Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Peter Neeves
How to Successfully Institute Student-Led Conferences at Your School
When my daughters get home from school, I can’t help myself: I have to ask about their day. Every parent intuitively knows the response to this question. “It was good,” “It was fine,” or something else in that ballpark. As a middle school principal who works in a different district from the one my daughters attend, I’m especially interested in what other students’ days look like.
How Principals Can Lead a Staff Mediation Successfully
As a school leader, I strive to make sure that staffers can collaborate, communicate, and coexist in a healthy and productive fashion. That said, occasional conflicts are a part of any professional setting, even among a tight-knit group of colleagues. I’ve developed a mediation strategy that’s helped immensely in repairing frayed relationships. Of course, not all mediations immediately pay off, and some wounds run deeper than others.
Should You Be Worried?
6 second take: Understanding coronavirus’ effect on on the market can help in alleviating worries about your retirement plans. The COVID-19 pandemic has given us plenty to worry about. For many people the health concerns are front and center, but some are also struggling financially. The numbers of people filing initial unemployment claims is hard to fathom. And they’re not the only ones experiencing financial hardship.
Why is the Stock Market Up During Coronavirus?
6 second take: Understanding the stock market is key to rebuilding wealth post-lockdown Economic headlines continue to paint a grim picture of the economy’s current stack, but you wouldn’t know it if you were looking at financial markets. Thursday morning saw another increase in domestic unemployment, with an additional 3.8 million filings for the week ending April 25, according to the Department of Labor, bringing the six-week total to over 30 million Americans.
Financial Stress During Coronavirus: How to Mange
6 second take: Nearly 90 percent of Americans are stressing over their finances, but there are ways to combat anxiety and depression. The latest statistics on the psychological effects of COVID-19 confirm what many Americans already know to be true — people are stressed about money. A new poll shows that 88 percent of Americans say that the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic has caused stress on their personal finances, according to the National Endowment for Financial Education.
Rebuilding Credit: 5 Steps to a Better Score
6 second take: Rebuilding credit after a financial downturn can be difficult. With time and the right strategy, you can steadily increase your score. One financial toll of hard times is damaged credit. When many people are struggling to stay safe and put food on the table, things like bills can come in second place. For those who are looking toward what appears to be the light of the end, it may be time to consider rebuilding credit from whatever damage has been done.
COVID-19’s Financial Strain Could Last Well Into the Fall
6 second take: Even those unaffected thus far by the pandemic need to take adequate measures to prepare for a long recovery period. While it was already clear Americans were hurting from the economic ripples of COVID-19, with unemployment increasing each week since mid-March, the effects extend well beyond the latest statistics from the Department of Labor.
Paying Rent During Coronavirus: What If I Can't Pay?
6 second take: Rent, mortgage, and credit card payments are on the horizon, but it’s possible to get help if you’re unable to make them. With millions of individuals suffering from the economic fallout of COVID-19, and with the pandemic now into its second month, many Americans will find themselves unable to pay May’s rent this week — and may likely forego other timely payments as well.
Who Pays for Coronavirus Treatment? It Depends
6 second take: Depending upon your healthcare provider, you could pay anywhere between nothing and thousands to receive critical treatment. Despite the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act a month ago, confusion remains for many Americans in terms of who’s paying for coronavirus treatment, and how much individuals should expect to pay for healthcare.
What to Do With Your Retirement Account Now
6 second take: Follow these steps to ensure your retirement plan is on the right track, even during times of extreme market volatility. If you’re getting whiplash from watching the market, you’re not alone. This market volatility makes it seem as if all of the usual rules about investing and money management have gone out the window. But stick with me. I’m going to highlight why the old, time-tested rules are more relevant than ever.
Expanding Unemployment Benefits
6 second take: Lawmakers drew up plans to expand COBRA benefits last week, but Americans fearing a layoff should plan for the worst possible outcome. As Congress continues its patchwork approach to providing coronavirus relief to more than 22 million unemployed Americans, House Democrats unveiled a bill last week that would expand the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) to ensure healthcare provisions to recently unemployed individuals.
Will Coronavirus Lead to a Depression? It May Be Too Soon to Tell
6 second take: Public fears of a coronavirus depression remain, but quick decision-making from lawmakers can help the U.S. avoid catastrophe. The latest Department of Labor numbers were released this morning, indicating another 4.4 million Americans have filed for unemployment over the past week, demonstrating continued economic fallout from the rapid spread of novel coronavirus despite recent curve-flattening successes.
