Personal finance

A healthcare worker administers a Covid-19 swab test at the Boulder County Fairgrounds testing site in Longmont, Colorado, on Dec. 14, 2021. Chet Strange/Bloomberg via Getty Images Covid-19 infections are ballooning, and sick Americans who miss work due to the virus may wonder if they qualify for unemployment benefits. The short answer: They don’t. There

An employee watches as checks are run through a printer at the U.S. Treasury printing facility in Philadelphia. William Thomas Cain | Getty Images The new year will usher in bigger Social Security checks for many beneficiaries starting this month. That’s as a record 5.9% cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, takes effect. It marks the biggest

Pascal Broze | ONOKY | Getty Images As retirees kick off the new year, high inflation and strong market returns may leave many wondering how much cash they need to have handy. Annual inflation grew by 6.8% in November, rising at the fastest pace since November 1982, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The

Tetra Images | Tetra images | Getty Images Filing 2021 taxes will look slightly different for families who received the enhanced child tax credit last year. That’s because the monthly payments that were sent to millions of families with eligible children from July to December only accounted for half of the credit. Now, those who

Oscar Wong | Moment | Getty Images Planning to save more this year? There’s a higher 401(k) employee deferral limit for 2022, and now’s the time to boost contributions, financial experts say. Employees may funnel $20,500 into 401(k), 403(b) and other plans for 2022, up from $19,500 in 2021, thanks to cost-of-living adjustments from the

The new year offers opportunities for many Americans in their careers and financial lives. The “Great Reshuffle” is expected to continue as employees leave jobs and take new ones at a rapid clip. At the same time, many workers have made a vow to save more this year, yet many admit they don’t know how

d3sign | Moment | Getty Images Has your grocery bill been making you do a double take? You’re not to blame. Inflation is. Rising prices are hitting almost every aisle in supermarkets across the U.S. The cost of steaks swelled by 25% between November 2020 and November 2021. Eggs and fish were up 8%, to

Flashpop | Stone | Getty Images Getting impatient waiting to hear if your student loans will be forgiven? Millions of other borrowers are in the same spot. The topic of loan cancellation has been floated for years now. On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden promised to forgive at least $10,000 of the debt for

A young woman walks past a Bitcoin symbol in the window of a company that offers blockchain application services. Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images Bitcoin took a beating in December — but that price plunge opens a tax loophole for investors. The cryptocurrency lost about 18% this month through Thursday, with

MilosStankovic | E+ | Getty Images People have the best of intentions. At the start of a new year, millions make resolutions — goals they want to reach throughout the upcoming months. Getting a handle on money issues is usually near the top of many such lists. The most financial popular goals are paying down

One thing is for sure: 2022 is going to cost you. Between inflation and ongoing supply chain issues, prices are rising on consumer goods nearly across the board. “I really don’t think there’s any way to escape,” said Julie Ramhold, a consumer analyst with DealNews.com. But that doesn’t mean you can’t shop smarter for the

Ariel Skelley | DigitalVision | Getty Images Looking to be happier with your life and finances in 2022? The answer may be finding professional help. People who worked with a financial advisor were found to be nearly three times happier than those who didn’t, according to a study by Herbers & Company. Predictors of happiness

Phynart Studio | E+ | Getty Images When the calendar flips to 2022, certain Medicare costs will creep higher. For the program’s 63.6 million beneficiaries — most of whom are 65 or older — annual adjustments can affect premiums, deductibles and other cost-sharing aspects of Medicare. While each change doesn’t necessarily involve a huge dollar

Gaviota Azul beach in Cancun, Mexico. Getty Images Just as countries have started to lift pandemic travel bans and Americans begin to at least think about booking vacations abroad, the spread of the delta and omicron variants of Covid-19 has thrown the tourism industry’s fortunes to the wind again. That said, hope springs eternal and

Marko Geber If you couldn’t max out your individual retirement account in 2021, don’t despair. There’s still time to make a contribution to traditional and Roth IRAs. The deadline for putting money into IRAs for this year is April 15, 2022, giving savers an additional four months to contribute. For 2021, the maximum contribution to

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images New Year’s Day luck could end up making a Powerball player a few hundred million dollars richer.  No ticket matched all six numbers drawn Wednesday, which means the jackpot has climbed higher: It’s an advertised $483 million for Saturday night’s drawing, up from $441 million. The top prize

President Joe Biden walks to the Oval Office upon his return to the White House on Dec. 20, 2021. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters When Scott Heins heard that the Biden administration was giving student loan borrowers another three months before they’ll have to start making their payments again, he had mixed feelings. On one hand,

Samuel Corum/Bloomberg Democrats seem to have nixed the idea of taxing returns on unsold stock and other assets, favoring other ways to raise revenue as part of a nearly $2 trillion social and climate bill. Scrapping that tax on “unrealized capital gains” would primarily benefit the richest Americans, who hold the bulk of the country’s

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc | DigitalVision | Getty Images Coming off several years of outsized gains in the stock market, investors may be hoping 2022 is like deja vu again. Don’t count on it. While future performance is impossible to predict with certainty, many financial advisors expect returns will come back down to Earth. “We

More Americans got into the spirit this holiday, even if it meant spending more than they could afford. Between buying presents, plane tickets and party supplies, 36% of consumers went into debt, owing an average of $1,249, according to a survey by LendingTree. Most holiday borrowers with debt put it on their credit cards, although