Tired of too many subscriptions? Apple TV+, Disney+ streaming launches add to overload - USA TODAY

Edward C. Baig USA TODAY

Published 6:05 AM EDT Oct 21, 2019

Quick test: Ask yourself how many subscriptions you’re on the hook for. 

Hard to blame you for failing to come up with a number, or for feeling overwhelmed at the mere prospect of trying.

Let's see. There’s TV or internet for shows, music services such as Spotify and Apple Music, maybe some newspapers or magazines. Don’t forget the cloud storage where you keep all those precious photos and videos,  and that identity theft protection you need because of all of the data breaches, holes and hacks.

Overwhelmed yet? We're not done. 

There are the meal kits and razor blades delivered to your doorstep to make life easier. Then there’s wardrobe you swap out and have delivered on a regular basis through Rent the Runway. Maybe that extends to your ride, a car subscription that lets you drive your vehicle of choice.

That’s not even counting the apps, cellphone service, online genealogy, home security monitoring, audio and e-books, ink cartridges, videogame catalogs and that health-tracking service you forgot about that you pay for each month. Then there are those expired free 30-day trials you've long forgotten about still an unseen part of your world.  

Feeling oversubscribed? Or maybe over being subscribed. Subscription fatigue is on the verge of reaching epidemic proportions.

What's more, the trend toward getting you to sign up is getting more intense when it comes to streaming media. The spectrum of apps and services, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO, Showtime and YouTube, is about to get even more crowded with the advent of Apple TV+, HBO Max (from AT&T), Peacock (from Comcast/NBCUniversal) and Disney+. 

Streaming wars: Netflix says it will retain the streaming crown; not worried about Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus

There are more than 300 “over-the-top”  video services streamed over the Internet, says Deloitte vice chairman Kevin Westcott, who leads the company’s U.S. telecommunication, media and entertainment practice.

The average household subscribes to three.

“That tells you we definitely have a problem,” he says. 

Why do we subscribe?

As we transitioned to this sharing economy, we’ve seen “that globally, people have become more inclined to say that they want subscription-based services rather than to outright own something,” says Virna Sekuj, strategic insights manager with the GlobalWebIndex market research firm.

Sekuj says one of the motivators to the subscription or membership model is the upfront cost, especially driven by millennials who grew up with tech and during the Great Recession. "It's given people access to things that they may normally not have been able to do."

How many subscriptions are too many? 

“Things are getting absurd,” behavior analyst Sean McCoy tweets in response to a USA TODAY question on the topic. Though he’s had subscriptions for years to multiplayer online role-playing games, he says, “my wife and I just took inventory and weeded (out) anything we didn’t really need.”

The impulse to subscribe to a video service may be largely built around the idea of convenience. That's the promise anyway. The basis of the old cable model was that all this content was aggregated in one place, and your TV subscription is very likely bundled with broadband in the home.  

“If only there were one service that could bring me all the content in one easy box. Oh wait, it's called cable, and it's been around for 40 years,” says Andy Gibs a Northern New Jersey father of two.

Dana Strong, president of Comcast’s Xfinity Consumer Services, says the company’s X1 platform was created in part to help reduce the friction consumers may experience in leaving one video app for another or leaving linear TV for on-demand programming.  

“Having the ability to elevate the content out of the app into an integrated search engine and user interface makes the content discovery that much easier, particularly when you connect it with a voice remote," she says.

If you’re a cord-cutter looking to ditch cable, your motivation may have more to do with saving money – why pay extra loot to the cable guys for hundreds of channels you never watch? But there are no guarantees you’ll come out ahead financially. 

"My husband insisted on cutting the cable and switching to multiple streaming services," Deb McAlister Holland wrote on Facebook. "I can’t articulate how much I hate it. Terrible user interfaces. Half a dozen separate sets of preferences to update. Annual fees. Monthly fees. Delays of days, weeks, or months before TV shows are available."

By 69% to 65%, streaming video has edged ahead of traditional pay TV, according to a recent Deloitte survey of more than 2,000 U.S. consumers. But it’s not an either/or proposition; 43% of U.S. consumers have both.

