Michael Wildes — the immigration attorney who has represented First Lady Melania Trump and her family, and secured visas for Miss Universe titleholders when President Trump ran the pageant — has been turning away potential Gold Card clients entirely.

When would-be applicants call his firm, he tells them there's little he can do for them. "It would be unethical of me to retain them," Wildes told The Washington Post (1).

That's a striking verdict from someone with deep professional ties to the president, and he isn't alone. Seven immigration attorneys who work with wealthy foreign clients told the Post they've either directed clients away from the Gold Card or declined to help those who've already applied, recommending established legal alternatives instead.

What is the Gold Card, and what does it cost?

Trump launched the Gold Card in December 2025, positioning it as a fast-track path to U.S. permanent residency for ultra-wealthy foreigners (2).

Created by Executive Order 14351 in September 2025, the program allows individuals to pay a $1 million contribution to the Department of Commerce, plus a non-refundable $15,000 processing fee, in exchange for expedited consideration for lawful permanent resident status (3).

Corporations can sponsor an employee for $2 million, and family members each require their own $1 million contribution and $15,000 processing fee.

The program bypasses the typical requirements of employment-based green cards by treating the financial contribution as a substitute for merit criteria. In practice, the Economic Policy Institute notes, this means routing Gold Card applicants through existing EB-1 and EB-2 visa categories, slots that Congress specifically set aside for people with "extraordinary" ability whose entry will "substantially benefit" the country (4).

Trump called it "the green card on steroids" (5), NBC News reports.

The legal problem: no congressional foundation

The core issue attorneys have flagged is that new immigrant visa categories can't legally be created without Congress (6). The Gold Card was created by executive order.

In February, the American Association of University Professors filed a federal lawsuit, arguing the program violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Immigration and Nationality Act, and was implemented without statutory authority (7).

Immigration attorney Ron Klasko, who has taken one Gold Card case for a Ukrainian businessman and hired separate legal counsel to advise him on the ethical implications, has built a comparison chart for clients to weigh their options (8).

The conclusion: Gold Card recipients can lose their status with a single executive order, while EB-5 recipients can only lose theirs if Congress acts with legislation.

"Typically, they say 'Thank you, we'll think about this and we'll let you know,'" Klasko said of his clients, according to the Post (9), "and typically they get back to me and say 'We decided to go EB-5.'"

What the numbers actually show

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed one person had been approved for the Gold Card as of late April.

But a court filing in the program's ongoing lawsuit told a broader story: of the 338 people who submitted Gold Card requests, only 165 paid the non-refundable $15,000 processing fee, and just 59 moved on to fill out the actual DHS paperwork, the Post reports (10).

The filing also disclosed that Gold Card applicants won't necessarily receive priority over those applying for EB-1 or EB-2 visas through traditional means.

The alternative: why the EB-5 still wins

The EB-5 visa (11), created by Congress in 1990, requires a minimum investment of $800,000 in a targeted employment area — or $1.05 million in standard areas — in a job-creating enterprise with at least 10 full-time U.S. positions (12).

The Gold Card, by contrast, requires $1 million per person, can be eliminated by executive order and carries no job creation requirement. It also currently faces active federal litigation (13).

The professional consensus forming around a program Trump has billed as revolutionary suggests the lawyers who know immigration best aren't buying it. Attorney Rosanna Berardi, who has fielded Gold Card inquiries but declined to take those cases, summed it up with the Post (14).

"As immigration counsel, our obligation is always to protect our clients' interests, and we do not believe it is appropriate to recommend a program with such significant legal uncertainty and financial risk, even when clients express a desire to proceed."

Article Sources

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The Washington Post (1),(8),(9),(10),(14); CNN (2); Manifest Law (3); Economic Policy Institute (4),(6); NBC News (5); EB5 Insights (7),(13); U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (11); Congress.gov (12).

According to prosecutors (2), Bennett uploaded 88 separate videos showing speeds ranging from 100 to 200 mph on Connecticut roads. Authorities said at least some of the content was monetized through YouTube ads.

Bennett's attorney argued the arrest changed his behavior. He reportedly completed driver education courses and attended therapy. He also apologized in court, saying that his actions were "incredibly stupid."

But Connecticut Superior Court Judge Paul Doyle denied Bennett access to the state's accelerated rehabilitation program for first-time offenders, citing the "quantity" and "risk" of the alleged conduct.

The case highlights a larger reality of the creator economy: on platforms like YouTube, attention can translate directly into income. And in an internet environment where shocking or controversial videos often draw the most engagement, some experts say creators can face pressure to continually escalate their content to stay relevant.

How YouTube turns views into money

YouTube creators who qualify for the platform's Partner Program can earn money through advertising revenue, subscriptions, fan funding and other monetization features. YouTube says the program allows creators to share revenue from ads served on their content, while the company's own explainer says creators earn 55% of revenue from ads on long-form videos and 45% from Shorts (3).

That means viral videos can quickly become financially valuable. A creator's exact payout depends on factors like audience size, advertiser demand, video length, watch time and whether advertisers want to be associated with the content. But the basic incentive is clear: more views can mean more money.

YouTube says it paid more than $70 billion to creators, artists and media companies from 2021 to 2023, underscoring how large the platform's creator economy has become (4).

Academic research has also found that platform partnership programs are designed to create incentives for creators by sharing advertising revenue with them. A CESifo working paper notes that platforms commonly use these programs to encourage content production by giving creators a portion of ad revenue (5).

And on social media, extreme content can have a built-in advantage. Motorcycle stunts, high-speed driving videos, dangerous "challenge" clips and confrontational pranks often attract attention because they are dramatic, risky and easy to share.

YouTube's policies prohibit harmful or illegal activity, and the platform can remove or demonetize videos that violate its rules. But the economics of online attention can still reward videos that push boundaries before moderation systems intervene.

Do ad dollars incentivize risky behavior?

A recent Tech Policy Press analysis argued that provocative prank content can create a cycle of escalation, with creators pushing further toward real-world harm in pursuit of attention and algorithmic engagement (6).

That same dynamic can apply beyond pranks. On YouTube and other platforms, creators quickly learn which posts generate the strongest reactions. Videos that shock viewers, spark arguments or appear dangerous often attract more clicks, comments and shares than ordinary content, signals that recommendation algorithms tend to reward.

Researchers at Cornell studying YouTube have found that controversial or emotionally charged videos frequently generate unusually high engagement levels, helping them spread further across the platform (7). For creators whose income depends on audience growth and ad revenue, that can create pressure to continually raise the stakes.

In the motorcycle world, that might mean higher speeds, riskier maneuvers or weaving through heavier traffic to stand out in a crowded feed. Bennett's alleged videos reportedly showed speeds ranging from 100 to 200 mph, footage prosecutors said was uploaded repeatedly over a period of years.

Assistant State's Attorney Owen Kivela called it a "conscious pattern of decision-making" that endangered both Bennett and the public (8). And in a creator economy where viral views can translate into real money, Bennett is not likely to be the last person accused of pushing dangerous content further for clicks.

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CarScoops (1); YouTube (2),(4); Google Support (3); IDEAS/RePEc (5); Tech Policy Press (6); arXiv (7); CT Insider (8)

Investors as distinguished as Warren Buffett saw the dip as “nothing” to get excited or flustered about, small as it was compared to historical crashes. Just like Berkshire Hathaway “isn’t in it to make five or six per cent” from diminished valuations, savvy shareholders shouldn’t panic over a similarly modest level of deterioration in their existing portfolios.

But if you found yourself put off by the brief chaos rather than calm, cool and collected, you should use this moment as a gauge for how to tend to your assets moving forward.

As one analyst, Opulus co-founder Ryan Greiser, told CNBC (1) on the topic, “everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth” — a Mike Tyson quote that is fitting for how the market, and investors’ plans with it, were completely shaken up by geopolitical uncertainty and surging oil prices.

Iran selloff was a “useful stress test” of risk tolerance

Buffett isn’t the only pundit who didn’t balk when others started liquidating, terrified that the market would plummet even further as tensions escalated in the Middle East.

In a recent analysis (2) of the fluctuations seen so far this year, economists at Vanguard — the largest purveyor of mutual funds in the world (3) — urged investors to reflect on any “discomfort” they felt during the decline, as it “reveals something about risk tolerances, which is information that a calm market simply does not provide.”

If the S&P 500’s 9% fall between the end of January and March “prompted portfolio reviews, hedging activity, or restless nights,” they say, “that’s meaningful insight — not because this drawdown was particularly dangerous, but because the emotional signal it provides can help investors tailor portfolio allocations to their comfort zones.”

You shouldn’t feel bad about possessing an aversion to volatility, though, especially given how calm the last decade-plus has been for equity investors. This “unusually friendly” period, as Vanguard Senior Global Economist Kevin Khang calls it (4), has made negative shifts harder to stomach if and when they do hit.

So you’ve discovered that you may be a more bearish investor than you thought — now what?

Admittedly, it’s easy for someone like Buffett, worth more than $140 billion (5), to shrug at single-digit losses (or missed opportunities for gains) that have far larger consequences for the everyday investor.

But impulsive selling out of fear because prices are down is never a recommendable strategy (6), even from a bearish standpoint. Staying aboard through the good and bad swings (7) of the market is almost always crucial for success in the long game, where the real wealth is grown (8).

As Greiser says, “what has proven over and over again not to work is making an emotional decision and cashing out when the market is down… If you can stick it out, the right decision is always to do that” (9).

Unfortunately, for those who haven’t been buying and selling for decades — and who thus have a smaller window of tolerance for sudden drops — this is easier said than done.

But, if you can learn with practice to roll with the punches, make an objective and informed estimation of its potential long-term damage and learn to brace and/or pivot accordingly, you’ll give yourself a better chance of making it out unscathed and likely save yourself a lot of stress.

And, if this recent blip has revealed that the risk of any such stress is too much for you, and that your optimal pivot is likely more diversification into safer holdings, then so be it.

Article Sources

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CNBC (1) (9); Vanguard (2); Investopedia (3); Vanguard (4); Forbes (5); Carson Group (6); Scotiabank (7); Capital Group (8)

Nearly four months later, Warsh was confirmed as the next Fed chair, succeeding Jerome Powell (1).

Notably, Warsh has become the richest Fed chair in modern history. Trump has long had it out for Powell, and it looks like the president got his wish to replace him. The Senate voted on May 12 to confirm Warsh for a 14-year term on the Fed's Board of Governors (2).

Warsh, who served on the Fed's Board of Governors from 2006 to 2011, takes over an institution he has spent the better part of a decade publicly questioning over its expanded balance sheet, its communications strategy, and what he has described as a drift beyond the central bank's core mandate of price stability and maximum employment.

Many Democratic senators opposed Warsh's nomination, as they worried he would simply execute Trump's wishes to cut interest rates, something Powell had been reluctant to do, although some Democrats did cross the aisle this week to advance Warsh’s nomination (3). While Powell's term as a governor runs until January 2028, his tenure as chair expires on Friday, May 15.

From Stanford to the Fed's youngest-ever governor

Warsh earned a bachelor's degree in public policy from Stanford University in 1992 and a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1995 (4). He spent the next seven years at Morgan Stanley in New York (5), rising to vice president and executive director in the firm's mergers-and-acquisitions group. In 2002, he joined the George W. Bush White House as a special assistant to the president for economic policy at the National Economic Council.

Bush nominated him to the Fed in early 2006. At 35, Warsh became the youngest person ever confirmed to the Board of Governors (1). He served as the board's primary liaison to financial markets, a role that placed him at the center of the 2008 financial-crisis response alongside former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chair Ben Bernanke.

Warsh resigned in February 2011, citing a desire to return to the private sector (6). His exit came amid public disagreements with Bernanke over the second round of quantitative easing — the bond-buying program known as QE2 (7) — which Warsh argued risked stoking inflation and distorting asset prices.

In an unusual move for a sitting governor, he laid out his dissent in a Wall Street Journal op-ed in November 2010 (8), where he called out the "emerging ethos" around U.S. monetary policy "to be dangerous and defeatist and debunked by America's own exceptional economic history."

A longtime critic prepares to run the institution

Since leaving the Fed, Warsh has been a distinguished visiting fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution (9), where he has continued to write and speak about monetary policy. He has argued the central bank suffers from "mission creep," wading into climate, financial-regulation and social-equity debates that, in his view, lie outside its remit. He has also pushed for a more rules-based framework for setting interest rates and a leaner Fed footprint in markets.

His policy posture has tracked the cycle. In 2022 and 2023, as inflation peaked at a four-decade high of 9.1% in June 2022 (10), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Warsh called for sharper, faster tightening. By 2025, with price growth cooling, he had moved toward advocating measured rate cuts and a smaller balance sheet — a posture closer to what Trump has publicly demanded of Powell.

Warsh is now the second consecutive Fed chair without a Ph.D. in economics. Powell, a lawyer and former private-equity executive, broke a long tradition of academic economists running the central bank when Trump first nominated him in 2017. Warsh was reportedly on that shortlist as well (11), finishing behind Powell. The last Fed chair before Powell to lack a doctorate was G. William Miller, whose brief tenure in the late '70s is best remembered for the inflation that followed.

Warsh is married to Jane Lauder, a granddaughter of Estée Lauder co-founder Estée Lauder and an executive at the cosmetics company. Forbes has estimated Jane Lauder's net worth at roughly $5 billion (12), placing the couple among the wealthiest pairings ever to occupy the Eccles Building. Warsh is now the 17th chair of the Federal Reserve (13) — and the first to take the gavel as a sitting outside critic of the institution he’s been asked to run.

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CNN (1); Federal Reserve History (2); CNBC (3); The Hill (4); Newspapers.com (5),(6); U.S. Federal Reserve (7),(14); Investopedia (8); The Wall Street Journal (9),(12); Hoover Institution (10); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (11); Forbes (13).

On Tuesday, Google unveiled Googlebook (1), a new class of premium laptops the company describes as "the first laptops designed from the ground up for Gemini Intelligence." (2) The first models arrive this fall and they'll be made by the likes of Acer, Asus, Dell (NYSE: DELL), HP (NYSE: HPQ), and Lenovo.

Pricing has not yet been disclosed, but Moneywise did reach out to Google for further information and we'll update this story once we learn more.

The standout feature of the Googlebook is the Magic Pointer, a cursor co-developed with Google DeepMind that surfaces contextual suggestions when wiggled. So, for example, if you hover a date in an email, it'll offer to set up a meeting. Or, if you drag a photo of a sofa onto a picture of your living room, Gemini can render what that combination will look like.

"We thought, we can take Gemini Intelligence and make the pointer truly smart and intelligent," Alexander Kuscher, Google's senior director of Android tablets and laptops, told TechCrunch (3).

There's another feature called Create Your Widget, which builds custom desktop dashboards from a natural-language prompt. That can be flights, hotels, a countdown for a family reunion — any or all of it is assembled by Gemini from your Gmail, Google Calendar, and the web at large.

Notably, this isn't just a hardware shift. Googlebook doesn't run on ChromeOS, but rather on Android, possibly signaling a transition towards unifying its strategy around one operating system that can handle both mobile and desktop devices. In its announcement post, Google describes the shift as one "from an operating system to an intelligence system." (2)

Resetting Google's laptop strategy

The Chromebook, by today's standards, was a strange idea. Google handed out roughly 60,000 unbranded, rubberized prototypes (4) to testers back in December 2010, then released the first commercial models in June 2011, priced between $349 and $499. Early reviews were brutal. One critic called the Series 5, a Chromebook made by Samsung, "basically a browser with a keyboard." (5)

The strategy worked anyway, but mostly in classrooms. As of 2025 (notably before Apple released its Chromebook competitor, the MacBook Neo), Chromebooks held roughly 60% of the global K–12 device market (6), per IDC and Futuresource Consulting data. But one reason why Google is moving towards Android is because ChromeOS only claims less than 2% of the global desktop market (7), according to StatCounter.

Google also tried making premium laptops in the past, with the Pixelbook, but that project was shut down in September 2022 when Google dissolved the team behind a planned 2023 successor (8) amid broader cost cuts.

The increasingly crowded laptop market

Google isn't the first to try making laptops that are all about AI. Exactly two years ago, Microsoft introduced Copilot+ PCs (9) in May 2024, which were Windows computers that had their own on-board neural processing units capable of powering AI-related projects.

But Apple, as we noted above, is trying to eat Google's lunch at the entry level. The $600 MacBook Neo, which launched in March (10), is the cheapest Mac laptop Apple has ever sold and, per CEO Tim Cook, drove the company's "best launch week ever for first-time Mac customers" (11).

Pricing for Googlebook is not out, but Google used the word "premium" four times in its announcement post (12), a clear signal Googlebooks will likely sit above the sub-$300 classroom Chromebook.

A Google spokesperson told TechCrunch existing Chromebooks will keep receiving updates under current support commitments, with many "eligible to transition" (3) to the new experience, though specifics were not shared.

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Android (1); Google Blog (2); TechCrunch (3); Wikipedia (4); Android Authority (5); About Chromebooks (6); StatCounter (7); The Verge (8); Microsoft (9); Apple (10); Macworld (11); Sherwood News (12)

Potato contracts for difference (CFDs), which track benchmark potato trading prices on the European Energy Exchange, have soared from just over €2 on April 21 to €18.50. And they've been hovering (1) there for the better part of three weeks.

While the U.S. is the world's fifth largest producer of potatoes, futures are primarily traded on European exchanges.

The spike in prices came about because of fears that the war in Iran and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz will impact fertilizer exports and, ultimately, supply chains around the world. Potatoes are considered a nutrient-intensive crop and rely heavily on fertilizer, meaning a prolonged disruption could eventually trickle down to everything from restaurant french fries to bags of chips and frozen hash browns.

If there's good news in this situation for Europeans, it's that much of the continent is currently experiencing an oversupply of potatoes (2), as farmers have expanded their fields in recent years amid growing demand. Favorable weather has resulted in larger than usual harvests.

Additionally, the recent highs are nowhere close to the peaks of the past 10 years. In May of 2023, potato futures topped €51.

Food inflation in the U.S. is already high

While the impact of this spud futures surge on U.S. consumers remains to be seen, consumers are still seeing an overall increase in the price of their groceries. The April Consumer Price Index (3) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a 2.9% increase compared to April 2025. Fruits and vegetables as a whole were up 6.1% in that time period. Prices for fruits and vegetables were up 1.8% compared to the prior month.

Potatoes saw their actual prices (as opposed to futures prices) rising 1.9% (4) year-over-year and month-over-month.

Beyond the impact on fertilizer production, the conflict's resulting increase in gas prices also impacts grocery prices, since the price of transporting food to stores increases as well. Reuters has reported that the conflict has already driven up oil shipping costs and transport prices (5).

Supply of essential fertilizer could become disrupted

Europe last saw a severe fertilizer shortage in 2021 (6), which also contributed to a spike in food prices. Some traders may be worried about the U.S. war with Iran disrupting the supply of essential fertilizer used in the production of potatoes.

Synthetic fertilizers, which have been made for a little more than a century, are an essential part of modern farming. Bloomberg points out (7) that without nitrogen fertilizers, the global population today might be just half of current totals, due to how much it has increased crop sizes.

That's causing volatility in other food futures markets beyond potatoes, though none have seen a jump quite so large. Corn futures (8) are up 10% year to date, and wheat futures (9) have jumped 15% in the past month alone.

For now, consumers likely won't see overnight price spikes at the grocery store or fast-food counter, but if fertilizer costs and shipping disruptions continue climbing, the price of everyday comfort foods like french fries could become another casualty of global conflict.

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Trading Economics (1); Potato News Today (2); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (3),(4); Reuters (5); World Bank (6); Bloomberg (7); Google Finance (8),(9)

That's because the Trump bump originates from Social Security's annual cost-of-living adjustment or COLA. Every year, the agency adjusts the benefit payments to keep up with cost-of-living increases, and this year inflation is hot enough to justify a larger adjustment.

Here's a closer look at what millions of beneficiaries can expect in the months ahead.

Higher cost of living

Donald Trump's invasion of Iran and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused global oil prices to surge. In the U.S., the national average gas price is currently $4.51, according to AAA (1). That's up 50% since the invasion began in early March, according to NBC News (2).

Higher fuel prices are having a knock-on effect on all other aspects of the economy, and monthly inflation tripled in March, according to CNN (3).

This disruption, coupled with the ongoing trade war and import tariffs on various countries, is squeezing ordinary consumers. Fortunately, retirees who depend on Social Security benefits receive an annual COLA to offset some of this impact.

Is the COLA enough?

With the 2027 COLA announcement expected in October, early projections are coming in higher than the 2.8% raise seniors received in 2026 (4).

The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) (5), a nonpartisan senior advocacy group, currently pegs the 2027 adjustment at 3.3%. Independent Social Security and Medicare policy analyst Mary Johnson similarly predicts it reaching 3.2%, nearly double her pre-Iran war forecast of 1.7% and a notable step up from the 2026 figure, per CNBC (6).

It's worth noting that these figures are national averages and may not match your reality. If you drive a lot or live in a high-cost city like New York or San Francisco, the official COLA likely understates your actual inflation, meaning you could still lose ground even after the raise hits.

Prepare your finances

For retirees or investors worried about the impact of inflation, gold could help hedge the difference the government's annual adjustment to benefits doesn't cover.

Historically, investors have considered this precious metal a safe haven during times of global conflict, uncertainty and inflation. Now, you can add exposure to gold with added tax benefits through Priority Gold.

The platform allows you to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, which combines the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold, making it an attractive option for those looking to potentially hedge their retirement funds against economic uncertainty.

To learn more, you can get a free information guide that includes details on how to get up to $10,000 in free silver on qualifying purchases.

Periods of high inflation are also a good time to consider how you can protect your retirement savings. The expert advice of a financial adviser can help you optimize your finances and find strategies to ensure your capital is protected even when the cost of living explodes.

That's where Advisor.com can help. The platform connects you with an expert near you for free.

Advisor.com does the heavy lifting for you, vetting advisors based on track record, client ratios and regulatory background. Plus, their network of advisors are fiduciaries, meaning they are legally required to act in your best interests.

Just enter a few details about your finances and goals, and Advisor.com's matching tool will connect you with a qualified expert best suited to your needs and unique financial goals.

Deciding on the right advisor isn't always easy — there's no one-size-fits-all solution. That's why Advisor.com lets you set up a free initial consultation with no obligation to hire, so you can find the right fit for you.

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AAA (1); NBC News (2); CNN (3); U.S. Social Security Administration (4); The Senior Citizens League (5); CNBC (6)

Many view the appointment as an attempt to reverse Target's downhill slide. Target's stock has slumped more than 50% since its lofty pandemic peaks (2), customer traffic to the store has declined for four straight quarters (3), and margins have thinned (4) since pre-pandemic highs. (5)

As Fiddelke takes center stage, analysts and investors are eager with anticipation. It seems Target's future hinges on fresh leadership. The question on everyone's lips: can he return Target to its glory days?

Analysts said 'no thanks'

Fiddelke's appointment last August was met with strong skepticism.

"We have very mixed feelings about this appointment," said Neil Saunders, managing director of research firm GlobalData (6). "While we think Fiddelke is talented and has a somewhat different take on things… this is an internal appointment that does not necessarily remedy the problems of entrenched group think and the inward-looking mindset that have plagued Target for years."

Analysts were especially skeptical of Fiddelke's insider status. As Wells Fargo analysts put it:

"[Target] has stumbled recently with customer mis-steps, merchandising issues, poor employee morale, execution, and competitive pressures. The time seemed right for a new set of eyes and ideas; either the company disagreed or could not find a high profile executive to take on the challenge." (7)

Some industry experts blamed Fiddelke specifically for Target's decline. "Target went to hell — and he has to be guilty of some of that," said Mark A. Cohen, a past director of retail studies at Columbia University and former Sears top executive. (8)

The consensus seemed to be that Target needed an outsider to come in and shake things up. Fiddelke, an employee of 20 years — who started as an intern — was far from an outsider. (9)

The market appeared to agree with analyst sentiment. It responded to Fiddelke's appointment by dropping Target stock 10% premarket and the stock ended the day down 6%. (10) The message was clear: if Fiddelke wanted Wall Street's approval, he would have to earn it.

Fiddelke moves, analysts approve

Since his tepid welcome, Fiddelke has made a series of much-approved changes to Target.

In a 2025 memo to employees, the incoming CEO revealed the company would be laying off 1,800 employees to speed up decision-making. (11) Analysts approved the move. As CFRA analyst, Arun Sundaram, put it, "[The cuts demonstrate that] Fiddelke is willing to make decisive, and potentially uncomfortable, moves early in his tenure." (12)

Changes continued into Fiddelke's first two weeks of CEO tenure, when the company announced 500 additional job cuts and, perhaps more importantly, changes to leadership. Two executives left the company; promotions were awarded to a former chief guest officer and the former chief merchandising officer for food, essentials, and beauty. (13)

Analysts seemed to approve. Jeffries analysts called the new appointments "directionally positive." (14) The appointments followed the heels of a Board shakeup where Fiddelke replaced multiple members of Target's board of directors.

Positive analysts were rewarded during Target's fourth-quarter earnings call. On March 3, the stock had its highest close in a year (15), ending the quarter up 6.7% in response to a series of announcements. (16) Fiddelke highlighted "positive sales growth" in February. (17)

The framing was that of an iconic company making a comeback. Big changes were afoot. Investors would see "more change to what we sell and how we sell it than you've seen in a decade," Fiddelke said. (18)

Forecasts to keep an eye on

Investors would be wise to hold Fiddelke accountable to his team's forecasts.

During fourth-quarter earnings, Target forecasted a 2% increase in 2026 net sales compared to the year prior. (19) That would be a strong signal Fiddelke and his team are drumming up interest in the retailer's products — interest that has diminished since its 'Tar-zhay' glory days.

On the call, Fiddelke said the company would be leaning into its strengths in the Beauty and Home departments specifically. (20) Executive VP Cara Sylvester promised a 75% overhaul of decorative accessories by June, the relaunch of home-brand Threshold this summer, and the introduction of Target Beauty Studios into 600 stores this fall.

The team also promised no synthetic colors in any of the cereal Target sells by May.

Fiddelke's tenure is in its early stages, but he and his team have already made a handful of promises worth keeping an eye on. If he can follow through, that will go a long way toward establishing confidence in Target's new CEO.

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Target Corporate (1),(4),(5),(9),(17),(19),(20); Yahoo Finance (2),(3),(12),(14); Investing.com (6); Retail Dive (7); The Washington Post (8); WWD (10),(16),(18); Reuters (11); Star Tribune (13); Schaeffer's Research (15)

The 87-acre estate is on the market for $115 million, nearly $100 million more than its current owner, Steven Lempera, paid for it in 2021 (2). If it sells for that price, it will set a new record for the most expensive real estate sale in the Tampa area by more than $90 million.

As you might expect, this property is designed with the ultra-wealthy in mind. But its high price, particularly the dramatic increase over the past five years, also says something about how the housing market has changed.

The expansive property is built for privacy

Much of the estate is devoted to on-site services, including a professional equestrian facility, mechanic shop, car paint booth, mill and metal workshop, office complex and spa. You could go weeks without leaving the property.

According to listing agent Eddy Martinez, those features are central to the property's appeal.

"The most important thing for them to consider a property, in a serious manner, is does it offer the privacy, and does it have the capability of being secure?" he asks.

This mansion checks both boxes. In addition to its extensive amenities, it's accessible by seaplane and helicopter. The listing says it's just 10 minutes from Tampa's executive airport (3).

And the strategy seems to be working. The property already has two prospective buyers who have passed "a vigorous vetting process," even though it has been on the market only a short time (1).

How this price reflects the housing market

Lempera bought the property in 2021 for $16.7 million. No matter how many improvements have been made since then, an increase of nearly $100 million seems steep.

Home prices in Tampa have risen significantly during that time. In January 2021, the median listing price on Zillow was $270,000 (4). Today, it's a little over $370,000. That's a substantial increase, but nowhere near the markup on this property.

Home prices across the U.S. show a similar, though less dramatic, pattern. In the first quarter of 2020, the average sales price of a home was $355,000. Now, it's a little over $403,000 (5).

Notably, Tampa home prices have held up better after the pandemic than prices nationwide, which peaked in 2022 at around $443,000.

Florida is also having a moment with ultrawealthy buyers. Multiple billionaires, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, have recently purchased high-end real estate in the Miami area (6). A report by Compass found that Palm Beach saw 46% growth in the number of properties worth $10 million or more (7).

Tampa isn't Miami, but it offers the same tax advantages. For buyers seeking a self-sufficient estate, tax benefits may matter more than nearby amenities.

If the property sells at its asking price, it could signal that Tampa is next in line for a boom in ultrawealthy real estate.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Fox 13 News (1); Business Insider (2),(6); One Sotheby's Realty (3); Zillow (4); Federal Reserve Economic Data (5); Luxury at Compass (7)

A few years ago, Layton Cox and his wife moved from Texas to Florida, drawn by the beaches and sunny weather. In an effort to make new friends, they decided to join a local country club. At first, it was great — they enjoyed playing rounds of golf, hitting the pickleball court, and dining in the restaurant.

But Cox said they soon realized they wouldn't find their people at the pricey country club. For starters, most of the other members were older and owned their own business, so they didn't have much in common with Cox, who works a corporate job. There were also social and political differences that meant the couple didn't mesh well with many other members.

Finally, after about a year, they realized it wasn't a good fit. But by then, they'd spent about $46,000 before factoring in what they spent on court reservations, food and drinks. To this day, Cox says it's his "biggest financial regret."

"It sure was an expensive way to learn a lesson," Cox said on Business Insider (1).

After leaving the club, they found their people through much less pricey paths — at local bars, through Facebook groups, and casual meet-ups.

Why is making friends as an adult so hard?

The Coxs aren't alone in struggling to find a friend group as adults. The percentage of U.S. adults who report having no close friends has quadrupled since 1990, with 12% reporting no close friends (2), while the percentage of those with 10 or more close friends has fallen by nearly threefold.

Back in 2023, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared loneliness a national epidemic, warning that its health risks are equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day (3).

Several forces are driving this. Work has expanded to fill more of our lives, leaving less time for friendships. The pandemic normalized staying home and weakened informal social networks like work lunches, hobby groups, and casual run-ins. Even after lockdowns ended, Americans' social lives largely didn't bounce back. (4)

Beyond COVID, a broader cultural shift has been underway. A Princeton University (5) study analyzing American Time Use Survey data found that average time spent at home rose by 1 hour and 39 minutes per day between 2003 and 2022.

There's also the nuclear family shift. Parents today spend more time with their kids (6) than ever before, and that means less time for socializing.

The Cox's costly experiment highlights a real challenge — we're lonelier than ever, but finding the right way to make connections feels harder than ever, too.

How to find your people without dropping $46,000

Finding your people might be harder as an adult than it was when you were a kid, but there are low-cost ways to build real connections.

Visit before you invest

If a club, gym, or community organization interests you, see if they offer a trial membership or guest pass before you spend money on a membership. Many clubs will let prospective members attend an event or tour the facilities. Cox and his wife might have saved tens of thousands of dollars had they spent a few months attending as guests before committing.

Join hobby-based groups

Friendships form faster around shared interests and repeated exposure (7). Consider joining a group related to your interests, such as a hiking club, book club, running group, birdwatching society or board game night. Apps like Meetup.com make it easy to find groups organized around nearly any interest in most metro areas.

Tap community organizations

Local Facebook groups, neighborhood apps like Nextdoor, buy-nothing groups and city or neighborhood pages are free and surprisingly effective at creating real-world ties. Political or civic organizations can also offer a ready-made social scene for people who care about the same issues.

Volunteer

Working side by side towards a shared goal is one of the most reliable ways to form true connections. Food banks, habitat build, and community gardens offer structured ways to meet people and give back to your community.

Be the village you want

If you want connections, be the person who shows up for other people. Join the meal train, offer to pick up groceries for an elderly neighbor, or invite a new neighbor over for coffee. Friendships often start with a small gesture — and people tend to remember those who show up for them.

As someone who has moved multiple times both as a child and as an adult, there's an overlooked piece of the puzzle: time. Those inside jokes and shared history that make connections so meaningful develop over months or years. By putting yourself in the right place and being the kind of friend you want to be, you will develop friendships.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Business Insider (1); American Survey Center (2); Science of People (3); Philadelphia Magazine (4); Sociological Science (5); The Economist (6); We Thrive Together (7)

It started in the wake of the pandemic. Food costs soared 9.9% in 2022 (the biggest increase since 1979), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (1).

For some middle-class shoppers, the walk down the discount aisle was a walk of shame. Rachel Negro-Henderson told NPR (2) about running into friends at Aldi after her husband lost his job in the pandemic.

"People would not want to talk about why they were here, like it was a mistake," she said. "They just stumbled into a grocery store because they needed a tomato."

But the shift continues, along with a shift in perception.

Shopping at a discount store is no longer taboo

According to a Spring 2026 Consumer Sentiment Survey (3) from Alvarez & Marsal, 42% of grocery store shoppers indicate they'll be switching to less expensive stores this spring, while 31% did the same last fall.

No wonder. Food-at-home costs spiked 2.9% last year and are on track for a similar bump in 2026.

After years of sustained pressure on household budgets, perceptions are shifting about looking for bargains. It's no longer taboo to shop at a discount store.

"Everyone's like, 'Yeah, I'm saving money. I might as well come here. I'm getting the same product,'" Negro-Henderson said.

Still, Kiki Rough, a social media influencer who posts Depression-era recipes, told NPR that she knows people who feel ashamed about such things.

"I know a lot of people right now who have shame about where they are in their lives, their financial situations, down to the food that they have access to," she said.

"You need to not be ashamed that we are in a difficult economy."

Discount grocery stores are delivering

The Spring 2026 Consumer Sentiment Survey noted that "perceptions of lower-priced grocers have improved," as shoppers look for value, noting that more Americans may switch if they have a positive experience.

In fact, according to Retail Dive (4), 68% of surveyed consumers indicated that lower-priced stores are just as clean as traditional grocers, and 63% reporting good experiences with customer service.

As discount grocers become more mainstream and news of their benefits spreads, the shame about shopping there should diminish even further — and more Americans who are having a hard time getting by may be willing to give them a try.

As NPR notes, it's no longer a dirty little secret. And that's a good thing if it brings some financial relief during a turbulent economic time.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (1); NPR (2); Alvarez & Marsal (3); Retail Dive (4)

The Dover resident still drives, works out three times a week and recently renewed her driver's license through 2033, according to CBS News Philadelphia (1).

She told the network the secret to a long life is simple: keep moving.

It is a feel-good story. But buried inside it is a financial reality most Americans are not planning for: longevity. After spending three decades as a teacher, Browne officially retired in the 1970s. That means her retirement has now stretched longer than her entire career.

While most people can expect to live until average life expectancy, very few are prepared for a much longer-than-anticipated lifespan. There's also the fact that a healthy life expectancy is very different from your actual life expectancy when it comes to quality of life.

Here's how you can make your money last to age 100 and beyond if you're one of these rare centenarians.

Longevity gap

A whopping 64% of Americans fear running out of money in retirement more than death, according to the 2025 Allianz Annual Retirement Study (2). Outliving your savings by just a few years may be bad enough, but if your retirement is a decade or more longer than you planned for, that can cause some serious distress.

Browne's case is rare, but less so every year. The US Census Bureau projects the number of American centenarians will more than triple from roughly 101,000 in 2024 to about 422,000 by 2054, according to Pew Research (3).

Meanwhile, a study by the American College of Financial Services (4) found that extending retirement from 30 to 35 years, just five extra years, increases the risk of depleting savings by 41% under historical market returns. Plug in longer 10-year or 15-year projections, and the math gets very brutal very quickly. The oft-cited 4% rule for retirement withdrawals also typically uses a 30-year time frame.

To offset some of this risk, your portfolio needs assets that have decades (if not centuries) of runway in front of them.

Assets that stand the test of time

Whether or not you live beyond a century is difficult to predict. But you can add some exposure to assets that have track records that stretch back multiple decades.

Gold is a prime candidate. Its history as a financial instrument dates all the way back to the Anatolian kingdom of Lydia in 630 BCE, according to the World History Encyclopedia (5). Simply put, this precious metal is highly likely to remain precious for longer than your lifetime.

History aside, under a modern monetary system, gold has an inherently limited supply and can't be printed at will by the government during periods of inflation, as is the case with the U.S. dollar. This can give your portfolio a bit of extra resilience during a market downturn.

One way to add gold exposure with some additional tax benefits is through platforms like Priority Gold. This allows you to create a Gold IRA, which holds physical gold or gold-related assets in an IRA structure.

To learn more, you can get a free information guide to see how gold could fit into your portfolio. It also includes details on how to get up to $10,000 in free silver on qualifying purchases. Just keep in mind that gold is often best used as one part of an otherwise well-diversified portfolio.

But gold is just one way to diversify your portfolio. Other options include assets like real estate or even collectibles. Rich investors tend to have some exposure to these alternative assets to preserve — or generate — wealth through generations.

You don't need millions of dollars to get started with real estate. Platforms like Arrived have democratized this asset class in recent years.

Backed by world-class investors, including Jeff Bezos, Arrived allows you to invest in shares of vacation and rental properties, earning a passive income stream without the extra work that comes with being a landlord of your own rental property.

To get started, simply browse through their selection of vetted properties, each picked for their potential appreciation and income generation. Once you choose a property, you can start investing with as little as $100, potentially earning monthly dividends.

Real estate or fine art exposure can help you go beyond traditional assets for longer-term investing

In a period of heightened market volatility, data suggests stocks and bonds alone may be less reliable for consistent long-term growth. As alternative investments become more accessible and attractive, more investors are seeking new ways to diversify. After all, if you're all in on a 60/40 portfolio between stocks and bonds, a sharp market downturn during your retirement could compromise your lifestyle.

Now, Masterworks is offering a single investment that combines blue-chip art with other scarce assets, such as gold and bitcoin, that have historically moved independently of equities and of one another.

The result is a more balanced, all-weather approach to alternative investing. In fact, this model would have outperformed the S&P 500 by 3.1x from 2017 to 2025.*

By leveraging access to museum-quality artwork alongside other uncorrelated assets, the strategy aims to enhance diversification while still pursuing meaningful appreciation.

Discover how diversifying with this strategy can strengthen your portfolio for the years ahead.

*Investing involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. The 3.1x figure reflects a model backtest, not actual fund performance.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

CBS News (1); Allianz Life (2); Pew Research (3); The American College of Financial Services (4); World History Encyclopedia (5)

Gary from Dallas, Texas, wants to move himself, his wife and their 3-year-old son, closer to his family so he can have more support as they navigate his wife's alcoholism.

"We would be buying a house that's probably about twice as expensive as the one we currently have … I'm pretty sure in two to three years after we make the move, we will not be able to afford it. I don't think we're going to have the income for it in that amount of time," Gary told hosts (1) George Kamel and Rachel Cruze.

"Under normal circumstances, it would be okay…the reason I don't think we're going to be able to afford it is, you know, the doctors are saying if things continue with her, you know, she'll probably be dead in three years" he added.

Here's what The Ramsey Show hosts had to say about Gary's situation.

When renting is the right call

As of right now, Gary's wife is the sole income earner of the household, making $250K to $300K annually while working from home. Gary is a stay-at-home father, and mentioned that at his previous job in a management position for a non-profit he made $50K. He says he's never made more than that annually, and hasn't been working for five years.

They've been looking for a home near Gary's parents for the past year. They made two offers, but then Gary's wife was diagnosed with cancer related to her alcoholism, and everything was put on hold to deal with that.

Before then, they were looking at homes around $700K. They currently owe $280K on a home that they could sell for around $375K. In other words, they would walk away with around $80K if they sold it.

With all those details in mind, Kamel suggested that Gary move closer to his family, but rent for a while: "that solves this problem temporarily until we figure out what's going on with the finances" he said.

According to 2025 data from Ruby Home Luxury Real Estate (2), "owning a home costs $385 to $830 more per month than renting a typical 2-bedroom unit, and $575 to $910 more when comparing to recently financed homes."

While renting does not build the same equity as owning, in trying times like Gary's family is going through, the money saved can make a big difference.

Gary added that his parents have offered to give him $100K to $150K for a down payment as a gift, but Kamel and Cruze still suggest renting.

"Would [your parents] just cover rent for a year in the meantime as you guys kind of find your footing?" Kamel asked. Gary said if he asked, they "certainly would."

"I might use part of [their gift] to say hey, cover rent. We just got to figure out our life and then you'll know a whole lot more a year from now if things are going to get better or if they're going to get worse" Kamel advised.

Getting back to work

The other piece to Gary's situation is that he has no income of his own right now. Part of this is because of his choice to be a stay-at-home father, since he doesn't feel comfortable leaving his son alone with his wife.

On this note, Cruze recommends taking advantage of his parents' help with watching his son when they move, and starting to build up his work experience so he can work toward a higher income to support his family and buy a house in the future.

"I don't know if I would make a financial move, a big purchase like a home right now" Cruze said "there's a lot of instability going on. And so, I would find a place to be renting. And then you guys could look up in a year, year and a half and see where you're at with her health and your job situation, family situation, all of it. But I wouldn't tie myself down to a big purchase like a home right now."

Kamel agreed: "Personally I would not buy a home until she is sober because there's too much risk that her income is floating this entire thing. If one thing happens, you got a $600,000 mortgage with no income or even a $50,000 income and now you're going to be facing foreclosure or a short sale."

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

YouTube (1); Ruby Home Luxury Real Estate (2)

During an appearance on Ilana Glazer's It's Open podcast, the New York congresswoman argued that America's economic system has created a moral story around wealth — one that glorifies those at the top while looking down on those struggling at the bottom.

"When you have these systems, when you have corporations, when you have an economic elite, there's a certain level of wealth and accumulation that is unearned," Ocasio-Cortez said (1).

Then she put it more bluntly.

"You can't earn a billion dollars," she said. "You just can't earn that."

Ocasio-Cortez argued that billion-dollar fortunes are not simply a product of hard work or talent, but can come from power imbalances baked into the economy.

"You can get market power, you can break rules, you can do all sorts of things," she said. "You can abuse labor laws — you can pay people less than what they're worth — but you can't earn that."

And when extreme wealth cannot be justified on effort alone, she argued, the ultra-rich builds a story around it.

"And so you have to create a myth," Ocasio-Cortez said. "Since you didn't earn that, you have to create a myth of earning it."

That "myth," in her telling, does more than protect the wealthy. It also shapes how ordinary workers see themselves and each other.

"We've kind of internalized this moralized system," she said. "The people at the top are smarter, better, more sophisticated — and therefore the people at the bottom are uneducated, lazy, etc."

It's a sweeping critique — and one that sparked a huge wave of reaction. Critics argue that billionaires can create enormous wealth by building companies, taking risks, developing products and services people use and creating jobs along the way.

Sen. Ted Cruz, for one, pushed back on Ocasio-Cortez's claim that billionaires can't earn their fortunes.

"Think of Henry Ford, who invented the Model T, who invented the assembly line and basically created the American middle class, you don't think that produced billions of dollars?" Cruz said (2). "Look at Elon Musk, making electric cars, making self-driving cars, sending rocket ships to the moon — he's going to be sending rocket ships to Mars."

But Ocasio-Cortez's broader point taps into a real financial divide in America: the gap between people who rely mostly on wages and those who build wealth through ownership.

And while everyday Americans may never become billionaires, there is one part of the billionaire playbook they can copy: owning assets that have the potential to grow over time.

The rich don't just earn — they own

To Ocasio-Cortez's point, for most workers, income comes from a paycheck. You trade time and labor for money, then use that money to cover housing, groceries, gas, bills and other necessities.

But for many of the wealthiest Americans, the biggest source of wealth is not a salary. It's ownership.

Billionaires often see their net worth rise because they own large stakes in businesses, stocks, real estate or other assets that can appreciate. That distinction matters. A worker's wages may rise slowly, while the value of a company, stock portfolio or real estate holding can grow substantially over time.

That doesn't mean regular Americans are locked out. It does mean that one of the clearest dividing lines in wealth-building is whether you only earn income — or whether you also own assets.

One way everyday investors can build that ownership is through the stock market. Instead of trying to launch the next trillion-dollar company, investors can buy pieces of publicly traded businesses — including companies with strong brands, durable demand and long-term growth potential.

