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In spite of rising gas prices and general inflation, Americans aren’t letting financial fears put a damper on their holiday celebrations, according to the QuickBooks 2026 Holiday Shopping Survey. The report found that consumers plan to spend 5.7% more this year, or $278 billion. It’s the third consecutive year that number has risen.

However, it’s not without sacrifice. The study showed that 19% of lower-income shoppers will cut back on essentials to afford holiday splurges. Just 7% of higher income shoppers said they will do the same to fit the holidays into their budgets.

Read: 5 scary personal finance myths that you will ever hear

Holiday Giving Comes at a Higher Cost for Lower-Income Shoppers

The spirit of giving matters more to lower-income households, even amidst financial struggles. Nearly half (46%) of lower-income shoppers said that giving matters more to them this year than in the past, compared to 38% of middle-income shoppers and 32% of upper-income shoppers.

One-in-five lower-income households said they are willing to cut:

Groceries

Utilities

Healthcare

Fifteen percent of lower income shoppers are also looking to pick up a side gig or seasonal work to cover rising costs this holiday, compared to 7% of higher income shoppers.

Younger Shoppers Also Feel Financial Pressure

Gen Z and Millennial holiday shoppers are also feeling the crunch this year. Seventy percent of Gen Z and 65% of Millennials are concerned about inflation and tariffs.

The feelings of younger Americans mirror that of lower-income households, which makes sense since many Gen Z are just entering the workforce while Millennials may be at mid-level in their careers, not yet earning high enough salaries to keep pace with inflation. Nearly one-in-five (18%) of Gen Z said they’re likely to cut back on groceries or bills, compared to just 10% of Boomers.

Gen Z and Millennials are also willing to dig deep to get the perfect gifts for friends and family. Sixty-two percent of Gen Z and 49% of Millennials said that “giving to family and loved ones matters more to them this year than in years past,” compared to 35% of Gen X and 23% of Boomers.

Credit Card Use Across Demographics and Income Levels

Many Americans in lower income brackets can only fulfill their holiday visions through debt. More than one-quarter (26%) of lower-income shoppers said they don’t have a plan to pay off their credit cards in full each month after holiday shopping, while 67% of higher-income shoppers can and will.

Using credit to leverage rewards points, which you can use toward cash back, statement credits, gift cards, or travel can be a good way to stretch your holiday budget. But many lower-income shoppers said they’re using debit cards, instead, to better control their spending. Two-thirds (67%) of lower-income shoppers said they’re using debit vs. 35% of upper-income shoppers.

Buy Now, Pay Later Use Grows Amongst Younger Generations

Gen Z and Millennials are also looking at other ways to fund their holiday dreams. Nearly one-quarter (24%) of Millennials and 21% of Gen Z plan to use Buy Now, Pay Later services, compared to just 14% of Gen X and 6% of Boomers.

These programs can be appealing because they are easy to apply for and use, often have incentives or rewards, although the rewards aren’t typically as straightforward as credit card points or cashback. But the monthly payments can add up and BNPL programs sometimes come with interest charges or fees.

Also, if you miss BNPL payments and the account goes to collections, it could impact your credit score. In 2025, some programs began reporting repayment activity, including on-time and late payments, to the three major credit bureaus, according to an article published by Chase Bank.

Small Businesses and Social Shopping Could See a Boost

With people prepped to spend this holiday season and looking to make an impression with their gifts, small businesses are reaping the rewards. A portion of this year’s increased consumer spending is going to small businesses, with 35% of shoppers planning to spend more at small businesses this year. Only 9% said they plan to spend less.

Shoppers have solid reasons for “shopping small.”

47% want unique or higher quality gifts they can’t find anywhere else

46% want to support their community

38% feel they receive better customer service and expertise

If you’re finding the gifts your family wants on TikTok and Instagram shops, you’re not alone. Nearly one-quarter (23%) said they’re most likely to buy from a small business through a social platform, up from 16% in 2024.

Overall spend with small businesses is expected to increase, as well. Shoppers across demographics said they expect to spend 8.3% more, or a total of $118 billion, with small businesses this year. They also said they expect to use 43% of their holiday budget on small business purchases, up from 36% in 2024.

It’s no wonder that more than three-quarters (76%) of small businesses expect to make more money this holiday season than they did last year.

Bottom Line

Overall, holiday spending is up and more people are spending more with small businesses. But it will be a struggle for lower-income families, as well as younger generations, to buy the gifts they want to give.

