CHICAGO (Reuters) – What happens to Social Security if we eliminate its funding? That is the question to ask after Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum here last weekend ordering the deferral through year-end of revenue collected under the Federal Ins... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Charlie Rich, the late country music singer and songwriter, had it right when he crooned this famous line: “Oh, no one knows what goes on behind closed doors.” We need to remind Congress of the truth of that line as it tries to push a plan ... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – The idea of using investments to promote environmental and social causes has grown quickly in recent years, and retirement plans looked like the next frontier – until the Trump administration weighed in last month. The U.S. Department of La... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Employer retirement plans are not known for their flashy investments – a majority of 401(k) investors these days use target date funds that invest in broad, diversified equity and fixed income mutual funds that automatically rebalance to mi... More »
(The author is editor-at-large for finance and markets at Reuters News. Any views expressed here are his own) By Mike Dolan LONDON (Reuters) – Many households have built up a stash of savings during the coronavirus lockdowns of the past three months — and how ... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – The COVID-19 pandemic has put a bright spotlight on weaknesses in many of the systems designed to protect Americans from risks. But with older people more susceptible to serious illness and death from the virus, the problems in our Medicare... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – In what now seems like a galaxy far, far away, Republican lawmakers routinely talked up the idea of raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67. In fact, we were in that galaxy just three years ago. A higher Medicare age was an awful... More »
NEW YORK(Reuters) – The crisis posed by COVID-19 is worrisome enough for full-time employees. Imagine life as a freelancer. Your income can vary wildly from month to month and is likely being cut back as companies shave costs. Your check may come in the mail, ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – When the world feels like it is ending, it can be comforting to look to history and see that such global convulsions have happened before and the earth kept on turning. For help during the coronavirus crisis, Reuters turned to Carmen Reinh... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – The $2 trillion economic stimulus package racing toward passage in the U.S. Congress contains several important relief provisions for retirees, and for younger workers saving for retirement. Most of these provisions do a good job targeting ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – In scary times like these, it is comforting to talk to someone who has seen and studied a lot of things – booms, busts, and everything in between. Enter Robert Shiller. The Yale University economics professor and Nobel Prize winner recentl... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – The breathtaking coronavirus-induced plunge of the stock market has unnerved retirement investors of all ages, but it poses special risks for people close to, or already retired. Unlike younger workers with many years ahead of earning and s... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Former U.S. senator Alan Simpson summarized the argument well: seniors fighting Social Security benefit cuts were nothing more than “greedy geezers” stealing from young people “who are going to get gutted.” The Wyoming Republican’s memorabl... More »
NEW YORK(Reuters) – Allen Lomax knows how retirement is supposed to go: By your golden years, you should have paid off your house, built up a big pot of savings, and be able to face the years ahead without fear. The future is not quite shaping up like that for... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – If you have gone to Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s (GS.N) internet home page since mid-December, it would be reasonable to wonder if you had stumbled into some kind of parallel universe. Visitors are met with a background of lush greenery, alon... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – As the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division departed for the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran, their divisional commander gave a simple order. All personnel entering the region were told to leave smartphones a... More »
NEW YORK(Reuters) – It is hardly a secret that people rarely stick to New Year’s resolutions – only about 8% of people actually make it to the finish line with their goals, according to studies from the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania. So here is a bet... More »
(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) By Mark Miller CHICAGO (Reuters) – News flash: Members of Congress managed to walk and chew gum at the same time this week. In the midst of the impeachment furor, U.S. lawmakers ad... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The United States may not have had a woman president quite yet, but on TV it certainly has. One of those was Mellie Grant, the character played by Bellamy Young on the Shonda Rhimes hit “Scandal” before it ended last year. Now one of the s... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – It sounds counterintuitive, but members of Generation Z will have to focus on human connections if they want to compete with robots for the jobs of the future. Born after 1996 on the heels of the millennials, Gen Z is just entering the wor... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – First the bad news for your wallet: Americans are slated to spend more than they ever have this holiday season – around $730 billion in November and December, according to the National Retail Federation. Online shopping alone is expected t... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Most people’s basic knowledge of investing is that their portfolio should be a mix of stocks and bonds. That is usually enough to get by in the stock market – pick up a popular S&P 500 index exchange-traded fund or two and you will probabl... More »
