SUCCESS

Unlike the stock market, whose future returns are anything but assured, a TIPS ladder’s payout is guaranteed.

“It’s become clear that some of the people I grew up with are going to have very different lives from me”

Someone has just typed their address into the signup box on your site. They did it for a reason: a discount, a free guide, early access, or plain curiosity about what you’re building. Moments later an automated message lands in their inbox, and for a lot of new businesses that message is still the default confirmation the platform shipped with, a grey block of text that thanks them and says nothing else.
It’s the one email a new subscriber is waiting for, because they asked for it a few seconds ago. Don’t waste it on a placeholder. A welcome email template settles the structure in an afternoon. What it can’t do is write the sentences inside it, and those are the part most founders rush.
The promise belongs at the top
If the form said “10% off your first order”, the code goes at the top of the email, in plain text, before any banner image. If it promised a guide, the download link goes first.
Think about the last time you signed up for something and then scrolled through a long welcome message hunting for the code you’d been promised. Your subscriber feels the same irritation when the promise sits in paragraph four. People subscribe for one specific thing and scan for it. On a phone, a welcome email gets about one screen to prove the rest is worth scrolling for, and when the promise isn’t on that screen, a lot of readers close the email before they reach it, along with everything else you hoped they’d read on the way down.
The envelope matters as much as the contents. People simply don’t open messages from senders they can’t recognise, according to Nielsen Norman Group research into confirmation emails, and a clear, specific subject line is worth real writing effort. For a welcome email, use a sender name readers will connect with the site they’ve just left, and a subject line that names what they signed up for. “Your 10% code is inside” tells them why to open it. “Welcome to the family!” tells them nothing.
Tell them who’s writing
A first-time founder has something large brands pay agencies to imitate: an actual person behind the business. Sign with your first name.
Two or three sentences on why you started is plenty, as long as they’re about the reader’s problem. Say you sell handmade leather wallets. Nobody needs your business plan, but one line about why cheap wallets split at the fold tells the reader what they’re buying into.
Give them one next step
The temptation with a first email is to fit everything in: bestsellers, Instagram, the blog, the returns policy, the founder’s podcast appearance. Every extra link competes with the one action that matters at this stage, so pick it based on why the person subscribed. Discount seekers get a link to the products the code works on. Guide downloaders get the guide and a sentence about what you’ll send them next. Social links can sit in the footer, where people who want them will look.
That footer has a legal job too. The FTC’s CAN-SPAM compliance guide for business says every commercial email sent in the US needs a valid physical postal address and a clear way to opt out, and opt-out requests must be honoured within 10 business days.
Why one welcome email isn’t enough
One message can’t do every job, which is the same problem as getting the first hundred customers and then having nothing to say to them.
Splitting the work across a short series over the first week keeps each email focused: the first delivers the promise, the second tells the story behind the business, and the third deals with whatever stops people buying, whether that’s sizing, delivery times or how returns work. Your customer service inbox already tells you which question that is, because it’s the one you answer most often.
Every email in the series gets the treatment the first one got: keep the template’s structure and write the sentences yourself. Before switching it on, read the whole series on your phone and move up any main link that sits below the first screen.
The post The welcome email first-time founders keep putting off, and what to put in it appeared first on Addicted 2 Success.

Kim Coates plays Anna Pigeon’s Big Bad with a ruthlessness that reaches new heights in the finale. The actor dives into his character and what to expect.

Netflix has just released a new series starring Josh Hartnett where he must do battle with a sea creature to protect his town. And it’s good.

Every year, Medicare Part B premiums take a bite out of whatever Social Security gives back. The cost-of-living adjustment arrives in January, and the premium increase follows close behind.

Heading into 2027, the same script is unfolding. Premiums are expected to rise. The COLA figure has not been released yet. Whatever number the Social Security Administration announces, Part B will take a share of it before beneficiaries see a dime.

Into that gap, the White House and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have dropped a one-time $90 payment. More than 20 million Medicare Part B beneficiaries are eligible, the White House announced.

Direct deposits are landing on or around Oct. 8, and paper checks are expected later in the month.

