No. 8 Georgia 59, UMass 21First Quarter RICE_Connors 5 run (Horn kick), 10:28. UAB_Holt-Bennett 5 pass from Kitna (Delange kick), 10:10. UAB_L.Beebe 48 run (Delange kick), 5:29. RICE_Giffen 5 pass from Warner (Horn kick), 3:07. Second Quarter UAB_FG Delange 31, 12:50. UAB_FG Delange 43, 1:40. UAB_Maddox 99 interception return (Delange kick), :00. Fourth Quarter UAB_L.Beebe 7 run (pass failed), 11:06. UAB_Milliner 45 pass from Kitna (Delange kick), 7:41. INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING_Rice, Connors 16-67, Francisco 3-22, Jackson 3-18, Warner 3-13. UAB, L.Beebe 16-161, Witherspoon 5-29, Barker 2-24, Shanks 1-4, McDonald 1-0, S.Beebe 5-(minus 2), Kitna 4-(minus 28). PASSING_Rice, Warner 27-48-3-218. UAB, Kitna 18-23-0-174. RECEIVING_Rice, Connors 3-43, K.Campbell 3-24, Sykes 3-19, G.Walker 3-16, Jackson 3-13, Mojarro 3-9, B.Walker 2-54, Chiaokhiao-Bowman 2-26, Barnett 2-6, Francisco 2-3, Giffen 1-5. UAB, Shanks 7-51, Milliner 6-90, Payne 2-24, Witherspoon 2-4, Holt-Bennett 1-5. MISSED FIELD GOALS_None.
Topline Tuesday kicks off a historically merry period for investors, a stretch known familiarly as the Santa Claus rally for the positive stock market returns typically enjoyed during the holiday season, potentially bringing further gains to a largely cheery 2024 for equities. Key Facts Is The Stock Market Open Today? Yes . The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will both operate on half-day schedules, closing at 1 p.m., while bond markets will shut down at 2 p.m., and major U.S. financial markets will stay closed until Thursday’s normal trading session. Key Background Before Santa came down the chimney on Wall Street on Tuesday, it was already a good year for equity investors. The S&P has advanced more than 25% in 2024, putting the index well on pace for its first back-to-back 20% annual gains since 1998, according to FactSet. Driving much of the gains were continued optimism about generative artificial intelligence and the first interest rate cuts since 2020. What To Watch For Wall Street strategists largely predict 2025 will be another year of strong returns for investors, with the likes of Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley each predicting another record run for the S&P. Tangent The S&P’s top percentage gainer Tuesday was none other than Palantir, the AI-heavy government contractor which is the index’s best-performing stock of 2024. Further Reading
5 ways to tell if you’re on track for retirement — and 5 things to do if you need to catch up, according to experts49ers find much-needed defensive line help from a familiar source in 2025 NFL Mock DraftMPO to explore local control of traffic lightsSADO, Japan (AP) — Japan will hold a memorial ceremony on Sunday near the Sado Island Gold Mines , which were listed this summer as a UNESCO World Heritage site after the country moved past years of historical disputes with South Korea and reluctantly acknowledged the mines' dark history. At these mines, hundreds of Koreans were forced to labor under abusive and brutal conditions during World War II, historians say. The Japanese government said Sunday’s ceremony will pay tribute to “all workers” who died at the mines, but without spelling out who they are — part of what critics call a persistent policy of whitewashing Japan's history of sexual and labor exploitation before and during the war. The ceremony, which was supposed to further mend their wounds, renewed tensions between the two sides. On Saturday, South Korea's government said it will boycott the memorial service due to unspecified disagreements with Tokyo over the event. There was no immediate response from Japanese officials. Ahead of the ceremony on Sunday, The Associated Press explains the Sado mines, their history and the controversy. The 16th century mines on the island of Sado, about the size of the Pacific island of Guam, off the western coast of Niigata prefecture, operated for nearly 400 years beginning in 1601 and were once the world’s largest gold producer. They closed in 1989. During the Edo period, from 1600 to 1868, the mines supplied gold currency to the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate. Today, the site has been developed as a tourist facility and hiking site where visitors can learn about the changes in mining technology and production methods while looking at the remains of mine shafts and ore dressing facilities. Critics say the Japanese government only highlights the glory of the mines and covers up its use of Korean victims of forced labor and their ordeals. The mines were registered as a cultural heritage site in July after Japan agreed to include an exhibit on the conditions of Korean forced laborers and to hold a memorial service after repeated protests from the South Korean government. At the July meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, the Japanese delegate said Tokyo had installed new exhibition material to explain the “severe conditions of (the Korean laborers’) work and to remember their hardship.” Japan also acknowledged that Koreans were made to do more dangerous tasks in the mine shaft, which caused some to die. Those who survived also developed lung diseases and other health problems. Many of them were given meager food rations and nearly no days off and were caught by police if they escaped, historians say. But the Japanese government has refused to admit they were “forced labor.” South Korea had earlier opposed the listing of the site for UNESCO World Heritage on the grounds that the Korean forced laborers used at the mines were missing from the exhibition. South Korea eventually supported the listing after consultations with Japan and Tokyo’s pledge to improve the historical background in the exhibit and to hold a memorial that also includes Koreans. Historians say Japan used hundreds of thousands of Korean laborers, including those forcibly brought from the Korean Peninsula, at Japanese mines and factories to make up for labor shortages because most working-age Japanese men had been sent to battlefronts across Asia and the Pacific. About 1,500 Koreans were forced to work at the Sado mines, according to Yasuto Takeuchi, an expert on Japan’s wartime history, citing wartime Japanese documents. The South Korean government has said it expects Japan to keep its pledge to be truthful to history and to show both sides of the Sado mines. “The controversy surrounding the Sado mines exhibit underscores a deeper problem” of Japan’s failure to face up to its wartime responsibility and its growing “denialism” of its wartime atrocities, Takeuchi said. All workers who died at the Sado mines will be honored. That includes hundreds of Korean laborers who worked there during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. Officials say the ceremony is organized by a group of local Japanese politicians, business owners and other volunteers who campaigned for the Sado mines to win the UNESCO status, but preparations were handled by local government officials, who did not disclose details, including guests and programs, until the last minute. Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya announced the ceremony on Friday, but he declined to comment on “diplomatic exchanges.” Officials at Sado city and the Foreign Ministry said about 100 people, including officials from Japan’s local and central government, as well as South Korean Foreign Ministry officials and the relatives of Korean wartime laborers, have been invited. Attendants are expected to observe a moment of silence for the victims who died at the mines due to accidents and other causes. The ceremony dredged up long-standing frustrations in South Korea, where the Foreign Ministry said in a statement it was impossible to settle the disagreements between both governments before the planned event on Sunday, without specifying what those disagreements were. The cancelation came a day after Japan said it will send a parliamentary vice minister, Akiko Ikuina, who in 2022 visited Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead including convicted war criminals and is seen by Japan's neighbors as a symbol of its wartime militarism. Some South Koreans had criticized the Seoul government throwing its support behind an event without securing a clear Japanese commitment to highlight the plight of Korean laborers. There were also complaints over South Korea agreeing to pay for the travel expenses of Korean victims’ family members who were invited to attend the ceremony. Critics say Japan’s government has long been reluctant to discuss wartime atrocities. That includes what historians describe as the sexual abuse and enslavement of women across Asia, many of them Koreans who were deceived into providing sex to Japanese soldiers at frontline brothels and euphemistically called “comfort women,” and the Koreans who were mobilized and forced to work in Japan, especially in the final years of World War II. Korean compensation demands for Japanese atrocities during its brutal colonial