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Broadcast Retirement Network’s Jeffrey Snyder discusses the new U.S. Department of Laborregulations for evaluating investments for your 401k (or 403b or 457b) plans with Kutak Rock’s John Schembari.Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement NetworkJohn Schembari joins us this morning from Kutak Rock. John, great to see you. Thanks for joining us this morning.John Schembari, Kutak RockThanks for having me, Jeff.Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement NetworkYou know, John, it almost feels like deja vu. I don’t know why. I’m just getting that feeling of deja vu.All right, John, I wanted to reach out to you because we have some new Department of Labor regulations around the investment selection process. Let’s talk about, I want to get reaction from you first, and then we can talk about what the regs say. So what’s your reaction to what you’ve read thus far?John Schembari, Kutak RockIt’s very positive. You know, the Department of Labor had a mandate to come out with proposed regulations that were going to make it safer for fiduciaries to offer alternative investments, private equity, private credit, Bitcoin, you name it. And what the department did is they actually came out with a roadmap for the selection of any investment and kind of a roadmap for fiduciaries in selecting any investment in a 401k plan.They met their deadline. This is clearly fast-tracked. And so far, what I’m hearing from other practitioners and from clients is that this is going to be well-received.Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement NetworkAnd John, what do the regulations actually say? And does it alter the selection process for investments in 401k, 403b, and or governmental 457b plans?John Schembari, Kutak RockYeah, well, it doesn’t change necessarily the process that sophisticated good committees have been following. But what it does do is it creates a safe harbor that if fiduciaries will do and consider six certain factors then the department tries to create a presumption of prudence. Meaning if they’ve considered these six things that the department thinks are important in evaluating any investment and they properly evaluate those six factors, then it will be presumed that that fiduciary was acting in accordance with ERISA.Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement NetworkOkay, so as a reformed retirement plan advisor, I like that and I like a level playing field when it comes to the smaller plan sponsors and the larger plan sponsors. I would think that would be met with a lot of positivity. We’ll talk about the comment period in a second, but what’s the process, John, to review these proposed regs?They don’t just become final. There’s a process and a timeline to become final.John Schembari, Kutak RockThat’s right. So these regulations are proposed and the department has given the public, you, me, anybody, 60 days in which we can submit comments. So that’s June 1.After June 1, the department will go back to work. They’ll consider all these comments that everybody submitted and then they will issue a final regulation that will typically have a prospective effective date. That effective date could be as prospective as one month.It could be one year long. The million dollar question is when will the final regulations come out? Sometimes with governments, it might take them 10 years to issue final regulations.I don’t expect that to be the case here. One, we know that the current administration really wants to open up the trillion dollar retirement plan space to alternative investments. So there is a real push to get these regulations final sooner rather than later.The other reason why I think these are gonna become final sooner rather than later is these regulations, while most regulations are written for the benefit of the employer or the fiduciary, these regulations were clearly written with a different audience in mind. These regulations were written by the current head of the Department of Labor who is a former CEO of a fiduciary liability insurance company. The entity that paid out millions and millions of dollars to plaintiff’s lawyers.So when he wrote this regulation, it’s clear to me that he wrote this regulation to judges and to the plaintiff’s bar saying, hey, you’re on notice that if fiduciaries do these six things and they follow this process, you leave them alone. These are good fiduciaries. Do not continue to sue them and judges don’t continue to allow these excessive litigation cases against them.Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement NetworkSo John, we can expect that there are gonna be comments and there are gonna be challenges and we’ve got an election coming up in November. Even if these become final, let’s just say they become final July one. That’s a month following the end of the comment period.Is everything written in stone? So can these regulations be unwound at some point by a different Congress or a different judge or a different administration?John Schembari, Kutak RockYeah, yeah. Congress can always undo regulations by changing the law. So if Congress were to amend ERISA in such a way that these regulations just don’t make sense anymore, Congress wins.So that’s one factor. Prior to 2024, Jeff, judges would give a great deal of deference to agencies when they issue regulations. So if the Department of Labor came out with a regulation like this, prior to 2024, judges would say, all right, we’re gonna listen to the DOL.We’re gonna kind of treat that regulation as if it is law written in stone. In 2024, the Supreme Court threw out that notion of deference to a federal agency. And now judges don’t have to give the Department of Labor any deference anymore.So the Department of Labor can write these 164-page proposed regulations that are really thoughtful and give you a real good checklist of things to do. And a judge can say, yeah, we don’t really care. We think you need to do these 12 things to be a prudent fiduciary.So I think the regulations are gonna withstand some scrutiny. I don’t know how much deference a judge will give them, but it’s important to note that the regulations are not pro-crypto, pro-private equity regulations. They are written asset neutral, and it’s general principles that fiduciaries should follow in selecting any investment in a retirement plan.And that’s something that is probably gonna be difficult to be attacked from one side of the aisle or another. This is not a regulation that is, again, pro-crypto or pro an ESG style investment. This is an asset neutral regulation.So it’s gonna be kind of hard to attack that, I think.Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement NetworkYeah, I guess the jury, the pun intended jury is gonna be out. Let me ask you before I let you go, and we’re gonna have to, this is an ongoing regulation in the retirement space and in any space is ongoing. So we’re gonna have to bring you back when it comes to benefits.What are you hearing from clients? I mean, they rely on you and your firm to break things like this down. They rely on their financial advisor or their retirement plan advisor to help them do due diligence.How are they reacting to these new rules and are they excited? Have you heard anything positive or negative or just anything?John Schembari, Kutak RockYeah, we haven’t heard too much yet from clients. It’s still pretty new. So they’re waiting for us to tell them what’s in this regulation and explain that.For most of the clients that we work with, this is gonna be welcome news. This is gonna be, I’m gonna be telling them things that they’ve already been doing and considering. So it’s gonna give them a little peace of mind.One thing that’s gonna kind of become real important here is the importance of fiduciaries understanding what their investment advisors are saying. So it’s not, the regulation is very clear. It’s not enough to have an investment advisor, which is a good thing.It’s not enough just to have an investment advisor, but as a fiduciary, you need to understand what they’re saying. So when they come in and they start talking to you about sharp ratios and alpha and beta, you need, as a fiduciary, you need to be able to understand that before you make a decision. So I think that’s gonna open up opportunities for those fiduciary advisors that do a really good job in explaining the rationale behind their decisions.And it’s gonna be a little bit of a challenge for some of those financial advisors that maybe don’t want to explain the rationale in a way that their clients can fully understand.Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement NetworkYeah, well, that fiduciary education, that’s why people rely on people like you, John, and people like BRN and other places, because you need to be educated. You can’t just defer and say, oh, I hired that person. You gotta be in the know.You have responsibility to the beneficiaries of the retirement plan, of the benefit plan. John, we’re gonna have to, this has been a great conversation, a lot to unpack there. And I see a lot of webinars in yours and Kutak Rock’s future, but look, thanks for joining us.And we look forward to having you back again on the program again very soon, sir.John Schembari, Kutak RockAnytime, Jeff, thanks.

An emergency savings account is a valuable resource for long-term financial planning, but there’s no exact rule for how much you should have saved. While an emergency fund that can cover three to six months of your living expenses is the common rule of thumb, some financial advisors argue for more, especially for retirees.
An emergency fund becomes even more important if you are navigating job instability or about to leave your job for good. The ideal target depends on your financial situation, time horizon and more.

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Why rule of thumb can fall short near retirement
The three-to-six month threshold can fall short for many people who are approaching or in retirement because they’re nearing a time in which they won’t have the paycheck they’ve grown accustomed to.
They may also be preparing to spend more on traveling and health care costs, which are rising faster than general inflation. Plus, they don’t want to be in a position where they’re forced to sell investments at a market low.
Age-adjusted targets
One way to navigate the optimal amount to store in an emergency fund is to set age-adjusted targets. For instance, having up to 12 months’ worth of expenses saved in an emergency savings account from ages 50-62 may be able to serve as a sufficient bridge leading up to Social Security eligibility. If you remain employed past 62, you can delay your Social Security benefits and live off your savings for a bit after you retire to ensure higher payouts.
Early retirees who are 62-70 years old may want to consider saving closer to one to three years’ worth of expenses. This large cash buffer decreases the likelihood of having to sell investments during downturns.
As you get older, you may want to set aside a separate emergency fund for healthcare costs. Medical bills can rack up quickly, and you never know how much you will need. It’s better to save for this scenario than to be caught by surprise.

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Where to keep your emergency fund
A high-yield savings account is a solid spot to keep an emergency fund, with some offering near 4% annual percentage yields (APYs). Money market accounts also have more competitive yields than traditional savings accounts.
While both of those accounts offer easy access to your cash, they have variable interest rates. If the Federal Reserve decides to cut rates, your savings accounts can be immediately affected. That’s why some people also buy Treasury bills to lock in rates — though keep in mind you can’t access your principal until the bond matures.
One strategy you can use is to keep enough money in your high-yield savings account to cover immediate needs. That way, you have instant access to some of your cash. Then, you can put some money into a T-bill ladder to lock in high rates.

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Margery A. Beck & Ali Swenson, AP A rural Nebraska family’s lifeline hospital now sits at the center of a national fight over Medicaid cuts.

