Category: Money

Business Insider 

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wants AI to serve as a “super-competent colleague” for everyone.

Markus Schreiber/AP

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described the ultimate AI app to the MIT Technology Review.He envisions a ‘super-competent colleague,’ a major upgrade from ChatGPT, which he called “dumb.”Altman’s vision is that AI will take on real-world tasks — not just function as a chatbot.

In Sam Altman’s vision of the future, AI is a little intimidating.

“What you really want,” the OpenAI CEO told the MIT Technology Review, is a “super-competent colleague that knows absolutely everything about my whole life, every email, every conversation I’ve ever had, but doesn’t feel like an extension.”

And they’re self-starters that don’t need constant direction. They’ll tackle some tasks, presumably simpler ones, instantly, Altman said. They’ll make a first pass at more complex tasks, and come back to the user if they have questions.

The bottom line is that Altman wants AI to function as more than just a chatbot. It should help people accomplish things in the real world, he said.

That would be a massive step up from what OpenAI offers right now.

Altman reportedly referred to ChatGPT as “incredibly dumb” even though workers are already using it to accelerate their workflows, develop code, write emails, and more. So, there’s no telling how much more productive we’ll get once Altman’s magical model colleague hits the market.

Altman didn’t specify when this tool will be available and how advanced AI must be to support it. The company’s other offerings, like the video generator, Sora, and image generator, DALL-E, still require considerable guidance to complete tasks. They also aren’t designed to perceive information from the environment and use it to achieve specific goals.

But OpenAI’s forthcoming language model, GPT-5, might be a step in that direction.

A source who’s seen it previously told BI it was “materially better” than existing models. The source also said that OpenAI is developing a service where users could call an AI agent to perform tasks autonomously.

Sources have said GPT-5 might be out mid-year. Altman, however, isn’t saying much.

“Yes,” he simply told reporters this week at an event in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was asked when OpenAI would release GPT-5.

Read More 

Business Insider 

Young travelers want unique vacation experiences.

Westend61/Getty Images

Matt Berna of Intrepid Travel said young travelers seek immersive, unique experiences.Some are skipping popular tourist spots in favor of so-called “destination dupes.”Book a vacation in Seoul instead of Tokyo, for example. 

Millennial and Gen Z travelers are over tourist traps.

Matt Berna, the president of Intrepid Travel, a small group travel company, told Business Insider that his company has seen a shift away from popular destinations among tourists between 18- and 35- years old.

According to Berna, young travelers aren’t bogged down by FOMO — or the “fear of missing out” — that influenced older generations. Instead, they want to set the tone.

“They want to be a trendsetter, going to the next cool place,” he said.

That’s why more young folks are booking so-called “destination dupes,” alternative vacation spots that are more affordable and less crowded than the well-known locations.

Intrepid Travel compiled a list of destination dupes travelers should consider this year.

Read More 

Business Insider 

Shane Guffogg said AI helped him “unlock the musicality” in his paintings.

Soni Mei Images

Shane Guffogg is a multi-media abstract artist with synesthesia, meaning he “hears color.” Guffogg worked with AI experts and musicians to compose music that corresponds to his paintings. He believes AI is still a tool that “needs oversight” but it’s enhanced his creative process. 

This is an as-told-to conversation with Shane Guffogg, an American artist who launched “At the Still Point of the Turning World – Strangers of Time,” an exhibition of 21 paintings at the Venice Biennale earlier this month. This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

I have synesthesia, which means I hear color.

So, what I’m listening to when I paint is important. I listen to Indian classical music, Gregorian chants, and some obscure composers such as György Ligeti, Leo Ornstein, and Terry Riley. The music sparks my creativity and allows me to be completely present and in that moment.

For years, I’ve been preoccupied with what my paintings might sound like. The AI revolution pushed me to search for experts who could help me. My first point of contact was Radhika Dirks, an AI and quantum computing expert. We had a couple of Zoom sessions, and she told me — to the best of her knowledge — that no AI program could help me. Instead, she suggested I create a visual alphabet that matched the musical chords I heard in my mind to colors.

I thought it could be a way to propel my creativity. It also built upon the idea of an unconscious alphabet that has informed my art throughout my career.

