'I'm completely gobsmacked': My elderly brother has a reverse mortgage - yet he still ran out of money. Do I help?

My brother, who is the eldest sibling, and I are the only surviving members of our family since our parents passed away. Now he is suddenly cash-strapped and coming to me for financial help. He has a ...

'The money is tax-free': I'm 76 and won $50,000 in a settlement related to cancer from nuclear waste. What should I do with it?

I'm 76 and I was recently awarded a $50,000 settlement from a federally mandated reparations program administered by the ...

History says these 2 overlooked asset classes are the only real shield against 1970s-style stagflation

Stagflation doesn't have to strangle your stock portfolio. Keep this in mind as you confront the current scary narrative that, because of the Iran conflict and the accompanying spike in oil prices, ...
Opinion

Annuities in 401(k) plans aren't all they're cracked up to be

A colleague recently asked me what I thought about annuities in 401(k) plans. Before Harvard reclaims my Ph.D., let me lay out the merits of annuities. Annuities are contracts that provide a stream of ...

My wife and I made a big blunder on our Social Security benefits. Is it too late to fix it?

She would receive $200 more per month if she had received half of my benefit' "It has not really been a problem, but when I ...

You could be killing your retirement by neglecting your IRA

Your IRA accounts need careful tending. Tending to your 401(k) is like riding in a self-driving electric vehicle, but if ...

Betting scandals leave pro sports just one way to save the $165 billion gaming market

A recent poll found that 70% of sports fans believe gambling threatens the integrity of games. Game 1 of the Major League ...

Financial advisers used to say no to bitcoin. Now they're saying maybe - but with a catch.

Financial advisers generally have viewed bitcoin (BTCUSD) and other crypto as a bad idea. That's changing, but many advisers still view digital assets as speculation, not investment. They point out ...

30% of Americans don't know when - or even if - they will retire

The ability to retire when you want is a luxury Americans aspire to - but might not be able to afford. Nearly 1 in 3 U.S. adults surveyed said they aren't sure when they'll retire, or if they'll even ...

Why is everything so expensive? America has a wage problem - not a price problem.

Cheap imports broke the middle class and curbing inflation won't fix the wage gap Close to 75% of American workers say they struggle to afford more than just basic living expenses. Wage growth is ...

'It's out of date to think about a retirement age.' More Americans want to work into their 70s. Smart companies will find ways to work with them.

Many companies invest in early-career development but neglect retaining institutional knowledge at the other end of the career spectrum Retailers get high marks from workplace experts for letting ...

Crypto's 'shadow banks' don't want to play by the rules - setting the stage for a major crisis

Trust banks are not subject to the same capital and liquidity rules as commercial banks, partly because trust banks are not ...