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| Stat Of The Day |
| 98% |
| That stellar August jobs report? Thank women for it. A CNBC analysis found women accounted for 158,000 – or around 98% – of the 162,000 jobs added last month. Experts say it’s the latest sign of how much momentum women are gaining in an otherwise sluggish job market. |
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| Thank You, Forever Paycheck readers! |
| Have you snagged your copy of The Forever Paycheck yet? It’s Amazon’s #1 best seller in the Retirement Planning category – thank you for making that happen! One more ask: take two minutes and leave a review for a chance to win a signed copy. Once you’ve done so, just hit reply and let us know! |
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| This Week In Your Wallet |
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Cutting cable and relying on streaming services used to save you money. That’s no longer the case. The Hollywood Reporter writes that streaming prices have climbed more than three times faster than inflation since 2022. Subscribe to all eight major streamers – no ads, no bundles – and you’re looking at $151 a month, up from $90 four years ago. "And these numbers hide some recent drama. Apple TV went up 50% just in the past year. Peacock’s tiers likewise leaped about 50%," The Hollywood Reporter notes. The fix isn’t canceling everything…it’s getting strategic. Grab free trials (and don’t forget to cancel them), dust off a pair of rabbit ears (yes, really), or try Gen Z’s go-to move, streaming cycling – subscribe to one service at a time, binge, then bail.
Consumers are generally feeling crummy about the economy…but it’s not going to stand in the way of their holiday cheer. A new PwC survey shows Americans plan to spend only 2% less on gifts this year – $708, down from $721 in 2025. "They continue to spend, despite high gas prices and the lowest sentiment we've ever seen, so it doesn't surprise us that that's going to carry through the holiday season," says Ali Furman, PwC US consumer markets industry leader. Pro tip: start saving now, putting away a little each week in a high-yield savings account so December doesn’t sneak up on your budget.
Gloria Steinem and Dolly Parton gave us a masterclass in staying purposeful for life. Both women were working right up until the end – Steinem just finished a memoir (set to be released next month) and Parton, according to her longtime manager, "worked up until the day she died." "With people like Gloria and Dolly, I'm not sure 'work' captures the whole story," says Danielle Robay, a Gloria Steinem Foundation fellow. "When your work is so closely connected to your purpose, creativity, relationships, and way of understanding the world, continuing may not feel like an obligation. It may feel like being fully alive." The data backs it up – 91% of working retirees say they stay on the job to remain active and involved, and 85% say, simply, they enjoy it. |
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| Things That Save You Time |
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| The Worst $ Advice On TikTok Right Now – And What To Do Instead |
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If you’ve spent any time on FinTok lately, you’ve probably seen it: a confident 30-second video promising you can retire early if you just buy the right meme stock, leverage your home equity into a rental empire, or file the right obscure tax form. Some of it might be right, but most of it isn’t.
Recently, Jean sat down with Jill Schlesinger, Emmy and Gracie Award-winning CBS News Business Analyst and host of the new podcast Money Moves, to sort the good financial advice from the bad.
Schlesinger says most of the bad financial advice she sees online falls into one of three buckets. The first is the get-rich-quick scheme: buy this meme stock, this leveraged ETF, this crypto coin that’s up over the past two years. "It very much keys into what has happened, not what will happen," she said. "And it doesn’t talk about risk."
Learn about the other two – and how to spot them before they cost you – here. |
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| Ask Jean |
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| Q: |
Today’s question comes from Judith. She writes: "I’m 77 and have been receiving Social Security for 15 years. I’m now back to work full time, and Social Security and Medicare are still being taken out of my weekly paycheck. It seems to me this money doesn't benefit me anymore because my allotted monthly check amounts are already established. Can I stop these deductions?" |
| A: |
I get that it doesn’t feel fair for Uncle Sam to still be taking a cut, but unfortunately, the answer here is no – you can’t opt out of these deductions no matter your age or how long you’ve been receiving benefits. FICA taxes – that’s Social Security and Medicare – come out of every paycheck, for every worker, at every age. There’s no "I paid my dues" exemption once you’ve already started collecting.
Here’s the silver lining, though. The Social Security Administration recalculates your benefit every single year based on your most recent earnings. If what you’re making now lands in your top 35 earning years (adjusted for inflation), it can bump out a lower-earning year from the old formula and nudge your monthly check up. You can see if that’s the case for you by pulling up your Social Security account online and comparing this year’s earnings to your lowest year in your top 35.
Medicare, on the other hand? That one is just a tax. You’re already invested in Part A, so that withholding isn’t buying you anything – instead, it’s really just one of the costs of earning a paycheck in America. |
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