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An accepted fact of childhood: Monopoly is a slow game that requires consecutive snow days to successfully finish. And, by god, no matter what you do, do not end up as the banker, the most tedious and thankless of jobs. [Photo: Hasbro] Though they wouldnt put it in those terms, the folks at Hasbro likely know thats how a lot of players feel. So today the company is announcing a new set that bridges the gap between Monopoly Junior and the classic version for ages 8 and olderspeeding things up by ditching the banker and paper currency entirely in favor of an app. Kids don’t carry cash these days . . . [but] they probably do have a mobile device, says Brian Baker, SVP of board games at Hasbro, who adds that children are also observing a lot of tap-to-pay in the world. That led the team to consider how they could combine modern technology with intuitive behavior to completely reinvent the experience, Baker says. [Photo: Hasbro] Banking on App Banking Monopoly turns 90 this year, and Monopoly App Banking officially hits stores in August. Though Hasbro has released a cashless version of the game before (the Monopoly Electronic Banking edition, which utilizes a calculator-looking device to help automate finances), this is the first time an app has been brought into the ecosystem. Here’s how it works: After downloading the app, players put a smartphone or tablet into a standdubbed the phone throne in-house at Hasbroand it stays there all game. Baker says the idea was to keep the focus on the board, rather than having to pass the phone around. Whereas board games like Monopoly usually involve combing through a dense list of instructions before playing (and eventually arguing over them), this box contains just some quick-reference cards. The app kicks everything into gear quickly, directing players to select a token and its associated credit card, and snaps a photo of each player to indicate whose turn it is. Players roll physical dice, and then scan a QR code representing the space theyve landed on. The app handles the property auctions and transactions and does all the basic accounting, speeding things up immenselyand provides a real-time leaderboard in a game whose player standings are often nebulous, lest everyone sit around and count money for five minutes. Is Monopoly App Banking reductive to kids learning basic accounting skills the way many of us no doubt did via the classic game? Maybe. But to Bakers earlier point, its hands-down more reflective of the online banking ecosystem were all accustomed to today, which runs on apps. Another thing youll find in this version: an infusion of new life into old hubs like free parking, jail, and the railroads, thanks to built-in interactive mini games. There are some spaces where, if you land on them, nothing really happens, Baker says. And if you’re an 8-year-old kid, you can get bored really, really quickly. Take the railroads. When you land on one now, the app turns it into a high-speed train that brings the player on board; you tap your card to stop the train, and wherever it lands, thats where you move. [Photo: Hasbro] Marvin Gardens vs. a Chocolate Factory To young players, the new elements will likely feel organic; theyre not just gimmicks for gimmicks sake. Baker says thats thanks to FunLab, Habsros in-house testing center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The lab gives the company an opportunity to converse with players and their parents, as well as to observe how they interact with various concepts at the earliest stages of product development. To wit: I remember watching a mother struggling to put together Hungry Hungry Hippos out of the boxit comes in nine partswhile her child was screaming, Baker says. And the painful part of it was, after she finally got it together and they got to play, she had to take it apart to put it back in the box. It doesn’t fit back in. So I’m happy to report that the new Hungry Hungry Hippos requires no assembly out of the box, and when you’re done playing, it fits back in. In the case of Monopoly App Banking, Baker says the team needed to test and understand the role of the mobile device at the tableparticularly because of the notion many people have that when a family is doing an activity together like playing a board game, smartphones should be put away. We really wanted to make sure that we used FunLab as a way to kind of validate the idea that we can use technology for good and not evil, and there is a place for a mobile device at the table if thoughtfully integrated, he says. Another place you can see FunLabs work: the properties on the board. If you asked a kid, Hey, what property would you dream of owning? I guarantee you they’re not going to say Marvin Gardens, right? They’re going to be like, I want a chocolate factory or I want to buy a time machine, Baker says. It was really fun to just kind of take the guardrails off and let the kids guide us in the creation of this product. On the board youll find soccer fields and water pars, an infinite-pizza generator, and more. What you wont find is anything an 8-year-old kid would deem too complicated, oversimplified, or unnecessary. Those kids, Baker says, don’t pull any punches. They’ll tell you exactly what they think. [Photo: Hasbro] The Sand Timer Test Are apps the future of Monopoly, if not board games at large? Baker says Hasbro has been trying to honor the boundary between tech that is intrusive and tech that is complementary. Take the standard board game sand timer. How many times have you nearly come to fisticuffs over someone cheating the clock with it? There are easier ways to do that, and the best technology sometimes is in your pocket, Baker says. A part of our innovation road map at Hasbro when it comes to board games is exploring new technology and then thoughtfully applying it to the experience. As for what the rest of this 90th-anniversary year holds for Monopoly, in January Hasbro announced expansion packs. And, according to Baker, the company plans to continue developing intellectual property partnerships, such as those that brought about the recent hit Pokémon and Harry Potter editions of the game. Monopoly is, after all, big businessand you wouldnt want anyone getting bored with it. Especially younger kids. The Monopoly game is the biggest product that Hasbro sells, Baker confirms. I can say confidently that this is by far the most innovative version of Monopoly we’ve ever created. . . . We’re super proud of that.
