Personal Finance

As vaccine distribution slowly gains steam, employers are starting to plan a return to normal — and the office — just as many workers are settling in at home. Vaccinated or not, more than half of employees said that, given the option, they would want to keep working from home even after the pandemic abates,

Hill Street Studios | DigitalVision | Getty Images As Congress works to hammer out a deal for a new coronavirus relief bill, that could mean new stimulus checks for millions of Americans. New $1,400 direct payments are among the aid expected to be included in the package. The proposal also includes other measures to help

Buket Topal | iStock | Getty Images Don’t be surprised if filling your car’s tank at the pump keeps gobbling up a growing portion of your budget. Amid already rising gasoline prices, the average price you pay for per gallon could jump over the next couple of weeks, according to GasBuddy.com. On top of elevated

Shaquille O’Neal speaks in New York during the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson Of The Year 2019. O’Neal is serving as a strategic adviser for a $250 million SPAC. Bennett Raglin | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images Wall Street has a new investment darling. And while financiers stand to reap big profits, there are reasons for

President Joe Biden participates in a CNN town hall in Milwaukee on Feb. 16, 2021. Leah Millis | Reuters President Joe Biden has essentially ruled out canceling $50,000 in student debt per person —disappointing some student borrowers who were counting on that help. “I didn’t have my hopes up,” said Joshira Maduro, 30. The research

Peter Cade | Getty Images Claiming Social Security before full retirement age can trip up some people when it comes to spousal benefits. For starters, not all early filers can access those benefits right away, and even those who do may discover it doesn’t translate into a bigger monthly check. “A lot of folks get

Airline industry workers hold signs during a protest in Federal Plaza in Chicago, Illinois, on September 9, 2020. KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI | AFP | Getty Images Most new claims for unemployment benefits are coming from repeat layoffs, according to new research, hinting at unstable work prospects for a broad swath of Americans and signaling another dimension

Historic row houses in Colombia Heights neighborhood of Washington DC, USA amedved | iStock | Getty Images Homeowners struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic received some welcome news on Tuesday, with the Biden administration announcing it will extend forbearance and foreclosure relief programs. The White House said that the move will benefit the 2.7 million homeowners

AleksandarNakic Presidents’ Day is meant to honor our country’s greatest leaders. This year, it also represents another day off from school when parents are already stretched to the limit, juggling work and family obligations amid the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly one year since the Covid-19 outbreak began, mothers and fathers who are currently working remotely increasingly are

President Joe Biden holds a meeting with US Senators about infrastructure improvements in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, February 11, 2021. Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images Covid-relief plan Biden’s stimulus plan, currently being debated in Congress, calls for $1,400 in direct payments to most Americans and an increase

ljubaphoto The 2020 tax season is officially underway, and the millions of Americans who collected unemployment benefits last year due to the coronavirus pandemic may be in for a surprise. That unemployment income is taxable, and if you didn’t have money set aside or withheld for those taxes, it could reduce your refund or even

Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images A Democratic proposal to expand the child tax credit for one year could give qualifying families up to $300 per child per month. But like all direct payments made by the government as part of Covid relief, some are questioning whether the aid will be too much or

Kyla Ernst-Alper is an aerialist in New York City. She’s never had an employer that offered her a 401(k) retirement plan in more than two decades of performing. Giles Clement Kyla Ernst-Alper, a 38-year-old aerial performer in New York City, has never had a 401(k) retirement plan. She holds multiple jobs at once to support

Sanders Fabares felt that something wasn’t working. Even after years of paying $1,000 a month toward his student loans and his wife’s, their balance hadn’t decreased by much. They still owed around $80,000, down from the $90,000 they’d originally borrowed. “I started trying to understand what we were doing wrong,” Fabares, 41, said. His research

Prostock-Studio | iStock | Getty Images If you’re among the millions of people across the nation with no health insurance, you may be able to remedy that soon. A special enrollment period to get a plan through the federal Affordable Care Act health exchange (or your state’s exchange if it has one) opens Monday and

Getty Images This tax season may end up being even less fun for many filers. On top of figuring out how Covid relief might affect their return, those complications could result in more taxpayers making mistakes and hearing from the IRS, experts say. And depending on the specifics, it could mean a smaller refund or

President Joe Biden speaks as he meets with Senators from both parties in the White House on Feb. 11, 2021. Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images More unemployment benefits may be on the way as Democrats and the Biden administration pursue a $1.9 trillion pandemic aid package. The legislation would increase the amount of jobless benefits workers receive

Stimulus checks printed at the Philadelphia Financial Center in Philadelphia. Jeff Fusco | Getty Images As a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package comes together on Capitol Hill, millions of additional direct payments to Americans could be in the works. Legislation under discussion includes $1,400 stimulus checks that could bring the total direct payments sent to

Tax-filing season is here, and you may be wondering how the pandemic will affect your return. Many filers have a lot more questions about their taxes this year than in the past. “For this specific tax season, it’s all about organization, especially because of what was provided last year for Covid relief,” said Sheneya Wilson,

U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) participates in a news conference on the third day of the Senate impeachment trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, February 11, 2021. Erin Scott | Reuters House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said that a $15 federal minimum wage will be included in the

MartinPrescott | E+ | Getty Images Don’t count on having extra time to get your tax return filed this year like you did in 2020. The IRS said Thursday it has no plans to extend the standard filing deadline of April 15. This comes despite the agency delaying the start date for accepting returns to

Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images Investors poured record amounts of money last year into funds that aim to help the environment and promote social good, more than doubling the prior’s year’s take. Funds that use so-called ESG principles may, for example, invest in energy firms that aren’t reliant on fossil fuels or in companies

Getting America’s workforce vaccinated will go a long way toward helping the country reach herd immunity. Instacart, Target, Trader Joe’s, McDonald’s and Dollar General are among a growing list of companies giving workers time off and extra money to get vaccinated for Covid-19. Others, including Amazon, Uber and DoorDash, are going a step further by lobbying state officials to secure

Getty Images Many Americans are eager to see more money from the federal government in the form of $1,400 stimulus checks. But another part of Democrats’ $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, changes to the child tax credit, could actually give qualifying families more money than the direct payments. “The child tax credit is going to

Kamil Krzaczynski | AFP | Getty Images It’s still a waiting game for the nation’s most vulnerable age group to get a Covid-19 vaccine. About 28% of people age 75 or older have received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, 22% of

Protestors call for a $15 minimum wage outside of McDonald’s corporate headquarters in Chicago on Jan. 15, 2021. Scott Olson | Getty Images The push for a $15 federal minimum wage continues. Just days after the Senate voted on a nonbinding amendment to prohibit raising the minimum wage during the pandemic, the House of Representatives

sturti | E+ | Getty Images Democrats are forging ahead with plans to send millions of Americans $1,400 stimulus checks. Their most recent proposal sheds light on just who could be eligible for the money once it’s approved. The House of Representatives unveiled its legislative drafts on Monday. Democrats, under the leadership of President Joe

For many people, remote work is the new normal. But it wasn’t meant to last forever. Now, as more Americans are vaccinated against Covid-19, they may be able to return to the workplace as soon as this spring. Roughly 40% of employers that shifted to remote work at the start of the coronavirus pandemic are

People press demands to McDonald’s to raise workers wages to a $15 minimum wage, May 23, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images A report released Monday from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025 could add tens of billions of dollars

bymuratdeniz | E+ | Getty Images With all of Medicare‘s different rules for enrolling, it’s not unheard of to miss your signup deadline. Now is the time to remedy that. During a general enrollment period that opened Jan. 1 and closes March 31, anyone who did not enroll when they should have (as defined by