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A Nigerian national living in Minnesota has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison — and ordered to pay nearly $1.7 million in restitution — for defrauding a widowed Colorado woman through an elaborate cryptocurrency romance scam, federal authorities announced Tuesday.
The 37-year-old man, Adetomiwa Seun Akindele, will be deported to Nigeria once he serves his sentence, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.
Akindele pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in a scam in which authorities said he posed as a wealthy Italian-American businessman named Frank Labato on a dating website in 2018. Akindele and the woman began exchanging emails and phone calls during which Akindele “provided the victim with additional false details about his personal and work background, images, and photos, to substantiate his fictitious persona of ‘Frank.’”
Those conversations led to Akindele telling the woman she needed to open a cryptocurrency exchange account to help him out of a financial bind, authorities said. At his direction, she wired him nearly $1.7 million, which Akindele converted into various cryptocurrencies, laundered it across multiple crypto exchanges and then converted it back to U.S. dollars before depositing the money into his own bank accounts.
Akindele, according to federal authorities, fraudulently assured the woman he would repay her for what were characterized as loans to his business, even executing three fake “promissory notes” to reassure her she would be repaid.
“Romance scammers are relentless and cunning, preying on trust and emotion to exploit victims,” FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek said in a statement. “This was an egregious case, and through relentless investigative work the perpetrator was tracked down and brought to justice.”
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John Aguilar
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The Senate has approved one of President Donald Trump’s top economic advisers for a seat on the Federal Reserve’s governing board, giving the White House greater influence over the central bank just two days before it is expected to vote in favor of reducing its key interest rate.The vote to confirm Stephen Miran was largely along party lines, 48-47. He was approved by the Senate Banking Committee last week with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats opposed.Miran’s nomination has sparked concerns about the Fed’s longtime independence from day-to-day politics after he said during a committee hearing earlier this month that he would keep his job as chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, though would take unpaid leave. Senate Democrats have said such an approach is incompatible with an independent Fed.Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said ahead of the vote that Miran “has no independence” and would be “nothing more than Donald Trump’s mouthpiece at the Fed.”The vote was along party lines, with Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski the only Republican to vote against Miran.Miran is completing an unexpired term that ends in January, after Adriana Kugler unexpectedly stepped down from the board Aug. 1. He said if he is appointed to a longer term he would resign from his White House job. Previous presidents have appointed advisers to the Fed, including former chair Ben Bernanke, who served in president George W. Bush’s administration. But Bernanke and others left their White House jobs when joining the board.Miran said during his Sept. 4 hearing that, if confirmed, “I will act independently, as the Federal Reserve always does, based on my own personal analysis of economic data.”Last year, Miran criticized what he called the “revolving door” of officials between the White House and the Fed, in a paper he co-wrote with Daniel Katz for the conservative Manhattan Institute. Katz is now chief of staff at the Treasury Department.Miran’s approval arrives as Trump’s efforts to shape the Fed have been dealt a setback elsewhere. He has sought to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden to a term that ends in 2038. Cook sued to block the firing and won a first round in federal court, after a judge ruled the Trump administration did not have proper cause to remove her.The administration appealed the ruling, but an appeals court rejected that request late Monday. Members of the Fed’s board vote on all its interest rate decisions, and also oversee the nation’s financial system.The jockeying around the Fed is occurring as the economy is entering an uncertain and difficult period. Inflation remains stubbornly above the central bank’s 2% target, though it hasn’t risen as much as many economists feared when Trump first imposed sweeping tariffs on nearly all imports. The Fed typically would raise borrowing costs, or at least keep them elevated, to combat worsening inflation.At the same time, hiring has weakened considerably and the unemployment rate rose last month to a still-low 4.3%. The central bank often takes the opposite approach when unemployment rises, cutting rates to spur more borrowing, spending and growth.Economists forecast the Fed will reduce its key rate after its two-day meeting ends Wednesday, to about 4.1% from 4.3%. Trump has demanded much deeper cuts.
The Senate has approved one of President Donald Trump’s top economic advisers for a seat on the Federal Reserve’s governing board, giving the White House greater influence over the central bank just two days before it is expected to vote in favor of reducing its key interest rate.
The vote to confirm Stephen Miran was largely along party lines, 48-47. He was approved by the Senate Banking Committee last week with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats opposed.
