5 Pieces of Financial Advice to Avoid at All Costs

5 Pieces of Financial Advice to Avoid at All Costs

Suze Orman on the commonly accepted money tips it pays to ignore.

By Suze Orman

Bad financial information doesn't come only from scammers; even our loved ones can unwittingly steer us wrong. That's why knowing what not to do with your money is often your biggest asset. In general, there are two little words that should set off everybody's suspicion meter: Trust me. Anyone who gives you this line—whether a financial adviser or your significant other—is disrespecting you.

You should never entrust a money decision entirely to someone else. I know, I know: Sometimes you'd rather pass the buck. But remember, we're talking about your security, your future, your peace of mind.

It's one thing to hire an investment adviser to help you choose funds for your IRA, or to cheerlead a spouse as he or she sets up a 529 plan to help pay your child's college tuition. It's quite another to tune out completely.

Find an hour or so a month to peruse a personal finance Web site or a magazine like Money or Kiplinger's, which will keep you up-to-date on the basics. The blog at Mint.com is also a great resource, with posts on everything from choosing a mortgage to spotting medical bill errors. By educating yourself in these simple ways, you'll sidestep all sorts of traps. Here's some common advice you should disregard—and more profitable leads to follow instead.

Don't Buy It: "Your child's college degree is a great investment."

A blanket statement like this is missing a crucial qualifier: An affordable college degree is a great investment. The unemployment rate for Americans 25 years of age and older is a lot lower for college graduates than for those with only a high school diploma (3.9 versus 8.1 percent).

But that doesn't mean you should tell your kids to set their sights on any school—regardless of whether it will leave you with a crushing amount of debt. All too often, parents fail to strategize when it comes to paying for education and end up getting off the track to retiring comfortably.

Ironically, this does kids a major disservice: If you lack sufficient retirement savings down the line, your children are the ones who'll bear the burden of supporting you.

A Better Idea: Think in terms of long-run affordability. (This goes for you and your child, since I firmly believe kids must borrow for school before parents dip into their savings or take out a loan.) Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid.org, says students should limit their total borrowing to an amount no greater than what they can reasonably expect to earn in their first year of full-time work; borrow more, and the odds of running into payback problems and default soar.

Check out typical starting salaries at Salary.com; even if your child doesn't have a specific career in mind yet, it's a great exercise for families to do together, to start getting grounded in postcollege reality.

When it comes to financing options, remember that federal Perkins and Stafford loans offer the best deals; private loans are risky and can end up being far too expensive. The maximum Stafford loan amount a dependent student can borrow for all undergrad years is $31,000.

Parents who want to chip in should first figure out if they can afford to do so by using the T. Rowe Price Retirement Income Calculator and then look into federal PLUS loans.

Finally, your child should apply to at least one public institution; if money is extremely tight, there's also the option of attending two years of community college (whose credits are usually transferable) and finishing at a four-year school.

Don't Buy It: "Renting is a waste of money."

Buying a home can of course be a wise investment, especially considering today's record-low mortgage rates. But that doesn't mean choosing home ownership over renting is right for everyone. In some regions of the country, the cost of owning may still be higher than that of renting (to account for total ownership expenses, including property tax and maintenance, my rule of thumb is to add about 30 percent to the base mortgage amount).

And while home values may be stabilizing in many parts of the United States, that doesn't mean they're suddenly going to start rising at a fast and furious pace.

Over the next five to seven years, you still might not see a home's value appreciate the roughly 8 to 10 percent it would need to simply to cover the costs of relocating (which at the very least include the real estate agent's typical 6 percent commission, as well as movers' fees).

A Better Idea: Do the math carefully before you consider buying. Ask yourself: Do you have any inkling that you'll want to move in the next five to seven years, whether for a job, a fresh start, or a new experience? If so, purchasing a home is not a smart choice. Keep renting until you can commit to settling down for longer, and tune out everyone who says you're throwing away money.

To Continue To Read More:  https://www.oprah.com/omagazine/financial-advice-to-ignore-suze-orman-financial-advice#ixzz2BC2Qum7Q

Powerball Winner Wished He 'Tore Up Ticket' After $315m Jackpot Destroyed Him

Powerball Winner Wished He 'Tore Up Ticket' After $315m Jackpot Destroyed Him

Story by Liam McInerney

The world's largest lottery is launching in the UK this week - offering a fortunate British player the chance to become more than £300million ($400m) wealthier. Powerball, an American lottery game, awards massive jackpots that are distributed over a 30-year period.

 Today (July 23) marks the inaugural UK draw with an estimated top prize exceeding £300m - the biggest jackpot ever made available in Britain. Allwyn, which operates the National Lottery, has opened the game to UK participants, who will be entering alongside American players.

One former Powerball winner has firsthand experience of landing an astronomical sum - but the windfall became the most destructive event of his life. It comes after a father who won $31million in the lottery died two years later after the "worst thing ever".

Andrew 'Jack' Whittaker came to regret the ticket that preceded devastating family tragedies, marital breakdown, repeated thefts and a troubling gambling problem.

Here, we examine the disturbing downward spiral Whittaker endured following his win.

