Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
While speculative assets grab headlines, a quieter class of exchange-traded funds built around dividend-paying stocks continues to compound wealth with little fanfare. These funds screen for companies that have raised their payouts year after year, sometimes for decades, and they reward patient investors with a combination of income and capital appreciation. This article highlights nine…
Cook County, Illinois, and Harris County, Texas, are driving a disproportionate share of the national rise in bankruptcy filings, putting the Chicago and Houston metro areas under heightened financial strain. A 10.6% year-over-year increase in total personal and business bankruptcy filings across the country, recorded for the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, has hit…
The sub-$20,000 new car has effectively vanished from American dealerships, and the average transaction price for a new vehicle hit $49,191 in January 2026. For households already spending $13,318 a year on transportation out of an average annual budget of $78,535, the math is brutal. But buyers who rethink their approach to financing, model selection,…
Baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, control a historically outsized share of American household wealth, and the gap between them and every younger generation keeps widening. Total U.S. household wealth stands at $167.26 trillion, yet millennials and Gen Z together hold just $17.97 trillion of that sum, or 10.7% of the total. The disparity…
Travel analysts and frequent flyers are increasingly blunt about how social media has turned certain destinations into expensive tourist traps, with Feb reports on overrated hotspots and Jun discussions of “Where Has Social Media Turned Hidden Gems into Expensive Tourist Traps” capturing the frustration. As Travel in 2026 hits a breaking point, with once magical…
Millions of job openings across construction, health care, and professional services remain unfilled, yet many of the roles that employers struggle hardest to staff carry hourly wages well above $70. These positions rarely generate social media buzz or land on “dream job” lists, but federal wage data shows they consistently outpay trendier careers. For workers…
Certificates of deposit can look like the perfect retirement safe haven, yet many older savers discover hard lessons only after their money is locked away. Brutal Truths About Retirement That Boomers Wish They had Known Sooner often include regrets about how CDs fit into the bigger picture of income, taxes, and inflation. Understanding these brutal…
With U.S. inflation holding near 3.0% as of late 2025 and savings bond rates resetting on November 1, millions of Americans are looking for ways to put their money to work around the clock. The appeal of passive income is simple: earnings that accumulate without trading hours for dollars. But the gap between legitimate strategies…
Three independent research programs have converged on the same question for 2026-model-year shoppers: which new cars will hold up over time and justify their sticker price? Consumer Reports, J.D. Power, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are each generating fresh data that, taken together, give buyers a clearer picture of reliability than any single…
Savers who cashed in certificates of deposit before maturity during the recent high-rate cycle may be forfeiting a straightforward tax break that does not require itemizing. The IRS treats the early withdrawal penalty on a CD as a separate, above-the-line deduction, meaning it reduces adjusted gross income directly on Schedule 1 rather than disappearing into…