U.S. median household income hit a record $87,460 in 2025, but lower-income earners saw no meaningful gains while top earners' income has surged 121% over 58 years.
Gasoline prices surged 27%, shelter rose 3%, and hospital services climbed 5% year-over-year, eroding purchasing power for households already spending most income on essentials.
Investors should favor companies with durable pricing power in essential categories and businesses built to serve cost-conscious consumers trading down on discretionary spending.
Read More: Learn 7 secret wealth tips high net worth investors use that most investors miss (sponsor)
The latest Census Bureau data delivers a headline that sounds almost too good to be true: American households earned more in 2025 than ever before. But the numbers also explain why a record income figure can coexist with a persistent sense that the household budget is under pressure.

#income #earners #surged

Next year's Social Security cost-of-living increase looks like it will be 3.6%. The AARP made this forecast. The real figure will be released on October 14. It is based, according to The New York Times, on "the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W. It averages the figures for July, August, and September. That may be fine for people who have a lot of money. For those who don't, it's a problem.
Most of the conversation about Social Security is that it will "run out of money".That happens in late 2032. It really doesn't run out. The payout drops to about 79% of the current total.
People choose one of three options. Social Security defines them as "early eligibility," which can start at 62. "Retirement" age is 65. People can get the largest payout possible if they wait until age 70.
Analysts have proposed several ways to "save" Social Security. Among those is to add two years to three retirement options. Another is to raise the wage level cap when people pay in. Today, for most people, that is $184,500 a year. The most controversial idea is that people who make a great deal of money after they retire should pay little, or nothing.
Is 3.6% enough? Almost certainly not. Over the next year, the CPI could surge. Energy prices will be a factor. So will food. And food prices are affected by energy prices. Seventy percent of all Us freight is moved by truck. Diesel is at its highest price ever. Some of that will be passed on to consumers next year.

#people #money

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High-income households can use what's called a "backdoor Roth" to utilize a Roth IRA despite the program's standard income restrictions. This can be an effective way to build a tax-free stream of income for your retirement, and it is a completely legal strategy.
Whether this method will reduce your taxes depends heavily on your tax rates now versus what you'll pay in retirement. For some high-earners, a Roth IRA can actually be a money loser if it means you end up spending more on taxes today than you will save on taxes in retirement.
Do you have questions about taxes and retirement planning? Speak with a financial advisor today.
A Roth IRA is what's called a "post-tax" retirement account. This means that you contribute to it with money that you've already paid taxes on. Then, in retirement, you make withdrawals on both your contributions and any growth completely tax-free. The idea is that it's more expensive upfront to build a Roth IRA compared with a pre-tax portfolio like a traditional IRA or 401(k), but you save taxes on your portfolio at its peak value as a retiree.

#Retirement #completely

The Premier League campaign is fully up and running, with the summer transfer window now having come and gone.
The window slammed shut on Sept. 1, meaning every team is more or less set until the winter window opens in January.
The summer window saw several talented players either arrive to the league or swap shirts, putting some new faces among the Premier League's top earners.
Here are the 25 highest-paid Premier League players in 2026-27 by annual salary. All data is provided by Capology.
*Salaries are estimated total annual compensation, including salary and bonuses