Where to go to watch

Consumers may feel compelled to sign up for multiple video subscriptions because this or that service is the only place to go watch some program all their friends are telling them to binge on. 

Access to original programming created by the service – think Amazon and Netflix – was cited as a chief benefit for 55% of more than 23,000 U.S. internet subscribers ages 16 to 64 surveyed in April by GlobalWebIndex. More than half also cited being able to watch across multiple devices.

That’s what Apple will bank on when it launches shows around such stars as Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon as part of Apple TV+. It’s another play by the company to attract and keep customers within its ecosystem.

Unfortunately, as shows are spread out across numerous services, chasing content may take a lot more effort on consumers' part and cost more than they counted on. Just ask a frustrated parent lamenting the fact that Disney pulled its content off Netflix in favor of its own soon-to-launch Disney+ service.

As a consumer, “you want to pick an ecosystem that’s neutral,” says Dave Shull, the new CEO of TiVo, the struggling DVR pioneer that is attempting to reinvent itself while trying to help viewers navigate content chaos. “It’s interesting to me the last couple of weeks to watch Disney+ and Netflix starting to fight. The benefit and promise of TiVo is I am never going to be a content provider. Those guys have much bigger pockets than we do, and they’ll fight it out.”

For many consumers, it may be a challenge just getting a handle on what they already pay for, maybe a “trial” subscription to some app or product they signed up for years ago and simply forgot about? If the bill automatically renews online, customers don’t get that monthly statement in the mail to remind them.

You probably pay more for subscriptions than you think.

An analysis last year by the WestMonroe consulting firm of 2,500 Americans’ budgets, spanning 21 categories of subscription services, found that 84% of people underestimated what they spent each month. The average person forked over about $237 for the categories in the study.

Bootstrap Media managing director Gene DeRose describes the problem of subscription fatigue as a feeling of complete bewilderment. “We’re all more than ever innocent victims of the blood wars between big tech players, who could easily enable all of these systems to more elegantly talk to each other but refrain from doing so because they're wired to keep all the bricks in place in their respective walled gardens, lest they lose leverage.”

Consumers may gain back a bit of leverage by sharing subscriptions. Eighty percent of the respondents in the GlobalWebIndex survey share a TV/movie streaming subscription with at least one other person; half of those share a premium music plan.

The complexity that comes with subscription overload may introduce another problem: “It's not as much subscription fatigue as it is password fatigue,” says Jeff Dorgay, publisher of ToneAudio. 

Where to go to cancel

The most prudent remedy for consumers is to take the time to figure out which services they are paying for. The first place to start is credit card statements. Do a bit of digging to see which recurring charges are attached to your smartphone and other Android or iOS devices.

For Android users, start in the Google Play store and sign into your Google Account. Tap Menu, Subscriptions and choose the subscriptions you want to wave bye-bye to. Follow the instructions from there.

To get started on an iPhone or iPad, go to Settings, tap your name,  then choose the subscriptions on your potential hit list.

You can always follow the path McCoy and his wife took. Reach out to every service you rarely, if ever, use and utter three simple words: “Cancel my subscription.” 

Consumers, have you had enough? Email: ebaig@usatoday.com; Follow @edbaig on Twitter

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2019/10/21/disney-apple-tv-netflix-amazon-can-we-tame-subscription-fatigue/3995686002/

2019-10-21 08:07:00Z
CAIiEP7nWKsSVtMhNvhpJnXRWy8qGQgEKhAIACoHCAowjsP7CjCSpPQCMM_b5QU

Facebook says Libra could use a series of cryptocurrencies pegged to different currencies - CNBC

A "Zuck Buck" is displayed on a monitor as David Marcus, the executive leading Facebook's blockchain initiative, is questioned by U.S. lawmakers in Washington, D.C., on July 17, 2019.

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Facebook has suggested its Libra project could use multiple cryptocurrencies backed by different existing currencies like the dollar, rather than having one single digital token tied to a basket of currencies.

