Things To Do In SW Florida

Margaret Giles, Morningstar

Many of the best investing moves are made on autopilot. Just look at the track record of automatic payroll deductions and savings increases.

Other investing decisions, like a transition into retirement, require a more hands-on approach.

Christine Benz, Morningstar’s director of personal finance and retirement planning, recommends taking a preemptive approach as you get closer to retirement. The key is to visualize what you want your retirement to look like while you have enough time to make any adjustments you might need to get you there.

Here are five steps to take now if you plan to retire in the next five years:

1. Consider the role of work in retirement

Decide whether some kind of work is realistically part of your retirement plan. That income stream can make your retirement spending simpler, but it shouldn’t be the linchpin of your whole plan. That’s because you may not be able to work even if you want to.

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Since SunRail first rolled down the tracks just over a decade ago as a weekday commuter train, passengers have grumbled about why it doesn’t run more frequently, isn’t available on the weekends and can’t be ridden to the Orlando International Airport, despite the high demand for such services.

On Thursday, the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission received an answer on one of those wishlist items: an eye-popping staff report that showed running SunRail trains on Saturdays and Sundays would cost the Central Florida region nearly $26.3 million more annually in operating costs.

On top of that, SunRail would need to spend an estimated $61.8 million to purchase three additional locomotives and cab cars for the weekends, according to the study.

“We have to educate residents that if you want to have nice things, you have to pay for them,” said Luis Nieves-Ruiz, chair of SunRail’s customer advisory committee. “It’s difficult, but that’s the reality.”

Charles Heffinger, SunRail’s chief operating officer, estimated that SunRail service would generate between 4,600 and 9,500 trips. The average daily ridership — or trips — from April through June was 5,184, a 13% jump from a year ago. read more

By DAVID BAUDER

With this week’s FCC approval, the merger between Paramount Global and Skydance Media is expected to be completed in the coming weeks at a value of $8 billion. The question for the new company is whether the psychic cost is much higher.

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It has been a particularly rough few months at Paramount-owned CBS, where the settlement of a lawsuit regarding “60 Minutes” and announced end of Stephen Colbert’s late-night show has led critics to suggest corporate leaders were bowing to President Donald Trump.

Following the Federal Communications Commission approval Thursday, one of the triumvirate of current Paramount leaders, Chris McCarthy, said that he would be leaving the company. McCarthy has been in charge of fading cable properties like MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, expected to bear the brunt of an estimated $2 billion in cost cuts identified by Skydance leaders. read more

By BARBARA ORTUTAY

Tea, an app designed to let women safely discuss men they date has been breached, with thousands of selfies and photo IDs of users exposed, the company confirmed on Friday.

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Tea said that about 72,000 images were leaked online, including 13,000 images of selfies or selfies featuring a photo identification that users submitted during account verification. Another 59,000 images publicly viewable in the app from posts, comments and direct messages were also accessed without authorization, according to a Tea spokesperson.

No email addresses or phone numbers were accessed, the company said, and the breach only affects users who signed up before February 2024. read more

By KELVIN CHAN

LONDON (AP) — Facebook and Instagram owner Meta said Friday that it will stop all political advertising in the European Union by October, blaming legal uncertainty over new rules designed to increase transparency in election campaigns.

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• 
  Paramount gets green light for $8 billion merger. But what is the psychic cost for company?

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  Tea, an app for women to safely talk about men they date, has been breached, user IDs exposed

The social media giant said in a blog post that it will no longer allow ads for political, electoral and social issues on its platforms, which also include Threads, starting in early October.

The company said it was making the decision because of the 27-nation EU’s “unworkable” Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising regulations. read more