Crisis Emergency Fund: What to Know When Saving
6 second take: COVID-19 has affected all of us in different ways, but building an emergency fund can help anyone weather the storm. The COVID-19 crisis has caused many people hardship. Beyond the direct health consequences many have suffered financial and other hardships as a direct result of this pandemic. As we look forward we begin to see rays of light that may indicate the beginning of return to a degree of normalcy.
Coronavirus Relief for Small Business: What to Know
6 second take: If you missed out on a Paycheck Protection Program loan, now is your chance to obtain a much-needed boost for your small business. The Senate passed additional coronavirus relief Tuesday (April 21) in the form of legislation that would add $370 billion in small business relief loans. The bill would also set aside $75 billion for hospitals and healthcare providers, plus an additional $25 billion toward COVID-19 testing efforts.
Dealing With Money Anxiety: Top Tips From a Pro
6 second take: If you ever want to maximize your wealth, you must be willing to deal with your own baggage — including your money anxiety. I’ve always been a mama’s girl. I was “foot to foot” behind my mother, as Antiguans would say. So when my father unexpectedly abandoned my mother, my brother, and me, I not only carried my hurt as a fatherless daughter, but I also assumed my mother’s hurt as a woman scorned.
Expanding Unemployment Benefits
6 second take: Lawmakers drew up plans to expand COBRA benefits last week, but Americans fearing a layoff should plan for the worst possible outcome. As Congress continues its patchwork approach to providing coronavirus relief to more than 22 million unemployed Americans, House Democrats unveiled a bill last week that would expand the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) to ensure healthcare provisions to recently unemployed individuals.
Oil Prices During Coronavirus May Signal Future Layoffs
6 second take: Consumers benefit from paying less at the pump, but the ramifications for the economy could negatively impact us all. Here’s why. As people around the world continue to practice social distancing and stay home throughout the novel coronavirus pandemic, the decreased demand for oil has led to a dramatic decrease in prices worldwide.
DIY Taxes Can Cost You: How to Avoid Mistakes
6 second take: While the DIY trend is catching on in tax filing, hiring an accountant has its own unique advantages. Back taxes. Mistakes. Audits. Missed opportunities. These are some of the unfortunate side effects of DIY tax preparation. I started freelancing in March 2016. Since then, I’ve seen how stressful and busy tax season can get for the self-employed. I’ve heard stories from other business owners who’ve gotten on the bad side of the IRS.
Millions of Americans Sufffer Delays
6 second take: Despite an IRS web app designed to speed up payment arrival, confusing error messages and delays make for a difficult user experience. If you still haven’t received your coronavirus relief check, and are feeling impatient as you await a direct deposit, you’re certainly not alone.
Understanding Interest and Investment Returns
6 second take: Taking time to understand some key investing terms is the first step towards meeting your financial goals There are a variety of terms describing components or aspects of investment performance. The type and form of return can make a difference. For example, long-term capital gains are taxed differently than interest income. Understanding the terminology used with different forms of interest and returns will help you understand how your investments work and what they are doing.
Coronavirus Deaths Increase After Several Days of Decline
Create Account 6 second take: An increase of coronavirus-related deaths came yesterday, but officials indicate rates of infection and mortality are still leveling. After several days of declining death rates nationwide, the United States saw its highest number of COVID-19 related deaths yesterday, when over 2,400 Americans died within a 24-hour period.
Northeast Governors Collaborate to Reopen the Economy
6 second take: Seven states announced their intention to work together in determining a plan to reopen their economies post-coronavirus. In developing a data-driven, expert-led strategy to reopen their economies, the governors of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts announced on Monday they will work together in combating novel coronavirus, citing an intention to share key statistics and research across state borders to create a plan forward.
How to Start an Emergency Fund
6 second take: While many people recognize the importance of an emergency fund, they find it challenging to build one. Here are 7 great steps to get started. Everyone knows that it’s a good idea to have an emergency fund, right? And it makes sense. Life is full of unexpected surprises, and having some money tucked away and readily accessible is incredibly helpful when you have unplanned situations arise. Why You Need Emergency Savings 1.
CARES Act Relief for Small Businesses
6 second take: Small business owners suffering from COVID-19's economic can turn to these government programs for some necessary relief. Many small businesses are facing unprecedented difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses in many locations have been forced to close. Others, deemed essential, have been allowed to continue to operate yet may be experiencing significant decreases in sales. Very few small businesses are seeing a continuation of normality.
Free Online Classes During Coronavirus
6 second take: Make the best of self-isolation while strengthening your professional skill set with these affordable online options. It’s hard to overstate the profound effects of COVID-19 on our day-to-day lives, especially the ways in which the economy has adjusted to the necessity of “staying home” during a pandemic.
