Personal finance

Justin Horrocks | Vetta | Getty Images Laid-off employees who reject an offer of rehire may wind up being reported to the state unemployment office if their company took a forgivable federal loan. The Paycheck Protection Program is a federal loan program that was established by the CARES Act. It covers up to eight weeks

alphaspirit | Getty Images Your $1,200 stimulus check could have been garnished if you owe past debts. A group of senators is looking to put a stop to that. But because millions of stimulus checks have already gone out, it could be too late for some. Congress authorized the one-time payments when it passed the

Certain jobs and industries are benefiting from enhanced unemployment pay more than others — and have the most to gain from an extension of benefits.  Workers in lower-paying sectors of the economy, such as accommodation and food services, benefit more from the unemployment increase than those in finance and insurance that pay workers better. And the difference

Medical workers transport a patient outside a special Covid-19 area at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, on May 17. Johannes Eisele | Getty Images If you’re collecting more on unemployment than what you earned while working, it could affect how much you pay for health insurance. For households that bought coverage through one

This year, students may need extra help to make college a reality. Amid the coronavirus crisis and sky-high unemployment rates, less than half of families feel confident in their ability to meet the costs of higher education, according to education lender Sallie Mae. About 69% of parents and 55% of students entering college in the

We are all getting back to the basics. While it might feel good to bake bread, the best way to get through the coronavirus pandemic could be to stock your emergency fund and learn to “do-it-yourself” with household chores so you can save on expenses.  One bright spot: You might have more time on your

College graduates will soon be hit with their first student loan bill aywan88 | E+ | Getty Images When Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the race, it seemed that proposals to tackle student loan debt would go away, too.  They haven’t. Between the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and

Hero Images | Getty Images Traditionally, parents pay a premium so their children can play capture the flag, drink bug juice and swim in a lake through August. This year, of course, summer camp looks very different. Amid the coronavirus crisis, many camps have cancelled their summer sessions, others have moved online and a few

Lillian Johnson, 77, pictured outside her East Meadow, New York, nursing home. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, her son was unable to visit her for two months. Lamont Johnson Lamont Johnson lives just about two miles from his mother’s nursing home in Long Island, New York. He has not been able to visit her for about

SDI Productions Americans could use a financial boost. How to get that money into people’s hands has been a hot topic of debate. Democrats have proposed expanding unemployment insurance and giving Americans as much as $2,000 per month to get back on their feet. Meanwhile, one Republican proposal has called for giving Americans $11,000 now in

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