SAN JOSE, Calif. — After years of always being the perpetual bridesmaid, Lisa Catalano laid down her soft-pink bouquet, hung up her strappy blue satin maid of honor dress and drafted a text to her friends:

“I’m officially announcing my retirement from being a bridesmaid,” she wrote. “The next wedding I’m going to be in will be with my own groom, TBD.”

Two years earlier, her fiancé had died of a terminal illness. After failed attempts at dating apps, set-ups and matchmaking databases, Catalano, now 42, transformed her quest with gusto.

Creating a personal dating campaign, she rented space on a dozen digital billboards along Highway 101 between Santa Clara and South San Francisco, adorning each with her smiling face, cascading brunette curls and a simple message: “MarryLisa.com.”  She’s running the same images on the tops of taxis in San Francisco as well.

With the boost from a local TV station and the New York Post, which shared her story last week, the traffic to her “Marry Lisa” website has soared. By Tuesday, nearly 2,000 men — some from as far as India and the Middle East — had applied to be Mr. Right.

“I keep joking with my friends and family, because this has felt to me like the beginning of a romcom, except so far, it’s been all com and no rom,” she said. “I hope that that changes soon.”

Catalano’s story is equal parts “Bridget Jones’s Diary” and “The Bachelorette,” but her journey also reveals yet again the struggles to find love in the post-COVID age of remote work, isolating social media and the frenetic pace of Silicon Valley.

Bay Area dating coach Marie Thouin sympathizes with Catalano’s struggles to find the one, as women, especially, search for traditional relationships in a region that often questions conventions, and where eligible men who want a wife and children are often putting it off until after their careers are established.

Catalano, she said, is “fearless.”

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“She’s breaking a lot of the shame that a lot of women have about wanting partnership. A lot of people don’t want to seem too desperate and so they’re downplaying their desire for a relationship. And she is boldly doing the opposite,” Thouin said. “She’s saying, ‘Hey, this is so important to me that I’m willing to put myself out there on a billboard. I’m willing to create a website for this. I’m willing to go the distance to show the world I want this.’”

Catalano’s studio apartment, decorated with a patchwork quilt, a sheepskin rug and light blue love seat, has become her makeshift command center. On Tuesday morning, her phone kept pinging with every new dating application submitted to her website. People Magazine interviewed her that day, and she’s heading to a TV interview in Oakland Thursday. She’s fielded calls from producers for “Jimmy Kimmel Live! “and CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360.”

She’s had so much interest from so many that she’s barely had a chance to study the applications or go on a single date.

“I’m reviewing the applications myself. I’m not using AI or any tools like that,” she said. “I’m doing it the old-fashioned way, but this is not an old-fashioned approach at all.”

Catalano is remarkably revealing on her MarryLisa.com website. Height, weight, bra size? All spelled out in black and white. Does she kiss on a first date? Sex and intimacy? Her flaws and imperfections? She talks about all that in a string of videos.

A Santa Clara University alumna who worked in tech and the cosmetics industry and is now freelancing, she enjoys wine “and the occasional cocktail.” She’s a Giants fan, owns a convertible and loves cats. “Has never had any cosmetic procedures,” she wrote, is “high energy, healthy active.”

Lisa Catalano in her apartment on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in San Mateo, Calif. Catalano decided to market herself by buying space on digital billboards to advertise her website https://www.marrylisa.com/. So far she has received over 1,900 marriage applications. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

Her prospective suitor must be college-educated, drug-free, aligned with her left-leaning politics and be ready for marriage and children within three years.

Catalano is buying a new printer so she can sort the prospective suitors into piles and will likely enlist some friends to help.

Longtime friend Jamie Bainum says she met her boyfriend on Tinder two years ago and hoped the dating apps would work for Catalano. The billboard campaign instead, she said, is “so smart.”

“She’s very outgoing to do it, because it’s definitely serious putting yourself out there for the whole world to see,” said Bainum, 42, of Florida. “But she’s a very good person. She doesn’t have anything to hide, so you’re not going to find any bad things about her. She’s very honest. She’s very fun. She’s just a really good person who deserves a really good guy.”

Along with those who may be the good ones, however, Catalano has received numerous bad ones.

“I’m getting phony applications that are just saying the most horrific things about me,” she said. “I’m putting myself out there and my love life out there. It’s a very vulnerable thing and so I expected some criticism, but this? I’m just trying to roll with it.”

Lisa Catalano applies lipstick in her apartment on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in San Mateo, Calif. Catalano decided to market herself by buying space on digital billboards to advertise her website https://www.marrylisa.com/. So far she has received over 1,900 marriage applications. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

She has increased her personal security, she said, and plans to conduct her “due diligence” before she agrees to a date. But for every negative applicant, there are more positive ones encouraging her search.

