BUSINESS

The Trump administration has just decided to spend another $13 billion of taxpayers’ money on a federal boondoggle that already overcharges us $76 billion a year.

Families rarely fall apart over money while everyone is alive.

It happens after someone dies — when expectations don’t match reality.

With more than $100 trillion expected to pass from older Americans to the next generation, the stakes are enormous.

That’s because when intentions aren’t clear, what’s left behind isn’t just money. It can be hurt feelings, broken relationships and, in some cases, expensive legal battles.

I want to help you avoid a legacy of family infighting. Here is how you can protect your assets and, more importantly, your family’s relationships.

The Danger of Silence

Parents tend to be very quiet about what they have. They don’t share their intentions with their children, often because talking about death is uncomfortable. But silence creates a vacuum, and people fill it with assumptions.

I’ve heard too many stories of siblings who stop speaking to each other over estates that weren’t even large. They argue over why one person got more, why a certain account went to one child, or why a meaningful item ended up somewhere unexpected.

In some cases, families spend thousands of dollars on legal fights over assets worth less than the cost of the dispute itself.

That’s a legacy you don’t want to leave behind.

Start an “Ongoing” Conversation

This isn’t a one-time sit-down; it’s an ongoing dialogue. You need to think through your plan, why it is that way, and then communicate it clearly.

In my own family, our three kids know exactly where I stand. My goal is for my assets to go to charity when I head to the “great beyond.” My wife is likely to outlive me, and she prefers a more balanced approach between charity and the kids. We have had these conversations openly, so there are no surprises.

What you should share with your heirs:

Your intentions: Tell them what you want to happen and why.

Asset lists: Create a master list of your accounts and where to find them.

Medical wishes: Ensure they know your wishes if you end up in the hospital and cannot communicate.

Avoiding the conversation doesn’t make the problem go away. It just pushes the burden onto your family later.

The Three Pillars of Your Estate Plan

Talking is important, but it’s not enough. You need the right documents in place.

1. The Healthcare Directive

In many states, this is called an Advanced Directive or a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare.

You need two things:

A message (what you want to happen)

A messenger (someone you trust to make decisions)

Without both, doctors and family members may be left guessing — or disagreeing.

2. The Will

If you have minor children, you need a will, even if you don’t have two nickels to rub together.

If you have assets, a will serves as a roadmap for your executor.

Without one, state law decides who gets what.

3. Beneficiary Designations

This is where many families get into trouble.

Beneficiary designations on bank accounts, brokerage accounts and retirement plans typically override what’s written in your will.

That means if your will says everything should be split equally, but an old 401(k) still lists only one child, the financial institution will follow the beneficiary form, not your will.

This is one of the most common — and costly — mistakes people make.

You must make sure your beneficiary designations match your intentions.

Quick Checklist To Avoid an Inheritance Nightmare

Have an updated will.

Review beneficiary designations regularly.

Create a master list of accounts.

Name a healthcare decision-maker.

Talk openly with your family about your plan.

A Legacy of Peace

Whether it’s with your children or your spouse, these conversations require accommodation, compromise, and understanding. We are all going to die someday — that’s the one thing we can’t change.

What you can change is the environment you leave behind. Don’t be quiet. Talk to your kids, get your paperwork in order, and make sure the only thing you leave behind is a legacy of love — not a legal battle.
The post How To Prevent an Inheritance Nightmare appeared first on Clark Howard.

While the British financial institution refused to comment on potential takeover plans, sources close to the matter revealed that plans are in place and could be announced as soon as this month.

Most small business owners spend their time fighting the challenges of solving their customers’ problems. Capital One just published a guide that suggests you may be looking at the entire challenge from the wrong starting point altogether. The bank argues that operational fixes alone will not protect your business when pressure builds or conditions shift beneath you. Instead of chasing short-term solutions, the company says a deeper structural issue is quietly undermining businesses from the inside. If you run a small business or plan to start one, the implications here could reshape how you make your biggest decisions going forward. Most small business owners focus on the wrong priorityThe core message from Capital One’s new guide is simple but confrontational for entrepreneurs who pride themselves on being tactical. Your business needs a clearly defined purpose beyond generating revenue, and that purpose should drive every operational decision you make.  The bank calls this framework a “purpose-driven business,” where daily operations connect directly to a mission that goes beyond profit, Capital One reports.Purpose is not branding or a values poster on the wallCapital One draws a sharp line between purpose and the kind of corporate messaging that most business owners associate with mission statements. Purpose should narrow your focus and make it easier to decline opportunities that do not align with your core direction over time. Your mission should answer three key questions: whom does this business exist to serve, what problem does it solve, and what deserves priority.“If the answers feel uncomfortable or limiting, that’s usually a good sign,” the guide states, noting that clarity of purpose should make you willing to walk away from short-term revenue, according to Capital One.

