In December, the world will have an average of 48 daily scheduled passenger Boeing 747 flights operated by Air China, Lufthansa, Korean Air, Mahan Air (briefly), and Rossiya (briefly). According to Cirium Diio, the number fell from 55 daily in December 2023 (-13%), partly because of the exit of Asiana and Saudia. Reflecting technological evolution, a shift to much more efficient (but more expensive to acquire) twinjets, and COVID-influenced earlier retirements, flights have fallen from 199 daily in December 2019 (-76%). Of course, the figures would be much worse if only the 747-400 , and not the Boeing 747-8 , were considered. The destination last saw Emirates' A380s in 2020. The longest 747 flights: December 2024 When Air China, Lufthansa, Korean Air, Mahan Air, and Rossiya are combined, they plan 26 passenger 747 routes. Some 22 are international, and four are domestic. The somewhat dodgy map shows them. They include Mahan Air from Mashhad to Baghdad and Rossiya from Moscow Sheremetyevo to Sochi. The average stage length is 3,996 nautical miles (4,701 km) . Due to a more significant proportion of longer international services, it has increased by 2.5% year-on-year and by more than a fifth compared to 2019. Now, the world's top 10 747-operated passenger flights are as follows. The following list is based on the Great Circle distance. Korean Air will resume 747-8 flights to London Heathrow from December 13 to 25. Like some other routes, it will not overfly Russia, so it would, in reality, be long enough to make the cut. However, as it would be impossible to do this accurately for all routes, the Great Circle is used. Note: Beijing Capital-New York JFK would be the longest service based on block time. Nautical miles (km) Route Comments (December only) 6,215 (11,510) Seoul Incheon-Atlanta Korean Air; daily 747-8; find flights here! 6,198 (11,478) Frankfurt-Buenos Aires Lufthansa; daily 747-8 6,001 (11,114) Seoul Incheon-New York JFK Korean Air; daily 747-8 5,942 (11,005) Beijing Capital-New York JFK Air China; five times weekly 747-8 5,552 (10,282) Frankfurt-Singapore Lufthansa; daily 747-8 5,279 (9,777) Frankfurt-São Paulo Guarulhos Lufthansa; daily 747-8 5,209 (9,647) Seoul Incheon-Los Angeles Korean Air; daily 747-8 5,166 (9,567) Frankfurt-Mexico City Lufthansa; daily 747-8 5,067 (9,384) Frankfurt-Tokyo Haneda Lufthansa; daily 747-8 5,045 (9,343) Frankfurt-Los Angeles Lufthansa; daily 747-8 How has it changed in a year? Comparing December 2024 with 2023 shows that Beijing Capital-New York JFK and Seoul Incheon-Los Angeles have joined the list. In December 2023, Air China served JFK on the 777-300ER, with the 747-8 reappearing in January 2024. Meanwhile, Korean Air's double daily Los Angeles link was on the A380 and 777-300ER. Now it's on the A380 and 747-8. They knocked out Korean Air's Seoul Incheon-Paris CDG and Lufthansa's Frankfurt-San Francisco from the top 10 list. While CDG now sees Korean Air's 777-300ERs, Lufthansa continues to fly the 747-8 to San Francisco. It's just not long enough to be included.None
Gisele Bündchen and ex Tom Brady are celebrating Vivian Brady reaching the endzone of another year. The pregnant supermodel and former New England Patriots quarterback—who divorced in 2022 following 13 years of marriage—rang in their daughter's 12th birthday with adorable tributes on social media. For Tom's part, the NFL Hall of Famer—who also shares son Benjamin Brady , 14, with Gisele, as well as son Jack Brady , 17, with ex Bridget Moynahan —gave a special shout to his "forever baby girl" alongside a carousel of images, including one snap of the two posing together in front of the Eiffel Tower at the 2024 Olympics . "Watching you grow and chase after your dreams are the proudest moments of my life," Tom continued in his Dec. 5 Instagram post . "Your love, compassion, and joy fill up every room that you’re in, and will always make your daddy smile. You light up my life!" He added, "Here’s to a great day filled with all the laughter and love that you deserve. I love you infinity x infinity!!!" And Gisele—who is currently expecting a baby with boyfriend Joaquim Valente —paid tribute with her own series of photos showing her and Vivian basking in the sun on the beach, riding horses and enjoying a sweet embrace at sunset. Atop the trio of Dec. 5 Instagram Stories, she wrote, "Happy birthday to my ray of sunshine." "You are the best daughter a mom could ever ask for," the 44-year-old continued, "and I'm so blessed to be your mama!" Of course, her daughter isn't the only one hitting new milestones in the family. Gisele recently showed off her bumpin' baby belly while hitting the beach with Joaquim amid their babymoon in Costa Rica . And as for how Gisele and Tom feel about their kids coming into their own? As long as they maintain their family's values, Tom's happy to watch them gain more independence. "I'm trying to raise them—we all are, myself and their mom—in a very loving way toward one another," Tom told E! News last year, "to be very kind, to be empathetic and to have great perspective." For more heartwarming moments between Tom and his kids, read on... Gisele Bündchen shared this family photo on Instagram on Tom Brady 's son Jack 's 14th birthday, writing, "Happy birthday Jack! We are all so lucky to have you in our lives. Thank you for being the best big brother in the world. We love you soooo much!" While wearing his Christopher Cloos x Brady sunglasses, Tom celebrates his Super Bowl win with daughter Vivian during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers boat parade. After winning his seventh Super Bowl, the Tampa Bay quarterback celebrated with his daughter Vivian. Tom snuggled with his kids John "Jack" Moynahan (with ex Bridget Moynahan ), Vivian and Benjamin in this adorable photo snapped by Gisele on Father's Day. Brady went from quarterback to coach with his son on the beach, writing on Instagram that he's "#dadsfavoriteworkoutpartner." Gisele shared this adorable photo on Instagram of Tom giving his son a kiss on the forehead. The whole Brady-bünch posed together at the Mercedes-Benz in Atlanta ahead of the Super Bowl LIII, which the Patriots later won . Tom lurked as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in a window behind his family as they celebrate Halloween in 2018. As Tom geared up for another football season, he stopped to give his daughter a little love and clearly this one has her dad's full attention. In July 2018, the Brady bunch headed out of town for a family vacation and they couldn't look any happier on their horseback riding adventure. Tom celebrated Father's Day with a family dinner and lots of silly photos with his younger son, Ben. There's nothing sweeter than seeing the greatest quarterback of all time (he has seven Super Bowl rings) get smothered in love by his three kids. Even though it was springtime, Tom bundled up with Ben for a fun day outside...complete with a little training. Tom Brady as the Easter bunny? Who would've guessed?! The super sweet family was all smiles during one of Brady's episodes of Tom vs. Time . After playing in another Super Bowl, Tom took a little break with his family, complete with burger time and selfies. Even though the Patriots lost the 2018 Super Bowl, Tom had his support squad ready and waiting to cheer him up. Ahead of Super Bowl LII, the Patriots QB posed for pictures with his whole family including Gisele and oldest son Jack, second-born Ben, and daughter Vivian. The New England Patriots quarterback showed his second oldest son a little love on his birthday in December of 2017, writing , "Happy Birthday to the sweetest 8 year old boy a mom and dad could ever ask for! So filled with love and joy! We are so proud of you Benny! And you shine a light that brightens our lives every day! We love you." Vivian was the ultimate sous chef as her dad made her biscuits before Thanksgiving and really, what can't Brady do? The dynamic duo of Tom and Ben spent a November day swinging in a hammock together and we really wish we had some R&R like this in our near future. Leave it to Tom to teach his son more than just football. The Brady crew rolled around in the grass and enjoyed spending time together in June 2017 and it really does look like they are having a blast. Who says you're too old to make funny faces? When the Patriots headed back to Boston for their parade celebration after their 2017 Super Bowl win, Tom brought Ben along for the ride making him the coolest dad around. Winning the Super Bowl in 2017 was great, but getting to celebrate with your daughter on the field is priceless. In 2017, Vivian gave her dad a big good luck kiss before he headed out for a game. Seriously, these two are so stinking cute. Tom's fans span near and far, but his biggest fans are his three kids and their "Brady" jerseys continually make us love them even more as a unit. Decorating the Christmas tree is twice as fun when you have your precious daughter helping you out...especially when she's dressed as a fairy! The football player loves to spend his off time with his adorable kiddos at the beach and we totally approve.