Adam Kredo, WFB The chief oversight body responsible for tracking U.S. foreign assistance says United Nations agencies are stonewalling a probe into their ties to Hamas. The agencies have…

EXCLUSIVE— As one of the most recognizable supermodels of the 1980s, Kim Alexis knows a thing or two about the pressure of meeting beauty standards, but she also sees a dangerous trend among those who are eschewing those standards completely.Over the course of her modeling career, Alexis graced over 500 magazine covers, including Vogue and Glamour, and made six appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She said she is well-acquainted with what is and isn’t a healthy beauty mindset and diet, sharing some concerns about the body positivity trend. Body positivity is a social movement promoting the acceptance of all body types, regardless of size or appearance. While advocates say it encourages embracing and loving one’s bodies, critics have warned that it elevates unhealthy lifestyles and obesity.”Well, if you’re thinking of body positivity as, ‘This is me. This is who I am. I love myself.’ That’s where we should all start, I believe,” Alexis told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Now, I think to go a step further, it’s, ‘How can I improve?’” she continued. “‘What could be better? How can I stay healthy or go towards health?’ And I think that’s the difference is that some people accept, ‘This is just who I am, and I don’t need to change, and I’m not changing, and I don’t care what society says.’ They can say that, and I think in their mind that can be healthy, at least for accepting yourself and having that self-love. But I believe it’s unhealthy if you’re overweight or too underweight, and you’re not where the body is designed to be.”FORMER BODY-POSITIVITY INFLUENCER SAYS MOVEMENT BECAME ‘RADICAL,’ ADMITS FEELING BRAINWASHEDAlexis identified a tension between embracing that so-called “self-love” and promoting physical health. She also noted that maintaining one’s health looks different with age.”I think self-love and accepting yourself should lead to, how do I maintain or how do I better myself?” she said. “And I believe we need to be doing and saying that all through our lives. I’m in my 60s now, and it’s like, ‘OK, I’m not running 10 miles a day, but what can I do to stay healthy? How do I keep moving? What in my age group is good for me at this point?'”One former body positivity influencer recently spoke to The New York Times about why she regretted being a spokesperson for the movement. “I’m only five feet tall and at my heaviest, I was close to 400 pounds,” Gabriella Lascano told the outlet. “I started to wonder if loving myself at any size had become an excuse to ignore how big I was getting. I felt like I saw myself being brainwashed, essentially. Meanwhile, the language around body positivity began sounding more extreme online.”In 2023, she posted a video denouncing body positivity, saying she felt “guilty” for being a part of the movement and adding that it’s “not fatphobic to care about your health.”However, body positivity advocates like the Body Positive Alliance say one’s body “should not be the determinant of self-worth and self-perception” and everyone, regardless of shape, should have access to the same opportunities.”People, regardless of body type, gender, race, and ability deserve to feel confident, as well as represented through our organization’s messaging,” the group says on its website.Also making health headlines in the past couple of years has been the skyrocketing use of Ozempic. Alexis told Fox News Digital it’s hard to gauge how effective the injection is quite yet because there haven’t been enough studies on its long-term effects. “I think it is a good start for some people who do have some glucose and sugar problems,” Alexis said. “I believe before people go on it, they should have that A1C marker checked because it’s not… It shouldn’t be used as a crutch — it should be used as a supportive tool in getting yourself back to being healthy, being active, eating correctly.”KATE WINSLET SLAMS HOLLYWOOD’S ‘TERRIFYING’ OBSESSION WITH BOTOX AND WEIGHT-LOSS DRUGSShe said a good start would be for people to get educated on what they’re putting in their bodies and understanding the importance of eating “as clean and healthy as possible.” Alexis recalled how much pressure she and her fellow models were under in the world of 1980s fashion and compared it to the scrutiny young women face today. But she said it’s a matter of how they manage that scrutiny.”Oh my gosh, the fashion industry was tough no matter what,” she said. “They were always looking for something that could change. You were not so much celebrated for things, I think, as people are now, or they’re doing self-celebration.”Alexis added, “And I think we also put more pressure on ourselves than maybe others do. We perceive that there’s more pressure and that does one of two things: It either drives you too far where you’re fanatical and that’s all you think about, or it drives you to better yourself. And as you know, my vote is to always better yourself.” Alexis has a new podcast set to release in mid-April called “UNEXPIRED,” in which she’ll further explore the topics of health and wellness.

Steve Friess, the son of the late Republican mega donor Foster Friess, just threw his hat in the ring to run for Wyoming’s open at-large House seat, seeking to pivot from helping fund political candidates to becoming one himself. Friess announced this week that he would be throwing his hat in the ring for Wyoming’s vacant, at-large House seat, which is currently held by Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., who, in December, indicated she would not run for reelection but instead for the U.S. Senate to replace retiring GOP Sen. Cynthia Lummis.Friess’s father, Foster, ran for governor of Wyoming in 2018 before his subsequent passing a few years later. Despite losing in a fiercely competitive race, the late GOP businessman and donor was able to obtain the backing of Donald Trump at the time. His son, Steve, says he thinks he too can help lead Trump’s America First agenda “confidently and boldly.”GOP GUBERNATORIAL HOPEFUL HAILS LEGENDARY GOLFER FOR HEFTY CAMPAIGN DONATION: ‘INCREDIBLY HONORED’”I’m optimistic that I can help lead others to be very confidently and boldly continuing the America First agenda for President Trump. I think you can’t – you can’t always do that as a donor. You know, you write a check and you don’t always get what you hope comes out on the other side,” Friess, a longtime Wyoming resident, told Fox News Digital.Friess, a longtime Wyoming native, describes himself as a “political outsider,” but at the same time is touting his record in “the trenches” fighting for conservative causes. Friess was one of the early seed funders of the late GOP activist Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, raised the first million dollars for Tea Party Patriots and has been a big finder of the election-integrity nonprofit True the Vote. In talking to Fox News Digital, Friess also touted his work helping get major GOP candidates elected, such as Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Montana GOP Governor Greg Gianforte.TOP DEMS BRUSH OFF TIES TO IMAM WHO HELD MEMORIAL FOR IRANIAN LEADER WHO VOWED ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’”Each of these gentlemen had great successful careers and then took the time in their life to engage in this way of serving the country. I think this is what the founders intended,” Friess said. “None of us, none of that group – we’re not doing this for, you know, as a career, a title, or a way to get ahead. We all have a sincere vision of serving our state and our nation.”Friess told Fox News Digital that he supports President Trump’s “bold” actions in Iran, described his actions in Venezuela as “wonderful” and said he wants to focus even more on the government’s budget priorities. Friess also said if elected, he would put his full support behind passing the SAVE America Act, a voter integrity law being pushed by Trump and Republicans aimed at shoring up election security, and has also said he would support term limits for members of Congress. Meanwhile, Friess told Fox News Digital that, if elected, he would also push to bring back Wyoming’s Federal Bureau of Mines, a federal agency previously housed under the Department of the Interior created in 1910 but later closed in 1966.”One important issue that I think we face from a national security level is the fact that China has us over the barrel for a lot of strategic minerals. Wyoming has those strategic minerals, and I’m going to be calling for the recreation of something that was once known as the Bureau of Mines,” Friess posited. “What I’m envisioning is a government entity that’ll be here in Wyoming, not a new bureaucracy in DC, but it will be designed to expedite, streamline and advance the idea of making use of the resources that we have here, both from a jobs perspective and an opportunity perspective, but also from a national security perspective.”

