Personal Finance

Hundreds of unemployed Kentucky residents wait in long lines outside the Kentucky Career Center for help with their unemployment claims on June 19, 2020 in Frankfort, Kentucky. While the economic recovery has brought back jobs since the lowest point of the Covid-19 crisis, millions of Americans remain unemployed. John Sommers II The U.S. is weeks

Signs lay on the ground after people gathered outside of an apartment complex with the intention to stop the alleged eviction of one of the tenants in Mount Rainier, MD, U.S., August 10, 2020. Leah Millis | Reuters One of the main ways that state and local governments have tried to slow the spread of

Charday Penn | E+ | Getty Images Small business owners with battered finances might be in line for additional funding from the Paycheck Protection Program. On Wednesday, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle circulated a summary of their $908 billion emergency Covid relief package. The proposal sets aside $300 billion for the Small Business

Marc Romanelli | Tetra images | Getty Images Maria Rangel came to Los Angeles from Colombia five years ago with her infant son and $500, hoping to realize the American dream. And, she did.   ”We had not much and now we have a home,” said Rangel, who bought a condo two years ago.  The 35-year-old

Image Source | DigitalVision | Getty Images As Capitol Hill lawmakers continue to work on the next round of coronavirus relief, a big question remains: Will there be a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks? Based on one new plan, lawmakers for and against those checks could split the difference and send $600 one-time payments

Woman holds vials labelled “COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine” over dry ice in this illustration taken, December 5, 2020. Dado Ruvic | Illustration | Reuters “I can’t produce enough for the masses,” Johnny T. Stine wrote on Facebook in May, “but in 18 months, when the virus is long gone, everyone will have access to the vaccine

Twitter CEO and Co Founder, Jack Dorsey addresses students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), on November 12, 2018 in New Delhi, India. Amal KS | Hindustan Times | Getty Images The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted some advocates to call for providing Americans with guaranteed monthly income to help them get back on their

Target, Amazon and Walmart announced they will pay special bonuses because of the heavy toll the coronavirus has taken on its hourly workers. Not all employers will be as generous in 2020. “Employees should not expect a holiday bonuses this year,” said Rhiannon Staples, a human resources expert and chief marketing officer at Hibob, an

U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) takes questions during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, December 1, 2020. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer continues to put pressure on President-elect Joe Biden to to forgive up to $50,000 in student debt per borrower on the first day of his

Pekic | E+ | Getty Images This holiday season is like no other. Millions of families are struggling financially as the coronavirus pandemic shows no signs of abating. Yet many traditions still endure, and that includes tipping those who have provided services for you throughout the year. “It can be easy to think about giving

Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images Millions of people who were eligible for $1,200 stimulus checks still may not have received their money. Now, the Government Accountability Office and a few Democratic members of Congress are calling for the IRS and Treasury Department to step up their efforts to get the relief to those

For close to a decade, the Honeycutts lived in the brick house with white shudders on Patterson Street in China Grove, North Carolina. Vicki Honeycutt and her husband, James, a disabled Gulf War veteran, loved to sit out on the front porch, drinking Pepsis or sweet tea. Vicki’s favorite space in the three-bedroom house was

US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos attends the “Getting America’s Children Safely Back to School” event in the State Room of the white House in Washington, DC, on August 12, 2020. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced on Friday that the payment pause and interest waiver for student

Trevor Williams What goes up must come down and then usually goes back up again, at least in the case of the U.S. stock market. The market has been on a roller-coaster ride this year amid the coronavirus pandemic. The S&P 500 started the year strong, breaking the record for the longest-ever bull market. Then,

A significant percentage of corporate chief financial officers are making 2021 spending and hiring plans around vaccine optimism, but the current case surge in the U.S. and Europe is making a dent in confidence. Robyn Beck | AFP | Getty Images Millions of Americans are still hoping for a second round of stimulus checks to

