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☆ ‘It’s like living in an igloo.’ People are turning off their heat as prices surge
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Gabe Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

She, too, is struggling to afford her heating bills. Johnson says she doesn’t qualify for government assistance with her heating bills. He wants his heating oil to last as long as possible and filling his tank costs roughly $1,500. But it was only enough to fill roughly one third of their oil tank, which Thomas thinks will last just two to three weeks. So they’re using space heaters and electric blankets to stay warm, hoping to save their heating oil for when their kids come home for Thanksgiving.

☆ Gap's slowing sales of baby clothes indicate inflation is deeply hurting families
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN Business —Customers are pulling back on spending at Gap and Old Navy — particularly in one specific category that shows just how much families are feeling inflation’s pinch. But Gap and Old Navy said Thursday they’re now seeing less spending on babies’ and kids’ items. “Old Navy customers still have a propensity to buy. More than a quarter said inflation motivated those purchases, and half of parents surveyed sold a secondhand item in the kids’ and baby items category. Mercari said parents of kids 2 and under are the most active secondhand shoppers, according to its survey.

☆ Big pharma not doing enough to improve drug access - analysis
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Natalie Grover | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A doctor tests a child for malaria at the Ithani-Asheri Hospital in Arusha, Tanzania, May 11, 2016. While there has been progress, there remain some gaping holes that need to be prioritised in the coming years, Access to Medicine Foundation CEO Jayasree Iyer told Reuters. The findings mirror a long-established pattern - that the pharmaceutical industry will prioritise countries where there is a market, she said. "If we consistently see that the industry leaves low income countries behind, then we're never going to solve the problem of access at scale," she said. In terms of overall rankings on the Access to Medicine Index, British drugmaker GSK (GSK.L) retained the top spot, closely followed by U.S. pharma major Johnson & Johnson (J&J) (JNJ.N).

☆ Deadline looms to use easy filing tools to sign up for missing $1,400 stimulus checks, child tax credit payments
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Thomas Barwick | Digitalvision | Getty ImagesHow much the 2021 tax credits are worthGetty ImagesThe American Rescue Plan Act passed by Congress in 2021 temporarily made enhanced tax credits available to millions of Americans. It also made existing tax credits — the child tax and earned income tax credits — more generous. The child tax credit included up to $3,600 for children under age 6 and $3,000 per child ages 6 through 17. Up to half of those amounts were paid in advance through monthly child tax credit payments. The earned income tax credit, which applies to low- and middle-income workers, was also enhanced for that tax year.

☆ The race to build thousands of new homes is stalling, with hurdles highest for developers of 'affordable' apartments
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Dan Latu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Residential builders are feeling the pinch of higher financing costs of their own. He estimated that, in aggregate, developers like him would decrease production by 10% to 20% this year, in a potentially devastating setback for affordable housing. "The failure to act is only made clear a few years later, given the timeline of real-estate development," he said. "In a couple of years from now, we're going to look back and say this was a missed opportunity" to close the affordable housing gap. "Financing can be very targeted towards affordable development and can be subsidized much more aggressively," he said.

☆ As a key deadline looms to claim 2021 tax credits, Republicans complain of 'suspicious timing' of IRS letters
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The federal agency recently sent letters to more than 9 million individuals and families who may qualify for the tax benefits but who have not yet filed a 2021 federal income tax return. Alternatively, ChildTaxCredit.gov also lets people file their 2021 federal income tax returns. watch nowThat includes a tool provided by Code for America, GetCTC.org, that will allow people to claim their 2021 child tax credits, earned income tax credits and third stimulus checks. Tax filers typically have up to three years to file their returns and claim tax credits for which they are eligible. Moreover, the notices reference two additional tax credits, the EITC and CTC, in addition to stimulus checks.