SEATTLE—Business owners in Washington state are worried that the recently passed “millionaires tax” will drive economic activity out—and even target them next. “There’s a lot of fear and trepidation with what’s going on in our government when it comes to taxes,” Matt Humphrey, a Seattle barber who has locations in the Ballard and Roosevelt areas, told Fox News Digital. “This new millionaire’s tax is definitely going to impact us,” Humphrey said. “We’re afraid… they treat us a bit like an ATM when it comes to paying out taxes as a small business.” Steve Gordon, principal of Gordon Truck Centers, a truck dealer in Pacific, Washington, said he is concerned that the millionaires tax will eventually make its way to those who are not in the millionaire income bracket. “The income tax is the latest kind of battle that’s happened here recently,” Gordon said. “But while they frame it as it’s just a tax on millionaires, I mean that’s stacked on a whole bunch of other taxes and there’s nothing to keep it from expanding to regular citizens. And I think a lot of regular folks realize that what might be just for millionaires today supposedly will be coming for them later as they broaden that tax base.” MAMDANI’S ESTATE TAX PLAN COULD DRIVE WEALTH OUT OF STATE, CRITICS WARNWashington state Democrats last month passed the “millionaires tax,” which Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson signed March 30. It’s the state’s first-ever income tax, celebrated by progressives and socialists and opposed by conservatives; the Wall Street Journal editorial board called it a “con” after its passage that will “inevitably capture the middle class.”The new tax will impose a 9.9% income tax on households earning more than $1 million each year. T tax applies to any money earned after the first $1 million of someone’s annual income. It will take effect on Jan. 1, 2028, with the first payments due in April 2029, KOMO News reported. “Adoption of the historic Millionaires’ Tax makes our tax system more fair, and means free meals for K-12 students, the largest tax break in state history for small businesses, eliminating the sales tax for baby diapers, and sending a check to nearly 500,000 working families to make life more affordable,” Ferguson said at the time.His office touted that the new tax “sends significant revenue back to Washington families and small business owners.”But not everyone is thrilled.”They’re all concerned. Everybody’s concerned,” radio host Ari Hoffman told Fox News Digital.”And it doesn’t matter what kind of business you have, because as I mentioned before with regards to Amazon, if you’re a barber and you were reliant on the Amazonians as your customers, now you don’t have them anymore. You don’t have a barbershop anymore. There were a lot of places that opened up in South Lake Union where Amazon was specifically for Amazon, and they had to close shortly thereafter.”BUSINESS OWNER SAYS ‘WE DON’T HAVE MONEY’ AS NYC OFFICIALS PROPOSE MINIMUM WAGE HIKE: REPORT570 KVI reported Wednesday that Socialist Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is suggesting she might be pursuing additional taxes on the wealthy and big business. “Speaking at a community forum Friday night, Wilson said her administration is exploring new ‘progressive revenue options’ to help close a projected $140 million city budget gap in 2027,” the outlet reported, quoting Wilson who said, “My team is very hard at work looking for progressive revenue options, taxing the rich, taxing big business in a way that we think will be politically viable and practical.” The city of Seattle, according to the Tax Foundation, has the highest combined state and local sales tax rate, sitting at 10.35%. The organization points out that Seattle surpassed the city of Tacoma, Washington, which had a 10.3 percent tax rate, when King County, where Seattle is located, adopted a 0.1% additional sales tax to generate additional revenue for nonprofits providing cultural programming.”I pay two different B&O taxes, a state B&O tax, a city B&O, I pay sales tax,” Humphrey told Fox News Digital.VICTORIOUS VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS MORPH FROM PRETEND MODERATES INTO LIBERAL EXTREMISTS OVERNIGHT”They want to tax me on all my equipment that I use here annually, that I’ve already paid sales tax on,” he said. “They come up with the highest minimum wage in the state, if not in the country, that I’m aware of. So the cost of labor, the other thing is our relationship with labor. They put us in a very vulnerable position when it comes to actually being an employer. It doesn’t favor the employer.”Washington State’s Business & Occupation (B&O) tax is the Evergreen State’s primary business tax. It is unusual because it is charged on gross receipts, or total revenue, rather than profit, meaning that businesses must pay the tax even if they lose money.Several Washington cities have a higher minimum wage than Seattle’s $21.30 per hour, including Tukwila at $21.65 for large employers and Renton at $21.57.”Amazon used to be bustling,” Hoffman told Fox News Digital. “It was like when I would go down there, I felt like it was in Manhattan. I couldn’t find a parking spot anywhere. And now, no problem, I can park wherever I want. It’s really sad.”FROM ‘JUMP ON A BUS’ TO TAX CRACKDOWNS: BLUE STATES CHASE WEALTHY RESIDENTS FLEEING TO RED HAVENSOn Feb. 24, Amazon told GeekWire that it would not renew its lease at 1915 Terry Ave in the Denny Triangle area of downtown Seattle, which had occupied the space for 12 years. GeekWire reported that the company is growing its presence