Author: Money Mechanics

In an aerial view, two-story single family homes line the streets on Jan. 14, 2026 in Thousand Oaks, California. Kevin Carter | Getty ImagesMortgage interest rates dropped last week to the lowest level in a month, prompting more current borrowers to seek savings in a refinance. While lower rates didn’t give potential buyers much incentive, the run on refinances was enough to push total mortgage demand 2.8% higher compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances, $832,750 or less, decreased to…

Key Takeaways Workers in small metro areas and college towns may face greater threats of AI job displacement due to lower adaptive capacity. Workers in tech hubs like San Jose and Seattle are better positioned to adapt to AI-related job displacement due to higher savings and diverse skill sets. Get personalized, AI-powered answers built on 27+ years of trusted expertise. AI has the potential to displace workers across the country, but it could be particularly detrimental for those in small metro areas and college towns, new research finds. In a National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) paper published in January,…

February 19, 2026 09:55 AM EST What To Expect From Friday’s Inflation Report FROM 7 minutes ago The Fed’s inflation benchmark likely worsened, not improved, over 2025.A report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Friday will likely show consumer prices as measured by Personal Consumption Expenditures rose 2.8% over 12 months through December, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. “Core” PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is forecast to rise 3.0%, up from 2.8% in November.That would put both measures slightly higher than they were in January 2025. The expected…

Key Takeaways Cypress Lake, Floria, was named one of Investopedia’s top 100 places to retire for Americans.Cypress Lake offers moderate housing costs and no state income tax for an affordable cost of living.Cypress Lake is full of green spaces, with many country clubs, beaches, yacht clubs, and marinas nearby. Get personalized, AI-powered answers built on 27+ years of trusted expertise. Cypress Lake, Florida, was recently named one of Investopedia’s top 100 places to retire in the U.S. This a quiet, established community in Southwest Florida is known for its calm surroundings and everyday comfort. Retirees will enjoy low-stress living, privacy,…

(Image credit: Getty Images)The start of a new year has a way of inspiring us. We set goals, imagine fresh possibilities and picture the version of our financial lives we’d like to build.But by February, many people feel their momentum slipping. The excitement of January fades, routines reassert themselves, and it’s easy to think you’ve “missed your chance” to make meaningful changes.But here’s the truth: February is one of the best times to revisit your financial goals. The pressure of the new year has eased, the calendar is still wide open, and you have the space to think clearly about…

(Image credit: Getty Images)For many retirees, the real estate component of their investment portfolios feels safe.It’s tangibleIt produced income during working yearsIn some cases, it helped build the wealth on which they relyThat safety, however, can be deceptive.As a Florida-based adviser, I regularly see the retirees I work with carry real estate habits from their accumulation years straight into retirement, without adjusting for how dramatically the rules have changed. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues CLICK FOR FREE ISSUE Sign…

(Image credit: Getty Images)Millennial investors have been called many names, from risk-happy speculators to overly cautious skeptics. But if you look past the stereotypes, a more interesting picture emerges: millennials are reshaping the way Americans invest in ways that all generations can learn from.This is a generation that came of age during extraordinary economic whiplash. “Millennials lived through both the dot-com bust and global financial crisis during their formative years,” says Teresa Greenip, senior manager in Wealth Management at Aspiriant. “Many witnessed widespread economic disruption, bank failures, mass layoffs and tumbling retirement and investment account balances firsthand … while they…

Key Takeaways Almost half of Americans ages 35-44 are cost-burdened, spending 30% or more of their income on housing.In the five highest-burden states (New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Nevada and Florida), more than one in four renters in this age group is severely burdened, meaning housing eats up more than half their income. Almost half (48%) of American renters ages 35-44 are cost-burdened due to their housing costs, according to a new Investopedia analysis of Census data that was released in December 2025. That’s more than double the cost-burdened rate for homeowners the same age (22%), and it’s happening during the…

(Image credit: Getty Images)When most people think about estate planning, they picture documents: Wills, trusts, powers of attorney and beneficiary forms. While those documents are important, they’re only part of the picture.What gets overlooked is that nearly every estate planning decision also creates a tax outcome, sometimes immediately, sometimes years down the road.In our experience, the most effective estate strategies are built alongside thoughtful tax decisions. When estate planning and tax planning operate in silos, families can unintentionally create higher tax bills for themselves or their heirs. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Become a smarter, better informed…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.This 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. For every up, there is a down. Yesterday’s Federal Reserve minutes show the central bank’s Open Market Committee considering the risk created by a better job market — namely a potentially “slower and more uneven than generally expected” path to the 2 per cent inflation target.…