The holiday sales, including Amazon Prime Big Deal Days, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, offer shoppers some inflation relief. American Express still encourages consumers to “Shop Small” on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and Black Friday, an initiative that was introduced in 2010 and now celebrates its 16th year. 

This story written for TheStreet by Nifty 50+

For years, retirees have followed a seemingly simple strategy: convert enough money to a Roth IRA in December to fill a favorable tax bracket, pay the tax, and enjoy tax-free growth later.

But in December 2026, that familiar playbook could come with a hidden price tag.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has changed the equation. A Roth conversion that looks smart on a tax-bracket chart could unexpectedly reduce a valuable senior deduction, push more Social Security benefits into taxable income, and trigger higher Medicare premiums years down the road.

The danger? These costs don’t always show up where retirees expect them to. And by the time they do, the conversion may be irreversible.

So before you make that year-end move, ask a critical question: Is filling your tax bracket still the smartest Roth conversion strategy, or could it leave you paying far more than you planned?

Also Read: Fidelity’s 4 Roth strategies could save your family a fortune in taxes

How the OBBBA’s senior deduction turns a bracket play into a steeper climb

The OBBBA introduced a temporary $6,000 deduction per eligible taxpayer aged 65 and older for tax years 2025 through 2028, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) confirmed.

For married couples in which both spouses qualify, the senior deduction totals $12,000. Combined with the $32,200 standard deduction, it can provide substantial tax relief. That benefit starts phasing out once modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) exceeds $150,000 on a joint return, shrinking by 6% above that floor, Fidelity reported. 

For a couple in which both spouses qualify, the $12,000 combined deduction fully phases out at a MAGI of $250,000. A $100,000 conversion that pushes a couple from $150,000 to $250,000 erases the full $12,000 write-off, increasing the taxable amount by $112,000.

Fidelity’s analysis of a similar scenario estimated that losing the deduction alone would add $2,856 in federal income taxes beyond the tax attributable to the conversion.

The IRS noted that couples with a MAGI below $150,000 can keep the full $47,500 in deductions, including the standard deduction, an extra $1,650 for each qualifying spouse based on age, and the senior deduction.

Medicare’s IRMAA cliff adds surcharges that arrive 2 years late

Medicare’s Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) relies on income from two years prior to set premiums, Medicare confirmed. 

Kiplinger described the surcharge as a cliff because crossing a bracket by a single dollar triggers the full tier’s surcharge for the year.

A 2026 conversion affects 2028 Medicare costs, and a voluntary Roth conversion does not qualify as a life-changing event for an appeal, the Social Security Administration (SSA) confirmed.

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Joint filers whose 2024 MAGI exceeded $218,000 face an additional $81.20 per person per month in Part B surcharges and $14.50 in Part D surcharges, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported.

That totals roughly $2,297 annually for a couple, and higher tiers climb sharply, with the top bracket adding $487 per person per month in Part B alone.

A retiree who triggers even the first IRMAA tier while converting in the 24% bracket is paying far more than 24% on that income. Fidelity’s analysis indicates that the combined load of the bracket charge, the lost senior deduction, and the Medicare surcharge drives the effective rate past 30%.

Medicare’s IRMAA surcharge can raise retirement costs two years after a Roth conversion, making tax planning essential for retirees approaching income thresholds.Westend61 / Getty Images

Social Security’s 85% threshold compounds every converted dollar

Social Security benefits become partially taxable once combined income exceeds thresholds that haven’t changed since they were set decades ago.

Combined income is adjusted gross income plus nontaxable interest plus half of benefits, and for married couples filing jointly, up to 85% of benefits become taxable once that figure exceeds $44,000, the IRS noted.

Roth conversion income counts toward adjusted gross income, so a sizable conversion can push a retiree over the second combined-income threshold. 

A couple receiving $40,000 in annual Social Security benefits who moves from the 50% inclusion tier into the 85% tier can see up to an additional $14,000 of previously sheltered benefits pulled into the taxable column.

Tom Callahan, certified financial planner at Range Financial Advisors, warned that skipping conversions to dodge these surcharges can backfire over the long term of a retirement. 

<strong>The Roth conversion you skip this year to avoid IRMAA in early retirement can reappear later as a larger Medicare surcharge and a larger RMD, because the pretax IRA kept growing</strong>.

Fidelity’s analysis emphasizes that conversion sizing affects the retiree’s effective rate more than the binary choice of whether to convert, with the math shifting at every income level.

