wisconsin

TopRetirements.com has named the 10 worst states in which to retire, based in factors such as taxes and climate. Every retirement is unique, but before you end up living out your golden years chilly and underfunded, check out this list.

There must be something in the cheese: Four of the top 10 American cities for credit scores are in Wisconsin, and four more are in nearby Midwest states, according to a new analysis by Experian. But all is not sunny in the South, where the cities with the worst scores are concentrated.

A century after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire claimed the lives of 146 seamstresses in New York, worker protections are eroding around the world. As government and corporate interests from Bangladesh to Wisconsin wage war on the rights of labor, have the lessons of the Triangle disaster been forgotten?

Everyone knows that the typical American household has been running in place or falling behind financially, thanks to stagnant wages and rising prices. But a new study from the the Economic Policy Institute shows that the problem has been endemic not for years, but for decades.

Regardless of your political leanings, the struggle for fair wages and collective bargaining is fraught with drama, and Hollywood's union movies have inspired some amazing performances. With the public workers standoff in the news now, here are a few of Tinseltown's best offerings.

During the past three decades, businesses of all sizes have shifted away from traditional defined-benefit plans to defined-contribution plans, also known as 401(k)s. Now, states and local governments are doing the same, even though many workers lack the necessary investing savvy.

The notion that somehow public workers' pay packages are breaking the state budget just don't hold up. These workers' entire compensation package -- salary, health care, pensions, etc. -- make up a tiny fraction of Wisconsin's spending.

Can you say image problem? For the first time in the more than 70 years that Gallup has been measuring the popularity of unions, in 2009 more than half the public didn't approve of them. The current showdowns have plenty of precedent when it comes to transformative moments for organized labor.

American labor unions have been in decline for a half-century now. About the only large unions still growing have been those in the public sector. Until now. Cash-strapped states are attacking unions where it hurts by trying to strip them of the right to collectively bargain.

Since the 1930s, when the National Labor Relations Board was established, no state has ever sought to prohibit workers from organizing. But in Wisconsin, collective-bargaining rights are under "assault," in President Obama's words. And other states are watching.