Also read: Suze Orman flags the Medicare gap retirees are missing

Not every Part B enrollee qualifies for the $90 payment

Medicare covers more than 70 million people, but the $90 payment reaches only about 20.8 million of them. The eligibility rules are specific, and several large groups are left out.

Beneficiaries who receive Medicaid assistance do not qualify. Medicaid already helps cover their Part B premiums. Sending them the $90 would duplicate a benefit they already receive.

People who pay an income-related monthly adjustment amount, known as IRMAA, are also excluded. IRMAA surcharges apply to higher-income enrollees who pay more than the standard Part B premium. The payment is aimed at those on the standard rate only.

Medicare Advantage enrollees are not eligible, nor are beneficiaries living outside the United States.

To qualify, a person must be enrolled in Medicare Part B, pay the standard monthly premium, and live in the United States without Medicaid assistance or an IRMAA surcharge.

Beneficiaries who are unsure whether they qualify can call Medicare at 1-800-633-4227 to confirm their status before the payment window closes.

Medicare covers more than 70 million people, but the $90 payment reaches only about 20.8 million of them.FatCamera / Getty Images

Where the $90 is actually coming from

The money is drawn from the Medicare Improvement Fund, a pool of unused federal dollars that Congress authorized to support improvements to Medicare’s fee-for-service program.

Nobody touched it for years. Using it now for direct payments to beneficiaries is something critics are watching closely, writes MEAWW News. The checks land weeks before the official 2027 premium announcement. That timing has people asking whether this is a policy decision or a political one.

The payment is separate from the $500 refund checks going to certain Affordable Care Act marketplace enrollees. The two programs are unrelated and funded differently.

Beneficiaries do not need to apply or provide any banking information to receive the $90. It will arrive automatically based on existing Medicare records.

What the 2027 premium increase actually looks like

The standard monthly Part B premium is currently $202.90 in 2026. It is projected to rise to approximately $209.50 in 2027. That is an increase of $6.60 per month.

Annualized, that is $79.20 in extra costs per beneficiary. The $90 covers it and leaves a few dollars to spare. But that math only works once.

After 2027, the higher premium stays. The payment does not come back. Beneficiaries will pay the full increase out of their Social Security checks with nothing to offset it.

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Part B covers doctor visits, outpatient care, preventive services, and certain medical equipment. Because the premium is deducted directly from Social Security benefits, any increase reduces the net value of whatever COLA adjustment beneficiaries receive in a given year.

That connection matters. A higher Part B premium does not just cost more in isolation. It directly shrinks the effective value of the annual raise that Social Security is supposed to deliver.

The Social Security COLA announcement is still coming

No official number yet on the 2027 COLA. Analysts have it landing somewhere between 3.4% and 3.6%, FOXBusiness reported. The Social Security Administration is expected to publish the final figure later this month.

Whatever that number turns out to be, the Part B premium increase will reduce how much of it actually reaches beneficiaries’ accounts. A COLA that looks meaningful on paper can shrink considerably once the premium deduction is applied.

A 3.5% increase on an average monthly benefit of around $1,900 would add roughly $66. That is before the premium adjustment. After accounting for the higher Part B cost, the net gain narrows further.

Beyond Part B, beneficiaries may also face higher costs for Medicare Part D drug coverage, Medigap supplemental policies, and out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs and healthcare services. The $90 payment does not address any of those rising costs.

How to confirm payment status and avoid scams

To check eligibility, call Medicare directly at 1-800-633-4227. After Oct. 15, the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 should also be able to pull up payment status.

Beneficiaries should use those official numbers only. Unsolicited calls, emails or text messages asking for banking details or Social Security numbers in connection with this payment are scams.

Medicare will not ask for account information or charge any fee to process the payment. The money arrives automatically. No action is required to claim it.

Those who believe they qualify but do not receive a payment by the end of October should verify their mailing address and direct-deposit information with Medicare or the Social Security Administration directly.

Related: Health insurance is about to cost you a lot more in 2027

As regular software users, the right practice is to regularly update your software to avoid breaches and to install the latest patches.

Anyone who has kept a phone past its last software update knows how it goes. Nothing breaks on day one. The patches just stop coming, and each month the old device gets a little riskier to live with.

