By Joel Dresang
Partly because they’re reluctant to spend, partly because they lack opportunities, U.S. consumers have been squirreling away record mounds of money. They socked away nearly $3 trillion in 2020, a stash that could eventually help quicken economic recovery. In our occasional look at the meanings and origins of financial expressions, we consider slang terms for personal saving. […]
By Joel Dresang
Spare change, it turns out, is another unintended casualty of the coronavirus. With businesses closed and spenders keeping their hands in their pockets, a coin shortage has emerged. It goes to show how profoundly COVID-19 has upended commerce—especially the 70% of the economy driven by consumer spending. […]
By Joel Dresang
In our 30 years as homeowners, my wife and I have had occasional conversations about the urgency of retiring our mortgage. Math always settles it: At a fixed rate below 4%, our home loan is costing us less than the average 6%-7% a year that balanced investments have returned historically. […]
By Kyle Tetting and Joel Dresang
It’s fair to say that March 2020 marked the end of the longest bull market in history, begun in March 2009. On March 12, the closing price on the S&P 500 fell more than 20% below its Feb. 19 peak, marking the beginning of the first bear market in 11 years. Technically, the beginnings and ends, depths and breadths of bear and bull markets vary by what precisely analysts measure. There’s devilish disagreement in the details. […]
The common name for the day after Thanksgiving has more than one story behind it. One story dates back almost to the first national Thanksgiving holiday and has nothing to do with the occasion. Another uses “Black Friday” as a term of disparagement. A third story appears to be just made up. […]
The expression “silver bullet” is a conflation of a medical term coined by a Nobel laureate and the calling card of a legendary lawman of the Old West. […]
By Joel Dresang
The death of Money is another reminder of the tougher time individuals have at discerning how best to conduct their financial lives. […]
Credit for coining the term “skin in the game” commonly goes to the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett. But as wise and quotable as the billionaire is, the internet can easily overattribute him. As Yogi Berra is said to have said, “I never said most of the things I said.” […]
In a MONEY TALK VIDEO, Steve Giles notes how investors can plan against bears. […]
When you’re advised to take something with a grain of salt, is it a matter of taste or wit? Joel Dresang explores the origins of a centuries-old idiom. For What It’s Worth is an occasional look at the etymology of common words and expressions used in personal finance and investing. […]
When President Obama referred to earning “some serious Tubmans,” he reminded us that we like to use slang when we’re talking money. […]
Congratulations. You won the lottery or got a bonus or received an inheritance. Before you blow it all, Isabelle Wiemero advises you to put your windfall in perspective. “Take a step back, take a breath and look at your entire financial plan,” Isabelle says, in a MONEY TALK VIDEO. […]
