by Joanna Nesbit Say your child is away at college and lands in the hospital, injured and unconscious, after being in a car accident. It’s a horrible scenario to imagine, of course. But the situation could be worse: It’s possible you wouldn’t even receive information about your student’s medical status unless you’d filled out the proper forms ahead of time.

by Ana Reina You’ve probably heard of Robinhood, the popular investing app millennials are buzzing about. The Silicon Valley darling has amassed an impressive following since its launch in 2013, with more than 13 million active users. Robinhood is a commission-free trading platform, meaning users can invest in stocks, cryptocurrencies, ETFs, and other vehicles without going through a traditional brokerage.

by Chris Taylor Every investor worries about picking a stock that goes wrong. But what if things go right – like, very right? It’s a great problem to have – but that situation presents some unique challenges all on its own. Just ask Clark Randall. The Dallas financial planner saw the writing on the wall this past spring, when COVID-19 was starting to transform America and coop us all up in our homes. He figured that technology would be the big beneficiary of this societal shift.

by Paul Schrodt Dog bites can cost serious money to settle, and can even put your home insurance policy into peril. Here’s how to make sure you’re covered. Liability claims from dog bites and other dog-related injuries in the U.S. totaled $797 million in 2019, according to the Insurance Information Institute (or Triple I) and State Farm. And while the number of dog-related claims was stable, the average cost per claim increased by 14.7 percent in 2019, to a hefty $44,760.

With spring home-buying season disrupted by the coronavirus, would-be house hunters may be wondering if this fall will be a good time to buy. The housing market is typically slow after August, as kids settle in for the school year and the weather starts to cool in much of the country. But, this year, the answer to that question—like so many posed since the start of the pandemic—is it depends.

by Elizabeth O'Brien Some older Americans will get a special tax break this year. But if you’re eligible and you don’t act fast, you could lose it. Retirees aren’t required to take minimum distributions (RMDs) from their retirement accounts in 2020. If you withdrew money earlier this year and don’t need it to live on, then you have until Aug. 31 to return it if you don’t want those funds counted toward your income for the year.

by Dima Williams When Betsey Rider and her husband decided to sell their four-bedroom house in Annapolis, Md., to tap the rising demand this May, they found buyers before even listing the abode. The Riders and the homebuyers settled on a price of $825,000. But days later the appraiser came back with a value of roughly $720,000—more than $100,000 less than the contract price. “We could not comprehend why,” says Rider.

by Mallika Mitra As if we didn’t have enough to worry about in 2020, it looks like many investors are now fretting about inflation too. That’s according to a key bond market indicator, known as the TIPS spread, which measures the price difference between inflation-adjusted and plain-vanilla Treasuries.

by Paul Schrodt Laura Vanderkam has built her career on time management. But nothing could have prepared the author, podcast host, and productivity expert for knowing how wildly different the average workday would look at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Still, her new book, The New Corner Office: How the Most Successful People Work from Home (July 21, Portfolio/Penguin Random House), has arrived just in time.

The idea of accessing your paycheck before it actually hits your bank account is an appealing one, especially in this economy. Unfortunately, there may be a catch. Payday loans — which are small, unsecured loans that don’t require collateral and have short terms — are a popular way for people to access cash fast. But in practice they end up costing borrowers a lot, so you need to know what you’re getting into.