Personal finance

Getty Images There’s nothing like some volatility in the stock market to test an investor’s ability to make rational decisions. Whether share prices are heading up or down, it’s common for individuals to make mistakes that are driven by emotion, experts say.  “Investors tend to extrapolate,” said Dave Goodsell, executive director of the Natixis Center

The U.S. Capitol Building is reflected against an ambulance along the East Front on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 16, 2020. Tom Brenner | Reuters While negotiations over the next coronavirus stimulus bill have carried on for months, there has been one certainty: Democrats, Republicans and President Donald Trump have all backed sending out

Luke MacGregor | Bloomberg | Getty Images With higher pay, better benefits and more resilience in a challenging economy, jobs in the fast-growing tech sector are highly sought after positions. Yet, Blacks and Latinos make up only a small fraction of this workforce. Now, coding academies for middle and high school students are helping to

Dean Mitchell | E+ | Getty Images Choosing where to live in retirement is a financial decision, as well as an emotional one. People may want to live in a different climate, trade in the work of a house for the ease of a condo. Fewer taxes and a lower cost of living is often

People wait in their cars as they line up to collect unemployment forms in Hialeah, Florida. CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images The official unemployment rate fell to 8.4% in August as businesses continued emerging from broad shutdowns imposed early in the coronavirus pandemic, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. That’s the lowest rate since

As the pandemic rages on, many people have one less thing to worry about: Getting evicted. No-Mad | iStock | Getty Images What does the ban do? It bans evictions due to non-payment of rent in most residential properties between Sept. 4 and Dec. 31.  Who’s eligible? You’ll need to attest on a declaration form that

Ariel Skelley | DigitalVision | Getty Images Saving for retirement could look very different during the pandemic. Especially vulnerable are independent business owners and the self-employed, who in the best of times are on the hook for not only funding their own future retirement but daily income, as well. Even before the pandemic, just 13% of those

People pass by The New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 3, 2020. Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images You may be tempted to revisit your retirement investing strategy now that stocks are falling, but history shows those who get the best return on their money stay the course. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more

This back-to-school season is like no other for many reasons. And that makes preparing for it especially challenging. As of a recent tally, a little more than half of U.S. elementary and high school students will attend school only virtually this fall, although changes are announced daily. As a result, families have delayed many traditional back-to-school purchases.

Traders work during the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on March 5, 2020. Johannes Eisele | AFP | Getty Images It may feel that much of our lives are on pause during the pandemic. But not the stock market. Especially over the last few days.  On Thursday, the S&P 500 tech sector

Angus Mordant | Bloomberg | Getty Images If you’re hoping to take advantage of special Labor Day car sales, a trade-in could make the purchase a bit less costly than usual. With inventory at dealerships still tight, used cars are fetching a premium. For instance, the average list price for a 2017 model climbed to

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc Millions of Americans who are eagerly waiting for a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks may be relieved to know those payments are still a priority for Washington lawmakers. But Republicans and Democrats in Congress must first end their stalemate and approve the next coronavirus relief bill before Americans can get

Workers and musicians participate in a campaign to pressure Congress to provide financial help to entertainment and live event industry workers decimated by the coronavirus pandemic on September 1 in Chicago, Illinois. Timothy Hiatt | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images Many states pay unemployment benefits to workers at a level below the federal minimum

Carlos Ponce joins others at a July 16 demonstration in Miami Springs, Florida, asking senators to support the continuation of unemployment benefits. Joe Raedle | Getty Images The fight over state and local funding  “Both sides have dug in on their philosophical grounds,” when it comes to supporting state and local governments, said Mark Mazur,

John Lund/Marc Romanelli | Getty Images For many workers, a traditional retirement is not part of their plans. Among baby boomers still in the workforce, 59% expect to keep working into retirement, a new study from Voya Financial shows. For Generation X, that share is 60% and for millennials, 49%. Overall, 54% of all workers

As many parents experienced in the spring, remote learning asks a lot from them, too. Not only do many children need assistance with school work and scheduling but, at the very least, they require basic supervision, which means an adult must be at home to help. To that point, 21% of parents said that they

Maskot/Getty Images Tough choices are ahead for employers as President Donald Trump’s payroll tax holiday goes into effect, but it’s never too early for employees to figure out what’s coming up. The payroll tax deferral went into effect on Sept. 1, following an executive order Trump had issued in August. It’s effective until the end of

Most renters in the U.S. are now protected from eviction until the end of the year, according to an order announced on Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The ban is unprecedented and could prevent millions of Americans from being forced out of their homes during one of the worst public health crises in

Win McNamee | Getty Images News | Getty Images August was a hard month for Donna Crenshaw. First, she stopped getting an extra $600 a week in federal unemployment benefits, which had been helping pay the bills. Absent that subsidy, Crenshaw gets just $33 a week before tax from North Carolina, where she lives just

David Bakke, 48, considered himself pretty responsible when it came to saving money. As a freelance blogger, he had been putting money aside in an emergency fund and had about $6,000 saved before the pandemic. But Covid-19 caused his business to slow while a surprise air conditioning repair set him back $3,000. “It [emergency savings]