 |
|
|
|||||
Conventional wisdom says to use your tax return to pay off debt or add to your savings, but psychologists say its also acceptable to use a tax return to invest in your own happiness. When people get a tax return, it’s seen as a bonus and it can feel like an even bigger bonus when people decide to invest it in themselves, says Maya Weir, clinical psychologist and founder at Thriving California, a private practice in Napa, California. Dont limit your thinking about money to just saving and investing, says Annie Cole, EdD, founder and money coach at Money Essentials for Women in Vancouver, Washington. If youre already meeting the mark when it comes to finances, paying down debt, putting extra cash in saving, and covering your expenses, then the next thing to do is explore how surplus money can impact your life, she says. Cole recommends making a bucket list of what you would do if you had extra cash to spend. However, she warns against simply making a list of expensive items to buy. Instead, she recommends focusing on ways to spend money that will either create a long-term memory, such as a trip or a special dinner, or will improve your life, such as joining an upscale fitness center that offers yoga and meditation if youre into wellness. Jenny Mahlum, an integrative psychotherapist at New York Counseling in Manhattan, agrees that if youre looking to invest in your happiness, its best to focus on novel experiences rather than accumulating items. While we might momentarily get a burst of joy when wear a new sweater or drive a new car, eventually the novelty tends to wear off and you stop appreciating the experience of the item you just bought, Mahlum says. In comparison, a novel experience can create a new memory. Here are five unique ways to use your tax refund to invest in your happiness.1. Take a class or workshop that would give you skills to generate side income or help you get a promotion. Learning a new skill can increase your sense of accomplishment and confidence, and that could contribute to feelings of happiness, Mahlum says. She recommends framing this purchase as an investment in yourself and align it with your values and a larger sense of purpose rather than seeing it as a means to earn more money so you can buy an extra sweater or handbag. Generating more income through a side hustle or getting a raise also creates a sense of abundance, which generally makes people feel happier and more secure, Weir says. 2. Make a home upgrade that would bring you joy, such as creating a reading nook or mini indoor garden. A home upgrade that creates a mini sanctuary has the potential to bring joy daily; however, Mahlum recommends spending time reflecting on it beforehand to make sure its really something you want to invest in. Think about why you want it and imagine yourself using it; otherwise, if you build it and dont use it, you might feel guilty, Mahlum warns. Keep in mind that a home upgrade doesnt have to be elaborate. Cole recommends walking through your house and thinking about where you spend the most time and how you could make that area more comfortable. For instance, maybe you want to make your bedroom cozier with new pillows and hotel-quality sheets. Think in terms of little delights. Sometimes it’s a good meal, a good chocolate, a special coffee blend, or cozy pajamas, Weir says. Anything that makes you feel physically comfortable. 3. Create a try something new fund and use the money to experience something new each month. According to research by Dr. Laurie Santos, experiences tend to make us happier than material possessions because they provide a sense of social connection and personal growth, Mahlum says. Novel experiences tend to bring people joy, Weir says. There’s something about trying something new that gives us a sense of accomplishment and provides a release of dopamine. 4. Create a happiness fund to pay for random acts of kindness like paying for a strangers groceries or supporting a local artist. People feel joy when they are being generous with others, Weir says. There is also an empathy layer, she says. When you see that someone else happy, it can make you feel happy, too. People report a boost in happiness when completing good deeds for others. A study by researchers at Ohio State University found that performing acts of kindness can ease depression and anxiety. 5. Create a micro-adventure fund and use the money for several unique experiences throughout the year rather than waiting until youve saved enough for a big, three-week vacation. Curate experiences for yourself that create feelings of awe, Mahlum says. We underestimate what feelings of awe can elicit in us in terms of a higher sense of well-being that can cascade into feelings of joy and creativity, she says.
Category:
E-Commerce
Cryptocurrency investors are waking up to a bloodbath this morning. As of the time of this writing, crypto markets are getting hammered as major coins including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP, are down across the board. Popular meme coins like Dogecoin and $TRUMP have also collapsed. But why is crypto crashing? Heres what you need to know Trumps tariffs may launch a global trade war Over the weekend, President Donald Trump initiated tariffs against Americas two largest trading partners. Trump ordered that tariffs as high as 25% be levied on numerous Canadian and Mexican goods entering the country. Trump also announced an additional 10% tariff on certain Chinese goods, as well as threatened tariffs on goods imported from the EU. Tariffs are not paid for by the countries whose goods they are levied against. Tariffs are paid by the companies who are importing those goods into America. For example, if Walmart is importing goods from Mexico, Walmart must now pay those tariffs on the goods. Or if a U.S. energy supplier is importing gas from Canada, that U.S. energy supplier is on the hook for paying the tariffs. Those U.S. companies will not simply absorb the costs of the tariffs, as this would affect their margins and thus their bottom lines. Instead, those companies will pass the cost of the tariffs on to American consumers, raising the costs that Americans must pay for goods. Canada has already outlined its response to Trumps tariffs, placing a 25% tariff on numerous American goods entering the country. Mexico says it will follow suit with tariffs of its own on U.S. imported goods. It is likely that China will follow suit, and if Trump unleashes tariffs on the European Union, the EU will react in kind. In other words, Trumps tariffs could mean the world is on the cusp of a global trade war. Trade wars increase costs for businesses and consumers. Because of higher prices, consumers tend to spend less, hurting businesses’ bottom lines. The higher costs also lead to inflationary pressures. All this can dramatically increase economic uncertaintyand markets hate uncertainty, including cryptocurrency markets. The risk of a global trade war is