If you’re fortunate enough to have more money than you require, don’t wait until you die to give it to those in need.

That’s the philosophy of 83-year-old billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who gave away a total of $3.7 billion to nonprofits in 2024 — more than any other American, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

“I’ve never understood people who wait until they die to give away their wealth. Why deny yourself the satisfaction?” Bloomberg, an entrepreneur and former New York City mayor, wrote in an email to the Chronicle. Acts of generosity — like donating money or volunteering — can indeed improve your mental health, boosting happiness and reducing stress, found a 2018 study from the University of California, Berkeley.

For the second year in a row, Bloomberg topped the magazine’s Philanthropy 50 list, which tracks the country’s largest individual donors. The 50 people on this year’s list — and, in some cases, their spouses — handed out a combined $16.2 billion last year, according to the magazine’s estimates.

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Bloomberg accounted for nearly one-quarter of that total. His giving placed him ahead of other billionaires like Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell.

Bloomberg, whose net worth is estimated at $104.7 billion by Forbes, typically donates money through his Bloomberg Philanthropies organization. It focuses on five areas, according to its website: the arts, education, the environment, government innovation and public health. Last year, Bloomberg Philanthropies gave $1 billion to Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg’s alma mater, to cover the full tuition for medical students whose families earn under $300,000.

Some critics point to the potential downsides and conflicts of interest in a handful of ultra-wealthy individuals dictating which global issues receive the most funding, and how that money is spent.

In Bloomberg’s case, his giving is intended to create more opportunities for others, he wrote in his email: “I’ve been very lucky, and I’m determined to do what I can to open doors for others and to leave a better world for my children and grandchildren.”

Bloomberg’s stance echoes that of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who has spent much of his time since 2000 trying to address global issues like climate change, poverty and global health through the Gates Foundation.

Gates, once the world’s richest person, has said that his ultimate goal is to give away enough of his fortune in his lifetime to knock himself off of the lists of the world’s wealthiest people entirely.

“I’ll be proud when I fall off altogether,” he told CNN last year. Gates and his ex-wife Melinda French Gates have collectively donated $34 billion over the past 25 years, the Chronicle estimated — a figure only surpassed by Buffett, who’s reportedly donated $49.4 billion over the same timespan.

The trio of billionaires — Bloomberg, Gates and Buffett — are all signatories to the Giving Pledge, which Buffett and Gates created in 2010. The pledge serves as a commitment to give away the bulk of one’s wealth in their lifetime.

Buffett has tasked his children with disbursing his remaining wealth after he dies, he said last year. Bloomberg, along with his other donations, has promised to leave the eponymous tech and media company he co-founded to Bloomberg Philanthropies “when he dies, if not sooner,” a spokesperson told the Financial Times in 2023.

In his pledge letter, Bloomberg wrote that “the reality of great wealth is that you can’t spend it and you can’t take it with you.”

He later added: “If you want to do something for your children and show how much you love them, the single best thing — by far — is to support organizations that will create a better world for them and their children. Long term, they will benefit more from your philanthropy than from your will.”

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When life gets complicated, our instincts often lead us down the wrong path. We isolate ourselves when community could heal us, or we dream of endless free time when a new challenge could fulfill us.

I’ve spent 15 years studying happiness, and I’ve had the opportunity to speak with thousands of people across all walks of life, spanning all income levels — from executives in corner offices to frontline workers. 

I’ve learned that no matter what their background or circumstances are, the happiest people have figured out how to actively train their brains to seek joy and contentment.

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1. Prioritizing friendships: The happiest people treat their close relationships as a non-negotiable rather than a “nice-to-have.” And when they schedule friend time, they try to focus on doing activities together instead of just a quick catch-up.

2. Resting strategically: Mentally exhausted? Go for a jog. Brain fried from analytical work? Do something creative with your hands. The most content people know how to intentionally match what depleted them to their mode of recovery. 

3. Engaging in creative work: People who spend time on creative activities, whether it’s cooking, writing, gardening or painting, report significantly higher levels of happiness. When you create something new, even if it’s a hilariously bad watercolor, your brain lights up in ways that scrolling on your phone never triggers.

4. Cultivating community: The next time you feel stressed or overwhelmed, reach out instead of pulling in. Help someone else or find a cause that fills you with a sense of purpose. Your brain might protest at first, but your happiness will soar.