Anxiety about money, gun violence and hate crimes ranked high on list of American's concerns Limiting your news consumption may help ease stress and anxiety More than before, Americans surveyed say they'll make mental health resolutions for 2025 FRIDAY, Dec. 27, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Should you cut back on doom scrolling in 2025? Worries about money, gun violence and hate crimes ranked high among many people's lists of worries at the end of 2024, according to a poll that is part of American Psychiatric Association (APA) Healthy Minds Monthly opinion poll series. The survey included 2200 U.S. adults. Reducing news consumption may be beneficial for your mental health , experts say. "If current events seem overwhelming it may be time to limit your news consumption,” Dr. Marketa Wills , medical director of the APA, said. “While we like to stay informed, the news can also impact our mental health, and being mindful of that impact is important," Wells said in a news release. According to the APA's research, American adults have remained most anxious about the economy and gun violence throughout 2024. Looking ahead to 2025, more than 1/3 of Americans surveyed (33%) say they will make mental health-related New Year’s resolutions, which is a 5% increase from last year. In fact, the increase is the highest result the APA has collected since it began asking the question in 2021. As usual, many people report that they will pledge to be more physically active in 2025; other resolutions focus on participating in mentally healthy activities. Spend more time in nature (46%) Meditation (44%) Focus on spirituality (37%) Take a social media break (30%) Journaling (29%) “A new year brings with it new opportunities but also renewed concerns about the very important issues that impact our lives,” Wills said, adding that “any time of the year, mental health matters. Staying mindful of how we’re doing while taking active steps to care for ourselves is a terrific resolution.” More information The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has more on stress and anxiety management. SOURCE: American Psychiatric Association (APA), news release, Dec. 13, 2024; APA, press release, Dec. 18, 2024 If you make resolutions, consider starting or re-starting a practice that will nurture your mental health, such as meditating or taking a break from social media.SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Seahawks rode their dominant defense to a big win over a division rival to vault into first place in the NFC West. No, it isn’t 2013. These are the 2024 Seahawks, who, after struggling mightily against the run earlier this season, held the visiting Arizona Cardinals to 49 rushing yards in Sunday's 16-6 victory . Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. ( NYSE:MD – Free Report ) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,936,751 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 45,155 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.26% of Pediatrix Medical Group worth $22,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Pediatrix Medical Group by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pediatrix Medical Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pediatrix Medical Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Pediatrix Medical Group by 54.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pediatrix Medical Group by 134.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 3,681 shares during the last quarter. 97.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors. Insider Buying and Selling In other Pediatrix Medical Group news, EVP Mary Ann E. Moore sold 8,108 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total transaction of $129,728.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,172,960. This represents a 5.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link . Also, Director Mark S. Ordan sold 27,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.35, for a total transaction of $423,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 138,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,128,784.05. This trade represents a 16.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders. Analyst Ratings Changes Read Our Latest Research Report on Pediatrix Medical Group Pediatrix Medical Group Stock Performance Shares of MD stock opened at $13.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of -4.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.62 and a 12 month high of $16.41. Pediatrix Medical Group ( NYSE:MD – Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.07. Pediatrix Medical Group had a negative net margin of 12.65% and a positive return on equity of 12.79%. The firm had revenue of $511.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $498.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. will post 1.26 EPS for the current fiscal year. About Pediatrix Medical Group ( Free Report ) Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides newborn, maternal-fetal, pediatric cardiology, and other pediatric subspecialty care services in the United States. It offers neonatal care services, such as clinical care to babies born prematurely or with complications within specific units at hospitals through neonatal physician subspecialists, neonatal nurse practitioners, and other pediatric clinicians. Featured Stories Five stocks we like better than Pediatrix Medical Group Stock Dividend Cuts Happen Are You Ready? S&P 500 ETFs: Expense Ratios That Can Boost Your Long-Term Gains Insider Selling Explained: Can it Inform Your Investing Choices? How AI Implementation Could Help MongoDB Roar Back in 2025 Dividend Screener: How to Evaluate Dividend Stocks Before Buying Hedge Funds Boost Oil Positions: Is a Major Rally on the Horizon? Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. ( NYSE:MD – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for Pediatrix Medical Group Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Pediatrix Medical Group and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .Brown: Indian diplomat pushed back when he used the words "Sikh nation"For the Hollywood-centric, the holiday-of-your-choice festivities and the countdown to the New Year mean a different set of seasonal rituals: the accountants tally up the box office returns and the critics make up their Top Ten lists. The first has the advantage of mathematical precision, the second the satisfaction of taste-mongering, and together they neatly encompass the commerce and art that defines the topic at hand. In short, it’s time to cue up a montage of images from the past year and take stock of the big picture. In commercial terms, especially for the battered exhibition end of the business, the news from 2024 was, surprisingly, not bad. Total domestic box office revenue appears to be heading toward around $8 billion, down from 2023’s exhilarating post-COVID turnaround of $9 billion, but the National Association of Theatre Owners prefers to , attributing the dip to a shortage of product due to the labor strikes and taking encouragement from the renewal of the movie habit. Whether because of cabin fever, Nicole Kidman, or the late-year release of films that people really wanted to see, going out to the movies seems to have returned as a swipe-right option on the entertainment menu. Predictably, and distressingly since it portends more of the same, the films that drew the biggest crowds fed off the allure of pre-sold properties. Every single one of the top ten box office hits of 2024 was a sequel, a remake (was a sequel or a remake?) or a prequel. The by-the-numbers formula is certified by the digit after the title, with no extra effort expended on thinking up a subtitle ( , ), not that explanatory subtitles helped or . wisely stayed on brand with the Roman numeral. Interestingly, or thankfully, the cinematic universes of Marvel, DC, and failed to expand: except for , not one of the huge hits came from a comic book franchise or a galaxy far, far away. The good news for the theater chains is tempered by the bad news when you get there — not the film but the audience. The moviegoing experience of 2024 cannot be rewound without a curmudgeonly screed against the incursions from the moviegoers who see the movie screen as a distraction from the screen in their hands. According to anecdotal reports from regular moviegoers, that is, me, a plague of lit screens, texting, and talking has increased alarmingly, compounded this year by a fresh hell: the brazen from the screen. One wonders if the interruptions from the smaller screens will be a permanent blight on the big screen theatrical experience. Of course, obnoxious, inconsiderate, and self-absorbed moviegoers have always been annoyances to those members of the audience attending to, you know, see the movie — hence, the slides projected on screen at the nickelodeons to remind ladies to remove their hats and gentlemen to refrain from expectorating tobacco juice. However, throughout the classical Hollywood era, audiences generally abided by a code of decorum that seems lifted from a Jane Austen novel. True, crowds were noisier and more raucous in audible expressions of engagement — hissing, cheering, applauding, with an occasional wisecrack shouted out — but the responses were collective and inspired by the story on screen. They enhanced the moviegoing experience rather than distracted from it. The exhibitor-oriented trade press — notably the monthly “Better Theatres” section in — devoted a good deal of attention to