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☆ This 401(k) alternative has helped US workers save more than $1.7 billion so far
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-15 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

That is just one reason why policy experts see a retirement savings crisis on tap for so many Americans over the next several decades. This results in an increase in retirement income of $150 per month,” Gusto’s researchers wrote. Initial data also suggests that the introduction of auto IRAs might correlate with more employers offering their own plans. It’s not entirely clear why, since smaller businesses often cite cost and administrative burden as reasons why they don’t sponsor a retirement plan. And employer plans offer workers tax breaks and direct matching contributions, which can help them grow their nest eggs faster than they otherwise might.

Persons: John Scott, Roth, Scott, IRAs, ”, Pew, It’s Organizations: CNN, AARP —, AARP, Georgetown Center, Retirement, Pew, Savings, Employers, Project . Workers, Georgetown CRI, Auto Locations: California, Colorado , Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii , Illinois, Maine , Maryland, Minnesota , Nevada , New Jersey , New York , Oregon, Rhode Island , Vermont, Virginia, Washington

☆ Justice Department and Microsoft disrupt Russian hacking operations aimed at US officials and civil society
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-03 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington CNN —The Justice Department and Microsoft on Thursday announced the seizure of more than 100 web domains that a Russian intelligence agency allegedly used to try to hack current and former US officials, civil-society groups and Russians living in the US. It’s the latest in a series of moves from the Justice Department to expose alleged covert Russian operations targeting US democracy in the runup to the 2024 presidential election. The UK government last year accused the same Russian hacking group of conducting a “sustained unsuccessful attempts to interfere in UK political processes” over several years that hacked politicians, civil servants and journalists. The hackers operate on behalf of Russia’s FSB intelligence agency, the prime successor to the Soviet-era KGB, according to US officials. Another FSB-linked hacking group has posed a direct threat to US critical infrastructure by targeting energy facilities, according to US officials.

Persons: Steven Masada, “, ”, John Scott, Natalia Krapiva Organizations: Washington CNN, The Justice Department, Microsoft, Justice Department, CNN, FSB, University of Toronto’s, Russian Embassy Locations: Russian, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Eastern Europe, United States, Washington ,

☆ By 2054, there will be 422,000 Americans over age 100. That poses a financial challenge
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

By 2054, there will be an estimated 422,000 Americans age 100 and older — more than four times the 101,000 in 2024, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. What's more, the centenarian population has nearly tripled in the last three decades alone, according to Pew. Among the best ways to hedge against outliving one's savings is by working longer, according to retirement experts. That may be more necessary as employers have offloaded responsibility for retirement savings onto workers' shoulders, by shifting from pensions to 401(k)-type retirement plans. "People need to be prepared to work longer," he said.

Persons: Artur Debat, Pew . Irving Piken, Piken, Mark Rightmire, John Scott, Barry Glassman, Glassman, Pew's Scott, Scott Organizations: Pew Research, Census, Pew ., Woods Community, MediaNews, Orange, Getty, Finance, Wealth Services, Reference, Workers, Social Security, Security Locations: U.S, California

☆ World Economic Forum risks report sees a ‘global catastrophe’ within 10 years
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-10 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The gloomy outlook comes from an annual survey by the World Economic Forum (WEF) of people paid to identify and manage global risks. According to the report published Wednesday, nearly two-thirds of respondents expect an “elevated chance of global catastrophes” in the next decade. Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty ImagesExtreme weather events were ranked the number two short-term risk, demonstrating heightened awareness about the environment and climate change in a year plagued by rising temperatures and rampant floods and wildfires. Cyber insecurity also made it into the top five short-term risks, for the first time in a decade. Lack of economic opportunity, persistently high inflation and an economic downturn were ranked sixth, seventh and ninth on the list of short-term risks respectively.

