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How are you feeling about the stock market these days? Depending on who you talk to, the American economy is either poised to soar into the stratosphere or fall off a cliff. As the current administration has been delighted to point out, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recently closed above 50,000 for the very first time. However, that does not reassure the 72% of American consumers who, according to Pew Research, feel pessimistic about the economyciting concerns about the cost of healthcare, food and consumer goods, and housing. If the pessimists are correct, those high consumer costs will negatively affect the stock market sooner or later. Even with the current good news about the market, theres a reason why it feels like were all waiting for the other shoe to drop. We are all facing a great deal of uncertainty as investors and consumers, between recent (albeit temporary) market volatility in response to political and economic news and the way AI is disrupting the market and the economy. Its enough to make you want to cash out all your investments and bury the moolah in your backyard. But just because it feels like were ripe for a market crash doesnt mean theres one on the horizon. And if there is a correction coming, there is plenty you can do to prepare for it. Heres what you need to know about positioning yourself and your money for a potential market crash so youre not left picking up the pieces. Know what you have Answer honestly: do you know where all your 401(k)s are? If youre not sure, youre not alone. Unclaimed retirement accounts are a serious problem that the Department of Labor is working to rectify. As of 2025, there were approximately 31.9 million retirement accounts, totaling about $2.1 trillion, left behind or forgotten by employees leaving the sponsoring workplace. The stress of watching the economic roller coaster while feeling completely powerless is bad enough. Adding the sense that you dont even know what you have, where it is, or if theres anything you can do to protect yourself is just gilding the anxiety lily. Thats why the first step in preparing for a potential market correction is to make sure you know where (and what) all your investments are. Start by identifying all of your accounts and reclaiming any that you have lost track of. In addition to the DOL, you can also check the National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits for any missing accounts. But you can also contact the human resources department of previous employers for help. Even if you dont have any misplaced retirement benefits, now is also a good time to review all of your accounts and investments. Do you know what you are invested in? Do you know why? Knowing what you currently have can help you make informed decisions going forward, whether you assume a future of economic sunshine or storm clouds. Figure out how to stay the course Market crashes are terrifyingbut unless you cash out your investments, they can be temporary. When you see your portfolio lose a huge percentage of its value, its human nature to want to stop the bleeding. But you need to stay the course until the market bounces back, because selling your investments right after a crash means locking in the loss. This is much easier said than done, of course. Even the most risk-loving, ice-in-their-veins investors will feel their stomachs drop when their portfolios suddenly have a lot fewer zeroes than they did the day before. Thats why its a good idea to figure out ahead of time what will keep you from panic-selling if there is a sudden market downturn. Some strategies for staying the course include: Invest in quality companies/stocks/indexes that are likely to survive a recession. Now is a good time to make certain you understand your investments. Make sure you have enough liquidity. If you treat any of your investments as a potential emergency fund, set up another fund or source. If youre unable to transfer any of your investments into a more liquid asset, consider opening a HELOC as an alternative. Look for opportunities to invest. Market downturns can be a good time to purchase under-priced assets. (Just dont be one of those jerks who crows about getting stocks on sale all over social media. Read the room, dude.) Go on a news diet. You dont need to know every dip and drop in the market. Youll feel better when you put your phone down and youll save money on all the antacids you dont have to buy. Rebalance your portfolio Part of a well-balanced money diet is making sure you dont have too many eggs in one basket. You probably already diversify your portfolio by splitting your investments into long-term, higher-risk/higher-reward investments, medium-term, lower-risk investments, and short-term, low-risk investments. While most investors think about how they want to diversify their portfolio when they start investing, it can be easy to forget to rebalance that bad boy when the ratios get out of whack. Thats why regularly rebalancing your portfolio should be part of your semi-annual or quarterly money management plan. This financial task is when you check on where your investments are compared to your investment strategy and goals. Then you buy or sell investments to bring your portfolio back into balance. For example, anyone currently invested in the Dow is probably over-invested compared to their investment strategy or goals. Selling off some of that investment and investing the money elsewhere will not only allow you to capture the growth that the Dow is currently enjoying, but it will also help protect you from potential future volatility in the Dow index. Getting into the habit o rebalancing your portfolio will help ensure that you keep market growth when it occurs, which can