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Households around the country are facing financial stress amid persistent inflation, and retirees facing rising expenses need to ensure their income streams can cover costs.
Americans derive their retirement income from a variety of sources, which can include personal retirement savings, such as through a 401(k) plan or IRA, as well as annuities, pension plans and Social Security benefits. READ MORE
The US economy continues to grow at a relatively healthy pace, but American workers aren’t fully reaping the financial rewards.
In fact, American workers’ piece of the economic pie is shrinking. By one official measure, their slice is the smallest in almost 80 years. READ MORE
A wirehouse financial advisor recently asked me to run the numbers on his group long-term disability (LTD) coverage. He had enrolled years earlier and looked at the benefit summary, which indicated coverage for 60% of his earnings — a figure that seemed generous enough.
What he didn’t check was what that 60% was applied to. When I pulled the certificate and double-checked it years later when his wife was pregnant with twins, he was disappointed to learn it provided 60% of his base salary only. READ MORE
Eighty-four percent of Americans think it’s important for companies to avoid a major pay gap between CEOs and employees, and yet only 15% of Americans believe companies are doing a good job of reining in such gaps, according to a new confidence survey from Bentley University and Gallup.
The study, released this month, found that 97% of Americans also say it is important for business to make money in an ethical way. However, only 32% of Americans say businesses are accomplishing this. READ MORE
One prominent retailer recently made a change to executive payouts, highlighting how much the industry’s priorities have shifted in recent years.
Earlier this month, Reuters published a story about how Ralph Lauren added “AI metrics” as one of the factors that could now be used to adjust annual incentive payouts for executives, alongside more traditional business metrics. Reuters found the change in a 131-page SEC disclosure. A Ralph Lauren spokesperson told Reuters that the change reinforced to executives “opportunities for leveraging AI to enhance our work.” READ MORE
Most tax proposals to increase Social Security trust fund revenue have focused on raising the payroll tax rate or lifting the payroll tax cap to increase the amount of wages subject to the payroll tax. Less attention has been given to other kinds of base broadeners, such as adding fringe employer benefits to the payroll tax base, which have the potential to raise substantial revenue. READ MORE
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby is mum when it comes to his own money, even as he calls for a national wealth tax and says income inequality is a "danger" to society.
Kirby, who took home about $32.3 million in total compensation in fiscal year 2025, made the remarks when asked about declining public trust in corporate executives during an interview with The New York Times. His compensation includes salary, stock awards and performance incentives. That was about 334 times the airline’s median employee compensation of $96,670, according to United’s 2026 proxy statement. READ MORE
Americans are clear-eyed on what they want the government to do to address the affordability crisis: Step in to lower costs before trying to boost wages.
Six in 10 people say the government should prioritize bringing down the cost of everyday essentials — like groceries, electricity bills and gas prices — rather than prioritize raising household incomes, according to results from The POLITICO Poll conducted this August. READ MORE
In recent years, one of the predominant policy initiatives of the progressive left has been raising the minimum wage in locales around the country. At the same time, left-leaning politicians have sought the elimination of what's known as the tip credit, which allows employers to pay restaurant servers and other tipped employees a lower hourly base wage that they then bolster with gratuities.
Just a few years into this experiment, however, policymakers are showing signs of an about-face on the tip credit's abolition as they grapple with the unfortunate, and predictable, economic results. READ MORE
Despite consistent inflation, a $100,000 salary is actually stretching further in many U.S. cities. According to a recent SmartAsset analysis, the average large city saw a nearly 1% increase in the real value of $100,000 from 2024 to 2025 — with one metro seeing gains of almost 7%.
These shifts reflect changes in local taxes and living costs, so where you live can dramatically affect how far a paycheck really goes. READ MORE
The beleaguered Obama Foundation has an income inequality problem: While half of its employees earn six-figure salaries, led by CEO Valerie Jarrett at $771,000, dozens at the other end of the scale are fighting for union representation.