The tech giant had initially proposed one synthetic unit of value that would be tied to a basket of currencies and government debt. But according to Reuters, David Marcus, the executive leading Facebook's blockchain initiative, told a banking seminar that he was open to looking at alternative approaches.

"We could do it differently," he said, according to the news agency. "Instead of having a synthetic unit … we could have a series of stablecoins, a dollar stablecoin, a euro stablecoin, a sterling pound stablecoin, etc."

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that are usually pegged to government-backed currencies like the dollar. Tether is the world's best-known stablecoin, backed by the dollar, though it has garnered some controversy over whether it has a sufficient amount of dollars in reserve, as well as the suggestion that it could have been used for market manipulation.

Such currencies aim to reduce the volatility seen in virtual currencies like bitcoin and ether. In libra's case, the objective is to create a more efficient cross-border payments system.

But the Switzerland-based Libra Association, which oversees the proposed cryptocurrency, has faced numerous setbacks since the start of the month, with various original member companies including payments giants Mastercard and Visa backing out.

And as payments companies withdraw from Libra, there are no immediate signs that banks could be willing to join. J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon on Friday called the group's currency "a neat idea that'll never happen."

Libra has also been met with fierce regulatory pushback, with authorities around the world worried the currency could heavily disrupt the financial system and potentially be used for money laundering or terrorist financing.

Last week, the Group of Seven (G-7) said in a report that no stablecoin project — Libra included — should be allowed to go ahead until the attached legal risks are addressed.

Meanwhile the Financial Action Task Force, a global watchdog on illicit financing, said that such digital currencies could inhibit efforts to clamp down on money laundering and terrorist financing.

Facebook could find some solace in the fact that the chief of Germany's financial regulator doesn't think libra will go away anytime soon. BaFin President Felix Hufeld told CNBC over the weekend that he doesn't think the social media firm's digital token is "dead in the water." Meanwhile, fellow tech giant IBM has said it's open to working with Libra.

WATCH: Don't think Facebook's libra is dead in the water, BaFin president says

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/21/facebooks-david-marcus-libra-could-use-currency-pegged-stablecoins.html

2019-10-21 07:04:28Z
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Facebook says Libra could use a series of cryptocurrencies pegged to different currencies - CNBC

A "Zuck Buck" is displayed on a monitor as David Marcus, the executive leading Facebook's blockchain initiative, is questioned by U.S. lawmakers in Washington, D.C., on July 17, 2019.

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Facebook has suggested its Libra project could use multiple cryptocurrencies backed by different existing currencies like the dollar, rather than having one single digital token tied to a basket of currencies.

The tech giant had initially proposed one synthetic unit of value that would be tied to a basket of currencies and government debt. But according to Reuters, David Marcus, the executive leading Facebook's blockchain initiative, told a banking seminar that he was open to looking at alternative approaches.

"We could do it differently," he said, according to the news agency. "Instead of having a synthetic unit … we could have a series of stablecoins, a dollar stablecoin, a euro stablecoin, a sterling pound stablecoin, etc."

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that are usually pegged to government-backed currencies like the dollar. Tether is the world's best-known stablecoin, backed by the dollar, though it has garnered some controversy over whether it has a sufficient amount of dollars in reserve, as well as the suggestion that it could have been used for market manipulation.

Such currencies aim to reduce the volatility seen in virtual currencies like bitcoin and ether. In libra's case, the objective is to create a more efficient cross-border payments system.

But the Switzerland-based Libra Association, which oversees the proposed cryptocurrency, has faced numerous setbacks since the start of the month, with various original member companies including payments giants Mastercard and Visa backing out.

And as payments companies withdraw from Libra, there are no immediate signs that banks could be willing to join. J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon on Friday called the group's currency "a neat idea that'll never happen."

Libra has also been met with fierce regulatory pushback, with authorities around the world worried the currency could heavily disrupt the financial system and potentially be used for money laundering or terrorist financing.

Last week, the Group of Seven (G-7) said in a report that no stablecoin project — Libra included — should be allowed to go ahead until the attached legal risks are addressed.

Meanwhile the Financial Action Task Force, a global watchdog on illicit financing, said that such digital currencies could inhibit efforts to clamp down on money laundering and terrorist financing.

