Financial Mindset

On July 4, 2026, as the United States marks its 250th birthday, a library will open in the North Dakota Badlands that looks less like a civic institution than a manifesto built in stone and steel. Designed by the international architecture firm Snøhetta, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora will be the nation’s only carbon-neutral presidential library—a monument to conservation, leadership, and the rugged individualism of the 26th president, rising from the very landscape that made Roosevelt who he was. Completing it required one final gift. On Thursday, that gift arrived: $26 million from Kenneth C. Griffin, founder and CEO of the $69 billion hedge fund Citadel. The library’s west wing will bear his name. It was not the largest check Griffin has ever written. Not even close. But it is certainly revealing. The collector of American founding myths To understand what Griffin is doing in Medora, it helps to start in Philadelphia—or, more precis...

California intends to sue the Trump administration over its  deal to end an offshore wind project  proposed off the state’s central coast. State officials said they are combating the administration’s attacks on their offshore wind industry by sending a notice of their intention to sue to the Department of the Interior on Tuesday. Tuesday’s action is focused on the administration buying back the lease for Golden State Wind, a floating offshore wind project off California’s central coast. California has made a major commitment to offshore wind because of its potential to generate vast amounts of clean electricity from strong, consistent winds off its coast. Its strategy calls for the state to develop 25 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2045, enough to power roughly 25 million homes and provide about 13% of the state’s electricity supply. These energy and climate goals are now in jeopardy, and that’s why California will fight vigorously, said Ca...

The state of New York is forming an exploratory committee to consider whether Lake Placid and New York City should bid to co-host a future  Winter Olympics. The announcement Monday from Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office suggested a dual-hosting format, the likes of which Milan and Cortina pulled off at this year’s Olympics . It does not mention a year, though with the 2034 Games going to Salt Lake City and with Switzerland tabbed as the preferred bidder for 2038, the first likely available spot for New York to host would be 2042. “The time is now to return the Olympic flame back to New York,” Hochul said. Lake Placid hosted the Winter Olympics in 1932 and 1980 — the year of the  “Miracle on Ice”  when the underdog U.S beat the Soviet Union in men’s hockey on home ice. It also spent time in the mix as an emergency backup for this year’s sliding sports when the venue in Cortina was riddled with construction delays. The exploratory commi...

The newest installment of the movie that made Pixar a powerhouse and Steve Jobs a billionaire just secured the biggest opening weekend in the history of the Toy Story franchise. Just over 30 years after the original movie was released, Toy Story 5 amassed a staggering $312 million for its opening weekend, topping Toy Story 4 ’s $238 million debut in 2019. The newest film, which follows Woody and Buzz Lightyear as they battle a shiny new tablet for the attention of their owner, Bonnie, has already trumped its eye-popping budget of $250 million.   Another $100 million worth of marketing costs means the film is not yet profitable. But if its opening weekend is any indication, Toy Story 5 is set to break records.  Since the first film was released in 1995, the franchise has driven $16 billion in revenue to Disney , which bought Pixar in 2006, thanks in part to retail sales for consumer products, games, and publishing, which add to the franchise’s massiv...

Having a sick pet is emotionally a lot to handle. But now with the skyrocketing costs of emergency vet care, it can mean Americans are looking at their bank accounts first before making important decisions about their pet’s care. It’s because many households haven’t or don’t have the capacity to financially plan for that moment. New 2026 data from Rover’s Cost of Dog Parenthood Report shared with Fortune found 38% of pet parents couldn’t cover an emergency vet visit without taking on debt—even though nearly nine in 10 said they’d felt financially prepared before bringing a pet home.  Meanwhile, only 10% of pet parents have set aside any savings specifically for emergencies.  “Younger owners think of their pets like family, but often have to delay vet care or defer their own personal financial responsibilities to service the costs of taking care of their pets,” Dr. Rebecca Greenstein, a veterinary medical advisor for Rover, told Fortune.  A t...

U.S. stock futures fell and oil prices rose after peace talks between the U.S. and Iran got off to a rocky start on Sunday, with President Donald Trump wasting no time with threats to renew war. Futures tied to the Dow Jones industrial average fell 191 points, or 0.37%. S&P 500 futures were down 0.52%, and Nasdaq futures lost 0.74%. U.S. oil futures rose 2.1% to $78.19 a barrel, while Brent crude climbed 1.2% to $81.53. Gold dropped 1.5% to $4,180.40 per ounce. Earlier in Switzerland, Vice President JD Vance said both sides had already made “great progress” in talks, saying the U.S. side represented an “outstretched hand” toward the people of Iran. But after Iran said Saturday that it’s closing the Strait of Hormuz again as Israel continues attacking Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, Trump told Fox News on Sunday he spoke with Iranian officials and warned them, “You close it and you won’t have a country. You won’t even make it back to yo...

The male labor force participation rate in the U.S. has been falling for generations, perplexing economists who have struggled to come up with an explanation. According to the Labor Department’s latest data , the rate for men 20 years and older was 69.5% in May, down from 76% in May 2006. That means fewer men were employed or unemployed but actively looking for a job. The male participation rate peaked at 86.4% in 1950, but slid to 79.7% in 1970, and 76.4% in 1990. By contrast, female participation rose steadily until the 1990s, peaked in 2000, and has dipped only slightly since then. Numerous theories have been thrown around to try shedding light on the more recent declines among males. After the housing bubble popped and triggered the Great Recession, for example, the sudden loss of construction jobs was partly blamed for men dropping out of the work force. The introduction of more advanced video games since the early 2000s has even been cited as a cause for ...