sinking crypto markets Trumps tariffs and the resulting trade war they look to be kicking off are sending crypto markets tumbling. As of the time of this writing, major cryptocurrencies are tanking. Bitcoin is currenlty down almost 4%, to just above $95,000 a coin. But that drop looks minuscule compared to other cryptocurrencies. Ethereum and XRP have crashed over 16%, while Cardano is down over 19%. And it’s not just the more well-known coins that are tanking. Popular meme coins are also crashing. Dogecoin is currently down over 13%, while President Trumps meme coin, $TRUMP, is down nearly 14%. Of course, none of these coins are directly impacted by Trumps tariffs. However, when economic uncertainty arisesas is the case with trade warsinvestors tend to extract profits where they can while they can. Thats why one possible reason for cryptos collapse today may be profit-taking. Crypto markets have had a good run as of late, so its little surprise that many investors worried about the broader economic impacts of a global trade war may be seeking to lock in what profits they can now by selling their cryptocurrencies. Another possible reason for the crypto fall today is that cryptocurrency markets are historically volatileand if a global trade war does kick off, it could cause economic uncertainty worldwide. During uncertain economic times, many investors tend to stay away from more volatile assets, leading to decreased demand in some markets. Fear of possible reduced demand for crypto in the near future may also be impacting crypto prices today. Stock markets are in crisis, too Its important to note that Trumps tariffs arent just rattling crypto investors. Stock market investors are also panicking this morning. While U.S. markets arent open as of the time of this writing, futures are down across the board. In premarket trading, Dow Futures have dropped over 560 points, or 1.26%. S&P Futures are down 85 points, or 1.4%, and Nasdaq Futures are down 349 points, or about 1.62%. Theres no telling how long Trumps tariffs will stay in place, and it is yet unknown exactly how countries like Mexico and China will react, not to mention the European Union if Trump enacts tariffs against its goods, too. What does seem certain is that there will be significant uncertainty in both the cryptocurrency and stock markets for the near future.
Category:
E-Commerce
AI has been used in the hiring process for many years. Anyone who has ever wrangled their résumé into an Applicant Tracking System has experienced the frustration of distilling your human-ness for a keyword-focused bot. But thats just scratching the surface. Already a quarter of employers use some form of AI in their hiring process and, according to some estimates, nearly 70% of companies will be using AI tools to hire by the end of this year. Its no surprise that AI in hiring is attractive to employers. It can make whats often an overwhelming and time-consuming process much more efficient. But for job seekers, this technology can make the already opaque hiring process more difficult to navigate. And now, as AI becomes more sophisticated and widespread, it wont stop there. Even the interview, often the most human part of the hiring process, is being outsourced to bots. So, how can job seekers prepare for these changes? What should companies and hiring managers consider before implementing new tech? On the latest episode of The New Way We Work, I spoke to Dr. Kerry McInerney, an AI ethicist and researcher at the University of Cambridge. She says that from a candidates perspective the job search process now has a lot of unknown unknowns. 4 ways AI is used in hiring McInerney says there are four main areas where you’ll see AI being used in hiring, some more visible than others: 1. The dissemination of ads:Companies might use AI to decide where job ads are surfaced and deliver it to specific people who the recruiter might think would be a good fit. This application could seem innocuous, but it has the potential to encourage the same profile of candidates if the parameters are too narrow. 2. Screening candidates:Here, AI is used to go through a large volume of résumés and create a short list. This is very common and also widely critiqued. Not only do these systems make it difficult for candidates to craft a résumé that will get past these screens, but its also ripe for unintentional bias. McInerney referenced a 2019 case study where Amazon tested a beta version of an AI résumé screening tool that was shown to systematically discriminate against female candidates. Beyond extreme red flags like that, résumé screening tools often miss things like transferable skills or nuance like career gaps. 3. Assessment of candidates:Another way AI tools are being used in hiring is to test candidates or to distinguish candidates from one another once a company has a short list. Most of this is pretty visible to candidates: things like gamified tests and skill assessments. Another is AI video interviews. McInerney pointed out that these tools had a boom during COVID-19, but that many of the metrics they measure (including facial recognition-based tools that read a candidate’s voice and expressions and do sentiment analysis on the words that they use to get a sense of a candidate’s personality) are viewed as pseudoscience by AI ethicists. It’s also not possible to discern someone’s personality from their face. Some AI interview tools have also shown to rank candidates higher for arbitrary and irrelevant factors, like having a bookcase in the background. 4. Administrative aspects of hiring:The most innocuous way AI is being used in hiring is tools that help companies schedule interviews, or via AI chatbots on a company’s website that answer questions about a job. These types of tools run a very low risk of introducing bias into the process and fulfill the basic promise of AI: to reduce tedious and time-consuming tasks. The importance of asking questions McInerney emphasized that the AI hiring tools are made with the best intentions but that, if they arent created with the expertise of hiring managers, they can end up out of step. Her bottom line for employers: Don’t be sucked in by AI hype that tells you a tool can do things that actually sound really impossible. There’s just a huge emphasis on AI literacy, which is very important,” she says. “Sometimes, the way that these tools get talked about in hyper-technical ways can make people feel like that they can’t ask those questions or they’re scared of looking silly or ignorant if they ask them. But, she says, It’s really important to ask those questions, because any tool that is worth its salt should have scientific backing and should be able to show it.In other words, the most important tool when using AI in hiring is the very human skill of critical thinking.Listen to the full episode for more on how AI is transforming hiring for both candidates and companies.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||