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196,000 Millionaires Agree That This Is the Place to Keep Your 401(k)

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At Fidelity, 196,000 401(k) accounts are worth at least $1 million. It turns out, I'm not the only one who likes working with Fidelity. In the past, I have written to you about my positive experience with Fidelity's services. You can read more about Fidelity here: Fidelity Investments: Why it’s #1 My Personal View on Fidelity Investments for You This Money Market Fund is Paying 47 Times More than its Competition Identity Fraud on the Rise: Here’s Fidelity’s Customer Protection Guarantee Now, Fox Business reports that the number of millionaires at Fidelity is rising. Ken Martin … [Read more...]

Can You Rely on the Experts to Protect Your Privacy?

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Unfortunately, the short answer to my headline question is, no. You cannot rely on cybersecurity experts to protect your personal financial information, as evidenced by the numerous breaches of personal information at companies employing large staffs of such experts. Marriot, Equifax, J.P. Morgan, Yahoo (twice), and now Capital One, among many others, have all fallen prey to serious breaches of their customers' information. The Wall Street Journal reports of Capital One's recent breach: The cybersecurity unit—responsible for ensuring Capital One’s firewalls were properly configured and … [Read more...]

The Problem Plaguing California is About to Hit the Entire Country

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In the Orange County Register, veteran California journalist and political analyst Dan Walters, examines the hard choice facing city officials in Sacramento, and state officials in California. The problem both governments have is their pensions. Despite problems with its pensions, Sacramento officials are already thinking up ways to spend money they haven't received from future taxes on things like "infrastructure, affordable housing, cultural amenities and incentives to attract new business," while ignoring the massive hole in the city's retirement funding. Walters writes: As they pore … [Read more...]

This is the Best Summer for Teenagers in Over 50 Years

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The American summer unemployment rate for those between 16 and 24 is the lowest it has been since 1966. Sarah Chaney reports at The Wall Street Journal: In July, the largest percentage of young working Americans were in leisure-and-hospitality jobs, which includes restaurant work. A sizeable share of youth also worked in retail. Employers like fast-casual chain Mooyah, based in Plano, Texas, are eager to snatch up workers. Tony Darden, the franchised burger chain’s chief operating officer, said there are fewer teens filling out applications as they opt to pursue education and competitive … [Read more...]

The World Just Got Serious About Regulating Cryptocurrencies

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For years anonymous crypto-currencies have been criminals' favorite method of hiding and laundering their money. That could all be about to end. Mike Orcutt explains at the MIT Technology Review that the Financial Action Task Force, a global standard-setting group, has put cryptocurrencies in its crosshairs. The group wants to clamp down on cryptocurrencies being used as a way to launder money. Orcutt reports: One of the biggest knocks against cryptocurrency has always been its status as a refuge for tech-savvy criminals. Even as some bigger players—particularly exchanges that handle many … [Read more...]

Does Your State Just Cost Too Much to Retire In?

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If you live in Hawaii, California, or New York, your state is costing you a lot of money. According to the Tax Foundation, in those states respectively, $100 will only buy you 84%, 86% and 87% of what you can get in an average cost of living state. Meanwhile, if you live in Mississippi, Arkansas, or Alabama, your dollar will last you much longer, with a buying power of 117%, 116% and 115% of average in those states respectively. If you're retired and living on a fixed income, the boost in purchasing power could make a major difference in your standard of living. Analysts from the Tax … [Read more...]

Here’s Who Benefits from New England’s High Taxes: It’s Not Who You Think

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Residents of New England and nearby New York and New Jersey endure some of the nation's highest tax rates (not New Hampshire). With the capping of the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction on federal taxes, the bad behavior of these states was revealed to everyone. You may think that the federal government and those who want to "tax the rich," are the real winners of the SALT cap, but that doesn't appear to be the case. The tax the rich crowd isn't so keen on taxing the rich when that means themselves. And the federal government is giving away far more in revenue than it's getting with the … [Read more...]

As Bankruptcies Rise, What’s Your Best Asset?

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The NY Post reports that while bankruptcies are still nowhere near Great Recession levels, they are rising noticeably. John Aidan Byrne writes: New York state’s bankruptcy filings, for instance, have risen steadily the past three years, hitting 34,711 in 2018, up from 30,112 in 2016, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), based on data from Epiq Systems. More consumers nationwide are falling behind on their payments and filing for bankruptcy to resolve overwhelming debt loads. And low unemployment, an uptick in average wages and the latest Fed interest rate cut have not … [Read more...]

Pensions, Unsurprisingly, Miss Their Mark

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I have warned for years that public pensions are overestimating their future returns, and therefore are a giant source of debt for future taxpayers who will be forced to pick up the deficit. At the end of the fiscal year in June, median public pensions had missed their expected returns by 1.1 percentage points. Bloomberg's Martin Z. Braun reports: U.S. public pensions posted their weakest performance in three years, falling a percentage point short of their investment targets, and the prospect of rock-bottom interest rates and a trade-war induced recession could put a greater strain on … [Read more...]

This Money Market Fund is Paying 47 Times More than its Competition

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Fidelity investments may be sparking a war among money market funds by offering a 1.91% yield on money in new brokerage and retirement accounts. That's 47 times higher than Fidelity competitor, TD Ameritrade, 10 times higher than Charles Schwab and 27 times higher the E*Trade. Vicky Ge Huang reports on Fidelity's move at AdvisorHub, writing: “I am not surprised to hear that Fidelity is offering better interest rates,” said Greg O’Gara, senior wealth management analyst at Aite Group. “They continue to try to reach out to their client base and prospects by offering superior product alternatives … [Read more...]