Personal finance

hept27 | iStock | Getty Images In normal times, not paying your student loans can crush your credit score. During the pandemic, however, federal student loan borrowers were supposed to get a break from their bills, and their lenders were supposed to report their payments as on-time anyway.  That’s not how it’s playing out.  A class

Getty Images Talk of a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks made headlines last week when Democrats in the House of Representatives passed a new bill including those payments. But another round of federal relief checks is far from a done deal. Americans should brace themselves for a potentially long wait for that money, if

Belinda Howell It turns out that ditching the commute and working from home in your sweats is not all it’s cracked up to be.  Juggling your work and home life, Zoom calls instead of in-person meetings and possibly parenting and home schooling kids, it’s no wonder Americans are exhausted. In fact, in a recent Monster

Tom Werner Next year, the IRS will allow people to put away even more money in health savings accounts, a tax-advantaged account you can use for medical expenses. Health savings accounts work alongside high deductible health plans. You can save money on a pretax or tax-deductible basis, have it grow tax free and then use

ozgurcankaya People short on cash could use a tax refund, yet millions of households continue to sit on last year’s tax returns. The taxman received 128.2 million individual income tax returns as of May 8, reflecting a 9.4% decline from a year ago, according to IRS data. At this time last year, 141.5 million taxpayers

Most students can’t wait to get back into the classroom, even as more schools extend remote learning indefinitely. The University of Alabama system said it intends to return to on-campus instruction, while the California State University System announced that all students, enrolled on 23 campuses, will take fall classes online. Other schools have proposed a

Thomas Barwick Lawmakers may allow savers to undo last year’s mandatory withdrawals from retirement accounts. The $3 trillion HEROES Act – the latest round of proposed federal coronavirus relief legislation – was passed by the House last Friday. Aside from granting households another batch of $1,200 stimulus payments and granting student loan relief, the measure

Petar Chernaev Millions of people want a better idea of how to handle their money. Personal finance experts have lots of tips and info on managing your money, from sticking to a budget to avoiding credit cards. But is the advice out there always the right advice for you? Maybe not. Maybe a budget isn’t

Signs hang from the Meridian Heights apartment building in Northwes Washington on Monday, May 18, 2020. (Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) Caroline Brehman The unemployment drama playing out in the U.S. has drawn comparisons to the Great Depression, the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world. But is

Don Bayley | Vetta | Getty Images Retirees who feel their Social Security benefits aren’t stretching as far as they used to aren’t imagining it. Retiree costs are going up at a rapid clip, and Social Security cost-of-living adjustments are not keeping up with those growing expenses, according to a recent report from The Senior

As part of the House bill passed on Friday to deliver relief to a battered economy, people with student debt would get some more elbow room.  The U.S. Department of Education has already announced that due to the pandemic, federal student loan borrowers don’t need to make payments on their loans until at least October. And during

Photographer is my life. With skyrocketing unemployment rates due to Covid-19, many people are finding themselves searching for new job opportunities. Companies are also using this time to pick up talented workers who are on the move. Some people may feel they can’t afford to be picky about their next opportunity right now, given the

Labor economist Teresa Ghilarducci began studying retirement in 2008, when the Great Recession was making it impossible for millions of Americans to retire. “The phenomenon of Granny working in McDonald’s really started to ramp up,” said Ghilarducci, who leads the Retirement Equity Lab at The New School in New York.  Yet, as bad as it was then,

You may qualify for paid leave Justin Paget Qualified workers, including those telecommuting, can get two weeks of paid leave at full pay courtesy of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Valid reasons include being unable to work because you are under quarantine order, have coronavirus symptoms and are seeking diagnosis, or must care for

As the country starts to reopen its economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, Americans of all ages are still trying to figure out the path forward. Many have lost income, may be struggling with a small business or are dealing with child-care issues. But those in their 40s, the younger end of Generation X, have their

A cyclist passes a boarded up store during the coronavirus pandemic on April 28, 2020 in New York City. John Lamparski | Getty Images New Yorkers who owe the state medical or student debt that has been referred to the state attorney general’s office for collection have been given another 30-day break from paying those balances.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s name appears on the coronavirus economic assistance checks that were sent to citizens across the country April 29, 2020 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News that the U.S. government has deployed millions of stimulus checks for up to $1,200 per individual has made headlines. But still many individuals

A store in Arlington, Virginia, remained temporarily closed on May 14, 2020. Another 3 million people filed initial unemployment claims last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Department of Labor. Olvier Douliery-AFP/Getty Images States paid a record $48 billion in unemployment benefits last month as the coronavirus pandemic caused millions of Americans

Car line up at a drive-thru Three Square Food Bank emergency food distribution site at Boulder Station Hotel & Casino in response to an increase in demand amid the coronavirus pandemic on April 29, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Three Square is currently operating dozens of emergency distribution sites at various times and dates throughout

Under ordinary circumstances, the opportunity to make changes to workplace health plans and flexible spending accounts happens only once a year. However, new guidelines from the IRS allow workers to revisit those elections now in response to the coronavirus pandemic. “I cannot think of a time when the IRS has been this flexible,” said David Speier, managing