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Mega billionaire Elon Musk, in a friendly interview with his aide and conservative influencer Katie Miller, said his efforts leading the Department of Government Efficiency were only somewhat successful and he would not do it over again. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who also owns the social media platform X, still broadly defended President Donald Trump‘s controversial pop-up agency that Musk left in the spring before it shuttered officially last month. Yet Musk bemoaned how difficult it is to remake the federal government quickly, and he acknowledged how much his businesses suffered because of his DOGE work and its lack of popularity. We were a little bit successful. We were somewhat successful, he told Miller, who once worked as a DOGE spokeswoman charged with selling the agency’s work to the public. When Miller pressed Musk on whether he would do it all over again, he said: I don’t think so. … Instead of doing DOGE, I would have, basically, built … worked on my companies. Almost wistfully, Musk added, They wouldn’t have been burning the cars” a reference to consumer protests against Tesla. Still, things certainly have turned up for Musk since his departure from Trump’s administration. Tesla shareholders approved a pay package that could make Musk the worlds first trillionaire. Musk was speaking as a guest on the Katie Miller Podcast, which Miller, who is married to top Trump adviser Stephen Miller, launched after leaving government employment to work for Musk in the private sector. The two sat in chairs facing each other for a conversation that lasted more than 50 minutes and spanned topics from DOGE to Musk’s thoughts on AI, social media, conspiracy theories and fashion. Miller did not press Musk on the inner workings of DOGE and the controversial manner in which it took over federal agencies and data systems. Musk credited the agency with saving as much as $200 billion annually in zombie payments that he said can be avoided with better automated systems and coding for federal payouts. But that number is dwarfed by Musk’s ambitious promises at one time that an efficiency commission could measure savings in the trillions. Miller has not responded to an Associated Press request for comment. Bill Barrow, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
As the year winds down to a close, with just three weeks left on the calendar, Nextdoor may be the next, last, big meme stock of 2025. Here’s why. What happened? On Wednesday, Nextdoor Holdings Inc. (NXDR) shares rose 49% in early trading, the most in over four years, according to Bloomberg. The gains come on the heels of a series of posts on X on Wednesday morning by investor Eric Jackson, founder of EMJ Capital hedge fund, who described the neighborhood-focused site as one of the most misunderstood platforms in the market” and touted its AI potential: “Nextdoor isnt a social network. Its a neighborhood operating system with AI-native revenue,” as well as its large membership (100 million households in 10 countries). At the time of this writing, Nextdoor was holding steady, up over 17% in midday trading. What is a meme stock? A meme stock is when a company’s stock gains popularity in online forums, often on social media. This can happen when a discussion thread on, say, Reddit, X, or Facebook kicks off a conversation about a company, often leading to the buying, selling, or shorting of shares. A meme stock starts when investors gather on discussion boards and chat rooms, such as Reddit’s r/wallstreetbets, to swap tips and ideas of unconventional stocks they are going to “bet” on. And the efforts of those individuals, collectively, often end up influencing the stock’s share price, either up or down: “Meme stocks can become overvalued relative to fundamental technical analysis,” according to Investopedia, often causing large price swings in either direction. Is Nextdoor the next GameStop? GameStop (GME) is generally considered the first real meme stock. However, it remains unclear whether Nextdoor will be able to sustain today’s double-digit rise.
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E-Commerce
Paired with high-deductible healthcare plans, health savings accounts help ease healthcare costs. HSAs are a triple tax-advantaged vehicle in the tax code, allowing for pretax contributions, tax-free compounding, and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses. However, few owners fund their HSAs to the maximum, and even fewer invest their HSA dollars outside a savings account. Most consumers likely dont fill their HSAs because they lack the financial means; critics note that the HDHP/HSA combination can be less beneficial for lower-income workers. But even wealthy consumers may decline to fully fund their HSAs. Many HSAs charge account-maintenance fees and extra costs for investing in long-term assets. Unlike 401(k)s, where participants are typically captive in employer plans, HSA savers can move money from one HSA to another via transfer or rollover. Below, how to know if your HSA is subpar, and what to do if it is. Valuable tax advantages may come at a price HSAs appear preferable to other tax-advantaged savings vehicles, especially for investors expecting out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. Even in a worst-case scenariousing HSA funds for non-healthcare expensesthe HSA is at least as good as a traditional tax-deferred 401(k) or IRA. Yet HSA expenses and/or investment shortcomings can erode their tax benefits, particularly for smaller HSA investors. Flat dollar-based account-maintenance fees (say, $45/year) hit smaller HSA investors harder, and interest rates for smaller HSAs may be lower. Its worthwhile to conduct due diligence on your HSA, assessing the following: 1. Setup Fees: A one-time fee imposed at account opening, sometimes covered by employers. 2. Account-Maintenance Fees: Monthly or annual fees for maintaining your account, also sometimes covered by employers. 3. Transaction Fees: Dollar-based fees that may be levied when paying for services using the HSA. 4. Interest Rate on Savings Accounts: For people using the HSA to fund out-of-pocket healthcare costs (or taking a hybrid approach), its particularly important to monitor your savings rate of return. Many HSAs offer higher interest rates on larger balances; that argues for building and maintaining critical mass in your HSA. 5. Investment-Related Expenses: Investors may face mutual fund or ETF expense ratios, sales charges, and dollar-based fees for maintaining investment accounts. 6. Investment Choices: Assess the investment lineup on offer to make sure it aligns with your investment philosophy. How to switch out of a poor HSA If your employer-provided HSA is lacking, you have three choices. Option 1: Contribute to an HSA on Your Own If youre enrolled in a HDHP, you can choose a different HSA provider and deduct your HSA contributions on your tax return. Thats more cumbersome and requires more discipline than payroll deductions, so forgoing payroll deductions is usually not the best option. Option 2: Transfer the Money from Your Employer-Provided HSA Into Another HSA Your HSA contribution comes directly from your paycheck and goes to your employer-provided HSA; you can then periodically transfer some or all of that balance into your preferred HSA provider. There are no tax consequences on HSA transfers, and you can conduct multiple transfers per year. You can have more than one HSA, so this approach can work well for employees whose captive HSAs feature decent savings but less-compelling investment options. Option 3: Roll Over the Money From Your Employer-Provided HSA Into Another HSA This is similar to option 2. You contribute to your employer-provided HSA via payroll deduction, then roll over the money to your preferred HSA provider. There are two key differences between a rollover and a transfer. In a transfer, two trustees handle the funds. In a rollover, you get a check that you must deposit into another HSA within 60 days, or it counts as an early withdrawal, and a 20% penalty will apply if youre not yet 65. Multiple transfers are permitted between HSAs, but only one HSA rollover is allowed every 12 months. ____ This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more personal finance content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance. Christine Benz is director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar.
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E-Commerce
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