Con artists have never had it so good. Consumers reported losing $1.48 billion last year to scamsters, fraudsters and their ilk, up 38% on the previous year, according to a new report from the Federal Trade Commission. If all scams were reported to the FTC, experts say, the real numberRead More →
Cannabis stocks were mostly higher Thursday, as investors digested the latest earnings reports from the sector and comments from the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on plans for regulation of CBD. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said public meetings will be held sometime in April to hear fromRead More →
Chicago voters turned back at the ballot box on Tuesday the notion of a third Mayor Daley, and along with former Obama chief of staff William Daley a former police superintendent endorsed by onetime “America’s mayor” Rudy Giuliani also missed the runoff cut, as Cook County Board President Toni PreckwinkleRead More →
Kids can bring happiness to their mothers and fathers, but parents need dough before they can delight in those expensive bundles of joy. Research on life satisfaction statistics largely show children don’t raise your level of happiness — and yet people still keep having kids, and then do it again.Read More →
Tesla Inc. shares tumbled in after-hours trading Monday after the Securities and Exchange Commission asked a federal judge to hold Chief Executive Elon Musk in contempt over a recent tweet. On Feb. 19, Musk tweeted: “Tesla made 0 cars in 2011, but will make around 500k in 2019,” clarifying aRead More →
(This article has been updated with 2019 income and contribution limits.) Free? Everyone likes free. Add on “tax-free,” and it’s even better. The Roth accounts offer a fantastic way to accumulate money tax-free. New tax laws make Roth accounts look better than ever. The Tax Cut & Jobs Act loweredRead More →
Dutch historian Rutger Bregman, who became a viral sensation for his blunt talk on taxing the rich, was recently interviewed by Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The pleasantries didn’t last long, as the chat quickly turned nasty when Bregman pointed the finger at Carlson and his ilk for being partRead More →
LONDON — A U.K. parliamentary committee rebuked Facebook Inc. in a new report that calls for regulation and intensified scrutiny of social-media companies. The report urged a compulsory code of ethics for technology companies to deal with harmful or illegal content on their sites. It also called for the creationRead More →
AFP/Getty Images General Joseph Dunford (L), chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Fang Fenghui shake hands after signing an agreement at the Bayi Building in Beijing. China recovered much more rapidly from the Great RecessionRead More →
In 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana. Since then, more states have followed. To date, 33 states have legalized the recreational or medicinal use of marijuana. Canada legalized recreational use nation-wide in October 2018. As these legal markets emerge, investments are pouring in (byRead More →
More than one in five taxpayers with wages probably had too little money withheld for taxes last year, according to the Government Accountability Office. Among the most likely are taxpayers with wages of $180,000, at least $20,000 of non-wage income and itemized deductions; taxpayers with gambling winnings; those with unreimbursedRead More →
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed gutting a rule that aimed to regulate the payday loan industry. The agency released two proposals Wednesday for rolling back the regulations on payday, vehicle title and other balloon-payment installment loans that were finalized in 2017 and were set to go into effectRead More →
In today’s edition of “People Are Saying Stupid Things About Stock Buybacks,” I want to talk about the Chuck Schumer and Bernie Sanders proposal to ban stock buybacks. Here it is in case you want to become a little bit dumber. Snark aside, I found the op-ed kinda lazy. TheirRead More →
Accountants and taxpayers alike may not be ready to file returns by the April 15 deadline. Americans are still making sense of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the largest tax-law reform in 30 years. The TCJA was enacted in December 2017, but many Americans are still unsure how itRead More →
There’s a fine line between filing your own taxes and seeking a professional’s help. The wrong move could lead to an inaccurate return, a call from the Internal Revenue Service — and extra fees and penalties. So what’s the tipping point? Going to a professional for what could be aRead More →
There’s a lot written about converting a traditional IRA to fund a Roth IRA, and with good reason. The benefits of owning a Roth IRA are nothing short of amazing. A Roth grows without any taxes and all amounts withdrawn are tax-free. The problem is that it’s difficult to getRead More →
A regulator has given Tesla Inc. the green light to sell its Model 3 cars in Europe, opening up an important new market following recent layoffs to cut costs. On Monday, the Netherlands Vehicles Authority, which has regulatory authority on behalf of the EU, said the Model 3 met requirementsRead More →
The force is strong with this furloughed worker. Like many, Michael Mateos, a graphic designer and contractor for the federal government, is out of work because of the partial shutdown. Like many workers in his position, he is looking for ways to earn income while paychecks are on halt. ButRead More →
Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg Long lines at airport security have been reported as unpaid Transportation Security Administration workers struggle with their finances. Just when you are beginning to think Donald Trump’s administration simply can’t get any more ridiculous, here we are: The White House itself is telling reporters the shutdown might cutRead More →
As the weeks-long federal government shutdown continues with no end in sight, the President Donald Trump has backed himself into a corner. Trump insists on funding for a Mexican border wall as the necessary condition for ending the partial shutdown. On Wednesday hestormed out of a meeting with Democratic congressionalRead More →
The U.S. government shutdown, now in its 21st day, is disrupting the initial-public-offering process and may cause delays in some of the bigger deals expected in 2019, including those of ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft. While January and February are typically slow months for new offerings as companies need toRead More →
For many federal workers, keeping a roof over their heads got a lot harder in January thanks to the partial government shutdown that is approaching its third week. Altogether, unpaid federal workers — including roughly 380,000 furloughed employees and 420,000 people working without pay — owe around $438 million inRead More →
New York freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s mention of a 70% tax on the wealthy provoked heated reaction from both supporters and detractors, with House Republican whip Steve Scalise deriding the idea as a “leftist fantasy program.” But the debate sparked by the Democrat from New York also revealed some misunderstandingsRead More →
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has dramatically curtailed inspections of domestic food-processing facilities during the partial government shutdown, though it is now trying to resume work at the most high-risk sites. Since the shutdown began in late December, the FDA has conducted some types of essential food inspections, including atRead More →
At 19 days in length as of Wednesday, the current partial government shutdown has become one for the record books. It ranks as the second-longest shutdown in more than 40 years, topped only by a 21-day closure during the Clinton administration that began in December 1995. The current shutdown hasRead More →