Miran’s nomination has sparked concerns about the Fed’s longtime independence from day-to-day politics after he said during a committee hearing earlier this month that he would keep his job as chair of the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, though would take unpaid leave. Senate Democrats have said such an approach is incompatible with an independent Fed.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said ahead of the vote that Miran “has no independence” and would be “nothing more than Donald Trump’s mouthpiece at the Fed.”
The vote was along party lines, with Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski the only Republican to vote against Miran.
Miran is completing an unexpired term that ends in January, after Adriana Kugler unexpectedly stepped down from the board Aug. 1. He said if he is appointed to a longer term he would resign from his White House job. Previous presidents have appointed advisers to the Fed, including former chair Ben Bernanke, who served in president George W. Bush’s administration. But Bernanke and others left their White House jobs when joining the board.
Miran said during his Sept. 4 hearing that, if confirmed, “I will act independently, as the Federal Reserve always does, based on my own personal analysis of economic data.”
Last year, Miran criticized what he called the “revolving door” of officials between the White House and the Fed, in a paper he co-wrote with Daniel Katz for the conservative Manhattan Institute. Katz is now chief of staff at the Treasury Department.
Miran’s approval arrives as Trump’s efforts to shape the Fed have been dealt a setback elsewhere. He has sought to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden to a term that ends in 2038. Cook sued to block the firing and won a first round in federal court, after a judge ruled the Trump administration did not have proper cause to remove her.
The administration appealed the ruling, but an appeals court rejected that request late Monday.
Members of the Fed’s board vote on all its interest rate decisions, and also oversee the nation’s financial system.
The jockeying around the Fed is occurring as the economy is entering an uncertain and difficult period. Inflation remains stubbornly above the central bank’s 2% target, though it hasn’t risen as much as many economists feared when Trump first imposed sweeping tariffs on nearly all imports. The Fed typically would raise borrowing costs, or at least keep them elevated, to combat worsening inflation.
At the same time, hiring has weakened considerably and the unemployment rate rose last month to a still-low 4.3%. The central bank often takes the opposite approach when unemployment rises, cutting rates to spur more borrowing, spending and growth.
Economists forecast the Fed will reduce its key rate after its two-day meeting ends Wednesday, to about 4.1% from 4.3%. Trump has demanded much deeper cuts.
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A woman has gone viral after sharing her dating predicament. In her video, which has amassed 251,000 views, Charlotte Hancey (@charlotte.shares) shares her biggest dating ick: being broke.
She began by explaining that she and this man had been on two dates, and had a third date planned. However, a few days before their third date, he contacted her asking if she was free. Hancey was then unimpressed when he asked her to plan it. When she suggested dinner, the man said he was broke from “incurring costs,” and asked if they could go cheap or 50/50.
“Excuse me, it’s our third date,” she said. “You’re bringing up financial troubles, and you’re complaining about having to take me to dinner, like you can’t spend $20 on a new girl that you’re trying to pursue? No, absolutely not.”
They end up hanging out at her apartment as she cooks food for him, but the next day, Hancey ultimately broke things off with him (pun intended).
“I am not broke, so I don’t want to date someone who is having money issues and complaining about having to take me on a date, because I want someone who can match my lifestyle and wants to take me to fun dates and concerts and dinners and all of that kind of stuff, and eventually travel with,” she concluded. “So, we’re not a match. Bye boy! And with that guy, my roster is officially at zero, and I’m so happy about it. I’m so sick of dating.”
For the most part, commenters could see Hancey’s point of view. “Girl, same,” one wrote. “If you don’t have your finances figured out, we can’t do this life together.”
“It’s not even the fact that he was supposedly broke that irritated me,” a second shared. “It was how slick he was trying to be. You ask me on a date, but say you can’t afford it. Then you, in a roundabout way, ask to come over, and you couldn’t even provide the wine. Broke but still trying to get “lucky.” Eww.”
While a third added: “No woman wants to be with a broken man. If you’re broken, you’re a failure, and nobody wants failure. My career’s solid, my finances are on point. If yours aren’t, stay home, binge Netflix, and cry about it. At the end of the day, women want winners, not excuses.”
@charlotte.shares I’m sorry but in the beginning of dating especially I’m not going 50-50! What do you think? #datingadvice #datingstorytime #datinginyour40s #datingsucks ♬ original sound – Charlotte Hancey
According to psychologist Dr. Sarah Hill, women’s desire not to date broke men is inherent. She claims that it comes from our distant ancestors, where women had to rely on men to hunt and get resources while they stayed at home with the children.
