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Time Magazine
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
Breaking Down the Shocking Season Finale of Your Friends and Neighbors
Warning: This story has spoilers for the finale of Your Friends and Neighbors. Andrew Cooper, a.k.a. Coop (Jon Hamm), had it all. The perfect wife, kids, and job. But at the beginning of Jonathan Tropper's Your Friends and Neighbors, he's fired from his job and divorced from his wife. His dream life is in tatters, and, unable to find another job and with mounting bills to pay, he does something unexpected: He turns to a life of crime, breaking into his friends' and neighbors' homes, stealing luxury items, and pawning them off to keep his life afloat. The season finale of Your Friends and Neighbors, which streams May 30 on Apple TV+, finds Coop the talk of the town as he's facing down allegations of murder. With Coop's life in the balance, we spoke to the series creator and writer of the finale episode, Jonathan Tropper. Tropper, also a novelist and producer, broke down the key moments of the shocking finale and what we can expect in the second season. At the start of Season 1's final episode, Coop is at his wits' end. His lawyer has no faith that he'll be able to avoid jail time over the murder of Paul Levitt (Jordan Gelber), a crime he didn't commit. But the overwhelming evidence (including the murder weapon found in Coop's car) means he's looking at an eight-year sentence, though he would get out in six. This resigns Coop to defeat, and he decides to spend what quality time he has with his kids. He gives his son his prized watch and spends an evening with his daughter watching movies (in a fun nod to Coop's thievery, they watch The Sting). When Coop's ex-wife Mel (Amanda Peet) sees her son with Coop's watch, she realizes he's expecting the worst. She arrives at Coop's house and furiously pleads with him to fight back and not be defeated. 'The tragedy of their divorce is that they still remain the person best equipped to talk to each other. There's nobody in either of their lives who has replaced one of them as a confidant, an emotional support. You don't stop being family just because you signed a piece of paper,' says Tropper. Mel pleads with Coop: 'I'm begging you, don't be the guy who gives up the exact moment you should be fighting with everything you have.' She kisses him passionately and leaves. 'That's the moment he needs to save his life,' adds Tropper. A renewed Coop goes through the evidence with his lawyer and makes a surprising discovery: his number doesn't appear anywhere in the phone of Paul's wife, Sam (Olivia Munn), who was in the process of divorcing her husband. That's strange, since she and Coop have been sleeping together and communicating frequently. That can only mean one thing: Sam has a second phone, which puts her alibi of being in Boston with her family in serious doubt. To prove there's a second phone, Coop will have to find it. He calls in a favor from Elena (Aimee Carrero), a housekeeper and his partner in his thieving operation. Elena offers to help Sam clean, getting Coop in the house to look for the phone. They don't find it, but they find something considerably more damning: a suicide note from Paul. Turns out there was no murder, but Sam staged it as such, shooting Paul's dead body twice and planting the gun in Coop's car to frame him. For the first time in Your Friends & Neighbors, the perspective shifts from Coop to Sam, and Sam narrates the story of how she came to be in Westchester, and how the facade of her perfect life began to crumble. It's a scene that almost didn't happen, and wasn't in Tropper's original script. Tropper showed the script to his producing partner Jamie Rosengard, who suggested they do a sudden perspective shift for Sam, giving her the same kind of narration Coop has delivered throughout the season. 'It was one of those revelatory moments where we're a season one show, and we're allowed to make our own rules. Why not just completely shift points of view for a minute and really understand and sympathize with what she was going through?' Tropper says. 'You convince yourself you're happy, like all your friends and neighbors seem to be,' Sam narrates. In many ways, that's the functional thesis for the show. It's a story of the lengths people go to succeed, and more importantly, to present the illusion of success. Sam is 'an outsider who came in and joined this community, so she has a slightly fresher perspective than the people who grew up with a certain level of wealth,' says Tropper. 'What everyone's up against is that they spend all these years climbing the mountain, working those hours, sacrificing time with family, to get to the top of that mountain. To realize that you may have climbed the wrong mountain, or realize this may not be for you, that would be to say you've wasted all those years, and nobody is ready to face that.' That leads to the desperation felt by Sam to stage her husband's death because of his no-suicide insurance clause—the same kind of desperation felt by Coop, who began a life of crime after losing the job that defined his identity for so many years. It's that revelation that 'leads to all sorts of bad behavior in these communities,' Tropper says. Sam confesses everything to Coop, granting him his freedom and his family back. Now it's time for Coop to get his job back. His former company is in dire straits after letting him go, which opens the door for major negotiations. Jack (Corbin Bernsen) is furious that he has no choice but to accept Coop's very demanding terms, under one condition: Coop joins him on a plane to Switzerland to help close some major business, which he agrees to. It's remarkable to see Coop in a new light—it's like a completely different version of the man we saw getting fired at the beginning of the season. 'Breaking into houses and stealing has given him an edge he didn't used to have. It has changed his way of dealing with people so that he can walk back in and do that negotiation. It's not something he could have pulled off before he started robbing, and before he had hit rock bottom, explains Tropper. But before Coop heads to Switzerland, he's got a facade to rebuild, going to the Gutenberg Cancer Gala to keep up appearances. He shares a dance with Mel, and while the rekindling of their relationship is up in the air, they both decide to try single life for a while. 'I think the tragedy and the beauty of their relationship is that they failed, and in a way that probably has damaged it too much to ever come back together,' says Tropper. But although they may not stay together, it's far from the end of their relationship. 'I don't think many divorced couples are like this, but I think this is an aspirational divorced couple who's somehow managing moments to find each other,' he adds. Just as Coop is about to head off for Switzerland, he runs into Julia, one of the people he robbed. Julia acts happy to see him, but Coop knows Julia has been publicly saying how she thinks Coop did in fact commit murder. He doesn't mince words and does something incredibly bold, threatening her over her daughter's SAT scores, which were falsified. Julia can't believe he knows about the scores—the only reason he does is because he broke into their home and saw the evidence. It's an extremely risky play from Coop, but one thing is clear: this isn't the man we once knew. 'He's never going to become a criminal kingpin. He's not going to break bad. But he has been liberated from the rules of polite society, to some extent. As a result, he's going to operate differently from now on, and that's going to make him a much more interesting character to watch,' says Tropper. Coop then heads off to Switzerland—except he doesn't. Jack waits for him on the plane, and takes off without him: 'That will undoubtedly be a fiasco,' Tropper says. Turns out Coop has another plan, returning to crime and stealing a painting from Jack's house. While it may be shocking to see Coop return to art theft after it caused so many problems, Tropper sees things a little differently: 'I'm not sure he's stealing that painting for financial reasons. He's taking something Jack loves, because he feels like now he knows how to and he wants his revenge. I think it's more about taking it from Jack than actually selling.' The season ends with Coop driving away from Jack's house, rejecting the office life and doubling down on crime. With the show renewed for Season 2, Tropper teases what audiences can expect. 'It's darker. It's more intense. This continues to be a show about relationships more than anything, and I think we get to explore the Coop and Mel dynamic in a different way. We get to explore Coop's feelings about being a parent. I think the Cooper family is always going to be at the center of this, and the trouble that they're going through,' he says. Interestingly, it may not just be Coop landing in hot water next season: 'Coop's not the only one who can get into trouble,' Tropper offers as a little hint of what's to come: 'Mel can get into trouble, too.'