On Christmas Eve 2002, Whittaker bought a ticket at a grocery store in his hometown of Hurricane, West Virginia, US, after pulling in to fill up his vehicle.

Though he rarely played, he hit the jackpot with what became the largest single winning ticket in US lottery history - $315m.

Yet this wasn't a rags-to-riches tale, as Whittaker, an American entrepreneur who operated a thriving construction business, was already worth a substantial $17m. Despite his prior experience managing substantial wealth, the Powerball windfall proved too much to handle, and his life quickly began to unravel.

Rather than spreading his winnings across multiple payments over time, he opted for a lump sum payout, walking away with $113m after taxes.

He was far from tight-fisted with his newfound fortune, pouring $15m into the construction of two churches while also establishing the Jack Whittaker Foundation, which provided financial assistance to individuals for expenses such as car payments and other bills.

Nevertheless, he proved to be a divisive winner. Divorce accountant Bob Rufus recalled witnessing a heated confrontation between Whittaker and his wife's divorce attorney, recounting: "Jack was ready to start throwing punches. He was very volatile."

The Powerball winner had initially vowed the prize money wouldn't change who he was, telling Fox News he was "doing God's work with all this money" and adding: "I am helping a lot of people and I plan to help a lot more."

Yet following his windfall, he soon turned up to his local strip club, Pink Pony, placing $50,000 in cash behind the bar.

The bar manager at the time told the Washington Post: "My worst nightmare was waking up in the morning and reading in the paper that Jack Whittaker got rolled [robbed] at the Pink Pony. I said, 'Please put that money away.'"

He later returned to Pink Pony and allegedly boasted about having over a million dollars in cash sitting inside his Lincoln parked outside the venue.

Reports indicate that two individuals subsequently drugged him before breaking into the vehicle to steal the money. Both faced charges but avoided jail time, and the cash was later discovered near a trash can.

Astonishingly, Whittaker failed to heed the warning, and $200,000 was stolen from the same vehicle outside the same strip club just five months later.

Whittaker became a notorious local figure following his lottery windfall, splashing out on a Lamborghini and becoming renowned for hurling cash from his car window.

After countless large sums were stolen from him, he was questioned about why he continued carrying such vast amounts of money, to which he responded: "Because I can."

Tragically, just two years after striking it rich, Whittaker lost his granddaughter, Brandi Bragg, who was only 17-years-old.

Brandi was discovered in a plastic trapline behind an abandoned van. Prior to her death, Whittaker had reportedly been giving his granddaughter $2,000 per week, in addition to purchasing four cars for her.

Divorce accountant Bob Rufus commented: "He gave a crazy stipend to his 17-year-old granddaughter and that attracted some bad characters: nothing good came of it."

• Winner of $590M lottery jackpot sued her own son and met tragic end before resolving bitter feud

• $167million Powerball winner hits rock bottom as he's arrested for 'bizarre' crime

TO CONTINUE TO READ MORE:

It comes after a Powerball winner who bagged $315M made one mistake which led to 17 years of tragedy.

Powerball winner wished he 'tore up ticket' after $315m jackpot destroyed him

No Such Thing as Enough Money

No Such Thing as Enough Money

Jacob Schroeder   Oct 27, 2021

How much money is enough?

It’s a philosophical money question that often arises out of discontent. We see someone of substantial means, like a celebrity, live a troubled life. Or, we ourselves experience great fortune yet feel unhappy.

It makes us wonder where the finish line is, the point when you can stop striving for more and settle into a life of satisfaction.

There are some great financial blogs that provide good answers, such as here and here. And then there are a variety of books that tackle this question in their own ways: Ego Is the Enemy, The Last Lecture, the Bible, to name a few.

Another book that resonates with me, perhaps because of its instructive format, is How Will You Measure Your Life? by the late Clayton Christensen.

He comes to the startling realization:

“I had thought the destination was what was important, but it turned out it was the journey.”

That to me is the answer to the question. Though it is, in a way, a non-answer. As with many of life’s mysteries, there is no definitive conclusion.

There is never enough money.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean that you can always use more money to achieve a perfect life. Rather, I mean the exact opposite.

No amount of money will insulate you from suffering.

This week Elon Musk’s wealth jumped by $36 billion in a single day, bringing his net worth close to $300 billion. Yet, even he has experienced some very public setbacks, including the tragedy of losing his first child.

“The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” (Eccles. 9:11)

There is no such thing as enough money, as there is no destination of absolute happiness. It’s all about simply having the capacity to notice the truly joyful things along the journey.

Pay attention to the wrong things, and life starts to feel empty. As Christensen writes:

“In your life, there are going to be constant demands for your time and attention. How are you going to decide which of those demands gets resources? The trap many people fall into is to allocate their time to whoever screams loudest, and their talent to whatever offers them the fastest reward.”

His solution is to focus on what provides lasting happiness:

“Intimate, loving, and enduring relationships with our family and close friends will be among the sources of the deepest joy in our lives.”

