(NewsUSA) - Congratulations! You’ve already taken one of the most important steps to secure your financial future — connecting with a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^™ professional. You will want to make the most of this opportunity to plot the best course forward for you and your family.

Your first meeting with your CFP^® professional sets the groundwork for the financial planning process. Before mapping out a comprehensive financial plan that aligns with your objectives and risk tolerance, your CFP^® professional needs to get to know you. Getting to know you includes finding out more about the following:

Your Personal Circumstances

Financial advice depends on your age and stage of life. What are your personal obligations and responsibilities? Do you have a growing family? Are college expenses in your future? Perhaps you’re starting a business, planning for retirement or caring for a child with disabilities.

Your Financial Circumstances

What’s your financial situation right now? Do you have a solid emergency fund or are you still working to create your first budget? Your CFP^® professional will perform a detailed analysis of your financial condition. Bring these documents to the meeting in addition to any paperwork or questionnaires that your CFP^® professional may have sent you ahead of time.

Your Goals

Everyone has dreams and goals. What are yours? You probably have a few short-term and long-term financial goals to bring to this first conversation, from a family vacation to leaving a bequest to your favorite charity. Don’t worry if you don’t have all your goals figured out. Your advisor is there to help you set and prioritize them.

When you hire a CFP^® professional, you are hiring a trusted advisor who has made a commitment to putting your best interests first. As part of their certification, a CFP^® professional commits to CFP Board to act as a fiduciary — which means to act in the best interests of the client at all times.

In working with a CFP^® professional, you also have to consider logistics, especially how you’ll pay for their services. Financial advisors may charge differently, or one financial advisor may offer various ways that clients can choose to pay. Whether it’s fees or commissions, compensation is one of the 10 key issues to raise with your CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^™ professional.

Remember, it’s your future. Whatever your goals are, your CFP^® professional will help you navigate the path forward. Find your CFP^® professional today.

(NewsUSA) - One of the ongoing challenges for parents with disabilities who also have children with disabilities is finding recreational activities that the whole family can enjoy together.

As the father of a blind daughter, Jim Elliott, the founder and president of Diveheart, a non-profit organization, discovered blind skiing in the 1980s. He saw how it helped build confidence, independence, and self-esteem in children and adults who were visually impaired.

With properly trained ski guides accompanying the blind skiers, families can ski together, even if parents, caregivers, or other family members are wheelchair users or have other limitations and employ a bucket ski to get down the hill. The positive impact of blind skiing so inspired Elliott that in 2001 he founded Diveheart, based in Downers Grove, Illinois, to serve individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities through adaptive scuba and scuba therapy.

As a young journalist, Elliott took scuba diving lessons in case he had to interview a diver such as Jacques Cousteau. He fell in love with scuba and immediately recognized the therapeutic value of diving and its ability to equal the playing field for everyone participating. For example, a parent in a wheelchair can hover underwater, neutrally buoyant alongside their child with autism, cerebral palsy, or Down’s syndrome. A family member who is blind, has an amputation, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder can be equal to anyone under the water.

With a little adaptation, zero gravity can be a tool that turns the pool or the ocean into inner space and the individual from a terrestrial to an aquanaut. This transformation is a powerful tool that can create a paradigm shift in an individual with a disability. They are no longer that person in the wheelchair; they are scuba divers, and they can self-identify as a diver instead of someone with a disability.

 “Not only is scuba a great equalizer, but it can also be mastered quickly,” says Elliott.” It can take me at least two or more days to get a blind skier ready to go down a green run efficiently. But in thirty minutes I can get someone who has never been in the water out of their wheelchair and neutrally buoyant, standing up underwater.” He adds, “It’s like magic. Once they realize they are free, they begin to imagine the possibilities in their lives.”

For more information about the therapeutic value of scuba diving, visit diveheart.org.

(NewsUSA) - What We Buried by Robert Rotenberg 

Inspired by the true story of the Forty Martyrs in Gubbio, Italy, during World War II, this is an extraordinary crime novel about troubled legacies, revenge, and the unbreakable bonds of family. 

For fans of Scott Turow and David Baldacci, a Toronto homicide detective is attacked at his doorstep when his investigation into possible links between the Nazi occupation of Italy and the murder of his brother decades later gets too close to the truth. 

It’s been years since Daniel Kennicott’s brother, Michael, was shot and killed the night before he was about to depart for Gubbio. The case was never solved. Daniel has put off going there—until now. As he’s about to leave, Daniel learns his two mentors have been involved in the investigation of Michael’s murder and they’re concerned about Daniel’s safety. Is Daniel risking his life—and those of others—by trying to uncover the truth? Purchase at https://bit.ly/3TVVRPK. 

