Author: Money Mechanics

(Image credit: Getty Images)If you’re looking to keep a meaningful amount of money safe, perhaps to pay tuition next semester or to fund a down payment on a home, a certificate of deposit (CD) is often one of the first investment options that comes to mind.CDs are popular because they offer a risk-free way to save. Your principal is guaranteed and insured up to certain limits by agencies such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. That combination of stability and predictability makes them a go-to choice for short-term savings goals.There is one major drawback, though, and that’s the lockup period.…

(Image credit: Smith Collection/Gado / Contributor)Many older Americans are feeling deja vu as they watch energy prices rise in response to the Iran conflict. For those who lived through the 1970s and remember the spiraling inflation, soaring energy prices and increasingly unaffordable homes, today’s economy looks eerily similar.Here’s a closer look at the parallels between the economy Americans are facing today and the one older generations dealt with over 40 years ago.Unless otherwise noted, the data for this story came from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau. From just $107.88…

(Image credit: Getty Images)Question: We’re 57 years old with $7 million saved. We want to take a two-year career break and spend $800k traveling the world until we’re 59, then return to work and retire at 65. We each had a parent die in their 60s, so this period in our lives feels like it may be our best chance for such an adventure. Are we crazy?Answer: Once you’ve accumulated a certain amount of wealth, you may be inclined to start spending some of that money on lifelong goals, like travel. And it’s easy to argue that with $7 million…

Are you stuck in savings purgatory? I’ve been there. It’s easy to feel stuck and like you’re falling behind.But, in many cases, you’re not. Higher energy bills, gas prices, and the soaring costs of everyday goods have made it difficult for many to reach their savings goals. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that gasoline prices rose 21.2% while energy commodity prices rose 21.3% in March.This is why you have to find creative ways to bridge the gap between staying where you are and gaining momentum to where you want to go. I’ll show you a trick that’s helped me…

(Image credit: Getty Images)It’s not unusual for tech companies to drop certain features or types of support for aging tech. Netflix dropped support for older devices recently itself. At a certain point, the older hardware just can’t run modern software. But, typically, the old device is still functional. It just won’t be able to do some of the things that newer models can do.But the latest news from Amazon looks like it could be a bigger deal than that. In May, anyone with a Kindle built before 2013 will no longer have access to the Kindle Store, Kindle Unlimited or…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldThis article is an on-site version of our Unhedged newsletter. Premium subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered every weekday. Standard subscribers can upgrade to Premium here, or explore all FT newslettersGood morning. Yesterday, Kevin Warsh got through the Senate Banking Committee hearing on his nomination as Federal Reserve chair without causing a Treasuries market meltdown. Well done to him. However, President Donald Trump’s pledge on CNBC not to drop a criminal probe into outgoing chair Jay…

This was originally published by Inman on April 14, 2026.  I bought a house with a 7.35% rate in 2024. Refinancing the rate down to 6.2% the next year made the mortgage math easier to stomach.  When I moved from Seattle to Santa Barbara, CA 18 months ago, I knew it was a bad financial decision. But it was a good life decision.  My husband and I wanted to raise our kids in Santa Barbara. I had attended UCSB and lived there for another stint in my mid-twenties; I describe living there as a permanent vacation that’s interrupted by work;…

Kerry Wan and Adam Breeden/ZDNETFollow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.When it comes to high-end OLED TVs, LG is the undisputed heavyweight champion. The brand has long been the gold standard for the technology, and the debut of the G6 further solidifies its dominance in the market. But is the yearly update really worth the extra cost?Also: The best OLED TVs you can buyTo help explain where the real differences lie between the LG G6 and its predecessor, the G5, I’ve broken down what each model offers in terms of smart features, tech upgrades, and new software. And while…

(By Oil & Gas 360) – Eurasia holds some of the largest natural gas resources in the world. The challenge has never been geology; it’s been access. From Russia’s vast reserves to Central Asia’s underdeveloped basins and the emerging potential of the Caspian and Eastern Mediterranean, Eurasia is rich in gas. Yet much of that supply remains constrained by infrastructure, geopolitics, and the evolving structure of global energy markets. What’s changing now is not the resource base, but the urgency to unlock it. Russia remains a cornerstone of Eurasian gas supply, with production systems built over decades. Beyond Russia, countries like Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan,…

The trust funds for Social Security and Medicare Part A seem likely to run out of money faster than was projected last year.The Congressional Budget Office used updated data and estimates to develop the latest projections. The new forecast for the Social Security retirement benefits trust fund is that the trust will run out of money in 2032, instead of 2033 as projected last year.One major change in the estimates is that the CBO now assumes inflation will be higher than projected last year. Higher inflation means the annual cost of living increases in benefits will be higher than previous…