damircudic | E+ | Getty Images As the IRS struggles with a backlog of millions of returns, the agency has temporarily stopped sending out more than a dozen types of automated notices, including some for unpaid taxes. However, a suspended notice doesn’t mean interest stops accruing on outstanding balances, said National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins
Personal finance
Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday pledged a crackdown on student loan servicers that flout rules on loan forgiveness for public servants. The government agency said it “plans to prioritize” oversight of student loans in the coming year, with a “specific focus” on monitoring how servicers are engaging with
PeopleImages | iStock | Getty Images There was a time not too long ago when holding “AMT-free” municipal bond funds might have made perfect sense for many investors. These days? Maybe not so much. With a small share of taxpayers subject to the alternative minimum tax, or AMT, since a federal tax overhaul took effect
The U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. Caroline Brehman | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images The U.S. Department of Education has announced it will cancel the student loans of nearly 16,000 borrowers who attended certain for-profit schools, including DeVry University. The relief comes out to $415 million in total. “The Department remains committed
Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images Long-term care expenses are growing, with sizable hikes for home-based services as the industry struggles to meet soaring demand from aging Americans. That’s according to Genworth’s 2021 Cost of Care Survey, a yearly report covering nationwide senior caregiving. While the median yearly costs rose across all provider types, home-based
Getty Images Just months after a federal $15 minimum wage failed to take shape, Californians may get the chance to vote on even higher minimum hourly pay. A measure to raise the state’s minimum wage to $18 began to collect signatures in February. If the campaign, called the Living Wage Act of 2022, gets 700,000
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.
SEC chairman Gary Gensler testifies before a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing on Sept. 14, 2021 in Washington. Evelyn Hockstein-Pool/Getty Images The Biden administration is lending a more cautious eye to private equity and other “alternative” investments like hedge funds. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Department of Labor have
David Jakle | Image Source | Getty Images If you’re worried about rising interest rates, you may be eyeing high-yield bonds, which typically pay a bigger coupon and may help offset price declines in your bond portfolio. But these assets may also carry more risk, according to financial experts. While market interest rates and bond
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
Between sky-high costs and hefty student loan debt, more students and their families are questioning the value of a college degree. While about 81% of college-bound juniors and seniors still see college as a worthwhile investment, only 42% of families feel confident about covering the cost, according to a report by Sallie Mae. As a