Personal Finance

Not wanting to touch anything is having a dramatic impact on consumer habits. Amid the coronavirus crisis, Americans are abandoning cash almost entirely in favor of “tap and go” transactions and have finally embraced contactless and digital payment methods after years of reluctance.  Fewer and fewer adults use printed or minted U.S. currency at all any more.

Aimee Dilger | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images Maybe you’ve heard by now that an army of retail investors has managed to use one of hedge funds’ common investment strategies against them. That is, short-selling. It generally involves selling borrowed shares of a stock with the belief that the price will drop, at

Juanmonino | E+ | Getty Images If you are counting on a tax refund, you could be sorely disappointed this filing season. A new W-4 form and a pandemic-dominated 2020 may have millions of Americans receiving smaller refunds, or even owing money to the government, this year. “I’ve already seen people upset that they owe

Digital Vision | Photodisc | Getty Images If you tied the knot last year, it may be worthwhile checking what your new status will mean for your 2020 taxes. While many couples see their tax bill drop post-nuptials, some face a “marriage penalty” — that is, paying more in taxes than if they had remained

Morsa Images | E+ | Getty Images You know you need to save for retirement. Figuring out how to get started or finding the best plan may leave you befuddled. Yet it is important. By the age of 67, you should have 10 times your final salary set aside, according to Fidelity Investments. Here are

Signage stands in a GameStop Corp. store in Peru, Illinois. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images It’s the stock rally no one quite predicted. In recent years, GameStop, a video game retailer, has been shrinking its retail presence by closing hundreds of stores. Yet this week, its stock popped dramatically. On Wednesday, GameStop shares

In times of financial distress, credit cards are one of the easiest ways to access cash. During the coronavirus crisis, more than half, or 51%, of adults with credit card debt — roughly 51 million people — added to their balances, according to a report by CreditCards.com. And 44% blame the pandemic, the report found.

President Biden delivers remarks before signing a “Made in America” Executive Order at the White House on Jan. 25, 2021. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images A new $1.9 trillion plan pushed by President Joe Biden includes a host of initiatives aimed at shoring up Americans’ finances as the Covid-19 pandemic rages on. That

Houston Texans safety Michael Thomas has been nominated for Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year. Source: The Houston Texans Houston Texans safety Michael Thomas may not get a Super Bowl ring this year — but he has long been getting kudos for his work off the field. A champion of social justice and financial

Audrey Saracco / EyeEm If your $600 stimulus payment still hasn’t landed in your bank account, you may be wondering if you can still expect it. According to the most recent guidance from the IRS, the answer is “maybe.” Millions of second stimulus checks have been deployed in recent weeks after Congress approved the payments

Behind on your rent? A new fund helps those apply for assistance. Diego Martin Lopez | iStock | Getty Images A $25 billion federal rental assistance fund will soon be disbursed to states, allowing those struggling amid the pandemic to apply for the money. By one estimate, 14 million Americans are behind on their rent

President Joe Biden signs an executive order after speaking during an event on his administration’s Covid-19 response with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, left, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images The more than 40 million Americans who rely

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about his administration’s plans to fight the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic during a COVID-19 response event at the White House in Washington, January 21, 2021. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters Newly elected President Joe Biden has a tall list of priorities in his first days in office, with stemming the pandemic

Nate Wlodarchak, left, and his husband Shawn Wlodarchak. Source: Nate Wlodarchak As Nate Wlodarchak drove people to the polls on Election Day, he couldn’t stop picturing his life without student debt. On the campaign trail, now President Joe Biden had promised to forgive $10,000 of the loans for all borrowers, which would practically reset Wlodarchak’s

Until the coronavirus crisis, nothing had been able to slow the pace of annual college tuition increases. Year after year, college costs edged higher, rising 3% to 5%, on average — outpacing inflation and family income. However, in the midst of the pandemic, schools are under pressure to keep these increases in check. Several institutions said

Image Source | DigitalVision | Getty Images As President Joe Biden advocates for sending additional stimulus checks to millions of Americans, he is also moving help those who missed out on earlier payments. On Friday, Biden issued an executive order asking the Treasury Department to re-evaluate its delivery structure for stimulus checks to make sure

People line up in their cars to receive food assistance in Groveland, Florida, near Orlando, on Dec. 9, 2020. Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images ‘Totally egregious’ U.S. Labor Department data issued Thursday provides the first glimpse of how delays from Congress and the president affected benefits. More than 1.7 million people dropped off Pandemic Unemployment

Hermione Granger | Moment | Getty Images In the last few weeks, bitcoin has been on a wild ride, surging to record highs and then wiping hundreds of billions of dollars from the cryptocurrency market days later. The volatility shows why curious investors should pause before putting money into the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin had an epic

(L-R) Doug Emhoff, U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Jill Biden and President-elect Joe Biden wave as they arrive on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol for the inauguration on January 20, 2021 in Washington. Joe Raedle | Getty Images President Joe Biden on Wednesday is expected to extend the federal ban on evictions through

US President-Elect Joe Biden speaks at Major Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III National Guard /Reserve Center in New Castle Airport on January 19, 2021, in New Castle, Delaware, before departing for Washington, DC. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images President Joe Biden on Wednesday plans to extend the payment pause on federal student loans

Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images ‘Potentially erroneous’ QBI deductions The IRS allowed business owners to claim $57 million in “potentially erroneous” deductions on 12,980 tax returns filed last year, according to a report publicly released Tuesday by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The watchdog urged the tax agency to increase its oversight of

Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images The state would raise the top tax rate to 10.86%, up from 8.82%, Cuomo said. That would yield a top rate of 14.7% for the wealthiest New York City residents in combined taxes. “[It] would be the highest income tax in the nation,” Cuomo said. This is a developing

For many Americans, a top resolution for 2021 is to save more money, a familiar goal from prior years. Achieving that this year, however, may be much more difficult and may have to be done a bit differently, especially when it comes to saving for retirement.   Nearly four out of 10 people said they’ll be

Once president-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20, free college could finally become a reality. “With the makeup of this Congress, I am very optimistic that this will be on the agenda,” said Morley Winograd, president and CEO of the Campaign for Free College Tuition. “The only person more passionate about this is first lady Jill Biden.” On the

US President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks on the public health and economic crises at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware on January 14, 2021. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images The incoming Biden administration will push Congress to expand food benefits for Americans struggling because of coronavirus until at least September 2021 or until

Jovita Carranza, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, testifies at a Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee hearing on June 10, 2020 in Washington. Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images) Second EIDL grants That may confuse business owners, since the $900 billion Covid relief package passed last month allows some companies to get a second EIDL grant.

US President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks on the public health and economic crises at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware on January 14, 2021. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images President-elect Joe Biden made a case for sending stimulus payments to all Americans who are eligible – including those who have kept their jobs

Andrea Herrera, president of Amazing Edibles Gourmet Catering and founder of Boxperience Angela Garbot For Andrea Herrera, founder of Amazing Edibles Catering in Chicago, the pandemic has tested her ability to adapt on the fly amid falling revenues.              Since last March, the firm shifted from catering weddings and corporate events to providing first-responder meals and

FatCamera | E+ | Getty Images President-elect Joe Biden has a plan to help fix what he calls the immediate and acute child-care crisis in America. He unveiled his proposal on Thursday, as part of his sweeping $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package. “If left unaddressed, many child care providers will close — some permanently —

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington, D.C. Getty Images The IRS is delaying the start of the 2020 tax filing season to Feb. 12, according to an announcement from the agency. On that date, the IRS will start accepting and processing last year’s tax returns. Normally, the agency opens tax season in late