Personal finance

Shoppers carry purchases from a Best Buy store on Black Friday in San Carlos, California, U.S., on Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Before you grab that great deal through a store’s special financing offer, make sure you know what you are signing up for. About half of retailers offer credit

Vladimir Vladimirov | E+ | Getty Images After a weekend of holiday shopping, Americans will be shelling out for charity on Giving Tuesday, which produced $2.47 billion from U.S. donors in 2020. But many don’t realize there’s a tax break for cash gifts in 2021, even if they don’t itemize deductions on their federal return.

A Social Security Administration office in San Francisco. Getty Images One of the most immediate effects at the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak early last year was an upheaval in the workforce. Now, almost two years later, data suggests only one cohort of older workers accelerated their retirement plans — those ages 70 and up.

recep-bg | E+ | Getty Images Life without student loans is coming to an end. The U.S. Department of Education by February will restart payments for the millions of Americans with education debt. They’ve been allowed to pause their bills for close to two years because of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet the resumption of the

Americans are spending a little less this holiday season — but still more than they can afford. Total spending on Black Friday, both in stores and online, fell slightly from a year ago — the first decline on record — in part because holiday shoppers started their shopping earlier in face of supply chain setbacks

Getty Images Want to make more money? You may want to consider switching jobs. Some 24% of Americans said that changing jobs is the best way to get a pay boost, according to a recent online survey from MagnifyMoney of nearly 1,000 working adults. In addition, millennials were more likely than their older coworkers to

The University of Maryland The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images Across the country, colleges are in crisis. Fewer students went back to school again this year, dragging undergraduate enrollment down another 3.5% from last year, according to a report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Combined with last autumn’s declines, the

Time is running out for families with kids to make any changes to information the IRS has on file for their last child tax credit payment of the year. Families have until Monday, Nov. 29, to reach out to the agency and have it reflected in the final monthly payment, set to go out on

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images When it comes to shopping for a new car, this isn’t your typical Black Friday. Deals and discounts that were once plentiful this time of year are harder to come by. An ongoing global shortage of microchips — key components needed for today’s autos to operate —

krisanapong detraphiphat | Moment | Getty Images Black Friday and Cyber Monday are almost here — and consumers shopping for the winter holidays should be on the lookout for online scams. U.S. sales online are expected to hit $207 billion this holiday shopping season, between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, according to Adobe. That’s a

Alexi Rosenfeld | Getty Images As Democrats’ Build Back Better plan advances to the Senate, one key proposal — paid family leave — may be at risk of getting dropped from the $1.75 trillion package. But there is room for lawmakers to compromise and come up with a plan that costs less, according to a

A pizzeria in North Babylon, New York, advertises available positions for wait staff and delivery drivers. Newsday LLC | Newsday | Getty Images It turns out the “Great Resignation” is more of a “Great Reckoning,” according to a survey by consulting firm Mercer. In other words, the movement is more about who is quitting their

lisegagne | E+ | Getty Images Millions of American families with kids are set to receive the last of six advance monthly child tax credit payments Dec. 15. Yet, just a few days earlier, Dec. 3, the U.S. government is set to shut down if Congress doesn’t approve more funding to keep it open through

Second Harvest Heartland workers distribute food in a recent truck to trunk event. As Covid-19 cases in Minneapolis surge, so has the demand for food, said CEO Allison O’Toole. Courtesy: Second Harvest Heartland The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic last year prompted millions of Americans to wait in long lines for food assistance in the

Tijana Simic | iStock | Getty Images Medical debt is a growing burden among Americans, with more than 1 in 3 U.S. adults carrying a balance, according to a 2021 Healthcare.com survey. The findings also revealed that more than 6 in 10 adults with overdue bills received care knowing they couldn’t cover the costs, and more

eyecrave | E+ | Getty Images Teachers who have spent their own money on masks, hand sanitizer or other Covid-19 related supplies this year will get a little help come tax time. Those costs can be deducted with other eligible out-of-pocket expenses on 2021 taxes filed next year. Teachers have been able to deduct up

Brothers91 | E+ | Getty Images If you lack health insurance, it may not be as out of reach as you might think. An estimated 10 million individuals who are uninsured could qualify for financial help with private insurance through the public marketplace, according to research from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Another 7 million could

JJFarquitectos | iStock | Getty Images The coronavirus pandemic brought unprecedented hardship to renters, at one point leaving as many as 40 million people at risk of losing their homes. That the situation got so bad, so quickly for tenants revealed long-lasting issues of housing instability in the U.S., caused by rapidly rising rents and

blackCAT | E+ | Getty Images It’s easy to ignore finances during the holiday season. But with five weeks left in 2021, there’s still time for year-end moves to slash tax bills or boost refunds, experts say. While tax planning is a year-round process, the last couple of months may offer the chance to finalize

katleho Seisa Despite the biggest cost-of-living adjustment in decades, Social Security beneficiaries may still find it challenging to make their monthly checks stretch farther next year. The reasons: Inflation is continuing to drive up consumer prices, while standard Medicare Part B premiums will rise by 14.5% in 2022 in a bigger-than-expected jump. The Consumer Price