Author: Money Mechanics

(Image credit: Getty Images)Odds are that you’ve encountered modern portfolio theory before, even if you’ve never heard the term. It’s been a driving force behind investment advice for decades.Briefly, modern portfolio theory is the idea that as you diversify your investments, you ensure that riskier investments are offset, at least to some degree, by more conservative ones, based on your risk tolerance.In other words, an individual investment’s risk shouldn’t be viewed in a vacuum. It should be scrutinized based on how it fits into the portfolio’s overall risk and return. Before modern portfolio theory, investors tended to view each investment…

(Image credit: Getty Images)In Morgan Housel’s most recent book, he defines “wealth” as everything you have minus everything you want.If I were to ask any engineer what “wealth” means to them, they would give me an exact dollar figure.This is all to say that the meaning of “wealth” is subjective. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues CLICK FOR FREE ISSUE Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal…

A new architectural showpiece has come to the market in Los Angeles—offering the chance to own a “once-in-a-generation” design with unique interconnected living spaces that are both vast and cozy all at the same time. The recently-completed estate at 12309 Viewcrest Road, which is listed for $28 million, is being referred to as the “pavilion” mansion, thanks to its uniquely-designed layout that is made up of “a series of pavilions,” each of which flows effortlessly into the next. Located in the heart of Studio City, the striking contemporary residence was conceived by Koffka/Phakos Design to blend dramatic scale with organic…

Find out how much you could earn by locking in a high CD rate today. The Federal Reserve cut its federal funds rate three times in 2025. So far in 2026, the Fed has left interest rates alone, and so now could be your last chance to lock in a competitive CD rate before rates move further. CD rates vary widely across financial institutions, so it’s important to ensure you’re getting the best rate possible when shopping around for a CD. The following is a breakdown of CD rates today and where to find the best offers. CD rates today,…

Good afternoon and thank you for the invitation to join you at the Hoover Institution’s annual Monetary Policy Conference.1 As the Federal Reserve’s Vice Chair for Supervision, I oversee the safety and soundness of banking institutions, responsibilities that are closely linked to another of the Fed’s important duties, which is to safeguard financial stability. Instead of talking about monetary policy, my remarks will focus on this topic. Today, I will address a challenge that emerges at the intersection of these two responsibilities. That is, when regulatory requirements become disproportionately burdensome relative to risk and banks simply curtail the targeted activities.…

Catastrophe bond funds in the UCITS format added over $650 million in assets just in the month of April, as the combined assets under management (AUM) of the UCITS cat bond fund sector reached almost $20.5 billion, having now expanded by 6.5% so far in 2026.Recall that, these UCITS catastrophe bond funds grew strongly through 2025, adding roughly $5.3 billion or 39% across the asset base of the UCITS structured cat bond fund strategies. The expansion continued in the first-quarter, with UCITS cat bond fund assets growing to over $20 billion for the first time ever in February, but then…

Data centers are gobbling up land, driving up electric bills, and becoming a lightning rod for public discontent over big tech’s power in society.Maine’s legislature recently passed a data center ban in the state (but failed to override the governor’s veto). According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 14 states spanning the political spectrum from Oklahoma to New York are considering legislation that would ban or pause new data centers, as public opinion on AI has increasingly shifted to the negative.Still, despite the qualms of the public and politicians, there’s a torrent of capital for building new data centers.…

India’s internet users already rely heavily on voice notes, voice search, and multilingual messaging. Turning those habits into a scalable AI business, however, remains difficult because of the country’s linguistic complexity, mixed-language usage, and uneven monetization patterns. Wispr Flow is betting the opportunity is worth the challenge. The Bay Area-headquartered startup, which builds AI-powered voice input software, says India is now its fastest-growing market, even though voice-based AI products remain early and fragmented in the South Asian nation. That growth has pushed Wispr Flow to expand more aggressively for Indian users, beginning with Hinglish — a hybrid mix of Hindi…

(World Oil) –  Oil prices will continue to fluctuate wildly until it’s clear whether Iran and President Donald Trump will strike an agreement to end the war, according to Citigroup Inc.’s global head of commodities research. “It’s very difficult to predict” if Iran is going to do a deal, Citigroup’s Max Layton said Thursday. “In that environment where you basically don’t know if there’s going to be a deal or not—very difficult to predict with this new leadership in Iran—you know you’re going to be subject to news and you’re going to be moving around like crazy.” Oil trading this week…

Couple looks over finances while sitting at a table in their home. Relying to heavily on saving money and not investing, could make it challenging to stay on track for long-term goals like retirement.GettyMost people think the biggest risk to their retirement is a market crash. However, it’s often much quieter than that — it’s the money that never makes it into the market in the first place.I’ve sat across from plenty of families who did everything “right.” They saved consistently, avoided debt, and lived within their means. And yet, when we looked at the numbers, they were behind. Not…