rule have strained relations between the two Asian neighbors, most recently after a 2018 South Korean Supreme Court ruling ordered Japanese companies to pay damages over their wartime forced labor. Japan’s government has maintained that all wartime compensation issues between the two countries were resolved under the 1965 normalization treaty. Ties between Tokyo and Seoul have improved recently after Washington said their disputes over the historical issues were hampering crucial security cooperation as China’s threat grows in the region. Japan's whitewashing of wartime atrocities has risen since the 2010s, particularly under the past government of revisionist leader Shinzo Abe . For instance, Japan says the terms “sex slavery” and “forced labor” are inaccurate and insists on the use of highly euphemistic terms such as “comfort women” and “civilian workers” instead. South Korea’s conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol announced in March 2023 that his country would use a local corporate fund to compensate forced labor victims without demanding Japanese contributions. Japan’s then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida later expressed sympathy for their suffering during a Seoul visit. Security, business and other ties between the sides have since rapidly resumed. Takeuchi said listing Japan’s modern industrial historical sites as a UNESCO World Heritage is a government push to increase tourism. The government, he said, wants “to commercialize sites like the Sado mines by beautifying and justifying their history for Japan’s convenience.” AP writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea contributed.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — John Elway says any remorse over bypassing Josh Allen in the 2018 NFL draft is quickly dissipating with rookie Bo Nix's rapid rise, suggesting the Denver Broncos have finally found their next franchise quarterback. Elway said Nix, the sixth passer selected in April's draft, is an ideal fit in Denver with coach Sean Payton navigating his transition to the pros and Vance Joseph's defense serving as a pressure release valve for the former Oregon QB. “We’ve seen the progression of Bo in continuing to get better and better each week and Sean giving him more each week and trusting him more and more to where last week we saw his best game of the year,” Elway said in a nod to Nix's first game with 300 yards and four touchdown throws in a rout of Atlanta. For that performance, Nix earned his second straight NFL Rookie of the Week honor along with the AFC Offensive Player of the Week award. “I think the sky’s the limit," Elway said, “and that’s just going to continue to get better and better.” In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Elway also touted former coach Mike Shanahan's Hall of Fame credentials, spoke about the future of University of Colorado star and Heisman favorite Travis Hunter and discussed his ongoing bout with a chronic hand condition. Elway spent the last half of his decade as the Broncos’ GM in a futile search for a worthy successor to Peyton Manning, a pursuit that continued as he transitioned into a two-year consultant role that ended after the 2022 season. “You have all these young quarterbacks and you look at the ones that make it and the ones that don’t and it’s so important to have the right system and a coach that really knows how to tutelage quarterbacks, and Sean’s really good at that,” Elway said. “I think the combination of Bo’s maturity, having started 61 games in college, his athletic ability and his knowledge of the game has been such a tremendous help for him,'" Elway added. “But also Vance Joseph’s done a heck of a job on the defensive side to where all that pressure’s not being put on Bo and the offense to score all the time.” Payton and his staff have methodically expanded Nix’s repertoire and incorporated his speed into their blueprints. Elway lauded them for “what they’re doing offensively and how they’re breaking Bo into the NFL because it’s a huge jump and I think patience is something that goes a long way in the NFL when it comes down to quarterbacks.” Elway said he hopes to sit down with Nix at some point when things slow down for the rookie. Nix, whose six wins are one more than Elway had as a rookie, said he looks forward to meeting the man who won two Super Bowls during his Hall of Fame playing career and another from the front office. “He’s a legend not only here for this organization, but for the entire NFL," Nix said, adding, "most guys, they would love to have a chat with John Elway, just pick his brain. It’s just awesome that I’m even in that situation.” Orange Crush linebacker Randy Gradishar joined Elway in the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year, something Elway called “way, way overdue.” Elway suggested it's also long past time for the Hall to honor Shanahan, who won back-to-back Super Bowls in Denver with Elway at QB and whose footprint you see every weekend in the NFL because of his expansive coaching tree. Elway called University of Colorado stars Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders “both great athletes." He said he really hopes Sanders gets drafted by a team that will bring him along like the Broncos have done with Nix and he sees Hunter being able to play both ways in the pros but not full time. Elway said he thinks Hunter will be primarily a corner in the NFL but with significant contributions on offense: “He's great at both. He's got great instincts, and that's what you need at corner." It's been five years since Elway announced he was dealing with Dupuytren’s contracture, a chronic condition that typically appears after age 40 and causes one or more fingers to permanently bend toward the palm. Elway's ring fingers on both hands were originally affected and he said now the middle finger on his right hand is starting to pull forward. So, he’ll get another injection of a drug called Xiaflex, which is the only FDA-approved non-surgical treatment, one that he's endorsing in an awareness campaign for the chronic condition that affects 17 million Americans. The condition can make it difficult to do everyday tasks such as shaking hands or picking up a coffee mug. Elway said what bothered him most was “I couldn't pick up a football and I could not imagine not being able to put my hand around a football." AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
No. 9 Kentucky, focused on getting better, welcomes Jackson St.Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Chad "Ochocino" Johnson missed just 10 games in his illustrious 11-year career, and now he's spilling his secrets. The six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver revealed on the "7PM in Brooklyn" podcast an odd way of keeping his ankles healthy. Johnson would soak his ankles in his teammates' warm urine. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Wide receiver Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals celebrates during a game against the Houston Texans at Paul Brown Stadium Nov. 9, 2003, in Cincinnati. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images) The podcast brought up a video of Johnson discussing the remedy from a podcast in 2016. "You know what I did for ankle sprains?" the former wide receiver said at the time. "I would collect warm urine from my teammates, heat it up and put my ankle in it for 30 minutes." "Yeah, that worked," he nonchalantly recalled to the podcast this week. Johnson would soak his ankles for 30 minutes. "There's a reason I never been injured — home remedies," he said, admitting there was no "science" behind it. I'm sitting here living proof." Chad Ochocinco of the Cincinnati Bengals hauls in a one-handed catch for a first quarter touchdown against the Cleveland Browns during a game at Cleveland Browns Stadium Oct. 4, 2009, in Cleveland. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) Johnson said his grandmother told him about the secret sauce, and, apparently, it was pretty easy to convince his teammates to help. "It's a good thing. This is how I was able to collect it all at one time, right? You got team meetings in the morning, right? Everybody. 'Hey y'all, boy, do me a favor, boy. My ankle kind of f---ed up, I need you to all y'all to drink water at one time. So, when we break meeting, if y'all pee it's a bucket in the bathroom.' Boom. Y'all all peeing that bucket for me." Chad Ochocinco of the Cincinnati Bengals during a game against the New York Jets at Metlife Stadium Nov. 25, 2010, in East Rutherford, N.J. (Benjamin Solomon/Getty Images) CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "Ochocinco" was a six-time Pro Bowler and had seven 1,000-yard seasons. He retired with 766 catches (41st all-time), 11,059 yards (38th) and 67 touchdowns (T-56th). The 46-year-old has been eligible for Canton since 2017 but has yet to receive the call. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X , and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter .
‘Want to harm myself’: Pep scratches his face as ‘weak, frail’ City suffer historic meltdown, Gunners fire with FIVE different scorers
IBM continues gains for seven straight sessions
Rachel Christian | (TNS) Bankrate.com Just because retirement planning involves some guesswork doesn’t mean it has to be a total mystery. Related Articles Business | Tech review: Earbuds and phones for those on your holiday list Business | Popular Virginia Beach seafood restaurant Bubba’s Shrimp Shack closes Business | The year in money: inflation eased, optimism ticked upward Business | Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds Business | How to protect your communications through encryption Whether you’ve been saving since your first job or you’re getting a late start, you can leverage expert-recommended strategies to gauge your progress on the road to retirement. And if you’re not quite on track, don’t sweat it — the experts we spoke to offered actionable tips to help you close the gap. You might have a general idea of how much money you need to save for retirement . A few quick calculations can give you an estimate, but to truly appreciate where you stand, you’ll need to dive into the numbers. Here’s how to get started. A good rule of thumb to estimate your retirement savings goal is the Rule of 25 . Simply multiply your desired annual retirement income by 25. The result is roughly how much you’ll need to save before hitting retirement. For example, if you plan to spend $50,000 a year, you’ll need about $1.25 million to make it a reality. The Rule of 25 is based on the idea that withdrawing 4% annually from your retirement savings should last you about 30 years. While it’s not an exact science by any means — health care costs and lifestyle changes can skew the numbers, for example — the Rule of 25 can be a good starting point to figure out how much you need to save. Fidelity Investments, a behemoth in the retirement planning space, offers savings guidelines to help you determine if you’re on track . —By age 30: Save 1x your annual salary —By age 40: Save 3x your annual salary —By age 50: Save 6x your annual salary —By age 60: Save 8x your annual salary —By age 67: Save 10x your annual salary For example, if you earn $60,000 annually, you should aim for $600,000 in savings by age 67. But like the Rule of 25, Fidelity’s guidelines offer a 10,000-foot look at retirement goals, and they’re not customized to your situation. Maybe you earned a low salary in your 20s, but you’re working hard in your 30s to make up for it. Use these estimates as a benchmark — but don’t get discouraged if you’re lagging behind. Now it’s time to zoom in a little. To get a clearer snapshot of your progress, use an online retirement calculator. These tools factor in your age, current savings, income and lifestyle goals to estimate whether you’re on track. You’ll get a more refined estimate without crunching the numbers yourself. Bankrate’s retirement calculator even lets you input different rates of return on your investments and accounts for estimated annual salary increases. Having a general savings goal is nice, but to avoid falling short in retirement, you’ll need more than a ballpark figure. Experts recommend creating a retirement budget to get an up-close-and-personal look at how much you’ll really need once you leave the workforce. First, estimate how much you’ll spend per month in retirement. While some costs will increase, like health care, others will likely decrease, like dining out and commuting. “Estimating expenses can be challenging for some people, so as a starting point, I often use your net take-home pay,” says Jeff DeLarme, a certified financial planner and president of DeLarme Wealth Management. For example, if you receive a direct deposit of $2,500 every two weeks from work, use $5,000 as your estimated monthly spending in retirement. “Assuming this was enough to pay the bills while working, we can use $5,000 a month as a starting budget to plan for,” says DeLarme. Next, map out your sources of income in retirement. Social Security is the largest income stream for most retirees, but don’t neglect other inflows, such as: —Workplace retirement accounts, like 401(k)s —Personal retirement accounts, like a traditional or Roth IRA —Pensions —Annuities —Selling your home or business —Rental income —Inheritance “If there’s a gap between your expected expenses and income, you’ll have a good idea of how much you need to save,” says Mike Hunsberger, a certified financial planner and owner of Next Mission Financial Planning. From there, you can adjust your savings and investment strategy accordingly. For something as important (and complex) as retirement planning, it pays to speak with a professional. Financial advisers can analyze your savings, investments and retirement goals to create a personalized plan. Advisers use special planning software that account for more variables than an online calculator, giving you a much more precise, granular look at your financial life in retirement. Many financial advisers can also help you optimize your tax strategy, which can potentially save you thousands of dollars over time. Make sure the adviser you hire is a fiduciary , meaning they’re legally obligated to prioritize your interests over their own. A fiduciary won’t push investments to earn a commission or recommend products that aren’t aligned with your needs. A certified financial planner is one of the most well-recognized designations for fiduciaries. You can use Bankrate’s adviser matching tool to find a certified financial planner in your area in minutes. Maybe you did the math and realized you’re not quite where you need to be. Don’t panic if you’re behind schedule. Here are five strategies experts recommend to help you catch up on your retirement savings . Cutting expenses now frees up more cash to invest in your retirement accounts. Evaluate your budget and identify areas where you can cut costs, like dining out, streaming subscriptions or shopping. Don’t rule out bigger lifestyle changes either, especially if retirement is rapidly approaching. Housing is the biggest monthly expense for most people. Getting creative here can help amplify the amount you can sock away, says Joseph Boughan, a certified financial planner and managing member at Parkmount Financial Partners. It can also reduce your expenses in retirement, so you may not need to save as much as before. “Downsizing can be a great way to cut expenses,” says Boughan. “This can even free up cash if you don’t end up needing all that money for a new home.” Moving somewhere with lower property taxes or income taxes can also help bring your retirement plan back in line. And if you’re a renter, making tough short-term decisions, like taking on a roommate or moving to a lower cost-of-living area, can free up hundreds of dollars a month for your retirement. “Everyone’s plan is unique, so exploring all the options is important,” Boughan says. Joe Conroy, a certified financial planner and owner of Harford Retirement Planners, recommends taking a “retirement test drive” as you near your target date. “Start to live on what income you think you can afford in retirement and stash all the extra income into savings and investments,” says Conroy. “If you can make it through each month, you’re ready for retirement. If you run short, then adjust your plan accordingly.” Working a little longer can be a game-changer for your retirement nest egg. Not only does it give you more time to save, it also gives your investments room to grow. “Working longer or even just part time for a few years early in retirement is one of the best ways to reduce the amount of money you need to save,” says