Facebook could find some solace in the fact that the chief of Germany's financial regulator doesn't think libra will go away anytime soon. BaFin President Felix Hufeld told CNBC over the weekend that he doesn't think the social media firm's digital token is "dead in the water." Meanwhile, fellow tech giant IBM has said it's open to working with Libra.

WATCH: Don't think Facebook's libra is dead in the water, BaFin president says

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/21/facebooks-david-marcus-libra-could-use-currency-pegged-stablecoins.html

2019-10-21 06:34:21Z
52780413829659

Illegal vapes traced to California woman who was CBD pioneer - Yahoo Lifestyle

FILE - In this May 8, 2019, file photo, a Yolo! brand CBD oil vape cartridge sits alongside a vape pen on a biohazard bag on a table at a park in Ninety Six, S.C. More than 50 people around Salt Lake City had been poisoned by the time the outbreak ended early last year, most by a vape called Yolo!, the acronym for "you only live once." (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File)

CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) — Some of the people rushing to emergency rooms thought the CBD vape they inhaled would help like a gentle medicine. Others puffed it for fun.

What the vapors delivered instead was a jolt of synthetic marijuana, and with it an intense high of hallucinations and even seizures.

More than 50 people around Salt Lake City had been poisoned by the time the outbreak ended early last year, most by a vape called Yolo! — the acronym for "you only live once."

In recent months, hundreds of vape users have developed mysterious lung illnesses, and more than 30 have died. Yolo was different. Users knew immediately something was wrong.

Who was responsible for Yolo? Public health officials and criminal investigators couldn't figure that out. Just as it seemed to appear from nowhere, Yolo faded away with little trace.

As part of an investigation into the illegal spiking of CBD vapes that are not supposed to have any psychoactive effect at all, The Associated Press sought to understand the story behind Yolo.

The trail led to a Southern California beach town and an entrepreneur whose vaping habit prompted a career change that took her from Hollywood parties to federal court in Manhattan.

When Janell Thompson moved from Utah to the San Diego area in 2010, the roommate she found online also vaped. Thompson had a background in financial services and the two decided to turn their shared interest into a business, founding an e-cigarette company called Hookahzz.

There were early successes. Thompson and her partner handed out Hookahzz products at an Emmy Awards pre-party, and their CBD vapes were included in Oscar nominee gift bags in 2014. In a video shot at a trade show, an industry insider described the two women as "the divas of CBD."

Indeed, Hookahzz was among the first companies to sell vapes that delivered CBD, as the cannabis extract cannabidiol is known. Now a popular ingredient in products from skin creams to gummy bears, cannabidiol was at that time little known and illegal in some states.

The partners started other brands that offered CBD capsules and edibles, as well as products for pets. Part of Thompson's pitch was that CBD helped treat her dog's tumors.

By autumn 2017, Thompson and her partner formed another company, Mathco Health Corporation. Within a few months, Yolo spiked with synthetic marijuana — commonly known as K2 or spice — began appearing on store shelves around Salt Lake City.

Synthetic marijuana is manmade and can be manufactured for a fraction of the price of CBD, which is typically extracted from industrial hemp that must be farmed.

Samples tested at Utah labs showed Yolo contained a synthetic marijuana blamed for at least 11 deaths in Europe — and no CBD at all.

Authorities believed that some people sought out Yolo because they wanted to get high, while others unwittingly ingested a dangerous drug. What authorities didn't understand was its source.

Investigators with Utah's State Bureau of Investigation visited vape stores that sold Yolo, but nobody would talk. The packaging provided no contact information.

By May 2018, the case was cold. But it was not dead.

That summer, a former Mathco bookkeeper who was preparing to file a workplace retaliation complaint began collecting evidence of what she viewed as bad business practices.

During her research, Tatianna Gustafson saw online pictures showing that Yolo was the main culprit in the Utah poisonings, according to the complaint she filed against Mathco with California's Department of Industrial Relations.

Gustafson wrote that while at Mathco she was concerned about how Yolo was produced, that it was excluded from Mathco's promotional material and that the "labels had no ingredients or contact listing."

