Author: Money Mechanics

Mortgage marketing is stuck in 2008. Not because the tactics are old. We have webinars instead of lunch-and-learns, sponsored posts instead of postcards. The problem isn’t outdated tools. It’s the mindset, the fact that most of us never really learned how to market in the first place. That’s not an indictment of the people doing the work. It’s an indictment of the systems they inherited. It’s Thursday afternoon in 2025. You’re setting up a booth at a Realtor appreciation event, maybe your third one this year. You paid $2,500 for the table. Dozens of agents drift by. Three stop. One…

Key Takeaways The typical employee contribution rate falls between about 8% and 10%, depending on the data source—but 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’s figures, 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—typically 3% to 6% of your salary—then try to increase your contribution rate by 1% each…

Key Takeaways The 28/36 rule states that no more than 28% of your gross household income should go toward housing, and no more than 36% of your gross household income on housing, child care costs, and all debt.Child care costs an average of $989 per month, while the average price of a mortgage is $2,127 per month.Child care and mortgage costs take up about 45% of the average household income ($6,977.50), which is well above the 28/36 rule of thumb. As costs continue to rise, determining how much of your income should go to pay for housing versus child care…

Stock futures ticked higher Tuesday, a day after the three major equities indexes ended their runs of five consecutive winning sessions. Futures associated with the tech-heavy Nasdaq, benchmark S&P 500, and blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, pointed up a respective 0.4%, 0.3%, and 0.2%. Yesterday, the indexes closed lower as the final trading month of the year began, with shares of big tech and cryptocurrency-tied firms falling amid risk-off sentiment.  Bitcoin was trading around $87,200, up from its overnight low of below $85,500. Yesterday, the largest cryptocurrency suffered its worst day since March, tumbling from around $91,000 and weighing on crypto-tied stocks Strategy…

Key Takeaways Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are losing ground Monday, while stocks related to the industry are also slumping.Bitcoin fell sharply in November, as uncertainty in the markets led some investors to shed riskier assets such as cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies tumbled Monday morning as risk-averse sentiment returned to financial markets. Bitcoin (BTCUSD), the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was trading at $84,200 recently, down from a weekend high of around $91,000. Other digital assets, including ether and solana, were also down sharply. Crypto-related stocks also retreated, with shares of trading platform operators Coinbase (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD) each dropping more than…

Key Takeaways OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned that “some really bad stuff” is coming with AI—especially deepfakes and other “really strange or scary moments.”OpenAI’s new video app Sora 2 quickly claimed the top spot of Apple’s App Store in the days after its launch, showing how quickly deepfake-style tech is going mainstream.Altman said he hopes society learns how to build guardrails before the tech gets even more powerful. Sam Altman, CEO of the OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is providing unexpectedly stark warnings about the effects of his own products and those like them. “I expect some really bad stuff to…

Key Takeaways Many Americans have been holiday shopping for weeks and will make final decisions tonight as Cyber Monday specials come to an end.Total retail spending is on track to surpass last year’s numbers, but people are buying fewer items as prices rise. It’s last call to finalize your haul. Cyber Monday spending may peak from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. today as Americans make decisions before sales end and collectively spend some $16 million per minute, Adobe said. Online shoppers will have spent $14.2 billion by the day’s end or about 6% more than last year, the software company…

Key Takeaways Markets now see a December rate cut as more likely than a pause, reflecting how quickly expectations can shift.If the Fed cuts rates in mid-December, it will push today’s savings and CD yields lower.It’s easy to track rate-cut odds yourself with the CME FedWatch tool, which updates in real-time as traders react to new data. What’s Changed in the Outlook for Fed Rate Cuts When you want to know where bank savings rates are headed, it all comes down to what the Federal Reserve does next. That’s because the Fed’s benchmark rate directly influences how much banks and…

Key Takeaways College athletes are now entitled to receive up to $20.5 million in revenues from their schools.Before investing, it’s a good idea to learn the financial basics and build a strong foundation.Roth IRAs are one of the best tools young athletes can use when starting their investment journey. With the landmark House v. NCAA settlement now finalized, college athletes will be entitled to a share of the revenue they help generate. As of July 1, 2025, schools can share up to $20.5 million annually in revenue with athletes, alongside billions in retroactive name, image, and likeness (NIL) payments. For…

The current national average HELOC rate continues to hover at its 2025 low, according to the analytics company Curinos. Home equity line of credit rates might see more room to fall if the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates again at its next meeting on December 10. According to Curinos data, the average weekly HELOC rate is 7.64%. This rate is based on applicants with a minimum credit score of 780 and a maximum combined loan-to-value ratio (CLTV) of 70%. Homeowners have a huge amount of value tied up in their houses — nearly $36 trillion at the end of the…