Good morning. A lot of what shapes your money was decided by someone you've never met, in a room you weren't in. The cost shows up later, often in places no one warned you to look. Today's three stories are a good reminder to watch your neighborhood, your paycheck and your grocery shelf.
On The Money Today:
A Toledo couple's porch was destroyed when the city demolished the house next door, and records show they're not the only ones
Jeff Bezos says doubling his taxes won't help that nurse in Queens,
The Del Monte bankruptcy that's forcing California farmers to rip out healthy peach trees worth $12,500 an acre
Let's get into it.
An expecting Toledo couple came home to find their porch ripped off and fence destroyed after the city demolished a vacant house next door. No warning, no apology, and a state law that may leave them holding the repair bill. Records show dozens of neighbors have filed similar claims after city demolitions, and almost none of them got paid. Here's how to make sure it doesn't happen to you.
SPONSORED BY VantagePoint
Imagine having X-ray vision for the stock market.
Not just seeing price and volume but penetrating through the noise to see the
underlying structure.
That's exactly what VantagePoint's AI delivers for this week's Stock and Options trading
opportunities.
Many traders only see chaos and volatility. But chaos is just a complexity you haven't
organized yet.
Which stocks have 3-day forecast momentum, which setups are high-probability,
which trades have the makings of a winner?
No stock will wait for you to figure it out manually.
In a CNBC interview, Bezos said doubling his taxes wouldn't help a teacher in Queens, and the real fix is cutting federal income tax for lower earners entirely. He pointed to a Queens nurse paying over $1,000 a month on a $75,000 salary as proof the system is broken. If you earn around what she does, his proposal would put that money back in your pocket every month.
When Del Monte filed for Chapter 11, it took the country's biggest peach buyer down with it. Now California growers like Sarb Johl are stuck pulling up healthy trees because there's nowhere left to sell the fruit. Out of 74,000 tons grown last year, only a third has a buyer this season. The rest will rot, and shoppers may feel the squeeze the next time they reach for a can.
MONEY IQ:
According to the USDA, which country produces about 70% of the world's peaches?
ALSO MAKING THE ROUNDS TODAY
TAXES: One couple used a "marital loophole" to zero out their income taxes for seven years and the IRS is watching it closely, here's how to know if you qualify
REAL ESTATE: LA passed a "mansion tax" to fix its housing shortage but developers say the levy is actually making things worse and the city is starting to listen
INSURANCE: Florida's zero income tax used to be the draw but one 72-year-old packed up and left after her insurance and property taxes hit $10,000 a year
NEWS: Chase Bank sat on $100,000 of a Florida couple's flood insurance for a year, forcing them to pull nearly $250,000 from their 401(k) and now they owe the IRS tens of thousands
MONEY IQ ANSWER: HOW DID YOU DO?
B) China. China grows about 70% of the world's peaches, or roughly 17 million tons a year, though most of it never leaves the country. The European Union is a distant second at around 16%, with Spain doing most of the heavy lifting. Italy and the United States round out the top five at about 4% and 3%.
That's a wrap for today! Before you go, we'd love to know what you thought of today's newsletter. Hit REPLY if you have more to share — we read every one.
See you soon with another quick roundup of the financial news that matters.
