Financial Mindset

Artificial intelligence “agents” are supposed to be more than chatbots. The tech industry has spent months  pitching AI personal assistants  that know what you want and can do real work on your behalf. So far, they're not doing much. Visa hopes to change that by giving them your credit card. Set a budget and some preferences and these AI agents — successors to ChatGPT and its chatbot peers — could find and buy you a sweater, weekly groceries or an airplane ticket. “We think this could be really important,” said Jack Forestell, Visa’s chief product and strategy officer, in an interview. “Transformational, on the order of magnitude of the advent of e-commerce itself.” Visa announced Wednesday it is partnering with a group of leading AI chatbot developers — among them U.S. companies Anthropic, Microsoft , OpenAI and Perplexity, and France's Mistral — to connect their AI systems to Visa's payments network. Visa is also working with IBM , online payment company Stripe and ...

President Donald Trump’s publicly traded media company is considering the launch of a “utility token” and “digital wallet,” according to a letter the company’s CEO and chairman Devin Nunes sent to shareholders on Tuesday. In the run up to an annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday for Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), Nunes wrote about the company’s expansion of products for “patriotic Americans,” including plans for its streaming service Truth+. “As part of a rewards program, we’re exploring the introduction of a utility token within a Truth digital wallet that can initially be used to pay for Truth+ subscription costs, and later be applied to other products and services in the Truth ecosphere,” he said. While Nunes didn’t specify whether the “utility token” was a cryptocurrency or if the “digital wallet” was blockchain-based, the terms are common in the crypto industry. Utility tokens are cryptocurrencies that developers intend for use beyond just speculation, while digit...

Global courier UPS is cutting 20,000 jobs and automating hundreds of facilities as it tries to boost profitability in the midst of a massive overhaul of its delivery network. Earlier this year, the company announced an ambitious plan to decouple from Amazon in favor of more profitable packages—just before Trump’s tariff announcements sent global trade volumes plunging. United Parcel Service made waves earlier this year when it announced a breakup with the world’s largest ecommerce retailer. Amazon, a competitor as well as a customer bringing in over one-tenth of UPS’ revenue, had turned unprofitable for the shipper, and in January of this year, UPS announced plans to slash the volume it delivered for Amazon by 50% in about a year and a half. “They are our largest customer, but they are not our most profitable customer,” UPS CEO Carol Tomé said in an interview with Bloomberg Television , describing the move as “taking control of our destiny.”  Three months later, that desti...

Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs are shocking global markets and rekindling fears of a prolonged trade war. The U.S. president may be reconsidering some of his most disruptive tariffs as he floats the possibility of a deal —but he also continues to threaten new measures on goods like semiconductors and pharmaceuticals as he tries to shake up the global trading system. How will the tariffs affect China’s tech sector which—even just a month ago —was riding high on the success of DeepSeek’s AI model?  China has been preparing since Trump first imposed tariffs back in 2018. Beijing has long anticipated a second round with the U.S. Faced with tighter restrictions on its access to advanced technology, China has methodically built out its technology supply chains. It’s not just constructing local chip plants: Beijing’s measures include bolstering renewable energy capacity, building out cloud computing capabilities through national projects like East Data West Compute, and inv...

Consumers across the U.S. still will be able to buy  higher-ethanol blend E15 gasoline  this summer, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday, saving them a little money at the pump but risking potential damage to the air and water. The emergency waiver issued by the EPA prevents retailers in most states from having to stop selling E15 gasoline on May 1. While the waiver remains in effect only through May 20, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin signaled that he plans to keep issuing waivers through Sept. 15, the date when the federal government typically would allow E15 sales in all states again. Most gasoline sold across the U.S. is blended with 10% ethanol, but 15% blends are becoming increasingly common, particularly in the Midwest, where most of the nation's corn is grown. E15 gasoline generally costs at least 10 cents less a gallon than E10 gasoline, but the EPA had previously prohibited its sale during the summer over concerns that its use during the summer drivin...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were first envisioned as a global blueprint for equitable growth, environmental sustainability, and social progress. Yet, nearly a decade later, the world is falling behind. The world is on track to meet just 17% of SDG targets . Progress on a third of them has either stalled or reversed. The funding gap to meet the SDG commitments now stands at $4.2 trillion a year ; Asia-Pacific alone will need an additional $1.5 trillion annually to meet its targets. Where can Asia find that money? One answer is from those who hold its wealth. Today, Asia is home to nearly 40% of the world’s billionaires, with a 141% increase in billionaire net worth over the past decade. The region could tap that money for inclusive and sustainable development. Yet Asia still struggles to mobilize that capital, due to declining sources of donor support and a fragmented funding environment. That can put long-term, high-impact projects at risk. This challenge has become...

Michael Montgomery used to check the balance on his retirement account once a week and smile. But lately, not wanting to get upset and question if he could retire in a few years, there was only one solution. “I’m not looking,” says the 66-year-old professor from Huntington Woods, Michigan. As the White House simultaneously  injects turmoil into financial markets with its trade war  and dismisses fears of a downturn, retired and near-retired Americans are anxiously looking on, worried about outliving their savings or having to put off entries on their bucket lists. Keeping logged off his account has made Montgomery’s days less worrisome. He and his wife adjusted their portfolio after Election Day, including moving more money into bonds. But he’s not sure what more he can do if the entire world economy can be affected by Washington’s decisions. “I hope like hell I don’t lose all my retirement savings,” he says. “But where else could you put the money that these people could ...

