The Weekly Scan October 24, 2022

Truss fall. Six weeks after she started, Britain’s prime minister Liz Truss resigned in response to disapproval from British constituents and the Conservative Party alike. Truss assumed the position of prime minister after Boris Johnson resigned from the role in July 2022. In a series of choices, Truss seemingly made a suffering British economy even worse. Truss’s tax cuts, deregulatory policies, and borrowing sent the value of the British pound plummeting. The Conservative Party elected Truss as Johnson’s replacement, but the party’s approval ratings reportedly have fallen severely in recent months. 

• Lauren’s takeaway: Politics often have the potential to affect the stock market, and political surprises like leadership resignations, acts of war, and elections are typically unpredictable. This is another reason why it’s important to think long-term about your investments, keep Auto-Stashing, and follow The Stash Way^®.

New York Times

The taxman’s back. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced new tax brackets for 2023 tax filings. The standard deduction for single filers increased $400 to $12,950 and the deduction for married couples filing jointly increased $800 to $25,900. The top tax rate stayed at 37% and each of the upper limits for the tax brackets increased from last year. You can find more information about the changes here.

• Lauren’s takeaway: What do the tax bracket changes mean for you? The good news: you’ll likely keep more of your paycheck in 2023 than you did this year. Some of your pay will be taxed at lower rates than it was this year, so you will get to keep more with every check as less goes to Uncle Sam. 

NPR

App launch. The Biden administration launched an application allowing student borrowers to apply for the debt relief program. As of October 17, 2022, President Biden said that roughly eight million people had applied for relief via the beta version of the application site. Earlier this year, Biden rolled out a plan to forgive $10,000 in student debt for borrowers who make less than $250,000 annually. People who received Pell grants can get an extra $10,000 in relief. Approximately 20 million people are eligible for forgiveness under the plan. 

• Lauren’s takeaway: If you are eligible for this one-time forgiveness program, apply as soon as you can. Early filers have a better chance of getting their debt forgiven before payments resume in January, freeing up more money in your budget for other goals like saving and investing. 

AP News

Press play. Netflix delivered better-than-predicted earnings from its most recent quarter. The streamer added 2.41 million subscribers during the quarter, compared to the expected 1.09 million subscribers. The company’s revenue also hit $7.93 billion versus $7.837 billion expected. In response to the report, shares in Netflix increased 14%. In the new year, Netflix is reportedly planning to crack down on password-sharing. The streamer also expressed optimism about the ad-supported version of the platform it’s launching.

• Lauren’s takeaway:  It may have felt vital to have multiple streaming services during pandemic lockdown, but it could be a strain on your monthly budget. If you want to trim entertainment costs, you can try rotating your streaming subscriptions. Instead of keeping Hulu, Netflix and Disney+ 24/7, consider canceling one for a few months, and then swapping it out with another, so you get all the content without the cost. 

CNBC

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