#premier

Duolingo shares rose about 7% on September 1 after Evercore ISI upgraded the stock from In Line to Outperform and doubled its price target from $105 to $210. From the prior closing level, the new objective implied roughly 42% upside. The **** yst's central argument was that competitive fears around general-purpose products such as ChatGPT had become exaggerated. Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) still owns a habit-forming consumer product, a global brand, and a large base of learners who want structure rather than an open-ended chatbot.
Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock.com
That distinction matters. A language model can explain grammar, simulate conversation, and create personalized exercises, but it does not automatically reproduce Duolingo's streaks, curriculum, social reinforcement, or mobile distribution. Duolingo can also use the same models to create content faster and improve speaking practice. Evercore raised its 2027 and 2028 earnings estimates, suggesting that AI may support engagement and operating leverage instead of simply eroding the moat.
The bear case is not imaginary. Chatbots are improving quickly, and voice interaction makes free-form tutoring more natural. Consumers can divide their time among many inexpensive applications, while Duolingo must keep spending on product development and marketing to remain distinctive. A doubled price target following a major decline may signal that expectations became too low, but it does not prove that competitive pressure has peaked. Valuation can still compress if user growth or bookings slow.
Hedge funds leaned modestly more bullish in Q2. Insider Monkey counted 39 funds holding Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL), up from 37 in Q1. AQR Capital Management increased its stake more than twentyfold to 2,332,543 shares, one of the quarter's clearest institutional changes. The filing cannot show whether that was a long-term conviction bet, a quantitative signal, or a hedge.

#NASDAQ #duol #hedge #price

For the second straight summer, Juventus and Atlético Madrid have agreed to a loan deal involving a player who had a bit of a struggle during his first season in Turin with the hope that Spain cures some of those previous ills.
Last summer it was Nico Gonzalez, who is now back in Turin and looks set to stay after scoring the game-winning goal against Parma over the weekend. This summer, it's Canadian striker Jonathan David, whose first season in Turin could be described as quite the difficult one with not very many goals scored.
According to multiple reports out of Italy and Spain on Monday, Juventus at Atlético Madrid have agreed to a season-long loan deal for David. It ends a 12-month period in Turin in which David's struggles were vastly superior to good moments he showed under Igor Tudor and then especially Luciano Spalletti. David, who arrived on a free transfer from Lille and was subsequently handed a contract by former sporting chief Damien Comolli that made him one of the highest earners on the team, will now head to Atléti in hopes of following the same kind of path that Gonzalez did during the 2025-26 season. But as we found out with Nico, it doesn't necessarily equate to Atlético Madrid actually activating the buy option that they will have in the deal.
Said buy option is around €25 million, according to Fabrizio Romano. There are apparently no set clauses worked into the deal — it is very much a loan with option to buy situation.
The move to La Liga is the chance for David to get his career back on track after his performances with Juventus resulted in the lowest goal tally of his career, scoring just six goals in 35 appearances in Serie A last season. Once he got in a funk, it was tough for him to get out of it, and it was reflected in how his minutes suffered as a result as the season went on under Spalletti.

#juventus #madrid #tico #loan

Jamal Musiala used to be the fun, new at Bayern Munich that could do no wrong. He twisted and turned past all the defenders with his mesmerizing dribbling and dazzled the crowds with the #42 on his back.
That time is over now, though. Musiala has given up the #42 for the #10 for both club and country while becoming one of Bayern's biggest earners and most important players all at the same time. With this added pressure comes the need to perform despite that baggage.
However, Musiala has a system for dealing with this pressure. Speaking to Sport Bild (as captured by iMiaSanMia), he elaborates on what he does: "I need no pressure from outside because I put enough pressure on myself. What I say about myself carries more weight than what others say. That naturally influences your self-image. When I make a mistake and then dwell on it too much, it doesn't help me. I try to stay calm and keep a cool head."
Bayern Munich will hope Musiala can take that cool head and use it to catch fire in the 2026/27 season. Of course, the recent developments with his "neurological absences" have cause concern for fans, but Musiala appears confident that he can overcome the ailment and get back to his old self soon.
Sign up for a user account and get:

#self

Olympique de Marseille are pushing to sign Standard Liege goalkeeper Matthieu Epolo (21), Get French Football News understands. The Ligue 1 club remain, however, in a position of having to sell before they buy. They aren't the only party interested in the DR Congo international. Another Ligue 1 club and a Premier League side in the market for a No.2 goalkeeper have also made enquiries.
OM's transfer window continues to be held up by an inability to get some of the top earners off their books. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is one of the players that Marseille are keen to offload, although there is no player for whom bids will not be welcomed.
Sales would, notably, allow them to sign a goalkeeper (or two), which has become a priority for Grégory Lorenzi. Jeffrey De Lange started against RC Strasbourg Alsace on Friday night; the Dutchman could yet leave. Currently, there is a difference in valuation between the Ligue 1 club and Standard Liege, who are demanding an €8m fee.
Les Phocéens could face competition in the form of another Ligue 1 club and a Premier League side who have already reached out to the Belgian outfit.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle

#goalkeeper #league

NBA star James Harden joined an exclusive club on Thursday.
The veteran guard is now among just four players in NBA history to eclipse $500 million in career earnings. His new three-year, $97 million contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers pushed his career earnings past the milestone.
MORE: James Harden contract talks with Cavaliers nearing resolution, NBA insider says
Harden joins LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry in the half-a-billion earners club.
The No. 3 pick of the 2009 draft is one of the league's all-time ***** ist leaders and averaged 8.0 ***** ists per game last season. His ability to score and create offense has defined his career. The new contract keeps the 11-time All-Star's career going in Cleveland. The deal also includes a player option for 2028-29 and a trade kicker.

#james #harden #million #time

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently declared that the K-shaped economy "is over." New research says he might be right.
After a prolonged period of sharp divergence between higher and lower-income household spending and earning patterns — dubbed the K-shaped economy because higher earners have continued to spend, forming the top branch of the K, while lower earners, the bottom of the K, pulled back — the gap is beginning to narrow again, economists at the Bank of America Institute led by David Tinsley wrote in a report last week.
"As of July, spending and wage growth have largely converged across income cohorts, with the exception of the top 5% of earners, who continue to outpace the rest," the report said.
Debit and credit card spending across all income levels was up 5% in July from a year ago, with lower-income households showing a 5.4% gain. Middle-income earners, meanwhile, spent 4.9% more than last year.
Read more: How to find the best credit cards with no annual fee

#shaped #economy #higher

Duolingo (DUOL) just made another move to strengthen what keeps its users coming back. The company recently acquired Animade, a London-based animation and motion design studio known for character animation and playful, interactive design. The deal folds Animade into Duolingo's growing Design Studio. On its own, a small animation acquisition might not seem like much. But it fits neatly with how Duolingo believes it continues to grow. The company's whole model runs on engagement. Its cast of characters, streaks, and animations are what make lessons feel like a game rather than a chore. Buying a studio built around exactly that kind of work feeds directly into the product experience that keeps users hooked on Duolingo.
The purchase comes barely a week after Duolingo reported earnings, and the deal is in line with what management focused on in its earnings call transcript. Management linked the 23% year-over-year (YoY) growth in daily active users to product improvements. CEO Luis von Ahn reinforced the point, saying the results back the company's strategy to improve the product and prioritize user growth. Current-user retention also hit an all-time high, with von Ahn noting that a better product is both bringing learners back and keeping them there.
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#Stock #design #animade

The price of the brick keeps going up. According to the Times of London, Tottenham Hotspur's pursuit of Brazilian winger Savinho could cost them as much as £85m. This particular transfer saga has now gone on for a year after Spurs expressed their interest and came close to signing Savinho last summer before City pulled the plug on negotiations.
The new £85m figure comes as almost a throwaway line in an article about City's overall transfer business and their continued attempt to refresh the squad under new head coach Enzo Maresco.
City are in talks with Tottenham Hotspur over the potential sale of Savinho for £85million while Nico González's situation is being monitored by several interested parties. The club also lost two of their top earners over the summer after Bernardo Silva and John Stones left for Real Madrid and Inter Milan respectively on free transfers.
I swear I can remember a time when the price for Savinho was rumored to be around £60m-65m. The delay in coming to an agreement appears to be mostly on the City side of negotiations — there are reports that Maresca has been delaying deciding whether Savinho is in his plans or not; meanwhile it's been clear for a while now that Savinho is of great interest to Spurs and is one of Roberto De Zerbi's top transfer targets, which no doubt has inflated the price. (This is why you don't tip your hand in negotiations.)
Meanwhile, rarely has a player made it so clear that he wants to leave and join Tottenham Hotspur. His social media has included commenting on and befriending numerous Spurs player accounts, and he's refused to train a couple of times now (though City has attributed this, plus his absence from the Community Shield squad, as "illness).