☆ A plan to tax the rich to fund electric cars is on the ballot in California
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —California has long been a leader among states, and even countries, in promoting a shift to electric cars, including with its plans to ban the sale of purely gas-powered cars by 2035. Opponents of the ballot initiative claim it’s really just an attempt by one tech company to benefit itself at the expense of other priorities. Opponents of the ballot initiative claim Lyft’s support is self-serving. But a rule like Prop 30, which would make it easier for just about anyone in California to buy an electric car, including Lyft drivers. And electric cars are too expensive for lower income residents to afford, so the financial support is needed, especially with sales of gas cars being banned in the future.

☆ Germany should hike taxes on rich to finance relief packages, advisers say - report
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Germany's economic advisory council will recommend the government raise taxes on the wealthy to help finance the multi-billion euro relief packages it has agreed to fight the energy crisis, a German newspaper reported on Monday. The top income tax rate should be hiked or an energy solidarity tax imposed on high earners, the so-called five "wise men" who advise the German economic government on economic policy said in their annual report due to be released on Wednesday, according to Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Such measures would "increase the accuracy of the overall package and signal that the energy crisis must be overcome with solidarity", the SZ quoted the report as saying. The government was correct in launching relief packages to help counter soaring energy prices but it would have been helpful if it had agreed these sooner, the advisers said in their report, according to SZ. Reporting by Rene Wagner; Writing by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A non-profit that's poured $19 billion into affordable housing development shares how investors can see stable returns with this 'impactful investment opportunity'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Jennifer Streaks | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Despite the challenges in affordable housing development, Enterprise Community Partners has deployed $19 billion of housing equity into more than 2,600 developments, creating and preserving more than 184,000 affordable homes. The Columbia, Maryland-based non-profit continues to strive to show that affordable housing is an impactful investment. "Once the narrative is changed around affordable housing, it will be seen as the impactful investment opportunity that it is." "The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit is our most powerful tool for building and preserving affordable housing," Hoekman says. The Act seeks to expand and strengthen the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit by increasing housing credit allocations and maximizing affordable housing production and preservation.

Inflation has edged down over the last three months to 6.9% in September from 8.1% in June. The fiscal update showed "significantly weaker growth" next year that previous forecast, but the baseline numbers did not foresee a recession. It also cut its deficit forecast for this fiscal year by almost a third to C$36.4 billion from the C$52.8 billion deficit forecast in April. The update also included a tax on corporate stock buybacks similar to a measure introduced by United States. The fiscal update document forecast Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio would be 42.3% in 2022/23, versus 45.1% forecast in April, falling to 37.3% in 2027/28.

☆ Biden administration to provide over $13 billion in aid to help American families lower energy bills
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Biden administration is providing over $13 billion in aid to help low- and moderate-income Americans lower their energy costs, including grants to pay electric bills as well other incentives to make energy-efficient upgrades to their homes. The announcement reflects the administration's efforts to lower energy costs amid extreme temperature shifts from climate change. Under the initiative, the Department of Health and Human Services will release $4.5 billion in Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program funding, which helps pay energy bills and energy-related home repairs for families. "We know that winter heating bills account for the largest share of low-income households' home energy needs. The Biden administration will also provide roughly $9 billion to help low- and moderate-income families lower energy costs by making energy-efficient upgrades to their homes.

"These are junk fees. The agency said that both fees likely violate the Consumer Financial Protection Act's prohibition on unfair fees that are unavoidable to consumers. In a fact sheet, the White House noted that bank overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees accounted for an estimated $15.5 billion in revenue for banks in 2019. He cited processing fees for concert tickets and resort fees at hotels as two items his administration is examining. There's tens of billions of dollars and other junk fees across the economy that I'm directing my administration to reduce or eliminate," Biden said.

☆ Developers aren't building enough affordable housing despite an unprecedented crisis. A top executive at $3.5 billion Nuveen explains the biggest hurdles, and how builders can tap into a steady source
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Jennifer Streaks | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

So why aren't developers building more affordable housing? And more recently, the Biden Administration's 2023 budget includes a proposal for $25 billion for Grants for Affordable Housing Production. "Nuveen so far has $3.5 billion in assets under management and has 120 actual affordable housing properties across the country in 25 states," West says about the company's affordable housing portfolio. "Inflation has a direct, immediate effect on the cost of building affordable housing. Research shows that the shortage of affordable housing costs the American economy about $2 trillion a year in lower wages and productivity.

