Author: Money Mechanics

Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co. Ltd., the Japanese primary insurance group, is back in the catastrophe bond market to sponsor an initially $100 million Kizuna Re III Pte. Ltd. (Series 2026-1) transaction, that is designed to provide collateralized earthquake reinsurance protection and is being issued out of Singapore, Artemis has learned.This will become the tenth catastrophe bond we have included in our extensive Deal Directory that will provide reinsurance to part of the Tokio Marine Holdings group of companies and now the seventh in the Kizuna Re series of cat bond deals. Tokio Marine has been sponsoring catastrophe…

Just months after loanDepot co-founder Alex Madonna was named to a new role to focus on emerging technology, artificial intelligence and modern sales structures, it was announced that he’s departing the company. Madonna, who was most recently loanDepot’s executive vice president of direct lending and spent 16 years at the company, confirmed the news in a LinkedIn post on Friday afternoon. “After 16 remarkable years under Anthony Hsieh‘s mentorship and leadership, as many of you know, we mutually agreed it was time for me to move on from the organization,” Madonna wrote. In the same post, Madonna announced that he…

OpenAI has fired an employee over the employee’s activity on prediction markets, including Polymarket, the company confirmed to Wired. The employee used confidential OpenAI information in connection with the trades made, the company alleges. OpenAI didn’t release the name of the employee. However, a spokesperson said that such actions violated a company policy that bans workers from using inside information for personal gain, including on prediction markets. Prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi allow people to make wagers on the outcomes of real-world events. For instance, on Polymarket, there are wagers being made around the kind of products OpenAI will…

Key Takeaways After another declining week for stocks, savers are looking for safe places for cash that still pay a solid return.Top savings accounts, CDs, brokerage cash accounts, and Treasuries pay 3%–5% with almost no risk—some with a guaranteed return.See today’s best safe-haven rates—all in one chart—to find a safe spot for your cash as markets wobble and savers focus on steady returns. See Today’s Best Cash Yields—All in One Chart With markets unsettled again this week, many savers are steering toward safety—looking for places where their cash can still earn a solid return, but without the market risk. Fortunately,…

(World Oil) – Venezuela canceled an auction of assets seized from Halliburton Co. after the Trump administration intervened to stop the sale, as President Donald Trump seeks to smooth the return of U.S. oil companies to the South American country. U.S. government officials pressed Venezuela’s new leader to cancel the auction after a Halliburton executive met Trump and raised the issue with him in January, according to people familiar with the situation, asking to not be identified discussing a private matter. The move is expected to clear smooth the path for the Houston-based company’s return to Venezuela — an OPEC producer…

Key Takeaways Cash-out refinancing can lower your interest costs, but it turns unsecured debt into a loan backed by your house—miss payments, and you could face foreclosure.Credit scores tend to jump after a cash-out refi, though credit card balances often creep back up within a year. Get personalized, AI-powered answers built on 27+ years of trusted expertise. If you’ve ever looked at your credit card statement and then at your home’s equity, you’ve probably wondered if a refinance could help you pay off your credit card debt. That’s what many homeowners are doing, according to a 2025 Consumer Financial Protection…

Key Takeaways A new study argues that the “Annoyance Economy” costs American families at least $165 billion annually in junk fees, spam calls, and other things that waste time and money.The researchers claim that companies intentionally make subscription cancellations difficult, increasing their revenue by over 200%.Complex health insurance paperwork and poor customer service contribute significantly to consumer frustration and financial losses. You call your insurance company about a nixed claim, get routed through a phone tree, wait 40 minutes, explain your problem to a chatbot that can’t help, then start over with a human agent who asks for the same…

Key Takeaways Interest rate changes affect bond prices and future income in opposite directions.Duration measures a bond’s sensitivity to rate changes, stated in years.Laddering bonds across different maturities reduces reinvestment risk.Diversifying across issuers protects against credit events and defaults.Managing rate risk requires balancing trade-offs, not predicting rate movements. Get personalized, AI-powered answers built on 27+ years of trusted expertise. Few things feel as unsettling as watching bond values fluctuate on a statement, especially when those bonds were supposed to provide stability. But interest rate risk affects more than just account balances. It influences how much income your portfolio can generate,…

(Image credit: Getty Images)Being in the top 1% of earners doesn’t necessarily mean you’re rich or that your odds of a secure retirement are 100%. That’s especially true if you live in California or Washington, D.C., where pricey real estate and a high cost of living can take a big bite out of your budget.It’s not just what you earn, but where you live, that determines whether you’re truly rich or just doing okay. In fact, being “rich” in the United States is shaped as much by geography as it is income, according to a BestBrokers analysis that quantifies the…

Happy family: mother, father, children son and daughter on nature on sunsetgettyWithin the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Working Families Tax Cuts establish parameters for newly created 530A accounts, commonly referred to as Trump Accounts. These accounts are structured similarly to individual retirement accounts (IRAs), with one key difference: there is no requirement for earned income during the growth stage.Funding for these accounts becomes available on July 5, 2026, for children under the age of 18. A key component is a pilot program under which the United States Treasury will deposit $1,000 into each eligible account as seed money.…