Mortgage rates reach 7.49% as housing experts share expected market changes

(Featured) - Bloomberg reported that U.S. mortgage rates reached 7.49%, the highest level since 2023. Housing and mortgage experts explain changes they expect the rate environment to bring over the next 6–12 months.

Edited by Adrian James, Editor at Featured News · Roundup by Featured · Oct 9, 2026

Bloomberg reported that U.S. mortgage rates reached 7.49%, their highest level since 2023.

We asked housing-market and mortgage professionals to identify changes they expect this rate environment to bring for buyers, sellers or lenders over the next 6–12 months.

Roundups

Russell VolkREALTOR®, Elite Realty Group · Huntingdon Valley, PA

What I’m seeing is that higher mortgage rates are creating two very different housing markets. Many of the 55+/Active Adult and downsizing buyers I work with are coming from homes that have been either fully paid off or they have substantial equity and some are able to buy with cash or a large down payment. Those buyers are much less affected by an increase in mortgage rates than buyers who are putting 20% or less down payment.

Over the next 6 to 12 months, I expect that difference to become more noticeable. Homes that appeal to downsizers with lots of equity and cash buyers can still see strong demand, while homes that depend primarily on financed buyers may require more aggressive pricing or seller concessions.

I also expect builder incentives and rate buydowns, and I already see that, to become increasingly important because many financed buyers care more about the monthly payment than a relatively small reduction in the purchase price.

Doug Perrystrategic financing advisor, Real Estate Bees · Bethesda, MD

Rates are going up to slow down inflation, which has been running hot for years, eroding purchasing power for consumers through higher prices on just about everything. Consumer budgets are exhausted, and under stress. Higher rates drive up borrowing costs in just about every lending segment and higher savings rates encourage consumers to save money instead of spending it. The slowdown in demand will drive down inflation but it will take 6-12 months.

As prospective homebuyers pull back during this higher rate cycle, I don't think we will see a noticeable decrease in home prices, but we will see a big shift in negotiating power favoring home buyers.

Prospective home buyers shouldn't back out of the market just because rates are up and home prices aren't dropping. Historically, some of the most profitable moves in real estate have been against the trend, and this is one of those times home buyers have that exact opportunity.

Dale GremillionSenior Loan Officer and Producing Branch Manager, Capital Home Mortgage Arizona

Rates being at 7.49% will allow buyers to sit on the fence and shop around with us for the best option whether it be conventional FHA VA or Jumbo.

As we start to see more inventory available on the market home will sit longer and allow sellers to give more towards closing cost. Using programs such as Home Plus AZ or Home in Five Advantage can help your buyers get closed on their next home faster.

Another thing we have noticed is the increase of using one time close loans. These loans will allow your buyers to get locked into one rate when they start building their home and only draw on what they use during the building process.

Something that I have noticed that was unexpected was more buyers wanting to use 1099 loans on there primary residence. With these loans you only need to put down 10-20% and do not need to provide tax returns but can use bank statement's or P&Ls.

Tripp ButlerOwner, Southbridge Greater Savannah Realty · Savannah, GA

The housing market has definitely slowed in our area because of interest rates, inflation (which is driving gas and food prices up), and the uncertainty around the war in Iran. Buyers have the upper hand right now and can negotiate much more on price, ask for closing costs, and many are getting an Old Republic Home Warranty included in their contract. It has taken a little more explaining for sellers to understand this because they are still expecting to get what their neighbors sold their house for a few months back, when interest rates were more than half a point lower than they are today.

This story was produced by Featured and republished with permission. Experts featured here are members of Connectively, Featured's expert network.

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words. AI Can Read Them All

(Maurice Sikkink) - You are keeping your photos off social media, that's great. But what can the platforms storing years of our memories learn from them?

By Maurice Sikkink

Edited by Adrian James, Editor at Featured News · Oct 12, 2026

When I got married last year, I didn't want the wedding all over the internet. Apart from my LinkedIn, I'm pretty much invisible online, so it would have felt odd to have one of the most personal days of my life show up on other people's Instagram and Facebook feeds.

With my kids, I feel even more strongly about it. I know that once someone publishes a photo of them online, I have no control where it ends up, who's looking at it and with what intention, or what some future piece of software might do with it.

That's my own point of view, but it also matched with something we'd been noticing.

Working on a photo-sharing service, I’ve noticed that people are a lot more careful with their photos now than they used to be. I don’t have exact numbers for it, but you can tell from the questions they ask before they sign up. How easy is it to share photos with others? How much can I store? And then, more often: where are the photos stored? That one comes up especially from people in Europe. Who can access them, do you scan them, do you use them for AI? People really do dig through our FAQ and terms to find out the answers. To me, that says privacy has moved out of the small print and into the main reasons people choose a product.

My own family photos got me thinking about this from another angle too. Most of the conversation is about whether photos are published on Insta. Although I do know some successful influencers who don't mind and show their entire family online.

