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Allianz Partners will axe between 1,500 and 1,800 roles from its workforce of close to 23,000

The move comes as firms race to build the infrastructure for blockchain-based stocks and debate how tokenized stocks should work.

Building an employee value proposition that attracts and retains A-players in life sciences requires more than perks like gym memberships. Your culture is your greatest asset.

McConnell has been hospitalized since June 14.

The companies will not complete the transaction under the original July 2025 agreement and the shareholder vote has been postponed indefinitely.

Imagine you are in the middle of a 12-hour workday at your six-figure job. You start to tire so you head down to the cafeteria to pick up a snack that will boost your blood sugar levels and get you through your shift. Now imagine the less-than-$2 cookie you purchase costs you your job. Kurt Kromm, a Ford plant worker in Kentucky, doesn’t have to imagine that situation because he is currently living it. Kromm was fired from his job at Ford’s truck factory in Louisville, Kentucky, where he had worked for 11 years building Ford Super Duties, Expeditions, and Lincoln Navigators, after the plant claimed he stole the cookie.Kromm, 60, said he worked 60-hour weeks at the plant in 2025, according to a quote he gave Shifting Gears.“I earned over $200,000 last year. Why would I steal? I spent $1,200 last year in the canteen mainly on Diet Cokes,” said Kromm, who is diabetic. He said he purchased the Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookie after he felt light-headed from low blood sugar. But the plant claimed he didn’t purchase the cookie. The plant claimed he stole it. Ford worker proves he didn’t steal cookie that cost him his jobAround 3:30 a.m. on May 9, Kromm was near the tail end of his 12-hour graveyard shift when he went to one of the factory’s payment kiosks to purchase the $1.95 cookie he desired. Kromm didn’t find out he allegedly stole the cookie until he was told by a supervisor. “My direct supervisor came to get me and said, ‘We need to go to the office.’ I asked, ‘What’s going on?’ He said, ‘I don’t know.’ And we sat in the labor office for like half an hour, waiting. Then the union bargainer came in. He says, ‘This is bad’ And I’m, like, ‘Bad? I haven’t done anything.’ The bargainer says, ‘They’re going to terminate you. They got you on video stealing a cookie,’” Kromm told Shifting Gears in an exclusive interview. The video showed a red screen at the kiosk where Kromm was supposed to pay for the cookie. That screen is supposed to be green. Kromm says he was accused of stealing and was escorted out of the factory by security. A bargainer from his union, UAW, told Kromm to apologize that day, but the fired worker refused because he insisted he had paid. To prove his innocence, Kromm sent screenshots of his debit card transaction payment to Ford and his union rep on May 20. Two weeks later, the UAW contacted Kromm and told him Ford would need copies of his bank statements notarized. A week after that, on June 12, the union informed Kromm that Ford had contacted Aramark, the company that maintains the payment kiosk, and they confirmed that the cookie had been paid for. By June 17, Ford offered Kromm his old job back, and a day later, UAW Local 862 contacted him to let him know he would be “made whole” for the five weeks of lost wages. The two checks he received on June 25 were for $ 28,000, less than the $33,000 he was told by the UAW he would be getting. Kromm had already found new work and did not return to work for Ford. Former Ford worker can’t believe he was fired over a cookieIn addition to being a long-tenured worker at the plant, Kromm says he frequently worked up to seven days a week and was a member of the plant’s Emergency Rescue Team. His good standing with the company didn’t help his case. “I thought this all was a joke, at first,” Kromm said. “They said they had zero tolerance for theft, and that this has happened to five people they’ve had to terminate. I looked at my rep and said, ‘Really? Are you shitting me?’” Kromm said. “I said, ‘If you wanted to get rid of me, you could’ve just asked. I’d quit. Why are you doing this over a cookie?”When he was escorted out of the building, he had to leave thousands of dollars worth of his personal tools that he took to work.But even worse than the betrayal from Ford, Kromm said he really couldn’t believe that his union rep would urge him to apologize for something he didn’t do. “These people appease the company. I was at Chrysler for 12 years, and my building chairman Curt Wilson would’ve knocked someone upside the head and said, ‘This is absurd.’ But the (Ford) union kept saying, ‘People go back sooner and have better luck if they’re apologetic,’” Kromm said. Ford spokeswoman Jessica Enoch told Shifting Gears, “We don’t talk about individual cases, but there are times when we look into things and realize it could have been handled differently. When that happens, we try to rectify it. We value our employees and want to be as fair as possible.”Other workers at the plant also noticed the UAW’s lack of action on this issue, with one member at that Louisville plant telling Shifting Gears, “They allowed a man to be terminated. And that little store should be removed if they won’t take accountability for the fact that the machines don’t work.”Related: Ford CEO makes USMCA demands clear amid negotiations