“So women, historically have been very dependent on men for resources, and we’ve inherited that that brain, because over the course of evolutionary history, women who would have placed an emphasis on, you know, choosing partners who have these kinds of qualities, they would have been more likely to have surviving offspring who then passed that tendency or that preference onto their offspring, could pass that preference on to their offspring,” she said.
The Mary Sue reached out to the creator via email and TikTok comment.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
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Charlotte Colombo
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The show will go on for Farm Aid 40 in Minneapolis after a tentative deal was reached between the University of Minnesota and members of Teamsters Local 20.
Farm Aid, a concert that has helped farmers for decades, will be held at Huntington Bank Stadium next weekend as previously scheduled.
However, a strike that began earlier this week involving service members for the university system put that event in jeopardy. That’s because production crew workers for Farm Aid are also union members and weren’t going to work to stand in solidarity with the service workers, who clean buildings, do ground maintenance, make food, drive trucks and more.
Late Friday night, a post on the Teamsters 320 Facebook page included a statement announcing the strike’s end following the agreement. Farm Aid also posted to social media, confirming the show will go on.
On Friday, organizers posted to social media, saying Willie Nelson has spoken with Gov. Tim Walz and said he is “grateful that he understands what’s at stake for Farm Aid.” Nelson, as well as fellow performers Neil Young and John Mellencamp, have held the event in different cities for the last four decades and raised more than $85 million.
“We both know that, ultimately, it’s up to the University to do the right thing, and soon, so that Farm Aid 40 can go forward,” Nelson said.
Earlier this year, unionized service workers overwhelmingly voted in favor of a strike. Union officials claimed the university’s then-proposed contract included a 2.5% wage increase for the first year and 1% for the following two years. The contract would be in effect for two and a half years, and union leaders add that it would not only allow the school system to pay new hires higher starting wages than current staff in the same position but also increase health care costs by 10%.
Union leaders go on to claim the university isn’t addressing harassment involving food service workers, adding university data shows disciplinary action against dining employees rose by 96% within two years, and women receive more than half of suspensions and terminations. Leaders add Chartwells Higher Ed. is a division of Compass Group, which has paid more than $30 million in fines and penalties since 2000, including more than $840,000 in penalties for employment discrimination and $9.6 million in employment-related offenses.
In a statement, the university said at the time it “has negotiated and will continue to negotiate in good faith with Teamsters 320 and made efforts to reach an agreement on an updated contract since negotiations began on March 27.”
Details of the latest proposed contract haven’t been disclosed at this time.
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Krystal Frasier
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Retirement remains a far-off — and in some cases, unattainable — goal for many Americans.
About one in four adults over age 50 said they expect to never retire, according to an AARP survey. That’s perhaps not surprising given that Americans believe they’ll need $1.26 million to retire comfortably, per Northwestern Mutual.
In a new report from Bank of America, 68% of employees said that saving for retirement is their No. 1 financial goal, though working toward it often comes with significant challenges.
The research, which surveyed nearly 1,000 full-time employees who participate in 401(k) plans and 800 employers who offer a 401(k) plan, revealed that the average employee doesn’t start saving for retirement until age 30 and wishes they had more retirement education (33%).
Employees’ top expected sources of retirement income were as follows, per the survey: 401(k) or 403(b) (85%), Social Security (75%), checking or savings account 53%), IRA (38%), taxable brokerage or investment account (24%).
Related: How Much Money Do You Need to Retire Comfortably in Your State? Here’s the Breakdown.
Baby Boomers are retiring at a rapid rate, setting a record number of retirees in 2024 that allowed Gen X to outnumber them in the workforce for the first time, GOBankingRates reported.
On average, Boomers began saving for retirement at age 34; now in their 60s and 70s, one in four of them don’t feel on track to retire, according to the Bank of America survey. Additionally, only two in 10 Boomers said they completely understand their Social Security benefits.
Rising healthcare costs in retirement present another hurdle, as only 34% of employees said they’re saving and investing for future healthcare expenses, despite current research showing that a 65-year-old couple could need as much as $428,000 in savings to cover their retirement healthcare expenses.
Related: How to Start Thinking About Retirement Before You Plan to Retire
Respondents said the main reason they don’t save for health care is that they can’t afford it, but many who have access to an HSA through their employer also don’t understand the tax advantages and rollover process.
