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☆ I'm a boomer who's about to retire at 59. I'm nervous about retirement because I'll have less income and too much free time.
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-27 | by ( Laura Landsbaum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

After 20 years of early rising, I'm up before the sun with no prompting required. The 9:17 a.m. alarm is also deeply ingrained; it's the official attendance time when I'm required to pause my instruction and take attendance. I will walk away from teaching and into early retirement at 59, which makes me more than a little nervous. While I'll be doing something I care deeply about, I will still be below the salary I earned this year. Now that I'll have the time in retirement, what will my new exercise regime look like?

Persons: I've, I'm, They've, it's Organizations: Service, Business Locations: Texas, It's Texas

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court on Monday ordered property developer China Evergrande Group to liquidate after it was unable to reach a restructuring deal with creditors. The liquidation order is likely to impact China’s financial system, even as authorities try to prevent a selloff in the Chinese stock market. The company first defaulted on its financial obligations in 2021, just over a year after Beijing clamped down on lending to property developers in an effort to cool a property bubble. Real estate drove China’s economic boom, but developers borrowed heavily as they turned cities into forests of apartment and office towers. Others developers including Country Garden, China’s largest real estate developer, have also run into trouble, their predicaments rippling through financial systems in and outside China.

Persons: Linda Chan, Evergrande, Fergus Saurin, ”, Saurin Organizations: China Evergrande Group, Country, Zhongzhi Enterprise Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, Beijing, China

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court will convene a hearing Monday on troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande’s plans for restructuring its more than $300 billion in debts and staving off liquidation. The company, the world’s most indebted property developer, ran into trouble when Chinese regulators cracked down on excessive borrowing in the real estate sector. The Hong Kong High Court has postponed the hearing over Evergrande’s potential liquidation several times. But others including Country Garden, China's largest real estate developer, have also run into trouble, their predicaments rippling through financial systems in and outside China. Police are investigating Zhongzhi Enterprise Group, a major shadow bank in China that has lent billions in yuan (dollars) to property developers, after it said it was insolvent with up to $64 billion in liabilities.

Persons: Hui Ka Yan, Linda Chan, Evergrande Organizations: Hong, Hong Kong High Court, Police, Zhongzhi Enterprise Group Locations: HONG KONG, Hong Kong, Beijing, China

☆ Rich countries are stumbling into a debt trap
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Felix Martin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Unlike many corporations and households, the U.S. government did not lock in the low interest rates of the last decade by issuing long-dated debt, preferring instead to skew funding towards bills and short-term bonds. The second route out of the debt trap is to target the primary fiscal surplus, choosing a combination of spending cuts and tax hikes that will stabilise the public debt. That leaves the third route to debt sustainability – keeping real interest rates low. But in the short run, it allows a government to tame the debt ratio without fiscal austerity, and even if growth is sluggish. Governments are indeed stuck in a classic debt trap.

Persons: Joe Biden, Fumio Kishida, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Kacper, Everett Dirksen, you’re, Dirksen’s, Stanley Druckenmiller, Joe Biden’s, Peter Thal Larsen, Thomas Shum Organizations: Japan's, NATO, REUTERS, Reuters, Congressional, Office, International Monetary Fund, U.S, Treasury, Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics, Medicaid, Federal, Bank of Japan, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Vilnius, Lithuania, Illinois, U.S, Britain

☆ Columbia and Princeton University Deans on How to Talk to One Another - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Amaney Jamal | Keren Yarhi-Milo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

Our life stories converged when we were colleagues and friends for 10 years on the faculty of Princeton University. Notwithstanding our different backgrounds, we are both alarmed by the climate on campuses and the polarizing and dehumanizing language visible throughout society. Faculty and students on some campuses across the country have reported feeling unsafe in light of verbal and physical attacks. The polarizing talk in media, political and campus circles create an environment lacking in sophistication and nuance. There is no better place for these discussions than a university campus.

Persons: What’s, —, — shouldn’t, we’ve Organizations: Princeton University, Faculty, Palestinian Authority, West Bank, Terrorism, Republicans, Universities Locations: Israel, Palestine, Oslo, Gaza

☆ Kamala Harris can't win: Franklin Foer's book brings more critiques that experts say aren't always fair
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Kamala Harris was recently described in a new book as someone who failed to achieve anything substantive as VP. Experts who spoke to Insider say that much of the criticism against Harris isn't always fair. She has yet to meaningfully prove herself in her role as vice president , Democrat colleagues say. Mondale expanded the role of the vice president to become a de facto advisor to the president and execute their agenda. I don't think she's an especially outstanding vice president, but it just seems like she's a pretty standard one."

