Families | Common News Update

Mar12021 by adminNo Comments

Op-ed: Families should plan to negotiate with colleges for more financial aid due to pandemic

Finance

recep-bg | E+ | Getty ImagesSpring typically represents a new beginning, a fresh start and a bright outlook for the future. This also indicates that the time is approaching for hundreds of thousands of high school seniors to decide on what college they will be attending.As a wealth advisor and parent of one of those upcoming high school graduates, this is on my list personally and something we have been planning for a long time. These plans have been complicated by the pandemic and all its impact. However, at the same time, they may present a unique opportunity for the class of 2021.Right now, colleges have been impacted financially due to the pandemic and are focused on maintaining their enrollments with the upcoming class.Many people do not even realize that negotiation is a possibility....

Feb252021 by adminNo Comments

Some families could get more than $14,000 in new Covid relief. It’s looking more and more like universal basic income

Finance

Hinterhaus ProductionsAs Congress works to finalize its latest coronavirus relief bill, some American families are poised to receive a financial windfall.Between new $ 1,400 stimulus checks and an enhanced child tax credit, that could add up to more than $ 14,000 for some families."All of the focus has been on the $ 1,400 when, in reality, for a family of four, they should be focused on the $ 14,000," said Ed Mills, Washington policy analyst at Raymond James. Mills wrote about the potential income boost this week.The new stimulus checks would provide $ 1,400 per person, including child and adult dependents.More from Personal Finance:Lawmakers question whether new child tax credit is too much or too little Still no stimulus check? What that means for your tax return this year Small bus...

Feb162021 by adminNo Comments

450,000 families ‘behind on rent because of Covid’

Business

Getty ImagesAlmost half a million UK families are thought to have fallen behind on rent, as a result of the coronavirus crisis, according to the Resolution Foundation.It said more than 750,000 had been behind on housing costs last month.That is 450,000 more than January 2020."Despite widespread calls for forbearance in the face of the Covid-19 shock, just 3% of private renting families have been able to negotiate a lower rent over the last 10 months," the think tank said in a report.Meanwhile, one in 20 private renters in the UK said they had been refused rent reductions.Tenants 'targeted' after asking for rent helpEviction ban in England extended until MarchMany had taken "huge hits" to their earnings and had "limited savings" to fall back on, research director Lindsay Judge said."To make...

Feb112021 by adminNo Comments

Families of detainees detail a vision for justice in Syria

World

BEIRUT -- Late one night in 2015, a friend of Yasmen Almashan tagged a photo to her Facebook account. The notification ended a tormented wait for a sign from her brother, detained three years earlier by Syrian troops.The photo of Okba, Almashan’s older brother, was among thousands of graphic images of the emaciated and bloodied corpses of detainees in the prisons of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The photos were smuggled out by a sympathetic forensic photographer codenamed Caesar.The photo brought some relief, Almashan said. Okba’s bruised eyes, stubble, and relatively unchanged weight indicated he died soon after his detention, so the torture didn’t last long.It also meant the wait for his return was over. “The wait was full of hope, anticipation, and it kept us in our place, costing us m...

Feb112021 by adminNo Comments

New child tax credit proposals could give families more money than the $1,400 stimulus checks

Finance

Getty ImagesMany Americans are eager to see more money from the federal government in the form of $ 1,400 stimulus checks.But another part of Democrats' $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, changes to the child tax credit, could actually give qualifying families more money than the direct payments."The child tax credit is going to be more important to many families than the economic impact payments," said Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, a non-partisan think tank.The child tax credit works to provide financial support to help parents care for children. Because it's a credit, it lets parents subtract a certain amount from their federal tax liability.More from Personal Finance:Long-term unemployment is close to a Great Recession recordHow Biden...