Persons: “, Carolina Klint, Marsh McLennan, ”, Hou Yu, Sam Yeh, “ It’s, Saadia Zahidi, ” Zahidi, ” John Scott Organizations: London CNN, Humanity, World Economic, American Psychological, Marsh, CNN, ih, Getty, Zurich Insurance Group Locations: Davos, Switzerland, Israel, Carolina, Europe, Taoyuan, AFP

☆ It's extreme weather — not AI or disinformation — over the coming decade that's worrying business leaders and politicians the most
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-10 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Extreme weather is a prime concern for business leaders and politicians. About two-thirds of 1,400 respondents are worried about extreme weather, per its Global Risks Report. Extreme weather and critical changes to Earth's systems are the greatest long-term concern for politicians and business leaders, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2024. It gathered the views of some 1,400 global risks experts, policy-makers, and industry leaders surveyed in September 2023. Related storiesThe researchers found that misinformation and disinformation were the biggest short-term risks, while extreme weather was the greatest long-term concern.

Persons: Saadia Zahidi, John Scott of Organizations: Economic, Service, Economic Forum, John Scott of Zurich Insurance Locations: Davos, Switzerland

☆ State-run 'auto-IRA' programs aim to close retirement savings gap
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-04 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

They save about $165 a month, on average, said John Scott, director of Pew's retirement savings project. It's unclear how many other companies instead opted to sponsor their own 401(k) plan or other workplace plan. Why states are stepping inThere's a common thread here: A realization that people aren't saving enough for retirement, Scott said. The typical saver age 55 to 64 has just $71,000 of 401(k) savings, according to Vanguard data. Pew estimates that state spending will rise by $334 billion from 2021 to 2040 due to insufficient retirement savings.

Persons: John Scott, Scott, Pew, Washington —, Roth, they've Organizations: Auto, Workers, Trusts, Center for Retirement, Companies, Vanguard, Social Security Locations: Delaware, Hawaii , Maine, Minnesota , Nevada , New Jersey , New York, Vermont, Massachusetts , Missouri, New Mexico, Washington, U.S

☆ Vietnam-aligned hackers attempted to hack US lawmakers and journalists
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Hackers aligned with Vietnam tried to use social media platforms X and Facebook to install spyware on the phones of dozens of high-profile targets, including US lawmakers, United Nations officials and CNN journalists, Amnesty International said Monday. Researchers with Google’s Threat Analysis Group, which tracks state-backed hackers, told CNN the Twitter account spreading the spyware appears to be based in Vietnam. For years, cybersecurity researchers and human rights activists have documented the proliferation of spyware designed to break into mobile phones and steal their contents. “Clearly these tools are being exported from the EU to states with terrible human rights records,” Ó Cearbhaill, of Amnesty International, told CNN. “Meanwhile, if European lawmakers won’t bring consequences to reckless vendors, they need to get comfortable with being targeted,” Scott-Railton told CNN.

Persons: Democratic Sens, Gary Peters, Chris Murphy, Michael McCaul, tweeting, Cearbhaill, Ó Cearbhaill, McCaul doesn’t, Leslie Shedd, Shedd, Murphy, “, Peters, Joe Biden, ” Ó, ” John Scott, ” Scott, Railton Organizations: CNN, Facebook, United Nations, Amnesty, –, Democratic, Republican, House Foreign, Amnesty International’s, Washington Post, Google’s, State Department, NSO Group, Intellexa, US Commerce Department, Amnesty International, University of Toronto’s, Commerce Locations: Vietnam, Washington ,, Washington, Africa, North Macedonia, Europe

REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 7 - Researchers at digital watchdog group Citizen Lab said on Thursday they found spyware they linked to Israeli firm NSO that exploited a newly discovered flaw in Apple (AAPL.O) devices. Citizen Lab did not provide further details on the affected individual or the organization. Apple issued new updates on its devices after investigating the flaws reported by Citizen Lab. An Apple spokesperson said it had no further comment, while Citizen Lab urged consumers to update their devices. A NSO spokesperson said it did not have any immediate comment on the Citizen Lab research.

Persons: Mike Segar, Citizen Lab, John Scott, Railton, Apple, Zeba Siddiqui, Christopher Bing, Jamie Freed Organizations: Apple Inc, Apple, REUTERS, Citizen, NSO, Citizen Lab, University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs, U.S, Thomson Locations: Manhattan , New York, U.S, Washington

☆ $3 Million Homes in Minnesota, North Carolina and Florida
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Angela Serratore | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The University of Minnesota is about a 10-minute drive; Macalester College is 15 minutes away, in St. Paul. Size: 9,913 square feetPrice per square foot: $297Indoors: This house sits behind a low brick wall lined with hedges. The front door opens into a foyer with hardwood floors, wood paneling, a staircase to the second level and access to a powder room. To the right is a living room with a fireplace, original woodwork and etched-glass doors designed by the artist John Scott Bradstreet. Across the foyer is a dining room with more etched-glass doors that open to a study with wood-paneled walls and built-in cabinets.

