Author: Money Mechanics

Key Takeaways Canada ticks a lot of boxes for retirees, including affordable quality healthcare, low cost-of-living options, natural beauty, and cultural similarities. The less-expensive places are generally more isolated, although cities in some provinces are accessible price-wise. The biggest drawbacks to retiring in Canada are the potential difficulty obtaining a visa and the cold winters. If you’re looking for a less costly place to retire and aren’t prioritizing year-round warm weather, Canada could offer you choices. The Great White North is close, safe, friendly, mainly English-speaking, and culturally similar to the U.S. It also offers stunning natural beauty, high-quality health…

(Image credit: Getty Images)The Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts during the fall are having a ripple effect across most consumer savings rates. The federal funds rate — the rate banks use to borrow and lend to one another — recently dropped to a target range of 3.75% to 4%, the lowest level in about three years. And the consensus among economists is that rates will continue to fall modestly in 2026, perhaps by another half a percentage point or so by year-end.The result for savers: The days of easily earning 5% or more on cash have passed, financial advisers say.“Many…

KEY TAKEAWAYS The price of gold, driven by a confluence of factors, rallied to repeated new highs in 2025.Investment demand likely will persist in 2026, particularly if the global economy cools.Structural portfolio reallocation could further support the price of gold. Gold investors enjoyed an almost unprecedented price rally in 2025. The question now is how much the market run persists into the new year. In a world fraught with geopolitical and economic uncertainty, gold’s safe-haven reputation thrived this year as it had not since the high-inflation era of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The precious metal’s price has surged…

The charitable giving landscape is set for its most significant tax overhaul in a decade. Starting in 2026, new federal tax rules — enacted via the big GOP/Trump tax and spending bill — will change how nearly every American taxpayer can deduct contributions on federal returns.For instance, a new tax break allows those who claim the 2026 standard deduction to deduct charitable giving donations. At the same time, new rules limit how the itemized charitable deduction reduces taxes for high earners.Below are three big ways the charitable deduction is changing for individual taxpayers in 2026, and what these new rules…

As 2025 comes to an end, investors are reshaping their portfolios and deciding which stocks to buy for 2026 based on their goals. Some investors look for stocks that have fallen a lot. They believe these shares were punished too harshly and now trade at attractive prices, with room to recover. This approach is called value investing. Others focus on stocks that have done well recently. The idea is that strong performers may continue to deliver gains if market conditions stay supportive. This approach is known as momentum investing. This strategy carries risk. Stocks that have risen sharply can already…

A number of specialty insurers are increasingly turning to parametric insurance solutions as an effective tool to help support clean energy deployment, particularly by stabilising revenues and improving access to project finance, according to Jason Kaminsky, CEO, kWh Analytics.kWh Analytics is a leader in insuring the energy transition, underwriting property insurance and revenue firming products for renewable energy assets. The company is highly involved in supporting renewable energy project finance transactions, most recently creating and implementing the wind proxy hedge to support developers of wind farms. kWh Analytics offers the Wind Proxy Hedge product as part of its suite of…

Please enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser or access the information through the links provided below. December 30, 2025 Agencies release annual asset-size thresholds under Community Reinvestment Act regulations Federal Reserve Board Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation For release at 11:00 a.m. EST The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation today announced the 2026 updated Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) “small bank” and “intermediate small bank” asset-size thresholds. The CRA regulations establish the framework and criteria by which the relevant agencies assess a financial institution’s record of…

AI image. Source: Google Gemini By David Enna, Tipswatch.com Let’s all admit one thing: 2025 has been a bizarre year for the U.S. economy, inflation, government effectiveness and the certainty of economic statistics. In fact, my code word through the entire year has been “uncertainty,” so much so that some readers complained I use that word too often. In this year: President Trump launched an seemingly dangerous policy of high tariffs on U.S. imports, threatening friends and foes across the world. At first, the market reacted in fear, with the S&P 500 index falling nearly 5% on April 3, the…

Key Takeaways The median amount of home equity for adults age 65 and older is $250,000, up 47% from pre-pandemic levels. Housing wealth is many retirees’ main asset. Almost one in three homeowners age 75 and older now carries a mortgage, triple the rate from 1998. The median mortgage debt is about $107,000 for that age group. If you’re like many Americans, your house might mean as much or more to your retirement as your 401(k). The median home equity for homeowners age 65 and older stands at $250,000, according to a Harvard analysis of the most recent federal survey…

(BOE Report)– Frontera Energy’s Colombian unit has signed a prepayment and commercial agreement worth up to $120 million with a unit of U.S. oil major Chevron to supply crude oil over two years, the Canadian oil producer said on Monday. Under the deal, Frontera will receive an initial $80 million advance and supply a portion of its crude output to Chevron Products Company. Frontera may seek an additional $40 million advance for up to six months on a fully committed basis. The agreement replaces an existing prepayment arrangement set to expire at the end of January 2026, Frontera said. Frontera, based…