#cost-of-living

#cost-of-living

It's safe to say that everyone hopes to have a nice savings and retirement account by the time they turn 45. The dream should always be to retire early enough to still enjoy one's golden years. If you can set aside $1 million by this age, it begs the question of whether you should and can retire early. If you are part of the FIRE movement, which focuses on financial independence and early retirement, any question about early retirement will focus on several factors.

Tadgh O'Donovan, science teacher in Carrigaline Community School and content creator @teachwithtadgh, took a chance during the pandemic, and he hasn't looked back since

Tadgh O'Donovan, science teacher in Carrigaline Community School and content creator @teachwithtadgh, took a chance during the pandemic, and he hasn't looked back since

KAITLAN COLLINS: Tonight, President Trump is on the road, in Pennsylvania, trying to alleviate anxious Americans' concerns that the economic state of what's happening here in the United States that they feel is overblown, and that because of his policies, as the President put it tonight, the economy is roaring. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're bringing those prices down rapidly. Lower prices, bigger paychecks. You're getting lower prices, bigger paychecks.

"I looked ahead at the rest of my life and thought, 'I'll be damned if I spend the next 30 years in New Jersey,'" she told Business Insider. In 2018, at 57, La Valle bought a one-way ticket to Paris. Seven years later, at 64, she lives in Brescia, a city in northern Italy's Lombardy region, near the foothills of the Alps.

The Instagram stories of Americans fleeing to Europe never show the returns - 40% are back in America within two years, broke, defeated, and pretending their "European adventure" was always meant to be temporary. They arrived with dreams of café life and affordable healthcare, then discovered European salaries, apartment hunting, and the reality that "everyone speaks English" is marketing fiction. My American expat group in Barcelona started with 47 members in 2022; 19 remain, and 3 more have flights booked home for January.

Have you heard that a family of four in the US is now considered poor if their household income is under $136,500 (103,300) a year? Don't @ me about the maths I'm just the messenger. The person behind this calculation is Michael Green, who is chief strategist and portfolio manager for Simplify Asset Management. I think this means that he makes large sums of money by fiddling with even larger sums of money.

The monthly magazine and website International Living has just released its Annual Global Retirement Index, which evaluates the world's top destinations for retirees across categories including cost of living, healthcare, housing, visas, climate, and ease of integration. The new No.1 for 2026 is a sun-soaked country in Southern Europe whose thousands of picturesque islands have made it a tourism hot spot, but International Living says it has everything it takes for a permanent stay as well.

But Vietnam isn't just a cheap country where one U.S. dollar is equivalent to 26,500 Vietnamese dong. It's a nation with great scenery, 33 national parks, fantastic food, friendly people, low crime, and great street food that can fill you for less than $1 U.S. dollar, per International Living. It's also got a booming economy, which is part of the reason why 100,000 expats from the U.S. and elsewhere now call Vietnam home, according to international insurance brokerage William Russell.

The U.S. population is aging rapidly. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 17.3% of the population - about 57.8 million people in total - are over the age of 64. In 30 years, the number of Americans in this age group is projected to reach 84 million, accounting for 23% of the population. Many within the rapidly growing demographic group are geographically mobile, and every year, millions of Americans aged 65 and older pack up and move to a different part of the country.

I have experience in my field, and was only getting bites here and there from hiring panels who were genuinely more overwhelmed than I was. I found a job in Australia within a week. I dream of scenes from my childhood: beaches, fish and chips, and the bright bloom of pohutukawa trees. But as vivid as those memories are, you can't build a life on scenery alone.

Rail fares in England will not be increased in 2026, the government has announced, surprising passengers with the first fare freeze in 30 years. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will confirm a freeze on fares in this week's budget, a move designed to limit inflation, ease the cost of living and support economic growth. Reeves and the prime minister, Keir Starmer, are hoping that measures such as freezing train fares and a package of support for energy bills will help mitigate the political fallout of several expected tax increases.

Only two days after Labour party conference we were in Manchester together in the aftermath of the terrible attack on the synagogue there. I spoke to Andy as soon as I heard about that attack when I was in Denmark. It was one of the first calls I made to get an assessment on the ground. I spoke to him the next day then I went up and met him and went through the briefings.