- Cities With the Most Financial Stress – 2021 Edition
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic began, a majority of Americans reported feeling anxiety and stress surrounding their finances. Researchers at the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center at the George Washington University and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation found that 60% of Americans in 2018 indicated feeling anxious when thinking about their personal finances, while half said money… read more…
- Best State Capitals to Live In – 2021 Edition
Beyond acting as headquarters for the state’s high court, the state legislature and the governor’s office, state capitals can also be ideal places to live. Some state capitals are more populous, bustling metropolitan areas while others are sleepy towns where the government is the biggest industry. SmartAsset crunched the numbers on all 50 to identify… read more…
- Income Needed to Pay Rent in the Largest U.S. Cities – 2021 Edition
Housing insecurity and lack of protection from evictions have become even more pressing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a March 2021 report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an estimated 8.8 million renter households were behind on their rental payments as of December 2020. Staying ahead of and completing rental payments can… read more…
- States With the Strongest Unions – 2021 Edition
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that roughly one out of 10 workers in 2020 were union members (10.8%). Membership has gone up 0.5% since 2019, but has decreased by more than half since 1983, when approximately one out of five workers were union members (20.1%). Historically, organized labor has played an influential role… read more…
- Cities Where Worker Burnout Is Most Likely – 2021 Study
A 2021 survey from the staffing and recruitment firm Robert Half says that 44% of professionals reported feeling burnt out at their jobs. That’s a 10% jump from one year ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the economy. This year, a record 3.8 million U.S. employees quit their private-sector jobs in April 2021 – and… read more…
- Where Did RIA Headquarters Move During the COVID-19 Pandemic? – 2021 Study
Financial advisor firms are on the move. That’s in part because the COVID-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity for firms to pull up stakes and relocate their headquarters to new areas that better suit their needs. Some firms had already planned to do so in 2020 prior to the pandemic, but changing preferences as a… read more…
- Most Promising Jobs for Employment and Pay – 2021 Edition
The COVID-19 crisis has significantly affected the U.S. job market, and its impact will likely be felt for some time. After publishing 2019-2029 job projections in the fall of 2020 that did not capture the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) issued alternate scenarios that model how jobs might be… read more…
- Most Livable College Towns – 2021 Study
The closure of college campuses in 2020 stoked fears about whether college towns around the country could endure the economic instability wrought by COVID-19. The smaller the town, the more precarious the economic situation. A SmartAsset study from 2020 found that the 11 most vulnerable college towns all had populations of 125,000 or less. But… read more…
- Most Dog-Friendly Cities in America – 2021 Edition
It’s no secret that the U.S. is absolutely dog crazy. According to an American Pet Products Association survey of pet owners from 2019-2020, more than half of all American households, or 63.4 million homes, had dogs. When it comes to taking care of their pooches, Americans spend an average of $1,200 per year on Fido,… read more…
- In Which Occupations Do Women Earn More Than Men? – 2021 Edition
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data from the second quarter of 2021 shows that female, full-time wage and salary workers earn 82% of what their male counterparts do on average. This pay gap has remained relatively constant over the past decade, but it varies even further among women and men when comparing different racial and… read more…
- Places Where Inflation Has Spiked the Most – 2021 Study
By the end of July 2021, the price of gasoline had surged almost 42% over the previous 12 months and the price of used vehicles spiked at nearly the same rate. While skyrocketing prices of these two commodities are the most dramatic examples of rising prices in today’s economic environment, they illustrate a simple truth:… read more…
- Best Cities for Young Financial Advisors to Start Their Career – 2021 Edition
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), almost one in 10 personal financial advisors are based in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area. While the Big Apple may be a hot spot for financial advisors looking to start their career, there are many other places where financial advisors are in high demand and have… read more…
- What a Roommate Saves You in 50 U.S. Cities – 2021 Edition
Looking to boost your savings? Forget about cutting out those morning lattes, and instead consider your biggest monthly expense: housing. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, housing costs represented nearly 33% of all household expenditures in 2019 – almost double the next category, transportation. Making adjustments to your housing budget – like renting… read more…