Persons: Kamala Harris, Harris isn't, Harris, combatting, She's, Joe Biden's, Franklin Foer, Julia Azari, Walter Mondale, Jimmy Carter, Azari, Mondale, Foer, Nadia, Brown, stokes, she's, it's, Biden, they're Organizations: Service, Asian, Marquette University, Biden, Politico, Democratic Party, Gender, Georgetown University, NBC, Central Locations: Wall, Silicon, Milwaukee , Wisconsin, predicaments

☆ Premier Li urges China and Europe to 'rise above differences' at Paris summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Casey Hall | Thomson Reuters | Casey Has Reported On China'S Consumer Culture Her Base In Shanghai For More Than A Decade | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrives for the closing session of the New Global Financial Pact Summit, Friday, June 23, 2023 in Paris, France. "China will unequivocally reject trade protectionism and all forms of decoupling and severing of supply chains," Li said on the final day of the two-day summit, adding that China would continue to take practical steps to support its fellow developing countries. "China is ready to be engaged in debt relief efforts in an effective, realistic and comprehensive manner in keeping with the principle of fair burden sharing," Li said. During the summit, Zambia struck a deal to restructure $6.3 billion in debt owed to other governments, including China, its largest official creditor. Reporting by Casey Hall Editing by Christina Fincher & Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Li Qiang, Read, Li, Casey Hall, Christina Fincher, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: New Global Financial, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, SHANGHAI, China, Europe, Zambia

REUTERS/Ricardo ArduengoPALM BEACH, Florida, April 4 (Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump said on Tuesday night, hours after being charged in court, that he was the victim of election interference and he lashed out at New York prosecutor Alvin Bragg for bringing criminal charges against him. "I never thought anything like this could happen in America," Trump told supporters gathered at his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida. In a subdued tone, Trump reviewed all the various legal cases against him, from the handling of classified documents that were taken to Mar-a-Lago when Trump moved out of the White House in early 2021, and the election interference case he is facing in Georgia from the 2020 election. "Now, there's massive election interference at a scale never seen," he said. Reporting by Nathan Layne and Rich McKay in Palm Beach; Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

It’s whatever you can grab,” said Scott McCandless, 54, who lives in Orchard Park, a suburb southeast of Buffalo. When his driveway was finally plowed at 9 a.m., McCandless set out looking for open supermarkets. We’re buried in the snow.”The “once-in-a-lifetime” blizzard — which killed at least 57 people nationwide, including 27 in western New York’s Erie County — has left many in dire predicaments. On Monday, snow continued to blanket Erie County, leaving roads in many areas impassable, including the majority of Buffalo, County Executive Mark Poloncarz said at a news conference. But at least 20 stores in the rest of Erie County were still closed Monday afternoon.

Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute estimated in July that stalled projects accounted for 3.85% of China's housing market in the first half of 2022, equivalent to an area of 231 million square metres. But in June 2020, Jiadengbao Real Estate hit the headlines after a court accused its parent company of illegal fund-raising and seized 340 million yuan worth of its properties, including a number of flats in Xiulan County Mansion. Jiadengbao Real Estate did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters. FENCING AND UNDERGROWTHOn a recent day, the main block of buildings at Xiulan County Mansion was surrounded by a tall blue fence while the clubhouse, touted in promotional materials, was covered in a dense undergrowth. "If the government really wants to protect people's livelihoods, and resume construction, we will go back home," Xu said.

Tens of thousands of people are scrambling for homeowners insurance in Louisiana at the peak of hurricane season after recent storms drove their carriers out of business. Massive claims from those storms drove large national insurance companies to scale back their coverage and remaining companies to jack up rates. The strategy seemed to work: Rates eventually stabilized, although Louisiana remained one of the most expensive states for homeowners insurance. That pushed the small insurance companies to their financial limits and squeezed reinsurers, who raised their rates. The state insurer’s rolls, which totaled 34,500 in August 2020, ballooned to about 110,000 last week.

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