Personal finance

Getty Images Tax season can be a pain but submitting your return to the IRS as soon as you’re able may be extra important this year. That’s because the coronavirus pandemic has led to changes in the tax code that will impact individual returns and refunds. The season is also shorter than usual this year.

Protestors call for a $15 minimum wage outside of McDonald’s corporate headquarters in Chicago on Jan. 15, 2021. Scott Olson | Getty Images The push for a $15 federal minimum wage continues. Just days after the Senate voted on a nonbinding amendment to prohibit raising the minimum wage during the pandemic, the House of Representatives

sturti | E+ | Getty Images Democrats are forging ahead with plans to send millions of Americans $1,400 stimulus checks. Their most recent proposal sheds light on just who could be eligible for the money once it’s approved. The House of Representatives unveiled its legislative drafts on Monday. Democrats, under the leadership of President Joe

valentinrussanov | E+ | Getty Images Hotels and resorts, like the rest of the travel industry, have taken a hit during the pandemic, but prospective travelers willing to book accommodations later this year may see a silver lining in the form of especially low room rates and widespread availability. That’s according to the American Hotel

People press demands to McDonald’s to raise workers wages to a $15 minimum wage, May 23, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images A report released Monday from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 could add tens of billions of dollars

bymuratdeniz | E+ | Getty Images With all of Medicare‘s different rules for enrolling, it’s not unheard of to miss your signup deadline. Now is the time to remedy that. During a general enrollment period that opened Jan. 1 and closes March 31, anyone who did not enroll when they should have (as defined by

Getting into the Super Bowl spirit usually entails some sort of wager. This year, however, gambling on the big game looks a lot different than it has in the past. Altogether, more than half of Americans said they’ll bet on this Sunday’s Super Bowl LV, according to a report from LendingTree. Despite widespread job losses,

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during an event to introduce the Raise The Wage Act at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 16, 2019. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images Senate Democrats passed a budget resolution early Friday, the latest step towards approving President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan by a simple majority without Republican votes.

Tiffany Hagler-Geard | Bloomberg | Getty Images The stock market is known for being unpredictable and volatile, and any sense of normalcy was blown up during the recent GameStop rally. Most of us know the story by now: After discovering that several hedge funds had bet on the video game retailer losing value, people banded

Before the pandemic, volunteers for Creighton University’s VITA program worked closely with clients to file their tax returns for free. Tom Purcell Creighton University’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA, program has a new look this year, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of in-person meetings, where people sit face-to-face with students volunteering to help

kate_sept2004 President Joe Biden wants to get more money to certain American families by expanding the child tax credit for one year. For those who are eligible, that would mean extra cash could come their way via a refund check. Now Democrats are planning to propose a bill next week to enact a long-term change

Image Source | DigitalVision | Getty Images As Washington lawmakers work to come to an agreement on a new coronavirus relief package, one key question has emerged: Will the next stimulus checks be $1,400? President Joe Biden sought to end that debate in a press conference on Friday by re-affirming his commitment to $1,400. “I’m

The student debt crisis has hit a new milestone — soaring to $1.7 trillion in outstanding loans at the end of last year. As more than 44 million Americans grapple with this burden, the disparity in the amount of that debt held by Black and White borrowers is also growing. Studies show that young Black

THOUSAND OAKS, CA – AUGUST 18: Offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth #77 of the Los Angeles Rams enters the field for training camp on August 18, 2020. Jayne Kamin-Oncea | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images Long before Andrew Whitworth made it to the National Football League, he knew he wanted to help others. When he

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Brandon Bell | Reuters The Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York, along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and other Democratic legislators on Thursday, introduced a resolution again calling on the White House to forgive $50,000 in student debt for all borrowers by executive action. “During a

Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images Americans have it worse than all other developed nations when it comes to benefits for workers, according to a new ranking. The U.S. places last relative to its national policies around healthcare, unemployment, retirement, parental leave, and paid vacation and sick days, according to Zenefits, a

DEA / M. BORCHI | De Agostini | Getty Images Unemployment benefits aren’t reaching most jobless Americans — suggesting that lawmakers who wish to target aid to the unemployed would likely need to use stimulus checks or other relief measures. At most, 30% of jobless individuals are currently being reached by the unemployment system, according

People gather together to ask the McDonald’s corporation to raise workers wages to a $15 minimum wage as well as demanding the right to a union on May 23, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images Millions of workers in the U.S. could be in for a pay raise as Democrats move

A Poudre Valley Hospital ICU Nurse shows off her vaccination card after getting the first round of Covid-19 vaccines at UC Health Poudre Valley Hospital on December 14, 2020 in Fort Collins, Colorado. Helen H. Richardson | The Denver Post | Getty Images It’s tempting to tell the world as soon as you receive a

SolStock | E+ | Getty Images When Tim Maurer’s two teenagers burst into his home office last week, excitedly talking about how a bunch of kids had taken on Wall Street, the Charleston, South Carolina, certified financial planner knew it presented a great opportunity to teach his boys about investing. Lecturing doesn’t usually work, Maurer