Catalano declined to say how much her campaign is costing her so far. (She’ll calculate that later, she said, ) And for all her openness, she didn’t want to talk too much about her late fiancé out of respect, except to say that their relationship was “easy-going” and they had “great communication.”

“I think he would be cheering me on and laughing at this whole thing,” she said. “He would want me to be happy.”

Whether her future husband is somewhere in her growing database remains to be seen. But for those interested in her progress, she’s planning on documenting her journey on her “marrylisaofficial” page on TikTok.

“I do plan on shooting a little content for social media like getting ready for the date, what I’m wearing, that sort of thing, and giving a quick little brief recap of the dates,” she said.

But she’ll keep the men’s names and faces private.

“As unconventional as all of this is, I want to try as hard as possible to make the actual dates themselves feel normal,” she said.

When the publicity dies down, she said, she’s anxious to delve into the applications.

After all, she said, “I’m not doing this for fame. I’m doing this for love.”

Lisa Catalano in her apartment on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in San Mateo, Calif. Catalano decided to market herself by buying space on digital billboards to advertise her website https://www.marrylisa.com/. So far she has received over 1,900 marriage applications. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

By Brian Baker, CFA, Bankrate.com

When their working days eventually come to an end, many retirees will think about the best place to spend their golden years. Not all states treat retirement income — such as pension payouts or distributions from 401(k) plans and IRAs — the same way, which makes state and local taxes a key consideration for anyone expecting to be on a fixed income during this time.

Here’s what you need to know about how different states tax retirement income, including the states where you won’t pay taxes at all.

States with no income tax

Retirement distributions from 401(k) plans or IRAs are considered income for tax purposes.

Fortunately, there are several places with no state income tax: Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming

New Hampshire previously taxed interest and dividend payments, but that tax has been repealed starting with the 2025 tax year.

Washington does have a capital gains tax, though there are exemptions and deductions that may eliminate or lower the amount that is owed.

States with an income tax that don’t tax retirement income

In addition to the nine states above that don’t have an income tax at all, four states do not tax retirement income: Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi and Pennsylvania.

Illinois: Illinois charges a flat state income tax of 4.95%, but all retirement income is exempt from paying the tax. This includes pension payments, as well as distributions from retirement plans such as 401(k)s and IRAs. Social Security payments are also exempt.

Iowa: As of 2023, Iowa residents over the age of 55 are no longer taxed on their retirement income thanks to a 2022 law. Iowa now has a flat rate of 3.8% on taxable income after a new law was passed in May 2024.

Mississippi: Mississippi state income tax rates are 0% on the first $10,000 of taxable income and 4.4% on income above that level for the 2025 tax year, but retirement income is not taxed as long as you’ve met the plan requirements. This means that early distributions from retirement plans may not qualify as retirement income and could be subject to tax and a penalty. The tax rate is set to be reduced gradually to 3% by 2030, with further decreases until the tax is eliminated entirely. The rate will fall to 4% in 2026.

Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania charges personal income tax at a flat rate of 3.07%. Retirement income is not taxed in Pennsylvania as long as plan requirements are met. Withdrawals from retirement plans such as IRAs prior to reaching the necessary age (59 1/2) may result in taxes.

States that don’t tax Social Security

Forty-one states plus the District of Columbia do not tax Social Security income for retirees.

Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska are three of the most recent states to eliminate taxes on Social Security and others are in the process of phasing out the tax.

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Here are the 41 states that don’t tax Social Security income: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The nine states that tax Social Security benefits include: Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia. The amount you’re taxed in some of these states is based on your adjusted gross income (AGI) and filing status. West Virginia is phasing out its tax on Social Security benefits and will eliminate it entirely in 2026.

Other retirement income tax issues

While the states listed above don’t tax retirement income at all, there are other states that provide some exemptions. Several states don’t tax military retirement pay, while other states treat pension income differently than distributions from retirement plans such as 401(k)s or IRAs.

Be sure to understand the tax implications of living in a state before deciding where to retire. Taxes on retirement income are one element of the equation, but you’ll also want to consider things like sales and property taxes to get a complete picture. You may ultimately decide that paying more in taxes is worth it to you if a state offers other benefits that make up for the higher cost.

Bottom line

If you’re looking to avoid paying state taxes on your retirement income, you’ll have 13 states to choose from, while many others offer exemptions of some sort. Make sure to understand the tax situation in a state before deciding to relocate there. While lowering your tax bill may help you enjoy a more comfortable retirement, it’s not the only factor worth considering.

©2025 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By James Royal, Ph.D., Bankrate.com

Congress has shaken up retirement plans once again, and the changes benefit a wide swath of Americans saving for their golden years through IRAs or employer plans such as 401(k)s.