help you keep your cool and stay invested through downturnsbecause you know you kept the gains and can wait out the losses. Make like a hitchhiker and DONT PANIC No politician, economist, or MBA has a crystal ball, so theres no telling what the stock market will do in the future. But if your spidey senses have been tingling about the possibility of a market downturn, there are some practical steps you can take to protect yourself and your portfolio if were headed for a fall. Start by making sure you know what you have. If youve lost track of any of your retirement or investment accounts, take the time to hunt them down so you feel in control of your funds. Now is also the time to double check that you know what youre invested in and why. From there, figure out what youll need to stay the course in case there is a crashsince a loss in value is temporary until you cash out. Some good strategies for staying the course include ensuring that youre invested in quality assets that you understand, providing yourself with enough liquidity to handle an emergency during a downturn, planning on purchasing underpriced assets, and putting yourself on a news diet. Finally, regularly rebalancing your portfolio is good investment hygiene, but it will also help you feel more confident when staring down a potential market correction, since youll know youve captured the growth of the market when it went gangbusters. Market crashes arent inevitable, even if stomach-churning fluctuations probably are. But panicking is always optional and you can opt out.
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E-Commerce
Biometric authenticationthe ability to unlock your devices by using just your face or fingerprintis one of the few smartphone features that, even today, leave me feeling like were living in the future. When I was a kid, technology like facial recognition was limited to science fiction. But as cool and useful as biometric authentication is, the technology can also leave us vulnerable. Heres whyand how to protect yourself. Its not just journalists and activists who can have their biometrics used against them Last month, journalists got a stark reminder that their biometrics might not keep the data they have on their devices safe from law enforcement searches. While the Fourth Amendment usually protects an individual from having to turn over a PIN code or password for a device, courts have generally ruled that the same protection doesnt apply to biometrics. This means that in some cases, authorities can compel you to unlock your phone with your fingerprint or facial scan. Its why many press freedom and civil liberty organizations have long advised journalists and activists to disable biometric authentication like facial recognition on their devices and return to requiring a passcode to unlock them. But its not only journalists and activists who have to worry about their phones’ biometrics making themand their datavulnerable. A phones most convenient identity verification feature can leave any one of us exposed. There have been reports of people unlocking their partners’ phones using their biometrics while they were sleeping, as well as reports of criminal gangs forcing victims to unlock their phones with their biometrics to steal cryptocurrencies. Of course, sometimes forced biometric unlocks are less nefarious. Ive heard parents complain that their children have unlocked their phones by holding the device up to their face, or with a touch of their fingerprint, while they were sleeping, in order to disable software that restricts the internet in their house after certain hours. If someone wants to gain access to your phone, and you happen to be physically available (unknowingly or not), all the person needs is access to your face or finger to do so. Giving up convenience for more security While biometric authentication is one of the most convenient features of todays smartphones, the scenarios above exemplify how the technology can leave us at risk. However, if you are in a situation where you believe that your biometrics may leave you vulnerable, there are, thankfully, some easy steps you can take to mitigate this risk. The first is to permanently disable biometric authentication on your smartphone. Doing so means youll need to enter your passcode every time you unlock your phone. Yes, it will take a couple of seconds longer to get to your home screenbut it also means that no one can steal your face or finger and unlock your phone while youre sleeping. To disable your iPhones biometrics (called Face ID or Touch ID, depending on your iPhone model), open the Settings app, tap Face/Touch ID and Passcode, and then toggle the iPhone Unlock switch to “off.” For Android users, disabling the facial or fingerprint biometric feature may differ slightly, depending on your phone model. On a Pixel phone, you can disable fingerprint unlocking by going to the Settings app, tapping Security and privacy and then Device unlock, and then deleting your registered fingerprints. When in doubt, restart Of course, biometric authentication like facial recognition is one of the great conveniences of modern lifeone that many of us would have a hard time giving up for good. If you fall into this camp but still want the extra security that disabling biometric authentication provides, you can quickly deactivate the biometric unlock feature on your iPhone or Android device by restarting it. When your phone shuts down and restarts, your biometrics will not unlock the device until after you enter your passcode. Many activists use this trick when crossing borders or attending politically contentious events. And its not a bad one to remember right before you turn off the nightstand light, if you think your kids might be waiting until you fall asleep to snatch your phone.
