After close to a year of living with the pandemic, the effect on people’s finances has varied widely. If you’re in the fortunate position of still having a steady income, you can plan for what lies ahead in 2021. A good first step is dealing with debt. Maybe you leaned on credit cards to get through the ups and downs … Continue reading →

A second wave of federal coronavirus relief totaling $900 billion could begin flowing to millions of Americans as soon as the year’s end, nearly nine months after Congress passed the original pandemic relief package known as the CARES Act. Here’s what the COVID relief package — part of a $2.3 trillion spending bill — could mean for you, your family, your home … Continue reading →

I’m a “be prepared” kind of person. I like having money in the bank and a good stock of emergency supplies. But I wasn’t prepared to see empty shelves at the supermarket, or thousands of cars lined up at a Texas  food bank, or nurses dressed in garbage bags because there wasn’t enough protective equipment. The pandemic showed me that … Continue reading →

The rules for protecting credit during the holidays usually don’t vary much from year to year, but in 2020, COVID-19 has changed where and how we shop. And money’s tight for a lot of people. About 40% of Americans said they plan to spend less on holidays this year due to the pandemic, according to a recent NerdWallet survey. On the … Continue reading →

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely and his colleagues at Duke University’s Center for Advanced Hindsight have a pact. Every week, the group of 50 people picks one small business in Durham, North Carolina, and each person spends $100 there. A one-time $5,000 infusion wouldn’t make a difference to Amazon, Costco or any other large retailer, but it could be enough to … Continue reading →

People who care about their credit scores tend to obsess about some things they probably shouldn’t, such as the possibility they might have too much credit. Let’s bust that myth right upfront: The leading credit scoring formulas, FICO and VantageScore, don’t punish people for having too many accounts. And right now, having access to credit could be a lifeline. In … Continue reading →

If you’re contacted about possible exposure to the coronavirus, make sure it’s legit. Scammers are masquerading as contact tracers, and it’s smart to verify calls or texts before giving out any information. A tracer’s job is to help contain the pandemic by reaching out to people who may be spreading the coronavirus. You could be called because your test was … Continue reading →

Tax filing deadlines inspire many of us to vow that we’re finally going to organize our papers. Start with understanding what should be kept, in what format and for how long. Then, set up a system to organize your records. It doesn’t have to be all-encompassing or perfect — just start where you are. Organizing will not only make next … Continue reading →

Shelter in place. Lockdown. Quarantine. Whatever you call it, it’s been a few months since the COVID-19 pandemic taught us what staying home for an extended period of time actually looks and feels like. These are unprecedented times. And although things are unpredictable right now, we can control our ability to emerge from this challenge differently than we entered it. “Like everything … Continue reading →

No one wants to waste money, but some of us go overboard trying to get the best possible deal. I have spent nearly as much time researching which hiking socks to buy as I have choosing a new car. Others of my species — we’re called “maximizers” — might miss locking in a good mortgage interest rate while waiting for … Continue reading →