The  “Sell America”  trade that gripped markets this month has left a potentially lasting dent in investors’ willingness to hold the US government’s longest-maturity debt, a mainstay of its deficit-financing toolkit. For bond managers at BlackRock Inc., Brandywine Global Investment Management and Vanguard Group Inc., the problem is that as President Donald Trump approaches his 100th day in office, he has generated a growing list of unknowns, forcing traders to focus on a broad array of issues beyond just the likely path of interest rates. To name a few: What do Trump’s trade war, tax-cut agenda and scattergun policymaking mean for already weakening economic growth, sticky inflation and massive fiscal shortfalls? Will he again threaten to  fire  Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell? Is he  actively seeking  a weaker dollar? The result is a  heightened notion of risk  that’s leading bond buyers to question the traditional haven status of US gove...

Your local McDonald’s could be an incubator for the next generation of C-suite executives.  Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos famously credits his teenage experience flipping burgers as a short-order line cook in the 1980s with instilling many of the management lessons he’s still serving up across his businesses today.  He’s not alone. From former Vice President Kamala Harris to playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda to pop icon Pink , an estimated one in eight Americans have worked at McDonald’s in their lifetime, according to the fast-food chain.  And Build-a-Bear Workshop chief executive Sharon Price John is part of that figure. As a teenager in Tennessee, she fondly recalls her time behind the drive-thru window coordinating orders and hand delivering burgers and french fries to customers.  “I was a master, and I loved it because I had the headphones,” John tells Fortune . “So in the drive-thru, you get to order everybody around, so that was definitely about ...

Say goodbye to dedicated desks and hello to collaborative workspaces. More companies are ditching individual desks and embracing shared spaces, as 62% of employers are aiming for a ratio of 1.5 employees per desk, and the amount of individual workspaces has already decreased from 51% in 2021 to 40% in 2024, according to data from the commercial real estate company  CBRE . US companies are “way behind” other global employers in utilizing shared workspaces, said Kate Lister, principal at consulting firm Global Workplace Analytics. But with the prospect of shared workspaces cutting space and costs, and increasing collaboration, many employers finally see “what’s in it for me,” Lister told HR Brew. Adding more shared or collaborative workspaces doesn’t mean companies have to eliminate dedicated desks entirely, and experts shared with HR Brew how optionality helps employees. Employees want variety.  After employees learned how to be productive remotely during the pandemic, thei...

Commuters are using the time to unplug in another travel trend. First, there was “ raw-dogging ” on flights. Now, office workers are being called out for doing the same—staring into space for hours on end, or worse, making eye contact with fellow passengers on trains. There’s nothing worse than commuters who opt out of checking their emails or reading a book in favour of doing absolutely nothing for the entire journey, sometimes staring awkwardly into the eyes of other passengers to pass the time.  That’s, at least, according to talent manager and podcaster Curtis Morton, who has coined a new name for people who engage in the idle activity: “barebackers.” “You’ve commuted enough times. Why are you sitting there without a phone, without a book, just looking at me, looking at what’s going on?” the co-host of the Behind the Screens podcast said in a recent TikTok video that’s racked up 100,000 views and counting. “Just do something!” The new trend shares similarities with anot...

Gen Alpha watched influencers make millions from daily vlogs and video game content—now they want a piece of the pie. The generation’s top career choice is to become a YouTuber or TikToker, according to a recent survey of 12 to 15-year-olds.  Gone are the days of kids aspiring to be a ballerina, the president, or an astronaut—Gen Alpha wants the dream jobs of the digital era. They’ve swapped Neil Armstrong for MrBeast , and Serena Williams for Emma Chamberlain.  That’s because being a YouTuber is Gen Alpha’s top job aspiration. More than 30% of 12 to 15-year-olds say they want the career, according to a recent report from social commerce platform Whop. The gig is followed up by 21% of the kids aiming to become TikTok creators—another highly lucrative platform, launching the careers of million-dollar successes Addison Rae, Charli D’Amelio, and Khaby Lame. TikTok and YouTube creators are jobs that simply didn’t exist 25 years ago, but it’s a dream for digital natives who ...

With social media consumption and skyrocketing tuition , Gen Z is facing financial confusion like never before. University leaders are hoping that by investing in financial literacy, they can navigate the true pathways to building success. College campuses are often advertised as safe spaces where intellectual ideas can flow freely.  However, even though nearly 8 in 10 college students report that financial struggles are harming their mental health, and finances are the leading reason why some 42 million students have ditched the classroom, money remains a taboo topic for many Gen Zers.  There’s no question that the cost of college is a leading driver of angst, with the average public university student taking out $32,000 in student loans.In response, some universities are pouring millions of dollars into new financial wellness and literacy centers—and at some schools, it’s working. At Indiana University (IU), which began prioritizing financial literacy in 2012, studen...

As the U.S. tries to make headway on a plan to end the war in Ukraine, European allies are moving to defend the country—and their continent—from Russia in the future. Discussions indicate that a coalition of the willing  could provide  a “presence on the ground, in the air, and at sea, as well as air defense.” This support is not set in stone. Right now, however, there’s a way Europe can show it’s serious: intensify its economic sanctions against Russia. The first step is putting an end to Russian shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which have been soaring. Last year, the European Union imported a record  16.5 million metric tons  of LNG from Russia. Most of it was destined for one country: Germany. Although Germany ostensibly bans imports of Russian LNG, its national energy company in 2024  bought 58 cargoes  of gas through the French port at Dunkirk alone—a sixfold increase over the prior year. Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands are also major d...