outside downtown Seattle in Bellevue, located in King County, Washington, across Lake Washington from Seattle. It has opened new office buildings and plans to have 25,000 employees as part of its regional headquarters.”I mean, I look at my own community,” Hoffman said. “When you had a lot of people who lived here specifically for the tech world, and in 2020 they were told they could work remotely, a lot of them went elsewhere and were still collecting a Seattle salary and then found jobs in those other places. They never came back. The jobs aren’t going to come back magically. These taxes, these policies are scaring people off and a lot of people are leaving.”Starbucks is another company appearing to lessen its Seattle presence, confirming in March that it will be closing five additional stores in the city. That follows several closures in 2025, including the Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Capitol Hill. Additionally, in a March post on LinkedIn, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced that he and his wife moved to Florida for their “retirement phase,” leaving Washington state after almost half a century.GRADUALLY, THEN SUDDENLY, BLUE STATE AMERICA IS HEADING FOR FINANCIAL DISASTERWhile Schultz did not mention the millionaires tax, some, like Gordon, speculate his departure could have been due to it. “It was pretty ironic that Howard Schultz, who definitely has been a person of the Left nationally with his political profile, announced the day that they approved that income tax in our legislature, he made the announcement that he was leaving for tax-free Miami, Florida,” Gordon said. “So I don’t think that was a coincidence,” he went on. “And for people that have watched Jeff Bezos leave and other prominent members of the Seattle business community, you start to see a trend there that’s unavoidable that the leaders of the businesses are leaving and the businesses themselves are relocating. Starbucks headquarters, for instance, has just opened up a new second headquarters in Tennessee and the speculation is they’re eventually going to move all of their employees out of their Seattle headquarters to Tennessee.”SEATTLE MAYOR PUSHES LOCAL POLICE TO TRACK, INVESTIGATE ICE AGENTS’ ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIESBut State Rep. Shaun Scott of Seattle, a member of the Seattle Democratic Socialists of America since 2017, told Fox News Digital that he doesn’t want to engage in hypotheticals about the future of the millionaires tax trickling down to the less wealthy.”Well, it’s very difficult to legislate with hypotheticals and to legislate thinking about what may happen 10, 15, 20 years down the line in a legislative body that I may not even actually be a part of,” Scott said. “I believe that it is our role as state lawmakers to legislate according to the issues that are impacting us while anticipating ones that might come down the line,” he added. Scott continued, “And the fact of the matter is that right now in Washington state we have galling wealth inequality. And underfunded public institutions. And the way that that is reconciled is through basic arithmetic. People who have more could afford to be paying more into the system. And when that happens, I think that Washington will be an even more competitive place to live, work, and do business than it is at present.”CORPORATE AMERICA IS ON THE MOVE, AND THESE RED STATES ARE CASHING INScott said he believes “taxing the rich” is popular among both Republicans and Democrats. “Well, taxing the rich and the idea of taxing wealth in order to fund services that we all use, make no mistake about it, this is about as popular a policy position in Washington state as any other,” Scott said.  “As a matter of fact, it is, I would venture to say, the most popular position that somebody could take,” Scott added. “In the November 2024 election cycle here in Washington state, approaching two-thirds of Washington state voters statewide cast their ballots in favor of a capital gains tax upholding our capital gains tax, which funds early learning K-12 schools and child care in our state. So when you talk about taxing the rich in our state, that is something that is staunchly supported in very red conservative legislative districts as well as very progressive blue legislative districts like my own.”Vijay Boyapati, a former software engineer for Google, moved to Seattle in 2006 from California to escape high taxes there.He told Fox News Digital that he sees taxes consistently rising in the state without “results.””Taxes have gone up constantly over the last decade. They’ve almost doubled from about ten years ago, but educational results are much worse, so the money isn’t producing the results that they say it will produce,” Boyapati said.DEMS WHO RAN ON AFFORDABILITY NOW FACE BACKLASH AS COSTS CLIMB IN NY, VIRGINIA”So the question really needs to be, why are we not getting better results? he asked. “I think we need to look at why our school systems are failing, why 8th graders, for instance, have like a 70% rate of illiteracy and really poor scores on math, those are really important things to look at and throwing more money at it hasn’t solved the problem, so I think we need to kind of address the problem first before throwing more at it.”  