shapecharge | E+ | Getty Images With the number of deaths from the coronavirus continuing to mount, your own mortality may be more on your mind than usual. In fact, The Covid-19 pandemic has produced a rise in estate planning, according to certified financial planner Stacy Francis, president and CEO of Francis Financial. Pandemic or
Personal finance
More than 40 million Americans have student loan debt, and outstanding student loans nationwide total more than $1.5 trillion. Soon, the government’s pause on federal student loan payments will expire, leaving millions of borrowers grappling with how they’ll pay what they owe in 2021. But Brandon Leake, a 28-year-old husband and father, figured out a
Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images As news of several effective Covid-19 vaccines offers some light at the end of the tunnel that is 2020, will a beleaguered travel and tourism industry — one of the hardest hit by the pandemic — soon begin to recover? Possibly, say sources, but they caution that travel
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images “If we are going to get another round of stimulus, I can’t imagine that won’t be included in it,” said Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at right-leaning think tank American Enterprise Institute, of a new weekly subsidy. Strain added, however, that he thinks “it’s
Demonstrators display signs calling for an end to evictions and foreclosures during a rally at Boston Housing Court outside the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse on Oct. 29, 2020. David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Expiring state eviction bans have led to hundreds of thousands of additional coronavirus cases, new research finds, raising alarm
Customers of mobile savings app Beam, some of whom complained that they had been unable to access their deposits for months, say they are finally getting their money back. The troubles, however, are far from over for the San Francisco-based startup behind the app. The Federal Trade Commission is seeking a court order against alleged
Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images Remote workers — especially those who have been hopping to different states — could be on the hook for additional taxes when they file their returns next spring. It’s been nine months since the coronavirus pandemic first gripped the U.S. and led to many workers punching in each day
‘Tis the season to shore up your savings. In the days leading up to Black Friday, financial experts caution against overspending, particularly amid an economic crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic — and consumers are listening. One campaign, called “In the Black Friday,” spearheaded by the National Financial Educators Council, encourages consumers to avoid debt
Lisa Lickers, her husband and their blended family before the arrival of their baby. Source: Lisa Lickers Navigating the terrain of a blended family’s financial life is tricky enough in normal times. Add a pandemic into the mix, and things can get downright exhausting. “Stressful financial situations bring to the surface underlying family dynamics,” said
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at transition Covid-19 advisory board briefing on Nov. 9, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. Photo by Joe Raedle | Getty Images Student loan forgiveness is looking more like a possibility under President-elect Joe Biden, but an unintended consequence may emerge unless Washington intervenes: a tax on loan forgiveness.
Cars line-up as the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank distributes food outside a church in Los Angeles on Nov. 19, 2020. Mike Blake | Reuters Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, a temporary drive-through to distribute food to those in need was set up near Lancaster, California, north of Los Angeles, on Tuesday. At least 2,000
Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. DEA / M. BORCHI | De Agostini | Getty Images Nearly 14 million American workers are collecting unemployment benefits through programs that will lapse at the end of the year without congressional action. Expiring aid would leave many without income at a time when protections for renters, homeowners and student
AJ Watt | Getty Images Are you stocking up on cold and flu meds for the winter? Buying an at-home Covid-19 test kit? If so, you are running out of time to use this tax-advantaged account for those purchases. Health-care flexible spending accounts, which may be available at your job, allow you to stash pre-tax
Black Friday — the biggest shopping day of the year — is no longer the day after Thanksgiving. Instead of one-day doorbuster deals, retailers like Walmart and Home Depot have been rolling out discounts in the days, or even weeks, ahead of the official start of the holiday season. And many of the best bargains
Elisabeth Reynolds MIT The predictions were scary. Half of the jobs in industrialized countries could, one day, be taken over by robots. What would workers do? How would they earn a living? In 2018, a taskforce at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology set out to answer these questions. Over the next two years, more than
Mary Roberts has been working five jobs since August to stay afloat after the coronavirus pandemic decimated the cruise industry, where she was a director and choreographer. Mary Roberts Mary Roberts is not immune to the hustle as an artist. But the coronavirus pandemic has presented a challenge like she’s never seen before. Roberts, 39,
A store displays a sign before closing down permanently in Arlington, Virginia. OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images State and local officials have begun closing some businesses to counter a new surge in coronavirus infections, potentially putting Americans out of work for the second time since the spring. Delaware and Nevada are among the states where
Getty Images If you receive a text, email or phone call purporting to be from the Social Security Administration, think twice before responding. The people on the other end are likely fraudsters. And they’re looking to catch individuals off guard and take advantage of their fears. The November Retirement Confidence Index from SimplyWise, a technology
Thomas Tolstrup For Americans who have had a tough year financially amid Covid-19, a second set of $1,200 stimulus checks would provide some much welcome relief. But lawmakers on Capitol Hill still need to work out their differences before they can approve another coronavirus stimulus package that will trigger those payments. Now, a group of
Siblings Jack, Catherine, Sam and Molly Matt pay a socially distant visit to Santa Claus at the Willow Grove Park Mall in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 14, 2020. Mark Makela | Reuters There are a lot of kids who won’t be getting a new Xbox for Christmas. As many as 1 in 3 people