Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Retirement is getting more expensive, and the margin for error is shrinking. Kevin O’Leary argues that most Americans are far closer to a shortfall than they realize, and his solution is not gentle tweaks but hard rules designed to keep people from running out of money when they stop working. His five core principles are…
America is entering a historic retirement moment as Baby Boomers surge into their late 60s, yet many of the very people who spent decades saving now say they are unsure whether they can actually stop working. The generation that defined the modern 401(k) era is hitting traditional retirement age with record numbers, but their confidence…
Retirees heading into 2026 are not just asking whether to own gold, but which wrapper gives them the most protection and flexibility. The choice between a gold IRA, a gold ETF and physical bars can change how much tax you pay, how easily you can raise cash in a crisis and how much you lose…
Social Security’s top retirement benefit is jumping to a headline grabbing $5,251 per month in 2026, a level that rivals a solid middle class salary. Only a small fraction of retirees will ever see that number on their deposit line, but the rules that produce it affect every worker’s future check. If I want to…
Warren Buffett has started talking more openly about age, even acknowledging that his memory is not what it once was. Yet as he prepares for a quieter public life, he is distilling decades of experience into a handful of blunt lessons for older Americans. I see three of those messages as especially striking for seniors:…
Retirees heading into 2025 are being promised a bigger Social Security check, but a quiet tug-of-war with Medicare threatens to pull much of that raise away before it ever reaches their wallets. The core problem is simple: benefit increases are slowing at the same time that health premiums are climbing faster, so the headline “raise”…
Florida still sells itself as a sun-soaked, tax-friendly dream, but for a growing slice of the middle class that dream is collapsing into a retirement trap. I see a widening gap between the glossy marketing and the hard math facing people on fixed incomes, from insurance shocks to medical bills. Taken together, these pressures are…
Your employer’s 401(k) match looks like a small line on your pay stub, but it functions more like a built‑in raise that quietly compounds for decades. Treated correctly, that “extra” contribution can rival, or even exceed, what you put in yourself, turning a modest benefit into a six‑figure boost to your future spending power. I…
Retirement is not a distant cliff at the end of a 40‑year career so much as a moving target that can arrive earlier than most people expect. In practice, health shocks, layoffs, caregiving demands and simple burnout often push people out of the workforce long before they feel “ready,” while aggressive savers discover they can…
For a growing share of Americans, the classic retirement picture of lower expenses and a paid-off home no longer matches reality. Housing, health care and everyday costs are staying stubbornly high, and many people are entering their 60s with a balance still sitting on the mortgage. I see that tension in almost every retirement plan…