Of course, picking individual stocks can be difficult, especially when markets are volatile and headlines are moving fast. That's where research platforms like Moby can help. Moby's team of former hedge fund analysts do the heavy lifting — breaking down the market, flagging quality stocks and making the research easy to digest.

In fact, across nearly 400 stock picks over the past four years, Moby's recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. Their research keeps you up-to-the-minute on market shifts and takes the guesswork out of choosing investments.

And for those who want a more personalized strategy, working with a financial adviser can also help.

Through Advisor.com, you can get matched with vetted financial advisers suited to your needs — whether you're trying to build wealth, generate income or plan for long-term financial security.

Once you're matched with an advisor, you can book a free consultation with no obligation to hire.

The key is that investors are no longer relying only on wages alone. They're investing this earned income into assets that have the potential to compound — the same basic wealth-building mechanism the rich have used for generations.

Another asset the wealthy have long used: real estate

Stocks are one path to ownership. Real estate is another.

Many wealthy Americans have used property to build long-term wealth because real estate can offer two things at once: potential appreciation and recurring income.

Property values can rise over time, especially in markets with strong demand and limited supply: the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index has surged 87% in the past decade (3).

Meanwhile, rental income can create cash flow — giving owners a source of income that is not directly tied to a paycheck.

Real estate also serves as a time-tested hedge against inflation, since rent and property values tend to rise alongside the cost of living.

The challenge, of course, is that buying a rental property outright can require a large down payment, ongoing maintenance and the headache of managing tenants.

But today, investors don't necessarily need to become landlords to get exposure to real estate. Crowdfunding platforms like mogul offer an easier way to get exposure to this income-generating asset class.

Mogul is a real estate investment platform offering fractional ownership in blue-chip rental properties, which gives investors monthly rental income, real-time appreciation and tax benefits — without the need for a hefty down payment or 3 A.M. tenant calls.

Founded by former Goldman Sachs real estate investors, the team hand-picks the top 1% of single-family rental homes nationwide for you. In other words, you gain access to institutional-quality offerings for a fraction of the usual cost.

Each property undergoes a rigorous vetting process, requiring a minimum 12% return even in downside scenarios. Across the board, the platform features an average annual IRR of 18.8%. Offerings often sell out in under three hours, with investments typically ranging between $15,000 and $40,000 per property.

You can sign up for an account and then browse available properties here.

Another option is Lightstone DIRECT, which offers accredited investors access to institutional-quality multifamily and industrial real estate.

Lightstone DIRECT's direct-to-investor model ensures a high degree of alignment between individual investors and a vertically-integrated, institutional owner-operator — a sophisticated and streamlined option for individual investors looking to diversify into private-market real estate.

With Lightstone DIRECT, accredited individuals can access the same multifamily and industrial assets Lightstone pursues with its own capital, with minimum investments starting at $100,000.

A finer alternative

Stocks and real estate are two of the most familiar paths to ownership. But the wealthy have also long looked beyond traditional markets — including to fine art.

High-end paintings have historically been the domain of ultra-rich collectors, family offices and institutions. That's partly because blue-chip art can cost millions of dollars, putting it far out of reach for most everyday investors.

But the appeal is easy to understand. Fine art is a tangible asset, its value is not tied to the daily swings of the stock market, and rare works by sought-after artists can become more valuable over time as demand grows and supply remains limited.

Of course, buying art on your own comes with major barriers: high prices, storage, insurance, authentication and the challenge of knowing which works may hold long-term value.

Now, Masterworks is offering a single investment that combines blue-chip art with other scarce assets, such as gold and bitcoin, that have historically moved independently of equities and of one another.

The result is a more balanced, all-weather approach to alternative investing. In fact, this model would have outperformed the S&P 500 by 3.1x from 2017 to 2025.*

By leveraging access to museum-quality artwork alongside other uncorrelated assets, the strategy aims to enhance diversification while still pursuing meaningful appreciation.

Discover how diversifying with this strategy can strengthen your portfolio for the years ahead.

*Investing involves risk. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. The 3.1x figure reflects a model backtest, not actual fund performance.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

YouTube (1),(2); S&P Global (3)

Michael Martin, a 62-year-old South Tampa businessman, who received city permits for a luxury two-storey guest house, pool and pickleball court on his property, was arrested on April 20 for contempt after refusing to comply with a court order to tear everything down, according to a report from FOX13. (2) Martin held off on demolition because he had appealed the court ruling and was waiting to learn the outcome.

But if he had the permits, how did he end up in jail?

When permits aren't enough

Martin began construction on the upscale backyard project at his Beach Park home in 2021 after receiving approval from the city of Tampa. The upgrades he made added up to a project his legal team said cost roughly $1 million. (3)

"I felt pretty strongly that I was in a position of strength because I went and did everything that I was directed to do. At the very beginning of it, I got an expert to submit to the city, and then the city had their most tenured person approve it," Martin told FOX13, "So, I felt extremely confident that this was not going to result in where I am today."

But his neighbors, the Babbitts, challenged the project in court, claiming the structure blocked their view and citing loss of wildlife, privacy and property value (4). The case eventually escalated into a legal battle that ended with the courts siding against Martin (5).

In 2023, Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Christopher Nash ruled the area where the guest house was built was not legally buildable, even though the city initially approved the project. (6)

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Martin spent nearly three weeks in jail with no bond before eventually agreeing to comply with the demolition order so he could secure his release. Martin told reporters that he had lost roughly 12 pounds while incarcerated. (7)

A statement released by Martin's attorney said, "We have always stated that once the appeal was decided, we would move in the appropriate, lawful direction as decided by the legal process. It is quite a statement that these matters had to be decided in a court of law instead of neighbor to neighbor but the stress of being jailed for an offense unknown to him and after all required approvals by the City had been fully complied, is too high a price for Mr. Martin, his family, friends and business colleagues. This, on top of the financial costs, which are significant, signals that for now, we will focus on Mr. Martin's release from jail (8)."

Martin told FOX13 that the demolition will cost roughly $400,000, saying "I'm not done fighting. I'm not throwing in the towel." (9)

Many homeowners might assume that getting a city-issued permit means the project is good to go, but cases like this show that isn't always the case.

What to know before building on your property

Accessory dwelling units (ADUs), laneway homes and backyard guest houses have become popular across North America as housing costs rise and families look for flexible living arrangements, according to Freddie Mac. (10)

But zoning and permitting rules can be complicated. Before considering a backyard suite or a major addition to your property, homeowners should keep the following in mind:

• Review all zoning bylaws and title restrictions tied to the property. Some neighborhoods have private covenants or homeowner association rules that are stricter than city regulations.
• Confirm the land is legally buildable. Environmental protections, floodplain rules, easements and setback requirements can all affect where structures may be placed and disputes over those issues can surface long after permits are issued.
• Consult a professional before construction begins to see if there are any legal risks city approvals may miss. A lawyer can also review title documents and neighboring property rights that could later become potential points of conflict. Better Homes and Gardens advises homeowners to have an inspector verify the ADU passes all compliance. (11)
• Keep records of permits, inspections and all communications related to the project since these can be critical evidence if any disputes crop up.
• Consider speaking with your neighbours before construction starts to help avoid future disputes over privacy, noise or views.

Martin's story highlights how quickly a dream renovation can become a legal and financial nightmare. As he told FOX13, "If this could happen to me, it could happen to anybody." (12)

For homeowners who are considering their own similar additions, the case serves as a reminder that even projects with a permit can still face major legal challenges if you don't do your due diligence.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

WFLA (1),(4),(8); FOX 13 (2),(9),(12); Tampa Bay Times (3),(7); YouTube (5); MSN (6); Freddie Mac (10); Better Homes and Gardens (11)

If you're doing the math at home, that is just under a 100,000% markup on a pack's suggested retail price. It's the sort of gamble that makes Vegas look like a sure thing. But that's not stopping some collectors from rolling the dice.

There are actually several tiers of these GameStop Power Packs (2). The more you pay, the better the chances that your pack will contain a high-level card, the company says. (There are, however, no guarantees the pack will contain anything of value.) Prices start as low as $25 and, until recently, were capped at $2,500. But after announcing the Ebay bid, GameStop began offering a $5,000 option.

The rewards are significant. Among the cards GameStop says are hidden (3) in the packs are a 1999 Charizard-Holo, valued at more than $68,000; a Mewtwo-Holo from 2006, worth nearly $61,000; and a Vaporeon 2007 Holo card, worth over $60,000.

Buyers can instantly sell back any cards they want to GameStop at 90% of the card's fair market value, minus a 6% selling fee (4). (They can also choose to sell them via Ebay or other methods, likely earning more, but those will take longer for them to receive the funds.)

Hit-to-miss ratio

GameStop hasn't said a lot about the card packs publicly, but on May 9, it paid a YouTube streamer (5) to open packs in a broadcast to promote the collection. All totaled, 60 Power Packs were opened over several hours.

While there were a couple of cards pulled that were worth a notable amount (a $7,000 Rayquaza card being the biggest), the majority of the cards that were drawn were worth less than $100.

Sustained demand

Pokemon cards have never seen their popularity dim, but they've become almost an analog equivalent of Bitcoin lately. Earlier this year, influencer Logan Paul sold his PSA 10-graded Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon trading card for nearly $16.5 million (6), a record amount. (Paul paid $5.27 million for the card in 2021.)

While the trading card industry, as a whole, has seen price run-ups in the past few years, Pokémon is far and away the industry leader. As of last July, the value of those cards has increased 3,261% (7) in the past 20 years, far surpassing the S&P 500 and most other investment vehicles.

In the 12 months prior to that, the average Pokemon card saw a 46% increase in value.

People are making some extreme trades for the cards too. One collector recently swapped his six-figure Audi R8 supercar for a collection of cards that he valued at over $130,000.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

The Wall Street Journal (1); GameStop (2),(3),(4); YouTube (5); CNN (6); Fortune (7)

If you've ever questioned whether Social Security is actually worth it, there's a few things that you might consider.

Imagine Jennifer, whose father, Mason, says that he would have been better off if instead of having to pay into Social Security, he was able to invest that money himself.

Mason took the figures for his lifetime earnings and contributions, using the earnings history available on his my Social Security account, and then calculated what he would have earned if that money had instead been invested in the S&P 500.

He found that the total would be in the millions, and that the monthly drawdown amount he could take would be many times what he receives each month in Social Security benefits (1).

If you know someone who thinks the same, while you might not be able to convince them otherwise, here are a few points you could ask them to consider.

Social safety net

Social Security began in 1935, amid the Great Depression, which was the worst economic crisis in modern U.S. history, with millions of people unemployed (2).

The political response to the dire situation was the creation of Social Security. When he signed the Social Security Act, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "We can never insure 100% of the population against 100% of the hazards and vicissitudes of life, but we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and to his family against the loss of a job and against poverty-ridden old age."

Today, Social Security keeps millions of older Americans above the poverty line. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), without Social Security, almost 4 in 10 older adults would be living below the poverty line (3).

According to the CBPP, one-fifth of Social Security beneficiaries receive disability or young survivor benefits (4). The CBPP also notes that "The risk of disability or premature death is greater than many people realize. Some 8% of recent entrants to the labor force will die before reaching the full retirement age, and many more will become disabled."

How much you pay

There is a limit to how much of your earnings is subject to Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) tax. Workers and their employers pay into Social Security, as a percentage of earnings.

In 2026, employers and workers each pay 6.2%. Self-employed people must pay 12.4%. The taxable maximum amount for earnings in 2026 is $184,500. So, if you made $184,500 or more, you would contribute $11,439, and so would your employer (5).

While the hypothetical situation of Jennifer's father Mason — where, instead of paying into Social Security, workers instead invest their own money into index funds — might make sense on paper, there is no guarantee that most Americans would do so.

When it comes to retirement savings, a recent Gallup poll found that only about six out of 10 Americans have money invested in a retirement savings plan such as a 401(k), 403(b) or individual retirement account (IRA) (6).

It's also easier for workers with higher incomes to save, whereas lower-income workers spend a bigger percentage of their earnings on necessities (7). For example, USDA research found that in 2024, the 20% of households with the lowest incomes spent an average of 33% of their before-tax income on food, while those in the top 20% spent 6.4% (8).

Bank of America data found that in 2025, almost a third of lower-income households, 29%, were living paycheck to paycheck — that is, spending 95% of income on necessities including housing, gasoline, groceries and utility bills (9).

The Gallup poll found that 83% of Americans with household incomes of $100,000 or more had a retirement savings plan, while for those earning less than $50,000, that number drops to 28%. The poll also found "a sizable gap by race/ethnicity, with 68% of non-Hispanic white adults having a retirement savings plan versus 42% of people of color."

The risk factor

The way that your Social Security contributions are invested is very different than money that's invested in the stock market.

Your contributions are held in the Social Security trust funds, which are financial accounts in the U.S. Treasury. Money not used to pay benefits and administrative costs is invested in "special Treasury bonds that are guaranteed by the U.S. Government," according to the Social Security Administration (10).

Money you invest in the stock market, however, is subject to a lot more risk. That's why investors are typically advised to rebalance their portfolios as they near retirement, so they hold lower-risk investments.

If your retirement arrived amid a market downturn, such as the 2008 financial crisis, you could see your nest egg shrink. In the first quarter of 2009, Americans' retirement accounts had lost an estimated $2.7 trillion from their peak in 2007, according to the Urban Institute (11).

And remember that your Social Security contributions don't just come back to you as benefits when you retire — they also support survivors and dependents of deceased workers, as well as people with long-term disabilities.

Without the safety net of Social Security, millions of Americans could find themselves in dire financial circumstances, like those seen in the Great Depression, which inspired the program's creation in the first place.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

MarketWatch (1); Social Security Administration (2),(5),(10); Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (3),(4); Gallup (6); TD Economics (7); U.S. Department of Agriculture (8); CBS News (9); Urban Institute (11)

Yardeni's latest target was an 11.5% increase from Friday's close, with a year-to-date incline of 8% (5).

"Our key assumption is that the economy will remain resilient, and so will earnings," Yardeni said in a note (6). "That's been our mantra since we first started writing about the Roaring 2020s during the summer of 2020."

Yardeni believes we're in the Roaring 2020s — but what does that mean?

Since the beginning of the decade, Yardeni has been adamant that the United States is experiencing a second "Roaring Twenties" (7).

The 1920s earned the moniker "Roaring 20s" in the U.S. for several reasons. A major factor was the country's economic prosperity, with crises marking the beginning and end of the decade. Heading into 1920, America was recovering from several large issues, including World War I (8) and the influenza epidemic (9). However, the country still financially thrived for most of the decade, before the 1929 stock market crash that led to the Great Depression (10).

The 2020s also began with a crisis: the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. The U.S. economy has rallied in many ways since then. Issues regarding the pandemic caused the S&P 500 to plunge by 34% — but it recovered after only eight months and actually gained value by the end of 2020 (11).

As in the 1920s, Yardeni believes America will financially flourish in the 2020s. He isn't worried about the impact of the Iran war on this outlook. The S&P 500 performance dropped after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran earlier this year, but it had rebounded by mid-April and has continued to grow (12).

"We've never seen consensus earnings expectations rise so quickly for the current and coming years as they have in recent months," Yardeni wrote. "The result has been an earnings-led meltup in the stock market" (13).

What melts up, must melt down

A "melt-up" is a sudden surge in stock market performance, usually unexpected and unsustainable. It's known to be driven by investor sentiment rather than economic data. With a melt-up, people see stock prices rising and rush to buy shares so they don't miss out on the opportunity (14).

Yardeni's explanation of the current market melt-up is that it's based on corporations' earnings, not just investor sentiment.

Yardeni announced the firm's latest S&P 500 prediction on Sunday, March 10. The previous Friday, 89% of S&P 500 companies had reported their Q1 2026 earnings; of those, 84% reported that their earnings per share had exceeded estimates, which is above the 5-year and 10-year averages (15).

This may seem like great news, but there are cons to consider. For instance, the general understanding of a melt-up is that it's unsustainable.

A prime example of a melt-up is the dot-com bubble from the 1990s and early 2000s. Investors rushed to buy technology stocks, which pushed the Nasdaq Composite index to an all-time high at the time. The speed and money involved in this stock-buying rush were untenable. When the dot-com bubble burst, the Nasdaq lost almost 80% of its value in a little over two years (16).

If we are indeed experiencing a Roaring 2020s, the decade may end with a meltdown — again, remember the great stock market crash of 1929?

How investors can prepare during a melt-up

What if Yardeni — and analysts at these other firms — are right, and the stock market continues to soar in 2026 and the rest of the decade? What does this mean for investors, not just over the next few years, but in the long term?

A good rule of thumb is to avoid emotional investing. This includes buying stocks on a whim during a melt-up and panic-selling stocks during a meltdown. Whether you're investing for short-term or long-term growth, your portfolio should include stocks that you've researched thoroughly, so you understand their financial positions.

You can also diversify your portfolio by buying various types of stocks. Consider purchasing ones from companies in different sectors and sizes, or mixing it up with domestic and international stocks. Diversifying your portfolio, rather than putting all of your eggs in one or two baskets, can help protect your wealth from a potential stock market crash.

Everyone has their own financial situation and level of risk tolerance. Speak with your financial adviser before making any drastic changes to your investment strategy.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Oppenheimer (1); Citigroup (2); Goldman Sachs (3),(16); Yardeni Quick Takes (4),(6); Fortune (5),(13); Yardeni Research (7); Britannica (8),(10); U.S. National Archives (9); IG Canada (11); Yahoo Finance (12); Corporate Finance Institute (14); FactSet (15)

Most people, at least in the abstract, know retirement could last a long time. But few have worked out how long their retirement might last or whether their savings will keep up.

A survey by Western & Southern Financial Group of 975 Americans (1) aged 30 and older, while not nationally representative, highlights the numbers behind that disconnect. Respondents said they expected to live to age 85 on average, but thought their savings would run out at 79.

That leaves a six-year hole between how long people expect to live and how long they think their money will last. The survey calls this the "longevity gap." It suggests many people haven't aligned their retirement savings with their expected lifespan.

The gap is widest for the generation closest to it

Baby boomers are the generation you'd most expect to have this figured out, since many are either approaching retirement now or already there. But the Western & Southern data suggests otherwise.

More than a third of all respondents expect to live to 90 or older. Among boomers, that figure rises to 41% (1). Yet, only 15% of boomers are planning for a retirement lasting more than 30 years, the lowest rate in the survey. In other words, the generation most likely to live a long is the least likely to be planning for one.

Part of what makes this easy to miss is that boomers, on paper, appear to be the best-prepared generation. According to Fidelity's retirement analysis, boomers had the highest average 401(k) balance of any generation, at about $249,300 (2). But averages can be misleading. The Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances found the median retirement balance for Americans ages 65 to 74 was about $200,000, meaning half of them had less (3).

That may sound like a decent nest egg, but over a retirement that could last 20 years or more, it does not go very far once you factor in everyday living costs, healthcare and inflation. Fidelity estimates a 65‑year‑old retiring today will spend an average of about $172,500 on healthcare and medical expenses throughout retirement (4).

Subtract that from $200,000, and there's almost nothing left. And 20% of Americans age 50 and older in the Western & Southern survey said they have no retirement savings at all (5).

The Medicare myth making this worse

Nearly half of all survey respondents, 47%, either believe or aren't sure whether Medicare covers long-term care costs like nursing home stays or in-home aides.

Medicare does not cover long-term care (6). It covers short-term skilled nursing facility stays up to 100 days following a qualifying hospital stay, and only when skilled care is medically necessary. It does not pay for the ongoing help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, meal preparation and mobility (7).

Medicaid, on the other hand, can cover long-term care (8), but only for people with limited income and assets. In most cases, a person must spend down much of their savings and investments to qualify, and the rules vary by state (9).

Despite this, 30% of respondents said they have no plan at all for how they'd pay for full-time care in their 80s (1).

Other factors most people ignore

Healthcare isn't the only challenge retirees face. Inflation is another major obstacle.

Only 18% of respondents told Western & Southern they had modeled inflation or rising healthcare costs into their retirement plans. Another 38% said they'd thought about it but hadn't run the numbers. And 30% had taken no action at all (1).

At a 3% annual inflation rate, the purchasing power of $1 is cut in half in about 24 years.

That means someone who retires today at 65 on a fixed income could find their money buys roughly about half as much by 89. Many people got a taste of that recently, when inflation hit 3.3% in March 2026, and about 8% in 2022 (10).

Social Security Administration rules also demand an important decision. Claiming benefits at 62 instead of 70 can permanently reduce monthly payments by as much as 30%. Waiting until 70 can increase monthly benefits by about 24% compared with claiming (11) at full retirement age.

Even so, 21% of boomer respondents said they plan to claim at 62, while only 12% plan to wait until 70.

What the options look like from here

The survey shows that about 37% of respondents, and 48% of boomers, would do nothing at all if they discovered they had not saved enough. That may reflect how limited the options can feel once you are already in your 60s. But for anyone still a decade or more from retirement, there's still time to make adjustments.

For example, the Internal Revenue Service allows people in their 50s to make catch‑up contributions that can raise total 401(k) savings to $30,000, above the standard $24,500 limit in 2026 (12). For workers ages 60 to 63, enhanced catch-up rules under the SECURE 2.0 Act can push the total as high as $35,750. Over a decade, that extra saving can make a meaningful difference.

The most common steps respondents said they would take are saving more, delaying Social Security and seeking professional advice. Those strategies can reinforce one another.

Even without hiring an advisor, anyone can sit down with a pen and paper, or a simple spreadsheet, and estimate three things:

• How many years of retirement they expect to fund.
• How much they'll need each year.
• How far Social Security and savings will take them.

That basic math makes the gap visible. From there, you can decide whether to cut expenses, delay benefits or save more before leaving work.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Western & Southern Financial Group (1),(5); Fidelity Investments (2),(4); Investopedia (3),(11); Medicare.gov (6); WebMD (7); Medicaid.gov (8); Medicaid Planning Assistance (9); US Inflation Calculator (10); Internal Revenue Service (12)

The idea is known as a "compute tax" — essentially a levy on the computing power that fuels artificial intelligence systems. Supporters say it could help offset massive job losses, temper runaway automation and generate money for workers displaced by AI.

Critics argue it could choke innovation, raise costs across the economy and push AI development overseas. Either way, the debate is no longer hypothetical.

"We're at a point now where we need to try and preserve jobs," entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang recently told The Wall Street Journal (1). "AI is going to gut white-collar employment."

What exactly is a compute tax?

At its core, a compute tax would charge companies for the massive computing resources used to train and run AI models.

One version would tax the operators of enormous data centers powering AI systems. Another would tax businesses based on their use of AI "tokens," the units that measure how much processing an AI system performs.

The idea is partly rooted in an older concept: the "robot tax" (2) proposed years ago by Bill Gates. The reasoning is similar: if automation replaces human workers, governments could lose payroll tax revenue while unemployment rises.

Supporters argue AI companies may eventually generate enormous wealth while employing far fewer people than traditional industries.

"If you look at the taxes that are being paid by the biggest AI companies, they're nowhere near commensurate to the value that AI is going to end up both generating and soaking up," Yang said.

Why the idea is suddenly gaining traction

The rapid rise of generative AI has intensified fears about job displacement, particularly among white-collar workers once thought relatively insulated from automation. An April 2026 Goldman Sachs analysis says AI is already reducing U.S. payroll growth by 16,000 jobs a month (3).

AI tools are already handling tasks involving coding, customer service and research. While economists disagree on how many jobs will ultimately disappear, the speed of the technology's progress has shifted the conversation.

Some proponents see a compute tax as a way to redistribute part of the wealth AI could create. Others view it as a brake on unchecked automation, similar to taxes on pollution or tobacco.

Billionaire investor and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has argued that as AI increases the importance of capital and corporate ownership, future tax systems may need to tax capital more heavily (4) and redistribute some of that value to the public.

There's also growing concern over the physical footprint of AI itself. Expanding data centers consume enormous amounts of electricity and water, while communities across the country debate the local impact of large-scale AI infrastructure projects.

Would a compute tax actually work?

That's where economists sharply diverge.

Some argue a compute tax could discourage companies from replacing thousands of workers purely to cut labor costs. Others believe it could help governments fund retraining programs or expanded social benefits if AI-driven disruption accelerates.

But critics say the policy may be too blunt. AI is already being used for drug discovery, fraud detection, weather forecasting and medical research. Taxing compute power could raise costs for beneficial technologies alongside harmful ones.

"Taxing the fundamental infrastructure of AI development would be like taxing steel during the industrial revolution — a self-defeating policy that could slow the productivity growth needed to fund public priorities," Brookings Institute researchers Anton Korinek and Lee M. Lockwood wrote in a study analyzing the role of public money in the AI sector (5).

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

The Wall Street Journal (1); World Economic Forum (2); Goldman Sachs (3); Axios (4); Brookings Institution (5)

The multimillionaire real estate entrepreneur sat down for an interview on author Lewis Howes’ podcast, The School of Greatness, and shared the top lessons he would teach his kids about money (1).

The core of his philosophy is to avoid loss by virtue of consistency, noting that “you’ll be so rich when you need it” if you take a patient, long-lensed view on your money.

Here’s a closer look at Cardone’s biggest financial tips, and how younger Americans can adopt similar disciplines in order to generate more income.

1. Money is a people game

Cardone revealed that the biggest lesson he would teach his kids is that “money’s a people game.” This sentiment echoes the adage that “your network is your net worth.”

Put simply, meeting people and expanding your social circle — including those who are wealthier and more successful than you — can lead to more opportunities and, potentially, better financial outcomes.

You may have a tough time befriending a billionaire, but that doesn’t mean you can’t expand your circle of trust to include those with financial expertise. After all, a rock solid source of financial advice from an expert can help you develop a nest egg over the course of 30 years of investing.

What’s more, research from Northwestern Mutual shows that 64% of Americans who use a financial advisor say they feel financially secure versus 29% who go it alone (2).

That’s where Advisor.com can come in. The platform connects you with an expert near you for free.

Advisor.com does the heavy lifting for you, vetting advisors based on track record, client ratios and regulatory background. Plus, their network comprises fiduciaries, who are legally required to act in your best interests.

Just enter a few details about your finances and goals, and Advisor.com’s matching tool will connect you with a qualified expert suited to your needs based on your unique financial goals and preferences.

Finding the right advisor isn’t always easy — there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. That’s why Advisor.com lets you set up a free initial consultation, with no obligation to hire, to see if they’re the right fit for you.

2. Don’t lose money

Cardone also echoed a famous quote from investing legend Warren Buffett: “The first rule of an investment is don't lose [money]. And the second rule of an investment is: don't forget the first rule. And that’s all the rules there are.”

Losing money while investing is difficult to recover from. For instance, if you lose 20% on a $1,000 investment, you’ll need a 25% gain in order to get back to $1,000.

Meanwhile, any dollars lost from investing reduces your ability to take advantage of opportunities that come along. Losing $200 on a bad investment is $200 less than what could have been better spent growing elsewhere. Having cash on hand is important if you want to be able to move quickly on an investing opportunity.

But sorting out the good from the bad can be tough on your own, or even with an advisor. If you’re not sure where to start, or want to stack the deck as much as you can, you may want to look for professionally curated stocks.

Moby offers expert research and recommendations to help you identify strong, long-term investments backed by advice from former hedge fund analysts.

In four years, and across almost 400 stock picks, their recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Moby’s team spends hundreds of hours sifting through financial news and data to provide you with stock and crypto reports delivered straight to you. Their research keeps you up-to-the-minute on market shifts, and can help you reduce the guesswork behind choosing stocks and ETFs.

Plus, their reports are easy to understand for beginners, so you can become a smarter investor in just five minutes.

If you’re not still not quite sure how to invest, or want to build up some funds first, you may want to keep your cash in a savings account that can help you fight inflation. However, most standard accounts generate low interest, meaning that your money loses value over time.

A high-yield account like a Wealthfront Cash Account can be a great place to grow your uninvested cash, offering both competitive interest rates and easy access to your money when you need it.

A Wealthfront Cash Account currently offers a base APY of 3.30% through program banks, and new clients can get an extra 0.75% boost during their first three months on up to $150,000 for a total variable APY of 4.05%.

That’s ten times the national deposit savings rate, according to the FDIC’s March report.

Additionally, Wealthfront is offering new clients who enable direct deposit ($1,000/mo minimum) to their Cash Account and open and fund a new investment account an additional 0.25% APY increase with no expiration date or balance limit, meaning your APY could be as high as 4.30%.

With no minimum balances or account fees, as well as 24/7 withdrawals and free domestic wire transfers, your funds remain accessible at all times. Plus, you get access to up to $8M FDIC Insurance eligibility through program banks.

3. Invest with risk in mind

Cardone also noted that “If you get 7% or 8% on your money every year” you can set yourself up over the long term. Provided, of course, “you don’t lose it.”

Investors need to balance risk and reward. However, they’re often susceptible to chasing rewards while exposing themselves to too much risk.

Another study published in Nature revealed that the probability of an investor’s bankruptcy increases with the frequency of their leveraged trades (3). Unfortunately, investors have accumulated more than $1.22 trillion in margin debt to trade stocks as of May 2024, according to FINRA (4). Margin debt refers to money borrowed to purchase securities.

Active investors also tend to seek out other relatively risky investments, such as leveraged exchange-traded funds and cryptocurrencies. Yet, they also know that a diversified portfolio ensures reduced risk of over-indexing on any one asset class.

And one of Cardone’s favorite picks for diversification is real estate.

For accredited investors looking to diversify beyond public equities, Bonaventure offers access to institutional-grade multifamily real estate investments in high-growth markets with a minimum investment of $25,000.

Bonaventure focuses on income-producing apartment communities, offering potential tax advantages through structures like 1031 exchanges and UPREITs, allowing you to build passive income and wealth while the company manages the properties.

Plus, Bonaventure has a fully-loaded resource center that teaches you everything you need to evaluate multifamily investments. Sign up today, explore your options and construct your real estate portfolio.

If a $25K but in is a little bit too much to get started, there are also services that let you scale up your real estate investing with time (and experience).

You can get into this market for a mere $100 minimum with Arrived, which offers you access to shares of SEC-qualified investments in rental homes and vacation rentals.

Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived makes it easy to fit these properties into your investment portfolio regardless of your income level. Their flexible investment amounts and simplified process allow accredited and non-accredited investors to take advantage of this inflation-hedging asset class without any extra work — no midnight maintenance calls over burst pipes here.

You can view their full list of vetted properties, selected for their income-generating and appreciation potential, and start investing today.

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Lewis Howes (1); Northwestern Mutual (2); Nature (3); FINRA (4)

And for recent graduates, the AI boom may also be impacting their ability to get a job or begin their careers.

A survey from ZipRecruiter found that 47% of recent grads believe AI has already had an impact on hiring in their field, according to Forbes (1). Meanwhile, Futurism reports that an anonymous New York financier recently told the Financial Times that new hires who are considered to be "AI natives" are actually turning out to have surprisingly shallow ideas — so much so that the firm he works for is avoiding AI-literate grads while focusing its candidate efforts on humanities grads instead (2).

This is enough to make young people worry about what the future may hold when it comes to their post-secondary education and career.

On May 10, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang spoke to Carnegie Mellon University graduates during their commencement (3), offering his point of view that AI won't ruin your career dreams, but rather a "new industry is being born."

"A new era of science and discovery is beginning… I cannot imagine a more exciting time to begin your life's work," he shared with 5,800 graduates in Pittsburgh. "No generation has entered the world with more powerful tools — or greater opportunities — than you. We are all standing at the same starting line. This is your moment to help shape what comes next. So run. Don't walk."

Huang's words were encouraging, and there's little doubt that some young people will see success in their early careers and life's work because of AI and technological advances. But we don't really know what's coming next, which was part of the message that Scott Galloway shared in a recent appearance on The Diary of a CEO podcast on May 4 (4).

Galloway and podcast host Steven Bartlett discussed how parents can AI-proof their children's futures, and the former shared two main skills he thinks will help kids succeed.

Story telling and building relationships

When asked which skills will matter most in the future, Galloway recommends that parents help their children with developing skills like storytelling and building relationships.

He mentions that 10 years ago, private schools were focused on teaching kids Mandarin and computer science for future success (5). "How's that worked out?" said Galloway. "'Thank god my kid knows Mandarin,' said nobody right now."

Galloway refers to storytelling as "the most enduring skill," describing what he means as "your ability to look at data, create a narrative arc, and then communicate that story in a compelling way."

He mentions some of the most successful CEOs are strong storytellers, referencing a letter to shareholders Jeff Bezos sent in 1997 that had him wanting to invest immediately (6).

In addition, Galloway describes his second critical skill as "the ability to establish strong relationships with other sentient beings."

He argues that when we build relationships, in real life and not just online, it can help drive success. A strong network can be a huge asset that can help young workers with finding the right roles or growth opportunities. Relationships can also help young workers with starting a business, speaking to potential customers and driving both personal and professional growth.

One more skill for good measure

Galloway also hinted at a third skill that young people, especially young men, are struggling with: rejection. "It's hugely underrated… the ability to endure rejection," he said.

Galloway recommends giving young people as many opportunities as possible to try to build a friendship or a relationship and hear "no," which would force them to learn how to deal with it and move on. Drawing from his own experience, Galloway says the "secret to his success is rejection."

The one thing we can say about the future with certainty is that it is unpredictable. This means the best way we can support our kids is to help them develop into well-rounded people who care about the world and those around them.

Taking Galloway's advice in helping them develop their ability to tell a compelling story, build and nurture relationships and bounce back quickly after rejection are three skills that could serve them well, no matter what the future holds.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Forbes (1); Futurism (2); Axios (3); YouTube (4),(6); Business Insider (5).

The seller began posting photos of the uncut card sheets and misprints online in late March, listing them for sale on eBay, TikTok and Facebook at prices some collectors believed were far below market value. Factory uncut sheets (2) are some of the rarest items in the trading card world. Companies typically print cards on large sheets before cutting them into individual cards for packs and boxes, with most destroyed before they ever leave the factory.

As more listings surfaced, collectors began questioning whether the cards had truly been discarded or whether they may have leaked from a printing contractor tied to Konami, the company behind the game.

Konami tightly controls the market for these sheets as they occasionally award small official sheets as tournament prizes, but are known for aggressively tracking down unofficially released sheets and misprints that escape production facilities.

The seller, who spoke anonymously to 404 Media while seeking legal counsel, claimed the haul included roughly 500,000 trading cards and more than 400 factory uncut sheets.

Why collectors became suspicious

On eBay (3), some uncut Yu-Gi-Oh! sheets are listed for a few hundred dollars, while others are priced as high as $100,000 depending on their rarity and condition.

That's why collectors were surprised when photos and videos online appeared to show hundreds of Yu-Gi-Oh! sheets, foil cards and misprints surfacing all at once. Some images also appeared to show Minecraft and basketball cards mixed into the haul, though most of the inventory was Yu-Gi-Oh related.

A moderator for the Uncut Sheets Collectors Facebook group (4), Nick, spoke to 404 Media anonymously because he wanted to keep his trading card activity separate from the business he runs outside the hobby. He said he purchased two uncut Yu-Gi-Oh! sheets for about $1,000 each because the prices seemed low for the items. But after the seller revealed he had hundreds more sheets, he started becoming suspicious.

"I'm still interested in the sheets, but once I saw the quantity that he has then it's becoming more: 'Well, he definitely didn't get these from a legitimate source," he told 404 Media.

Suspicion around the cards only grew because Konami works with outside printing contractors, including Cartamundi, which operates a factory in Dallas. The man who claims to have found the cards in the dumpster lives in Texas.

The stash may have been massively undervalued

The frenzy also reflects a broader boom in trading card collecting, particularly in franchises like Pokémon. Nearly 1 in 5 adults reported buying Pokémon cards for themselves, though only about a quarter actually play the game, according to Circana (5).

A Wall Street Journal report also found some rare Pokémon cards have delivered returns of more than 3,000% since 2004 (6), outperforming the S&P 500 over the same period.

While Yu-Gi-Oh! cards operate a bit differently from Pokémon cards, collectors say rare sheets and misprints can still command massive prices in niche resale markets.

As the mystery surrounding the cards deepened, some collectors began to believe the stash could be worth far more than the seller initially realized. Before the online drama exploded, Nick said he asked the seller how much he wanted for the entire haul.

"He wanted $15,000 or $16,000 and even with them being stolen and the potential of them being confiscated, for $15,000? I'll be honest. It was tempting," he said. "When somebody offers you $16,000 for something you know is worth a lot, it is very tempting."

Nick estimated some of the sheets alone could sell for anywhere from roughly $2,000 to $5,000 each depending on their condition.

"I could have probably sold that stuff over the course of a decade for, probably, a million dollars," he said.

While 404 Media said it could not independently confirm how the cards were obtained, the outlet reported the uncut Yu-Gi-Oh! sheets themselves appear to be authentic. Konami, the company behind Yu-Gi-Oh, told 404 Media that "the sale of uncut sheets is not allowed."

Trading cards are hot, but can be volatile

As the story spread online, the situation quickly escalated. Members of the Uncut Sheets Collectors Facebook group began tracking the seller's listings and reposting updates across social media, eventually nicknaming the saga the "Yu-Gi-Oh Dumpster Drama."

The seller's mother — whose scrap metal business operates in a Dallas suburb — joined the online debate herself, writing in a Facebook post shared by 404 Media (7): "Okay let me ask everyone if ya'll found the same thing that was found in the trash the uncut sheets the cards and stuff would you or would not try to sell them?"

A Dallas-area trading card collector familiar with the situation also told the outlet he believed the cards had been found in a dumpster at a shopping center near, but not directly at, the Cartamundi printing facility.

While trading cards have surged in value in recent years, speculative assets can also be highly volatile and difficult to properly value or resell. Edward Hadad, an adviser with New York-based Financial Asset Management, told MarketWatch (8) speculative assets generally should not make up more than 5% of a person's portfolio.

"Our philosophy is to invest in a well-diversified portfolio of stock and bond funds," he said.

Experts also recommend researching a collectible's history and authenticity before making major purchases, especially in online resale markets where ownership and sourcing can be difficult to verify. And while certain cards can skyrocket in value during hype cycles, demand can shift quickly, meaning a collectible that appears valuable today may not necessarily be easy to resell tomorrow.

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404 Media (1),(7); Fastball Collectibles (2); eBay (3); Facebook (4); Circana (5); Wall Street Journal (6); MarketWatch (8)

But she admits she's "exhausted" and she's not getting encouragement from her boyfriend. Norah asked Ramsey Show (1) hosts Ken Coleman, Rachel Cruze and George Kamel for help.

"How can I manage burnout, stay motivated and help my partner understand why becoming debt-free matters so much to me?" she asked.

Norah said her boyfriend "doesn't understand" why she's so debt-obsessed. She puts every penny of every paycheck she can towards it; he thinks she should just make minimum payments.

Ken Coleman asked if she'd explained the Ramsey Baby Steps method to him. She indicated that she had, but it didn't help. It just made things worse.

"He thinks it's a cult," she said, smiling.

So are people who follow Dave Ramsey's advice in a 'cult'? Or are Ramsey and his co-hosts just preaching good sense? Here's a look at the 'cult' argument and what Coleman, Cruze and Kamel advised Norah to do.

Dave Ramsey is religious about debt repayment

The Ramsey Show co-hosts laughed when Norah raised the word 'cult' to describe their work.

"I've never heard that before," Coleman said. But Norah's boyfriend isn't the only one to toss around the term "cult" in relation to Dave Ramsey.

Over the years, redditors have described him and his followers as cultlike in their adherence to his approach to debt repayment and growing wealth. In the subreddit Dave Ramsey Has Become A Cult, (2) one wrote: "Self-proclaimed financial guru …. His following is cult like weird. He targets churches."

It's true that Ramsey, an evangelical Christian, links his financial advice to biblical principles. But being religious, charismatic and persuasive doesn't mean Dave Ramsey leads a cult. His fans are devoted to him and his advice, but he doesn't use coercive techniques, and you don't have to be Christian to follow his tips.

Still, he gets pretty religious when it comes to debt paydown. There may be a middle road for people like Norah, one between her all-in approach and the minimum payments her boyfriend suggests. In fact, that middle ground is exactly what Coleman, Cruze and Kamel recommended.

Finding debt-life balance

Coleman asked if part of the tension in Norah's relationship was that she was always working. He praised her debt-free goal, and her commitment to a December 2027 payoff date. But he suggested she go easier, giving herself more time to get to debt-free status.

"If you're starting to get to a place of physical and emotional and maybe spiritual and relationship exhaustion, dial it back a little bit, you know, until you can get back up on your feet."

Cruze agreed, urging Norah to cut back on the overtime she's working until she has the energy to get back to it.

That's because it's as important to have a debt-life balance as it is to have work-life balance.

Finding that balance is no easy task, given U.S. household debt reached $18.8 trillion (3) in December 2025. And of that, $1.66 trillion was student debt, like Norah's.

Faced with crushing debt, some people may choose to ignore it, making minimum payments like Norah's boyfriend suggests, or no payments at all. But that can lead to poor credit scores, delinquency and even bankruptcy, which is not a recipe for a happy life. Others, like Norah, may go all in on debt payoff, at the expense of their mental and physical health — and relationships.

The balance is to be responsible, paying off debt at a reasonable pace so you can take care of your own well-being.

You can use Dave Ramsey's recommended Snowball method, paying off the smallest debt and building up to the largest, or the avalanche method, paying off the largest debt first and working down to the smallest.

You don't have to do it alone, either. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notes (4) that you can approach a nonprofit credit-counseling agency. For a fee, they can work with you and your creditors on developing a debt management plan offering lower interest, lower monthly payments and a longer payoff period.

As Cruze says, paying off debt requires a marathon mindset. And the only way to win in the long run is to pace yourself.

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YouTube (1); Reddit (2); Federal Reserve Bank of New York (3); Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (4)

Well-timed oil bets that seemed to be able to predict the future started making headlines in March. Using prediction market platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi, prescient bettors were able to capitalize on fluctuating oil prices just before President Trump made major announcements on the war in Iran.

But it's not just oil bets that are winning big. In April, an American soldier was arrested on accusations that he leveraged classified information to make bets on the operation that captured former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Trump later told reporters that he's "not happy with any of that stuff."

Suspicions of insider trading were heightened even further on May 6, when $1.7 billion worth of oil contracts changed hands just an hour before a report from Axios sent oil prices tumbling.

More suspicious bets

As MarketWatch reports, trading in U.S. crude futures spiked on May 6 just before Axios published a report that America and Iran could be closing in on a deal to end the war (1).

Axios' report (2) — which was published at around 4:50 a.m. Eastern time — caused West Texas Intermediate oil futures to fall 7%. Meanwhile, roughly 17,300 oil contracts with an estimated value of nearly $2 billion had already been traded.

MarketWatch spoke with several oil-market experts who believe the suspicious activity could be an indication that someone with advanced knowledge of a potential end to the war was trading ahead of Axios' report.

"All federal employees are subject to government ethics guidelines that prohibit the use of nonpublic information for financial benefit," Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman, shared with MarketWatch. "However, any implication that Administration officials are engaged in such activity without evidence is baseless and irresponsible reporting."

Bloomberg reported in April that The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating these suspicious oil futures trades and their suspected connection to Trump's announcements on the Iran war (3). And while a CFTC representative told MarketWatch that the agency can't confirm or deny such an investigation, the Department of Justice has reportedly opened its own probe into the matter (4).

'I was never much in favor of it'

As the DOJ began investigating these controversial oil price bets, Trump shared his distaste for prediction markets with reporters.

"I was never much in favor of it," Trump said from the Oval Office, according to the New York Times (5). "I don't like it conceptually. It is what it is."

The president's family, however, is heavily invested in the prediction market industry. In fact, Trump Media & Technology Group recently announced it would be launching its own prediction market platform called Truth Predict (6).

Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son and a director of Truth Social, has also invested in Polymarket and serves as an unpaid advisor to the platform. He serves as an advisor to Kalshi as well.

With this arrangement, the president's prediction market comments seem to clash directly with his family's current business endeavors. And while he says that he doesn't favor prediction markets at all, in 2025, the Trump administration reportedly backed away from enforcing oversight measures against Polymarket (7).