The same dynamic plays out in corporate IT, just on a much larger scale. Many companies still running older SAP software are heading toward that moment. SAP is the enterprise software backbone that manages core business operations, including finance, HR, and supply chains.

SAP has said mainstream maintenance for Business Suite 7, the software behind its older ECC systems, runs only until the end of 2027. Extended support after that costs more and ends in 2030.

IBM (IBM) wants to be the company that helps smaller companies cross over. On Wednesday, Oct. 7, it launched IBM Ready for SAP Solutions, which moves midsize and fast-growing firms onto SAP Cloud ERP with what IBM calls an “AI-ready” digital core.

It lands while IBM shares are still nursing the worst day in company history.

Read more: Is IBM a good investment in 2026? Its buy-and-hold prospects explained

IBM is packaging consulting for buyers who cannot wait

The offering pairs IBM’s industry expertise with IBM Consulting Advantage, its AI-powered delivery platform, IBM said. It is sold on a “fit-to-standard” basis.

In plain terms, customers adapt to SAP’s standard setup instead of paying for heavy customization, which keeps projects short and costs easier to predict.

IBM’s lead example is Volumetric Building Companies, a modular construction firm. According to IBM, the company cut operational cycle times across purchasing, manufacturing and inventory by 50% after a three-month SAP Cloud ERP project.

Vendors pick their best stories for launch day, so I read that as a ceiling, not a typical result.

The rollout is narrow for now. IBM said the solution is available only in limited countries and for specific industries, without naming them or disclosing pricing. SAP is contributing its GROW Fast method, part of the GROW with SAP program it built for smaller customers.

To understand why a play like this is important to IBM right now, it helps to look back at where the pressure began.

IBM launched an SAP Cloud ERP offering for midsize firms three months after its stock suffered the worst one-day drop in its 115-year history.Daniela Baumann / Getty Images

The July collapse showed where IBM was exposed

IBM stock lost roughly a quarter of its value on July 14 after the company released weak preliminary second-quarter results. The drop put IBM on pace for its worst day in 115 years, worse than its 1987 Black Monday loss.

CEO Arvind Krishna told investors that clients had shifted budgets toward servers, storage, and memory as AI data centers soaked up supply.

The final second-quarter report showed where the damage landed. IBM Z mainframe revenue fell 42% from a year earlier, while consulting barely grew. The company also cut its full-year revenue growth outlook to 4% to 5% at constant currency.

The stock has not bounced back. Shares trade about a third below their 52-week high of $332.46 and not far above their $199.19 low, according to Stock Analysis. They are down about 25% this year, Seeking Alpha reported, while SAP has slipped 13%.

For a blue chip this old, the dividend is a big part of why people own it. The yield sits around 3.1%, and slower growth leaves that payout carrying more of the case for the stock.

Wall Street has not given up. The 24 analysts tracked by Stock Analysis rate IBM a Buy on average, with a mean price target of $240.59, roughly 9% above the latest close. Still, 10 rate it a Hold, and to me, that split suggests analysts trust the business but doubt a fast recovery.

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IBM’s July problem was simple. Clients could delay a mainframe upgrade or a software deal and spend that money on AI hardware instead. An ERP system about to lose mainstream support is far harder to put off, and I think that is the smartest part of this launch.

Midsize SAP customers fit that bill. Their deadline is fixed, and their projects are small enough to close in months. IBM also said several large deals stalled in the second quarter, CNN reported, so a steady flow of smaller projects spreads that risk.

I don’t expect this to move IBM’s numbers soon, though. A three-month ERP project is a small change for a company that booked about $17.2 billion in second-quarter revenue, according to its results. The payoff, if any, is follow-on work, because firms that rebuild their core with IBM become natural buyers of its automation and data tools.

Midsize firms are the next ERP battleground

IBM will not have this market to itself. The 2027 deadline gives every large systems integrator a reason to court the same companies. My read is that as big enterprises finish their migrations, the remaining work tilts toward smaller firms with tighter budgets.

The AI boom is quietly sorting corporate tech spending into two piles: projects that can wait and projects that cannot. IBM got caught on the wrong side of that line in July. Its consulting segment will show whether offers like this one can move it back.

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