A June report from the Washington State Standard found that, “More than two-thirds of the state’s 4th graders failed to meet reading standards, and 70% of 8th graders weren’t proficient in math last year.” Boyapati also said friends of his are leaving the state because of the tax climate.”I have friends who’ve left to Texas, friends who left to Miami, friends who’ve left to Wyoming,” he said. “And it’s all for the same reason. It’s because Washington really went very far left in the last four years, and the policy changes have been really dramatic and that caused a lot of my friends to leave, unfortunately.” Humphrey, the Ballard barber, said that he would warn others about something similar happening in their state. “What I would say to the rest of the country is don’t let this happen to you,” Humphrey said.VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS SEEK DOZENS OF NEW TAX HIKES, INCLUDING ON DOG WALKING AND DRY CLEANING”Don’t become so compassionate around these issues that sound good and don’t not do your homework,” Humphrey added. “Please look. Look closely at the taxing of small businesses. You can’t, you know, what we’re doing here in the state – going against the Constitution for an income tax is a terrible decision, and it’s going to snowball right towards us, right? I’m next. I’m the next in line. I don’t make a million dollars a year for sure, but I’m in line for them to come after for a state income tax. And I guarantee you, I can’t afford that.” In a statement to Fox News Digital about its Seattle presence, Starbucks said, “We regularly review how our coffeehouses serve their neighborhoods and if they are meeting customers where they are. Sometimes that means investing in updates or trying new formats.” The company added, “Other times, it means making the difficult decision to close a location that no longer fits how people in that community live, work, or gather. These choices are never easy — especially here at home — but they’re an important part of focusing on what we do best and delivering on our Back to Starbucks strategy.” An Amazon spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement that, “Amazon employees will be moving out of 1915 Terry Avenue at the end of May when our lease expires and relocating to other Puget Sound headquarter offices.” Fox News Digital reached out to former Starbucks CEO Schultz, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, and Gov. Bob Ferguson for comment. 

Every parent seeks the best education for their child. Artificial intelligence (AI) provides access to an elite education — the highest level of human knowledge — benefiting students, families and educators alike.On March 24th and 25th, 45 nations joined me in the White House and the State Department for Fostering the Future Together’s two-day inaugural global coalition summit. Each leader shared their nation’s strategy to empower its children with technology and education. Clearly, we should embrace AI now in order to ensure America’s children outpace the global community. The naysayers must stop wasting their time fearmongering about robots.AI is a great equalizer and can level the educational playing field for all children. For generations, only wealthier families could afford tutors and specialized programs. AI changes this completely.AI STUDENT ADVOCATE AMONG FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP’S STATE OF THE UNION GUESTSFor example, AI-powered tutoring tools can give all students personalized help with difficult subjects and adjust to each child’s pace as needed. Students in remote or under-resourced communities can access expert explanations at any time. In these ways, AI democratizes education and provides children in underserved communities equal access to the best caliber of academics.Throughout history, every major leap in education has come from technology. The printing press shipped books to the masses, computers brought information into classrooms and the internet made knowledge globally accessible. AI is the continuation of human knowledge’s delivery evolution and should be embraced.America’s teachers will remain the foundation of education, but can also be empowered by AI. As their roles evolve, AI will support them with up-to-date information, tools for personalized instruction and more time to focus on critical thinking, creativity and mentorship. AI is not intended to replace teachers with humanoids.CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONDigital literacy is vital. If America’s children are not fluent in AI — how it works, how to use it, and how to think decisively about it — they will fall behind. We will all fall behind.Since 2017, I have advised Americans on cyberbullying, digital security and tech safety to protect our children and families. At the time, my ideas were wrongfully deemed trivial and inconsequential. And yet today, parents face these issues regularly. With the advent of AI, now is another critical moment in time. Do not dismiss the power of AI — open your mind to its potential and educate yourself. As we transition into an AI technology-driven future, equipping our youth with the skills to navigate and leverage AI is crucial to their success and to the advancement of society as a whole. Let us commit to fostering a generation that is not only adept at using technology but also understands its implications and potential.We are not protecting our children if America limits access to AI in education. In fact, we are putting our next generation at a global disadvantage. China is aggressively integrating AI into its education, industry and national strategy, and it understands that the country that leads in AI will lead in global influence, economic power and information dominance.America’s future leadership in the world begins in our classrooms. Let’s ensure our children have every advantage to lead, succeed and keep America superior.

