Personal Finance

Brothers91 | E+ | Getty Images President Joe Biden called for passing a new federal paid family and medical leave policy in his State of the Union Address Tuesday night. However, the timing of when such a law could be put in place is still up in the air. The policy is part of Democrats’

Nitat Termmee | Moment | Getty Images Americans who invest in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds have largely been insulated from financial exposure to Russia amid its conflict with Ukraine. The reasons are twofold: First, fund managers who buy Russian debt or Russian company stock generally do so in small quantities; second, funds that buy

andresr | E+ | Getty Images A recently introduced bill in Congress has its sights set on preventing a cost that some new Medicare beneficiaries face: late-enrollment penalties. The bipartisan measure, introduced in the Senate, would require the federal government to provide individuals with information about Medicare enrollment rules before they reach the Medicare-eligible age

Parents and children participate in a demonstration organized by the ParentsTogether Foundation in support of the child tax credit portion of the Build Back Better bill outside of the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 13, 2021. Sarah Silbiger | Bloomberg | Getty Images When President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union address on Tuesday,

Nosystem Images | E+ | Getty Images If the stock market’s volatility is worrying you because you’re edging closer to retirement, it may be time to re-evaluate your portfolio. One of the big risks you can face as a new retiree is a persisting market downturn just as you need to start tapping your savings.

A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 25, 2022. Xinhua News Agency | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images Everyday investors may unknowingly have exposure to Russian stocks — but the good news is, those holdings likely represent a small part of their overall portfolios. Investments linked to Russia have taken

Getty Images |  filadendron You’re not alone if you panic sold during this week’s stock market volatility and you’re feeling regret, experts say. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered U.S. stock market swings on Thursday, with the S&P 500 dropping by as much as 2.6% before closing 1.5% higher. The Nasdaq Composite recovered from a nearly

Lightspeedshutter | Istock | Getty Images After two years of federal student loan payments being suspended because of the Covid pandemic, the government doesn’t expect an easy process to get millions of borrowers back into repayment. That’s the takeaway from a new report by the Government Accountability Office, which found that as many as half

Bill Oxford | E+ | Getty Images The tax season kicked off on Jan. 24, and the IRS has issued more than 22 million tax refunds worth around $78 billion, the agency reported Friday. As of Feb. 18, the average refund was $3,536, over $700 higher than last year’s payment of $2,815, as reported through

It’s been almost two years since most borrowers have had to pay their monthly student loan bill. And yet, 93% of them are not prepared to resume payments on May 1, according to a survey of more than 23,000 student loan borrowers by the Student Debt Crisis Center. “The payment pause has meant everything,” said

Cybercriminals capitalize on uncertainty and Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine is just the type of upheaval that may put individuals at risk. “The problem is kinetic warfare is almost always accompanied by cyberwarfare,” said Vahid Behzadan, an assistant professor of cybersecurity at the University of New Haven. “It’s unlikely Russia would target the critical infrastructure here

Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images Drivers may need to prepare for more potential pain at the pump. The national average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas has reached $3.59, up 33 cents so far this year, according to GasBuddy data. With ongoing uncertainty over how oil supplies could be affected by

Valeriy_G | iStock | Getty Images Married couples have the choice to file taxes jointly or separately every season. While filing together generally pays off, splitting returns may be better in some scenarios, financial experts say. Married filing separately involves two individual returns, each reporting their own income, deductions and credits. And the tax code

Marko Geber | DigitalVision | Getty Images U.S. stocks whiplashed Thursday following Russia’s attack on Ukraine as investors fled risk assets and turned towards safe havens such as gold. It can be a difficult time for investors who have been used to seeing markets gain and are now dealing with volatility that comes with global

Filadendron | E+ | Getty Images Companies are paying closer attention to what they pay their employees these days. To that point, 66% of organizations recently surveyed by Payscale said a pay equity analysis is a planned initiative in 2022, a 20% increase over last year. Pay equity is essentially equal pay for work of