Justin Davis, another former Mathco employee, told AP that "the profit margins were larger" for Yolo than other products.

Gustafson's complaint asserted that Mathco or JK Wholesale, another of the companies that Thompson and her partner incorporated, mixed and distributed Yolo. Financial records in the complaint show Thompson's initials as the main salesperson for Yolo transactions, including with a company in Utah. The records also show Yolo was sold in at least six other states, including to an address in South Carolina where a college student said he vaped a cartridge that sent him into a coma.

The former bookkeeper also tipped the Utah Poison Control Center about who she believed was behind Yolo, according to her complaint.

Barbara Crouch, the poison center's executive director, recalled getting a tip in late 2018 and passing it along to the State Bureau of Investigation. SBI agent Christopher Elsholz talked to the tipster, who told him she believed the company she had worked for distributed Yolo. Elsholz said the company was in California and therefore out of his jurisdiction, so he passed the tip to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

The DEA offered to help but took no law enforcement action, spokeswoman Mary Brandenberger said. Spiked CBD is a low priority for an agency dealing with bigger problems such as the opioid epidemic, which has killed tens of thousands of people.

In the end, it wasn't the synthetic marijuana compound in Yolo from Utah that caught up with Thompson. It was another kind of synthetic added to different brands.

By the time of the Utah poisonings, vapes labeled as Black Magic and Black Diamond had sickened more than 40 people in North Carolina, including high school students and military service members. Investigators were able to connect Thompson to that outbreak in part based on a guilty plea from the distributor of the spiked vapes, who said a woman that authorities identified as Thompson supplied the liquid that went into them.

Prosecutors also linked her to dealers charged in New York, where she pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to distribute synthetic marijuana and a money laundering charge. The only brand federal prosecutors cited was Yolo.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman called Thompson a "drug trafficker" who used JK Wholesale to distribute "massive quantities" of synthetic marijuana as far back as 2014. She faces up to 40 years in prison.

Reached by phone the week before she pleaded guilty, Thompson declined to discuss Yolo and then hung up. In a subsequent text message, Thompson said not to call her and referred questions to her lawyer, who did not respond to requests for comment.

While Yolo was Thompson's project and she was the exclusive salesperson, her business partner and former roommate was involved in its production, according to the workplace retaliation complaint.

Thompson's business partner and former roommate, Katarina Maloney, distanced herself from Thompson and Yolo during an August interview at Mathco's headquarters in Carlsbad, California. Maloney has not been charged in the federal investigation.

"To tell you the truth, that was my business partner," Maloney said of Yolo. She said Thompson was no longer her partner and she didn't want to discuss it.

In a follow-up email, Maloney asserted the Yolo in Utah "was not purchased from us," without elaborating.

"Mathco Health Corporation or any of its subsidiary companies do not engage in the manufacture or sale of illegal products," she wrote. "When products leave our facility, they are 100% compliant with all laws."

Maloney also said all products are lab tested. She did not respond to requests for Yolo lab results.

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https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/illegal-vapes-traced-california-woman-050227876.html

2019-10-21 05:44:34Z
CBMiVGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnlhaG9vLmNvbS9saWZlc3R5bGUvaWxsZWdhbC12YXBlcy10cmFjZWQtY2FsaWZvcm5pYS13b21hbi0wNTAyMjc4NzYuaHRtbNIBXGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnlhaG9vLmNvbS9hbXBodG1sL2xpZmVzdHlsZS9pbGxlZ2FsLXZhcGVzLXRyYWNlZC1jYWxpZm9ybmlhLXdvbWFuLTA1MDIyNzg3Ni5odG1s

Qantas Completes Historic Test Of Longest Nonstop Passenger Flight - HuffPost

HuffPost is now part of the Verizon Media family. We (Verizon Media) and our partners need your consent to access your device, set cookies, and use your data, including your location, to understand your interests, provide relevant ads and measure their effectiveness. Verizon Media will also provide relevant ads to you on our partners' products. Learn More

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Learn more about how Verizon Media collects and uses data and how our partners collect and use data.