How retirees can approach a year-end Roth conversion in 2026

Retirees planning a conversion before Dec. 31, 2026, should project their MAGI at several conversion levels to identify where each hidden cost activates, Fidelity recommended.

For retirees nearing the senior deduction or state and local tax (SALT) deduction phaseout thresholds, Fidelity advised spreading conversions across several years to help manage the tax impact.

A Roth conversion completed before age 63 generally cannot affect Medicare premiums through the standard two-year IRMAA lookback, Q3 Advisors reported, since most people become eligible for Medicare at 65. Individual circumstances and Medicare enrollment timing can affect how this rule applies.

Callahan recommends evaluating the full financial picture rather than optimizing around any single year’s Medicare premium. This includes projected required minimum distributions (RMDs) at ages 75 and 80, the potential tax impact on a surviving spouse filing as single, and the taxes heirs could face on inherited retirement accounts.

The goal, Callahan noted, is to minimize taxes over a lifetime rather than to avoid a surcharge in any one year.

Related: Vanguard spotlights Roth IRA trap hiding in your income

Microsoft (MSFT) has spent the past two years committing enormous sums to artificial intelligence. In the September 2025 quarter alone, the company spent nearly $35 billion on AI infrastructure, a 74% increase from the same period a year earlier.

Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood told analysts that capital expenditure growth would be even faster in fiscal 2026. That level of investment carries a cost, and the company has been working to offset it through persistent reductions in labor costs.

On Oct. 26, Chief People Officer Amy Coleman sent a memo to employees announcing a new program called the Voluntary Exit Offer. Coleman described it as a way to give eligible workers more ways to shape their next professional step, with financial support and career-planning resources available to those who choose to leave. The offer is time-limited, and employees who receive it will have until early December to decide.

The scale of what Microsoft is putting on the table is significant. The company is making the offer available to roughly 60,000 employees, more than a quarter of its total global workforce, across four countries.

What the program covers and who can apply

The offer applies to employees in the U.S., Canada, India and the U.K. at internal level 70 and below. Eligible workers will receive details directly by email. Microsoft set the decision deadline for early December. Workers who accept are scheduled to exit by the end of the year.

Also read: Morgan Stanley finds a new twist in Microsoft’s AI story

Not every employee at those levels is included. The offer excludes sales teams, certain engineering groups and some corporate functions. Microsoft said participation varies by business unit, based on each team’s priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs.

Microsoft described the program as voluntary and time-limited. The company said eligible employees will receive financial support and access to career-planning resources if they choose to accept, but workers are under no obligation to do so.

In the memo, Coleman said the offer reflects Microsoft’s effort to create “greater flexibility” and give employees “more ways to shape their next chapter.” The company did not provide additional details on which career-planning resources would be made available.

How the severance is structured

Microsoft has not released the full terms of the Voluntary Exit Offer. The company said the package resembles prior severance rounds but gave no breakdown. In the U.S., earlier packages covered at least 60 days of base pay, running on the regular payroll schedule rather than paid out as a lump sum on the last day.

For most employees, total severance can reach up to 39 weeks of base pay, depending on seniority and tenure. Workers at internal levels 64 and below received one week of base pay for every six months of service in prior rounds. Employees at levels 65 through 67 received two weeks of base pay for every six months of service, according to offers reviewed by Business Insider.

Microsoft said there are no plans for another buyout program after this one closes. The company framed the current offer as a standalone, time-limited opportunity rather than the first of multiple rounds.

Workers who are weighing the offer should review the complete written terms carefully. Severance payments are typically taxable as ordinary income, and the value of the package depends on tenure, internal level, the treatment of any bonus or equity awards and what healthcare coverage looks like after the employment end date.

The company is making the offer available to roughly 60,000 employees, more than a quarter of its total global workforce.picture alliance / Getty Images

What is driving the push

The Voluntary Exit Offer follows Microsoft’s Voluntary Retirement Program, which was made available to roughly 9,000 employees who met age and tenure criteria. About one-third of eligible workers accepted that offer, which the company said was in line with its expectations at the time.

Microsoft also cut 4,800 jobs in 2026 through involuntary layoffs. Those cuts came as the company was increasing capital spending on AI infrastructure and stepping back from some older business lines.

A voluntary program gives Microsoft an alternative. Workers who accept leave on their own terms create less friction than a layoff round. The downside is that the company cannot choose who goes. Employees with the most marketable skills are often the first to take a buyout.

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Microsoft spent nearly $35 billion on AI infrastructure in a single quarter and is now handing out checks for 60,000 employees to go. The company says the program gives workers more control over their next step.