I met with musicians and AI experts to create a visual alphabet

I started by looking for musicians to collaborate with and met Anthony Cardella, a young, incredibly gifted pianist in Los Angeles. He’s a Ph.D. student at USC and happened to know — and even play — many obscure composers I listen to when I paint.

We started collaborating. We would sit down and examine my paintings together. I would zoom in on a color in Photoshop, look at it, and sensorially feel the musical note. Then I would tell Anthony. I’d say, for example, I think that’s the color of the note B. He’d hit the B, and I’d say, “No, that’s not it; try a B sharp?” After a few trials, he’d suddenly hit the right notes. I would know because the colors would begin to vibrate for me. Together, we’ve charted chords that correspond to 40 colors.

Soon after, I met an AI researcher named Jonah Lynch through mutual contacts. He works at the intersection of the digital humanities and machine learning. I invited him over to my ranch in central California and explained the work I had been doing and how I created my paintings. We had long discussions about art, poetry, and creating an AI algorithm that could be fed the chords.

He developed a program to “read” my paintings and convert them into music. I gave him the main colors I used in each painting and the chords I hear when I see those colors. Jonah watched videos of me painting, studied the movement of my hands, and wrote software that sampled images of the paintings, following my hand movements, and assigned each color sampled from the paintings to its corresponding chord. Then, he fed this sequence of chords into a neural network that has memorized most of the last 500 years of keyboard music. He prompted the network to “dream” of new sequences based on the color-chord sequences and the history of Western music to create pages of sheet music.

When I heard that music played back to me, it brought tears to my eyes. It was just a rough version of what I heard while painting, but I thought, “There it is.”

I took the music back to Anthony, the pianist. Amazingly, I could point to the sheet music and tell him what compositions I was listening to while painting, and he’d say, “Yes, I can see it in the chords.” The Indian ragas, the Gregorian chants, the Ligeti, and Ornstein — they were all there.

Still, the music was largely a series of chords at that stage. Anthony said we could have melodies if we rearranged it a bit.

AI is still a tool that needs human oversight.

Guffogg’s piece, Only Through Time Time is Conquered, was the basis for the sonata Cardella played for guests at the Venice Biennale.

Shane Guffogg

We composed music for several paintings and have played it for audiences worldwide. We held a concert last month at the Forest Lawn Museum in Los Angeles, where I also had a few paintings in a show. The audience could look at the paintings while Anthony played, which was a profound experience. A couple of people cried.

At the launch of my latest exhibition during the opening week of the Venice Biennale, Anthony played the world premiere of a sonata he composed inspired by my painting, Only Through Time Time is Conquered, to a live audience. After the performance, I talked to several people, and they said they could see where the colors and the notes met on the painting. It was something they had never experienced.

I know many people are very afraid of AI, and I, too, see it as a tool that needs human oversight. It’s not a means to an end. Still, it opened up many possibilities and enhanced my creative process. I don’t know if I could have unlocked the musicality in my paintings in a real way without it.

Hear the sonata below:

Read More 

Business Insider 

Biden addressing campus protests over Israel at the White House on Thursday.

Drew Angerer/AFP via Getty Images

Joe Biden has tried to stake out a middle ground as protests spread across college campuses.Polling shows that the protests are unpopular.At the same time, Biden needs to keep his coalition of voters intact to win reelection.

As protests against Israel’s war in Gaza have popped up on college campuses nationwide — at times devolving into chaos and violence — it’s not surprising that President Joe Biden hasn’t publicly embraced them.

After denouncing some of the protests as being out-of-bounds on Thursday, Biden told reporters that the demonstrations haven’t led him to reconsider his stance on the war. That’s not just because of his long-standing support for Israel, but because he has historically been skeptical of protest movements in general.

Polling has shown that pro-Palestinian protests are unpopular in general, despite widespread concerns about Israel’s conduct in the war. A recent Morning Consult poll found that 47% of voters supported banning “pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campuses,” versus 30% who were opposed and 23% who were unsure.

Polling continues to show Biden running neck-and-neck with former President Donald Trump ahead of their November rematch, and the president and his campaign are likely trying to mitigate as much possible electoral damage as they can. It’s also worth noting that the college-aged students taking part in these protests are part of a demographic that usually struggles to turn out on Election Day.