During my childhood in the 1980s, my family sometimes ate out at a cafeteria-style steak chain that has almost entirely disappeared. Before that chain collapsed down to a single restaurant, I got a chance to eat there in the 2000s. It was basically what I remembered, and while I could see what young me liked about it, adult me wasn’t as impressed.When it comes to fast food, however, nostalgia works, even when something isn’t as good as you remember it.When Burger King brings back its classic Italian sandwich, for example, it doesn’t matter that it’s wafer thin, includes more breading than chicken, and features some highly questionable sauce and cheese. It’s a comforting blast from the past that’s enjoyable a few times a decade, even if I can easily get a better chicken parmesan sandwich at pretty much any pizza place.Burger King, Pizza Hut, Friendly’s, and many of the chains from my youth still exist, and many of their classic menu items remain.But if you grew up with Red Barn, a burger chain that had around 400 locations across 19 states, plus Canada and Australia, your nostalgic craving will go unfulfilled. Not only did the chain close all its locations, but the restaurant group that kept its legacy (or at least its recipes) alive has also shut down.Red Barn was an innovatorRed Barn had menu answers for its biggest rivals’ signature sandwiches, but it was actually a true innovator in the space.”The popular fast-food chain was extremely aggressive with menu development, such as ‘The Big Barney,’ their equivalent to McDonald’s Big Mac. What isn’t really commonly known, or perhaps more accurately said, is that the Big Barney actually preceded the Big Mac into satisfied stomachs by a couple of years,” according to Cleveland Vintage.Other Red Barn burger options included the “Barnbuster,” which was similar to a Whopper or Quarter Pounder.Red Barn, the nostalgia site reported, also had a signature store design.”The Red Barn’s look and feel was also very distinctive and nostalgic. The bright red barn exteriors were complemented by clean, large window front designs and somewhat limited interior seating,” it shared.Restaurants need to change with the timesRed Barn wasn’t doomed because it lacked good food or memorable branding. It struggled because, unlike McDonald’s, it stopped evolving as the fast-food business changed.McDonald’s constantly evaluates its brand and thinks about how to evolve, CEO Christopher Kempczinski noted during the chain’s first-quarter earnings call.”So we’re naturally heading into right now that remodel cycle. And we’re taking the opportunity as we approach that to also think about, are there any other things that we need to go do around this business to set it up for the future,” he said. More Restaurants:105-year-old burger chain closes an 87-year-old restaurant49-year-old beloved steakhouse chain closes 41 locations32-year-old high-end restaurant chain closes all locationsIt’s a fluid situation that calls for constant investment and change.”Certainly, one of the things that we’ve seen over the last several years is just the growth of digital, the growth of delivery. That means that the kind of customer flows or customer journey in our restaurant looks a little bit different, how might we adjust that, et cetera. So we are certainly working with franchisees to think about what that restaurant in the future needs to look like,” he added.Red Barn was an early innovator in fast food.”Red Barn’s menu featured hamburgers, chicken and fish, touted by the mascots Hamburger Hungry, Fried Chicken Hungry and Big Fish Hungry. It was one of the first fast-food chains to install a salad bar,” according to Kiplinger. That innovation, however, stalled out.”Under Red Barn’s last set of owners, an investment group, Red Barn restaurants throughout the U.S. and Canada began to close when leases expired around 1988,” the news site reported.Red Barn’s decline wasn’t driven solely by a lack of consumer recognition. Ownership changes and reduced investment left it unable to keep pace with larger rivals.