(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) By Mark Miller CHICAGO (Reuters) – The cost of Medicare is going up next year – way up. Federal officials announced late last week that the standard monthly premium for Medicare Pa... More »
(The writer is a Reuters contributor- the opinions expressed are his own.) By Chris Taylor NEW YORK(Reuters) – When Charles Schwab stares intently at his smartphone, you can be sure of one thing: He is checking the stock market. The 82-year-old has been in a h... More »
NEW YORK(Reuters) – Rock-bottom interest rates may be great for lots of people – but not for savers. With a brand-new quarter-point rate cut from the Federal Reserve and ten-year government bonds yielding 1.84%, there is almost nowhere for them to go. That is ... More »
(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) By Mark Miller CHICAGO (Reuters) – The current record-high level of income inequality in the United States affects all segments of society, but two new reports shed light on how th... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Artificial intelligence is approaching critical mass at the office, but humans are still likely to be necessary, according to a new study by executive development firm, Future Workplace, in partnership with Oracle. Future Workplace found a... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – There are a lot of hard truths about money, but here is one of the hardest: We are really bad at passing along money smarts. As it stands, only 57% of American adults can be considered financially literate, according to a global survey by ... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) Just a few years ago, Democratic politicians were debating whether to accept cuts to Social Security benefits. No more: the only Social Security reform debate w... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Magic realism is a literary genre in which narrative is shot through with surreal, dreamlike, seemingly impossible moments. If famed author Salman Rushdie is a dean of the genre, perhaps it is not surprising that his life exhibits so many ... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) Medicare experts often advise enrollees to re-shop their plan coverage during the annual fall open enrollment period. This is the time when you can make unlimit... More »
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s political unrest is posing a dilemma for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N) on the timing of its planned $15 billion listing in the city, with sources saying China’s biggest e-commerce company is now considering several timeta... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Buying a grill can be a burning issue for barbecue aficionados. I found this out when, as a new suburban resident with a patio, I asked for advice on which model to choose. “For most people the choice is mainly a budget issue,” said Mark B... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – If you had $50 billion to try to solve the world’s worst problems, what exactly would you do? That is the daunting challenge that faces Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann when she walks into her office every morning as president of the Gates Foundat... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Federal policy on retirement security is one chaotic mess right now. Just consider the contradictory state of affairs when it comes to pensions and retirement income. On the one hand, a bill called the Setting Every Community Up for Retirem... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Fathers pass down many things to their kids, but not just genetic traits like eye color or hairlines. Another inheritance, perhaps the most impactful of all: Money habits. After all, kids see and hear much more than you realize. So if you ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – No matter who you are or what you do, let me take a wild guess: You feel a little burned out right now. Was I right? If so, you are one of the two-thirds of Americans who report feeling burned out on the job, according to a recent Gallup p... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – A worsening customer service crisis at the Social Security Administration has prompted three of its former commissioners to urge the U.S. Congress to fix the annual budgeting process that has starved the agency of the resources it needs to ... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Why does the word “old” come to mind for so many of us when the topic of Social Security comes up? Retirement benefits are the biggest component of Social Security. But the program also is very important for disabled people of all ages, as ... More »