A clear purpose does not expand your options, it sharpens your focus and gives you the discipline to say no to distractions.Jacob Lund/Shutterstock

Why the “wrong problem” framing should matter to you personallyThe average small business owner faces a predictable set of operational headaches that consume nearly all available bandwidth each day. Roughly 75% of small firms cite rising costs of goods, services, or wages as a top financial challenge in the current economy. About 56% say paying operating expenses is difficult, and 51% struggle with uneven cash flow throughout the year, the 2025 Small Business Credit Survey reports. These are legitimate problems, but Capital One’s argument is that solving them without a guiding purpose creates a cycle of reactive decisions. 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 taxesYou fix one crisis only to face another, because the business lacks a consistent framework for evaluating what truly deserves your time. That reactive cycle has real, compounding consequences beyond daily stress and exhaustion for you as an owner with limited resources to spare.  Roughly 20% of new businesses fail within the first year of operation, and approximately 51% manage to survive past the five-year mark, meaning roughly 49% fail within their first five years, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows.Owners who spend every hour reacting to the latest emergency rarely build the kind of structural stability that protects a business long term.The research behind purpose-driven businesses is strongCapital One’s advice is not a solo opinion from one financial institution trying to sell you a product or a service on the back end. Academic and institutional research has been building the case for purpose-driven business models for more than a decade at this point.Purpose-driven companies consistently outperform their competitorsCompanies with a strong sense of purpose outperformed the S&P 500 by a factor of ten over a decade-long tracking period. Those 13 companies posted cumulative total stock returns of approximately 1,111% over the decade, compared to 123% for the S&P 500 over the same period, according to the book Firms of Endearment. A separate study found that an increase in clarity of purpose can boost return on assets by as much as 3.89% per year, Harvard Business School researchers reported.The retention and innovation advantages are for smaller operationsPurpose-led companies experience 40% higher levels of workforce retention and 30% higher levels of innovation compared to their peers. For small businesses competing with larger employers on pay and benefits, retention is an existential concern heading into 2026,according to Deloitte’s research. Employee retention is now a top challenge for 17% of small business owners, up from 12% in the prior year, the OnDeck/Ocrolus Small Business Report found.About 90% of younger workers say purposeful work is key Generation Z and Millennial employees increasingly evaluate employers based on whether the company stands for something beyond paychecks and profits. “Nearly two-thirds of US-based employees we surveyed said that COVID-19 has caused them to reflect on their purpose in life. And nearly half said that they are reconsidering the kind of work they do because of the pandemic,” — Naina Dhingra, (Partner, McKinsey&company.)Close to 90% of workers in those generations say having a sense of purpose at work is essential to their job satisfaction overall, according to Deloitte’s Global Millennial Survey.  Small businesses that cannot articulate a clear mission risk losing the very talent they need most to grow and compete.Steps to define your business purpose Capital One’s guide provides a step-by-step framework for small business owners who want to put purpose into practice in their daily operations. The process starts with defining your “why” and then applying it across hiring, partnerships, and daily decision-making in specific ways.Step one: Start by defining your “why”Your purpose should answer who you serve, what problem you choose to solve, and what work you prioritize, even when easier paths exist. Capital One recommends making the definition narrow enough to force you to decline some opportunities and revenue sources outright. A manufacturer committed to reducing environmental impact might require all suppliers to meet defined sustainability standards, the guide suggests, Capital One notes.Step two: Use your purpose as a decision filter Most small businesses do not struggle with a lack of ideas or opportunities; instead, they struggle with deciding what deserves real attention. Purpose can act as a filter for which customers, projects, or partnerships are worth the time you invest in them going forward. It can also help you identify which revenue streams create drag on your business, even when they appear profitable in the short term.Step three: Make your purpose visible at every handoff pointThe first signs that your mission is failing usually show up in small handoffs between team members or departments. Capital One warns that people default to shortcuts when they lack context about why certain standards, customers, or priorities matter. Training your team to understand the reasoning behind your standards reduces the risk of gradual drift from your stated mission.The real challenges purpose-driven businesses face in 2026Building a purpose-driven business sounds compelling in theory, but the practical obstacles can be significant for owners with tight margins. Capital One acknowledges several friction points that can undermine even the best-intentioned purpose strategy over time and under real pressure.Inconsistency tends to increase during busy or high-stress periodsDecisions made during crunch periods often drift from the stated purpose because speed takes priority over alignment with your mission. You may accept a client or partnership that does not fit your standards simply because the revenue is needed for immediate cash flow. Recognizing this pattern early allows you to set guardrails before the pressure arrives in full force during upcoming peak seasons.Trying to serve too many stakeholders dilutes your focusOverextension is one of the most common failure modes for purpose-driven businesses, regardless of the company’s overall size or stage.  When you try to serve every possible audience or advance multiple social causes simultaneously, your execution quality drops across the board. Capital One recommends focusing on a small set of outcome-based measures, including retention, customer-type margins, and quality failures.Steps to start building purpose into your businessYou do not need to overhaul your entire operation overnight to start applying these principles in a meaningful and productive way. Several concrete actions can move your business toward purpose-driven decision-making without disrupting your current revenue or customer base.Step one: Audit your current customer and partnership baseReview your top 10 customers and your 3 most important partnerships through the lens of your purpose, and ask yourself directly. Do these relationships align with the mission you started your business to fulfill, or have you drifted toward convenience over time? Identifying misalignment now gives you time to make gradual transitions rather than abrupt, painful ones further down the road ahead.Step two: Build a simple quarterly review process that measures alignmentCapital One suggests tracking a small set of outcome-based metrics, including customer retention, customer-type margins, and employee turnover. These indicators reveal whether your business is performing in alignment with its stated purpose over time and across different seasons. The reviews should provide visibility into patterns rather than drive immediate reactions to every individual data point you collect.Step three: Communicate to your team about the purpose Purpose becomes part of how work gets done when employees can question whether a specific decision fits the mission properly and openly. Capital One emphasizes making the purpose “discussable,” so team members feel empowered to flag misalignment without fear of reprisal or punishment. This feedback loop is what separates businesses with a genuine purpose from those that simply display a mission statement on the office wall.How small business owners can evaluate Capital One’s advice on purposeThe argument Capital One is making deserves serious consideration, especially because the supporting research is substantial and credible throughout. Purpose is not a luxury reserved for large corporations with dedicated strategy teams and unlimited resources at their disposal year-round. For small business owners navigating a 2026 economy in which 36.2 million small businesses compete for customers, talent, and limited capital, purpose can serve as a genuine operating advantage, according to the SBA’s Office of Advocacy. The key takeaway is that purpose does not replace operational excellence or financial discipline in your day-to-day management and decision-making. It provides a framework for making those operational decisions more consistently, more efficiently, and with greater long-term resilience overall. Small business owners who define and apply a clear purpose are better equipped to navigate the inevitable pressures that lie ahead.Related: Capital One begins originating select credit cards on Discover Network

