Dreamscrolling? Dupes? Trying to keep up with personal finance buzzwords can feel like learning a new language. Here’s a snapshot to help you stay on top of some of the latest:

✔️ Dreamscrolling. If you’re on Zillow looking for your perfect home or adding “someday” items to your shopping cart ... you’re dreamscrolling. It’s the modern-day version of window shopping. According to Empower research, Americans spend about 2.5 hours daily (873 hours a year) looking at dream purchases online, and the habit is a worthwhile investment: 56% say looking at dream purchases makes it easier for them to be smart with money, 30% say it helps them avoid making unplanned purchases, and 25% believe it enables them to better plan to achieve their financial goals.

✔️ Dupe culture. Short for “duplicate,” the dupe phenom is not about “duping” others or trying to pass off imitation as real. Rather, luxury alternatives have been normalized, and people aren’t afraid to flaunt them. Faux is fun, and social media influencers have helped fuel the fad by promoting products that achieve designer looks for less: Videos with the with the #dupe hashtag have racked up some 6 billion views and counting.¹ While saving money is a key motivator for 67% of dupe shoppers, some have also discovered there’s a thrill in hunting for and finding duplicate versions of premium products. In fact, 31% of adults (and 49% of Gen Zers and 44% of Millennials) say they’ve deliberately shopped for a dupe of a luxury item.

✔️ Fast spending. Consumers seem to have a demand for on-demand shopping: About one third (34%) buy something online at least once a week, and Americans spend about $2,000 annually on impulse purchases. Those spending in the fast lane have an appetite for overnight shipping and quick-to-market items like rapidly produced lab-grown diamonds. Why the need for speed? For starters, time is money: Empower research shows that nearly 2 in 5 say saving time is more important than saving money (37%), and 36% would rather pay more to have an item delivered than drive 10 minutes to get it.

✔️ FIRE. Short for Financial Independence Retire Early, the FIRE model promotes achieving a level of financial independence that allows you to stop working sooner than the average retirement age (65 for men, 63 for women). What’s the key to a FIRE retirement? Adherence to some disciplined principles, including turbo-charging savings to as much as 50-75% of your income, frugal living, growth-focused investing, and reaching a targeted savings of either 25 times your annual expenses or enough to withdraw 4% annually over 30 years. Retirement looks different for every American, and this is one approach.  There are many ways to save for retirement, including contributing to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, opening an individual retirement account (IRA), or purchasing investments through a brokerage account.

✔️ Loud budgeting. Some are putting their money where their mouth is with the practice of loud budgeting. The strategy entails being vocal and transparent about your spending targets with family and friends and being open about the money choices surrounding social events and activities that fit with your financial goals. Saying it loud may help you stay focused and motivated, too: According to Empower findings, 2 in 3 (66%) of Americans believe more money talks can help people achieve financial freedom and build generational wealth.

✔️ Slow spending. Trying to rein in your cash outlays? Consider slow spending as an option. This approach emphasizes mindful spending: For example, add an item to your shopping cart, then wait 24 hours before buying it so that you can reassess if you really want it, and maybe even find a better price elsewhere. Taking the time to think through purchases could help you stick to your budget and better position you to manage debt. The tactic may also be helpful during the holiday season, when people plan to spend about $1,400 on average, Empower research shows.

✔️ Unretirement. Among already retired seniors, 1 in 8 say they’re likely to “unretire” and return to the workforce in 2025.² Why? For some, the realities of retirement many not be living up to social, economic, or other expectations: Empower data shows the top reasons for working as a retiree are personal fulfillment (41%), financial needs (40%), and having a sense of purpose, a daily routine, or intellectual stimulation (37%). While 54% of Americans look forward to a slower pace in retirement, more than half anticipate some form of unretirement: 58% say they may be in the job market post-retirement and are open to working indefinitely, according to an Empower study.

✔️ Vibecession. As the adage goes, perception is reality, and for consumers, there’s a disconnect between sentiment about the economy and what economic data reveals. The idea of vibecession (a melding of the words “vibe” and “recession”) first took hold in June 2022, when inflation hit a record-breaking high of 9.1%.³ Even though a recession never arrived, consumer confidence improved, and people are spending money, the feelings have lingered: Heading into the most recent election some 45% of voters expressed that they felt financially worse off than they were four years prior,⁴ despite the economic realities that inflation, at 2.4%, is cooling, and the job market is showing signs of stabilizing.⁵ These factors seem to be overshadowed by prolonged high prices for things like food and gas, as well as housing market trends.