Select 'OK' to allow Verizon Media and our partners to use your data, or 'Manage options' to review our partners and your choices. Tip: Sign In to save these choices and avoid repeating this across devices. You can always update your preferences in the Privacy Centre.

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2019-10-20 12:56:00Z
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Wall Street keeps embarrassing itself every time Trump talks about China - Business Insider

It's quite possible that this is Trump's "Got you again, Wall Street" face. Who can really say?AP Photo

• Every time President Donald Trump says he has a trade deal with China the stock market rallies.
• And then it turns out the deal is vapor.
• Meanwhile, US-China relations continue to deteriorate in the background, making anyone bullish on a deal look even more absurd.
• Stop it, Wall Street — you're embarrassing yourself. And we hate to see it.

People, people, people. Why does this keep happening?

On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that he had a trade deal with China, and stocks soared. All was well in the universe of Wall Street. The administration gave itself a pat on the back.

A few hours later, though, everyone figured out that this "phase-one deal" sounded a lot like the trade war detente the US and China came to last December. In this latest "mini-deal," just like the agreement from nine months ago, both parties agreed that China would buy some agricultural goods here and there, and in exchange the US tariffs would not increase for the time being.

(There are more details, we have to assume, but they are difficult to grasp since the agreement wasn't written down or anything this time.)

Of course, this deal leaves untouched the deep structural disagreements between the US and China — issues that include major changes to China's business practices and law enforcement — unresolved. These are the issues at the core of the Trump administration's justification to launch the trade war.

And lo, in the days that followed the announcement of this "phase-one deal," the cracks started to show:

The S&P 500, to its credit, is flat for the month — phase-one deal or no. But it seems every time the president makes one of these pronouncements, the market gets excited, only to be let down again.

Let me tell you a story about the president. From 1986 to 1988, Trump reportedly made millions by betting in the stock market. His strategy was to leak to Wall Street that he was going to take over a company, like a real corporate raider. Then he'd quietly sell his shares before everyone figured out that he was bluffing.

It all ended because after two years Wall Street figured out that Trump's bark was much worse than his bite.

How long is it going to take this time?

President Pump-and-Dump

Meanwhile, as Trump pumps his trade deal and Wall Street foolishly gets their hopes up, the rest of US-Chinese diplomatic relations are in meltdown mode.

So while Trump may say the trade war with China is on the road to resolution, in the rest of the relationship chaos reigns.

And according to Sam Bresnick and Paul Haenle at Foreign Policy, there are some in China who like it that way.

To them, a Donald Trump who is willing to allow democracy to waver in Hong Kong (and the rest of Asia), who is not trusting of his allies, who is easily fooled, is a president who could create the kind of opening that would allow China to gain ground on a swiftly tilting planet. One Chinese thinker called it the "greatest strategic opportunity since the end of the Cold War."

From their piece, which is very much worth reading:

During numerous off-the-record discussions with Chinese government officials and scholars, we are finding that an increasing number are hoping for Trump's reelection next year. At a time when China's political influence and military capabilities are growing, they argue that in spite of his anti-China bluster, Trump has afforded Beijing the space to expand its influence across Asia and, more importantly, comprehensively weakened Washington's global leadership. From a zero-sum standpoint, many Chinese have concluded that Trump's policies are strategically very good for China in the long run.

On top of all these complications is the simple matter of trust. Last month, Beijing hosted a China Development Forum Special Session attended by politicians and technocrats the world over. The message out of that, according to Susan Thornton, a former assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, was that the Chinese don't think Trump is acting in good faith.

"They think Trump wants to have the China fight going into November elections," she said during a phone call with Business Insider. "They think he doesn't want to make a deal."

Thornton told us that the US and Chinese sides are having trouble understanding each other. Chinese diplomats tend to be subtle in their dealings; the US president is not a subtle man.

"Trump is presiding over the bleeding of US credibility," Thornton said. "There's no way the Chinese believe in the US ... and after seeing Trump's antics on the world stage how anyone is going to do a deal with us ever again?"

