Personal finance

Tetra Images | Tetra images | Getty Images The rules governing flexible spending accounts are temporarily more generous to workers, thanks to two pieces of legislation. The American Rescue Plan — the $1.9 trillion Covid-relief package signed into law on Thursday by President Joe Biden — boosts the amount that companies can let workers put

Anna Flores and Higinio Garcia Photo: Gabriela Alvarez Remember student loan payments? It’s been almost a year now since the U.S. Department of Education allowed tens of millions of federal student loan borrowers to press the pause button on their bills because of the financial damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. Around 90% of eligible

Ungureanu Vadim | EyeEm | Getty Images Student loan forgiveness is now tax-free, thanks to a provision included in the $1.9 trillion federal coronavirus stimulus package that President Joe Biden signed into law on Thursday. Formerly, any student loan debt canceled by the government was considered taxable and levied at the borrower’s normal income tax

benedek | iStock Unreleased | Getty Images A federal judge in Ohio has ruled that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention overstepped its authority when it banned evictions nationwide. U.S. District Judge J. Philip Calabrese, who was nominated to the court by former President Donald Trump, sided with a group of property owners that

Ting Shen/Xinhua via Getty Images The IRS will be able to send money electronically for taxpayers who filed returns with direct deposit or bank account information. The government will send paper checks or debit cards to those households for which Treasury cannot determine a bank account. The IRS will use information on 2020 tax returns

courtneyk | E+ | Getty Images The $1.9 trillion stimulus package that Congress aims to send to President Biden this week may make tax filing even more complex. For some Americans who have already filed, it may mean they need to amend their return. Last week, the Senate made changes to the Covid relief bill

Robert Knopes/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is almost law — meaning additional unemployment benefits for millions of workers should soon be on the way. The Covid relief bill, passed Saturday by the Senate, extends jobless benefits through Labor Day and raises them by $300 a week. The

Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images The Biden administration said Wednesday it won’t enforce a rule issued by the Trump administration that makes it harder to offer environmental, social and governance — or ESG — funds in 401(k) plans. ESG funds may, for example, invest in energy firms that aren’t reliant on fossil fuels or in

The Internal Revenue Service building in Washington. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan has inadvertently created a conundrum for the unemployed this tax season. The pandemic aid measure, which passed the Senate on Saturday, offers $1,400 stimulus checks and waives federal taxes on a portion of unemployment benefits received last

Steven Heap/EyeEm/Getty Images The latest version of the $1.9 trillion federal coronavirus relief package could save millions of people who lost work due to the pandemic from a surprise tax bill. On Saturday, the Senate passed a version of the Covid bill that included a provision to waive taxes on the first $10,200 in unemployment

Valera Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images $300 vs. $400 a week A $300 weekly increase in weekly unemployment benefits would come on top of standard state benefits. Workers got $324 a week in state benefits, on average, in the third quarter last year, according to most recent U.S. Labor Department data. That aid replaced about

Getty Images Hiring in the U.S. increased in February — and the unemployment rate ticked down slightly — but not all workers benefited from the larger-than-expected job growth. The unemployment rate is still significantly higher than February 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic began. And some workers are no longer counted as unemployed. “Over the same

The Senate has passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, helping to clear the way for millions of Americans to potentially receive $1,400 stimulus checks. But the new checks won’t be official until the House of Representatives and President Joe Biden give their final approval, which is expected to happen this week. The proposed new

In many ways, the coronavirus crisis has paved the way to better budgeting. Consumers are paying down debt and saving more than they have in decades. Many are leveraging low interest rates to refinance and lower their monthly bills. Federal relief, such as stimulus checks, expanded unemployment benefits and an extended pause in loan repayments, have even given some a chance to catch up on

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WVA) removes his mask to speak as bipartisan members of the Senate and House gather to announce a framework for fresh coronavirus disease (COVID-19) relief legislation at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 1, 2020. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters Sen. Joe Manchin, the moderate Democrat from West Virginia, said

New York City housing advocates and tenants march to demand Gov. Andrew Cuomo cancel rent amid the pandemic on Oct. 10, 2020. Andrew Lichtenstein | Corbis News | Getty Images The new federal coronavirus relief bill that’s poised to be approved on Capitol Hill could put unprecedented sums of money into the hands of American

MoMo Productions | Getty Images The U.S. Department of Education has offered most federal student loan borrowers the option of pausing their payments, without interest accruing, through September because of the financial fallout of the pandemic. Most have accepted. In fact, just around 10% of the country’s 44 million student loan borrowers are currently repaying

Getty Images If you’re one of the millions of Americans struggling financially because of the coronavirus pandemic, more relief is on the way. Included in the $1.9 trillion stimulus package working its way through Congress and expected to be signed into law by mid-March will likely be direct payments of up to $1,400, an extension

Alex Wong | Getty Images News | Getty Images Democrats are rushing to pass a $1.9 trillion pandemic aid bill by next week and get it to President Joe Biden in time to prevent a gap in unemployment benefits. It’s perhaps too late to stop that from happening, according to some experts. “The unfortunate reality

Food is loaded as drivers in their vehicles wait in line on arrival at a “Let’s Feed LA County” food distribution hosted by the Los Angeles Food Bank on Dec. 4, 2020 in Hacienda Heights, California. FREDERIC J. BROWN | AFP | Getty Images Long-term joblessness is nearing a record, as Washington lawmakers rush to