The two men who face charges in what authorities are calling a “gang-related” shooting that left a 7-month-old baby dead in Brooklyn were captured on surveillance video crashing the moped they used to flee the scene of the crime.In the video, the pair can be seen racing the wrong way down a one-way street before crashing into a black sedan driving towards them. The force of the crash flung both suspects forward off the motorbike before landing hard on the pavement.The pair can be seen staggering to their feet, one hopping on his right foot, while both attempt to gather items that were strewn about during the crash, before moving back towards the moped.The 7-month-old was identified as Kaori Patterson-Moore of Brooklyn. Her mother was pushing her in a stroller when shots were fired in their direction early Wednesday afternoon. Her father and 2-year-old brother were also present during the shooting. The family ducked into a bodega in an attempt to dodge the bullets.MAN WITH PRIOR ARREST CAUGHT ALLEGEDLY TRYING TO SHOVE STRANGER INTO TRAIN TRACKS TWICE IN TERRIFYING VIDEOKaori was struck and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital soon after the incident.The NYPD announced Thursday that 21-year-old Amuri Greene is the suspected triggerman. Police say he was a known affiliate of a gang that operates out of a housing project in Brooklyn. They are investigating whether Kaori’s father might have been the intended target of the shooting.Greene was the rear passenger on the moped. He suffered a broken leg and was taken to the hospital after the crash, where he was subsequently arrested on unrelated domestic violence charges.BIKE MOB’S BAY BRIDGE BLITZ FOILED AS COPS STOP ROGUE RIDERS STORMING CITY STREETS BEFORE FREEWAY CHAOSThe NYPD announced Thursday that he has been charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder. He will be taken into custody and arraigned after his hospital stay.Police announced Friday the second suspect, Matthew Rodriguez, was arrested in Pennsylvania. The 18-year-old, who can be seen driving the moped in the surveillance video, was taken into custody by NYPD detectives assigned to the U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force. Charges are pending.The gun used in the shooting has not been recovered, though police say they have found two shell casings related to the incident.At an emotional news conference, NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch decried the heinous crime.”This is a terrible day in our city, a tragedy that truly shocks the conscious,” she said. “As a mother, I cannot imagine the pain that this family is feeling or the grief that they now carry with them. It is unspeakable.”Police are asking anyone with information regarding the incident to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit tips online or on X @NYPDTips.Fox News’ Michael Sinkewicz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Certain investing habits feel responsible and disciplined, creating the sense that they’re safeguarding your portfolio. Checking your portfolio before work, rebalancing your holdings every few months, and placing trades based on research you read — none of that sounds like a mistake.Robinhood just published a guide that says otherwise, and the argument it makes should unsettle every investor who prides themselves on staying active with their money. The mistake Robinhood points to is excessive trading, driven by the assumption that constant action improves performance. The real problem is that you won’t notice it happening, because it mirrors the same habits you’ve been told to follow since you opened your first brokerage account.Robinhood’s surprising warning about checking your portfolio too oftenRobinhood’s guide compares watching your portfolio to viewing the Earth from space. From far away, it looks smooth, but up close, every imperfection stands out.When you obsess over daily price swings, a dip that means nothing over a five-year horizon feels like a crisis at 9:35 a.m. on a Tuesday. You start making moves based on emotion rather than long-term logic, Robinhood’s analysts cautioned in their published guide.Robinhood draws a line between curiosity and anxiety. Checking your portfolio to stay informed is fine, while checking it out of stress trains you to react to volatility instead of trusting your plan.The hard numbers behind “disciplined” investors who keep losing moneyRobinhood’s advice is not just philosophical hand-waving from a brokerage platform. Decades of academic and industry data support the same conclusion about investor behavior and portfolio outcomes.The average equity fund investor earned just 16.54% in 2024, while the S&P 500 returned 25.02%. That 8.48% performance gap ranks as the second-largest shortfall over the past decade, according to DALBAR’s 2025 Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior report.Average equity investors have underperformed the S&P 500 for 15 consecutive years, according to DALBAR data. The last time the average investor beat the index was 2009, more than a decade and a half ago.The behavioral damage has also worsened since the pandemic, according to a study by George Mason University. Poor market timing cost investors 0.53% per year from 2015 to 2019. From 2020 through late 2024, that number nearly doubled to 1.01% per year, according to Zacks Investment Management.Day trading, options speculation, and constant engagement on discussion boards have made the problem worse for retail investors since 2020.

Robinhood explains that timing mistakes and emotional trading keep investors trailing the market year after year.Ink Drop/Shutterstock

Morningstar confirms the pattern across 25,000 fundsMorningstar’s Mind the Gap study examined more than 25,000 U.S. mutual funds and ETFs over the decade ending December 2024. The average dollar invested earned 7.0% per year, while the funds themselves returned 8.2% per year, according to Morningstar research.That 1.2 percentage-point annual gap means investors forfeited roughly 15% of the total returns their own funds generated over a full decade. The gap appeared in every calendar year of the 10-year study period, without exception.More Personal Finance:Retirees following 4% rule are leaving thousands on the tableFidelity says a $500 policy could protect your entire net worthFidelity’s 4 Roth strategies could save your family a fortune in taxesFunds with the most volatile cash flows, which Morningstar used as a proxy for heavy trading activity, trailed their own total returns by nearly double the margin of funds with stable investor behavior. The people who traded the least captured the most of what their funds earned.The compounding damage is enormous over longer periods. With a $1 million initial investment held for 20 years, a 1% annualized underperformance gap results in roughly $1 million less in total accumulated wealth, according to Zacks Investment Management.The overtrading trap disguised as smart portfolio managementRobinhood’s guide identified overtrading as one of the most dangerous byproducts of frequent portfolio monitoring. You log in, you see your positions, and you feel the pull to do something because you’re already there. The platform explicitly warned that more button-pressing does not lead to better results.Academic research reinforces that warning with decades of evidence from real investor accounts. A landmark study by Brad Barber and Terrance Odean examined