Hunsberger. Postponing retirement can also boost your Social Security benefits . “You can claim as early as 62, but your benefits will be reduced significantly,” says Hunsberger. Meanwhile, each year you delay claiming Social Security benefits beyond your full retirement age , your monthly check will increase by 8%, though this benefit maxes out at age 70. So waiting can really pay off. It may seem obvious, but if you’re behind on retirement savings, you’ll need to boost your contributions as much as possible. Here are a few ways to make saving for retirement easier: —Increase your contribution rate: Allocate a larger portion of your paycheck to a workplace retirement plan. Even bumping up your contributions by 1% or 2% can make a huge difference down the road. —Take advantage of your employer match: Don’t leave free money on the table. Many employers will chip in between 3 and 5% depending on your plan, so make sure you’re contributing enough to take advantage of the benefit. —Use “unexpected” money to catch up: If you get a raise or bonus at work, funnel part of it directly into your 401(k). And if you get a refund at tax time, siphon some of it off to beef up your IRA. If you’ve been investing in low-risk, low-return investments, you may not be keeping up with inflation, let alone growing your nest egg. Reallocating part of your portfolio to stocks or low-cost growth exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is one way to get your money working harder. Higher-risk investments like stocks carry more volatility but also offer higher potential returns. Work with a financial adviser or use a robo-adviser to strike the right balance between growth and your personal risk tolerance. Contribution limits for 401(k) plans and IRAs are higher for people over 50. For 2025, employees aged 50 and up who participate in most 401(k) plans or the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan can save up to $31,000 annually, including a $7,500 catch-up contribution . But thanks to SECURE 2.0 , a sweeping retirement law, a new higher catch-up contribution limit of $11,250 applies for employees ages 60 to 63. So, if you’re in this age group, you can squirrel away a whopping $34,750 a year during the final stretch of your career. Of course, you’ll need a big salary (think six figures) in order to take full advantage of such massive contribution limits. But if you can afford it, these catch-up allowances can put your plan back on track, especially if you struggled to save much early in your career. There’s no GPS to gauge your progress on the road to retirement. If you’ve veered off course or aren’t sure where to start, begin by getting a quick estimate of how much you’ll need before mapping out a retirement budget. And if you’re behind, don’t panic — adjusting your spending, boosting your contributions and speaking with a financial adviser can help you catch up. ©2024 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on X (Opens in new window) Most Popular Distraught man tried to get police to shoot him, ultimately leading to shots fired in both directions Distraught man tried to get police to shoot him, ultimately leading to shots fired in both directions Youngkin wants to pull Virginia funding from ‘sanctuary cities’ Youngkin wants to pull Virginia funding from ‘sanctuary cities’ Isle of Wight teacher arrested on child porn charges Isle of Wight teacher arrested on child porn charges Woman dies, driver injured in James City County crash Woman dies, driver injured in James City County crash Colonial Williamsburg’s Grand Illumination has echoes across the US Colonial Williamsburg's Grand Illumination has echoes across the US Wrong-way driver on I-64 arrested, charged with driving under the influence Wrong-way driver on I-64 arrested, charged with driving under the influence David Teel: Pure genius or desperate folly? UNC welcomes Bill Belichick. David Teel: Pure genius or desperate folly? UNC welcomes Bill Belichick. The Navy’s fighter pilots fly at the extremes. Their brains may suffer. The Navy’s fighter pilots fly at the extremes. Their brains may suffer. Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor Head of the Federal Aviation Administration to resign, allowing Trump to pick his successor Former NFL player opens Newport News youth empowerment center Former NFL player opens Newport News youth empowerment center Trending Nationally President Joe Biden commutes sentences for two of Chicago area’s most notorious fraudsters Drone sightings reach Pennsylvania; Monroe County officials ask residents to report them to 911 How pythons and other invasive species may have spread farther in Florida due to hurricanes Snowboarder seriously injured in 47-foot fall from chairlift at Keystone Resort ‘Enron CEO’ Connor Gaydos hit in the face with pie in New York CityRachel Christian | (TNS) Bankrate.com Just because retirement planning involves some guesswork doesn’t mean it has to be a total mystery. Related Articles Business | The year in money: inflation eased, optimism ticked upward Business | Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds Business | How to protect your communications through encryption Business | About 2.6 million Stanley cups recalled after malfunctions caused burns. Is your mug included? Business | Musk says US is demanding he pay penalty over disclosures of his Twitter stock purchases Whether you’ve been saving since your first job or you’re getting a late start, you can leverage expert-recommended strategies to gauge your progress on the road to retirement. And if you’re not quite on track, don’t sweat it — the experts we spoke to offered actionable tips to help you close the gap. You might have a general idea of how much money you need to save for retirement . A few quick calculations can give you an estimate, but to truly appreciate where you stand, you’ll need to dive into the numbers. Here’s how to get started. A good rule of thumb to estimate your retirement savings goal is the Rule of 25 . Simply multiply your desired annual retirement income by 25. The result is roughly how much you’ll need to save before hitting retirement. For example, if you plan to spend $50,000 a year, you’ll need about $1.25 million to make it a reality. The Rule of 25 is based on the idea that withdrawing 4% annually from your retirement savings should last you about 30 years. While it’s not an exact science by any means — health care costs and lifestyle changes can skew the numbers, for example — the Rule of 25 can be a good starting point to figure out how much you need to save. Fidelity Investments, a behemoth in the retirement planning space, offers savings guidelines to help you determine if you’re on track . —By age 30: Save 1x your annual salary —By age 40: Save 3x your annual salary —By age 50: Save 6x your annual salary —By age 60: Save 8x your annual salary —By age 67: Save 10x your annual salary For example, if you earn $60,000 annually, you should aim for $600,000 in savings by age 67. But like the Rule of 25, Fidelity’s guidelines offer a 10,000-foot look at retirement goals, and they’re not customized to your situation. Maybe you earned a low salary in your 20s, but you’re working hard in your 30s to make up for it. Use these estimates as a benchmark — but don’t get discouraged if you’re lagging behind. Now it’s time to zoom in a little. To get a clearer snapshot of your progress, use an online retirement calculator. These tools factor in your age, current savings, income and lifestyle goals to estimate whether you’re on track. You’ll get a more refined estimate without crunching the numbers yourself. Bankrate’s retirement calculator even lets you input different