But at my children's school, for instance, there's a lot of attention around posting pictures of other people's kids, and at weddings couples now regularly ask guests not to put everything online. Or even just put the phones down. I've been at weddings from which I have no photos at all, only bride and groom had a photographer and didn't show the photos to anyone except one printed album at their house. Fair enough, but keeping photos off Instagram doesn't mean you stop keeping them somewhere and they just become some kind of secret.

You still want the grandparents to see the kids. Me, personally, I still wanted our wedding guests to send us their pictures. They have to live somewhere.

So the question I keep coming back to is: whether the place you store them is looking at them. Not who can see your photos, but whether the service holding them is analyzing their content. Ten or fifteen years of photos says a huge amount about a person: your kids growing up, your partner, your house, your holidays, your friends, where you spend your weekends, and probably a pile of weird screenshots and photographed documents and just awkward poses and places as well. With current AI, a library like that is something software can actually read and make sense of.

And this isn't just a theoretical thing. Google Photos explains that it uses algorithms to detect faces and group photos of the same person when its Face Groups feature is on. Apple Photos also recognizes people, places and scenes, although Apple says this analysis happens on your own device.

That doesn't necessarily mean these companies are doing anything wrong. And analyzing photos is also not the same as using them to train AI models. Google says it doesn't use people's personal Google Photos data to train generative AI models outside Google Photos. But I think it's important to understand the difference, especially when we're talking about years of private family pictures.

So what can you actually do about it? I would start with the privacy policy of whichever service holds your photos. Look for things like facial recognition, AI, machine learning and model training. Does the service analyze your photos? Does it happen on your own device or on their servers? Can you turn it off? And are your photos used for anything beyond storing and sharing them?

If you can't find the answers, ask the company directly. From my experience, people are already doing that a lot more often.

Funnily enough, I never really thought about these questions being so important when choosing where to keep photos. It was the questions from customers that made me think about it more seriously.

And perhaps that's the bigger point. We are becoming more careful about who gets to see our photos, but we should probably be just as careful about what happens to them where we store them.

Disclaimer: The author is the founder of Yogile, a photo-sharing service that competes with some of the products mentioned.

About the author

Maurice Sikkink

Maurice Sikkink is the Founder of Yogile, a private photo storage and sharing platform. With over 15 years of experience in photo-sharing technology, he has seen firsthand how people's attitudes toward privacy have changed. He is particularly interested in how AI is reshaping the way we store, share and protect our personal memories.

This story was produced by Featured and republished with permission. Experts featured here are members of Connectively, Featured's expert network.

How I decide if a credit card sign-up bonus is worth chasing

(Mary Massoumi) - Before I apply, I check whether my normal spending covers the requirement, what the points are really worth, and what year two costs.

By Mary Massoumi

Edited by Jenn Moon, Editor at Featured News · Oct 14, 2026

Credit-card marketing is a billion-dollar business. Capital One alone reported $5.0 billion in credit-card marketing expenses in 2025. With my marketing hat on, I know how tempting a strong offer can look. Before applying, I check what it takes to earn the bonus and whether the card fits my spending.

Is the card worth it?

If there’s a sign-up bonus, determine if it makes sense based on your existing spending. For example, if you’ll typically spend $3,500 in the first three months and there’s a sign-up bonus with a spend of $4,000 requirement in the first three months, it probably won’t be worth spending an additional $500 just for the bonus. There are, of course, some exceptions to this, but I generally avoid messing with my budget for credit cards.

If there isn’t a sign-up bonus, or if you can compare the sign-up bonus to something else), try to figure out the break-even point for the annual fee. Let’s say Card A has 75,000 points as a sign-up bonus, and Card B is what you could sign up for elsewhere (or what the historical sign-up bonus has been). Assuming Card B has no annual fee (and if there is an annual fee, work that back into this example), Card A’s $795 annual fee immediately puts you at a $495 disadvantage (at 1.2¢ per point, I usually peg 75,000 points to be worth $900). To break even on the annual fee, you’d have to get $495 worth out of the card benefits. If there’s a $300 annual statement credit for eligible travel purchases (like the Chase Sapphire Reserve has), that narrows it down to $195. From there, it’s a matter of determining how much value you’ll get out of things like the DoorDash statement credit, TSA Pre/Global Entry fee reimbursement, Priority Pass (PP), etc.

PP deserves its own little PSA: PP lounge access is not guaranteed. You do have to activate it on your Chase Sapphire Reserve, and lounges can get packed and turn away visitors. However, if you do get in, you’re allowed two guests each (for you as the primary cardholder and each of your $195-a-pop authorized users!) for free, with each additional guest costing $27 per person per visit.

