Asked by an anonymous Tumblr user.

A wage garnishment is when your employer is required to withhold some portion of your earnings in order to pay off a debt. Wage garnishments do not include voluntary wage assignments—that is, when you voluntarily agree that your employer may turn over a specified amount of earnings to a creditor or creditors.

Most garnishments are made by court order. The IRS or a state tax collection agency can garnish your wages for unpaid taxes. Your wages can also be garnished if you have defaulted on student loan debt.

Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act limits the amount of earnings that can be garnished and protects you from being fired if your pay is only being garnished for one debt.

For questions about wage garnishment, contact the Department of Labor or call 1-866-4-USWAGE (1-866-487-9243) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in your time zone.

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Cal Grants are student financial aid and funded by the State of California. They are available to California graduating high school seniors, recent graduates, and people who meet other qualifications. If you were denied a Cal Grant, you may be able to appeal depending on the type of award. Learn more about what you can do if you were denied.

There are other options for student aid from the government. Find out what types of aid you can get, if you qualify, and how to apply.

Asked by an anonymous Tumblr user.

Scammers, hackers, and identity thieves are looking to steal your personal information and money. But there are steps you can take to protect yourself.

• Use security software that updates automatically. This will make sure your protected against the latest threats.
• Treat your personal information like cash. Every time you are asked for your personal information, think about whether you can really trust the request
• Check out companies to find out who you’re really dealing with. If you see an ad or an offer that looks good to you, take a moment to check out the company behind it.
• Give personal information over encrypted websites only. To determine if a website is encrypted, look for https at the beginning of the web address (the “s” is for secure).
• Protect your passwords. Create strong passwords and keep them in a secure place, out of plain sight.
• Back up your files. Copy important files onto a removable disc or an external hard drive, and store it in a safe place.

Learn more about how to keep your information safe online. 

Asked by an anonymous Tumblr user.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has a number of resources to help seniors find affordable rentals.

They offer a low rent apartment search that shows low-rent apartments for senior citizens and people with disabilities, as well as for families and individuals. For low rent apartments, the government gives funds directly to the apartment owners. There is an income limit to qualify.

You can also look for multifamily units by state that rent to seniors and people with disabilities. HUD does not provide details like eligibility, waiting list information, or types of accessible features for these properties, but the list can help you identify potential rentals in your area.

There’s also the public housing program and public housing choice vouchers, commonly called Section 8. Public housing comes in all sizes and types and is managed by local housing agencies that are funded by the federal government. Public housing choice vouchers allow you to find a private rental and the government pays the landlord directly to subsidize the rent. Both programs are limited to low-income families and individuals.

If you have questions or need help finding a rental, talk to a HUD-approved housing counselor.

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If you are flying within the U.S., you do not need to fill out any forms. There are forms that apply to international travel.

Each individual traveling to the U.S. from another country must complete a customs declaration form. If you’re traveling with immediate family members, then you only need to fill out one form per family.

If you are not a citizen or permanent resident and are traveling with a Visa, then you will also need to fill out an Arrival/Departure Record (Form I-94). Travelers who obtained authorization to enter the U.S. via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization do not need to complete the Arrival/Departure Record. Learn more about entering the U.S. as an international visitor.

After your flight lands in the U.S., you will present the form(s) and be inspected by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer. They prevent terrorists, people with outstanding criminal warrants, narcotics, agricultural pests, and smuggled goods from entering the United States.