Tom Werner | DigitalVision | Getty Images This tax season, which runs through April 18, is shaping up to be yet another complicated one for filers. Phone call volumes to the IRS are at record levels, the agency has a backlog of millions of claims from previous years and some pandemic-era changes still apply to

Iryna Imago | Istock | Getty Images Ah, the joys of homeownership … until something breaks and there’s no landlord to call. If you just moved into your new home or are in the market for a house, be aware that 77% of homeowners have dealt with an unexpected issue that required shelling out money

krisanapong detraphiphat | Moment | Getty Images American consumers reported losing more than $5.8 billion to fraud last year, up from $3.4 billion in 2020 (an increase of more than 70%), the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday. Almost 2.8 million consumers filed a fraud report to the agency in 2021 — the highest number on

Nearly 5.4 million new business applications were filed in 2021, up from 4.3 million the previous year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But to succeed as an entrepreneur, you need dedication and should be “armed with information,” according to Zuleyka Strasner, founder and CEO of Zero Grocery, a plastic-free online delivery service that operates

In this article DAL MAR WH IHG-GB H LUV AAL An Alaska Airlines jet lands at Los Angeles International Airport on Feb. 7, 2022. Alaska’s Alaska Miles topped NerdWallet’s ranking of airline programs for 2022. George Rose | Getty Images Ever wonder if you’ve been loyal to the right airline, hotel or other travel provider

PeopleImages | E+ | Getty Images The Social Security Administration recommends beneficiaries visit its website as the first stop for service as the agency works to reopen its field offices. But many people are reluctant to apply for benefits online. Only about half of retirees have used that method since 2013, according to the Center

U.S. speed skater Apolo Ohno competes in the 2010 Winter Olympics at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada. Jamie Squire | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images When Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno hung up his skates for good in 2010, finding a path forward wasn’t exactly easy for him. In fact, the eight-time medalist calls

Millions of Americans are quitting their jobs and rethinking what they want when it comes to work and work-life balance. Companies are responding, meeting their employees’ needs in areas like remote work, flexible hours, four-day workweeks, compensation and more. This story is part of a series looking at the “Great Reshuffle” and the shift in

Russell Toll and his wife, Heidi, when he returned from service in Iraq in 2009. Russell Toll When the child tax credit checks started to be delivered in July of last year, Russell Toll saw it as an investment in his family. With the help of the credit, the Dallas-area resident was able to speed

damircudic | E+ | Getty Images As the IRS struggles with a backlog of millions of returns, the agency has temporarily stopped sending out more than a dozen types of automated notices, including some for unpaid taxes.   However, a suspended notice doesn’t mean interest stops accruing on outstanding balances, said National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins

Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday pledged a crackdown on student loan servicers that flout rules on loan forgiveness for public servants. The government agency said it “plans to prioritize” oversight of student loans in the coming year, with a “specific focus” on monitoring how servicers are engaging with

Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images Long-term care expenses are growing, with sizable hikes for home-based services as the industry struggles to meet soaring demand from aging Americans.    That’s according to Genworth’s 2021 Cost of Care Survey, a yearly report covering nationwide senior caregiving. While the median yearly costs rose across all provider types, home-based

Getty Images Just months after a federal $15 minimum wage failed to take shape, Californians may get the chance to vote on even higher minimum hourly pay. A measure to raise the state’s minimum wage to $18 began to collect signatures in February. If the campaign, called the Living Wage Act of 2022, gets 700,000

It’s been two months since families with eligible children stopped getting advance child tax credit payments in December. Many of those families are already struggling again to make ends meet. Nearly 60% of parents surveyed by ParentsTogether Action, an advocacy group, said that since the checks stopped, they haven’t been able to afford enough food.

VALERIE MACON | AFP | Getty Images When Charlene Latsha calls the Social Security Administration, she’s placed on hold for so long that she hangs up. Latsha, 70, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, has been trying to reach the government agency about her husband’s application for retirement benefits. Though he has been disabled and unable to work