Andrew Bret Wallis | DigitalVision | Getty ImagesMore consumers are buying travel insurance during the federal government shutdown — but these insurance policies may not offer the catch-all protection that buyers expect.Much depends on the fine print, experts said.Squaremouth, an online platform for comparing travel insurance policies, has seen the volume of insurance quotes increase 8.5% year-over-year between Oct. 1 and 27. Sales have risen by 7.9% over the same period.Buyers seem to be hedging against the financial risk of the government shutdown upending their travel plans, experts said. Air traffic controllers and TSA agents are essential government employees working…
Author: usaeverydaylife
Chinese President Xi Jinping took center stage at a meeting of APEC leaders on Saturday to push a proposal for a global body to govern artificial intelligence and position China as an alternative to the United States on trade cooperation.The comments were the first by the Chinese leader on an initiative Beijing unveiled this year, while the United States has rejected efforts to regulate AI in international bodies.Chinese President Xi Jinping.Sergey Bobylev | Via ReutersXi said a World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization could set governance rules and boost cooperation, making AI a “public good for the international community”.In remarks published…
Desmond Lim, co-founder and CEO of Workstream.Courtesy of Desmond LimIt’s often said that “there’s no such thing as balance” in entrepreneurship, but startup founder Desmond Lim disagrees.The CEO and co-founder of Workstream, a HR, payroll and hiring platform for hourly workers, says that balance isn’t just possible — it’s also necessary.Running a company can be very taxing, said Lim, who works about 11 hours a day on average.Not only are the hours long, but it can also be mentally consuming. “The emotional ups and downs are always very challenging … The highs are very high, the lows are very low,”…
Man and woman having a small business meeting in smart casual clothesIppei Naoi | Moment | Getty ImagesOne successful angel investor has revealed two red flags that prevent him from investing in a founder in the first meeting.Carles Reina is an angel investor who backed voice cloning AI startup Eleven Labs when it was still in its very early stages in 2022. The firm was co-founded by Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski, and raised $180 million at a valuation of $3.3 billion, in its Series C funding earlier this year.In September, the company announced it was letting employees sell shares at…
A customer shops for Halloween candy at a Walmart Supercenter on October 16, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell | Getty ImagesThe scariest thing haunting Halloween this year isn’t a ghost, goblin or ghoul — it’s the price of chocolate.From Snickers to Reese’s to Twix, one of America’s favorite indulgences is getting more expensive, as tariffs, inflation and high cocoa prices squeeze profit margins and customers’ pocketbooks, possibly leading to fewer chocolate bars landing in trick-or-treat buckets this year.Chocolate prices have surged nearly 30% since last Halloween and almost 78% in the past five years, according to data from research firm…
Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty ImagesThe new 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment doesn’t just increase Social Security checks, starting with January payments — it also boosts thresholds related to the maximum retirement benefit.The maximum Social Security benefit for workers who claim at full retirement age will increase to $4,152 per month in 2026, up from $4,018 per month in 2025, following the 2.8% COLA.The Social Security Administration detailed the change on Oct. 24 as part of its announcement about the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment in 2026 for Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefit payments. The news, originally slated for Oct. 15,…
The U.S. Capitol building, weeks into the continuing U.S. government shutdown, in Washington on Oct. 27, 2025. Kylie Cooper | ReutersOpen enrollment for health insurance bought on the Affordable Care Act marketplace starts Nov. 1 in most states — but millions of people may get a financial surprise when they try to sign up.That’s because a congressional deadlock tied to the extension of enhanced subsidies for insurance premiums has continued with no end in sight.Consumers are “going to get huge sticker shock, because prices are going up,” said Carolyn McClanahan, a physician and certified financial planner based in Jacksonville, Florida.That…
If you’re looking to hire new employees for your business, you may ask yourself at some point: Should I be running a background check on candidates?Conducting background checks on your potential hires can help you verify someone’s credentials, make sure there is no history of criminal activity that could negatively affect your line of business and even protect your company. Plus, background checks aren’t only for large corporations and small businesses — even property owners run background checks to make sure they’re renting to creditworthy applicants with clean tenant records.If you’re looking to add background checks as an extra safeguard…
Amid high-profile job cuts at major companies like Meta, Amazon and Target, many workers are undoubtedly anxious about future downsizing.According to Jason Walker and Rey Ramirez, co-founders of Thrive HR Consulting, a significant portion of these recent job cuts can be credited to AI.”Companies are seeing their ability to be more efficient and use less staff with AI, and so they’re taking the opportunity right now to reduce staff,” Walker says.Another reason could be that toward the end of the year, companies “start to look at head count, they start to look at cost, and there’s just general trimming of…
Gene Munster, Deepwater, joins ‘Fast Money’ to talk his takeaways from the recent slate of Big Tech quarterly results. Source link
