• The 2010s saw the coming and going of two NBA dynasties, the evolution of the game, and more and more players with unprecedented skills.
• As the decade comes to a close, we ranked the 20 best players of the 2010s.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A lot happened in the NBA in the 2010s.

The decade began with LeBron James building a dynasty in Miami, followed by Stephen Curry's rise, the Warriors dynasty, and now, a league as wide open as ever.

In the process, the game evolved, turning inside-out, all while players of different sizes added unprecedented skills to their repertoires.

As the decade ends, we ranked the 20 best players of the 2010s. Take a look below at who dominated the NBA over the last 10 years.

Honorable mentions: DeMar DeRozan, John Wall, DeAndre Jordan, Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki, Rudy Gobert.

20. Kevin Love, PF/C

Team(s): Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers

2010-2019 averages: 19.3 points, 11.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 42.9% FG, 36.3% 3FG

All-Star games: 5

All-NBA teams: 2

Awards: Most Improved Player (2011-12)

Championships: 1

What to know: Kevin Love began the decade compiling monster scoring and rebounding numbers on lottery-dwelling teams in Minnesota. His stats took a hit when he joined LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in Cleveland, and though he struggled at times to fit in, he remained a crucial element to their success. The Cavs were at their best when Love was mixing it up between spreading the floor and bullying opponents in the post. Ironically, his standout play of the decade was a game-saving stop on Stephen Curry in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals.

19. LaMarcus Aldridge, PF/C

Team(s): Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs

2010-2019 averages: 20.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 49.5% FG

All-Star games: 7

All-NBA teams: 5

Awards: none

Championships: none

What to know: LaMarcus Aldridge has become the perfect Spur — sound, understated, and frankly, a little dull. A brute force in the post, with a buttery touch from midrange, Aldridge has also developed into a steady rim protector in San Antonio. Only seven players have averaged over 20 points and 8 rebounds per game over the decade, and only Aldridge and Blake Griffin have played all 10 seasons of the decade. Aldridge won't immediately jump out to many people who reflect on the NBA in the 2010s, but only a handful of players have played at a high level so consistently.

18. Kyle Lowry, PG

Team(s): Houston Rockets, Toronto Raptors

2010-2019 averages: 16.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 1.4 steals, 42.2% FG, 37.4% 3FG

All-Star games: 5

All-NBA teams: 1

Awards: none

Championships: 1

What to know: Kyle Lowry's decade might have hinged on failed trade talks. In 2013-14, the Raptors nearly sent him to the New York Knicks until Knicks owner James Dolan stopped the deal. What's happened since then? Six straight playoff appearances with Toronto, five All-Star Games, and, of course, a championship in 2018-19. A shrewd playmaker and gritty defender, Lowry doesn't often make the cut in "Best point guards" debates, but he's never far off.

17. Jimmy Butler, G/F

Team(s): Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves, Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat

2010-2019 averages: 16.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.6 steals, 44.5% FG

All-Star games: 4

All-NBA teams: 6 (four All-Defensive, two All-NBA)

Awards: Most Improved Player (2014-15)

Championships: none

What to know: Over his nine years in the NBA, Butler has evolved from a high-energy role player to a three-and-D wing to a legitimate franchise star. Butler is not the best shooter, playmaker, or defender among the NBA's elite, two-way wings, but he's damn good at all three. Fiery and intense on the floor, Butler's been a borderline top-10 player over the last five seasons and a proven difference-maker everywhere he goes.

16. Marc Gasol, C

Team(s): Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors

2010-2019 averages: 14.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.4 blocks, 46% FG 

All-Star games: 3

All-NBA teams: 3 (two All-Defensive, one All-NBA)

Awards: Defensive Player of the Year (2012-13)

Championships: 1

What to know: In a decade that saw the role of a center evolve, Marc Gasol stands as one of the best big men of the era. One of the NBA's unique players, Gasol was often happier hitting cutters from the elbows than posting up or looking for his own shot. Throughout the decade, he expanded his range out to the three-point line, where he is now a real threat. His calling card was defense, however. He was the anchor of the grit-and-grind Grizzlies, a perennial playoff threat, and then a key piece for the 2018-19 champion Raptors.

15. Draymond Green, PF/C

Team(s): Golden State Warriors

2010-2019 averages: 8.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.3 steals, 1 block, 42.3% FG

All-Star games: 3

All-NBA teams: 7 (five All-Defensive, two All-NBA)

Awards: Defensive Player of the Year (2016-17)

Championships: 3

What to know: On pure influence alone, Draymond Green was a top-five player of the decade. Under Steve Kerr (much like his teammates), Green was unleashed as a do-it-all small-ball force. Green was a revelation during the Warriors championship run as a player who could perfectly defend a possession, grab the defensive rebound, bring the ball up the floor, and then make a play for a teammate, whether it was springing open a shooter or hitting a cutter. His rise made the versatile, playmaking four the most coveted type of player in the NBA (but there is only one Draymond) and a key cog on one of the most dominant teams in NBA history.

14. Kyrie Irving, PG

Team(s): Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets

2010-2019 averages: 22.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 46.2% FG, 38.1% 3FG

All-Star games: 6

All-NBA teams: 2

Awards: Rookie of the Year (2011-12)

Championships: 1

What to know: Kyrie Irving entered the NBA as the face of the post-LeBron Cavs, became James' running mate during Cleveland's Finals runs, then left to lead his teams to mixed results so far. However, nobody can doubt Irving's talent. On a pure skill level, few in the league can match Irving, who dribbles the ball like it's on a string and can score from anywhere on the floor. Irving has shined in the brightest moments, putting on some of the most dazzling scoring displays in league history during the Finals. His dagger three-pointer over Stephen Curry in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals is one of the biggest shots of the decade.

13. Klay Thompson, G/F

Team(s): Golden State Warriors 

2010-2019 averages: 19.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 45.8% FG, 41.9% 3FG

All-Star games: 5

All-NBA teams: 3 (two All-NBA, one All-Defensive)

Awards: none

Championships: 3

What to know: Since 2010-11, only two players have averaged 18 or more points per game and shot better than 40% from three-point range: Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. While Curry is often painted as the fulcrum of the Warriors' system, Thompson is just as crucial. A tireless worker on both ends, Thompson is a constant motion on offense, running through a never-ending series of screens and cuts, all while defending the best wing player on the other side of the ball. He's finished in the top three in three-pointers made five times in his career. If it weren't for Curry, Thompson would be regarded as the best shooter alive.

12. Damian Lillard, PG

Team(s): Portland Trail Blazers

2010-2019 averages: 24 points, 4.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 43.4% FG, 36.6% 3FG

All-Star games: 4

All-NBA teams: 4

Awards: Rookie of the Year (2012-13)

Championships: none

What to know: Damian Lillard owns two shots that have rarely happened in NBA history: series-winners. And they are two of the great shots in NBA history: a buzzer-beating catch-and-shoot three to beat the Houston Rockets in 2014, then a 37-foot bomb to eliminate the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2019. The Blazers have won an average of 46 games and made the playoffs six straight years with Lillard, all while he's been one of four players to average 25-4-6 on 36% three-point shooting since 2015. Lillard is yet to experience success at the highest level, but there is no doubting his ability.

11. Paul George, F

Team(s): Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers

2010-2019 averages: 18.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.6 steals, 42.9% FG, 38.7% 3FG

All-Star games: 6

All-NBA teams: 9 (five All-NBA, four All-Defensive)

Awards: Most Improved Player (2012-13)

Championships: none

What to know: Paul George's decade was a series of twists and turns, from breaking out on a rising Pacers team, losing nearly a full year to a broken leg, then landing on the Thunder in a shocking trade. George placed third in MVP voting after a career year in 2018-19, then asked out of Oklahoma City to team up with Kawhi Leonard on the Clippers. Through all of these twists and turns, there has been a constant: George's excellent two-way play. Long and slippery, George smoothly scores from all over the court, creates for his teammates, then hounds his opponents on the other end. Perhaps better suited as a sidekick than a leading man, there are only a handful of players as well-rounded as George.