seeking ways to nurture an atmosphere conducive to pleasant night out. In those days, even small neighborhood theaters employed uniformed ushers to guide latecomers to their seats with a flashlight, patrol the aisles, and handle obstreperous customers. The escorts were issued strict instructions about how to behave on duty: “Keep obviously intoxicated persons outside,” “be tactful in quieting unruly patrons or children,” and “watch out for mashers, degenerates, and morons. Report them immediately to the management.” (Also: “never flirt with patrons.”) Even in the 1950s, when teenagers become the dominant audience, the good kids worked with local theater managers to police their own and discourage rowdy antics. “When we attend a theater, we must remember that we purchase the right to only one seat,” advised an editorial in a high school newspaper in 1952. “An inconsiderate person is one who spoils the picture for others by excessive noise. Movie manners are for everyone.” That same year, a teenage girl wrote Colbert Culbert in to ask whether it was appropriate to whisper to her boyfriend during the show. “It is extremely bad manners for a theater patron to keep up a conversation, either personal or critical during the performance,” replied Colbert. Against the ubiquity of hand-held technology and the breakdown in public manners (and don’t get me started on the oblivious scrollers planted on the Nautilus machines at the gym), exhibitors have limited options. Before the feature film unspools, most theaters now screen a PSA politely reminding moviegoers to silence their devices, but compliance is unenforceable. The problem is acute enough to have inspired one of the year’s best movie tie-ins: ’s “Silence Your Cell Phone” PSA, which delivered the message in laudably blunt terms. If only Wolverine could make good on his threat to deal with the offender in the manner proscribed. Certainly no responsible film critic would ever fire up an iPhone or laptop in a movie theater to take notes for what has been an annual duty of the profession for over a hundred years, the Top Ten List. The credit for originating the practice is contested by several claimants. In 1920, the National Board of Review, founded in 1909 and still on the job, organized a special Committee on Critique “to examine those film productions which seem to have unusual qualifications and to make selections from among those for a list of exceptional pictures.” Every month, the board designed a “Best Bet” in its publication . The first honoree: Reginald Barker’s , a seafaring adventure produced by Sam Goldwyn. The trade paper the , which operated from 1915 to 1970, also claimed to have initiated the practice in 1921. Though originally the selections were made in-house, the editors soon cast a wider net by soliciting contributions from newspapers, trade periodicals, and fan magazines, collating the results, and giving front page coverage to the finalists. “The poll has become a national event and is only made possible through the enthusiastic cooperation of some 400 newspaper folk throughout the country,” the editors boasted in 1930, when the top of the Top Ten was an easy call: Lewis Milestone’s epic adaptation of Erich Marie Remarque’s anti-war novel, . In 1923, film critic Mordaunt Hall winnowed down 10 titles from the over 200 films the paper reviewed that year. His list included Charles Chaplin’s comedy of manners , Ernst Lubitsch’s American debut , Thomas Ince’s production of Eugene O’Neill’s , and, to show he wasn’t overly sophisticated, crowd pleasers such as James Cruze’s epic western and Wallace Worsley’s . Once validated by , few metropolitan film critics dared to opt out of the year-end chore. “Along about Thanksgiving time, students of the cinema begin selecting the ten best pictures of the year,” declared George Gerhard of the in 1930. The studio ad-pub departments soon started to pay attention to the rankings and so did filmmakers. In 1935, David O. Selznick confided to that he hoped to produce “pictures that will be on the ten best’ list, both commercially and artistically.” MGM boasted that its 1938 line-up “has more winners on the individual nation-wide published lists of Film Critic’s Ten Best Pictures of the Year’ than any other company.” Today, the individual critic, film society, website, and at least one ex-president continues the tradition for the selfsame reasons of mutual advantage. The announcement of the list drives traffic to the critic while the film so honored accrues cachet and, it hopes, a bump in attendance. Almost always, the critics’ picks expose the gulf between the tastes of the credentialed, who get regular invitations to press screenings, and the ticket buyer, who must queue up at the mall. David O. Selznick’s aspiration remains the Platonic ideal: a film that makes both Top Ten lists and reaps the rewards of commerce and art: in 1946, in 1998, and (2023). This year, only the blockbuster and seem to have threaded the needle. The four critic’s darlings of 2024 arrive in matched pairs: the transgendered-themed and and the flesh-for-fantasy provocations of and . A genre than seldom makes it into a Top Ten but which had an exceptionally rich year was teen-targeted horror, energized by dynamic all-in performances by young female leads: Hunter Schafer in , Naomi Scott in , Maika Monroe in , and, of course, Mia Goth, who capped her trilogy of intergenerational terror with . By contrast, documentaries had almost no theatrical life, with one significant exception: Matt Walsh’s , a Michael Moore-ish take-down of the DEI bureaucracy. Ignored or trashed by critics, it was a textbook example of the divide between elite and popular tastes. Maybe not coincidentally, of all the films released in 2024, turned out to be the most reliable indicator of the shape of things to come — the zeitgeist shift in November that many in the motion picture industry pushed back against but could not stop. The story of the commerce and art of Hollywood in 2025 will be how well it connects culturally with an audience that it is often out of synch with politically. THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day More from The Hollywood Reporter
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Anxiety about money, gun violence and hate crimes ranked high on list of American's concerns Limiting your news consumption may help ease stress and anxiety More than before, Americans surveyed say they'll make mental health resolutions for 2025 FRIDAY, Dec. 27, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Should you cut back on doom scrolling in 2025? Worries about money, gun violence and hate crimes ranked high among many people's lists of worries at the end of 2024, according to a poll that is part of American Psychiatric Association (APA) Healthy Minds Monthly opinion poll series. The survey included 2200 U.S. adults. Reducing news consumption may be beneficial for your mental health , experts say. "If current events seem overwhelming it may be time to limit your news consumption,” Dr. Marketa Wills , medical director of the APA, said. “While we like to stay informed, the news can also impact our mental health, and being mindful of that impact is important," Wells said in a news release. According to the APA's research, American adults have remained most anxious about the economy and gun violence throughout 2024. Looking ahead to 2025, more than 1/3 of Americans surveyed (33%) say they will make mental health-related New Year’s resolutions, which is a 5% increase from last year. In fact, the increase is the highest result the APA has collected since it began asking the question in 2021. As usual, many people report that they will pledge to be more physically active in 2025; other resolutions focus on participating in mentally healthy activities. Spend more time in nature (46%) Meditation (44%) Focus on spirituality (37%) Take a social media break (30%) Journaling (29%) “A new year brings with it new opportunities but also renewed concerns about the very important issues that impact our lives,” Wills said, adding that “any time of the year, mental health matters. Staying mindful of how we’re doing while taking active steps to care for ourselves is a terrific resolution.” More information The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has more on stress and anxiety management. SOURCE: American Psychiatric Association (APA), news release, Dec. 13, 2024; APA, press release, Dec. 18, 2024 If you make resolutions, consider starting or re-starting a practice that will nurture your mental health, such as meditating or taking a break from social media.Georgia QB Carson Beck declares for 2025 NFL Draft
