Personal finance

A man smokes with the electronic tobacco heater IQOS (I quit ordinary smoking) of the tobacco company Philip Morris. Sebastian Kahnert | picture alliance | Getty Images House Democrats have proposed a tax hike on tobacco and nicotine products to help fund their $3.5 trillion spending plan.  The measure may increase current levies on cigarettes,

Unofficially known as “Big Sky Country,” Montana attracted more vaccinated than unvaccinated Americans last month. Mike Kemp | In Pictures Ltd. | Corbis Historical | Getty Images Lawmakers on Capitol Hill may pass a measure to curb abuses by taxpayers using a particular tax deduction for land preservation. The bill, named the Charitable Conservation Easement

Sturti | Getty Images Women are more worried than men when it comes to saving enough for retirement. The coronavirus pandemic hasn’t helped. Some 60% of women said they were concerned they wouldn’t be able to achieve a financially secure retirement, according to a February 2021 survey from the National Institute on Retirement Security. That’s

SDI Productions | E+ | Getty Images About 78% of Hispanic families received stimulus payments over the last year and a half, compared with 96% of white respondents, according to a recent study conducted by Ipsos and a group of social policy organizations including the National Women’s Law Center. There was also a gap in

Drew Angerer | Getty Images News | Getty Images Households earning $1 million or more would see their taxes rise by almost 11%, on average, in 2023 due to reforms proposed by House Democrats, according to Joint Committee on Taxation estimates published Tuesday. They’d pay an extra $96,000 that year, and their average tax rate

People wait in line at a food distribution site in the South Bronx on March 10, 2021 in New York. Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images Poverty declined in 2020 by one measure following large amounts of federal aid enacted due to the coronavirus pandemic, including stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits.

Rep. Richard Neal, D-MA, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Rep. Kevin Brady, R-TX, the ranking member, during a Committee hearing on May 24, 2017 in Washington. Drew Angerer | Getty Images News | Getty Images House Democrats on Monday proposed raising the top tax rate on capital gains to 28.8%, one

House Ways and Means Committee ChairmanRep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., (left) and ranking member Kevin Brady, R-Texas. Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News | Getty Images House Democrats on Monday revealed a package of tax hikes on corporations and the rich without President Joseph Biden‘s proposed levy on inherited property at death, according to an outline

BartekSzewczyk | iStock | Getty Images With attention in Congress on infrastructure and a new budget, discussions about student loan cancellation seem to be on the shelf. And despite the pressure some Democrats have put on President Joseph Biden to wipe out the debt through executive action, he has expressed mostly hesitancy about doing so.

A tourist boat passes cowboy statues along Oklahoma City’s Bricktown Canal. Western heritage is a big draw in Oklahoma’s capital. Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau Ready to head out on vacation after the long pandemic-era drought — but not looking to go broke in the process? Online airport parking platform ParkSleepFly has ranked the

Travel + Leisure Club is a new subscription travel booking and concierge service. Travel + Leisure Group/Travel + Leisure Co. From private-jet clubs to theme park memberships, subscription services are increasingly the way to go when it comes to vacations and other leisure trips. For example, Internet sites Tripadvisor and Scott’s Cheap Flights — both

Chloe Wohlforth, pictured with her father Martin, who died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, said she still feels his presence in her life today. Courtesy: Chloe Wohlforth For Chloe Wohlforth, Sept. 11, 2001 started out like an ordinary day. That began to change as she was sitting

Money and mental health are connected. Financial problems can make you stressed, anxious or depressed, and those feelings, in turn, can have a big impact on your finances. In fact, anxious or stressed adults are more likely to engage in costly financial behaviors, including withdrawing cash from retirement accounts and borrowing from high-cost financial services

Drew Angerer | Getty Images News | Getty Images Democrats may scuttle tactics used by the rich to pass wealth to heirs with little to no tax, part of a broader plan to raise money for an expansion of the U.S. safety net. Specifically, the party is considering disallowing some complex trust-planning techniques used by

Getty Images Many Americans know the benefit of retirement savings, yet few realize there’s a special incentive to set aside money for their golden years: the saver’s credit. The saver’s credit, formerly known as the retirement savings contributions credit, offers low- and moderate-income filers a write-off at tax time.    Currently, savers may claim up to

Signage outside the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) headquarters in Washington, D.C. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images The top 1% of Americans may be dodging as much as $163 billion in annual taxes, according to a report from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  This estimate widens the so-called tax gap — the shortfall between

Trevor Williams | DigitalVision | Getty Images If you’re like most people, you probably assume you know more than you think you do, even if you don’t realize it. That false sense of security allows us to be decisive in the face of great uncertainties. But when it comes to investing, that can backfire, according

Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images Federal unemployment benefits lapsed on Labor Day. But there’s good news for Americans who’ve been waiting weeks or months for that aid to arrive: They can still collect back pay past the cutoff date. Workers who haven’t yet applied for the federal assistance can still do

shapecharge | E+ | Getty Images Good news for those struggling to save for retirement may be on the way. House Democrats are including measures to help people prepare for the long term in their $3.5 trillion federal budget plan. The House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday released legislative proposals for portions of the

Thomas Barwick When it comes to income in retirement, one looming question confronts most individuals: How much money is enough? While the answer to that question in never black-and-white, recent headlines about the solvency of Social Security could be injecting more fear into that dilemma. Last week, the Social Security Administration released its annual trustees