Author: Money Mechanics

Financial exploitation of older people — whether through deceitful scams, manipulative family members or simple digital illiteracy — is rising at alarming rates.Coupled with a growing digital divide, older adults are facing a real battle and a potential loss of hard-earned assets.Growing epidemic of elder financial abusePeople of any age can be targeted by scammers, but older folks are often more trusting and, therefore, more vulnerable. 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 Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on…

By Yoruk Bahceli and Junko Fujita LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) -Global long-dated government borrowing costs continued their march higher on Wednesday, breaching record highs in Japan and rising to fresh multi-year peaks in Britain and Germany as concerns mounted over global fiscal health. Britain’s gilts again led the selloff in early trading, with 30-year yields touching a fresh high since 1998, adding to a slump on Tuesday that also saw the pound tumble. U.S. 30-year Treasury yields rose to the closely watched 5% level for the first time since mid-July, while in Germany, the euro zone benchmark, they rose to the highest…

Pula, a Swiss headquartered specialist in parametric agriculture insurance for micro and mesa use-cases across Africa and parts of Asia, has established a collateralized insurer class of company in Bermuda, named Pula Reinsurance Ltd., Artemis has learned.The Bermuda collateralized insurer class registration means a vehicle that has the potential to bring in alternative sources of reinsurance capacity, including from third-party investors. Pula Reinsurance Ltd. was registered by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) as a collateralized insurer in July. Pula has a mission to reimagine agricultural insurance to protect smallholders worldwide, utilising technology and parametric triggers to construct products at the…

As one of the primary beneficiaries of the AI boom, chipmaker Nvidia’s (NVDA) stock has become a bellwether for industry, with its quarterly results last week offering some clues about what to expect from Broadcom (AVGO) later this week, and other chipmakers.  Nvidia’s earnings, which came in just ahead of Wall Street’s estimates, largely received a bullish reception from analysts, who voiced confidence in demand for its AI hardware, though worries about China sales and geopolitical issues have weighed on the stock. Shares of Nvidia dropped nearly 3% in recent trading, and Broadcom shares slipped 1%, with other chip stocks…

OpenAI announced on Tuesday that it acquired Statsig, a product experimentation platform, as the artificial intelligence company continues its aggressive acquisition strategy. Statsig CEO Vijaye Raji will join OpenAI as Chief Technology Officer of Applications, reporting to former Instacart CEO Fidji Simo.Key Leadership AdditionRaji brings a decade of large-scale consumer engineering experience from Meta Platforms Inc. META and entrepreneurial expertise from founding Statsig. He will oversee product engineering for ChatGPT and Codex, spanning core systems, infrastructure, and integrity operations.“Vijaye has a remarkable record of building new consumer and B2B products and systems at scale,” Simo said in a statement released…

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNETFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.ZDNET’s key takeawaysMy iPhone is less than 18 months old.It now cannot make it through a day without a recharge.Nothing appears abnormal in the settings.Rather than do my usual and upgrade my iPhone again last year with only about a year on the clock, I decided to try what most people end up having to do — keep it going for a few years. Apple says that the battery is designed to retain 80% of its original capacity at 1,000 recharge cycles “under ideal conditions.” At that point, when the battery’s…

Semiconductor stocks are taking a chip out of U.S. indexes to start September—a month that’s earned a reputation as the worst for American investors—but for some bulls on Wall Street, that could mean it’s time to buy. “We recommend that investors who are underallocated to equities consider phasing in and using market dips to add exposure to preferred areas,” UBS analysts said Tuesday, with tech and AI plays among their favorites, while chip stocks dragged on the sector to start the week.  Nvidia (NVDA) was one of the worst-performing stocks on the Dow Jones Industrial Average Tuesday afternoon, with shares…

Key Takeaways Consumers kept spending in July, but the declines in some categories show that buyers are being more careful as pricing fears grow.The consumer sentiment survey showed that consumers planned to cut back on spending on durable goods as inflation worries persisted.A different consumer survey showed plans to reduce spending on restaurants and vacations, making room for more essential spending on car and home repairs and financial services. Consumers are being more selective about how they spend their money and their plans for future purchases, according to several recent reports. These shifts are all tied to concerns about inflation, tariffs…

Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has long touted humanoid robots as key to the electric vehicle maker’s future. Now he’s putting a number on its value.  In a post on his X social media platform Monday, Musk said “~80% of Tesla’s value will be Optimus” humanoid robots. He didn’t state when he expects that to happen in the post, made soon after the company published its latest “Master Plan,” which featured Optimus for the first time. Optimus “is changing not only the perception of labor itself but its availability and capability,” Tesla said in its “Master Plan Part IV,” though…

Key Takeaways Most households should aim to replace 70% to 85% of their pre-retirement pay, combining savings withdrawals with Social Security. Adjusting the mix of contributions, your claiming age, and products such as annuities lets you hit a personalized replacement target. Reaching $1 million in your 401(k) is a big milestone, but a seven‑figure balance can be a mirage. The question is whether all of your retirement resources—401(k), individual retirement account (IRA), brokerage account, cash, and Social Security—can be counted on to reliably replace enough of your paycheck to keep your lifestyle intact for decades.That percentage is called your income…