NEW YORK(Reuters) – Stressed out by the tax deadline on April 15? Yes, of course, there is an app for that. Some 52 percent of Americans find the filing process stressful, according to a survey by tax-prep firm TaxSlayer. That is why wellness app Headspace is ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – If you are looking for steady work, it is probably best not to go into show business. Unless you are Peter Krause, that is. The 53-year-old Minnesota native has been a staple of U.S. TV screens for years, with roles in shows like “Sports N... More »
LAUNCESTON, Australia – If the sharp plunge in China’s exports in February shows anything, it’s that a gap is opening between what the country is shipping out and its still resilient imports of major commodities. Exports dropped 20.7 percent in February from t... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – When Laura Hirsch of Keller Texas had to find a rehabilitation center to help her father recover from a difficult surgery in September, the caregiving service Cariloop saved her a whole day. A case manager at Cariloop, based in Richardson,... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Greetings from Illinois, a state that never tops the rankings of places to retire. We have one of the great American cities, but also polar vortexes and an enormous state budget deficit – and now there is renewed talk about taxing retiremen... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Jill Schlesinger got her start on Wall Street, and that is where she learned a lot of what she knows about the financial world. But she has built a career dishing out personal finance advice by pulling back the curtain on myths about invest... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – When Medicare prescription drug insurance was created in 2003, the idea that beneficiaries with very high drug costs should pick up 5 percent of the tab seemed reasonable – but that was well before specialty drugs were invented that carry p... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters – It took 52-year-old social worker Nancy Peterson a combination of five different grants and low interest loans to accumulate $80,000 for the downpayment she needed to become a first-time home buyer in Seattle last summer. Peterson’s modest i... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Anyone with a boring 9-to-5 job and some culinary talent has at some point probably dreamed of opening their own food truck. Just think of it: Hitting the road, hanging out at music festivals, making delicious food, being your own boss. Wh... More »
(The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters) By Mark Miller CHICAGO (Reuters) – Jack Bogle did more to help the average American working household save for retirement than anyone else in the modern era of investing. When Bogle... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – With the partial U.S. government shutdown about a month old, a student showed up at the College of Southern Maryland’s financial aid office with two preschool children in tow to request emergency help paying her $3,000 in tuition and fees. ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – (The writer is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his own.) Next time you go out for a drink with friends, take a look around and see what people are sipping. Instead of Merlot or Rum-and-Coke, you might find a lot more spar... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) One of the biggest trends in retirement saving over the past decade has been the shift to target date funds – broadly diversified mutual fund products that auto... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – (The writer is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his own.) How exactly does one get started on the road to saving the planet? We talked to a few environmental heroes about the jobs that got them started in life and activism... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Ai-jen Poo wants to transform caregiving into real work. By “real,” she does not mean more difficult. Rather, the activist and author is seeking recognition of the value of domestic work, and to raise its status and pay accordingly. “It’s t... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Insurance companies do not need any help marketing Medicare Advantage plans – just ask anyone over age 65 about the pitches that clog their mailboxes every year during the fall enrollment period, or check out the television ads that flood c... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Here is some good news to hold onto this holiday season: Americans are giving more than ever. Last year, Americans gave a total of $410 billion to worthy causes, according to Giving USA, surpassing $400 billion for the first time ever. And... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – American homes are showing their age – not the houses, but the people living in them. In 2016, about 55 percent of U.S. households (or about 65 million households) were headed by someone aged 50 or older, according to the Joint Center for H... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Karyn Golden’s income was approaching $200,000 as she lived a carefree single existence at the peak of her career in Chicago, 20 years ago. She brokered real estate deals, served on boards and lunched with political leaders. She never imagi... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – In any history of hip-hop, one name keeps popping up over and over again: Andre Harrell. From working alongside Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons to founding his own label Uptown Records, Bronx-born Harrell seems to be everywhere at once ... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Roberta Dell has worked for 46 years making lollipops, and she loves her job. But she worries that retirement may not be as sweet as the Dum Dum lollipops she bags. Dell works for the Spangler Candy Company in Bryan, Ohio – a family-owned b... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) Thinking of adding a Medigap supplemental policy to your Medicare coverage? Beware: you could be charged higher rates or be turned away completely if you have a... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – (The writer is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his own.) Over the past year, Angela Bassett has been showing her wide acting range as mother of superhero T’Challa in “Black Panther” and a CIA director in the new “Mission:... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – (The writer is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his own.) Based on the years Alan Alda has spent in your living room, you may think the 82-year-old actor is one of your best friends. His ability to connect with audiences –... More »
(Reuters) – (The author is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are her own.) Twenty years ago, Seth Goldman succeeded in his years-long quest to find an after-run drink that was tasty, yet low in sugar and calories. His Honest Tea is now ubiquitous i... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – (The writer is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.) Navigating Medicare can be complicated, but one big change recently introduced requires that you do absolutely nothing beyond opening an envelope. In fact, doing just ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – (The writer is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his own.) You have no doubt heard the name Zuckerberg. But what you may not know is that the family has more than one media mogul around the holiday dinner table. Mark’s sist... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – (The writer is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.) Ed Slott is a certified public accountant by training, but he admits that his professional colleagues have their faults. “By nature, we are history teachers – we’ll te... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – TV news viewers may recognize one reporter who pops up in trouble spots all over the world: From the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, to the Boko Haram kidnappings in Nigeria, to assorted crises in Mali, Thailand, Algeria and the Mideast. In an e... More »
CHICAGO – (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) Joseph Gallagher was starting to think about retiring from his construction job in 2008 when the bear market “beat me up pretty badly,” he said. Gallagher waited until 20... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – (The writer is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his own.) What is a fitting follow-up to Steve Ballmer’s career at Microsoft, where he was one of the tech giant’s first employees and longtime CEO? How about becoming co-own... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – (The writer is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.) Most Americans do not want to go back to the bad old days when health insurance companies could charge sick people more for coverage or turn them away altogether. But ... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – The demographic trend is no secret: the populations of the United States and other major industrial countries are getting older, and fast. That means workforces are aging too, but employers are doing surprisingly little to prepare to meet t... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Without music, life would be a mistake, according to the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Yet some of the world’s most famed musicians did not begin their careers belting out hits onstage. They had to endure scrappy jobs, just like ... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Fewer Americans are asking Social Security to “show me the money” as soon as possible. The share of workers claiming Social Security retirement benefits at the earliest possible date has plunged in recent years. That probably reflects growi... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The growing number of apprenticeships in the U.S. has more to do with European companies importing the practice into their American operations than with the long-running NBC television reality show and its former host who now lives in the ... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – In September, the federal government will mail a handbook on Medicare enrollment to 43 million households. “Medicare & You” is an important, authoritative source on a wide array of plan options for the annual enrollment period that runs fro... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Americans are not having enough babies. The nation’s fertility rate hit a record low in 2017, and one has to wonder: Could the cost of raising children be discouraging a generation that was choked by the Great Recession? Employment is stron... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – (The writer is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.) Americans do not agree on much these days, but we are united on the cost of medicine. Large majorities of Republican, Democratic and independent voters say they would ... More »
