Good morning. A group of 21 friends from a small Belgian village are splitting a $145 million windfall after collectively buying a winning lottery ticket. Splitting the win 21 ways might be costly now, but that’s nothing compared to how many “friends” will appear once they bring the cash home.
Economy
Just four weeks after being sworn in as New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani delivered a stark warning about the city’s finances — one he said rivals the worst downturn in recent memory.
“I will be blunt. New York City is facing a serious fiscal crisis,” Mamdani said at a press conference on Jan. 28. “There is a massive fiscal deficit in our City's budget to the tune of at least $12 billion.”
To close the gap, Mamdani said the city cannot rely on a single fix.
“It will require us to pursue every single avenue. That means looking inward into savings and efficiencies. That also means raising taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers and the most profitable corporations. And it means recalibrating the relationship with the state.”
While city leaders can debate tax hikes and budget fixes to close multibillion-dollar gaps, most Americans don’t have that luxury. When expenses rise or taxes creep higher, households can’t simply vote themselves new revenue — they have to adjust, plan and protect what they already have.
Trivia
New York City has faced fiscal crises before. In 1975, the city came within hours of doing what?
A) Selling naming rights to the Brooklyn Bridge
B) Selling Central Park to developers
C) Merging with Newark
D) Declaring bankruptcy
Scroll for the answer
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News
For professional athletes, training is a full-time job long before any contract is ever signed. That commitment leaves little time to build savings, gain work experience or plan for life beyond sport.
A report commissioned by Congress on elite American athletes found they were, on average, worse off financially for having competed, paying about $12,000 per year after accounting for training expenses, travel and fees. Despite that reality, the U.S. government does not provide salaries to Olympic or Paralympic athletes.
Billionaire Ross Stevens aims to change what financial security means for athletes. Starting with the Milan Cortina Games in 2026, Stevens plans to give $200,000 to every U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athlete, regardless of whether they win a medal.
Stevens, the founder and CEO of Stone Ridge Holdings Group, committed $100 million to the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee in 2025 to fund the initiative, marking the largest donation in the organization’s history.
“I do not believe that financial insecurity should stop our nation’s elite athletes from breaking through to new frontiers of excellence,” Stevens said in a statement.
News
In the wake of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, Ray Dalio, is ringing a global fire alarm.
The short version? The old economic world order is gone.
“Let’s not be naive, OK, and say: Oh, we’re breaking the rule-based system,” Dalio told Fortune at the WEF. “It’s gone. It’s going.”
Dalio was referring to the current balance of power between nations, which has hinged on predictable U.S. foreign policy.
This isn’t the first time he’s warned about such risks. In an interview on Leaders with Francine Lacqua, Dalio said a “civil war of some sort” is developing in the United States and elsewhere “where there are irreconcilable differences.”
Here’s how things break down on the home front.
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Insurance: Florida homeowner's insurance jumped to over $14K, so he decided to 'go bare' instead. Here's what to consider before dropping coverage
Trivia Answer
New York City has faced fiscal crises before. In 1975, the city came within hours of doing what?
Answer: D) Declaring bankruptcy
The city was literally hours away from defaulting on its debt before a last-minute deal with teachers' unions and state intervention saved it. President Ford's initial refusal to help prompted the iconic Daily News headline "Ford to City: Drop Dead." Today, new Mayor Zohran Mamdani is warning the city faces a $12 billion deficit he says rivals the Great Recession.