#negotiations #times

WWE superstar and legend, The Rock, has achieved so much in his career but the unique awards just keep on coming.
The Rock – real name Dwayne Johnson – was and still is one of the most recognisable names on the planet when it comes to the world of wrestling.
Since moving to Hollywood, he's also become one of the biggest film stars on the planet and one of the highest earners too, with big hits like Fast and Furious, Moana and Jumanji among his big hits.
And to add to his ever-growing list of individual honours, he's just achieved what no other WWE superstar has done before.
The Rock's place in Disney history is complete thanks to the huge success of the Moana series.

#rock #hits #johnson

Cologne and Eintracht Frankfurt have reportedly reached an agreement over the transfer of Ellyes Skhiri back to his old Bundesliga club, dramatically reviving a return that appeared to have been abandoned only weeks ago. Sport Bild reports the two Bundesliga clubs have settled the terms of a deal for the 31-year-old midfielder. The remaining obstacle is Skhiri's salary demand. Cologne are reportedly prepared to offer the Tunisia international approximately €1.5m per year. Skhiri currently ranks among Frankfurt's higher earners and has yet to accept the proposed terms.
Get German Football News reported in late July that Skhiri had been granted permission to negotiate a departure from Eintracht Frankfurt. The midfielder was omitted from Adi Hütter's training-camp squad after being informed that he no longer featured prominently in the club's plans. A return to Köln initially appeared one of the most logical solutions. That option subsequently seemed dead, however.
GGFN reported during Köln's pursuit of Wolfsburg midfielder Vinicius Souza that Skhiri was no longer considered an option at the RheinEnergieStadion. Köln had elected to explore alternative solutions for René Wagner's midfield instead. That position was reinforced again only recently when GGFN covered Sevilla's emerging interest in Skhiri. At that stage, Köln were understood to have dropped their pursuit entirely.
Skhiri's return would address an obvious need in Köln's midfield, where Tom Krauß, Ísak Jóhannesson and summer signing Paul Okon-Engstler currently represent Wagner's main central options. The veteran already knows the club exceptionally well. Skhiri joined Köln from Montpellier for approximately €6m in 2019 and developed into one of their most important players. He made 133 competitive appearances for the club and contributed to 28 goals before departing for Frankfurt on a free transfer in 2023.
Skhiri has since made 117 appearances for Eintracht, although his role declined last season. The additions of Raphael Onyedika and Noël Aséko have further reduced his prospects under Hütter. Skhiri also enters the final year of his SGE contract. The RheinMainAdler remain eager to cash in on the 86-times-capped international, who still maintains a €5m estimated market value. The two clubs have ironed out the terms of the transfer. Skhiri will still have to lower his salary expectations in order to facilitate the move.

#eintracht #club #return

Scott Bessent has some good news for consumers this morning: The K-shaped economy is officially over! Consumers on the lower end of the income spectrum are no longer being left behind by their richer counterparts, he insists.

The only problem is that the data has yet to subscribe to Bessent's feelings.