Biden’s weariness of the protests also fit within his larger political identity.

The president is part of a generation of Democrats that viewed close ties to Israel as a bedrock part of American foreign policy. During the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, he also kept his distance from the progressive activists and lawmakers that now undergird much of the party’s criticism of Israel.

Compared to President Barack Obama, Biden was far more circumspect about criticizing Israel during its 2014 war, according to an NBC News report — and that conflict pales in comparison to the current one.

Even Biden’s roots come with a distance toward protest movements. Unlike other lawmakers of his generation, Biden largely stayed away from the Vietnam War protests that sparked upheaval on college campuses nationwide.

“I was in law school,” Biden said of the Vietnam War protests, per The New York Times. “I wore sport coats.”

It remains to be seen whether Biden will pay the price at the ballot box for his positioning. He was already facing a growing electoral challenge from the Uncommitted movement, with progressives, young voters, and Arab and Muslim American voters withholding their support for Biden over his support for Israel.

The race between Biden and Trump is so close that even the vocal minority of young voters staying home could be a big problem for the president.

However, Americans traditionally don’t peg their votes to foreign policy issues. Both historic and current polling shows voters are far more concerned about the economy.

A recent CBS News-YouGov poll of Michigan likely voters found that of 10 potential issues, the war between Israel and Hamas was the least likely to be a major factor in which candidate a voter would support — the most important issues by far were the economy and inflation.

Even among young voters, the trend remains the same. A Harvard Youth Poll of 18-to-29-year-olds nationwide found that the war was far less important to voters than inflation or healthcare.

Read More 

Business Insider 

Betsy Kaufman.

Courtesy of Joshua Charow

In a new book, photographer Joshua Charow documents the rich history of New York City’s artist lofts.Protected by the Loft Law, a generation of artists were able to preserve their live-work spaces. Nearly impossible in today’s rental market, these spaces still inspire people around the world. 

When he was a teenager, photographer Joshua Charow would sneak into buildings around New York City in search of the perfect rooftop shot. One factory in Brooklyn’s South Williamsburg held his fascination as he discovered the raw, eclectic live-work spaces of artist’s lofts.

In his early 20s, Charow returned to the building hoping to live there himself. He soon discovered he was “ten years too late” — all the lofts were taken by tenants living under New York City’s historic Loft Law, protections for loft tenants passed in the early 1980s.

In a city where 115-square-feet can now go for $1,200 per month and the average rent continues to soar, the romantic notion of a massive, affordable loft seems nearly impossible to imagine.

Fascinated by the Loft Law’s history and its impact on New York City’s culture and legacy, Charow mapped out every building that fell under this protection and set out to document the residents who are still benefiting from the law.

Over two years, he photographed 75 tenants and collected their stories into “Loft Law, The Last of New York City’s Original Artist Lofts,” now available from Damiani Books.

Here’s more on Charow’s research of the Loft Law and a look at six of the subjects he covers in his book.

Read More 

Business Insider 

When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

Aryna Sabalenka (left) and Iga Swiatek at the 2023 US Open..

Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

The end of the Madrid Open is in sight. Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka will face off in the women’s singles competition today. If you’re hoping to tune in, then you’re in luck. We’ll show you everything you need to know about where to watch the women’s Madrid Open final live stream for free.

This is a familiar scene for Swiatek and Sabalenka. The pair also made it to the finals in 2023 in a tough match-up that saw Sabalenka walk away victorious. Swiatek currently reigns supreme as world no. 1 in the WTA, coming off a WTA Finals win in late 2023 and an Indian Wells Masters win earlier this year. At no. 2, Sabalenka has also been having a good year and won the Australian Open again in January.

Whether you’ve been following along throughout the tournament or you’re just tuning in to see who will be crowned champion, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to learn about all of your watch options and make sure to bookmark our Madrid Open hub for details on how to catch the men’s finals tomorrow.

See also: How to watch NBA Playoffs | How to watch NHL Playoffs | Where to watch F1 races

Madrid Open women’s final quick links

Access streams from anywhere via ExpressVPN (30-day money-back guarantee)New Zealand: TVNZ (FREE)US: Sling TV ($51), Hulu + Live TV ($86.98)UK: Sky Sports (various)When: Saturday, May 4 at 12:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. BST / 6:30 p.m. CET / 12:30 a.m. (Sun) AWST.