I am writing this because yesterday we had to say good-bye to a special member of our family. Our dog Sunny, who I referenced in this previous blog, developed a severe case of intervertebral disc disease. We woke one morning to find her acting strange, and within 48 hours she was paralyzed. With a heavy sigh, the neurologist gave us the bad news that her chances of any type of recovery were minimal. At best, she would need consistent pain management. That was no way for her to live.

I am extremely grateful for the gift of having her in my life.

In the afternoon, my wife took Sunny for her last walk. We gently set her in the kids’ red wagon. Then she pulled her around the neighborhood, taking her one last time around her favorite trees and brightly colored fire hydrants. The late October sky was unseasonably warm and clear. The white sun brightened Sunny’s golden fur.

When my wife and Sunny came back around the corner, I felt as rich as possible -- to have known Sunny, to have such a caring and loving partner, to have a tragic day made picture perfect in so many ways.

That’s enough.

There is never enough money, if you can’t see the riches in front of you now.

The question shouldn’t be: how much money is enough? It should be: how much more clarity do you need to see the rich, joyful things happening all around you?

https://rootofall.substack.com/p/no-such-thing-as-enough-money

The Relationship Between Money and Marriage

The Relationship Between Money and Marriage

Jacob Schroeder  Oct 12, 2021

I love scotch; she hates it.

There are many things my wife and I don't agree on, but money isn't one of them. We are intentional spenders, buying only what mutually aligns with our needs or values. For instance, disinterested in paying for the trappings of an ostentatious wedding, we tied the knot at New York's City Hall; our reception was watching our first son play at a public playground in the East Village on a warm fall afternoon.

We've been happily together for 16 years, which makes me wonder: Does love make the financial side of marriage work, or is it the other way around?

The most important decision you'll ever make

Warren Buffett's financial wealth is only rivaled by his wealth of wisdom. Rarely does a day pass without someone in the finance industry quoting the Oracle of Omaha on social media. Heck, Warren Buffett's influence is so great, people have essentially made careers out of quoting him.

Yet, with all of his knowledge on investing and business, he says the most important decision a person can make has nothing to do with investing and business. At the 2009 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, he said:

“Marry the right person. I’m serious about that. It will make more difference in your life. It will change your aspirations, all kinds of things.”

You don't make it to Buffett's level of stature with a track record of being wrong often, and researchers seem to agree with him on this point. Studies show that marrying the right person can significantly improve our health, career success and wealth.

Marriage will change you in many ways. By definition, marriage -- joining two into one -- is disruptive. Often, for the better. It is about pursuing new things while sacrificing others. A major contributor to that disruption though is money.

Although we've long moved on from the ancient practice of marrying for the sake of status, money is an irrevocable part of marriage, at times, for better, and at times, for worse. Here is what research has uncovered about the relationship between money and marriage.

The relationship between money and marriage

Married people are wealthier than single people.

A 2005 study tracking people in their 20s, 30s and 40s found that married people experienced a 77% increase in wealth over single people. In fact, married individuals in the study saw their wealth rise 16% for each year of marriage. This makes sense considering married couples can combine incomes and share expenses.

However, it may not tell the whole story. You can't expect to tie the knot and just start watching the money roll right in. More affluent people are more likelier to get married in the first place. A report by the American Enterprise Institute details the wide gap in marriage rates by income. About a quarter of “poor” adults aged 18 to 55 are currently married, compared to 56% of middle- and upper-class adults.

Wealthier couples are happier.

A study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies suggests that married individuals are generally happier than the unmarried.

What about happiness among married couples?

Turns out, money is one of the biggest contributors to marital happiness. That's what University of Maryland sociology professor Philip Cohen found after analyzing data from the General Social Survey, a long-running study of Americans’ views and behaviors.

The survey shows a class divide when it comes to marital happiness. Of upper-class married couples, 70% said they are "very happy" while only 53% of lower-income couples could say the same.

TO READ MORE: https://rootofall.substack.com/p/the-relationship-between-money-and-marriage

Europe Just Bragged About Losing to Gold

Europe Just Bragged About Losing to Gold

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / Sovereign Man) June 4, 2026

When the euro launched on January 1, 1999, it was sold as the future. It would be a single currency to knit Europe together — to wipe out the exchange-rate friction between member states, complete the continent's single market, and bind a dozen squabbling nations into one economic bloc with one money.

And in the grander ambitions of its architects, it was meant to do something more: to grow up into a true global currency, the first serious rival the US dollar had faced since World War II.

Last week, the European Central Bank published its 2025 report card, with ECB President Christine Lagarde celebrating “an opening for the euro to enhance its global appeal.”

The report bragged that the euro remains the second most used currency in the world, as well as the second most held in reserve, behind only the dollar.

The key word is “currency.”

Because in reality, 2025 was the year that gold took the top spot, making up 27% of global reserves held by governments and central banks. That pushed US Treasuries into second place with 22%, and the euro into third, making up 15% of global reserves.

A metal that pays no interest and earns no yield is now the biggest slice of global reserves, up from just 20% a year earlier.

The world is, in fact, trying to diversify away from the dollar. Central banks have spent years quietly trimming their dollar exposure, looking for somewhere safer to park their national savings.

