Personal Finance Reporter, Death & Taxes

The Wall Street Journal’s Personal Finance bureau seeks an ambitious reporter to turn Benjamin Franklin’s two great inevitabilities – death and taxes – into one new beat. These themes are closely related: Taxes are where money meets its maker. The biggest bill most Americans pay every year is the tax bill. Policy changes, life and cultural changes ensure that navigating taxes will always be confounding, making this a ripe subject for vital service journalism. As for death, how we plan for and reckon with the end looms over money decisions big and small, from our passions and pursuits, to insurance, healthcare, wills and estates. The largest wealth transfer in history is underway, and whether one inherits a huge windfall or inherits the wind, every will is a Shakespearean drama in miniature. This reporter will approach the beat not simply as a financial adviser or a CPA would, but with an interdisciplinary eye and heart that explores the cultural, spiritual, philosophical, and psychological dimensions of a subject that only partially plays out financially.