Personal finance

Witthaya Prasongsin | Moment | Getty Images “Buying the dip” is an investment thesis often touted by stock traders and financial advisors to juice returns. The thinking is: When a stock index like the S&P 500 falls in value, it’s a good time to buy since shares can be bought at a discount. Investors then

In the wake of the pandemic, many families are taking a hard look at college and whether it is worth the high cost. Tuition and fees plus room and board for a four-year private college averaged $50,770 in the 2020-21 school year; at four-year, in-state public colleges, it was $22,180, according to the College Board, which tracks trends

In early July, the U.S. Education Department under President Joe Biden canceled nearly $56 million in student loan debt for some 1,800 borrowers, bringing the administration’s total to about $1.5 billion erased. While a win for many borrowers, it isn’t a sign that broad-based student loan debt forgiveness will necessarily come anytime soon, experts say.

Sam Edwards | Getty Images When it comes to planning for retirement, it’s important to consider how taxes could gnaw away at your nest egg once you reach your golden years. Assuming you’ve left work earnings behind you, any amount owed to the IRS will come out of your retirement savings or income. So the

The LEGO NINJAGO World section of LEGOLAND Florida Resort in Winter Haven, Florida. LEGOLAND/Merlin Entertainments Theme parks are set for a big rebound this summer as much of the country starts to exit Covid restrictions. And many of the high-tech, low-touch solutions parks implemented during the pandemic to enable limited reopenings are here to stay

Image Source | Getty Images There’s some good news for those looking to get married on a budget: City and town halls are back in the nuptials business. Wedding bells will be ringing again, for example, at the New York City Marriage Bureau. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday that the city will again book

Alistair Berg | DigitalVision | Getty Images If you’re among the workers who plan to continue working remotely, you may want to evaluate your 2021 tax situation. While many states offered a pandemic-related reprieve that generally resulted in no tax filing obligation for remote workers who worked temporarily in their state, the leniency was for

Alexi Rosenfeld | Getty Images Sasha Demskie received a welcome deposit in her bank account this week: a $250 payment from the government as part of the new monthly child tax credit payments. The money will go to pay basic bills, said Demskie, 46, of Conway, Arkansas, who lost her job in April while she

bymuratdeniz | iStock | Getty Images Intuit, the company behind popular tax filing software TurboTax, announced that it will no longer participate in the IRS Free File program, which helps millions of Americans submit tax returns at no cost. “With the Free File program surpassing its founding goals of e-file and free tax preparation, and

RyanJLane | E+ | Getty Images The pandemic sparked charitable giving among wealthy families, and some who are eager to give more may score a bigger 2021 write-off by leveraging money from pretax retirement accounts.  Here’s how it works: Certain retirees with excess pretax retirement savings — meaning they’ve saved more than they expect they’ll

An executive chef interviews a job seeker about hospitality employment during a job fair on June 23, 2021 in Torrance, California. PATRICK T. FALLON | AFP | Getty Images The rapidly spreading delta variant of Covid-19 may be reason for Congress to extend federal unemployment benefits past their expiration in early September, according to some

Delmaine Donson | E+ | Getty Images Like many Americans, you may dread the thought of returning to the office. Yet only 12% of companies are adopting a “remote-first” model in the second half of 2021, a recent CNBC survey of 50 members of the CNBC Global CFO Council, Technology Executive Council (TEC) and Workforce

eyecrave | E+ | Getty Images States could do a far better job of teaching financial literacy in their schools, a new report suggests. To that point, 66% of states earned grades of C or worse for such instruction, according to the Nation’s Report Card on Financial Literacy, a study released by the American Public

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and President Joe Biden arrive at the U.S. Capitol for a Senate Democratic luncheon on July 14, 2021. Drew Angerer | Getty Images News | Getty Images Senate Democrats aim to fund a $3.5 trillion budget measure partly on the backs of higher taxes for corporations and the wealthy,

kate_sept2004 | E+ | Getty Images It’s a historic day for U.S. families with children. Roughly $15 billion has been sent to 35.2 million families in the first of six advance child tax credit payments, according to the U.S. Treasury Department and IRS. The average payment in the first round is $423, and will reach

zimmytws | iStock | Getty Images The Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2022 could be 6.1% due to inflation, according to a new estimate. That would be the biggest increase since 1983, according to non-partisan advocacy group The Senior Citizens League, which calculated the figure. It’s also a bump up from last month’s estimate, when

Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images Medicare — the health insurance program relied on by most older Americans — would cover dental, vision and hearing under a budget agreement announced late Tuesday by Senate Democrats. The proposal for expanded coverage was included as part of a plan to spend $3.5 trillion over the next decade

Jon Feingersh Photography Inc | DigitalVision | Getty Images Workers may be dreaming of quitting their job as part of the post-pandemic “Great Resignation,” yet employers aren’t necessarily buying it, a survey from human resources software company Tinypulse found. On average, human resources and C-suite leaders expect only 8% of their employees will choose to

A Social Security Administration office in San Francisco. Getty Images There’s new leadership at the Social Security Administration. A number of retirement advocates are applauding the move. President Joe Biden fired Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul on July 9. Saul, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, locked heads with Democrats earlier this year over

Bill Oxford | E+ | Getty Images Roughly 4 million refunds will be sent this week to people who overpaid taxes on their 2020 unemployment benefits, the IRS announced Tuesday. Due to the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, which became law in March, up to $10,200 in 2020 unemployment compensation was excluded from taxable