The Treasury Secretary said he is "sick of hearing about this K-shaped economy," during a CNBC interview yesterday, adding: "I can say here definitively, the K-shaped economy is over."
Instead, Bessent said, U.S. households are in a C-shaped economy, "where the lower end of wage earners are finally calling it back, just like they did in President Trump's first term."
Bessent said the bottom 25% of workers have seen a 2% real wage gain. That's likely a reference to Treasury data for 2025 that showed blue-collar workers saw growth of 1.7% in the first five months of Trump's presidency.
The Treasury Secretary also pointed to White House policy under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (such as no taxes on tips or overtime, as well as reduced taxes for seniors on Social Security) as having a meaningfully positive effect on household finances. The act, described by the White House as the biggest tax break in history, purported to give Americans earning between $15,000 and $80,000 an average tax cut of 15%.
The bill also promised to increase tipped and overtime workers' take-home pay by $1,500 a year, and has reportedly increased after-tax income for a typical two-child family by $7,600 to $10,900.

#economy #workers

The women's golf major championship season is officially over, after Shiho Kuwaki earned $1.5 million for winning the AIG Women's Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club on Sunday.
But it was Nelly Korda who won the most prize money overall at the five women's majors this year, taking home a combined $4.59 million—boosted by her victories at the Chevron Championship and U.S. Women's Open, which came with $1.35 million and $2.5 million paydays, respectively. Korda missed the cut at the Amundi Evian Championship and did not earn any prize money. She did, however, cash in a $275,235 check for finishing tied for eighth at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and made $465,601 for placing T4 at the AIG Women's Open.
Not only does Korda's major haul top all other women's golfers this year, it also surpasses all but two men's golfers—Rory McIlroy and Wyndham Clark—despite the five women's majors paying out a combined $53.6 million in prize money, compared to $83.25 million at the four men's majors. The top earners at this year's women's majors were as follows:
Nelly Korda: $4.59 million
Haeran Ryu: $3.72 million

#million #majors #money #golf

Our **** ysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here.
Management attributes strong performance to the 'historic shift' in global workforce redesign, where AI is reshaping tasks rather than eliminating jobs at scale.
The company is embedding AI into the core of HCM through 'ADP **** ist' and 'The Zone' to drive operational efficiency and real-time compliance insights.
Strategic positioning is anchored in 'structural advantages,' specifically a massive data foundation of 42 million wage earners that allows for granular task-level economic **** ysis.
Lyric HCM is gaining significant traction in the enterprise market, with live clients increasing 94% year-over-year and a pipeline heavily weighted toward new logos.

#year #NVIDIA #management

Mike Verweij is reporting that Ajax are keen on reuniting with West Ham midfielder Edson Alvarez. However, if Ajax want to bring Alvarez back to the Eredivisie they will have to compete with Spanish side Real Sociedad. West Ham still actually owe Ajax a fair amount of the transfer from a few years ago. Alvarez himself is said to be open to a return to Ajax.
The now 28-year-old midfielder joined Ajax back in 2019 and went on to play 147 games for the club. During his time with Ajax, Alvarez won two Eredivisie ***** les and one KNVB Cup. He left to join West Ham in 2023, playing 73 games across two seasons before leaving to join Fenerbahce on loan last season. He played 18 games for the Turkish side during that time. On his return to West Ham, the side have since been relegated from the Premier League and will be open to selling some of their higher earners, such as Alvarez.
GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson

#alvarez #west #return

People rarely go broke overnight. It usually happens gradually, as a string of financial decisions that each seemed fine on their own pile up until they can't be ignored anymore. Even high earners aren't immune.
A Harris Poll in November 2025 found that a third of Americans earning $100,000 or more describe themselves as financially distressed, and 64% now consider a six-figure income "survival mode" rather than a sign of wealth. Three-quarters had used a credit card recently because they'd run out of cash, and more than half said they'd need to double their income just to feel secure.
Jeff Bezos backs a platform that lets anyone invest in rental homes for as little as $100 — 6 ways to build wealth like a landlord without actually being one
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Millionaires under 43 hold only 25% of their wealth in stocks. Here's where their money is actually going