As another example, I saw an in-flight ad recently on an American Airlines flight for the Citi/AAdvantage Executive card with an offer of a free Admirals Club membership and first checked bag (for you and up to eight people traveling on the same domestic AA itinerary) when you become a new cardmember and use the card for eligible purchases within three months of account opening. If you can access that offer, it could definitely be worth it compared to the current offer, but it would also have a $695 annual fee. You’d have to determine how often you’d use the Admirals Club (note: you can either bring immediate family, defined as your spouse/domestic partner and children under the age of 18, or two guests each time, with adult children counting as guests) or first checked bag benefits and whether those would offset the annual fee. AA Admirals Club guest(s)/family must be traveling to or from the same city on the same day on an eligible (American or oneworld) flight and must enter with the Admirals Club member, who must show a valid physical AA Admirals Club Card and boarding pass for an eligible same day flight.

I also have the now-closed to new applicants Citi Prestige, which costs $495 a year to maintain, but does come with perks like the $250 annual statement credit for eligible travel purchases and fourth night free (when booking hotels through Citi Travel, up to two times per calendar year). With the annual statement credit, that narrows it down to $245 in benefits/value needed. The fourth night free can save you a decent chunk of change, but be sure to research the best price (the fourth night perk doesn’t always make Citi the cheapest).

Keep track of cards

Keep track of credit cards, either with an Excel sheet like I use or with your credit union/bank if it tracks them for you, including when you opened them and when any applicable bonus offer(s) expire, current balance, when the fee renews, etc. Set an alert a month in advance of renewal so you can decide what you want to do.

Decide before renewal date

I typically wait until somewhere around the one-year anniversary of a card and reassess. There are basically three options: keep as-is, call and ask if it can be downgraded to a no/lower-fee card, or cancel. In any case, it’s a good idea to double-check the terms of the bonus to ensure you’ve met them and figure out how long you have after the annual fee posts before it will be reversed if you downgrade/cancel the card.

When calling, if you tell them you’d like to cancel, sometimes they’ll offer to waive/rebate the annual fee to keep the account open (no promises, though, and always ask about any strings attached to these offers, like spend requirements or whether you have to keep the account open for x months). Cancelling a card can adversely affect your credit score(s), so a downgrade may be best in some situations. If cancelling, make sure you use/save any points/miles, update any automatic payments, and pay off/transfer the balance before closing the account.

Bottom line

Always pay attention to credit card offers and read the fine print before applying. Double-check bonus terms and expiration dates, perks and annual fees before renewal. Sign-up bonuses typically can only be earned once and some companies won’t honor sign-up bonuses if you’ve had the card in the past. Set up payment alerts and calendar reminders so you don’t miss anything and remember to pay your statement balance in full to avoid interest charges.

Disclosure: As of October 2026, Rewardopedia has no affiliate or referral arrangements with Chase, Citi, or American Airlines. We are pursuing affiliate partnerships.

About the author

Mary Massoumi

Mary Massoumi is the CEO at Rewardopedia. She draws on her own experience managing credit cards and travel rewards to explain how she weighs sign-up bonuses, annual fees, and card perks. Her approach starts with everyday spending, reading the fine print, and checking whether benefits justify the cost.

This story was produced by Featured and republished with permission. Experts featured here are members of Connectively, Featured's expert network.

What nine paid VPNs actually cost at checkout and renewal

(Andre Granito) - We paid for and tested nine VPNs. The advertised monthly price rarely matched the bill.

By Andre Granito

Edited by Adrian James, Editor at Featured News · Oct 7, 2026

This year we paid for and tested nine VPNs (virtual private networks). From every angle. Today I am explaining my VPN research, focusing on the pricing aspects.

While starting our research, I was already surprised. One of the biggest VPN brands was offering a two-year plan at $3.49/month. However, on the checkout page, the total due jumped "a little bit": $94.23, paid upfront, because the deal actually covers 27 months (24 + 3 bonus months).

Monthly prices are one unit, not the full charge. The ads were offering $2.00-$4.99/month. But the real charge was from $56.94 to $119.76. Looking at the real monthly plan, without long-term commitment, the price is around $9 to $16.45.

And this doesn't happen only with this specific provider, or only in the VPN niche.

Personally, and professionally, it is common for me to have problems while registering or renewing domains with popular domain registrars. They offer amazing deals on yearly plans. This way you are locked in with the company, because transferring domain names is not something website owners usually do, I don't really need to explain why. However when the renewal charge comes, you are always surprised.

The cliff of renewal

Median renewal increase of more than 85%. Four out of nine more than doubled, and the biggest jump was +232%.

On the other hand, this is not a general rule: one went up only 8%, and two didn't change at all.

Now, this is the point I want you to understand. Paying for at least five years of coverage cost $158 with the cheapest option and $511 with the most expensive.

This assumes renewal prices stay the same. Taxes and future promos aren't included.

