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The recession has hit middle-income and poor families hardest, widening the economic gap between the richest and poorest Americans as rippling job layoffs ravaged household budgets.
Kostas Kalaitzidis wanted to buy a home when he moved to Phoenix in 2008, but between his modest salary and the expensive market, he couldn’t swing it.
The poor are much more likely to smoke than the rich, a Gallup-Healthways study found last year.
With the April 15 tax deadline approaching, do you have questions about filing, credits and more? Here, the National Association of Enrolled Agents, the IRS and TODAY financial editor Jean Chatzky offer tips to help you through the paperwork.
TODAY’s financial team offers viewers advice on money matters ranging from preserving emergency funds to dealing with student loans — and they include several helpful links to help secure your financial future.
After a job loss, failed business venture or dwindling investment portfolio, more Americans are likely to qualify for tax breaks for 2008 that they didn't qualify for before. Yet a recent survey by CCH Complete Tax found two out of three taxpayers fear they may overlook tax breaks or make mistakes that could cost them fines or penalties.
How should you go about buying stocks for your grandkids? Should students opt for affordable state schools instead of expensive private schools? TODAY financial editor Jean Chatzky, CNBC’s Carmen Wong Ulrich and Sharon Epperson, author of “The Big Payoff,” offer advice on these issues, plus wise words about protecting your credit, investing and more:
Nearly 1 of every 6 tax returns filed so far includes errors in reporting last year’s federal stimulus payments, the Internal Revenue Service said, blaming confusion among professional tax preparers and early releases of tax software.
In owning up to the mistake of nominating former Sen. Tom Daschle for his Cabinet — in spite of known problems with his tax returns — President Obama said it was important to stress that “there aren’t two sets of rules, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes.”
The long-standing, politically sensitive wealth gap between China's citydwellers and its farmers is widening as the economy slows, foiling pledges by its communist leaders to help the countryside catch up.
Shelly Butterfield, 53, has more than 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry, in roles ranging from lending officer to regional manager of a lending company. She’s accustomed to the rhythms of her commission-based work, hustling in busy months to prepare for slow winters, keeping her eye on a shifting lending landscape so she knows what products are available to different clients.
The idea is remarkably simple: To get the economy moving again, you need to get people in a spending mood. What could be simpler than handing out tax rebates? Alas, as with all things related to the U.S. Tax Code, the question of who gets what turns out to be not so simple.
With the start of the new tax year, the hunt for tax-lowering deductions and credits is officially on. But new opportunities are scarcer this year.
Income differences in the U.S. are too stark, and the government should provide jobs and training for those having a tough time, according to majorities in a national poll released Thursday.
Light-skinned immigrants in the United States make more money on average than those with darker complexions, and the chief reason appears to be discrimination, a researcher says.
President Bush and the first lady paid about $187,000 in federal taxes this year on income of about $735,000. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife made more than 10 times as much, overpaid the tax man and are looking for a $1.9 million refund.
Man who claimed disability spotted on TV show– California tax officials say an interior designer's false disability claim was uncovered when he was spotted on a home improvement television show.
To my esteemed GOP colleagues that seemingly did not take or failed Economics 101, tax cuts do not work unless there is income to offset the tax cuts. Several members of the Conservative Caucus act as they have all the answers for the ills of the nation.
Shrinking Paychecks, Increasing Taxes For California ResidentsSALINAS, Calif. -- California's Tax Franchise Board is increasing the amount of income-tax withholdings 10 percent to generate revenue for the state's cash-strapped economy.
Women's Wages Outpaced Men's During Recession The wages of the typical woman who had a job during the worst recession in decades rose faster than those of the typical man, new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show.
Ted-talk: Let My Dataset Change Your Mindset In the talk at the US State Department in the summer of 2009, Hans Rosling showed the overall global trends in health and income over the last 200 years, the development of the HIV/AIDS-epidemic and how China is catching up on the richest countries.
