3 million units in 2026, and if you model that into the

General Motors on Tuesday night unveiled its new 2021 Cadillac Escalade SUV with a massive OLED display, an upgraded semi-autonomous driver-assist system and other tech-savvy features. The redesigned Escalade features a smoother exterior design than current models and a new interior with a standard industry-first curved OLED display, which offers twice the pixel density of a 4K television. The cherry is the OLED screen, which gives you a total new look at the interior,” Michael Simcoe, GM vice p