Personal finance

Getty Images High-income households will come out ahead – at the possible expense of the poor – if the Supreme Court overturns the Affordable Care Act. Last month, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to do away with the health-care measure, arguing that the law became unconstitutional when Congress eliminated the penalty for not

Rob Daly | OJO Images | Getty Images Households aren’t too happy with the U.S. consumer financial ecosystem these days, a report suggests. Complaints made to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were up 50% from March through June this year compared with the same time period in 2019, according to research from consumer advocacy

Resist the urge to shove your completed 2019 tax return into a drawer. It could help you save money next spring. Taxpayers and tax professionals were focused on the sprint to July 15 – the new deadline for 2019 federal income tax returns and payments. Indeed, the IRS received 147.1 million individual income tax returns

One of the trickiest parts of retirement planning is knowing whether you’ll need long-term care down the road — or how much it might cost. While not everyone will need such care — help with daily living activities like bathing or dressing — those who do can face a big tab. Medicare — relied on

Jodi Furman, 46, says negotiating over a car purchase or lease is best done over the phone or through email. Jodi Furman Jodi Furman is married to a man who loves expensive cars. “Pretty cars, fast cars,” said Furman, 46. She has bought 12 cars in about 20 years, and she’s picked up a wealth

Robert Miller, a Pittsburgh area restaurateur, has watched with sadness as some of his favorite local eateries closed for good in recent weeks. Union Standard, Pizza Taglio, Spoon — just a handful of the businesses lost in the age of the coronavirus pandemic. “They’re all places people would know by name,” Miller said. Miller, 45, expects

Glenda West was hoping to retire in comfort with her wife, Juliana. Yet like many Americans, the 60-year-old has seen her retirement plans thrown out of whack by the coronavirus pandemic. “We had a clear plan on how much to put away every year,” said West, who owns a small construction company with her wife

President Donald Trump speaks on the “Rebuilding of America’s Infrastructure: Faster, Better, Stronger” in Atlanta on July 15. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images Your paycheck could get bigger if the White House gets its way. President Trump said this week that he won’t sign the next coronavirus relief package into law if it

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., indicated the $600 weekly enhancement to unemployment benefits won’t be in the next coronavirus relief package. Photo by Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images Paid not to work Lawmakers intended the $600-a-week supplement to fully replace lost wages for the average American. In other words, someone who lost a job would be

As Covid-19 cases continue to rise and businesses struggle to adapt to their new normal, many Americans are stepping up to help people in their communities. From personal gestures to financial contributions, experts say giving back in many ways — big and small — can have a significant impact on your own well-being, emotionally and

Brenda Pickens and her late husband, Howard. Source: Brenda Pickens It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.  When 63-year-old Howard Pickens died suddenly of complications from Covid-19 in March, his wife Brenda was stunned. Not only had she lost her companion of almost three decades, she now had to figure out how to get by

Yellow Dog Productions | Getty Images Medicare might become a bit easier to navigate. A congressional measure that would help prevent costly enrollment mistakes cleared a House committee on Wednesday as part of a group of bipartisan-backed health-care bills. The next step would be a vote by the full chamber, although it’s uncertain when that

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc IRA savings and deductions If you have the cash — and access to your IRA custodian — you can still put money in your account today. Aside from bolstering your retirement savings, you may cut your taxes for 2019. “If you qualify, you can get a deduction of up to $6,000

The Covid-19 unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston. MARK FELIX Medicare is often referred to as a maze. The various deadlines for signing up may have something to do with that. While turning 65 makes you eligible for Medicare, not everyone will follow the same path to enrollment. Some beneficiaries are automatically signed

ljubaphoto “This year’s July 15 filing date is considered a disaster-related postponement of the filing deadline,” said IRS spokesman Eric Smith.  “Where a disaster-related postponement exists, the IRS is required by law to pay interest, calculated from the original April 15 filing deadline, as long as an individual income taxpayer files a 2019 tax return

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin speaks during the daily Covid-19 briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on April 21. Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images The Treasury Department is canceling the stimulus payments it distributed to dead people, according to the IRS. “The Bureau of Fiscal Services has canceled outstanding Economic

More and more schools are joining the fight against the Trump Administration over a new rule that may bar international students from studying in the U.S. Now, 59 public and private colleges — including Johns Hopkins University, Stanford University, Duke University and Emory University, as well as every member of the Ivy League — have

Medical staff work outside the Covid-19 intensive care unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston on June 30. Go Nakamura | Getty Images Amid one of the worst public-health crises in history, a record number of Americans are without health insurance. More than 5.4 million people who were laid off from their jobs are

Uncle Sam is sitting on $1.5 billion in tax refunds from 2016, and taxpayers have two days to grab their cash or lose it. July 15 isn’t just the due date for 2019’s federal income tax returns and taxes owed, it’s also the last day the IRS will accept late returns for the 2016 tax

The median price for a home in San Francisco is about $1.3 million, according to real estate site Zillow. Education Images | Universal Images Group | Getty Images There’s one part of the mortgage world that’s harder for some would-be home buyers to access: Jumbo loans. While there are signs that lenders may be easing