When employees across generations were asked to reflect on what they would have done differently to prepare for retirement, they cited three common mistakes: not starting to save at a younger age (49%), not taking full advantage of their employer’s 401(k) match (35%) and not paying off debt sooner (36%).
Image Credit: Courtesy of Bank of America
“The modern employee wants help with their broader financial goals,” Lorna Sabbia, head of workplace benefits at Bank of America, said. “Employers should consider additional resources to support their workforce in ways that bolster their long-term goals while also helping them tackle short-term challenges.”
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Amanda Breen
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Getting cash from an ATM is growing increasingly expensive as fees reach record highs.
Americans are now paying an average of $4.86 for out-of-network ATM withdrawals, up 1.9% from $4.77 last year, according to a new survey from Bankrate.com. That’s the highest on record, according to the personal finance website, which starting tracking ATM fees 27 years ago.
“ATM fees are just one of those avenues that the bank can very freely continue to charge fees,” Bankrate financial analyst Stephen Kates told CBS MoneyWatch.
Those costs include charges from both ATM owners and banks. According to the survey, the average fee from cash machine providers is $3.22. Banks charge $1.64 on average, up 3.8% from 2024 — the highest since 2018. As a result, Americans in certain metro areas could see average combined fees of more than $5.
For its survey, Bankrate polled a total of 10 banks and financial institutions in 25 of the nation’s largest metro areas. Atlanta topped the list for highest ATM costs, with an average out-of-network fee of $5.37. Behind Atlanta are Phoenix and San Diego, where ATM charges average $5.35 and $5.31, respectively.
Boston and Seattle had the lowest average rates among the metro areas surveyed — $4.37 and $4.42, respectively.
The problem, said Kates, is that while there have been regulatory rumblings around curbing overdraft fees, resulting in voluntary caps by financial institutions, there are no limits on how much banks can charge for ATM withdrawals, giving them free rein to hike fees as much as they want. And since the charges apply to people outside the bank’s network, there’s no risk of it losing customers.
“It’s one of the ways for the bank to certainly make money, and it’s one of the ways to do so that doesn’t really hurt their own customers,” Kates said.
Higher fees also help ATM owners and banks make up for lost revenue as consumers gravitate away from using cash and toward digital payments, said Kates. Also, online banking has nearly eliminated the need for automated bank tellers. According to survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the American Bankers Association last year, only 5% of customers relied on ATMs to manage their bank accounts.
To be sure, reliance on cash hasn’t disappeared altogether. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta found that cash was still Americans’ primary form of payment as of October 2024 — whether for a trip to an old-school laundromat or a vexingly cash-only restaurant.
“Fewer and fewer people need to use cash for certain things, but there are some times when you have to have it,” said Kates.
Avoiding high ATM fees requires a bit of strategy and forethought, as you may not always be near a bank-affiliated ATM when you need to withdraw cash.
In such a situation, one option is to get cash back at a local store. Kates also encourages people to look at their banking app to see which ATMs are close to them.
If you need to withdraw cash on a regular basis, but live in an area where there aren’t any ATMs in-network, you may want to consider changing where you bank to accommodate your needs. Certain online financial services like Fidelity, for instance, reimburse customers for ATM fees — making them a more attractive option.
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These days, it feels like everything costs more: groceries, housing, rent, gas. Now, you can track how prices are changing in your community.
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WTVD
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The app includes prices for many of your basic needs, from food to housing to transportation, spanning a decade of data points.
Tuesday, September 9, 2025 3:00PM
The ABC Data Team has launched the Price Tracker, an interactive tool that provides up-to-date information on the price of household necessities in your area.
It displays regional prices of essentials for the 100 largest U.S. metro areas over the last decade. Simply search for your area to see how the cost of living has changed for households like yours. Then select groceries, housing or utilities to drill down into each category of basic expenses.
The ABC Price Tracker can help you answer questions like:
The interactive tool will automatically update with the latest data available, so you can give your sticker shock a gut check.
Go here to use the ABC Price Tracker.
Copyright © 2025 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.
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WLS
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DAMASCUS, Syria — Standing in the dilapidated ATM hall of his bank, Maher Elias huffed a sigh equal parts exasperation and exhaustion. Around him were lines dozens of people deep, all of them, like the 59-year-old Elias, waiting in the sweltering heat to withdraw cash.
Ahead of him was a wait of at least three hours — assuming the ATM didn’t shut down from electricity cuts or run out of bills. On one of the hottest days in the Damascene summer, his words interrupted by the occasional argument between other vexed patrons, Elias spoke while his eyes remained fixated on the front of the slow-moving queue.