If we're stuck in phase one

Now, you may be thinking to yourself: At least the trade war isn't getting worse. If we're stuck in phase one, we're stuck in phase one.

Problem is, phase one is already causing chaos in the global economy. Up until September, the US consumer was the undisputed champion holding things together in a world of negative interest rates, slumping trade and manufacturing data, and declining business investment.

But last month, US retail sales started to sag. And now the Federal Reserve's Beige Book — a quarterly survey of businesses around the US released last week — is replete with complaints about how the trade war is constraining sales and raising input prices.

Then there's what's going on in China, the world's second-largest economy. Last quarter, GDP growth slowed to its lowest rate in three decades, 6%. Trade, manufacturing, industrial production — all declining. The one bright spot is infrastructure investment, which is supported by the government and widely considered a playground for dangerous shadow banking.

The world needs a real US-China trade deal if economic growth is going to return to the planet, not the fake deals the Trump administration keeps serving up. Wall Street — the so-called masters of the universe and the underlings who serve them — should be smart enough to know a real deal when they see one. But no. So far they've bought just about every pump the president has sold them. We hate to see it.

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https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-trade-war-tariffs-china-fools-wall-street-stock-market-2019-10

2019-10-20 12:06:17Z
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7 Changes to Social Security in 2020 - The Motley Fool

There's little question that Social Security is our nation's most valuable social resource. Of the nearly 64 million beneficiaries netting a monthly payout, over a third are being lifted out of poverty, with more than 15 million of these folks being retired workers.

Big changes are headed Social Security's way in 2020

However, Social Security is also a dynamic program. Each and every October the Social Security Administration releases its "Fact Sheet" that provides updates on everything from what beneficiaries will be paid in the upcoming year to what it takes to qualify for a benefit.

The following is a roundup of the seven biggest changes to Social Security in 2020.

Image source: Getty Images.

1. Beneficiaries are getting a modest "raise"

Without question, the most anticipated event every year is the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) announcement during the second week of October. COLA is a measurement of the inflation that Social Security beneficiaries have faced, and represents the "raise" that they'll receive in the upcoming year. Of course, it's not really a raise in the truest sense of the word given that COLA is merely designed to keep pace with, not outpace, inflation.

Since 1975, Social Security's inflationary tether has been the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). To determine COLA, the average CPI-W reading from the third-quarter of the current year (July through September) is compared with the average CPI-W reading from the third quarter of the previous year. If the current year is higher than the previous year, then beneficiaries will receive a raise that's commensurate with the percentage increase, and rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent.

In 2020, beneficiaries will be receiving a 1.6% COLA, which is more or less par for the course with the average "raise" received over the past decade. This increase in monthly payout equates to about $24 for the average retired worker and nearly $20 for the average disabled worker.

Image source: Getty Images.

2. Social Security's full retirement age increases, once more

For only the 10th time since Social Security was signed into law in 1935, the program's full retirement age is set to increase. The full retirement age (also known as "normal retirement age" by the Social Security Administration) refers to the age at which a retired worker can collect 100% of their monthly benefit, as determined by their birth year.

In 2020, the full retirement age will increase by two months to 66 years and eight months for persons born in 1958. This means these individuals will have to wait until they are at least 66 years and eight months old if they want 100% of their retired worker monthly benefit. If they begin taking their payout at any point between age 62, the first age of eligibility for retired worker benefits, and 66 years and seven months, they'll face a permanent reduction to their monthly payout.

Further, the full retirement age will increase by two months in 2021 and again in 2022, ultimately peaking in 2022 at age 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.

Image source: Getty Images.

3. The wealthy can net a higher maximum monthly payout

One of the more interesting quirks about Social Security retired worker benefits is that they're capped at a certain level. In 2019, for instance, no retired worker at full retirement age could take home more than $2,861 a month. This cap on monthly benefits exists because a cap is also in place on the amount of earned income that the payroll tax can impact .(I'll have more to say on this in the following point.)

In order to hit Social Security's maximum monthly benefit, a worker would need to have hit or surpassed the aforementioned maximum taxable earnings cap for 35 years, given that the Social Security Administration (SSA) takes your 35 highest-earning, inflation-adjusted years into account when calculating your retired worker benefit.