rates of return on your investments and accounts for estimated annual salary increases. Having a general savings goal is nice, but to avoid falling short in retirement, you’ll need more than a ballpark figure. Experts recommend creating a retirement budget to get an up-close-and-personal look at how much you’ll really need once you leave the workforce. First, estimate how much you’ll spend per month in retirement. While some costs will increase, like health care, others will likely decrease, like dining out and commuting. “Estimating expenses can be challenging for some people, so as a starting point, I often use your net take-home pay,” says Jeff DeLarme, a certified financial planner and president of DeLarme Wealth Management. For example, if you receive a direct deposit of $2,500 every two weeks from work, use $5,000 as your estimated monthly spending in retirement. “Assuming this was enough to pay the bills while working, we can use $5,000 a month as a starting budget to plan for,” says DeLarme. Next, map out your sources of income in retirement. Social Security is the largest income stream for most retirees, but don’t neglect other inflows, such as: —Workplace retirement accounts, like 401(k)s —Personal retirement accounts, like a traditional or Roth IRA —Pensions —Annuities —Selling your home or business —Rental income —Inheritance “If there’s a gap between your expected expenses and income, you’ll have a good idea of how much you need to save,” says Mike Hunsberger, a certified financial planner and owner of Next Mission Financial Planning. From there, you can adjust your savings and investment strategy accordingly. For something as important (and complex) as retirement planning, it pays to speak with a professional. Financial advisers can analyze your savings, investments and retirement goals to create a personalized plan. Advisers use special planning software that account for more variables than an online calculator, giving you a much more precise, granular look at your financial life in retirement. Many financial advisers can also help you optimize your tax strategy, which can potentially save you thousands of dollars over time. Make sure the adviser you hire is a fiduciary , meaning they’re legally obligated to prioritize your interests over their own. A fiduciary won’t push investments to earn a commission or recommend products that aren’t aligned with your needs. A certified financial planner is one of the most well-recognized designations for fiduciaries. You can use Bankrate’s adviser matching tool to find a certified financial planner in your area in minutes. Maybe you did the math and realized you’re not quite where you need to be. Don’t panic if you’re behind schedule. Here are five strategies experts recommend to help you catch up on your retirement savings . Cutting expenses now frees up more cash to invest in your retirement accounts. Evaluate your budget and identify areas where you can cut costs, like dining out, streaming subscriptions or shopping. Don’t rule out bigger lifestyle changes either, especially if retirement is rapidly approaching. Housing is the biggest monthly expense for most people. Getting creative here can help amplify the amount you can sock away, says Joseph Boughan, a certified financial planner and managing member at Parkmount Financial Partners. It can also reduce your expenses in retirement, so you may not need to save as much as before. “Downsizing can be a great way to cut expenses,” says Boughan. “This can even free up cash if you don’t end up needing all that money for a new home.” Moving somewhere with lower property taxes or income taxes can also help bring your retirement plan back in line. And if you’re a renter, making tough short-term decisions, like taking on a roommate or moving to a lower cost-of-living area, can free up hundreds of dollars a month for your retirement. “Everyone’s plan is unique, so exploring all the options is important,” Boughan says. Joe Conroy, a certified financial planner and owner of Harford Retirement Planners, recommends taking a “retirement test drive” as you near your target date. “Start to live on what income you think you can afford in retirement and stash all the extra income into savings and investments,” says Conroy. “If you can make it through each month, you’re ready for retirement. If you run short, then adjust your plan accordingly.” Working a little longer can be a game-changer for your retirement nest egg. Not only does it give you more time to save, it also gives your investments room to grow. “Working longer or even just part time for a few years early in retirement is one of the best ways to reduce the amount of money you need to save,” says Hunsberger. Postponing retirement can also boost your Social Security benefits . “You can claim as early as 62, but your benefits will be reduced significantly,” says Hunsberger. Meanwhile, each year you delay claiming Social Security benefits beyond your full retirement age , your monthly check will increase by 8%, though this benefit maxes out at age 70. So waiting can really pay off. It may seem obvious, but if you’re behind on retirement savings, you’ll need to boost your contributions as much as possible. Here are a few ways to make saving for retirement easier: —Increase your contribution rate: Allocate a larger portion of your paycheck to a workplace retirement plan. Even bumping up your contributions by 1% or 2% can make a huge difference down the road. —Take advantage of your employer match: Don’t leave free money on the table. Many employers will chip in between 3 and 5% depending on your plan, so make sure you’re contributing enough to take advantage of the benefit. —Use “unexpected” money to catch up: If you get a raise or bonus at work, funnel part of it directly into your 401(k). And if you get a refund at tax time, siphon some of it off to beef up your IRA. If you’ve been investing in low-risk, low-return investments, you may not be keeping up with inflation, let alone growing your nest egg. Reallocating part of your portfolio to stocks or low-cost growth exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is one way to get your money working harder. Higher-risk investments like stocks carry more volatility but also offer higher potential returns. Work with a financial adviser or use a robo-adviser to strike the right balance between growth and your personal risk tolerance. Contribution limits for 401(k) plans and IRAs are higher for people over 50. For 2025, employees aged 50 and up who participate in most 401(k) plans or the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan can save up to $31,000 annually, including a $7,500 catch-up contribution . But thanks to SECURE 2.0 , a sweeping retirement law, a new higher catch-up contribution limit of $11,250 applies for employees ages 60 to 63. So, if you’re in this age group, you can squirrel away a whopping $34,750 a year during the final stretch of your career. Of course, you’ll need a big salary (think six figures) in order to take full advantage of such massive contribution limits. But if you can afford it, these catch-up allowances can put your plan back on track, especially if you struggled to save much early in your career. There’s no GPS to gauge your progress on the road to retirement. If you’ve veered off course or aren’t sure where to start, begin by getting a quick estimate of how much you’ll need before mapping out a retirement budget. And if you’re behind, don’t panic — adjusting your spending, boosting your contributions and speaking with a financial adviser can help you catch up. ©2024 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Elizabeth Olsen Details Financial