Personal Finance

Getty Images Penalties are about to get way steeper for taxpayers who still haven’t filed a 2019 income tax return and owe the IRS a balance. July 15 was the deadline to submit your return and pay any taxes owed, as the Treasury Department pushed back the due date in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Getty Images There’s nothing like some volatility in the stock market to test an investor’s ability to make rational decisions. Whether share prices are heading up or down, it’s common for individuals to make mistakes that are driven by emotion, experts say.  “Investors tend to extrapolate,” said Dave Goodsell, executive director of the Natixis Center

The U.S. Capitol Building is reflected against an ambulance along the East Front on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 16, 2020. Tom Brenner | Reuters While negotiations over the next coronavirus stimulus bill have carried on for months, there has been one certainty: Democrats, Republicans and President Donald Trump have all backed sending out

As the pandemic rages on, many people have one less thing to worry about: Getting evicted. No-Mad | iStock | Getty Images What does the ban do? It bans evictions due to non-payment of rent in most residential properties between Sept. 4 and Dec. 31.  Who’s eligible? You’ll need to attest on a declaration form that

Tetra Images – Daniel Grill | Brand X Pictures | Getty Images Millions of Americans who were shut out of $1,200 coronavirus stimulus payments this year are about to get one more chance at a check. Later this month, the IRS will begin mailing letters to about 9 million people who normally don’t file a

Ariel Skelley | DigitalVision | Getty Images Saving for retirement could look very different during the pandemic. Especially vulnerable are independent business owners and the self-employed, who in the best of times are on the hook for not only funding their own future retirement but daily income, as well. Even before the pandemic, just 13% of those

People pass by The New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 3, 2020. Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images You may be tempted to revisit your retirement investing strategy now that stocks are falling, but history shows those who get the best return on their money stay the course. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more

Traders work during the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on March 5, 2020. Johannes Eisele | AFP | Getty Images It may feel that much of our lives are on pause during the pandemic. But not the stock market. Especially over the last few days.  On Thursday, the S&P 500 tech sector

This back-to-school season is like no other for many reasons. And that makes preparing for it especially challenging. As of a recent tally, a little more than half of U.S. elementary and high school students will attend school only virtually this fall, although changes are announced daily. As a result, families have delayed many traditional back-to-school purchases.

Angus Mordant | Bloomberg | Getty Images If you’re hoping to take advantage of special Labor Day car sales, a trade-in could make the purchase a bit less costly than usual. With inventory at dealerships still tight, used cars are fetching a premium. For instance, the average list price for a 2017 model climbed to

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc Millions of Americans who are eagerly waiting for a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks may be relieved to know those payments are still a priority for Washington lawmakers. But Republicans and Democrats in Congress must first end their stalemate and approve the next coronavirus relief bill before Americans can get

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to reporters during a news conference on Democrats’ demand for an extension of eviction protections in the next coronavirus disease (Covid-19) aid bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 22, 2020. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters Senate Democrats are making a last-ditch effort to undo President Donald Trump’s

Carlos Ponce joins others at a July 16 demonstration in Miami Springs, Florida, asking senators to support the continuation of unemployment benefits. Joe Raedle | Getty Images The fight over state and local funding  “Both sides have dug in on their philosophical grounds,” when it comes to supporting state and local governments, said Mark Mazur,

Maskot/Getty Images Tough choices are ahead for employers as President Donald Trump’s payroll tax holiday goes into effect, but it’s never too early for employees to figure out what’s coming up. The payroll tax deferral went into effect on Sept. 1, following an executive order Trump had issued in August. It’s effective until the end of

Most renters in the U.S. are now protected from eviction until the end of the year, according to an order announced on Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The ban is unprecedented and could prevent millions of Americans from being forced out of their homes during one of the worst public health crises in

President Donald Trump delivers his acceptance speech as the 2020 Republican presidential nominee on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Aug. 27. Kevin Lamarque | Reuters It’s the first official day of President Trump’s payroll tax holiday, and plenty of uncertainty is swirling around employers and their workers over how it

Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at an opening ceremony for Tesla China-made Model Y program in Shanghai on Jan. 7. Aly Song | Reuters With Apple and Tesla’s shares trading at lower prices after their stock splits on Monday, you might be thinking now is the time to invest in these companies.  After all, one

paul mansfield photography | Moment | Getty Images It’s officially the last day to return that mandatory distribution out of your retirement account and trim your tax bill. The CARES Act, the coronavirus relief act that went into effect this spring, allowed retirement account holders to skip their required minimum distribution for this year. Those

Apple split its stock on Monday. FREDERIC J. BROWN | AFP | Getty Images Two of the most valuable and popular public companies – Apple and Tesla – completed stock splits on Monday. Wondering what that entails? And what, if anything, it means for your investments?  Let’s start with how the process of a corporate stock

Getty Images Changes are coming for risk-averse Vanguard investors who are parking cash. Late next month, Vanguard will transition its $125.3 billion Prime Money Market Fund to a government money market fund, investing “almost exclusively” in U.S. government securities, cash and repurchase agreements backed by government securities or cash. The fund will be renamed the

DusanManic | iStock | Getty Images Many people’s retirement dreams received a reality check following the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. New research shows that’s especially true for older workers. A recent report from Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee of Congress found that workers ages 65 and up were hit harder by

Amid one of the worst public-health crises in history, a record number of Americans are without health insurance. John Fedele Amid historic levels of unemployment, as many as 12 million Americans may have lost their health insurance since February, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute.  “Because most U.S. workers rely on their

Anna Vela had three days to pay her rent or her landlord would evict her and her three children.  She didn’t have the money. When the pandemic hit, Vela’s boss at the supermarket where she worked in Davenport, Iowa, had cut her weekly hours to around 11 from 35. And when she learned that she’d

U.S. President Donald Trump reacts at the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, August 24, 2020. David T. Foster | Pool | Reuters The IRS issued long-awaited guidance on President Donald Trump’s payroll tax deferral Friday night. And it appears to put the onus on employers to collect any taxes due after the holiday

valentinrussanov | E+ | Getty Images  If the economic havoc from the coronavirus persists, distressed homeowners could find themselves facing a terrifying prospect next year: Foreclosure. The CARES Act, the pandemic relief act that became a law this spring, sought to keep millions of Americans in their homes. In particular, it gave borrowers with federally

Downed power lines are seen on Highway 90 after Hurricane Laura passed through Iowa, Louisiana, August 27, 2020. Elijah Nouvelage | Reuters As communities along the Gulf Coast assess the damage left in Hurricane Laura’s wake, homeowners elsewhere may want to double-check their own insurance coverage. The massive storm made landfall early Thursday in Louisiana

In a major policy pivot, the Federal Reserve said it will allow inflation to run “hotter than normal” to help the economy bounce back from the coronavirus crisis. That means the Fed will be less inclined to hike interest rates, letting borrowers benefit from cheap money for an extended period of time. “This kind of

PayPal is fighting back after several consumer advocacy groups cited the payment provider for what they called “predatory financial practices.” In a joint letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the consumer groups, including the Student Borrower Protection Center, Americans for Financial Reform, Student Debt Crisis and

Tenants of the Woodner apartment building in Washington, D.C., protest to demand their rent be forgiven during the Covid-19 pandemic. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images Unemployed workers living in most U.S. cities can’t cover basic living expenses with jobless benefits alone. In fact, Americans living in just 12 out of 109 metro areas could afford

Protesters block a courthouse entrance in Los Angeles on Aug. 21, 2020. VALERIE MACON | AFP | Getty Images In the absence of any national ban on evictions during the pandemic, tenants struggling to pay their rent are at the mercy of a patchwork of narrow and temporary local protections.  In Maryland, Missouri and Ohio,