Where Americans Pay Most To Live: Housing costs--including taxes, insurance and utilities--cost residents of these 20 metros most.It happens every month: Millions of American pony up for the gas bill, mortgage or rent payment and real estate taxes--and subsequently watch their bank balances dwindle. That's because housing expenses are the biggest monthly expense most families face.
Survey Ranks the 10 Best Jobs in AmericaIn the midst of the worst job market in three decades, you might think the only thing people care about when it comes to their career is having a job and keeping it.
Time to tackle America's widening inequality... figures from the Internal Revenue Service show that in 2007 the top-percentile income share reached 23.5 per cent, continuing a 30-year increase ...
Based upon our socioeconomic class status, there are three types of people: Lower Class, Middle Class, and Upper Class. Even within those "classes", there are sub-classes, broken down again into lower, middle, and upper.
Surprising Jobs that Pay $25 an HourCareer websites typically compile a listing of jobs that pay $25 an hour. The list of professions -- and the career training you need to pass the muster of recruiters -- can be daunting.
What Divides America?It may surprise anyone following the charges of racism that have flared up during the debate over President Obama's health care proposals, but a survey taken this summer found that fewer people perceived there are strong conflicts between blacks and whites than saw strong conflic …
Affordability gap between rich and poorThere is a major affordability gap between Canada's richest and poorest households, says a new Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study Includes link to download the study as a pdf
Income Gap Shrinks in Slump at the Expense of the Wealthy The deepest downturn in the U.S. economy since the Great Depression may finally shrink the gap between the very best-off Americans and everyone else. If so, it won't be by lifting up the bottom. It will be by pulling down the top.
Federal Minimum Wage InfoWhat does it mean that the minimum wage is at its lowest real value in 50 years? As the basic income required to support a family has grown with inflation, the minimum wage has not kept pace with the rising costs of goods.
'How we paid off $106,000 in debt'Five years ago, the Hildebrandt family of New Richmond, Wis., was juggling more than $100,000 in credit card and personal debt. Through frugality, determination and hard work, they are now -- other than a mortgage -- debt-free.
Area farmers react to USDA's prediction of drastic drop in farm income A drop in agriculture prices is expected to send farmers' income plummeting. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is predicting net farm income to drop 38 percent nationwide, or $33.2 billion.
After 30 year run, Rise of the Super-Rich Hits a Sobering Wall The relative struggles of the rich may elicit little sympathy from less well-off families who are dealing with the effects of the worst recession in a generation. But the change does raise several broader economic questions.
I am a proud liberal. I have never been a tax reform advocate. I'm not one of those people who claim "income tax is unconstitutional," or "the dollar has no value because it is not backed by gold or silver." I do believe in fiscal responsibility.
Income Inequality Is At An All-Time High: STUDYIncome inequality in the United States is at an all-time high, surpassing even levels seen during the Great Depression, according to a recently updated paper by University of California, Berkeley Professor Emmanuel Saez.
Rising Inequality vs. the American DreamIf you feel that you are not receiving your share of America's treasure, then you are not alone. Data on income and wealth from the US show that as the American economy develops, both income and wealth become increasingly concentrated into the hands of the richest Americans.
A Visualized Look At The Estimated Revenues Of The Top Cell Phone ManufacturersWith the recent announcements of 2nd quarter earnings, some incredible data has been released. The cell phone handset industry has sold over $65B in the last 6 months. Of that, 9.7% was pocketed by the companies.
Health insurance carries a painful cost - CNN.comIn 2007, Hernandez, 65, and his wife Janet, 62, spent more than $15,000 on insurance premiums. Add a little more than $8,200 for co-payments and medicine, and Hernandez says
Iraqi Kurds Cast Ballots in Local Vote SULAIMANIYA, Iraq — Voters in Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdistan region cast their ballots on Saturday in local presidential and parliamentary elections as a hunger for political reform clashed with a desire to maintain stability.
Yes, we all are responsible for this debt! The personal debt, the national debt, and what all the growing numbers amount to in real dollars is listed below - Forsyth, Georgia Since the stock market took its nosedive last fall it seems there is hardly a day that passes where the n …
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