mphillips007 | iStock Unreleased | Getty Images When it comes to the lottery, it’s been a good year so far for Uncle Sam. Winners of Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots — worth an advertised $2.9 billion in all — have collectively paid roughly $515 million to the IRS in 2021 taxes. And that won’t be
Personal finance
In this article AXP The South Rim in Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images Summer travel is back, big time. That’s according to a survey released Tuesday by American Express Travel, where consumer travel bookings have reached 95% of May 2019 levels. But while affluent Americans are itching to
Bill Oxford | iStock | Getty Images Although the national ban on evictions is now over, a number of states have issued their own protections for renters that will last for months more. These local policies can buy tenants time to get approved for federal rental assistance and help them to stay in their homes.
pcess609 If nothing changes, the federal government’s break from payments for student loan borrowers will come to an end next month. For the first time since March 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. and crippled the economy, millions of borrowers will have to resume paying their monthly bills. The typical federal student loan
Los Angeles County Regional Food Bank workers help with food distribution in Willowbrook, California on April 29, 2021. FREDERIC J. BROWN | AFP | Getty Images Millions of jobless Americans are poised to lose Covid-era income support in about a month’s time. This impending “benefits cliff” appears different from others that loomed this past year,
In this article Rauf Karimov | iStock | Getty Images With the national eviction ban expiring today, Leopold expects he and his wife, Vivia, and their six young children, will be forced out of their home in Deerfield Beach, Florida, where they’ve lived for the past three years. They’re one of millions of families in
As the delta variant drives new Covid cases across country, the pandemic’s economic impact continues to weigh heavily on college enrollment. Now, with another class of undergraduates set to start classes in the fall, families are once again struggling with the cost. Nearly two-thirds of parents, or 63%, said their child’s post-high school plans have
Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images The IRS began issuing another 1.5 million tax refunds this week to people who received unemployment benefits in 2020. That adds to the nearly 9 million refunds, worth about $10 billion, the agency sent since May. Funds delivered by direct deposit this week started hitting bank accounts on Wednesday, and
teekid | E+ | Getty Images Although the national ban on evictions that’s been in effect for almost a year will expire tomorrow, there’s still time for struggling renters to apply for federal aid. Congress has allocated more than $45 billion in rental assistance to address the crisis, and only a sliver of the money
d3sign | Moment | Getty Images Around 4 million children in low-income families are at risk of not getting a monthly payment of the expanded child tax credit this year, according to a report published Thursday by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The IRS began issuing monthly payments of the tax credit on
Yury Karamanenko | iStock Editorial | Getty Images The national ban on evictions will expire in two days, leaving the millions of Americans who are still behind on their rent at risk of being forced out of their homes. But some states will continue to limit the proceedings beyond July 31. In California, where as
Focqus, LLC | iStock | Getty Images President Joe Biden is calling on Congress to extend the national eviction ban set to expire in two days. “This moratorium prevented hundreds of thousands of Americans from experiencing the heartbreak, homelessness and health risks that too often emanate from evictions — particularly during a pandemic,” White House
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it will keep its benchmark interest rate near zero despite signs inflation is heating up. While rising prices brought on by supply constraints and a sudden spike in consumer demand are paving the way for the Fed to unwind last year’s bond buying, the central bank said it is sticking with ultra-accommodative
People line up outside a newly reopened career center for in-person appointments in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., April 15, 2021. Amira Karaoud | Reuters There’s good news for some who claimed unemployment benefits in 2020. The IRS is sending another 1.5 million refunds to people who were taxed on unemployment income last year before a portion
Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images Workers saw their hourly pay in June jump at the fastest clip in over a decade. Yet some of them saw those gains erased by high levels of inflation. “Real wages” — a measure of income after accounting for the cost of goods and services people buy — fell
A visual representation of digital currencies. Yuriko Nakao | Getty Images Even though it’s a highly volatile asset, cryptocurrency can help investors build wealth, especially if they invest in digital coins over the long-term. It’s a portfolio play that’s gained traction in recent months and is catching up to stock trading as something that
andresr | E+ | Getty Images Millions of Americans are feeling a financial boost from federal stimulus checks and monthly child tax credit payments. Those direct checks were made possible by tax credits that were created or expanded through legislation aimed at helping the U.S. economy bounce back from Covid-19. And as Americans get used
In this article WMT A worker wearing a protective mask arranges shopping carts outside a Walmart store in Duarte, California, U.S., on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020. David Swanson | Bloomberg | Getty Images In an effort to help curb soaring student loan debts, Walmart Inc. announced on Tuesday that it will pay 100% of college
Thomas Barwick | DigitalVision | Getty Images In July, the first of six monthly child tax credit payments went out to more than 35 million households with about 60 million kids, according to the IRS. The money is an advance on a 2021 credit and is an enhancement of the existing child tax credit. For
simonlong | Moment | Getty Images Consumer losses due to Covid-related fraud top $500 million, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission. The agency has received more than 558,000 complaints from consumers related to the pandemic since the start of 2020. About 60% of the complaints were associated with fraud, citing an aggregate loss