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Average credit card balance for 22- to 24-year-olds. That’s 26% higher than a decade ago. Why? Gen Z has embraced the buy now, pay later options at checkout. Talk to your Gen Zers, and remind them, “If you can’t pay for it now, you won’t be able to pay for it later.”
Tags: BNPL, credit, credit card, credit cards, Gen Z
A Canadian news channel went undercover at 100 businesses to see if they asked for tips. They were prompted to tip at fast food joints, jewelry stores, auto shops and even online shops. Two-thirds of employees didn’t know where the tips went. Tip theft is illegal in the U.S., but we all know not every business follows every law.
Reel-y impressive tech: Amazon is dropping six new AI models. Reel turns simple text prompts into short videos. Check out the video above for a little snippet. I’m impressed! For now, only three text-generation models are live for certain developers. The rest drop for everyone else early next year.
🏴☠ Hands off my treasure: Porch piracy is so out of control, you can now pay for stolen package insurance. PorchPals covers up to $2,000 of deliveries (or three claims a year) for $120 annually. Don’t bother. Save your money. Sign for your packages or have them delivered to a locker. Steps here!
🎮 Twitch and YouTube are booming: Gamers spend more hours per week watching other people play video games than playing themselves. This year’s League of Legends World Championship esports event peaked at nearly 7 million viewers. Hey, parents — your kids can turn playing video games into a real job after all.
Re-FundMe: There’s a lot of drama here. Donors to a GoFundMe campaign meant to locate missing Hawaii woman Hannah Kobayashi want their money back. The 30-year-old vanished after missing a flight at LAX, but CCTV shows she went to Mexico. The family used part of the $46,000 raised for her father’s funeral; he committed suicide during the search. Don’t give to a GoFundMe unless you know the recipient personally.
🚖 Cybercab’s dirty secret: Elon Musk says Tesla’s robotaxi service is coming by 2026. The catch? It won’t be “fully autonomous” as promised. A recent job listing shows Tesla is hiring a team to remotely control its vehicles when they get stuck. FYI: They’re not the first to do this, it’s an industry standard. Waymo and others just keep it under wraps.
Winging it: Forget those small prop planes carrying advertising banners over beaches. Drones are replacing planes in places like Miami Beach. They’re quieter and — get this — they track ad views in real time and fly about 400 feet lower than planes. There’s no avoiding ‘em.
🤑 The tax man cometh … later: The $600 reporting rule for apps like PayPal and Venmo is delayed yet again. This rule says apps owe you a tax form for annual incomes over $600. For another year, personal payments and small sales won’t result in a new tax form. Don’t smile yet; anything over $5,000 (like a car you sell online or your side hustle income), and you’ll receive a Form 1099-K.
