Personal finance

It’s been two months since families with eligible children stopped getting advance child tax credit payments in December. Many of those families are already struggling again to make ends meet. Nearly 60% of parents surveyed by ParentsTogether Action, an advocacy group, said that since the checks stopped, they haven’t been able to afford enough food.

VALERIE MACON | AFP | Getty Images When Charlene Latsha calls the Social Security Administration, she’s placed on hold for so long that she hangs up. Latsha, 70, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, has been trying to reach the government agency about her husband’s application for retirement benefits. Though he has been disabled and unable to work

Miguel Cardona, U.S. Education Secretary, at the Queen Theatre on Dec. 23, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. Joshua Roberts | Getty Images News | Getty Images The U.S. Department of Education has suspended the seizure of tax refunds, Social Security and other government payments to satisfy defaulted student loans until November, the agency said. About 9

Hass avocados are displayed in the produce section at a United Market on Feb. 7, 2022 in San Anselmo, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images The Federal Reserve is set to hike interest rates this year for the first time since 2018 to address the worst inflation in 40 years spurred by the coronavirus pandemic.

Andrii Zastrozhnov | iStock | Getty Images If you’re retiring and signing up for Medicare, there’s a chance you’ll be assessed extra monthly charges — at least at first. While most enrollees pay the standard premium amounts for Part B (outpatient care) and Part D (prescription drugs), about 7% of Medicare’s 63.3 million beneficiaries end

Steven Heap/EyeEm/Getty Images If you’re one of the millions of Americans still waiting on your 2020 tax return, you’ll need to take a special step to avoid a rejection for this year’s electronic filing, according to the IRS. When filing digitally, you validate your return with the previous year’s adjusted gross income. Typically, your tax filing

In this article EFX Scyther5 | Getty Images Your ticket to free credit monitoring for four years may be sitting in your inbox. If you signed up for this service a couple of years ago as part of the settlement from the 2017 massive data breach at credit-monitoring firm Equifax, you should have received information

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc Finding a competitive interest rate on your emergency savings has become even more difficult amid record high inflation. But there is good news. The Federal Reserve is expected to begin raising interest rates. When they do, that will kick up the interest you can earn on your cash. Some accounts may

Passengers board an Airbus passenger jet operated by Icelandic low-fare carrier Play. Play Startup low-fare Icelandic airline Play announced new transatlantic service out of a third U.S. airport, Stewart International in New Windsor, New York, to begin June 9. (Stewart lies about 65 miles north of New York City.) Play, which launched last July with

Primary co-founders and co-CEOs Cristina Carbonell and Galyn Bernard shifted the online children’s clothing retailer to a four-day workweek during the pandemic and have no plans to go back to the longer week. Courtesy: Primary Millions of Americans are quitting their jobs and rethinking what they want when it comes to work and work-life balance.

Tom Werner | DigitalVision | Getty Images There’s a growing list of essential things for taxpayers to know as the IRS embarks on a challenging season with limited staffing and a backlog from 2021 that’s still millions of returns deep. There were 6 million unprocessed individual returns as of Dec. 31, according to the IRS,

Throughout the pandemic, 529 college savings plans have only gained momentum — even as higher-education enrollment numbers sank. In 2021, the average account size jumped to a record of $30,287, according to the College Savings Plans Network, or CSPN. Total investments in 529s also reached a record $464.3 billion last year, up nearly 10% from 2020. More

Taiwanese ethnicity man looking at the home budget and sorting out bills using his laptop in his cozy living room SrdjanPav | E+ | Getty Images Americans are feeling the impact of surging inflation, which doesn’t appear to be easing up anytime soon. For many, that means it’s a good time to revise the family

Algerina Perna | Baltimore Sun | MCT | Getty Images If you plan to drop money on a Super Bowl bet this weekend, remember that the IRS will want a piece of your winnings. Americans are expected to wager $7.61 billion on Sunday night’s matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals in Los

It started with Melissa Houston buying small indulgences online — shoes, clothes, handbags. Then, she moved on to major purchases, renovating the family room and putting a swimming pool in the backyard. She says her spending spree spiraled her family’s finances into massive debt — and she hid it from her husband. “I went off

Your grocery bill has likely been going up. That’s because food prices are rising steeply, with the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showing a 7.4% increase between January 2021 and January 2022. The cost of bacon has swelled by 18%, and peanut butter, 15%. It’s unclear when the uptick will relent.

People shop at a Los Angeles retail outlet on Jan. 28, 2022. FREDERIC J. BROWN | AFP | Getty Images High inflation overshadowed a big increase in wages over the past year, amounting to a nearly 2% smaller paycheck for the average worker, according to federal data published Thursday. Employers have raised wages at about

Brothers91 | E+ | Getty Images Tax season is underway — and the IRS is warning of a likely increase in scams targeting taxpayers. Agency officials are sounding the alarm on “IRS impersonation scams,” in which criminals pose as IRS agents to try stealing money or personal information. The latter can lead to identity theft

sturti The Covid-19 pandemic has made it difficult for people to answer big questions about their futures, and many financial planners are underestimating the financial anxiety that is causing, according to a survey. A majority of financial planning clients — 71% — report experiencing financial anxiety at least half of the time, according to researchers

Ariel Skelley | DigitalVision | Getty Images Municipal bonds, also known as muni bonds, have become a popular option for investors seeking security and tax-free portfolio income. However, these assets may also trigger a costly surprise for retirees.  Demand surged in 2021 amid President Joe Biden‘s proposed tax increases, with a record $96.8 billion of net money