"Presidential statements used to be the gold standard, but this is not true for President Trump," Jeffrey A. Engel, founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, told the NYT (5). "What he does is more important than what he says. I don't think his comments will bother the prediction markets in the least."

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MarketWatch (1); Axios (2); Bloomberg (3); The Independent (4); The New York Times (5),(7); Blockworks (6)

She also has about $100,000 in cash sitting in a high-yield savings account, which for many years she used as an emergency fund. Now she’s wondering if she should move that money into S&P 500 index funds, which have been experiencing record highs.

The S&P 500 is 16.5% above this year’s low, according to Morningstar (1) — though there are concerns that the party can’t last forever.

Patricia doesn’t need the money right away. She’s planning to take her Social Security benefit at her full retirement age (FRA) of 67. In the meantime, she’s living off her savings and bringing in extra cash through her part-time consulting work.

While she’s in a good financial position, she also doesn’t want to risk losing her $100,000 if the market crashes.

What’s happening with the stock market

The S&P 500 has been rallying since the end of March — despite the war in Iran and a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz that’s led to the largest oil-supply disruption in history, which has sent oil prices through the roof.

The U.S. stock index initially fell during the first few weeks of the war, which began Feb. 28. But stocks have since rallied, now trading near all-time highs.

“The stock market isn’t trying to price what’s happening today,” Joe Seydl, senior markets economist at J.P. Morgan Private Bank, told CNBC (2). “The stock market is always trying to price what the world is going to look like six to 12 months from now.”

And investors are betting that the Iran conflict will be short-lived. They’re also hoping that President Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on May 13 could lead China to push Tehran towards de-escalation.

At the same time, the S&P 500 has been boosted by gains in tech and AI-related stocks — in part driven by high demand for new data centers to fuel the rapid growth of AI. This is despite concerns of inflation related to rising oil prices (3).

Still, there are concerns of a market correction (or a crash) amid fears that the war is dragging on and that the AI bubble could burst. Billionaire investor Warren Buffet says the stock market is “playing with fire (4),” and ‘Big Short’ investor Michael Burry is warning of a dot-com-style crash.

To invest or not to invest?

Since its launch in 1957, the S&P 500 has delivered annual returns of around 10.5% (5). Markets have also historically rebounded after a crash, although the timelines vary. So, if you might need the money sooner rather than later, investing in the S&P 500 could be a riskier proposition.

For an older American like Patricia, deciding to invest more of her money in S&P index funds is a matter of risk tolerance. Most people who’ve reached retirement age are taking a different strategy, shifting to more conservative investments to reduce exposure to market volatility.

On the other hand, being too conservative could erode your purchasing power over time. For example, if Patricia’s $100,000 is earning 1% and the rate of inflation is 3%, then she’s losing 2% in purchasing power.

If Patricia doesn’t need the money for another five to 10 years, she could potentially afford to take more risk — if she’s up for it. She’ll have to decide how much risk she’s comfortable with and if a market crash would cause her to lose sleep at night.

There are a few other considerations, too. While Patricia is healthy, life happens. She’s covered by Medicare, which kicks in at age 65, but it doesn’t mean she’s covered for everything. For example, Medicare doesn’t cover long-term care in an assisted living facility.

Plus, there are premiums, deductibles and co-insurance for certain services. A 65-year-old retiring today can expect to spend about $172,500 on healthcare in retirement, according to Fidelity’s 2025 Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate (6).

Many financial experts recommend diversifying your investments across asset classes, industries and geographic regions so you’re not putting all of your eggs in one basket. The S&P 500, however, has become less diversified, thanks to its high concentration of tech stocks.

If Patricia isn’t comfortable rolling the dice with her money — especially during a time of geopolitical uncertainty — she could continue to keep it in a high-yield savings account or a certificate of deposit (CD), which has a set interest rate for a specific period of time. The downside is that she’ll receive lower returns, but she’ll also reduce risk.

Patricia may want to sit down with her financial advisor and explore her options, taking into account her upcoming Social Security retirement benefit and future withdrawal strategies to extend her retirement savings.

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Morningstar (1, 3); CNBC (2); Fortune (4); Official Data (5); Fidelity (6).

They warned that the institution must earn back its independence from "shorter-term political pressures that may emanate from the election calendar," and that failure to do so poses real risks to everyday Americans (1).

The Group of Thirty (G30), an influential think tank of current and former global finance leaders, released a 36-page report (2) this month examining the Fed's monetary policy framework in the wake of the central bank's 2025 review (3).

The report presents the views of a working group within the G30, including the well-known Mohamed El-Erian, a chief economic advisor at Allianz and professor of practice at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (2).

The core message is that central bank independence isn't automatic. It must be actively earned through accountability, credibility and public trust. As the authors put it, the Fed needs to be "more deserving of independence (2)."

Where they say the Fed went wrong

The report praised some progress from the Fed's 2025 framework review, particularly its return to a symmetric 2% inflation target and its abandonment of "flexible average inflation targeting" (FAIT) — the post-pandemic policy that allowed inflation to run above target to compensate for prior undershoots (4).

Researchers at the American Institute for Economic Research argued that FAIT "contributed to the problem," saying the Fed misdiagnosed the post-pandemic inflation issue and responded too slowly — holding interest rates near-zero throughout 2021, even as evidence mounted that inflation was steadily climbing, and not just a blip (5).

El-Erian was among the loudest voices warning that the Fed was losing credibility by calling inflation "transitory" (6). His concerns proved well-founded: inflation peaked at 9.1% in June 2022 — the highest rate in over 40 years (7).

But the experts say those fixes aren't enough.

Chaired by William C. Dudley, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the report laid out eight recommendations to shore up the Fed's framework, including publishing staff economic forecasts after each meeting of the Fed's open market committee, developing a clearer framework for quantitative easing (8) and tightening, and better communicating how it will weigh its inflation and employment goals against each other (4).

A recent Brookings Institution survey of Fed watchers underscores the urgency: three-quarters of respondents rated the threat to Fed independence as a four or five out of five. And while academics tended to give the Fed's communications an A or A-, only 8% of private-sector respondents agreed, most giving a B+ or B (9).

Why this matters for your money

When the central bank loses credibility or surrenders autonomy to political pressure, the consequences ripple directly into household finances. The interest rates set by the agency have a trickle-down effect on the borrowing and savings rates consumers see every day, from credit cards and auto loans to mortgages.

As CNBC reported after the Fed's April meeting, credit card interest rates have stayed just under 20%, while car buyers are being squeezed by both high sticker prices and elevated interest rates, with neither showing signs of letting up (10).

Mortgage rates tell the same story. The average 30-year fixed rate sits at 6.37% (11), as the Fed held rates steady at its April meeting while navigating persistent inflation and ongoing White House pressure to cut rates (which could stimulate economic activity, but make inflation worse).

In 2023, El-Erian warned the Fed's aggressive rate-hiking cycle had effectively "destroyed" both supply and demand in the housing market (12).

The following year, he told PBS the same hikes had to be done "very quickly because the Fed fell behind," and that Americans were still feeling the consequences of having to raise rates by more than five percentage points in a compressed window (13).

A new chair, old pressures

The timing of the G30 report is pointed. Jerome Powell's term as Fed chair expires this month (14), and on May 11, the Senate voted to advance the confirmation of Trump's chosen replacement, Kevin Warsh.

The Banking Committee advanced his nomination along strictly party lines — the first fully partisan committee vote on a Fed chair nominee in history, according to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (15).

Warsh has insisted that "Fed independence is largely up to the Fed," and that the institution must "stay in its lane" by avoiding policy overreach into areas like climate and social inequality, according to CNBC (16).

But critics, including former Fed officials interviewed by CNBC, have flagged that some of Warsh's proposals — particularly around a new "Fed/Treasury accord" governing the balance sheet — remain vague and potentially concerning (17).

The G30 report lands squarely into this highly charged moment. As the Brookings survey found, the most common answer experts gave for Warsh's biggest challenge was "maintaining monetary policy independence from the White House" (9).

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Group of Thirty (1),(2),(4); EIN Presswire (3); American Institute for Economic Research (5); CNBC (6),(10),(15),(16),(17); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (7); Investopedia (8); Brookings Institution (9); Yahoo Finance (11),(12); PBS (13); NPR (14)

HSAs are often called "triple tax advantaged" accounts because contributions go in tax-free, grow tax-free, and can be withdrawn tax-free for qualifying medical expenses. There's another advantage: Once you hit 65, you can use the HSA for any expenses at the normal tax rate. (1)

Despite their many advantages, Ryan Greiser, a CFP and co-founder (2) of Opulus, a Pennsylvania-based financial advisory firm, says HSAs can create "a huge problem" for heirs that is "rarely talked about."

If you have an HSA or stand to inherit one, this challenge is worth understanding and making moves to alleviate.

How financially savvy people use HSAs — and what that can mean for heirs

Those who have a high-deductible health care plan can open an HSA account. They allow workers to set aside pre-tax money to use for healthcare expenses, up to a set limit. For 2026, the maximum annual contribution limits are $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage. Those aged 55 or older can (3) contribute an additional $1,000 to their HSA.

HSAs are not use-it-or-lose-it (4) plans, meaning the funds in them can be rolled over each year. Most HSAs also allow you to invest the funds, further growing your funds.

Because of the tax advantages, many choose to pay for medical expenses out of pocket, keep receipts, and let their HSA continue to grow. If they need funds down the road, they can use the receipts to pull funds at any time. Once retirement hits, the HSA serves as a medical expense nest egg. And when you consider that the average 65-year-old retiring in 2025 can expect to spend around $172,500 (5) in medical expenses throughout their retirement, that nest egg can come in handy.

The issue, experts warn, is what happens after you pass away. For spouses, it transfers as an HSA with the same tax benefits. But if the account transfers to a non-spouse, it loses its tax benefits and becomes taxable income.

Heirs who inherit a large HSA as a non-spouse could be pushed into the highest marginal tax bracket for the year they inherit. In 2026, that is 37% (6), which means a $50,000 HSA inherited by a non-spouse could come with a tax bill of $18,500.

How to reduce HSA tax bills for your heirs

Understanding what happens to your HSA is the first step. Now let's talk about how to reduce the potential tax bill for your heirs.

Spend it now

If your HSA has grown into a sizable balance, the simplest solution is to start using it. Carolyn McClanahan, a CFP and founder of (7) Life Planning Partners, put it plainly: "If you know you have that big an HSA, start spending it. There's no reason to keep a huge HSA if you don't have a good plan for beneficiaries."

That might mean using it to cover medical costs you'd otherwise pay out of pocket for, or to make planned purchases like hearing aids, dental work or vision care.

Consider donating to a charity

Leaving your HSA to a qualified charity is another option. (8) Charities generally won't owe taxes, so the full balance can go to the cause rather than the IRS. Heirs can also choose to make this move after they inherit.

Split the amount between multiple heirs

Rather than leaving the entire account to one person, consider spreading it among more beneficiaries, thereby diluting the tax burden. A $100,000 HSA inherited by one person is a much bigger problem than the same amount split among five people. Just make sure your heirs know what's coming. McClanahan (9) recommends notifying beneficiaries in advance so they can plan accordingly.

Use it to pay unpaid medical expenses

Non-spouse heirs have one more tool available: they can use the inherited HSA to pay any outstanding medical expenses of the deceased, and only owe tax on whatever remains. This must happen within 12 months of the account (10) holder's death. On a $50,000 HSA with $10,000 in unpaid bills, for example, heirs would only owe tax on $40,000, potentially saving thousands depending on their bracket.

HSAs can be a helpful retirement planning and health care tool, so long as the tax trap doesn't become your family's problem to solve. Talk to a financial planner, update your beneficiary designations and loop your heirs in now, while there's still time to plan.

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Fidelity (1),(4),(5); CNBC (2),(7),(8),(9),(10); U.S. Congress (3); Tax Foundation (6)

The delegation accompanying Trump for high-stakes talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping includes Citi CEO Jane Fraser (2) and Meta President and Vice Chairman Dina Powell McCormick (3) — the only women alongside 15 male chief executives from Apple, Tesla, Boeing, Goldman Sachs, Blackstone and a dozen other companies.

Notably absent are women running other large multinationals with significant China exposure, including General Motors' Mary Barra, AMD's Lisa Su and Accenture's Julie Sweet. The White House has not publicly explained its selection criteria and it did not immediately respond to Moneywise's request for comment.

The two women in the room

Fraser, who took over Citigroup in March 2021 (4), remains the first and only woman to lead a major Wall Street bank. Her presence carries weight: Citi has spent recent years winding down its consumer banking footprint in China while maintaining its institutional and corporate banking ties, putting Fraser in a delicate position as Washington and Beijing spar over capital flows, semiconductor restrictions and tariffs.

Powell McCormick joined Meta in early 2024 after more than a decade at Goldman Sachs and a stint as deputy national security advisor in Trump's first administration. She is notably the only person joining Trump on his China trip who is not a CEO — she is Meta's president and vice chairman, reporting to Mark Zuckerberg — but she is a former White House official, having served under Trump during his first administration, with direct experience negotiating in Beijing.

The other 15 attendees include Apple's Tim Cook, Tesla and SpaceX's Elon Musk, BlackRock's Larry Fink, Goldman Sachs' David Solomon and Boeing's Kelly Ortberg.

Echoes of Trump's 2017 delegation

During Trump's last China trip in November 2017, he traveled to Beijing with roughly two dozen executives for a state visit the White House said produced $253 billion in commercial deals (5) — figures analysts later questioned as largely non-binding letters of intent. That delegation, which included Boeing, Goldman Sachs and Qualcomm executives back again this week, was a considerably larger group of 29 individuals (6), but notably all of them were men.

The trade backdrop has also shifted considerably since Trump's last visit to China. His 2017 trip preceded the first wave of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports (7) in 2018, marking a turning point that still shapes today's negotiations (8) over chips, rare earths and bilateral investment.

According to McKinsey's 2025 Women in the Workplace report (9), women make up just 29% of C-suite roles, leaving men with roughly 71% of all C-suite positions. Women hold roughly 10.4% of CEO seats (10) at Fortune 500 companies, per Fortune's most recent count — a record share, but still well below their share of the U.S. workforce. The Trump delegation's roughly 12% female composition slightly exceeds that benchmark, but only one of the two women, Jane Fraser, carries the CEO title.

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CBS News (1); Business Insider (2),(3); Citigroup (4), South China Morning Post (5); CNBC (6); Office of the United States Trade Representative (7); University of Georgia (8); McKinsey (9); Fortune (10)

But quietly, according to a recent Bloomberg analysis (1), fewer employer-sponsored 401(k) plans are made up of mutual funds. Department of Labor data cited by the outlet shows that collective investment trusts (CITs) currently make up nearly 50% of all 401(K) plans offered by employers with over $10 billion in assets. (Note: The data accounts for retirement plans with at least 100 participants.)

CITs are cheaper for employers to offer workers than mutual funds because there is no requirement for trusts to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which incurs costs like marketing and distribution fees (2). Products are also offered by banks that act as fiduciaries and therefore are overseen by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (3).

Critics argue this means CITs aren't subject to the same level of scrutiny and disclosures mutual funds are. The OCC isn't as equipped in handling retirement products and ensuring investor protections as the SEC, they add. A former SEC official told Bloomberg that CITs make investment decisions like mutual funds, but "are not regulated like one."

"You can save money when you're buying a car by not having to pay for a seatbelt," he added. "But it isn't always the best."

How do CITs differ from mutual funds?

CITs (4) are a pooled investment option that combines the money of multiple investors into a single portfolio. Unlike mutual funds, which can be purchased even outside of your work plan, CITs are only available through tax-qualified retirement plans. In other words, you can't just open a brokerage account and buy shares in a CIT.

CITs can hold the same assets as mutual funds in your 401(k). But they tend to charge lower fees because they're regulated differently. Without SEC oversight (5), compliance and administrative savings can be passed down to plan participants via reduced fees.

Currently, CITs are a multitrillion dollar business, just like mutual funds. But the cost incentives are making them more lucrative to offer employees, especially by larger employers. If plan sponsors can meet contribution limits, then CITs may make more sense for them. However, mutual funds could be a better fit for smaller plan sponsors (6).

How prevalent are CITs in 401(k) plans?

In short, very. But estimating total assets held in CITs is incredibly difficult. Researchers largely rely on self-reporting by banks and surveys. The industry is so fragmented that it's hard for experts to really keep their finger on the pulse.

Since CITs aren't required to issue prospectuses like mutual funds, what they end up reporting depends on whether the trusts are registered at the federal or state level, according to Bloomberg. Many actually do, probably to a sufficient degree for plan sponsors and participants, but the lack of public information makes it difficult for experts to evaluate the industry.

Most estimates place the CIT market at or around $6 trillion to $7 trillion in assets. That's compared to $31.4 trillion invested (7) in mutual funds.

Interestingly, a 2026 Morningstar report (8) found CITs now hold 54% of assets held in target date funds as of the end of 2025. Target date funds are viewed as "set it and forget it" retirement plan options, instead of choosing your own stocks and ETFs.

Are CITs safe?

CITs are a legitimate investment vehicle. They just draw the ire of skeptics because they have limited oversight compared to traditional mutual funds, which are registered with the SEC under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (9). Because of this, they face stricter disclosure requirements and must provide daily cash values.

CITs do still face their own regulatory requirements. In addition to OCC oversight mentioned earlier, they are beholden to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (10), and thus the Department of Labor.

Lower transparency, fewer restrictions on investment assets (private market exposure coming soon (11)), and products offered being controlled by banks are some of the reasons, however, critics think CITs are a bit of a murky proposition.

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Bloomberg (1); Investopedia (2); Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (3); Investor.gov (4); T. Rowe Price (5); Cerulli Associates (6); ICFS (7); Morningstar (8); GovInfo (9); U.S. Department of Labor (10); Financial Times (11)

The Rich Dad Poor Dad author recently warned on X that the "Everything Bubble" is bursting and that 2026 could bring what he called "the greatest depression in world history" (1).

"You don't have to be a victim," Kiyosaki wrote, arguing that even as bubbles burst and the world economy crashes, people can still position themselves to be "a financial winner."

He pointed to economic stress in major global markets "from Dubai to Vegas, from Tokyo to New York City," warning that homelessness could spread globally if conditions deteriorate.

But Kiyosaki's warning goes beyond a broad market crash. In a separate post, he revived one of his long-running concerns: what he calls the "Baby Boomer Retirement Disaster" (2).

"In 2026 millions of Boomers will be out of work in trouble financially….many homeless," he wrote.

Kiyosaki said he saw the crisis coming as far back as 1974 — a pivotal year for America's retirement system.

That year, Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which was designed to protect workers' pensions. But over time, many employers moved away from traditional defined-benefit plans, which promised retirees a fixed income for life, toward defined-contribution plans such as 401(k)s, leaving workers with more responsibility for funding their own retirements. IRAs were also introduced as a new savings vehicle for individual workers.

In other words, the retirement burden has increasingly shifted from employers to workers — and that shift helps explain why Kiyosaki believes many boomers could be especially vulnerable if a major downturn hits.

What Kiyosaki likes for protection

Kiyosaki's preferred playbook has been consistent for years.

"For years I have recommended real gold, silver, Bitcoin, and Ethereum as your foundation for your financial future," he wrote.

His affection for precious metals stems partly from his deep distrust of the fiat currency system. As he put it in a 2021 interview: "I'm not buying gold because I like gold, I'm buying gold because I don't trust the Fed" (3).

That's indeed the broader appeal of precious metals for many investors. Unlike fiat currencies, gold and silver can't be printed at will by central banks, which is why they're often viewed as potential hedges against inflation and currency debasement. Gold, in particular, is widely treated as a safe-haven asset because it isn't tied to any one company, government or economy.

Kiyosaki has also said he owns the metal directly.

"I have boxes of gold. I own gold mines," he revealed in a 2025 interview (4).

And the market has rewarded gold holders. Despite a recent pullback, gold prices have surged by more than 40% over the past 12 months.

One way to invest in gold that also provides significant tax advantages is to open a gold IRA with the help of Priority Gold.

Gold IRAs allow investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets within a retirement account, thereby combining the tax advantages of an IRA with the protective benefits of investing in gold, making it an option for those looking to help shield their retirement funds against economic uncertainties.

When you make a qualifying purchase with Priority Gold, you can receive up to $10,000 in precious metals for free. Just remember that gold is typically best used as one part of an otherwise well-diversified portfolio.

Build retirement income through real estate

Beyond precious metals, Kiyosaki also pointed boomers and their families to two books he said he wrote for those who wanted to prepare for this period.

One of them is "Retire Young Retire Rich," which focuses on achieving financial freedom by moving from a wage-earner mindset to an investor mindset. A key theme is using "good debt" to acquire cash-flowing assets — especially real estate — and building income streams that do not depend solely on a paycheck.

That idea can be especially relevant in retirement. Real estate has long been a go-to asset for investors seeking recurring income. While stock markets can swing wildly on sentiment, well-located rental properties can continue generating monthly cash flow, helping retirees cover expenses without having to sell assets during a downturn.

It can also be a powerful hedge against inflation. When inflation rises, property values often increase as well, reflecting the higher costs of materials, labor and land. At the same time, rental income tends to go up, providing landlords with a revenue stream that adjusts with inflation.

Perhaps that's why in the same 2025 interview, Kiyosaki once disclosed that he owns 1,500 rental properties.

Today, you don't need to be as wealthy as Kiyosaki to get started in real estate investing. Crowdfunding platforms like Arrived offer an easier way to get exposure to this income-generating asset class.

Backed by world-class investors like Jeff Bezos, Arrived allows you to invest in shares of rental homes with as little as $100, all without the hassle of mowing lawns, fixing leaky faucets or handling difficult tenants — no midnight maintenance calls here.

The process is simple: Browse a curated selection of homes that have been vetted for their appreciation and income potential. Once you find a property you like, select the number of shares you'd like to purchase and then sit back as you start receiving any positive rental income distributions from your investment.

As of November 2025, Arrived has already paid out more than $19 million in dividends to over 900,000 registered investors. If you're already comfortable with real estate investing, you might instead be looking for new verticals in the field.

Another option is Lightstone DIRECT, which offers accredited investors access to institutional-quality multifamily and industrial real estate — with a minimum investment of $100,000.

Founded in 1986 by David Lichtenstein, Lightstone Group is one of the largest privately held real estate investment firms in the U.S., with more than $12 billion in assets under management.

Over nearly-four decades, their team has delivered strong, risk-adjusted performance across multiple market cycles — including a 27.6% historical net IRR and a 2.54x historical net equity multiple on realized investments since 2004.

With Lightstone DIRECT, you gain access to the same multifamily and industrial deals Lightstone pursues with its own capital.

Here's the kicker: Lightstone invests at least 20% of its own capital in every deal — roughly four times the industry average. With skin in the game, the firm ensures its interests are directly aligned with those of its investors.

Mind the risks — and potential — of crypto

Kiyosaki's protection playbook doesn't stop at hard assets. Alongside gold and silver, he said he has long recommended coins generated by Bitcoin and Ethereum as part of the "foundation" for a financial future.

That enthusiasm fits with his broader skepticism of fiat currency and central banks. Bitcoin, in particular, is designed with a fixed supply cap, which is why supporters often describe it as a form of "digital gold" — an asset outside the traditional banking system that can't be printed at will.

Of course, bitcoin's roller-coaster ride has also underscored just how volatile crypto can be. But Kiyosaki has made clear that price swings have not shaken his conviction. If anything, he has described them as a buying opportunity.

"I am so bullish on Bitcoin I am buying more and more as Bitcoin's price goes down," he said in February, pointing to Bitcoin's hard-coded supply limit of 21 million coins (5).

That said, cryptocurrencies remain highly volatile — and not everyone has the stomach for the swings. But for those curious about adding crypto exposure, getting started has never been easier.

With platforms like Kraken, buying and trading cryptocurrencies is straightforward, whether you're on desktop or using the mobile app.

You can invest in 600+ cryptocurrencies*, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP and more, or set up recurring buys to invest automatically.

There's also the option to add price conditions, so your trades only execute when the market hits your target.

Kraken also offers guides on popular coins, helping you understand what you're buying and how to navigate the process from start to finish.

And if you have questions, 24/7 support is available via live chat, phone or email.

For those who want greater control, Kraken PRO offers a more advanced trading experience.

Designed for active traders, it features a highly customizable interface with real-time market data, advanced tools and detailed order types like stop-loss and take-profit to help manage trades more precisely.

You can also trade across spot, margin and derivatives markets, monitor performance in one unified portfolio, and tailor your dashboard with multiple data widgets to suit your strategy.

Opening an account is quick, with a simple sign-up, verification and short investor profile to get started.

* Not investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss. View legal disclosures at kraken.com/legal/disclosures (6). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Kraken or its management.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

X (1),(2),(5); Yahoo Finance (3); YouTube (4); Kraken (6)

"Here's the dirty little secret: Trump Accounts are Social Security personal accounts," Cruz said at the Milken Institute Global Conference (1).

The Accounts were created under President Donald Trump's tax and spending package and are designed as tax-advantaged investment accounts for children (2). Each account starts with $1,000, and parents can contribute up to $5,000 per year. Cruz described the child investment accounts as part of a larger conservative goal — moving Americans toward individually owned, market-based retirement accounts.

"The only way anyone has ever climbed the economic ladder is you pull yourself up one rung at a time," Cruz said. "Government policies should facilitate the means of ascent up the economic ladder."

He said the accounts could help expose millions of Americans to investing for the first time.

"Every child in America will experience the miracle of compound growth," Cruz continued. "Half of Americans do not own a single stock or bond. You are not going to climb the economic ladder if you have no investments."

Cruz also argued that the accounts could create "a new generation of capitalists" by giving children visibility into the companies their investments support.

The most explosive portion of Cruz's remarks came when he directly connected the accounts to future Social Security reform.

'More transformational than Social Security'

Conservatives have spent decades advocating for personal accounts that would allow workers to invest a portion of their payroll taxes privately rather than relying entirely on the current Social Security system.

As it stands, Social Security relies on funds managed by the SSA, such as the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Fund, which are invested in bonds to make payments.

Founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital, Brad Gerstner, also present at the conference, weighed in after Cruz, "Social security has been a third rail in American politics and again ... this idea that we are trying to steal anything from anybody could not be a bigger falsehood.

"Today, we have government savings that go into a pension fund that you do not own," he continued. "Everybody in this country who works hard should enjoy the opportunity to climb the economic ladder."

Critics of the proposed change are quick to point to the increased risk associated with self-directed investing. It's also not the first time a Republican administration has proposed this kind of overhaul of Social Security.

Former President George W. Bush attempted a version of that reform in 2005, but the proposal collapsed after intense political backlash (3). The idea failed largely due to the rebranding of Bush's idea to include progressive price indexing, which the public perceived as a "40% cut in future benefits", per Forbes (4).

How TrumpAccounts will work

Cruz suggested Trump Accounts could gradually make Americans more comfortable with investment-based retirement systems.

"How did we get it done this time? Because we gave the money to babies, so the old people did not get pissed," Cruz said. "But you know what? Babies grow up."

He also predicted that within several years, "We will be able to go to parents and say, 'You know that Trump Account your kid has where you keep seeing the numbers go up and you are seeing this compound growth? Wouldn't you like to be able to keep a portion of your payments that you are paying already and instead of sending it to Uncle Sam, wouldn't you like to have a Trump Account just like your kid does?"

On the Trump Accounts website, details are already live.

The Accounts are long-term, tax-advantaged investment accounts for children, set to launch on July 5, 2026. They will function similarly to traditional IRAs, with stocks locked until the beneficiary turns 18 to ensure long-term growth.

Any U.S. child under 18 with a Social Security number can take part. Children born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028, also qualify for a one-time $1,000 federal seed deposit. Older children may qualify for a $250 deposit.

Individuals can contribute $5,000 to these accounts annually. Employers can contribute up to $2,500 per employee's child, which counts towards that $5,000 limit.

Assuming average returns and inflation rates through your child's formative years, the Council of Economic Advisers estimates that a baby born in 2026 could be sitting on $303,800 by the time they're 18 years old — if parents contribute the maximum per year (5).

Parents can register children by filing IRS Form 4547 with their 2025 tax returns or via TrumpAccounts.gov.

But is that the right move?

Look before you jump

Critics such as Damilola Esebame of The State warn that privatization could expose retirement savings to stock market volatility while weakening one of America's largest guaranteed retirement programs (6).

"The accounts currently accept only cash, and every dollar gets invested into low-cost S&P 500 index funds with expense ratios capped at 0.1%," Esebame wrote. "If the rules change, millions of children already enrolled may end up with a completely different type of account."

Ben Henry-Moreland, a certified financial planner with Kitces.com, also raised this particular concern (7).

"The whole point of the requirement for holding low-fee index funds is to avoid speculative investing in single stocks, and reversing that rule would encourage much more speculative risk-taking in accounts that are meant for steady accumulation of retirement savings," he told CNBC.

That tradeoff is important to keep in mind as the math looks different depending on who's contributing, as well as on steady contributions and years of positive market returns.

The S&P 500 has historically produced strong long-term gains, but retirement savers do not experience "average" returns in a straight line. A downturn near the withdrawal age can drastically reduce the value of an account, just when the money is needed most.

Additionally, allowing America's wealthiest to donate stocks to Trump Accounts could unlock massive tax breaks. Under the current tax system, if someone donates shares that have appreciated via a direct stock transfer, the donor can claim a deduction for the full market value without paying capital gains tax on the appreciation (8).

That means a donor who bought shares for $1 million and later donated them valued at $5 million will avoid tax on $4 million of gains.

For the child receiving the account, that may look like a gift. For the donor, it can also function as a powerful tax-planning tool. That is why critics argue lawmakers should be careful before allowing stock donations into accounts designed for children. A program sold as a savings tool for families could also become a tax-efficient outlet for appreciated assets held by wealthy investors.

That said, the debate comes as Social Security faces a mountain of financial pressure. The program's trust funds are projected to deplete in the 2030s unless lawmakers intervene (9).

And while the politics surrounding Trump Accounts are deeply divisive, the underlying idea behind them — starting early and harnessing compound growth — is not.

Get to compounding

Even relatively small contributions invested consistently over time can snowball into meaningful wealth over decades. For younger families, especially, time is the most valuable investment asset available — time and compound interest (10).

That's part of the appeal behind apps like Acorns, which lets you automatically invest spare change from everyday purchases into diversified portfolios they own.

The platform also allows recurring investments starting with as little as $5, giving you another way to begin building a long-term investment for yourself — or your children — without relying on a government-sponsored account structure.

And, if you sign up today, Acorns will add a $20 bonus to help you begin your investment journey. All you have to do is set up a small recurring monthly contribution of $5.

Stay consistent

For many, the hardest part of investing isn't getting started — it's staying consistent. Platforms like Stash make this incredibly straightforward.

With over 1 million active subscribers and more than $5 billion in assets under management, the intuitive app lets you set daily, weekly, or monthly recurring investments that actually match your cash flow.

You can build a diversified portfolio in just a few clicks using its award-winning Smart Portfolio, which adjusts your investment mix based on your goals and risk level. Prefer a more hands-on approach? You can also choose your own stocks and ETFs, or mix both depending on your comfort level.

And if you're looking to take your long-term strategy a step further, a Stash+ subscription offers 3% IRA matching*, that can give your contributions a meaningful boost over time.

You can set up a recurring deposit in just a few minutes and let your portfolio work for you on autopilot.

Plus, you can get a $25 bonus investment when you fund a new Stash account with $5, plus a 3-month trial to explore the platform.*

*Paid non-client endorsement. Not representative of all clients and not a guarantee. View important disclosures. Offer is subject to T&Cs.

Get stock insights

For parents who aren't really sure how to start, Moby offers expert research and recommendations to help you identify strong, long-term investments backed by advice from former hedge fund analysts.

In four years, and across almost 400 stock picks, their recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Their research keeps you up-to-the-minute on market shifts and can help you reduce the guesswork behind choosing stocks and ETFs so that you can become a smarter investor in just five minutes.

Don't go it alone

Becoming an expert investor doesn't take minutes, though. It can take years of experience with the markets to get a real feel for what drives real returns. If you want to make sure you're maxing out on your contributions, it pays to speak with a qualified financial advisor.

Research from Vanguard shows that working with a financial advisor can add about 3% to net returns over time. That difference can become substantial. For example, if you started with a $50,000 portfolio, professional guidance could mean more than $1.3 million in additional growth over 30 years, depending on market conditions and your investment strategy.

Finding the right advisor is simple with Advisor.com. Their platform connects you with licensed financial professionals in your area who can provide personalized guidance for your family.

Through Advisor.com, you can schedule a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss your family's financial goals and long-term plan.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

C-SPAN (1); Trump Accounts (2); Brookings Institution (3); Forbes (4); The White House (5); The State (6); CNBC (7); Internal Revenue Service (8); Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (9); Investopedia (10)

But for Bianca Roses, the gamble started before she landed on the beaches of Fiji.

The 34-year-old had dreamed of competing on the reality show ever since she started watching it at 8. She finally submitted her audition in early 2023, around the same time she was taking another major leap. She launched her own public relations agency (1) during train commutes between New York City and Washington ahead of a move with her fiancé.

While preparing to outwit and outlast on season 48, Roses said she was also navigating major changes in both her career and personal life.

"I'm kind of blowing up my life in a lot of ways," Roses told CNBC Make It (2). "I was about to make all these major life changes."

The real gamble started before Fiji

As she waited to hear back from casting, Roses made another high-risk move: leaving her full-time job at a tech PR agency — where she had climbed to associate vice president — to start Roses PR. She says she missed the more hands-on side of the job and wanted to build something of her own.

After months of silence, a casting director finally reached out, launching an intense audition process that included interviews, medical exams and psychological evaluations.

Her career pivot came at a time when many Americans were rethinking traditional jobs.

Employee engagement in the U.S. fell to its lowest level in a decade in 2024, with only 31% of workers reporting they felt engaged on the job, according to Gallup (3).

Roses' decision also reflects a broader shift toward entrepreneurship. According to a study by SideHustles.com (4), 79% of employed Americans are interested in leaving traditional jobs to start their own business, including roughly 1 in 8 (5) who say they plan to make the leap within the next year.

Then came another challenge: timing. Less than a year after launching her business, Roses was selected to film Survivor in June 2024. But because she was bound by a strict nondisclosure agreement, she couldn't explain to clients why she suddenly needed to disappear for weeks, leaving her worried they'd think she "didn't take the job seriously."

Betting on herself

There was also the challenge of keeping her business afloat while she was away filming. At the time, Roses was the only employee at her agency, so she brought in a former coworker to temporarily manage clients during her absence.

The arrangement required careful planning, especially given the financial realities of entrepreneurship. According to 2024 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (6), roughly 1 in 5 businesses fail (7) within their first year, while nearly half shut down within five years.

Still, Roses said being self-employed ultimately gave her more flexibility to compete on the show. Unlike some contestants who had to burn through paid time off, take extended leave or even quit their jobs entirely to appear on the show, she was able to structure her business around the opportunity.

That kind of flexibility can be difficult to find in traditional corporate jobs. In 2025, about 31% of private-sector workers received just 10 to 14 days of paid vacation (8) after one year of service — far less than the amount of time needed to film a reality competition series overseas.

The career lesson she brought home from Survivor

When Roses finally revealed to clients that she had been filming Survivor, most were supportive, and some had already guessed. But beyond the reality TV exposure, Roses says the experience ultimately changed the way she approaches both work and burnout.

Many of the skills she developed during nearly a decade in tech PR — from storytelling to relationship-building and adaptability — helped her navigate the social strategy of the game. But the biggest shift came after the cameras stopped rolling.

Roses didn't win the $1 million prize. (9) Her tribe ultimately "spoke" and voted her out before the finale, but she says the experience still gave her something valuable to bring home: a new perspective on ambition and the pressure of constantly being on.

Used to being constantly online and available for clients, Roses says spending weeks without her phone felt like a reset. There may not be immunity from burnout in modern work culture, but Roses says unplugging gave her a better sense of balance.

"I felt like I was a kid again," Roses said (2), explaining that the show reminded her of something many adults lose over time: the ability to play. "That was the biggest high that I got off of being on the show."

Since returning home, Roses says she's become more intentional about unplugging from leaving her phone behind on evening walks to making more time for offline hobbies like reading and scrapbooking.

For those who can't take off for a reality show in Fiji, it's important to build smaller "reset" habits into daily life instead: setting boundaries around after-hours emails, taking unused vacation time and carving out screen-free time during the day.

While most people won't have to outwit, outplay and outlast on a remote island while building a shelter and cooking rice over a fire, burnout has a way of turning everyday life into its own kind of survival challenge.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Roses PR (1); CNBC (2); Gallup (3); SideHustles (4),(5); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (6),(8); Commerce Institute (7); Survivor Fandom (9)

The unidentified victim's son, Tony, told CBS Chicago (1) that the scam started with a call impersonating an Apple representative — with the tech company's name appearing on the phone's caller ID.

After the fake Apple rep convinced Tony's father that his account was breached, she connected him with a supposed U.S. marshall — who texted an AI-generated photo of his badge to "prove" his identity, which was taken from a retired marshall. Convinced the scam was legitimate, Tony's father transferred $69,000 into two accounts he believed were in his name.

Upon following up with the bank, however, he discovered that the accounts were closed, and were never in his name.

In the end, he lost $69,000 to an AI-enabled government impersonation scam, which the FBI warns is a growing threat (2).

How criminals use AI to impersonate government officials

Fraudsters using AI to bilk unsuspecting Americans is, unfortunately, nothing new. From crypto scams to deepfakes impersonating family members to "housefishing" ploys, AI makes it easier for criminals to separate people from their money.

A 2025 FBI internet crime report released in April, however, shows how government impersonation scams — where criminals pose as government or law enforcement employees — are surging nationwide (3).

The report found complaints about such scams more than doubled last year — up to 32,424 from 17,367 in 2024 — costing Americans almost $798 million in 2025. Criminals used AI in 260 of those scams, resulting in more than $7 million in losses.

Across all categories, however, AI-enabled fraud nabbed more than $893 million.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warns scammers often contact victims pretending to represent the IRS or the Social Security Administration, local law enforcement or even made up agencies to get their victims to give up financial or otherwise sensitive information (4).

AI, meanwhile, makes it more difficult to recognize these scams. Photos — like the one the Chicago victim received of a marshall's badge — are easily replicated via AI.

And last summer, in Isle of Wight, Virginia, police captain Tommy Potter told a local news outlet that fraudsters "used my name and my voice" in fake phone calls to residents, threatening arrest if they didn't pay fake fines (5).

Scammers, though, aren't just targeting locals. A Washington Post investigation (6) last July found that criminals used AI to impersonate the voice of Secretary of State Marco Rubio in messages sent to domestic and foreign lawmakers. Digital forensics expert Hany Farid told WaPo that criminals "just need 15 to 20 seconds of audio of the person" to create fake messages using their voice.

That said, AI duplication isn't perfect, and there are ways that would-be victims can recognize fraud before it happens.

How to detect AI-enabled fraud

To protect yourself from AI-related image and voice/video scams, the FBI recommends (7) paying attention to "subtle imperfections in images and videos" including "distorted hands or feet" as well as awkward movements and facial features. They add that imperfections in the tone of the voice on the phone, including in the choice of words and/or phrasing, could also give away AI voice cloning.

Other AI warning signs include the caller resisting a long conversation, or acting with urgency to complete their desired transaction (8). The FTC adds that even caller IDs can be faked (4).

Experts advise never sharing any personal information or money over the phone or via digital communication — as real government agencies and law enforcement never request it in that manner — and never clicking on any links or attachments a potential fraudster sends.

If you do suspect fraud, end communication and research the contact information for the government agency or individual that reached out. Then, get in touch using the information you found — or call the agencies or law enforcement directly — to see if the initial contact was real. Even if you're convinced that a transaction is legitimate and you want to proceed, heed the advice of professionals.

In the case of the Chicago man who lost $69,000, the Bank of America — the victim's financial institution — told CBS Chicago that while they "prioritize client protection" some of their customers "ignore our warnings and insist on completing the transactions" (1).

If you do discover you were targeted for fraud, report it to the agency the fraudster claimed to represent, or to the FTC.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

CBS News (1); FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (2),(3),(7); Federal Trade Commission (4); 13News Now (5); The Washington Post (6); University of Virginia (8)

That's where Cary, North Carolina native Lisa Baildon found herself after her daughter's school, Millbrook High, was the victim of a cybersecurity breach in early May. The program they use for remote learning, Canvas, was compromised. The data breach affected an estimated 9,000 institutions across Australia, Canada and the United States, including universities, whose students were in the midst of finals.

"Who did it and what are they going to do with the data?" she said, during an interview with ABC 11 (1).

The Canvas breach is part of a bigger problem

Canvas, for those unfamiliar, is an online platform that allows students to access schoolwork, submit assignments and store grades. For university students, financial details factor in far greater than with high schools. To be clear, though, there is no evidence suggesting passwords, dates of birth or financial information were shared.

At Mississippi State University, Aubrey Palmer, a meteorology student, told the BBC (2) they had just finished a 2,900-word essay exam when they received an alert on their screens.

"ShinyHunters has breached Instructure (again)," it read.

ShinyHunters (3) is a hacker and extortion group that has been active since 2020. It has been responsible for several massive data breaches, data theft and extortion efforts targeting global corporations and organizations like AT&T (4), Google (5) and Ticketmaster (6).

ShinyHunters typically does its work by making English-language phone calls and impersonating employees to trick company staff into granting access. In this instance, they exploited flaws in the Free-For-Teacher accounts on April 29. Canvas owner and developer Instructure said hackers were able to obtain names, email addresses, student ID numbers and user messages.

The threat was thought to have receded, but ShinyHunters regained access the very next day, on April 30.

This is not a one-off either. In 2024, logins and credentials for PowerSchool contract employees were compromised (7), exposing names, addresses and email information. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction shifted all of their information to an online portal.

How parents can protect their child's personal information

Kimberly Simon, CEO of Growth Office Partners in Durham, North Carolina, said families should stay vigilant when it comes to suspicious communications (8).

"Be extra cautious about any emails that are now coming in asking for information and pretending to be the school," she told ABC 11. "The second thing is to turn on multi-factor authentication on every single account. This should already be done."

Multi-factor authentication means users will need more than one piece of information to get into an account on top of a password. You can set up a password plus a code that's sent to your phone by text or through email.

Additionally, people should update their passwords regularly and ensure the same ones are not being used for multiple accounts (9).

The best way to safeguard the cybersecurity of your family is to use a multi-pronged strategy, also known as a defense in depth (10). That way, if one defense fails, there are still other safeguards in place to mitigate damages or breaches.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

ABC 11 (1),(8); BBC (2); Google Cloud (3); Wired (4),(6); PC Mag (5),(9); Security.org (7); Fortinet (10)

Take Diane, for example. At 42, she felt like she was playing the game right. She bought a $460,000 house, kept a $20,000 safety net in the bank and had a $42,000 Roth IRA she promised herself she wouldn't touch.

Then, life happened. Her work hours were cut, slashing her income by nearly 20%. That was when the house decided to act up — plumbing, electrical and roof damage from a storm. Suddenly, she was hit with a $13,000 repair bill.

Diane's dream home is now a source of stress, and she is far from alone. The reality is, just under half of Americans (1) can't cover a $1,000 emergency without borrowing money, and about one in four have zero emergency savings at all.

Meanwhile, it's estimated that homeowners spend more than $21,000 a year on "hidden" costs — taxes, insurance, and repairs.

For Diane, all of that hit at once. Here's what she — or anyone in this spot — should consider.

Talk to your lender before you panic

It's easy to freeze up or feel ashamed when your income drops, but with mortgages, stalling is the worst thing you can do. Waiting just makes the problems pile up, and reduces the number of options available to you over time.

Reaching out early to your lender can open doors that disappear later, like temporary payment reductions, interest-only payments or extending your loan terms to help shrink the monthly bill, all of which are designed to buy breathing room during short-term financial shocks.

Many lenders have hardship programs specifically for this. The goal is to act *before* you miss a payment, because once you're behind, the options disappear and fees start taking over, turning a manageable situation into a long-term credit problem. With costs rising for everyone, this isn't just paperwork — it's protection.