In fact, bonus months and odd timeframes make comparison very difficult. One provider is a good example: $72 buys 36 months (12 paid + 24 free), so $2/month. But the renewal is $72 for only 12 months, which means $6/month.

My tip for you is: compare the effective monthly cost in the whole term.

I found very irritating the fact that many companies find themselves with the right to mislead and deceive their customers. Capitalism expects the seller and the buyer to complete a "transaction" when one offers something the other finds valuable at the price offered. If you need to deceive your customers to keep your company running, something is deeply wrong, and probably it is time to rethink it, move to a different niche, or simply shut it down.

Informed consumers are capable of driving this type of company out of the market.

A "free trial" isn't always free

Beyond the hidden catches in the pricing of these services, you need to keep an eye on other things.

During our research, we realized that most of them offer some kind of free trial, but almost all of those ask for a credit card and convert it into a subscription.

Only one of the nine offered a free trial with no credit card in the desktop app. Paid trials cost between $0.99 and $2.

Refunds work, but read the terms.

All nine VPN services we tested refunded 100% of our money. Six on the same day, two the next day and the slowest after 7 days.

While researching one company, we had a few problems getting the refund. In fact, a support agent made our work very difficult from the first question we sent them. After some days of testing, we asked for a refund, and he would not approve it, even though our request was 100% within their terms, accusing us of "using services without paying for it" while testing and asking for refunds.

After disagreements and a heated argument, he instantly deleted our account; this automatically logged me out of the site, preventing me from contacting support again. I was stunned. Later that same day, I received the money back in my bank account.

One last tip about refunds: Purchases done through App Store or Google Play Store always follow the store rules, not the VPN provider's.

When you're the product

About half of the nine VPN providers we tested had a verifiable no-logs policy, the same percentage applies when we search for independent audits.

With one of them, a Domain Name System (DNS) leak test showed our real internet provider's DNS while the VPN was connected.

And here we get to the most important point of this article. When we talk about subscribing to a VPN provider - this can also relate to other niches - we have two possibilities:

1- You are indeed hiring a VPN service that will make your internet navigation safer and more private. Your data and path are actually protected. You are able to access streaming content from other countries, that are blocked in your region.

2- You are buying, paying for a service that is selling your data.

The latter - where you are the product - normally happens when we try to go for the cheapest option.

There are a few free plans I'd trust. With most free VPNs, ask how they make money. Often, the answer is your data.

In this case, there seems to be no difference between the VPN company and your internet service provider; you are simply swapping one company that sees your traffic for another. A VPN company selling your data might be even more dangerous than your internet service provider.

Conclusion: what to keep an eye on before paying

Without further ado, here are 5 simple things that apply to any subscription:

1- The amount charged today;

2- The actual term, including bonus months;

3- The renewal price and term;

4- Who processes the refund (provider or store);

5- Whether the trial requires a credit card.

If you are experienced and have purchased various online services, you have likely encountered some of these issues before and know the steps to take before committing, especially regarding annual or long-term plans.

However, the tips in this article can still be helpful, even to the most experienced internet users.

Often, pricing and renewal rates are the catch.

At other times, unusual terms and bonuses are introduced to confuse you.

And in some cases, depending on the niche, you might end up signing up for something that does you more harm than good.

The only way to avoid unpleasant surprises is to pay close attention to the five points mentioned above, plus the terms of service. Yes, it is tedious, but necessary.

How we tested

Between May and July 2026, we paid for a plan from each of nine VPN providers (CyberGhost, NordVPN, Private Internet Access, PrivateVPN, Proton VPN, PureVPN, Surfshark, Turbo VPN and VPN.ac), tested them hands-on (baseline speed tests from Latin America), and then requested refunds. All were one-month plans: CyberGhost VPN (1 month plan), NordVPN (Complete Plan, monthly), Private Internet Access (1 month plan), PrivateVPN (1 month plan), Proton VPN (VPN Plus, monthly), PureVPN (Max, monthly), Surfshark (One+, monthly), Turbo VPN (Platinum, monthly), VPN.ac (1 month plan).

The long-term prices in this article come from each provider's U.S. checkout, in U.S. dollars, rechecked on August 14, 2026. These prices are for each provider's cheapest plan, not the higher tiers we bought for testing. All prices are before tax, because tax depends on where you buy. Renewal figures are the renewal prices shown at checkout or in each provider's terms; we did not wait years to watch them charge.

Disclosure: I'm the founder of Reviews Ally, which earns affiliate commissions from the nine VPN providers tested here. We paid for every subscription ourselves, and no provider reviewed or approved this article.

About the author

Andre Granito

Andre Granito is a software engineer, founder & lead reviewer at Reviews Ally, an independent site that buys and tests software with its own money. He paid for, tested and requested refunds from nine VPN providers, and published the pricing and refund data. He also tests other types of software.

This story was produced by Featured and republished with permission. Experts featured here are members of Connectively, Featured's expert network.

