Author: Money Mechanics

Social Security plans to finish their switch to electronic payments this year.gettyOn June 2, the Social Security Administration sent an email with a link to a very important blog post titled, “Social Security to Fully Transition to Electronic Payments.” A transition to electronic payments has been swirling around since an Executive Order (March 25, 2025) highlighted the need to improve efficiency, reduce costs and enhance security in federal payments. The blog post noted that Social Security would complete the full transition to electronic payments this year (no exact date noted). Other than some general instructions, there were no details about…

Coastal and Western states trail the rest of the nation when it comes to homebuilding and housing affordability—with New York ranking dead last this year.  The Empire State fared worst among all 50 states and the District of Columbia, earning an F grade in the 2026 Realtor.com® Housing Report Card released on Monday. It earned a startlingly low score of just 8.5 points out of 100 due to its sluggish construction and high costs.Five other coastal states also received failing grades, with only slightly better scores on residential building and affordability: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Hawaii, California, and Connecticut.A further four states—Oregon,…

HP/ZDNETFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.Ahead of Amazon Prime Day, the HP Omen Gaming Laptop is 30% off, having dropped down to a cool $1,599. It also comes bundled with a free Thunderobot 7-in-1 USB-C Hub.  Also: The best early Amazon Prime Day deals: I found editor-approved tech already on saleGaming laptops are among the most expensive PCs that you can buy. Manufacturers are putting world-class hardware into a relatively small form factor. And it’s for that reason that I really like this HP Omen deal, because it’s a great way to get into PC gaming without needing to…

Plan to live well as long as you can, instead of living to an arbitrary age.gettyWhen I was in my 50s, I wanted to live to age 100, and I made changes in my exercise and nutrition to increase the odds of succeeding. According to a recent survey conducted by Corebridge Financial titled Living and Funding Longer Lives, I had a lot of company. Almost half (49%) of survey respondents reported they also wanted to live to 100.Why People Want To Live To 100There can be many reasons people might express a desire to live until age 100. Humans have…

For renters these days, energy bills can add up quickly.A new analysis from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association estimates that Americans will spend an average of nearly $800 on electricity from June to September, up 10.5% from the same period last year.This comes at a time when 1 in 6 U.S. households is behind on its utility bills and nearly 40% of households earning less than $50,000 report difficulty paying energy bills, according to the same report.“For families already struggling to make ends meet, higher cooling costs can force difficult choices between paying utility bills and covering other necessities…

By Shashwat Chauhan and Jaspreet Singh June 18 (Reuters) – Shares of SpaceX dropped more than 6% on Thursday, as the post-IPO frenzy that briefly placed Elon ‌Musk’s rockets-to-AI firm among the world’s top five most valuable companies appeared ‌to fizzle out. The stock was last down 6.5% at $178.50, after falling nearly 5% in the last session. It ​was still more than 30% above its $135 offering price. If the losses persist, SpaceX’s market value of $2.52 trillion would shrink by more than $150 billion on Thursday. “Given the magnitude of the IPO and the strong initial performance, some…

Kevin Warsh ran his first Federal Open Market Committee meeting as Fed Chair on June 16-17, and if you were expecting a victory lap for the doves, you were watching the wrong meeting. The Fed held rates steady at 3.50%-3.75%, which was never really in doubt. What mattered was everything around that decision, and on nearly every front, Warsh signaled he’s not interested in playing the game the way his predecessors did. An Unusual Twist Here’s the thing nobody saw coming: Warsh didn’t submit a 2028 federal funds rate projection for himself. Warsh has been openly skeptical of the dot…

The Strip, The Sphere and full replica of the Eiffel Tower in daytimeStrekoza2 | Istock Editorial | Getty ImagesA sparsely-populated state known for its world-class casinos and dry desert climate has been a bright spot in the tepid U.S. job market.Nevada’s workforce grew 1.9% from April 2025 to 2026, the highest of any state, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nationally, that rate inched up just 0.2% over the same period.About 12% of new jobs in the U.S. were created in Nevada during those 12 months, data shows. That’s an outsized gain for the Silver State, which…

What’s the most cliche possible gift you can give a relative? A digital photo frame, displaying a rotating slideshow of family photos. Now Aura has completely refreshed this product space with its gorgeous Aura Ink frame, which uses e-ink to create a display that doesn’t even look digital. Digital frames have always been so popular (yet mostly disappointing) because there’s an undeniable allure to the idea of them — it feels like magic to imagine hanging artwork on your wall that you can change depending on your mood. In practice, these devices usually look clunky. You need to plug them…

A total of 11 tankers hauling a combined 20 MMbbl were detected leaving the Iranian port of Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman this week, shipping data compiled by Bloomberg show. The U.S. military had prevented the vessels from sailing out into the Indian Ocean, part of an effort to squeeze Tehran’s access to petrodollars. Most Iranian oil goes to China. The increased flows come as Iran continues in its efforts to control which ships can pass through Hormuz and how. The country’s Persian Gulf State Authority, an entity set up to oversee transits, said in a document on its website that…