Even though it’s still early to file your taxes, the sooner you crunch the numbers on your return, the better off you could be. The IRS issued more than 111.8 million refunds for the 2018 tax year, with taxpayers receiving an average payment of $2,869. This year could bring an even bigger windfall, for those
Personal finance
Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg gives the thumbs up as he embarks on his bus after speaking to supporters at the Viva Villa restaurant in San Antonio, Texas on January 11, 2020. Mark Felix | AFP | Getty Images Mike Bloomberg released plans to shore up Americans’ retirement on Sunday, promising to increase Social Security
Even though February isn’t known as a big sales month for cars, you’ll likely find some decent deals if you head to the dealership over this three-day holiday weekend. While some advertised specials may be pegged to Presidents Day, many deals last for the month. And with more of last year’s models still hanging around
Getty Images The April 15 tax deadline is about two months away, yet that’s still plenty of time to knock a few dollars off your 2019 tax bill. The IRS declared tax season open on Jan. 27. The agency expects to receive more than 150 million individual income tax returns for the 2019 tax year.
Goodboy Picture Company A hot tax-advantaged opportunity is making the rounds among financial advisors. Just make sure you don’t overlook the risks. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which went into effect in 2018, established so-called qualified opportunity zones — economically disadvantaged areas across the country. Funds specializing in qualified opportunity zones allow people to
Adrian Peterson #26 of the Washington Redskins looks on after being tackled by the Philadelphia Eagles during the first half at FedExField on Dec. 30, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. Scott Taetsch | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images Adrian Peterson is heading to arbitration against Morgan Stanley Wealth Management over an investment dispute, the latest
Netflix, Apple TV and Prime Video. egadolfo I signed up recently for a clothing subscription service called NUULY. The company lets you wear six items a month for $88. But what the service provides me feels deeper. For that fee, I can arrive to a date in a $860 designer coat, which wouldn’t normally be
Many Americans seem to be addicted to income tax refunds, even though financial planners often advise having less tax withheld from your pay throughout the year as the better way to manage your cash flow. Nearly two-thirds of taxpayers — more than 111 million Americans — received a refund from the Internal Revenue Service last
Squaredpixels | Getty Images It’s the bane of some older Americans. Once they hit a certain age, the government makes them take money out of their retirement accounts, even if they don’t need the cash. That is changing, albeit slowly. The recently passed Secure Act raises the age for when those required minimum withdrawals must
Tetra Images | Getty Images In a world where much of consumer banking has gone high-tech, the most costly scams involve an old-school tool: checks. At about $2,000 a pop, fake-check scams cheated consumers out of more than $28 million in 2019, according to the Federal Trade Commission. That per-instance amount is more than six
As taxpayers roll into the second tax-filing season under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, one question remains: “Will I come out ahead in 2019?” The IRS began accepting 2019 tax returns on Jan. 27 and anticipates it will receive more than 150 million individual returns this year. Thus far, the agency has delivered 4.3
A Social Security Administration office in San Francisco. Getty Images President Donald Trump has publicly vowed to protect Social Security. Yet advocates for the program fear that his just released budget proposal would hit individuals hard when it comes to disability benefits, as it includes cuts to the tune of $71 billion, according to one
About 115 pages into President Trump’s proposed 2021 budget are two line items that Medicare beneficiaries might want to take note of. While the president’s proposals pertaining to Medicare are largely aimed at behind-the-scenes shifts — i.e., lowering reimbursement rates to providers and rooting out waste or fraud — the budget also includes changes that
Sandy Nurse doesn’t see why she needs to be $120,000 in debt “just for trying to improve my understanding of the world.” And so, after a decade of struggling to repay her student loans, she plans to stop trying. She hopes others will join her, too, in a national strike against the country’s outstanding student
Catherine Delahaye If you want a tax credit for paying your nanny, you’ll have to get right with the IRS first. Hiring a caregiver for one infant child costs an average of $596 per week, according to data from Care.com. On a monthly basis, the payment is on par with many mortgages: $2,384. Moreover, in
Most workers have an age in mind for when they would be willing to call it quits. But the traditional retirement age — 65 — could be changing. Research by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies and the Aegon Center for Longevity and Retirement looked at what age workers around the world expect to retire from
Once you reach age 65 and are eligible for Medicare, sorting through your options can be tricky. Add in any layer of complexity to the maze — i.e., jumping in and out of the workforce, dropping and picking up coverage — and look out. The program comes with rules — lots of them. And if
NICHOLAS KAMM As student debt continues to climb, President Donald Trump released a budget for 2021 on Monday that would slash many of the programs aimed at helping borrowers. Student loan spending would be cut by $170 billion in Trump’s plan, titled “A Budget for America’s Future.” The cuts include “sensible annual and lifetime loan
Donald Trump Carlo Allegri | Reuters Whether you love or hate the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, President Donald Trump wants to keep the tax overhaul going. The president released his proposed budget for 2021 on Monday. In the spending plan, the President is calling for an extension of the individual tax cuts set to
Guido Mieth | DigitalVision | Getty Images About 40% of older Americans rely exclusively on Social Security for retirement income, according to recent research from the National Institute on Retirement Security. It’s an attention-grabbing statistic. And one expert in particular, Andrew Biggs, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, finds it hard to believe. Much of