Personal finance

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

ljubaphoto Travel insurer Seven Corners has started two new products  tailored to vacations in the age of coronavirus: one policy specifically covers medical expenses incurred due to Covid-19 infection while traveling overseas, and another helps motorists as road trips replace flights and cruises as the preferred means of summer and fall travel. “Travel trends, in general,

Student loan borrowers could see big changes over the next few months. pcess609 Former Vice President Joe Biden made an announcement in April that was mostly drowned out by more and more alarming developments of the coronavirus pandemic: As president, he would forgive undergraduate federal student loan debt picked up at public colleges for those

Some investors see recent volatility as a way to get rich quick. Trying to outsmart the market can end very badly. Last week, 20-year-old trader Alexander Kearns using the Robinhood platform committed suicide after a series of risky options trades left him deep in the red. In the note to his family, he said he had “no

Unlike most people who are now telecommuting due to the coronavirus pandemic, I’ve been working from home for a long time. As in two decades. Between full-time jobs that allowed it (one of them way back in 2000) and freelancing while I raised two children, I’ve truly appreciated the benefits that come with the arrangement

Oliver Rossi If you inherited an IRA, think before you take that tax-favored $100,000 distribution.  That’s because the relief the CARES Act offers investors who have individual retirement accounts and 401(k) retirement plans isn’t as generous to those who inherit these accounts, according to the American Institute of CPAs. The CARES Act provides several options

More people will be eligible to take a $100,000 coronavirus-related distribution from their retirement account. The IRS released guidance on Friday which details new rules for individuals affected by Covid-19 to take a withdrawal from a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account. The CARES Act allows savers to take coronavirus-related distributions – emergency withdrawals

Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, speaks during a hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on June 9 about unemployment insurance during the Covid-19 pandemic. Leah Millis/Reuters/Bloomberg via Getty Images The enhanced unemployment benefits supporting household income for millions of jobless Americans will soon lapse. Lawmakers, scrambling

This past April was a month Tom Nigro will never forget. As a certified registered nurse anesthetist, Nigro was well-equipped to serve victims of the coronavirus and moved that month from his apartment in Milwaukee to New York City – then the epicenter of the pandemic. On April 8, for example, more than 5,581 New

Jason Stitt | Getty Images Millions of Americans put a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks on their wish lists. But Congress has yet to decide exactly what the next version of coronavirus stimulus legislation will look like. If House Democrats have their way, a second batch of checks would be deployed to qualifying Americans.