Right Across the Bay by Quinn Avery 

They were cousins who shared decades of secrets. And now one of them is dead. 

Britta Baxter, beloved fitness influencer and estranged wife of a surgeon, gave up city life to start anew on grandma's lakefront property. After she convinces her cousin, Maxine Thomsen, to revisit the same lake where they'd spent their summers together as kids, Maxine is shocked to learn the boy she loved as a teenager lives across the bay. Although repairing the decades-old relationship between Maxine and Noah seems possible, a dark ending has already been set in place. 

When Britta's body is discovered floating in the bay, Detective Josephine Kelly is called in to investigate. But Britta isn't the only victim on the killer's list. Here’s a thriller fraught with life-changing twists and unfathomable secrets rooted in a shadowy past. Purchase at https://bit.ly/49vZ7pv. 

Somewhere/Not/Here by The Goblin Queen 

Join the Goblin Queen on her quest for Somewhere/not/here as she searches for the place she belongs. Visit the Road to Ruin, a strange witchy woman who reads from her book of M-Tales. Meet Shockappeal the punk faerie, hang with Halloween Jack, and fly with the Techno-Witch, but avoid buying one of her moody brooms. 

Travel to the lands of Love and Unlove - nice places to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there. Have a therapy session with the Magick Mirror. No appointment required. By the way, Truth has teeth, and it will use them... bring band-aids. The author, who loves to write and travel to mystical places, lives in a magical house in a fantasy realm with her family and the ghosts of her dogs. And enjoy the book’s full-color illustrations. Purchase at https://bit.ly/4azRqAa. 

Human Justice by Human and the Lights 

Human Justice is the true story of a human rights lawyer's last trial in a 15-year career spent helping humans living on the margins enforce civil rights and anti-discrimination laws. 

Corporate values, which are only about money and nothing else, played out to their logical extreme in the trial, signaling that corporatism is incompatible with a sustainable future for our species and planet. 

The harmonic divide reverberating in society is less about blue values versus red values, and more about human values versus corporate values. Human values must always trump corporate values. If we lead with our hearts and behave as if what’s good for our neighbor is good for us, it would be the greatest evolutionary leap in human history. If humanity, rejected corporate values and went with human values, then money, competition, and war would all disappear. Purchase at https://bit.ly/3JxIqje.

(NewsUSA) - Screen time among children is reaching alarming levels, leaving parents searching for creative ways to get their kids off the couch and engaged in physical activities. Studies show that 95% of kids spend 5-7 hours a day gaming or using social media, raising concerns about sedentary lifestyles and their impact on overall well-being.

Amidst this trend, Playfinity has emerged as a pioneer in active gaming by offering a revolutionary solution that combines the excitement of virtual play with the benefits of physical activity and engagement in sport. Through smart, digitized sporting equipment like the Gaming Baseball, a regulation size and weight baseball connected to a free app packed with interactive games, Playfinity provides an immersive experience that motivates children to be active, healthy and happy while offering parents and caregivers alternative ways to empower their kids.

“Seventy percent of kids drop out of sports by the age of 13 because it’s ‘no longer fun’, leaving many of them to sit in front of screens for hours each day, living a sedentary, unhealthy lifestyle,” says Pippa Boothman, CEO of Playfinity. “As a company originally founded by five dads with the urgency to keep their kids active, we are taking strides to make sports fun again, give kids a reason to get outside, and motivate them to make physical activity a priority. We speak to kids in a language they understand, and quite frankly, expect: leaderboards, avatars, rewards, communities, and more.”

How Playfinity is fostering a more active future for kids: 

• Skill-building through repetition: We all know that practice helps improve your skills, whether it’s in school, sports or even backyard play. Playfinity’s Gaming Baseball encourages kids to establish a routine that helps them build a physically healthy foundation and improves their mental well-being as well. Connected devices and gamification makes it easy for kids to watch their progress in real-time and will make them want to keep getting better with practice, which was evident in May of 2023, when more than 1.5 million throws and jumps were logged on the Playfinity app across the world.
• Fitness for life: There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to fitness, which is why Playfinity has a diversified lineup of active gaming products to ensure all kids can find a game that interests them and keeps them engaged. For example, JumpGames is an activity tracker that loops onto a child’s ankle and turns any trampoline into an exciting gaming destination. With every leap, twist and twirl logged, kids can quite literally jump into endless fun and play with other jumpers all around the world. 
• Smart engagement without burnout: In today’s day and age, it’s just not possible to completely remove technology from our lives. Playfinity embraces technology and uses it for good: to inspire positive and healthy behavior. Their game-packed app tracks scores, offers creative outlets for players to create their own games and global challenges, and even provides real-time coaching. Kids enjoy digital engagement through a fun mobile app while being encouraged to go outside and fulfill their daily play and exercise requirements.

