Personal finance

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Internal Revenue Service employee Dixie Warden poses for a photograph on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, at Mary Kyle Hartson City Square Park in Kyle, Texas. Warden is quick to say she's “not a numbers girl.” But as the very first user of the government's free new electronic tax return filing system, Warden reports she completed her taxes this year using the program in about an hour. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

A new IRS program is helping its first users file their income taxes electronically. And it’s free

The government’s new free electronic filing system for income tax returns is getting its first users this filing season.

Jesus Noyola, a sophomore attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, poses for a portrait in the Folsom Library, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, in Troy, N.Y. A later-than-expected rollout of a revised Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FASFA, that schools use to compute financial aid, is resulting in students and their parents putting off college decisions. Noyola said he hasn’t been able to submit his FAFSA because of an error in the parent portion of the application. “It’s disappointing and so stressful since all these issues are taking forever to be resolved,” said Noyola, who receives grants and work-study to fund his education. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Students and parents are frustrated by delays in hearing about federal financial aid for college

File - A Discover card is used to pay for gasoline at a Sam's Club in Madison, Miss., July 1, 2021. A combination of inflation, increased interest rates, and the end of pandemic-tied relief, such as the moratorium on student loan payments, has led to record credit card debt, experts say. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Why now is a crucial time to pay off credit card debt

FILE - The Internal Revenue Service 1040 tax form for 2022 is seen on April 17, 2023. Majorities of U.S. taxpayers say the amount they pay in taxes is too high, with many saying that they receive a poor value for the taxes they do pay, according to a new poll from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File)

Most Americans feel they pay too much in taxes, AP-NORC poll finds

The Los Angeles Times newspaper headquarters is located in El Segundo, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. The Los Angeles Times plans to lay off 94 newsroom employees starting Tuesday, according to the head of the journalists' union who said the number, while substantial, is less than feared. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

What to do if you’re concerned you might be laid off — or if you’ve lost your job

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Those ‘Today’ show deals? Read the fine print before you buy

Daytime talk shows are looking like home-shopping programs, hawking discounted coats, watches or electric toothbrushes.

Five Tips To Help Kickstart Your Savings

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Edmunds: How to shave hours off your next dealership visit

It is no secret that buying a car at a traditional dealership is a long process. Edmunds knows some tricks, from test-drive appointments to home delivery, that can save you two hours or more.

After UPS contract vote, Teamsters drivers feel betrayed

Tens of thousands of Teamsters members earlier this month voted down a five-year contract proposal from United Parcel Service.

California sues nation’s largest student loan servicer

California’s attorney general is suing the nation’s largest student loan processor, alleging it is harming consumers by failing to properly service the debts.

On the Money: Credit cards to perfect targeting programs

Credit card companies want to use their points programs to influence what millions of customers buy, even going as far as influencing what color blender you might purchase.

More Americans expect to work until 70; there are benefits

When it comes to retirement, later may be better. Americans long viewed 65 as the age to stop working.

Junior Achievement program addresses teens’ personal finance concerns

STAMFORD — By the time he became a high-school senior, Mike Guarnieri had experience as president of a company — albeit, a very small one.

A glance at US mortgage rates

Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates were flat to slightly higher this week with the spring home buying season well underway.

Money Smart Week to offer numerous financial education opportunities

DeKALB – A number of financial education classes and seminars will be available for DeKalb County residents this month as part of Money Smart Week, a nationwide effort to help citizens control their personal finances.

Arizona weighs unusual plan for longer egg expiration dates

Arizona lawmakers are considering an unusual proposal to put a longer expiration date on some eggs to ease rules that its sponsor says are some of the strictest in the U.S.

What households need to know about the tax bill’s impact

In a Dec. 21 story, the Associated Press reported that the threshold for deducting unreimbursed medical expenses was going to rise to 10 percent of adjusted gross income in 2020.

State’s personal finance instruction bucks ranking trend

When it comes to rankings pertaining to public education, West Virginia is seldom toward the top among the nation’s states.

A recession warning signal is flashing; investors carry on

A signal that economists and investors have long used to warn of a coming recession is flashing again, as bonds that mature a decade from now are paying only slightly more than bonds maturing in a couple dozen months.

