Personal finance

Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. DEA / M. BORCHI | De Agostini | Getty Images Nearly 14 million American workers are collecting unemployment benefits through programs that will lapse at the end of the year without congressional action. Expiring aid would leave many without income at a time when protections for renters, homeowners and student

AJ Watt | Getty Images Are you stocking up on cold and flu meds for the winter? Buying an at-home Covid-19 test kit? If so, you are running out of time to use this tax-advantaged account for those purchases. Health-care flexible spending accounts, which may be available at your job, allow you to stash pre-tax

‘Tis the season to shore up your savings. In the days leading up to Black Friday, financial experts caution against overspending, particularly amid an economic crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic — and consumers are listening. One campaign, called “In the Black Friday,” spearheaded by the National Financial Educators Council, encourages consumers to avoid debt

Mary Roberts has been working five jobs since August to stay afloat after the coronavirus pandemic decimated the cruise industry, where she was a director and choreographer. Mary Roberts Mary Roberts is not immune to the hustle as an artist. But the coronavirus pandemic has presented a challenge like she’s never seen before. Roberts, 39,

Elisabeth Reynolds MIT The predictions were scary. Half of the jobs in industrialized countries could, one day, be taken over by robots. What would workers do? How would they earn a living? In 2018, a taskforce at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology set out to answer these questions. Over the next two years, more than

Thomas Barwick Some types of mutual funds carry a bigger price tag than others — but that doesn’t necessarily mean investors should avoid them. In fact, there are certain areas where actively managed funds, which carry higher costs, tend to yield a greater net return over the long term than index funds, their lower-cost counterparts.

Getty Images If you receive a text, email or phone call purporting to be from the Social Security Administration, think twice before responding. The people on the other end are likely fraudsters. And they’re looking to catch individuals off guard and take advantage of their fears. The November Retirement Confidence Index from SimplyWise, a technology

Amid one of the worst public-health crises in history, a record number of Americans are without health insurance. John Fedele It’s open enrollment season, meaning it’s again time for many Americans to sit down and go over their employer-sponsored workplace benefits for next year. The coronavirus pandemic has made health benefits top of mind for

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc | DigitalVision | Getty Images Don’t let the holidays distract you from last-minute opportunities to reduce your 2020 tax bill. There are about five weeks left in the year, which means the clock is ticking on tax-planning strategies. Some tactics are only in play for 2020, thanks to the federal CARES

“As soon as I heard that that the freshmen class would be invited back, I decided to go,” said Ahmad Alsheikh, 18, of his decision to attend college in person this fall. But even though Alsheikh has been on campus since September, he still communicates with his classmates largely online. The Harvard freshman says he is

For now, it’s an open question if President-elect Joe Biden has interest in testing his presidential power to try to forgive student debt. Joe Raedle |Getty Images It’s a pressing question not just for higher-education experts and legal wonks. Tens of millions of Americans have a lot riding on the answer: Can the president forgive

Jeanne Flynn, 34, has accumulated thousands in credit card debt while waiting for unemployment benefits to arrive in New Jersey. Jeanne Flynn Jeanne Flynn used to worry about money. But never like this. Flynn, 34, lost her restaurant job in March as the coronavirus pandemic raged. Months of waiting for unemployment benefits and little savings

Siblings Jack, Catherine, Sam and Molly Matt pay a socially distant visit to Santa Claus at the Willow Grove Park Mall in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 14, 2020. Mark Makela | Reuters There are a lot of kids who won’t be getting a new Xbox for Christmas. As many as 1 in 3 people

RainStar | E+ | Getty Images There’s a chance that if you’re enrolled in Medicare, an Advantage Plan is on your radar as a supplemental coverage option. While these plans continue growing in popularity and availability, there are some things to watch for. And whether you’re mulling over switching to another plan or adding one

A President Donald Trump and a former Vice President Joe Biden supporter converse before the Joe Biden Campaign Rally at the National World War I Museum and Memorial on March 7, 2020 in Kansas City, Missouri. Kyle Rivas | Getty Images This year’s presidential election was expected to usher in a blue wave of votes

Life after college isn’t exactly what Elizabeth McCown thought it would be. After graduating in August, she moved back into her mother and stepfather’s Longwood, Florida, home. While she initially planned to study for the LSAT, the law school entrance exam, she opted to find work instead. “It is not the time to spend a

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) headquarters in Washington, D.C. Janhvi Bhojwani | CNBC Entrepreneurs who took a forgivable loan this year can’t write off certain expenses on their taxes if they expect the debt will be forgiven, according to the IRS and Treasury Department. The two agencies issued guidance Wednesday on the Paycheck Protection Program

Volunteers distribute food to the needy in Orlando, Fla. Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images About 12 million Americans will lose unemployment benefits in December when CARES Act provisions lapse, absent an extension, according to a new analysis. Unemployment benefits will terminate for more than half of current recipients at the end of the year, coinciding

Millionaires may not be as uncommon as you think. There are more than 20 million people in the U.S. with enough assets to fit the definition, according to a 2020 study by Credit Suisse. Chris Hogan, radio host and author of the book “Everyday Millionaires,” surveyed more than 10,000 of those wealthy individuals to figure

The Federal Trade Commission Building in Washington D.C. Ashley Stringer | CNBC The Federal Trade Commission has filed a civil complaint alleging “unfair or deceptive acts” by Beam Financial, a San Francisco start-up behind a savings app that purported to offer above-market interest rates on federally insured deposits. As CNBC first reported in October, dozens