Things To Do In SW Florida

By Sara Rathner | NerdWallet

Thanks to travel rewards credit cards, you summer like a celebrity for the cost of a staycation, and your friends are starting to notice. There’s no reason to gatekeep your travel secrets — the more friends know about how to earn valuable rewards, the more who will join you on epic and deeply discounted adventures.

Not only do you take the time to answer their credit card questions, but you also send referral links if you carry a card they’re interested in applying for. If they end up getting a card with your referral, they can earn a generous sign-up bonus by meeting the card’s spending requirement, and you get “paid” for your time and expertise by getting a referral bonus.

But there might be a catch. That referral bonus can come with a tax bill.

How the IRS looks at credit card rewards

You may owe taxes on some credit card rewards, depending on how you earn them and the dollar value of what you redeem.

“If you have to spend money for it — for example, you get a bonus after spending $3,000 within a certain time frame — then, it‘s not taxable,” Luis F. Rosa, a certified financial planner and enrolled agent in Las Vegas, said in an email. “However, if no money was spent and it was just an incentive, then, the income is taxable.” read more

AUSTIN — U.S. existing home sales have reached their lowest levels in nearly 30 years, despite a surge of millennials entering their prime homebuying years, and activity likely won’t bounce back until interest rates start coming down.

“I thought by this time the housing market would be recovering. It has not yet recovered. Home sales are still down from last year,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economic with the National Association of Realtors, speaking Thursday at the annual conference of the National Association of Real Estate Editors in Austin.

The Federal Reserve gave guidance in December that it might cut rates three to four times in 2024. But inflation has remained more persistent than expected, and forecasts are now down to one or two cuts this year, Yun said.

Although the country has 70 million more people than in 1995, existing home sales nationally are now at levels seen in that year, he said.

Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic, called 2024 “the year of the head fake” when it comes to housing. read more

The Boeing Starliner spacecraft and its crew won’t return to Earth from the International Space Station until sometime in July at the earliest, NASA and Boeing said Friday evening.

It’s the latest in a series of delays for Starliner’s return, which earlier in the week was moved to June 26. Small helium leaks in the craft’s thruster propulsion system have been a concern since shortly after Starliner lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on June 5 with astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board.

On Friday, one reason given for the new delay was to avoid conflicts with two spacewalks planned at the ISS on June 24 and July 2.

“The move off Wednesday, June 26, deconflicts Starliner’s undocking and landing from a series of planned International Space Station spacewalks while allowing mission teams time to review propulsion system data,” NASA’s Space Station blog reported.

NASA said mission managers will evaluate possible Starliner return dates after the ISS spacewalks.

“We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “We are letting the data drive our decision making relative to managing the small helium system leaks and thruster performance we observed during rendezvous and docking.” read more

Elaine S. Povich | (TNS) Stateline.org

SMITHFIELD, R.I. — Child care worker Marci Then, 32, looked over at two 4-year-olds in her care who were tussling over a toy plate in a model kitchen set. “Are we sharing?” she gently asked them. They both let go.

Then works at Little Learners Academy child care center near Providence, Rhode Island. Her daughter, Mila, 4, is enrolled there, so Then is able to keep a watchful eye on her in addition to about a dozen other 4-year-olds. Mila calls her mother “Miss Marci” at school, but “Mom” at home.

Most of the time, Mila is in another room with a different worker at the center, adhering to rules that don’t allow parent caregivers to watch their own children in a licensed setting. But for today, Mila is around her mom for a bit to show a reporter around.

Mila proudly chirps her age, then helps put toys away so the kids can quietly gather for circle time.

Then said that without help she would not have been able to afford the $315 a week for Mila to come to Little Learners. But she is taking advantage of a one-year state pilot program that authorizes the use of federal funds to pay for care for the children of early education workers. read more

By Eliza Haverstock | NerdWallet

Starting July 1, the Education Department will limit enrollment in three income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, which cap monthly student loan payments at a certain portion of income and can eventually forgive remaining debt.

The most significant change: The Pay as You Earn (PAYE) plan will close all new enrollment starting July 1. If you’re already on PAYE, you’ll remain on the plan.

“Any borrower who has significant debt and thinks they’re going to get forgiveness under an income-driven plan should look into whether Pay as You Earn is able to save them more money over time,” says Betsy Mayotte, president and founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors.

If PAYE is your route to paying the least over time, apply ASAP. As long as you submit a PAYE application before July 1, you’ll get onto the plan if your application is approved, even if that approval comes after July 1, an Education Department spokesperson told NerdWallet on June 6.

Two other IDR plans, the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) and the New Income-Based Repayment (New IBR), will also close to certain borrowers in July. read more