5. Not being afraid to geek out: The happiest people don’t play it cool. They actively seek out the things, people and activities that light them up. You know the enthusiasm you feel when you talk about an activity you love? That’s actually the secret ingredient to daily happiness.

6. Setting firm boundaries: Research says we need two to five hours of free time every day for peak happiness. Happy people protect their “me time,” and they know that those work emails can wait until later.

7. Managing their energy: Happy people recognize their personal peaks and valleys, scheduling demanding tasks when they’re naturally most alert and recovery periods when they typically slump. They create days that flow with their biology, rather than fight against it.

8. Embracing micro-connections: Research shows that random conversations with people you don’t know consistently improve your mood, so that chat with your barista might just be the happiness booster you never knew you were missing. 

9. Savoring the good: Truly content people don’t rush. They slow down to fully absorb positive moments — the beauty of the sunset, the taste of good food, the feeling of accomplishment. By lingering in these experiences, they train their brains to experience joy more deeply.

10. Pursuing meaningful progress: Content people are always celebrating the small wins along their journey. They understand that the sense of forward momentum itself generates more joy than reaching the final destination ever will.

The people I’ve met who have true joy in their lives don’t view happiness in terms of a spotlight moment — the standing ovation, the milestone achievement or the perfect day. They consider it more like a string of lights. Each small bulb might seem insignificant on its own, but together they create something magical. 

Start with just one of these small, intentional happiness habits today, and watch as your capacity for flourishing, satisfaction and contentment grows over time.

Jessica Weiss is a keynote speaker and executive coach who teaches people and businesses how to find more happiness, fulfillment and satisfaction at work. With a background in positive psychology, she’s spent 15 years working with global brands like Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson and American Express. She is the author of the upcoming book, “Happiness Works: The Science of Thriving at Work.” She earned her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

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Kids who communicate well, handle emotions effectively and build healthy relationships aren’t just naturally skilled at social interactions. They’ve learned these skills from their parents or trusted adults.

I’ve worked with thousands of kids and families, often helping them navigate tough moments. People skills — like empathy, communication, boundary-setting and conflict resolution — are crucial during life’s biggest challenges. They also shape how kids handle everyday stress, friendships and family dynamics. 

Here are six things that parents who raise kids with strong people skills do on a regular basis:

Rather than shielding their kids and avoiding difficult topics like illness, death or big life changes, these parents build trusting relationships by approaching tough conversations with openness, honesty and compassion.

They use simple, clear language and invite questions, teaching children that it’s okay to talk about uncomfortable topics and to seek support. 

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Parents who create a home environment where kids feel safe expressing their thoughts and emotions raise children who have an easier time communicating and advocating for themselves. 

These parents are comfortable naming and showing their own emotions in front of their kids, including joy and playfulness in difficult times. 

When their children feel frustrated, sad or overwhelmed, they don’t dismiss those emotions or say things like, “Don’t cry,” “It’s not a big deal,” or “You’re okay.” Instead, they validate their child’s experience:

• “It’s okay to cry. I’m here with you.”
• “I see you’re feeling upset.”
• “Your feelings make sense.”

This teaches kids that all feelings are okay, helps them learn and practice coping strategies to regulate their emotions, and allows them to feel safe expressing themselves. 

When conflicts or challenges arise, these parents don’t force quick apologies. Instead, they guide their children to consider the other person’s feelings, asking questions like:

• “How do you think your friend feels about what just happened?”
• “Does your sibling seem okay right now?”
• “What do you think would help them feel better?”

This helps kids develop perspective-taking skills, gives them a better understanding of what’s within their control, and shows them how both their actions and external factors impact others — ultimately making their apologies more meaningful and their relationships stronger.

Rather than immediately stepping in to fix conflicts or ease discomfort, these parents empower their kids to navigate challenges themselves. Instead of dictating solutions, they ask:

• “What do you think we could try to make this better?”
• “Would you like some ideas, or do you want to try something first?”

They help their children recognize when they need to set a boundary, teaching them to express limits clearly and respectfully:

• “I don’t like that. Please stop.”
• “I need some space right now.”
• “I’m not comfortable with that.”

By combining problem-solving with boundary-setting, parents help their kids develop the confidence to advocate for themselves and work through social challenges. They also recognize that not every situation has a clear solution or a quick fix — and in those moments, they focus on providing support. 

Instead of pushing their kids into new interactions and hoping they’ll figure it out, these parents set kids up for success by preparing them ahead of time and giving them opportunities to practice.

