Author: Money Mechanics

Xtar VX2 Pro Battery Analyzer and Charger ZDNET’s key takeaways This does a lot more than a regular battery charger It has a feature for batteries being put into storage and to rejuvenate old NiMH batteries The two charging slots can be used independently Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.I’ve worked hard over the past few years to move away from disposable alkaline batteries and replace them with rechargeable equivalents. After all, there are some great brands of rechargeable AAA, AA, C, and D cell batteries available that will last you for years. And I’ve found that the best…

Key Takeaways Newark Liberty International Airport, located just 10 miles from Jersey City, serves over 30 airlines and offers nonstop flights to more than 180 domestic and international destinations.Jersey City offers easy access to Amtrak, PATH trains, ferries, and buses.Retirees enjoy walkable neighborhoods and a robust downtown with waterfront parks, international dining, museums, galleries, and shops. Residents in Hudson County are just a short commute away from the perks of big-city living, but with 13% lower housing costs than in New York County. Jersey City makes an excellent home base for retirees hoping to trade their 9-to-5s for frequent flyer miles. …

During your working years, it’s easy to take your income stream for granted. You put in hours each week, and a paycheck is regularly deposited into your bank account, helping you to make the mortgage payment, pay taxes and handle other wants and necessities.But when it comes time to retire, that paycheck disappears. To compensate, you need to make sure you have in place a steady income stream to replace it — and that’s not something you want to leave to chance.Unfortunately, some people do leave it to chance, expecting that Social Security will do more financial heavy lifting than…

I’m always concerned, but never surprised, when I meet a new or soon-to-be retiree who doesn’t know much about required minimum distributions (RMDs).The rules that govern these mandatory retirement account withdrawals have always been confusing.And because RMDs don’t start until you’re in your 70s, it can be tempting to put off worrying about their impact until other, more pressing planning decisions are made. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. CLICK FOR FREE ISSUE Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement,…

One of the most productive meetings I had this year was atypical, to say the very least. I’d driven a total of about seven hours from the Salt Lake City airport into the Utah desert to explore a series of slot canyons with the CEOs of four different businesses. Despite it being largely unstructured time with no agenda, it was very purposeful, even profound.Already as far into “the middle of nowhere” as I have ever been, we arrived at the most technical of the slot canyons we’d face, where the definition of this mountainous feature crystallized in stark reality. You…

If you’re a die-hard football fan like me, you’re all too familiar with the risks and rewards of playing in the red zone.When your favorite NFL team gets the ball inside the opposing team’s 20-yard line, the margin for error is reduced. The skills, strategies and control your team demonstrates under these stressful conditions can be critical to the game’s outcome.You see where I’m going with this? From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Be a smarter, better informed investor. CLICK FOR FREE ISSUE Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice…

Question: I’m 61 with a $950,000 401(k) and need $50,000 for home repairs. Should I borrow given today’s rates or take a 401(k) withdrawal?Answer: The nice thing about owning a home is getting to build equity in a place that’s yours. Eventually, that could mean cashing in that equity to improve your financial life, or simply enjoying the stability of staying put as long as you keep up with your mortgage payments and property taxes.The downside of owning a home, though, is that expensive repairs can arise when you least expect them. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance…

Key Takeaways About one in 10 U.S. workers plan to take a sabbatical (or “micro-retirement”) in 2025. Financial planners often recommend saving enough to pay living expenses for the length of your sabbatical, such as three months. Most sabbatical-takers rely on personal savings. Americans are quitting their jobs to take extended breaks at more than double the rate they did five years ago. About 0.14% of employees took sabbaticals in January 2024, up a little more than half from just 0.9% in January 2019, according to Gusto, a human resources services company. What most people don’t realize is that the…

Until recently, lenders that sell mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises that guarantee about half of U.S. mortgage debt, could review credit scores only from FICO to help determine whether an applicant qualifies for a loan. But now those lenders also have the option of using VantageScore, a competing score owned by the three major credit-reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion).FICO and VantageScore evaluate many of the same criteria to create scores, including an applicant’s record of on-time loan and credit card payments, but their formulas differ.The version of VantageScore that mortgage lenders may now review,…

Key Takeaways GMO, founded by veteran value investor Jeremy Grantham builds investment strategies on the premise that all asset classes eventually revert to their historical means.Co-head of asset allocation John Thorndike says investors don’t need to “hide out,” but should avoid the most expensive parts of the global market. Last week’s action in stocks illustrated investor worries about high valuations. Those worries are reasons for restraint, a fund manager told Investopedia, but not alarm. “High valuations offer both lower expected returns and higher risk than fairly valued or cheap markets,” said John Thorndike, a portfolio manager at GMO, in an…