Personal Finance

Protestors call for McDonald’s Corporation to raise wages to a $15 minimum and allow unionization in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on May 23, 2019. Joe Raedle / Getty Images With Joe Biden’s inauguration as President of the United States, the country is perhaps closer than ever to a $15 federal minimum wage. In a speech last

Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images The state would raise the top tax rate to 10.86%, up from 8.82%, Cuomo said. That would yield a top rate of 14.7% for the wealthiest New York City residents in combined taxes. “[It] would be the highest income tax in the nation,” Cuomo said. This is a developing

US President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks on the public health and economic crises at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware on January 14, 2021. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images The incoming Biden administration will push Congress to expand food benefits for Americans struggling because of coronavirus until at least September 2021 or until

Once president-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20, free college could finally become a reality. “With the makeup of this Congress, I am very optimistic that this will be on the agenda,” said Morley Winograd, president and CEO of the Campaign for Free College Tuition. “The only person more passionate about this is first lady Jill Biden.” On the

Jovita Carranza, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, testifies at a Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee hearing on June 10, 2020 in Washington. Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images) Second EIDL grants That may confuse business owners, since the $900 billion Covid relief package passed last month allows some companies to get a second EIDL grant.

US President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks on the public health and economic crises at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware on January 14, 2021. Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images President-elect Joe Biden made a case for sending stimulus payments to all Americans who are eligible – including those who have kept their jobs

Andrea Herrera, president of Amazing Edibles Gourmet Catering and founder of Boxperience Angela Garbot For Andrea Herrera, founder of Amazing Edibles Catering in Chicago, the pandemic has tested her ability to adapt on the fly amid falling revenues.              Since last March, the firm shifted from catering weddings and corporate events to providing first-responder meals and

FatCamera | E+ | Getty Images President-elect Joe Biden has a plan to help fix what he calls the immediate and acute child-care crisis in America. He unveiled his proposal on Thursday, as part of his sweeping $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue package. “If left unaddressed, many child care providers will close — some permanently —

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington, D.C. Getty Images The IRS is delaying the start of the 2020 tax filing season to Feb. 12, according to an announcement from the agency. On that date, the IRS will start accepting and processing last year’s tax returns. Normally, the agency opens tax season in late

Getty Images Tax season is swiftly approaching, and after the roller coaster of 2020, this might be the year to get extra help filing your return. The coronavirus pandemic saw many changes to the tax code that could impact filers who generally would have had a straightforward return, potentially complicating your return. “For the average

President-elect Joe Biden puts on a mask after receiving his second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination at ChristianaCare Christiana Hospital on January 11, 2021 in Newark, Delaware. Alex Wong | Getty Images Senior officials of the incoming Biden administration say the president-elect still supports forgiving $10,000 in student debt per borrower although there’s no

Janel Meehan finds ways to teach money lessons to her sons when they are playing games. Source: Janel Meehan Janel Meehan doesn’t want her children to grow up like she did, not knowing much about money. So every chance she gets, she incorporates financial lessons into their lives — including during her 11-year-old son’s video

Andy Beshear, governor of Kentucky Scotty Perry/Bloomberg via Getty Images Kentucky is sending $400 checks to thousands of unemployed workers in the state who didn’t qualify for an earlier round of relief authorized by President Donald Trump. Other workers whose jobless benefits have been significantly delayed will get $1,000 one-time payments. Gov. Andy Beshear signed

Win McNamee | Getty Images News | Getty Images The recent Covid relief package offers 11 extra weeks of jobless benefits to workers. Many, but not all, will be eligible for four more, for a total of 15 weeks. However, they won’t get a $300 weekly increase in benefits during that four-week period. The $900

Hundreds of jobless people wait outside the Kentucky Career Center for help with their unemployment claims on June 19 in Frankfort, Kentucky. John Sommers II/Getty Images As President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office on Jan. 20, one of his first priorities is getting $2,000 stimulus checks approved. A third round of higher payments looked

With just days to spare, some colleges are scrapping plans to reopen for the spring semester as Covid cases rise. Others are simply stalling. Stanford University had planned to bring more students back for the spring semester with a delayed in-person start date. Yet, the university recently announced it will not be able to have

The U.S. Department of Labor headquarters in Washington. Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images Automatic benefits Many workers will get the aid automatically, according to communications from federal and state labor departments. For example, workers don’t need to apply or take additional action to get the $300-a-week enhancement. States will include the stipend in individuals’ typical

Courtney Keating | E+ | Getty Images Unexpected bills, like an emergency car repair or medical bill, are a fact of life. Yet not everyone can afford to pay up when those kinds of unforeseen events arise. Just 39% of Americans can afford a $1,000 unexpected expense, according to a new survey from Bankrate.com. The

Taking a trip? Not likely right now. With tourism at a near standstill, making a long-term commitment to an annual vacation spot may have seemed like a better idea before a global pandemic restricted travel and caused a sudden spike in unemployment, leaving many Americans with less disposable income. Now some owners of timeshares, who

Jersey City, New Jersey. Dong Wenjie | Moment | Getty Images Whether they were tired of the chilly winters or the high income taxes, a lot of residents fled New Jersey, New York and Illinois in 2020. New Jersey was the top “outbound” state last year, according to an analysis of 2020 moving data by