Problems of Todd Solondz’s Love Child By has offered an update on , the planned Todd Solondz drama that she and Charles Melton were set to star in. What did Elizabeth Olsen say about Love Child? In a recent interview with Vulture, Olsen was asked about the status of the movie, and admitted that it was “having a hard time getting made.” As to why, Olsen pointed to the lack of a “really responsible” budget, and hinted that the project didn’t have the financing it needed to continue as of now. “There’s so many things I could say about that in private,” said Olsen. “It really comes down to having really responsible budgets. But not every movie can be made with favors for crews, right? You can’t ask crews to be paid a really shitty wage. So I don’t know. I find it all to be really frustrating right now, specifically for film.” “The story follows Misty who is stuck in a loveless marriage to a brutish husband,” reads the initial synopsis of Love Child. “Junior, her precocious 11-year-old is her only consolation. When Easy, a handsome vagabond stranger, appears, Junior hatches a plan to get rid of his father so that his mother can marry him instead. But things end up backfiring, so Junior comes up with yet another plan, this one even more devious, and with more disastrous—and unexpected—consequences.” Rachel Weisz and Colin Farrell were originally attached to star in the movie prior to Olsen and Melton’s casting. At the time of the movie’s announcement, Love Child was said to be produced by Cindy Bru, Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa, and Ford Corbett, while Michael Jefferson, Adam Beasley, Atilla Yucer, Joshua Harris, and Steven Farneth serve as executive producers. Soldonz is known for directing movies such as 1989’s Fear, Anxiety & Depression, 1995’s Welcome to the Dollhouse, 1998’s Happiness, 2001’s Storytelling, 2004’s Palindromes, 2009’s Life During Wartime, 2011’s Dark Horse, and, most recently, 2016’s Weiner-Dog. (Source: ) Anthony Nash has been writing about games and the gaming industry for nearly a decade. When he’s not writing about games, he’s usually playing them. You can find him on Twitter talking about games or sports at @_anthonynash. Share articleBIG TEN THIS WEEK
Rachel Christian | (TNS) Bankrate.com Just because retirement planning involves some guesswork doesn’t mean it has to be a total mystery. Related Articles Business | The year in money: inflation eased, optimism ticked upward Business | How to protect your communications through encryption Business | Army and Navy team up for hypersonic missile launch from Cape Canaveral Business | About 2.6 million Stanley cups recalled after malfunctions caused burns. Is your mug included? Business | Musk says US is demanding he pay penalty over disclosures of his Twitter stock purchases Whether you’ve been saving since your first job or you’re getting a late start, you can leverage expert-recommended strategies to gauge your progress on the road to retirement. And if you’re not quite on track, don’t sweat it — the experts we spoke to offered actionable tips to help you close the gap. You might have a general idea of how much money you need to save for retirement . A few quick calculations can give you an estimate, but to truly appreciate where you stand, you’ll need to dive into the numbers. Here’s how to get started. A good rule of thumb to estimate your retirement savings goal is the Rule of 25 . Simply multiply your desired annual retirement income by 25. The result is roughly how much you’ll need to save before hitting retirement. For example, if you plan to spend $50,000 a year, you’ll need about $1.25 million to make it a reality. The Rule of 25 is based on the idea that withdrawing 4% annually from your retirement savings should last you about 30 years. While it’s not an exact science by any means — health care costs and lifestyle changes can skew the numbers, for example — the Rule of 25 can be a good starting point to figure out how much you need to save. Fidelity Investments, a behemoth in the retirement planning space, offers savings guidelines to help you determine if you’re on track . —By age 30: Save 1x your annual salary —By age 40: Save 3x your annual salary —By age 50: Save 6x your annual salary —By age 60: Save 8x your annual salary —By age 67: Save 10x your annual salary For example, if you earn $60,000 annually, you should aim for $600,000 in savings by age 67. But like the Rule of 25, Fidelity’s guidelines offer a 10,000-foot look at retirement goals, and they’re not customized to your situation. Maybe you earned a low salary in your 20s, but you’re working hard in your 30s to make up for it. Use these estimates as a benchmark — but don’t get discouraged if you’re lagging behind. Now it’s time to zoom in a little. To get a clearer snapshot of your progress, use an online retirement calculator. These tools factor in your age, current savings, income and lifestyle goals to estimate whether you’re on track. You’ll get a more refined estimate without crunching the numbers yourself. Bankrate’s retirement calculator even lets you input different rates of return on your investments and accounts for estimated annual salary increases. Having a general savings goal is nice, but to avoid falling short in retirement, you’ll need more than a ballpark figure. Experts recommend creating a retirement budget to get an up-close-and-personal look at how much you’ll really need once you leave the workforce. First, estimate how much you’ll spend per month in retirement. While some costs will increase, like health care, others will likely decrease, like dining out and commuting. “Estimating expenses can be challenging for some people, so as a starting point, I often use your net take-home pay,” says Jeff DeLarme, a certified financial planner and president of DeLarme Wealth Management. For example, if you receive a direct deposit of $2,500 every two weeks from work, use $5,000 as your estimated monthly spending in retirement. “Assuming this was enough to pay the bills while working, we can use $5,000 a month as a starting budget to plan for,” says DeLarme. Next, map out your sources of income in retirement. Social Security is the largest income stream for most retirees, but don’t neglect other inflows, such as: —Workplace retirement accounts, like 401(k)s —Personal retirement accounts, like a traditional or Roth IRA —Pensions —Annuities —Selling your home or business —Rental income —Inheritance “If there’s a gap between your expected expenses and income, you’ll have a good idea of how much you need to save,” says Mike Hunsberger, a certified financial planner and owner of Next Mission Financial Planning. From there, you can adjust your savings and investment strategy accordingly. For something as important (and complex) as retirement planning, it pays to speak with a professional. Financial advisers can analyze your savings, investments and retirement goals to create a personalized plan. Advisers use special planning software that account for more variables than an online calculator, giving you a much more precise, granular look at your financial life in retirement. Many financial advisers can also help you optimize your tax strategy, which can potentially save you thousands of dollars over time. Make sure the adviser you hire is a fiduciary , meaning they’re legally obligated to prioritize your interests over their own. A fiduciary won’t push investments to earn a commission or recommend products that aren’t aligned with your needs. A certified financial planner is one of the most well-recognized designations for fiduciaries. You can use Bankrate’s adviser matching tool to find a certified financial planner in your