VANCOUVER — A confidence agreement between British Columbia's New Democrats and the provincial Green Party stabilizes David Eby’s bare-majority government, while putting Green election promises on the legislative agenda. The agreement announced Friday outlines the basis on which the Greens' two-member caucus will provide confidence to Eby's party, which won election with 47 seats in B.C.'s 93-seat legislature in October's provincial election. The deal features key elements of the Greens' election platform, including a commitment to growing a community health centre model for primary care and expanding public coverage of psychology services at a cost of $50 million. Deputy premier Niki Sharma said the framework focuses on areas of agreement between the two parties, while recognizing their positions won't always align. The balance struck is "a way to keep government stable for four years ... without erasing the distinct identity that we both have as political parties," she said Friday. The seven-page agreement says the house leaders of the NDP and the Greens "agree to establish a relationship of trust based on good faith and no surprises." While set to last four years, it is subject to annual agreement at each parties discretion. It was important to the Greens throughout the negotiations to be able to disagree with government positions, Sharma told a news conference. "I know that we'll have differences of opinions moving forward, but the fact that we can show a pathway where two political parties in a time of great polarization can come together for British Columbians, I think is a profound thing." The October election saw two new Green members win seats, lawyer Rob Botterell, representing Saanich North and the Islands, and geological engineer Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, while the B.C. Conservatives won 44 seats. B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad said after the election that he would work to bring the NDP government down if it continues with its "destructive policies." When he was asked about the agreement on Friday, Rustad said he has always assumed the Greens would back the NDP. Eby is "fooling himself" if he thinks having the support of the Green Party is going to make it easier to pass legislation, Rustad said in an interview. "We are going to make it very difficult for him to move anything through the legislature that is continuing the destruction of British Columbia," he said. "A week can be a long time in politics, so we'll see what January brings. I don't want to say anything further at this point." The stability of Eby's government had appeared shakier earlier this month when New Democrat Grace Lore announced she was temporarily stepping away due to a cancer diagnosis, though she said she intended to participate in important votes. Eby said in a statement Friday that the agreement with the Greens will "strengthen the stability of government and help deliver on the priorities of British Columbians." While his party and the Greens are distinct and won't always agree, the premier said they have "many shared values." He said the deal sets out specific areas of action they will work together on, including health care, affordable housing, creating livable communities and growing a strong, sustainable economy. "We will continue to work with all MLAs who want to make the legislature work for people," Eby said. Additional policy commitments outlined in the deal that reflect the Green platform include expanding access to housing aid for elderly renters and building 30,000 more units of non-market housing than the government had pledged. The agreement also commits to a review of B.C.'s forests to "address concerns around sustainability, jobs, environmental protection an the future of the industry." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2024. Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press
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In this podcast, Motley Fool analyst Nick Sciple and host Ricky Mulvey discuss: Highlights from Walmart 's quarter. What shoppers want from mac and cheese. Why nicotine pouches may be "the biggest consumer product story this decade." Then, Motley Fool personal finance expert Robert Brokamp kicks off a two-part series with Christine Benz, Morningstar 's director of personal finance and the author of How to Retire: 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful, and Wealthy Retirement . Go to breakfast.fool.com to sign up to wake up daily to the latest market news, company insights, and a bit of Foolish fun -- all wrapped up in one quick, easy-to-read email called Breakfast News. To catch full episodes of all The Motley Fool's free podcasts, check out our podcast center . To get started investing, check out our beginner's guide to investing in stocks . A full transcript follows the video. This video was recorded on Nov. 19, 2024. Ricky Mulvey: Shoppers are trading up and down. It's the middle that gets stuck. You're listening to Motley Fool Money. I'm Ricky Mulvey. Joined today by our returning champion, Nick Sciple. Nick, it's good to have you back. How have you been? Nick Sciple: Been great, Ricky. I've been out on parental leave the past few months trying to wrangle two under two. It's been fun, but it's great to be back in the adult world here with you. Lots to talk about maybe talking about one of the places I pick up diapers. More often than not. Ricky Mulvey: What a different conversation to come into versus two under two. Stocks are down today as tensions between Russia and Ukraine increase. I think it's worth mentioning at the top, Nick, but we don't have anything smart to say here, other than, we hope this isn't. I don't want to look at gold and be like, traders are going to gold. But I got nothing smart to say other than we hope this isn't really bad. Nick Sciple: Certainly scary headlines, nuclear saber rattling by Russia is going to continue more of these same growing tensions, I would say, between Russia and the West, just like this is one of those risks Warren Buffett has talked about in the past. You can't control, you have to live with as an investor. The world is always uncertain. This is the cost of doing business. If these threats end up to anything in the real world, no advice we can give you will protect you from this sort of thing. But unlikely that these words will lead to actions, but certainly something to pay attention to. Ricky Mulvey: Let's go from the bottom up with Walmart earnings, focusing on the business. They reported this morning, Nick, I think the biggest highlight to me is that comp sales number for Walmart, more people are going to their stores, including Sam's Club. Walmart proper, more than 5%. Same-store sales increase. Sam's Club 7% from the year prior. This tells me that the inflation story is not over as shoppers continue to look for value, but what stood out to you from the quarter? Nick Sciple: For me, really across the board, strong numbers for Walmart, you mentioned those comp store numbers, that's with inventory declining 1% during the quarter. So just classic what you look for out of a high-quality retailer, you look below the top line, 42% marketplace growth, 28% advertising growth, 22% membership income growth, really working across the board. If you think about what's driving all those sorts of things, marketplace growth, really leveraging Walmart's infrastructure to be attractive to sellers and really getting the right assortment to be attractive to buyers, companies cited over 20% growth in beauty, toys, hardlines, and home. My wife has called out the Walmart's apparel has made a big comeback. The more the folks you bring to that marketplace, that gives you opportunities to sell ads and direct purchase behavior. Also, the more folks that are buying on that marketplace, you can sell them membership opportunities. All that drives the flywheel, folks back to Walmart, and all those revenue streams that I mentioned are high margins. This is really a company that's firing on all cylinders. All the flywheels are spinning, and it's really a beautiful thing. Ricky Mulvey: The e-commerce growth impressive, especially internationally for Walmart. There's also a consumer trend going on. It's the trade-down. Doug McMillon highlighting that "Households earning more than $100,000 a year made up for 75% of our share gains." You have folks going from the higher-priced grocery stores, going back to Walmart. If you're a long-term holder of Walmart shares, you have to believe that those shoppers are going to be sticking around for years and years to come. What needs to happen for Walmart to hold onto these customers for the next 3-5-10 years? Nick Sciple: I think the real key is convenience, and the company understands that as well. You got the words convenience or convenient mentioned 16 times on the call. Walmart's really always going to win on price, where it hasn't traditionally been able to have advantages is just the convenience. It's something that Doug McMillon also called out on the call is if you have higher discretionary income, these are folks that are more likely to pay up to save time, pay for those memberships, participate in pickup and delivery. If Walmart can continue to provide the value that it's always been able to deliver as a business and at a convenience level that other companies can't match, I think it can hold on to those high-income customers, and it looks like they're doing the things necessary to do that so far. Ricky Mulvey: What do you think about Walmart's valuation, the price tag on this stock? We talked about price to earnings, the price tag for Walmart on this previous weekend's show. Walmart's at 45 times earnings, 45. That's a lot for a grocery store that in a lot of ways, yes, it's getting more efficient, yes, it's getting more sales. Functions like a utility for a lot of people, that's putting it in the same weight class as Costco now. Do these multiples deserve to be in the same weight class? Yes, Costco is a little bit high. Nick Sciple: I think both those multiples, when you list them out to me, sound pretty high. But I do think Costco and Walmart are in a category of these dominant retailers from the 20th century that can really survive the competitive threats that we're seeing in today's 21st-century retail landscape, arguably, both expensive here, but both are growing their moot. Where I'm really worried about, if I look at retail today is what are the companies