Personal finance

mediamasmedia The stock market is acting strangely these days, with headlines about market rallies next to ones about historic unemployment figures and companies filing for bankruptcy.  You can’t figure it out. But you may be wondering if you should take advantage of the upswing and pull some money out of the market. After all, before this recent rally,

Pedestrians walk through Harvard Yard on the closed Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., on Monday, April 20, 2020. Adam Glanzam | Bloomberg | Getty Images “Many schools are tuition-dependent,” said Robert Franek, editor in chief of The Princeton Review and author of “The Best 385 Colleges.” “That really does change their financial make up

Annie Nova Annie Nova | CNBC I was raised by a single mother who had no time for the kitchen, and although I wanted to be different, I wasn’t. I became dependent on Grubhub, and the tiny oven in my Manhattan apartment could go months unused.  Since I never had a teacher, cooking intimidated me.

Ziga Plahutar If you’ve had trouble accessing the Get My Payment tool to check on the status of your coronavirus stimulus payment, you may want to try again. The IRS announced on Sunday it had made “significant enhancements” to the web portal, which first went live on April 15. The changes are aimed at creating what

Phynart Studio In the Before Time, you had your pick of side gigs. That was before the coronavirus pandemic changed just about everything, including (possibly) your salary. If you’re looking for extra cash either to supplement or replace lost income, you might want to consider side jobs that help you avoid contact with potential customers.

PhotoAlto/Dinoco Greco American teens are worried about the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their family — and on their future. According to a survey by Junior Achievement, 57% of teenagers said they were concerned about how Covid-19 will affect their life after high school. Of the high school juniors and seniors polled, 27%

Wild market swings have taken a toll on retirement savers. The average 401(k) balance plunged 19%, to $91,400, in the first quarter of 2020, according to a new report by Fidelity Investments, the nation’s largest provider of 401(k) plans. The financial services firm handles more than 30 million retirement accounts altogether. The average individual retirement

Employee Linda Tarkenton holds a blank U.S. Treasury check before it’s run through a printer at the U.S. Treasury printing facility in Philadelphia. Getty Images People who receive benefits through either the Department of Veterans Affairs or Supplemental Security Income who have children have a new deadline if they want to get all of the

When a loved one passes away, it’s not unusual for the person to leave some unpaid debt behind. The question for the surviving spouse or other heirs is often: What happens to those obligations? Generally speaking, it depends on both the type of debt and applicable state laws. When someone dies, their assets — no

Images By Tang Ming Tung The financial hardships many Americans are now facing may have an unintended effect on their children — it may actually help their kids develop a money mindset very early. Just like children of the Depression emerged as frugal spenders, those experiencing the coronavirus pandemic may also learn important financial lessons.

Getty Images More than 88 million individuals received a stimulus check from the IRS in the last three weeks, according to data from the federal agency. The Treasury Department and the IRS have distributed a total of $157.9 billion in so-called Economic Impact Payments. The federal government began depositing the cash into taxpayers’ bank accounts

CNBC | Jaden Urbi On March 25, the Trump administration announced that during the coronavirus pandemic it would stop garnishing the wages of struggling student loan borrowers.  “These are difficult times for many Americans, and we don’t want to do anything that will make it harder for them to make ends meet or create additional

(Credit: Getty | PeopleImages) When the government launched a web tool on April 15 so that eligible Americans could find out the status of their coronavirus stimulus payments, Jake Koepke was eager to log on. But the central Wisconsin resident, 34, was disappointed to find himself shut out after three failed attempts to get onto

eclipse_images If you’re awaiting a federal stimulus payment and you haven’t filed tax returns, beware: Hackers have set their sights — and sites — on your $1,200 check. Scammers have set up more than 180,000 coronavirus-themed websites in an attempt to steal data or misinform consumers, according to data from Checkphish by Bolster. The security

U.S. households that already were less prepared to weather a financial storm are getting hit hardest from the recent rash of job losses across the country, research shows. Adults with lower income (under about $37,500 annually) and middle income ($37,500 to $112,600) comprise a greater share of those who have lost their job or taken

The sun sets behind a crude oil pump jack on a drill pad in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S. November 24, 2019. Angus Mordant | Reuters Stay-at-home orders aren’t only hitting mom-and-pop businesses. They’re also a driver behind the cratering price of oil. For example, the cost of a futures contract for

shot of social security card Kameleon007 The Covid-19 crisis has upended the U.S. economy. Now retirees may face another financial challenge: a lower Social Security cost-of-living adjustment in 2021. Based on data for the first quarter of 2020, the estimated Social Security COLA for 2021 could be just 0.8%, according to The Senior Citizens League,

Add child support and alimony to the list of obligations weighing on people during this coronavirus crisis. As household finances reel from unemployment, business shutdowns and stay-at-home orders, some individuals are reaching out to lawyers to explore their options for modifying those payments. “Anecdotally, [family law] attorneys are seeing a marked increase in inquiries for

freemixer | E+ | Getty Images Social Security beneficiaries who do not typically file tax returns have until tomorrow to tell the government to include their dependent children in their stimulus payments.  The U.S. government is in the process of deploying one-time checks of up to $1,200 to Americans who qualify, including those receiving Social

US Senator Chuck Schumer speaks at media briefing with mayor Bill de Blasio on first death related to COVID-19 outbreak in New York CIty at City Hall. Lev Radin | Pacific Press | Getty Images Congress is hashing out the terms for the next package of federal loans for small businesses, even as millions of