- Best Cities for Conferences – 2021 Edition
Over the past year and a half, in-person conferences have been put on pause. However, as vaccination rates increase and businesses reopen, many conferences across a variety of industries are returning to in-person formats in fall 2021. Within the financial advisory industry more specifically, Orion Advisor Services’ Ascent conference, Riskalyze’s Fearless conference and the T3 Advisor/Enterprise Conference… read more…
- Where It Pays Off to Buy a Long-Term Rental Property – 2021 Study
Owning real estate has traditionally been viewed as an effective way to hedge against inflation. The logic is simple: as the price of goods and services increases, so does property value. Like other types of real estate, rental properties stand to appreciate in value, but that’s hardly the only benefit of this asset class. Landlords… read more…
- Best Places for Career Opportunities in 2021
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than six million people reported not working at all or working fewer hours in June 2021 because their employer closed or lost business due to the pandemic. While the record high unemployment rate of 14.7% in April 2020 compelled many to budget carefully and remain cautious about changing jobs, the much… read more…
- Where Leisure and Hospitality Jobs Are Returning Most Quickly – 2021 Study
The leisure and hospitality industry was one of the hardest hit following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in America. Social distancing rules and health concerns about travel and gathering in large groups kept hotels empty and reduced restaurants to outdoor dining and takeout. Though the pandemic certainly isn’t over, there are signs of the… read more…
- Places Where People Spend the Most on Transportation – 2021 Edition
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics says that Americans spent $1.4 trillion on transportation costs in 2019. According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Expenditure Survey for the same year, transportation is the second-highest household spending category after housing. In some parts of the country, households spend a larger portion of their income on transportation than in others.… read more…
- A Record 3.8 Million Workers Quit Their Jobs in April 2021: Who Are They?
In April 2020, the U.S. unemployment rate increased by 10.3 percentage points to 14.7%, the highest rate and largest month-to-month increase in the history of this data since the Bureau of Labor Statistics first recorded it in January 1948. A year later, in April 2021, 3.8 million workers quit their jobs, a record-high for a… read more…
- Where Rich Generation Xers Are Moving – 2021 Edition
In a 2021 report, the National Association of Realtors says that Gen Xers make up 24% of homebuyers from the past year, the highest of any generation in that time frame. The report also ranks the age group as the highest-earning generation out of all other homebuyers, with a median income of $113,300 in 2019.… read more…
- Cities Where Renters Can Afford to Live Alone – 2021 Edition
The nationwide median monthly rent in 2019 was $934 for a studio apartment and $953 for a one-bedroom, according to Census Bureau data. This can add up to anywhere between about $11,200 and $11,400 per year for solo renters. Living with a roommate is a common alternative to save money, but some residents may prefer to… read more…
- Income Thresholds to Be a Top Earner in America’s Largest Cities – 2021 Edition
The median household income is about $65,700, according to the most recent Census Bureau data. However, the top 20% of earners nationwide makes about twice this amount, potentially increasing their ability to save and invest for bigger financial goals like retirement. In 2019, the threshold to be in the 80th percentile of households according to annual… read more…
- States With the Best Infrastructure – 2021 Edition
On June 24, 2021, President Joe Biden reached an agreement with a group of bipartisan Senators for an infrastructure plan that will invest over $1.2 trillion in eight years on roads, water, electricity, broadband internet and other projects. Aimed at revitalizing the American economy, the bill, if passed, would be the largest long-term investment in… read more…
- Best Places to Work in Tech – 2021 Edition
Over the past several years new tech hubs have emerged across the U.S., with hotspots such as San Francisco and New York City losing some ground. The COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated this trend. According to LinkedIn data compiled by Axios, many more workers in the software and IT services sectors left the greater metro… read more…
- Best Community Colleges in America – 2021 Edition
Community colleges are an important first step in the higher education of a diverse range of students. They can offer quality education at relatively low costs, potentially allowing students and families to budget better and ultimately save more. According to data from the Census Bureau, although attendance at two-year institutions has declined slightly in recent years,… read more…