Author: Money Mechanics

When I think of summertime, I think back to 17-year-old me — driving my car, windows down, not enough sunscreen on, listening to music. Summer always meant less noise, fewer worries about school and not being held hostage by alarms.These memories have always evoked especially carefree feelings. Until now.Today’s (slightly older than 17) me is struck by the fear that for Gen Z (those born roughly between the late 1990s and early 2010s), summers aren’t as insulated from the noise, especially from the echo chamber of social media. And that is causing distress. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal…

What does a cutting-edge artificial intelligence data center have in common with a natural gas pipeline built decades ago?More than most investors realize.The race to build AI may be dominated by headlines about chips, software and trillion-dollar technology companies, but the infrastructure supporting that growth could create opportunities in a much less glamorous corner of the market. 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 up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters Profit and prosper with the best of…

If you saved $2.5 million in your traditional 401(k) or IRA, you’re probably wondering how much you’ll need to withdraw due to required minimum distributions (RMDs) and the impact they’ll have on your retirement benefits.After all, they’re required of everyone with a traditional 401(k) and IRA once they turn 73. It’s a way for the Internal Revenue Service to get paid for all the tax-free contributions you made to your retirement account during your working years.But those RMDs can have ramifications if they’re large enough. They can push you into a higher income bracket, increase your Medicare premiums, or force…

In May, our sister publication Reinsurance News hosted its second Legacy Market Roundtable in Brighton, in partnership with global reinsurer Swiss Re. A takeaway from the 90-minute session was the shifting role of alternative capital within the casualty space, with one participant noting that this influx of capital could position the legacy industry as a crucial anchor for underwriting discipline and stability over the next five years.In partnership with Swiss Re, the 2026 Reinsurance News Brighton Legacy Market Roundtable report is now available to download for free. The roundtable event brought together 13 leaders and experts from across the retrospective…

Would-be sellers backed off, too, with new listings falling to their lowest level since the start of 2026.  U.S. pending home sales fell 2.2% week over week during the four weeks ending July 12, the first decline in a month.  Some house hunters backed off due to stubbornly high housing costs. The weekly average mortgage rate rose back up to 6.49% after dipping to 6.43% the previous week, and the daily average rate shot up to its highest level in nearly a year. The median home-sale price was just about $800 shy of the all-time high. Another factor is the…

In 2021, William and Josh Lemmon started buying single-family homes in Akron, OH, for as little as $60,000 and renting them out for as much as $1,000 per month.“The rents [we could charge compared] to the cost of buying it were insane,” William tells Realtor.com®. “So we jumped in on it.”It was the height of the passive income craze—a personal finance trend built around the promise that the right investment could generate returns with little ongoing labor. Podcasts, YouTube channels, and real estate platforms helped turn that idea into a phenomenon, teaching aspiring investors how to buy rentals, finance renovations,…

Bank earnings season is back, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) just set the tone. The bank reported its Q2 2026 results on July 14, and the numbers were stronger than most expected a month ago. JPMorgan Chase & Co. posted GAAP EPS of $7.70, beating estimates by 31.7% and well above the $5.24 from a year ago. Still, the stock fell about 2% in pre-market trading after the bank raised its 2026 expense outlook to $107.5 billion from $105 billion. More News from Barchart The stock had already been running up into the report, trading close to its 52-week high of…

Two different reads on the housing market released Thursday point to the same problem, one that appears to be getting worse. Housing is just too expensive — to own and to build. Pending home sales in June, a measure of signed contracts on existing homes, fell 5.4% from May, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were down 0.3% from June 2025 and were well below analysts’ expectations.This read is based on people out shopping for homes in June and making the decision to sign a deal, so it is the most timely measure on the state of the…

Kerry Wan/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeaways Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event is next week. It will announce new foldable phones, smartwatches, and more. Early reports suggest a new foldable design. We’re days away from Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked, where the tech giant will unveil its latest generation of foldables and smartwatches. Samsung’s mobile launch event takes place on Wednesday, July 22, at 6 p.m. ET in London, and ZDNET will be on the ground catching the latest news. Samsung’s latest generation of foldables includes the eighth-generation Z Fold 8 and Z Flip 8, as well as the next generation of Galaxy smartwatches: the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and Galaxy…

(Oil Price) – TotalEnergies expects higher cash flows from its oil production and strong refining margins and oil trading results to boost second-quarter profits compared to the prior quarter, as oil prices rose and fuel markets tightened in the wake of the Iran war. “Downstream results and cash flow are expected to increase sharply compared to the first quarter of 2026, supported by higher refining and petrochemical margins, as well as oil trading results, which are expected to remain at the same strong level as in the first quarter,” the French supermajor said in an earnings preview on Thursday. TotalEnergies is set to…