☆ Imagine you just worked a 111-hour week. That's what many workers in 4 US cities would have to do to afford rent.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

To afford a "fair market" one bedroom in NYC, minimum wage workers would need to put in 111 hours a week, a study found. They'd have to work even more to afford rent in Dallas, San Jose, or Chicago. When looking at affordability for minimum wage workers, the United Way researchers say that even a fair-market price is out of reach based on their current rate of pay. Instead of paying sky-high rent prices, minimum wage workers are cramming into tighter living arrangements, going homeless, or far exceeding the recommended portion of one's income they should spend on rent. Until this month, the minimum wage for New York home aides was $15 an hour, but got a bump to $17 an hour.

☆ U.S. households await winter with dread due to high energy costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Across the U.S., families are looking to the winter with dread as energy costs soar and fuel supplies tighten. The National Energy Assistance Directors Association says energy costs will be the highest in more than a decade this winter. The pain will be especially acute in New England, which is heavily reliant on heating oil to keep homes warm. It’s projected to cost more than $2,300 to heat a typical home with heating oil this winter, the energy department said. But that level represents an overall reduction from last year, when federal pandemic relief pushed the total energy assistance package past $8 billion.

To determine how much house you can afford, think about your monthly payments and upfront costs. When buying a house, the general rule of thumb is that you should spend 28% or less of your gross monthly income on housing expenses. To calculate 28% of your monthly income, multiply your gross monthly income (that's your income before taxes) by 0.28. If you abide by the 28% rule, you can afford to spend up to $1,400 per month on your house, including your mortgage, interest, property taxes, homeowners insurance, and homeowner's association dues. Ways to boost your buying powerYour interest rate can make a big difference in how much house you can afford.

☆ Minimum wage workers in New York City need to clock over 100 hours a week to afford rent
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Molly Schiff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In many major U.S. cities, minimum wage workers need to clock in over 50 hours each week just to be able to afford rent on a one-bedroom home, a recent survey conducted by United Way of the National Capital Area found. In New York City, minimum wage earners would need to work 111 hours to afford to rent a one-bedroom. United Way used data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition to calculate the number of hours a minimum wage worker would need to put in each week in order to afford rent in the 50 biggest U.S. cities. There are only two cities on the list where a worker earning minimum wage can afford to work less than 50 hours a week: Tucson, Arizona, and Buffalo, New York. Here's a look at how many hours a minimum wage worker needs to clock to afford a one-bedroom rental in the 10 largest U.S. cities, and the minimum wage in each respective city:

They heat their home mainly with fuel oil, which costs them $4.57 a gallon, up from around $3.10 last year. Duke Energy customers in Indiana were recently hit with a 7% hike after a temporary 16% increase just this summer. Fuel oil customers often must pay for deliveries up front, and many suppliers have been less willing to offer payment plans because of market volatility, experts said. “I don’t have savings, period.”Brickey and Parks applied for LIHEAP assistance through District Three, a government cooperative geared toward senior citizens in southwest Virginia. They had three months of electricity paid for this past summer, along with $800 worth of fuel oil assistance last winter.

☆ U.S. extends Covid public health emergency even though Biden says pandemic is over
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. has extended the Covid public health emergency, a clear demonstration that the Biden administration still views Covid as a crisis despite President Joe Biden's recent claim that the pandemic is over. The public health emergency, first declared in January 2020 by the Trump administration, has been renewed every 90 days since the pandemic began. Biden, in a September television interview, claimed the "pandemic is over" though he said Covid will continue to present a health challenge. But hospitals and pharmacies called for the Health and Human Services Department to keep the public health emergency in place until the U.S. has a sustained period of low Covid transmission. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, under HHS, dramatically expanded enrollment in Medicaid, public health insurance for low income people, to a historic record of more than 89 million people.