How to Prepare for a Pandemic and Quarantine
6 second take: In the midst of a global pandemic, here’s how to ensure you’re fully prepared for quarantine. Crazy how toilet paper and hand sanitizer have beaten dollars and cents as the United States’ official currency, isn’t it? Okay, maybe it’s not that bad (yet), but with the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, our social media feeds are littered with images of scarcity. We see empty supermarket shelves, with lines stretching for blocks just to enter the store.
What to Do When You Run Out of Money — 6 Steps to Take
6 second take: Realizing that you can't make ends meet is daunting, but it's not the end. Here are six steps you can take when you've run out of money. It’s not uncommon to go through a time when you have no idea how you’ll make ends meet. Sometimes the amount of money needed to pay the bills is just bigger than the money available.
CARES Act Relief for Small Businesses
6 second take: Small business owners suffering from COVID-19's economic can turn to these government programs for some necessary relief. Many small businesses are facing unprecedented difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses in many locations have been forced to close. Others, deemed essential, have been allowed to continue to operate yet may be experiencing significant decreases in sales. Very few small businesses are seeing a continuation of normality.
How to Prepare for a Pandemic and Quarantine
6 second take: In the midst of a global pandemic, here’s how to ensure you’re fully prepared for quarantine. Crazy how toilet paper and hand sanitizer have beaten dollars and cents as the United States’ official currency, isn’t it? Okay, maybe it’s not that bad (yet), but with the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, our social media feeds are littered with images of scarcity. We see empty supermarket shelves, with lines stretching for blocks just to enter the store.
Best Practices for Your Account
Disclosure We are an affiliate for products that we recommend and receive compensation from the companies whose products we recommend on this site. The placement of the links on this site may be influenced by the compensation received by the respective companies. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own, and not those of any partner bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other partner.
12 Uses for an Extra $1,000
6 second take: If you've recently found yourself with an influx of cash, but are unsure how to spend it, consider these twelve best uses. We all periodically receive windfalls of some form. One of the most common is a tax refund. The problem for many people is that the windfall income comes into the household and gets absorbed into the budget. A few months later, it’s nearly impossible to tell where it went.
Finding Employment Throughout COVID-19
6 second take: If you've recently lost your job due to COVID-19's economic fallout, consider looking to the following four industries for a temporary gig. The rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has sent shockwaves through the global economy.
What to Do When You Run Out of Money - 6 Steps to Take
6 second take: Realizing that you can't make ends meet is daunting, but it's not the end. Here are six steps you can take when you've run out of money. It’s not uncommon to go through a time when you have no idea how you’ll make ends meet. Sometimes the amount of money needed to pay the bills is just bigger than the money available.
Managing Your Money During a Crisis
6 second take: Taking necessary steps now can help protect your finances through the COVID-19 pandemic. Fear can drive people to do things they’ll later regret. Right now there’s a lot of fear. Some of it is justified. Some is irrational. When addressing finances during a time of crisis, we should be slow and thoughtful. Most Americans don’t have enough cash to weather an emergency (even one of just $400). Many may have just become painfully aware of that. Others may soon realize that.
Filing Taxes as a Freelancer: Essential Tips
6 second take: Avoid tax-time stress by getting to know the best ways to put yourself on the right side of the IRS! When I first began thinking about pursuing a career as a freelance writer, I envisioned my days working from home in pajama pants, cranking out work that I could take pride in. But do you know what part of the process I didn’t think about? Filing taxes as a freelancer. That’s right.
Why You Should Invest Like a Woman
6 second take: Certain traits make women keen, level-headed investors. Here's are a few successful habits you can learn from women and investing. Women face greater obstacles in investing and obtaining financial freedom. Getting paid less means fewer resources to work with. Living longer means greater demands on resources, both due to additional years and greater healthcare costs.
Helping Each Other Succeed
6 second take: When you work with other women instead of working against them, amazing things can happen. Do entrepreneurship and female friendship go hand in hand? Raise your hand if you’re a woman who just gets along better with men. This includes in the workplace and among your group of friends. I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember. However, a few years ago, I learned both the financial and the personal value of collaborating instead of competing with other women.
What Is Asset Allocation
6 second take: A complex tool with a simplified and understandable explanation — find out what asset allocation is and how it could benefit you. Asset allocation is misunderstood. It’s more than just not having all of your eggs in one basket. It’s a complex tool, but using asset allocation can be simple. The disservice many do in explaining asset allocation is to oversimplify. It certainly can be simplified and made understandable. But making it appear far simpler than it is glosses over its power.
