Personal finance

In this article TREE Tetra Images | Getty Images Many Americans are planning to use any refunds they get from the IRS to grow their personal wealth. Some 46% of people plan to save their refunds, according to a LendingTree survey of more than 1,000 taxpayers conducted online Feb. 7 through Feb. 10. That figure…

Allison Greenwald, senior product manager at The Alley Group, spent five weeks in Alaska while working a flexible schedule. Courtesy: Allison Greenwald Millions of Americans are quitting their jobs and rethinking what they want when it comes to work and work-life balance. Companies are responding, meeting their employees’ needs in areas like remote work, flexible…

Eakgrunge | Istock | Getty Images Ageism is one of the most unfair paradoxes in the labor market: People put in decades of hard work and then find themselves penalized for having done so. And the problem is only worsening: Nearly 80% of older workers say they’ve seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace,…

Brauns | E+ | Getty Images Siraba Keita survived New York’s deadliest fire in decades — only to see her bank freeze the savings she needed to pick up the pieces. Her story reflects the hardship of many low-income Americans in a system that seems to prioritize debt collectors over a bank’s customers, according to…

Erin M. Collins Source: Erin M. Collins If you’re one of the millions of Americans grappling with IRS issues, you may not realize there’s another option for your unresolved problems. The Taxpayer Advocate Service, known as TAS, is an independent organization within the agency, providing one-on-one guidance and fighting for systemic changes. Erin Collins, the…

In this article TRU EXPN-GB EFX A medical worker walks past a row of ambulances parked outside of Houston Methodist Hospital amid the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). in Houston, Texas, U.S., June 22, 2020. Callaghan O’Hare | Reuters A large number of U.S. consumers will have their medical debt wiped from their…

IRS commissioner Charles Rettig testifies during the Senate Finance Committee hearing on June 8, 2021. Tom Williams | Pool | Reuters The IRS is still digging through tens of millions of unprocessed tax returns with roughly four weeks until the 2021 filing deadline. But Commissioner Charles Rettig expects the backlog to clear by year-end. The…

Fg Trade | E+ | Getty Images If you’re planning a wedding this year, you’re in good company. A record number of weddings — about 2.5 million — are expected in 2022, the most since 1984, according to wedding market research firm The Wedding Report. That’s up from 1.9 million in 2021 and 1.3 million…

Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images After spending decades as your parents’ child, becoming the caregiver for Mom or Dad can be a jarring role reversal. Yet for an estimated 42 million Americans, providing care for a parent or other adult relative age 50 or older is a daily reality, according to a recent study…

Alexanderford | E+ | Getty Images Americans are paying more for a broad swath of household goods these days. Even items without a higher sticker price may still cost more — it’s just hard to notice at first glance. That’s because some companies have reduced the contents of their packaging. A cannister that used to…

Westend61 | Getty Images The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is degrading Americans’ financial outlook, sparking the desire to save more and postpone investing, according to a survey from MassMutual. But steering clear of stock market volatility may be a mistake, financial experts say. Two-thirds of Americans worry the conflict will hurt their wallets, with nearly half…

Nine-year-old student Roberto Nieves Fernandez studies personal finance topics on his laptop using online resource center SmartPath. SMARTPATH More states are requiring students to take personal finance education courses before they graduate high school. There are currently 23 states that mandate a personal finance course for students, according to the 2022 Survey of the States…