They help their kids feel more confident by:

• Talking about what to expect before a new event, like a medical procedure or birthday party: “We’re going to the doctor for a check-up. They’ll measure how you’re growing, listen to your heart and lungs, and look inside your ears, nose, and mouth.”
• Role-playing tricky interactions, such as advocating for their needs. “Let’s practice what you might say if someone keeps asking why you can’t eat the cupcake.”
• Teaching them how to set boundaries in social situations: “If someone is pressuring you to do something that feels unsafe or unkind, what can you say?”

Play isn’t just about having fun. The parents I’ve seen raise socially and emotionally skilled kids aren’t afraid to be silly, but they also understand that play is a child’s natural way of processing emotions, working through challenges, and building relationships. They:

• Engage in play to help kids work through tricky situations or feelings: “Whoa! Lets get those mad feelings out in a safe way. Can you pretend to be a bear or imagine blowing out birthday candles!?”
• Prioritize unstructured play time for kids to feel connected and build their own creativity, cooperation and confidence: “You have my undivided attention right now. What would you like to play? I want you to be in charge of the game.” 
• Use playful moments to prepare for new experiences and teach boundaries, empathy and communication: “Teddy needs a check up! Can you play doctor with him?”

By valuing play, these parents establish connection and trust while helping their kids develop social and emotional skills that are critical for their growth and development — and will serve them for a lifetime. 

Kelsey Mora is Certified Child Life Specialist and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor who provides custom support, guidance, and resources to parents, families, and communities impacted by medical conditions, trauma, grief, and everyday life stress. She is a private practice owner, mom of two, the creator and author of The Method Workbooks, and the Chief Clinical Officer of the nonprofit organization Pickles Group.

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It’s been a rough beginning of 2025 for lots of workers across industries.

U.S. employers announced as many as 172,017 job cuts in February, according to outplacement services firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas. That’s a 245% increase from January 2025′s announced job cuts, the highest total for February since 2009 and the highest monthly total since July 2020.

The biggest cuts came from the federal government, where President Trump has aimed to shrink employment significantly. Challenger tracked 62,242 announced job cuts by the government altogether. Retail saw a total of 38,956 announced job cuts for the month and tech announced 14,554 cuts.

If you find yourself unexpectedly out of a job, here are a few steps experts recommend you take.

To begin with, preserve interactions or communications regarding your layoff that happened over company email, Slack or other platforms.

“Any emails, evidence, correspondence you have about that,” says Arick Fudali, partner and managing attorney of the Bloom Firm, “forward to your personal email. Take screenshots. Whatever you have to do to preserve that is important, because once you’re gone from the company, you no longer have access to those emails.”

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How quickly you cease to have access to your work accounts can vary. In some cases, you may lose the ability to log in immediately. In others, you may have until the end of day or week.

If there’s other emails or data from work that you want to send to your personal accounts, remember that any company policies around proprietary information will still apply.

Government workers or those who work with confidential or sensitive materials “should be mindful not to violate any laws or company rules of confidentiality upon termination to avoid giving the employer any potential claims of their own against the employee,” says Fudali.

Do not immediately agree to any of the terms presented in the layoff, Fudali recommends.  

“My best advice is, do not sign any severance agreements, do not sign any acknowledgement forms,” says Fudali. Do not even reply to an email saying, “Confirmed,” he says.

Especially when it comes to cases where the layoff may have been unlawful due to discrimination based on protected characteristics like race, sex or disability, or a violation of the WARN Act, this could result in you signing your rights away, he says.

Read through what the company is offering, read through your HR policy to make sure you know the company stance on layoffs, and do some research on laws around human and employment rights in your state. If you suspect or aren’t sure if you’ve been unlawfully terminated, speak to an attorney, he says. Some offer free consultations.  

“Recently, I have noticed an unfortunate trend of employers using ‘layoffs’ as an excuse to terminate employees who should have a protected employment status,” says Fudali. “This includes employees on protected leaves such as disability, bereavement or parental. I have even seen ‘layoffs’ as an excuse to terminate employees who have made protected complaints about sexual harassment, discrimination and whistleblower issues.”

He adds that, “If you believe you are a victim of this tactic, it is important that you immediately remind your employer (in writing) of your protected status upon learning of the termination and to save all relevant documentation regarding your protected status or the protected complaints you may have made.”

Do what it takes to make sure you’re in a comfortable position and the bases are covered as soon as you can.

