Personal finance

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc | DigitalVision | Getty Images Good news for parents: Monthly payments through the new federal enhanced child tax credit will begin July 15. The credit will go to roughly 39 million households with about 65 million children, or 88% of children in the U.S., according to the IRS. The expanded credit

Hispanolistic | E+ | Getty Images Credit card balances have dropped during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now financial experts are hoping Americans can find the wiggle room to reach another financial goal: bulking up their emergency savings. Total credit card debt in the U.S. dropped by 13% by the end of the third quarter of 2020,

Hispanolistic Depending on where you live, cash or other financial aid from your state could be coming your way. As the U.S. economy continues recovering from the pandemic, some states are using (or plan to use) extra money in their budgets to either send out stimulus-type payments, provide tax cuts or otherwise give relief to

Getty Images The May 17 extended tax filing deadline has arrived. Those who still aren’t ready may feel panicked, yet experts say there are options for people who aren’t prepared to file or pay. More from Personal Finance:2020 tax returns are due to the IRS on May 17. Here are some last-minute filing tipsAlmost 2

The days of working from home may numbered. While some companies, including JPMorgan Chase, Salesforce and PricewaterhouseCoopers, are dumping office space, others are ramping up their return-to-work plans.   Just this week, Google, one of the first major U.S. companies to send employees home last year because of the coronavirus, told staffers it is accelerating

Morsa Images | E+ | Getty Images A new set of $1,400 stimulus checks may tempt some recipients who don’t really need the money to instead dabble in the stock market. Depending on your goals, a brokerage account may not be your best bet, some experts say. A third round of direct payments was authorized

Pamela Moore | iStock | Getty Images Plus Ah, the joys of the open road and carefree driving, until something happens that makes it cost even more.  There are events — i.e., accidents, arrests for driving under the influence, a lapse in coverage — that can drive up the cost of your car insurance. By

aldomurillo | E+ | Getty Images Retired, vaccinated and ready to hit the road? Don’t forget to check whether your Medicare plan will travel with you. While coverage when you’re away from home depends partly on where you’re headed, it also hinges on the specifics of your coverage. Whether the care you receive is routine

Getty Images As vaccines ramp up and the economy reopens, many individuals and families may be eager to see this side effect of the Covid-19 pandemic continue: government stimulus checks. A recent poll from Data for Progress found 65% of Americans are in favor of payments of $2,000 per month for the duration of the

Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images The IRS will start issuing tax refunds in May to Americans who filed their returns without claiming a new break on unemployment benefits, the federal agency said Wednesday. The American Rescue Plan waived federal tax on up to $10,200 of unemployment benefits, per person, received in 2020. Households with $150,000

Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwards This year’s tax season has turned out to be a complicated one — the American Rescue Plan made changes midseason, and the IRS pushed back the filing deadline for individual returns to May 17 from April 15. Even though most Americans have extra time to file, 32% of taxpayers are

In this article FB SFY Monitors display Bumble signage during the company’s initial public offering in front of the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York on Feb. 11. Bloomberg | Getty Images It looks like Main Street is poised to get in on an investment that’s been largely off-limits: initial public offerings. At least two trading

Robert Daly | Getty Images The Biden administration is expanding an existing pause on student loan interest and collections to include more than 1.1 million borrowers who are in default, the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday. The borrowers, whose defaulted loans are part of the Federal Family Education Loan program, were ineligible for the

In this article HMN Students sit behind barriers during a March 24 in-person English class at St. Anthony Catholic High School in Long Beach, California. Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images Nothing beats being in a classroom. After a year of school closings and distance learning amid the coronavirus crisis, more than half

FG Trade | iStock | Getty Images Married? You may want to think about how claiming Social Security early would affect your spousal benefits. For starters, not all early filers can access those benefits right away. And for those who can, it may not translate into a bigger monthly check. It’s also common to misunderstand

Steven Heap/EyeEm/Getty Images The deadline to contribute to individual retirement accounts and health savings accounts is May 17, the same day that individual federal income tax returns are due, the IRS said Monday. The announcement comes after the agency postponed the filing deadline to May 17 from April 15 following increased calls for more time

kohei_hara | E+ | Getty Images There’s a good reason many people want to claim head-of-household filing status with the IRS: It’s a great deal. The head of household can claim a 50% larger standard deduction than single filers can ($18,650 vs. $12,400). They also benefit from wider tax brackets on lower income levels. For

A Social Security Administration office in San Francisco. Getty Images When the Covid-19 pandemic set in last year, one of the unintentional effects from the deep economic downturn included a potential reduction in Social Security benefits for one group of people. And now, as the U.S. economy is beginning to repair itself, signs point to

In this article PYPL EBAY Getty Images All that money you make selling stuff online? Don’t overlook the taxman. Depending on your situation, it’s possible that you’re generating income that the IRS wants to know about. And if you’re an ongoing seller, be aware that it could become harder after this year to avoid income-reporting

Me in my new living room. Source: Janna McPartland When I was 25, and knew nothing about pandemics, I made a list in a small notebook of the things I hoped to achieve in my life. One of those goals was, “To live in my own apartment by 37.” Some people may wonder: Why did