Coast FIRE vs classic FIRE: which question are you really asking?

(Mehdi Zare CFA) - Classic FIRE aims to stop work as early as possible. Coast FIRE aims to stop heavy saving early and let compounding finish the job.

By Mehdi Zare CFA

Edited by Adrian James, Editor at Featured News · Oct 8, 2026

Classic FIRE, which is what the term FIRE originally referred to (financial independence, retire early) requires you save a high % of your income (40-50% is commonly cited), for long enough, so that your investment portfolio will be enough to cover your expenses for the rest of your life.

Coast FIRE refers to the point when you have saved enough aggressively that your investments should grow into a sufficient nest egg by the time you plan on traditional retirement. You’d continue working (and covering your expenses with income), but you would no longer have to save aggressively.

Which should you go for? Well, they’re optimizing for different things. With classic FIRE you can stop working completely sooner, with coast FIRE you get out of saving mode sooner. I think that Coast FIRE doesn’t get enough credit.

Which FIRE Approach Is Right for You?

There are some questions you need to ask yourself though

Can you bear saving X% for another Y years? Obviously with coast FIRE you’re getting out of that situation sooner, which is why it can be attractive. Saving 40-50% is no easy feat and may require both a higher income and lower expenses (or a varying degree of each). Maintaining that for over a decade could be rough. If the idea makes you queasy your FIRE number better be pretty attainable!

What will you be giving up? This is mostly applicable to Classic FIRE, since Coast FIRE by definition requires that you continue working. If you’re trying to fully retire at 40 what happens when the market tanks that year? Would you consider part time work? How much income would you need?

When can you get health insurance? This one goes for either situation and is a common mistake I see people make when planning for early retirement. Health insurance can be expensive if you leave too soon, which could sour either situation.

Can you coast on part time income? This one applies to either situation, but is another common mistake I see people make when they think they’ll be coasting, but find that a part time job without employer-provided insurance means that their income doesn’t even cover rent.

How will this help? What’s your goal here? Classic FIRE means you’ll be able to not have to work. Coast FIRE means that you’ll be able to reduce stress, take a lower paying job you enjoy more, work part time, etc. If the idea of having the option to say no to a bad boss or say yes to a great opportunity excites you, then Coast FIRE may fit you better than full FIRE.

Crunch the Numbers

Next you’re going to want to crunch some numbers

How much do you spend in a year (in today’s dollars)? (yes this means you need to do this part first)

Classic FIRE: use this to figure out your FIRE number. This step often times involves using a withdrawal rate (WR), which is really a rule of thumb and shortcut (not a guarantee!)

Coast FIRE: figure out your target age to retire traditionally and figure out how much you would need at that age. Work backwards from there using a reasonable return on investments to determine what you need today.

Watch Out for These Common Mistakes

The formulas are pretty straightforward. It’s the inputs where people go astray. I’ve seen some common problems people run into.

I’m coasting but still need to save a ton...forever? Chances are you’re not coasting.

I can coast on practically nothing! You’re underestimating how much you need. See the part-time income question above.

I’ll retire at ___. Fill in the blank. This one could be that you picked a number without figuring out what you actually needed. Or, this could be the opposite problem that you picked a number you saw online, didn’t dig deeper and may find you need more.

The inputs are very situation and timing specific. Have a kid and your timeline may slip a few years. Move to an expensive (or inexpensive) city and your timeline will shift. Improve your health insurance situation or find a job you love and your timeline may change too. Update your numbers often.

About the author

Mehdi Zare CFA

Mehdi Zare, CFA, is the founder of Bina Capital, a free financial education site built around side-by-side comparisons. He writes about FIRE paths, retirement accounts, tax basics, and turning a paycheck into a long-term plan, with an education-first approach and no product pitches.

This story was produced by Featured and republished with permission. Experts featured here are members of Connectively, Featured's expert network.

The 401(k) Match You Earned but Never Collected

(Mehdi Zare CFA) - Matching contributions are compensation, so don’t leave any on the table

By Mehdi Zare CFA

Edited by Adrian James, Editor at Featured News · Oct 12, 2026

Contributing to your 401(k) plan and maximizing any matching employer contribution is one of the most impactful financial decisions you can make to help ensure a successful financial retirement.

Matching employer contributions are compensation

It’s important to treat any employer match like what it really is: a component of your compensation. Vanguard’s How America Saves 2026 publication reports the average employer match as promised was 4.7% of pay and the median employer match was 4.0%. These statistics are calculated across all plans that are recorded by Vanguard analyzed in their study.

It’s important to know your plan’s matching contribution formula to be able to maximize that employer’s matching contribution. For example, assume your employee contribution is 3% of compensation. One plan promises a 50% match of the first 6% employee contribution, and the other promises a 100% match of the first 3% employee contribution. With a 3% employee contribution, you’ll receive a 1.5% matching contribution from the former plan and a 3.0% matching contribution from the latter plan.