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E-Commerce
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Since the pandemic housing boom fizzled out, the number of unsold completed U.S. new single-family homes has been rising. Here’s a look at the recent historical numbers for January: January 2018: 63,000 January 2019: 76,000 January 2020: 76,000 January 2021: 40,000 January 2022: 32,000 January 2023: 68,000 January 2024: 83,000 January 2025: 115,000 The January figure (115,000 unsold completed new homes) that recently published is the highest level since July 2009 (126,000). Lets take a closer look at the data to better understand what this could mean. To put the number of unsold completed new single-family homes into historic context, ResiClub created a new index: ResiClubs Finished Homes Supply Index. The index is one simple calculation: The number of unsold completed U.S. new single-family homes divided by the annualized rate of U.S. single-family housing starts. A higher index score indicates a softer national new construction market with greater supply slack, while a lower index score signifies a tighter new construction market with less supply slack. Big picture: The index shows that theres more new construction slack in the 2025 housing market as compared to the 2023 and 2024 markets; however, its still far less slack than the 2008 housing bust. In housing markets and builder communities where unsold completed inventory gets too high, local homebuilders could (and some already have) turn to get bigger affordability adjustments (i.e., bigger incentives or even outright price cuts). That raises the question: Where is this unsold new home inventory located? Where can buyers find deals? While the U.S. Census Bureau doesnt specify the locations of unsold completed single-family new construction, its safe to assume that most of it is in the South, based on where total active housing inventory for sale is increasing and where homebuilders are completing the most homes (see chart below). As ResiClub has documented, both active resale and new homes for sale remain the most limited across huge swaths of the Midwest, Northeast, and Southern California. Thats likely where youll find the least unsold completed new constructionand where builders have greater pricing power. In contrast, active housing inventory for sale has grown the most in the Gulf region, including housing markets like Tampa, Punta Gorda, and San Antonio. These areas saw major price surges during the pandemic housing boom, with home price growth outpacing local income levels. As pandemic-driven migration slowed and mortgage rates rose, markets like Tampa and Austin faced challenges, relying on local income levels to support frothy home prices. This softening trend is further compounded by an abundance of new home supply in the Sun Belt. Builders are often willing to lower prices or offer affordability incentives to maintain sales, which also has a cooling effect on the resale market. Some buyers, who would have previously considered existing homes, are now opting for new homes with more favorable deals. “The number of builders unsold inventory homes remains above the seasonal norm,” wrote Dillan Krieg, a research analyst at John Burns Research and Consulting on LinkedIn. “Weve been tracking this trend for a while as builders rely on speculative starts to capture buyers. However, some builders are facing pricing pressureespecially in key Florida and Texas markets, where resale supply is also well above pre-COVID norms.
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E-Commerce
Americans across all political stripes were understandably concerned when news broke that Elon Musk, the unelected head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), had gained access to the U.S. Treasury Departments payment systems. These payment systems are responsible for trillions of dollars in federal payments, including things like Social Security benefits and tax refunds. DOGE has felt fishy from the start, a blatant branding stunt that blurs the line between private investment and public interest by advertising Musk’s investment in Dogecoin. Knowing that Musk and his crew of DOGEbags are pursuing deep access to the Treasury Department and its troves of data has led to a number of questions (some, perhaps, a tad paranoid): What exactly do they plan to do with my private information? What personal data is stored in these systems and is any of it from my incognito browsing? Couldnt the worlds richest man find better things to do with his time? Musks ability to access personally identifiable information (PII) from the Treasury Department and other federal agencies is in flux, with the courts weighing in on the legality of that access. That doesnt mean your personal and financial information is necessarily safeeither from this current threat or from any data breaches in the future. Heres what you can do to protect yourself and your finances from the prying eyes of DOGE. Know what information is vulnerable The U.S. Treasurys payment system handles the outlay of federal funds, including federal grants, Social Security and Medicare payments, tax information, and payments to federal contractors. Anyone who has received any of these types of federal dollars (which is pretty much everyone) has their personal information stored on the database. Specifically, the database holds Social Security numbers, tax information, and bank account numbers (for direct deposit of tax refunds, Social Security payments, and other payments). To be clear, the U.S. Treasury Departments payment system is not the only place where this kind of personal information is storedso its prudent to protect yourself even if no classified material was accessed without proper security clearances, as the DOGE claimed on February 2, 2025. How to DOGE-proof your data There are several actions that will help keep you safe, even if any of your personal information