#income

This is a crucial time of the year for retirees who receive Social Security benefits. Each fall, the Social Security Administration (SSA) issues a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, to account for inflation's impact on living expenses. What happens in the economy this summer will determine what next year's COLA looks like.
The latest forecast from The Senior Citizens League calls for a 3.8% COLA this year. That's not an official number, but it does signal that retirees may see a larger increase than last year's 2.8%. Here are some factors retirees should watch before the formal COLA announcement later this year.
Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia. For the first time in years, that same "Total Conviction" signal is flashing for a company 1/100th the size of Nvidia. Continue »
The SSA bases the COLA on the performance of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, in July, August, and September of each year. The SSA averages the CPI-W's value over those three months and compares it to the same months of the prior year. In 2025, the index averaged 317.265 in the third quarter, which drove that 2.8% COLA.
Rather than focusing on headline inflation numbers in the news, retirees should keep their eye on the index. To get a 3.8% COLA, the CPI-W would need to average approximately 329.321. The SSA will announce the index's July average next month, kicking off that crucial three-month window. It was at 327.075 in June, the most recent number at the time of writing this article.

#time #security

Some billionaires have spent the past year warning that New York City's political climate could scare away companies, capital, and high earners. But two fast-growing brands are moving in despite the noise.
Anthropic is leasing an entire 16-story office building at 330 Hudson Street in Manhattan, dramatically expanding Anthropic's New York footprint from a much smaller office (just around the corner, at 155 Sixth Avenue), and announcing the company is planning to double its workforce in the city. The Claude-maker, which had less than 500 employees in the city at the beginning of this year, expects to occupy all 16 floors of the building—enough **** e for 1,700 desks—and expects to have more than 1,000 employees by the end of the year. The company is currently hiring for roles in New York across research, engineering, policy, sales, and operations.
"New York is one of the main hubs for how AI is being put to work, and Anthropic is in the middle of it as a technology partner to the financial institutions, media companies, and cultural organizations that help define the city," Anthropic chief commercial officer Paul Smith told the New York Post in a statement. "Doubling our team here and deepening our long-term commitment to the city will allow us to sit closer to that work, and to the people driving it forward."
Simultaneously, Airbnb is making a major real estate bet on New York of its own. The company purchased 281 Park Avenue South, a six-story building in Gramercy, for $81.5 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. The building is expected to serve as a hub for Airbnb's New York-area workforce, which numbers more than 600 employees.
"New York City has been part of our story since the earliest days of Airbnb," CEO Brian Chesky said in a statement to AM New York. "This building reflects our long-term commitment to the city and will be home to one of our largest employee hubs outside of San Francisco. We're excited to keep investing in the city and the people who make it extraordinary."

La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Napoli are prepared to make Scott McTominay one of the team’s highest earners despite a disappointing World Cup with the Scotland national team.
Napoli are ready to offer their star midfielder McTominay a new deal until 2030 and make him one of the team’s highest earners, reports Gazzetta.
It is no secret that the Partenopei want to extend the Scottish midfielder’s stay at the Stadio Maradona beyond 2028, and the club’s plans have not changed after the appointment of Massimiliano Allegri as their new coach.
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 19: Scott McTominay #4 of Scotland reacts during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group C match between Scotland and Morocco at Boston Stadium on June 19, 2026 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images)
La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper reports today that Allegri wants to make the former Manchester United midfielder one of the cornerstones of his project, so Napoli are ready to enter formal talks with the midfielder’s entourage.

Manchester United are desperate to shift high earners this summer in order to make ******* e for multiple new arrivals.
Casemiro has already left for Major League Soccer, while Marcus Rashford is likely to follow him despite recent reports of a possible reconciliation.
Jadon Sancho’s departure has freed up the wage bill, with the Red Devils also keen to move on Andre Onana.
The goalkeeper, who earns £120,000-a-week at United, is set to rejoin Trabzonspor on loan after impressing there last season.
Following Senne Lammens’ heroics in his debut campaign, there is no ******* e for the error-prone Cameroonian at Old Trafford, which is why the 20-time English league champions have opted to loan him out again.