The next detail to check is whether your match is calculated each paycheck or across the year.

Contributing to maximize the matching contribution

For 2026, the IRS allows $24,500 of compensation deferral into a 401(k) plan by the employee. Employees can defer more with catch-up contributions if eligible; $8,000 more for those that will be 50 years old or older this year, or $11,250 for those turning 60-63 this year. Compensation your employer contributes to match your employee contributions does not count towards this IRS defined employee elective-deferral limit.

Say you earn $150,000, receive 26 equal biweekly paychecks, and contribute 25% starting with your first paycheck. Assuming no catch-up contributions, bonuses, or other deferrals, you would reach $24,500 on paycheck 17. Your contribution on that check would be reduced to the remaining available amount, and regular elective deferrals would stop for the final nine paychecks.

Assuming your employer matches 100% of the first 5% of pay, the full annual match would be $7,500. But if matching is calculated separately each paycheck and the plan provides no annual adjustment, those nine paychecks without contributions would cost you approximately $2,596 in missed matching contributions, or leaving money on the table.

That is why it pays to ask about a true-up: an adjustment that reconciles the match already paid with what you qualify for under the plan’s annual formula. Some employers provide one; others do not. Ask when it is paid and what eligibility requirements apply, including whether leaving the company affects it. A true-up may arrive after the year ends.

What does all of this mean?

Read your plan’s summary description or speak to your Human Resources contact to fully understand your company’s matching formula; Whether it’s on each paycheck or the year as a whole, and if there’s a true-up and the rules around the true-up.

If your company’s formula calculates matches on each paycheck and doesn’t true-up, contributing evenly across paychecks will help you not leave matching compensation on the table. This can be accomplished by contributing an amount evenly through the year.

Increasing your deferral percentage during the year may not mean you’ll hit the IRS contribution limit sooner. Starting at a lower rate and raising it later generally means reaching the cap later than if you had used the higher rate all year.

I know first-hand about not capturing an employer match, when I changed jobs midyear, I had already hit my contribution limit so couldn’t defer compensation into my new employer’s plan to receive their matching contribution!

Things to look out for

Vesting. While employee contributions are vested, employer matching contributions could be vested immediately, fully vested after three years, or even vested over a six-year graded schedule per IRS vesting guidelines. Learn more about your plan’s vesting schedule.

Check that your deferral rate didn’t reset. This can happen after taking a leave of absence, changing employers, or if your benefits platform was updated. I’ve experienced this reset before!

The opportunity is meaningful. In its separate 2024 paper, Are employers optimizing their 401(k) match?, Vanguard found that 24% of employees in its study sample contributed below the threshold for the full match, while another 22% did not participate. Those findings appear in Figure 8, page 11, and reflect observations from 2013–2022.

Your employer’s match is part of your compensation. Knowing the formula is the first step; checking that your contributions actually earn it is what puts the money in your account.

About the author

Mehdi Zare CFA

Mehdi Zare, CFA, is the founder of Bina Capital, a free financial education site built around side-by-side comparisons. He writes about FIRE paths, retirement accounts, tax basics, and turning a paycheck into a long-term plan, with an education-first approach and no product pitches. https://www.bina.capital

This story was produced by Featured and republished with permission. Experts featured here are members of Connectively, Featured's expert network.

Your team optimizes for exactly what you measure

(Ben Williams) - Many operations measure the wrong thing. One packaging team showed what changes when you fix it.

By Ben Williams

Edited by Adrian James, Editor at Featured News · Oct 13, 2026

As a young operations leader, I managed a custom packaging department, where items that didn't fit in the standard box sizes were packed. These items were often large and bulky and the work was difficult. And when I started working with the department, there were a large number of quality defects being generated: tape that didn't cover the full seam of the box; incorrect items being packaged; receipt slips missing... And senior leadership's read was that it was a people problem. So I investigated.

When I spoke with the team, they knew the quality errors were there. They told me that the quality requirements slowed them down. They were held to an hourly rate, and when they applied extra tape, or waited for the slip to print out, or verified the item on the screen, they had trouble making rate.

This is a classic defect and the finding isn't the main point to this story. In most departments, packages per hour is an important metric. Distribution centers are often handling huge demands with limited labor available. Maintaining a reasonable work pace helps meet that demand. But this department was different. The demand was minimal and the work was more difficult. Quality mistakes stood out. It was being measured like the other pack departments and that was the issue.

I had found the problem, but telling senior leadership that I needed the team to go slower wasn't the answer, in and of itself anyway. I dove into the data and saw that these quality mistakes were costly. And with the lower volume of packages, speed didn't save a lot. There was a small trade-off in additional labor hours to allow the team to slow down, but it didn't outweigh the money gained by mitigating the quality issues. I presented the math and I got the green light to experiment.