falls into the wrong hands. Open a my Social Security account Most policy and financial experts are not worried about the possibility of a Social Security payment breach. If you are currently receiving Social Security benefits, there is no reason to believe your payments are in jeopardy due to DOGE access to the U.S. Treasury. However, a stolen Social Security number could allow an identity thief to open a my Social Security web account in your name and potentially steal your benefits. The my Social Security web portal allows you to check your earnings history, estimate future benefits, and manage current benefits (which includes setting up direct deposit). Its not exactly easy for hackers to access your Social Security benefits, even if they have your Social Security number. The my Social Security web portal takes data safety seriously and uses various tools to verify your identity, including information from your credit reports. So an identity thief would need to have that information, in addition to your SSN, to open an account in your name. But it is still prudent (and helpful) to establish your account now, as it will ensure that no one else opens an account in your name. One important note: If you have already frozen your credit (more on that below), you will need to temporarily unfreeze it to establish your account. Set up an IRS.gov account Scammers with your personal information may also attempt to file a fraudulent tax return in your name to claim a refund. The IRS has identified this as a growing problem over the past few years, with over one million tax returns flagged as potentially fraudulent during the 2023 tax season. Setting up an online individual account with IRS.gov can help ensure that you are the only person filing taxes in your name. This kind of account can also allow you to access your tax records, manage payments, and get virtual assistance. For further security, you can also request an identity protection PIN (IP PIN) from the IRS. This is a six-digit number assigned to you at the beginning of the tax season that you may use to file your taxes instead of your Social Security number. The IP PIN is only shared with you, and you will need to provide it when filing your tax return to verify your identity. The IP PIN is also only valid for one calendar year, so you must request a new one each tax season. If you have your IRS.gov online individual account set up, there is a link to request an IP PIN through that portal. Freeze your credit Freezing your credit means that no one, not even you, can open new credit in your name. (The fact that youre included in the freeze comes in handy when youre tempted by impulse credit. Youll actually be relieved when the cashier denies your Kohls credit card application, 20% discount be damned. Ask me how I know this.) With frozen credit, even if identity thieves have your personal information, they cant open an account in your name. Credit freezes last indefinitely, which means you dont have to worry about renewing the chill. However, you do need to unfreeze your credit anytime you want to open a new line of credit. The credit bureaus allow you to thaw your credit for a specific time frame, after which point the freeze goes back into effect. These time frames can be as short as a day. To freeze your credit, go to each of the three nationwide credit bureau websites and follow their prompts: Equifax Experian Transunion Practice good password hygiene If youve been using Bandit1993 as your password for everything,its time to change itwhether or not the U.S. Treasury Department has access to your bank account. Passwords that use pet names, important dates, your mothers maiden name, or the name of your favorite Toad the Wet Sprocket album (Dulcinea, of course!) are just too easy to guess. And though reusing passwords may feel like a timesaver, it leaves all your accounts vulnerable to any sketchy characters lurking among real TtWS enthusiasts. Good password hygiene requires a unique, strong password for every account. Passwords made up of a random string of 16 or more characters are the most secure, but it would be literally impossible to remember such passwords for every account. Cybersecurity experts suggest creating passphrasesa memorable phrase made up of several unrelated wordsto use as passwords. These can be especially secure if you replace some letters with numbers or symbols. For example, you might choose the words watch, mirror, eclair, and limb, and create the following passphrase: W@tchMirr0rEcl@irL!mb. If you want to hit the easy button on password security, you can ensure unique and strong passwords with a password manager. Just dont use Bandit1993 as your master password for the manager. Death, taxes, and security breaches The particular security threat posed by DOGE may be novel, but its a good idea to remember that our information is always vulnerable in one way or another. Some proactive strategies can protect your Social Security number, tax information, and bank account from a variety of threats. Specifically, opening accounts with my Social Security and IRS.gov can prevent fraudsters from accessing benefits and tax refunds in your name, while requesting an identity protection PIN (IP PIN) from the IRS every tax season offers further protection from identity thieves. Freezing your credit prevents anyoneincluding youfrom opening new credit in your name. The credit bureaus make it easy to freeze and unfreeze your credit on their websites. And using strong, unique passwords on all your accounts is the best way to keep your information secure. Since remembering random strings of characters is impossible, use a password manager to handle the recall for you. The fact that, via DOGE, an unelected billionaire has access to our sensitive data is rage-inducing, but we do have the power to protect ourselves.
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E-Commerce
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