Happy Monday, MarketWatchers! Here are your top personal finance stories of the day.
Personal Finance
Here’s how NOT winning the Mega Millions could be the best thing that happens to you
The $1.6 billion lottery jackpot is now the largest in U.S. history.
Should I sell my $565,000 duplex and invest the money—or continue to collect rent?
This retiree is 60, has no debt and owns two other properties.
The first thing the Mega Millions winner should do — according to the guy who runs the lottery
Another piece of advice: Get a good financial planner. The jackpot is at an estimated $1.6 billion.
Want to find out if your date is suitable marriage material? Ask this question first
The answer can help predict a person’s ability to make a commitment and level of trustworthiness.
Don’t fall for these 3 common student loan scams
There’s no shortage of unscrupulous people looking to cash in on desperate students.
This watchdog agency is supposed to protect consumers but somehow complaints dodge scrutiny
Two fast-growing financial institutions seem to be escaping scrutiny.
7 year-end tax planning strategies for small business owners
There’s still time to cut your tax bill.
As Trump administration seeks to redefine gender, workplace discrimination is still a problem for transgender Americans
The Trump administration is considering rolling back protections for transgender people under federal civil rights law.
The ‘sidecar’ plan that could soon be attached to your 401(k)
Emergency-savings plans would help Americans avoid financial crises, as seven in 10 have less than $1,000 in a savings account.
New UltraFICO credit score will monitor how you manage your savings, checking and money-market accounts
FICO will introduce a big change in credit-score calculations next year.
Elsewhere on MarketWatch
Trump’s ‘major’ tax promise is a sign that even he recognizes the 2017 tax cuts didn’t resonate with voters
President Donald Trump seems to have finally recognized the obvious — the American public doesn’t believe the tax cut is benefiting them. That can be the only explanation for his jaw-dropping contention — so incredible it really needs to be seen, to be believed — that the White House and Congress are working on a “major” pre-election middle-income tax cut.
With Saudi Arabia, Trump has the one thing he should understand: leverage
Now, and beyond the view of most Americans, the royal family’s power is waning.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos ranks No. 1 among S&P 500 CEOs in political spending
There’s big political giving by the S&P 500’s CEOs, and then there’s the giving by Jeff Bezos. His outlays in the current election cycle top the spending by any other S&P boss by more than a factor of 10.
Here’s how America’s top CEOs are investing in the midterm elections
Many S&P 500 CEOs have been willing to fly a Democratic or Republican flag in the current election cycle, according to MarketWatch’s analysis of data on these executives’ political contributions.
There’s only American industry seeing wage growth since the 2001 recession
U.S. shale oil is the only U.S. industrial sector seeing higher wages, an economist concludes in a post on The Upshot.
Turkish official: Decoy wore Khashoggi’s ‘still warm’ clothes after murder
Dressed in Jamal Khashoggi’s clothes, the decoy wore a fake beard and glasses, in his role as part of the 15-man team suspected of killing the journalist, according to the official.
The AP deletes tweet after backlash over its description of the migrant caravan
One official definition of “army” is “a large number of people or things, typically formed or organized for a particular purpose.” So, technically, the AP is in the clear. But with such an emotionally charged topic, one tweet really struck a nerve.
‘Unthinkable … after Ethiopia’: Yemen faces globe’s worst famine in 100 years
The United Nations humanitarian branch is warning that 13 million people in civil war-torn Yemen are facing starvation.
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