Author: Money Mechanics

An incredibly cozy five-bedroom home in the heart of the Berkshires has recently come back on the market for $1.49 million. The striking post-and-beam mountain retreat in Hancock, MA, offers buyers rustic, warm interiors crafted by local artisans and the chance to own a home with access to year-round adventure.Located just 3.5 miles from Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort, which is known for its ski slopes, mountain coaster, and four-season recreation, the property is perfectly positioned as a private escape for outdoor enthusiasts. The nearby Appalachian Trail also provides endless hiking opportunities, while the college town of Williamstown (just 20 minutes…

(Oil Price) – Despite tense bilateral relations, the United States and South Africa held this week their highest-level meeting so far this year to discuss potential resource deals in critical minerals, the Financial Times reported on Friday, quoting attendees of the meeting in Johannesburg. The two countries have been in tense relations since U.S. President Donald Trump took office for his second term last year and accused South Africa of “white genocide.” However, the Chinese grip on the global critical minerals market seems to have prompted the U.S. to seek opportunities for resource deals in South Africa, which produces minerals including manganese, vanadium,…

Woman at home places coins into a piggy bank while jotting down notes about finances. Use the average retirement savings by age as a reference point to see if you’re on track to retire but not a target.GettyRegardless of where you are in your career, life stage or financial plans, comparing your retirement savings with national benchmarks can help you gauge whether you are on track to meet your goals. That context is especially valuable in 2026 as inflation, interest rates and market uncertainty continue to affect how Americans save, invest and plan for retirement.The average retirement savings balance is…

An elegant North Carolina property has become something of an architectural mystery after undergoing an incredible restoration that shed new light on its centuries-old heritage. Located on a lush parcel in Charlotte, the four-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom dwelling, which is known as the William Lee House, has recently come to market for $4.2 million, more than 200 years after it was first completed.However, the exact date of its original build is now the source of some speculation after an extensive multiyear renovation brought to light new design details that led historians to believe it could be even older than its listed 1828…

(Image credit: Getty Images)Children. Parents. Pets. Mortgage. School projects and work projects. Charitable endeavors. Sneaking in a workout during Little League practice.Our lives leave no room for our lives, and it seems that we are all trying to balance these obligations simultaneously, with varying degrees of success.It’s no surprise we feel like a juggler, constantly adding items to the mix while trying to keep everything from crashing down. 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…

(Image credit: Getty Images)A slowing labor market was the Federal Reserve’s main focus in mid- to late 2025. Attention has shifted to inflation in 2026 as energy prices spike amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.Since late February, when the war between the U.S., Israel and Iran began, oil prices have spiked to their highest level in four years and gas prices have jumped above $4.50 per gallon.”No matter how long the Iran war goes on, the economy is bound to suffer from it,” write David Payne and Matthew Housiaux of The Kiplinger Letter. “How much and how severely…

To help you understand what’s going on in business and the economy and what we expect to happen in the future, our highly experienced Kiplinger Letter team will keep you abreast of the latest developments and forecasts (Get a free issue of The Kiplinger Letter or subscribe). You’ll get all the latest news first by subscribing, but we will publish many (but not all) of the forecasts a few days afterward online. Here’s the latest…Another commodity facing Iran war fallout: Industrial metals. The Middle East conflict has disrupted supplies, increased production costs and created another headache for U.S. manufacturers already…

The yellow metal is sitting in one of the most analytically interesting places it has occupied all year. is changing hands somewhere between $4,704 and $4,718 depending on the venue, up about 0.61% on the session and on track for a 2.25% weekly advance even as the rally has stalled stubbornly below the $4,770 zone. The chart is doing the kind of compression that historically resolves with violence in one direction or the other — pressed against the descending trendline that has connected every lower high since March, riding above the cleanly reclaimed 100-day stretch of moving averages, and sitting…

By David Enna, Tipswatch.com One morning last week on Bloomberg, a fixed-income analyst was asked about the effect of a 5% nominal yield on a 30-year Treasury bond. He said: “Then you’ll see bond investors attacking like seagulls in Finding Nemo.” (See Nemo video) I must have seagull instincts. A 30-year nominal cracking 5% doesn’t particularly interest me, but I was curious about real yields for the top end of my ladder of Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, years 2040 to 2043. So I flocked in. When I built this ladder, mostly in late summer/fall of 2023, I didn’t quite fill out…

In this edition of The Price Point—a weekly series where Redfin data journalists explore current housing inventory across a rotating combination of budgets and metro areas—we’re shifting our focus toward a few of the best cities for new college grads, according to Redfin’s latest report on the subject (conducted in partnership with Glassdoor).  And with early-career folks in mind, we’re looking at an affordable price point: $250,000. The quarter-million mark is firmly “starter home” territory across most of the country, but the size of these starter homes can vary quite a bit depending on where you look.  What $250,000 Gets…