But they are not choosing euros.

Then why, the ECB may counter, was 2025 a record year for international borrowing in euros?

Because there is more debt in everything than ever — global debt keeps smashing new highs, so a record pile of euro IOUs is less an achievement than a symptom of the times.

But to give credit where it's due, the euro is genuinely in first place in one market, according to Lagarde: "The euro became the leading currency in the green and sustainable international bond market."

That's the debt Europe sells to bankroll the very net-zero crusade that gutted its own economy. So the euro's crowning achievement of 2025 was becoming the world champion at borrowing money to make itself poorer.

If you ever needed one sentence to explain why nobody wants this currency, there it is.

Because leading the world in the things that make you poorer is the entire European model. Across the continent, governments spent two decades waging war on their own cheap energy in the name of net zero — turning their backs on nuclear power that supplied a third of Europe's electricity in 1990 and barely 15% today.

They saddled themselves with some of the highest power prices in the developed world and watched their industry pack up and leave. They threw open their borders, then aimed their police and courts at the citizens who objected.

The result is a continent so hollowed out that Mississippi, the poorest state in America, now produces more wealth per person than France or Italy.

But sure, this is the euro’s moment...

Meanwhile, central banks added roughly 850 tonnes of physical gold in 2025, a slight step down from the record-shattering pace of the prior two years, but bought at the highest prices in human history.

Poland led the gold-buying pack last year, followed by China, Turkey, and India.

But for a stretch of 2025, the single biggest gold buyer on the planet wasn't a country at all — it was Tether, the company behind the world's biggest dollar-backed stablecoin.

In the third quarter alone it bought more gold than any central bank on earth, and by the end of January it was sitting on roughly 148 tonnes — nearly 4.8 million ounces, worth about $22 billion — enough to rank among the top 30 gold holders in the world, ahead of the likes of Australia and South Korea.

This is exactly why the gold story is far from over.

The extra gold central banks have bought since 2022 laid the foundation for a price that has nearly tripled since — yet even that represents only a modest reallocation out of US dollars.

So what happens when they move even another 5% of their $10 trillion in reserves into gold?

With no single currency able to replace the dollar, and the reasons to diversify only growing, gold looks set to keep climbing as the world's largest reserve asset.

To your freedom,   James Hickman   Co-Founder, Schiff Sovereign LLC

 P.S. Everyone from central banks to a stablecoin giant is racing into gold — which is why it's trading near record highs. We think owning the companies that produce it beats buying bullion at the top.

That's the whole idea behind Strategic Assets, Schiff Sovereign's monthly investment research. We hunt for profitable real-asset businesses with clean balance sheets, real catalysts, and a low multiple of free cash flow.

And it's working. We've seen it multiply the value of several precious metals companies, with others still in the buy range today. The same setup is now lining up well beyond the metals — in energy and other real assets — as nations around the world scramble to secure the critical resources a fragmenting world runs on.

https://www.schiffsovereign.com/investing/europe-just-bragged-about-losing-to-gold-155272/?inf_contact_key=f4fc58584d0d0a2b32c5ea1a500c07c21f2ce51ec8bc6ace203deddd90c8fcdf

This Is A Key Sign You Have An Unhealthy Relationship With Money

Experts Say This Is A Key Sign You Have An Unhealthy Relationship With Money

By Natalia Lusinski  

When it comes to money and budgeting, it’s often easier said than done. You may have the best of intentions — you’ll eat out less this month and put the money into your savings account instead. But then life happens. Just like working through any other life, fitness, or wellness issue, a little introspection is often the ticket. If you want to get your finances back in order, a financial psychologist or money mindset coach can help. It all starts with getting your head in the right place.

“Whenever things are in order, it brings us a sense of peace,” Severine Bryan, DBA, financial empowerment educator and coach, and founder of Sev Talks Money, tells TZR in an email.

“Having our finances in order doesn't necessarily mean we are debt-free, but it allows us to have a clear picture of where we are at. It is very important to know what is coming in and what is going out so we are not flying blind.”

She says she likes to think of organizing finances like taking a trip to New York City. “I can leave Georgia and end up in California if I don't know the details of the trip and if I don’t put specific plans in place,” she explains. “When I have a plan, I will go directly to NYC. And even if I take a detour, I will know how to get back on track to get there.” Ahead, Bryan and two other financial coaches explain how they help clients get back on track — and why it’s never too late to do so.

What A Financial Coach Does

Whether you consult a financial psychologist, money mindset coach, or similar type of financial expert, they all do variations of the same thing — help you figure out your relationship to money and how your past (upbringing) affects your present spending and saving habits.

“Part of what we're doing in financial therapy is to be able to really look with clarity at our circumstances — and how those circumstances change from moment to moment,” Financial Therapist Amanda Clayman tells TZR. She aims to help clients learn how to use certain strategies to get a money routine or practice in place.

Bryan adds that a financial coach can also help clients set financial goals, create a plan to achieve those goals, and provide accountability to help them follow the plan. “We also help the client dig deep to find what motivates them to achieve certain goals,” she explains.