How to watch Madrid Open women’s final in the US

The Madrid Open airs on the Tennis Channel in the US. For those without cable, you can access it by subscribing to a live TV package like Sling TV or Hulu + Live TV.

For Sling TV, you’ll need to get a Sling base plan for $40 a month, before adding on the Sling Sports Extra option for $11 a month to access the Tennis Channel. In total, you’ll be spending $51 a month to watch.

For Hulu + Live TV, you’ll need to get a base plan, which starts at $76.99 a month, as well as the Sports Add-on for an additional $9.99 a month to access the Tennis Channel. In total, you’ll be spending $86.98 a month. The Hulu + Live TV bundle also comes with regular Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+.

How to watch Madrid Open women’s final in New Zealand

Select WTA matches, including the Madrid Open finals, air on TVNZ in New Zealand. This is a free streaming option that just requires account creation to watch.

How to watch Madrid Open women’s final from anywhere

If you’ll be outside of New Zealand during the match, you can still access the stream with a VPN (virtual private network). A VPN allows you to temporarily change your device’s virtual location so that you can access websites that might vary in availability from region to region. This is a popular option for people looking to boost their internet privacy and those looking for ways to keep up with their usual apps while traveling abroad.

Interested in trying out a VPN? We recommend ExpressVPN, an easy-to-use option with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Check out our ExpressVPN review to learn more and keep reading to see how to use it. 

How to watch Swiatek vs. Sabalenka live stream with a VPN

Sign up for a VPN if you don’t already have one.Install it on the device you’re planning to watch on.Turn it on and set it to a New Zealand location.Navigate to TVNZ and enjoy the competition.

Note: The use of VPNs is illegal in certain countries, and using VPNs to access region-locked streaming content might constitute a breach of the terms of use for certain services. Insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of VPNs.

Read More 

Business Insider 

[[{“value”:”

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The housing market has been brutal in recent years as prices keep rising. 
While high mortgage rates didn’t bring prices down, steep insurance costs could put a lid on further appreciation. 
“You can see in the course of even a year or two, prices begin to respond because people are very sensitive to this.”

When mortgage rates started to spike in 2022, the thinking was that higher borrowing costs would put a lid on prices, which had spiraled endlessly upward since the pandemic sparked a buying frenzy. 

That didn’t quite happen, and home prices have kept climbing, so much so that a recent report from Zillow said would-be buyers need to earn 80% more than pre-pandemic to afford the median-priced home. 

But there’s an under-the-radar factor that could soon pull down home prices nationally, real estate experts told Business Insider — soaring home insurance costs. 

Home insurance premiums, which surged 4.5% year-over-year in March alone, according to the FRED economic data, could be the last straw for home buyers amid a litany of rising costs. 

Insurance comparison platform Insurify said in a recent report that annual insurance rates skyrocketed 19.8% from 2021 to 2023, and the company forecasts another 6% surge in 2024, which would push the average annual rate to $2,522 by year-end.

Real estate experts said that though they aren’t the top driver of home prices compared to mortgage rates or housing inventory, they still have the power to influence what buyers are willing to pay over the long term.  

A growing national burden for buyers

Daryl Fairweather, the chief economist at Redfin, said in an interview with Business Insider that rising insurance costs are especially severe in states like Florida, where climate disasters factor into the risk forecast, but they’re rising all over the US. 

“There are places all over the country that are gonna have their own climate issues,” she said, while referring to Texas heat waves last summer, which she said are likely to be repeated this year, and the persistent smoke and wild fires plaguing the West Coast.

The insurance costs usually come as a surprise to home buyers in those areas, Fairweather added. 

“The problem is that most people don’t go through the process of finding out how much insurance will cost until they’ve already made an offer on a home and they feel like they have to go through with it or they’ll lose out on their earnest money if they back out,” she said. 

Pressuring home prices

Danielle Hale, the chief economist at Realtor.com, told BI that lenders typically require various forms of insurance from buyers who take on a mortgage, and if the insurance costs are too high, it can disqualify the buyer from getting the loan. 