Chains have had to adapt to more delivery and on-the-go dining.Shutterstock

Red Barn actually died twicePast success can’t sustain restaurant brands as consumer needs change.Darren Tristano, president of the restaurant industry tracking firm Technomic, told CBS News that younger people in particular are on the go and want their food to be, too.“They’re looking for convenience, quality, portability and healthfulness,” Tristano said.Red Barn struggled to adapt, but its menu lived on well after its original demise. “The company filed for bankruptcy in 1986, signaling the end of a fun-filled era in American fast food. Some former locations temporarily operated as The Farm and served the original menu, but the last known one closed in 2020,” according to Tasting Table.Red Barn has a devoted fan baseWhile both Red Barn and its unofficial successor, The Farm, have closed, the original chain still has a devoted social media following. George Elliott Noble Jr, a former Red Barn worker, posted his memories on the Facebook fan page for the brand. “I recently had a Whopper at Burger King. The sloppily assembled sandwich had two thin tomato slices, about the size of a half-dollar. I thought to myself, I’d never send out a Barn Buster like that,” he wrote.Thirty-one people responded to his comment, including many other former employees.”I can remember making the breakfast sandwiches at 6 a.m. when the drivers would come in going to school and coming back in the afternoon to make lunch and dinner for. Having a grill full of burgers and two fryers going on at the same time, full of chicken,” posted Glen Harry.The active page contains images, requests for recipes, and significant reminiscing from people who continue to miss Red Barn.Related: Costco quietly makes a key credit card change

The network aims to process over 100,000 transactions per second by streaming them directly, eliminating public queues to make trades faster and more secure.

“Evil Dead Burn” producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert discuss the continuation of their “Evil Dead” franchise and

Travel credit cards with high annual fees offer some pretty flashy benefits.

And those can be really great … if you actually use them.

Team Clark believes that travel cards can be a fantastic tool for frequent travelers. Benefits like status upgrades with hotels and airlines, airport lounge access, travel protections, and bonus rewards for travel spending can be well worth the annual fee if you travel multiple times per month.

But what if you’re paying a premium annual fee (some of the higher-end cards now charge upwards of $900 per year!) and traveling just a couple of times per year?

The math can get murky.

Think of it in terms of a five-year period: That can be thousands of dollars that you’re paying for the privilege of carrying a premium card.

In this article, we’ll talk about how to determine whether you’re paying for a card you don’t need, explore an option to downgrade that card without closing it, and offer recommendations for more cost-effective travel cards, as well as options for ditching travel cards altogether.

Assess Your Annual Fee Cards and Consider a Downgrade if Needed

If you have a high-annual-fee card in your wallet and you’re not a frequent traveler, it’s time to complete an honest assessment.

Review the last 12 months of usage for this card. Check your multipliers to see if you’re getting the boosts you were expecting from spending with this card. Isolate the earnings you’re able to make above 2% back, which should be the baseline rewards you’d earn from a non-travel card. A year’s worth of spending is a fair assessment of your current spending patterns.

Review the benefits and credits you get from this card. Many of the high-end annual fee cards create “value” for cardholders via a vast menu of travel benefits and statement credit opportunities. Identify which of these benefits you’ve used in the last 12 months. Try to differentiate between benefits you’re using because you need them and ones that you’re using simply because the card offers them.

Compare the numbers from Steps 1 and 2 with your card’s annual fee. Once you’ve calculated the net benefit you’ve received from the card over the last 12 months, you can compare it to the annual fee you’re paying. If your benefits outweigh the cost, then you’re likely justified in continuing to pay for the card. If the number is breakeven or worse, you may want to consider making some changes.

Consider a Downgrade or Product Change if Needed

If you’ve done the math on your annual fee card and realized that you’re not receiving enough value, you should have some options beyond simply canceling the card.

Many high-end travel credit cards have a companion card that has a lower annual fee. These are often $95 annual fee cards that have similar branding but offer a different set of benefits that aren’t quite as enticing.

Contact your card issuer to inquire about downgrading your high-annual-fee card to its cheaper sibling card. This is a way to both protect your spending power and credit history without canceling the card and applying for a new one.

Alternatively, your card issuer may offer you the option to “product change” to one of their no-annual-fee cards as a way to remain an active customer without paying for the higher fee cards. Just make sure they’re not asking you to apply for a new line of credit in this process.