“Because, many times, the goal is not money, but the things that money provides, such as freedom to make choices.” This can mean anything from wanting to eat out to buying a particular car or taking a certain vacation. “I think of a financial coach similarly to a football coach,” she adds. “The football coach gives the plays during training, but on game day, the quarterback is the one that has to make the calls.”

Finances can be a very difficult topic to discuss, Taryn Bushrod, money mindset coach and founder of Taryn’s World, tells TZR in an email. “Doing so exposes people’s vulnerabilities, and that can be extremely uncomfortable,” she says. “The first thing I do with a new client is build a relationship, so they are comfortable enough to start sharing pertinent information I need in order to help them start seeing results.” She then focuses on behavioral factors that impact spending.

“In doing so, you can identify the root cause of your actions and redirect your spending habits, which, in turn, could result in redirecting your funds.”

 TO READ MORE:‍ ‍https://www.thezoereport.com/wellness/relationship-with-money?fbclid=IwAR3SsiSiZ3gONSAjnuc_z8XSUXZE38MbQa4LOpH8FAdojaC1Y4I4oj3neZY

Green Policy is Deadlier Than Guns

Green Policy is Deadlier Than Guns

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / Sovereign Man May 29, 2026

Every year around this time, a silent killer sneaks its way onto European shores and slaughters people by the tens of thousands.  Last year, it killed more people in just three months than the number of civilians killed in the war in Ukraine all year. It killed three times as many people as traffic accidents do.  And it killed FOUR times more Europeans than gun violence killed in America.  I'm not talking about COVID. Or even the legions of migrants invading the continent. 

This deadly scourge that kills tens of thousands of Europeans each year is the lack of air conditioning.

Heat killed 62,775 people across the continent in the summer of 2024, according to a study in Nature Medicine.

The World Health Organization calls it the leading "climate-related" cause of death in the region.

But in reality, these deaths are directly related to the fanatical green environmental policies of European governments, which have made the electricity to run air conditioning prohibitively expensive.

Roughly 19% of European homes have A/C, versus 90% in the US.

The simple reason is the bill: electricity in Germany costs about 2.5 times what it does in the US. Starting in 2011, Germany shut down every one of its nuclear reactors and bet its grid on wind and solar — in a country where the sun barely shines.

European media and politicians have also spent a generation making anyone who even thinks about buying A/C feel like a moral failure. 

The result is a continent that has made cooling both unaffordable and shameful; then they act surprised when 60,000 people die in a heat wave.

The dead are not the only price paid. For decades, German manufacturing thrived because one machine could produce more than a thousand workers in the developing world.

But Germany's high-tech manufacturing model only worked because the electricity to run those machines was reliable and affordable.  But the German government has spent twenty years making energy either too expensive or, on certain days, simply unavailable.

Germany used to have inexpensive electricity thanks to its nuclear reactors. But the green fanatics have succeeded in shutting those reactors down, resulting in higher electric prices.

The bill for that policy lands on the factory floor. The German Association of the Automotive Industry reported on May 13, 2026 that German automakers have already shed 100,000 jobs since 2019, with another 125,000 projected to disappear by 2035.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called the nuclear phase-out "a mistake," and said "I regret this." Yet in the same breath he explained that "it is the way it is, and we are now concentrating on the energy policy we have."

In other words, they acknowledge that they made a huge mistake. But they also admit that they aren't going to fix it.

Perversely, the simple act of admitting a mistake (even without fixing it) is actually progress for a politician.

Just look at their immigration policy— they won’t even admit the mistake of importing legions of gang-raping foreigners who do not respect laws and have no problem committing violence.

The bill for that policy has come due in the same way the energy bill came due: in bodies.

In August 2024, Solingen's Festival of Diversity got a firsthand demonstration of what they were celebrating when a Syrian asylum seeker stabbed three people to death.

Four months later, a Saudi national drove a rented SUV through Magdeburg's Christmas market, killing six and injuring 200.

In January 2025, an Afghan asylum seeker— already under an active deportation order German authorities had failed to enforce— stabbed a two-year-old boy and a 41-year-old man to death in a public park in Aschaffenburg.

By November 2025, German cities had begun canceling their Christmas markets outright. One reopened after spending more than €250,000 on concrete barriers to keep trucks from being driven into shoppers a second time.

The state's response to imported violence is not to stop importing it. It is to cancel Christmas.

The pattern is always the same: even when governments make an enormous mistake,  they lean into it. They rarely fix anything, they just continue with a destructive policy. 

And anyone who actually does try to fix it gets ridiculed, canceled, or shot.

One current example from the US is the LA mayoral election.

The incumbent mayor, Karen Bass, has presided over the worst destruction the city has seen in decades. She does nothing about the homeless problem— in fact recently stated that taxpayers should pay for new teeth for homeless meth addicts so that they can have dignity.

Her only positive contribution, in her own words, is that she was “out of the country” when the Palisades wild fires started in January 2025 and that she did “not start the fires” herself. That’s a pretty low bar for success.

Her opponent, Spencer Pratt, just wants to fix the city. He presents real solutions to real problems, yet he is the one that the media paints as a fringe lunatic— not the lady who wants to give taxpayer-funded teeth to meth addicts.