Persons: Paul, John Scott Bradstreet Organizations: Crafts, University of Minnesota, Macalester College Locations: Minneapolis, St

☆ Analysis: There is now some public evidence that China viewed TikTok data
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Multiple security experts told CNN that this appears to be the first reported instance of the CCP accessing actual TikTok user data. TikTok announced its withdrawal from Hong Kong in 2020 after China imposed a national security law there. There have been isolated reports of improper access to TikTok data in the past. The improper access, company officials have said, was a misguided attempt at identifying the source of leaks to the press. TikTok has also said it is implementing a plan to store US user data on third-party US-based servers, with access to that data controlled by US employees.

Persons: Yintao Yu, Yu, ByteDance, —, ” Yu, ’, Yu’s, Flipagram, “, TikTok, James Lewis, John Scott, Rob Joyce, ” Joyce, ”, Shou Chew, Chew Organizations: CNN, Chinese Communist Party, Hong Kong, Wall Street, Flipagram, CCP, Center for Strategic, International Studies, University of Toronto’s, National Security Locations: TikTok’s Beijing, Hong Kong, California, Beijing, Hong, China

June 5 (Reuters) - The Biden administration has asked a federal judge to toss out a lawsuit by Republican-led states seeking to strike down a rule allowing socially-conscious investing by employee retirement plans. The states moved last month for a ruling permanently blocking the rule, which took effect Jan. 30. The Biden administration on Friday said the rule makes clear that retirement plans must base decisions primarily on financial factors. But unlike the Trump-era rule, it also recognizes that issues such as climate change and social justice can impact companies' long-term financial health, the Justice Department said. The judge in March rejected the Biden administration's claim that the states were improperly "judge shopping" by filing the lawsuit in Amarillo, where Kacsmaryk is the only judge.

Persons: Biden, Trump, Sean Reyes, John Scott, Joe Biden, Matthew Kacsmaryk, Donald Trump, Kacsmaryk, Daniel Wiessner, Alexia Garamfalvi Organizations: Republican, U.S . Department of Justice, U.S . Department of Labor, Trump, Justice Department, Interim Texas, Congress, District, Biden, Thomson Locations: Amarillo , Texas, Utah, Texas, U.S, Amarillo, Albany , New York

☆ Texas Governor Signs Bill Banning Transgender Care for Minors
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Jacey Fortin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Why It Matters: Texas has one of the largest transgender populations in the country. people, nearly 30,000 transgender people ages 13 to 17 live in Texas, making it one of the states with the largest populations of transgender youth. The law reflects an effort in Texas and in much of the country by Republican elected leaders to restrict transgender rights. In Texas, officials had taken other steps to try to prevent transgender children from accessing medical transition care. According to the bill, minors already receiving prescribed medical treatment would be able “over a period of time and in a manner that is safe and medically appropriate” to “wean” themselves off the medication.

Persons: Abbott, wean, Ken Paxton, John Scott, Paxton Organizations: Williams Institute, Texans, American Academy of Pediatrics, Republican, Senate Locations: Texas, L.G.B.T.Q, United States, Arkansas

☆ Texas Governor Names Interim Attorney General After Paxton Impeachment
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( David Montgomery | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Why It MattersIn announcing his choice, Mr. Abbott cited Mr. Scott’s past experience as a former deputy attorney general who “knows how the Office of Attorney General operates.”Mr. Scott served as Mr. Abbott’s top deputy for civil litigation when the Republican governor served as attorney general before becoming the state’s chief executive in 2015. Mr. Scott also served on an interim basis as Texas secretary of state, the chief elections officer appointed by the governor, for just over a year before stepping down in December 2022. During the political turbulence following Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory over Donald Trump, Mr. Scott briefly represented the former president in an unsuccessful lawsuit against the certification of Pennsylvania’s vote after other attorneys quit. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and the litigation chief Chris Hilton, who has made news recently by denouncing lawmakers’ moves toward impeachment. “That was true regardless of who the secretary was, including John Scott,” Mr. Taylor said.