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The 2025 US Tourism Slump Could Hurt Your Retirement Savings: 4 Things To Do Now
The U.S. tourism industry is facing a sharp slowdown in 2025. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, the country could lose up to $12.5 billion in international travel spending this year (a 22.5% drop from its previous peak). That's not just bad news for airlines and hotels. It's a hit to the broader economy, affecting millions of jobs, community tax revenues, and, perhaps surprisingly, your retirement savings. Check Out: Learn More: Whether you're close to retirement or just getting started, here's why the tourism slump matters and what you can do right now to protect your financial future. 'A decline in tourism affects employment because the sector provides nearly 20 million jobs across the U.S.,' says Yehuda Tropper, CEO of Beca Life Settlements. 'Additionally, when fewer tourists visit, localities receive fewer sales and hospitality tax dollars. This is especially impactful in states without a state income tax, because they rely on sales and other taxes to make up the government revenues they don't receive through state income taxes. Some of the no-income tax states are ones with high numbers of seniors, such as Florida and Texas. 'Regional economic downturns have multiple impacts on retirement savings, including the credit quality of municipal bonds, and they can also spread out to become national downturns.' Tropper points to the Great Recession as an example, where a housing-market collapse in certain states eventually triggered a broader crisis. He also notes that 'weakness in tourism spending signals overall broader economic weakness, as consumers prioritize essential bills like housing, utilities, transportation, and healthcare over discretionary expenses like travel.' That shift, he said, can impact mutual funds, ETFs and dividend stocks, all common holdings for retirees and near-retirees. Be Aware: Check whether your investments are too concentrated in sectors affected by the slump, such as airlines, hotels or cruise lines. Rebalancing toward more stable sectors like healthcare, utilities or consumer staples can help reduce risk. Yehuda Tropper, CEO of Beca Life Settlements, suggests that retirees and near-retirees 'consider rebalancing their portfolios to make sure they're diversified in a way that includes sectors less correlated with tourism and discretionary spending.' With longer life expectancies, he notes, well-diversified portfolios have time to recover from short-term cycles like these. Many retirement accounts allow you to adjust your allocations online or through your plan administrator. A tourism slump isn't the same as a market crash. If you're decades away from retirement, sticking to your investment strategy is often better than reacting emotionally to short-term headlines. Selling now can lock in losses, while staying invested gives your portfolio time to recover. Oppenheimer Asset Management advises that 'reacting to short-term market fluctuations can often lead to costly mistakes.' Your 401(k) plan is designed for the long haul, and pulling out during temporary turbulence could derail your long-term goals. If you're in the accumulation phase of retirement saving, a tourism-linked downturn may present a buying opportunity. Contributing regularly during a market dip means you're buying more shares at lower prices, a strategy known as dollar-cost averaging. It's a long-term play, but it works in your favour over time. Dollar-cost averaging involves investing a fixed amount at regular intervals regardless of market conditions and is championed for its disciplined approach and effectiveness in mitigating emotional biases. If you're closer to retirement or already withdrawing from your accounts, make sure you have an adequate emergency fund or short-term cash reserve. This helps you avoid tapping into your retirement investments during a dip, which can lead to permanent losses. A good rule of thumb is to keep six to 12 months of expenses in a liquid, low-risk account. Personal finance expert Suze Orman proposes that retirees maintain a 'just-in-case' fund of three to five years' worth of expenses in a liquid, non-market-tied account like a money-market fund or CDs. Her reasoning is based on the potential for market downturns, which can take several years to recover, during which retirees may need to avoid liquidating investments at a loss. The 2025 tourism slump may not make daily headlines, but its ripple effects could quietly erode your retirement savings if you're not paying attention. By reviewing your investments, staying disciplined and making small adjustments now, you can keep your long-term financial goals on track no matter what's happening in the travel industry. More From GOBankingRates 7 Luxury SUVs That Will Become Affordable in 2025 Sources World Travel & Tourism Council, 'U.S Economy Set To Lose $12.5BN In International Traveler Spend this year.' Beca Life Settlements, 'Our Team.' Oppenheimer Asset Management, 'Safeguarding Your 401(k) During Market Turbulence.' MarketWatch, 'Suze Orman says retirees should have a 5-year 'just-in-case' fund. Is this true?' This article originally appeared on The 2025 US Tourism Slump Could Hurt Your Retirement Savings: 4 Things To Do Now Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Nio is facing heavy competition in China's fierce EV market. Making key design decisions ‘within hours' could help it break through
