Personal finance

Valerie Macon | AFP | Getty Images The Social Security Administration ramped up virtual meetings with customers over the past year in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and that and other changes might be here to stay, according to Commissioner Andrew Saul. “Like many businesses and organizations, the pandemic has forced us to adapt,” Saul

10’000 Hours Millions of Americans will get a tax break on their unemployment benefits this tax season. But certain income rules limit who can qualify. Fortunately, there are a few tax maneuvers involving individual retirement accounts, health savings accounts and write-offs for business equipment that may help workers skirt those restrictions. “There’s a little ray

The Internal Revenue Services offices in Washington, D.C. Adam Jeffery | CNBC Taxpayers will have more time to get their taxes in order this year. The IRS is planning to push back the deadline for filing tax returns by about one month, originally thought to be May 15, from the usual April 15, CNBC confirmed.

Allen J. Schaben | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images More than 2,200 organizations have written a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to extend the national eviction moratorium. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a ban on evicting struggling renters during the pandemic last September, and that protection is scheduled to

The Internal Revenue Services offices in Washington, D.C. Adam Jeffery | CNBC Taxpayers will have more time to get their taxes in order this year. The Internal Revenue Service is planning to push back the deadline for the tax filing season about one month to May 15 from April 15, CNBC’s Ylan Mui confirmed. This

cihatatceken | iStock | Getty Images Many Americans could be seeing green this Wednesday, March 17. And that’s not just because it’s St. Patrick’s Day. Wednesday marks the official “payday” when many of the $1,400 stimulus checks should be deposited. Yet some Americans may have seen the cash already cross their accounts. President Joe Biden

IronHeart | Moment | Getty Images Extra unemployment benefits offered by the American Rescue Plan may not arrive until mid-April or later, the U.S. Department of Labor said Monday. The $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill, which President Joe Biden signed Thursday, extended jobless aid to Labor Day and continued a $300 weekly enhancement to benefits.

Marko Geber | DigitalVision | Getty Images Millions of Americans who collected unemployment benefits last year got a new tax break from the American Rescue Plan. Here’s how it works. $10,200 tax break President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill Thursday that waives federal tax on up to $10,200 of unemployment benefits

William Thomas Cain | Getty Images Those new $1,400 stimulus checks are arriving. While the majority of payments will be made by direct deposit, others will receive the money in the mail — as paper checks or debit cards. There could be some differences in what the U.S. Postal Service drops in your mail box

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) headquarters in Washington, D.C. Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images Jobless Americans should wait to file an amended tax return to get a new tax break on unemployment benefits received last year, the IRS said Friday. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which President Joe Biden signed Thursday, waives federal

mphillips007 | iStock Unreleased | Getty Images It seems unthinkable: Someone buys a lottery ticket, it ends up being worth a ton of money and yet they never claim the windfall. Right now, there’s a $1 million Mega Millions prize whose winner must come forward by March 17 or the winning ticket, purchased in Rhode

Anna Flores and Higinio Garcia Photo: Gabriela Alvarez Remember student loan payments? It’s been almost a year now since the U.S. Department of Education allowed tens of millions of federal student loan borrowers to press the pause button on their bills because of the financial damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. Around 90% of eligible

Another round of stimulus checks are on the way. Direct deposits will start hitting Americans’ bank accounts as soon as this weekend, according to the White House. As part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the $1,400 checks top off the $600 stimulus payments that were issued in December — providing Americans with $2,000 in addition to

College dreams are not what they used to be. Up until this year, high school senior Jason Neuharth, 18, was set on attending a technical school in his home state of Minnesota. “I was adamant on going to college — this was going to be my future,” he said. But the last 12 months of

Tetra Images | Tetra images | Getty Images The rules governing flexible spending accounts are temporarily more generous to workers, thanks to two pieces of legislation. The American Rescue Plan — the $1.9 trillion Covid-relief package signed into law on Thursday by President Joe Biden — boosts the amount that companies can let workers put

David-Prado | iStock | Getty Images Those $1,400 stimulus checks are starting to hit bank accounts this weekend. The IRS announced on Friday that the first batch is going out via direct deposit. It is unclear exactly how many of the estimated 159 million payments are scheduled to be sent in this first deployment. The

Justin Samuels, 44, was living in Malaga, Spain, when the Covid pandemic hit. The freelance writer is fighting New York for unemployment benefits. Justin Samuels Justin Samuels was living abroad in Malaga, a Spanish port city in the country’s south, along the Costa del Sol, when the pandemic chaos began to unfurl. It has led

KamiPhotos | iStock | Getty Images Many people’s budgets look a lot different during Covid. Unemployment benefits and direct payments have replaced paychecks in the income ledger. For many, that aid is still not enough, and food and rental assistance as well as protections against eviction have also been necessary to keep families afloat. Fortunately,

bymuratdeniz President Joe Biden signed $1.9 trillion in new coronavirus relief into law on Thursday, which means $1,400 stimulus checks could start to reach Americans in the coming days. Payments should go to about 159 million households. “People can expect to start seeing direct deposits hit their bank accounts as early as this weekend,” White

tupungato | iStock | Getty Images Am I eligible? To qualify, at least one member in your household has to be eligible for unemployment benefits or attest in writing that they’ve lost income or incurred significant expenses due to the pandemic. You will also need to demonstrate a risk of homelessness, which may include a