The vital few in the concert space have the rare ability and risk appetite to put on show. Opportunistic prosecutors tie Live Nation up at artist/consumer peril.

Fraudsters are lurking everywhere, and honestly, it can start to undermine your faith in your fellow human beings. Before I dive into the “dark side,” I want to remind you: Most people are good, decent people. They aren’t up to no good. But your life can be absolutely disrupted by those who are not “A-OK.”

Today, violent crime is down across the United States, but that’s because the criminals have moved behind a screen. Now, crime involves a laptop, a phone, and cheap software that helps a thief run a con on you from anywhere in the world.

Criminals are constantly finding new ways to get into your life, your wallet, and your accounts. Here is what you need to do to stay safe.

1. The Credit Freeze Is Non-Negotiable

I have talked about the credit freeze for years and years. But let’s face facts: Most people reading this right now still don’t have one in place. I get it — life is busy. But this is the one thing you must make time for. It is the best way to ensure no one can open new lines of credit in your name.

2. Beware of “Pretexting”

Sometimes scammers don’t hack you; they trick you.

“Pretexting” is when someone pretends to be a trusted source — a bank, police department or company — to get you to act. And it’s exploding right now.

Just recently, a police department in New Jersey had to warn citizens about calls that appeared to be from the police or sheriff. The scammers claimed there was a warrant out for the person’s arrest that could only be settled by paying immediately.

With AI, it’s getting even harder to spot. Cloned voices make these scams look and sound real. A few months ago, I shared an AI-generated video of “me” endorsing a company I’d never heard of. People were angry because they got ripped off, thinking I had recommended it. Remember: I don’t do endorsements.

3. Check Your Accounts Weekly

For most of us, our hard-earned assets are sitting in brokerage, investment, or retirement accounts. You need to be in those accounts at least once a week to make sure everything is okay.

4. Don’t Trust Your Caller ID or Your Inbox

Never click links in unexpected emails or texts.