Politicians do not just refuse to fix their mistakes; they save their loudest contempt for whoever is rude enough to mention them, or daring enough to fix them.

There may still be a way forward here. Maybe more responsible, more sensible people start running... and maybe voters will be responsible and sensible enough to elect them. Maybe this happens before it’s too late, and America can finally turn things around.

But there’s also a rational possibility that doesn’t happen... and that’s why it’s worth having a Plan B.

To your freedom,   James Hickman   Co-Founder, Schiff Sovereign

 PS—  Having a Plan B is not hysteria. It’s not unpatriotic. It’s a rational common-sense move to mitigate obvious risks.

The fact is that we have much more control over our circumstances than the ‘experts’ would have us believe. It is possible to get inflation’s impact on your life under control. To reduce your current and future tax bill. To reduce the risk of future social chaos. To set your family up for long-term success.

These are all sensible precautions and part of a smart Plan B strategy; we have been providing these solutions for years, and invite you to learn more about our research.

https://www.schiffsovereign.com/trends/green-policy-is-deadlier-than-guns-155218/?inf_contact_key=06e7b2f043e4e1147395f6fd794ae40f2294a318289bad97137125bd69e8bd38

4 Bad Habits That Could Affect Your Money More Than Tariffs and Inflation

4 Bad Habits That Could Affect Your Money More Than Tariffs and Inflation

Written by  Chris Adam  GoBankingRates

The Trump administration’s discussions about tariffs and inflation have led many consumers to question how well they’re prepared for the future regarding their finances. After all, some experts have raised concerns that tariffs could lead to higher prices on products and services people use each day.

But there may be a way to protect personal finances that has little to do with moves by the White House.

GOBankingRates spoke with financial experts about some common bad habits that could affect your money more than tariffs or inflation.

Failing To Save and Invest Early

Bill Lyons, CEO of Griffin Funding, said one harmful habit is failing to save and invest early. 

“Without a consistent savings plan, you’re missing out on the power of compound interest, which significantly grows wealth over time,” said Lyons. “Procrastinating on building an emergency fund or not setting aside money for retirement can also derail your financial security.”

Lyons said these habits are harmful because they limit your ability to cope with unexpected expenses and capitalize on long-term financial growth. To avoid this, develop a realistic budget that aligns with your income, prioritize savings and commit to setting aside money regularly, whether for emergencies, investments or retirement. 

Increasing Spending as Income Grows

According to Brian Chasin, investing expert and chief financial officer at SOBA New Jersey, one of the most harmful habits is lifestyle inflation, increasing your spending as your income grows. While earning more should improve financial security, Chasin said, many people raise their standard of living instead of saving or investing the difference. 

“This leads to missed wealth-building opportunities and greater vulnerability during economic downturns,” according to Chasin. “The fix is to establish a disciplined savings plan where a set percentage of any income increase is automatically directed toward long-term goals before adjusting discretionary spending.”

TO READ More:    https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/economy/bad-habits-that-could-affect-your-money-more-than-tariffs-and-inflation/

Expert Issues Warning Over US Bank Accounts Sitting Idle

Expert Issues Warning Over US Bank Accounts Sitting Idle

Rudro Chakrabarti  Mon, April 20, 2026

Money Can Now Be Turned Over To State.  Secure your money ASAP

Katelyn Fugate thought she was doing something nice for her young son. A few years back, she opened a savings account for him — a small starter fund he could build on one day. Recently, she decided to check in on it.

The balance was zero. Fugate told Scripps News she went to check the balance hoping to start adding to it again. Instead, she found the account empty. (1) The bank had declared it dormant after five years of inactivity, closed it and shipped the money off to the state's unclaimed funds department. Worse, when Fugate went looking for it, she couldn't find the money at the bank or the state.

"It's definitely not at the bank; they've turned it over. I can't find it on the missing funds [website] as of yet," she said.

How Dormant Accounts Get Swept Up By The State

The process is called escheatment, and it's the law in all 50 states. (2) When an account goes long enough without customer-initiated activity, the bank is required by state law to hand the balance over to the state treasurer's office as unclaimed property.

How long is "long enough" varies. Most states set the dormancy period at three to five years for bank accounts — and the trend has been toward shorter windows. Over a recent 16-year stretch, 17 jurisdictions cut their dormancy periods for bank properties to three years, down from five or seven. (3)

Automatic activity doesn't reset the clock. Auto-deposits and interest postings don't qualify as customer-initiated activity (4) — only a deposit, withdrawal or transfer you personally make resets it.

Before the money leaves, banks are required to attempt to contact you — typically by mail to your last known address. If the letter goes somewhere outdated or gets tossed as junk, escheatment continues without you. In some cases, the bank may simply mail a check for the remaining balance — little help if that check lands at an old address.

The Fees Hit Before The State Does

Ted Rossman, a principal analyst at Bankrate, told Scripps News that some banks flag inactivity after as little as six months  he said. "Sometimes the threshold is a bit longer."