NEW YORK(Reuters) – (The writer is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his own.) In Hollywood, fame can be fleeting and a career with staying power is even more unusual. Antonio Banderas has managed to fashion the latter, developing from a young ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – (The writer is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his own.) There are plenty of challenging jobs in America. But as anyone with a child will tell you, the hardest one of all is being a parent – and it is not even a close cal... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) Unlike his friends who are living at home three years after college graduation, John Kelly has paid off his student loan balance of $60,000 and is thriving as a... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – The long-running fight to protect retirement savers from conflicted investing advice shifted to a new battleground this week, and the first salvo was not promising. After years of foot-dragging, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Do you live in a fiduciary state? The question could become important if the financial services industry wins its high-stakes legal and political battles to dismantle the federal fiduciary rule governing advice to retirement investors. The ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Every actor dreams of extreme success, but there is also a downside: That you will forever be known as the character you played. That is the challenge facing Michael Imperioli, who to every fan of famed HBO series “The Sopranos,” is Christ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. tariffs on imports have already roiled the aluminum market. U.S. sanctions on Oleg Deripaska and his companies are going to cause even more turmoil, given they encompass Rusal, which produces around 6 percent of the world’s aluminum. De... More »
FILE PHOTO: Former inmate at Eastern State Penitentiary, William Harrison, 75, served 3 separate terms (1959, 1962, 1970) for larceny, forgery, and assault, and revisits his prison cell on the second level of block 14 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania April 30, 20... More »
FILE PHOTO: U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice heads to her seat before a ceremony awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to various receipients in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., November 22, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Barria NEW YO... More »
Dan Demeglio, race and sports book supervisor, cashes a 200-to-1 future bet for Doug O’Neill, trainer of Kentucky Derby winner “I’ll Have Another”, at the Primm Valley Casino in Primm, Nevada June 25, 2012. REUTERS/Las Vegas Sun/Steve Marcus CHICAGO (Reuters) ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – It stands to reason that getting involved in your community helps others. But what if it helped your own bottom line, as well? That is the finding of a new survey from financial giant MassMutual, which discovered that nearly half of the Am... More »
A “For Rent” sign is posted outside a residential home in Carlsbad, California, U.S., January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake CHICAGO (Reuters) – (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) People trying to escape soaring rents... More »
Anita Monk and her neighbour John Everett dance during a Christmas Dinner event for older people at Hammersmith and Fulham Town Hall in London, Britain December 25, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs CHICAGO (Reuters) – (The opinions expressed here are those of the au... More »
An elderly couple looks out at the ocean as they sit on a park bench in La Jolla, California November 13, 2013. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES – Tags: SOCIETY ENVIRONMENT) – GM1E9BE0E8L01 CHICAGO (Reuters) – The opinions expressed here are those of the auth... More »
U.S. Dollar banknotes are seen in this photo illustration taken February 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/Illustration CHICAGO – Cash is no longer trash. While there is no return to the 5 percent money market yields savers got a decade ago, there is some r... More »
FILE PHOTO – A visitor takes a picture of the Instagram application logo at the Young Entrepreneurs fair in Paris, France, February 7, 2018. REUTERS/Charles Platiau NEW YORK (Reuters) – Jessica Jones, 26, jokes that when she wants to spend more money, she goes... More »
A realtor and bank-owned sign is displayed near a house for sale in Phoenix, Arizona, January 4, 2011. REUTERS/Joshua Lott CHICAGO (Reuters) – Foreclosure is a frightening word – especially if the person losing her home is a senior living on a modest, fixed in... More »
David Silverman, director nominated for Animated Short Film for “Maggie Simpson In The Longest Daycare” and Matt Groening (R) arrive at the 85th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 24, 2013 REUTERS/Adrees Latif NEW YORK (Reuters) – Think of the go... More »
FILE PHOTO – A woman walks with her dog into the surf at Fingal Beach, located just 1 km (0.62 miles) south of the Queensland and New South Wales border, near the town of Tweed Heads June 22, 2013. REUTERS/David Gray NEW YORK(Reuters) – Try to imagine the “wor... More »
A student sits in a hallway as he looks through a text book in Chicago, Illinois February 14, 2013. REUTERS/Jim Young CHICAGO (Reuters) – Uncle Sam has given families the green light to use $10,000 per child each year to pay for private schools out of 529 savi... More »
FILE PHOTO: A man types on a computer keyboard in this illustration picture taken February 28, 2013. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo CHICAGO (Reuters) – More than 34 million Americans now conduct business with the Social Security Administration (... More »
Senior citizens stand after receiving makeovers and beauty care at a beauty salon of Jacques Janine, to boost her self esteem, an event organized by Projeto Velho Amigo NGO with 90 women that live at nursing homes, in Sao Paulo, Brazil November 27, 2017. REUTE... More »
