Home equity has served as a very important source of cash for millions of retirees over the generations. One method to access that money without having to sell the property is with a reverse mortgage — something that makes sense for a lot of older Americans who need extra money to make ends meet but also want to stay in their current home.
Category: Business News
Republican Efforts to Reform Social Security Could Financially Cripple Most Seniors
Just how important is Social Security? According to the Social Security Administration , better than 6 in 10 seniors are currently reliant on their benefits to make up at least half of their monthly income. A recent poll from Gallup also found that more than 8 in 10 pre-retirees will rely, to some degree, on Social Security income during retirement.
Four Out-Of-This-World Predictions For The Space Industry In 2017
Big things are happening in space travel and tech, with new startups mushrooming every day. Here are four trends to watch.
AT&T Intros Tool To Stop Spam Calls
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US states, leery of Russia malware, re-examine cybersecurity
Several states around the country on Saturday asked cybersecurity experts to re-examine state and utility networks after a Vermont utility’s laptop was found to contain malware U.S. officials say is linked to Russian hackers. The Burlington Electric Department, one of Vermont’s two largest electric utilities, confirmed Friday it had found on one of its laptops the malware code used in Grizzly Steppe, the name the U.S. government has given to malicious cyber activity by Russian civilian and military intelligence services.
Taiwanese Leader Tsai Says Beijing Reverting to Coercive Tactics
Relations with China are becoming more fraught as Beijing increasingly reverts to threatening and intimidating its neighbor, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said while vowing not to return to “the old path of confrontation.” Tsai’s frank comments during a New Year’s Eve address in Taipei come at a sensitive time, weeks after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump angered Beijing by accepting a protocol-breaking phone call from the Taiwanese president.
Hedge Funds Bet the Commodity Revival Will Keep Going in 2017
Commodities had a resurgence in 2016, with the first annual advance since 2010. The gains will continue next year for many of the markets, at least that’s what hedge funds are signaling.
California aims to take lead in giving marijuana industry access to financial services
In this Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016 photo, Rolie Gonzalez III displays a branch of marijuana buds taken for a plant on the farm of grower Laura Costa, near Garberville. California hopes to take the lead in giving the cannabis industry access to banking services in 2017, with a new working group focused on finding a solution to ongoing conflicts between state and federal laws that force marijuana businesses to operate largely in cash.
No. 1 Alabama Whips Washington To Advance To College Football Championship
The No. 1 ranked and undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide beat the No. 4 Washington Huskies 24-7 in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Saturday, earning a berth in college football’s championship game on Jan. 9. Alabama, seeking its second straight title, will play the winner of the matchup between No.
Whitney Shefte
Whitney Shefte is a Peabody, Emmy and Pictures of the Year International Award-winning senior video journalist at The Washington Post, where she has worked since 2006. Whitney is also visuals editor for Storyline.
Investors Are Betting Big Against Fitbit Inc. — Are They Right?
But investors seem to think that the stock could continue falling — over 30% of its outstanding shares were still being shorted as of Dec. 27. Let’s take a closer look at Fitbit’s headwinds and tailwinds to see if those bearish bets are justified. The bears believe that since fitness trackers are cheap to manufacture, Fitbit’s core market will be commoditized and its brand will lose its premium appeal.
Tesla Rolling Out Autopilot Software Updates to 1,000 Cars
Tesla Motors Inc. began rolling out software updates to customers with newer cars, bringing them to parity with owners who have what’s known as “Autopilot 1” and setting the stage to ultimately unleash full self-driving capability. “HW2 Autopilot software uploading to 1,000 cars this eve.
President Obama’s $2.7 Trillion Lease Ban Has Big Oil Fuming
While outer space is humanity’s final frontier, the Arctic is the final frontier for oil and gas drilling. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 22% of the Earth’s undiscovered oil and gas resources lie underneath the Arctic’s layers of ice.
Saying ‘thank you’ can save your tired relationship
Former Parade Editor-in-Chief and author Janice Kaplan spent a year practicing gratitude every day and wrote about the positive effects it had on her career, marriage, and health. Here she talks about the positive effects in can have on your marriage and relationships in general.
Researchers uncovered a Nazi ‘time capsule’ from 1934 – but…
Researchers in Poland opened a Nazi “time capsule” from 1934 in search of a documentary film that ultimately wasn’t there. Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond.
Pope Francis Urges Action on Youth Unemployment in Year-End Address
Pope Francis in his year-end message urged leaders on Saturday to do more to tackle youth unemployment, saying a generation was being lost to desperation, migration and joblessness. At his last public event of 2016, an evening vespers service in St. Peter’s Basilica, the 80-year-old Francis said doors had to be opened for young people “so that they can be capable of dreaming and fighting for their dreams”.
The Worst Cable Stocks of 2016
As more consumers cut the cord, competition in the pay-TV industry is growing increasingly fierce. That’s led some companies to seek consolidating acquisitions like AT&T did last year by buying DIRECTV.
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Universal Orlando is closing down its Wet ‘n Wild water park today. It’s a pretty big deal.
7 Ways the GOP’s Proposed Social Security Changes Could Impact Your Pocketbook
House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson recently introduced legislation he says is a way to “save Social Security for generations to come.” Federal actuaries agree that the GOP proposal should make the Social Security trust fund solvent for 75 years.
The ‘golden years’ of New York City’s luxury real-estate…
It took two months longer on average to sell a New York City luxury apartment in 2016 compared with 2015. That’s according to the real-estate agency Olshan Realty, which on Wednesday published its year-end report on the New York residential market.
