Andrea Coombes, an editor at Bankrate, translates complex personal finance topics into understandable language that helps people live their best financial lives. She’s a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and over the past 25 years has worked as a financial coach, personal finance writer and editor, and volunteer tax preparer.
Her work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, MarketWatch and many newspapers nationwide. She's been interviewed on local and national TV and radio, including NPR's All Things Considered, CBS News, NASDAQ and Marketplace.
Andrea has moderated panels on how to invest for retirement, how to use 529 college savings plans and more, and she's an experienced personal-finance speaker who has presented to groups on a variety of topics such as how to budget, improve credit, manage debt, and build savings. She's also worked as a personal financial coach and certified consumer credit counselor, helping people reach their goals. For two tax seasons, she worked as a volunteer tax preparer.
A lot of people are nervous about managing their money. I'm here to say: It's not rocket science. There are small steps each of us can take to slowly start moving towards our long-term financial goals. We can do this, people.
— Andrea Coombes, CFP®
Only a handful of states levy an inheritance tax, but it’s important to understand how it works and how it differs from the estate tax.
Trump has launched an all-out trade war. Here’s the latest on what’s happening with tariffs — and what it all means for your wallet.
OASDI tax is another name for the Social Security taxes that are withheld from our paychecks and sent to the IRS.
A flat tax is when one tax rate applies to all taxpayers, regardless of income. Here’s how it works, and how it differs from a progressive tax system.
If you own rental property, you can reduce your tax bill by claiming valuable tax deductions.
Schedule E is a tax form used to report rental property income and expenses. Here’s what you should know.
Modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI, is a crucial tax term to know if you want to qualify for valuable tax benefits.
The popular IRS Direct File program, which lets you prepare and file your return for free, will be cancelled if the Republican tax bill becomes law.