Church course teaches financial management strategies

First United Methodist Church of Baraboo will host the first installment of a three-part class Sunday that ties together personal finances and spirituality.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., leaves the House chamber after the House gave a significant boost to President Donald Trump's promise to cut taxes, narrowly passing a GOP budget that shelves longstanding concern over federal deficits in favor of a rewrite of the tax code, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2017. GOP leaders scrambled in recent days to overcame opposition by Republicans from high-tax states such as New York and New Jersey, like King, who represents Long Island, and who were upset about plans to curb the state and local tax deduction. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House backs $4T budget, faces challenges on Trump tax plan

Republicans powered a $4 trillion budget through the House on Thursday, but only by a razor-thin margin that underscored the difficulties ahead on delivering President Donald Trump’s promise to cuts taxes.

The Latest: Social Security benefits to rise 2 percent

It’s the biggest increase in Social Security benefits since 2012. But the annual cost-of-living adjustment announced Friday still only amounts to about $25 a month.

Long-term mortgage rates move higher

Long-term mortgage rates rose this week, lifting the 30-year, fixed-rate home loan from its low for the year.

Hurricane Irma a powerful reminder of preparations that should have been taken

The projected track of Hurricane Irma was looking less frightening for South Carolina as of Friday, and hopefully that proves to hold true.

FILE - This July 21, 2012, file photo shows Equifax Inc., offices in Atlanta. On Monday, Sept. 11, 2017, Equifax said it has made changes to address customer complaints since it disclosed a week earlier that it exposed vital data on about 143 million Americans. Equifax has come under fire from members of Congress, state attorneys general, and people who are getting conflicting answers about whether their information was stolen. Equifax is trying again to clarify language about people’s right to sue, and said Monday it has made changes to address customer complaints. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)

What you need to know about the Equifax data breach

NEW YORK (AP) — Equifax, one of the three main credit reporting companies, said this week that a major data breach exposed Social Security numbers and other important information of millions of people.

Paige Finley: Some lessons are better taught at home than school

In the last few months, I’ve seen a lot of articles and videos on social media relating to what schools should teach their students.

Personal finance, population growth, dollars and percents

This past week I spent some time crunching the latest census data on population growth in South Carolina, and realized those numbers have a strong personal finance connection.

Personal finance

Trump has instructed the Department of Labor to delay an Obama-era rule that would require financial professionals who charge commissions to put their clients’ best interests first when advising them on retirement investments.

FILE - In this Wednesday Nov. 2, 2016, file photo, job seekers attend a New York Department of Citywide Administrative Services job fair, in New York. It's been a tumultuous 2016, both financially and politically. The year may have left some people wondering, what’s next? (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

What 2017 may mean for your personal finances

It’s been a tumultuous 2016 — both financially and politically. The year may have left some people wondering, what’s next? And, how will it affect me?

Apple double downs on running with Nike-edition smartwatch

Apple is doubling down on running as it releases a special Nike edition of Apple Watch on Friday. With both the regular and Nike versions, Apple addresses many of the shortcomings in the original watch, including the original’s lack of GPS.

Riding Segway’s hoverboard is like skiing on LA’s streets

Despite associations with fires and falls, a new hoverboard comes across as a good way to make public transit more accessible if you aren’t near a subway station or bus stop.

This Monday, July 6, 2015 photo shows a sign for Wall Street carved into the side of a building, in New York. European stocks rose Friday, Feb. 12, 2016 shrugging off a bad day in Asia, as the sell-off in banking shares abated and oil prices rebounded from a 12-year low. But Japan's main stock index lost nearly 5 percent, leading other Asian markets lower. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

US stocks end a down week on an up note

A rebound in bank shares and energy companies lifts U.S. shares after 5 straight down days.

FILE - This Oct. 14, 2015, file photo, shows people passing a T-Mobile store, in New York. T-Mobile last month switched its customers on bigger data plans to what it’s calling “Binge On,” which lets them watch video without using up their data. The service has caused consternation among advocates of net neutrality, the concept that Internet service providers shouldn’t discriminate in favor or some content versus other content. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Q&A: Dissecting criticisms of T-Mobile’s free video streams

NEW YORK (AP) — T-Mobile has introduced a program that lets most customers watch video without using up their data allotment.

FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2015 file photo, a customer tries out his Apple iPhone 6s smartphone at the Apple store at The Grove in Los Angeles. Apple reports quarterly financial results on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)

Apple beats earnings estimates, issues healthy forecast

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Defying Wall Street skeptics, Apple says it plans to keep setting records for selling more iPhones around the world.

Recalls this week: stuffed animals, headsets

More than 33,000 stuffed toy dragons from Build-A-Bear are being recalled this week because the stuffing can pop out and pose a choking hazard for young children.