Create short-term cash flow

Between a shrinking income and mounting home repairs, Diane is in a cash crunch. This is where she — and anyone else in her shoes — has to get creative, whether that's freelancing, selling things, or renting out a spare room.

While there's no exact national count, surveys show roughly half of American homeowners have unused bedrooms (2), while a survey (3) found nearly four in 10 U.S. homeowners have either already rented out, or would consider renting out, part of their home — including spare rooms — as rising costs push more people to look for extra cash wherever they can find it.

It's the kind of situation where financial priorities start to shift quickly. Some homeowners end up selling assets, pausing retirement contributions, or temporarily redirecting savings just to cover essentials like repairs, utilities, and mortgage payments.

Financial planners call this "bridge income" — temporary cash flow to stabilize the ship without breaking your long-term goals. It's about creating just enough breathing room to get through a rough patch without digging yourself into debt.

And for Diane, none of the choices will feel particularly good — but the alternative is running out of runway.

Is staying in the home realistic?

For someone like Diane, this is the hardest question. After saving for years, selling can feel like failing. But experts warn against the "sunk-cost trap" — holding on just because of what you've already put into it, even if you're sinking.

If the income isn't there and the repairs keep coming, selling now might save her equity and protect her retirement. The longer she waits, the less control she has. It's an emotional decision, but it has to be a financial one, too. Can she *actually* afford to live there?

She's operating in a tough environment, too. About 50 percent of U.S. homeowners and renters say they struggle to afford their housing, according to a Redfin survey (4), meaning Diane's nightmare is a reality for millions.

Her next steps — negotiating with the bank, picking up extra work, or selling — aren't just about paying for a new roof. They are about protecting her future in a system where even the best-laid plans can fall apart.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Bankrate (1); YouGov (2); Realtor.com (3); Redfin (4)

"The consumer is really, really firing on all cylinders, just like the corporate sector," he told Fox Business News host Maria Bartiromo on "Mornings with Maria." (1)

"Credit card spending is through the roof, [they're] spending more on gasoline ... but they're spending more on everything else, too."

The blowback from Hassett's interview came quickly, from political commentators to social media users.

One X user wrote (3), "Americans are spending more on gas because gas costs $4.54 a gallon. They're putting the rest on credit cards because their savings are gone. Kevin Hassett just accidentally described a debt crisis as a boom." Jon Favreau from Pod Save America noted that this messaging was so bad, Hassett may as well be a Democratic plant (2).

So is credit card spending really a sign of American prosperity and an improving jobs outlook, as Hassett claims, or is he off the mark? Here's a closer look at the numbers.

Where is that money coming from?

Hassett trumpeted the consumer expenditures as a direct result of President Donald Trump's policies, which he says have given Americans "so much more money in their pockets."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, also in an interview with Bartiromo, said that 45% of Americans who filed their taxes this year received record refunds, and if they filed electronically, received it within 21 days. According to CNBC, the average refund (4) was $3,275 as of April 17, up around 11% from last year.

Hassett called out two tax deductions as helping people save more. First, the No Tax on Tips policy, which allows for up to a $25,000 deduction in tipped income. And, he said, a new tax break (6) on Social Security income helped millions of older Americans. Hassett claimed the average benefit for both breaks, which expire in 2028, was worth around $7,000. (7).

Meanwhile, Hassett added, unemployment is holding steady — 4.3% in April, unchanged from March, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data (8).

"Nobody's really losing their job, nobody's being fired," Hassett said.

Spending is not the same thing as paying off debt

There's no question that Americans are increasing their debt levels. According to the Federal Reserve (9), in the fourth quarter of 2025:

• Total household debt hit $18.8 trillion, up $191 billion from the third quarter.
• Mortgage balances reached $13.17 trillion, up $98 billion.
• HELOC balances hit $434 billion, up $11.6 billion.
• Credit card balances grew to $1.28 trillion, up $44 billion.
• Auto loan balances stood at $1.67 trillion, up $12 billion.
• Student loan balances hit $1.66 trillion, up $11 billion.

But the Fed's Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit (10) suggests this outsize debt is not the result of average Americans having more money in their pockets.

Many Americans are putting things on credit but can't pay their debt off (11), as everyday expenses rise. Out of that $18.8 trillion in household debt, 4.8% was delinquent in December 2025. That's $900 billion in delinquent consumer loans. Early delinquencies were most pronounced in student loans and mortgages.

Serious delinquencies (90 days' late or more) on student loans are at 9.6% of balances, and the New York Fed's economic research advisor Wilbert van der Klaauw noted (12) that increasing mortgage delinquencies were “concentrated in lower-income areas and in areas with declining home prices."

Farmers are struggling as well. In 2025, they were taking out operating loans that were 30% higher than in 2024, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (13). A growing number of farmers were unable to keep up with costs.

Investigate Midwest (14) notes that 314 American farmers filed for Chapter 12 bankruptcies in 2025, up from 216 in 2024, a nearly 46% increase. Farmers in the Midwest and Southeast were hit particularly hard.

A mixed employment situation

According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data (8), there was a net gain of 115,000 jobs in April in healthcare, transportation, warehousing and retail trade.

However, more people were working part-time because they couldn't find full-time work or their hours were reduced. The number of those part-time workers grew to nearly 5 million in April (15) (an increase of 445,000 over March).

Meanwhile, as Business Insider reports, more than 100 companies — including Amazon, Citi, Nike and Verizon — have announced plans (16) to lay off staff globally in 2026. Many firms cite artificial intelligence as a reason to reduce their workforces (although overhiring during the pandemic may be a larger factor).

The federal workforce continues to shrink (8). Still, Hassett is hopeful about jobs in manufacturing, saying that foreign companies are building factories in the U.S., thanks to Trump.

He points to Novartis, which has announced (17) a $23-billion plan to construct a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in North Carolina.

"Anybody who works in a factory is going to see a huge increase in the demand for their labor as the factories get set up," he said, claiming that 54,000 jobs have recently been created for construction workers.

Whether better news will shift the needle on America's consumer debt remains to be seen, but as the New York Times reported, even consumers who have six-figure incomes say their credit card balances are up because they can't manage monthly expenses (18).

Article Sources

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YouTube (1),(2); X (3); CNBC (4); Scripps News (5); AARP (6); TurboTax (7); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (8); Federal Reserve Bank of New York (9),(10),(12); Eye on Housing (11); Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (13); Investigate Midwest (14); Reuters (15); Business Insider (16); Novartis (17); The New York Times (18)

While the stereotypical example of a middle-aged man going through a mid-life crisis used to be about buying an expensive sports car on a whim so he can appear younger and cooler, this may be shifting.

That's because there's a growing trend among middle-aged men that's less about buying fancy things and more about spending money on staying hot as they age.

"Most of us may not have the money to buy a Porsche, but we might have $6,000 a year for a good doctor who can work with us on our biomarkers," writes Chris Rovzar, editor of global luxury coverage at Bloomberg (3). "Or $320 a month to spend on peptides from a compound pharmacy (4)."

Talking about men's beauty has gone mainstream

Traditionally, it's been women who've faced intense beauty standards, but now, men are also holding themselves to ever-higher standards of attractiveness.

"What changed is pretty straightforward," Dave Asprey (5), 4-times New York Times-bestselling author, longevity expert and creator of the Biohacking Movement, told Moneywise. "Men figured out that looking good and feeling powerful are the same thing."

"Previous generations treated those as separate," he continued. "Today's guy knows his body is the foundation everything else runs on. He watched his father decline at 55 and decided that wasn't going to be him."

Part of the cultural shift could be the rise of Ozempic and other GLP-1 weight loss drugs. The Federal Drug Administration approved Ozempic to treat type 2 diabetes in 2017, then approved a higher dose in 2022 (6).

That year, celebrities and online influencers shared their weight-loss journeys on social media, not shying away from the fact that GLP-1 drugs were a vital part of their life-changing strategies (6). Suddenly, people everywhere were openly talking about losing weight — not just by exercising and eating right, but by taking medicine prescribed off-label for this purpose.

"Ozempic was a social unlock," Rovzar writes for Bloomberg (4). "You can't hide that you rapidly lost 50 pounds and its common usage led to a new comfort level in discussing medications and procedures."

Ravzar says that as men grow older, they aren't just talking about their "lifespan." They're also discussing their "healthspan," or how to stay healthier as they age. And, last but not least, their "hotspan" … how to stay hot with age (4).

Staying hot with age: The perception of masculinity is changing

The term "self-care" often refers to women's interests, like getting mani-pedis at the nail salon with the girls or developing a multistep skin care routine. But the idea of self-care has spread to men, too. The Global Wellness Institute found that in 2024 and 2025, male consumer habits shifted toward self-care, "both in products and lifestyle services (7)."

For a long time, many expected men to keep their grooming products to the basics: shampoo, soap, shaving cream and a razor. In the last few years, men have added serums, targeted moisturizers and cosmetics to this list. Men's personal care has soared to a $90 billion industry globally and it's still growing (7).

This is still short of the much-more-established $289.4 billion women's wellness industry in 2025 (8), but men's wellness products and services are gradually closing the gap.

The leap from men's skincare to peptides and biomarker testing

The men's health and beauty industry is going beyond skin care and weight loss. Many are opting for more expensive, radical strategies for looking and feeling good.

In the Bloomberg article, Rovzar writes that when he asked people how they were looking younger, they told him they were paying to have their biomarkers tested (4). Biomarker tests look at a person's metabolism, hormones, cholesterol, inflammation and more (9). Then, doctors tailor the patient's therapies.

Biomarker testing is useful in detecting and treating diseases such as cancer (10). For anti-aging and fitness, it aims to predict age-related issues so the patient can get a personalized nutrition regimen. Biomarker testing also compares your biological age with your chronological age (how old you are in years versus how old your body and mind act (11)).

Your body naturally produces peptides, which are the building blocks of proteins (12), but synthetic peptides are becoming more popular (13). And synthetic peptides aren't necessarily bad — in fact, insulin was the first peptide drug, becoming widely available in 1923 (14). Peptide is also used in drugs such as Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs (14).

Injectable peptides are said to reduce signs of aging by increasing collagen production, cellular repair and growth hormone release (15). But a lot of types of synthetic peptides have not been scientifically tested, so we don't know all of the risks involved with taking them yet.

Asprey told Moneywise that "the peptide boom" makes perfect sense when we look at it as current millennial men wanting to live longer, healthier lives compared to their fathers.

"BPC-157 and TB-500 are recovery tools that happen to make you look better too," he said. "These guys want to repair their biology at the source. The beauty industry hasn't figured that out yet, but they're going to have to."

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Beresford Research (1); National Institutes of Health (2),(11); Bloomberg (3),(4); Dave Asprey (5); Medical University of South Carolina (6); Global Wellness Institute (7); Market.us (8); Fierce Healthcare (9); UofL Health (10); Baptist Health (12); Verified Market Reports (13); Nature (14); Empire Medical Training (15)

The investor, best known as the inspiration for the 2015 film The Big Short, which looked at his prediction of the subprime mortgage crisis, said he believed the market's long-running rally is about to end and a significant decline could be on the way.

In a post on Substack, Burry said he was having a major feeling of deja vu when it came to the market.

"With what is happening in the market the last week, that I had lived this before suddenly dawned on me," he wrote (1). "The NASDAQ 100, complete reversal. … I am calling something. The market has jumped the shark."

Part of the reason for his bearishness is the resemblance, he says, between today's market and the final parts of the dot-com bubble. Investors, he said, are ignoring economic data and global events and focusing myopically on just one thing instead: AI, in this case.

"Absolutely non-stop AI. Nobody is talking about anything else all day," Burry wrote after listening to financial radio coverage on a long drive (2).

"Stocks are not up or down because of jobs or consumer sentiment. They are going straight up because they have been going straight up. On a two letter thesis that everyone thinks they understand. ... Feeling like the last months of the 1999-2000 bubble."

The boy who cried wolf

Burry conceded in his post that he has incorrectly forecasted market crashes in the past. He compared Bitcoin to the housing market in March of 2021 (3). Three months later, he warned of a massive bubble and looming market crash that he said would be the worst in history (4).

Neither of those crashes happened and Burry took ownership of that in his post (5), but also pointed to his track record.

"I am now a meme for the number of times I have called a crash," he wrote. "I have become the boy who cried wolf. History is written not by the victors, but by those that control the pen, and social media has that pen right now, it seems.

"Still, I got it right in 2000, got it right in 2007. Got it right in 2019, helped by COVID, and I called the meme stock crash in mid 2021. I called the bank stock run in 2023."

Not alone

Burry isn't the only stock market veteran who is warning of a forthcoming correction.

On May 8, Paul Tudor Jones told CNBC that he felt the current environment on Wall Street felt a lot like 1999, the last strong year before the dot com crash (2). While Jones said he expects the current rally to last another year or two, he worries about how high valuations might rise in that time.

"Just imagine the stock market went up another 40%," Jones said. "The stock market GDP is going to probably be good lord 300%, 350%. You just know that there'll be some ... breathtaking kind of corrections."

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Business Insider (1),(3); CNBC (2); Fortune (4); Substack (5).

Even though the median price of a home in America has climbed to more than $408,000 — a new record for the month of March (2) — sales activity has been meagre.

The National Association of Realtors' most recent data from that month showed a "sluggish" number of existing homes switching hands, with transactions falling 3.6% from April and 1% from the same time last year, when sales figures were already on a downward trajectory. (3)

It's certainly not an ideal time to sell your home if you're seeking maximum return on investment, and the near future of the market feels uncertain, too. But if you need to liquidate equity, downsize, upgrade, or relocate for any other reason that makes timing non-negotiable, you simply have to optimize as much as possible to meet the market where it is right now. For many, that will include changing tack and re-listing after a lack of bites or a failed deal.

Let's say your home has been sitting on the market to the point that the listing has terminated. Or, it just hasn't garnered the interest you thought it would. Maybe a promising offer fell through for one reason or another — cold feet, sales conditions not met, etc. Or perhaps the listing just feels stale and, for strategy's sake, needs to be reworked.

As easy as it is to feel frustrated, it's crucial to keep your goals in mind and maintain hope, along with, of course, realistic expectations and flexibility. Here's how.

Assess blind spots and areas for improvement

Rather than simply relisting the home in the exact same way, examine what ways you could improve the listing. Were the photos of subpar quality, were there not enough of them, and/or did they fail to show the home at its best?

Did you forget to emphasize the home's most objectively sellable features? Were any key details left out? Was the description lacklustre? Is your price just too high for the area right now?

Even if nothing was particularly wrong or missing, you must look at how you can improve your listing — and your actual home — in absolutely every aspect within your means.

Would some cleaning, painting and a quick refresh help? Can you spruce up the garden for some curb appeal? What about some better staging to make the home feel higher-end and move-in ready? Or just brighter, higher-resolution, better-angled and better-lit photos? (4)

More significant repairs and upgrades may be necessary to warrant your price point. You may want to opt for a pre-listing inspection to help identify and solve (or at least help you be transparent with) any major issues. (5)

But while a pre-listing inspection can serve to ease the minds of prospective buyers while also offering you more control of the inspection process, sellers should know that they're obligated to disclose anything that's uncovered during the review.

Comparing your listing to other homes for sale and any recently sold homes in your neighborhood will give you an idea of what works and doesn't work (like pricing).

Do your research, work with professionals and seek as much advice as possible

Going beyond your own personal judgement on all of the above points is key. Sure, you may think the photos are acceptable, but your realtor, a professional stager, a photographer — heck, even a coworker or family member — may have some suggestions on how to enhance them.

Don't be afraid to work with your contacts and get a professional opinion (and help) on anything that could be of benefit. Do you know a writer who could do wonders with the wording of the listing? Someone who's a promotional expert? An amateur videographer who loves creating drone content? Anyone with expertise on the local market and pricing, interior decorating or landscaping?

Loved ones and acquaintances can be great sounding boards if you're looking for advice and a more objective perspective. Even better if it's someone who's recently sold (or bought) their home.

Another thing to consider is listing with a different agent or brokerage altogether. (6) Can you find an agent with a higher success rate or more pervasive marketing? Maybe a friend has worked with a firm that they can't stop raving about, and that has good reviews. Research, research, research.

Pivot and re-list your property

Now it's time to take everything you've learned and apply it to making your home show as best as it possibly can, and to making your listing shine.

If your objective is as quick a sale as possible to liquidate fast, perhaps you've lowered your price substantially. (7) If it's to get the best value in today's market, maybe you've taken some thoughtful steps to highlight strong points, polish weak ones and add value within a reasonable budget.

There's also a chance you've decided to take a break until a more lucrative selling season or until market conditions are more desirable. (8)

With new knowledge, a fresh listing and some intentional upgrades, hopefully you have more luck next time around — and that a new approach means you no longer need to rely on just luck.

Article Sources

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Bloomberg (1); National Association of Realtors (2),(3),(4); Moving.com (5); Money (6); Kiplinger (7); Trulia (8)

"The jobs numbers right now have been blockbuster," Hassett said. "The breakeven job number is a lot lower than it used to be because we've tightened the border. And so 120,000, 130,000 this year is sort of like 200,000 two or three years ago because we don't have this massive inflow of immigrants that are working."

The April jobs report (3) had something for both sides of the argument. Job creation topped expectations for the month, with nonfarm payrolls up by a seasonally adjusted 115,000 for April, but average hourly earnings came in lower than expected — and the month also saw a noticeable drop in the labor force and tech-related jobs.

How the 'breakeven' jobs number works

Hassett's perspective on the jobs numbers is based on the breakeven, or the number of jobs the economy must add each month to keep the unemployment rate from drifting up. When immigration rises, the breakeven climbs. When it slows, the same payroll figure starts signaling a tighter labor market.

For historical scale, a Federal Reserve staff note published last month (4) noted the breakeven averaged around 80,000 a month in the 2010s and ran as high as 185,000 in the 1970s, when baby boomers and women were flooding into the workforce.

What economists are still debating

Some economists have offered partial support for Hassett's framing. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee told (5) CNBC (6) on Friday the labor market has been "pretty much stable for a year, year and a half," calling it as stable "without being good." Dan North, senior economist for North America at Allianz, told CNBC the report was "fairly bulletproof this month."

Others are not sold. Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM US, pushed back earlier this year (7) on attributing softer hiring to demographics, calling it "an attempt to distract from immigration and trade policies." Kory Kantenga, LinkedIn's head of economics for the Americas, told CNN (8) that "half of the job gains came from retail and transportation and warehousing; those are sectors that do not consistently add jobs."

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CNBC (1),(2),(3),(5),(6); U.S. Federal Reserve (4); The Hill (7); CNN (8)

By the time the sun came up, families in Lincoln County were stepping into the rubble of what used to be their homes. Among them were two brothers from the Wash Trailer Park in the small community of Bogue Chitto, one of whom watched his home get completely destroyed.

That morning, one of the brothers described the shock of facing homelessness again. “I can say this for a fact, coming from experiencing homelessness a few times in the past, it’s definitely devastating,” Dwayne Donaldson told WLBT3 (2). “And hopefully it’ll shake me better for the future.”

Despite everything, both brothers said they were grateful to still have each other.

According to CBS News, at least 14 tornadoes were reported across Mississippi that night, with hundreds of homes damaged and power knocked out across multiple counties (3). Bogue Chitto was among the hardest-hit areas (4).

The insurance question — especially for mobile home residents

For anyone whose home is destroyed in a tornado, the first financial call to make is to your insurance company. The second, if you’re unsure what your policy covers, is to your state insurance department.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners recommends that disaster survivors contact their state insurance department for guidance on claims and coverage questions (5).

According to United Policyholders, although insurance funds are the “fastest and best source of repair and rebuild funds” for disaster-impacted households, many mobile and manufactured homeowners find themselves underinsured, and most policies exclude flood damage entirely, which must be purchased separately (6).

Federal assistance: What’s available and how to access it

When insurance falls short or doesn’t exist, federal programs may be able to help, depending on whether a major disaster declaration is issued for the affected areas, FEMA confirms (7). Once a declaration is in place, survivors can apply for assistance through FEMA online at DisasterAssistance.gov, by phone or in person (8).

The U.S. Small Business Administration also offers low-interest disaster loans (9) for homeowners, renters, businesses and nonprofits — a program that many survivors overlook because the “small business” name suggests it isn’t relevant to individuals. It is.

These loans can help bridge the gap between what insurance covers and what it actually costs to rebuild or replace what was lost.

However, the most important step in either case is to document everything as quickly as possible. Photograph all damage before anything is moved or cleaned up. Make a written list of every loss. Keep every receipt for disaster-related expenses, including temporary housing, meals and emergency repairs.

This documentation forms the backbone of any assistance application.

The longer road: Rebuilding financial stability

Losing a home in minutes is both a housing and a financial crisis — something no one plans for. But having a plan for what comes next can make all the difference.

For the brothers in Lincoln County, the immediate aftermath meant counting their blessings alongside their losses. “I’m just glad my brother wasn’t in there last night,” said Carcavious Sydney, Donaldson’s brother, referring to a nearby trailer that had flipped over entirely (10).

That instinct to focus on people before property is the right one. But once the shock fades, the financial steps taken in the first days and weeks after a disaster could determine how quickly a family can get back on its feet.

Acting fast on insurance claims, applying for available assistance without delay and keeping meticulous records are the three steps that matter most, and they’re accessible to anyone, regardless of income or homeownership status.

Article Sources

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WLBT3 (1), (2); CBS News (3); Mississippi Free Press (4); National Association of Insurance Commissioners (5); United Policyholders (6); FEMA (7), (8); U.S. Small Business Administration (9); WLBT3/YouTube (10).

New systems hit stores, usually to overwhelming demand. Discounts are nowhere to be found, aside from an occasional bundle package, which includes a popular game with the hardware. A few years into the sales cycle, though, prices drop as components become cheaper and savings on mass production kick in. The pace of those price cuts varies, but hardware prices never go up.

The ninth-generation of gaming hardware, though, has seen the old rules thrown out. Nintendo (TYO: 7974) is the latest company to break new ground, announcing that it is increasing the price (1) of the Switch 2 system from $450 to $500 in the U.S to come into effect on September 1, 2026. (Other regions will see higher prices as well.)

"We sincerely apologize for the impact these price revisions may have on our customers and other stakeholders, and we deeply appreciate your understanding," the company said when announcing the price changes.

The move comes in response to the quickly escalating price of computer memory. Artificial intelligence companies have been snatching that up at breathtaking pace as data centers are built out.

As a result, Nintendo told investors it expected to sell fewer consoles than it had previously forecast. The company has now estimated that it will sell 16.5 million Switch 2s (2) in FY27, a 16.9% drop compared to total volume sold in FY26.

That resulted in an 8.4% drop (3) in the company's stock on Monday, even though Nintendo has historically been overly conservative in its forecasts.

Another hit system

The Switch 2 has been a sales smash since its release last June. Nintendo says it has sold 19.86 million units to (4) date (along with nearly 49 million software units alongside it). Before the price hike, it was selling faster than the original Switch, which went on to become Nintendo's best-selling console system. (The original took a full calendar year to hit the 15 million mark.)

The Switch 2 has already outsold the lifetime totals of the Wii U and is closing in fast on the Nintendo GameCube's total sales.

Analyst Doug Creutz of TD Cowen said in a note to investors that the price hike was "better than feared" but he was more concerned about the company's software guidance, which was also lowered.

"Guidance appears to suggest that the company doesn't have any major 'tentpole' titles coming this year – a significant surprise for the second year of the cycle," he wrote. "It's possible that something was planned for this year but then internally delayed into 2027, but generally speaking, we would have expected Nintendo to ensure that the year featured a major franchise outing."

Other price hikes

2026 is proving to be an expensive year to be a gamer. Nintendo's price hike on the Switch 2 isn't the only gaming hardware price increase. In March, Sony (5) increased the price of the PlayStation 5 by as much as $150, with the high-end PS5 Pro now selling for $900. Last October, Microsoft increased the prices (6) of the Xbox Series X and Series S for the second time in six months. Those systems now cost $650 and $449.

While memory prices are the primary reason behind the price increases, tariffs play a role as well. Nintendo, in March, filed a motion with the U.S. Court of International Trade to recover the money paid for tariffs, plus interest.

"Plaintiff has suffered injury caused by the IEEPA Duties," the filing reads (7). "If not remedied … [Nintendo] will suffer imminent and irreparable harm."

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Nintendo (1),(2),(4); CNBC (3); PlayStation Blog (5); Xbox Support (6); Scribd (7)

But David has been reading the company's annual reports, and it seems revenue has been declining for three straight years. The company refinanced a major debt facility last fall, and a local news story even mentioned layoffs in the second quarter.

David doesn't have an MBA, but something feels off. He's wondering whether Linda should take a lump sum while the company still has the money, or whether his worry is outpacing the actual risk.

What happens to a pension if the company fails?

Most private-sector defined benefit pensions are insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) — a federal agency that takes over pension payments when a company can no longer fund its plan. (1) If Linda's employer went bankrupt tomorrow and the pension collapsed, the PBGC would step in and keep her checks coming.

PBGC data shows that most retirees in single-employer plans receive their full promised benefit up to statutory caps. (2) And The PBGC's single-employer program — the one that covers corporate pensions like Linda's — reported a surplus of $54.1 billion as of 2025, so the fund is in solid shape. (3)

There is a ceiling though. For 2026, the PBGC's maximum guarantee for a 65-year-old retiree is $7,789.77 per month (or $93,477 per year) for a straight-life annuity. (4) Any pension benefit above that cap is not guaranteed. If Linda's monthly pension is modest — say, $2,500 or $3,000 a month — the PBGC backstop covers her entirely if the plan fails. If her benefit runs closer to $8,000 or $9,000 a month, she has real exposure above the cap, and that's the number David and Linda should know before they make any decision.

What do you actually give up by cashing out?

A monthly pension is a guarantee that doesn't expire. It pays whether markets crash or boom, or whether Linda lives to 80 or 95. And according to the Social Security Administration, a woman who reaches 62 today can expect to live to about 84. (5) That's more than two decades of income that a pension will deliver, without Linda having to manage a single investment.

On the other hand, if they wanted to withdraw the lump sum at once, they would need to invest the money and generate the same income stream themselves, for as long as she lives, without running out. That's a genuine challenge, particularly if they have limited investment experience.

There's also a tax issue. If the pension sends the lump sum to them as a check, the plan has to withhold 20% for taxes, so Linda would only receive 80% right away. If they want to move the money into an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) without paying tax now, they can put the full amount into the IRA within 60 days.

But since the pension plan sent only 80%, they'll need to make up the missing 20% from their savings to cover the withheld portion, which they'll recover next year as tax refund. If they don't do that, the missing amount is treated as taxable income, so they'd pay tax on it like regular earnings.

To avoid that hit, David and Linda would need to arrange a direct rollover — where the money moves straight from the pension plan into a traditional IRA without passing through their hands. So no 20% cut and taxes stay deferred until years later when they pull money out.

How to check whether worrying is warranted

David can confirm his worries with two documents: The annual funding notice and the Form 5500.

Federal law requires pension plans to send participants this notice each year. It shows whether the pension plan itself — not the company — is adequately funded. Pension assets are held in a trust separate from company assets, which means a struggling company doesn't automatically mean a struggling pension. Under federal rules, a plan funded above 80% is generally in good shape, and below 60% shows legal distress with possible restrictions on lump-sum payments. (6)

Form 5500 is the pension plan's annual filing with the Department of Labor (DOL). It's publicly available through the DOL's online database and shows the plan's funding ratio, asset values and liabilities in plain numbers. (7) A plan that is close to fully funded is generally in better shape, so the risk of a major benefit cut to Linda's pension is usually lower.

When cashing out might actually make sense for someone in Linda's position

There are scenarios where taking the lump sum is worth considering. If Linda's pension benefit is significantly above the PBGC cap, a lump sum moves that exposed portion out of risk. If her health is poor and a shorter-than-average life expectancy is realistic, a lump sum may deliver more total money than a monthly annuity would over time.

And if the plan is really below 60%, that's a sign that things are genuinely shaky, so David's worry has some real numbers behind it. At that point, it can make sense to act sooner rather than later, because once a pension plan is in bankruptcy, lump-sum options can get restricted.

For most people in Linda's position (with a pension below the PBGC cap, a plan that looks reasonably funded and an employer that's struggling but not in obvious collapse) that lifetime guarantee is hard to replace once it's gone. In a lot of cases, the fear of the company going under is bigger than the actual financial risk.

The smarter move for David and Linda is probably not "cash out or don't" — it's to get the funding notice and the Form 5500 before making any decision.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (1); Pension Rights Center (2); Greenbush Financial (3); Plan Sponsor (4); Social Security Administration (5); Independent Actuaries (6); U.S. Department of Labor (7)

Workers in full-body protective suits sprayed disembarking travelers with disinfectant (3). The Dutch-flagged ship which is sailing to the Netherlands to be disinfected.

Meanwhile, 17 American passengers were flown to the federal biocontainment unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (4). The CDC has ordered them to quarantine there for up to 42 days — the maximum incubation window for the virus.

This is the first case of Andes hantavirus (5) on the ship, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) (6). It is suspected to have come from "exposure to rodents during bird watching activities" before the cruise even began.

A Dutch couple who took a pre-cruise trip (7) through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay are believed to have brought it aboard.

That detail will haunt any thought of seeking damages, but so will the broader truth about cruise liability. Maritime law, a 1991 Supreme Court ruling and fine print on every cruise ticket make it nearly impossible for sick passengers to recover meaningful compensation from a cruise line.

Why the Hondius outbreak is a worst-case scenario for plaintiffs

The Hondius is registered in the Netherlands (8), owned by an Amsterdam-based company and did not touch a U.S. port on this particular voyage. Those three facts mean American maritime case law plays a smaller role than usual.

Instead, the controlling framework is likely an International Maritime Organization treaty known as the Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea (9).

According to its 2002 Protocol (10), ratified by the Netherlands, passenger compensation is split into two categories:

• Shipping incidents, including shipwrecks, fires, capsizings, collisions, defects in the vessel — which trigger strict liability up to 250,000 Special Drawing Rights per passenger (11), converted into local currencies depending on the parties involved

and

• Non-shipping incidents, basically everything else — including viral outbreaks — where to receive any payout, passengers must prove the cruise line acted negligently. That's tough if it's an infectious disease with a one-to-eight-week incubation period (12) that likely originated off the ship.

Hantavirus spreads almost exclusively through contact with rodent urine, droppings or saliva. When it spreads between people, it requires close, prolonged contact. Establishing that Oceanwide failed to act reasonably — rather than that unlucky passengers brought a virus aboard from the Patagonian backcountry — would be a plaintiff's mountain to climb.

Oceanwide has been publishing detailed press updates throughout the crisis (13) and coordinating with health authorities, the kind of paper trail that tends to insulate carriers from negligence claims.

The 1991 Supreme Court decision that rewired cruise lawsuits

Even when a cruise originates in a U.S. port and U.S. courts have jurisdiction, the deck is stacked against passengers.

The pivotal precedent is Carnival Cruise Lines v. Shute (14), decided 7-2 by the Supreme Court in 1991. Washington state resident Eulala Shute sued Carnival in her home state after she slipped on a deck mat aboard a Carnival cruise off the Mexican coast.

Carnival pointed to fine print on her ticket requiring disputes to be filed in Florida, and the judge sided with Carnival.

That ruling reshaped the entire industry. Major cruise lines today require passengers to file suit in a specific federal court — typically the Southern District of Florida for Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian (15) — within one year of an incident, with written notice provided within six months. And the standard of care isn't passenger-friendly either.

Under Kornberg v. Carnival Cruise Lines (16), an Eleventh Circuit decision from 1984 that remains the prevailing rule, cruise operators owe passengers "reasonable care under the circumstances" — not the heightened duty some travelers assume applies to common carriers like airlines.

The federal Death on the High Seas Act (17) of 1920 limits wrongful-death damages in international waters to financial losses like lost wages and funeral expenses, not pain or grief.

Easier to cover yourself than win against the cruise lines

Cruise ships and infectious disease have a long, awkward relationship. The CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program (18), established in 1975 after a string of gastrointestinal outbreaks, has logged dozens of norovirus events in recent years.

The most public modern moment came in February 2020, when the Diamond Princess, quarantined in Yokohama, recorded more than 700 COVID-19 cases (19) among its 3,711 passengers and crew. Lawsuits followed, but few yielded large payouts.

The industry has come back larger each time. Expedition cruising like that of the Hondius continues to grow year over year. What those tickets buy, almost invariably, is the right to disagree with the cruise line on the cruise line's terms.

The practical takeaway for travelers is the one most skip at booking. Purchase travel insurance with medical-evacuation coverage and read the ticket contract carefully. Those are the only real protections once the gangway lifts.

The Americans now arriving in Omaha will have access to one of the world's best biocontainment facilities, but their legal recourse against Oceanwide, should they get sick, is pretty thin.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Oceanwide Expeditions (1),(13); BBC (2); PBS (3); NBC News (4); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (5),(12),(18),(19); ABC7 (6); Yahoo News (7); CruiseMapper (8); International Maritime Organization (9); UK Government (10); Gard (11); Justia (14),(16); Plaintiff Magazine (15); Cornell Law Institute (17)

A recent Empower survey seems to confirm this view (1). The survey, which was conducted in June 2025, found that the average American thinks they should be retired by the age of 58. That is six years earlier than the actual average retirement age of 64, based on 2024 data from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (2).

Meanwhile, the average American believes the "magic number" for most adults to retire comfortably is $1.46 million (3). Simply put, the ideal target is reaching well above seven-figures before 60.

If you're on track to hit these milestones, congratulations! But there are several reasons, besides the money, you may still end up regretting early retirement.

Surveys of actual retirees keep landing on the same uncomfortable finding: The regrets that haunt early retirees are not always about the money — they're about other things the paycheck quietly came with.

Here are three things you might want to consider before taking the plunge into early retirement.

1: A balance sheet becomes a burden

Carrying debt has different implications when you switch from steady employment income to a fixed retirement income. There's little room for error, and if you're carrying a lot of high-interest debt, it can quickly erode your budget, even if your nest egg is worth $1 million.

According to a national survey conducted by Talker Research on behalf of National Debt Relief, roughly 72% of Americans over the age of 55 had some debt (4). More strikingly, 62% said this debt was a surprise and that they didn't plan for having it at this stage in life.

From unexpected medical bills to sudden emergencies, even affluent retirees can find themselves with a hefty interest payment every month.

To minimize your risk if you find yourself in debt, consider consolidating all your debts into a personal loan through a platform like Credible. Instead of juggling multiple monthly payments, you'll have one predictable payment to manage each month.

Through Credible's online marketplace, finding the right loan becomes much simpler. Credible lets you comparison-shop for the lowest interest rates with just a few clicks.

In less than three minutes, you'll see all the lenders willing to help pay off your credit cards or other debts with a single personal loan.

If you owe a substantial amount, you may also want to see if you qualify for a debt relief program to help clear a significant portion of your debt.

With Freedom Debt Relief, you can speak with a certified debt relief consultant for free, who can show you how much you can save by partnering with them.

If you're eligible, they can negotiate settlements with your creditors until all of your enrolled debt is resolved.

2: A lack of mental challenges

Another reason to reconsider early retirement is your cognitive health. A study published in De Economist journal found that, on average, cognitive abilities steadily decline after retirement (5), meaning that your job and all the intellectual challenges you face daily at work might actually help keep you mentally sharp.

Fortunately, the fix could be very cheap: Try finding some way to challenge yourself on a regular basis. Whether that's community work, a new passion project, a part-time job, freelance consulting or a seat on a corporate board, some form of mental exercise could help keep you in the game.

That's where retiree-focused organizations like AARP can help by offering job boards and resources for retirees looking for their next challenge. At just $15 a month for your first year when you enroll in automatic renewal, their membership could be the cheapest insurance against a boring and unstructured Tuesday.

Sign up with AARP today and get 25% off your first year.

3: An absence of community and socialization

Loneliness and lack of social interaction can be another genuine health hazard in retirement. A feeling of isolation is often associated with health problems such as heart disease, depression and cognitive decline, according to the National Institute on Aging (6).

To mitigate this risk, it's suggested that you build up your social infrastructure — before you need it. Recurring dinners, a hobby community, a faith group, a running club, all of these activities can keep you connected to others. Try to find a group, community work or social gathering that you can be a part of before you leave work permanently.

After all, the people you see weekly at 62 are the people who'll show up at 72.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

Empower (1); Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (2); Northwestern Mutual (3); Talker Research (4); Springer Nature (5); National Institute on Aging (6)

The sale cements OpenAI's standing as one of the world's most valuable startups — and it notably marks one of the largest concentrations of pre-IPO employee wealth ever created in Silicon Valley. OpenAI had tripled its previous per-employee cap of $10 million as the company said that old limit frustrated top researchers and engineers who were eligible to sell more, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The deal also marked many staffers' first real shot at liquidity, as OpenAI requires employees to hold their stock for two years before selling, a rule that locked out the wave of workers who joined after ChatGPT's debut in late 2022.

OpenAI's lucrative tender offers

For most of Silicon Valley's history, it worked like this: You'd join a hot startup with hopes it would eventually go public, and that its stock would still hold value by the time vesting and lockup periods ended. But things have changed over the past two decades, especially after the dot-com era produced hundreds of IPOs that didn't actually enrich employees who were locked into post-listing holding periods, meaning many watched their fortunes evaporate before they even had a chance to touch that money.

Today, we're seeing a lot of private tech companies stay private far longer. In response, secondary share sales — commonly called tender offers (2), in which existing investors or the company itself buys back stock directly from employees — have become a welcome release valve for those workers sitting on wealth that is still not yet liquid. OpenAI has run several of them in recent years.

The October round was a standout. Employees who joined OpenAI when it created its for-profit subsidiary (3) in 2019 have seen the value of their stock grow more than 100-fold, per the WSJ. And the figures are even more extreme as you look higher up on the company ladder. Last week, OpenAI President Greg Brockman testified in court (4) that his equity stake is worth around $30 billion. CEO Sam Altman has said he doesn't own shares in the company, citing its nonprofit origins — though some investors expect that to change (5) if Altman prevails in his ongoing court fight with Elon Musk over OpenAI's restructuring into a for-profit entity.

The AI-powered wealth wave

October's cashout is a preview of a far larger flood of money heading for Silicon Valley. Both OpenAI and its top-flight rival Anthropic are widely expected to pursue some of the largest IPOs in history, which would mint thousands more multimillionaires among their staffers. At OpenAI, some employees who hit the $30 million cap have shifted their leftover shares into donor-advised funds (6), which are charitable investment accounts that lock money away for philanthropy while letting donors claim a tax deduction in the same year.

Tech companies are opening up their wallets for AI talent. Last year, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta offered some of today's top AI researchers pay packages worth up to $300 million apiece. OpenAI, for its part, lists base salaries above $500,000 for certain technical roles on its careers page (7) — and last August, it issued one-time bonuses to some staffers worth millions of dollars.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

The Wall Street Journal (1); Investor.gov (2); OpenAI (3),(7); NBC News (4); Reuters (5); Fidelity Charitable (6)

That's why so many people struggle to take the final leap out of their career and into retirement. Delaying the decision to quit work by "just one more year" seems financially savvy on paper. After all, why not add another full year or two of income, Social Security contributions and investments to make your nest egg go from good enough to perfect?

But delaying retirement even after your financial advisor has told you it's practical has real implications. Here are the top three serious and hidden costs of working too long.

1: The cortisol tax

Life expectancy isn't the same as healthy life expectancy. According to the World Health Organization, the average life expectancy at birth is 76.4 in the U.S., but when adjusted for healthy years, it drops to just 63.9 on average (1).

Simply put, you can't expect the same vitality, strength and stamina in your 70s or 80s as you can in your 60s.

With this in mind, spending one extra year of your 60s at work is a real hidden cost. Worse yet, those extra meetings and deadlines are adding stress and cortisol to your system that could shrink your healthy years further.

This might be the best reason to consider early retirement.

It might also be a good reason to consider long-term care insurance. After all, if your last few years are likely to be the least healthy, you may need to prepare for elder care costs that are not necessarily covered by Medicare.

Without proper planning, paying for services like long-term care could deplete your retirement fund much faster than you planned for. In many cases, the burden of paying for care often falls on family members — potentially straining their finances.

GoldenCare offers different options based on your needs, including hybrid life or annuity with long-term care benefits, short-term care, extended care, home health care, assisted living and traditional long-term care insurance. Consider that for added peace of mind.

2: The window on tax strategies is closing

Retiring just a little early, even if you haven't hit your target and your nest egg is barely good enough, opens up many opportunities to reduce taxes over the long term.

For instance, you could harvest capital gains while you're in a lower tax bracket, according to Ameriprise Financial (2). You could also consider Roth conversions to reduce tax liabilities later in life, per Vanguard (3).

However, by staying at work for an additional year, your employment income could push you into a higher tax bracket, which makes these strategies less effective.

Whether or not the compromise is worth it depends on your personal financial situation, income and your advisor's calculations. But overall, this special window of opportunity is worth considering when you're planning retirement.

And if you don't have an advisor, like many Americans, you're missing out on these strategies even when you retire early. Finding a great tax expert or retirement planner is easier than ever with Advisor.com, which helps connect you with an experienced professional near you for free.

Advisor.com does the heavy lifting for you, vetting advisors based on track record, client ratios and regulatory background. Plus, their network comprises fiduciaries, who are legally required to act in your best interests.

Just enter a few details about your finances and goals, and Advisor.com's AI-powered matching tool will connect you with a qualified expert best-suited for your needs based on your unique financial goals and preferences.

Finding the right advisor isn't always easy — there's no one-size-fits-all solution. That's why Advisor.com lets you set up a free initial consultation, with no obligation to hire, to see if they're the right fit for you.

3: The Social Security 'tax torpedo'

This one is a hidden — and severe — cost for anyone collecting benefits while working.

If your income is more than $34,000 individually or $44,000 as a couple, up to 85% of your benefits could be taxable, according to the AARP (4).

Your employment income at this age could also put more of your Social Security check under the radar of the IRS. For high-income individuals, this could even be enough to bump you into a higher tax bracket, which is what Fidelity calls the "tax torpedo" (5).

By retiring early, you could keep more of the paycheck for yourself and manage your tax brackets more efficiently.

Bottom line

Your portfolio still has a chance to exceed expectations so that you can catch up on retirement. But once you lose a year of your life or the chance to use a time-limited tax strategy, that opportunity is never coming back.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

World Health Organization (1); Ameriprise Financial (2); Vanguard (3); AARP (4); Fidelity (5)

In 2023, the most recent year for which data is available, $25.7 billion in child support was collected from parents and transferred to those receiving support, according to a March 2025 Congressional Research Service report. (1)

In total, 65% of all payments that were due were collected. Unfortunately, this means a substantial amount of child support payments aren't being made.

While there are many enforcement mechanisms to make parents pay, including programs that collect the money directly from employers before wages are sent to workers, there's now a new threat looming over parents who don't cover their kids. They could lose their passports.

Parents who don't pay can say goodbye to their U.S. passports

On Thursday, May 7, the U.S. State Department told the Associated Press that it would begin revoking passports for parents who owe at least $100,000 in unpaid child support — effective as of Friday, May 8. (2)

This initial enforcement effort will affect around 2,700 holders of U.S. passports. But it is just the beginning of the crackdown.

Soon, the revocation program will expand to any parents who owe $2,500 or more. According to the Associated Press, this threshold was set by a 1996 law that has not been really enforced up to this point.

There is no clear data on exactly how many parents have unpaid balances topping $2,500, but officials did indicate that "many more thousands" would likely be caught up in the crackdown and grounded by the government.

What a passport revocation entails

The State Department is also making another big change.

While previously, passport renewal was typically denied to those who owed support, now the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is proactively reporting data on parents with past due balances to the State Department. Anyone with balances above the $2,500 threshold will have the documents revoked right away.

"We are expanding a commonsense practice that has been proven effective at getting those who owe child support to pay their debt," Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar told the Associated Press. "Once these parents resolve their debts, they can once again enjoy the privilege of a U.S. passport."

Those who lose their passports will be notified of the change and told they can't use their documents for travel. They'll have to reapply for a passport after paying their outstanding balance.

And anyone who is abroad when their passport is revoked will have to get an emergency travel document from the U.S. Consulate to be allowed back home to the U.S.

What this means for parents

If you are a parent waiting for support, hopefully this program will help you get your money.

