Andrea Coombes, a tax 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 a volunteer tax preparer.
A lot of people are nervous about doing their taxes, and about managing their money in general. 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 goals. We can do this, people.
— Andrea Coombes, CFP®
If you want to claim a tax deduction for your donations, you’ll need to place a value on each item. This valuation guide will help.
You may have to do some math to choose between claiming the standard deduction and itemizing, but it’s worth the effort because you’ll save money on your taxes.
The child and dependent care credit can help parents recoup some of the steep costs of child care, and a new tax law increased how much this tax credit is worth.
The adoption tax credit can go a long way to reducing the costs of adopting a child. And now up to $5,000 of this tax credit is refundable.
When someone dies, the assets they leave behind are subject to the estate tax. But only if the estate’s total value exceeds a multimillion-dollar exemption amount.
Employers can choose one of two options when calculating taxes on your bonus. Here’s how bonuses are taxed, and how to lower your tax bill.
There are many different types of tax preparers. Here’s how to decide whether a CPA, an enrolled agent, a tax accountant or another type of tax pro is best for you.
Knowing your federal income tax bracket can help you manage your money better. Here are the federal tax brackets and income tax rates for 2025 and 2024.
