Personal finance

New York schoolchildren study at home during the coronavirus lockdown on April 6, 2020. Peter Titmuss | Education Images | Getty Images Parents without bank accounts, take note: The IRS will not send the first rounds of the enhanced child tax credit payments via debit cards, according to a Treasury spokesperson. The earliest of the

Ronel Remy, an organizer with City Life/Vida Urbana, speaks during a “Rally to Stop Evictions and Foreclosures” at the Boston Common Fountain in Boston on Oct. 11, 2020. Matthew J. Lee | Boston Globe | Getty Images Many of the more than 10 million Americans who remain behind on their rent will be at risk

Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwards Rising consumer costs have helped push the latest estimate for next year’s Social Security cost-of-living adjustment to 5.3%. Whether that will actually be the bump retirees see to their monthly checks in 2022 depends a lot on the economy, including whether the Federal Reserve decides to raise interest rates. The

Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwards For months, renter Sabrina Floyd waited with to hear if she and her family were approved for help from the Clark County rental assistance program in Las Vegas. She’d often ask her caseworker for updates, and would get the same reply: “Thank you for your continued patience during these hard

In this article DFS Fifty-six percent of travelers told Discover they’ll use contactless payment methods more often while on trips this year. martin-dm | E+ | Getty Images Most news about travel may have focused on health and safety since the pandemic hit over a year ago. However, cost and booking flexibility are now even

In this article IRSA3-AR lisegagne | E+ | Getty Images In just a few weeks, monthly child tax credit payments will go out to U.S. households that are home to about 65 million kids, according to the IRS. The expanded child tax credit was established in the American Rescue Plan signed into law in March.

shapecharge | E+ | Getty Images For workers who lose track of their 401(k) savings accounts, help may be on the way. Proposed retirement legislation that’s pending in Congress would create an online “lost and found” database to help locate those accounts, among a variety of other provisions. While lawmakers are in the early stages

Personal finance expert Suze Orman likes bitcoin. Not as a currency, but as a long-term investment, the best-selling author told CNBC’s “Power Lunch” Monday. Back in April, she said she told listeners of her podcast, Women & Money (And Everyone Smart Enough To Listen), “Any money that you can afford to lose, then I don’t

As the economy quickly picks up steam in the wake of the Covid pandemic, Americans expect inflation to jump in the months ahead. Overall, the expectation is that the inflation rate will be up to 4% one year from now — a new high for one-year-ahead inflation expectations — and at 3.6% three years from

Erik Isakson | Tetra images | Getty Images Americans want their summer vacations. After a year of being pent up during the pandemic, 80% said they are ready to travel, according to a recent survey by tourism market research firm Destination Analysts. However, with that demand comes higher prices. Airline tickets are up 7% for

People and students from Worker’s Circle of Boston and members of City Life Vida Urbana protest to rally support behind house bill HD3030, which seeks to stop evictions during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, at the Massachusetts State House in Boston on March 14, 2021. Jim Davis | Boston Globe | Getty Images Sabrina Floyd doesn’t

Miami Beach, Florida Artur Debat | Moment | Getty Images Interest in travel is picking up as the pandemic winds down, and cooped-up Americans are itching to hit the road again, two recent surveys have found. Travelers are thinking about booking trips to warm and sunny domestic climes — be they Sun Belt cities or

The beach at Wildwood, New Jersey, on the Jersey Shore on May 27, 2021. Spencer Platt | Getty Images Certified public accountants have a message for New Jersey-based clients: It’s time to move to a lower-cost state. That’s according to a recent survey from the New Jersey Society of CPAs, which found that 70% of

In this article IRSA3-AR Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images Jeff Lavigne plans to use a tax refund this year for long-delayed medical help. Yet his refund, almost $2,700, has been in limbo since mid-March, when Lavigne filed his tax return, records show. The IRS flagged the return for potential identity theft — as it did

Charlie Eaton Courtesy: Charlie Eaton The odds of student loan forgiveness happening have never been greater, experts say. Yet a number of large obstacles stand in the way, some practical and others ideological. Does the president have the authority to cancel the debt? Officials at the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of

Icicles hang off the State Highway 195 sign on Feb. 18, 2021 in Killeen, Texas. Joe Raedle | Getty Images The threat of climate change is shifting some older Americans’ retirement plans. Extreme weather such as hurricanes, flooding, freezing temperatures and wildfires has prompted some to rethink where they will spend their golden years. “Clients

nortonrsx | iStock | Getty Images Not all debt is the same. So how should you decide which to repay first? Amid the coronavirus pandemic last year and ensuing economic recession, debt grew for many Americans. In 2020, consumer debt ballooned to a new high of $14.88 trillion, a 6% increase from the previous year,

kate_sept2004 | E+ | Getty Images Before you take out a mortgage or car loan, check your credit report. It may have a mistake that could cost you. It’s not as uncommon as you may think. More than one-third, or 34%, of Americans found at least one error on their credit report, according to a

NASA There’s a new potential risk investors need to watch out for, and it’s out of this world. Exchange-traded fund provider ProcureAM this week submitted a regulatory filing with the SEC citing a new unprecedented risk: unidentified aerial phenomena. ProcureAM — which provides a space-themed ETF that trades under the ticker symbol UFO — added

Jack Taylor | Getty Images News | Getty Images Cryptocurrency is known for volatility and some experts say crashes tend to happen on weekends. “This has been a phenomenon in crypto for several years,” said Stephen McKeon, associate professor of finance at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, and partner at Collab+Currency, a cryptocurrency-focused