If you’re interested in learning more about Playfinity’s active-gaming products and mission, visit playfinity.com.

(NewsUSA) - 445 4564 56

(NewsUSA) - Motorcycle Safety Foundation Celebrates 50th Anniversary and 10 Million Enrolled

IRVINE, Calif., July 6, 2023 — Millions of motorcycle and scooter riders nationwide and across the U.S. military worldwide got their start through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, which is celebrating 50 years of rider education and training. MSF, the internationally recognized developer of comprehensive, researched-based rider education curricula, is also celebrating 10 million students enrolled and is honoring its network of coaches across America.

In 1973, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation was established with BSA, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha as founding members. Today, supporters of MSF also include BMW Motorrad, Indian Motorcycle, KTM North America, and Triumph Motorcycles.

“We are deeply indebted to the sponsors and supporters of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation — especially those that convened years ago to establish this organization and invest in developing science- and research-based curriculum,” said Erik Pritchard, president and CEO of MSF. “Every rider on the road has benefited from this visionary commitment.”

“Since its founding, MSF has developed curricula for riders of all levels seeking to learn and improve their skills whether they are riding on- or off-road. And as the times, technologies, and trends change, MSF remains committed to providing the best-in-class curricula so that every rider — beginner to experienced, street, dirt, and adventure — can find the type of training that helps them ride their best.”

Training sites across the country are helping to celebrate MSF’s 50th by hosting MSF RIDE Day events, which offer MOTO Intro experiences for people looking to get their first taste of riding, and SKILLS Check sessions for current riders to assess their skills.

“For people curious about motorcycling but are not sure they are ready to commit to a class, the MOTO Intro is a great way to try it out,” Pritchard said. “Motorcycles, helmets, and one-on-one coaching is provided to participants. The entire experience takes about 30 minutes, and the coach will help the rider progress at their own pace.”

“SKILLS Check is a fun way for experienced riders to see how well they can do in one of the MSF’s more advanced drills on their own motorcycles,” Pritchard continued. “And it introduces them to the additional training that is available to help them sharpen their skills.” MOTO Intro and SKILLS Check participants can also sign up for relevant classes after the event.

The heart of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation is the team of 10,000 RiderCoaches, DirtBike School Coaches, site administrators, program managers, and others in the MSF training community whose hard work has helped millions of people realize their dream of riding.

“Our success over the last 50 years is only possible because of our training community’s dedication to teaching generations of riders,” said Robert Gladden, vice president of operations for MSF.

MSF is also sharing 50 stories from 50 riders as a way to help celebrate this milestone year. These pieces — by teachers, mothers, fathers, RiderCoaches, journalists, entertainers, and more — can be found on the Motorcycle Safety Foundation website under “Stories,” and on Instagram @msf__usa. Riders and RiderCoaches are encouraged to share their own stories using #MSF50YearsOfSafety when posting to social media.

(NewsUSA) - Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming our societies and economies in almost unimaginable ways, according to experts at the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), a bipartisan nonprofit organization. Today’s AI powers personalized, precision medicine; gene therapy; vaccine discovery; drug design; and cancer screening. AI also is revolutionizing crop management, reducing waste, and supporting the development of alternative energy sources.

However, on a global scale, smart regulation is needed to make the most of AI.

The European Union has developed a proposal to regulate AI (the AI Act), but it falls short on security issues, SCSP team say. Meanwhile, the Chinese Communist Party has made clear their intent to control emerging technology.

The United States and the EU must come together rather than drift apart on AI, and the EU’s AI Act is likely to hinder innovation with a strategy of “regulate first and work out the details later.”

The SCSP analysts outline how the U.S. and EU might move forward with AI management to preserve global leadership in this essential area.

Promote innovation with responsible regulation. Technology has become the organizing principle of the contest for global order. Most of the democratic world agrees at least on basics of what AI should and should not be allowed to do, according to the SCSP. Democratic partners won’t agree on all the details of a plan for regulation, but these minor differences need not prevent cooperation on larger issues of strategic alignments and economic ties. A balance is needed between regulation and innovation, the SCSP experts explain. AI systems must be built and used safely, responsibly, and ethically.

Invest in resources.  Democracies must marshal the resources and diplomatic will to collectively build the digital apps, software, and platforms that support everyday governance, commerce, and life, which means government-supported investment in global digital ecosystem projects. The transatlantic alliance should spend more time on cultivating our rich ecosystems of universities, companies, and innovators, rather than belaboring the risks of innovation.