How Will the New Tax Law Affect Me? Changes for 2019 Filing
6 second take: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is hundreds of pages long, and a few of its changes could seriously affect your bank account. The American Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts (TCJA) continues to be the law of the land, and the still comparatively new law will affect your 2019 income tax return. But how has it changed since it went into effect, you ask? It namely affects your estimated tax payments, the money withheld from your paycheck, and your income tax return for 2019.
How to Pay Off Debt By Building Savings
6 second take: It may sound strange, but putting money aside instead of paying off more of your debt could save you big in the long run. Pay off debt by building savings: Sometimes the most appropriate thing to do can seem counterintuitive. This is true when dealing with problem debt. People often put a lot of thought and analysis into their debt payment methodology. And they often move sideways, the debt bouncing around without coming down in any appreciable manner.
Lifestyle Creep: Understanding and Avoiding This Trap
6 second take: It's easy to feel pressured into a lifestyle that you can't afford. Find out how to avoid the traps of lifestyle creep. Lifestyle creep affects the affluent as well as the poor. It shows no favor. It saps your finances and prevents you from achieving your goals. All too often, you’re not even aware it’s happening. Lifestyle creep is a major financial problem you might not know exists.
Saving When Everything’s Pricier
6 second take: Staying within your budget when clothes shopping is never easy — and even tougher when you’re plus size. Let me just say this: I love my body. Albeit short and still (relatively) young, this body has managed to run half-marathons, create a baby, and get down at dance classes with the best of them. But there is one thing I dislike about my form: having to go plus-size clothes shopping.
Cheap Dental Care Without Insurance: Where to Look
6 second take: Dentist bills are enough to make anyone’s jaw drop. But even if you don’t have insurance, there’s a way to get cheap dental care. When I got divorced, dental insurance was the last thing on my mind. Though it wouldn’t have changed anything, I had no idea how expensive the out-of-pocket costs would be. A teeth cleaning alone would cost me upward of $100, and I don’t even want to talk about how much for a crown or filling.
How Songs About Money Can Help With Your Finances
6 second take: Financial advice can be found anywhere, but it might resonate more if you hear it coming out of your stereo or airpods. It was 1994 when groundbreaking hip-hop outfit (and martial arts enthusiasts) Wu-Tang Clan penned the lyrics “cash rules everything around me,” creating both a mantra for hustlers everywhere and a future caption for crappy Instagram photos of rich kids living off their parents’ success.
The Best Way to Pay Off Debt: Clean Up, Then Clear Out
6 second take: Financial strategists claim one of two wats is the best method for paying off debt, but the best path may be a combination of the two. Debt strategists across America are remarkably divided on the best way to pay off debt. They both claim their side is the correct side: the one that works and makes the difference between financial success and financial failure. They scream “snowball” or “avalanche” as the end-all means of managing debt — as if no other plan will work.
What Happens If You Don't File Taxes? A Guide
6 second take: Don’t fail to file taxes, even if your income looks like a pittance. In fact, you might even get some money back. Financial confession time: There was one year when I didn’t file my taxes. I know that’s particularly horrendous for a personal finance writer to admit, but it’s the truth. It happened a full two years before I had my come-to-Jesus moment about money. At the time, I was waiting tables and working an unpaid internship.
What to Do When You Are Broke: 8 Steps to Take
6 second take: When your bank account start to run out, you may feel helpless. Luckily, there are a handful of steps you can take to come out on top. Many people have experienced the despair of being completely broke — of feeling like an identity thief would take one look and give your ID back. But being broke isn’t the real problem — staying broke is. The steps you take when you realize that you’re completely broke will determine how long you remain in that condition.
Bond Prices and Interest Rates: A Guide
6 second take: You don't need a degree in finance to understand bonds and interest — here's what you need to know. The relationship between bonds and interest isn’t mythical or abstract. It’s straightforward, albeit with a number of variables. But a working understanding of bonds and interest needn’t be difficult. Bonds are issued by organizations to raise capital. Corporations issue them; governments issue them. The bond is an obligation to repay the purchaser their money at some point in the future.
What If I Can’t Pay My Taxes?
6 second take: Most people hope for a refund when they fill out their yearly tax return. But if you do owe taxes and are unable to pay, there are some options. No one likes owing money to the government, but it may be unavoidable come tax time. Whether you’re a self-employed individual who underestimated the amount owed or work in a position wherein your taxes are not deducted, come April 15, it’s time to pony up some green to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
How to File an Amended Tax Return: Your Guide
6 second take: Amending a tax return isn’t difficult, as long as you know some basic information. I don’t think filing taxes is on anyone’s list of favorite things to do, let alone filing an amended return. The process can be extremely complicated and frustrating. I should know — as a former accountant, I used to help people prepare their tax returns. I understand how difficult it can be to manage your taxes without professional help.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Peter
Contact Peter, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack