Smart Money Links 4U

As my 37th birthday approached in times of coronavirus, I faced a decision: Cancel the revelry in the interest of flattening the curve? Or proceed as if we weren’t in the middle of a pandemic that’s bringing the world to its knees? March Madness had already been canceled. So had St. Patrick’s Day parades across the globe. The Boston Marathon and Kentucky Derby were postponed. But here in St. Petersburg, Florida, I was still waffling on whether plans for the 37th Annual Robin Hartill Awareness Day really needed to be canceled.  Couldn’t I keep my plans to meet up with friends for margaritas if we sat 6 feet apart and avoided the communal chips and queso order? But every day in the week leading up to my March 20 birthday brought the pandemic closer to home. Every day brought a tidal wave of business closings. Every closure meant more people would bear the financial burden of flattening the curve.  Here’s all of our coverage of the coronavirus outbreak , which we will be up...

The acronym kind of sounds like the name of your aunt’s old dachshund, but MOOCs (massive open online courses) are having a huge impact on continuous learning. Right now, you can register for a course in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or in a philosophy course from Harvard University. You can also enroll in classes about video games and felting — all for free. Yeah, really.  The right MOOCs can lend your career a competitive edge — but where should you start?  It seems every time I log into LinkedIn, I drown in advice from different career experts. Today, I’m urged to learn mobile app development. Tomorrow might be “JK not mobile app dev, but I PROMISE you should learn business-to-business marketing.” I’m all for continuous learning, but an early career journalist like me doesn’t need to take a B2B sales seminar (thanks anyway, Carol from LinkedIn.) “[Hard skills] are always going to change if they’re overly technical,” said Ben Brook...

That pile of bills may suddenly look like a mountain if your income has been affected by COVID-19. Under normal circumstances, we’re big fans of budgeting, paying your bills on time and avoiding debt. But these are not normal circumstances. Here’s all of our coverage of the coronavirus outbreak , which we will be updating every day. Even if some relief is arriving in the form of a stimulus check , that check may not arrive in time for the bills due this week. So if you’re experiencing tough times, you may need to decide which bills to pay and which to delay — and perhaps even lean on credit cards, according to Chad Parks, founder and CEO of Ubiquity Retirement + Savings . “It’s not a good, sound strategy in normal times,” he said. “But when things are tough, you gotta do what you gotta do.” We’re here to help you prioritize when you can’t afford to pay your bills. What Can I Do If I Can’t Afford to Pay My Bills? There are differing levels of crisis management, but there ar...

Here’s the problem with grocery delivery services. It’s not that they’re too expensive. It’s not that the inventory options are limited. It’s not that having someone else pick your produce feels weird. The real problem is it’s hard to figure out how much they really cost. Every grocery delivery service that lets you order online before dropping bags at your door distills its “How it Works” page down to about three steps. Order, pay, receive. None of them are upfront about how much the service costs per month or per order.  I’m not trying to tell you the cost, whatever it is, isn’t worth it. I’ll be the first to leave the shopping and driving to someone else who can do it more efficiently than I can.  But when you have to dig around for pricing, restrictions, delivery times and other information about the steadily increasing number of grocery delivery services, you can lose sight of sensibility. You can get sucked into the novelty of ordering leeks through an app without t...

If you’re experiencing financial trouble due to coronavirus, tapping into your 401(k) is about to get less expensive. The $2 trillion stimulus bill would waive the penalties for early withdrawals and give people more flexibility if they want to borrow money from their retirement plans. The rules will apply if: You, your spouse or a dependent was diagnosed with COVID-19. You were laid off, furloughed or had your work hours reduced as a result of the virus. You were unable to work because you didn’t have child care due to the virus. You owned a business that had to close or reduce its hours as the result of the virus. 4 Coronavirus Retirement Savings Rules to Know Here’s how the rules for withdrawing money early from your retirement account or borrowing from your plan will change under the bill signed Friday by President Trump. 1. You’ll Be Able to Withdraw up to $100K Without the 10% Penalty If you’ve been impacted by coronavirus, you’ll be able to withdraw up to $100,000 fr...

Staying away from one another is one of the best ways to combat the spread of COVID-19. We get it. But cabin fever is real. And due to all the financial uncertainty lately, now’s probably not a good time to go on an online shopping spree buying stuff to entertain yourself. Here’s all of our coverage of the coronavirus outbreak , which we will be updating every day. Finding activities that don’t cost money and don’t involve physically being near other people is key. Here are nine free things to do while social distancing. 1. ‘Visit’ a Museum Check out your favorite museum, aquarium or cultural landmark without stepping beyond your front door. Look for virtual tours on the websites of your favorite museums. The  Louvre and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History are two popular options. If you’re an animal lover, check out live cams from places like the Georgia Aquarium or the Houston Zoo . Another great option for exploring is Google’s Art and Culture p...