Persons: Abbott, “, Mr, Scott, Abbott’s, ” Mr, Joe Biden’s, Donald Trump, Paxton, Judd Stone, Antonin Scalia, Ted Cruz, Chris Hilton, Sam Taylor, John Scott, Taylor, Gov, Dan Patrick Organizations: Republican, Human Services, Daily, The Texas Tribune, U.S, Supreme, The Texas Senate, Senate Locations: Texas, Ted Cruz of Texas

☆ Texas governor names interim attorney general to replace impeached Paxton
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Brad Brooks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 31 (Reuters) - Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Wednesday appointed an interim attorney general to fill in for Ken Paxton, who was impeached last week on allegations of corruption and other irregularities. Abbott said in a written statement that he had appointed John Scott, an attorney and former Texas secretary of state under Abbott, as interim attorney general. Scott also served as the Texas deputy attorney general for civil litigation from 2012 to 2015, during Abbott's own final term as attorney general. Paxton, 60, by law was suspended from his attorney general post after he was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives on Saturday. The Texas Senate will try Paxton on the 20 articles of impeachment lodged against him.

Persons: Greg Abbott, Ken Paxton, Abbott, John Scott, Scott, Paxton, Angela, Brad Brooks, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Texas, The, The Texas Senate, Justice Department, Justice, Thomson Locations: Texas, The Texas, Lubbock , Texas

☆ Explainer: How Montana could enforce a TikTok ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Montana's ban is set to take effect on Jan. 1 2024. While TikTok can theoretically block IP addresses registered in Montana, app stores will have a more difficult time. "It would thus be impossible for our members to prevent the app from being downloaded specifically in the state of Montana," the TechNet representative testified. The app stores also would need to monitor more detailed location data from users' phones than they currently use, infringing on users' privacy, Stamos said. "The youth of Montana are about to become America's experts in VPNs," Railton said.

☆ A retirement-savings gap may cost the economy $1.3 trillion by 2040. How state-run programs can fix it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Kate Dore | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Many Americans aren't saving enough for retirement — and the shortfall could pressure state and federal budgets in the decades ahead. But research shows that state-run programs could help people save for retirement while reducing that strain. Without changes, the retirement-savings gap could create a $1.3 trillion economic burden through 2040, with increased public assistance costs, lower tax revenue and more, according to a study released Thursday by the Pew Charitable Trusts. If the current trends continue, 61% of elderly households are expected to have an annual income below $75,000 in 2040, and the yearly income shortfall is projected to be $7,050 by the same year. Roughly half of working households may struggle to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living in their golden years, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College reported this week.

☆ Twitter’s new encrypted message feature criticized by security and privacy experts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

In addition, encrypted messages may only be sent between two individuals, not groups. Both participants must either have exchanged direct messages in the past, or the recipient of an encrypted message must already follow the sender. Twitter’s former chief information security officer, Lea Kissner, publicly pleaded with Twitter’s current engineering team to improve the feature quickly. And it announced that its goal is to provide a similar level of protection as other privacy-preserving apps that come highly recommended by security experts, such as Signal. The lack of so-called end-to-end encryption makes Twitter’s implementation largely meaningless, security experts said.

☆ CDC is talking to airlines about wastewater testing in planes. New reports support that strategy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Aria-Bendix-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Aria Bendix | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The U.S. has been monitoring for the coronavirus in wastewater since the CDC launched its National Wastewater Surveillance System in September 2020. But that testing mainly involves wastewater from households or buildings, not samples from airports or planes. Previous Covid-19 wastewater surveillance has shown to be a valuable tool, and airplane wastewater surveillance could potentially be an option," CDC press officer Scott Pauley told NBC News. Politico first reported that the agency is considering airplane wastewater testing. As of October, more than 1,250 sites were conducting wastewater testing across the U.S.

