⚽️A $212 million side hustle that had women cashing in

Stat Of The Day

$212 million

The real winners of the World Cup? People who rented out their homes to soccer fans. Airbnb says hosts pocketed a combined $212 million across the 16 host cities – an average $3,000 payday per host. Even better, women came out on top, making up 53% of active hosts and 50.5% of bookings across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

This Week In Your Wallet

Startup season is back. Americans filed 5.7 million applications to start new businesses last year – the most in the two decades the Census Bureau has tracked it – and this year is on pace to keep climbing. One surprising driver? AI, which for many, has made it cheaper and easier to get a new venture off the ground. "AI tools can do very many different things very well," says Jan Bena, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia. "That’s the reason why you see so much entry." One thing AI isn’t doing? Shortening our workdays – read on to learn why.

Retire abroad, live better? Former Californian Paula Dreyfuss couldn’t afford a retirement in the U.S., so she packed up and moved to Portugal, where she says her lifestyle costs "probably about 40% to 50% less" than stateside – and still allows her to enjoy life’s luxuries. "My daughter came to visit one time, and asked, ‘Well, what do you guys do all day?’" Dreyfuss recalls. "And my friend holds up a glass of Champagne and goes, ‘You’re looking at it.’" If you’re dreaming of retiring abroad, here’s a list of everything you need to consider – from understanding the rules of entry to lining up healthcare in advance.

Widowhood can come with a stealth tax bill. Losing a spouse means reorganizing your entire financial life – but taxes are the part many don’t get fair warning about. In the year your spouse passes, you can still file jointly. After that, you're generally filing single, which means narrower brackets and a smaller standard deduction. "The tax brackets for single filers are narrower than those for married couples," explains Vincent Grosso, CFP and founder of Grosso Wealth Management. "That means the same income that fit comfortably into a lower bracket when you were married can now push you into a higher one. Even if your income hasn't changed much, your tax bill might. The key difference is your filing status." Here's how to protect yourself — and your money.

🫶READ MORE: A new study from our friends at LIMRA finds that millions of widowed women face significant financial and emotional challenges following the loss of a spouse. Learn more about how widowhood reshapes women’s financial lives – and the strategies that can help you navigate this life transition – here.

Navigating a financial life change, like losing a spouse, is exactly where a great advisor earns their keep. Willow connects you with vetted fiduciary advisors matched to your goals and your personality. Take this quiz to find yours.

Things That Save You Money

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A happy birthday, indeed. Here are 47 places that will give you free stuff on your special day – everything from pizza to soap.

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Your college drink, all grown up. Here’s how a beverage you may not have enjoyed since your dorm days is experiencing a "bougie evolution."

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Regal Cinemas is showing family-friendly flicks through mid-August and tickets are just $1. Pro-tip: Go on Tuesdays for special discounts on refreshments (though if you sneak candy in, we’re not judging).

The Four-Day Workweek Is Real – So Why Don’t We Have It?

Every few weeks, another tech titan promises to hand us our time back. Jamie Dimon says a shorter workweek is coming. Elon Musk says AI will make work optional. Bill Gates is betting on two-day workweeks.

But here's the twist – we don't need AI to get there. The research proving a shorter workweek works has existed for over a decade.

Bestselling author and journalist Joanne Lipman has been tracking the gap between what's possible and what actually happens, most recently in a buzzy New York Times piece. She joined the HerMoney Podcast to explain what's really standing in the way.

Culprit number one, she says, is the "ferocious attachment that CEOs have to face time in the office." Culprit number two: we keep overestimating how much time technology actually saves us.

Lipman remembers typing on a manual typewriter at The Wall Street Journal, fixing typos with scissors and glue. "Theoretically, our workload should have just plunged with the advent of digital tools," she says. "But instead, journalists' workloads all have exploded because technology gives us this ability to publish around the clock. And so now we actually spend more hours [working]."

AI is doing the same thing all over again – Lipman points to a 200-employee tech firm where adding AI didn't lighten the load; it intensified it. There's even a name for it now: workload creep. You’ve been warned.

Listen Now

Ask Jean

"I see Apple is launching a new option for leasing iPhones. Do you think doing so makes sense financially?"

We all know the deal with leasing a car – lower payments now, but you don’t actually own it. Turns out, Apple wants in on that model too.

The company just launched Upgrade, a lease-to-own program (in partnership with Klarna) that lets you lease an iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac or iPad for one or two years, starting at $17.99 per month (though you can reduce your monthly payment if you’re trading in your existing Apple device). The program comes on the heels of Apple warning that prices for its technology are climbing thanks to a global memory chip shortage.

Here's the gist: after a soft credit check, you lock in a flat monthly payment. When your lease ends, you have three options – buy the device by paying the remaining balance, hand it back and walk away, or upgrade to a new device and start a new lease. While it sounds flexible, there are a few things would-be lessees should be aware of and we’re covering them all here.

Submit your questions to Jean here.

More For You To ❤️

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❓Ask Jean Bonus: "I got in over my head with credit card debt and paid it off. I’m not using my cards anymore. Should I close them?"

🩺Medical bills bankrupting you? Dr. Jordan Grumet shares three keys to cutting costs on the HerMoney Podcast.

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