Getty Images Whether it is to earn extra income or make up for a lost job, more Americans are turning to freelance work. More than 2 million U.S. adults joined the freelance workforce since 2019, according to a recent study from Upwork, a freelance job platform. FlexJobs is also seeing an increase in freelance job

The U.S. Capitol dome is reflected on an ambulance at sunset in Washington, November 10, 2020. Erin Scott | Reuters Talks of a new coronavirus stimulus bill are happening on Capitol Hill. As lawmakers renew their efforts to come to a compromise — including two new bipartisan and GOP packages — some question whether it

Jordan Siemens | DigitalVision | Getty Images If you’re like many Americans, the end of 2020 can’t come fast enough. Yet before you ring in the New Year and hope for better times ahead, there are moves you should make first to set yourself up for financial success. “Use December to reflect on 2020 and

A display is seen as bipartisan members of the Senate and House gather to announce a framework for fresh coronavirus disease (COVID-19) relief legislation at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 1, 2020. Kevin Lemarque | Reuters Washington lawmakers introduced a new $908 billion coronavirus stimulus package on Tuesday that aims

Getty Images Millions of student loan borrowers have just one month left to figure out how they’re going to resume monthly payments on their education debt while the coronavirus pandemic is still crushing the economy. Monthly payments for most federal student loans have been on pause since March, when the CARES Act gave 42 million

andresr | E+ | Getty Images You don’t have much time left to give your Medicare coverage a yearly checkup and make changes for 2021. The program’s annual enrollment period ends Dec. 7. If you take no action, you’ll automatically remain enrolled in your current plan. However, if you pass on the opportunity to see

Jacalyn Shirley, with two of her three kids, is struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic. Jacalyn Shirley Single mom Jacalyn Shirley feels like she is constantly treading water. When the coronavirus pandemic hit in the spring, the 36-year-old was suddenly faced with three children at home and virtual schooling. Then in May, she lost

Oliver Rossi When Kaitlin Stupka, 31, her husband and two children moved in with her parents in October 2019, the plan was to stay for six months while they built their dream house in the Dallas-Forth Worth area of Texas. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit. Now, it’s likely the length of their stay will triple,

Customers of mobile savings app Beam, some of whom complained that they had been unable to access their deposits for months, say they are finally getting their money back. The troubles, however, are far from over for the San Francisco-based startup behind the app. The Federal Trade Commission is seeking a court order against alleged

Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images As news of several effective Covid-19 vaccines offers some light at the end of the tunnel that is 2020, will a beleaguered travel and tourism industry — one of the hardest hit by the pandemic — soon begin to recover? Possibly, say sources, but they caution that travel

More than 40 million Americans have student loan debt, and outstanding student loans nationwide total more than $1.5 trillion. Soon, the government’s pause on federal student loan payments will expire, leaving millions of borrowers grappling with how they’ll pay what they owe in 2021. But Brandon Leake, a 28-year-old husband and father, figured out a

Demonstrators display signs calling for an end to evictions and foreclosures during a rally at Boston Housing Court outside the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse on Oct. 29, 2020. David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Expiring state eviction bans have led to hundreds of thousands of additional coronavirus cases, new research finds, raising alarm

Luis Alvarez | DigitalVision | Getty Images Whether 2021 will bring higher taxes for small-business owners may depend on the outcomes of the two Georgia Senate races that will be decided in January. Indeed, two contests in the Peach State are heading to runoff at the start of 2021. Those races are between GOP Sen.

Lisa Lickers, her husband and their blended family before the arrival of their baby. Source: Lisa Lickers Navigating the terrain of a blended family’s financial life is tricky enough in normal times. Add a pandemic into the mix, and things can get downright exhausting. “Stressful financial situations bring to the surface underlying family dynamics,” said

Cars line-up as the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank distributes food outside a church in Los Angeles on Nov. 19, 2020. Mike Blake | Reuters Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, a temporary drive-through to distribute food to those in need was set up near Lancaster, California, north of Los Angeles, on Tuesday. At least 2,000