During the height of the financial crisis, the federal government pulled out all the stops to ensure the survival of the nation’s largest financial institutions. Along the way, shareholders and creditors of big Wall Street …
Personal Finance
Where in the World is Con Ed?
Taking two weeks to restore power is unconscionable. It’s also part of a troublesome trend of more and longer outages that point up major flaws in our national power grid. How long before we bury the power lines?
Why Suicides Are More Common in Richer Neighborhoods
Happiness is directly related to how much money we make. We’ve known that for a while. So it shouldn’t be surprising that our earnings also correlate with suicide rates.
Millennials: Turns Out the ‘Entitled Generation’ Is Willing to Sacrifice
The idea that all millennials act the same way, or that millennials as a group are entirely self-centered and unwilling to sacrifice is just plain wrong.
FTC to “Rachel”: Shut Up, Already
Score one for the feds in its ongoing cat-and-mouse game with robo-call telemarketers. The agency just shut down five companies in Arizona and Florida responsible for what it characterized as millions of calls from “Rachel” and her fraudulent friends at “Cardholder Services.”
Start an Emergency Fund to Prepare for Financial Emergencies
Hurricane Sandy isn’t just a natural disaster; it’s a financial disaster, too. Current estimates predict the superstorm will ultimately cost the country tens of billions of dollars. But that big, big number represents its total …
Why Retirees Can’t Absorb a Tax Hike
With the election upon us and the fiscal cliff looming, tax rates are on a lot of minds–especially retirees and those saving for retirement. A new survey shows how higher rates would curb retirement saving.
Sandy Bump? Where Business Is Brisk After the Storm
No one should anticipate that a “Sandy stimulus” will kick the economy into a higher gear. Even so, Sandy has caused businesses of all shapes and sizes to be exceptionally busy — including a few you wouldn’t expect.
Who’s Better for Markets: Romney or Obama?
There’s a growing bit of conventional wisdom that says that if Mitt Romney is elected, the stock market will soar, and if President Obama gets another term, we’ll enter a bear market. Romney said as much himself to a group of …
Why Holiday Season ‘Self-Gifting’ Is Such a Huge Retail Trend
We’ve all heard that it is better to give than receive. During the holiday shopping period, there’s a new twist to this old adage: With the rise of “self-gifting,” many consumers are clearly big fans of the idea of “giving” — …
Brand Names Just Don’t Mean as Much Anymore
No matter if we’re talking about cereal, cough syrup or batteries, products featuring nationally recognized name brands tend to cost more than their generic store-brand counterparts. But the assumption that higher price means …
‘Hurricane Deductible’: Technicality Could Cost (or Save) Homeowners Thousands
Homeowners whose properties were damaged by Hurricane Sandy probably don’t care much about exactly how fast the storm’s winds blew. All they know is that it was strong enough to knock a tree down on the roof. But due to the fine print of insurance policies, the precise speed of the wind could mean a difference of tens of thousands of …