The workplace disparity comes to light just as Fox News Digital reported that the long-delayed Obama Presidential Center's price tag hit $1 billion — nearly triple the original estimate for the Chicago facility. The Obama Foundation, former President Barack Obama's private nonprofit, reported 172 employees receiving more than $100,000 in salary in its 2025 tax filing — roughly half its 342 reported employees. READ MORE
This report examines CEO and executive compensation disclosed by US public companies during the 2026 proxy season. Drawing on extensive data for the Russell 3000 and S&P 500, it covers CEO pay, compensation elements, representation of women among CEOs, named executive officers (NEOs), say-on-pay voting, incentive design, perquisites, and the regulatory outlook. The broader picture is an executive compensation landscape that is becoming more equity driven and more differentiated by company scale, with scrutiny increasingly concentrated around exceptional awards, above-target incentive outcomes, and arrangements such as executive security. READ MORE
Portland City Council is considering raising a tax on corporations that pay outsized CEO salaries — and using some of the revenue to lower taxes on local small businesses.
The council’s Finance and Governance Committee of the Whole took public testimony Oct. 8 on the proposal put forward by District 3 Counselor Angelita Morillo and District 4 Councilor Mitch Green. READ MORE
America’s top-ranked colleges don’t necessarily produce the highest-paid graduates. When these schools are ranked on earnings alone, the familiar hierarchy changes considerably. READ MORE
About 20 top bosses at Goldman Sachs are set to split a $500 million bonus pool — among the biggest payouts ever awarded by the Wall Street bank.
The largest slice of the windfall will go to CEO David Solomon, who alone is set to reap more than $100 million before tax, according to securities filings. The same source shows that his heir apparent, chief operating officer John Waldron, is set to pick up just north of $66 million. READ MORE
The rise of AI is prompting companies to reconsider long-standing business assumptions. Compensation committees should be no exception, as traditional approaches to incentive design may no longer align with how value is created in an AI-enabled world.
Most incentive plans and pay structures assume a relatively stable view of work in which roles are defined, accountability is clear and value can be attributed to people. AI is typically presented as a technology upgrade centered on better tools and faster outputs. In practice, however, it is quietly eroding the foundations of traditional compensation design. READ MORE
Recently, newly appointed Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh announced that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates by a quarter percentage point, from 3.75% to 4%. This comes after three consecutive cycles of Chairman Jerome Powell holding the interest rate flat.
The Federal Reserve operates under a dual mandate to maximize employment and price stability. Put simply, the Fed's interest rate sets the cost of borrowing money. Generally speaking, hiking the interest rate supports price stability at the cost of slowing economic growth, and cutting interest rates supports economic growth at the cost of raising inflation. READ MORE
A retailer told the Institute for Supply Management that “Shipping containers from overseas doubled in cost, causing price increases”. The comment appeared in the services survey released on October 5, 2026.
The Institute for Supply Management said its services prices index rose to 74.0 from 72.6. That is the highest reading since July 2022.
A reading above 50 means more firms are paying higher prices than lower ones. That shows how widespread the increases are. READ MORE
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a real estate management company’s appeal of a state Supreme Court decision that found state laws governing wages and work hours apply to immigrants who are in the country illegally.
The high court declined to give certiorari to Marmic LLC’s appeal of the state court’s March decision, which found that federal law that bars employing individuals without legal permission to enter or work in the United States does not conflict with New Jersey’s Wage and Hour and Wage Payment laws.
As is its practice, the U.S. Supreme Court did not provide a reason for rejecting the appeal. READ MORE
Workers across several Democratic-led states are set to ring in 2027 with another pay bump, widening an already sizable gap between state minimum wages and the federal floor of $7.25 an hour.
Washington, California and Connecticut will all raise minimum wages that already top $17 an hour beginning Jan. 1, while New Jersey and Michigan will also hike their wage floors — widening the gap with the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. READ MORE
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