The Associated Press said the State Department had "seen data that hundreds of parents took action and resolved their arrears with state authorities since news broke that the State Department would start proactively revoking passports."

There are departments in each state tasked with collecting unpaid child support, and those departments will typically collect the past due payments and distribute them to you if you're waiting for support that the other parent pays. (3) You can contact your state's Child Support Program to find out your options for making sure you get your money if payments are made.

For parents who owe and who can't pay the full amount, it may be possible to request a payment agreement (4) but this won't change the terms of the support order and you won't get the passport back until you've paid what you owe and applied for a new one. (5)

You can pay outstanding child support to your state's child support enforcement agency (to all states where you owe it) online. (5)

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Congressional Research Service (1); Associated Press (2); Florida Department of Revenue (3),(4); U.S. Department of State (5)

In a viral TikTok video, Florida educator Torie Fowler highlights how "course recovery" programs are helping students make up lost credits through shortened online assignments — in some cases, turning failing grades into passing ones in just a matter of weeks. (1)

However, she pointed to one senior student in her English class who went from 18 to 75 percent after completing a recovery program. Fowler says what stood out wasn't just the drastic grade change, but the speed of achieving it. That student finished the equivalent of nine weeks of work in a single day.

"What are we doing?" she asks in the video.

Educators warn of a broken system

Course recovery programs were structured to help students who fall behind still graduate on time. Instead of repeating a full class, for example, students can complete condensed online coursework to earn back credits. (2)

For some students, it's a lifeline — especially those dealing with health issues, family pressure, or other disruptions that make it hard to keep up in school.

But Fowler says it's also being used in ways that raise concerns.

"There are students who just know the system and know how to play the system," she said in an interview with TODAY.com. (3)

The comments on her TikTok video quickly filled up with reactions from teachers, parents, and former students — and some weren't holding back.

"I will fully admit I cheated on my online recovery class for chemistry my sophomore year of high school," one user wrote.

Fowler's not against second chances. But she worries about what it signals when passing becomes more about completion than actual learning.

Fowler, who also teaches college students, says she sees the effects later down the line — when students show up without basic skills they were supposed to already have.

"We are teaching them that there are no consequences for their actions," she said. "It's becoming more about getting them through and walking across the stage than actual learning."

Some educators say the pressure on schools to keep graduation rates high only adds to the problem, pushing systems that prioritize credit completion over mastery of material. (4) In that environment, critics argue, students can learn how to "work the system" rather than fully engage with it.

AI could widen future skills and income gaps

Fowler and other educators say tools like ChatGPT are now common in classrooms, and not just for studying. Many students are using them to help complete assignments, write entire essays, and finish coursework faster than before.

The numbers are backing up how quickly it's spreading. A 2025 survey from the Higher Education Policy Institute found that 92% of students use AI tools, with most saying they've used them for graded work. (5)

Research from the College Board found similar momentum among high school students, with usage rising from 79 to 84 percent in just a few months. (6)

The concern from educators isn't just that students are using these tools; it's what they're actually learning in the process.

A study involving researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University found that heavy reliance on AI tools can reduce problem-solving skills and independent thinking, especially when students lean on them instead of working through challenges. (7)

For Fowler, that ties back to a bigger worry already showing up in her classrooms.

Between credit recovery programs that compress learning and AI tools that can do much of the work, she worries students may be graduating without fully building the skills behind the diplomas they're receiving.

And in a job market where employers are putting more weight on adaptability, communication, and critical thinking, she says that gap could matter more than ever.

"This is such a problem, and it's such a systematic issue," she told TODAY.com. "The system is broken."

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

TikTok (1); Connections Academy (2); TODAY (3); USA Today (4); Higher Education Policy Institute (5); College Board (6); arXiv (7)

Tom Morales, owner of Nashville's Acme Feed & Seed, told the news outlet that when he opened the property tax bill for the four-floor music venue this past October, he was shocked to see it had gone from $129,000 a year to $589,000. (2)

"You just open up the envelope and say, 'What? This can't be right,'" said Morales, who had wanted to leave the business to his children. "Having a business you can give to your kids is something you dream about. I was like, 'Oh my God, I've just ruined their lives.'" (3)

"We were thinking it would go up 30, 40 percent; I could never have imagined it was going to go up 380 or 400 percent," added his daughter, Lauren.

A funding shortfall

As the Tax Foundation notes, states with high property taxes can rely heavily on them to make up for low — or no — tax in other categories, like zero income tax in the case of Tennessee (although it does have the second-highest combined state and local tax rate, at 9.61%, behind Louisiana, 10.11%, but ahead of Washington, 9.51%). (4)

Overall, Tennessee actually ranks among the lowest, at 41, for property tax rates by state, according to 2024 figures, the latest data available from the Tax Foundation. (4) As a percentage of owner-occupied housing value, the state had a 0.56% property tax rate, less than half that of New Jersey, with the highest, at 1.88%.

Property taxes are a local government's biggest source of funding, accounting for 70% of tax collected locally in the U.S. in 2023, according to the Tax Foundation. (4) They go to running schools, hospitals, police and fire departments, roads, water, sewer and other essential services — and when more people are using those services, cities and counties need more funding to operate them.

Nashville was among the 10 fastest-growing cities in the U.S. in 2025, and has increased in size by an average of 1.37% each year between 2022 and 2025, now with a population of more than 1.36 million. (5)

In 2025, tax rates were increased by 26% ($2.814 per $100 of assessed property value) for the so-called urban services district, and by 39% ($2,782 per $100 of assessed property value) for the general services district, with the city confirming that "tax bills increased due to tax rate increases, not just property value increases." (6)

That meant a painful double-whammy for Morales. According to documents he shared with the Financial Times, the assessed value of Acme Feed & Seed went from $9.6 million in 2021, the last year the city valued it, to a staggering $50 million in 2025. (1) Meaning he is now paying more than a quarter more in property tax, starting at 2.814%, depending on where in the urban services district a business is located, on a property suddenly assessed for $40.4 million more. (7)

What are taxpayers to do?

Nashville business owners, including Morales, are asking the city for relief from the recent reassessments. A 287-member group called Business Coalition sent a letter to Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell and Davidson County Assessor Vivian Wilhoite requesting that, for starters, businesses appealing reassessment be allowed to pay the previous year's tax rate until their case is heard. (8)

News Channel 5 Nashville reports that the group also asked for the Board of Equalization, the department that oversees appeals, to be expanded to speed up those appeals, and that property valuations be based on income rather than speculation during appeal hearings. (8)

Christian Paro, owner of Center 615, a shared workspace campus with nearly 100 suites in East Nashville, and one of the coalition leaders, says the property tax reassessment has caused him serious financial strain.

"I am late on, I think, about half of my bills now; I've only paid half of them," he said.

He told Channel 5 Nashville that although he could sell the property, which was reassessed for $13 million, it wouldn't make the problem of his tax bill, "around $145,000 per year," disappear.

"The question I've posed to the mayor's office and the assessor's office is, what about the people who want to continue doing business in their neighborhoods?" Paro said. (8)

Mayor O'Connell has said he is sympathetic to the issue of affordability for business owners, but that his hands are tied where it concerns the reassessment appeals.

"Unlike a lot of our peer cities, we simply, as a result of state policy, don't have much flexibility in the way we apply our very limited tools," he told the Financial Times. (1) "In terms of selectively looking at our legacy local businesses, we just don't have a lot of capacity to help them in that property tax scenario."

The Financial Times also reports that state lawmakers have proposed a $300 million tourism sales tax surplus that could be used as relief for businesses in "visitor hot spots." For everyone else, appeals remain the only recourse as they face higher taxes in a state once considered a tax haven.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Financial Times (1); Acme Feed & Seed (2); Archive.ph (3); Tax Foundation (4); Exploding Topics (5); Nashville.gov (6),(7); News Channel 5 (8),

As reported by Business Insider, Ashley Carlson took out $55,000 in student loans to pay for her construction management degree. (1) When business at her architecture firm slowed in 2023, she paused her $800 monthly payments in full. Carlson had called her loan provider, SoFi, requesting lower payments or a financial hardship forbearance, which would temporarily suspend payments. (2) She had no such luck.

Until she logged into her account in February 2024 and saw the $0 balance, which she accepted, assuming it was her request — just delayed. Ten months later, however, Carlson got a nasty surprise in the mail from SoFi. She was being sued.

Forgiven? Not so fast.

Carlson loans had disappeared because they'd been transferred to a third party, according to the article. (1) She still doesn't know where her balance went. Private student loans, such as SoFi, typically default after 90 t0 120 days. (3) Without a formal forbearance, deferment or revised plan approved, it moves into default without payments.

Business Insider discovered hundreds of loan transfers, missing or erroneous documentation or confusion around obtaining payment status updates. A SoFi spokesperson told Business Insider that they had called and emailed Carlson with options for curing her delinquency, then the third party took over once she defaulted.

Once collections is pursued, it's not unusual for individuals to lose access to their accounts, adding to the complexity.

The collective confusion around student loans has only increased in recent years — with Joe Biden's promises to forgive student loans to Trump's repayment overhaul that will come into effect July 1, 2026. (4)

Student loan difficulties are up, with new data showing 3.62 million Americans have defaulted since January 2025. (5) According to January's Consumer Financial Protection Report, for the year ending June 30, 2025, the Bureau received approximately 4,500 private student loan complaints (6) — a 33% year-on-year increase. Over half (58.7%) of issued complaints were for "dealing with your lender or servicer." (6)

Revisit and revise your loans

Carlson's story is certainly not an isolated one.

Judge Annette Berry was cited in the Business Insider article saying she's seeing this happen more and more.

"They're going after people for unpaid student-loan debt — and, so, if you think you're the only one, you're not," she said.

While alarming, other student scenarios serve as a good reminder to spend time getting up to speed with your loans.

If you have student loans, check your balance once a month, make sure all lines of communication are open and checked (phone, email, physical mail, etc.) and know your rights and responsibilities. Always follow up on missed calls and check your spam folders.

With the upcoming repayment overhaul, now is the time to revisit your student loans. As part of your financial hygiene, it's worth looking into student-loan refinancing from time to time, too. Check everything — more than once.

And remember: If something seems too good to be true — like seeing a $55,000 debt drop to $0 — it probably is.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Business Insider (1); Federal Student Aid (2); SoFi (3); PHEAA (4); Protect Borrowers (5); Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (6)

The top 1% of U.S. households controlled almost a third (31.7%) of the nation's wealth in Q3 2025, according to Federal Reserve data (1). Of those, the top 0.01% — the richest of the rich — controlled a whopping 14.5%.

This worries former trader-turned-economist Gary Stevenson, who was a guest on a recent episode of Scott Galloway's podcast.

"What I see is rapidly growing inequality of wealth," Stevenson said on The Prof G Pod (2). And this is "directly causing rapidly increasing poverty, rapidly falling living standards."

Stevenson warns that growing inequality means "your kids will be poorer than you."

While the billionaire class is rising, the middle class is shrinking. "People need to understand that we do not live in an infinite sum world and you cannot have a group of people who own everything unless you and your group of people own nothing," he said.

While wealth taxes, estate taxes, and stricter tax enforcement could potentially reverse this trend, what can the average American do when the cards seem stacked against them?

Growing income inequality

If it feels like life is less affordable these days, it's not just your imagination. Despite gross domestic product (GDP) growth, American workers took home only 53.8% of national income, which is the lowest level recorded since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started keeping this data in 1947 (3).

At the same time, U.S. households in the top 1% gained at least 101 times more wealth than the median household between 1989 and 2022, according to a 2025 Oxfam report (4).

And that gap is expected to widen. Tax reforms in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, for example, will reduce the tax bill of the highest-earning 0.1% by an estimated $311,000 in 2027, while the lowest-income households are expected to face tax increases (5).

The report describes this as the "single largest transfer of wealth upwards in decades."

Tax cuts aren't the only reason for this growing disparity. Income inequality has "skyrocketed" over the past three-and-a-half decades "because of intentional policy choices that suppressed wages for typical families to accelerate income growth at the top," according to the Economic Policy Institute (6).

By its calculations, middle-class household incomes "would be roughly $30,000 higher today if their incomes had simply kept pace with average income growth since 1979."

At the same time, housing costs have risen faster than incomes (7), making the dream of home ownership harder to achieve for younger generations. Wages haven't kept up with inflation (8), while education costs have skyrocketed (9) — leaving students with high levels of debt when they enter the workforce (while simultaneously having to worry about being replaced by AI (10)).

Is your financial plan ready?

As younger generations face an uncertain future, it probably doesn't come as a surprise that 61% of those aged 18 to 35 experience financial anxiety, according to a 2025 consumer survey by Intuit (11).

While policy changes and tax reforms could help, there's no certainty if and when that could happen. So younger generations may want to take matters into their own hands.

That starts with a budget. Intuit's survey found that well over half (58%) of respondents say they improved their quality of life by actively managing their finances.

A general rule of thumb is to set aside 15% to 20% of your gross income each month for savings and investments. The 50/30/20 strategy allots 50% to needs, 30% to wants and the rest to savings, investments and debt repayment. There are several variations on this rule, so it's important to find a strategy that will work for you.

Investing isn't just about picking stocks; it's also about putting money into retirement accounts such as your 401(k), 403(b) or an IRA. If you're eligible for an employer match, try contributing at least enough to get the full match. If those contributions are automatically deducted from your paycheck, you won't be tempted to spend it.

When it comes to debt repayment, there are a number of strategies that can help you, such as the avalanche method (pay off the debt with the highest interest first) and snowball method (pay off the smallest debt first). In some cases, you may want to consider a debt consolidation loan that can offer lower rates than you're currently paying on high-interest debt like credit cards.

If you're still coming up short each month, you may want to look for ways to bring in some extra cash. Intuit's survey found that many respondents "have turned to side hustles as a means of financial security."

If you don't know where to start, a financial planner or counselor could help you develop a plan to meet your goals while weathering economic ups and downs.

Article Sources

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U.S. Federal Reserve (1); YouTube (2); Reuters (3); Oxfam America (4),(5); Economic Policy Institute (6),(8); National Mortgage Professional (7); NPR (9); Gallup (10); Intuit (11)

Marketed as a tax haven, Florida lures immigrants with promises of zero income tax and special tax breaks that accrue to long-time homeowners. (1) It's a powerful draw for residents of states with high income taxes, like California (up to 13.3%) and New York (up to 10.9%). (2)

But storms have swept away some of the financial benefits of living within the Sunshine State. On top of weathering a spate of natural disasters, Florida homeowners like English have been blindsided by other costs. One of the biggest fees: home insurance.

Income tax haven, insurance hell

Florida is the most expensive home insurance market (3) in the country.

"Two years ago, my homeowners' insurance with hurricane coverage — not including flood insurance, which is a separate policy — went up to $7,000 a year," English told Business Insider. (4)

How other states stack up: Assuming $300,000 of dwelling coverage, the typical American pays $2,543. Insurance.com says Florida residents pay $7,136 for identical coverage. (5)

Florida home insurance has gone up because of insurance fraud, inflation of construction costs, and natural disasters, experts say. (6)

"The last storm I went through in Florida was Hurricane Milton," English said. She spent $6,500 fixing damage to her pool cage and considered herself "lucky."

Florida's tax haven status is attractive to residents in states with high income taxes. Kiplinger says a retiree earning $70,000 per year in New York could pay roughly $4,000 in state income tax on their retirement income, whereas moving to Florida would eliminate that tax. (7)

How much of that savings is left after home insurance fees? For a policy on a $600,000 house, the typical NY homeowner pays $3,021. (8) The typical Floridian pays $13,729. Say you and your partner are saving $4,000 each because of zero income taxes. If your household pays $8,000 less for income taxes but pays $10,000 more for home insurance, is it worth it?

Property taxes are rising

Florida has also been collecting more property taxes from residents. Some say it's been making housing less affordable. The nonprofit Florida TaxWatch says government levies have more than doubled over the last decade, faster than the pace of inflation and population growth combined. (9)

Another reason property taxes are rising: housing prices have spiked. Home prices rose from about $250,000 to $375,000 in 2026 compared to the beginning of the pandemic, according to Zillow. (10)

For property taxes, Florida ranks middle-of-the pack. Its effective property tax rate of 0.79% is better than many states. (11) Since new homeowners from out-of-state don't immediately benefit from property tax caps, the best rates are probably exclusive to local, long-time residents. (12) Florida property taxes are capped by the Save Our Homes Amendment. (13)

English cited rising property taxes as one of the reasons she left Florida. "...my property taxes were about $3,000 a year," English said. "Altogether, I was looking at around $10,000 a year just for insurance and taxes."

Residents migrate to save

Other Floridians are leaving the state to avoid rising bills, too.

Sydney Buckley and her husband, René Barajas Jr., moved from the West Palm Beach area to Greenville, South Carolina, in 2025. The couple told the Wall Street Journal they couldn't find any houses in Florida within their budget. (14) In South Carolina, they found and bought a $350,000 house.

The mortgage payment is only $100 more than they were spending on rent for their apartment in Florida. The couple also said they pay much less property tax and insurance than they would have in Florida.

The couple aren't the only ones leaving for calmer pastures. In 2024, a whopping 506,246 people moved from Florida to another state. U.S. Census data says top destinations were Georgia (52,371), Texas (52,219), North Carolina (33,591), New York (28,080), and Pennsylvania (25,048). (15)

Why these states: Georgia, Texas, and North Carolina rank as affordable housing markets. U.S. News ranks Florida's housing affordability at #44 out of 50, slightly behind New York. (16)

Florida remains a potential tax haven for families and a powerful draw. But rising taxes and insurance premiums have to be considered. If potential homebuyers add only one thing to their homebuying checklist, let it be reasonable homeowners insurance.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Griffin Funding (1); TurboTax (2); Bankrate (3); Business Insider (4); Insurance.com (5),(8); SouthState Bank (6); Kiplinger (7); Florida TaxWatch (9); Zillow (10); Rocket Mortgage (11); Tax Foundation (12); Pensacola News Journal (13); The Wall Street Journal (14); U.S. Census Bureau (15); U.S. News & World Report (16)

One international crypto crime ring in the news (1) even turned to burglary, employing a man known as "GothFerrari" to do their dirty work.

The 20-year-old, whose real name is Marlon Ferro, was sentenced to 6.5 years in federal prison in May for his role in a two-year-long conspiracy that scammed victims out of $263 million in cryptocurrency (2). He's also been ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay $2.5 million in restitution.

Members played specialized roles that included finding targets, hacking databases, making fraudulent phone calls, and money laundering. But when they couldn't coerce victims to surrender access to their cryptocurrency, they called Ferro to steal hardware wallets. In one instance, Ferro broke into a victim's home in Winnsboro, Texas, and stole a hardware wallet containing roughly 100 bitcoin, valued at the time at more than $5 million.

"This scheme blended sophisticated online fraud with old-fashioned burglary to drain victims of millions of dollars in digital assets," said Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, in a news release.

The international racketeering ring was forged out of friendships formed on online gaming platforms, according to a previous release (3) from the attorney general's office. Stolen virtual currency was used to purchase a range of luxury goods and services, including $4 million at nightclubs (4), luxury handbags, clothes, and watches and a fleet of exotic cars worth up to $3.8 million.

The rise in crypto scams

Crypto scams are surging alongside crypto itself. In 2025, Americans lost $11 billion (5) to cryptocurrency-related scams, according to the FBI's annual Internet Crime Report. Specifically, cryptocurrency investment fraud was the highest source of financial loss for Americans last year, with losses hitting $7.2 billion.

Assets like cryptocurrency are attractive to scammers because they're harder to trace and recover. Unlike credit card fraud, which can be disputed through your bank or credit card company, cryptocurrency payments are typically not reversible.

How crypto scams work

The tactics used by scammers can vary but many include spoofing, manipulation, and trust-building. Scammers will often attempt to foster relationships with victims (6), contacting them via social media, text messages or ads. Many will pretend to be trusted individuals, like investment managers, government officials, business representatives or celebrities.

Once trust has been built, scammers will ask victims to transfer funds to them or convince them to invest in phony money-making opportunities. Impersonation and blackmail scams also use fear tactics to pressure victims, often claiming they've missed payments, could face legal battles or are at risk of having compromising information leaked.

How to protect yourself

Since scammers follow similar patterns, there are important warning signs you can watch for to avoid falling victim to a crypto scam.

1. Keep an eye out for red flags

Be wary of unknown individuals who message you online claiming to want friendship, romantic relationships or individuals claiming to be officials. Remember: no legitimate business or government will ever email, text or message you to ask for money. Watch for pressure or scare tactics. That's always a tell-tale sign something is wrong.

2. Verify investments before sending crypto

If an investment opportunity seems too good to be true, it likely is. Independently verify any investment opportunities before sending money. Do not invest solely on the advice of someone you met online.

3. Protect your personal data

Do not release any personal information or money to unknown individuals. Use strong antivirus protections and avoid clicking suspicious links. Properly secure any personal information in your home, including hardware wallets.

4. Report scams immediately

If you do fall victim, stop sending money to suspected criminals immediately and do not pay for services that claim to recover lost funds. Victims should file a report at the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.

If you share sensitive information with the scammer, such as your legal name and Social Security number, you can choose to freeze your credit to keep cybercriminals from opening new credit accounts in your name. This includes car loans, mortgages, and credit cards.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

USA Today (1); U.S. Department of Justice (2),(3),(4); FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (5); Federal Trade Commission (6)

According to Enten, the "switcheroo" is staggering. Back in late 2024, Trump had a 9-point lead over his rival Vice President Kamala Harris on inflation with independent voters. In 2026, his approval rating with this cohort dropped to negative 70 percentage points – a total 79-point swing.

"Honestly, I went through the spreadsheets because I was so concerned I somehow mistyped something," Enten said. "My goodness gracious, you rarely ever see numbers this bad with independents, but that's exactly where the President is on inflation."

The ongoing war in the Middle East and its impact on fuel prices could be part of the reason why politically unaffiliated Americans are growing severely dissatisfied with the Trump economy.

Persian Gulf crisis

The price of crude oil has surged roughly 40% since the Iran war began and the Strait of Hormuz was shut, according to CNBC (2). This sharp rise in fuel costs has a knock-on impact on the rest of the economy. According to the Bank of England, (3) "Higher energy costs will also feed through indirectly to consumer prices as firms pass higher costs through their supply chains."

But you don't need to be a central banker to notice the link. A Quinnipiac University poll (4) found that 73% of independents blame Trump for the recent rise in gasoline prices, including 53% who blame him "a lot" and 20% who blame him "some."

If the crisis continues or escalates, ordinary Americans could be bracing for more sticker shocks ahead.

Shield yourself from inflation

Investors and savers who've experienced previous waves of inflation probably recognize the value of alternative assets or hard assets that retain their value when currency weakens.

Gold, for instance, is a popular inflation hedge. Platforms like Priority Gold can help you add exposure to this precious metal, combined with the tax benefits of an IRA. The so-called Gold IRA enables investors to hold physical gold or gold-related assets in a traditional retirement account.

To learn more, you can get a free information guide that includes details on how to get up to $10,000 in free silver on qualifying purchases.

For seasoned investors with portfolios of $50K or more, you might consider diversifying your nest egg through a flat-fee self-directed retirement account.

A self-directed retirement account is a tax-advantaged individual retirement account (IRA) that lets investors allocate funds to a significantly broader range of alternative assets than typical IRAs offered by banks or brokerage firms.

While traditional IRAs limit options to stocks, bonds and mutual funds, a self-directed account allows you to invest in real estate, cryptocurrency, private businesses, precious metals and private lending.

IRA Financial gives you the freedom to invest in alternative assets like real estate, private equity, precious metals, and crypto within a self-directed retirement account. And now you can add real-time, public market investing, powered by Interactive Brokers, a trusted global brokerage.

For the first time, you can manage both traditional and alternative assets seamlessly within a single self‑directed retirement structure, all for a flat fee.

Complete the application online in minutes to open your self‑directed retirement account with stock trading access powered by Interactive Brokers.

While you can't avoid inflation or resolve the Persian Gulf crisis, you can prepare your own finances to sail through the volatility with minimal impact.

Article Sources

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YouTube (1); CNBC (2); Bank of England (3); Quinnipiac University (4)

President Trump's sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump announced the Trump Mobile flagship T1 phone (1), retailing at $499, on June 16, 2025 — to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign launch — as an alternative to Apple and Samsung. Since then, an estimated 590,000 buyers paid a collective $59 million in deposits to secure one of the phones.

The device would work with Trump Mobile's service plan. For $47.45 per month, Trump Mobile's "47 Plan" (2), which operates on the T-Mobile network, claims to be "better than the rest," offering 100% U.S.-based support; extensive 5G coverage; unlimited talk, text and data; telehealth services; roadside assistance, and international calling to over 230 countries and territories.

The T1 phone is nowhere to be found

Not a single confirmed customer has received the phone, which was initially promised for late summer 2025 but later pushed back to November, then December and then mid-March this year. By April, Trump Mobile redesigned its website, removing the release date altogether.

NBC News (3), which placed a $100 deposit in August 2025 to track the story, reportedly called Trump Mobile's support line five times between September and November 2025 because the company "provided no proactive updates after the order."

In October, a representative told the outlet that the phone would ship on November 13. When it didn't arrive, the outlet called again and was told it would ship in December. Another representative assured the outlet that the T1 would ship "sometime in Q1 2026," blaming the delay on the federal government shutdown, which shouldn't have impacted private-sector companies.

Journalist Joseph Cox, investigating the phone saga for 404 Media (4), also placed a deposit — or, at least, tried. But Trump Mobile reportedly charged Cox's card the wrong amount and never collected his shipping address. The company did, however, send a confirmation email that promised delivery notifications, which didn't come either. He called it "the worst experience [he has] ever faced buying a consumer electronic product."

Updated terms and conditions

Trump Mobile quietly updated its Preorder Deposit Terms and Conditions (5) on April 6, 2026. At the time of writing, the terms and conditions read: "A preorder deposit provides only a conditional opportunity if Trump Mobile later elects, in its sole discretion, to offer the Device for sale. A deposit is not a purchase, does not constitute acceptance of an order, does not create a contract for sale, does not transfer ownership or title interest, does not allocate or reserve specific inventory, and does not guarantee that a Device will be produced or made available for purchase."

The terms also add that a binding sales contract is formed not only if customers complete checkout, submit full payment and Trump accepts and successfully processes that payment — but also if "Trump Mobile makes the Device available for sale," adding that there's "no guarantee of release, delivery or timing."

"Estimated ship dates, launch timelines or anticipated production schedule are non-binding estimates only," the terms also read. "Trump Mobile does not guarantee that: the Device will be commercially released; regulatory approvals (including FCC authorization) will be obtained; carrier certification will be secured; production will commence or continue; or delivery will occur within any specific timeframe."​​

Meanwhile, deposits are non-transferable and carry no independent cash value.

Is Trump Media's T1 phone ever coming?

In January 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren, among other Democratic lawmakers, asked the Federal Trade Commission (6) to investigate "bait-and-switch tactics involving deposits for products never delivered" and to determine whether Trump Mobile's "Made in the USA" advertising was, in fact, false advertising.

"The American people deserve to know that consumer protection laws apply equally to all businesses, regardless of political connections," the lawmakers wrote.

There's no telling whether or not Trump Media's T1 phone will ever be released. What is clear, however, is that, if it is developed, the T1 won't actually be "made in the USA."

The language on Trump's Media has been largely in flux. It went from "made in the USA" to "American-proud design," stating that the phone would be "designed with American values in mind" and "shaped by American innovation" with "American teams helping guide design and quality."

Dominic Preston, a news editor at The Verge (7), reportedly spoke to Don Hendrickson and Eric Thomas — two of the three executives that run Trump Mobile — in February to get a firsthand look at a model of the phone over Google Meet. And Preston reported that "it's clear from a glance that this isn't the same phone the company teased."

Company executives have confirmed to reporters that the T1 would not be manufactured in the U.S., but final assembly of the last 10 components would happen in Miami. The bulk of production, however, would happen overseas.

In the meantime, Trump Mobile is selling refurbished iPhones, made in China, and secondhand Samsung devices.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Trump.com (1); Trump Mobile (2),(5); NBC News (3); 404 Media (4); Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren (6); The Verge (7)

However, according to a new study from ADP Research (1), Birmingham is exactly where new graduates may want to go, based on affordability, job opportunities and paychecks (2).

In the third year of this ADP survey, the Birmingham-Hoover (3) metro area climbed to the top of the list, coming in from fifth place and supplanting Raleigh, North Carolina (4), which held the spot for the past two years and fell to No. 5 this year.

Why Birmingham?

As ADP reported, the Birmingham-Hoover metro area saw its median annual wage for recent graduates jump 16% from January 2025 to January 2026, to $59,004, and had a hiring rate of 2.8% for workers aged 20 to 29 whose jobs required "considerable preparation," typically meaning a Bachelor's degree. ADP noted that Birmingham-Hoover was seen as more affordable than all but two of the 53 metro areas they looked at.

And affordability is a big deal for new graduates, who are facing a rough entry-level job market while also burdened with student loans and rising costs for everyday living. (5) As of March, the unemployment rate for grads ages 22 to 27 was 5.6%, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, compared to 3.9% four years ago. (6)

At the same time, the average federal student loan debt balance has climbed to nearly $40,000. (7) And between 2017 and 2025, median weekly earnings for workers in the U.S. grew by 38% while rents soared by 50%, according to the Urban Institute, making it hard for many, including young workers, to keep up. (8) The costs of buying a home also continue to rise (9) in many metro areas, with the national median home price now at nearly $405,000, while mortgage rates (10) remain stubbornly high.

And as entry-level hiring fell 6% (11) between December 2025 and February 2026 compared to the same period last year, some recent grads have reported applying to hundreds of jobs (12) without getting a bite. All of this comes amid heightening fears of AI potentially altering career paths, or even fully replacing some jobs. (13)

No wonder CNBC reports that around half of U.S. parents are helping their young adult children financially, including on items such as health insurance and rent. (14)

Which brings us back to Birmingham. While ADP calls it a "southern economic powerhouse," its rents are far less than other, more high-profile, booming areas. According to Realtor.com, the median asking rent in Birmingham is around $1,295 per month (15) — about 70% cheaper than New York's $4,338 (16) and San Francisco's $4,246 (17). It's even 31% lower than Raleigh's estimated $1,885 (18) — while also boasting a median wage for recent grads that's higher by $2,632. Tech, advanced manufacturing and biosciences have been highlighted as top industries in Birmingham. (19)

And the median listed home price, according to Realtor.com, is $185,000 (15) — well below the national median.

Where else should recent grads consider?

Florida's Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area also made a big leap on the list, going from No. 26 last year to second place this year, with a hefty hiring rate of 3.4% — better than any other in the top 10.

Now, none of this means that cities like San Francisco, which no one would ever call cheap, should be counted out for new grads. In fact, ADP reports that, despite constant news of tech layoffs and AI fears, the San Francisco metro area rose from 11th to seventh place on its list this year, and tech hub San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California, made the list at No. 3. They were both helped by hiring that remained relatively robust, at 2.6% and 2.7%, respectively. This was eye-raising enough for ADP to call it a "Silicon Valley surprise."

San Jose also boasts the highest annual median wage estimate in the top 10, at $70,708, although a high cost of living takes a chunk out of that pay.

New York isn't really over, either. The New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area made the list at No. 10, and ADP notes that "large coastal hubs consistently rank in the top half."

Of course, not every list is the same. Redfin and Glassdoor, in their recent report, break down their best cities for U.S. grads into small, medium and large, with Washington, D.C., leading the first, New Orleans the second and Springfield, Illinois, the third. (20)

Graduates need to consider multiple factors when it comes to where they'll go next. But recent grads who are looking for affordability and opportunity might consider taking a look at some regions they may have never considered, including Birmingham, an area rich in history (21), which — fun fact — is also known as the "magic city," due to the massive growth it experienced from its founding in 1871 to the turn of the 20th century (22).

Article Sources

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ADP Research (1); Paycheck.in (2); Census Reporter (3); Carolinas Choice Real Estate (4); The New York Times (5); Federal Reserve Bank of New York (6); Education Data Initiative (7); Urban Institute (8); National Association of Realtors (9); U.S. Bank (10); LinkedIn (11); CBS News (12); CNBC (13),(14); Realtor.com (15),(16),(17),(18); Birmingham Business Alliance (19); Redfin (20); Birmingham Times (21); REV Birmingham (22)

California couple Lydia Holmes and John Clarke had neither when they opened LJ's Lil' Cafe in Orange County Home Depot on September 4, 2021, just two months before the birth of their first child, who arrived two months early. Oh, and COVID-19 was still making waves.

But what the 36- and 33-year-old lacked in credentials, they made up for with their love of good food, a savvy business sense and a can-do attitude.

"One thing that we bonded on was how much we enjoyed trying new places and finding these hole-in-the-wall places or super extravagant places that just had really good food," Lydia Holmes told CNBC's Make It (1).

When a meal stood out, the pair would try to recreate it themselves, adding their own twist to each.

The two met in 2012 while working at the Seasons 52 restaurant in Costa Mesa, California. Though neither had formal culinary training, this shared experience cooking and experimenting together led them to wonder, "Maybe we could do this one day as a business."

When an opportunity opened up at a nearby Home Depot parking lot, the pair leapt at the chance to pursue their dream. Last year, that gamble brought $2.3 million in sales.

Starting small, really small

Like many successful food entrepreneurs, Holmes and Clarke started scrappy. And while launching a walk-up restaurant in a parking lot may seem counterintuitive, it gave them exactly the built-in foot traffic they wanted.

"Everyone has seen the Costco food court. So we were like, 'We have to get in here,'" Holmes said.

A nearby college teeming with students looking for a quick, affordable bite didn't hurt either. The shed already had a kitchen and had previously operated as a cafe. It wasn't big, but it had everything the couple needed to get started.

"You have low overhead, low rent compared to an actual brick and mortar," Holmes said. "And you're right in front of a Home Depot."

Holmes and Clarke bought the shed for $95,000, financing it through an interest-free family loan. The couple also pays a $1,325 monthly lease for the land where the shed sits.

When it came to hiring employees, they turned to family first. The first people Holmes and Clarke hired were her two younger brothers.

"We went into this with no experience. We didn't know about marketing. We didn't even have any social media accounts or an email account," she said.

Perseverance, luck and flexibility

In 2022, the couple finally got their big break.

A freelance food writer, Sean Vukan, tried their OG breakfast burrito and asked to write about LJ's Lil' Cafe. That June article (2) was a glowing review of the burrito and the spot, giving the business just the boost it needed.

"LJ's leads the way with a kind of understated decadence, using bacon and a Portuguese sausage sourced from Fullerton's Masterlink Sausage and Meats for the OG," Vukan wrote.

Within 24 hours of publication, there was a lineup of customers even before the restaurant opened.

"I got a phone call that day from my brother frantically asking me to come in, and they needed help," Holmes recalled. "We were not expecting it."

At one point, customers were waiting hours and staff had to call them as their order came up to let them know it was ready for pickup.

"I think immediately we hit our first thousand-dollar sales day," Clarke said. "I don't think we've done less than a thousand-dollar sales day after that."

The pair initially charged $8.75 per burrito, but has since raised prices to $15.99, in part due to the rising cost of ingredients such as eggs and meat. Today, the menu also includes spicy and vegetarian burrito options.

Growth and expansion

By October 2023, Holmes and Clarke felt ready to open a brick-and-mortar location, and they secured a second location in Orange, California, buying a storefront for $148,000 and opening in July.

The bank loan was secured with help from Holmes' grandparents. The expansion quickly paid off. Within half its first year, this new location earned more in sales than the original shack.

Last year, that second location had $1.3 million in gross sales while the original location brought in $1 million. The company's net profits came to roughly $431,000 in 2025, allowing them to pay off loans and reinvest in the business.

"I remember I was driving to work about six months after we opened our Orange location and I don't know what happened, but it just hit me," Holmes said. "I was like, 'This is it. We're good. We've made it.'"

The pair has since found their own niches within the business. Holmes handles more of the HR, payroll and social media while Clarke deals with vendors, bills and equipment. They are now in the process of opening a third location in Cypress to help alleviate the demand at the Home Depot shack.

Crunching numbers

If you're considering a similar path, your biggest business expenses will likely be labor, food and packaging.

With 29 employees across two locations, the cafe's average monthly operating expenses total about $198,509. Here's the breakdown.

• Rent - $7,491
• Payroll - $81,139
• Food and Packaging - $100,138
• Insurance - $2,783
• Utilities - $2,420
• Accounting - $950
• ADT Security - $92
• Software - $70

While equipment occasionally needs replacing, the pair say they've avoided any major unexpected expenses.

Other takeaways from Holmes and Clarke's example:

• Start small. LJ's Lil' Cafe opened in an existing shack in a busy location, with high foot traffic. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) (3) says that even before you earn your first dollar, you'll need to pay bills — especially if you are launching a business with overhead, like Holmes and Clarke. The average business owner can expect to spend about $40,000 in their first year (4). This will vary depending on the specifics such as size, location and other factors. You can expect to pay equipment, inventory, utilities, licenses, insurance, marketing and payroll.
• Finance smart. A 2023 report by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation found that 69% of business owners relied on personal or family savings to cover startup costs (5). Don't borrow more than you can reasonably afford to lose.
• Be willing to adapt. Holmes and Clarke streamlined their menu to focus on what customers loved most. Sometimes less really is more.
• Scale when you have a successful proof of concept. As your business grows, you can expand gradually.

For aspiring entrepreneurs thinking about taking the leap, Holmes had simple advice.

"If we could do it, anyone can do it," Holmes said.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

CNBC (1); Eater LA (2); U.S. Small Business Administration (3); SoFi (4); Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (5)

The majority owner of family-run Minden, Louisiana-based Fibrebond sold his company earlier this year for $1.7 billion. To thank longtime workers at the maker of enclosures for electrical equipment, though, he earmarked $240 million of that for bonuses, which resulted in life-changing cash infusions for 540 full-time employees.

On average, The Wall Street Journal reports (1), employees received $443,000. Workers with long tenures received more. Much more. The money will be paid out over a five-year period, as long as the employee stays with the company. (Workers over the age of 65 received the entirety of their bonus and won't have to continue working if they don't want to.)

The employees didn't own shares in the business. They weren't investors. Their windfall came through a founder's generosity.

Telling the workers

Technically, the bonuses are coming from the acquiring company for tax reasons that maximize the payouts. (Had the Walker family given workers the money directly, it would have been taxed twice.) But when negotiating the sale of Fibrebond, Walker said 15% of the deal's proceeds would have to go to his employees.

That was met with some confusion, but he explained that he wanted to reward workers who had stuck with him through the business's hard times—and said they would be critical for a successful transition to the new owners.

If he had given the bonuses himself, he said "I don't think we'd have many employees on day two."

When the day came to let the workers know they would be getting bonuses—and surprising them with the amounts — Walker and other executives set up a white tent outside of the company's warehouse. There were cookies and drinks for people to enjoy.

One by one, employees were surprised with the news. One asked if it was fake, looking for hidden cameras. Many cried. Everyone smiled.

Some of the workers have used the bonus to open new businesses. Others are using it as retirement savings.

NBC (2) asked Walker’s former employee, Lesia Key, what it was like when she found out about the bonus — “I couldn’t even take it in. It was unreal” she said.

Key put her money towards paying off ehr mortgage off 12 years early, and open up a boutique, which she’d always dreamed of doing.

In an open letter to the Fibrebond team when the company was first acquired Walker wrote of his admiration for the team: “last week was for the team that built Fibrebond. Men and women who know the pain required to build this business got to experience the joy of shared success. The deep respect displayed among employees was profound and sacred.” (3)

Rebuilding a company

Fibrebond was started in 1982 by Graham Walker's father. It initially built structures for telephones and electrical equipment, pivoting to concrete enclosures for cellphone towers in the 1990s.

In 1992, however, the business burned to the ground. As they rebuilt, the Walker family continued to pay employee salaries, but by the early 2000s, the business was on the edge of collapse, with just three customers thanks to the dot com implosion.

Graham began running the business a few years later, selling some assets to cover debt and exploring new markets. It was bleak, but workers stuck with the company. In 2013, Fibrebond began a new division focused on industrial structures. Later it made a $150 million bet to build infrastructure for data centers. That paid off in 2020 and sales at the company have climbed 400% over the past five years, which attracted potential buyers.

But what motivated Walker to give away so much? He says he just wanted to do something good. And he didn't want to feel ashamed when he went to the local grocery store for not sharing in his good fortune.

There's a reason Minden, La. Calls itself the "friendliest city in the South".

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Ed Ashman, a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps who flew combat missions in Vietnam, was struck on April 16, 2026, while walking home from his substitute teaching job at El Toro High School. He died on April 30, two weeks after the crash (1). The teen rider fled the scene.

His mother, Tommi Jo Mejer, 50, of Aliso Viejo, Calif., had been warned roughly 10 months earlier that letting her son ride the bike was illegal and could land her in criminal court. She had already bought him the e-motorcycle and told deputies she knew he rode it recklessly (2).

On May 1, Orange County prosecutors upgraded her charges to include involuntary manslaughter. She is now charged with one felony count of involuntary manslaughter, one felony count of child endangerment, one felony count of accessory after the fact, two misdemeanor counts — contributing to the delinquency of a minor and providing false information to a peace officer — and an infraction for permitting an unlicensed minor to drive a motor vehicle (1).

The case drew national attention after Mejer's original arrest in April, with ABC News and other outlets covering the initial child endangerment charges (4).

Mejer's case is the third Orange County parent prosecution this year tied to a kid on an illegal e-motorcycle, and prosecutors say she will not be the last.

The warning a year before the crash

In June 2025, Mejer called the Orange County Sheriff's Department to complain that someone was posting pictures of her then-13-year-old son riding an e-motorcycle (2). During a 28-minute interaction with two deputies captured on body-worn camera, Mejer told them she had purchased her son a Surron e-motorcycle and knew he drove it recklessly. The deputies warned her that she could face criminal charges if she continued to allow him to ride the e-motorcycle, which he could not legally ride (2).

The bike was a 2025 Surron Ultra Bee. A law enforcement inspection classified it as a motor-driven cycle or motorcycle under the California Vehicle Code, requiring a motorcycle license, DMV registration, license plate, insurance and full motorcycle equipment for street operation (2). Surron markets the Ultra Bee as an off-road e-motorcycle that hits 58 mph and accelerates from 0 to 31 mph in 2.3 seconds. With a peak power of 12.5 kW, its output is 16 times the legal limit for an e-bike (2).

It is sold next to bicycles. It is not a bicycle.

Surron sells the Ultra Bee in the U.S. as an off-road-only vehicle and does not offer a street-legal U.S. version, though it produces one for European markets. But the bikes are often sold alongside bicycles in stores and on retail sites, and U.S. retailers sometimes list them under "e-bike" categories despite their motorcycle classification (5).

Three Orange County parents charged in five months

The other two cases came earlier this year (1).

In March 2026, prosecutors charged Yorba Linda, Calif., father Richard John Eyssallenne, 39, with felony child endangerment after his 12-year-old son ran a red light on a modified Talaria and was hit by a car. The boy was given the e-motorcycle as a Christmas present and had already had it impounded once before the July 2025 collision that left him with a fractured skull, an intracranial bleed and several other broken bones (3). The bike had been modified to reach 60 mph. Eyssallenne faces up to six years in state prison if convicted on all counts (3).

District Attorney Todd Spitzer has been blunt about the message. "Parents who buy their child an e-motorcycle and let them ride them illegally or help modify e-bikes to transform them into e-motorcycles are handing their children a loaded weapon — and those parents are going to be prosecuted. That is not a threat. That is a promise" (2).

When an e-bike is legally a motorcycle

Most parents shopping at a bike shop have no idea where e-bikes end and motorcycles begin. The legal distinction matters in every state.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, more than 40 states have adopted a three-class e-bike system: Class 1 (pedal-assist up to 20 mph), Class 2 (throttle up to 20 mph) and Class 3 (pedal-assist up to 28 mph) (6). The federal cap, set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is a 750-watt motor with a top motor-only speed of 20 mph. Bikes that exceed those limits — or that have been modified to do so — are no longer e-bikes under the law. They are motorcycles, with all the licensing, registration and insurance requirements that come with one.