Inactivity fees typically run $5 to $20 per month. For a small account — say, a few hundred dollars set aside for a child — those fees can wipe the balance out entirely before the state ever sees a dime.

There's a secondary cost most people overlook: once a bank closes a dormant account, any scheduled transactions tied to it fail, which can trigger late fees or missed income depending on what was running through it. And under Regulation DD, banks must continue paying interest on dormant interest-bearing accounts (5) — but if the monthly dormancy fee exceeds the interest earned, the balance still shrinks.

There's A Lot Of Forgotten Money Out There

Roughly $70 billion in unclaimed property is sitting in state coffers, waiting for rightful owners to come claim it — money from forgotten bank accounts, uncashed checks, safe deposit boxes and old brokerage holdings. About one in seven Americans has some of it. In fiscal year 2024, states returned $4.49 billion to owners (6) — a fraction of what they're holding.

California alone holds more than $15 billion in unclaimed property and has returned roughly 3.5% of it, according to a recent CBS News investigation. (7) The scrutiny has now reached Washington: a bipartisan bill called the SAFER Act, introduced this month by Reps. Sam Liccardo and Mike Lawler, would limit when states can take custody of securities, digital assets and investment accounts under unclaimed property laws.

Most states place no statute of limitations on claiming escheated funds, meaning owners can demand their money back at any time. The reclamation process varies by state, though — and some are notoriously slow, as Fugate is discovering firsthand.

How To Keep Your Accounts Out Of The State's Hands

Rossman's fix: keep the account moving, even a little.

Read More: https://moneywise.com/news/top-stories/us-bank-accounts-idle-money-state-seizure

Argentina Got This Warning Before Its Collapse. America Just Got It Last Week.

Argentina Got This Warning Before Its Collapse. America Just Got It Last Week.

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / Sovereign Man)  April 20, 2026

In early December 2001, ‘normal’ life very suddenly ceased to exist in Argentina— anything that remotely resembled a functional society came to an abrupt end. And that is by no means an exaggeration.  The banking system collapsed. Financial transactions ground to a halt. Desperate people looted supermarkets for food, and then grocery shelves emptied. Energy ran short.  Riots broke out in the streets, and police were shooting citizens in the face.

The crisis raged so much that the President of Argentina fled the country by helicopter. Five presidents rotated through the office in two weeks. Then the country defaulted on $93 billion in sovereign debt— the largest default in history at the time.

Argentina was left in such a deep constitutional crisis that it didn't even have the money or the legal framework to hold an immediate election.

This wasn’t exactly a surprise.

For years leading up to the crisis, Argentina had been struggling. The country was in the midst of a major economic depression. Unemployment was high. GDP was shrinking. Inflation was increasing. Crime was rising.

And yet, even with all of that negativity, life was at least in the ballpark of normal.

Basic services still functioned. Grocery stores had food. Banks were open and had money. And, even though unemployment was high, the vast majority of people still had jobs.

But it all collapsed in the span of three weeks. Poof. All because of too much debt.

To its credit, one of the groups that saw this coming was the IMF, which had warned the Argentine government multiple times about a looming crisis.

Even in early 2001, the same year as the crisis, IMF reports flagged Argentina’s soaring debt-to-GDP ratio, citing its "sharp deterioration in the public finances," and deficits running well above the targets Buenos Aires had agreed to.

Well, the United States just received the same warning from the IMF last week. Even the language in the report is eerily similar.

In its 2026 Article IV consultation on the United States of America, the IMF warned that America's “persistently high fiscal deficits [and] the continued rise in debt‑GDP ratio” creates a "growing financial stability tail risk" for both the US and the global economy.

They stressed "the pressing need to address the US's longstanding fiscal imbalances through a frontloaded fiscal adjustment."

That last part means that Congress must make critical spending cuts NOW. Not later. Time is running out.

The IMF cites US government debt reaching 123.9% of GDP and deficits equal to 7.5% of GDP. More importantly, they point out that the US government has no credible plan to reduce them.

To be fair, America is not Argentina, and the US boasts major advantages— including one of the world's most innovative economies and the deepest capital markets on earth.

But it’s nearly impossible to argue that the US isn’t heading towards a major debt crisis. The rest of the world has already figured this out— and the data prove it.

For example, in the first quarter of 2026, the share of global foreign exchange reserves denominated in US dollars fell by 2.3 percentage points, down to 56.1%.

That’s an unprecedented move in global reserves. To put that quarterly decline in perspective, the US dollar's reserve share declined by roughly 10 percentage points over the previous decade...

... which means that roughly a quarter of that 10-year decline happened in the past 90 days! That’s evidence of a significant acceleration in the world’s loss of confidence in America.

The SWIFT international payments network tells the same story. The dollar's share of international payments dropped substantially in Q1. In the Middle East, for instance, non-dollar transactions jumped from 18% to 31% in three months. In Asia, from 35% to 42%.

Another data point: the world's central banks now hold more gold than US Treasury securities for the first time since 1996.

This comes as no surprise to our readers. We've been writing about this for the past 17 years.

Back in 2009, we were laughed at for suggesting that the United States could one day face a debt crisis. Today even the IMF is saying it.

