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It’s no secret that four-decade-high inflation is affecting many Americans in every aspect of their lives, from soaring food prices to record gas prices. What may be surprising, however, is that because of inflation, consumers in all income brackets — including those who make more than $250,000 annually — increasingly live paycheck to paycheck, according to new research. By Yaёl Bizouati-Kennedy Discover: States Whose Economies Are Failing vs. States Whose Economies Are Thriving More: 15 Cheap, Beautiful Places To Retire...

Maintaining a high credit score comes with a variety of benefits, from cheaper financing to better credit card offers and more. It isn’t easy to understand exactly what determines that three-digit number that can have such a big influence over our lives, though. By Bob Haegele See: 10 Things To Do Now If You Have a 700 Credit ScoreFind: The 5 Fastest Ways To Boost Your Credit Score The good news is it doesn’t have to be so complicated....

If you received too much money from the IRS because of the child tax credit, you may have to repay some or all of it when you file your 2021 tax return. According to the IRS, when you file your 2021 tax return during the 2022 tax filing season, you’ll need to compare the total amount of the child tax credit payments you received in 2021 with the amount that you’re eligible to claim on your tax return....

Divorce can have a deep emotional impact on families and their individual members. Almost everything changes when two married people divorce, including how they file taxes. By David Nadelle Discover: 10 Reasons You Should Claim Social Security Early More: 10 Walmart Brands With the Best Bargains in May Only one parent gets to claim a child as a dependent when filing taxes after divorce. After divorce, you and your ex cannot both file as the head of household based on shared support and care for the same child....

Americans with flexible spending accounts for healthcare expenses could be at risk of losing money due to forfeiture if they don’t spend the funds by the expiration deadline — which for many is fast approaching. By Vance Cariaga See: What Is an FSA and How Does It Work?Find: Surprising Things You Can Buy With Your FSA More than $1 billion could be forfeited in 2022, CNBC reported, citing an estimate from FSAstore....

When you don’t actively track your spending, it’s easy to lose sight of where your money is going. And this could have negative repercussions on your overall financial situation no matter what your current standing is. If you have debt, spending too much can dig you further into the hole, and if even you don’t, spending more than you should can make it harder for you to reach other goals, such as saving for a down payment on a home or your retirement....

When you hear the word “inflation,” you usually think of the negatives — rising prices and a more expensive cost of living. Inflation causes plenty of financial challenges when your income and savings buy less because everything costs more. But there are some situations where inflation can actually help your finances. By Kimberly Lankford See: Best Cities To Retire on a Budget of $1,500 a MonthLook: 7 Secret Money Traps at Walmart...

In 2022, Tax Day was moved back from the standard date of April 15 to April 18 to accommodate a holiday. However, many people needed more time and filed for extensions, which all taxpayers are entitled to do provided they submit their requests to the IRS before Tax Day. By Andrew Lisa Find Out: Stimulus Payments Are Coming to These States in October Student Loan Forgiveness: Mark These 4 Dates On Your Calendar Now...

You’d be hard pressed to come up with a downside to the 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment that Social Security recipients will get to their monthly payments in 2023. The adjustment will boost average monthly payments by more than $140, helping beneficiaries navigate the highest inflation rate in decades. By Vance Cariaga See: What Is the Average Social Security Benefit at 65?Find: 5 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000...

Disney is perhaps creating what it’s describing as its own metaverse following the CEO’s hints as to the state of the business in November of 2021. The company was recently approved for a “virtual-world simulator in a real-world venue,” according to a patent filing. By Yaёl Bizouati-Kennedy See: Despite Fan Outrage, Is Disney’s New Genie+ FastPass Worth the Additional Cost? Find: How Much Does It Really Cost To Go To Disney World Now?...

It increasingly looks like Elon Musk’s “on hold” $44 billion Twitter deal will need to be massively slashed to go ahead. On May 21, Musk suggested in a series of tweets that the cuts could be up to 25% of the original agreed-upon price. By Yaёl Bizouati-Kennedy See: Twitter Stock Continues Selloff After Elon Musk Says Deal ‘Cannot Move Forward’ Unless Bot Data ConfirmedFind: Elon Musk Investigated Over Late Filing of Twitter Stock Purchase, While FTC Looks at Company Buyout for Antitrust Violation...

