Personal finance

The IRS building in Washington. Kent Nishimura | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images The IRS has issued tax refunds to 12 million people eligible for a tax break on unemployment benefits received in 2020, when the pandemic caused joblessness on a scale unseen since the Great Depression. The refund payments — which totaled $14.8

Getty Images With President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan on hold and headed to the Supreme Court, tens of millions of Americans are wondering if they’ll ever see the relief they were promised. Legal experts say the president’s policy, which would cancel up to $20,000 for borrowers, faces a narrow path to survival with

Former U.S. President Donald Trump claps as he announces that he will once again run for U.S. president in the 2024 U.S. presidential election during an event at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, November 15, 2022. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters When former President Donald Trump’s tax returns were released last week, the line

Dragos Condrea | Istock | Getty Images If you’re signing up for Medicare, you’ve likely discovered that there are a lot of out-of-pocket costs that come with your coverage. For about 23% of Medicare’s 65.1 million beneficiaries, the solution for covering those outlays is a so-called Medigap plan. These policies, sold by private insurance companies,

Traders at the New York Stock Exchange on Dec. 21, 2022. Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images The bond market suffered a significant meltdown in 2022. Bonds are generally thought to be the boring, relatively safe part of an investment portfolio. They’ve historically been a shock absorber, helping buoy portfolios when

The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot, which is now $940 million, is 1 in more than 300 million. While very few will experience that kind of windfall in their lifetime, the lottery isn’t the only chance to come into sudden wealth. Whether it’s an inheritance, sale of a property, bonus or even a

Fuse | Corbis | Getty Images When it comes to investing, you may know less than you think — and that overconfidence may be costly. Almost 2 out of every 3 investors rate their investment knowledge highly, and 42% are comfortable making investment decisions, according to a recent report published by the Financial Industry Regulatory

Amazon and Salesforce are among the latest tech companies to announce job cuts, after rapid hiring over the last several years. For every company announcing layoffs, senior leaders and managers must keep the remaining employees motivated and productive.  Among U.S.-based companies, announced layoffs were up 172% in the fourth quarter of 2022 — with more

Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images Navigating the health insurance system is often difficult and overwhelming, even in the best of times. For patients with long Covid, a relatively new condition that frequently leaves patients with a lengthy and unpredictable list of debilitating symptoms, it can be especially nightmarish. “Even if you remain on

Getty Images Collectively, workers may have forfeited an estimated $1 billion in their health-care flexible spending accounts last year. Yet depending on your employer’s rules for those FSAs, which let workers save pre-tax money to pay for qualifying health expenses, you may have sidestepped being part of that cohort — at least for now.  While

Credit card interest rates reached record highs last year and there is still more to come in 2023, according to Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. Credit card rates are now more than 19%, on average — an all-time high — after rising at the steepest annual pace ever, in step with the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes to combat

Financing a new or used car is more expensive than ever, new research shows. Amid rising interest rates and elevated auto prices, the share of new car buyers with a monthly payment of more than $1,000 jumped to a record high, according to Edmunds. For the first time, just over 15% of consumers who financed a

dowell | Moment | Getty Images Investors have many options when saving for short-term goals, and those choices have become more complicated amid high inflation and rising interest rates. While there have been signs of slowing inflation, the Federal Reserve is expecting higher interest rates to continue. “It looks like this year might be a

Many Americans are setting financial goals for the year ahead. An extra paycheck could help. If you are a W-2 employee and get paid biweekly, there are two months out of the year when you will receive three paychecks instead of the usual two. The months in which you get three checks depends on your

President Joe Biden signed a $1.7 trillion legislative package on Dec. 29, 2022 that has several updates for retirement savers. Drew Angerer | Getty Images News | Getty Images A new law is changing rules governing how and when certain retirement savers can withdraw money from their nest eggs. Tax-advantaged accounts earmarked for people’s golden

Valentinrussanov | E+ | Getty Images As the Federal Reserve continues to hike interest rates, you may assume you’re earning more on the money in your savings account. But that may not be the case. related investing news Three painful lessons for investors in 2022. How to put them to work in the new year

FatCamera | E+ | Getty Images Anyone without health insurance has about two weeks left to get 2023 coverage through the public marketplace — and subsidies could make it affordable. Open enrollment for the federal health care exchange runs through Jan. 15, with coverage taking effect Feb. 1. (If your state has its own exchange,

Labor activists hold a rally in support of a national $15 minimum wage on May 19, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images News | Getty Images As the calendar turns to 2023, workers in more than half of all states have something to look forward to this year: a higher minimum wage.

Malerapaso | Istock | Getty Images With the national average interest rate on credit cards at historic highs, many Americans are being dinged with higher monthly charges than ever on on their balances. As a result, they may be wondering if it’s a good idea to tap their retirement savings to pay off the debt.

Olivier Douliery | AFP | Getty Images Winning $640 million wouldn’t be a bad way to close out the year. That’s the Mega Millions jackpot amount for the next drawing, which is set for Friday night. The top prize has been growing since Oct. 14 when it was reset to $20 million after two tickets