area in minutes. Maybe you did the math and realized you’re not quite where you need to be. Don’t panic if you’re behind schedule. Here are five strategies experts recommend to help you catch up on your retirement savings . Cutting expenses now frees up more cash to invest in your retirement accounts. Evaluate your budget and identify areas where you can cut costs, like dining out, streaming subscriptions or shopping. Don’t rule out bigger lifestyle changes either, especially if retirement is rapidly approaching. Housing is the biggest monthly expense for most people. Getting creative here can help amplify the amount you can sock away, says Joseph Boughan, a certified financial planner and managing member at Parkmount Financial Partners. It can also reduce your expenses in retirement, so you may not need to save as much as before. “Downsizing can be a great way to cut expenses,” says Boughan. “This can even free up cash if you don’t end up needing all that money for a new home.” Moving somewhere with lower property taxes or income taxes can also help bring your retirement plan back in line. And if you’re a renter, making tough short-term decisions, like taking on a roommate or moving to a lower cost-of-living area, can free up hundreds of dollars a month for your retirement. “Everyone’s plan is unique, so exploring all the options is important,” Boughan says. Joe Conroy, a certified financial planner and owner of Harford Retirement Planners, recommends taking a “retirement test drive” as you near your target date. “Start to live on what income you think you can afford in retirement and stash all the extra income into savings and investments,” says Conroy. “If you can make it through each month, you’re ready for retirement. If you run short, then adjust your plan accordingly.” Working a little longer can be a game-changer for your retirement nest egg. Not only does it give you more time to save, it also gives your investments room to grow. “Working longer or even just part time for a few years early in retirement is one of the best ways to reduce the amount of money you need to save,” says Hunsberger. Postponing retirement can also boost your Social Security benefits . “You can claim as early as 62, but your benefits will be reduced significantly,” says Hunsberger. Meanwhile, each year you delay claiming Social Security benefits beyond your full retirement age , your monthly check will increase by 8%, though this benefit maxes out at age 70. So waiting can really pay off. It may seem obvious, but if you’re behind on retirement savings, you’ll need to boost your contributions as much as possible. Here are a few ways to make saving for retirement easier: —Increase your contribution rate: Allocate a larger portion of your paycheck to a workplace retirement plan. Even bumping up your contributions by 1% or 2% can make a huge difference down the road. —Take advantage of your employer match: Don’t leave free money on the table. Many employers will chip in between 3 and 5% depending on your plan, so make sure you’re contributing enough to take advantage of the benefit. —Use “unexpected” money to catch up: If you get a raise or bonus at work, funnel part of it directly into your 401(k). And if you get a refund at tax time, siphon some of it off to beef up your IRA. If you’ve been investing in low-risk, low-return investments, you may not be keeping up with inflation, let alone growing your nest egg. Reallocating part of your portfolio to stocks or low-cost growth exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is one way to get your money working harder. Higher-risk investments like stocks carry more volatility but also offer higher potential returns. Work with a financial adviser or use a robo-adviser to strike the right balance between growth and your personal risk tolerance. Contribution limits for 401(k) plans and IRAs are higher for people over 50. For 2025, employees aged 50 and up who participate in most 401(k) plans or the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan can save up to $31,000 annually, including a $7,500 catch-up contribution . But thanks to SECURE 2.0 , a sweeping retirement law, a new higher catch-up contribution limit of $11,250 applies for employees ages 60 to 63. So, if you’re in this age group, you can squirrel away a whopping $34,750 a year during the final stretch of your career. Of course, you’ll need a big salary (think six figures) in order to take full advantage of such massive contribution limits. But if you can afford it, these catch-up allowances can put your plan back on track, especially if you struggled to save much early in your career. There’s no GPS to gauge your progress on the road to retirement. If you’ve veered off course or aren’t sure where to start, begin by getting a quick estimate of how much you’ll need before mapping out a retirement budget. And if you’re behind, don’t panic — adjusting your spending, boosting your contributions and speaking with a financial adviser can help you catch up. ©2024 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Distributed Photovoltaic Inverter Market Key Industry Trends Size and Growth Forecast 2032
Among elites across the ideological spectrum, there's one point of unifying agreement: Americans are bitterly divided. What if that's wrong? What if elites are the ones who are bitterly divided while most Americans are fairly unified? History rarely lines up perfectly with the calendar (the "sixties" didn't really start until the decade was almost over). But politically, the 21st century neatly began in 2000, when the election ended in a tie and the color coding of electoral maps became enshrined as a kind of permanent tribal color war of "red vs. blue." Elite understanding of politics has been stuck in this framework ever since. Politicians and voters have leaned into this alleged political reality, making it seem all the more real in the process. I loathe the phrase "perception is reality," but in politics it has the reifying power of self-fulfilling prophecy. Like rival noble families in medieval Europe, elites have been vying for power and dominance on the arrogant assumption that their subjects share their concern for who rules rather than what the rulers can deliver. In 2018, the group More in Common published a massive report on the "hidden tribes" of American politics. The wealthiest and whitest groups were "devoted conservatives" (6%) and "progressive activists" (8%). These tribes dominate the media, the parties and higher education, and they dictate the competing narratives of red vs. blue, particularly on cable news and social media. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of Americans resided in, or were adjacent to, the "exhausted majority." These people, however, "have no narrative," as David Brooks wrote at the time. "They have no coherent philosophic worldview to organize their thinking and compel action." Lacking a narrative might seem like a very postmodern problem, but in a postmodern elite culture, postmodern problems are real problems. It's worth noting that red vs. blue America didn't emerge ex nihilo. The 1990s were a time when the economy and government seemed to be working, at home and abroad. As a result, elites leaned into the narcissism of small differences to gain political and cultural advantage. They remain obsessed with competing, often apocalyptic, narratives. That leaves out most Americans. The gladiatorial combatants of cable news, editorial pages and academia, and their superfan spectators, can afford these fights. Members of the exhausted majority are more interested in mere competence. I think that's the hidden unity elites are missing. This is why we keep throwing incumbent parties out of power: They get elected promising competence but get derailed -- or seduced -- by fan service to, or trolling of, the elites who dominate the national conversation. There's a difference between competence and expertise. One of the most profound political changes in recent years has been the separation of notions of credentialed expertise from real-world competence. This isn't a new theme in American life, but the pandemic and the lurch toward identity politics amplified distrust of experts in unprecedented ways. This is a particular problem for the left because it is far more invested in credentialism than the right. Indeed, some progressives are suddenly realizing they invested too much in the authority of experts and too little in the ability of experts to provide what people want from government, such as affordable housing, decent education and low crime. The New York Times' Ezra Klein says he's tired of defending the authority of government institutions. Rather, "I want them to work." One of the reasons progressives find Trump so offensive is his absolute inability to speak the language of expertise -- which is full of coded elite shibboleths. But Trump veritably shouts the language of competence. I don't mean he is actually competent at governing. But he is effectively blunt about calling leaders, experts and elites -- of both parties -- stupid, ineffective, weak and incompetent. He lost in 2020 because voters didn't believe he was actually good at governing. He won in 2024 because the exhausted majority concluded the Biden administration was bad at it. Nostalgia for the low-inflation pre-pandemic economy was enough to convince voters that Trumpian drama is the tolerable price to pay for a good economy. About 3 out of 4 Americans who experienced "severe hardship" because of inflation voted for Trump. The genius of Trump's most effective ad -- "Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you" -- was that it was simultaneously culture-war red meat and an argument that Harris was more concerned about boutique elite concerns than everyday ones. If Trump can actually deliver competent government, he could make the Republican Party the majority party for a generation. For myriad reasons, that's an if so big it's visible from space. But the opportunity is there -- and has been there all along.
(Bloomberg) -- After months of depressing news about countries backsliding on climate pledges and companies softening green ambitions, it’d be easy to forget this year also saw impressive developments in the fight against global warming. Solar installations popped up in unexpected places. Cities experimented with wild adaptation projects. Elderly Swiss women even won a major climate case in a European court. Bloomberg Green covered these events and more. Here’s a round-up of the good news from 2024. Solar Energy Had a Record Year Solar capacity around the world was rolled out at a record pace, as bargain panel prices helped countries deploy cleaner energy. Major markets like China, India and Germany showed steady growth, while demand soared from countries that previously showed little interest in the energy source, such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Meanwhile, both wind and solar capacity surpassed a target in China almost six years early. Britain Embraced the Sun, Ditched Coal The British Library unveiled a £1.5 million ($2 million) solar installation on its roof this year, while the Church of England began generating electricity from a dramatic 438-panel display on a historic chapel in Cambridge. Meanwhile, the UK turned off its last coal-fired power plant at the end of September, marking itself as the first G7 nation to purge the fossil fuel from its electricity mix. Norway Went All in on EVs Norway prepared to meet its 2025 goal of eliminating fossil-fuel-powered car sales. Incentives and policies have made electric vehicles a mainstay on its roads. Today, EVs make up about 25% of cars in Norway, with around 170 electric-powered models available. The country’s strategy is being seen as a framework for other nations seeking to transition away from fossil fuels. The US Eliminated Electron Deserts Electric vehicle range anxiety was put to rest for many drivers in the US in 2024. In the first nine months of the year, the number of fast-charging stations in the country surged by 35%. There are now about 9,000 public sites in the US with much of the infrastructure built in rural areas. ... And Rolled Out Its First Electric School Buses A squadron of shiny yellow electric school buses in Oakland, California were the first to serve a major US school district. Now the vehicles’ large batteries can also supply electricity to the Bay Area power grid. Australia Made EVs More Attainable Australia’s government began funding cheap loans to help low-income workers buy electric vehicles in a bid to kickstart slumping sales of battery-powered cars. The IOUs can be used to purchase new or used EVs worth as much as A$55,000. Biden’s Climate Law Isn’t All Lost US climate policies are now in question under the Trump administration. Yet this year we learned there are some significant portions of President Joe Biden’s landmark climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, that will be resilient to the change. Ten-year tax credits to drive investment in clean energy manufacturing are most likely safe. Also, most of the IRA’s climate funding has gone out the door already. US Climate Action Had Local Successes Voters in a number of US cities backed measures to invest in improving public transit. Washington state voted to keep the state’s cap-and-trade program. Californians said yes at the ballot box to support $10 billion of funding for climate resilience. A commercial food waste ban introduced in Massachusetts in 2014, meanwhile, led to a 7% average annual reduction in landfilled and incinerated waste in its first five years of implementation. Amazon Deforestation Slowed Under Lula Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s promised to get tough on deforestation in the Amazon when he took office at the start of 2023. Early results are promising. Last year the country cut deforestation by 50%, according to government data. This year, it’s dropped a significant amount again, according to Marina Silva, Brazil’s environment minister and top climate diplomat. Older Generations Stepped Up the Climate Fight A group of elderly Swiss women won a historic verdict in April. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the “Swiss Confederation had failed to comply with its duties” concerning climate change and violated the plaintiffs’ rights to respect for private and family life. In the US and UK, a growing number of retirees are playing a major role in protesting fossil fuel expansion and exhorting their contemporaries to vote with the climate in mind. Water Was Created Out of Thin Air Startups made new improvements on a technology that can draw water out of the driest skies. Metallic organic frameworks (MOFs) don’t require electricity and can produce H2O with just ambient sunlight. Cities Built Up Their Climate Resilience While the world is still trying to stop global warming from getting worse, many cities prepared for the impacts already being felt. Among the projects happening: Beira, Mozambique is deploying a cyclone warning system; Boulder, Colorado, is becoming a fortress against wildfires; Frankfurt is capturing airflow to stay cool. Nairobi even figured out how to use trash-eating flies to tame dangerous floods.None'We beat Aston Villa so we don't fear Celtic' - Inside the confident Club Brugge camp ahead of Champions League clash