I went back to the team and I told them to prioritize mitigating the quality errors. Their immediate response was that they would not be able to "make rate" and my rebuttal was to not worry about the rate. Quality improved immediately. It was measurable and evident on day one. Packages per hour slowed by about 15%, but quality errors went to near zero. We stopped celebrating the wrong KPI and the team gladly followed suit. People genuinely want to do what is right most of the time. That's what makes what you measure so important. The results were an estimated $400,000 annual net savings from a six-person packaging team. The team was proud. Senior leadership was happy. And I became a better operations leader through the experience.

What I often think about is what would have happened if I didn't dig deeper. If I simply took the initial diagnosis at face value. The consequences would have been a tension with the packaging associates, a worsening in the quality issues as the team was held to unrealistic standards, and a complete loss of trust from the team, senior leadership, and likely myself. If your team looks like they're underperforming, take the extra time to check the scoreboard before you check the players.

About the author

Ben Williams

Ben Williams is the founder of OpsStack Solutions, an operations consulting practice for small and mid-sized warehouse, fulfillment, and distribution businesses. A Marine Corps veteran, he spent fifteen years running physical operations — from the floor of a 1.3M-square-foot fulfillment center to network programs across 80+ facilities — before starting OpsStack to fix operations the way an operator would.

This story was produced by Featured and republished with permission. Experts featured here are members of Connectively, Featured's expert network.

Interview with Robert Watson, CEO, BoardGamingTees.

(Featured) - Watson explains why it's important to teach a board game's theme and goal first, allow takebacks, and maintain a consistent public schedule, so first-time players know where they fit and when to return.

Interview with Robert Watson

Edited by Haley Spracale, Editor at Featured News · Oct 14, 2026

When someone attends a board game night for the first time, what do you do to help them feel comfortable from the moment they arrive?

For first-timers, the key is helping them to connect. Everyone else who comes regularly is likely welcoming but has an established routine or a preferred group to sit with, and may even have pre-arranged a game for themselves to play already.

Welcome the new people. Do a quick assessment to figure out how game-savvy they are, and then find a matching group. The ideal groups are outgoing, friendly and diverse, and are playing a game on the easier end of the spectrum. Tables with good teachers are always a positive.

If you have an established gamer, feel free to pair them with a group playing an advanced game, but make sure to introduce them and ask if there's room for someone new to join. If not, have a few welcoming games at the ready to play with them yourself. This gives you a great chance to get to know them and to figure out who to pair them with next time, as well as a chance to give them an introduction to what to expect from your game night.

How do you choose games that make it easy for newcomers with different experience levels to participate?

I think that in most cases, you need a newcomer to feel like they've found a place where they really fit in. If they tell you their favorite game and you have something that shares an element with it, then you've done it. For example, if their favorite game is Catan, ask what they like about it. Is it the tile-laying aspect? Give them a tile-laying game. Is it the trading? Find a game that encourages player interaction and trading. Do they just love Catan? If you've got it, play Catan with them. Finding a game with a similar depth of rules and strategies, so you're not overwhelming them with new content, is the best method. It's difficult enough to play games with strangers in a strange environment. There's no need to give them a very complex new set of game rules to learn as well.

How do you explain rules in a way that keeps first-time players engaged rather than overwhelmed?

Explaining rules is an art rather than a science. In most cases, you should start with the theme — who the players are and why they care — and explain how to win.

Then move into the turn structure and what actions can be taken to move them toward that goal.

How do you handle moments when a new player makes a mistake or feels discouraged during a game?

Mistakes happen. I make it a point to always allow takebacks in my games if at all possible. If a player makes an error, I handle it like this: If they forgot a bonus they should have had, let them take it. If they’re not sure whether they grabbed the right colored cubes, let them decide what they had. If you feel like they’re uncomfortable with it, make a mistake yourself and demonstrate the kind of grace you can expect from your group.

What is one simple change a community organizer can make this week to turn a board game night into a place newcomers want to return to?

Communication is really underrated among board game organizers. It's easy to set up a Discord server, a public Facebook group, or a Meetup that lets others join and learn about upcoming events. For public groups that rely on private communication — such as a group text as their only method — it can be difficult for newcomers to know who to ask about future events, and it can make them feel left out or uninvited.

Consistency is key too. "We meet here every second Wednesday" lets those who are less comfortable with technology know when and where to show up to play next time. Don't assume people know; make it very clear when and where the same group will reassemble.

About the expert

Robert WatsonCEO at BoardGamingTees

This story was produced by Featured and republished with permission. Experts featured here are members of Connectively, Featured's expert network.

(NewsUSA) - For many people, breast cancer screening becomes a priority around age 40. However, according to recommendations from the American College of Radiology^® (ACR^®), one of the most important conversations about breast health should happen much sooner: a breast cancer risk assessment by age 25.