☆ As state-run retirement programs become more popular, participants are expected to have $1 billion in savings this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Within the last decade, 16 state legislatures have adopted retirement-savings programs targeting workers whose employers don't offer a 401(k) plan or similar option. Contributions to Roth accounts are not tax-deductible, as they are with 401(k) plans or similar workplace options. "We've seen a growth of new 401(k) plans in those states that have adopted auto-IRAs," said John Scott, director of Pew's retirement savings project. Limitations to the state programsThere are limitations to the state programs. For example, they do not provide a matching contribution as many 401(k) plans do.

REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File PhotoJan 11 (Reuters) - Failure to tackle climate change and environmental degradation dominate the ranking of top risks facing the planet in the next decade, a World Economic Forum (WEF) survey of global risk specialists found. Failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change; natural disasters; biodiversity loss; natural resource loss and large-scale environmental damage dominate the top-10 ranking of global risks deemed most severe over a 10-year period. The WEF report raised the prospect of risks interacting with each other to form a "polycrisis", which it defines as a cluster of related risks with compounding impacts and unpredictable consequences. It cited big-power resource rivalry as having the potential to generate one such cluster of related risks. (For daily Davos updates in your inbox sign up for the Reuters Daily Briefing here.)

☆ Global experts worry simultaneous crises could become the new norm
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

London CNN —Business executives, politicians and academics are bracing for a gloomy world battered by intersecting crises, as rising volatility and depleted resilience boost the odds of painful simultaneous shocks. Natural disasters and extreme weather events are seen as the next greatest risk, followed by economic warfare, failure to mitigate climate change and the polarization of society. The top five long-term risks were identified as failure to mitigate climate change, failure to adapt to climate change, natural disasters and extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse and massive refugee crises. Climate concerns topped long-term risks in a survey of global experts by the World Economic Forum. The World Economic Forum’s 2022 survey put “interstate conflict” near the bottom of a list of risks that had worsened since the start of the pandemic.

☆ Hackers post email addresses linked to 200 million Twitter accounts, security researchers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Email addresses linked to more than 200 million Twitter profiles are currently circulating on underground hacker forums, security experts say. The apparent data leak could expose the real-life identities of anonymous Twitter users and make it easier for criminals to hijack Twitter accounts, the experts warned, or even victims’ accounts on other websites. The trove of leaked records also includes Twitter users’ names, account handles, follower numbers and the dates the accounts were created, according to forum listings reviewed by security researchers and shared with CNN. Troy Hunt, a security researcher, said Thursday that his analysis of the data “found 211,524,284 unique email addresses” that had been leaked. The account data could also be valuable to hackers who can use the information as part of password-reset attempts and account takeovers.

☆ Top elections official in Texas resigns
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ top elections official resigned Monday after an intense year of trying to reassure election skeptics, navigating the rocky launch of new voting laws that resulted in thousands of discarded mail ballots and overseeing a limited audit of the 2020 election. Greg Abbott, came under immediate scrutiny from the moment he took the job in October 2021. Right away, Scott was tasked with trying to give Texas voters confidence about election results and the ability to cast a ballot after Republicans passed a sweeping new voting law just weeks before his appointment. But those efforts got off to a bumpy start during Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary as voters struggled to navigate new mail voting requirements, resulting in counties throwing out nearly 23,000 mail ballots. In the November elections, the rate of rejected ballots had returned to more normal levels, and Scott’s office said there were no major issues surrounding the election.

☆ Robinhood to pay a 1% 'match' on customer contributions to retail individual retirement accounts
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

The retail brokerage will pay a 1% "match" on contributions its customers make to a Robinhood individual retirement account, the firm said Tuesday. The firm is billing it as the first-ever match paid to retail IRA customers (i.e., outside of a workplace retirement plan.) A 401(k) match is a common retirement benefit offered by employers that sponsor a workplace retirement plan. How the match worksA 401(k) match is generally structured as a share of employee contributions. There aren't any contribution or account minimums to get the Robinhood match, and trades don't carry commissions.

☆ Twitter could be a new wild card for the midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN Business —For years, Twitter has been a leader in countering misinformation and protecting elections. But concerns are growing that tumult inside Twitter in the first week after it was acquired by Elon Musk could weaken its safeguards for elections, just before the midterms are set to take place. Musk promised not to alter any of Twitter’s content policies until after the midterms. He tweeted: “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” and without warning. The shakeup at Twitter has turned the company itself into an election wildcard.

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