In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and established a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Let's put these new goals into a good news/bad news context.

Between 2000 and 2015, the world made enormous progress on some of its most pressing problems. For example:

--The global mortality rate for ...Read more

Let's stop blaming colleges for ruining retirement.

To be sure, student loan debt topped $1.5 trillion in the first quarter, according to the Federal Reserve. That's a huge number.

It's also true that more 60-plus people are carrying education debt, either for themselves, children or grandchildren, though that's a little misleading because due...Read more

Wall Street's rocky ride in 2018 -- a level of chaos we've not seen in quite some time -- has everyday investors fearing for their 401(k)s.

But many times, panic can drive you into pretty risky deals. The same applies to rushing into something you don't understand because your neighbor has a convincing story on a hot new way to make money.

...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- You could call it 68 million shades of Grey.

The Grey Estate, the Holmby Hills home of late Paramount Pictures Chairman and Chief Executive Brad Grey, has sold for $68,822,500.

Even for this tony Westside pocket, tucked in between Beverly Hills and Bel-Air, that's a lot of money.

Designed by Howard Backen, the modern farmhouse-...Read more

SACRAMENTO -- Just as a ballot initiative that would dramatically expand Proposition 13 tax benefits for longtime homeowners was deemed eligible for the November ballot on Thursday, its proponents said they were negotiating with the Legislature on a compromise to avoid a bruising and costly initiative battle.

"We're prepared to proceed," said ...Read more

Chicago is again seeking city residents interested in buying vacant lots in their neighborhoods for $1.

The city is marketing 3,219 empty lots on the South and West sides as part of its Large Lots program. About one-third of the properties offered for sale are new to the program while the others previously have been offered and either had no ...Read more

What does it really take to buy a home in the Seattle area? There are the skyrocketing prices, of course.

But nowadays, to compete in this feverish market, buyers have to deal with so much more: Pay for damage the seller doesn't disclose. Decide whether to buy a house just a couple days after it hits the market. Have a six-figure cash nest egg ...Read more

What do these two places have in common: Hale County, Ala., one of the nation's poorest communities, and Silicon Valley, one of the nation's richest?

People can't afford homes in either place, says Pam Dorr, director of affordable housing at Menlo Park-based nonprofit Soup.

That's why after spending 15 years helping to produce affordable homes...Read more

Q: Why have mortgage interest rates been creeping up over the last few months?

A: Recent declines in unemployment to rock bottom levels and the accompanying increase in the inflation rate have induced the Federal Reserve to tighten credit in order to dampen further price increases. The process will continue until the emergence of the next ...Read more

Q: Why have mortgage interest rates been creeping up over the last few months?

A: Recent declines in unemployment to rock bottom levels and the accompanying increase in the inflation rate have induced the Federal Reserve to tighten credit in order to dampen further price increases. The process will continue until the emergence of the next ...Read more

In light of recent arrests in what the Broward County, Fla., Sheriff's Office is calling a fraudulent real estate ring, I want to take this opportunity to provide you with tips on how to protect yourself. With this type of fraud, authorities say homes are illegally taken without owners' consent.

The rise of technology has made it very easy to ...Read more

CHICAGO -- The owners of the Aon Center, Chicago's third-tallest skyscraper, on Monday unveiled plans for an observatory atop the building, potentially setting up a heated competition for tourist dollars with established observatories at Willis Tower and 875 N. Michigan Ave., the former John Hancock Center.

The stakes are as high as the ...Read more

DETROIT -- So many new residential units are being built in the greater downtown Detroit that the question naturally arises: Are there really people to fill them all?

So far, the answer has been "yes." With millennials pouring into the city to work for Quicken Loans and other employers, newly opened residential projects in the greater downtown ...Read more

SEATTLE -- For months, Elea Acheson heard the rustling of an intruder.

She was pregnant and alone in a new neighborhood, her fiance often away on business. She'd throw open a window or rush to the door -- and find no one.

She even told family members the late-night prowler must be a ghost.

Finally, she caught the trespasser in the act -- on ...Read more

Some days, you cannot pick up the phone without running into yet another fraudster demanding money.

Maybe it's not a bad idea to just avoid unknown callers. The con artists keep calling hot spots, after all, where people keep answering the phone.

Americans were blasted by 3.36 billion robocalls in April -- up 6.5 percent from a record set in ...Read more

As some insurers angle for hefty premium hikes and concerns grow that more Americans will wind up uninsured, the federal health law is likely -- once again -- to play big in both parties' strategies for the contentious 2018 election.

Candidates are already honing talking points: Is the current dysfunction the result of the law or of GOP ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Taylor Swift is leaving behind a blank space on L.A.'s Westside. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has sold her mini-estate in Beverly Hills for $4 million in a deal completed off-market and has put another home on the same street up for sale.

The estate that sold sits on two parcels totaling nearly 1.4 acres and has a three-...Read more