New rules would limit sugar in U.S. school meals for first time, but plan draws mixed reactions from nutritionists
U.S. Agriculture Department officials on Friday proposed new nutrition standards for school meals, including the first limits on added sugars, with a focus on sweetened foods such as cereals, yogurt, flavored milk and breakfast pastries.The plan announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack also seeks to significantly decrease sodium in the meals served to the nation’s […]
What happens to my youngest daughter’s share of my estate if I die before she’s 18?
Dear Harry, I’m a divorced single mother with three daughters. The older two are married and live separately from me. The youngest is under 18 and lives with both myself and her father (my ex-husband). I currently do not yet have a will. If I died, would any of my assets go to my ex-husband […]
Chinese moviegoers — starved for entertainment and craving normalcy — are set to put the country’s film industry back on top
While global and domestic businesses eagerly await the return of Chinese consumer spending, one industry in particular is already doing gangbusters. China’s box-office receipts this year have hit the 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) mark — the earliest in any year that it has ever done so. The explosion of moviegoing comes as authorities in […]
‘I always say yes’: How can I deal with aggressive salespeople? I’ve spent a fortune on gym classes. I even told a job interviewer I had no other offers. Help!
I am a 31-year-old man, not yet married, earning decent money and have no great financial burden in my family. I have learned from your replies to others that many money problems are not only about the numbers — income, rate of return or which stock to buy and when — but also about our […]
I suspect my stepmom removed me as beneficiary from my late father’s life-insurance policy. What can I do?
My dad passed away in March 2019. My stepmom told me I had an inheritance from my dad. She ceased communication with me after my dad passed away. I reached out to the Department of Financial Services website for lost life-insurance policies, and received a letter saying my dad was a participant, but had named […]
‘As he reminds me, it’s not his house’: My boyfriend lives in my house with my 2 kids, but refuses to pay rent or contribute to food and utility bills. What’s my next move?
Dear Quentin, My boyfriend and I come from completely different backgrounds. I am in my mid-30s and he is 40. We both own our own homes, and had a life built prior to meeting. We have now been together for five years and we have lived only at my house for the last 2.5 years. […]
Retiring early can trigger financial shortfall
Retiring three years earlier than expected significantly increases the chances of not meeting retirement income needs, putting greater emphasis on the benefits of working longer or working part time in retirement years. Each year of early retirement before age 65 significantly increases the chance of running out of money in retirement, according to new research […]
‘This has bugged me all my life’: My estranged father gave me $1,000 a month to buy a house in California. My brother cried foul, and told me to stop. Who’s right?
This has bugged me all my life. My father left my family when I was 7. I’m not sure how much in child support he paid my mother. Soon after I graduated college, he visited me for the first time since he left the family. He told me that he wanted to send me money […]
All the ways Wall Streeters are suffering from slashed bonuses
The princes of Wall Street are losing their crowns and tightening their belts.Massive layoffs and diminished bonus checks promise to put a crimp in the high-flying styles of stock brokers, money managers, investment bankers and once-untouchable hedge-fund geniuses. Bloomberg BusinessWeek described Wall Street as being in “retrenchment mode.” Thousands of layoffs either came or are coming and […]
Opinion: Investments in a rut? Maybe it’s the Wall Street industrial complex.
The Wall Street establishment doesn’t want you to read this article, and I’ll tell you why.If you’re an investor and not getting all the returns you deserve, there are lots of possible reasons. Perhaps the biggest one is that Wall Street likes it that way. Giant firms like Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan […]