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☆ On ChatGPT's one-year anniversary, it has more than 1.7 billion users—here's what it may do next
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Nov. 30 marks ChatGPT's one-year anniversary, and quite a lot has changed since the popular AI chatbot debuted. As the ways people utilize the AI chatbot have changed, the technology itself has evolved too. Now, users are able to subscribe to ChatGPT Plus, which provides access to OpenAI's most up-to-date AI chatbot, ChatGPT-4. In February, Google announced its own AI chatbot called Bard. In November, Amazon unveiled its AI chatbot, Q.

Persons: chatbot, OpenAI, Greg Brockman, ChatGPT, Sam Altman, Altman, It's, What's Organizations: UBS, Microsoft, Google, YouTube, Amazon Locations: Brooklyn, New York, ChatGPT

☆ 10 most expensive places to retire in the U.S. based on home prices—over half are in California
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Housing expenses can be some of the highest costs retirees face during their post-work years — and those expenses can vary greatly by location. Based on home prices, California holds several of the most expensive places to retire, according to U.S. News and World Report's "2024 Best Places to Retire in the U.S." study. It used the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau to estimate each area's annual housing costs. Housing costs in the city have steadily risen over the past few years due to the growing population and a drop in new housing units, per the analysis. Here are the 10 most expensive places to retire in the U.S., based on home prices, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Organizations: U.S . News, U.S . Census, San Jose, San Francisco Locations: California, U.S, Puerto Rico, Jose , California

☆ Why buy now, pay later options aren't necessarily better than credit cards
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Buy now, pay later options accounted for around $6.4 billion of online spending in October, according to Adobe Analytics. But while they may offer attractive benefits, such as interest-free payments, they aren't necessarily better or safer than using a credit card. Buy now, pay later payment options essentially allow you to take out a microloan to make a purchase, then pay back that loan in installments. While that may seem like a deal, if you're using multiple buy now, pay later plans, the payments can really add up, Rossman says. If you're choosing between using a credit card or a buy now, pay later option, here's how to decide which is right for you.

Persons: Ted Rossman, Rossman Organizations: Adobe Analytics, CNBC

☆ 25% of Americans still have holiday debt from last year: 'If you're in a hole, stop digging,' says money expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

About 25% of Americans are still paying off holiday debt from 2022, according to WalletHub's November holiday shopping survey. But those already carrying a balance could find themselves sinking further into the red if they don't get a handle on their credit card debt. "If you're in a hole, stop digging," Ted Rossman, Bankrate's senior industry analyst, tells CNBC Make It. One reason you may want to avoid racking up more debt is that higher interest rates are making it more expensive to pay down. A higher interest rate means it could take longer and be more expensive to pay down your credit card debt.

Persons: Ted Rossman, Rossman Organizations: CNBC, Federal Reserve

☆ Here's how much money you need to save each month to retire with $2 million if you make $150,000 a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

American workers earning six-figure incomes have mixed feelings about whether they're saving enough to retire. Only about half of workers earning $100,000 or more feel that they're contributing enough to their 401(k)s to retire comfortably in the future, according to CNBC's August "Your Money" survey. You may also need more money saved up if you plan to retire in a state with higher costs of living. On average, Americans believe they'll need around $1.8 million saved by the time they retire, according to Charles Schwab's 2023 401(k) Participant Study. With this in mind, CNBC calculated how much you need to set aside each month if you earn $150,000 and want to retire with $2 million at 67.

Persons: CNBC's, Charles Schwab's Organizations: CNBC

☆ Worth the money: 3 self-care gifts under $75 to make your loved ones’ lives easier
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Annie Probert | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

From the frazzled parent to the overworked boss, we all know someone in our lives who deserves a little extra TLC. Nidra eye maskI hate sleep masks. Except, that is, the Deep Rest Eye Mask from Nidra ($25), which I bought very begrudgingly... before using it rigorously during my summer travels. Sunrise alarm clockI never thought I could be a morning person until I got my sunrise alarm clock from Amazon ($30). Long gone are the days of waking up in a state of panic due to my jarring phone alarm clock.

Persons: I'd, pang, — Cameron Albert, Deitch, Long Organizations: CNBC Locations: Cheyenne DeVon

☆ Bill Gates says today’s software is still 'pretty dumb,' but believes AI will ‘utterly change how we live our lives'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

However, despite its rapid development over the past few years, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates thinks today's software is still "pretty dumb," according to a Nov. 9 post on his blog, GatesNotes. Currently, we typically use apps to complete a singular task such as booking a flight or checking our bank account. However, Gates predicts AI will make using different apps unnecessary within the next five years. "In the next few years, they will utterly change how we live our lives, online and off," he says. But an AI agent would be able to use its knowledge of your preferences to book and purchase those things on your behalf.

Persons: Bill Gates, Gates, you've Organizations: Microsoft

☆ You can now build your own version of ChatGPT—here’s what to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

On Monday, OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, announced users will now be able to create customized versions of the viral AI chatbot. Typically, you would need to have a good understanding of coding and machine learning, plus access to large sets of training data, if you wanted to build a useful AI chatbot. But now, "anyone can easily build their own GPT — no coding is required," OpenAI said in its Nov. 6 blog post. "There could be funny chatbots, serious chatbots or chatbots that can give you personalized advice." For example, a famous chef may be able to build their own AI chatbot that has knowledge of their personal cooking style and recipes, says Lipson.

Persons: OpenAI, Hod Lipson, They're, Lipson, Warren Buffett Organizations: Columbia University, CNBC

☆ Microsoft Windows is turning 40—how much money you'd have if you invested $1,000 in the company 10 years ago
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Microsoft Windows just hit a major milestone — its 40th birthday. On Nov. 10, 1983, Microsoft unveiled the first version of Windows. It was an extension of the software company's MS-DOS operating system for personal computers, which were just beginning to gain popularity in the 80s. But this version of Windows wasn't nearly as ubiquitous as the software is currently. Fast forward to today and over a billion people now use Windows, Microsoft reported in May.

Organizations: Microsoft, Windows, Consumers

☆ The 10 U.S. states with the highest and lowest average credit scores—see how your state compares
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

From the east coast to the west coast, Americans seem to have pretty good credit scores overall. The average credit score in the midwestern state is 726 as of the first quarter of 2023, according to WalletHub's November report. That's the highest score out of all 50 states and Washington, D.C.Mississippi residents have the lowest average credit score at 673, per WalletHub's analysis. New Yorkers and Californians fall somewhere in the middle with average credit scores of 707. Here are the states with the highest and lowest average credit scores, according to WalletHub.

Persons: Thomas Hanson Organizations: Minnesota State University Moorhead Locations: Minnesota, Washington, Mississippi, U.S

☆ Here's how much money you'd need to save each month to retire with $1.5 million if you earn $80,000 a year
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

For a little over a quarter of Americans, their biggest financial fear is not having enough money saved for retirement, according to a recent WalletHub survey. On average, Americans think they'll need around $1.2 million to retire comfortably, per Northwestern Mutual's 2023 Planning and Progress Study. Don't fret if you feel a long way away from reaching your retirement goals. One of the best ways to ensure you'll have enough money to retire comfortably is to start sooner rather than later. To that point, CNBC calculated how much someone who earns $80,000 annually would need to save each month in order to retire with $1.5 million at age 67.

Organizations: CNBC Locations: Northwestern, U.S

☆ The No. 1 thing people get wrong about high-yield savings accounts, says wealth management expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

High-yield savings accounts can help your money grow faster than traditional savings accounts, but many people mistakenly think that the returns these types of accounts can deliver are too good to be true. Like traditional savings accounts, high-yield savings accounts are backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which is an independent U.S. government agency. Online banks that offer high-yield savings accounts tend to have lower overhead costs than traditional banks, since they aren't paying for physical locations and other expenses. But high-yield savings accounts offer APYs as high as 5% or 6%. But before you move over your funds, be sure to do your research on the bank that's offering the high-yield savings account you're interested in.

Persons: Colby Dickson, Greg McBride, McBride, Jim Cramer, Ben McKenzie, Farnoosh Organizations: Northwestern Mutual, CNBC, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, FDIC Locations: U.S

☆ An AI app cloned Scarlett Johansson’s voice for an ad—but deepfakes aren’t just a problem for celebrities
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Movie star Scarlett Johansson is taking legal action against an AI app that used her name and an AI-generated version of her voice in an advertisement without her permission, according to Variety. The 22-second ad was posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Oct. 28 by AI image-generating app Lisa AI: 90s Yearbook & Avatar, according to Variety. The ad featured images of Johansson and an AI-generated voice similar to hers promoting the app. However, fine print displayed under the ad indicated the AI-generated content "has nothing to do with this person." Lisa AI and a representative for Johansson didn't respond to CNBC Make It's request for comment.

Persons: Scarlett Johansson, Johansson, Lisa AI, Johansson didn't Organizations: Variety, CNBC

☆ Americans' average credit score at every age—see how you compare
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In the U.S., the average credit score is 716, per Experian's latest data from the second quarter of 2023. And when you break down the average credit score by age, the typical American is hovering near or above that score. For members of Gen Z, defined as those between 18 and 26, the average credit score is 680, according to Experian. Meanwhile, the average credit score for people 78 or older, categorized as the silent generation, is 761 — the highest of the generational cohorts. Older Americans have had more time to build and manage their credit than younger Americans who are just starting out.

Persons: Gen Locations: U.S

☆ Here's Americans' net worth at every age—for people under 35, it's up 142%
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Americans under 35 increased their median net worth by a whopping 142% between 2019 and 2022 — from $16,100 to $39,000 — according to the Federal Reserve's October 2023 Survey of Consumer Finances. The report defines net worth as the difference between a person's assets and liabilities. To that point, many young people don't have assets that would push up their net worth. On the other hand, Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 have the highest median net worth out of all age cohorts, increasing their net worth from a median of $308,800 to $409,900 over the same time period. Here's Americans' median net worth, broken down by age.

Persons: they've Organizations: Federal, Consumer Finances

☆ This new tool lets artists 'poison' their artwork to deter AI companies from using it to train their models—here’s how it works
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Artists who want to share their artwork often face a tough choice: keep it offline or post it on social media and risk having it used to train data-hungry AI image generators. But a new tool may soon be able to help artists deter AI companies from using their artwork without permission. If enough of these "poisoned" images are scraped from the web and used to train an AI image generator, the AI model itself may no longer be able to produce accurate images. After researchers fed Stable Diffusion 300 "poisoned" images of dogs, it eventually began producing images of cats. Stable Diffusion did not respond to CNBC Make It's request for comment.

Persons: It's Organizations: University of Chicago, MIT Technology, CNBC

☆ Want to retire at 65 with $2 million? Here’s how much to save each month
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Young Americans have mixed feelings about their ability to reach their retirement savings goals. However, about half of both groups feel they're slightly or significantly behind where they should be, per the survey. When you start saving for retirement early, you give your funds more time to grow through the power of compounding interest. On average, Americans think they'll need over $1 million to retire comfortably, according to Bankrate. With that in mind, CNBC calculated how much you would need to set aside each month in order to retire with $2 million at 65, starting at ages 21, 25 and 30.

Persons: Zers Organizations: CNBC Locations: Northwestern

☆ The average American wants to retire with over $1 million—saving alone won't get you there, says self-made millionaire
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Americans in their 20s think they'll need around $1.2 million on average to retire comfortably, according to Northwestern Mutual's "2023 Planning and Progress Study." But stashing your money in a traditional savings account probably won't get you there by the time you hit retirement age because your money won't grow fast enough. However, retirement investment accounts typically earn a much higher rate of return than a traditional savings account, so your money grows faster when interest is compounded. On the other hand, you'd have significantly less if you put that money into a traditional savings account, which generally earn returns less than 1%, per the FDIC's data. If you put that same $100 into a regular savings account, you'd only have around $66,300 by the time you turn 65, per CNBC's calculations.

Persons: Vivian Tu Organizations: CNBC Locations: Northwestern

☆ The 10 most affordable college towns in the U.S.—half are in Texas
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Edinburg, home to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, ranks as the most wallet-friendly college town, according to WalletHub's "Best College Towns and Cities in America" study. To determine the most affordable college towns, WalletHub evaluated 415 cities of various sizes that had a college or university population of at least 7,500 students. Edinburg is located in southern Texas and has a population of around 104,300. Numerous other Texas cities made WalletHub's list as well. Here are the most affordable college cities and towns, according to WalletHub:

Persons: WalletHub's, Killeen Organizations: University of Texas, College Towns, Nacogdoches Locations: Edinburg, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Cities, America, Texas, Brownsville, McAllen

☆ If you invested $1,000 in Netflix 10 years ago, here's how much money you'd have now
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

From cracking down on password sharing to rolling out new gaming options, Netflix has been making plenty of noteworthy moves lately. In late May, Netflix began alerting subscribers that they would only be able to share their accounts with people who lived with them. Following the new policy rollout in May, average daily signups surged by 102%, according to Antenna. And the streaming giant says it added 8.76 million global subscribers during its 2023 fiscal third-quarter. And some of those new subscribers may soon be able to stream games on their Netflix accounts.

Organizations: Netflix Locations: U.S

☆ This DeFi founder pulled his money out of FTX a month before it collapsed—here's his top advice for crypto traders
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

On Nov. 11 2022, cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy after users withdrew around $6 billion in funds from the exchange and Binance, a competing offshore crypto exchange, backed out of a deal to buy the company. He publicly raised concerns about FTX's financial health about a month before the company's multibillion-dollar implosion. At that time, the crypto craze had soared to a fever pitch and the entire crypto market was valued around $3 trillion. However, despite the hype surrounding FTX, Bhaidani says that the numbers just weren't adding up at the time. Since exchanges typically earn revenue by charging traders transactions fees, this would mean that revenue was down for the company as well, he says.

Persons: FTX, Sam Bankman, Ishan Bhaidani, wasn't, Bhaidani Organizations: CNBC, Miami Heat Locations: Manhattan, FTX

☆ 56% of workers say they're not on track to retire—here's how much money experts say you actually need
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

More than half of Americans say they're not on track to retire. Around 56% of Americans who are working full-time, part-time or are temporarily unemployed feel that they are behind on their retirement savings, according to Bankrate's September survey. And nearly 25% of workers say they haven't made contributions to their retirement accounts in at least a year. Before you determine whether you're ahead or behind on your retirement savings, it can help to have an overall goal in mind. In general, you should aim to have 10 times your preretirement income saved by the time you reach age 67, according to Fidelity.

Persons: Mark Hamrick Organizations: Fidelity, Northwestern Mutual

☆ Around 30% of young people want to retire as millionaires—and over half are confident they can do it
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Young Americans are setting lofty retirement goals — and they're confident that they'll reach them. To figure out how much you may need in retirement, start by using CNBC Make It's retirement calculator. Regardless of their savings goal, most workers are confident they'll be able to save enough to retire comfortably. Your savings rate is the percentage of your pre-tax income that you put toward a retirement savings account such as a 401(k) or a Roth IRA. Ideally, you should aim for a retirement savings rate of 15%, including any employer match, according to Fidelity.

Persons: —, Zers, Bankrate, Xers, Roth, Marguerita Cheng, DON'T Organizations: Fidelity, CNBC, Blue, Wealth Locations: Bankrate, U.S, — Florida

☆ Self-made millionaire: This couple earns $280,000 a year, but they’re making a ‘catastrophic’ money mistake
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Self-made millionaire Ramit Sethi discovered that a couple earning six figures is making a "catastrophic" money mistake. Based on a quick overview of the couple's finances, Sethi found that the couple has zero savings and investments. With this, your initial investment grows exponentially by earning returns not only on the principal amount, but on the interest it accumulates as well. Say your initial investment is $1,000 and you earn an annualized return of 10%, the average stock market return, according to NerdWallet. That year, you'd earn 10% on your entire account total, not just your initial investment.

Persons: Ramit Sethi, Sethi, Rich, Mark Hamrick, you'd Organizations: CNBC Locations: U.S

☆ People are 'increasingly tired' of 'guilt tipping,' expert says—but no one wants to feel 'like a jerk or cheapskate'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

As touch screens and pre-selected options make tipping more convenient, around 60% of Americans say they're tipping more, according to a recent LendingTree survey. Guilt tipping, explainedNearly a quarter of people say they always feel pressured to tip when the option is presented, according to LendingTree's survey. "It's happening all over the place, and people are getting increasingly tired of it," he says. "People don't want to feel like a jerk or cheapskate," he says. It's worth noting that the business doesn't always decide which tip options you're presented with.

Persons: it's, Matt Schulz, LendingTree's, Schulz, doesn't, Dan Egan Organizations: CNBC

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