Tom Grill | Getty Images Eva Dion’s 62nd birthday meant one thing to her husband, Jim. It was time for her to collect Social Security. “I’m from the old school,” Jim, 74, said. “Grab the money while you can.” Yet before Eva made her decision, she mulled it over with her financial advisor, Carolyn McClanahan,
Month: May 2019
M_a_y_a | E+ | Getty Images Brides and grooms aren’t the only ones racking up wedding debt. Their guests are turning out their pockets for bachelorette parties and more. Couples who got hitched in 2018 coughed up an average of $33,931 to make their special day a memorable one, according to TheKnot.com. Though newlyweds feel
Private equity managers happily ride a flying carpet created from money investors pay them for doing nothing. Getty Private equity managers charge fees on committed, uninvested capital because they can. What’s better than getting paid 1% to manage people’s money? Answer: Getting paid 2% to not manage it—for doing nothing. In certain niches of the
Social Security may be one of your largest assets. What and when you collect will make a huge difference to your lifetime benefits. Today’s column addresses whether marrying will cause Social Security benefits to end, how much income is exempt under the earnings test if you reach FRA this year, potential effects of suspending, which
Inflation: a sustained increase in the general level of prices for goods and services. In more lay terms, it means as time goes on and inflation goes up, your buying power becomes less and less with the same amount of money. Remember in the mid-90s when $1 million dollars seemed like you were ready to
Editor’s Note: Updates have been made throughout this story to correctly report that Amazon is not shutting down Souq. Rather, the brand is still available in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Amazon launched a new Middle East marketplace on Tuesday, two years after buying the Dubai-based e-commerce company Souq.com for $580 million. With the launch, Amazon said
Apple sales technicians confer in front of Apple product advertisements in the World Trade Center in New York City. Robert Nickelsberg | Getty Images Apple will report earnings for its March quarter Tuesday after the bell. Apple stock has been on a tear. Shares are up 44% since January 3, adding over $290 billion to
Uber can’t be compared to Lyft because its business is spread across the world and it has more services to offer, according to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) is one of the largest shareholders in the ride-hailing giant, with a roughly 4% stake according to a regulatory filing. That
One of the biggest misunderstandings about investing is the role that volatility plays in your portfolio. Too much volatility, and you’re likely to panic and make disastrous decisions during the market’s roughest environments. Not enough volatility and you’re probably not taking enough risk to earn the returns you’ll need for later. It’s counterintuitive to think
Motherhood comes with many advantages; a higher income is not one of them. There is a gap between men’s and women’s earnings at all ages, but it is generally narrower for those just starting out and becomes greater over time, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s where parenthood comes in. For
superhero on american flag background Getty Whenever I see a company use “America” in its name, it makes me think of the power of scale. A few examples come to mind, such as: Extended Stay America (STAY), a lodging business Advance America, which deals in payday loans Great American Homes, a housing company – obviously
The fielding pose is much rarer than the batting version. Photo by Love of the Game Auctions In June 2017, the winner of a Heritage sports auction paid $5,520 for a very scarce 1907 Ty Cobb “rookie” postcard in good condition PSA 2 (on a scale of one to 10) after 15 bids. Recently, the
Amazon launched a new Middle East marketplace on Tuesday, two years after buying the Dubai-based e-commerce company Souq.com for $580 million. With the launch, Amazon said Souq.com will effectively shut down. The Souq.com URL now automatically takes you to Amazon.ae. “We are proud to announce that we are now Amazon.ae,” Amazon wrote in a letter
General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra announces a $300 million investment in the GM Orion Assembly Plant plant for electric and self-driving vehicles at the Orion Assembly Plant on March 22, 2019 in Lake Orion, Michigan. Bill Pugliano | Getty Images General Motors will report first-quarter earnings before the market opens Tuesday. Here’s what
The Apple logo is seen on the window at an Apple Store on January 7, 2019 in Beijing, China. Kevin Frayer | Getty Images Check out the companies making headlines after the bell: Shares of Apple soared more than 5% in extended trading Tuesday following the release of the tech giant’s better-than-expected earnings for the
Shares of both Facebook and Amazon fell during the session through no fault of their own, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Tuesday. He said the two Internet giants took a hit because of “guilt by association” in the FAANG group with Google. The search engine is a subsidiary of Alphabet, which missed the revenue mark by nearly
Hero Images | Getty Images If your high-school senior didn’t make the cut at his dream college this spring, then a transfer might be in the cards. Just make sure you don’t botch it. On average, colleges offered admission to 62% of transfer applicants in fall of 2017, according to the National Association for College
In my opinion, the worst 401(k) mistake is the failure to focus on employee outcomes. The “outcome” should be for employees to have enough money to retire with confidence and financial security. To help employees get there, employers need to ask the right questions. For example, are employees participating in the plan? Are they saving
Getty Getty When Gen Xers gather with friends, there is a common theme that pops up in the conversation. Whether at the kids’ softball game or over a glass of wine, the query comes with concern, and at times, hushed tones: “How are your parents doing?” While this seems like a fairly innocuous question, as
Choosing a remodeling contractor to hire is a big decision. After all, not only are you letting this person and their crew in your home, but you’ll also likely be giving them a lot of money. With that in mind, it’s best to do a little bit of research first so that you can make