Downgrading or product changing can be a preferred alternative to canceling the card outright.

Travel Cards We Recommend with Manageable Annual Fees

If you feel like you need a travel card but don’t want to be stuck paying an extremely high annual fee, we have some options for you to consider.

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is money expert Clark Howard’s favorite recommendation in this space and it is one that he carries in his personal wallet.

It has an annual travel credit and anniversary points bonus that essentially negate the annual fee.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

card_name

Annual Fee:

$395

Card Description:

Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travelReceive a $300 annual credit for bookings through Capital One Travel, where you’ll get Capital One’s best prices on thousands of trip optionsGet 10,000 bonus miles (equal to $100 towards travel) every year, starting on your first anniversary

Rewards Program Details:

2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day. 10 Miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. 5 Miles per dollar on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Travel.

At a lower annual fee price point, we also like the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.

The card also has an anniversary statement credit for hotel purchases made through Chase Travel that can negate the impact of the modest $95 annual fee.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

card_name

Annual Fee:

$95 (See Rates & Fees)

Card Description:

Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, 3x on vacation homes, 3x on gas & EV charging, 3x on top streaming services and online groceries (excluding Walmart, Target, and wholesale clubs), 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchasesEarn up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays through Chase Travel

Maybe a No-Fee Cash Back Credit Card Is More Your Speed

If you’re trapped in the “travel rewards” ecosystem and find that it’s not lucrative for your spending habits, perhaps it’s time to consider a full strategy change.

You could switch from Team Travel to Team Cash Back.

Cash back credit cards don’t have the flashy travel benefits and rewards point ecosystems. They simply reward you with a percentage of your purchase back.

Clark recommends getting a no-annual-fee cash back credit card that awards unlimited 2% cash back on all your spending to use as a “catch all” or “everyday spender.”

You can carry that in your wallet with confidence, knowing that you’ll get what equates to a 2% discount on everything you purchase without having to worry about spending categories or restrictions.

There are several good 2% cash back cards on the market. Here are a few of our favorites:

Synchrony Premier World Mastercard®

Learn More →

Annual Fee:

$0*

Rewards Program Details:

2% Cash Back* on Every Purchase: Your cash back is unlimited and gets credited to your statement every month, automatically.

Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card

Learn More →

Annual Fee:

$0.00

Rewards Program Details:

Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with no categories to track or quarterly activations.

Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature®

Learn More →

Annual Fee:

$0.00

Rewards Program Details:

Earn unlimited 2% cash back on everyday spending when redeemed as deposit into Fidelity investment accounts.
You can spend your rewards or deposit them into any eligible Fidelity account, giving your money more chances to grow.

Once you have a 2% card in your wallet, you can enhance your cash back earnings by branching out to no-annual-fee cards that offer a higher rate of cash back in the categories in which you spend the most each month. Examples for many people include dining, groceries or gas purchases.

Team Clark has a cash back credit card tool to help you find the right match for your wallet based on your spending habits.

Are you paying for a card you don’t need? We’d love to hear about your experience in the Clark.com community.

Not all available financial products and offers from all financial institutions have been reviewed by this website.

The information related to Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card, Fidelity® Rewards Visa Signature® and Synchrony Premier World Mastercard® has been collected by Clark Howard, Inc. and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer or provider of this product or service.

* CASHBACK REWARDS: Valid on net purchases (less credits, returns and adjustments) of goods and services made with a Synchrony Premier World Mastercard® earned will be applied as a statement credit within 2 billing periods after an eligible purchase is made. Cash advances, fees and interest charges do not qualify to earn cash back. Account must be open and in good standing at the time the purchase is made and the statement credit is applied. See the Synchrony Premier World Mastercard® Rewards Terms for details.

* NO ANNUAL FEE: For New Synchrony Premier World Mastercard Accounts as of January 1, 2026: Variable Purchase APR 17.49%, 26.49%, or 33.24%. Variable Bal Trans APR 17.49%, 26.49% or 33.24% and 4% Fee ($10 min). Variable Cash APR 20.49%, 29.49% or 36.24% and 5% Fee ($10 min). Variable Penalty APR 27.49%, 36.49% or 39.99%. Minimum Interest Charge is $2. Foreign Trans Fee is 3%.

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