The SECURE Act 2.0 became law in the last days of 2022, and the new rules provide assistance for retirement savers, small businesses and many others. In fact, the changes are so wide that many of them didn’t officially begin until 2024 or later. The law is a sweeping follow-up to 2019’s SECURE Act, which itself shook up retirement funding and planning.

It’s worth noting that while the new law permits the following features, in many cases employers have to set up their retirement plans such as 401(k)s to actually enable those features. So you’ll want to check with your employer to see if they offer the new features and when.

Here are ten of the most important changes in the SECURE Act 2.0 and what you need to know.

1. The age for required minimum distributions rises

The SECURE Act 2.0 changes the age for when savers must begin taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from retirement plans, not once but twice. The age to start taking RMDs has now become 73, as of 2023, up from age 72. Then starting on Jan. 1, 2033, the age for beginning to take RMDs jumps to 75. The law applies to 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans and IRAs, among others.

“Probably the biggest change in the SECURE Act 2.0 is the change to RMDs,” says Brian McGraw, CFP and senior wealth adviser with Hightower Wealth Advisors in St. Louis. “It’s the one that retirees and soon-to-be retirees want to get right.”

Due to the changes in the law, no one needed to start taking their RMDs in 2023. But if you had already started taking your RMD, you were not off the hook for taking it in 2023.

“People who are already taking RMDs still have to take them, but those who haven’t started don’t need to start for another year,” says McGraw.

How retirement savers are impacted: The extra time could let you compound your money inside a tax-advantaged account for even longer, meaning you could have more money when it comes time to withdraw it.

2. No more RMDs on employer-sponsored Roth accounts

Starting in 2024, employer-sponsored Roth accounts such as the Roth 401(k), no longer have required minimum distributions. This change aligns the withdrawal rules for employer-sponsored plans with those for the Roth IRA, which has no RMD. Previously, many advisers suggested that clients roll over Roth 401(k) accounts to a Roth IRA to avoid RMDs.

How retirement savers are impacted: This change simplified the withdrawal rules for the Roth 401(k) and helpfully aligned them with those of the Roth IRA.

3. Lower penalties for missing RMDs

If you don’t meet your RMD, you’ll be hit with a penalty. Previously, that penalty was a whopping 50% of the amount that you didn’t withdraw. The new law reduces that penalty to 25%. If you miss an RMD from an IRA, you may be able to reduce that penalty to 10% if you correct the deficiency in a timely manner and refile your taxes.

How retirement savers are impacted: The lower penalty means more money can stay in your pocket, though it’s easy enough to avoid this penalty in the first place.

4. Automatic enrollment and escalation in retirement plans

Starting in 2025, newly created 401(k) and 403(b) plans will be required to automatically enroll eligible employees with a minimum contribution of at least 3%. Plans must include an auto-escalation feature that raises the savings rate by 1% annually, up to a maximum of 10% or 15%, depending on the plan. However, the employee may opt out of the plan.

“Perhaps the biggest hurdle employers face in helping their employees invest for retirement is simply getting people enrolled in retirement plans,” says Edward Gottfried, Betterment at Work’s director of product.

How retirement savers are impacted: “Auto-enrollment and auto-escalation don’t just increase retirement savings but also contribute to better financial outcomes for employees: Employees who start out auto-enrolled more frequently contribute more than the amount they were auto-enrolled at then decrease that amount,” says Gottfried.

5. Larger catch-up contributions

“One of the bigger things for savers is the larger catch-up contributions,” says McGraw. “If you’re between [age] 60 and 63, you’ll be able to contribute up to $10,000 as a catch-up contribution.”

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Generally, the law allows workers aged 50 and over to make catch-up contributions of $7,500 each year to 401(k) plans, and that will continue. However, those in the special age group will be able to contribute up to the $11,250 level in 2025. The new provision began on Jan. 1, 2025.

In addition, the maximum catch-up contribution will be indexed to inflation, allowing workers to save more as inflation increases overall prices.

How retirement savers are impacted: Older workers will be able to save more in their employer-sponsored retirement plans.

6. Catch-up contributions for higher earners must go into a Roth

Starting in 2026, if you earned wages of $145,000 or more in the prior calendar year, any catch-up contributions at age 50 or older to an employer-sponsored plan must be made to a Roth account. If you earned less than this amount, you won’t be forced to contribute to the Roth version but can decide to deposit it into the Roth version or a traditional (pre-tax) version of the account, for example, a traditional 401(k). That income threshold will be adjusted for inflation in the future.

How retirement savers are impacted: While it’s useful to save a lot of money, the government wants to limit how much you can save in tax-deductible retirement accounts. The benefit is that more money will be stashed in an after-tax Roth account, meaning it’s tax-free at retirement time.

