A few months of market swings have taken a toll on retirement savers.

The average 401(k) balance fell 3% in the first quarter of 2025 to $127,100, according to a new report by Fidelity Investments, the nation’s largest provider of 401(k) plans.

The average individual retirement account balance also sank 4% from the previous quarter to $121,983, the financial services firm found. Still, both 401(k) and IRA balances were up year over year.

The majority of retirement savers continue to contribute, Fidelity said. The average 401(k) contribution rate, including employer and employee contributions, increased to 14.3%, just shy of Fidelity’s suggested savings rate of 15%.

“Although the first quarter of 2025 posed challenges for retirement savers, it’s encouraging to see people take a continuous savings approach which focuses on their long-term retirement goals,” Sharon Brovelli, president of workplace investing at Fidelity Investments, said in a statement. “This approach will help individuals weather any type of market turmoil and stay on track.”

U.S. markets have been under pressure ever since the White House first announced country-specific tariffs on April 2.

Since then, ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and European Union as well as China, largely due to President Donald Trump‘s on-again, off-again negotiations, caused some of the worst trading days for the S&P 500 since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, more recently, markets largely rebounded from earlier losses. As of Wednesday morning, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was roughly flat year-to-date, while the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 were up around 1% in 2025.

Intervening, or trying to time the market, is almost always a bad idea, said Gil Baumgarten, CEO and founder of Segment Wealth Management in Houston.

“People lose sight of the long-term benefits of investing in volatile assets, they stay focused on short-term market movements, and had they stayed put, the market would have corrected itself,” he said. “The math is so compelling to look past all that and let the stock market work itself out.”

For example, the 10 best trading days by percentage gain for the S&P 500 over the past three decades all occurred during recessions, often in close proximity to the worst days, according to a Wells Fargo analysis published last year.

And, although stocks go up and down, the S&P 500 index has an average annualized return of more than 10% over the past few decades. In fact, since 1950, the S&P has delivered positive returns 77% of the time, according to CNBC’s analysis.

“Really, you should just be betting on equities rising over time,” Baumgarten said.

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Americans have a near-record level of credit card debt — $1.18 trillion as of the first quarter of 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The average credit card debt per borrower was $6,371 during that time, based on data from TransUnion, one of the three major credit reporting companies.

Many people don’t understand why a common strategy that can help them pay down that debt — paying bills on time — isn’t all it takes to improve their credit. Separating fact from fiction is essential to help you pay down debt and raise your credit score. 

Here’s the truth behind a common credit myth: 

Your credit score is a three-digit numerical snapshot, typically ranging from 300 to 850, that lets lenders know how likely you are to repay a loan. The average American’s score is 715, according to February data from scoring brand FICO.

Here’s what you need to know about on-time payments and your credit:

For example, making on-time payments on buy now, pay later, or BNPL, loans may not help your credit score, even though 62% of BNPL users incorrectly believe they will, according to a new LendingTree survey.

While some BNPL providers do report certain loans to the credit bureaus, this is not a universal practice. And BNPL users may see a negative credit impact if they fall behind.

“Some BNPL lenders will report missed payments, which can hurt your score,” said Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree and author of “Ask Questions, Save Money, Make More.”

An easy way to check what payments are and aren’t influencing your credit: take a look at your credit report. You can pull it for free, weekly, for each of the major credit reporting agencies at Annualcreditreport.com.

While payment history can account for 35% of your score, according to FICO, it’s not the only factor that matters. How much you owe relative to how much credit you have available to you — known as your “credit utilization” — is almost as important, at about 30% of your score. 

Higher utilization can hurt your score. Aim to use less than 30% of your available credit across all accounts, credit experts say, and keep it below 10% if you really want to improve your credit score. 

A 2024 LendingTree study found that consumers with credit scores of 720 and up had a utilization rate of 10.2%, compared with 36.2% for those with credit scores of 660 to 719.

“Don’t settle for B+ when you can go for the A+,” said Espinal, who is also the author of “Mind Your Money” and a member of the CNBC Global Financial Wellness Advisory Board. “You want to use less than 10% to really boost your score significantly.”

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The Social Security Administration has now processed about 91% of cases related to a new law that is prompting higher benefits and lump-sum retroactive payments for nearly 3 million people, according to a new update from the agency.

The Social Security Fairness Act, which was signed into law in January, eliminated two provisions — the Windfall Elimination Provision, or WEP, and the Government Pension Offset, or GPO — that previously reduced benefits for individuals who also receive income from public pensions that did not require the payment of Social Security payroll taxes.

At the start of the year, the Social Security Administration said affected beneficiaries may have to wait more than one year to see their payments adjusted.

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The agency credits automation for helping it to expedite those payments.

The Social Security Administration currently plans to update all beneficiary records affected by the law by early November.

However, the agency is “working to exceed its estimate” under new commissioner Frank Bisignano, a Social Security Administration official said via email.

“Commissioner Bisignano committed to senators during his confirmation process that this would be finished ‘while the weather is warm’ and he will keep his promise,” the Social Security Administration official said.

Here’s the latest on the Fairness Act payments.

The changes will result in higher monthly payments ranging from $360 to $1,190, depending on individual circumstances, the Congressional Budget Office previously estimated. 

Affected beneficiaries will also see lump-sum payments dating back as far back as January 2024. Notably, Social Security benefit payments for January 2024 were received by beneficiaries in February 2024, according to the Social Security Administration.

For each beneficiary, the monthly benefit increases and any back payments are processed together, the Social Security official said.

Have your Social Security benefits been affected by the Social Security Fairness Act? If you would be willing to share your story, email [email protected].