“As costs rise, the pool of buyers who can qualify for the mortgage is more limited, and the price of the home may need to fall in order for a buyer to be found,” Hale said.

Jesse Keenan, a sustainable real estate and urban planning professor at Tulane University, said that homebuyers are very sensitive to the long-term operational costs of having insurance, and usually, the value of a home will decline if insurance is particularly costly. 

“So at the end of the day, it’s buyers and sellers capitalizing risk,” he said. “And they’re coming to terms with what that risk may be.”

He also noted that insurance markets are getting better at discovering and assessing risk, thanks to things like geospatial technologies and advanced computing. 

“The implications of that are that technology is helping companies price at a much more precise measure of risk, so with all that information, consumers are now saying, ‘you know what, this is worth more, this is worth less.’ And as a consequence, the value of properties that are shaped are shifting, mostly down,” Keenan said. 

In some extreme cases, that sensitivity has already prompted home price repricing in locales with extremely high insurance premiums, such as Louisiana. 

“You can see in the course of even a year or two, prices begin to respond because people are very sensitive to this,” he said. 

To Fairweather, it’s more precise to say the rising insurance will make home values grow more slowly than they would have, as the robust demand still characterizes the current market. 

“In general, demand exceeds supply, even though homeownership has become so unaffordable. We take into account prices and mortgage rates and now rising insurance costs, but there’s still people wanting to buy homes,” she said.

“}]]

Read More 

Business Insider 

Eric and Beth Ann Mott moved from Denver, Colorado, to Thousand Oaks, California, in May 2022.

Courtesy of Eric and Beth Ann Mott

Realtors Eric and Beth Ann Mott relocated from Denver to Thousand Oaks, California, in May 2022.The Motts attribute their move to a growing preference for California’s weather and lifestyle.Despite common misconceptions, the Motts find California financially comparable to Colorado.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with married realtors Eric Mott, 59, and Beth Ann Mott, 57, about their experience moving from a suburb in Denver, Colorado, to Thousand Oaks, California, in May 2022.

Eric: Denver used to be a really great place to live.

I was born in California. But my folks and I relocated to Denver in 1977 when it was still a cow town.

Beth Ann: I ended up in Colorado because of Eric. We did long-distance dating between Kansas City and Denver. When we got married in 1996, I moved with him to the Denver area.

Eric: We’re both full-time realtors with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. We bought some investment properties in Denver, and in 2009, we 1031-exchanged three of those properties for a place in Thousand Oaks. So, we’ve actually owned our current home here in California since 2009.

Beth Ann: We planned on getting to California at some point. But it took us about 14 years to see that come into being.

Denver used to be a great place to raise a family

Eric: Colorado was one of the first places to legalize recreational marijuana, which we did not vote for. In our opinion, that’s when things started turning in Denver.

The homeless population in Denver is pretty insane, even in the suburbs. It really started to affect our quality of life. We started feeling uncomfortable going downtown.

The traffic got really bad, too. Twenty years ago, it was much easier to go up to the mountains and ski for a day. But now, the traffic is just hideous. If you want to have a ski day, you’d better be willing to get up at 5 a.m. and not get home until 8 p.m.

We liked to take cruise vacations to escape Denver during the winter. Over time, we realized we are more ocean people than mountain people. We just got sick and tired of the snow in Denver.

Eric and Beth Ann said they got tired of dealing with Denver’s constant snow.

Courtesy of Eric and Beth Ann Mott

It was really a combination of different things that changed the environment. It’s just not what we used to enjoy.

Beth Ann: We first started considering a move to California during COVID when we were sitting at home and couldn’t go anywhere. We had always talked about ending up in California someday, and we thought, “Why can’t someday be now?”

COVID also forced everyone to do things remotely. We started doing a lot of client appointments via Zoom. So, the seed of the idea was born out of the possibilities that COVID created. We said, “Why wait?”

We tested it out in 2021, doing a lot of traveling and working remotely with our real estate team in Denver. It worked. So, that’s when we pulled the trigger for the actual move in May 2022.

We moved into the house we already owned in California

Eric: The moving process wasn’t too bad. We did a bit of downsizing. And we’re renovating now.