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E-Commerce
Olympians arent just physically exceptionaltheyre masters at managing where their attention and energy go. Cognitive research finds a key link between working memory and performance: elite athletes are better able to regulate their memory and attention than their less-trained peers, and this ability predicts better performance under pressure. What separates peak performers isnt just effort, but also the discipline to balance their mental load. In other words: their thoughtload. Consider thoughtload the invisible tax on your ability to perform. It consists of three problems that erode your effectiveness: The cognitive demands of competing priorities The emotional burdens of uncertain times The depleted energy reserves that make everything feel more difficult When thoughtload is high, even talented, motivated people underperform. But Olympians succeed because they refuse to carry unnecessary thoughtload. So how do you begin to reduce your own load? Four strategies can help. 1. Flip your focus Olympians know that keeping their attention focused on performance is critical to achievement. Take the U.S. figure skating team, who had more than a few members skip this years opening ceremonies to stay locked in. At work, we tend to do the opposite. Instead of starting the day with our eyes on the prize, we let our inbox and calendar dictate our priorities, hoping that enough activity will lead to success. Lowering your thoughtload means flipping that logic. Begin with the outcome youre being rewarded for: more paid users, lower churn, a better accounts receivable balance. Then identify the few outputs that will move the needle and the activities that will get you there. 2. Budget your attention Elite athletes also dedicate consistent hours to training, no matter how assured their place is as a champion: practice is always on the calendar. But at work, we frequently allow ourselves to switch priorities or allocate our time in the wrong places. Think of your time as a finite resource to spend. Pick one critical outcome and decide how much of your attention it deserves; only after that, allocate your remaining time for other important outputs and even a few side pursuits. Defer, decline, or delegate everything else that doesnt fit in your attention budget. 3. Use an emotion track Even with your gaze locked in, emotional distractions can come from within. For an athlete, it might be a fall in practice or a menacing new competitor. For you, its a missed target, a tense exchange, or an unwelcome piece of feedback. Emotions are unavoidable, but unprocessed emotions slow you down. Olympians understand that emotional baggage from yesterdays disappointment can sabotage todays performance; take the many that use sports psychologists to work through poor performances and devastating crashes. You can reduce the hold of your feelings with an emotion track, which helps pinpoint and reroute distracting emotions. It consists of four simple steps: place, name, question, act. Notice the place youre experiencing the feeling, like sweaty palms or a racing heart. Name the feeling youre experiencing precisely, like frustration or anxiety. Question the story youre telling yourself about why youre feeling that way, and if its rational. Choose one action that helps you move forward, whether it addresses the issue directly or just helps you get in a better headspace. 4. Hold an energy audit Energy management isnt about indulgence or self-care. Its about making the right investments, so you have the physical, mental, and emotional energy when you need it most. Olympians plan exertion and recovery with rigor. But at work, we often treat energy as unlimited until it suddenly runs out. There are back-to-back meetings, deadlines strung one after the next, new change initiatives starting before youve had the chance to embed the previous ones. All that adds up to fatigue that leads to poor decisions. Instead, try an energy audit. List three activities that reliably energize you and three that inevitably drain you. Then make small shifts to increase your investment in the first group and reduce your exposure to the second. Even minor changes can make your thoughtload feel much lighter over time. Elite performance isnt reserved for elite athletes. Its available to anyone willing to carry less so they can accomplish more.
Category:
E-Commerce
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