It also trims a payroll Microsoft has been working to shrink while it redirects spending toward AI. Involuntary layoffs generate news coverage, employee lawsuits and morale problems. This program, structured properly, sidesteps most of that.

Whether the offer is genuinely good for a given worker depends on the individual. For some, it is a clean exit with severance they would not otherwise have. For others, it means giving up a role that was not actually at risk. Microsoft has no incentive to help workers tell the difference.

What employees should think through before deciding

Microsoft set the decision deadline for early December, giving eligible workers roughly six weeks from when offer emails go out. The program closes at that point. Microsoft has said there are no plans for a follow-up round.

The severance amount is one factor, but not the only one. The total value of accepting depends on how long the worker has been at the company, their internal level, how their equity awards are treated at the point of exit and whether any performance bonus is included or forfeited. Workers at higher internal levels with longer tenures will receive materially different packages than newer employees at lower levels.

Health coverage is a separate question from severance. Employees need to check when their coverage ends after the exit date and what replacing it would cost out of pocket. Severance is taxed as ordinary income. Workers who take a large payout in a single calendar year may end the year in a higher bracket than they expected.

Six weeks covers a lot of ground. Workers need to read the actual offer document, understand how their equity is treated at exit and figure out what their tax bill looks like if a large severance payment lands in a single calendar year. That is before accounting for what comes next in the career. Microsoft picked that timeline. It did not have to be six weeks. Workers should factor in who benefits when that clock runs short.

Related: UBS resets Microsoft stock price target for investors

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., M.Div., Ph.D., career prosecutor, author, and media commentator, for a powerful conversation on reframing how we think about aging and retirement. Dr. Patrick challenges outdated beliefs about growing older, explaining why your career is not your identity, why the years ahead can be your most fulfilling, and how a shift in mindset can transform the next chapter of your life.

Transcript:

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Wendy, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate you coming on the program this morning.

Dr. Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., M.Div., Ph.D., career prosecutor, author, and media commentator

Thank you so much, Jeff. It’s a pleasure to be with you.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

It’s absolutely our pleasure. And I love, you know, we found you obviously on psychology today. You continue to write great columns about aging and retirement.

We’re gonna try to talk about all those things in this conversation. Let me start with a basic question. Does aging, does our aging have to be painful?

Does it have to be something where we lose complete control? Because I think a lot of people are out there right now worried about getting older.

Dr. Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., M.Div., Ph.D., career prosecutor, author, and media commentator

Yeah, you know, Jeff, it’s funny you ask it that way because you are correct. When you talk about retirement, people always think about, well, gosh, that’s something you do when you’re at an age where you should probably just take it easy. Most people nowadays retire to live their best life.

They retire because they wanna travel and have a new adventure or try something different. They retire for a variety of reasons. And in fact, I like the way you asked it because Jeff, getting older is not about retiring from working.

It’s about having the luxury, if you will, of thinking about what you would like to do. That normally ends up being a combination of personal and professional endeavors. And if you think about it that way, you know, in the Bible, we say, you know, gray hair is a crown of glory.

It’s a sign of wisdom, of life experience, of kind of taking a break from the grind of a daily job in order to be able to experience your best life. So if you think about it that way, getting older really doesn’t have to be any kind of a downside.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

You know, I love that mentality because I wanna follow up on that and ask you, don’t you think the mentality or the focus on retirement, people have changed? It’s no longer sitting in that rocking chair with the grandkids or playing the golf, right? I mean, that was the, I think of like my grandparents.

So when I was a kid in 1972 or in 77, when Star Wars came out, my grandparents were in their 60s. They don’t look like a 60, they didn’t look like what a 60 year old looks like now. So don’t you think the perspective has changed as technology, as healthcare, everything has improved over the last 50 years, five decades?

Dr. Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., M.Div., Ph.D., career prosecutor, author, and media commentator

Absolutely. You know, we talk about 80 is the new 60, 60 is the new 80, and we talk about- I said 50 is the new 20. 50 is the new 20.

But Jeff, why do we say that? That’s your interesting perspective. I think that’s right.

We say that because we live in a day and age where we’re able to look and feel better older in life. And that’s true because of medical technologies being improved. It’s true because of digital technologies being improved.

It’s true because there are so many services available today that weren’t there for our grandparents. You know, the grandparents are not in a rocking chair somewhere knitting a sweater. They are out on the beach.

They’re climbing a mountain. They’re doing things that they’re able to do because they feel good. They look good.

