The financial news that actually matters
For millions of Generation X workers, retirement at 65 is starting to look less like a milestone and more like a luxury. Americans born roughly between 1965 and 1980 are slowly moving toward a Gen X retirement crisis. That is because they are approaching retirement age with too little saved, less access to traditional pensions…
Nearly half of U.S. homeowners say they are considering a move because of weather-related risk, a striking sign that climate anxiety is no longer limited to abstract forecasts or long-range policy debates. It is showing up in household decisions about where to live, what a home will cost to protect, and whether staying put still…
Workers who want the biggest possible Social Security retirement check in 2026 need more than a high salary in a single year. To qualify for the maximum benefit, they generally must earn at or above Social Security’s taxable wage cap for about 35 years, because the program bases benefits on a worker’s 35 highest-earning years…
Social Security’s financing problem is no longer an abstract debate for future lawmakers. The latest official projections show the program moving closer to the point where it can no longer pay full scheduled benefits from its trust fund reserves, putting pressure on Congress to act before automatic cuts become the default outcome. The warning is…
Retirees who must take required minimum distributions from IRAs and 401(k) plans face a choice that rarely gets enough attention: withdraw the full amount in one shot or spread it across monthly payments. The timing decision does not change how much must come out of the account each year, but it can meaningfully shift the…
Retirees who finished their working years with substantial nest eggs often describe their success in less glamorous terms than many younger investors expect. They do not usually point to one life-changing stock pick, a perfectly timed trade, or an uncanny ability to spot the next market darling before everyone else. What they talk about instead…
A bipartisan Senate proposal is taking aim at one of the quieter barriers in the U.S. retirement system: the rule that still lets many workplace plans keep younger employees on the sidelines until age 21. The measure, called the Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act, would require many employers that offer 401(k) plans to…
Banks have seized an estimated 367,000 homes across the United States, pushing foreclosure activity to its highest level since 2020. The wave of repossessions, building steadily for nearly a year, is concentrated in a handful of states where homeowners face mounting pressure from elevated interest rates and lingering post-pandemic debt. For millions of families, the…
Retirees who packed up for Sun Belt states expecting lower costs and year-round sunshine are increasingly reversing course, and federal migration data helps explain why. A U.S. Census Bureau report on older Americans’ moving patterns, designated P23-218, tracked net migration gains and losses by state for people aged 65 and older, revealing that several popular…
Homeowners in a handful of states pay dramatically less in property taxes than the national norm. The gap can amount to thousands of dollars in annual savings. Federal data from the U.S. Census Bureau and analysis from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy show that states with the lowest effective property tax rates often rely…