Author: Money Mechanics

Key Takeaways The 50/30/20 rule still works conceptually, but rising costs can make the 50% “needs” limit harder to follow.The 15/65/20 rule prioritizes saving first, allowing more room for essentials and enabling guilt-free spending with the rest.Because it’s built on percentages, the 15/65/20 rule can flex as income and circumstances change. What the 50/30/20 Rule Gets Right—And Where It Starts to Strain The 50/30/20 rule divides after-tax income into three buckets: 50% for needs, 30% for wants, and 20% for saving. Its appeal has always been about its simplicity. Instead of tracking dozens of categories, budgeters can focus on broad…

Key Takeaways World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s crypto business, in January applied for a national banking license and launched an interface allowing users to borrow and earn points.It is an “experiment into the convergence of politics, finance, and blockchain technology,” a crypto research firm says. The Trump family has a range of business interests—including a crypto company with big financial ambitions. The company, World Liberty Financial, has a lending market called WLFI Markets. It has applied for a national banking charter through its World Liberty Trust subsidiary. And it bills itself as a DeFi, or “decentralized finance,” ecosystem, which…

Key Takeaways Retail sales were flat in December after a strong start to the holiday shopping season, Census Bureau data showed.After several months of strong consumer spending, weakening economic fundamentals could mean that spending growth will slow this year.Inflation, a weakening job market and a potential stall in stock price growth could keep more consumers home this year, economists said. After years of revving up the economy, are consumers set to tap the brakes on their spending? New data shows that retail sales stalled in December, falling short of expectations after several months of robust growth. And it could be…

Key Takeaways Retiring in these African nations can cut monthly living costs by more than half.Many destinations pair low rents and food prices with good private health care options and growing expat communities. Of the more than 700,000 Americans collecting Social Security abroad, most settle in Europe, Canada, and Mexico. Relatively few move to Africa, despite living costs that are as much as 80% lower than in more popular retirement destinations. In Morocco, for example, the average cost of living for one person runs $729 a month, about 71% less than in the U.S. In Tunisia, it drops to $506,…

Key Takeaways Retiring in Europe doesn’t require a big-city budget—smaller villages often offer significantly lower housing and daily living costs.Access to public health care, walkable layouts, and local food markets can materially reduce retirement expenses. If you are thinking of retiring in Europe, you probably are envisioning an apartment in Paris or a villa in Tuscany—beautiful, but costly. If a big city and a big budget are too pricey for your budget, there are small villages across Europe that offer historic charm, slower living and everyday costs that can be surprisingly manageable, even on a modest retirement budget. For retirees…

Key Takeaways U.S. citizens can generally receive survivor benefits abroad. The rules depend on citizenship, country of residence and benefit type. Non‑citizen spouses can still qualify, but need to pay close attention to their residency history and the rules of their country of origin. The number of people receiving Social Security benefits overseas, now more than 711,000 people, has more than doubled in the last two decades. About one in seven of them are receiving survivor benefits. Your spouse can still receive those payments after you’re gone, even from abroad. The rules depend on citizenship, country of residence and benefit…

(Image credit: Getty Images)Stocks were mixed Tuesday as market participants took in the latest round of earnings reports and looked ahead to tomorrow morning’s delayed release of the January jobs report. Ahead of this key update on the labor market – and the first Consumer Price Index (CPI) report of the year, due out on Friday – Wall Street took in a weak December retail sales report.According to the Census Bureau, retail sales were “virtually unchanged” from November to December, and were up 2.4% from the year prior. Economists expected a 0.4% monthly rise.The report, which was delayed due to…

 The world’s two most important financial facts are these: fiat is the meme money of deranged government thugs and is the money of glorious citizen kings. At some point there will be another pathetic rally for thug money and eventually another… enroute to its final demise. There have only been four such rallies over the past 50+ years and each of these is weaker than the previous one. Why? Some key insight into this most important monetary matter. It’s almost surreal that the US government is trying to weaponize its fiat and debt… and doing so while it engorges on…

The traditional reinsurance market is expected to present heightened competition to insurance-linked securities (ILS) in 2026, but investor inflows, a strong maturities schedule, and retained earnings should keep ILS capital levels healthy and catastrophe bond pricing attractive to cedents, executives from GC Securities told Artemis.During an interview around the start of this year, Cory Anger and Geoff Sweitzer, Managing Director’s at GC Securities, the capital markets and ILS specialist unit of reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter, shared their outlook for the catastrophe bond and ILS sector for 2026. With 2025 being a particularly exceptional year for the ILS market, momentum across…

A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Property Play newsletter with Diana Olick. Property Play covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, from individuals to venture capitalists, private equity funds, family offices, institutional investors and large public companies. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. French building product conglomerate Saint-Gobain started its business more than 350 years ago, making the mirrors for the Palace of Versailles. Now it’s set its sights on windows in U.S. homes – windows, walls, ceilings and other building materials. The company has invested close to $7…