After a long, loud battle, the victory has come quietly. Over the past few months, deposits have started appearing in the accounts of former truckers, iron workers and other retirees across the country–restoring pension benefits that these people had earned after decades working some of America’s most back-breaking jobs, only to have them ripped away in their retirement years.

NEW YORK — The stylized action romp “Bullet Train,” starring Brad Pitt, arrived with a $30.1 million opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, as the last big movie of Hollywood’s summer recovery landed in theaters.

The “Bullet Train” debut for Sony Pictures SONY was solid but unspectacular for a movie that cost $90 million to make and was propelled by Pitt’s substantial star power. Even if it holds well in coming weeks, movie theaters have no major studio releases on the horizon for the rest of August, and few...

CVS Health Corp. is seeking to buy Signify Health Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, as the drugstore and insurance giant looks to expand in home-health services.

Signify Health SGFY is exploring strategic alternatives including a sale, The Wall Street Journal reported this past week. Initial bids are due this coming week and CVS CVS is planning to enter one, some of the people said. Others also are in the mix, they said, and CVS could face competition from other managed-care providers and private-equity firms.

It’s not the prettiest, or even most fulfulling, part of upgrading a home. But more energy-efficient heating, cooling, power and water usage can net savings that really adds up for household budgets and for doing right by the planet.

Congressional action this weekend and into next week looks to return more incentives, mostly via tax credits and rebates, to the pockets of homeowners who opt for energy-efficient choices, replacing fossil-fuel furnaces, boilers, water heaters and stoves with high-efficiency electric options...

It’s not the prettiest, or even most fulfulling, part of upgrading a home. But more energy-efficient heating, cooling, power and water usage can net savings that really adds up for household budgets and for doing right by the planet.

Congressional action this weekend and into next week looks to return more incentives, mostly via tax credits and rebates, to the pockets of homeowners who opt for energy-efficient choices, replacing fossil-fuel furnaces, boilers, water heaters and stoves with high-efficiency electric options that can be powered by renewable energy.

But consumers will have to balance excitement over these purchase sweeteners — a conditional $4,000 tax credit for the purchase of used EVs and $7,500 for new ones — against scarce inventory and vital semiconductor chip shortages. Cars, trucks and SUVs, especially EVs, are now much less mechanical and more digital.

The new draft spending bill is much more modest than the $3.5 trillion version Democrats originally put forward. But it restores some of the sustainable energy, EV and broader environmental efforts that featured prominently in early versions, It also comes at a time when Americans, and many around the world, are struggling with high inflation, recession jitters and volatile energy prices RB00,

The Senate on Sunday approved Democrats’ big healthcare, climate and tax package after a marathon session, notching a victory for President Joe Biden’s party ahead of key midterm elections in November.

By a vote of 51-50 — with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie — senators OK’d the package and sent it on to the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. Biden on Friday called the bill “a game changer for working families and our economy,” as he also hailed a stronger-than-expected jobs report. No Republicans voted “yes,” as GOP senators argued the measure wouldn’t address soaring inflation but would sock Americans with higher taxes.

Have you noticed how many national political commentators are using the dismissive term “gerontocracy” these days? Gerontocracy is shorthand for stereotyping mostly Democratic Party leaders in their 70s and 80s as out of touch (they’re old) and in decline (they’re so old).

Take a handful of recent column headlines drawn from a variety of publications. “The Gerontocracy of the Democratic Party Doesn’t Understand That We’re at the Brink,” by Jamelle Bouie (New York Times); “The Institutionalist: Dianne Feinstein fought for gun control, civil rights, and abortion access for half a century. Where did it all go wrong?” by Rebecca Traister (New York Magazine); and “It’s time for the Democratic Party’s geriatric leaders to relinquish power,” by Glenn Altschuler (The Hill).

The Senate on Sunday approved Democrats’ big healthcare, climate and tax package after a marathon session, notching a victory for President Joe Biden’s party ahead of key midterm elections in November.

By a vote of 51-50 — with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie — senators OK’d the package and sent it on to the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives. Biden on Friday called the bill “a game changer for working families and our economy,” as he also hailed a stronger-than-expected jobs report. No Republicans voted “yes,” as GOP senators argued the measure wouldn’t address soaring inflation but would sock Americans with higher taxes.

Airline passengers in the U.S. can finally fly without too many restrictions, but many are still not happy about their travel experiences.

Air travel consumer complaints in May were 237% higher than the same period in 2019, with 4,344 complaints, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, released earlier this month. Still, that number was 14.5% down from the 5,079 complaints in April.  

Top state and local pension funds lost $250 billion on the markets during the month of June and are down more than $600 billion for the year, according to a new study.

The 100 biggest public sector pension funds were a staggering $1.5 trillion underfunded by the end of June, according to the latest survey by analysts at Milliman. That funding gap will ultimately be the responsibility of taxpayers if the pension plans can’t make it up through investments. The gap is equal to more than $11,000 per full-time U.S. worker.

Have you noticed how many national political commentators are using the dismissive term “gerontocracy” these days? Gerontocracy is shorthand for stereotyping mostly Democratic Party leaders in their 70s and 80s as out of touch (they’re old) and in decline (they’re so old).

Take a handful of recent column headlines drawn from a variety of publications. “The Gerontocracy of the Democratic Party Doesn’t Understand That We’re at the Brink,” by Jamelle Bouie (New York Times); “The Institutionalist: Dianne Feinstein fought for gun control, civil rights, and abortion access for half a century. Where did it all go wrong?” by Rebecca Traister (New York Magazine); and “It’s time for the Democratic Party’s geriatric leaders to relinquish power,” by Glenn Altschuler (The Hill).

My spouse and I spent years saving for a new house, and living well below our means. It may sound weird, but now that we have a new home, we feel overwhelmed by the prospect of spending our savings on the items we were actually saving toward. 

Basically, my partner feels bolstered by our nest-egg, and goes for high-end items every time, while I’m stuck in a penny-pincher mindset. I feel like we need to list everything we may ever want to buy and weigh each item against the rest, and it’s completely overwhelming.

Ageism is wrong. Age discrimination is illegal. But if you are or have been an older job seeker and you suspect your age is a barrier to getting job offers, your instincts aren’t wrong. “Ageism is a real thing,” says David Neumark, economist at the University of California-Irvine, in an interview. “People know it’s out there.”

Dear MarketWatch, 

My wife and I are 64 and 65 years old, respectively. I plan on retiring in two years when I’ll be fully vested with my current employer, avoiding early stock withdrawal penalties, and be closer to tapping into Social Security benefits. Currently we have $1.5 million in 401(k) investments, in moderate to aggressive funds, and a few small IRAs. We also have about $600,000 in various dividend earning stocks, including the mentioned company stock, as well as annuities. We have no debts of any kind and are currently living in a two-family property that we own, mortgage free. Our net income from the rented unit is approximately $1,500/month.  

The macroeconomic storm is playing out as a tale of two consumers, if recent earnings reports are any indication. 

While various consumer-oriented companies have indicated pressures on lower-end buyers that have weighed on results, some businesses catering to the higher end of the income stream have pointed to a “premium” focus as the key reason for their resilience. 

Dear MarketWatch, 

My wife and I are 64 and 65 years old, respectively. I plan on retiring in two years when I’ll be fully vested with my current employer, avoiding early stock withdrawal penalties, and be closer to tapping into Social Security benefits. Currently we have $1.5 million in 401(k) investments, in moderate to aggressive funds, and a few small IRAs. We also have about $600,000 in various dividend earning stocks, including the mentioned company stock, as well as annuities. We have no debts of any kind and are currently living in a two-family property that we own, mortgage free. Our net income from the rented unit is approximately $1,500/month.  

As recession worries loom over America, a debt crisis already bearing down on wage workers in northwest Arkansas could foreshadow bigger problem for a nation on high alert for a flood of car repossessions.

Springdale, Ark., a town of almost 90,000 residents in the Ozark Mountains, has been facing the aftershocks of some of the pandemic’s darkest days: lenders who come knocking to collect leftover debt on repossessed automobiles.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Project Syndicate)—Recent price- and wage-growth data make it increasingly clear that the U.S. economy’s underlying inflation rate is at least 4% and more likely to be rising than falling. Although the Federal Reserve has acted forcefully in recent months to contain inflation, unfortunately it will need to stick to its plan of rapid interest-rate hikes FF00,

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Project Syndicate)—Recent price- and wage-growth data make it increasingly clear that the U.S. economy’s underlying inflation rate is at least 4% and more likely to be rising than falling. Although the Federal Reserve has acted forcefully in recent months to contain inflation, unfortunately it will need to stick to its plan of rapid interest-rate hikes FF00,

This is reprinted by permission from . 

In some corners of the personal finance advice world, getting into debt is just about the worst thing you can do. And yes, some forms of debt — particularly those that charge high interest rates — can keep you locked in a cycle of owing money for years.

Still, there are times where taking on debt serves...

“That one is a headscratcher,” said chief economist Richard Moody of Regions Financial. “I don’t know what to make of that.”

With so much work available and jobs easy to get, the rate of participation in the labor market normally would be expected to rise. A strong jobs market typically draws a greater percentage of the population into the workforce.

The opposite is happening.

The labor-force participation rate fell a tick to 62.1% in July, down from a pandemic high of 62.4% in March. It had grown steadily from 2021 through the spring of 2022 before hitting a wall.

Put another way, 62.1 of every 100 able-bodied people 16 or older are working or looking for work.

Before the pandemic, the rate stood at 63.4%.

What does it mean? Several million people who normally would be working are missing from the labor force. That helps explain the most acute labor shortage in decades.

What’s worse, the participation rate has leveled off even...

Investing in a beaten-down stock market is no fun. But here’s the good news: Some of the best stock purchases you’ll ever make in your life will happen during down markets.

True, the S&P 500 SPX,