It’s National Hydration Day, so don’t forget to drink up your daily dose of today’s top financial stories. By Gary Dudak The Big Lead: IRS Employees ‘Working Tirelessly’ To Process Returns Despite “working tirelessly” to alleviate its massive backlog of income tax returns, the Internal Revenue Service’s managing of its overall backlog plight may be worse than it claims. Read the full story here Social Security Spotlight: Women Get $354 Per Month Less Than Men The average Social Security check for women is much smaller than for men....

Summer is kicking in, and along with the temperatures, the price tag for a vacation keeps going up. With gas prices increasing every day, airfares and road trips have been becoming rapidly more expensive. And now, hotel prices are skyrocketing as well. By Yaёl Bizouati-Kennedy See: In Less Than a Decade, You Won’t Be Able To Afford a Home in These CitiesFind: 10 Best Countries To Live on Just a Social Security Check...

Before this year, you may not have heard of Olivia Rodrigo unless you had children in your home who watched the Disney channel. Now, the 18-year-old singer and actress is worth $4 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, and her hit single, “Driver’s License” holds the Spotify record for most daily streams for a non-holiday song. On Jan. 11, the song was streamed 15.7 million times. Rodrigo promptly broke her own record the next day with 17 million global streams on Jan....

Mulligan is a term often used in golf, which essentially means a “do-over.” A player is allowed a second chance on a stroke, although it might not count on the scorecard. Sometimes life affords us the same opportunity for a redo, and thankfully, a mistake regarding Social Security is one such opportunity. By Georgina Tzanetos Discover: 5 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About Social SecurityFind Out: How Much Can the Average Senior Citizen Expect To Benefit From Social Security?...

Mark Cuban is a super-successful serial entrepreneur now, but he started out as a small-business owner with a lot of drive. And it’s important to remember that many of the most successful businesses out there started out small and grew over time. So, how did the people behind these businesses get the motivation to turn their ideas into a reality? I asked Cuban and other successful business owners how they got their inspiration to strike out on their own, and what they learned from their past jobs and experiences that helped them when starting their own thing....

Mike Richards, the now former executive producer of the long-running game show “Jeopardy!,” was fired from the series entirely, Variety reported on Aug. 31. The announcement came just over a week after stepping down from the coveted permanent host gig, which had been awarded to Richards on Aug. 11. He initially stepped down from his hosting duties after disparaging comments from an old podcast surfaced and the Anti-Defamation League called for his resignation....

Living in a city has its fair share of advantages, but it tends to come with a higher cost of living. A recent survey conducted by Gensler found that 44% of urban residents live paycheck to paycheck, and that percentage rises to 50% for Gen Z and millennial respondents. In addition, over half of renters in cities live paycheck to paycheck. By Gabrielle Olya See: The Minimum Salary You Need To Be Happy in Every StateCheck Out: 23 Million California Residents to Receive up to $1,050 in Inflation Relief Funds...

Working longer could do more than just secure you a bigger retirement portfolio — it may even be good for your health. According to a new study published by SSM Population Health Journal, continuing to work past the expected retirement age is protective against cognitive decline. By Georgina Tzanetos Discover: 19 Things You’ll Need To Sacrifice Now for a Healthy RetirementFrom Healthcare to Groceries: Brilliant Ways Seniors Can Save Money...

GE effected a 1-for-8 reverse stock split on July 30, 2021. The split adjusted shares began trading on August 2 above $100, the company announced. By Yaёl Bizouati-Kennedy The reverse split multiplied the price of the stock investors own by 8, but also reduced the number of shares they owned, by dividing the number by 8, MarketWatch reports. The pre-split-adjusted price was $12.69, according to MarketWatch. See: Bitcoin Crashes After Weekend Price SurgeFind: Every Stock That Warren Buffett Owns, Ranked...