Breast cancer remains one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in the United States, and early detection continues to be one of the most effective tools for improving outcomes. Since screening became widespread, breast cancer mortality has declined significantly, helping save countless lives through earlier diagnosis and treatment.

While annual mammography beginning at age 40 is recommended for women at average risk, breast cancer risk is not the same for everyone. Factors such as family history, genetic mutations and other health considerations can increase a person's likelihood of developing breast cancer and may warrant earlier or additional screening.

One in eight women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. ACR recommends that all women undergo a formal breast cancer risk assessment by age 25, with particular emphasis on Black women and women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, who may face elevated risk factors or worse breast cancer outcomes. Identifying higher-risk individuals early creates an opportunity to develop a more personalized screening strategy before cancer develops.

"Breast cancer screening is not a one-size-fits-all approach," said Stamatia Destounis, MD, FACR, chair of the American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Commission. "A risk assessment by age 25 can help identify those who may benefit from earlier screening or supplemental imaging. Understanding your personal risk allows people and their healthcare providers to make informed decisions based on their unique circumstances."

Risk assessment is also important for transgender individuals. Breast cancer risk can be influenced by factors including anatomy, hormone use, family history, genetics, and prior medical care. Healthcare providers can use these factors to develop individualized screening recommendations that reflect each person's specific risk profile and health history.

Understanding risk is especially important because some populations are diagnosed with breast cancer at younger ages. Among Asian, Black, and Hispanic women, one-third of all breast cancers are diagnosed under age 50, highlighting the importance of evaluating individual risk rather than relying solely on age-based screening recommendations.

Resources are available to help people take that first step. Mammography Saves Lives, an educational initiative of ACR, provides information about breast cancer risk factors, breast density, screening recommendations, and questions patients can discuss with their healthcare providers. 

Breast Cancer Awareness Month serves as a reminder of the importance of early detection. Learning your risk by age 25 can provide valuable information that helps guide future screening decisions and, for some, may lead to earlier detection when treatment is most effective. For more information, visit mammographysaveslives.org.  

(NewsUSA) - Does feeling confident about your finances seem increasingly out of reach? If so, you aren’t alone. In fact, research from Guardian shows that Americans’ financial wellness is at its lowest point in 15 years.

While everyone’s financial picture is different, achieving your goals is often about more than reaching a savings milestone. No matter what you’re working towards, having the right strategies in place and guidance along the way is crucial. Whole life insurance can be one tool that supports those aspirations as part of a holistic financial plan in more ways than you might expect.

Understanding today’s financial challenges

According to Guardian’s research, money and finances are Americans’ top sources of stress. Perhaps contributing to this stress is the fact that fewer than one-third say they’re very good at managing their finances or sticking to a long-term financial plan. 

Financial concerns persist even among those with significant assets, with nearly 40% of high-net-worth individuals saying they avoid dealing with their finances because it feels overwhelming. 

For many Americans, retirement is an area of particular concern, especially as lifespans continue to grow longer. More than four in 10 worry their savings won't last as long as needed, while over half of those age 45 and older regret not starting to save sooner. 

Finding the right tool for your goals

The good news is that whole life insurance can help address these and other common financial concerns by offering a balance of growth now, confidence in retirement, and impact beyond your lifetime. A whole life policy can:

• Provide lifelong protection. Whole life insurance offers a guaranteed death benefit that never expires, is generally paid income tax-free, and can help protect loved ones, cover immediate expenses, and preserve a legacy.
• Create stability amid uncertainty. With set premiums and predictable benefits, whole life insurance can provide a stable foundation as markets, income, and life priorities change.
• Build accessible cash value. A whole life policy builds cash value that grows tax-deferred and can be accessed through policy loans, providing a source of liquidity for needs such as emergencies, family milestones, or home purchases.
• Support retirement planning. Whole life insurance can complement other retirement income vehicles by providing an additional source of funds to help cover health care costs or other major expenses, while also helping to boost confidence in spending retirement savings knowing money is still being preserved for loved ones.

“Whether you're focused on protecting your family, planning for retirement, or preparing for what's next, having a strong financial foundation matters,” said Andy Gordon, Head of Life Insurance at Guardian. “Whole life insurance can help provide stability and confidence as part of a protection-first, holistic plan, supporting your goals today and in the years to come.”

Getting help along the way

When it comes to shaping your financial future, having the right guidance can be just as important as having the right tools. A financial advisor can help you understand how whole life insurance may fit within a broader financial strategy that brings together protection, savings, retirement planning, and legacy goals. Consider reaching out to one today.

Planning with confidence

With a financial plan that reflects your priorities and helps you prepare for whatever lies ahead—alongside guidance from a trusted professional—taking steps towards achieving your financial goals can be easier than you may think.

To learn more about how whole life insurance can play an important role within your broader financial strategy, visit https://www.guardianlife.com/reports/whole-life-for-whole-wealth.