They have the financial security to be able to retire from one job and then maybe take another job to, you know, enjoy the extra income because they want to do it. And I don’t just mean driving for Uber or Lyft. I mean, having jobs that give them the freedom to be able to set their own schedules.

And there’s such a variety of jobs available nowadays, post-pandemic probably now more than ever. So it is true that aging also includes finding your new identity and also feeling good while you explore this brave new chapter in life.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

And to that point, Wendy, do you think that, you know, it used to be a stigma with mature, I call them mature people because I’m one of them, right? You know, and I can relate when I was 20 years old starting my vocation, you know, you always think you know more than the people that came before you, but do you think that stigma of maturity, senior living has also maybe evaporated as a result of some of these mindset changes?

Dr. Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., M.Div., Ph.D., career prosecutor, author, and media commentator

I think it’s evaporated as a result of mindset changes and policy changes. Because think about how establishments define a senior nowadays. They have lowered that age to qualify for senior discounts from 65 to 60 to 55 to 50.

In other words, there’s such blurred boundaries as to what it really means to be, to fit within any particular category. You’re right, we do say mature. And what I would say, you know, what not only does age come with wisdom, but age comes with the kind of credibility that you simply don’t have if you’re a 20 something.

I mean, think about it. If you were gonna find a new doctor, dentist, therapist, you wouldn’t find somebody necessarily coming straight out of school. You would want somebody that’s been around for decades that knows what they’re doing, that has that track record of competence.

Not to say, you know, we all have to start somewhere, but there is nothing about being older that necessarily means you’re gonna be a poorer worker. If anything, you’re better because you’ve hit your stride. You know what you’re doing and you have the confidence to be able to do your job well, whatever it is.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Let’s talk about empowerment or getting the control back. Cause you wrote about that in one of your pieces, you know, having the control as you age. And I think a lot of people, obviously you can’t control your cells, that you can’t control yourself on a cellular level.

I don’t, not yet, at least we’ll have to talk, we’ll have to talk to Brian Johnson about that. Who’s the very famous guy who’s trying to break the aging DNA rule book, I guess, right. But in all seriousness, how do we empower ourselves?

Cause I think a lot of people are watching this and I think the message resonates. So how do you take the message that we’re talking about that you’re really talking about, not me and change it up so that you’re empowered, you’re in control of the next 50 years of your life.

Dr. Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., M.Div., Ph.D., career prosecutor, author, and media commentator

You’re in control when you recognize that your destiny is yours, your faith, your family, your circle of friends, that is much more important than your former occupation. Jeff, this is a huge point. For some people, occupation is identity.

And those are the people that really drag their heels when it comes to deciding to retire, because they feel as if, wrongly, but nonetheless, very authentically, they feel like they’re going to be giving up their identity and then they won’t know who they are. The empowerment you’re talking about means you embrace the fact that you are much more than what you did as a living. You live to work or you work to live.

We always say one or the other. But if you recognize that you are in control of the next 50 or however many years you’re going to be here, you can think through what you wanna do. I mean, the beauty of so many different occupations nowadays is that they offer an off ramp.

In other words, you can join associations that are designed for retired painters, bankers, lawyers, doctors, that embrace the fact that you can take that knowledge, then do something else. Maybe you’re a consultant. Maybe you’re an expert witness.

Maybe you volunteer services and technology and expertise that you have, even though you’ve left your profession that allows you to maintain that identity. Now, I know a lot of people that will say, put me in a lounge chair on the beach. I’m not interested in any of that.

But if identity has been a big part of why you’ve been reluctant to retire, thank God there are those options available for you. We have the internet to open up a world where you can retire comfortably through each lane in any lane you choose to take.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Let me ask you about, and thank you for that. Let me ask you about lessons for employers. Do you think employers of all sizes, whether they’re small businesses, midsize or large, are they learning some of these lessons too?

I have to think that they would love to tap into the people that we’re talking about or that more importantly you’re talking about this morning.

Dr. Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., M.Div., Ph.D., career prosecutor, author, and media commentator

Not as quickly as I would like, because too often you see they’re asking all the right questions at an exit interview when those are the questions they should be asking when onboarding new employees. Tell me about a bad boss. What’s your idea of a great boss?

What’s important to you in a workplace? Because I’ll tell you, new employees, Jeff, as you and I both know, they’re interested in different things than we were. They’re interested in work-life balance, in having benefits, whether it’s a gym membership, dry cleaning.

