It’s too easy to lose health insurance
And more of the week's best financial insight

Here are three of the week's top pieces of financial insight, gathered from around the web:
It’s too easy to lose health insurance
I jeopardized my family’s health insurance because of a missed email, said Dr. Danielle Ofri in The New York Times. I got stuck on an unwanted plan last year because I had missed the open-enrollment period. How is that possible? Easy. A spam filter on my email "had apparently swept up all the emails from HR," and with work and children and my patients, I had lost track of enrollment dates. Worse, the "basic plan" I received by default is only for employees, meaning my spouse and children were left without health insurance. "The stated reason for this bureaucratic merry-go-round is that eligibility must be ascertained every year so as not to allot services to someone who doesn’t qualify." But it makes it frighteningly easy for qualified Americans to lose coverage.
Real estate blues: ‘Stay alive until ’25’
Mortgage companies are so desperate they are firing brokers and asking for bonuses back, said Ben Eisen and Andrew Ackerman in The Wall Street Journal. "The mortgage industry is notoriously boom or bust," but with rates close to 8% and applications dried up, "this bust is especially bad — and it’s only getting started." Guaranteed Rate and its affiliates are telling former employees that they must return their signing bonuses, which in some cases topped $1 million — when "mortgage bankers were raking in cash." One broker was let go "one month shy" of the date on which the employer could no longer recover the bonus. "At the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual conference recently, a mantra repeated by a few speakers was 'Stay alive until '25,' when things might get a little better."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A wave of CEO departures
The Great Resignation for CEOs is just ramping up, said Jo Constantz in Bloomberg. "More than 1,400 chief executives" at companies tracked by executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas "have left their positions so far this year through September," up almost 50% from the same period last year. It’s the highest rate of departures on record over that period since the firm began tracking in 2002. One theory: "Exhaustion may now be catching up to executives, even as the overall quit rate among U.S. employees drifts back to its pre-pandemic norm." HR experts also say that companies tend to "prefer the stability of a steady hand on the wheel" during periods of great uncertainty, such as the pandemic and are now making long-delayed changes.
This article was first published in the latest issue of The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
See the bright lights from these 7 big-city hotels
The Week Recommends Immerse yourself in culture, history and nightlife
-
Scientists want to regrow human limbs. Salamanders could lead the way.
Under the radar Humans may already have the genetic mechanism necessary
-
Sudoku medium: June 25, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Warner Bros. kicks cable to the curb
Feature Warner Bros. Discovery is splitting into two companies as the cable industry continues to decline
-
Mortgages: The future of Fannie and Freddie
Feature Donald Trump wants to privatize two major mortgage companies, which could make mortgages more expensive
-
Pocket change: The demise of the penny
Feature The penny is being phased out as the Treasury plans to halt production by 2026
-
Grocery stores under fire for overcharging during cost-of-living crisis
The Explainer A recent investigation has put the spotlight on Kroger, but it is not the only chain being pinpointed
-
The UK-US trade deal: what was agreed?
In Depth Keir Starmer's calm handling of Donald Trump paid off, but deal remains more of a 'damage limitation exercise' than 'an unbridled triumph'
-
Shaky starts: A jobs drought for new grads
Feature The job market is growing, but Gen Z grads are struggling to find work
-
Visa wants to let AI make credit card purchases for you
The Explainer The program will allow you to set a budget and let AI learn from your shopping preferences
-
Work life: Caution settles on the job market
Feature The era of job-hopping for bigger raises is coming to an end as workers face shrinking salaries and fewer opportunities to move up