Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

A husband sits down to do the math. He wants his wife to stay in the house they built together, never staring at a bill and wondering how to cover it. That instinct, protecting the roof over her head, is the seed of one of the best retirement plans a couple can make. Here is…

Where you choose to retire has an undeniably massive impact on how long your savings last. Depending on whether Congress decides to act or not, that impact could increase exponentially: Without congressional action, the Social Security Trust Fund is likely to run out in 2032, which would spell an automatic 22% benefits cut for retirees,…

Polls matter, but the stock market might be President Donald Trump’s favorite barometer of success. “Everybody’s profiting” when the markets rise, he said to reporters recently. But that’s not quite true. Rising stock prices are nonetheless a consolation for the president, and shaky market responses to controversial policies have spurred him to shift course on…

Claiming Social Security benefits early while continuing to work can have an unexpected consequence: a monthly payment from the Social Security Administration (SSA) may be withheld without warning, according to the SSA. For hundreds of thousands of early claimers who continue earning a paycheck, this scenario plays out every year because of a little-known federal…

The U.S. stock market is having another fantastic year. The S&P 500 (^GSPC 1.01%) is up 11% in 2026. If the benchmark index simply stays at its current level, it will mark the fourth straight year of double-digit gains, something that last happened during the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s. However, the S&P 500…

In many cases, Social Security benefits are the largest source of income for retired workers. For that reason, many retirees look forward to the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), pay raises designed to protect the purchasing power of benefits from inflation. On that topic, Social Security beneficiaries recently got some bad news and some good news…

UiPath (NYSE:PATH), an enterprise automation and robotic software provider, closed at $12.15, up 1.00%. The gains follow a recent retail artificial intelligence (AI) partnership, while broader technology weakness stayed in focus.Trading volume reached 90.6 million shares, coming in about 86% above its three-month average of 48.7 million shares. UiPath IPO’d in 2021 and has fallen…

An overhead view of Dallas TX1’s electrical plant at the NTT Data center campus in Garland, Texas, June 23, 2025. (Tom Fox/Staff Photographer) The rising AI tide can only lift a boat so high.  Csquare, a Coppell-based provider of data center services, made its stock market debut Thursday, pricing its initial public offering below the…

Benefits and risks of investing in oil dividend stocks Before making any investment, investors need to recognize both the advantages and risks. Here are some of the potential benefits of an investment in oil dividend stocks: Many energy companies have long histories of paying dividends — even during times of slumping energy prices. Portfolio diversification.…

Social Security is facing a funding shortfall — and, therefore, retirees are facing a possible reduction in income. It may not happen because there are ways to bolster the program, but right now, it’s headed for trouble. That may be alarming, but it’s probably not the biggest thing to worry about in your retirement. Image…