Put another nail in the coffin of private pensions. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., a government agency that insures corporate defined-benefit plans, has been running a record deficit. Now it’s sending up flares for either a taxpayer bailout or higher insurance premiums from the companies that still offer these plans. Good luck on …
Salvation Army Bell Ringers Now Take Credit Cards
While you’ll still hear the Salvation Army’s jingling bells this year, you may hear less change jangling into its red collection buckets.
IRS Catches More Tax Cheaters — But They’re Already in Prison
Vast Majority of Middle Class Expects to Work Well Beyond Retirement Age
America’s middle class has had a rough go of things in recent years, and few in the middle anticipate life getting easier as they get older. In a new survey, three-quarters of American middle-class workers say they expect to keep working past the normal retirement age (65), and one-quarter think they’ll have to work at least until they’re 80.
America’s Love-Hate Relationship with Wealth
I’ve been on the road for the past two months, mostly in Bolivia and Peru, where I was pretty off the grid and didn’t keep up with the news. So I arrived home to find a strange phenomenon: Protesters “occupying” Wall Street. And …
Fighting Fees: 3 Ways to Negotiate With Your (Big) Bank
Bank fees are an annoyance, but is there an alternative besides either paying up or pulling up stakes and leaving? Maybe. If you want to keep your bank for other reasons — say, convenience — but the fees are pushing you out the …
Study: Bad Skin Can Kill Your Chances of Landing a Job
Are people with facial blemishes discriminated against in the job market? A new study says yes. In mock job interview settings, interviewers were distracted and recalled less information when speaking to candidates with prominent …
What the Government Could Still Do to Help Housing
Earlier this month, President Obama announced tweaks to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (or HARP), which was designed to help homeowners refinance underwater homes but so far had helped only 838,000 of the 5 million …
Black Friday Thursday: Will Shoppers Really Show Up at Stores on Thanksgiving Night?
One of the biggest stories to emerge this holiday shopping season is the expansion of Black Friday. In years past, retailers pushed the envelope by opening at 4 a.m., or even 3 a.m. the morning (if you want to call it that) after …
Surprise! Warren Buffett Owns Tech Stocks
A week after disclosing that he had dived headlong into stocks dependent on a strong economy, Warren Buffett reveals he also bought 5.5% of the technology giant IBM. Cyclical and tech stocks are not usually high on Buffett’s wish …
Gas Prices Sit at All-Time Highs for This Time of Year
While the price at the pump has fluctuated in recent months—falling sharply one week, creeping back up the next—drivers are paying less for gas than they did in the spring and summer of 2011. They’re also paying much less …
What Separates A Pro Athlete From His Money?
When Michael Vick declared bankruptcy, it raised our eyebrows. Sure, we knew his legal defense against dogfighting charges would have cost a lot of money, but not THAT much money. He, like a host of other visible athletes, made …