ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Lucille Brooks was stunned when she picked up the phone before Christmas two years ago and learned a nursing home was suing her.

“I thought this was crazy,” recalled Brooks, 74, a retiree who lives with her husband in a modest home in the Rochester suburbs. Brooks’ brother had been a resident of the nursing home. But ...Read more

CHICAGO — Developer Sterling Bay is set to begin construction of Chicago’s first mass timber building, a nine-story, apartment tower in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. If approved by City Council, the $50 million development may kick off widespread use of the modern technique, already popular in other cities, which boosters claim is more ...Read more

If signed into law as written, the climate bill before the U.S. Congress would change the calculus for American households thinking about going solar. The legislation stands to make that transition more affordable while also subsidizing purchases of electric cars, heat pumps, high-tech water heaters and battery-storage systems — clean-energy ...Read more

If you want to put your dollars into causes you care about, one of the easiest ways to get started is through socially responsible investing. The strategy prioritizes financial return with the caveat that the money is invested to fuel positive change in three key areas: environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG). Perhaps you’re ...Read more

There was a major development in 2006 that transformed how Americans invest for retirement. It solved one problem, but created another that will be causing extra pain to people who retire in this economy.

The mid-2000s was the start of the nudge revolution, where policy makers thought they could coax people into more desirable behavior. The ...Read more

If there’s one thing the impending back-to-school season makes clear, it’s that the cost of higher education in the U.S. is nerve-racking. The average tuition and fees for the 2021 to 2022 school year is $10,338 at an in-state public college, $22,698 at an out-of-state and $38,185 at a private school, according to U.S. News data.

Based on ...Read more

Home ownership has reached a milestone in the U.S.

Nearly half of mortgaged properties were considered equity-rich in the second quarter — meaning owners had at least 50% in home equity. This marked the ninth straight quarterly rise, fueled by soaring house valuations in the pandemic era and an increase in down payments by recent buyers, ...Read more

With so much attention fixed on soaring prices for gasoline and groceries, one can almost overlook the fact that we’re also enduring an affordable housing crisis. The question is, why?

Spanning the pandemic era from February 2020 through May 2022, home prices soared 43.5%. Over the past 12 months, home prices are up 19.7%, while residential ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Just when we thought the real estate market had cooled, along comes evidence that in the land of make-believe, there is no ceiling.

My colleagues Roger Vincent and Andrea Chang have reported in the last few days that even the humble condominium, which once was sort of like a starter house on training wheels, is going for ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Out-of-state real estate investors and homebuyers would pay a special tax under a state senator’s plan designed to tackle sky-high rents pricing tenants out of Orange County.

Sen. Randolph Bracy, who is running for U.S. Congress, unveiled a proposal Tuesday he intends to submit at the next Orange County Commission meeting on...Read more

There’s no dispute that the cost of consumer goods is soaring. The U.S. inflation rate rose 9.1 percent for the 12 months ending June 2022. With rising prices across many sectors, the prospect of shopping for your child’s school items can be daunting. What was once economical may now be expensive.

To take the edge off, look for your state�...Read more

EUGENE, Ore. — As a boy in the late 1950s, Terry McDonald watched as workers built an 80,000 square-foot manufacturing plant in an industrial neighborhood on the west side of Eugene.

Long after childhood, McDonald felt an affinity for the factory, where American Steel once fabricated heavy-duty logging equipment until the timber industry ...Read more

Out-of-state real estate investors and homebuyers would pay a special tax under a state senator’s plan designed to tackle sky-high rents pricing tenants out of Orange County.

Sen. Randolph Bracy, who is running for U.S. Congress, unveiled a proposal Tuesday he intends to submit at the next Orange County Commission meeting on Aug. 9.

“I ...Read more

A mini bottle of Dawn dishwashing liquid, with its signature blue color and cute duck imagery, doesn’t raise many eyebrows. To notice its secret, you’d have to squint: the bottle contains 6.5 fluid ounces, down half an ounce from its 7-ounce predecessor. But the price point is the same.

It’s just one of many recent examples of “...Read more

Dear Liz: I have a credit card issue that I’ve not been able to resolve and hope that you can provide some helpful suggestions. I am a debt-free senior. I owe nothing on my house or vehicles and I pay off my one credit card each month. I’ve no missing payments on utilities.

My credit card reduced my credit limit last year saying that my ...Read more

Sky-high towers as tall as 500 feet could start cropping up all over Fort Lauderdale, critics fear.

It could happen if a controversial proposal goes through that would raise the height cap to 500 feet on projects that get special zoning. The new ordinance would apply citywide, not just in high-rise-friendly downtown, where zoning already ...Read more