It’s amazing, they’re bringing to the table much of what most of us wish we had when we were employed. But we wait too long to learn these things. We learn when they leave, why they left, and we think to ourselves, why didn’t we ask those questions on the front end?

Because we would have liked to be able to retain that talent. So more than ever today, employers are slowly recognizing that if they want to be that workplace that attracts the most valuable employees, they have to portray themselves as such, whether it’s using social media, whether it’s using word of mouth, going out into the community. But yes, they are learning the lessons that in order to keep talent, they have to attract that talent to begin with.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

So it’s more than the 401k and health benefits. Is it things like caregiving? Because let’s face it, all of us are either gonna receive caregiving, I hint to my wife, or are gonna be giving caregiving, right?

I mean, we’re all gonna be in that situation. So is that a benefit that employers should be thinking about as we have an aging society, an aging America?

Dr. Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., M.Div., Ph.D., career prosecutor, author, and media commentator

Absolutely, and in fact, I remember when different companies started extending paternity leave. Remember that, Jeff? That wasn’t a thing decades ago.

But once they started recognizing all the different ways that we caregive, whether it’s for newborns or aging parents or needing time off, we have certain types of leave that never existed before. So yes, employers are recognizing that we do need, we call it personal leave or sick leave other. The other can be anyone for whom you caregive, and you don’t need to belong to any particular age bracket to qualify because we all know people have special needs, relatives in their family that they have to attend to.

So yes, employers have waded into that pool, thank God, because what are they doing? They are able to not only retain talent, but be flexible with work schedules. Maybe somebody is able to telework if they have the luxury to do that because they have caregiving responsibilities, but it’s not full-time around the clock.

So that kind of flexibility, that type of creativity is not only allowing employers to keep valuable employees, but attracts winning and talented employees because they make it a much more productive place to work.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

You know, Wendy, our show isn’t political, but we do talk about policy. And I wanna ask you, you’ve had some good advice for employers. I think they’re learning, hopefully they learn quicker, but policy makers at the local, state, and federal level, this is a big deal because you and I are in a category, me, probably more than you are in categories, that there are gonna be a lot more of us as we get older.

Are they, meaning the policy makers, the regulators, are they looking at this and what can they do better to address some of the concerns that we may have as we age?

Dr. Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., M.Div., Ph.D., career prosecutor, author, and media commentator

They can listen. When you listen to what employees are saying is important, when you listen to reasons that people retire at different times or leave jobs or switch firms or switch careers, you learn. I mean, listen and learn.

And that’s one of the ways in which policy makers can decide how to craft policy because if it doesn’t work, you’re not going to be elected, whatever party you belong to. You know, it’s like the same thing we talk about every election cycle. Who am I going to vote for that’s going to make life better for me and my family?

So it’s everything from healthcare to schools, to education, to the economy, gas, groceries. Who’s gonna make my life better and how do I know that? I don’t know that because somebody simply, you know, knows the right talking points.

I know that because of what I said for a living. I’ve been a lawyer for 30 years, prove it. Show me something that you can point to that proves that you’re able to do what you say.

So if policy makers are listening, they’re gonna know what to say and what to do.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

There you go. I mean, that’s great political advice, even though we’re not a political show. I know you’re also a prolific author.

In addition to writing in psychology today, you’re a New York Times bestselling author. Are there any secrets you can kind of leak out on maybe your next or tell us, we won’t tell anybody about maybe some of your next book ideas that we can expect to see on the New York Times bestselling list?

Dr. Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., M.Div., Ph.D., career prosecutor, author, and media commentator

Well, my last book was a Christian book. It was actually related to my psychology day column, why bad looks good, biblical living and the wisdom you learn from reading the Bible. And so there’s really a great crossover from all the places that we learn how to live better, how to be smarter, how to be more situationally aware.

You probably know one of my other past books is called Red Flags. So there’s a lot that I’m continuing to look into in terms of what sort of cutting edge issues do people care about today? Another thing politicians can learn from, what’s on the cutting edge that people wanna know more about?

So anything that’s edgy, that’s provocative, that’s useful for healthy living, keep an eye on that for my next endeavor.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

All right, we’re gonna check it out. I’ll be scouring the, well, I was gonna say Amazon, Bart. I’m gonna get them all credited in the local booksellers.

Wendy, we’re gonna have to leave it there. It’s a great piece, great column that you write. Thanks so much for joining us.

And we look forward to having you back on the program again very soon.

Dr. Wendy L. Patrick, J.D., M.Div., Ph.D., career prosecutor, author, and media commentator

Thanks for having me, Jeff, and thanks for what you do.