Surron and Talaria models, which have grown popular with teens, exceed the federal e-bike thresholds straight from the factory. Modifying a legal e-bike — removing a speed limiter, swapping pedals for pegs — flips its classification too. In one Orange County case, a father was charged with helping his son modify an e-bike by changing the pedals to motorcycle pegs and removing the governor that capped its speed (3).

What legal ownership actually costs

A Surron Ultra Bee or Talaria runs roughly $4,000 to $6,000 at the sticker. Owning one legally on public streets typically means a motorcycle license, state registration, plates, motorcycle-grade insurance and full motorcycle equipment.

Impoundment fees, towing and daily storage charges add up fast, with a 30-day impoundment running well over $1,500 in some jurisdictions before any fines are factored in.

The bigger financial risk is the insurance gap. Standard homeowners and auto policies generally exclude motorized vehicles like motorcycles, and umbrella policies typically follow whatever the underlying policies cover. A kid on an unregistered e-motorcycle who hurts someone may leave the family with no insurance response at all, meaning anything a court awards comes out of the family's own pocket.

The toll on children's hospitals

Dr. Justin Assioun, who treats e-bike injuries at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, has watched the curve bend in real time. "[In 2021] we had three trauma activations related to e-bike accidents," he told KPBS in March. "Fast forward to the end of 2025 and the number was 262" (7).

Rady Children's, the Level 1 pediatric trauma center for Southern California, has produced two separate studies on the trend. One found that by 2023, e-bikes accounted for nearly 40% of all serious crash injuries among riders under 18 treated at the hospital. A second study, presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting in March, tracked e-bike trauma activations specifically — from 2% of pediatric trauma activations in 2017 to 64% in 2023 (8).

Other regions are reporting the same pattern. Memorial Healthcare System in South Florida said e-bike and e-scooter injuries jumped 178% from 2024 to 2025, with more than half of its pediatric injuries last year involving children ages 12 to 15 (9). Penn State Health Children's Hospital said it had treated more children for e-bike and e-scooter injuries by late 2025 than in the previous three years combined (10).

How cities and schools are responding

Police departments are seeing the on-the-ground version of those numbers. In Oceanside, Calif., e-bike complaints jumped from 69 in 2021 to 918 in 2025 — a more than 1,200% increase. "We haven't seen much of a decrease in our calls for service and community complaints," Capt. Scott Garrett told KPBS in January (11). The Oceanside City Council is now considering an amendment to let police seize e-bikes from offenders.

School districts are responding too. Newport-Mesa Unified School District, in Orange County, is banning elementary and middle school students from bringing e-bikes or other motorized vehicles on campus beginning in the 2026-27 school year; high schoolers are still allowed but must complete safety training (12).

For Ed Ashman's family — his wife Pam, three children and grandchildren — none of that will bring him back. A GoFundMe set up by a family friend is helping cover his medical and funeral expenses (13). And for Tommi Mejer, her family is facing the emotional and financial consequences of a possible conviction and the civil suit likely to follow.

Mejer is scheduled to be arraigned May 21 at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach (1).

—

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Orange County District Attorney (1, 2, 3); ABC News (4); Electrek (5); National Conference of State Legislatures (6); KPBS (7, 11); American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (8); Memorial Healthcare System (9); Penn State Health (10); FOX 11 Los Angeles (12); GoFundMe (13)

In this group are software engineers, marketers, recruiters, designers, project managers, and more — many of whom once worked at major tech companies that call the Bay Area home but were laid off.

These unemployed strangers gather for weekly hikes in search of what many say has disappeared along with their jobs: community.

The hiking group, called "(un)PTO," began as a small meetup by former Google employee Basem Istanbouli after he lost his job in January 2025 (1). Since then, however, the group has exploded in popularity, with recent hikes drawing dozens of participants and one hike attracting more than 90 people. (2)

What is (un)PTO all about?

The hiking group's Instagram bio (3) describes it as "a Bay Area community for the laid off, the in-between, and the starting over."

"Layoffs keep happening, but we'll always be here to have your back," a post from late April (4) shares.

In 2026 alone, California companies including Meta, Salesforce, Google, Workday and Pinterest have announced significant layoffs as the tech industry adjusts to economic uncertainty, AI-driven restructuring and years of overhiring during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Technology companies let go of more than 85,000 employees through the end of April in 2026, marking a 33% increase compared to last year, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas (5).

And for workers across all sectors, tech or otherwise, the layoffs have created more than financial anxiety. They have dismantled routines, identities and social circles. Careers can often forge friendships — and shape daily life, at large — so unemployment can be deeply isolating.

Research (6) suggests that unemployed individuals have an at least 40% increased likelihood of reporting loneliness. In fact, they're almost twice as likely to report feeling lonely compared to the general population — and that loneliness can create a self-reinforcing cycle, ultimately exacerbating their risk of future unemployment.

"This is an extremely stressful time for people when they're getting laid off, when they're in these career transitions," Istanbouli told ABC (7). "And oftentimes, you don't have people to commiserate with or go through it with you."

Community is, therefore, what makes these Bay Area hikes so meaningful.

Every Monday, hikers meet at a new Bay Area trail. The routes are intentionally manageable — usually around five miles — so conversations can unfold naturally along the climb. Some people swap job-searching horror stories, while others exchange networking tips.

Beyond organizing hikes, according to the group's official website (8), they "swap job leads, support each other through the search, and show up beyond the usual networking grind."

Participants have described the hikes as therapeutic, comparing the gatherings to a support group for people navigating sudden professional loss. One hiker, Alexa Barnes, told ABC that it is "heartening to be all together."

Another hiker, Matt Tarchick, said the hikes have already helped him to land "two or three more interviews."

Photos from the hikes show groups ruminating along reservoirs and pausing at scenic overlooks above Silicon Valley itself — campuses of companies that once promised stability and opportunity. The irony is hard to miss. Many participants are rediscovering slower rhythms outside of tech culture's relentless productivity mindset.

Istanbouli told reporters that unemployed workers often feel pressure to spend every waking hour applying for jobs, even though persistent stress can become counterproductive. Hiking together offers them permission to pause.

How else can you create community during unemployment?

What has emerged in the Bay Area is not simply a networking group, but an alternative social infrastructure built around shared uncertainty. The weekly treks offer emotional support, solidarity and escape with something uniquely Californian: healing through movement and nature.

After all, in a region renowned for innovation, it's fitting that laid-off workers are reinventing unemployment, too — not inside mastermind courses or motivational seminars, but along trails.

Even if you're not in the Bay Area, however, you can still find ways to find or cultivate community in your area.

For example, you can join local get-togethers. Platforms like Meetup (9) often host free hiking groups, coffee chats, networking events, book clubs and creative gatherings. Even attending one event a week can create structure and social connection during uncertain times. And, if there's no meetup that's interesting to you, you can start your own.

Other platforms like Timeleft (10) organize weekly dinners with strangers. The social app connects you with five other people based on shared interests and personality traits, which makes for seamless networking.

Be sure to look for activity-based communities, not just career networking. Traditional networking events can sometimes feel transactional during unemployment. Consider joining recreational sports clubs, volunteering groups or language exchanges where conversation happens more naturally.

Remember that community is usually built through repetition, not one-off events. Seeing the same people weekly — whether on a trail, at a workout class or during a volunteer shift — builds rapport, trust and familiarity, which can translate into all kinds of unexpected opportunities.

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The fatal shooting of the company's CEO Brian Thompson in December of 2024 brought to the forefront the intense frustrations people have with UHC. In fact, his death prompted calls for reforms and criticisms of the insurance industry's focus on profits over people.

UHC was even sued by shareholders (3) for allegedly misrepresenting the impact of the public backlash on its business, which the shareholders claimed caused a sharp drop in the stock price.

Now, however, UnitedHealthcare has actually made a positive move, announcing a new policy that will cut red tape and make it easier for some patients to get the medical services they need.

UnitedHealthcare makes a major change to open up access to care

UnitedHealthcare issued a news release on May 5 (4), announcing the big change that many policyholders will welcome. The insurer said it is eliminating prior authorization requirements for 30% of health care services that previously required approval.

A full list will soon become available on UHCProvider.com (5), and the changes will go into effect by the end of 2026. UHC has already said that the prior authorization requirements would be eliminated for:

• Echocardiograms and certain other diagnostic tests
• Some outpatient surgeries
• Some outpatient therapies
• Chiropractic care

"Prior authorization is an essential safeguard but should only be used when it truly protects patients and improves care," Tim Noel, CEO of UHC, said in the statement announcing the change.

"Eliminating these requirements is one more way we are working to make it easier for patients to get the care they need when they need it and ensure doctors can spend more time with their patients. We are committed to further improving and refining our processes to make reviews quicker, simpler, and more efficient."

It's worth noting that UHC did have the highest denial rates in the industry in the past, according to a ValuePenguin report (6). A Senate report (7) also criticized the insurer for high denial rates for nursing care to stroke victims on its Medicare Advantage plans, and it was sued (8) for using AI to deny claims.

How does eliminating prior authorizations help patients?

As the Alabama Department of Insurance (9) explains, prior authorization means your doctor must get your health insurer's permission before it can provide health care services or prescribe prescription drugs. If the doctor doesn't get this prior authorization, the care won't be covered.

When an insurer authorizes care, it is supposed to make the decision on approval by checking whether the care is medically necessary, safe, or cost-effective. However, many people believe that those decisions should be made by a doctor, not by an insurance company.

And a 2024 survey (10) by the American Medical Association also found some startling stats about prior authorization. Specifically:

• 93% of doctors reported care delays when a procedure required prior authorization
• 82% reported that prior authorization requirements lead to patients abandoning treatment plans in at least some cases
• 31% said prior authorization criteria are rarely or never evidence-based
• 94% said that PA requirements have a somewhat or significant impact on clinical outcomes

The insurer's decision is also part of a broader trend, as The Hill (11) reports that several major insurers responded to pressure to modify prior authorization rules last year with a pledge to reform the process.

For now, policyholders with UHC should watch the company's website for the full list of services. And anyone buying health insurance coverage can check the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) (12) or the insurer's website for the prior authorization list. That way, you'll know in advance how often their insurer will require them to get permission before getting the care their doctor recommends.

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American Medical Association (1),(10); CNBC (2),(3); UnitedHealthcare (4),(5); ValuePenguin (6); U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (7); STAT News (8); Alabama Department of Insurance (9); The Hill (11); Cigna (12)

Company shares closed at $260.46, up roughly 12%, capping its best week in more than two years. DELL is now up 107% year-to-date. (1, 2)

The endorsement comes five months after Michael and Susan Dell pledged $6.25 billion to fund "Trump Accounts" — one of the largest philanthropic commitments to a sitting president's signature program in recent memory. (3)

A massive contribution

On Dec. 2, 2025, the Dells announced they would deposit $250 into investment accounts for 25 million American children age 10 and under, targeting kids in ZIP codes with median family incomes of $150,000 or less. (3, 4) The pledge is more than double than the Dells' total reported giving since 1999. (4)

The donations will flow into Trump Accounts, a federal wealth-building program created under the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" that launches July 4, 2026. The Treasury Department will seed $1,000 into accounts for U.S. citizen children born between January 2025 and December 2028; the Dells' contribution gives $250 to kids born before that cutoff who otherwise wouldn't qualify. (3, 4)

Michael Dell said the gift was about giving children "a financial headstart" tied to long-term stock market exposure. (4) Dell currently ranks as the world's seventh-richest person at roughly $165 billion according to Bloomberg (5).

Why the stock move matters

Friday's pop wasn't just because of Trump’s gratitude. Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh raised his price target on Dell to $260 from $215 on May 6 — two days before the White House event — citing expanding enterprise demand tied to AI infrastructure. (6) Bank of America also raised its target to $246 from $205 on April 27, and Citigroup moved to $235 from $180 on April 21. (6)

Dell's fundamentals look strong right now. The company booked more than $64 billion in AI orders during fiscal 2026 and entered fiscal 2027 with a record $43 billion server backlog. Management expects AI server revenue to roughly double to $50 billion this year. (7)

That said, separating the Trump-driven pop from the earnings-driven trend matters for anyone considering an entry at all-time highs. Dell reports Q1 fiscal 2027 earnings on May 28. (1)

Will Trump keep endorsing stocks?

This isn't the first time a Trump social media post or public comment has moved a stock in 2026.

On April 30, Trump posted on Truth Social: "Intel Stock continues to rise… Congratulations to Intel on doing such a great job." Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) jumped roughly 3% in after-hours trading. (8) The U.S. government holds a 9.9% stake in Intel acquired in August 2025 — an $8.9 billion position now worth more than $41 billion. Intel is up roughly 140% year-to-date. (8, 9)

Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR) saw a similar bump after a Trump endorsement earlier this year.

The U.S. government owns a piece of Intel. Palantir is a major federal contractor. The Dells gave $6.25 billion to Trump Accounts. But what's consistent is the market reaction. A presidential endorsement — Truth Social post or White House remark — is increasingly moving stocks.

Dell stands out: the President publicly urged Americans to buy from a company whose founder is the largest private backer of his signature program. The White House hasn't said whether the endorsement was coordinated with December's gift.

What investors should ask

The investment thesis for Dell stood on its own before Friday, thanks to its AI infrastructure play. Wall Street analysts had already been raising targets, and the backlog and order numbers come straight from Dell's own SEC filings. (7) Trump's comment didn't create the rally — it accelerated it.

The harder question for anyone buying at $264: how much of today's price is the AI infrastructure story, and how much is a presidential endorsement that may or may not repeat? May 28 earnings will give the next data point.

—

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Yahoo Finance (1); Macrotrends (2); NPR (3); CNBC (4); Bloomberg Billionaires Index (5); MarketBeat (6); U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (7); CNBC (8); Intel Newsroom (9)

"The full weight of tariffs hasn't even affected the consumer yet because of this incredible productivity enhancement, this serendipitous tool that Trump never saw coming, called AI," O'Leary says.

As proof, he points to a recent Disney earnings call: He says that, despite the increasing costs of park tickets and travel, Disney's new CEO reported "zero change in traffic," adding that, "in fact, it's up."

But not all of O'Leary's statements ring true. Here's what he gets right — and wrong — about AI, tariffs, and the economy.

Is the economy doing as well as O'Leary says?

Much of O'Leary's argument hinges on Disney park attendance, which can be a good indicator of how Americans are feeling about the economy. If park attendance was up, that would indicate that Americans feel optimistic about economic recovery.

The only problem is that park attendance isn't up. Disney park attendance is down by one percent as of a May 6 earnings call (2).

This is despite Disney offering discounts to encourage ticket sales, such as an offer that lets young children visit Disneyland for only $50. They would normally have to pay as much as $279 for a similar ticket.

A one-percent drop in attendance isn't a huge drop, but it could still indicate that Americans are feeling pessimistic about the economy.

O'Leary also has a rosier outlook on the impacts that tariffs and the Iran War are having on the economy than many others.

"You would think, given all of this volatility, that somehow it would affect something in America, and the answer is: nothing yet," he said in a CNN video he included in his post.

But the CNN anchor rebuttals that National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett says otherwise. She's likely referring to Hassett's recent statement that "credit card spending is through the roof" in America, something he took to be a good sign for the economy (3).

"They're spending more on gasoline, but they're spending more on everything else, too," Hassett said.

High credit card spending could mean that people are having to utilize debt more just to meet their basic needs — it doesn't necessarily indicate a strong economy. (4) By the end of 2025, household debt reached a 20-year high, indicating that people could be struggling to pay debts off.

What does it mean for S&P 500 companies to absorb tariffs?

O'Leary says that S&P 500 companies have used AI to "increase their margins and productivity" and offset rising costs caused by tariffs. (1) How much has that sheltered regular households from tariff costs, and what does that absorption actually look like in practice?

The Joint Economic Committee – Minority estimates that tariffs have cost the average American family around $1,700 so far as of February 2026. (1) It used U.S. Treasury Department tariff revenue and estimates from the Congressional Budget Office to do so.

Companies are using AI as a way to cut costs — but their methods aren't always consumer friendly.

For example, AI was the biggest cause of layoffs in April 2026. It was listed as the cause for over one in four job cuts. (5) Job growth has also been down in the U.S. since Liberation day, with several months showing a contracting job market. (6)

All this means that, even if companies are absorbing tariff costs, consumers could still be paying the price.

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The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allocated $225 million for the city in January 2025. In August of 2025, (2) the city approved an action plan that would allot $125 million to infrastructure, $52 million to economic recovery, $31 million to housing, over $11 million to administrations, almost $4 million to planning and $2 million to public services.

But as of today, only one home has been repaired.

Now, the Asheville City Council is deciding whether to direct $18 million from disaster relief funds toward building affordable housing. So what is happening, and why are repairs taking so long?

Council members are pushing back on the new plan

The city is recommending allocating $18 million of the Helene funds to develop three public-private apartment projects totaling 331 units. Bridget Herring, the Helene funding coordinator, said that the timing is crucial.

"It's time-sensitive to try and move forward the projects we think are most likely to get built as quickly as possible," Herring said (3), noting a May 15th application deadline.

According to city staff, 132 homes are still awaiting rebuilds or repairs following Hurricane Helene. So far, only one home is completed, and seven have been approved for work. That's leaving council members frustrated at the pace of progress.

Councilwoman Sage Turner shared her priorities for the funding at a recent committee meeting:

"I am putting fixing people's homes at the top, fixing infrastructure at the top, and subsidizing affordable apartments below both of those," Turner said. "I don't want to just build apartment complexes in place of fixing people's homes."

One sticking point is the amount set aside for housing recovery: City officials estimate it could cost $30 to $40 million to fully rebuild or repair homes damaged by Helene, and that could exceed the $31 million set aside for housing.

In addition to the affordable housing proposal, city staff is recommending changing the allotment, suggesting $41 million for housing, $115 million for infrastructure, $52 million for economic rehabilitation, nearly $4 million for planning and $11.2 million for administration.

Residents expressed outrage over the plan, with one user saying, "ONE house fixed so far? In nearly 20 months? And they want to spend the rest on apartments rather than the people who were affected?" (3)

The final decision will be made by the city council.

What to do if you're waiting on disaster relief funds

Federal disaster relief money moves slowly, sometimes agonizingly so. And as extreme weather increases, there's a chance you'll be in a similar situation as many Asheville residents. If you're waiting on aid after a natural disaster, here's how to protect yourself in the meantime.

Repair or protect what you can

Don't wait for a check to address urgent repairs. Temporary fixes like tarping a roof, boarding windows, and addressing mold can prevent further damage and may actually be required by your insurer to preserve your coverage. Make sure to document the damage before and keep all the receipts for your insurance.

Show up to local meetings

Recovery decisions are made at the local level, and public input matters. Asheville's reallocation debate is proof of that. Attend city council or committee meetings, submit comments during public input periods and make your voice heard.

Document everything

Photograph and video every bit of damage: structural, cosmetic and personal property. Keep records of every repair estimate, contractor quote and communication with your city or county. If your claim is ever disputed, this paper trail is your best defense.

Call your insurance company — and then call again

File your claim as soon as possible and follow up regularly. Insurers can be slow to act after widespread disasters when claims are flooding in. If you feel like you're getting the runaround, consider hiring a public adjuster, an independent professional who negotiates on your behalf. They typically work on commission, taking a percentage of your settlement, but it can be worth it if your claim is complex or underpaid.

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Common Edge (1); Asheville Recovers (2); WLOS (3)

According to new reporting from NPR, the odds look slim.

Per Panamanian government documents, Polymarket is registered at the address of a law firm in an office park in Panama City under its corporate name, Adventure One QSS. Its terms of service require disputes with the company to be hashed out in Panama, behind closed doors.

What doors exactly? That's unclear. When the broadcaster sent a journalist to its Panama address, there was no sign of the company: Just an empty room without about 12 unused computers and a single office worker who told the reporter they had never heard of Polymarket or Adventure One. The person said the lawyer whose firm it is, Mario García de Paredes, was not available.

That lawyer, and his firm, have deep roots in the worlds of cryptocurrency – including some of its most rotten parts (1).

Polymarket and the problems with prediction markets

Polymarket is a digital platform worth an estimated $15 billion that lets users combine two highly volatile, risky financial instruments: prediction markets and cryptocurrency. You can use it to place crypto bets on everything from which country will win Eurovision (2) to whether that cruise-ship outbreak will result in a hantavirus pandemic (3).

It was once based stateside, but in 2022, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) ordered it to wrap up its U.S. operations and pay a $1.4-million fine for running an unlicensed exchange (4). Polymarket decamped to Panama, but was soon under scrutiny once again from multiple U.S. regulators about whether it broke the terms of the deal and continued to let Americans use the platform.

But its fortunes changed after the 2024 presidential election. Trump administration regulators closed their investigations, and opened a path for Polymarket to come back to the country by approving its purchase of Florida-based exchange and clearinghouse QCX (5).

Polymarket is still unavailable in the United States, but it expects to return soon, and has put a page up on its website for Americans to sign up for a waiting list to get back in (6).

The first family seem to be fans: Donald Trump Jr., the president's son, has invested millions into Polymarket through his firm and is an adviser to the company (he advises its legal U.S. competitor, Kalshi, too (7)).

In the meantime, Americans have found ways to skirt the rules, such as by changing their IP address to another country using a virtual private network (VPN) (1).

That appears to be how U.S. soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke allegedly placed a $32,500 bet that Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro would be out of office by the end of January 2026 — the day before he was seized by U.S. special forces. He won $409,000 on that wager, but now faces a slew of charges, including wire fraud and unlawful use of confidential government information for personal gain, according to BBC reporting (8).

The U.S. Senate banned its members and staffers from trading on prediction markets last month, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has urged members of Congress and White House leaders and staffers to do the same (9), Time reports.

Why certain companies love setting up shop in Panama

That eerily empty law firm is in the Oceania Business Plaza, which is also listed as the headquarters for at least 15 other crypto companies, including Helix, Drift Protocol, Goldfinch and Parti, a Polymarket partner, according to NPR reporting.

Mario García de Paredes, the lawyer, also did work for FTX, the crypto exchange headed by one-time American wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried. It was exposed as a colossal fraud in 2022, landing him with a 25-year prison sentence.

Paredes did not respond to NPR's repeated requests for comment. Neither did Polymarket, nor any other company using the address.

The mere existence of the empty office doesn't imply wrongdoing on Polymarket's part. The company never explicitly claimed to have employees in Panama, but also did not answer NPR's questions about why it chose to locate the business there.

However, the website of JJ Associates (10), a business law firm based in Panama and catering to international clients, provides some clues. It touts the country as the perfect place to "protect assets" (aka, shelter them from taxes), and boasts "zero tax on foreign income, 100% foreign ownership, and no residency requirement (11)." That goes for both income and capital-gains taxes.

The latter is particularly attractive for companies dealing in assets that may appreciate unpredictably at breakneck speed, such as cryptocurrency.

Recently, however, the country has introduced new documentation requirements and anti-money-laundering measures to crack down on bad actors (11).

Panama is also very cheap: International Management & Trust Corp advertises that it can help Americans do everything legally needed to set up and maintain an offshore business in the country for between $450 to $1,050 USD per year (12).

Finally, according to NPR, Panama is appealing for legal reasons. Panamanian courts treat international judgments as invalid by default, unless the country's supreme court specifically chooses to validate them. If a company has been ordered to pay a big civil fine in another country, it could be hard to collect it in Panama.

It's the perfect place to locate if your business exists in a "legal and ethical grey area", as The Wall Street Journal once described Polymarket (particularly when it comes to things like betting on which country U.S. airstrikes will hit next (13)).

It's no coincidence which country was at the centre of the Panama Papers scandal a decade ago. The international investigative journalism collaboration uncovered, with help from Wikileaks documents, a massive effort to launder money and avoid taxes and sanctions. A dozen heads of state and more than 60 of their family members were implicated (14), according to BBC reporting.

– with files from Godwin Oluponmile

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NPR (1); Polymarket (2),(3),(6); U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (4); Bloomberg (5); Kalshi (7); BBC (8),(14); Time (9); JJ Associates (10),(11); International Management & Trust Corp (12); The Wall Street Journal (13)

That being said, if you're a lower-earner, this tax exemption might feel inconsequential, and the bill as a whole could have punishing effects.

According to Yale Budget Lab analysis (3), the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could result in a decline of about $700 in income for the bottom quintile of earners; meanwhile, it could boast an increase of about $30,000 for the top 1% of earners.

On a recent Office Hours (4) segment of the Prof G Pod discussing this new approach to taxing generational wealth, Scott Galloway said that the upcoming wealth transfer "entrenches inequality rather than resets it."

Be an owner instead of an earner

With all this mind, being a lower-earner doesn't mean your chance to build and pass on an estate is totally out of the question. You just have to start working on it ASAP.

On Office Hours (5), Galloway said, "If you think of yourself as a stock and you make $100,000 every year, every year that $100,000 is taxed at 30%." In other words, a salaried worker may only keep about $70,000 of that income after taxes — leaving less money available to save and invest.

Galloway added that the gap can widen over time. "And even though you're gaining $70,000 a year instead of gaining $100,000 if you own stocks, you're increasing $100,000 a year, they compound." His point: earned income is taxed as it comes in, while investments can keep growing before taxes are owed. Over many years, that compounding can leave asset owners with far more wealth than workers relying mainly on wages.

In other words, Galloway's point is that relying only on a paycheck can make it harder to build lasting wealth, while owning assets that appreciate may create more financial stability in the long run.

He also noted that many people never earn enough to save consistently or buy appreciating assets in the first place. In this context, "owner" doesn't just mean a homeowner, it refers more broadly to someone who owns investments or assets that can grow in value over time.

It might seem like a given to focus on earning big bonuses or a higher salary, but the caveat of focusing on being an earner is what you're left with — or not left with — when your job comes to an end.

Investing in real estate, equity or investments that compound, can transition your status from earner to owner, and help you build up an estate to pass onto your loved ones.

"It's not earning millions of dollars," Galloway reiterates. "It's transitioning from earner to owner."

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Cerulli Associates (1); Internal Revenue Service (2); Yale Budget Lab (3); YouTube (4),(5)

The automaker has recalled all of its Cybertruck RWD models after learning the wheels could fall off of the vehicles (1).

Normally, that would be a major crisis for an automaker, but in the case of this particular Cybertruck, it's more of a rounding error (no pun intended). Just 173 Cybertruck RWD models were sold.

Even for a line of trucks that have failed to live up to expectations (2), that's a startlingly low number. Tesla [NASDAQ:TSLA] scrapped the model after just five months due to poor sales (3). The $69,000 truck (which was $10,000 less than other Cybertruck models) was unpopular because buyers felt some of the most desirable aspects of the Cybertruck line had been removed, such as power outlets in the bed and air suspension.

Now, on top of all of that, the wheels could go rogue.

Blame the brakes

Holes in the vehicle's brake rotors could be prone to cracking due to "road perturbations" (irregularities on a road or traffic flow that range from potholes to stop and go traffic), according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (4).

That could cause the wheel studs to separate from the hub, making it harder to control the vehicle and potentially causing the wheel to fall off. Drivers might feel a vibration or hear a noise before the wheel stud separates, the company said.

Tesla says it will completely replace the affected wheel hubs and rotors and the repairs will not cost owners anything. Owners have already been notified. Tesla says it is not aware of any collisions, fatalities or injuries that are or may be related to this issue.

The news comes just a few months after word spread that overall Cybertruck sales had nosedived 48% last year. The company sold 20,237 Cybertrucks in 2025, compared to 38,965 the previous year, according to Kelly Blue Book's electric vehicle sales report (5). That's a 48% decline.

Tesla sales were lower overall last year, as only the Model 3 saw an increase in demand and that was a mild 1.3% gain.

Not the only recall

While wheels falling off a vehicle is nothing to ignore, Tesla's recall attentions are perhaps a bit more focused on a different recall issued this week. The company recalled more than 200,000 vehicles because of ‌delayed rearview camera images that could increase the risk of ​a wreck.

Some 218,000 Model 3, Model Y, Model ‌S ⁠and Model X vehicles, featuring hardware version 3, are impacted by that action.

"Loss of the rearview camera image may affect the driver's rearview and increase the risk of a collision," the NHTSA said in its recall notice (6). "The driver may continue to reverse the vehicle by performing a shoulder check and using their mirrors."

As with the Cybertrucks, there have been no reports of any collisions, fatalities or injuries due to that issue. A free over-the-air software update, which was sent to customers last month, can resolve the problem, Tesla said.

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Driving.ca (1); CNBC (2); TechRadar (3); National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (4),(6); Cox Automotive (5)

"I kind of think Claude [in] January of this year, would be the equivalent of when Microsoft came out in '81," Jones said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" (1).

Jones also says he expects a market correction, saying, "You just know that there'll be some ... breathtaking kind of corrections." And yet, Jones says he's still adding to his AI investments, though he did not say which specific stocks he's investing in.

Why would a well-known investor say he expects a correction yet still invests? There's one missing element — time.

Jones predicts the AI market has "another year or two to run"

Jones first rose to prominence after he predicted the 1987 Black Monday crash, which wiped out trillions of dollars in market value worldwide. The New York Stock Exchange lost more than $500 billion in market capitalization (2) — the largest decline since 1914. But while investors and the media scrambled, Jones shorted the market and profited an estimated $100 million (3).

Today, Jones says the bull market for AI likely has "another year or two to run," adding that he recently purchased more AI stocks. However, he warns about the long-term risks of the technology, saying governments should step in with regulations. He's also said he's worried AI could become dangerous in the future.

Jones compares the current AI moment to 1995, when commercial internet use exploded alongside the launch of Windows 95.

He says those kinds of "transformative" technological shifts and "productivity miracles" typically "lasted four to five and a half years" — and by his estimate, we're about 50-60% through this one. That means, in his view, the window isn't closed for investors. It's just not wide open forever.

It's also worth noting that the risk of an AI bubble could be worse than that of the dotcom bubble.

"The share of the economy devoted to AI investment is nearly a third greater than the share of the economy devoted to internet related investments back during the dotcom bubble," said Jared Bernstein (4), former Council of Economic Advisers chair.

And, similar to the dotcom bubble, most AI companies are not profitable. Anthropic hopes to be profitable by 2028 (5), while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reported that its infrastructure costs could reach as high as $1.4 trillion (6) over the next eight years — and the company is estimated to reach profitability in 2030 (7).

For everyday investors, that raises a question: How do you ride a bull market you know will eventually end?

How to invest in AI without overexposure

Most of us aren't billionaire hedge fund investors with a full team behind us. So how can you get in on the action? Here's how to take a measured approach.

Stick to ETFs if you're not a stock expert

Unless you spend hours researching balance sheets, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) is often a smarter bet than picking individual stocks. An ETF is a basket of securities that trades like a single stock. Several ETFs track AI and tech-focused companies, like the Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIQ) (8) or the iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) (9), give you broad exposure without betting everything on one company.

Don't go all in on AI

Even if Jones is right that the AI rally has legs, the risk is real. If your portfolio is heavily weighted toward AI or tech stocks, even a temporary correction could hit your portfolio hard. Most financial advisors recommend keeping any single sector to no more than 20% (10) of your overall portfolio. Balance your portfolio by investing the rest in other industries, bonds, or CDs.

Stay clear of overly-hyped stocks

Every bull market attracts its share of speculative bets. During the dot-com boom, investors poured money into companies with no clear path to profit and many lost everything when the bubble burst. Today, that same dynamic could play out with some AI companies or so-called meme stocks (11). Jones himself has warned that the eventual correction could be "breathtaking." Chasing hype is how ordinary investors end up holding the bag when it proves to be just that — hype.

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CNBC (1),(4); Goldman Sachs (2); Yahoo Finance (3),(7),(10); DigiTimes (5),(6); Global X ETFs (8); iShares (9); Fidelity (11)

Farley says the economy is entering dangerous territory as industries struggle to find enough electricians, plumbers, factory workers, and construction crews to keep the country running (1).

"I would argue the most vulnerable we've ever been," Farley said during a recent episode of his "Drive" podcast. If Farley's right, the consequences could spread far beyond the automaker's factories.

Why the labor shortage matters to everyday Americans

Farley refers to individuals who build homes, maintain infrastructure, manufacture products and keep supply chains going as the "essential economy." Without an abundance of these workers, there will be severe consequences.

"Problems in this vital sector impact all of us with higher costs, longer wait times, and fewer opportunities," Farley said.

Those higher costs could show up everywhere from home repairs and car maintenance to grocery prices. And for everyday consumers already struggling with sticky inflation, the squeeze could only get worse if labor shortages continue.

When companies can't find enough workers, projects take longer, production slows and labor costs rise. Businesses often pass those costs on to consumers.

Mike Rowe, host of the TV series "Dirty Jobs" and a guest on Farley's podcast, said many Americans won't fully appreciate the impact of this trend until it hits closer to home.

"Those people don't care about a shortage of plumbers until their toilet doesn't flush," Rowe said. (1)

The shortage has been coming for years

The shortage of skilled labor has been building for some time, but the problem is becoming more urgent as older workers retire and fewer Americans enter the trades.

According to a joint 2024 study by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute, the industry could need to fill 3.8 million jobs by 2033. But with current labor shortages, nearly 2 million of those could go unfulfilled (2).

The labor crunch is already affecting daily life.

Homeowners in many parts of the country are facing higher renovation and repair costs as contractors struggle with labor shortages and projects add up. Industry groups, including the Associated General Contractors of America, say shortages of skilled workers are contributing to delays, rising construction costs and longer project timelines (3).

Manufacturing and supply-chain disruptions are also increasing costs for vehicles, appliances and other consumer goods production, while infrastructure projects are getting more expensive as companies try to find qualified labor and equipment. (4)

Tariffs imposed by President Trump have additionally contributed to elevated costs in home renovation and manufacturing (5) in the U.S.

A fresh trades pipeline

Farley says part of the problem comes from decades of underinvestment in vocational careers. To help reverse the trend, Ford has been working to attract younger workers into skilled trades.

Earlier this year, the company outlined plans to partner with Carhartt to offer free gear for workers and investments in workforce development partnerships, including support for a Detroit-based ToolBank USA location (6).

Ford also brought together policymakers, educators and business leaders in September at a workforce summit focused on rebuilding the skilled labor pipeline.

"We stopped investing in the trades," Farley said at the event. "If Henry Ford saw what has become of us, I think he'd be kind of mad."

Fellow automaker General Motors, for its part, said this month (7) it has invested nearly $200 million over the past year to expand apprenticeship programs and workforce training initiatives.

The movement to bulk up the blue-collar workforce is opening new doors for workers. Jobs such as electricians, welders, mechanics and industrial technicians are in high demand.

Article Sources

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Business Insider (1),(6); The Manufacturing Institute (2); Construction Equipment (3); Reuters (4); AP News (5); General Motors (7)

Turns out, Laidley is actually a subsidiary of Meta (NASDAQ: META) (2), Mark Zuckerberg's $1.6 trillion social behemoth, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. There was also a new name for Project Sucre: Hyperion, an AI data center that would cost north of $10 billion to build, which Zuckerberg described on Threads (3) as "so large it would cover a significant part of Manhattan."

How Louisiana handed Meta a $3.3 billion tax break

Hyperion will stretch across 2,250 acres of former state-owned farmland to power Meta's Llama AI models.

Under a bill that moved quickly through the state legislature (4), Hyperion will be exempt from state and local sales and use taxes on its data center equipment — including the GPUs that train and run AI models — for 20 years. Louisiana's combined state and local sales tax stands at 9.56%, according to the Tax Foundation (5), and Sherwood News reports Meta is spending roughly $35 billion for the GPUs of this data center. That means if those purchases were taxed, Louisiana would collect more than $3.3 billion; Sherwood points out this would be enough to fund the state's police budget for more than seven years.

The land arrangement is unusual, too. The Advocate (6), Louisiana's largest daily newspaper, reported that Meta initially wanted to buy the 1,400-acre core parcel outright but was blocked by state law requiring a public bid. Instead, Meta pays $732,000 a year in rent, with an option to buy the property for $12 million before the lease ends.

In exchange, the company has pledged $200 million in local infrastructure improvements, $1 million a year to Entergy's low-income ratepayer support program, and 1,500 megawatts of renewable energy built in partnership with the utility.

Meta did not immediately respond to Moneywise's request for comment.

Booming home prices, surging power demand, modest long-term jobs

The Richland Parish community is already feeling the effects of Meta's presence. According to Redfin data, the median home sale price in Richland Parish has jumped 52% (7) year over year, compared with a 4.5% bump statewide (8) and a 1.2% increase nationally (9).

The jobs picture is more complicated. Meta says peak construction will employ more than 5,000 skilled-trade workers. After the buildout finishes, the company has committed to 300 to 500 full-time operational roles. A regional impact analysis (10) from GrowNELA, a development nonprofit, projected that direct local employment will plateau at roughly 326 jobs, and that only around a quarter of construction jobs will go to local workers, in line with industry norms. Wired notes (11) the agreement does not legally require Meta to hire locally for those operational positions.

Then there's the energy bill. Entergy Louisiana is building a $470 million, 60-mile transmission line to feed the site, but in a joint brief, a coalition opposing the project argued the data center could consume close to 20% of Louisiana's total electricity, warning of "costs that could ultimately exceed a billion dollars" (1). A Bloomberg analysis (12) found wholesale electricity prices for ratepayers within 50 miles of data centers have climbed as much as 276% over the past five years.

Zuckerberg has called Hyperion one of several multi-gigawatt "titan clusters" the company plans to build.

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Sherwood News (1); Meta (2); Threads (3); Louisiana State Legislature (4); Tax Foundation (5); The Advocate (6); Redfin (7),(8),(9); GrowNELA (10); Wired (11); Bloomberg (12)

On May 4, Zandi took to X to show the impacts of President Donald J. Trump's tariffs on the U.S. economy since Liberation Day on April 2, 2025 (1). He graphed job growth and inflation rates since January 2025.

His graph showed that rates were relatively stable in the months leading up to Liberation Day and they started getting worse by September.

"The trend lines don't look good, especially as the economic fallout from the Iran War hits with full force," Zandi stated. "The U.S. economy is resilient, but just how resilient is set to be tested."

Here are the numbers Zandi's most concerned about — and what they could mean for you.

Low job growth and high inflation don't make a good pair

Zandi's graph focuses on two stats: Average monthly job growth and the year-over-year change of PCE inflation. It shows that, since Liberation Day, the amount of jobs added each month have mainly been decreasing, while inflation has mainly been increasing.

"Since that day, job growth has come to a standstill, with only the non-traded healthcare industry adding meaningfully to payrolls. Also, since that day, inflation has accelerated," Zandi said.

Zandi isn't the only economist to focus on jobs and inflation as key economic indicators. The Federal Reserve uses unemployment rates and CPI inflation to determine how it changes its rates. Keeping prices stable and employment high is the Fed's dual mandate (2).

The Fed aims for a 2% inflation rate. As of March 2026, the CPI inflation rate was 3.3% (3).

Unemployment is faring better than inflation, at 4.3%. The Fed doesn't have a specific unemployment rate it aims for, but 4.3% is considered low (4) — not something to worry about on its own.

Job growth tells a different story. After Liberation Day, the average number of jobs added per month started plummeting; for the past six months, more months saw the total number of jobs shrink than grow (5).

This, along with rising inflation, could indicate an economy struggling to grow under heavy tariff costs. It could also be why it's hard to find another job if you lose yours: there just aren't very many open jobs to take.

How the Iran war and future Trump tariffs could impact you

In February 2026, the Supreme Court declared much of Trump's tariff policy unconstitutional. But Trump is already planning on instituting new tariffs (6). And the Iran war is also causing problems for the economy, raising the price of oil and other goods like groceries.

"The higher energy and other commodity prices caused by the war threaten to do even more economic damage than the tariffs," Zandi said.

This isn't the first time Zandi has sounded the alarm on tariffs. He's been warning about the tariffs' economic impact since April 2025, before they were put in place (7).

"There's no good case here," Zandi said in an April 2025 interview with CNN on what impact the tariffs could have. "It's just variations on a dark theme."

In April 2026, Zandi started warning about a possible recession based on a new Moody's model called the Vicious Cycle Index (VCI) (8). If he's right about a recession, then the job market and price increases could get worse than they are already. Like Zandi's new model indicates, it could be a vicious cycle: a worse job market and high inflation means less spending, which means layoffs, and the cycle continues.

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X (1),(5),(8); Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (2); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (3); Center for Economic and Policy Research (4); YouTube (6); CNN (7)

Data released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in late April shows inflation pressures remaining stubbornly elevated, while new quarterly forecasts suggest that Americans may continue facing higher prices, slower growth and elevated borrowing costs for months to come (1).

At the center of the concern is the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index, the inflation gauge that largely informs interest rates (2). At +3.5% year over year, it has cooled compared to the post-pandemic peak in 2022, but remains well above the Fed's 2% target. The core PCE price Index — which strips out volatile food and energy prices — remains persistently high at 3.2%, reinforcing fears that inflation is becoming embedded in the broader economy.

The index ticked up 0.7% in March, the last month for which data is available, or 0.3% excluding food and energy.

While official April PCE data has not yet been released, several closely watched inflation trackers are already pointing to more upward pressure on prices. The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland's Inflation Nowcasting model (3), for example, estimates that inflation had increased to 3.73% in April. It also estimates that inflation could rise further to 3.93% in May. Meanwhile, core PCE (without food and energy) is expected to remain elevated at roughly 3.28% in April and 3.32% in May.

The quarterly outlook is also deteriorating. The Cleveland Fed estimates show second-quarter annualized PCE inflation running over 5%. Core PCE is projected to remain high for the quarter, at 3.46 %.

What does persistent inflation mean for interest rates — and you?

A late-April Reuters poll of economists predicts that the Federal Reserve will wait at least six months before cutting interest rates this year, as "war-driven energy shocks reignite already-elevated inflation." In other words: The war in Iran has made fuel prices go up, and that's made everything more expensive. Cutting interest rates could push prices up even more.

Even before the recent oil shock, however, inflation had already been moving in the wrong direction. Analysts noted that tariffs imposed under Trump, coupled with persistent consumer demand and creeping services costs, were already contributing to price increases before energy markets took a turn for the worse.

Analysts now expect inflation to remain above target through much of the year, while GDP growth forecasts have been revised downward. Nearly ​a third of the economists polled by Reuters expect rates to remain unchanged in 2026, which is almost double the share in Reuter's previous survey (4).

For consumers, the impact is already being felt.

Mortgage rates remain high, credit card debt is exacerbatingly more expensive and many households are still struggling with the cumulative effect of years of elevated prices on essentials like housing, insurance, groceries and health care. And this remains true even as April's jobs report came in stronger than expected, with the U.S. adding 115,000 jobs and unemployment holding at 4.3% (5).

The University of Michigan's Sentiment Index, a measure of consumers' feelings about the economy based on representative interviews, fell sharply in early May. While sentiment remains almost 20 % above a year ago and 40 % above the all-time historic low in June 2022, it remains about 18% below the historical average.

"Strength in household incomes has been the primary source of support for robust consumer spending over the past couple of years," economist Joanne Hsu, Director of the Surveys of Consumers, said in a statement, adding that softening in labor market expectations are "concerning" and "may lead to a pullback" in consumer to spending. "Furthermore, consumers expect interest rates to remain high in the future, which will make it even more difficult for consumers to make large purchases (6)."

Politically, the inflation outlook could become a growing challenge for Trump. The president has insisted that economic strength, tariffs and domestic manufacturing initiatives show his policies are working. But unwavering inflation threatens to undermine those arguments — particularly if Americans continue to feel financially squeezed.

Markets are now increasingly betting the Fed will delay additional rate cuts until inflation shows clearer signs of cooling. Until then, the latest data suggests that the economy may face a longer and bumpier road back to price stability than many policymakers — and consumers — had hoped.

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U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (1),(2); Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (3); Reuters (4); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (5); University of Michigan (6)

Thanks to a GLP-1 Bridge pilot program announced by President Trump (1) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) (2) this month, adults with Medicare Plan D coverage can access the weight loss drugs for a $50 copay.

