Personal finance

kali9 | E+ | Getty Images It’s not uncommon for retired homeowners to want to relocate or downsize. Yet if the move involves buying a house and financing that purchase, they may discover that qualifying for a mortgage is a bit different from the last time they bought a home. Not only have lenders tightened

paul mansfield photography | Moment | Getty Images It’s officially the last day to return that mandatory distribution out of your retirement account and trim your tax bill. The CARES Act, the coronavirus relief act that went into effect this spring, allowed retirement account holders to skip their required minimum distribution for this year. Those

Apple split its stock on Monday. FREDERIC J. BROWN | AFP | Getty Images Two of the most valuable and popular public companies – Apple and Tesla – completed stock splits on Monday. Wondering what that entails? And what, if anything, it means for your investments?  Let’s start with how the process of a corporate stock

Philadelphia residents rallied at City Hall to demand Congress return and come to a deal on unemployment and other key features of the HEROES Act. Cory Clark/NurPhoto via Getty Images At least five states have begun paying out a federal boost to weekly unemployment benefits. Others have signaled they’ll do so within days. Arizona, Louisiana,

DusanManic | iStock | Getty Images Many people’s retirement dreams received a reality check following the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. New research shows that’s especially true for older workers. A recent report from Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee of Congress found that workers ages 65 and up were hit harder by

Images By Tang Ming Tung Some Americans who are still waiting for their $1,200 coronavirus stimulus payments may be relieved to know their checks will soon be in the mail. The IRS announced this week that 50,000 people will receive catch-up payments for money that was withheld due to their spouse’s past-due child support. Catch-up

Getty Images Changes are coming for risk-averse Vanguard investors who are parking cash. Late next month, Vanguard will transition its $125.3 billion Prime Money Market Fund to a government money market fund, investing “almost exclusively” in U.S. government securities, cash and repurchase agreements backed by government securities or cash. The fund will be renamed the

Anna Vela had three days to pay her rent or her landlord would evict her and her three children.  She didn’t have the money. When the pandemic hit, Vela’s boss at the supermarket where she worked in Davenport, Iowa, had cut her weekly hours to around 11 from 35. And when she learned that she’d

Amid one of the worst public-health crises in history, a record number of Americans are without health insurance. John Fedele Amid historic levels of unemployment, as many as 12 million Americans may have lost their health insurance since February, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute.  “Because most U.S. workers rely on their

valentinrussanov | E+ | Getty Images  If the economic havoc from the coronavirus persists, distressed homeowners could find themselves facing a terrifying prospect next year: Foreclosure. The CARES Act, the pandemic relief act that became a law this spring, sought to keep millions of Americans in their homes. In particular, it gave borrowers with federally

With three months until the 2020 U.S. presidential election, a national poll finds that more than one-third of likely voters have a dismal view of their finances — and a bleak outlook for employment, wages, job security and health care. Of the more than 2,300 likely voters in the most recent CNBC and Change Research‘s States

Downed power lines are seen on Highway 90 after Hurricane Laura passed through Iowa, Louisiana, August 27, 2020. Elijah Nouvelage | Reuters As communities along the Gulf Coast assess the damage left in Hurricane Laura’s wake, homeowners elsewhere may want to double-check their own insurance coverage. The massive storm made landfall early Thursday in Louisiana

In a major policy pivot, the Federal Reserve said it will allow inflation to run “hotter than normal” to help the economy bounce back from the coronavirus crisis. That means the Fed will be less inclined to hike interest rates, letting borrowers benefit from cheap money for an extended period of time. “This kind of

Ariel Skelley | DigitalVision | Getty Images The idea of “slowing down” in retirement is quickly becoming an antiquated concept. To today’s retirees, retirement is no longer simply defined as the end of work, but the beginning of a whole new chapter of life, with new choices, freedoms and challenges. This new beginning is born

PayPal is fighting back after several consumer advocacy groups cited the payment provider for what they called “predatory financial practices.” In a joint letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the consumer groups, including the Student Borrower Protection Center, Americans for Financial Reform, Student Debt Crisis and

Tenants of the Woodner apartment building in Washington, D.C., protest to demand their rent be forgiven during the Covid-19 pandemic. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images Unemployed workers living in most U.S. cities can’t cover basic living expenses with jobless benefits alone. In fact, Americans living in just 12 out of 109 metro areas could afford

MilanRist | E+ | Getty Images As the Covid-19 pandemic continues and unemployment remains at record highs, many people are turning to part-time work, the gig economy and the side hustle to make ends meet. Some of those are better than others. It’s probably not a great time, for example, to become a driver for

Protesters block a courthouse entrance in Los Angeles on Aug. 21, 2020. VALERIE MACON | AFP | Getty Images In the absence of any national ban on evictions during the pandemic, tenants struggling to pay their rent are at the mercy of a patchwork of narrow and temporary local protections.  In Maryland, Missouri and Ohio,

Parents with children in kindergarten through college are bracing themselves for a tumultuous start to the school year. As they look toward the higher education landscape today — and anticipate what it could be like years down the road, some parents may be wondering if saving for college is really worth it.  A  survey by

Public School 159 in the Bayside neighborhood of Queens is one of 1,866 schools in New York City. Shannon Stapleton | Reuters “I hope they figured out something better,” said New York City parent Crystal Berroa, 27, of her expectations for distance learning this fall.   For Berroa, who lives in a homeless shelter with