Dec 17 Why the middle class is not feeling a recovery By Simone Pathe The wealth gap between upper-income Americans and the rest of the country has reached a new high. According to a Pew Research Center analysis, the gap actually widened during the recovery as only upper-income families recouped some of the wealth… Continue reading
Dec 17 Can you avoid falling into the Medicare donut hole? By Philip Moeller When you enter the "donut hole," prescriptions can become prohibitively expensive. But changing insurers won't help; the hole comes from Medicare, and although the Affordable Care Act will eventually do away with it, boomers are stuck with it until 2020. Continue reading
Dec 12 Why employees earn more at big-box chains than mom-and-pop shops By Simone Pathe Large retail chains are the target of frequent criticism for paying low wages and exploiting workers, but a new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests that big-box stores have actually increased wages in the retail sector,… Continue reading
Dec 10 The Social Security and Medicare gotcha that makes contributing to your HSA illegal By Philip Moeller Philip Moeller considers a question from a reader who's old enough to collect maximum benefits from Social Security. When he files, though, he'll also get Medicare. And because he's still working, that'll spell trouble for his Health Savings Account. Continue reading
Dec 10 A food stamps success story By Miles Corak A yawning gap has opened up between market income poverty rates and total income poverty rates, which can only be heralded as a major success story for out-of-work assistance, particularly those components under federal control, argues economist Miles Corak. Continue reading
Dec 08 Good news for the Affordable Care Act in jobs reports By Dean Baker In the wake of November's jobs report, Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, argues that the Affordable Care Act is allowing more young parents to choose to stay at home with their kids. Continue reading
Dec 05 What’s the most reliable indicator of monthly job gains? By Simone Pathe Friday's jobs report showed a surprisingly high 321,000 jobs were added in November. Inspiring even more good cheer, however, average hourly earnings for private nonfarm payrolls actually rose 9 cents last month. Continue reading
Dec 04 Why college education isn’t a bubble By Vivek Wadhwa PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel has argued that college is overvalued in this country and that not everyone should go. He's even called it a bubble -- like housing. But entrepreneur and academic Vivek Wadhwa defends higher education, calling Thiel's ideas… Continue reading
Dec 03 Should you ditch your employer’s insurance for Medicare? By Philip Moeller In the last few days before Medicare open enrollment ends for the year, Making Sen$e Medicare Maven Phil Moeller takes a question from a reader of a certain age who's not sure whether he should choose one of his employer's… Continue reading
Dec 02 Does Monopoly’s Atlantic City still exist? By Ruth Tam Americans know the Monopoly board. But how familiar are they with the city it's modeled after? A tour of Atlantic City and a conversation with Mayor Don Guardian reveal just how much "America's favorite playground" has changed since it inspired… Continue reading