Author: Money Mechanics

Your Apple Wallet app can hold your credit cards and airline boarding passes, helping you make purchases and board flights quickly and easily.But did you know that if you live in select states, it can also store a digital version of your driver’s license or state-issued identification card?With your iPhone in your hand or your Apple Watch on your wrist, you may be able to leave your physical wallet tucked away. We’ll share how to use this new-ish technology. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. CLICK FOR FREE ISSUE Sign up for…

Businessman using tape measure with risk wording for risk analysis investigate management and assessment concept.getty When determining an appropriate investment portfolio, one’s risk tolerance is an extremely important component. Being too aggressive can cause undue worry and create nervousness. Conversely, being ultra-conservative can derail an otherwise solid financial plan. While many investors understand the risks associated with aggressive investing, few realize the long-term detriments that come with an overly conservative portfolio, especially when preparing for retirement. A major risk to ultra-conservative investing is the erosion of purchasing power, otherwise known as inflation. This silent threat is often underestimated or overlooked…

Key Takeaways Experts suggest saving 70% to 80% of your pre-retirement income for retirement.Almost half of the U.S. population doesn’t have retirement savings.Leisure activities can be expensive. For instance, photography can cost thousands of dollars, an RV hundreds of thousands, and a vacation home millions.Plan and save for leisure and recreation by understanding the costs and narrowing your focus. Retirement is a dream for many people. It frees up your time so you can do things you may have put off during your working life, such as traveling or buying a vacation home. But, all of this costs money. While…

Volume thinned out Thursday ahead of the long holiday weekend. As a reminder, Monday is a stock market holiday, with both the equities and bond markets closed for Labor Day.Stocks, however, gained ground even as AI bellwether Nvidia (NVDA) – the world’s biggest company by market cap – slipped following its quarterly results.After Wednesday’s close, Nvidia reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $1.05 per share on revenue of $46.7 billion, beating Wall Street’s estimates for earnings of $1.01 per share on $46.1 billion in sales. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. CLICK FOR…

Key Takeaways If courts allow President Donald Trump to remove a key Federal Reserve official, his nominees could have the power to set interest rates as Trump wishes.Trump will have appointed five of the seven Fed governors if he replaces Lisa Cook on the Fed board. That would not constitute a majority on the 12-member policy committee that sets interest rates, but the governors are empowered to influence who the remaining five voters are.Trump has repeatedly demanded that the Fed lower interest rates, which could boost the economy. However, experts say this would risk reducing the Fed’s credibility and ability…

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce recently announced their engagement after two years of dating, and while the pop icon and NFL star can certainly afford a lavish celebration, most couples planning a 2025 wedding are facing a very different financial reality.With May to October being the most popular season for weddings, everything from venues to floral arrangements comes at a premium and costs are climbing faster than ever.Whether your child just said “yes” or your grandchild is starting to look at venues, it’s worth understanding what a modern wedding really costs and where you might be asked to help out.…

Key Takeaways Google and a group of claimants have agreed to a $30 million settlement over a 6-year-old class action suit over YouTube advertising.Google and YouTube allegedly collected data to serve targeted ads to children aged 13 and under from 2013 to 2020, without parental consent.The settlement still needs to be approved by a judge, but if you were under 13 and watching YouTube content for kids during that time, you could be eligible for a piece of the settlement. Did you grow up watching YouTube videos? If so, you could be in line to collect some of a yet-to-be-approved…

Nvidia (NVDA) has a China issue. Resolving it, its CEO says, could have bigger implications for America’s AI competitiveness.  The chipmaker at the heart of the AI boom reported record quarterly sales yesterday, though its results reflected the Trump administration’s export curbs, which brought sales of its H20 AI chip in China to a halt. (Investopedia’s full Wednesday coverage of the results is here.) Nvidia (NVDA) didn’t include sales of the chip to China in its forecast for the current quarter either, despite recently striking a 15% revenue-sharing agreement with the Trump administration to resume sales, a deal the company…

Key Takeaways U.S. equities were mixed and basically unchanged at midday as the market weighed more corporate earnings reports and the latest report on U.S. economic growth. Hormel Foods warned increased commodity costs will hurt earnings.HP reported higher demand for its artificial intelligence-enabled personal computers. U.S. equities were mixed and little changed at midday as the market focused on more earnings news and better-than-expected growth in the U.S. economy. The Nasdaq climbed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped, while the S&P 500 moved between gains and losses.  Hormel Foods (HRL) shares slumped as the maker of Spam, chili, and other…

KEY TAKEAWAYS The 2026-27 Free Application for Federal Student Aid is open for testing and will be available to the public on Oct. 1.Some changes were made to the application, making it easier to create an account and start filling it out.Other changes from the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” will change how some families report their income for federal student aid. Some changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid could change how some families apply for federal loans and grants. The 2026-27 FAFSA application was opened for testing at the beginning of August for a select group of…