Latest news with #JuliaNikhinson
Fast Company
06-08-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
5 Expert tips to help you take control of your buy now, pay later loans
WORK LIFE Be mindful of your overall spending and avoid stacking buy now, pay later loans. FILE – People shop for shoes on , Nov. 25, 2022, in New York. [Photo: Julia Nikhinson, File/AP Photo] BY Listen to this Article More info 0:00 / 6:02 Between rising prices and dwindling job growth, using 'buy now, pay later' on everything from concert tickets to fast food deliveries is becoming increasingly appealing. But greater use could also mean greater trouble, as more people fall behind on repaying these loans. Buy now, pay later loans gained popularity during the pandemic, especially among young people. While these loans can help you make large purchases without paying interest or undergoing a hard inquiry in your credit report, they can also easily be overused. About 4 in 10 Americans under the age of 45 say they've used 'buy now, pay later' services when spending on entertainment or restaurant meals, or when paying for essentials like groceries or medical care, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Buy now, pay later loans were not previously reported to the three major credit reporting bureaus. But consumers will soon see the impact of buy now, pay later loans on their FICO credit scores. Whether you're a first-time or recurring user of buy now, pay later plans, here are some expert recommendations to use this tool responsibly. Focus on needs vs. wants Buy now, pay later plans divide purchases in monthly installments, typically in four payments. These loans are marketed as having low or no interest. Klarna, Afterpay, PayPal and Affirm are among the most popular buy now, pay later companies. These loans should ideally be used for large purchases or necessities, said Lauren Bringle, Accredited Financial Counselor at Self Financial. Bringle recommends asking yourself these questions before purchasing: Can I survive without this purchase right now? Do I need it for work, school, or a basic household need? Buy now, pay later is best used when you have a plan for the purchase, not for impulse buys. For example, when you need to buy a computer for school or a new refrigerator for your house, recommended Tyler Horn, head of planning at Origin, a budgeting app. Pause before purchasing Before deciding to take out a buy now, pay later loan, it's a good idea to pause and consider if it's the best financial decision for you, recommended Erika Rasure, Chief Financial Wellness advisor for Beyond Finance. Buy now, pay later plans can be positive budgeting tools when used strategically. However, it's essential you know your spending behaviors before using them, said Rasure. If you're an emotional spender, it might be hard for you to moderate your use of this tool and you could end up adding to your financial stress. 'Buy now, pay later can become a coping mechanism rather than a financial tool that can get you a good deal or improve your cash flow,' said Rasure. If you have other payments due, such as credit card or student loan payments, consider how a buy now, pay later loan will add to your monthly payments, recommended Sarah Rathner, Senior Writer for NerdWallet. Read the fine print Like credit cards, each buy now, pay later loan has terms and conditions that can vary by purchase and providers. It's crucial that you know what you're agreeing to before you sign up, recommended Michael Savino, Chief Lending Officer at Municipal Credit Union. 'Always read the fine print. Understand fees, repayment schedules, and what happens if you miss a payment or go into default,' said Savino. In general, if you miss a buy now, pay later payment, you can face fees, interest, or the possibility of being banned from using the services in the future. Avoid stacking BNPL loans You can easily run into difficulty keeping up with the cost and schedule of your repayments if you're trying to simultaneously pay off two, three or more loans, Savino said. 'Juggling multiple plans creates a blind spot and overall debt load, and multiple repayment dates are hard to manage,' Savino said. 'So more loans makes it more difficult to budget.' The best approach: Stay mindful of your overall spending, and limit the number of buy now, pay later loans. Keep track of your loan(s) Whether or not you're paying for multiple buy now, pay later purchases at once, you want to be aware of where your money is going at any given time, recommended Courtney Alev, consumer advocate at Credit Karma. 'Buy now, pay later often requires automatic payments, so you want to make sure that your account is funded so that those payments are processing successfully,' recommended Jennifer Seitz, director of education at Greenlight, a financial literacy app for families. There are many ways to track your loan payments — from setting a reminder on your calendar, to creating an intricate excel spreadsheet or tracking them on an app, said Jesse Mecham, founder of the budgeting app YNAB. Finding the best method that works for you will help you stay on track and avoid late fees. Make buy now, pay later work for you For shoppers with low credit scores or no credit history, buy now, pay later loans can seem like the best, if not the only, loan option. If used moderately and responsibly, these short-term loans can be a positive lending exercise, said Savino. 'It allows you to to establish a baseline (and) get access to other affordable credit options that you can leverage that will ultimately provide financial wellness,' he added. Still, NerdWallet's Rathner emphasized that shoppers using these tools always remember that buy now, pay later is a form of borrowing money. 'It just kind of feels like you're given a little extra time to pay back,' Rathner said. 'But the reality is, if you miss payments, it can hurt your credit, much like missing payments with any other loan.' —— The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism. —Adriana Morga and Luena Rodriguez-Feo Vileira, Associated Press
Toronto Sun
26-05-2025
- Toronto Sun
Crypto investor charged with torturing man in NYC apartment for weeks
The victim was beaten, shocked and led to believe that his family was in danger if he didn't give up his Bitcoin password, cops say Published May 26, 2025 • Last updated 5 minutes ago • 2 minute read People walk by the Manhattan Criminal Court building, Wednesday, May 29, 2024, in New York. Photo by Julia Nikhinson / AP NEW YORK — A cryptocurrency investor has been arrested and charged with kidnapping a man and keeping him locked up for weeks in an upscale Manhattan apartment, where authorities say he was beaten, shocked and led to believe that his family was in danger if he didn't give up his Bitcoin password. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account John Woeltz, 37, was arrested Friday night after the victim escaped from the eight-bedroom town house and flagged down a traffic officer on the street for help, according to prosecutors. Woeltz was arraigned Saturday on charges of kidnapping, assault, unlawful imprisonment and criminal possession of a firearm, court records show. He was ordered held without bail, a spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney's office confirmed Saturday. His lawyer, Wayne Gosnell, said Saturday in an email that he had no comment. The 28-year-old victim arrived in New York City from Italy in early May, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation and did so on condition of anonymity. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It's not clear how or if the two knew each other, but the district attorney's office said in an email that prosecutor Michael Mattson told a judge Saturday that the victim, whose name has not been released, was abducted on May 6. Mattson said others were involved in the scheme to empty the victim's Bitcoin wallet. That includes a person referred to in court records as an 'unapprehended male.' The victim said he was bound by the wrists and tortured for weeks inside the apartment. His captors, according to prosecutors, drugged him, used electric wires to shock him, hit him in the head with a firearm and, at one point, carried him to the top of a flight of stairs where they dangled him over a ledge and threatened to kill him if he didn't share his Bitcoin password. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Believing that he was about to be shot, the victim was able to escape Friday after agreeing to give up his password, which was stored on his laptop in another room. When the suspect turned his back, Mattson said, the victim ran out of the apartment. The victim was taken to a hospital and treated for injuries that Mattson said were consistent with his descriptions of being bound and assaulted. A search of the town house turned up a trove of evidence, Mattson said, including cocaine, a saw, chicken wire, body armor and night vision goggles, ammunition and polaroid photos of the victim with a gun pointed to his head. Woeltz was ordered Saturday to surrender his passport. Prosecutors said he has the means to flee, including a private jet and a helicopter. He is due back in Manhattan criminal court next week. Sunshine Girls Opinion Canada Sunshine Girls Ontario
Mail & Guardian
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Mail & Guardian
Editorial: The true refugee crisis
