by Kristen Bahler Thirteen years ago, Thomas Nitzsche was working night shifts in the customer service department of a global financial services company — tasked, mainly, with helping clients wire cash from credit cards to casino ATMs in the wee hours of the morning. Nitzsche lost that job when the 2008 recession rolled around, and as a brand new homeowner, he had to fight tooth and nail to keep from losing a lot more.

by Mallika Mitra You’ve probably come across all sorts of tips for “maximizing productivity” while working from home. From going on midday walks to actually eating breakfast for a change, there’s no shortage of advice for how to make the most out of your workday. But according to a new study, being productive isn’t so much about what you’re doing as when you’re doing it.

By Chris Taylor For tech investors this month, the smartest buy of all might have been some Dramamine. That’s because the technology sector, which has seemed so bulletproof for most of 2020, has been whipsawing around pretty violently. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite, for example, plummeted almost 10% in a week, before recovering some of those losses in recent days.

by Kenadi Silcox Back in mid-March, the Sept. 30 deadline for student debt relief outlined in the CARES Act may have seemed a long way away. Now that the date is fast approaching, what’s going to happen with your student loans? The answer: relatively little. The Education Department and its loan servicers have announced more guidance in recent weeks about how they will implement President Trump’s executive order to pause student loan payments through the end of the year.

by Mallika Mitra The tell-tale signs of fall are already knocking at our door. Temperatures are dropping, school is starting, and seasonal jobs are popping up ahead of the holidays. But those temporary employment opportunities are going to look pretty different in the age of coronavirus — and they’re going to be hard to land.

by Julia Glum The stock market has been all over the news lately, thanks to the Apple and Tesla stock splits, the race for a coronavirus vaccine and the fluctuations in the Dow. Even amateur investors are paying attention — and, in many cases, wondering if now is the perfect time to wade into the stock market. It’s not a decision to make lightly. Buying individual stocks can be profitable, but as you might guess from the recent market volatility, it can be risky.

by Martha White Whoever coined the phrase “you can’t go home again” clearly never lived through a 21st-century pandemic. As unemployment ranks grow and colleges continue to push distance learning, young adults are squeezing back into their childhood bedrooms in unprecedented numbers. Families accustomed to living apart are suddenly thrown together again, and are facing a host of spatial—and financial—complications as a result.

by Heidi Rivera Stuck at home after being furloughed in April, Norman Laborde had a lot of time on his hands. His position at a Silicon Valley tech company was deemed redundant when the company tightened spending in response to the pandemic. With no return date in sight, he started to think about his future. “The pandemic opened a lot of time that I usually don’t have for self reflection,” Laborde said.

The annual fee: It might not be the most controversial subject you can think of, but you’re sure to start a spirited debate when you ask credit card users about whether it’s ever worthwhile to pay a fee just to use a card. Some people refuse to pay any annual fee whatsoever on principal. Others do the math and swear that the rewards and benefits offered by their pricey premium cards easily justify the annual fee.

by Ingrid Case Sales are surging for pet insurance, especially among younger dog and cat owners. But whether it makes sense for you to insure your dog or cat depends a lot on your approach to pet ownership, as I know from first-hand experience. Americans and Canadians insured two-and-a-half million pets in 2019, according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association — an increase of nearly 18 percent over just the year before.