Austin Reaves is about to become the highest-paid undrafted player in NBA history.
The Los Angeles Lakers guard intends to sign a four-year, $185 million maximum contract to stay in Los Angeles, with a player option on the final season in 2029-30. It is the most lucrative deal ever handed to a player who went undrafted.
For someone passed over entirely in the 2021 draft, the contract caps a remarkable rise — and it tops a record that had stood for three years. Reaves now sits clear of the field for undrafted earners, a list few would have expected him to lead when he entered the league.
The deal, revealed by Shams Charania on X, runs at an annual average of $46.25 million and lands slightly higher than some had projected.
The Brooklyn Nets had been reported (via SI) as offering four years and $178.5 million, around $44.6 million a season.

Bayern Munich is seeing (and probably hearing) the news about Michael Olise and how both Real Madrid and Manchester City could come calling for the attacker.
The Bavarians are going to try and get out in front of this by offering the Frenchman an annual salary of €25 million per season. For perspective, only Jamal Musiala, Harry Kane (also due for a big raise), Joshua Kimmich, and Manuel Neuer made that much this past season:
Bayern want to nearly double Michael Olise’s wages in Munich as part of a deal to keep him at the club until 2031. You’ve heard the saying, if in trouble, make it double. The trouble is from Real Madrid – they really want him, and they’re fully aware of just how good he was in the Bundesliga this season. He was the player of the year in Germany and has enjoyed a remarkable transformation since his €50m move from Crystal Palace. It wasn’t a €100m deal like Harry Kane’s, which is why his salary isn’t up to par with the likes of the Englishman or Jamal Musiala. He’s right in the middle of the squad’s earners, so about €15m.
Now, of course, he’s one of the most important players in the first XI, so he deserves more money. That’s why FC Bayern are prepared to give Michael Olise more money, and their argument is that if they’re prepared to offer more money, perhaps the France international can give them a few more years on the contract. In Germany, you can make a deal up to five years long, so the idea would be a contract until 2031. With that in mind, he can get closer to the top earners at Bayern Munich at around €25m a year.
Speaking of Olise, there was another — more creative — rumor linking him to Real Madrid.

Starting 2026, earners over $150,000 lose the 401(k) catch-up deduction, costing a 32% bracket taxpayer roughly $2,560 in immediate tax shelter.
Forced RMDs from a $2.3M 401(k) at age 73 generate ordinary income taxed up to 40%, versus 23.8% on taxable brokerage gains.
Contribute only enough to capture the employer match, redirect between $12,000 and $16,000 annually to a taxable brokerage, and run Roth conversions before RMDs begin at 73.
A recent study identified one single habit that doubled Americans' retirement savings and moved retirement from dream, to reality. Read more here.
A reader on a Bogleheads forum recently posed the question that frames this entire piece: at 58 with $2.3 million already saved in a traditional 401(k), why keep stuffing more pretax dollars into an account future-you will hate?

Michael Olise is coming off a sensational 2025/26 campaign with Bayern Munich, which saw him named Bundesliga Player of the Season after racking up 22 goals and 31 **** ists in 52 games in all competitions.
The Frenchman's performances have put him on the radar of Real Madrid, but Bayern have made clear on numerous occasions that they have no interest in letting him leave.
Bild head of football Christian Falk now reports that, although Olise still has three years remaining on his current contract, Bayern are keen to extend it by a further two years until 2031 to secure his long-term future.
As part of the proposed extension, Bayern are willing to increase Olise's wages from around €15 million to the region of €25 million to make him one of the club's absolute top earners.
The 24-year-old is currently representing France at the World Cup and impressed with a Player of the Match-winning performance in his country's 3-1 opening win over Senegal.

NEW DELHI: Pakistan's centrally contracted cricketers are set to receive significant pay hikes, with players in the newly introduced red-ball Track A category expected to benefit the most under the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) new contract system for the 2026-27 cycle.