“All this waiting, and for what?” he said, wiping the sweat from his brow. He could only withdraw 200,000 Syrian pounds (around $20) for the week.
“And we’re five people in my family. Between food, gas and rent, how long do you think that lasts?”
People queue up to enter Damascus’ Real Estate Bank to use a functioning ATM.
A stack of money sits on a desk in a bank. Syria’s banking and financial sectors are a shambles, with capital controls limiting withdrawals at about $60 per month.
Elias and the hundreds of others queuing in the lines that spilled out to the sidewalk of the Real Estate Bank of Syria were taking part in an often quixotic quest, as millions of Syrians contend with a cash crunch that resulted after former President Bashar Assad was toppled and a rebel-led government came in his stead.
For months now, withdrawing money has become almost a second job, with employees forced to take off from work to queue before banks, even as the lack of liquidity is strangling a ravaged economy struggling to shuffle off nearly 14 years of civil war.
And the worst part for Elias (and many others) was he would have to do it all over again another day so he could collect all of his 500,000 Syrian pound monthly salary — a little less than $50.
Still, as a state employee and a patron of one of Syria’s six state-owned banks, Elias was luckier than many others. Across the street, Mohammad, 63, was shouting at no one in particular in front of the private bank where he has his account. He had come with his granddaughter, 6-year-old Masa, from his home in a Damascus suburb, hoping to plead with a manager to OK a larger withdrawal.
But the manager told him there was no cash available; the ATMs weren’t even on. Mohammad, who gave his first name for reasons of privacy, didn’t have enough money for bus fare to go home.
“What am I supposed to do? Beg on the street? I’ve been coming for weeks, and these bastards refuse to give me my money,” he said, angrily pointing at the bank’s entrance. Masa looked at her grandfather and didn’t say a word.
A man reloads an ATM’s depleted stock of Syrian pounds in Damascus.
Sitting in his office, the bank manager, who refused to be identified because he was not allowed to speak to the media, insisted he had no choice but to turn away Mohammad and other patrons. Private banks, he said, were supposed to receive $20,000 in cash from the central bank every day. But more often than not, the banks got less, or nothing at all.
“And even when the cash does arrive, it’s barely enough to cover the number of withdrawals,” the bank manager said. Moments later, a businessman entered his office seeking a withdrawal amounting to $500 to pay his bills; he too left empty-handed.
When Syria’s new rulers came into power after a lightning fast offensive in December,they commandeered the Assad government’s financial institutions and took stock of a state-controlled economy enfeebled by war, corruption and sanctions: The Syrian pound, once valued at 47 to the U.S. dollar, plunged to 18,000 by the time Assad fled, turning most transactions into an arduous counting exercise involving sackfuls of pre-wrapped bricks of cash, each weighing more than a pound.
The exchange rate has since improved — if you can call it improvement — to around 11,000 to the dollar.
The economy’s output remains less than half of what it was in 2010, before the civil war erupted. A quarter of the country’s 26 million people live on less than $2.15 a day, according to a World Bank assessment in June. Two-thirds get by on less than $3.65 a day. Rebuilding the country will cost anywhere from $250 billion to $400 billion, estimates say.
A row of broken ATM’s inside Real Estate bank in Damascus.
The face of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad decorates Syrian pounds.
The banking sector is no less destroyed. Civil war-era sanctions all but isolated Syrian banks from the global financial system. Although President Trump recently ordered many of those sanctions lifted, and European governments have done the same, Western banks are still reluctant to move the massive amounts of money needed for reconstruction.
The new authorities swiftly loosened Assad-era restrictions, deluging the market with cheaper imports and lifting a moratorium that made dealing with dollars a criminal offense. They also imposed withdrawal limits, possibly in an attempt to prevent a run on the banks and stop former regime officials from emptying their accounts and fleeing.
But nine months on, the limits persist with little clarity as to why, according to bank employees and economic experts. The World Bank reported a shortage of physical bank notes, despite a 105-fold increase in the amount of currency between 2011 and 2024. It added that recent planeloads of bills printed in Russia — which had a monopoly on producing Syrian pounds under Assad — were too small to meaningfully alleviate the liquidity crisis.
Meanwhile, Syrians unable to access their bank accounts are relying on informal money changers — banned under Assad, but now flourishing — to buy Syrian pounds with gold or dollars they had amassed during Assad’s reign, despite the restrictions. Experts say such transactions are occurring at an artificially lowered exchange rate.