Let unknown calls go to voicemail — even if the caller ID looks legitimate.

Call back using a trusted number (like the one on your card or official website).

5. Recognize the “Sense of Urgency”

If there is one hallmark of a modern scam, it’s a sense of urgency. The criminal wants to bamboozle you before you have a chance to think. They want you to feel a sense of danger — “Pay now or go to jail!” — so that you react emotionally.

Final Thoughts

Don’t think you are too sophisticated to get taken. Any of us can be victims because criminals are continually morphing their methods. Stay on your guard, keep your heart open to the good people, but keep your wallet locked tight against the bad ones.
The post Fraud Is Skyrocketing: 5 Ways To Protect Your Hard-Earned Assets appeared first on Clark Howard.

The Philadelphia Phillies franchise slugger offered a response on Tony Vitello’s managing as the San Francisco Giants struggle.

The company is building an “asset-native” network designed to handle regulated financial activity at scale, targeting a market it values at $50 trillion.

TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.Why we love this dealYou don’t need to be a mechanic in order to make good use of a mechanic’s tool set. Whether you want to keep one in your trunk as a safety precaution or you’re constantly fiddling with that vintage mustang of yours, the right set of tools will get the job done. Luckily, Amazon is currently selling an extensive kit of Craftsman mechanic’s tools at a big discount. The only thing missing is you.The Craftsman 83-Piece Mechanics Tool Set is available now for only $60. That’s an impressive 25% off the regular price of $80. If you want to up your tool game without lowering your bank account, this might be the best way to do so.Craftsman 83-Piece Mechanics Tool Set, $60 (was $80) at Amazon

Courtesy of Amazo

Shop at AmazonWhy do shoppers love it?This tool set has just about everything you need to do repairs to your vehicle, or even around the house. The SAE/metric kit includes 2 ratchets, 39 standard sockets, 10 deep sockets, 16 short arm hex keys, 2 extension bars, 10 specialty bits, a spark plug socket, a universal joint, an adapter, and a bit driver. Additionally, you get a large plastic case that holds everything in place. The case is even designed to fit comfortably inside a Craftsman metal storage box. While the set doesn’t include extra deep well sockets for deep engine work, that’s likely not something you would undertake on your own. Nevertheless, the tools that come with this set are built to last. You can be sure that when you buy Craftsman tools, you’re getting a product that was designed and tested for longevity and convenience.The entire set has a polished chrome finish, making it incredibly corrosion resistant. It’s rust- resistant as well, so you can be sure that these tools will last for years to come. Each of the two ratches have 72 teeth, which ensures you get the best performance out of them every time. The ratchet heads also have a low-profile design which allows you to reach into smaller spaces than with standard ratches. They are up to 25% thinner than most other ratches on the market, according to Craftsman.The brand believes so strongly in this set that it offers a full lifetime warranty on every piece. That doesn’t happen often and it speaks to the quality and customer satisfaction that Craftsman aspires to. These tools are also available in a slightly different configuration from Amazon, though at a slightly higher price. Related: Walmart is selling a heavy-duty Milwaukee tool tote for $13 that’s the perfect size for all your power toolsPros and ConsProsScope: The expansive nature of this set means you’ve got a tool for just about any task.Finish: The tools have a polished chrome finish that keeps corrosion and rust at bay.Housing: This set includes a lightweight molded plastic carrying case that’s thin enough to fit inside a Craftsman metal storage drawer.  ConsDepth: The set doesn’t include extra deep well sockets for extensive engine work, though that’s not likely a problem for most DIYers.Case: A few buyers lamented the thinness of the molded plastic case, although the construction was a deliberate choice by Craftsman to keep it lightweight.Amazon shoppers praised this tool set in the reviews. One said “good price and quality tools,” adding, “Craftsman has definitely stepped up its game when it comes to these tools…a good buy. Couldn’t be happier with this set.” A few buyers said they would prefer a more heavy-duty case, though that would obviously reduce the convenience of this case’s lightweight construction.Shop more deals Avid Power Electric Screwdriver, $38 at AmazonBlack+Decker 20V Max 68-Piece Cordless Drill and Home Tool Kit with Storage Bag, $99 (was $119) at AmazonAoben Cordless Ratchet Wrench Kit, $130 at AmazonThe Craftsman 83-Piece Mechanics Tool Set can help to keep your vehicle in tip-top shape. At just $60, it can do the same for your budget. Just be sure to put one in your cart soon, as deals this good can disappear quicker than you may expect.

The home improvement company is investing heavily in skilled trades like plumbing, carpentry and electrical work.