File for unemployment if you qualify. Look into your eligibility for COBRA, which provides the ability to keep the health plan you had through your employer for a limited period of time, or health insurance plans on your state’s marketplace.

Start looking for another job and reach out to your professional networks.

Regardless of whether or not you decide to take any follow-up action with regards to your layoff, “make sure your basic conditions and yourself are taken care of” first, says Daniela Urban, executive director of the Center for Workers’ Rights.

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Historically, over the long term, stocks have trended upward. So investing in something that gives you exposure to the market at a low cost and holding for decades is never a bad idea.

If you want to be a little more hands-on with your portfolio, though, understanding where returns come from can make you a smarter investor.

Generally speaking, you can break down stock market returns into three major segments: earnings growth, multiple expansion and dividend payouts. Parse historical market returns, and you’ll see that these three factors can work in unison or at cross purposes.

Here’s how each of the three drivers work and how they affect your money.

Corporate earnings are the fundamental force behind stock returns. At its core, investing in a stock is buying a stake in a company’s profits.

“If I buy a stock, how do I make money? Basically you make money if the company makes money,” says Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA. “So the first thing of importance is to ask yourself what kind of earnings growth is the company likely to experience?”

Absent other factors, a boost in earnings should directly result in a commensurate uptick in share price. Say a stock costs $10 per share and has earnings of $1 per share. If earnings grew by 10%, to $1.10 per share, the stock price should grow by 10%, too, to $11.

The lesson: Pay attention to projected growth in corporate earnings. A company or index that steadily boosts earnings is one that is likely to deliver returns to shareholders over time.

“Earnings growth is the driver, in a sense, of what you’re being paid to own these stocks,” says Stovall.

Look at the chart above, and you might notice something odd. There are certain years, such as 1991, where earnings declined, but the stock market still produced a positive return. So what gives?

Here’s the thing — investors don’t pay for past earnings. They’re investing with an eye toward future earnings. The more they think profitability will climb in the future, the more they’re willing to buy into the stock, thereby driving up the price.

Investing nerds have many ways to measure this phenomenon, the most popular of which is the price-to-earnings ratio.

Think of it like the price-per-square foot on a home, suggests Stovall. If you want an apartment in a trendy neighborhood everyone likes, you’ll generally have to pay more for the same amount of space.

Let’s go back to our $10 stock, which we’ll now say belongs to a company with exciting new AI technology. They’re only earning $1 per share now, meaning they have a P/E ratio of 10. But investors think those earnings are going to explode in coming years, so they bid the stock price up to $15. You’ve earned a 50% return, and the P/E ratio is now 15.

The lesson: Get to know valuations. “You can’t know if something is expensive or cheap if you don’t look at the range it normally trades in,” says Stovall.

Savvy investors generally compare a stock’s P/E with its historical averages as well as with peer companies to determine whether it might be over or undervalued. Same goes for market sectors and even whole indexes.

Just because the market is trading richly compared to historical averages doesn’t mean it’s necessarily going to plummet, says Stovall. But it’s worth keeping tabs on what your investments actually cost – especially since the ones with sky-high price tags tend to carry more risk.

“P/E might not be a good market timing tool, but it gives you a good idea as to whether you are overpaying for something or if something is trading at an attractive price,” he says.

If a company has excess profits, it may distribute some of that money back to shareholders as a sort of thank you. These cash payouts are known as dividends — the third building block of stock returns.

The amount a company pays out is known as the dividend “yield,” found by dividing the annual cash payout per share by the share price. If our $10 stock paid a 20-cent annual dividend, it would yield 2%. Invest than 20 cents back into your original holding, and you’re up to $10.20, a 2% return.

Dividend yield makes up the shortest bars on the graph above, but, crucially, it’s always positive. That’s why the compounding growth of reinvested dividends has had an outsize impact on the broad stock market’s return over the long term. Since 1960, compounding dividends have accounted for 85% of the S&P 500′s total return, according to Hartford Funds.

The lesson: Dividends can act as a portfolio ballast. Play around with the equations above, and you’ll notice that as stock prices fall, dividend yields increase. That means, on a market-wide level, dividends can help offset the losses that come with declining earnings or contracting P/Es.

What’s more, dividend-payers — especially those with a long-track record of increasing their payout — tend to be well capitalized, financially mature companies, which bounce around less than the broad market, says Stovall. Adding these steady-Eddies to your investments can help tamp down on jumpiness in your portfolio.

“Those companies that pay a dividend tend to have lower volatility than those that don’t,” he says.

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