the trading records of more than 66,000 U.S. households over six years. The most active traders underperformed a simple buy-and-hold strategy by 6.5% annually.The study also found a meaningful gender dimension to the problem. Male investors traded 45% more frequently than female investors and paid for it with a 2.65 percentage-point erosion in annual returns. Female investors lost 1.72 percentage points annually, the peer-reviewed findings showed.You might think you’re different, but that overconfidence drives overtrading, especially for those who believe they’ve done the most homework.Rebalancing your portfolio can backfire if done wronglyRobinhood’s guide also challenged the popular belief that frequent rebalancing equals responsible investing. The platform used a memorable Peter Lynch paraphrase to make its case: Constant rebalancing is like pulling up the flowers and watering the weeds.That analogy matches what institutional research shows. Vanguard’s Investment Strategy Group published research on rebalancing data from 1926 through 2009, finding no meaningful improvement in long-term risk or returns from monthly or quarterly rebalancing compared with annual rebalancing.”The more that we can automate, the more thoughtful and deliberate we can be about the context in which we place our investments,” said Morningstar Chief Ratings Officer Jeff Ptak, lead author of the Mind the Gap study. “What we should be deliberate about is just trying to find ways to avoid transacting, especially discretionary ad hoc transacting that takes place amid market turbulence.” Annual rebalancing was the optimal frequency for most investors, the Vanguard research found. More frequent adjustments simply drove up turnover and transaction costs without improving outcomes. Monthly rebalancing triggered more than 1,100 events across 92 years of data, without producing better risk-adjusted returns.That quarterly rebalancing habit you take pride in may be cutting your winners short. You’re selling your top performers and buying laggards, all just to stick to a schedule.A smarter rebalancing approach for your portfolioA hybrid threshold strategy works better for most investors. You review on a set schedule, typically once or twice per year, but only act when your allocation has drifted by at least 5 percentage points from its target.Here’s a practical framework you can adopt today:Set a calendar reminder to review your portfolio once or twice per year, rather than once per quarter or month.Only rebalance when your actual allocation has drifted at least 5 percentage points from your target allocation in any asset class.Prioritize rebalancing inside tax-advantaged accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s to avoid triggering capital gains taxes on every adjustment.Consider target-date or balanced funds that handle rebalancing automatically if you struggle with the temptation to tinker with your holdings.Morningstar’s data show that investors in allocation funds, which automate rebalancing, captured nearly 97% of their funds’ total returns over the study period. Sector fund investors, the category most likely to attract active traders, captured far less of their funds’ performance.Life changes should trigger portfolio reviews, not market headlinesRobinhood’s guide made one crucial distinction between useful and destructive engagement with your investments. Your portfolio should change when your life changes, not when the market drops or rallies on a given Tuesday.A new job, a marriage, a child, or retirement approaching are all legitimate reasons to revisit your asset allocation and adjust your risk profile. A bad jobs report, a Federal Reserve press conference, or a scary headline on social media are not.DALBAR’s 2025 report found that equity fund investors withdrew money in every quarter of 2024, with the largest outflows happening right before a major market rally. That mistiming is not a coincidence, because the investors who pulled out were reacting to headlines.Before you make your next portfolio adjustment, ask yourself one simple question. Is this change driven by something that happened in your life, or something that happened on your phone screen? If the answer is the screen, close the app and walk away.How to build an investment schedule that protects your returnsRobinhood’s guide suggested building a short set of personal investing rules to keep yourself on track over time. The goal is to make sure every interaction you have with your portfolio is intentional rather than impulsive.Staying informed about macroeconomic conditions including inflation, interest rates, and employment trends is valuable for your broader financial awareness. Robinhood encouraged investors to keep tabs on the big picture without letting that information drive impulsive decisions inside their accounts.The platform also recommended narrowing your information sources to a handful of trusted outlets and avoiding anything with sensationalized headlines. Related: Mark Cuban wishes he invested in this company earlierDALBAR’s Guess Right Ratio, which measures how often investors correctly time their market entries and exits, fell to just 25% in 2024. That means investors guessed the right direction only one out of every four quarters, tying the lowest ratio on record.If professional fund managers with teams of analysts and proprietary data struggle to time the market consistently, your odds of doing better from a phone app at your kitchen table are not encouraging.A practical checklist before your next tradeRun through these five questions before you place your next trade or make your next portfolio adjustment.Do you have a specific, research-backed reason for this trade, or are you reacting to a feeling or a headline you just read?Does this trade align with your original investing plan and the risk level you’ve already established for your overall account?Have you checked whether your portfolio has drifted by at least 5 percentage points from your target allocation?Would you make this same decision if you had not looked at your portfolio today and were reviewing it six months from now?Has something in your personal life, such as your income, goals, or timeline, changed since your last review?If you cannot answer “yes” to at least two of those questions, the best trade you can make right now is no trade at all.The investors who do the least often end up with the mostThe uncomfortable truth Robinhood’s guide exposed, and that DALBAR, Morningstar, and peer-reviewed research all confirm, is that your effort might be the problem. Not your intelligence, not your research skills, and not your commitment to your financial future.Effort applied to trading and rebalancing at the wrong frequency tends to produce worse results than doing almost nothing at all. Over the 20 years ending December 2024, the average U.S. equity investor returned 9.24% annually compared to the S&P 500’s 10.35% annualized return, DALBAR’s latest report confirmed. The S&P market portfolio ended up worth 22% more than what the average investor achieved over those two decades.You built a plan for a reason. The biggest challenge of executing that plan is not picking the right stocks, choosing the right funds, or getting the perfect allocation. The hardest part is trusting your own plan long enough to leave it alone and let time and discipline do the heavy lifting.Related: Robinhood enters premium credit card fray with new Platinum Card