Author: Money Mechanics

KEY TAKEAWAYS College students who take out federal loans will have two new repayment options, both of which were created under the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”The Saving for a Valuable Education program is expected to end in 2026, but borrowers may want to exit the repayment plan sooner. Several changes to repayment plans are expected to take effect in the new year, and some could benefit borrowers—as long as they understand the details. First, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” will completely overhaul the student loan repayment system, starting next year for both borrowers currently in repayment and those still in…

Georgia’s Synovus Financial has completed its merger with Tennessee-based Pinnacle Financial Partners, in an all-stock deal valued at $8.6bn. The transaction was announced in July. At the time, Synovus said the merged entity will be the “highest-performing regional bank” focused on the “fastest-growth markets” in the Southeast. As of 30 September, the combined holding company reported $117.2bn in assets, $95.7bn in deposits and loans of $80.4bn. It operates over 400 sites in nine states across the Southeast and Atlantic coast, offering various banking specialties with nationwide scope. The combined holding company will be based in Atlanta, Georgia, while the headquarters…

Silver stayed in a strong long-term uptrend and carried that momentum into the final quarter of 2025. Prices, which had already surged in the first half of the year, climbed to a new record of $83.64 by year’s end. Even after pulling back, finished the year at $72.61, marking a sharp annual gain of 147% and underlining the strength of the rally. After hitting the peak, some investors locked in profits. This led to a period of consolidation with wide price swings, which often follows a steep rise. In the first week of the new year, silver moving back toward…

Transitioning from military service to a civilian career is rarely straightforward. For me, it led to the built environment — an industry that, to my surprise, felt immediately familiar. Construction sites, development teams, and project organizations operate under pressures familiar to military units: tight timelines, limited resources, high stakes, and the need to coordinate across disciplines. Success relies on trust, clear roles, discipline, and shared awareness, while failure often stems from misalignment and poor communication. It quickly became clear that, while construction mirrors the military’s structure and complexity, it sometimes lacks the systems and norms that enable those environments to…

Key Takeaways The typical employee contribution rate falls between about 8% and 10%, depending on the data source.When employer matches are added, total savings climb to about 12% to 14% of an employee’s salary.Contribution rates climb with age: workers under 25 save a combined 9.3% of income, according to Vanguard, while those 55 to 64 save 13.8%.If you aren’t reaching the typical figures for your income and age range, you can start by contributing enough to capture your full employer match. The typical American worker is putting away about 8% to 10% in 401(k) and similar savings plans. When employer…

(Oil Price)– Saudi Aramco is poised to buy a 20% stake in a new refinery that India’s state-owned refiner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) plans to build with a total investment of about $11 billion, Indian news outlet Business Standard reports. BPCL plans to have the refinery built at the Ramayapatnam port in the state of Andhra Pradesh on the east coast of southern India. The refinery is planned to have a processing capacity of between 180,000 and 240,000 barrels per day (bpd). The Indian company, which is the country’s second-biggest state refiner with 706,000 bpd of crude processing capacity,…

By: Nina Raemont, Wearables and Health Editor / Jan. 3 at 6:42 p.m. ETIt was 11 years ago when Pebble unveiled its first-generation round smartwatch, the Pebble Time Round. Eleven years later, the watch brand announced the Pebble Round 2, featuring updates that will please both veteran Pebble wearers and newcomers alike. The smartwatch is not as thin as the famously slim Pebble Time Round (it’s 0.6 mm thicker), but it offers ten days of battery life and maximizes the 1.3-inch e-paper display. Also: Cult favorite Pebble returns with Pebble Round 2 – and it’s built to look as analog as possibleWidening the display…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldDonald Trump has long signalled his appetite to intervene in Venezuela. Late last year his administration mustered an armada in the Caribbean, bombed small boats it accused of carrying drugs to the US, imposed a naval quasi-blockade and commandeered Venezuelan oil tankers. All the while it intensified a public-relations campaign to justify taking action — arguing that Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro was an illegitimate leader presiding over a “narco-cartel”.  So the US attack on the oil-rich repressive state and the capture…

National average rates for home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) and home equity loans (HELs) are well under 8%, the lowest in more than 36 months. Of course, home owners with the most equity in their homes — and the best credit — earn the lowest rates. According to real estate analytics firm Curinos, the average HELOC rate is 7.44%. The national average rate on a home equity loan is 7.59%. Both rates are based on applicants with a minimum credit score of 780 and a maximum combined loan-to-value ratio (CLTV) of less than 70%. With primary home mortgage rates…

Wall Street’s main indexes ended mostly higher on Friday, the first trading day of 2026, powered by gains in semiconductor names and AI-related stocks. Even so, all three indexes posted modest declines for the week. Source: Investing.com  The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.7%, the benchmark declined 1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.5% and the small-cap Russell 2000 fell 1%. The first full trading week of the new year is expected to be an eventful one as the monthly jobs data headlines a busy start to 2026 for investors. The Street is expecting nonfarm job growth of…