Personal finance

More than 38 million people have filed for jobless claims since the coronavirus pandemic started. The unexpected loss in income is causing many Americans to tap their retirement savings just to make ends meet.  And many people who lost a job — or have a spouse or partner whose income has declined — didn’t have

A driver and passenger wearing protective masks exit the ride sharing pickup area in a car displaying Uber Technologies signage at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Monday, May 4, 2020. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg Leonardo Diaz is in a tough spot. Diaz, a driver for Uber

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – 2020/03/26: View of Brooklyn office of NYS Department of Labor as unemployment claims in USA soared to 3.3 million in week ended March 21 because of COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) Pacific Press Americans who are out of work may be getting a sizable unemployment

Hispanolistic Over 152 million stimulus checks have been issued to individuals over the last six weeks, according to data from the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service. In all, the agencies have distributed $257.9 billion in Economic Impact Payments. Uncle Sam began depositing the funds into taxpayers’ bank accounts in mid-April. The average payment came

A sign advising customers to practice social distancing is displayed on the door of a General Motors Co. Buick and GMC car dealership in Woodbridge, New Jersey, on May 20. Angus Mordant | Bloomberg | Getty Images Coronavirus pandemic aside, it’s not a bad time to be in the market for a new car. With

Workers are back on the job at the the construction site of new towers near Government Center in downtown Boston on May 19, 2020. As the state economy cautiously begins to reopen, construction projects resume. (Photo by Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) Boston Globe Another round of coronavirus relief for Americans may hinge

Getty Images Talk of a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks made headlines last week when Democrats in the House of Representatives passed a new bill including those payments. But another round of federal relief checks is far from a done deal. Americans should brace themselves for a potentially long wait for that money, if

Hero Images | Getty Images One bad side effect of losing your job can be the end of employer-subsidized health insurance. For anyone in the 65-and-older crowd who is now unemployed (or had coverage through a now-unemployed spouse), that’s when Medicare can step in. While some in that cohort may already have signed up for

Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Treasury secretary, speaks during a virtual Senate Banking Committee hearing seen on a laptop computer in Tiskilwa, Illinois, U.S., on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified on the $2.2 trillion virus rescue package passed by the Congress in March. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via

Tom Werner Next year, the IRS will allow people to put away even more money in health savings accounts, a tax-advantaged account you can use for medical expenses. Health savings accounts work alongside high deductible health plans. You can save money on a pretax or tax-deductible basis, have it grow tax free and then use

Most students can’t wait to get back into the classroom, even as more schools extend remote learning indefinitely. The University of Alabama system said it intends to return to on-campus instruction, while the California State University System announced that all students, enrolled on 23 campuses, will take fall classes online. Other schools have proposed a

DTP | Getty Images Add robocalls to scammers’ methods of capitalizing on the coronavirus crisis. As Americans adjust to life in the midst of a global pandemic, roughly a quarter of individuals say they’ve experienced an increase in robocalls and about 20% have received a call or text regarding the illness, according to a survey

Thomas Barwick Lawmakers may allow savers to undo last year’s mandatory withdrawals from retirement accounts. The $3 trillion HEROES Act – the latest round of proposed federal coronavirus relief legislation – was passed by the House last Friday. Aside from granting households another batch of $1,200 stimulus payments and granting student loan relief, the measure

Navigating the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has not been easy for small businesses. Fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff is no exception. “It’s the longest, most exhausting days of my life,” said Minkoff, 39, and the co-founder and creative director of her own fashion line. “I want to scream a lot, but I have to stay

Small-business owners who borrowed from the federal Paycheck Protection Program program can now apply for loan forgiveness. Getting the balances erased may be easier said than done. The PPP loan, which was established by the CARES Act, is intended to cover up to eight weeks of wages, mortgage interest and other expenses. The amount borrowed

As part of the House bill passed on Friday to deliver relief to a battered economy, people with student debt would get some more elbow room.  The U.S. Department of Education has already announced that due to the pandemic, federal student loan borrowers don’t need to make payments on their loans until at least October. And during

A tax surprise could be around the corner for business owners who participate in the federal government’s forgivable loan program — unless Congress intervenes. The Paycheck Protection Program offers small businesses a lifeline in the form of a forgivable loan they can use to cover up to eight weeks of payroll costs, mortgage interest and

You may qualify for paid leave Justin Paget Qualified workers, including those telecommuting, can get two weeks of paid leave at full pay courtesy of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Valid reasons include being unable to work because you are under quarantine order, have coronavirus symptoms and are seeking diagnosis, or must care for

Labor economist Teresa Ghilarducci began studying retirement in 2008, when the Great Recession was making it impossible for millions of Americans to retire. “The phenomenon of Granny working in McDonald’s really started to ramp up,” said Ghilarducci, who leads the Retirement Equity Lab at The New School in New York.  Yet, as bad as it was then,

As the country starts to reopen its economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, Americans of all ages are still trying to figure out the path forward. Many have lost income, may be struggling with a small business or are dealing with child-care issues. But those in their 40s, the younger end of Generation X, have their