Collusion — and conflicts of interest — between politicians and billionaires now operate across borders. When he was president, Nicolas Sarkozy reserved special favours for the Qataris (including a tax exemption on their highest-value property purchases). Qatar is now prepared to back him in starting a private equity fund.
Bet if I asked, the odds are good that many people could tell me to the penny what they just paid for a gallon of gas.
So how much did it cost you to invest in your 401(k) last year? I don't know myself. And you likely don't know either.
Over the years, most of us have heard that if we just start saving a few hundred dollars a month in our 20s, we can retire a millionaire. Compound interest is your best friend.
I watched the disturbing Frontline documentary on PBS,The Retirement Gamble, and not surprisingly, I got to thinking about the fees I pay for investing in my retirement accounts.
On a normal day, Sonia Acuña, a petite 41-year old mother of four, puts on her bright red McDonald’s cap and reports to work at a branch of the giant hamburger chain in Chicago’s main rail terminal, Union Station. But today, in cold and drizzling early morning weather, Acuña—still wearing her McDonald’s hat—was out on the street in front of the terminal, striking.
Americans owe more than $1 trillion in student loans — a total that surpasses credit card debt — but millions who are past due on payments are not taking advantage of a program designed to make their debt manageable.
The federal income-based repayment program reduces an eligible borrower’s monthly payment based on income, and it forgives the loan balance after up to 25 years. Those who owe more than they earn in a year are probably eligible. And those working in public service fields, such as teachers, can have loans forgiven after 10 years.
NerdWallet underlies its findings with a report by public policy organization Demos from last summer, which added the further frightening fact that among folks investing in 401(k) plans, a full two-thirds had no idea they were payinganything at all for their 401(k) (which actually makes all of the folks who guessed wrong in NerdWallet's poll look pretty smart by comparison).
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- There's nothing Deidre Duffy would rather do than host a backyard barbecue for a few friends.
"I don't want anything fancy," Duffy, 53, said in an interview next to her black Weber grill. "Give me some charcoal and I'm going to shoot those flames about six feet high, and when they come down -- it's my favorite thing."
In the better-late-than-never category, there's now a more subtle debate among economists about whether it's debt that tamps down economic growth or whether it's the slow growth that pushes up the debt. That's an important question, but it actually hides what may be an even more crucial one. Is growth in GDP really the best way to judge how the economy is doing? What does GDP actually tell us, and what does it leave out?
Like many New Yorkers, Hazel B. of Queens struggled to get by after she was laid off from her job as an accounts receivable administrator. A single mother of two, Hazel relied on credit cards to make ends meet while she looked for work.
Finally, she found a job opening that looked promising. She went on two interviews and took a test given by the potential employer. She believed she had performed well, but then word came back that Hazel would not be hired because of negative information in her credit report.
Krugman speculates that they see this as a morality play wherein the rich are obviously the virtuous heroes (being rich and all) and the plebes are a bunch of lazy, immoral parasites who refuse to carry their weight. I think he's probably right, but I'm going to speculate further that for many of them this is a result of guilt at their own gargantuan selfishness and greed. I can only imagine that it's hard to live with yourself when you're taking more and more of the wealth that humans create while everyone else is falling behind.
Analyzing the enduring economic effects of youth unemployment, a new report by Demos outlines a serious job crisis, especially those with less education and individuals of color. Surveying a full year of U.S.
Unemployment rates for Americans under the age of 25 are the highest since the end of World War II. It's a situation that is unlikely to change anytime soon, according to a new report.
Since 2007, the average official unemployment rate for people under 25 has been 18 percent, 5.5 points higher than for the preceding 15 years, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics figures. This would seem to make the 16.2 percent rate for March look like an improvement.
Once you get your hard-earned dollars into your 401(k), it’s painful to think they might not begetting you the highest return possible. Before you go any further, those who aren’t contributing regularly to a 401(k) or another type of tax-advantaged retirement account, such as a Traditional or Roth IRA, need to start now. While making that 10 or 15 percent contribution from your paycheck can be tough, there’s no excuse to not plan for supporting yourself in your old age.
Massive fraud in the high-speed trading markets is escaping detection because regulators and exchanges are dithering on a powerful supercomputer to uncover the scams, The Post has learned.
And as retail investors begin dipping their toes back into stocks, now at record prices, the market watchdogs are asleep at the wheel.
Washington frets endlessly over the problems that Social Security and Medicare, both of which are projected to exhaust their trust funds in the coming decades, might cause the budget. But two new reports underscore the serious problems they might solve for the country.
Take Social Security. For years, pension experts have spoken of the “three-legged stool” of retirement savings: Social Security, employer pensions and private savings. In recent years, however, that stool has begun to wobble, and today, Social Security is basically the only leg holding it up.
NEW YORK, NY – In advance of the release of this month’s job figures, national public policy center Demos today issued a new report analyzing the lasting economic effects of youth unemployment.