Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Payment apps turned splitting a pizza into a two-tap chore, then the tax code crashed the party. When I finally dug into what people call the “$600 Venmo rule,” it felt less like a minor paperwork tweak and more like a potential tax bomb hiding in my phone. The reality is more nuanced, but it…
For millions of people who split dinner on their phones or sell the occasional couch online, a single $600 payment can be the moment a casual side deal collides with the tax system. What looks like harmless pocket money can trigger extra IRS forms, mismatched records and, in the worst cases, an unexpected bill or…
California’s richest residents have always had reasons to eye the exits, from high income-tax rates to a cost of living that makes even a Gulfstream feel modest. What is new is the intensity of the scrutiny that greets anyone who claims to have left, just as the state lines up a one-time levy on fortunes…
Pulling more than $5,000 in cash out of a checking or savings account feels like a simple errand, but inside the banking system it flips a series of quiet switches that can slow you down. I am looking at what actually happens when you ask for that kind of money, from branch cash shortages to…
California’s looming capital flight is not a distant risk but an active force that is already reshaping who lives in the state, which companies stay, and where innovation happens. As high earners, major corporations, and investors reconsider their ties, the result could be a brutal remaking of California’s tax base, job market, and housing landscape…
President Donald Trump is pointing to a 4.3% burst in GDP growth as proof that America is “on a roll” and that households can “Build riches in 2026.” The number is eye catching, especially after years of slower expansion, and it gives the White House a powerful talking point as it sells its economic story…
Federal tax rules for 2025 returns are unusually generous, yet millions of Americans are on track to leave money on the table. Credits that cut your bill dollar for dollar, new deductions and a wave of policy changes mean the gap between what people owe and what they actually pay could run into the billions…
New York City is staring at a projected $12 billion budget gap that evokes the worst days of the 2008 financial crisis, and the political response is already hardening into a fight over who pays to close it. Rather than treat the shortfall as a reason to retrench, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is using the crisis…
Gavin Newsom built his political rise with the help of some of the richest people in California, and now those fortunes are at the center of a fierce fight over whether the state should tax extreme wealth to pay for health care. The proposed levy on billionaires has exposed a sharp divide inside the Democratic…
California’s latest fight over taxing the ultra rich has turned into a political whiplash moment for Gov. Gavin Newsom. After years of aligning himself with progressive ambitions to tap extreme wealth, he is now warning that a proposed billionaire levy could backfire on the state’s economy just as Silicon Valley leaders mount an aggressive revolt….