Personal finance

Caíque de Abreu | E+ | Getty Images As many newlyweds discover, there’s a lot of sharing that goes on in a marriage. Including your taxes. If you tied the knot this year (or plan to do so in December), it may be worthwhile checking out what your new status will mean for your 2020

If Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has his way, parents will have a lot more flexibility when it comes to covering the extra expenses that have gone hand in hand with distance learning. McConnell’s proposal for pandemic relief would allow parents of K-12 students at public or private schools to use 529 college savings funds

Trevor Williams What goes up must come down and then usually goes back up again, at least in the case of the U.S. stock market. The market has been on a roller-coaster ride this year amid the coronavirus pandemic. The S&P 500 started the year strong, breaking the record for the longest-ever bull market. Then,

For close to a decade, the Honeycutts lived in the brick house with white shudders on Patterson Street in China Grove, North Carolina. Vicki Honeycutt and her husband, James, a disabled Gulf War veteran, loved to sit out on the front porch, drinking Pepsis or sweet tea. Vicki’s favorite space in the three-bedroom house was

Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images Millions of people who were eligible for $1,200 stimulus checks still may not have received their money. Now, the Government Accountability Office and a few Democratic members of Congress are calling for the IRS and Treasury Department to step up their efforts to get the relief to those

US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos attends the “Getting America’s Children Safely Back to School” event in the State Room of the white House in Washington, DC, on August 12, 2020. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced on Friday that the payment pause and interest waiver for student

People receive food at a distribution site during the coronavirus pandemic. Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images The U.S. economy added 245,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 6.7%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday. It’s the seventh consecutive month of improvement from the depths of the Covid

Medical staff examine a patient in the Covid-19 intensive care unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston on Nov. 16, 2020. Go Nakamura | Getty Images The coronavirus pandemic may be an extra stressful time for Medicare beneficiaries.  Not only are they generally in a high-risk group for Covid, most of them — about

A significant percentage of corporate chief financial officers are making 2021 spending and hiring plans around vaccine optimism, but the current case surge in the U.S. and Europe is making a dent in confidence. Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty Images Millions of Americans are still hoping for a second round of stimulus checks to

Michelle Lujan Grisham, the governor of New Mexico Toya Sarno Jordan | Getty Images News | Getty Images Some states and cities are forging ahead to provide relief to residents financially scarred by the Covid crisis, as negotiations for a federal rescue package continue on Capitol Hill. Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, New Mexico and New York

People wait in line as the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank distributes food outside a church during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 19, 2020. Mike Blake | Reuters As cases of coronavirus rise nationwide and millions remain unemployed, Americans are almost equally split on their financial standing.

The U.S. Capitol dome is reflected on an ambulance at sunset in Washington, November 10, 2020. Erin Scott | Reuters Talks of a new coronavirus stimulus bill are happening on Capitol Hill. As lawmakers renew their efforts to come to a compromise — including two new bipartisan and GOP packages — some question whether it

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, talks with reporters following the weekly Republican Senate conference meeting at the U.S. Capitol Dec. 1. The Senate GOP leaders were asked about the chances of Congress passing another coronavirus relief bill along with must-pass government funding legislation.

Jacalyn Shirley, with two of her three kids, is struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic. Jacalyn Shirley Single mom Jacalyn Shirley feels like she is constantly treading water. When the coronavirus pandemic hit in the spring, the 36-year-old was suddenly faced with three children at home and virtual schooling. Then in May, she lost

Overdraft fees are at all-time highs amid the pandemic. Ivan-balvan | iStock | Getty Images When the coronavirus pandemic brought American life to a halt in mid-March, Erin Madden was furloughed from her job as a bartender at Hollywood Burbank Airport in California. Difficulty finding new work and a delay in her unemployment benefits caused

Getty Images Millions of student loan borrowers have just one month left to figure out how they’re going to resume monthly payments on their education debt while the coronavirus pandemic is still crushing the economy. Monthly payments for most federal student loans have been on pause since March, when the CARES Act gave 42 million

andresr | E+ | Getty Images You don’t have much time left to give your Medicare coverage a yearly checkup and make changes for 2021. The program’s annual enrollment period ends Dec. 7. If you take no action, you’ll automatically remain enrolled in your current plan. However, if you pass on the opportunity to see

SDI Productions | E+ | Getty Images Some taxpayers are just now receiving a scary letter from the IRS: a warning that the federal taxman will seize their state income tax refund. As recently as this fall, the IRS has issued a so-called “notice of intent to levy” to taxpayers with an outstanding balance. The

Holiday shopping doesn’t need to break the bank. More shoppers are expected to choose online shopping this holiday season amid the Covid-19 pandemic. But other dangers lurk online, and most shoppers are not aware that they could be putting their personal financial data at risk. A majority of shoppers — 59% — said they plan

Oliver Rossi When Kaitlin Stupka, 31, her husband and two children moved in with her parents in October 2019, the plan was to stay for six months while they built their dream house in the Dallas-Forth Worth area of Texas. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit. Now, it’s likely the length of their stay will triple,