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, left, greets Afrikaner refugees from South Africa, Monday, May 12, 2025, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Julia Nikhinson of the Associated Press this week shot a photograph that will earn a place in the annals of iconic South African imagery. It captures the first moments after the arrival of the Afrikaner refugees on American soil. The Stars and Stripes dangling limply from their hands, they look bedraggled and bemused. It was undoubtedly a long, tiresome journey, in fairness. But there's enough in their expressions to suggest they were mortified at realising that the pageantry greeting their arrival betrayed the political game they are being used in. Their landing in the US was orchestrated by a political machine that cares as little for their supposed plight as it does for the deportees going in the other direction. Back home, a mixture of anger, humour and incredulity greeted the news. The ANC, as it is wont to do, took the great trek personally, insisting a statement that 'ours is not a broken or failing state, it is a people's democracy advancing against the tides of distortion and destructive, divisive narratives'. But most of us can agree on the reality that the logic that granted 49 people refugee status is founded in falsehoods and misrepresentations. For all of South Africa's issues — crime being one of its most pernicious — it is an unequivocal fact that no group faces prejudiced, violent persecution. Regrettably, turning fiction into policy is not just a slight to the country that can be laughed off. What has emerged as most worrying throughout a week's reporting is how this week's act threatens to undermine the solemnity and global appreciation of terms such as 'refugee' and 'asylum seeker'. These are designations reserved for people who have reached the depths of desperation, who have no other choice but to flee their homes into a foreign land. President Donald Trump granting refugee status spits on that understanding, potentially risking untold lives in the future. It was immediately clear that his second term of presidency was not interested in maintaining what we broadly call the liberal world order. That much has been obvious from his protectionist rhetoric, annexation overtures and disregard for multilateral institutions. Yet this is different. This is the weaponisation, and ultimate barbarisation, of the refugee concept for political expediency. It is immoral, ridiculous and dangerous. We can do little to halt the capricious whims of the president of the United States. But we can refuse to be a part of it. South Africa does not have genocide but it does have division — much of it created by the political games that our own leaders play. If there ever was a time to put our bullshit aside and present a unified front to the world, it is now.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sports court rejects appeal from Uruguay players who clashed with fans at Copa America game in US
FILE- Uruguay's players argue with fans at the end of a Copa America semifinal soccer match against Colombia in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File) FILE - Uruguay's Ronald Araujo, right, argues with fans after a Copa America semifinal soccer match against Colombia in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File) FILE - Uruguay's Ronald Araujo, right, argues with fans after a Copa America semifinal soccer match against Colombia in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File) FILE- Uruguay's players argue with fans at the end of a Copa America semifinal soccer match against Colombia in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File) FILE - Uruguay's Ronald Araujo, right, argues with fans after a Copa America semifinal soccer match against Colombia in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File) LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Sport's highest court rejected an appeal by five Uruguay players against their bans for clashing with fans after a Copa America semifinal in North Carolina last year, dismissing their claim that they acted in self defense to protect their families. Five Uruguay players, including Liverpool forward Darwin Núñez, Barcelona defender Ronald Araújo and Atletico Madrid defender José María Giménez, were banned for between three and five games by South American soccer body CONMEBOL after the brawl. Advertisement The players had clashed with fans in the stands at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte after a 1-0 loss to Colombia last July. Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur and Napoli defender Mathías Olivera also were involved and later banned. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Tuesday its judges dismissed appeals by the players and the Uruguayan soccer federation. "The panel found that in this case, the principle of self-defense does not apply and that the conduct of the players constituted a voluntary, violent and unjustified action," the court said in a statement. Núñez should now be suspended when Uruguay resumes World Cup qualifying games at Paraguay on June 5 and hosts Venezuela five days later. Advertisement Coached by Marcelo Bielsa, the team is on track to qualify for the 2026 tournament and return to the U.S., which will co-host the tournament with Canada and Mexico. Uruguay is third in the standings in the 10-team South American qualifying group with four rounds left, six points ahead of seventh-placed Venezuela. The top six in the final standings in September advance directly to the World Cup and the seventh-place team enters an intercontinental playoff in March next year. ___ AP soccer:
