Hi all,
Hope everyone had a great Father’s Day weekend.
Fun fact: Technically, my full title is “personal finance and utility columnist.” That confuses a lot of people, because it sounds like I report on utilities (like power and gas companies), which I don’t. It’s more “utility” in the sense of “news you can use,” or service journalism. But this week, it was actually both.
Here’s what I’ve been up to.
Having trouble accessing your PG&E online account? Here’s what’s going on — In “news some of you can use,” the portal to pay PG&E bills went down last week as the utility company rolled out a redesign. They helpfully provided a phone number to call if you really need to get a hold of them.
A record number of people are claiming Social Security — but what’s really the best age to start? — A timeless personal finance question made freshly relevant by Elon Musk and DOGE. If you want a deep dive on what’s been happening at the Social Security Administration, the New York Times has a piece out today that sent my eyebrows to the moon.
But still, even amid political turmoil, the best advice on claiming SS benefits remains “wait as long as possible,” according to my experts.
What I’m working on now:
An exciting preview of some stories I’ve got coming out in the next few weeks.
Why is Donald Trump trying to sell you a cell phone?
There are amazing deals on EV leases right now. How do you get the best one?
What the heck is going on with my PG&E bill? An FAQ (Again… I’m not a utility company columnist… but it does come up an awful lot.)