In 2020, well-to-do retirees could net quite a bit more each month. According to the SSA, the maximum monthly benefit at full retirement age will increase by $150 a month to $3,011. That's an extra $1,800 a year for lifetime upper-income earners during retirement.

Image source: Getty Images.

4. Well-to-do workers will have to open their wallets a bit wider in 2020

Conversely, upper-income working Americans are going to have to open their wallets a bit more next year.

You see, the payroll tax on earned income -- that's wages and salary, but not investment income – generated more than 88% of the $1 trillion in revenue collected by the program in 2018. This year, all earned income between $0.01 and $132,900 is subject to Social Security's 12.4% payroll tax. Next year, the earnings cap will rise by $4,800 to $137,700. The earnings tax cap rises in-step with the National Average Wage Index each year.

Depending on whether well-to-do workers are self-employed or employed by someone else (the self-employed are responsible for the entire 12.4% payroll tax, whereas employees split their tax liability with their employer), they'll owe up to $595.20 or $297.60 extra, respectively, in 2020.

Image source: Getty Images.

5. Disability income thresholds make a leap

Although Social Security was first and foremost designed as a financial foundation for retired workers, it today provides a monthly benefit to 8.4 million disabled workers and roughly 1.6 million spouses and children of disabled workers.

Every year, the SSA updates the monthly earning thresholds by which payments would cease for these individuals. In 2019, for instance, a non-blind Social Security disability beneficiary could earn up to $1,220 a month without having their monthly benefit from the program stopped. For blind Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) recipients, this threshold was $2,040.

As we look at the calendar change into 2020, the SSA update shows that non-blind SSDI recipients can now earn $40 more a month ($1,260 per month) without benefits ceasing, while blind SSDI beneficiaries can take home $70 more extra a month ($2,110 per month) before benefits would be stopped.

Image source: Getty Images.

6. Withholding thresholds for early filers motor higher

It's no secret that early filers face a number of disadvantages, with the biggest being a permanent reduction to their monthly payout from the program. But the retirement earnings test can also be a major thorn in the side of early filers that continue to work and generate income.

The retirement earnings test allows the SSA to withhold some or all of your benefits if you've begun taking your payout prior to your full retirement age, are still working, and you surpass set income thresholds. In 2020, you're allowed to earn $18,240 ($1,520 a month) without any withholding if you won't hit your full retirement age. This is up $50 a month from 2019. But if you surpass $18,240, the SSA can withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 in earned income above this threshold.

Meanwhile, if you will reach your full retirement age in 2020, you're allowed to earn $48,600 ($4,050 a month) before any withholding would kick in. That's up $140 a month from 2019. Plus, withholding here is only $1 in benefits for every $3 in earned income above the threshold.

Take note that the retirement earnings test no longer applies when you hit your full retirement age (no matter when you began taking your payout), and that any withheld benefits are returned in the form of a higher monthly payout after hitting your full retirement age.

Image source: Getty Images.

7. You'll have to work a bit harder to qualify for a Social Security benefit

Last, but not least, understand that Social Security isn't simply given to you because you were born in the United States. In order to qualify for a retired worker benefit, you'll have to earn it through years of work.

To guarantee yourself a Social Security retired worker benefit, as well as potential disability and/or survivor's insurance protections, you'll want to have earned 40 lifetime work credits, of which a maximum of four can be earned per year. These credits are earned based on your income in a given year. In 2019, for example, $1,360 in earned income equated to one lifetime work credit, with a full year's worth of credits working out to $5,440 in earned income (4 X $1,360). Thus, the SSA sets a very reasonable bar for workers to qualify for a benefit.

Next year, it'll be incrementally tougher to earn these credits. Qualifying for a work credit will require $1,410 in earned income, or $5,640 for the year to max out your credits.

In just 2.5 months these big changes are set to take effect, so make sure you're in the know.

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https://www.fool.com/retirement/2019/10/20/7-changes-to-social-security-in-2020.aspx

2019-10-20 10:06:00Z
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