7. Employer matching can be treated as a Roth contribution

Previously, any employer matching contributions had to be treated as a pre-tax contribution, meaning they went into a traditional 401(k) account or the equivalent. The new law changes that, allowing matching contributions also to go into a Roth version of the account, if desired. However, unlike the prior pre-tax matching funds, matching amounts that go into a Roth account are taxable.

How retirement savers are impacted: Workers have an even greater ability to sock away funds in Roth accounts, which lets you skip the taxes when it comes time to withdraw the funds at retirement.

8. Student loan payments qualify for matching contributions

The new law allows student loan payments to act like a salary deferral that can be matched by an employer’s matching contributions. In effect, borrowers can pay off their student loans while still receiving the employer’s matching contributions for retirement.

“In a recent survey of American employees, we found that 67% of savers said their student loan debt has impacted their ability to save for retirement,” says Gottfried. “By allowing employers to offer a 401(k) match on dollars their employees use to repay their loans, we’re going to see a massive increase in the number of savers and a fantastic step forward in those savers’ preparations for retirement.”

However, remember that employer-sponsored retirement plans such as 401(k)s have an annual employee contribution limit ($23,500 for 2025), capping the total potential benefit.

“This provision seems like a win-win,” says McGraw.

How retirement savers are impacted: Those with student loans can still enjoy the “free” matching funds that are enjoyed by all those contributing to an employer’s retirement plan.

9. 529 plans can be rolled over into Roth IRAs

One of the biggest downsides of saving in a 529 education savings plan has been what to do with the funds if they’re unused. The SECURE Act 2.0 allows that money to be rolled over into a Roth IRA. But there’s some fine print: The money can be rolled over into a Roth IRA for the beneficiary after the account has been open for at least 15 years, and is limited to the maximum annual Roth contribution. In addition, there’s a $35,000 lifetime limit on the rollover amount.

How retirement savers are impacted: This change can provide a lot of benefit for those holding 529 plans with unused money.

10. SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs now have Roth options

Small employers may use SEP IRAs or SIMPLE IRAs to help their employees fund retirement. Those plans got even better: The new law allows employers to offer Roth versions of those plans, giving employees the ability to grow and withdraw their wealth tax-free in a Roth account.

The new feature for SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs were available starting in 2023, though plan providers will require some time to update their systems to allow for it.

How retirement savers are impacted: This is good news for the employees of small businesses who use these plans, allowing them the power of a Roth account.

Bottom line

This list of changes is just a starting point for what’s contained in the law. Some features of the new law will not come into effect until next year or even later. But even without the fine print, retirement savers can still take advantage of the changes.

©2025 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Whoever claimed trade wars are easy to win clearly wasn’t an American farmer. Witness the enormous collateral damage America’s soybean producers are suffering amid President Trump’s trade war with China.

Exports of American soybeans to China have collapsed this year, with no new orders logged in recent months ahead of the prime autumn export season. Before Mr. Trump’s first round of tariffs on China in 2018, China was the largest export market for American soy. It typically bought about 30% of total U.S. soybean production and some 60% of American soybean exports. Those exports were worth $12.8 billion annually, the soybean farmers’ trade association reports.

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Beijing has made a concerted effort to diversify its supply of soybeans and related products since the first Trump Administration. Brazil and, more recently, Argentina have been the big winners.

Beijing also has imposed a 23% retaliatory tariff on American soybeans in response to Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports this year. This adds some $2 per bushel to the cost of American soybeans sold in China, far outweighing an American production price advantage of 80 to 90 cents a bushel, Reuters reports. As a result, American farmers lose out on large advance orders since China buys from the U.S. only to fill gaps in South American and other production.

At least American soy farmers are in good company as China targets a range of American agricultural products for retaliation. Cattle ranchers are seeing Chinese demand for American beef dwindle as China shifts its consumption to imports from Australia.

The protectionists’ solution is to throw more subsidies at American farmers. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Mr. Trump last month floated plans to use a portion of tariff revenue to write checks to farmers.

Mr. Trump said the handouts to farmers might continue “until the tariffs kick in to their benefit,” in which case Treasury will be making payouts for a long time. And talk about blowing a hole in protectionists’ argument that tariffs are free money for the government that can be used for other purposes.

Don’t mistake any of this for a Chinese victory per se. Beijing is forcing Chinese consumers — who have much lower per-capita incomes than Americans — to pay more for soy products than they otherwise would. Most recent data point to a marked deterioration as the Trump tariffs weigh on an economy already struggling with a property-market deflation and a crushing debt burden.

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But the plight of America’s farmers is a reminder that the destruction of a trade war is mutually assured, and not inflicted solely by one side on the other as Mr. Trump’s trade warriors so often claim. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said America holds all the cards in Mr. Trump’s tariff game because the rest of the world needs to sell us stuff. Tell that to America’s farmers.

— The Wall Street Journal