Beth Ann: We still have our business in Denver. I commute and manage our team there a couple of times a month. We both got our California real estate licenses, too. Ultimately, the goal is to split our resources about 75% in California and 25% in Colorado.

Eric: For me, moving to California was like coming home.

We can get to the beach in 20 minutes. We can access hikes in the Santa Monica mountains at the end of our street. The Conejo Valley is like a small town. There are orchards and farms. And wherever you drive, there’s green.

Beth Anne: It’s beautiful, plus we have nice weather. I love things that bloom, and it’s blooming here all the time.

The couple lives just 20 minutes from the beach in California.

Courtesy of Eric and Beth Ann Mott

Eric: We’re also both golfers, so it’s nice being in California where you can golf year-round and don’t have to worry about snow on the course. We joke in December, when it’s a high of 60 degrees, “Oh it’s cold!” But it’s really not.

Beth Ann: The traffic here is tough, though. Anytime you have to go near downtown, it’s definitely not a pleasure. But the traffic in Denver was nearly as bad.

California is financially comparable to Colorado

Eric: Everybody always says the taxes in California are so much more, but they’re really not when you look at them. The sales tax rate in Thousand Oaks is 7.25%, whereas where we lived in Colorado, it was 2% more. That adds up.

Beth Ann: Insurance rates in Colorado are really expensive, too. So, it’s actually not that much different cost-wise living here. In fact, it’s a bit cheaper. For example, we’re paying less for homeowner’s insurance in California than we were in Colorado. Same with property taxes.

Eric: The value of our home here in California was the approximate value of our home in Denver, dollar-wise. Our insurance policy there was around $2,300 a year. Out here, it’s only $1,400. I also added on earthquake insurance, which is another $900. So it’s about the same price even with the earthquake insurance as in Colorado.

The utilities here are a lot cheaper for us as well. We haven’t used our air conditioner since September, and we didn’t have to turn our heater on until January. That’s savings in my mind.

Beth Ann: The prices at grocery stores in California, however, are a little bit higher.

Eric: But in California, there’s no tax on food. That was a pleasant surprise when we first got here.

There’s so much propaganda out there about California.

Eric and Beth Ann Mott said they love the access to nature and hiking in California.

Courtesy of Eric and Beth Ann Mott

Beth Ann: You can’t paint California with just one brush. I wouldn’t have wanted to move to Los Angeles. But living in a place like Thousand Oaks is a different experience.

I think the only things we miss about Colorado are our family and our clients.

Eric: There are still things we like about Colorado, but we visit. We’re enjoying the lifestyle that we’re living in California.

Beth Ann: I think California will continue to be our long-term play.

Eric: California has exceeded our expectations.

Read More 

Business Insider 

Sánchez arrives at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar party.

Steve Granitz/Getty Images

Lauren Sánchez may make her Met Gala debut on Monday, according to reports. An appearance at the bash would boost Sánchez’s ascendance as a fashion figure.It won’t be her fiancé’s first time: Jeff Bezos has attended on multiple occasions.

Lauren Sánchez is poised to walk the Met Gala red carpet for the first time on Monday, if media reports are to be believed.

The Emmy-winning anchor and philanthropist fiancée of billionaire Amazon boss Jeff Bezos will be in attendance at the preeminent fashion event, according to fashion journalist Amy Odell.

Page Six also previously reported that Met Gala host and Condé Nast chief content officer Anna Wintour was wooing Sánchez to attend.

A rep for Sánchez declined to confirm she’d attend.

The theme of this year’s Met Gala is “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion,” according to Vogue, and the dress code has been dubbed “The Garden of Time.”

In the past, Bezos has appeared at the Gala — one of the year’s most important nights in fashion where celebrities mingle in outrageous outfits.

Amazon was the sponsor of the 2012 Met Gala, and Bezos served as an honorary chair. He also attended in 2019.

Sánchez is a rising fashion star, Business Insider’s Amanda Krause previously reported, with her style evolving in recent years. While she leaned toward simpler outfits early in her career, Sánchez has brought bold choices to the red carpet since 2010.

Her semi-sheer or see-through dresses have become a staple of her wardrobe. Last month, Sánchez and Bezos turned heads at a White House state dinner, with Sánchez in an off-the-shoulder gown with a corseted bodice.