Ex-Dea Agent: How I got Mexican drug cartels to trust me
Retired DEA agent and ” Deal ” author Mike Vigil spent roughly 20 years undercover in Mexico and Colombia. He spent a lot of time working alongside killers and drug dealers.
16 events from 2016 that should give you hope for the future
This past year might have been a trying one, but among the negative news stories were plenty of bright spots. For every celebrity death, there was a scientific breakthrough.
16 events from 2016 that should give you hope for the future
This past year might have been a trying one, but among the negative news stories were plenty of bright spots. For every celebrity death, there was a scientific breakthrough.
16 events from 2016 that should give you hope for the future
This past year might have been a trying one, but among the negative news stories were plenty of bright spots. For every celebrity death, there was a scientific breakthrough.
Charting the Good and the Bad for the Year in Technology: Gadfly
The combined market value of tech’s Five Fab — Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Facebook Inc. — was $2.4 trillion as of Dec. 27, or more than 11 percent of the S&P 500’s value. That means tech superpowers are inching toward the 16 percent share of the S&P 500 they held at the peak of the tech bubble in March 2000.
Qualcomm to Gain Fees From China’s Meizu in Lawsuit Settlement
Qualcomm Inc. said China’s Meizu Technology Co. has agreed to pay licensing fees to settle legal battles in China and three other countries, demonstrating the U.S. company can defend its intellectual property in the world’s biggest smartphone market.
Japan’s Once-Dominant Carmakers Face Pay Hikes to Lure Geeks
Headhunter Casey Abel spent four months trying to hire a data-center architect for a Japanese automaker, including five meetings with the client — one with the top executive. In the end, the IT specialist joined an e-commerce company abroad for significantly more money.
As Economic Danger Looms, Will Entrepreneurs Come to the Rescue?
In what’s shaping up to be a tough year ahead, small-cap companies could bring the ‘animal spirits’ that the economy and investors need. America’s small companies are positioned to outperform their larger brethren and provide much-needed adrenaline to an economy that’s probably on course for a downturn.
U.S. Hasn’t Benefited From Globalization
President-elect Trump is on record as stating that one of the first executive actions he’ll take following the inauguration is to declare China to be a currency manipulator. We’ll have to wait and see whether he follows through, and I’ll discuss the ramifications of such as more information is available and the decisions being made about trade by other nations.
5 Biggest Oil and Gas Acquisitions of 2016
In some ways, 2016 was the best of times and the worst of times for M&A in the oil patch. On the downside, the sector saw two notable deals fall apart , and it lacked a headline-grabbing megamerger such as Royal Dutch Shell ‘s 2015 decision to pay $53 billion for BG Group.
10 Highest Dividend Yielding Stocks
One sound long-term investing strategy is to buy stocks that offer up high dividend yields.This strategy has become particularly enticing in today’s low interest rateenvironment, since it offers investors a chance to generate a lot of income from their portfolio. However, justbecausea stock offers up a high yield doesn’t make it an automatic buy, especially because sky-high yields are often accompanied by sky-high risks.
In Your 50s? Here’s 1 Stock You Might Want to Buy
As an investor in your 50s, you’re likely looking to grow your nest egg so that it can help support you when you retire. You’re probably also interested in building a passive income stream, ideally one that will grow over time.
Trump focuses New Year’s tweet on ‘many enemies’ and everyone…
On the final day of 2016, President-elect Donald Trump sent a New Year’s message of “love!” on Twitter, including to his “many enemies” and everyone who has “lost so badly.” The tweet came after another that praised Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday for not launching a tit-for-tat sanctions to respond to those issued by US President Barack Obama’s administration this week in retaliation for Russia’s suspected election-related hacking.
Four signs your relationship is headed toward its demise
Dr. John Gottman has researched marriage and relationships for 40 years he’s come up with “The Four Horsemen,” four sure signs that a marriage is headed for divorce. Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond.
Before-and-after photos show how dramatically presidents have…
The inaugural portrait of President Obama captures a still youthful man; his face and forehead are free from wrinkles as the new leader stares confidently into the camera. The inaugural portrait of President Obama captures a still youthful man; his face and forehead are free from wrinkles as the new leader stares confidently into the camera.
5 books Richard Branson thinks you should read
Richard Branson, the Virgin Group Founder and self-described tie-loathing billionaire, still finds time in his busy schedule to read. As part of Facebook’s recent #ReadToLead hashtag , Branson offered up the handful of titles that kept his attention in 2016.
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Can the memory chip specialist build on this success with another fantastic performance in 2017? First, I have already taken a look at the potential downside for us Micron investors. In short, the risks involved in owning Micron next year are significant but also limited.
Guyana sugar producers scale down after missing 2016 target
Officials say Guyana’s sugar producers have missed this year’s projections by 56,000 metric tons as they prepare to sell off or shutter industry facilities. Agriculture Minister Noel Holder said Saturday that the state-owned Guyana Sugar Corporation’s production will total 183,000 metric tons.
3 Reasons Why I Just Bought More Macy’s, Inc. Stock
While the retailer posted weak earnings for the third quarter, it offered upbeat earnings guidance for Q4 and made significant progress in conjunction with its strategy to monetize underutilized real estate. Yet in the month following Thanksgiving, Macy’s stock gave back virtually all of its gains.
3 Biotech Stocks That Turned $10,000 Into Over $100,000
Some biotech stocks have made shareholders a lot of money over the last decade. Few, though, have performed as well as Opko Health .