Upgrade alliances. From a diplomatic standpoint, democracies need a new alliance framework with investment in our collective comparative advantages for technologies, not only AI, but also 5G and chip technology. In addition, democracies must build strategic partnerships to keep control of the digital infrastructure of the future and align on maintaining standards based on technical, not political, criteria.

Key questions for the successful future of AI include how to unlock data for the good of society while upholding our values, how to encourage AI researchers to solve our big societal problems, and how to get more young people excited about studying to become AI engineers, according to SCSP.

“We need to shift our mindsets toward an optimistic view of AI and look forward to harnessing its benefits, rather than automatically hitting the regulation button,” the SCSP experts emphasize.

Visit scsp.ai for more information. 

(NewsUSA) - Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business, no matter the industry or company size. However, as economic headwinds and supply chain woes challenge the bottom line for both Main Street and Wall Street businesses alike, owners are facing significant financial frictions hindering business growth. Unfortunately, small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) are especially constrained financially, as many SMBs in America remain underbanked or unbanked while inflationary pressures continue to mount and impede profitability.

In fact, 25% of owners report inflation is their single most important problem in operating their business, according to a study by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Further challenging SMBs cash flow, the NFIB also notes, in the last six months, 57% of owners reported capital outlays such as purchasing new equipment and vehicles, updating fixtures and furniture, and expanding facilities, among other expenditures. In turn, SMBs are increasingly relying on price hikes to improve company financial performance, with 62% of retail and 54% of wholesale operators reporting higher rates.

Strategic pricing is only a piece of the puzzle, though, when it comes to enhancing profitability, according to Carmit Glik, CEO and founding member of Ship4wd, a leading global digital freight forwarding solution platform. Glik encourages SMBs to consider looking across the supply chain for opportunities to improve cash flow.

“While some issues continue to linger, global supply chains have experienced a significant shift toward the positive, particularly for businesses who proactively deploy measures to capitalize on the current climate,” said Glik. “The combination of stabilized freight rates, emerging technologies, new financing solutions, diversified supplier options, and investments by companies working collaboratively to create a more resilient and sustainable supply chain, creates a robust opportunity for small and mid-sized businesses to strengthen their cash flow management—a challenge often considered the glass ceiling for growth to many SMBs.”

Glik shares three practical tips SMBs can implement to improve cash flow, take advantage of supply chains, and empower them to scale in today’s marketplace.

Leverage Technology and Explore New Financing Avenues
SMBs should proactively explore technology and various financing options to meet their capital needs. Credit lines, bank loans, or digital payments can be complemented with digitized services and alternative financing methods such as crowdfunding. Leveraging financial technology solutions can provide faster access to capital and streamline the financing process. Evaluating the costs, terms, and suitability of different financing options can help SMBs make informed decisions that align with their business objectives.

Control Inventory and Manage Supplier Relationships
Optimizing inventory management is essential for improving cash flow. SMBs should analyze demand patterns, implement just-in-time inventory practices, and negotiate favorable terms with suppliers, such as extended payment periods or bulk purchase discounts. Strengthening supplier relationships can lead to more flexible payment arrangements, ensuring a steady supply of goods without compromising cash flow. Adopting inventory management systems can enhance visibility, reduce carrying costs, and prevent overstocking or stockouts, further improving financial efficiency and efficacy.

Diversify Revenue StreamsandBuild Strong Customer Relationships
Diversifying shipping partners and revenue streams by exploring new markets, expanding product or service offerings, or partnering with complementary businesses can mitigate the risk of over-reliance on a single income source. Diversification creates opportunities for increased sales and revenue, improving cash flow stability and resilience. Fostering strong customer relationships is key to enhancing cash flow. SMBs can focus on providing exceptional customer service, personalized experiences, and loyalty programs to cultivate customer loyalty and encourage repeat business.

To help small and mid-sized businesses improve cash flow, Ship4wd launched a first-of-its-kind offering including instant $10,000 credit lines (subject to eligibility) that afford SMBs greater opportunity to compete and thrive; ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ 90-day post-delivery payment terms that turn the tide on an antiquated prepayment model; and fully digitized online payment options for its customers to access the majority of banks across the U.S. and Canada and leverage all major credit cards to complete their transactions.

“We recognized the industry and our customers needed a change as SMBs continue to navigate financial burdens that can limit their long-term sustainability and growth,” said Glik. “Ship4wd’s mission is to ease the burden of global shipping so business owners can focus on growing their businesses. Our new financing solutions enable them to do just that, and whether financial or operationally, the tide is turning in favor of business owners when it comes to international shipping.”

The effective management of cash flow and financing is crucial for the success of SMBs. SMBs can optimize their financial operations, ensuring a healthy cash flow and access to necessary capital that will secure a solid foundation for success.