The move is a noticeable shift for Medicare, which has historically denied coverage for GLP-1 medications for weight loss purposes. More than 66 million people in the U.S. get their health coverage from Medicare. Seniors and other qualifying Medicare recipients have largely been limited to GLP-1 drugs to treat health conditions like diabetes or cardiovascular disease. (3)

The 18-month program will run from July 1 until the end of next year, and will enable CMS to collect more data on the utilization of weight-loss drugs to share with Medicare plan providers. The goal is to roll out a permanent marketplace offering in 2028, BALANCE. (4)

How GLP-1 Medicare Bridge works

In order to access weight loss medications through GLP-1 Bridge, you must be enrolled in a Medicare Part D plan, which covers prescription drugs. Though, you will still need prior authorization from your doctor in order to receive treatment.

The good news is your doctor doesn't need to be listed as a Medicare provider to write a prescription or submit prior authorization to Humana, the plan administrator, on your behalf.

Eligibility will largely be determined by your body mass index. (5) If it's 27 or higher, you'll likely qualify. This is also true if you have a condition such as heart disease or prediabetes. Once you're approved, you'll pay $50 at the pharmacy.

At launch, the program will offer both the pill and injectible forms of Wegovy, Zepbound's KwikPen and the Foundayo pill.

Bridging the financial gap

A November 2025 KFF survey found that one in eight adults take GLP-1 drugs such as Wegovy or Ozempic for weight loss or to treat a health condition like diabetes. In the same study, however, respondents said the costs for the drugs were too high. (6)

In fact, weight loss medications can cost more than $1,000 without insurance. (7) Even with coupons or patient assistance programs, they can still cost between $149 to $299 for initial doses. (8)

A $50 copay at your local pharmacy through the GLP-1 Bridge program is substantially better than that. And yet, some working class families may not be able to afford the monthly expense in a world with sticky inflation and rising gas and food prices.

Americans with private insurance, by comparison, can score GLP-1 drugs for $25 or less. (9) The caveat here is that coverage can widely vary by insurance provider. If you're on medicaid, GLP-1 coverage options are decided by your state. As of January 2026, only 13 U.S. states cover GLP-1 drugs for weight-loss management through Medicaid.

Downsides of the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge Program

As with any government program, there are a few notable drawbacks to the GLP-1 Bridge program.

For one, the pilot has an expiration date of December 31, 2027. While CMS is hopeful it will roll out a permanent BALANCE offering in 2028, its launch isn't guaranteed.

If a permanent solution isn't launched or the GLP-1 Bridge program isn't extended, users will be at risk of regaining weight they lost due to their appetite and "food noise" returning. (10) With it, the risk of health conditions like diabetes become more difficult to control, studies have shown. (11)

Medicare Plan D users already taking a weight loss medication in pill or injectable form for a pre-existing qualifying condition like Type-2 diabetes or sleep apnea will need to continue receiving the drugs through their plan. This may end up being higher than the $50 copay.

Finally, newcomers to GLP-1 drugs through the bridge program will not be able to have monthly $50 costs counted towards their out-of-pocket expenses.

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Reuters (1); Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (2),(4); KFF (3),(6); NPR (5); GoodRx (7),(8); USA Today (9); Harvard Health (10); AARP (11)

But what if you come across a framed stock certificate? Does that fall into the category of collectible, or could it actually be worth money? The answer is going to depend on a couple of different factors — but it's absolutely worth looking into.

Let's consider the case of Joe, whose dad worked at Microsoft.

Joe's dad passed away last year, and Joe is the executor of his estate. When going through his dad's possessions, Joe found a stock certificate good for one share of Microsoft stock. It was framed, likely as a workplace memento, and dated March 10, 1990.

Since Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) has become a whole lot more valuable since 1990, and the stock has split multiple times since then, Joe's dad's single share would have turned into 144 current shares with a value of around $60,000 today (not including dividend reinvestment) — if it is still valid. Keep in mind that additional shares after a split would likely have been distributed separately, which Joe should also look into (1).

So, the big question is, can Joe turn this into real money, or is it nothing more than a nice memory?

Can old stock certificates still be worth money?

Today, stock trading is almost entirely done electronically — but that wasn't always the case.

Up until around 1970, paper certificates were the standard way to represent stock ownership. In fact, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which exhibits some old certificates in its library, says the certificates used to be fairly elaborate to signify the company's importance and to make sure they couldn't be counterfeited.

Many of those old certificates have been converted by now, but in 2021, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (2) (which is a centralized hub for clearing, settlement and tracking of securities) indicated it had $780 billion worth of paper certificates remaining in its vaults that it wanted to digitize.

Joe's father's Microsoft stock certificate may be among the old certificates that still have significant value. In fact, Investor.gov (3) explained that "an old stock or bond certificate may still be valuable even if it no longer trades under the name printed on the certificate."

Unless the stock share was already traded in — which would usually be indicated by a stamp labeling it cancelled (4) — chances are good it still represents a valid ownership claim in either the original company or any successor businesses.

On the other hand, in the case of Joe’s dad, it's possible his framed certificate had turned into nothing but a collectors item for him — which could still end up having some value in the collectibles (5) market.

How can you figure out if your old certificate is valid?

So, what should Joe do about his dad's certificate?

Investor.gov recommends contacting the transfer agent if it is printed on the certificate.

If the transfer agent doesn't exist anymore, you can contact the current company to find out who its new transfer agent is. If you don't know the company's name, Investor.gov suggests contacting the state agency that handles incorporation in the location where the company was incorporated to help you find out.

Since Microsoft still very much exists, Joe has an easy job. Microsoft provides the contact details of its transfer agent on its Investor FAQ page (6), so Joe can just call Computershare to see if the certificate is still valid and to cash it in.

If you have a brokerage account, your broker may also be able to help with this process.

Since Joe's stock could be worth around $60K if it's valid, he may also want to talk with a tax professional about when and how to sell it to minimize the tax consequences of the capital gains, as special rules can apply (7) regarding how the cost basis is determined after a death.

Joe's dad's nostalgia may have been a big boon to his son, who could potentially take his wonderful work memory and turn it into an investment that could help out the next generation.

Article Sources

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FSBWA Investor Relations (1); Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (2); Investor.gov (3); U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (4); Bull Market Gifts (5); Microsoft (6); Fidelity (7)

But for those Americans with long commutes — or who drive for a living — those high prices can mean a serious cash crunch. For some, it might mean having to figure out a new way to get to work, or even reconsidering where they work and live altogether.

Gas prices have spiked since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, when the average price of U.S. regular gasoline sat at $2.98 a gallon (1). According to AAA, on May 7 it was $4.56 — an increase of 53% (2).

"Supercommuters" feel the pinch

Researchers say there might be more Americans with "super commutes" since the pandemic. According to a 2024 study by researchers at Stanford University and INRIX that looked at the 10 largest cities in the U.S., the number of people making commutes more than 75 miles had increased 32% since the pandemic (3).

And while working from home spiked at the start of the pandemic, many Americans are back in the office. Nicholas Bloom, one of the authors of the Stanford study, told the Wall Street Journal that while working from home grew in 2020, it dropped from 2021 to 2023, and flattened out from 2024 on (4).

However, Bloom also told the WSJ that there has recently been an increase in Americans' work-from-home days: from 24.7% of days in February 2026 to 26.9% of days in March 2026.

If you are a hybrid worker, it makes sense to push for as many work-from-home days as possible while gas prices remain elevated. But for the nearly 63% of Americans who work fully on-site, according to the WSJ and the Stanford study, there may be no choice but to gas up and head to work.

Graduate student Nicole Smith told the WSJ that her commutes from Fredericksburg, Va., to Washington, D.C., to attend her graduate program have meant $200 more in gas costs a month, compared to earlier in 2026. She said she is trying to manage the hike in costs by restricting recreation: "less fun activities, less weekends out, less traveling."

In California, drivers are consistently facing higher gas prices than the national average. According to the California Energy Commission, it "costs more on average than other parts of the United States" to buy gas in California because the state is "isolated" in terms of how fuel is transported there; the state also mandates a special formulation of gas that burns cleaner, and is more expensive; and there are environmental program fees in addition to local, state and federal taxes (5).

Refineries in the state have also closed, impacting local supply, the New York Times reported (6).

While the national average on May 7 was $4.56 a gallon, in California, the state average was $6.17 (7).

Carolyn Staats, who works as a physical therapist's aide, told the Wall Street Journal that her four-day-a-week, 200-mile round-trip commute from Los Banos, Calif., to the Bay area was costing an extra $220 a month.

"I've had to budget my money more, where instead of saving $150 for gas on a two-week basis it's now $260 — that extra $110, I could have used it toward my groceries or toward other bills," she told the WSJ (4).

A recent analysis by New York Federal Reserve economists found that there was a split in gasoline spending in March between higher income and lower income households (8).

While high income households increased their actual spending on gas the most, their consumption of gas remained almost unchanged. Low income households, meanwhile, decreased their consumption of gas, "but still saw sharply increased" spending, "because of the rise in gas prices," the economists found.

The analysis also compares the recent spike in gas prices to the price shock of the spring and summer of 2022 amid the Russia-Ukraine war, noting that the same pattern emerged then, but that "the magnitudes of the gaps [...] were noticeably smaller than the corresponding gaps we see in March 2026."

With the current price shock, while high income households "have reduced real gas consumption only modestly and increased gasoline spending considerably compared with 2023," low income households have "increased spending by much less and decreased real consumption by much more, potentially by carpooling or substituting to public transit where available."

A Bank of America analysis also found that lower income households decreased their discretionary spending — that is, "spending outside of groceries, utilities and gasoline" — in March as gas prices spiked (9).

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AAA (1),(2),(7); Stanford University (3); The Wall Street Journal (4); California Energy Commission (5); The New York Times (6); Federal Reserve Bank of New York (8); Bank of America (9)

As a result, Apple is set to pay $250 million to settle claims (1) that it misled consumers about its AI capabilities.

The proposed settlement stems from a class-action lawsuit accusing Apple of promoting Siri features that "did not yet exist" as part of its heavily marketed "Apple Intelligence" rollout in September 2024.

Plaintiffs argue the company's advertising campaign encouraged consumers to buy newer, more expensive iPhones under the impression that advanced AI tools would be available shortly after launch (2).

Apple Intelligence partially launched as part of the iPhone 16 lineup in September 2024, with some features arriving later, such as writing tools, image generation, and ChatGPT integration. However, major features, like an upgraded Siri, delayed in 2025 (3), have not yet made it onto phones.

At the same time, the tech giant has faced mounting pressure from rivals like Google and Samsung, which are ahead in the AI arms race and aggressively rolled out AI-powered assistants, search tools and image-generation features across their devices.

Apple confirmed the settlement in a statement sent to multiple outlets (4) saying it, "has resolved this matter to stay focused on doing what we do best, delivering the most innovative products and services to our users."

Which iPhone users qualify for payments

The lawsuit covers roughly 37 million eligible devices sold in the U.S. between June 10, 2024 and March 29, 2025 (5). If the settlement is approved by a federal judge, eligible customers could receive between $25 and $95 per device depending on how many claims are filed (6).

The proposed settlement applies to customers who purchased any iPhone 16 model as well as the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models, which also had the capabilities to run Apple Intelligence.

Eligible consumers should expect to receive notice by email or standard mail with instructions on how to submit a claim through a settlement website once the agreement is approved.

Apple's AI push shows the risks of buying tech based on future promises

Apple's settlement arrives amid a broader AI arms race that has transformed the smartphone industry over the past two years. Tech companies have increasingly invested in AI features, even as some tools remain unfinished or experimental.

Research firm Counterpoint found in December 2024 that 59% of consumers planned to upgrade to so-called "Gen AI smartphones" within a year, an indication of how heavily AI has become tied to smartphone marketing and upgrade cycles (7).

Consumer interest in Apple's AI tools was especially strong. A Morgan Stanley survey last year found that 42% of respondents said having Apple Intelligence was "extremely" or "very" important for their next iPhone purchase (8).

But for consumers, this class-action settlement could serve as a cautionary tale about buying expensive tech products based on promises alone. Smartphones now routinely cost $1,000 or more, and many companies increasingly market future software capabilities as part of the reason to upgrade.

And as Apple's settlement shows, not every headline feature arrives on schedule — even from the world's biggest tech companies.

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NBC Washington (1); ABC News (2); CNET (3); The Verge (4); Clarkson Law Firm (5),(6); Counterpoint Research (7); MacDailyNews (8)

Thinking about travel, spending time with family, or having more time to volunteer or pursue a hobby are all upsides when it comes to planning your golden years.

But it's important to consider what implications come along with these decisions. Maybe you've always dreamed of moving south in retirement. While warm weather is an obvious plus, you may also be leaving behind your family, community and social support network.

For some, meeting new people and building new relationships is an exciting endeavor, but for others it could be a challenge that might even lead to isolation.

Retirement plans are unique to each individual. Here's how you can make sure your decisions are going to set you up for a retirement that's fulfilling and secure.

Making a move

For one retiree, making a big move in retirement meant leaving the country. Maureen McMahon explained to Business Insider why, for her, moving back to Canada in retirement made sense. (1)

McMahon moved to the U.S. because of a romantic relationship when she was 40, she told Business Insider, but in 2024, after about 30 years, she made the decision to return to Canada for her retirement.

Although the marriage she moved to the U.S. for ended after five years, she continued living in Las Vegas because she loved her job. She also enjoyed being able to take road trips across the U.S., taking in new sights.

McMahon said that while she doesn't regret her time living in the U.S., now that she has returned to Canada, she feels a sense of contentment.

While many people opt to move to warmer climes for their retirement, McMahon says she's glad to be back in Edmonton, Alberta, since she loves winter activities such as cross-country skiing and skating.

McMahon also noted that she had a scary "what if" experience when a shooting occurred at a concert in the U.S. that she was supposed to be at, but ended up not attending because she was visiting Canada. She says that, for her, the tighter gun control laws in Canada give her peace of mind.

"It feels a lot safer," she told Business Insider.

McMahon likened making a move in retirement to buying a car: "Before you buy a car, I think you should rent it and see if it's really what you want. Same with moving. I think you should spend some time in the city, talk to people, and do some research before moving," she told Business Insider.

Research your options

If you are set on moving when you retire, it's important to research your potential new home. While cost of living is always a big concern when it comes to retirement, there are other factors to take into consideration.

Census Bureau research has found that the most popular states that older Americans move to are Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Nevada and South Carolina. (2)

When it comes to climate, retirees often opt to head south. However, it's also important to consider all aspects of the climate you're moving to, including severe weather events. Aside from the obvious threat, areas with severe weather are increasingly seeing rising home insurance prices, so be sure to include these potential costs in your budget.

Other factors to consider are crime rates, access to green spaces, what percentage of the population is over 65, and access to cultural and physical activities. (3)

Figuring out what's right for you

There are so many choices to make when you're planning retirement, it can feel overwhelming. But if you think you want to move when you're retired, the choice can be made easier by asking yourself a few questions.

When weighing the pros and cons of a move, ranking what matters most to you can help sort out your feelings. Is your top priority being in a warmer climate? Do you want to move to a state with lower taxes or housing costs to stretch your retirement savings? Or is being near family what will make you feel most secure?

Ask yourself how moving will affect your relationships: Will it be hard to stay in touch with friends and family, or have them come visit you? Do you have an easy time making new friends and joining new organizations or groups?

Health care is also an important factor to consider. Look into what providers will be available in your new home, and how easy it will be to access them — and consider whether you'll be able to drive, take transit, or walk to your medical appointments. It's important too to consider what you would do if you had a medical emergency, or a medical issue that impacted your ability to care for yourself, and how you'd cope.

If you think you'd like to move to a retirement community, do research in advance to see what is available, what current and future costs will likely be, and whether you need to get on a waitlist.

Whether you plan to stay put in the community where you have roots, branch out by moving to a new place, or move back home after years away, if you build your retirement plan around what matters most to you, it can help you have peace of mind when your golden years begin.

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Business Insider (1); U.S. Census Bureau (2); ConsumerAffairs (3)

The brand would retain an independent board of directors — the Defined Purpose Board — whose job was to protect its social mission, no matter who owned the company. (2)

For more than two decades, that arrangement held. Until it didn't.

By Jan. 1 this year, Magnum had said goodbye to many of Ben & Jerry's independent directors except for one Unilever-appointed director and CEO, Dairy Reporter noted. (3)

In 2024, former independent members of Ben & Jerry’s Defined Purpose Board filed a lawsuit against Magnum, which is still pending in the Southern District Court of New York. They allege that Magnum’s removal of independent directors violated the original merger agreement. (4)

The board was recently joined by The Ben & Jerry's Foundation, an independent charitable organization funded by Unilever/The Magnum Ice Cream Company through Ben & Jerry’s. The foundation won a court ruling to join that lawsuit after Magnum allegedly stopped providing it with approved funding, Vermont Business Magazine reported. (5)

A look at the lawsuit

The legal fight centers on a governance structure deliberately baked into the 2000 sale agreement. At the time of the acquisition, Unilever committed that Ben & Jerry's would retain an independent board focused on "providing leadership for Ben & Jerry's social mission and brand integrity," FoodOnline reported. (6)

Cohen and Greenfield said at the time they hoped the company would "continue to expand its role in society" under Unilever's ownership. (6)

Amid the demerger of Magnum from Unilever, however, Magnum established a new Code of Business Principles that sets out ethical and behavioral principles by which all employees and functionaries are required to abide.

Three of the former independent directors “termed out” following the introduction of harmonized term limits (a nine-year limit, in accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code), which went into effect during the demerger. The three remaining independent directors chose not to affirm the new company’s Code of Business Principles, therefore becoming ineligible for re-election to the Board.

Magnum ultimately framed the decision as different from outright removal. But the independent board has called the move a coordinated dismantling. (3)

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder and former board chair, Greenfield, had already resigned after 47 years with the company and separately filed an independent defamation case in California. (4)

Ben promises a boycott

Cohen, who is neither part of the independent members of the board nor part of the foundation and is not a party to the legal proceedings, told the New York Times: "We're turning up the heat.” (2)

He has asked Magnum to sell Ben & Jerry's to a values-aligned investor group, and threatened a boycott of all Magnum products — which include Breyers, Klondike and Talenti — if it doesn't comply.

“Ben & Jerry’s is a proud and thriving part of The Magnum Ice Cream Company and is not for sale,” Steve Hufton, who leads Magnum’s external communications, told Moneywise in response. “Our focus remains where it belongs: on supporting the Ben & Jerry’s team and its three-part mission — making great ice cream and advocating on the progressive causes the business cares about.”

Additionally, according to Hufton, Magnum invited the foundation trustees to collaborate on implementing a stronger governance framework — one that was “rooted in transparency and accountability.” Because the foundation allegedly declined, he explained, Magnum was left with no choice but to pause forward funding.

The financials behind the ice cream company’s case

Ben & Jerry’s is doing really well, Hufton added, noting that last year delivered over three percent organic sales growth and gained market share across the U.S. and Europe, going from four markets in 2000 to over 40 today. In the meantime, he reported that more than half a billion has been invested in the social mission, which has “continued to go from strength to strength.”

“Recent steps to update Ben & Jerry’s corporate governance are wholly aligned with the merger agreement and standard corporate governance across the organization; nothing more than that,” he continued. “Suggesting our actions are anything more is just not true; they are not and never have been. We remain committed to having a Board, led by an Independent Director, to continue its role of helping guide the social mission and brand integrity, alongside the CEO.”

However, things seem still in flux for the ice-cream company. David Stever, the former Ben & Jerry's CEO of 35 years, was recently named CEO of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams — a direct rival and certified B Corp. (4)

Meanwhile, more than 130,000 people have signed a petition requesting Magnum to sell Ben & Jerry's to values-aligned investors, noting other mission-driven company successes.

According to Fortune, for example, Dr. Bronner's grew from $4 million in revenue in 1998 to $250 million in 2025 while not investing much in traditional advertising. Patagonia's sales more than quadrupled over 20 years from $240 million to about $1.5 billion, while contributing more than $240 million to environmental non-profits. (4)

What investors and consumers should watch

The case raises a pointed question relevant well beyond ice cream: What's a deal-term promise actually worth when ownership changes hands?

According to a detailed governance timeline published by Dairy Reporter, Ben & Jerry's independent board controls its own composition and mission protection under the original merger agreement, even after an ownership change. Magnum's position is that its actions fall within its governance scope. (3)

A court will ultimately decide who's right.

M&A expert Farzad Mukhi, a managing director at advisory firm Kroll, told the New York Times the situation is highly unusual: "I can't think of any similar cases." (2)

For consumers, the more immediate question is simpler: The next time you reach for a frozen pint, whose values are you actually buying?

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New York Times (1),(2); Dairy Reporter (3); Fortune (4); Vermont Business Magazine (5); FoodOnline (6)

Box Elder County has a population of approximately 65,000 (4) and is home to the Great Salt Lake, the largest saltwater lake (5) in the Western Hemisphere.

O'Leary told Fox (6) last month that "we need to compete with China. We need AI computing power and so where do you put that? You put that in AI data centers." He said the Chinese are building "10x the power of what we are" and "we've been stalled with permitting problems across the country." Utah stepped up, having the land, a pipeline running through the land and a designation that can accelerate permitting, he added.

The celebrity Shark admitted that most people don't like data centers because when they tap into the grid, electrical costs skyrocket for the local community.

However, he further explained in the interview (7) that the Utah site will generate its own energy using a nearby natural gas pipeline, allowing it to operate independently while also potentially supplying excess power back to the grid.

Local outcry, country wide

Locals are concerned about pollution, noise, drought strain, electricity prices going up, local water supply still affected, air quality issues and the eyesore of a sprawling data center in a small town. The New York Post (8) article shared that residents described a rushed approval process that they had little say over or didn't consent to.

O'Leary took to X on Tuesday, dismissing them as pseudo protestors or AI. "We think over 90% of the protesters are actually not people that live in Utah or Box Elder County. They're being bussed in," he stated in a video (9).

"If you look at the social media around the Utah proposal, much of it is AI," O'Leary added. The comments section of that video is telling with a lot of pushback. People are protesting across the country. On Wednesday (10), residents turned up at a community meeting in Kenilworth, New Jersey — 17 miles from New York City — with cowbells and whistles to fight a data center project in progress.

O'Leary has stated that people want AI and you don't get AI without data centers. According to the Post (11), one Utah State University physicist estimated the project could raise the state's greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 50%.

Other big names like Mark Zuckerberg (12) are buying up big land to power their AI prophecies. Bill Gates (13) is one of the largest private owners of U.S. farmland, roughly 275,000 acres across various states.

Big data's benefits. What's the big deal?

Utah's Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) approved a sharply reduced energy tax rate of 0.5% for the project — far below the 6% rate it was authorized to charge, according to the Post (14).

The companies who are building these centers say their developments can generate economic growth and jobs, and a number of tech executives recently signed on to a White House-sponsored pledge (15) aimed at limiting their effect on residential electric bills.

While data centers can bring short-term construction work, few may provide permanent jobs to locals long-term. In the study, Subsidizing the Cloud (16), the researchers found no clear evidence that data centers stimulate local tech-related employment growth.

Hundreds (17) of hyperscale facilities are in the works across the U.S. Pay attention to what's happening in your county and state, as data centers will impact the economy and environment.

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Fox News (1),(6),(7); New York Post (2),(8),(11),(14); TikTok (3); Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (4); Utah.com (5); X (9); ABC7 New York (10); Sherwood News (12); Yahoo Finance (13); The White House (15); SSRN (16); Consumer Reports (17)

Geoff Pritchett announced in a Facebook group in December 2025 (1) that he would hand over the keys to his R8 (which sells for more than $200,000 (2), depending on the year and condition) for an especially rare single card — a 1999 Charizard holo, which has been valued for up to $149,000. The Pokémon community mocked him.

In many cases, that might have been the end of things. But last week (3), Pritchett returned to the group to announce he had made the trade, though on slightly different terms than he originally proposed.

"Finally closed the deal trading my R8 for a huge Pokemon collection," he wrote. "All in $75,000 worth of sealed and $65,000 in singles all dating back to sun and moon era. I have a ton to go through and organize after a pretty exhausting trip."

For non-collectors, "sealed" refers to unopened Pokémon card products — such as booster boxes, elite trainer boxes and special collections — which can become especially valuable over time if left untouched. "Singles" are individual cards, often rare holographic or limited-edition pulls that are bought and sold separately.

The haters quickly changed their tune, sending congratulations and theorizing that the cards would be worth much more than the car in a few years.

The trading-card frenzy keeps getting more extreme

Pokémon cards have never seen their popularity dim, but they've become almost an analog equivalent of Bitcoin lately. Earlier this year, influencer Logan Paul sold his PSA 10-graded Pikachu Illustrator Pokémon trading card for nearly $16.5 million, a record amount. (Paul paid $5.27 million for the card in 2021.)

While the trading card industry as a whole has seen price run-ups in the past few years, Pokémon is far and away the industry leader. Here's how the value of Pokémon cards compares to other collectibles and investments. In the past 20 years:

• The value of Pokémon cards has increased 3,261% (4)
• The value of professional American football cards increased 1,290%
• The value of baseball cards gained 721%
• The S&P 500 increased 421%

From childhood hobby to six-figure asset

Pritchett told Polygon (5) the stated value of the card collection he got was $130,000, but he believes it could actually be much higher. Some cards have not been professionally graded, which could increase their value, and some of the rare cards were miscut, which could boost the value of one from $4,000 to $22,000.

That wouldn't be the rarest card in his overall collection, either. Pritchett has been collecting Pokémon cards since the 1990s, and his crown jewel is a Mewtwo card that was only printed 36 times, which he says could be worth $1 million down the road.

In the meantime, he says, he would be open to more trades along the lines of the R8 swap. After all, he says, he didn't drive that car very much anyway.

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Facebook (1),(3); Kelley Blue Book (2); Fortune (4); Polygon (5)

Between the rise of AI (1), the proliferation of diploma mills (2), escalating tuition prices (3) and the fact that fewer and fewer employers seem fussed about a degree (4), higher learning has certainly lost the sheen it once held.

There's been a discernible shift in the public's overall confidence in post-secondary institutions over the last decade — the number of Americans who think higher education is "very important" has fallen from 70% in 2013 to just 35% in 2025 (5), while seven in 10 (6) believe the system is heading in the wrong direction and the majority no longer feel that an education (7) is worth the cost.

Meanwhile, experts argue that certain once-esteemed credentials aren't as popular or necessary (8) as they once were, that academic standards are deteriorating (9) and that many college degrees are "now useless" (10). We've got banking CEOs calling their MBAs a waste of time (11) and other top executives claiming (12) recruiters "aren't even talking about degrees" anymore.

Add to this the abysmal employment market (13) facing recent grads and it's no wonder that negative sentiments regarding schooling have intensified.

But do app-based degree offerings serve to improve or worsen these perceptions?

Degree-by-smartphone — accessible alternative or the new norm?

Cornerstone University, a small, private Christian campus in Michigan, is the first institution in the country to offer accredited Bachelor's, Associate's and Master's degrees that are fully mobile-app based.

The nascent programs — in strategic business management for the A.S. and B.S., and organizational leadership for the M.A. — lower common barriers to entry by allowing students to learn at their own pace, and without having to ever step foot in a physical (or even virtual) classroom.

Cornerstone is also advertising its programs as the "most affordable" (14) of their kind, at $2,400 to $3,750 per four-month semester, with learners able to complete as much or as little of the degree as they want (within an 18 credit hour limit) each term.

Though the programs, administered through the university's proprietary SOAR platform, have the stamp of approval from the Higher Learning Commission, one may wonder how the unorthodox style, content and format — billed as "engaging microlearning" through videos, audiobooks, podcasts and presentations created by faculty — measure up to conventional degrees.

There's certainly the lack of name recognition; despite decent employment and continuing education rates (15), Cornerstone isn't exactly a highly-ranked (16) institution. But, as LinkedIn and MS Office EVP Ryan Roslansky famously said in a recent talk (17), "the future of work belongs not anymore to the people that have the fanciest degrees or went to the best colleges." Instead, he identified adaptability, forward thinking, and AI skills as of superior importance, along with "innately human" aptitudes, such as communication.

The "reimagining" of higher education

"If it is incontrovertible that the value of the college degree is in decline and that a new world of work requires new skills, then it is equally certain that a fresh method of teaching and learning those skills is essential," writes Jason Wingard in The College Devaluation Crisis, published by Stanford University Press in 2022 (18) — the same year that ChatGPT was released.

Wingard posits that the typical four-year post-secondary degree model "is no longer sufficient" to meet the goals of the modern learner, and that "the traditional way of preparing for the world of work has gone past its sell-by date."

And indeed, as some eschew American academia for financial, ideological (19) or other reasons, others are seeking (or providing) alternatives to prepare for a new work landscape and stand out from other candidates.

Beyond Cornerstone's buzzy new option, which already boasts 250 students (20) after an August 2025 launch, a somewhat similar initiative from TED, Canada's Educational Testing Service and the Khan Academy — a non-profit with the mission to (21) "provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere" — was just announced in April.

The Khan TED Institute, as the venture is called, is "a new higher education collaboration designed for an AI‑driven era… to prepare learners for the next generation of jobs while cultivating the uniquely human skills required to thrive in work, life and society amid rapid technological change."

Its program has a heavy emphasis on applied AI skills, along with core math, economics, history, writing and science courses, and courses in leadership and public speaking.

"Students will advance based on measures of real competency rather than seat time, enabling personalized pacing while ensuring every learner leaves with verified competencies," a release (22) states.

But what the most crucial competencies will prove to be in 5, 10, 15 or 20 years is anyone's guess, as some wonder if future developments in AI could make colleges completely obsolete (23) as the tech revolutionizes schooling, work and daily life while simultaneously eroding intelligence in general (24).

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The Conversation (1); CICIC (2); Forbes (3),(10); CNBC (4); Gallup (5); Pew Research Center (6); NBC News (7); Business.com (8); The Atlantic (9); Fortune (11),(12); Entrepreneur (13); Cornerstone University (14),(15); U.S. News & World Report (16); Business Insider (17); Stanford University Press (18); Changing Higher Ed (19); Fox Business (20); Khan Academy (21); ETS (22); The New Yorker (23); Psychology Today (24)

The June 2025 article (revised in November) is by Dallas Fed VP and associate director of research Mark Wynne and research analyst Lillian Derr. The standard disclaimer applies — "the views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas or the Federal Reserve System" (1). Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark has shared it. The Financial Times has cited it. Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid built a recent client note around it (8).

What the chart shows

The historical line on Wynne and Derr's chart runs from 1870 to 2024. Over that span, U.S. GDP per capita has grown at approximately 1.9% a year, despite two world wars, the Great Depression, the Great Recession and major technological advances such as electrification, the internal combustion engine and computerization (1). What stands out across 150-plus years of data is how steady the line is.

From 2024, four projection scenarios fan out to 2050: trend growth with no AI effect, a modest AI boost, an upside singularity, and a downside singularity.

The boring middle

The trend line continues at 1.9%. The "reasonable" AI scenario lifts that to 2.1% — a 0.3 percentage point boost over a decade.

By 2050, that works out to a difference in GDP per capita of only a few thousand dollars (1). Not nothing, but not earth-shattering.

Run the math: the AI bump is roughly $2,900 more per American per year by 2050, or more than $1 trillion in additional annual U.S. GDP. That's real money — bigger than the current annual economic output of countries like Saudi Arabia or Switzerland. It's just nowhere near what AI's loudest believers are promising.

The 0.3pp figure isn't Wynne and Derr's. It comes from Goldman Sachs, which estimated AI's productivity boost at anywhere between 0.3 and 3.0 percentage points a year over the next decade, with a median of 1.5 (1, 2). The Dallas Fed went with the floor of that range.

The middle of Goldman's range would deliver a productivity boost five times larger. Compounded over a decade, 1.5pp would put AI's productivity bump on par with the IT boom of the late 1990s. The Fed's chart shows only one realistic line, so that range never appears.

The utopia line

The third line is an exponential curve where output per worker accelerates far beyond historic norms. The Dallas Fed authors say there's little empirical evidence to put much weight on either of the extreme scenarios (1).

Believers: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has written essays predicting a coming "Intelligence Age" of "massive prosperity," with superintelligence possibly "a few thousand days" away (3). Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has sketched a "compressed 21st century" in which AI delivers 50 to 100 years of biological and medical progress in 5 to 10 years (4). Tesla CEO Elon Musk has gone furthest, predicting a world of "universal high income" where "AI/Robotics will mean everyone can have a penthouse if they want."

Detractors: The Dallas Fed authors themselves dismiss putting weight on this curve. Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, warned Musk's universal high income proposal would bankrupt any country that attempts it.

The extinction line

The fourth line collapses. This is the scenario where advanced AI development goes wrong at civilizational scale.

Believers: In May 2023, hundreds of researchers signed a single-sentence statement organized by the Center for AI Safety: "Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war" (5). Signatories include Turing Award winners and AI pioneers Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, and Bill Gates.

AI Impacts' 2023 survey of 2,778 AI researchers — the largest ever conducted — found a median 5% probability of "extremely bad" long-run outcomes such as human extinction, with 38% of respondents putting at least a 10% chance on such outcomes (6).

Detractors: Meta leadership notably did not sign the CAIS letter. The Dallas Fed authors again say there's little empirical evidence to weight this scenario.

Even the boring case might be wishful thinking

In March 2026, Goldman Sachs senior U.S. economist Ronnie Walker, analyzing fourth-quarter earnings across corporate America, wrote that the bank still does "not find a meaningful relationship between productivity and AI adoption at the economy-wide level" (7).

The supporting numbers: fewer than 20% of U.S. establishments are currently using AI for any business function, and Goldman estimates the net impact of AI capex spending on GDP growth at a minimal 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points, owing to a heavy reliance on imported capital goods (7). The bank did find localized productivity gains of around 30% in coding and customer service work, but no macro-level signal.

In 2023, Goldman told clients AI could lift productivity growth by 1.5pp a year and add nearly $7 trillion to global GDP. Three years later, the same bank's earnings analysts can't find AI showing up in the macro data — even as Goldman's own economists still expect the productivity boom to start landing in 2027. The Dallas Fed chart leans on the optimistic end of Goldman's earlier range; the same firm's current read is that the payoff is delayed, not cancelled.

Deutsche Bank's head of macro and thematic research, Jim Reid, has flagged a third scenario the Dallas Fed didn't chart: AI turning out to be "a damp squib, with a bursting or slow deflation of the AI bubble and negligible gains in productivity" (8).

What it means for you

If you've watched the Magnificent 7 carry your portfolio for the past two years, the chart has a quiet warning embedded in it. The Fed's "reasonable" AI scenario assumes productivity gains roughly five times smaller than what Goldman's median forecast implied in 2023. Markets, on the other hand, have largely priced in the bullish end of that range.

A few things to keep in mind:

• AI exposure in your portfolio is probably higher than you think. The S&P 500's gains this year have been driven mostly by a handful of AI-linked names. If macro AI productivity disappoints, the concentration cuts both ways.
• Productivity gains, where they exist, are narrow. Goldman found 30% productivity boosts in coding and customer service, but nothing economy-wide. If your industry isn't on that short list, the AI bump may not reach your wages or job market anytime soon.
• The "boring" scenario is still the most likely one. A 0.3pp productivity bump over a decade isn't going to fund early retirement. Long-term financial planning shouldn't bake in an AI windfall the data doesn't support yet.

The bottom line

The chart's real message isn't extinction or utopia. The most plausible AI future, according to Fed economists, looks like every other technology revolution before it — a small bump on a 150-year line. And as of right now, even that bump isn't showing up in the data.

So if you're investing, hiring, or planning around the assumption that AI is about to rewrite the economy, the Fed's own chart is telling you to slow down.

Article sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (1); Goldman Sachs (2); Fortune (3, 7); Dario Amodei (4); Center for AI Safety (5); AI Impacts (6); Deutsche Bank Research (8)

The listings will feature near-new certified cars with perks designed to appeal to budget-conscious buyers, including warranty coverage, haggle-free pricing and return options.

Chris Berg, Hertz's executive vice president of global fleet management, called the partnership "natural next step" (2) as the company expands both its used car operations and online retail presence.

"It gives us access to millions of in-market shoppers on a trusted platform, supports a scalable retail model, reduces our reliance on wholesale channels, and puts our near-new, certified inventory in front of more customers than ever before," Berg said.

Rising costs are reshaping the auto market

Used car prices (3) averaged $25,390 in March, while the average new vehicle cost nearly doubled that at $49,275, pushing more Americans to rethink not just what they drive, but where they buy it.

The 25% tariff on imported vehicles and certain auto parts President Donald Trump imposed (4) last year is still in place, affecting the cost of auto production and the finished cars themselves.

In fact, analysts at J.P. Morgan (5) said the tariff could add $41 billion to automakers' costs, working out to roughly $2,580 more per vehicle, or a 5.8% increase on the average retail price.

"For the most part, we see automakers and consumers paying the year one $41 billion tab," said Ryan Brinkman (6), Head of U.S. Autos and Auto Parts Research at J.P. Morgan Global Research.

Now eBay and Hertz have seen an opportunity in the market, partnering to bring thousands of used fleet vehicles online for consumers hunting for value.

"We're connecting shoppers with a world-class selection of near-new certified vehicles, all backed by eBay's Secure Purchase which enables a seamless, end-to-end buying experience online," Andrea Wielgoss, GM of Vehicles at eBay U.S., said in a statement (7).

The Hertz eBay listing features a range of affordable cars and luxury purchases. For example, they have a 2023 Chevrolet Malibu LT (8) listed for $14,469 and a 2025 Toyota Highlander (9) listed for $38,960.

Are ex-rental cars actually a good deal?

Former rental cars can look appealing to budget-conscious shoppers. They're often newer models that come with lower price tags than comparable used vehicles. There's plenty of inventory. But they come with some baggage.

In a Consumer Reports (10) member survey, roughly one in four respondents said they had received rental cars with mechanical or maintenance-related issues during rentals. But while ex-rental cars have a reputation for being driven hard, that doesn't tell the full story.

Since rental vehicles are core business assets, major companies tend to stay on top of routine maintenance and repairs. Renters are also usually held financially responsible for damages under rental agreements, which can discourage reckless driving.

"Depending on which company you buy from, used rental cars can also come with warranty protections that can reduce financial risk," Michael Crossen (11), lead technician at CR's Auto Test Center, told USA Today.

Crossen recommends looking for used rentals from larger companies like Hertz, Enterprise or Avis, which often include limited warranty coverage — commonly around 12 months or 12,000 miles from the date of purchase. He said he wouldn't buy from a company offering less protection than that.

Before buying a former rental car, experts recommend taking a few extra precautions:

• Have the vehicle inspected by an independent mechanic to spot hidden issues
• Make sure it includes essentials like the owner's manual, floor mats and two sets of keys
• Purchase a vehicle history report through services like Carfax (12)
• Check for free VIN reports through the National Insurance Crime Bureau (13)

If everything checks out, you could drive that ex-rental home for good.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

eBay (1),(8),(9); USA Today (2),(7),(11); Kelley Blue Book (3); The White House (4); J.P. Morgan (5),(6); Consumer Reports (10); Carfax (12); National Insurance Crime Bureau (13)

For example, AI can now create realistic images and audio known as "deepfakes" that fool the public, chatbots can store information from "conversations" with users (1), and 80% of surveyed Gen Zers reported that they would marry an AI (2).

But Larry Fink, billionaire CEO of BlackRock [NYSE:BLK], argues that AI hasn't gone far enough. He believes that AI is the future, and he's putting his money where his mouth is.

"I don't believe we're moving fast enough," Fink said at the Milken Institute Global Conference on May 5, according to Business Insider (3). "There is not an AI bubble. There is the opposite."

BlackRock is all-in on AI

At the Milken conference, Fink announced that BlackRock will partner with a hyperscaler to expand on AI infrastructure, including building data centers and investing in energy. Fink has not yet revealed the name of the hyperscaler, and BlackRock reportedly hasn't responded to Business Insider's request for comment.

Fink is a known AI advocate, and BlackRock has a history of investing in AI infrastructure. In 2024, the asset management giant acquired private market asset manager Global Infrastructure Partners for $12.5 billion (4).

In March 2025, BlackRock and Global Infrastructure Partners joined forces with MGX, Microsoft [NASDAQ:MSFT], Nvidia and xAI to invest in data centers (5).

"AI infrastructure will play an increasingly critical role in driving economic growth across every industry and every region of the world," Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO of Microsoft, said in the BlackRock press release (6). "We're thrilled to welcome these new companies to the AI Infrastructure Partnership as we invest together to build the infrastructure of the future (7)."

Are we experiencing an AI bubble?

Fink's words — and actions — express that he does not believe in an AI bubble and that he's not worried about such a bubble popping. But many investors and industry experts disagree with his stance.

Four tech hyperscalers — Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft — plan to spend more than $650 billion on AI in 2026 (8). But OpenAI has reported $25 billion in annualized revenue (9), while Anthropic claims its annualized revenue run rate is over $30 billion (10).

That's quite the gap in planned spending versus revenue.

Ganesh Sitaraman, director of the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, and Asad Ramzanali, the director of artificial intelligence & technology policy at the Accelerator, wrote an article for Time Magazine on the inevitability of the AI bubble bursting (11).

In the article, they explain that these big tech companies are not only putting their own cash toward these investments, but are also tapping into capital from equity investments, issuing corporate bonds, using asset-backed securities and more.

What does this boil down to for everyday Americans?

"If you use banks, have a retirement account, or depend on the financial system in any way, you too are bearing some of the risk," Sitaraman and Ramzanali wrote. "Your 401(k), life insurance plan, pension plan, and bank provide much of the money that turns into loans or investments in each of those financial mechanisms."

What happens to your portfolio if Fink is wrong?

We've covered some of the ways AI may have taken things "too far." But AI is also involved in overcoming significant problems in the world.

For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of AI in ultrasounds to more accurately predict babies' delivery dates, which leads to safer births (12). AI can also protect medical professionals from dangerous substances by using ultraviolet robots to clean and disinfect hospital rooms.

This means investing in certain AI stocks could help propel this helpful technology forward.

However, as with any sector, the trick is to not invest too much of your portfolio in AI. If you carry some AI stocks, then you're in a good position if Fink ends up being correct about there being no AI bubble to pop. And if an AI bubble does pop, you won't lose your whole retirement fund.

It's crucial to diversify your portfolio by investing in multiple sectors. Buying AI and tech stocks may be fine, but you should also consider financials, healthcare, communication services and more.

Speaking with a financial advisor will help you make wise investing decisions that don't keep you up at night, fretting about a possible AI bubble burst.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (1); Forbes (2); Business Insider (3); Reuters (4); BlackRock (5),(6),(7); Yahoo Finance (8); The Information (9); Bloomberg (10); Time (11); Contemporary OB/GYN (12).

Combine 50% tariffs on Canadian aluminum — where the U.S. gets roughly two-thirds of its primary aluminum — with Iran attacking two smelters in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, and you have an eddy of events spiraling into a supply chain crisis (1).

JP Morgan is forecasting a U.S. shortfall of just under two-million tons, or 2.6% of the market, according to Greg Shearer, the head of base and precious metals strategy/research for the bank (2).

"That's the largest relative deficit that we've seen since 2000," he told Bloomberg. "We do think we are in a very large supply hole here, as we look to the balance of 2026."

What that means for automakers like Ford, Chevrolet and Tesla is that their aluminum-intensive models like the F-150, Corvette and Cybertrucks will be more expensive to assemble thanks to the short supply of aluminum (3).

The auto industry, according to the Wall Street Journal, consumed 3.7 million metric tons of aluminum in 2025. That's 30% more than in 2020, according to consulting firm CRU's data in the WSJ article.

Why automakers rely on aluminum

Bauxite is a reddish-brown sedimentary rock that contains a high amount of aluminum oxide, which is then turned into aluminum. The U.S. mines bauxite in Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia and refines it at sites in Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York and South Carolina (4).

America was Canada's largest trade partner for aluminum products in 2024, accounting for 91% of the total value of aluminum exports (5). But tariffs enacted by the Trump administration have changed that (6).

In March, Emirates Global Aluminum's Al Taweelah smelter was put out of commission after an attack. Aluminum Bahrain and Qatar Aluminum had greatly reduced output due to attacks and power shortages. Norwegian producer Norsk Hydro also scaled back operations at its Qatalum plant in Qatar (7). The Middle East accounts for roughly 9% of the world's aluminum production (8).

When a refinery is shut down, it can take up to a year to reach full capacity (8). Add to that the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and supply chains continue to slow down.