Another sign of her ascendance as a bonafide celebrity?

After Sánchez was insulted by the NYC restaurateur Keith McNally on Instagram, several high-profile friends rushed to her defense, including Chrissy Teigen, Jessica Seinfeld, and Stephanie Ruhle.

Read More 

Business Insider 

[[{“value”:”

The offers and details on this page may have updated or changed since the time of publication. See our article on Business Insider for current information.

Paid non-client promotion: Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate investing products to write unbiased product reviews.

Allison Nichol Longtin (left) and her husband.

Allison Nichol Longtin

I’ve made some expensive mistakes with money, but my late husband taught me valuable lessons.
I built up a lot of credit card debt — he helped me create a plan to pay off all of it.
He also helped me get used to actively think about my money — and stay vigilant.

I learned many of my money lessons the hard way — by making expensive mistakes. But the best money lessons and habits I learned from my late husband.

I met Remi when I was in my second year at university in Montreal. I’d already made a few money blunders in the short time I’d been living on my own. Remi was six years older than me, a Ph.D. student at the time. A little over a year after we met, we moved to Switzerland together for Remi’s work. Romantic, yes. Expensive, YOU BET!

At first, I didn’t have a visa to stay in Switzerland, which meant I couldn’t work there and had to make several trips back to Canada every year. That’s when I started accumulating credit card debt that would take me years to pay off. Over the 11 beautiful years Remi and I spent together before his sudden, tragic death, Remi helped me develop good money habits.

In Remi’s absence, I’ve slowly assembled a team of financial experts I trust to help me manage my money as I build my own financial literacy without him, but I’m also relying on everything I learned with him. Here are the best money lessons I learned from him.

1. Pay off your credit card debt to $0 every month. No skipsies.

This may seem obvious, but not all of us are doing it. In 2013, I finally paid off years of credit debt, and I’ve never looked back. For years I only made the minimum payments, barely making a dent in my debt. Once I was legally able to work in Switzerland, Remi and I worked together to create a payment plan that involved putting nearly all of my earnings directly toward paying off my credit card debt until it was down to $0.

This was only possible because Remi was able to support us financially during that time, while I took on all household duties. Of course, the bulk of my debt was from plane tickets that I wouldn’t have purchased had we not been living abroad and in a place where I couldn’t legally work at first.

What’s important here is that we both agreed to the situation, understanding that it was only temporary. In hindsight, there were other options available to help us through this difficult financial time, including transferring my credit card debt to a line of credit with a more manageable interest rate, for example. But the lesson was loud and clear to me: Don’t carry credit card debt. 

2. Out of sight is far from out of mind

Before meeting Remi, I didn’t have a budget. I worried about money all the time, but I rarely looked at my finances. I had a seriously avoidant attachment style when it came to my money. I was no stranger to a bank account balance in the two figures between paychecks. I even learned the hard way that you should NEVER take out cash from an ATM using your credit card. Ugh.

Remi had a balanced approach to managing his money. He looked at it unemotionally and saw it for what it is: a necessary part of life. He kept a close eye on our money without obsessing over it. We had monthly money dates where we’d open a bottle of wine and comb through our expenses together, check in on our investments, and plan our savings.

I whined through most of it, but now it’s a habit. I do my bookkeeping every month, and I actually enjoy it. What’s more, I’m much less anxious about money in general now. I know what I’m spending and where my money’s going, and I keep an eye out for any activity I don’t recognize.

3. Trust no one who hasn’t earned it

Remi’s first language was French, and he had this saying that doesn’t translate very well into English: “You gotta check people.” Essentially, it means, trust no one.

As a young person just learning to be independent, I had my credit card information stolen multiple times and didn’t even realize it until my bank notified me of the strange activity: “Miss Nichol, you don’t have a car, why are you buying gas all across the country?”

When it came to managing our money, Remi was very hands-on. In the last years of his life, he’d even nerded out on actively managing some of his own investments, learning everything he could about the stock market. It’s not like he didn’t trust our bank and he definitely didn’t keep his money in a shoebox under our bed, but he was careful about who he chose to help us manage our finances.

Finding a financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three fiduciary financial advisors that serve your area in minutes. Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests. Start your search now.

“}]]

Read More