The hybrid-work mega-commute
And more of the week's best financial insight

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Here are three of the week's top pieces of financial insight, gathered from around the web.
An annual return on a charitable gift
New rules let retirees ages 70.5 and older donate up to $50,000 from their IRAs to fund gift annuities, said Ashlea Ebeling in The Wall Street Journal. About 1,600 charities run gift annuity programs, in which they agree to make fixed annual payments in exchange for a donation, "much like a traditional annuity purchased from an insurance company." The payments continue as long as you live. "While charities have offered gift annuities for years, the donations previously couldn't be made directly from retirement accounts." Thanks to retirement rule changes passed in Congress in December, funds for a gift annuity can be withdrawn from your IRA tax-free — though the annual payments are usually taxable. The annual payout for a 70-year-old from a $50,000 gift annuity is $2,950.
The hybrid-work mega-commute
A 21-year-old intern is racking up air miles on a weekly 750-mile commute, said Morgan Smith at CNBC. Sophia Celentano "didn't want to join the legions of summer interns fighting for affordable housing" when she landed an internship with Ogilvy Health in Parsippany, N.J., especially since the job "only requires her to be in the office once, sometimes twice, per week." Instead, she hops a plane from her parents' home in Charleston, S.C. Her "super-commute" is only costing her "about $225 per week, including a round-trip flight" and rides to and from the office. Conversely, she estimates she would have to spend $4,250 to stay 10 weeks in New Jersey. That's $2,000 in savings— as long as she can keep waking up at 3:30 a.m. to make the flights.
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.
Big home investors pull back
Large investment firms that had been on a controversial rental home buying spree have pulled back sharply, said Lance Lambert in Fortune. Invitation Homes, which owns some 83,000 single-family homes — the most of any U.S. landlord — "recently became a net seller." So, too, with American Homes 4 Rent; in the first quarter of 2023, that firm, which owns more than 58,000 houses, sold 666, more than twice the number it bought. Profits have fallen after factoring in changes in interest rates and rents. Big homebuyers have been blamed for driving up rents and prices in markets like Phoenix. However, many large investors think that national housing prices "are poised for another step down" despite a small bump in the spring. Some are waiting for prices to fall 15% before returning to the market.
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.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
Dianne Feinstein, history-making Democratic US senator, dies at 90
The Explainer Her colleagues celebrate her legacy as a trailblazer who cleared the path for other women to follow
By Theara Coleman Published
-
Why is the government on the brink of a shutdown?
Today's Big Question GOP infighting is bringing the country to a standstill, but even Republicans aren't entirely sure why
By Rafi Schwartz Published
-
Today’s political cartoons — September 29, 2023
Friday's cartoons - Biden's dog bite incident, the government shutdown and more
By The Week Staff Published
-
Retirees’ biggest surprise expense
Feature And more of the week's best financial insight
By The Week Staff Published
-
A downside of starting a business
And more of the week's best financial insight
By The Week Staff Published
-
The best age for financial choices
feature And more of the week's best financial insight
By The Week Staff Published
-
Locked down: stores struggle to deter rising thefts
feature Just how bad of a problem is shoplifting?
By The Week Staff Published
-
A shortage of homes keeps prices high
feature Areas nationwide are struggling with both affordability and supply
By The Week Staff Published
-
Signs of an unusual 'richcession'
feature And more of the week's best financial insight
By The Week Staff Published
-
American wealth disparity by the numbers
The Explainer The gap between rich and poor continues to widen in the United States
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Cheap cars get run off the road
Speed Read Why automakers are shedding small cars for SUVs, and what that means for buyers
By Joel Mathis Published