Back in the U.S., Ford has experienced its own issues. A fire at the Novelis plant in Oswego County disrupted aluminum supplies back in November, prompting automakers to request tariff relief from the Trump administration (9).

But car manufacturers don't shut down, so that limited production creates a logjam for producers like Ford. The entire body of the F-150 is made from aluminum, making the vehicle 700-pounds lighter than its previous iterations. The lower weight improves fuel economy, but it also allows Ford to use a smaller engine to power the truck (10). The automaker had plans to build an additional 150,000 trucks this year over 2025's reduced volume (3).

Chevrolet's C7 generation of corvettes, manufactured from 2014 and on, are also heavily dependent on aluminum to reduce weight and increase the integrity of the frame (11). Tesla uses aluminum in the castings for the suspension knuckles and some structural castings within the chassis (12).

'Consumers will have to pay the price'

With plastics and steel already impacted by tariffs and the Iran war, the aluminum crisis is just another burden, and the cost will likely be passed onto consumers.

The Russian aluminum market is not an option to offset the crisis, given the sanctions imposed on the country after the invasion of Ukraine (13). China is the world's largest aluminum producer, however, the country processes most of its metal into semi-manufactured products such as rod, plate and wire. Plus, trade barriers against Chinese exports have limited that option as well.

That means the costs for Americans will inevitably rise, and buyers of aluminum will inevitably have to pay tariffs no matter where the metal comes from (3).

"Consumers will have to pay the price," Virginia Tech economics professor David Bieri told Time Magazine (14). "The continued uncertainty that is created by the government is poisoning business plans."

Bieri made these comments back in June 2025, before the Iranian conflict had begun. With the current aluminum crisis, the costs for auto repairs and replacements costs will surely be passed down to the customers, and those costs will likely be inflated.

"I've seen a lot and tend to be level-headed on large market moves — and I still think the market is underestimating the circumstances here," Darrell Fletcher, managing director of commodities at Bannockburn Global Forex, told CNBC (15). "Time will tell, but the shutdown creates bottlenecks daily, and the problem compounds exponentially."

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Reuters (1),(8),(13); Bloomberg (2); Wall Street Journal (3),(7),(10); Aluminum Association (4); Natural Resources Canada (5); U.S. Chamber of Commerce (6); Syracuse.com (9); Driving Line (11); Tesla (12); Time (14); CNBC (15).

In a recent New Yorker investigation into staffing cuts and operational changes at the agency, one Midwest Social Security office manager told reporter E. Tammy Kim, it isn't unusual for people to drive two and a half hours to get help. (1) Staffing cuts, centralized phone systems and operational changes inside the Social Security Administration (SSA) are reshaping how Americans access benefits.

The agency serves more than 75 million people (2), including retirees, individuals with disabilities and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients. But the SSA's workforce has been drastically cut, with the agency losing more than 7,000 employees in 2025 alone, including roughly 3,000 customer-service workers (3).

The staffing reductions were the result of the short-lived Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which pushed federal agencies to cut costs and modernize operations. Earlier this year, DOGE targeted Social Security offices before plans were reversed following public backlash, according to Reuters (4).

Advocates say the downsizing could disproportionately hurt older Americans, disabled beneficiaries and rural residents who depend on in-person help to navigate one of the federal government's most complex systems.

Why in-person Social Security offices matter

For many Americans, Social Security isn't simply a website login or quick phone call.

Field offices help people with the basics: apply for disability benefits, replace Social Security cards, resolve payment problems, report income changes for SSI eligibility and navigate survivor benefits after a spouse dies. Many cases require original documents, lengthy explanations or a rundown of complicated eligibility rules.

That's especially true for SSI recipients, whose benefits can change depending on income, living arrangements or local assistance programs.

The SSA handled about 31 million in-person visits in fiscal year 2024, according to the agency (5). Yet it has simultaneously pushed more users online and on the phone.

The New Yorker report said local office workers are losing direct phone lines, and calls are being rerouted through national systems. Some offices reportedly began discouraging walk-ins while employees were reassigned to help reduce wait times on the agency's national line.

Advocates argue that automation can only go so far

According to Pew Research Center data, older Americans are less likely to use broadband internet or feel comfortable with digital services (6). Rural Americans also face higher rates of limited broadband access. That can create serious barriers for seniors or disabled Americans trying to resolve benefit problems.

Research published by the American Economic Association found that Social Security field office closures were associated with a 16% decline in disability benefit receipt in nearby areas (7), suggesting fewer people completed the application process when local access disappeared.

Organizations, including the American Association of Retired Persons (8) and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (9), have also warned that understaffing can worsen delays and make it harder for the vulnerable to get assistance.

What longer waits could mean for beneficiaries

For retirees and disabled Americans living paycheck to paycheck, delays at Social Security can quickly become financial emergencies. Disability applicants already face extended times for decisions. According to the SSA, the average wait for an initial disability claim is six to eight months (10).

The New Yorker noted cases bouncing between distant offices, beneficiaries being falsely listed as dead and workers struggling to resolve problems because of a new centralized system.

The effects may be more pronounced in rural communities, where office access is already limited. Some state offices in Iowa and Montana reportedly shifted to phone-only service after staffing losses.

How to deal with Social Security staffing cuts

For those whose contact with Social Security has been disrupted by office closures or limited staff, there are steps you can take to try to combat issues as they arise:

• Prepare for longer response times, whether in-person or by phone
• Keep detailed records when dealing with the agency
• Document case numbers or phone conversations
• Create a My Social Security online account
• If struggling with stalled claims, seek help through legal-aid groups, disability advocates or congressional constituent-service offices

Monthly benefit checks are still being delivered, but beneficiaries still encounter problems and there are fewer experienced workers available.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

The New Yorker (1),(3); U.S. Social Security Administration (2),(5),(10); Reuters (4); Pew Research Center (6); American Economic Association (7); AARP (8); Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (9)

Racquel Oden, head of international wealth and private banking at HSBC, told MarketWatch that retirement is no longer a single destination (1).

"HSBC research shows a new work-retire-work model is emerging where people take intentional career pauses to pursue passions, start businesses, take care of children or parents and reinvent themselves," she said.

HSBC's study The Rise of Multi-Retirements indicates a shift toward what it calls a "multi-retirement" model, where an individual takes intentional career breaks, ranging from six to 12 months, in cycles of five to six years. And millennials and Gen Xers are leading the charge (2).

Oden said HSBC's research — surveying "affluent" adults in 12 global markets — found that 37% of respondents planned to take a mini-retirement. Among those who had already taken one, 87% said it had improved their quality of life.

Here is why more people are questioning the traditional model of retirement.

Traditional retirement doesn't add up

The traditional model is based on a number of assumptions: You retire at 65 (give or take a few years), your mortgage is paid off, you receive a regular workplace pension as well as Social Security benefits and your spending drops.

But many American retirees haven't paid off their homes (3) and the cost of living continues to rise, with the U.S. facing the worst inflation in the G7 this year. Healthcare costs are another source of concern.

Workplace pensions have largely disappeared, and for workers who have 401(k)s, the median balance is just $40,000, according to the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS).

That means Social Security isn't just a supplement, but represents 52% of retirement income for many. But it was never intended to be a primary source of income. Meanwhile, Social Security's future (and that of Medicare) is uncertain.

No wonder more than a third (36%) of Americans don't feel confident that they'll have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, according to the 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research (4).

Add it all up, and many retirees may have to dip into their personal savings to supplement their retirement income for 30 years or more. That has people looking for alternatives to full retirement.

Taking mini-retirements as a trend

Mini-retirements are a way to take a break from full-time work and then return to earn more income.

"This trend can be seen across all generations," according to HSBC, particularly for Gen X and millennials, who see 47 as the ideal age for a first break (5).

But Oden stressed a mini-retirement "takes careful planning."

They planned to fund them through personal savings (49%), investment income (41%) and, in some cases, new income streams like part-time work (36%).

Notably, they said they aimed to save a $530,000 nest egg before taking a break..

The report focused on affluent individuals who may already have substantial savings and investment income, not all Americans are in a position to take mini-retirements.

Alternatives to traditional retirement

Regardless of whether you are affluent or not, the new approach is about determining when you want to retire rather than having it determined for you.

After all, it's one thing for Social Security to declare your full retirement age (FRA), but it may not align with your personal savings or lifestyle preferences. Multi-retirement is part of a broader desire to redefine retirement.

Mini-retirements are not the only option. Some people may prefer semi-retirement, where they transition to part-time work before full retirement.

Or they may want to transition to an 'encore' career, such as turning a passion into a side hustle.

For those who've spent years honing their professional skills — and aren't excited by the idea of a life of leisure — retirement from a full-time job may be an opportunity to transition to a consulting gig, joining a board or starting a new business.

A different approach to retirement, whether taking mini-retirements or finding new passions or purpose in your golden years, can also help to combat the loneliness and isolation that can come with an abrupt end to your career, an empty calendar and a quiet house.

Ultimately, the cookie-cutter retirement model doesn't work for everyone — and it may be time to redefine it.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

MarketWatch (1); HSBC (2); National Institute on Retirement Security (3); Employee Benefit Research Institute (4); HSBC U.K. (5)

Imagine Sarah, a recently married mother of two. She expected to get a tax refund in April, but when she filled out her forms, it said she owed taxes. Why is that, and more importantly, what can she do so she's not taken by surprise again?

Why the government says you owe it money

Employers withhold taxes as if you only have one income stream for your household. If that's not the case, the government may say you owe it money in April.

Sarah earns $40,000 a year working part-time for an accounting firm. Her firm assumes she only makes $40,000 a year from that one job. It doesn't automatically account for her spouse's income or the $30,000 she made at her new, part-time job at Starbucks. (1)

She can manually bump up withholdings by tweaking numbers on the W-4 form, but many don't do this. It's a common reason people owe money to the government, says the tax filing platform TaxAct. (2)

If Sarah were self-employed, she would owe self-employment tax on top of regular income tax. (2) Companies don't automatically withhold taxes for contractors — if you expect to owe $1,000 or more, you file quarterly taxes. (3) Under that umbrella falls Uber driving, Doordash delivering and eBay reselling. It adds up, too. As of writing, self-employment tax is 15.3% of net earnings.

Watch out, the IRS could charge you for this specifically

You might owe more after marriage, your kid aged up or you got a new job.

Just married? If both of you work, you might land in a higher tax bracket together than you did apart, the IRS says. (4) If neither of you updates your W-4 to account for the other's income, you could end up owing in April. Take Sarah. Now that she and her spouse both work, they might land in a higher tax bracket together than they did apart.

Long-time parents? Kids that age up might disqualify you for certain deductions. Since Sarah's daughter turned seventeen last year, Sarah lost the Child Tax Credit for her daughter. (5)

A new job could push you into a higher tax bracket. Let's assume Sarah files separately from her husband. Since Sarah makes $40,000 for accounting and this tax year earned an additional $30,000 for Starbucks work, her 2025 tax bracket has risen from 12% to 22%. (6) That means the top slice of her income is taxed at a higher rate.

Get ahead of April taxes

"If you owe taxes, don't wait," says Stacy Francis, a certified financial planner. "Updating your W-4 now spreads the impact across the rest of the year instead of creating another large bill." (7)

The W-4 tells your employer how much money to withhold from your paychecks and send to the government throughout the year. (8) Sarah can fill it out and send it to her employer's payroll department to change how much of her paycheck the company withholds.

The IRS recommends she use the official Tax Withholding Estimator. (9) The idea is to use it if you "are completing this form after the beginning of the year; expect to work only part of the year; or have changes during the year in your marital status, number of jobs for you (and/or your spouse if married filing jointly), dependents, other income (not from jobs), deductions, or credits." (10)

How long it will take: about 25 minutes, according to the IRS website. (9) Half an hour of checking boxes could prevent filers like Sarah from cutting a big paycheck to the IRS next tax season.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

Internal Revenue Service (1),(3),(4),(5),(6),(9),(10); TaxAct (2); Kiplinger (7),(8)

Under the federal Trump Accounts (1) program, kids born between 2025 and 2028 are supposed to get a one-time $1,000 federal seed contribution. If that money grows at the S&P 500's long-term average return of about 10% a year, for example, it could reach roughly $5,800 by the time the child turns 18 — and that's without parents adding a dime.

If markets perform a bit better than expected, that number could climb even higher, turning it into one of the most efficient wealth-building tools available to families.

Considering only 47% of Americans have enough savings or liquidity to cover a $1,000 emergency (2) expense, this kind of safety net is huge.

So why are tens of millions of kids missing out?

A promising idea with a complicated catch

The program, also known as a 530A account, is designed to use the power of compound interest. A dollar invested at birth is worth way more than a dollar invested later.

But there's a catch: it's not automatic. Parents have to sign up, fill out paperwork, and pass multiple verification steps to access that $1,000. For families juggling jobs, childcare, and tight budgets, that can feel like an insurmountable hurdle. Even seemingly minor conflicts — like needing internet access, remembering deadlines, or understanding eligibility rules — can be enough to halt the enrollment process altogether.

The Treasury Department aimed to have 25 million kids sign up (3), but so far, only about five million are estimated (4) to be enrolled. That's a mere fraction of the whopping 73 million kids who are actually eligible (5). That noticeable gap isn't just a statistic, either. It represents millions of families who could benefit but never make it through the process.

When the Child Tax Credit was expanded in 2021, for example, millions missed out (6) because they didn't file taxes (7) or know they needed to sign up.

It even happens at the state level. The people who need benefits the most often can't get them because of complex red tape. Maine had a similar $500 grant program. When they made it "opt-in," only 40% signed up (8). When they switched to automatic enrollment, there was 100% participation (5).

Other programs have shown the same pattern. When enrollment is automatic, participation tends to be nearly universal. When it requires action, even small action, participation drops — especially among lower-income households.

A simple solution?

Right now, higher-income families are better at navigating the system, leaving lower-income families behind. As a result, a program meant to reduce inequality can, in fact, widen it.

And every missed account isn't just $1,000 lost; it's years of potential compound growth — and a wider wealth gap for the next generation. Over time, those missed gains could mean the difference between starting adulthood with a cushion or starting from scratch.

Plus, there's an additional risk. If these accounts grow too much, they could make kids ineligible for need-based benefits like Supplemental Security Income (SSI) later on.

There's also a behavioral angle. Research suggests (9) that simply having assets — even small ones — can change how families think about the future, from education decisions to long-term planning. Missing out on the account may mean missing out on those ripple effects too.

On paper, the problem doesn't seem too difficult to solve: make it automatic.

As Jin Huang and Stephen Roll argued in The Washington Post (5), the Treasury already has the data. If they just opened these accounts automatically using Social Security numbers, they'd remove the biggest barrier overnight. No forms, no stress, no missed opportunities.

Until that happens, a policy meant to help everyone is only reaching a few.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

The White House (1); Bankrate (2); NBC News (3); CNBC (4); The Washington Post (5); CBS News (6); Tax Outreach (7); K-12 Dive (8); ResearchGate (9)

John Clay Wolfe, founder of vehicle wholesaler GiveMeTheVIN.com, must certainly be thinking that after a hailstorm blew through the Dallas area at the end of last month, causing up to $3 million in damages (1) to cars that were on site for an upcoming auction.

When the storm hit, some 800 cars were out and uncovered, including 80 collectors' cars and 300 high-end sports or luxury vehicles. The damage was staggering.

One truck had 1,000 dents. The windshield of a Ferrari was cracked. A Subaru Impreza had a golf ball sized hole in its rear window. The list goes on.

The scenario, says Wolfe, was "my worst nightmare."

Rising costs

The $3 million figure Wolfe is facing is post-insurance out-of-pocket expenses. He'll have to pay a $2,500 deductible, but many of the vehicles will need a special sort of repair that might not be covered by the insurer, he told the Dallas Morning News.

"The Ferraris and the Lamborghinis and stuff, we can't drill holes on those cars to do paintless dent repair," Wolfe said. "And so they're going to have to be painted in some cases, and you've got to have it super-duper professionally done. … This was just bad enough to cost a s— ton of money.""

Wolfe already pays roughly $700,000 per year for his company's insurance policy – and after a claim like this, it's likely to move even higher. Changes to Texas insurance rules have done away with a maximum out of pocket amount for dealer insurance, which raised the total estimated bill of this storm.

No relief coming

This is the first time Wolfe has faced this sort of damage, but it was seemingly bound to happen. The auctions take place on a 100-acre lot in Dallas that's too large to cover. All totaled, 17,000 cars on that lot were on the lot hit by the hailstorm, he said.

Texas, meanwhile, continues to be impacted by climate change. In February 2021, the state's power grid failed, leaving more than 4 million customers without power and resulting in at least 246 deaths (2). Texas narrowly averted a much worse crisis. At its peak, the grid was just 4 minutes and 37 seconds (3) away from a total, weeks- or months-long blackout.

At the same time, high temperatures are getting higher. Temperatures along a 30-mile stretch of the Rio Grande hit 104 degrees (4) on Feb. 26, the hottest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. in the December-February time period.

That's not Wolfe's concern right now, though. While 140 cars were repaired in time for the auction, the rest are still being fixed — and will have to remain on the lot until the next sale. That's another expense for the company. And while Wolfe has a line of credit he can draw from, he said the company's profits this year are going to be notably lower than last.

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Dallas Morning News (1); Texas Department of State Health Services (2); KUT (3); USA Today (4)

Then, last year, her employer, LanguageLine, experienced a financial crunch. The company adopted a software tool called NiCE Workforce Management, which is one of many products that use artificial intelligence to forecast work needs, plan shifts and optimize schedules and assignments in real time, even once the workday has already started (2) — called "intraday management" in the business (3).

Overnight, everything changed for Valerus. Her shifts were often cancelled last-minute, sometimes in the middle of the day. She'd come back from lunch and find her afternoon schedule gone. According to tax returns shown to NPR, her income from interpreting dropped 18% year-over-year. And her previous two-minute downtime between calls shrunk to an impossible 15 seconds: no time to quickly run to the bathroom or grab a drink of water.

Those quick breaks really matter when the work is emotionally draining and intense. Interpreters may be called in by phone or video to read out a sentence for someone convicted of a serious crime, or relay a family's end-of-life wishes while their loved one is on life support.

A different, former interpreter with the company told NPR the gruelling schedule caused her to lose focus and make mistakes, which LanguageLine told the outlet it "categorically" does not want for its workers, adding that it has a health and safety committee to review complaints.

LanguageLine's parent company is French call-centre giant Teleperformance — the same one that made the news in 2021 for using an AI-enabled webcam that periodically scans remote employees' workstations and snaps photos if it detects "infractions" like eating or picking up a smartphone while on the clock (4).

Software for managing, scheduling and surveilling workers has become ubiquitous, especially for low-wage, hourly work. Now, Valerus is part of a group of workers that’s fighting back.

The problem with algorithmic scheduling

Workers have been raising the alarm about the potential harms of using algorithms for "just-in-time" scheduling since they were introduced over a decade ago.

According to Harvard's SHIFT lab, which studies the impact of technology on workers' rights, these tools are part of a trend: A shift of business risks from companies to workers.

Traditionally, in the service sector, shifts are planned ahead and there's always a possibility of scheduling either too many people or too few. That's a risk of doing business. But, with help from software that optimizes for covering work hours at the least possible cost, employers shift the burden of dealing with that unpredictability onto workers.

The result: 60% of service workers receive their schedule with less than two weeks' notice, 57% have last-minute changes to shifts, 13% regularly have shifts cancelled, and 27% are asked to work on-call, keeping their availability open in case they are asked to work. On average, part-time workers face fluctuations of 34% in hours between the weeks they work the most and the least in a month.

A Starbucks vice-president once told the New York Times that algorithmic scheduling was a "magic" way to save money on labor. But for workers, the unpredictable hours and income make it very difficult to make a monthly budget or manage everyday responsibilities like school pickup.

Lifting yourself out of low-wage work, such as by going to college, feels even more out of reach. How can you sign up for classes if you never know when you'll have to work (5)?

Workers vs. algorithms is the new labor fight

The impact of technology on workers has become a rallying point for unions around the U.S. and the world.

Valerus is part of an effort to unionize LanguageLine interpreters under the Communications Workers of America (CWA). Workers hope changes to back-to-back call scheduling and "impossibly short break times" will be up for negotiation (6).

Some workers have succeeded at similar efforts. According to a 2018 report from Fortune, Marriott hotel cleaners were given a scheduling app that was supposed to make their work more efficient, but it ended up sending them up and down floors seemingly at random, tiring them out and wasting time.

Their union complained and negotiated a contract that requires management to alert workers 165 days before introducing a new technology so staff can raise concerns (7).

Last year, the Senate heard testimony about the impact of AI on workers, including from Carlos Aramayo, president of hospitality union UNITE HERE Local 26. He urged those listening to understand that taxing working conditions are not "pre-ordained outcomes of the software," but conscious choices.

"They are management decisions," he said (8), echoing an often-quoted fragment from a presentation given at IBM in the 1970s (9): "A computer can never be held accountable … Therefore a computer must never make a management decision."

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NPR (1); NICE (2); Genesys (3); The Guardian (4); The New York Times (5); Communications Workers of America (6); Fortune/Yahoo Finance (7); U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (8); Simon Willison (9).

“The way we work at Cloudflare has fundamentally changed,” the blog post states. “That means we have to be intentional in how we architect our company for the agentic AI era in order to supercharge the value we deliver to our customers and to honor our mission to help build a better Internet for everyone, everywhere,” the post further describes. “Today is a hard day. This decision unfortunately means saying goodbye to teammates who have contributed meaningfully to our mission and to building Cloudflare into one of the world’s most successful companies.”

The silver lining: The Cloudflare execs made special mention that those losing their jobs would receive “severance packages that lead the industry.” Those affected will continue to be paid through the end of the year, as well as get healthcare benefits through the end of 2026 for U.S-based employees, while their equity will continue to vest through the summer, until August 15.

In other words, roughly eight months of paychecks, eight months of insurance, and a few extra months of stock accumulation for over 1,000 people. If you’ve been laid off before, you’re probably thinking this is a pretty sweet deal, all things considered.

It is also, unfortunately, something most American workers will never experience.

Why most American severance falls short

There is no federal law in the United States requiring private-sector employers to pay severance at all. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act (2), enacted in 1988, requires 60 calendar days’ notice for many mass layoffs at companies with 100 or more employees, but it doesn’t mandate a payout — only the notice. Beyond WARN, severance is whatever the employer chooses to offer, governed mostly by company policy, individual contract, or, occasionally, a collective bargaining agreement.

Typically (3), companies offer one to two weeks of salary per year of service. In other words, if you work somewhere for five years, you get five to 10 weeks of pay. Cloudflare employees, on the other hand, will be paid for the remaining 34 weeks left in the year.

Even within Silicon Valley, what Cloudflare is offering still looks exceptional. When Snap announced 1,000 layoffs last month, Moneywise reported the company offered four months of severance. Again, for context, that’s considered generous by sector standards but still half of what Cloudflare is providing to those laid off. On the healthcare front, continuation of benefits rarely extends past what COBRA already allows at the employee’s expense, and unvested equity typically goes away the moment the employee’s badge stops working, so having extra time for those shares to vest can be a nice sweetener, especially for more senior-level employees.

What to do about your own severance package

The gap between Cloudflare’s ceiling and the typical American floor is actually something you can have some control over. First, just take a few steps to assess your position.

1. Find your employer’s policy. Many companies publish a severance policy in the employee handbook or on an internal HR portal. If yours doesn’t, ask HR directly for the written policy. You’re entitled to know what you’d receive in a reduction in force, and the answer often differs sharply from what you’d get if you were terminated for cause or resigned voluntarily. Knowing is half the battle here, and gives you something to potentially plan around.

2. Calculate your runway. The Federal Reserve’s annual Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (4) says many Americans cannot cover a $400 emergency expense without borrowing, and most financial planners recommend three to six months of essential expenses in a dedicated emergency fund as a baseline. For most folks, the math looks like this: existing emergency fund + (weekly severance × weeks offered) + state unemployment insurance - monthly expenses.

3. Time your unemployment filing carefully. State unemployment insurance rules vary, and some states reduce or delay unemployment insurance benefits when a worker is receiving severance pay. Others treat lump-sum severance as not affecting eligibility at all. Filing the day after you’re laid off without checking your state’s offset rules can mean leaving money on the table — or, in some cases, an overpayment notice months later. The U.S. Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop tool (5) links to each state’s UI office, where the specific rules are spelled out.

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Cloudflare Blog (1); U.S. Department of Labor (2); Oyster HR (3); Federal Reserve (4); CareerOneStop (5)

In March, Washington adopted a so-called millionaire's tax of 9.9% (1) on earnings over $1 million, set to take effect in 2028.

At a Seattle University event in April, Wilson commented, "I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are, like, super overblown and if, you know, the ones that leave, like 'bye'" (2).

On a recent Fox Business episode of The Big Money Show, a co-host noted that the "flippant nature" of the mayor's remarks risks making a potentially serious issue seem trivial (3).

High earners on the move?

Washington's 7% capital gains tax on earnings from $278,000 (initially $250,000) and up (now 9.9% for earnings above $1 million), enacted in 2021, (4) marked a policy shift in what is one of the few states without a personal or corporate income (5) tax. The millionaire tax raises the stakes even further, and the Washington Supreme Court has ruled that it can't be challenged (6) by voter referendum.

But are fears of a tax-fueled millionaire exodus from higher-tax states an exaggeration, or is there real movement?

Federal data suggests movement is already underway in some states. An analysis from the Tax Foundation found that no-income-tax states continue to see net population gains, while some higher-tax jurisdictions are experiencing outflows (7).

The data shows taxpayers, and their income, moving out of states including California and New York to lower-tax states such as Florida and Texas. Washington state still has no traditional income tax for most people, but a millionaire's tax could give some wealthier residents a reason to reconsider where they want to live.

U.S. Census Bureau data also shows that population growth has been concentrated in lower-tax Southern states such as Texas, Florida and the Carolinas (15).

However, economists say taxes are only one piece of the migration puzzle. Brookings Institution research finds Americans decide where to live based on a much wider mix including housing affordability, job opportunities, climate pressures and overall quality of life (8).

Tone fuels the backlash

The backlash against Seattle's mayor is about policy, but it also involves the potential perception of her flippant attitude. The Fox Business critics suggested that Wilson is sending a message to the wealthy of, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out," and that casual attitude could alienate not only millionaires, but also other business owners and investors who are weighing where to live and grow (9).

The commentators argued that tone matters as much as tax rates, especially in a competitive landscape in which states are actively trying to attract both capital and talent, with the possibility of having huge corporations leave.

And Seattle Times (11) columnist Danny Westneat wrote, "The gaffes are becoming a pattern for Seattle's new mayor." His column quotes former Washington state legislator Reuven Carlyle, a Democrat, who said, "The language matters. Rhetoric matters. You're going to wave goodbye to your hometown entrepreneurs? We can't pretend that that rhetoric doesn't have a serious impact."

Wilson's remarks were part of an answer to a question from a student about Starbucks, a company with deep roots in Seattle, announcing in April that they would be investing $100 million in a corporate hub in Nashville, bringing roughly 2,000 jobs (12) to the city. While the company has not linked the move to tax policy, and their main headquarters will remain in Seattle, some policy experts have noted that the city's taxes, including its JumpStart payroll tax (13), may have played a role.

"Bare minimum they are going to save $250 million over the course of that 23-year lease in Nashville than they would've had to stay here in Seattle," Washington Policy Center's Ryan Frost told MSN (14).

Whether you're an investor, entrepreneur or homeowner, staying in the loop on policy can help you anticipate shifts in local economies and make smarter financial decisions. As Washington navigates its next steps, the state is still faced with the reality that in an era of increasing mobility, policy decisions can play a decisive role in where the people holding the money bags choose to go.

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Morgan Lewis (1); Seattle Channel (2); Fox Business (3),(9); Washington State Department of Revenue (4),(5); The Wall Street Journal (6); Tax Foundation (7); Brookings Institution (8); CNBC (10); Seattle Times (11); Starbucks (12); MyNorthwest (13); MSN (14); Reuters (15)

Then 2025 happened — and a more diversified mix beat the simple portfolio by 5%, the biggest margin since 2009, with assets most retirement accounts don’t have enough of (1).

This is one of the key findings of Morningstar's 2026 Diversification Landscape report.

Portfolio strategist Amy Arnott (2) tested an 11-asset portfolio against the classic 60/40 mix and discovered that the diversified portfolio not only beat the old‑school mix by 5% last year, but continues to outperform in 2026, ahead of the simple portfolio by 3% as of April 14. (3)

Still, as Morningstar reveals, over the past 20 years, the plain‑vanilla 60/40 still wins on risk‑adjusted returns.

In other words, diversification isn't always better. Here's why 2025 was different, and what that means for how you build your portfolio right now.

What was actually in the winning portfolio

Morningstar tested a diversified portfolio spread across 11 asset classes in specific proportions:

• 20% in large-cap U.S. stocks.
• 10% each in developed international stocks; emerging market stocks; U.S. Treasuries; U.S. core bonds; global bonds; high-yield bonds.
• 5% each in U.S. small-cap stocks; commodities; gold; real estate investment trusts (REITS)

The diversified portfolio returned 18.3% in 2025, compared to 13.3% for a basic 60/40 mix of U.S. stocks and investment-grade bonds (1).

According to Morningstar, three things drove 2025's result: a weakening dollar, more attractive international valuations and gold's surge. All three are connected to rising geopolitical uncertainty and global investors diversifying away from the U.S.-centric assets.

First, international stocks — the ones the classic 60/40 portfolio usually ignores — had a breakout year. As tracked by Morningstar Developed Markets ex‑U.S. Index, developed markets outside the U.S. jumped 32% (4), while U.S. stocks only gained around 18%.

A big part of that was that the U.S. dollar weakened 8% against other major currencies (5). For U.S. investors, if your foreign stocks rise in local‑currency terms, the falling dollar gives you an extra boost when you convert those foreign stock gains back into U.S. dollars.

Meanwhile, gold surged nearly 70% for the year, driven by central bank buying and investors seeking a safe-haven asset amid rising geopolitical tensions.

"People are buying it because they think it's going to keep going up," Arnott told USAToday (6). "And that's definitely what we saw in 2025."

Still, diversified portfolios don't always outperform. In fact, Morningstar found that over 20 years, the 60/40 portfolio generated better risk-adjusted returns than the diversified version.

From 2009 to 2024, U.S. stocks dominated with a 14.5% (1) annualized return, compared to a 7.6% annualized return for International equities. Holding foreign stocks that didn't keep up with U.S. equities dragged the average return of diversified portfolios down.

Another challenge with diversified portfolios is that in big market crashes, diversified assets can suddenly fall, so the protection you counted on can vanish when you need it.

Keep it simple when it comes to diversifying your portfolio

So what should investors do right now? Arnott advises that investors keep things simple, even when diversifying their portfolio.

She recommends three core asset classes: U.S. stocks, international stocks and investment-grade bonds.

Arnott told CNBC (3) that international stock valuations still look more attractive than U.S. stocks. On the bond side, she recommends sticking to short- to intermediate-term maturities.

"In addition, a small commodity exposure could make sense if inflation continues to run above the 2% target," she added.

She advises against investing too much in gold, cryptocurrency or newer asset classes like private equity and private credit because the risks may outweigh the benefits.

A standard S&P 500 index fund gives you zero international exposure. For example, the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT) (7) holds both U.S. and international stocks — roughly 60% domestic and 40% international.

The Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA) (8) focuses on developed international markets, including Europe, Japan, Australia, and trades at lower valuations than U.S. equities.

Arnott says diversification doesn't have to be complicated.

"Even if you have a fairly simple approach of just building a portfolio focused on U.S. stocks, international stocks, and investment-grade bonds, that can take you pretty far from a diversification standpoint (5)," she said.

It also shows that the 60/40 portfolio isn't dead, it just needs a little diversification.

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Morningstar (1),(2),(4),(5); CNBC (3); USA Today (6); Vanguard (7),(8)

Father Tom McCarthy, a personal friend of Pope Leo XIV, said this while sharing a story about the Pope's struggles dealing with his bank's customer service.

The Pope was trying to get the phone number changed for his bank account, which was held by a bank in his hometown of Chicago. Despite answering the security questions correctly, the customer service representative said he would have to come in to change the number, which he couldn't do.

"Would it matter to you if I told you I'm Pope Leo?" he said. The representative hung up on him.

Luckily for the Pope, he knew a guy who knew a guy. He was able to escalate the issue to the bank president and get his number changed; understandably, they didn't want to lose the Pope to another bank.

Pope Leo isn't alone in his customer service struggle — although most people don't have his connections to lean on. The J.D. Power Retail Banking Satisfaction Study shows that customers are beginning to show dissatisfaction with their banks' customer service options (2).

Here's what people are dissatisfied about — and what banks could do to fix it.

People are starting to "soft switch" their bank accounts more often

The 2026 J.D. Power study shows that customer satisfaction rates sharply declined in the second half of 2025. It says this decline shows "growing strain in the customer experience with phone, branch, online and automated customer support channels."

Customers are showing their dissatisfaction by slowly transferring money away from their primary account to another bank. 20% of retail customers are "soft switching" their accounts like this, up from 17% in the previous year.

"Cracks are emerging at key points in the customer journey, which are opening the door to quietly establish new accounts with other institutions and gradually shift funds away from their primary bank," says Jennifer White, senior director of financial services intelligence at J.D. Power.

This could be because banks are increasingly using AI as part of their customer service approach, something that consumers are only fine with in specific circumstances.

According to a T.D. Bank survey, two-thirds of people were open to AI being used behind the scenes for things like fraud detection (3). But over 80% of people would prefer to be able to reach a human when they call the bank for customer support.

A 2023 report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that, even back then, chatbots were beginning to replace traditional call centers as banks' first-line customer support solution (4). This frustrated people, who were left to deal with nonhuman chatbots with no way to escalate.

"What is worse is there is not way [sic] to contact a person who can actually resolve the situation," said one CFPB complaint.

Even if there is a way to contact a human customer service representative, it can be complicated to figure out how. Some banks require you to enter your account information before moving forward; others have complicated and hard-to-parse phone trees that could lead to you being shuffled between customer service representatives when trying to find the right person to speak to (5).

Many banks made customers sit through long wait times before they spoke to someone. If you didn't reach the right person, you'd have to get back in line and wait again.

What banks can do to win back customers

Banks frequently use chatbots or other AI services because they're cost effective, quick and good at handling simple repetitive tasks (4). If banks want to improve their customer service scores, they don't have to get rid of AI as an option entirely: Almost half of people are open to using AI banking assistants for simple things like paying bills and setting alerts (3).

But banks might want to also offer well-staffed customer service lines for the customers who aren't comfortable using those tools, as well as for more complicated issues or financial questions.

White says one of the best ways banks can increase their customer service scores is to make it easy to solve any problems that come up. She says that banks that score high on customer service overall "are scoring strongly on resolving problem friction well (6)."

"Because sometimes when you have a problem, you know, a good resolution can actually result in higher customer experience satisfaction scores than never having the problem to begin with," she says.

Banks that successfully reduce problem friction will have happier customers; they'll also lose fewer customers to soft switching.

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YouTube (1); J.D. Power (2); Customer Experience Dive (3),(6); Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (4); MyBankTracker (5)

Speaking alongside fellow "Shark Tank" (1) investor Robert Herjavec in an interview posted Wednesday by The School of Hard Knocks (2), O'Leary recounted what the late Apple co-founder once told him about cutting through distractions.

"There's only three things you have to get done every day. That's called the signal," O'Leary recalled Jobs telling him. "Everything else that stops you from getting the three things done is the noise. If you understand what I'm telling you, you'll be successful."

O'Leary admits he pushed back at the time.

"I said, 'Steve, you're such an a****** — why would I believe you?'" he told host James Dumoulin. Jobs' response? "Trust me."

Signal versus noise

Separating the signal from the noise was a key part of Jobs' leadership at Apple, particularly after returning to the company as CEO in the late '90s. In a now-famous 1997 appearance at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (3), Jobs told the audience that "focusing is about saying no."

Jobs, to his credit, made the bold decision to kill numerous low-priority projects and have his team focus on just a few specific categories, which ultimately propelled Apple's eventual turnaround in the personal computing space.

For O'Leary, this principle around discipline became a hallmark of his career. The Toronto-born investor co-founded SoftKey Software Products in 1986, which later acquired and rebranded itself as The Learning Company. He sold the children's educational software business to Mattel for roughly $4.2 billion in 1999 (4), according to The New York Times — a deal that, while disastrous for Mattel, made O'Leary fabulously wealthy.

He's since continued to grow his platform, particularly through his "Mr. Wonderful" role as a judge on ABC's "Shark Tank," where he's become a household name.

Herjavec, 64, who built and sold cybersecurity firms before joining "Shark Tank," agreed with O'Leary that focus and discipline tend to be the common thread among the wealthiest people they've met. "I've never met somebody with great wealth who doesn't have great purpose," Herjavec said.

"Billionaires don't care about money," O'Leary added. "They're on a mission."

How 'three things a day' lines up with productivity research

Studies on attention and focus have consistently found that constant task-switching erodes performance — and that recovery from interruptions is slower than most people think. Research by UC Irvine professor Gloria Mark, outlined in her book "Attention Span" (5), found it takes roughly 23 minutes on average to refocus after an interruption.

That tracks with how O'Leary describes his own routine: Pick three priorities, treat everything else as friction and keep moving.

Beyond the Jobs anecdote, O'Leary and Herjavec used the conversation to push two other points at younger viewers: Learn AI — and learn how to sell.

You can watch the entire exchange between O'Leary, Herjavec and The School of Hard Knocks here (6).

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ABC (1); TikTok (2),(6); YouTube (3); The New York Times (4); Gloria Mark (5)

That has led Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel, a multinational hedge fund and financial services company, to warn that if the war drags on, it could push the global markets into a recession.

"We're very focused on how long the stalemate will persist for," he told CNBC's Sarah Eisen in an interview at the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills (2).

He added that if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for another six to 12 months, "energy prices around the world will go materially higher [and] it will push the world into a global recession."

Griffin isn't alone in his prediction. Financial analyst Gary Shilling, who predicted the 1969-70 recession, told Business Insider that a U.S. recession is "almost inevitable" by the end of the year, pointing to a frozen housing market, collapsing capital expenditures in the private sector and a weakening consumer base (3).

Are we in a 'boomcession'?

While Griffin believes the U.S. will be largely shielded from the worst of a recession due to its energy independence, many Americans are already feeling the pain of escalating costs and eroding purchasing power, especially at a time when many are worried about their jobs being replaced by AI (4).

More than half (55%) of Americans say their financial situation is deteriorating, according to Gallup's annual Economy and Personal Finance survey, conducted April 1-15 (5).

Overall, the Gallup poll found that Americans are concerned about affordability, "with combined mentions of inflation, energy, housing and healthcare costs — along with college expenses, transportation costs and childcare — far exceeding all other types of financial concerns."

Yet, the economy is humming along.

This phenomenon is referred to as a 'boomcession,' a term coined by pundit Matt Stoller, a research director at the American Economic Liberties Project, a nonpartisan think tank. A boomcession occurs when the economy is doing well, "but ordinary people are saying they're not," he told CNBC (6).

Stoller added that it explains why GDP growth hasn't correlated with declining consumer sentiment (7). Consumer expectations that inflation will increase in both the short and medium term are growing, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's March 2026 Survey of Consumer Expectations (8).

More than half (55%) of Americans say they carry credit card balances to cover essential expenses, according to a report by Achieve, a debt management company. Half are absorbing the squeeze of rising costs by reducing their spending on basic needs, while 34% are racking up credit card debt. An additional 25% have pulled funds from emergency funds or short-term savings (9).

"This is what the K-shaped economy looks like in the real world," Andrew Housser, Achieve's co-founder and co-CEO, said in a statement. "There's an affluent half of the population whose financial lives aren't disrupted by momentary inconveniences. But for everyone else, financial triage and trade-offs are a way of life."

How to prepare for a recession

Regardless of whether or not the world is heading into a recession, many Americans are feeling the squeeze, from the pump to housing costs to medical expenses.

During tough times, it can help to create a budget and financial plan. If you already have one, you may want to tweak it as needed. A qualified financial planner can help you stress-test your financial plan for shocks, like being laid off from your job or navigating a recession.

Try to bolster your emergency fund, which should ideally cover about three to six months of expenses, so you have cash on hand for emergencies rather than being forced to go further into debt. Keep it liquid in a high-interest savings account or low-risk money market fund.

You can also look for ways to reduce spending, such as cancelling subscriptions or cutting back on takeout, though many Americans in the Achieve survey say they're close to the limit of what they can cut from household spending (10).

If you find yourself in the same situation, you could look for ways to earn more money, such as taking on extra hours at work or starting a side gig. You could also consider passive sources of income, such as renting out a room in your house or getting a roommate.

When it comes to investments, most experts advise against making rash decisions based on market volatility. While you want to avoid panic-selling, you might want to rebalance your portfolio to ensure you're well diversified.

Again, it could be a good time to sit down with your financial advisor to discuss your options and ensure you're staying the course with your long-term financial goals.

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U.S. Energy Information Administration (1); CNBC (2),(6),(7); Business Insider (3); Quinnipiac University (4); Gallup (5); Federal Reserve Bank of New York (8); Achieve (9),(10)

That's what California's insurance regulator says State Farm did in the wake of the state's wildfires. It's seeking a fine against the insurance giant after an investigation revealed that the company systematically mishandled claims from the January 2025 disaster.

The California Department of Insurance investigated 220 State Farm claims and violations in 114 of them — over half — for a total of 398 violations, the New York Times reported.

The fine per violation is $5,000, or $10,000 if the regulator can prove it was willful. If so, State Farm will be fined about $2 million — which is equivalent to the cost of repairing just two homes. It's a gut punch for the 200,000 people (per the LA Times) who lost their homes (2). State Farm handled almost a third of the total 38,383 claims.

State Farm could lose its license for up to a year, but the Department of Insurance and the state's Consumer Watchdog told the New York Times that was unlikely.

Yet, this is the largest fine to date for mishandling claims, according to the deputy insurance commissioner. The case will now go before a judge (3).

'Buried in red tape … at the worst moment of their lives'

California's insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara said State Farm "delayed, underpaid and buried policyholders in red tape at the worst moment of their lives."

In a statement to Moneywise, a spokesperson for State Farm reiterated part of the company's official statement.

"We strongly disagree with the [Department of Insurance's] characterization. We reject any suggestion State Farm engaged in a general practice of mishandling or intentionally underpaying wildfire claims," the statement reads.

It goes on to call California's home insurance market "the most dysfunctional in the country," and adds State Farm has worked to be part of real solutions. The company blames the high costs and fewer choices available to consumers on the housing "availability and affordability crisis," as well as "regulatory delays and uncertainty," it blames on the state.

"The Department's approach is adding uncertainty to a market that already lacks predictability, discouraging participation and leaving Californians with fewer coverage options when they need them most," the statement says.

According to State Farm's 2025 financial report (4), the insurer registered a net income of $12.9 billion, versus $5.3 billion in 2024. The LA Times reported State Farm's average homeowner premium in California doubled from 2020 to 2024 (5). In May 2025, the insurer's emergency rate hike of 17% was approved (6).

Consumers vs. insurers

This isn't the first crisis to reveal how disappointed consumers are with insurance companies. Hurricane Helene, which devastated much of the southeastern U.S. in 2024, damaged over 70,000 homes (7). North Carolina Housing Coalition shared that there has been $9.5 billion in uninsured residential property losses.

According to reporting in WIRED, an average homeowner policy in the state covers damage from wind but not flooding (8). Flooding is a separate policy, arranged through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Only about 2.5% of homeowners sign up for the program (9).

Home insurance was unprofitable in 18 states in 2023, a New York Times analysis found (10).

While you can't do much more to plan for emergencies than have appropriate insurance (including flooding if needed), it's worth doing a deep dive into your policy, plus your state's regulator website, and any historical issues you need to be aware of. It's a good idea to shop around and check consumer complaint websites to make sure you know where you, your property and your rights stand.

Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

State Farm Newsroom (1),(4); Los Angeles Times (2),(5); The New York Times (3),(10); Insurance Journal (6),(9); North Carolina Housing Coalition (7); WIRED (8)