We often cite that line from Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises — "How did you go bankrupt?" "Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly." The de-dollarization data suggests we're entering the "suddenly" phase.

To your freedom,  James Hickman   Co-Founder, Schiff Sovereign LLC

P.S.   We've been warning about the US fiscal trajectory for years, long before it was fashionable. For most of that time, these concerns were dismissed as alarmist.

Now it's a mainstream view. And the rest of the world is repositioning.

The sensible course of action is to do the same. International diversification, real assets, a second residency, an offshore bank account — these aren't doomsday preparations. They're rational responses to a fiscal trajectory that is a risk to the global economy.

That is exactly what we cover each month in Plan B Confidential — specific, legal, practical steps to diversify across borders, from second residencies and offshore banking to tax optimization and real asset strategies that make sense regardless of how this plays out.  

https://www.schiffsovereign.com/trends/argentina-got-this-warning-before-its-collapse-america-just-got-it-last-week-155037/?inf_contact_key=0e78a2143153df024cd70fe991ce4b0a0610b17be1dd28ffc304ba09276be34a

There Is No "Fair Share" — There Is Only “More”

There Is No "Fair Share" — There Is Only “More”

Notes From the Field By James Hickman (Simon Black / Sovereign Man)  April 16, 2026

In April 1971, Keith Richards loaded his family and his Bentley onto a cross-Channel ferry and drove south until he hit the Mediterranean. He rented a 19th-century villa called Nellcôte on a hillside above Villefranche-sur-Mer, and converted the basement into a recording studio.

Over the following year the rest of the Rolling Stones rotated through the house and nearby properties to record the double album that became Exile on Main St., while staying deliberately out of reach of the British tax authorities.

The top marginal income tax rate in Britain at the time was 75%, and a surcharge on the highest earners pushed the effective rate on the wealthiest past 90%.

Three years later, under Denis Healey's 1974 budget, the top rate on earned income would climb to 83% and the rate on investment income would reach 98%.

Britain would spend the rest of the decade watching capital flee and begging the IMF for emergency loans.

David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, and a long line of less famous wealthy Britons eventually ran the same arithmetic as the Stones and reached a similar conclusion. Capital left the country in every form it could fit into, including bonds, businesses, luxury cars, and rock stars.

But politicians never learn.

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey has backed legislation that would push the top federal income-tax rate to 43%.

Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is pushing a version that lands at 49%.

Both men describe it, as they always do, as wealthy Americans finally paying their "fair share."

What exact percent is their fair share? Are we to believe they will be satisfied at 43% or 49%?

As always, that phrase is deliberately left undefined.

Never-mind that the top 1% of filers already paid 40.4% of all federal income taxes in 2022 while the bottom 50% paid roughly 3%.

They are also conveniently ignorant of the fact that raising the top marginal rate doesn’t actually raise revenue at all.

Since the end of the Second World War, U.S. federal tax revenue has averaged around 17% to 18% of GDP, dipping toward 15% in deep recessions and climbing near 20% in booms. The swings track the business cycle, not tax policy.

The top marginal rate, over that same stretch, has been all over the map: 91% under Eisenhower, 28% under Reagan by 1988, 39.6% under Clinton, 37% today. Yet regardless of whether tax rates were 91% or 37%, the IRS always collects around 17% of GDP.

The conclusion is obvious: if the government wants to collect more tax revenue, they should focus on setting the right conditions for an economic boom. In short, make the pie bigger for EVERYONE, and hence the government’s slice will grow as well.

Making the pie bigger isn’t that hard, either. America’s private economy is legendary. All Congress has to do is get out of the way. Attempt to run a balanced budget. Restore credibility. Make it easier for businesses and individuals to be productive. REMOVE idiotic laws instead of creating new ones.

But they’re not interested in any of those things.

Congress has documented evidence of hundreds of billions of dollars in fraud. Yet they  do nothing. They have also pledged to do nothing about Social Security— which is set to run out of money in six years.

The regulatory code in the Land of the Free already runs over 188,000 pages. Yet they expand it every session.

This is the opposite of what they should be doing. And instead of figuring out how to live within their means, they just demand more resources... even though it never works.

Britain tried its 98% tax experiment in the 1970s and spent a decade regretting it.

Ironically the current Labour government has forgotten that painful lesson; they recently abolished the 110-year-old "non-dom" regime, and more than 10,000 millionaires have already left the country.

In the United States, Elizabeth Warren's Ultra-Millionaire Tax proposal does not just impose a wealth tax. It bundles her wealth tax with an additional 40% exit tax on anyone who renounces US citizenship.

You do not create a 40% tollbooth at the border unless you fully expect people to try to walk through it.

These are not serious ideas to grow an economy. Rather, they are insidious policies designed to trap people in a system which steals their prosperity. That is why a Plan B makes so much sense.

To your freedom,  James Hickman   Co-Founder, Schiff Sovereign LLC

https://www.schiffsovereign.com/trends/there-is-no-fair-share-there-is-only-more-155021/?inf_contact_key=777b6710cfd255750dd3426953caeee29ee4b048ce23149d13a848abfdc3679b