Personal finance

The reception desk at luxury boutique property Diamond Mills Hotel & Tavern in Saugerties, New York, features sneeze guards. Guests and staff must wear face masks in public areas. Gina Hornbeck/Diamond Mills Hotel & Tavern Like most components of travel in the Covid-19 era, hotel check-in has changed — perhaps, in many ways, for good.

In the wake of Covid-19, colleges will likely outsource more of the student housing needs to companies such as DMG, which owns apartment complexes such as this one in upstate New York serving Cornell University. Source: DMG Investments The days of cramming undergraduates into shared rooms with a communal bathroom down the hall may be

Sam Seagraves Source: Sam Seagraves Almost all of the money Sam Seagraves used to make as an actor in Portland, Oregon, went toward her monthly student loan bill of $1,083.  Then the coronavirus pandemic hit. With many production companies postponing or cancelling operations, Seagraves hasn’t been hired for a role since March. The CARES Act granted

A patient arrives to Wyckoff Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, on April 5, 2020. Bryan R. Smith | AFP | Getty Images An unfortunate side effect can accompany a job loss: no more employer-subsidized health insurance. For people age 65 or older in that situation, Medicare is generally the solution. While some in that age

Up until recently, an old-fashioned certificate of deposit was a reliable way to lock in a decent return.  Now, some CD rates are hitting all-time lows and could still fall further, according to Ken Tumin, founder of DepositAccounts.com. “Since March, rates have taken a nosedive,” he said. “I’m not sure where they will bottom.” In the wake of

MoMo Productions The secret to building sustainable income in retirement is right in front of you — and the IRS has had it all along. Retirees generally know all about required minimum distributions. This is the annual withdrawal that you must take from your individual retirement account and 401(k) plans after you turn 70½ —

A tray of checks is shown at the U.S. Treasury printing facility in Philadelphia in this July 18, 2011 photo. Getty Images The federal government has sent stimulus checks of up to $1,200 to millions of Americans — including deceased individuals. A new report from the Government Accountability Office finds that about 1.1 million payments, totaling

Hispanolistic Forget high-interest savings accounts. The IRS is crediting up to 5% interest on late tax refunds. The government agency announced it would grant interest on tax refunds that are issued after April 15 – the original due date for 2019 federal income tax returns. Bear in mind that the IRS has pushed out the

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Michael Brochstein | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images The coronavirus stimulus checks have provided a financial boost to millions of Americans — except for those who filed tax returns with non-citizen spouses. A bill introduced on Thursday by Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., is seeking to

Siriluck Srikumbang / EyeEm Perhaps you are approaching retirement and getting a bit nervous from these wild market swings. It has, after all, been an emotional ride lately, and there are no signs of it letting up soon. You may be thinking: Is it time to “de-risk” your portfolio by dumping stocks and seeking the

Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Treasury secretary, speaks during a Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, June 10, 2020. Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images This tax season may look more like a tax year, as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin weighs delaying the July 15 deadline once again. “As

Hundreds of unemployed workers wait in long lines outside the Kentucky Career Center for help with their unemployment claims on June 19, 2020 in Frankfort, Kentucky. John Sommers II | Getty Images More than 1 million Americans have started dipping into an unemployment fund meant for extended periods of joblessness.   Research suggests these individuals

shapecharge The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed how close so many Americans are to severe financial insecurity. Over these past four months, millions of American workers have experienced sudden and unexpected losses of their primary sources of income, either temporarily or, for many, permanently. While stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits have filled in some gaps,

If you took a required minimum distribution from your retirement account this year and want to reverse it, you now may be able to. The IRS said Tuesday that anyone who already has taken an RMD in 2020 from certain retirement accounts has until Aug. 31 to put the money back. The announcement comes several

U.S. President Donald Trump signs H.R. 748, the CARES Act in the Oval Office of the White House on March 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. Erin Schaff | Getty Images A political fight is brewing on Capitol Hill over what  the next coronavirus stimulus package will look like. But President Donald Trump made it clear

Getty Images You may not be stuck at home for much longer. People still want to get away, according to Tripadvisor, and more than 66% of travelers say they are already planning their next trip.   Those journeys are likely to be short distance and will probably involve some outdoor activity. Almost half the Tripadvisor

For many Americans, federal stimulus payments are a lifeline during this period of extreme financial stress. And yet, many questions remain unanswered in the ever-changing status of these payments. Americans are also wondering how to make the best use of this one-time cash injection — or whether more money is on the way. Here are

10’000 Hours For those who desperately need tax refunds, it can feel like ages before they get the money.  For an unlucky few, the wait has taken months. “We filed a client’s return, and it was accepted on April 14,” said Nayo Carter-Gray, an enrolled agent at 1st Step Accounting in Towson, Maryland. “He finally

Ungureanu Vadim | EyeEm | Getty Images Many student loan borrowers were suffering when the pandemic shuttered the economy. Americans collectively hold more than $1.6 trillion in student debt. According to credit monitoring service Experian, Gen Z saw their student debt balances increase by 9% from the first quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2019 —

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell during a speech on March 3, 2020 in Washington, DC. Mark Makela/Getty Images The recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic is playing out across stark — and widening — fault lines in America. Lower earners, those with less schooling, women and minority groups have borne the brunt of the economic