Jan 12 Watch 5:28 How automakers and car buyers are responding to low gas prices By PBS News Hour Since last year’s Detroit Auto Show, gas prices have dropped by nearly a third. With the new lower prices, demand has gone up for big new SUVs and sedans, but automakers have also switched gears to develop more fuel-efficient cars. Continue watching
Jan 12 As payment forms evolve, so do ATMs By Anna Sillers Between credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay and Venmo, the need for cash is on the decline -- and so is the ATM. And yet North American and European banks aren’t necessarily decreasing ATM production or removing the machines. Some… Continue reading
Jan 12 How many husbands’ Social Security benefits can you collect? By Laurence Kotlikoff If you're one of the millions of Americans who have been married multiple times, you may be eligible to collect benefits from ex-spouses, deceased spouses and current spouses, but never at the same time, explains Social Security expert Larry Kotlikoff. Continue reading
Jan 09 Watch 6:02 Does a stronger economy mean higher interest rates in 2015? By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Jan 09 Why we need to liberate America’s health care By Robert Graboyes Health care in America will never improve if we don't change the conversation about what's wrong, argues Mercatus Center's Robert Graboyes. Politicians on both sides of the aisle, he says, fight about coverage instead of opening up the channels of… Continue reading
Jan 09 We’re adding jobs like it’s 1999, but American workers just can’t get a raise By Simone Pathe The final unemployment report of 2014, released Friday morning, ended a solid year of payroll gains. But despite December's additional 252,000 jobs and the lowest unemployment rate since 2008, wages aren't rising. In fact, average hourly earnings fell in December,… Continue reading
Jan 08 Watch 9:21 Can teaching kids to resist the marshmallow help pave the way to success? By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Jan 08 This South Bronx kid would have failed the marshmallow test. So how did he get into Yale? By Simone Pathe The marshmallow test is famous: Give a kid a marshmallow and see if he or she can show enough self-control to hold off eating it and, as a reward, enjoy a second. Its results have often be viewed as fatalistic… Continue reading
Jan 07 Getting your hands around slithery COBRA coverage By Philip Moeller Workers who lose their jobs may have the option of continuing their employer group health insurance for a limited time under what's known as COBRA. But how does that coverage interact with Medicare and the Affordable Care Act? Making Sen$e… Continue reading
Jan 06 Social Security 101: Don’t count on dying on time By Laurence Kotlikoff Just because your parents didn't live beyond a certain age, doesn't mean that you shouldn't plan on doing so, either. The assumption that you'll need more money later for retirement should guide all of your Social Security collection decisions, especially… Continue reading