China is the world's most competitive market for electric vehicles. Startups and established carmakers are sparring on price, technology and, increasingly, design, as companies try to grab market share. Foreign visitors are often astounded by what Chinese EVs can do. 'The EV market, especially in China, is incredibly competitive,' says Kris Tomasson, vice president of design for Nio, one of China's leading EV startups. To keep ahead of the competition, 'design really has to be leading edge, always looking forward, very progressive. So we're given the ability to really push on the design side.' Being design-forward means being agile enough to pursue new ideas quickly—with a helping hand from digital technology. 'Key decisions that maybe would take months at a traditional carmaker, we can make within hours through our digital tools,' Tomasson says. Nio is now trying to use its design chops in releasing a new entry-level vehicle—dubbed 'Firefly'—as it tries to break into the entry-level segment in both the Chinese and European car markets. William Li founded Nio in 2014; the company debuted its first car in 2016. The startup has focused on high-end vehicles, competing with companies like Tesla and fellow Chinese EV maker Xpeng. Nio has delivered over 737,000 cars in total through the end of April. Tomasson, who had previously worked at BMW, Ford, and Coca-Cola, was 'one of the first 10 people brought on board, which made me realize how important design was going to be for this company going forward.' Michael Tropper, cofounder of design agency Forpeople, was also brought into Nio early to work on 'a once-in-a-career opportunity to build something from scratch.' He tried to focus on Nio's offerings beyond the car itself, particularly the company's battery-swapping stations. 'This is the main worry everybody has about EVs: How am I going to charge the car? What if I run out of power?' Tropper says. Nio has since made its sleek, minimalist battery-swapping stations a 'cohesive part of the brand experience,' Tropper says. The second unique aspect behind Nio are the 'Nio Houses,' the company's retail storefronts. The startup pitches these 'houses' as community spaces for Nio drivers, including co-working spaces, libraries and cafes. 'We took inspiration from private members clubs,' Tropper said. 'I took William Li to Soho House here in London, and we really immersed ourselves into that world.' Nio now has over 180 such spaces, mostly in China with a few in Europe and the Middle East. 'A key element of differentiation for Nio is its service culture and care for the customer. We felt, very early, that a space where you host people is the best way to express that,' Tropper says. 'The car industry can learn a lot from the hospitality industry.' Nio's shares are down by almost 30% over the past 12 months, as investors continue to worry whether EV startups can survive in China's fierce EV sector. The company generated $9 billion in revenue in 2024, yet reported a $3 billion loss for the year. Dozens of Chinese EV startups have sprung up over the past decade, tapping into government subsidies. While that helped grow a globally competitive car industry, it's also led to fierce competition as carmakers battle for market share. Many are likely to fail, unable to keep up with giants like BYD, Tesla, and Geely Auto. Nio, for its part, has stumbled in trying to expand its product lineup. It unveiled Onvo, which targets the mass-market segment, last year. Yet sales have been slower than hoped, which executives blame on delayed deliveries. The startup's latest offering is 'Firefly,' a more entry-level vehicle compared to its standard premium models. The Chinese startup launched Firefly in the Chinese market in mid-April. The first model, a small Mini-like EV, retails for just under 120,000 Chinese yuan ($16,466). Nio has declined to disclose order numbers for the new brand, but founder William Li has suggested he hopes it will eventually make up 10% of the company's sales. Nio hopes to launch Firefly in Europe by the third quarter of the year. It's a slight delay to the company's original plan to launch by the summer; Nio admits it underestimated the challenges of selling in Europe. When designing the car, Nio 'distilled it down to three keywords: Vivid, thoughtful, and solid,' Tomasson says. That first characteristic—vividness—comes through in its 'trio lights': three small headlights on each side of the car's front, which are mirrored on the back. 'Nobody's done that in the industry,' Tomasson explains. 'It's instantly recognizable.' Thoughtfulness comes through in the car's interior, which the company made 'as efficient as possible' in order to maximize space. And finally, despite its more entry-level price tag, the car still needs to feel like a 'premium, grown-up car.' Tropper, too, embraced the idea of the 'firefly' in developing the car's brand image, choosing an 'electric yellow, glowing color that offsets the cooler tones of the night.' For Tropper, working on Firefly was a chance for the branding and design teams to work closely together, rather than in separate, siloed verticals. 'The design DNA has to work for the brand as well as the cars,' he says. This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
6 Financial Products the Middle Class Should Stay Away From
When it comes to building wealth, avoiding the wrong financial products can be just as important as choosing the right ones. Many financial products appear to be convenient or essential, but often come with hidden costs, high interest rates or poor long-term value. Middle-class consumers are often the most vulnerable, as well. Find Out: Read Next: From high-interest auto loans to misleading 'buy now, pay later' plans, experts said these common traps can quietly drain your finances and derail your financial goals. Middle-class consumers should steer clear or at least use these products carefully. Credit cards are not inherently bad — they can be a great tool for improving credit and earning rewards and points. However, that's only if you are able to pay your credit cards off in full each month, said Ashley Morgan, attorney and owner at The benefits are quickly outweighed when you carry a balance and pay interest, Morgan said. 'Using credit cards to finance things long term is not ideal and very costly. Debt can be an important tool, for example buying a house. But typically credit cards are high interest rates and not an ideal way to carry debt.' If you need to finance things, look for zero-interest programs or lower interest loans instead, Morgan urged. Learn More: Buy now, pay later (BNPL) programs like Klarna and AfterPay have become popular but can be financially dangerous when overused, Morgan warned. 'It can be easy to over spend when these BNPL programs push the low payment amount. It can make it easy to believe you can afford things that you cannot.' Because BNPL programs offer the ability to finance things as small as grocery store purchases or restaurant orders, and you can use multiple BNPL plans, before you know it, you can easily be buried in debt. 'Additionally, since these programs delay payments, it may tempt consumers to spend more than they intend to or can afford to pay back,' Morgan said. If you're living paycheck to paycheck or had a big unexpected expense hit midway through paychecks, it can be difficult to wait for the next one. People may gravitate toward payday loans, but this can be a big financial mistake, according to Yehuda Tropper, CEO of Beca Life Settlements. Payday loans often have 'triple-digit APRs that trap you in a cycle of debt that becomes very hard to get out of,' Tropper said. If you need cash quickly, look instead into credit union emergency loans or community assistance programs. You might think that even a small-value life insurance policy with a death benefit under about $20,000 is better than none, but Tropper suggested that's not the case. 'The amount you pay per dollar of insurance is much more expensive than if you get a $250,000 policy.' Tropper shared a story of someone who has been paying $100 per month for 40 years for a life insurance policy, making her total payment about $48,000 for a $50,000 death benefit. 'She's now 60 years old. Had she taken out a $250,000 policy and paid $100 per month she would have had a cash value of over $7,000 — and five times more money for her beneficiaries after she passes away,' Tropper said. If you're an individual, middle-class investor looking to safeguard your finances amid inflation, economic uncertainty with the tariffs and stock market swings, David Beahm, president and CEO of Blanchard and Company, recommended you stay away from gold ETFs. While he said that it's a good idea to look at actual commodities like gold, because gold tends to go up in value when the market falls, gold ETFs are different. '[I]f you buy gold ETFs, you are buying gold stocks, thus getting more exposed to the stock market, not less. Buying physical gold helps you avoid this increased risk exposure.' Wheels are often necessary, but high-interest auto loans may not be worth even the most reliable transportation, according to Michael T. Gibson, an attorney and founder of Auto Justice Attorney. At the beginning of a high-interest auto loan, most of your monthly payment goes toward interest instead of reducing the principal, Gibson said. Additionally, new vehicles usually depreciate about 20% in their first year. 'But if you have an accident, insurance only pays the actual cash value of your vehicle. So if you're early in your loan and total your car, you could end up upside-down on the loan, owing money for a car you can't drive,' he pointed out. This leaves you in the position of having to roll negative equity into a new car loan, building even more debt. 'Instead, if you can, put a higher deposit on a car when buying it to bring the interest rate down, and consider a used car to avoid the depreciation issue,' Gibson said. While many of these products can be tools if used appropriately, try to avoid getting yourself into debt or financial trouble by using them. More From GOBankingRates 5 Types of Vehicles Retirees Should Stay Away From Buying 7 Tax Loopholes the Rich Use To Pay Less and Build More Wealth 4 Things You Should Do if You Want To Retire Early How Much Money Is Needed To Be Considered Middle Class in Every State? This article originally appeared on 6 Financial Products the Middle Class Should Stay Away From
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Fidelity Reveals Top 3 Sources of Retiree Income Today: Should You Diversify Yours?
Planning for a successful retirement isn't just about saving enough, it's about creating a reliable mix of income streams that can support your lifestyle in a tax-efficient and sustainable way. Find Out: Read Next: Fidelity's 2025 State of Retirement Planning study revealed the top three sources of retiree income today: Social Security: 77% Pensions: 48% Personal savings (such as checking or savings accounts): 41% These remain the most common ways retirees support themselves, but financial experts say that diversifying income sources, especially in an uncertain economic landscape, may be key to long-term stability and peace of mind. Before making changes to a retirement portfolio, individuals should first consider their broader financial objectives. This includes factors like cash flow needs, expected retirement expenses and longer-term plans such as buying property or supporting children or grandchildren with educational costs. As Jennifer Kohlbacher, CPA and director of wealth strategy at Mariner Wealth Advisors, pointed out, understanding these goals helps inform decisions around rebalancing and aligning your portfolio with risk tolerance and liquidity needs. Learn More: One of the biggest concerns in retirement is the possibility of outliving your money, according to Yehuda Tropper, CEO of Beca Life Settlements. This risk is magnified by the rising costs of healthcare and long-term care. 'If your savings run out, you may find yourself relying only on Social Security, and with the average monthly benefit hovering around $1,900, that likely won't be enough to cover all your basic living expenses,' Tropper said. Diversifying income sources can be a practical way to help prevent this scenario. Tropper recommended combining 'guaranteed assets' — such as Social Security, pensions and annuities — with 'liquid assets,' like cash reserves or dividend-paying stocks. Additional sources like real estate or commodities (like gold) may also provide inflation protection and help diversify income. This approach creates flexibility while supporting both day-to-day needs and long-term goals. Kohlbacher also emphasized the importance of evaluating all investment accounts and your full financial picture before making portfolio adjustments. For example, those with significant real estate holdings may not need more exposure to the same asset class elsewhere in their portfolio. A complete review of your assets, including retirement and taxable accounts, can lead to smarter, more strategic rebalancing decisions. Tax planning is also important in your retirement income strategy, especially for those with taxable investment accounts. One technique to consider is direct indexing, which involves purchasing individual securities that mirror a market index rather than buying a bundled fund. This can provide more control over specific stock exposure and concentration risk, Kohlbacher said. Direct indexing also enables tax-loss harvesting, a way of selling underperforming assets to offset capital gains and potentially reduce tax liabilities. For those with charitable intentions, a charitable remainder trust (CRT) may offer both tax benefits and an opportunity to give back. A CRT is an irrevocable trust that can be established during a person's lifetime or as part of an estate plan, Kohlbacher said. By donating assets to a CRT, individuals may qualify for an immediate income tax deduction and remove those assets from their taxable estate. The donor can retain an income stream from the trust for life or for a fixed period (up to 20 years), after which the remaining assets are transferred to the designated charity. Kohlbacher noted that CRTs are exempt from federal income tax, which means that highly appreciated assets can be sold within the trust without triggering capital gains — providing flexibility and tax efficiency. While Social Security, pensions and savings remain key income sources for many retirees, building a more diversified and tax-smart plan can help protect your retirement lifestyle. More From GOBankingRates4 Things You Should Do if You Want To Retire Early 12 SUVs With the Most Reliable Engines 6 Big Shakeups Coming to Social Security in 2025 This article originally appeared on Fidelity Reveals Top 3 Sources of Retiree Income Today: Should You Diversify Yours?
