Real estate losses from the Palisades and Eaton fires could top $30 billion, and government agencies that receive revenue from taxes stand to lose $61 million or more annually while homes are being rebuilt, a Times analysis shows.

The analysis, comparing California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection assessments of buildings destroyed ...Read more

The stock market is the top place to invest for the long term, say Americans in Bankrate’s 2025 Long-Term Investment Survey. In all, 27% of Americans said they prefer the stock market as the way to invest money that they didn’t need for a decade or more. This figure is in line with the 26% who chose the stock market in the 2022 survey, the ...Read more

If you sell goods or services or rent property, and get paid through Venmo, PayPal, Cash App or another payment app, you may have been surprised by a Form 1099-K this year.

Here’s why you might be among the millions of taxpayers who got this form for the first time: If you received a total of $5,000 or more through a payment app in 2024, that...Read more

Slashed rates. Discounts on future purchases. Speedy delivery.

No, these are not the promises of an auto dealer or eager e-retailer start-up. They’re coming from mortgage lenders.

The incentives reflect the harsh reality of the residence-financing scene. Since 2021, mortgage rates have more than doubled. The predictable result: American ...Read more

IRVINE, California — Four years before the Palisades and Eaton fires ravaged Los Angeles, Irvine braced for a blaze of its own.

A bone-dry summer left the landscape parched and primed to ignite as Santa Ana winds roared through the region at 80 mph. On the morning of Oct. 26, 2020, the Silverado fire erupted.

Firefighters deployed. The city ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Housing counselor Kenya Dow-Hill is good at striking deals.

Through Philadelphia’s Eviction Diversion Program, she was paired with a tenant living in a cold and leaky home who faced eviction after withholding rent for two months to try to force the landlord to make repairs.

During a mediation session last month, the landlord...Read more

As the flames plunged down Eaton Canyon on Jan. 7, Todd Smoyer fled his Altadena, California, home in tears knowing it would be the last time he’d see it.

His neighbor confirmed the next morning that the Midcentury ranch was a heap of ash.

The devastating news kicked off a manic January for Smoyer and his husband, who joined thousands of ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to use $125 million in settlement funds from the 2008 mortgage crisis to pay for people who have lost their homes in recent wildfires and face the threat of foreclosure.

Newsom announced Wednesday that he was proposing the creation of a new program within the California Housing Finance Agency to ...Read more

The future of the federal government’s footprint in Chicago is uncertain as the Trump administration embarks on a plan to shed up to half of all government office space across the nation, while also shrinking the federal workforce.

The federal government owns 19 properties in Chicago, including the John C. Kluczynski Federal Building and the ...Read more

If you’re changing jobs or have been laid off, chances are that your 401(k) account is the last thing on your mind. But it pays to include that money in your moving plans — even if you don’t deal with it right away.

Fortunately, these workplace retirement accounts are designed to be portable. However, moving your 401(k) and choosing when...Read more

SAN DIEGO — A proposed 224-unit housing development that’s been called an ideal way to add mid-rise homes to mostly single-family neighborhoods is facing a new hurdle: a lawsuit over its potential impact on traffic and wildfire risk.

The project has been called ideal by city officials because it’s proposed for the edge of an existing ...Read more

Early retirement isn’t exclusively for the rich. Many people, particularly followers of the FIRE movement — short for Financial Independence, Retire Early — use a couple of key calculations to determine how much money they need to sustain an extended stay in retirement, which can begin years or even decades earlier than the standard ...Read more

President Donald Trump’s administration has shuttered the headquarters of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and ordered the watchdog agency to stop nearly all of its work. On Saturday, CFPB chief Russell Vought sent the directive to the agency’s staff, the Associated Press reported.

In the notification, Vought ordered agency ...Read more

Few things in modern life are built to last. But one area where longevity really matters is in your investment portfolio.

A “forever portfolio” is designed to generate wealth consistently, so you can live comfortably without running out of money later in life. It takes the stress and guesswork out of investing by focusing on long-term ...Read more

Mortgage rates could go up because of a trade war between the United States and Canada, Mexico and China, according to real estate experts.

Tariffs also could potentially increase prices on building materials, and more, and inflation invariably means mortgage rates will go up.

Nicholas Irwin, research director for UNLV’s Lied Center for Real...Read more

The first major office-to-residential conversion of the post-pandemic era in Philadelphia is set to be completed this spring.

Alterra Property Group is on schedule to finish the conversion of 1701 Market St. from an office building to apartments by Memorial Day. Units will begin leasing in March.

For all the talk of transforming empty offices ...Read more