Personal finance

Americans may be flying less but it looks like their vacation plans are still up in the air. Nearly 1 in 7 who want to take a vacation by year-end aren’t sure they’ll actually be able to travel, and 1 in 5 expect to book at the last minute, within a week of departure. That’s

SEC chairman Jay Clayton testifies during a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee’s subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets on June 25. Brendan Smialowski-Pool/Getty Images Many investments available to mom-and-pop investors aren’t appropriate for that audience to buy, and should instead be held by sophisticated investors, the head of the SEC said

Mario Gabelli Scott Mlyn | CNBC Investor Mario Gabelli struck a positive note on Tuesday on the U.S. economy even as coronavirus cases in the country are on the rise. More than 8 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the U.S. alone, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. A CNBC analysis also found

US President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden are seen during the first presidential debate on a YouTube video displayed on a screen of a smartphone. United States presidential election scheduled on November 3, 2020. Pavlo Conchar | LightRocket | Getty Images Don’t let the bitterness of the

A customer shows purchased tickets for the Powerball lottery at a lotto store in San Bernardino County, California, January 9, 2016. Gene Blevins | Reuters If you’re one of those people who only buys a lottery ticket when the jackpot climbs into the stratosphere, you could be waiting a while. The Mega Millions jackpot for

Washington lawmakers are hard at work to see if they can come to a compromise this week to finalize the next coronavirus stimulus relief package. The numbers continue to be a sticking point House Democrats recently passed a $2.2 trillion updated HEROES Act. The White House has offered $1.8 trillion in aid, though the administration

Getty Images, Drazen_ This year may be like no other, but if you’re an employee who receives equity compensation, you can’t ignore the importance of year-end financial planning to get the most out of that benefit. The end of the year is a great time to review what you’ve received or vested during the year.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump speak during the first U.S. presidential debate on Sept. 29, 2020. Kevin Dietsch/UPI | Bloomberg | Getty Images President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden have diverging views on the economic rebound that has played out after the coronavirus pandemic upended the country last spring. Trump and administration

Trying to move but weighing a potential pay cut? It still might be worth it. The coronavirus pandemic has spurred many people to reconsider their living situations and trade big cities for the suburbs as companies say employees can work remotely on a permanent basis. In some cases, those moves come with a catch. Companies

As if getting in to a top college wasn’t hard enough, Covid-19 adds a new challenge. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many would-be freshmen have decided to postpone college rather than start their education online.   As a result, colleges and universities are well below their enrollment numbers for the 2020-2021 academic year, a report shows. Overall,

Morsa Images | DigitalVision | Getty Images Chances are, you aren’t seriously thinking about how to pay for long-term care when you are older. Most people only think about it at two points in their lives: when their parents need it or when they start to get much older and realize they need to have

In mid-September, the envelope finally arrived. As Erin Madden opened it and pulled out the debit card with her unemployment benefits on it, all she could think about was the half a year she’d waited for this moment. She had come to feel it would never happen. “I almost didn’t believe that it had finally

Trump and Biden would approach the student loan crisis very differently. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images Whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden wins the presidency may have a significant impact on the country’s 42 million student loan borrowers. Student loans have outpaced credit card and auto debt as a burden to Americans, and

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. Sarah Silbiger | CQ-Roll Call Group | Getty Images Americans are hurting financially amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and that includes the nation’s seniors. Now, two House Democratic lawmakers are hoping to help retirees with a bill to increase next year’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., is introducing a

Working mothers are being disportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic — and experts fear it could have a significant impact on their financial future. From job losses to career downsizing, women are feeling the hit. When it comes to promotions, they are also being left behind: 34% of men working remotely with children at home

If you’re on Medicare, it’s time to give your coverage a close look whether you feel like it or not. From now through Dec. 7, you can make changes that take effect Jan. 1. While you are not required to do anything — your 2020 coverage would continue next year, generally speaking, if you take

Courtney Keating | Getty Images Even homeowners with poor credit scores may be able to take advantage of mortgage refinancing options to ease their financial burden amid the coronavirus pandemic. The housing market is one of the only parts of the economy that’s seen a solid rebound during the Covid-19 crisis, thanks in part to

izusek | E+ | Getty Images The Social Security Administration announced this week that the cost-of-living adjustment for benefits in 2021 will be 1.3%. For the average retirement benefit, that amounts to just a $20 increase per month. Now, two Congressional Democrats — Reps. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and John Larson, D-Conn. — plan to propose

EmirMemedovski Take a few minutes to review your workplace benefits for next year. Your household finances for 2021 could depend on it. After one of the most difficult and financially stressful years for many Americans, digging back into the details of workplace benefits like health savings accounts, or HSAs, and flexible spending accounts (FSAs) is

Prisoners are getting a second chance at receiving the $1,200 stimulus checks the government sent this spring. Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California recently ruled that the government should not withhold those checks from people solely because they are incarcerated. There are roughly 1.5 million incarcerated