that are getting left behind. You look at the dollar stores this year, Dollar General and Dollar Tree , both down over 50%. Compare that to Walmart, almost two-thirds this year, 66%. Some of these companies might be getting left behind as Walmart becomes more convenient and can capture some of those areas of the market. I'd be more inclined to be worried about some of these other segments of retail that Walmart is capturing than I am concerned about Walmart itself. Although, is it going to be trading at 45 times earnings five years from now? Probably not, but I think there's a decent chance the stock is higher. Ricky Mulvey: There's also something happening at Walmart that doesn't really impact it as much, but a phenomenon happening at the grocery stores. There was an article in Bloomberg about it today, and that's that these brands that are in the center are getting cut out by shoppers. Basically, the example they use is mac and cheese. More people are buying store-brand cheap mac and cheese. Then you have your healthy-ish, allegedly healthy options that are the higher end that more people are gravitating to. In the middle, you have your Kraft Mac & Cheese, which is seeing sales declines. But you as a shopper you're going around the Tennessee grocery stores. Have you noticed this yourself or you gravitating up or down the value chain as a shopper? Nick Sciple: For me, I've always been the store brand guy. I think it's a trend along, millennials as a whole, but I was just raised that way to always get the store brand milk and the store brand cream cheese and that thing. For me, it's a habit I've always grown into. I have noticed more in my household, the willing to pay up for more of "The healthier versions of snacks," so you don't get the goldfish. You get the organic version of goldfish, that sort of thing. With the protein added products, I think those have had some success in capturing segments of the market. I think if you look at some of these big consumer package good companies, your Krafts, your Procter & Gamble s, they were really super efficient, built for the traditional retail model where you had the eye level shelf space, and that's how you attracted consumers. They're having to transition just like everybody else to this new purchasing model. I think those companies are still going to have to adapt. I do think long term, though, these businesses have such scale and are so sophisticated, even if they're getting attacked by some of these new emergent, healthy or other brands. Long term, these are acquisition targets for the big CPG companies. These aren't companies that I think are going to take down the big mammoth. Ricky Mulvey: Yeah, and in some cases, the store brand is the brand now. Kirkland is beloved. I love me some Kirkland coffee. I've got my Kirkland laundry pods. I'm happy with it. You mentioned it as an acquisition target. I'm going to dig into the numbers a little bit more. So Craft, year over year 6% decline in mac and cheese. Their stock has been basically flat over the past five years, as well. The store box mac and cheese, Bloomberg reporting, that's a 6% bump. The trade is pretty direct there. There's also this higher end option called Goodles, which is the protein added one that you were talking about. You also mentioned Procter & Gamble, Kraft Heinz , these consumer packaged goods companies, when we talk about this trend where the middle is getting cut out, is this a temporary thing? Is this an investing we like to say? It's a dark cloud that can be seen through or is this a long-term problem for these companies? Nick Sciple: It's not a dark cloud that I would say that I can see through today. It's not the area of the market that I would be aggressively looking for opportunities. I think these are sophisticated businesses with talented management that can adapt over time, but I don't think the vision of the future for these companies is ultra clear that Kraft Mac & Cheese is going to be as relevant five or 10 years from now as it is today. For me, I would be more comfortable looking at segments of the market that customers are moving toward that are growing segments, we might talk about one here in a second. Those are the areas I'd be looking for in consumer goods as opposed to trying to catch the falling knife. Ricky Mulvey: Let's get there because there is a surprising consumer product that has had a heck of a year, and that's nicotine. Altria and Philip Morris are both up almost 40%. These are mature companies that pay very healthy dividends. Altria, I think, pays over a 7% dividend right now. This is for outside observers, may be surprising. It's at a time where fewer people are smoking cigarettes. You shared an article with me that even Sweden is going smoke free. There is a move to pouches, but man, this move must be big. What's happening with the nicotine industry in 2024? Nick Sciple: You mentioned the nicotine pouches really has been the big story this year, and I think it's going to be the biggest consumer product story this decade. Smoking has been declining for quite a while. I think pouches are what's going to really drive growth in nicotine consumption. The global market for nicotine pouches is expected to grow from $7.4 billion in 2023 to $25.2 billion in 2028. That's according to EuroMotor and that's on top of really triple digit growth [inaudible] we've seen over the past several years. This is a segment of the market just doesn't get talked about that much because of the nicotine tobacco stigma. I think it's probably the first time this year. It's getting talked about on Motley Fool Money. I understand why the smoking causes cancer. It kills people. Certainly it's been a big public health consciousness drive over the past 50 plus years to spread that. Smoking is predominantly how people have consumed nicotine throughout history. Back from the 1500s, people smoked pipes, then cigars became popular in the late 19th century, cigarettes became popular, still become popular. Today, along the way, governments have taxed, punish, tried to ban nicotine use, but it's still persisted today, I think, likely to continue in the form of these nicotine pouches, other reduced risk products that have opportunity to deliver nicotine with fewer harmful chemicals. You mentioned Sweden as a market where you're really seeing smoking decline, and part of that is because Sweden is the market where nicotine pouches really first gained prominence. Launched there in 2008, descended from traditional Swedish noose tobacco it's been used hundreds of years. Last week, Sweden announced it became the first country in the world to reach smoke free status. That's with less than 5% of your adult consumers. Smoking at 16 years ahead of EU targets and really has been driven by policy that's made these products more attractive than cigarettes and education that's focused around tobacco harm reduction as opposed to just totally eliminating nicotine use. You see it in, health statistics for the country. Sweden has the lowest percentage of tobacco related diseases in Europe and 41% lower incidence of cancer than other countries. It's the second biggest market for nicotine pouches, the US is number 1, and there's been rapid growth. We can talk about some of the brands. Ricky, let's do it. Ricky Mulvey: I'm going to go back on something you said. We haven't talked about it and why we haven't talked about it? I programmed some of the show. Maybe we should have. Especially if you think it's the biggest consumer product story of the next decade. Ultimately, I think, our job on the show is not to tell you what to invest in what not to invest in based on our moral inclinations. I think the farthest I will go on that is you get started investing we encourage you at the Motley Fool to find maybe one company or one industry that you will never invest in, no matter how well it does, because it goes against what you believe in morally, it doesn't agree with your beliefs. We talk about alcohol. We'll also talk about cigarettes sometimes, and it's up to you what you want to do with that information. Let's talk. Now, about the nicotine pouches, Philip Morris, which owns ZYN that is the most popular nicotine pouch. There's a story about it in the New York Times a few weeks ago, giving it what I will generously describe as mixed coverage. But what it talks about is they don't really market this product. Philip Morris has not really been marketing ZYN but it has this online legion of fans, and it's become the number 1 brand in the US. How has ZYN specifically gotten so popular? Nick Sciple: So a few things. I think nicotine pouches in general are a good product relative to traditional nicotine delivery systems. It's discrete. You don't smell bad like you do smoking tobacco. Unlike traditional smokeless tobacco, dip and the like, you don't have to spit. It's a better product for those reasons. But ZYN was the first of the market in the US. In 2014, Swedish match was just the owner of ZYN until Swedish Match was acquired by Philip Morris. 2022 was really the first on the market. Also, if you look at the quality of the product relative to some others on the market, just higher quality product. Altria sells the on nicotine pouch product. British American Tobacco sells Velo, both of those products similar to ZYN, but end up having a lot more quality control issues than ZYN has, just a better product. Also, just for whatever reason, historically, nicotine products have always had a super high brand affinity and a concentrated market leader. You'd see it with Marlboro and cigarettes. You'd see it traditionally in the type of pipes and things like that that people smoke. For several reasons, the quality of the product, being the first to market. The virality that you get as more and more people use the product. Just the natural way nicotine products end up being concentrated ZYN has become the market leader. Today, over 73% share in the category by retail value in the most recent quarter, 149 million cans shipped last quarter alone, that's up 40% year over year, triple what it had shipped in the first quarter of 2022. That's in an environment where, sales were restricted because the product was stocking out in retail stores across the country. This is an environment where they're raising price as well. ZYN isn't the only product that's seeing growth. I mentioned, the on product from Altria. That had 46% growth in the most recent quarter, British American tobaccos product, growing 48% in the first half of 2024. Really across the board massive growth. You're seeing similar patterns to what you've seen in traditional nicotine products, and again, growth not likely to slow down anytime soon. Ricky Mulvey: You've also got a celebrity endorsement recently with Josh Brolin admitting on the WTF podcast with Mark Marron that he has a ZYN in a pouch in his lip 24 hours a day, emphasizing that he's not lying about that. As we wrap up here, anything else on tobacco is comeback that you want to hit? Nick Sciple: Well, you talked about celebrity endorsements. Tucker Carlson also getting into the Nicotine pouch game, which I think is interesting. ZYN, obviously, the leader in the market, don't have to be the market leader to be successful with a market category. It's as big and fast growing as we're seeing in nicotine pouches. It really doesn't take that much to be successful. Nick Sciple: In the market. You mentioned earlier comparisons with alcohol and things like that. I think about celebrities getting involved in nicotine pouches in the same way that George Clooney getting involved, selling Tequila or Ryan Reynolds getting involved, selling Aviation, Jane, you don't have to take down Jack Daniels or Jose Cuervo to be really significant in the market. The reason I mentioned the Tucker product, his part publicly traded company that we've recommended in Canada in the past, Turning Point Brands , is a billion dollar company. It takes lots and lots of sales for these products to be impactful for a company like Philip Morris or Altria, not the same for a company like Turning Point Brands has really built a business around being a small going after small, profitable segments of the tobacco industry, whether that's chewing tobacco or others in nicotine pouches, they're already showing success with their free brand. They've tripled sales year over year. That stocks over 130% this year. Whether you're looking for these big established companies with reliable dividends that have been around for a long time. Or looking for small cap businesses that there's lots of ways to get involved in this trend. If you can open your mind to the idea that nicotine can persist as a product while health outcomes for use and continue to improve, I think this is a category that you should consider investing in. Ricky Mulvey: Sometimes, products that hit that steamy button for the user, these can turn out to be good long term investments. We'll see. I'm going to keep an eye on it. Appreciate you bringing it to my attention, Nick Sciple. Thank you for your time and your insight. Thanks for being here. Nick Sciple: Thanks, Ricky. Anytime. Ricky Mulvey: Today's show is brought to you by public.com. Heads up, folks, interest rates are falling, but you can still lock in a 6% or higher yield with a bond account at public.com. That's a pretty big deal because when rates drop, so can the interest you earn on your investment. A bond account allows you to lock in a 6% or higher yield with a diversified portfolio of high yield and investment grade corporate bonds. While other people are watching their returns shrink, you can sit back with regular interest payments, but you might want to act fast because your yield is not locked in until you invest. The good news, it only takes a couple of minutes to sign up at public.com. Lock in a 6% or higher yield with a bond account. Only at public.com/motlefoolpublic.com/motleyfool. Brought to you by public Investing member FINRA and SIPC, as of 92624, the average annualized yield to worst across the bond account is greater than 6%. Yield to worst is not guaranteed, not an investment recommendation. All investing involves risk, visit public.com/disclosures/bond-account for more info. As we wrap up that segment, just a quick note, Turning Point brands and Turning Point USA are completely separate entities. Up next, Robert Brokamp kicks off a two part interview series with Christine Benz, Morningstar's director of Personal Finance and the author of How to Retire 20 Lessons for a happy, successful, and wealthy retirement. In today's conversation, they talk about distributions and why retirees may need less in stocks than they think. Robert Brokamp: Let's start with research on withdrawal rates in retirement, because it attempts to answer a key question. How much can I spend and be reasonably sure my money is going to last as long as I do? Plus, you could then use that to back into how much you have to have saved before you retire. Christine Benz: Right. Robert Brokamp: This year marks the 30th anniversary of the research report that established 4% as the safe withdrawal rate, written by a financial planner named Bill Bengen. Since 1994, all studies have come out, many saying that 4% is too low, some saying it's too high. Morningstar jumped into the game a few years ago. The most recent publicly available report was published toward the end of last year, and it brought us back full circle to 4%. What's your take on how someone should choose the right withdrawal rate for them when they retire? Christine Benz: Yeah, this whole thing about safe withdrawal rates, in a way, Robert, when I think about it rests on what I think of as a straw man. The formula that we use to even do our research, our base case, safe spending research at Morningstar, is that we assume someone's looking for Social Security equivalent or paycheck equivalent in retirement. They're going to take the same amount out every year, inflation adjusts that dollar amount, so they'll take a little bit more if inflation's up, maybe take a lower inflation adjustment if it's not up so much. But that's how we assume that someone marches along for however long their retirement is. The baseline assumption that we use for our research is 30 years. When we look at the research on this, it's not really how people spend that people do tend to spend less throughout their retirement life cycle. Sometimes for reasons of uninsured long term care costs, mainly, we see healthcare spending flare up later in life. Then that inflates the averages for everyone, even though it's a fairly small segment of our population that has that catastrophic term care spending need. Anyway, it doesn't really factor in real world spending. Another thing that we know when we look at this problem is that ideally you would pay a little bit of attention to what's going on in your portfolio. In a good year, you can take more. In a good year like 2024, in a bad year like 2022, you'd probably want to take a little bit less. The basic intuition there is that you're preserving funds in a downturn, you're preserving funds that will be available to recover when the market eventually does. I definitely prefer that people think about flexibility if they possibly can and one thing I liked in the book is that Jon Guyton, who's a financial planner and has also done some work in this realm of retirement withdrawal rights. He notes that it's like a rare thing where our behavioral instincts, which is to spend less when our portfolios are down, actually align with what's good for our portfolios. In many cases, that's not the case. We feel like selling oftentimes out of our portfolios when the market's up, spending more feels better than spending less. This is a time where actually those two things are in alignment. Robert Brokamp: One of the points made by Jonathan Guyton and at least one other person that you interviewed in the book is that 4% is a worst case scenario. It's survived the worst conditions we've seen since the 1920s. In most situations, someone who fled the 4% rule would actually die with more money than they started with at retirement. Some of the suggestions from the experts, as well as the research from Morningstars, like you could, for example, instead of assuming that you just take an inflation adjustment every year, whenever your portfolio is down, you just don't take an inflation adjustment, and that adds 0.4-0.5% to the SAFE withdrawal rate. Or if you use the actual spending of retirees, which tends to go down over time, the actual beginning SAFE withdrawal rate could be 5%, especially if you are willing to cut back during times when your portfolio is down. Christine Benz: No, it's absolutely right that this is particularly important for people with tight financial plans, where there are real quality of life issues in underspending that if they wed themselves to this 4% guideline in many market environments that would prevail over the subsequent 25 or 30 year period or shorter period, perhaps, that would be too low. Ideally you would revisit this. You'd think about how your portfolio has performed. You'd be willing to be a little bit flexible. I think another factor that has gotten underrated that we're addressing in the 2024 retirement income research that we're working on is that most people have other sources of cash flow in addition to their portfolios, so most of us will come into retirement with the stabilizer of Social Security. That's going to make me more comfortable making those adjustments. My portfolio isn't my sole source of spending. If I'm able to look at Social Security as providing my baseline living expenses, I probably am willing to tolerate a bit of volatility in my portfolio cash flows, or at least that's how I think about it. Robert Brokamp: We'll get to Social Security a little bit later. But one of the other benefits of the research on safe withdrawal rates is that it gives an indication of what asset allocation seems to best enhance portfolio longevity, it depends on your assumptions and, frankly, which withdrawal rate strategy you're going to follow. But the research seems to indicate that there's like this Goldilocks amount of stock you should aim for, not too much, not too little. What's your general idea in terms of a range of a reasonable asset allocation based on the research you've done on safe withdrawal rates? Christine Benz: Yeah, it's more balanced, I think, than many people might think. I frequently run into retirees who say, you know what? I just own dividend paying stocks, forget your bonds, I own maybe a little bit of cash, and I call it a day. When we look at the research with our base case, where again, we're assuming someone wants that fixed real withdrawal throughout their retirement years, it very much points to the value of balance. In fact, when we did the 2023 research, in light of the fact that yields had gone up pretty decently on cash and on bonds, our model, because we're asking it to provide this fairly stable stream of cash flows, our model was basically saying back to us, I see that here today, and it's mainly in fixed income securities. The recommendation, like the highest safe withdrawal rate, somewhat counter-intuitively to all of us until we took a step back and thought about it, pointed to a 20-40% equity allocation, which is pretty light for most retirees. I think many especially investor type retirees have more ample equity ratings. I think the reason our model gravitated to that is because we are basically saying we want to lock down our cash flows, and we don't want a lot of volatility in those cash flows from year to year in light of higher yields, the money Carlo simulations that we run gravitated to that more conservative asset mix. If you're looking at a more flexible strategy where you are going to make changes to your spending on an ongoing basis and you're up for that. Then if you look at something like the guardrails strategy, which is Jonathan Guyton's strategy for dynamic withdrawals, it points to a higher equity mix, but still on the realm of balance, not 90, 10 equity versus fixed income. It's more sort of 60, 40 that delivers the highest spending rate with a guardrail strategy. Robert Brokamp: That's generally consistent with many of the other studies that have looked at historical returns as opposed to your study, which is more prospective, and that you don't want to go too much over 60 or 70% when it comes to stocks. Christine Benz: The reason is pretty intuitive, you don't have to be a market guru to understand the importance of if you're going to be spending from this portfolio, you basically want to and this gets to the bucket thing that I often talk about. But you want to lock down a stream of cash flows that you could pull from without disturbing equities. If you happen to be super unlucky, retire headlong into a market environment that you know where stocks immediately drop, you would want to be able to withdraw from safer assets and leave those equity assets to recover. Robert Brokamp: With your bucket strategy, you've often talked about three buckets. That's one super safe bucket, about two years of retirement income in cash, maybe years 2-8, corporate bonds, maybe some safer stocks, and then years 10 and beyond our stocks. When you're working, you're probably going to be mostly in stocks but at some point, you have to de risk. At what point do you think people really have to start taking that seriously? Is it 10 years from retirement, five years from retirement? Do you have any particular suggestions for how they should do that? Christine Benz: For sure, within a five year window, I would be thinking seriously about de risk. I think sometimes people hear de risk and think that we're saying, you're going to flee equities entirely. No, it's just that you probably have been neglecting safer assets in your portfolio. You might have that emergency fund, and if you're using some sort of all in one fund like a target date fund, it's tipping you into more bonds. But if you haven't been paying close attention, well, we've had a great equity market. Your equities are probably hogging a bigger share of your portfolio. I think the best way to address that is to perhaps turn your new contributions onto fixed income, that's probably the simplest, most painless way to approach it, where new contributions into your company retirement plan or maybe into your IRA, if you're building an IRA would go into fixed income assets, and then within I would say, probably a couple of years of retirement, then you would want to start building out that cash position. But there's definitely an opportunity cost to having too much in cash too early, even though inflation has moderated a little bit. I think you want to be careful about the peace of mind that you get with cash because there really is a significant opportunity cost over time with inflation, just taking a bite out of that purchasing power. Robert Brokamp: Yeah, one of the points one of your experts made, Fritz Gilbert, that we talk about series of withdrawal risk often in retirement and that's often conceived of the series of returns you get in retirement, but that sequence of returns risk actually starts before retirement because you don't want to get three years from retirement, and then the market drops 50% and then your plans have changed. Christine Benz: Yeah, I love that point that sequence risk, I think, is, something that we understand to be like this some big market drop right after you retire. But Fritz is absolutely right that it's important if you encounter that just before retirement, you want to build a bulwark against having to come in. You want to let your portfolio fully recover. I also think that inflation risk is maybe an under discussed aspect of sequence risk. It comes up in the book a little bit, but I think Wade Pfau talks about it where if inflation's really high in your early years of retirement, that's meaningful too. Because I don't imagine that we'll be going back to 2021, prices on cereal and hotels and all that stuff. We're probably here to stay, even though we will see the inflation rate moderate a little bit. You need to be thinking about sequence of inflation risk too. Robert Brokamp: Yeah, because it raises basically the floor of your spending for the rest of your retirement. Christine Benz: Right, exactly. Ricky Mulvey: As always, people on the program may have interests in the stocks they talk about, and the Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against, so don't buy or sell anything based solely on what you hear. All personal finance content follows Motley Fool editorial standards and are not approved by advertisers, The Motley Fool only picks products that it would personally recommend to friends like you. I'm Ricky Mulvey. Thanks for listening. We'll be back tomorrow.NEW YORK (AP) — With the end of 2024 around the corner, you might be reflecting on financial goals for 2025. Whether you're saving to move out of your parents' house or pay off student loan debt, financial resolutions can help you stay motivated, said Courtney Alev, consumer advocate for Credit Karma. “Entering a new year doesn’t erase all our financial challenges from the prior year," Alev said. “But it can really help to bring a fresh-start mentality to how you’re managing your finances.” If you’re planning to make financial resolutions for the new year, experts recommend that you start by evaluating the state of your finances in 2024. Then, set specific goals and make sure they're attainable for your lifestyle. Here are some tips from experts: Think about how you currently deal with finances — what's good, what's bad, and what can improve. “Let this be the year you change your relationship with money,” said Ashley Lapato, personal finance educator for YNAB, a budgeting app. If you feel like money is a chore, that there's shame surrounding the topic of money, or like you were born being “bad at money,” it's time to change that mentality, Lapato said. To adjust your approach, Lapato recommends viewing money goals as an opportunity to imagine your desired lifestyle in the future. She recommends asking questions like, “What do my 30s look like? What do my 40s look like?” and using money as a means to get there. Liz Young Thomas, head of SoFi Investment Strategy, added that it’s key you forgive yourself for past mistakes in order to move into the new year with motivation. When setting your financial resolutions for 2025, it's important to establish the “why” of each, said Matt Watson, CEO of Origin, a financial tracking app. “If you can attach the financial goal to a bigger life goal, it’s much more motivating and more likely you’ll continue on