“This appears to be a systematic policy aimed at pulling dollars from people in a country where the dollar has been unleashed, and has become the main source of revenue because of remittances,” said Samir Aita, a Syrian economist who also heads the Circle of Arab Economists.
“Where are those dollars going? To the central bank? It seems not. This is something that keeps me up at night,” Aita said.
A customer passes U.S. dollars to a money collector. Possessing dollars was a crime when President Bashar Assad was in power.
Ammar Yusef, a Damascus-based economic expert, agreed with Aita’s assessment, adding that hard currency gathered by money changers is said to have been sent to the northwestern province of Idlib, for years the primary home of the Islamist group Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (or HTS) that ousted Assad.
One solution authorities have recently turned to for the cash crunch is e-payments. Earlier this year, they decreed all public sector salaries would be disbursed through Sham Cash, an app HTS first released in Idlib but that technical experts say is insecure and is linked to an Idlib-based bank that is not recognized by the central bank.
It’s unclear whether the app has the capacity to deal with an estimated 1.25 million civil servants, and whether it meets Western governments’ requirements on combating money laundering and terror financing — essential components to increasing trust in the country’s financial system.
Other experts point to serious concerns on fees charged by the two money transfer companies exclusively licensed to disburse money from Sham Cash. Both are considered close to the new government, and stand to collect more than $3 million annually in commissions.
“They’re in an open battle today with the country’s banks,” Aita said.
The government’s recently announced plans to redenominate the currency and eliminate two zeroes from each bill, he added, will do little to change the situation.
Inside Damascus’ Real Estate bank, with reflections from the Syrian capital outside.
Yet these machinations mean little for Elias. After waiting for almost four hours, and forced to switch queues twice before he encountered a functional ATM, he withdrew his Syrian pounds for the day. He would use them to buy bread and other essentials. He wouldn’t be able to take out money again for a few days.
“It feels like half the week is gone lining up for cash,” he said, huffing once more as he pushed through the crowds out of the ATM hall.
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Nabih Bulos
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
There’s a common debate about whether to diversify your income or stay specialized, although the statistics are factual. Nearly half of Americans have at least two revenue streams, and multimillionaires have at least seven. The reason is simple. Having multiple income streams equips you with options and provides you with financial stability.
Once you decide to have multiple revenue streams or you already have them, the most critical thing to keep in mind is taxes and remaining compliant. However, more crucial is to plan so you have plenty of time to define a strategy and save for tax payments. Never wait until the last moment.
Whether you earn a W-2 salary, work as a freelancer or contractor, consult, rent properties, or trade stocks and other assets, each activity follows its own set of tax rules.
You wouldn’t declare Airbnb earnings under your payroll, for example. First, you must set up the correct legal entity, such as a single-member LLC, S-Corp or C-Corp. Ticking the right boxes can significantly reduce your liability. A building contractor with multiple earning streams might benefit from switching from an LLC to an S-Corp, which could potentially save you up to $20,000 in taxes.
Related: What Is an LLC? Here’s How It Works.
If you own properties and rent them out, you will want to separate your expenses. It can boost deductions significantly. It is also a way to accelerate depreciation write-offs, allowing you to retain more cash now instead of waiting 20 years.
If you are selling one or several properties, you need to check out a 1031 to defer capital gains taxes by rolling your profits into a different investment.
This year, you cashed in on consulting, bonuses, stock options or a side gig. Think ahead, because you don’t want April to bring an unexpected tax bill that devastates your cash flow. That’s the reality for many who ignore quarterly taxes.
So, set aside 25 to 30% of every non-W-2 dollar. Track earnings, make quarterly payments and avoid penalties or fines or both. Vendors accept payments quarterly. You should treat IRS installments the same way.
Related: How Smart Entrepreneurs Turn Mid-Year Tax Reviews Into Long-Term Financial Wins
Most people wait until March, then frantically search through their emails for receipts and invoices. Not a good idea. Start thinking about taxes in July, when you can make smart, sensible and timely moves. If you are a freelancer or contractor, you may deduct expenses such as your home office, internet bill and travel to meetings with clients, including business lunches.
Please don’t become the entrepreneur who misses a $3,000 gasoline deduction because they didn’t track their mileage to all those meetings and lunches. There’s no need to go to extremes, either, so don’t try to claim dog grooming or any other suspicious “business expense,” as it will raise red flags.
