Author: Money Mechanics

The energy industry is one of the most-talked-about areas of the global economy. It’s also one of the most misunderstood.Oil and gas fuel nearly every aspect of modern life, from cars and planes to plastics and fertilizers, yet the public conversation often veers into extremes.On one end of the spectrum are claims that renewable energy will soon make fossil fuels irrelevant. On the other are stories of instant wealth from oil wells that strike it big. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. CLICK FOR FREE ISSUE Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters…

In my career as a financial planner there have been several pendulum swings in attitudes, philosophies and even in the language we use.Ten years ago, if someone mentioned “golden handcuffs,” they would almost certainly be referring to some version of a deferred compensation arrangement for executives, a setup designed by companies to incentivize valuable employees to stay committed to their corporate role or risk forfeiting serious benefits.The planning for those situations would be fairly standard: derisk, diversify and be tax-efficient in doing so.But times change, and so do vocabularies. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Be a smarter,…

TOPSHOT – A general aerial view shows houses and Yurts in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on June 25, 2024.Hector Retamal | Afp | Getty Images Mongolia, long reliant on mining, plans to build data centers powered by renewable energy as it prepares its first sovereign wealth fund aimed at channeling its mineral wealth to social welfare and infrastructure.”We have a massive land with a very favorable climate for activities like [hosting] data centers,” Temuulen Bayaraa, CEO of the sovereign fund, told CNBC on the sidelines of the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore on Friday.The landlocked East Asian nation is developing special…

Dr. Tom Kelly is a trauma surgeon, and everywhere, he sees doctors drowning in administrative work. He wanted change, so he set out to build it.  “We wanted to build an AI care partner that would stand alongside clinicians and take care of the admin so that individual providers, like me, can feel empowered to deliver the care which we dedicated our lives to,” he told TechCrunch.  Dr. Kelly teamed up with Waleed Mussa, with whom he had worked at a previous startup, and founded Heidi Health in 2021. The company began launching products in early 2024.  In just 18…

Is it too soon to begin looking forward to the new year? I don’t think so. Only 87 days remain in 2025. The time will fly by quickly. There’s usually plenty of eager anticipation and hopefulness as one year ends and the next year begins. That’s likely to be the case again as 2025 draws to a close. But retirees should get ready for an unpleasant Medicare surprise in 2026. Image source: Getty Images. Medicare Part B covers doctors’ visits, outpatient care (including some prescription drugs), ambulance services, and more. The standard monthly Medicare Part B premium currently stands at…

Well, the East Coast gas is cheap; As most imports are right there; And the Southern gas with the way they pump they are so cheap when I’m down there. The Midwest Farmers use the corn; To make the drive real nice.  And the Northern gas with the way they crack: They keep the people warm at night. I wish they all could be California; I wish they all could be California wish they all could be California gas. The West Coast has the sunshine; but gas cars they want to ban: They want the Tesla drivers with the wild…

Last Week In A Nutshell A quiet week with rates drifting slightly higher as Fed officials sounded cautious on future rate cuts. Upcoming Attractions Potential government shutdown: As of Monday morning, the government looks more likely than not to shut down Tuesday at midnight. The immediate impact of a short, run-of-the-mill shutdown to both the housing market and financial markets would be minimal. But the ultimate impact depends on the length of the shutdown and which federal workers remain on the job. Labor Market: Jobs Report (Friday): Forecasters expect 50,000 jobs created in September with the unemployment rate staying at…

(Investing.com)– Oil prices edged lower on Thursday, extending a run of declines into a fourth day, with Brent hitting its lowest since early June due to concerns about oversupply in the market.  fell 58 cents, or 0.9%, to $64.77 a barrel at 1309 GMT.  retreated by 57 cents, or 0.9%, to $61.21 a barrel, also around a four-month low. OPEC+ could agree to raise oil production by up to 500,000 barrels per day in November, triple the increase made for October, as Saudi Arabia seeks to reclaim market share, three sources familiar with the talks said. Jorge Montepeque, managing director at…

Construction workers pouring wet concrete on a road.Jung GettyA version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Property Play newsletter with Diana Olick. Property Play covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, from individuals to venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, institutional investors and large public companies. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.Concrete manufacturing, and especially cement production, accounts for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the World Economic Forum. That’s about the same as the world’s third- or fourth-largest country’s annual output. And that’s why large users of concrete, some of…

Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days sale returns in just two days from Oct. 7-8. The sale, more popularly known as October Prime Day, is one of the first to kick off the holiday shopping season. You’re sure to see discounts on plenty of items, including dozens of gadgets and trinkets that won’t break the bank. Also: The best October Prime Day deals live now I cover deals 24/7, and I know a thing or two about finding the best offers to share with you. Amazon and competing retailers tend to inflate prices to make deals and discounts look greater than they are.…