that path,” Watson said. Whether you're saving to buy a house, pay off credit card debt or take a summer vacation, being clear about the goal can keep you motivated. Watson also recommends using a tool to help you keep track of your finances, such as an app, spreadsheet, or website. “After three years of inflation, your pay increases are likely still playing catch up to your monthly expenses, leaving you wondering where all the money is going," said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate. "Make that monthly budget for 2025 and resolve to track your spending against it throughout the year." McBride said that you may need to make adjustments during the year as certain expenses increase, which would require cutting back in other areas. “Calibrate your spending with your income, and any month you spend less than budgeted, transfer the difference into your savings account, ideally a high-yield savings account,” he said. “Interest rates aren’t likely to come down very fast, so you’re still going to have to put in the hard work of paying down debt, especially high-cost credit card debt, and do so with urgency,” McBride said. Start by taking stock of how much debt you have now relative to the beginning of the year. Hopefully you’ve made steady progress on paying it down, but, if you’ve gone in the other direction, McBride encourages making a game plan. That includes looking into 0% balance transfer offers. “You have more power over credit card interest rates than you think you do," said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree. “Wielding that power is one of the best moves you can make in 2025.” A 0% balance transfer credit card is “a good weapon” in the fight against high card APRs, or annual percentage rates, he said. A low-interest personal loan is an option as well. You may simply be able to pick up the phone and ask for a lower interest rate. LendingTree found that a majority of people who did that in 2024 were successful, and the average reduction was more than 6 points. When planning for your financial resolutions, it’s important to consider how you’re going to make your goals sustainable for your lifestyle, said Credit Karma's Alev. “It really is a marathon, not a sprint,” Alev said. Alev recommends setting realistic, practical goals to make it easier to stick with them. For example, instead of planning to save thousands of dollars by the end of the year, start by saving $20 a paycheck. Even when your plans are achievable, there are times you'll get derailed. Maybe it’s an unexpected medical bill or an extraordinary life event. When these situations happen, Alev recommends trying not to feel defeated and working to get back on track without feeling guilty. “You can't manage what you can't see, so set a New Year’s resolution to check your credit score monthly in 2025," said Rikard Bandebo, chief economist at VantageScore. “Be sure to pay more than the minimum on your credit accounts, as that's one of the best ways to boost your credit score.” Bandebo also advises student loan borrowers to make all payments on time, as servicers will begin to report late payments starting in January, and missed payments will affect borrowers' credit scores. Automated changes, like increasing workplace 401(k) plan contributions, setting up direct deposits from paychecks into dedicated savings accounts, and arranging for monthly transfers into an IRA and/or 529 college savings accounts all add up quickly, McBride said. Your financial goals can encompass more than just managing your money better — they can also be about keeping your money safe from scams . A golden rule to protect yourself from scams is to “slow down,” said Johan Gerber, executive vice president of security solutions at Mastercard. “You have to slow down and talk to other people if you’re not sure (whether or not) it’s scam,” said Gerber, who recommends building an accountability system with family to keep yourself and your loved ones secure. Scammers use urgency to make people fall for their tricks, so taking your time to make any financial decision can keep you from losing money. Your financial goals don’t always have to be rooted in a dollar amount — they can also be about well-being. Finances are deeply connected with our mental health, and, to take care of our money, we also need to take care of ourselves. “I think that now more than any other year, your financial wellness should be a resolution," said Alejandra Rojas, personal finance expert and founder of The Money Mindset Hub, a mentoring platform for women entrepreneurs. "Your mental health with money should be a resolution.” To focus on your financial wellness, you can set one or two goals focusing on your relationship with money. For example, you could find ways to address and resolve financial trauma, or you could set a goal to talk more openly with loved ones about money, Rojas said. —— The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.
Bachelorette star Tayshia Adams and Dale Moss cozy up after THOSE romance rumors following Clare Crawley split Have YOU got a story? Email tips@dailymail.com By SARAH SOTOODEH FOR DAILYMAIL.COM Published: 23:07 GMT, 5 December 2024 | Updated: 23:37 GMT, 5 December 2024 e-mail 14 shares View comments Tayshia Adams was spotted cozying up with Dale Moss at Forever 21's Naughty, Forever Nice Collection Launch Event in New York City on Wednesday. The Bachelor Nation stars were spotted grinning ear to ear at the event, two years after rumors surfaced that they were dating. Tayshia, 34, looked beautiful in a wine colored dress, layering on top a burgundy coat with a thing belt to highlight her slim form. The beautiful brunette added boots and gloves to round out her striking look for the clothing label's event. Meanwhile Dale, 36, cut a handsome figure in a white shirt and a cream blazer and cargo bottoms. Dale notably dated Bachelorette star Clare Crawley during her season, with the couple then leaving the show early and Tayshia filing in as the new Bachelorette in the middle of the season. Tayshia Adams was spotted cozying up with Dale Moss at Forever 21's Naughty, Forever Nice Collection Launch Event in New York City on Wednesday The Bachelor Nation stars were spotted grinning ear to ear at the event, two years after rumors surfaced that they were dating Tayshia and Dale sparked dating rumors in 2022, with fans of the franchise buzzing in May that year after Dale posted a snap with Tayshia and skateboarder Ishod Wair. Fans commented on the picture at the time that they thought the stars would make a power couple. Read More The Bachelorette alum Jason Tartick splits from Kat Stickler after six months: 'It just didn't work' Soon after, Bachelorette season 16 contestant Bennett Jordan appeared to fuel rumors of a Tayshia/Dale romance by using an interesting hashtag on a snap of him and fellow Bachelor Nation star Dr. Joe Park. He used the hashtag #daleandtayshiastans. Fans went crazy on the hashtag, with some asking him what it was about, to which he coyly responded with 'oh like you heard it here first.' It is unknown if Dale and Tayshia did in fact date. Dale and Clare met on her season of The Bachelorette - season 16. She chose to leave the season early to be with him after just two weeks, leading to Tayshia to get the replacement gig as the new Bachelorette. Tayshia ended up choosing Zac Clark, whom she split with in November 2021. The beautiful brunette added boots and gloves to round out her striking look for the clothing label's event Meanwhile Dale cut a handsome figure in a white shirt and a cream blazer and cargo bottoms Dale held on to a stocking at the event, grinning ear to ear Dale notably dated Bachelorette star Clare Crawley during her season, with the couple then leaving the show early and Tayshia filing in as the new Bachelorette in the middle of the season; pictured June 3, 2021 However, in January 2021, just three months later, Dale revealed they had split via social media. 'I wanted to share with you all that Clare and I have decided to go our separate ways,' he wrote. 'We appreciate the love and support we've received from so many people, but this is the healthiest decision for both of us at the time,' Dale added. She claimed at the time she didn't know he would publicize their split. 'I was made aware of a "mutual" statement at the same time you all were, so I've needed some time to really digest this,' she said to her Instagram at the time. The star said that she felt 'crushed' about their relationship. Three months later, they reconciled briefly - before splitting again in September. She went on to marry Ryan Dawkins in February 2023, with the couple welcoming their daughter Rowen Lily Dawkins in January 2024 via surrogate. Dale has since dated HGTV alum Galey Alix, and most recently linked to Remi Bader. Tayshia was most recently linked Luke Gulbranson - a Summer House alum. Share or comment on this article: Bachelorette star Tayshia Adams and Dale Moss cozy up after THOSE romance rumors following Clare Crawley split e-mail 14 shares Add comment
NoneMEDFORD, New Jersey (WPVI) -- During this season of giving, a local business in Medford is preparing a big present. Revive Painting and Powerwashing's 'Holiday Pet Drive' has taken place annually for the last five years. The collection of donated goods will be a gift of basic necessities so that animal resource organizations can put their funding into even more significant causes. They will be taking collections until December 23rd. For more information, check out the video above. Also, check out their social media .