According to a reliable PCB source, a committee that includes white-ball head coach Mike Hesson and red-ball head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed has finalised draft contracts for the upcoming cycle.

The PCB has placed special emphasis on rewarding players who feature regularly in Test cricket.

"Their match fees is expected to be around 1.5 million PKR while their monthly retainer will be in range of 4 million rupees before taxes. Previously in the last contracts players were given a test match fees of around 800,000 PKR," the source said.

The new structure marks the first time the PCB has introduced format-based central contracts.

Players selected in both Track A and Track B categories - covering Test cricket and white-ball formats - are expected to be among the highest earners. Apart from match fees, they are likely to receive monthly retainers of around 4.8 to 5 million PKR.

The board has also proposed attractive performance-based incentives. According to the source, players will receive a 500 percent bonus on their match fees if Pakistan wins an ICC tournament, while winning an Asian-level event such as the Asia Cup would bring a 300 percent bonus.

The source also revealed details of the other categories. Players contracted only in Track B, which covers ODIs and T20Is, are expected to receive monthly retainers of up to 1.8 million PKR.

Meanwhile, cricketers placed in Track C - a category reserved for players involved only in T20 cricket and franchise leagues - are likely to receive monthly retainers ranging from 1.2 million to 1.5 million PKR.

Interestingly, the PCB is also considering not making public the names and categories of centrally contracted players. If implemented, it would be a first in Pakistan cricket and has already attracted criticism from some quarters.

The PCB has not yet announced how many players will receive central contracts under the new format-based system.

After news broke that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund would cease backing LIV Golf beyond this season, putting its future in doubt, Jon Rahm was asked in May about the status of his contract with the tour. “I don’t see many ways out,” the 31-year-old Spaniard answered pragmatically.
Rahm’s next steps appear dependent on whether LIV can secure external funding to continue operating beyond this year—if its 2026 schedule can even be completed—but in the meantime, his golden handcuffs haven’t been so bad. Rahm’s contract, which reportedly guaranteed him at least $300 million when the former world No. 1 left the PGA Tour in December 2023 to sign with LIV, has made him the world’s highest-paid golfer for the third consecutive year.
Forbes estimates Rahm hauled in $111 million over the last 12 months before taxes and agent fees, sending his total pay for the past three years north of $400 million. His compensation since last June includes an estimated $101 million in prize money and on-course bonuses as well as $10 million in off-course earnings from brand partnerships, appearance fees and licensing income. In addition to his contractual guarantee with LIV, which Forbes estimates to be worth $50 million for the past year, Rahm pulled in an $18 million bonus in 2025 as LIV’s individual champion for the second year in a row, and he has won two tournaments so far this season, helping push his total up 9% from the estimated $102 million he pocketed in the 12 months that ended in June 2025.
As a whole, however, golf’s biggest stars have seen their paychecks dip. Together, the sport’s ten top earners have made an estimated $536 million since last year’s U.S. Open, down 12% from last year’s $612 million and 29% from the record $752 million of 2023, the first full year to incorporate LIV’s initial wave of massive signing bonuses.
The decline is in part the result of LIV golfers Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson dropping off the list, with their original 2022 contracts having expired or nearing completion. The embattled tour also hasn’t made any big-ticket additions to its roster recently, leaving Bryson Dechambeau (No. 4 among the world’s highest-paid golfers with $52 million) and Joaquin Niemann (tied for seventh with $34 million) as the only LIV golfers to make the cut other than Rahm.

10 highest paid MLB players in 2026 according to Forbes

Baseball has always been a big-money sport, but the 2026 Forbes list makes that clearer than ever. Between blockbuster contracts, global endorsement deals, and business ventures that extend well beyond the diamond, the top earners in MLB are pulling in numbers that would make even Wall Street take notice.
The gap between the top and the rest tells its own story. Shohei Ohtani sits in a different stratosphere entirely, earning more than double the second-highest earner on this list. That kind of financial dominance is rare in any sport