Third stimulus check: Will you get a stimulus check — and how much?
President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan would provide a third round of federal stimulus checks to millions of Americans. Yet a new agreement between Mr. Biden and moderate Democratic Senators would limit the number of households that would qualify for the $1,400 checks, cutting off millions of other Americans who had been hoping for the stimulus money. […]
COVID-19 has put ‘financially vulnerable’ Americans on even shakier footing.
Millions of “financially vulnerable” Americans have grown even more vulnerable during COVID-19, with lower-income households more likely to have experienced declines in their financial well-being, according to new data released Thursday.
New Financial Health Pulse Data Shows Millions of Americans Still Financially Struggling Amid Ongoing Pandemic
Food insecurity and fear of eviction pervasive among those hardest hit financially by pandemic with many borrowing money or cutting back on healthcare visits and medication
Breaking Silos and Challenging Inequities in America: An Interview with Jennifer Tescher
The founder and CEO of the Financial Health Network discusses COVID’s impact on communities of color, Financial Health Network’s projects for 2021, and her take on CFI’s strategic priorities. Read the Interview >>
54% of Americans worry about expenses tied to coronavirus—here’s how to cut medical costs if you get sick
For Americans, there are two major types of financial shocks to worry about if you fall ill with coronavirus: income loss and medical costs, Rob Levy, vice president of the Financial Health Network, tells CNBC Make It. Read the Article >>
Life got worse for the have-nots this year. Banks can help change that.
This year marked an unprecedented time in many ways, including for the financial health of American households. And with so many competing headlines, it can seem nearly impossible to make sense of it all. Read the Article >>
Pandemic influencing employer health benefit planning: Financial Health Network
The Financial Health Network, the nation’s authority on financial health, this week released the “Knowing Better, Doing Better: Building an Effective Financial Health Benefits Strategy” report in partnership with Morgan Stanley at Work, showing 86 per cent say they are aware of their employees’ financial health challenges, with 85 per cent of companies planning to maintain or increase […]
Many Americans are struggling financially amid the pandemic, but some are finding ways to thrive
You might think the deck is stacked against Andi Gibbs. A 25-year-old nursing assistant at a hospital system in North Carolina, Gibbs is a young, Black woman working in a caregiving profession — she has nearly all the characteristics of the people who have been hit hardest by the pandemic. Read the Article >>
UPS to Offer Employees a Way to Save for Emergencies
Shipping giant joins other companies offering rainy day funds in 401(k) plans.
Trump says: ‘I’m ready to sign a big, beautiful stimulus’ — but many Americans are not banking on it
‘Without knowing when the next round of stimulus and relief measures will arrive, many people continued to keep their expenses low’ Read the Article >>
What Could Help Address the Racial Wealth Gap
Ideas to narrow financial disparities between Black and white people in America Read the Article >>
Financial Health Still A Struggle For Many—More Financial Innovation Needed
Recent research highlights the ongoing struggle many Americans have when it comes to financial health—underscoring the need for more financial innovation to meet these needs. Read the Article >>
5 Myths About High-Yield Savings Accounts During COVID-19
Last year’s savings rates of 2% and higher have come and gone, but that doesn’t mean high-yield savings accounts disappeared. “There are high-yield savings accounts out there, but it’s all relative,” says Mike Schenk, chief economist for the Credit Union National Association. Read the Article >>
How To Cope If The Covid-19 Pandemic Has Stretched Your Finances To The Limit
Americans say they’re saving money. Retail spending is up. Low interest rates have sparked the housing market and the stock market has rebounded from its initial pandemic dive. Read the Article >>
Death Spiral for Consumers
Despite some recent good news about dwindling household debt, the financial health of U.S. consumers is rapidly deteriorating — and families with children are faring the worst. Read the Article >>
Reopening the Workplace with an Eye on Financial Health
When COVID-19 hit our economy, workplaces were focused on reacting and responding (often in real time) to address and mitigate the fallout to their business and workforce. The toll on both has been substantial. Every workplace and every worker has been impacted, and industries like retail and hospitality and low- and moderate-income workers have borne […]
Over 33 Million Americans Lost Their Job During the Pandemic
Optimism is high among workers that they can return to their pre-pandemic jobs, but economists warn over 40 percent of job losses could become permanent. Read the Article >>
Poll: Half Of Americans Financially Affected By Coronavirus
Half the country has been personally economically impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and overwhelming numbers of Americans do not think schools, restaurants or sporting events with large crowds should reopen until there is further testing, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. Read the Article >>
Lack of Savings Worsens the Pain of Coronavirus Downturn
Many of the millions of restaurant, hotel and store workers affected by shutdowns are expected to fall behind on rent and other bills.
1 in 3 Americans say their stimulus checks won’t sustain them for even a month
While millions of Americans are counting the days until their stimulus checks arrive, many fear that the one-time $1,200 payment won’t go very far. Read the Article >>
Half in U.S. Plan to Spend Relief Money on Bills, Essentials
With the first direct payments to U.S. adults from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act set to hit bank accounts this week, 35% of U.S. adults intend to use the money primarily to pay bills. Another 16% say they will purchase essential items like food or gas with the money. Twenty-nine percent […]
When are stimulus checks coming? Money set to roll out to Americans next week
“Once again, the greatest burdens will be shouldered by the most vulnerable among us, when instead we should be doing everything to give them a leg up,” Jennifer Tescher, president and CEO of Financial Health Network, a non-profit authority on consumer financial health, said in a note. Read the Article >>
31% Can’t Pay the Rent: ‘It’s Only Going to Get Worse’
As the economic shutdown pares tenants’ incomes, April payments have been reduced, deferred or withheld. Some landlords see their property at risk. Read the Article >>
Covid-19 is a chance for business leaders to rework their pact with society
A message appeared this week on the Notify NYC text feed, New York City’s official source of information about emergency alerts and city services; it was squeezed in between an update on how students can pick up grab-and-go meals at the entrance of their local school and the latest advice on containing the virus: Read the […]
Needy Will Face Hurdles to Getting Coronavirus Stimulus
The Treasury reversed guidance that would have required millions of Social Security recipients to file returns, but many other low-income people will have to submit them. Read the Article >>
Coronavirus Insights: Cash Flow Crunch, Digital Banks, Smart PR
According to The Financial Health Network, only one-third of Americans went into the COVID-19 crisis financially healthy. Their paper, “A Country Without a Cushion” (PDF), probes six factors producing this situation: insufficient insurance, income loss, inadequate workplace safeguards, constrained household finances, digital divide and disparate impacts.
Checks Won’t Cut It: Getting COVID-19 Relief To The Most Vulnerable
In all likelihood, the federal government will be sending out tens of millions of paper checks in the coming weeks and months to those who qualify for aid under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Read the Article >>
Corona and Your Personal Finances: What You Need to Know
“The requirements of social distancing will impact the vast majority of workers, resulting in layoffs, furloughs and hour reductions,” Says Rob Levy, vice president of the Financial Health Network. Read the Article >>
U.S. Workers, Businesses Lack Funds to Tide Them Over Until Help Comes
In a matter of a few weeks, many employees and small business alike will be plain out of money. The American economy is in a race against time.
Coronavirus is Shining a Light on America’s Lack of Paid Sick Leave: Here’s How Savings Can Help
As the COVID-19 pandemic (commonly called coronavirus) unfolds, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is issuing a number of common-sense recommendations – including one to stay home if you’re sick. Because the disease spreads primarily from person-to-person contact, remaining out of close personal contact with others not only allows the sick person to recover, it […]
How the coronavirus crisis will hit American workers, in one chart
The people who can least afford to lose their jobs are the ones who’ll be hit the fastest and the hardest by the coronavirus recession. Read the Article >>
The coronavirus crisis thrusts corporate HR chiefs into the spotlight
In a pandemic, a chief people officer can make or break a company. Read the Article >>
14 Banks Helping Customers Affected by Coronavirus
Banks are offering a plethora of financial hardship assistance programs to those affected by COVID-19. Read the Article >>
Many People with Employer-Sponsored Insurance Would Face High Out-of-Pocket Costs for COVID-19 Treatment
Early US cases of COVID-19 indicate treatment for the virus will require hospitalization for many affected adults of all ages. Data from China show a median hospital stay of 12 days, and recent projections (PDF) estimate an 8-day stay if critical care is not required and a 16-day stay, including 10 days in the intensive care unit (ICU), for […]
How to Build an Emergency Fund in the Middle of an Emergency
“The answer can’t be to do nothing,” said John Thompson, chief program officer of the Financial Health Network, a nonprofit focused on financial innovation. Read the Article >>
Coronavirus Recession Looms, Its Course ‘Unrecognizable’
The U.S. economic outlook darkens daily, with millions facing unemployment and businesses in a steep decline. Read the Article >>
Banks supplement benefits to help employees affected by coronavirus
As the novel coronavirus spreads throughout the U.S., banks are adding extra benefits for employees working in branches as well as those pulled away from work to deal with illness and caregiving responsibilities. Read the Article >>
The Coronavirus is a Financial Catastrophe for Workers and Residents
Seventy-one percent of American households are considered financially unhealthy, and the global coronavirus pandemic is now crashing headlong into our years-in-the-making financial health epidemic, resulting in a mutually reinforcing downward spiral.
To solve the economic crisis, we will have to solve the health-care crisis
In Washington, the focus has now turned to the economic response to the coronavirus pandemic, with experts and politicians proposing their preferred policy tools — ranging from tax cuts to corporate bailouts to direct payments of cash. Each is worth debating, but the focus is misplaced. This is not an economic crisis; it is a health-care crisis. […]
Spread Financial Empathy Instead Of Coronavirus
The virus will bankrupt more people than it kills” predicted Jennifer Tescher, CEO of the Financial Health Network. “Missing even one paycheck can have a domino effect for families, leaving a trail of missed mortgage or rent payments, utility shut-offs, unpaid bills.” Read the Article >>
Fear of Virus-Tainted Dollars Opens New Front in War on Cash
The signs began appearing around Seattle in the windows of Dick’s Drive-In, the city’s iconic burger chain: “In an abundance of caution, we ask you to please pay with credit or debit card if possible rather than cash.” Read the Article >>
Navigating Coronavirus: The True Cost of Cancellation
Earlier this week, my organization made the decision to cancel our upcoming annual conference, the EMERGE Financial Health Forum, due to the risks posed by the coronavirus.
Emergency Savings Can Help Offset Unexpected Emergencies, But Should Be a Long-Term Strategy
As concerns about the spread of COVID-19 continue, questions are also arising about the financial preparedness of Americans in the case of an unexpected emergency, such as needing to stay home from work for an extended period. Read the Article >>