Personal finance

AsiaVision | E+ | Getty Images Most Americans can file their taxes for free — but many don’t seize the opportunity. Roughly 70% of taxpayers qualify to use IRS Free File, but only 2% used it during the 2022 filing season, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate’s annual report to Congress. A public-private partnership between

Simpleimages | Moment | Getty Images There’s a decent chance that your state is holding money or other assets that belong to you — and government officials want you to have it. About 1 in 7 people — 33 million altogether — collectively have an estimated $70 billion worth of unclaimed property being held by

andresr | E+ | Getty Images More than 50 million workers quit their jobs in 2022, according to federal data, breaking a record set the year prior and demonstrating the resilience of a hot labor market characterized by ample job opportunity. The trend of workers voluntarily leaving their jobs began in early 2021, as the

Shoppers in San Francisco on Dec. 21, 2022. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Months of high inflation have weighed heavily on households. As of December, 64% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent LendingClub report — up from 61% a year earlier and in line with the historic high first

Westend61 When homeowners look for ways to fund home improvement projects or other expenses, sometimes a home equity line of credit emerges as an option. HELOCs, as they’re called, let you borrow money against a portion of your home’s equity — the difference between your mortgage balance and the house’s appraised value — up to

Djordje Krstic | Istock | Getty Images Fewer borrowers will be able to claim the student loan interest deduction for 2022, with federal loan payments on hold for the duration of the year. But some people may still qualify. Prior to the pandemic, nearly 13 million taxpayers took advantage of the break, which allows borrowers

Milan2099 | E+ | Getty Images For Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in an Advantage Plan, now’s the time to change your 2023 coverage if it’s not a good match. Each year between Jan. 1 and March 31, beneficiaries unhappy with the choice they made during Medicare’s annual open enrollment period — which ended Dec. 7 —

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., conducts a news conference in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall on Thursday, January 12, 2023. Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images Social Security and Medicare should be “completely off the table” when it comes to debt ceiling negotiations, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said in a

A worsening macroeconomic climate and the collapse of industry giants like FTX and Terra have weighed on bitcoin’s price this year. STR | Nurphoto via Getty Images After a tough year for crypto, you may be looking for ways to turn steep losses into possible tax breaks. The digital currency industry lost nearly $1.4 trillion

Bloomberg Creative | Bloomberg Creative Photos | Getty Images It’s possible that the U.S. Supreme Court will strike down the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness plan, leading to a reversal for the millions of Americans who had been expecting the debt cancellation. President Joe Biden in August announced that he’d forgive at least $10,000, and

People wait in line to attend a job fair at SoFi Stadium on Sept. 9, 2021, in Inglewood, California. Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images These days the U.S. unemployment system is somewhat of an anomaly. Almost three years after the Covid-19 pandemic caused the worst jobless crisis in the U.S. since the

Wirestock | Istock | Getty Images The U.S. Department of Education has “fully approved” more than 16 million people for federal student loan forgiveness and sent their applications to loan servicers, the Biden administration announced Friday. The administration gave a state-by-state breakdown of the number of borrowers who have applied and been approved for its