Author: Money Mechanics

Key Takeaways From antebellum mansions in Natchez, Missippi, to the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, these five towns surround you with history.Each destination has a profound cultural heritage as well as below-average living costs, making them suitable for retirees and history lovers alike. While tourist accommodations in cities like Boston command premium prices due to their colonial charms, dozens of other American locales offer equally compelling heritage, such as Revolutionary War battlefields, Spanish missions, and antebellum architecture, all at a fraction of the cost. Using Zillow’s Home Value Index and the Economic Research Institute’s cost-of-living data, we found five places where…

More than three-quarters of Americans 50 and older say they want to remain in their homes after they retire, but sharp increases in property taxes have made aging in place unaffordable.Unlike income taxes, which often decline in retirement, property taxes are based on the value of your home — and in many parts of the country, assessed values have skyrocketed in recent years. Median property taxes rose by an average of 10.4% between 2021 and 2023, according to an analysis of the latest data available by LendingTree, an online marketplace for consumer loans. The median property tax in 2023 was…

This AI Chip Stock Is Getting a Big Boost From Google’s Hot Streak 5 minutes ago Alphabet’s stock has been on a roll lately. One big beneficiary of that move? Broadcom. The rise in shares of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has helped inject some energy back into a flagging AI trade. That’s had knock-on effects on a range of tech stocks—though few have benefitted as much as Broadcom (AVGO), which counts Google as a major customer for its AI chips. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images Broadcom’s shares have surged recently, climbing along with Alphabet’s (GOOGL, GOOG), which have been lifted by a series…

Question: My $1.2 million vacation home has a $360K mortgage. I don’t need my upcoming $45,000 RMD. Should I use it to pay down the mortgage?Answer: There can be benefits to carrying a mortgage rather than paying it off with a lump sum of cash. For one thing, if you itemize on your tax returns, you may be able to lower your IRS bill via the mortgage interest deduction. And if you have a relatively low interest rate on your mortgage, it could pay to invest your money elsewhere at a higher return.On the other hand, at the end of…

Barely two months ago the market was debating whether Strategy (née MicroStrategy) might soon join the S&P 500. But if a week is a long time in politics, then two months is an eternity in crypto. Back in the summer, Strategy’s market cap exceeded that of nearly every other US stock outside the index, and inclusion in the next quarterly reshuffle looked plausible. Executive chair Michael Saylor had seemingly pulled off a remarkable feat, transforming a humdrum business intelligence software vendor into an iconic bitcoin vehicle, and investors had rewarded the pivot with an over twentyfold gain.Today the conversation around…

Please enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser or access the information through the links provided below. November 25, 2025 Agencies issue final rule to modify certain regulatory capital standards Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of the Comptroller of the Currency For release at 1:30 p.m. EST The federal bank regulatory agencies today jointly issued a final rule that modifies certain regulatory capital standards to reduce disincentives a banking organization may have to engage in lower-risk activities, such as intermediating in…

With the heating season starting in the Henry Hub natural gas futures, the prices are rising fast. A year ago, a similar rally also began in mid-October, and prices kept climbing until they peaked in March. Right now, demand is close to those highs, but warmer weather forecasts for the coming days have slowed down buyers below the $4.70 per MMBtu level. Weather remains one of the strongest drivers of gas prices, along with supply conditions. If temperatures this winter stay above average, heating demand may weaken, and this could limit the chances of new price highs this season.Chances of…

Cincinnati Insurance Companies has returned to the catastrophe bond market for the first time since 2017, seeking $150 million or more in fully-collateralized reinsurance from the capital markets with a Skyline Re II Ltd. (Series 2025-1) deal that will cover certain losses from multiple US perils, Artemis has learned.Previously, Cincinnati Insurance had sponsored three private catastrophe bonds under Skyline Re Ltd. in 2013, 2014 and 2017. The last cat bond from the company was a $180 million Skyline Re Ltd. (Series 2017-1) which was privately placed. That deal saw principal eroded from an aggregate section after severe and convective thunderstorm…

From July 2024 to July 2025, 1 in 3 condos sold in Manhattan sold at a loss, according to luxury real estate firm Brown Harris Stevens. Experts say this dynamic is somewhat typical in a city with high selling fees and high tax rates.What is unusual is the borough’s wavering property values over the past decade. In November 2015, 1 square foot of space in Manhattan cost $1,562; by fall 2025, prices had fallen to $1,108 per square foot, according to Redfin data. Manhattan condo and co-op values took a large swing down amid the Fed’s tightening of the U.S.…

A year after launching a commercial robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi, Chinese autonomous vehicle technology company WeRide and partner Uber can finally call that service driverless. The companies said the commercial robotaxi service, which will no longer have a human safety operator behind the wheel, is open to the public and will start with routes on Yas Island, a tourist district that is home to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Formula 1 racing circuit. Image Credits:Uber/WeRide Robotaxi operations in Abu Dhabi will work similarly to Uber’s partnership with Waymo in Austin. Uber riders that select Uber Comfort or UberX in…