Personal Finance
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‘Putting the Treasury on the brink of default is about as dumb as politics gets’
The radio came blaring on when I started my car, the voice of a politician hitting me in the face as I settled in. His message amounted to “Default is a bargaining point. We’re not going to get all the way there, but we need it on the table to force the other side to…
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More banks could collapse like SVB did because the system favors those ‘too big to fail’
“ To stay in business, these banks did the only thing they could. ” In the wake of the failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and Republic National Bank, a common misconception is that these banks failed because they grew too quickly. On Tuesday, former Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker testified in a U.S.…
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U.K. consumer confidence rises for 4th consecutive month in May
Confidence among U.K. consumers improved for the fourth month in a row in May amid signs of easing inflation, despite the squeeze on spending prompted by climbing interest rates. Research firm GfK said its consumer-confidence barometer stood at minus 27 in May, compared with minus 30 a month earlier, matching expectations from economists polled by…
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Americans are not paying off their credit-card debt. We should be concerned.
The first-quarter dip never happened. Some observers say that’s a problem. Credit-card balances hit $986 billion in the fourth quarter, but remain largely unchanged in the first quarter of the year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its most recent quarterly report on household debt. It looks increasingly likely that credit-card debt…
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I received $225,000 from the 9/11 Compensation Fund after being diagnosed with lung cancer. How should I save and invest it?
I will receive a windfall of $225,000, tax-free, in July. The money comes from the World Trade Center Health Program. In the days and weeks following the 9/11 attacks I volunteered at St. Paul’s Chapel by giving out food and drink to the workers, and preparing kits of throat lozenges and socks and other things…
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Buying a house? Watch out for these 3 fast-spreading myths.
Buying a home is a big deal — it’s a huge financial commitment and a seriousresponsibility. But confusing and misleading information on the internet can throw curveballs in the research process. Three pieces of information in particular about mortgages and the housing market have recently been floating around the internet that may confuse potential home…
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Flight attendants brace for a summer of badly behaved passengers: ‘There’s no such thing as travel etiquette’
After six years of flying, U.S.-based flight attendant Allyah McIntyre was used to dealing with difficult passengers. During the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic, dealing with the few passengers who chose to fly was actually a pleasant experience. But as more people began to book airline tickets again, chaos reigned, she said. “The passengers…
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Discover the Power of Options Trading
In case you don’t know me, I’m Jeff Williams. I’d like to share my story about what drove me to become a stock market educator. I got started in the stock market at a young age. My parents always taught me to invest some of my paycheck into a retirement fund, even when I was…
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14 million mortgages were refinanced during ‘pandemic boom.’ That makes life very difficult for home buyers.
[]The great pandemic mortgage refinance boom is most definitely over, but the aftershock is still rippling through the housing market. Homeowners are holding up home sales, as their ultra-low prize is too precious to give up. []During the early days of coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021, mortgage rates fell sharply, and millions of homeowners…
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Credit-card debt failed to decline in first quarter — for first time in over 20 years, New York Fed says
U.S. credit-card debt appears to be stubbornly holding near $1 trillion, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its quarterly report on household debt and credit Monday. In the fourth quarter, when credit-card debt tends to rise due to holiday shopping, credit-card balances hit a whopping $986 billion, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, the New York…