“The optimal tax strategy isn’t always about pushing every possible benefit to its limit — it’s often about creating a framework that allows for consistent, long-term, justifiable tax efficiency,” said George Dimov, CPA, who helps professionals navigate the complex tax and planning system.
It’s a good idea to maintain all your records in a spreadsheet or app to log expenses as they happen, and you’ll thank yourself when tax season arrives.
Related: Why Mid-Year Tax Reviews Are a Must for First-Time Entrepreneurs
If you are a US citizen earning abroad, operating a business from Thailand, or consulting for clients in Europe, taxes can become overwhelming. Tax law has a provision that allows approximately $120,000 of foreign-earned income to be excluded from US taxes. Be sure to check this number annually, as the exact amount changes frequently.
The foreign tax credit can also save you from paying taxes twice if you are taxed overseas. However, you must report all relevant information, including foreign businesses, bank accounts and even small investments. There are fines of about $10,000 for failing to report a foreign bank account.
Research as much as you can about international taxes or consult an expert who knows the subject and can save you time, trouble, and money.
Related: 5 Tips for Finding the Tax Advisor Who Will Save You Millions
More income streams mean more options, but also more tax complexity. Success lies in structure, timing, and ongoing management. Structure your entity to match your objectives. Pay quarterly. Plan mid-year. Track everything. However, taxes don’t have to be a nightmare.
There’s a common debate about whether to diversify your income or stay specialized, although the statistics are factual. Nearly half of Americans have at least two revenue streams, and multimillionaires have at least seven. The reason is simple. Having multiple income streams equips you with options and provides you with financial stability.
Once you decide to have multiple revenue streams or you already have them, the most critical thing to keep in mind is taxes and remaining compliant. However, more crucial is to plan so you have plenty of time to define a strategy and save for tax payments. Never wait until the last moment.
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John Rampton
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Jennifer Tilly has a few different sources of wealth — and she is not shy when it comes to talking about them. The 90s scream queen started her acting career in the early 1980s, though her breakthrough didn’t come until she landed a supporting role as Olive Neal in Bullets Over Broadway in 1994, for which she was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She later earned more acclaim and recognition for roles in other thriller and crime movies such as Bound (1996) and Bride of Chucky (1998), plus, since 1999, she has voiced Bonnie Swanson on the long-running animated sitcom Family Guy.
But acting is far from Jennifer’s only revenue stream. Catch up on her impressive wealth below.
First things first, what is Jennifer’s net worth? Well, though it is a rough estimate given that public evidence is not entirely substantial, multiple reports indicate that Jennifer’s net worth lands at approximately $40 million. In addition to working as an actress, Jennifer is also a professional poker player, and most recently started making guest appearances on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills as a friend of Sutton Stracke.
Aside from acting, Jennifer is most notably an avid poker player, and in 2005, she became a World Series of Poker bracelet champion, which made her the first-ever celebrity to win such a tournament. Speaking to Vogue about how she entered the world of poker, she said: “My dad had a poker problem. He gave me [a] computer game called The World Series of Poker, and we used to play it all the time at his house. I’ve always loved poker. My boyfriend, Phil Laak, is a famous poker player; I met him at a celebrity poker tournament. When we began dating, I won a gold bracelet at the World Series. It’s very coveted: all the poker players measure their worth by how many gold bracelets they have. That was the beginning of my poker career.”
Jennifer has also spoken candidly about the money she still makes from her divorce settlement from her 1991 split from late The Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon, who passed away in 2015 aged 59 after a battle with colon cancer.
The divorce settlement provided her with a percentage of the net proceeds of the show’s earnings, and that show just so happens to be the longest-running American animated series, longest-running American sitcom and longest-running scripted prime time TV series, which means she receives revenue from that as well as from its related comic books, video games, books and other tie-ins, a total of which (not her percent) is estimated to be in the billions, per The New York Times.
“No one thought the show would go on for trillions of years,” Jennifer, who remained friends with her former husband of seven years until his death, told the Times, and emphasized: “Believe me, I thank Sam every single day.”
Jennifer also has several homes across the country. Per the Times, she has two adjoining houses in Bel Air, one of which she calls her “playhouse” where she stores much of her wardrobe, plus she keeps a beach house in Malibu. In addition to the three Los Angeles homes, she also has residences in Las Vegas, Vancouver and Manhattan.
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Beatriz Colon
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