☆ South Korean household loans shrink sharply in Sept as rates rise
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SEOUL, Oct 13 (Reuters) - South Korean households' loans from banks fell by the biggest amount in more than a year in September amid rising interest rates and an extended property market slowdown, further clouding the outlook for Asia's fourth-largest economy. Bank lending to households, including policy mortgage loans, shrank 1.2 trillion won ($840.96 million) in September, after a 0.3 trillion won gain in August, according to Bank of Korea data on Thursday. Growth in housing mortgage loans slowed to 0.9 trillion won, from 1.6 trillion won in the previous month, while other lending decreased by 2.1 trillion won, led by credit loans. South Korea's central bank has been aggressive in raising interest rates since August last year to tame the world's highest household debt and surging inflation. read moreThe country's property market has abruptly gone from sizzling hot to floundering.

☆ Missed a tax credit from last year? You can claim that money through Nov. 15
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"It's the largest refundable tax credit in terms of dollar amounts," he said. David Newville senior program director at Code for AmericaYet the earned income tax credit still goes unclaimed. How to claim the EITCThe process for claiming the earned income tax credit on GetCTC.org is more involved than the child tax credit or stimulus checks. Unlike those other credits, the earned income tax credit requires at least some earned income that a worker can document with a W-2. From there, users can opt out and proceed to claim just the child tax credit and stimulus payments, if they prefer.

☆ Sri Lanka to keep 'middle-income' status but seek concessional loans
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Uditha Jayasinghe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"Sri Lanka will remain a middle-income country," the office said in a statement. "We will request the World Bank to grant the country eligibility to obtain loans offered by the International Development Association (IDA)." The local World Bank office in Colombo had no immediate comment on the Sri Lankan request. It said it would continue its discussions with Sri Lanka and that the "key priority" was to move ahead with debt restructuring and economic reforms to put the country's growth back on track. Sri Lanka reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $2.9 billion bailout in September but has to put its debt on a sustainable path before the funds can be disbursed.

☆ Sri Lanka cabinet approves downgrade to 'low income country'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

COLOMBO, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's cabinet has approved a proposal to downgrade the island nation's economic status to "low income country", in order to get access to concessional funding from international organisations, the cabinet spokesman said on Tuesday. Sri Lanka's economy is in a deep slump, shrinking at an annual 8.4% in the June quarter in one of the steepest quarterly declines. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe cabinet had decided to downgrade the island to "low income" on the World Bank list, said cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardane. "Given the serious financial crisis Sri Lanka is facing representatives of international organizations had informed us that if Sri Lanka was categorised as a low income country access to funding would be easier," Gunawardane said. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka, which held policy rates steady last week, is predicting an 8.7% gross domestic product contraction for 2022.

For years, the LGBTQ+ community has had to focus more on survival than wealth-building. Why we need to build wealth in the LGBTQ+ communityIf you hear words like "wealth" and "investing" and cringe, you're not alone. Here's one: Wealth in our culture means security and power, and the LGBTQ+ community can wield those to make a difference. Here are some tips for building wealth within the LGBTQ+ community. Search for fee-only, fiduciary advisors in your ZIP code, and filter for terms like "LGBTQ family."

☆ U.S. Congress unveils stopgap bill to avert shutdown, aid Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Richard Cowan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A Tuesday evening Senate procedural vote is designed to speed action once Democrats and Republicans put the finishing touches on legislation. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urged his fellow Republicans to vote against the temporary funding bill because of the Manchin provision, Politico reported. And I would hope my friends would look at it that way," Manchin said in an interview with CNN, referring to the inclusion of his permitting reforms in the temporary funding bill. The last time Congress allowed funding to lapse was in December 2018, when Democrats balked at paying for then-President Donald Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall. Following a record, 35-day impasse and partial government shutdown, Trump found ways to circumvent Congress to some degree, but the wall never was completed.

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