9. $1.6 billion Powerball. The year began with the biggest jackpot in U.S. lottery history. There were three tickets sold in California, Tennessee and Florida. Lots of people played hoping to become instant millionaires.
The lesson: You want financial security? Spend less and save more. Don’t gamble.
8. Fiduciary rule. The Department of Labor, the federal agency that oversees retirement plans, finalized a rule to require financial professionals advising people about their retirement accounts to act in their clients’ best interests.
The lesson: We need to make sure investors are getting the best advice possible
7. Prince died. The “Purple Rain” artist Prince, an icon in the music business, who died at 57, didn’t have a will.
The lesson: Imagine your heirs crying and screaming over your stuff. Then get a will.
6. Stock market decline/stock market rise. The year began with the Dow crashing down. In January, the Dow dropped 392 points in one day. It dipped again by nearly 400 points in September. But by the end of year, it’s been riding high with the Dow coming close to reaching a 20,000 milestone.
The Lesson: This is the nature of investing. There will be lots of ups and downs. So invest for the long term.
5. Overtime. A rule by the Labor Department that would have made overtime pay available to full-time salaried employees earning up to $47,476 a year, up from the current threshold of $23,660 a year, was halted by a Texas judge. The rule would have impacted 4 million workers.
The lesson: They giveth and they taketh away.
4. IRS telephone scam. This was a big-time con in 2016. Scammers, claiming to be from the IRS, were threatening people with jail time if they didn’t pay a tax bill they didn’t owe. But by the end of the year, the number of new victims started to drop precipitously since federal enforcement actions took place in the U.S. and in India, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
The lesson: This scam might pick up again as the tax season approaches. But please don’t be fooled. The IRS will not call you demanding payment.
3. Pension insurance program running out of money. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which insures private pensions, reported a $58.8 billion shortfall in covering multiemployer pension plans that are expected to fall short themselves within 10 years.
The lesson: More evidence that you need to save.
2. Wells Fargo. The CFPB fined Wells Fargo $100 million for opening hundreds of thousands of unauthorized accounts.
The lesson: Clearly there’s need for increased consumer protection.
1. Andrew Puzder picked by Donald Trump for labor secretary. Puzder has opposed rules that would expand overtime eligibility and has criticized efforts to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
The lesson: We need to double down on efforts to fight for a living wage for workers.
Michelle Singletary welcomes comments and column ideas. Reach her in care of The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20071.