10. Blake Griffin, PF

Team(s): Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons

2010-2019 averages: 21.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 49.1% FG

All-Star games: 6

All-NBA teams: 5

Awards: Rookie of the Year (2010-11)

Championships: none

What to know: Few players reconfigured their games over the decade as Blake Griffin did. Griffin entered the NBA as a high-flying force of nature who could finish around the basket and create his own shot in doses. Fast forward to 2018-19, his first full season with the Pistons, and Griffin shot 36% from three on seven attempts per game and averaged over 5 assists per game. The full picture of the decade is a player who built himself into an all-around force and was mostly underrated in the broader sports world. As the years have gone on, the monster dunks have waned, but each year, Griffin added a new skill to remain relevant in a league that lost interest in his natural position.

9. Anthony Davis, PF/C

Team(s): New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Lakers

2010-2019 averages: 23.9 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 2.3 blocks, 51.7% FG

All-Star games: 6

All-NBA teams: 6 (three All-NBA, three All-Defensive)

Awards: none

Championships: none

What to know: Anthony Davis came into the league loaded with potential and has realized it, adding bits and pieces into his game each year to become the most dominant big man in the league. A typical Davis game might include him nailing a three-pointer, hitting a fade-away jumper, catching an impossible alley-oop, blocking a shot, and leading a fastbreak. He does it so easily that we've almost come to take it for granted. There's never been a player like him.

8. Giannis Antetokounmpo, F

Team(s): Milwaukee Bucks

2010-2019 averages: 19.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.3 blocks, 52.4% FG

All-Star games: 3

All-NBA teams: 5 (three All-NBA, two All-Defensive)

Awards: Most Valuable Player (2018-19), Most Improved Player (2016-17)

Championships: none

What to know: Like Anthony Davis, it's shocking that Giannis Antetokounmpo has realized his potential and more. Antetokounmpo entered the NBA as a skinny, unrefined, 19-year-old from Greece, with obvious potential, but a long way to go. Six years later, he's here. Antetokounmpo puts up stats like prime Shaq and moves like prime LeBron James. He is the most unstoppable force around the basket and in transition, can create for others, and defend at a high level. And he's slowly adding a jump shot to his game. He may now have the title of Best Player in the World. He'd be higher on this list if he had played more seasons this decade.

7. Chris Paul, PG

Team(s): New Orleans Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder

2010-2019 averages: 17.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 2.1 steals, 46.4% FG, 37.3% 3FG

All-Star games: 6

All-NBA teams: 13 (six All-NBA, seven All-Defensive)

Awards: none

Championships: none

What to know: Chris Paul's peak has come and gone, but from 2010-2016, he was a consensus top-10, if not a top-five player. The "Point God" was a conductor on offense and a pest on defense, a force impossible to ignore because he impacted every possession. His decade has a few major what-ifs: What if the Clippers didn't blow a double-digit lead against the Rockets in 2015 and lose in the semifinals? What if Paul didn't get hurt in the 2018 Western Conference Finals when the Rockets took a 3-2 lead over the Warriors? Success at the highest level has evaded Paul in cruel ways, but his dominance at every other point still stands.

6. Russell Westbrook, PG

Team(s): Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets

2010-2019 averages: 24.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 1.8 steals, 43.7% FG

All-Star games: 8

All-NBA teams: 8

Awards: Most Valuable Player (2016-17)

Championships: none

What to know: Russell Westbrook's best moments this decade have been his rim-rattling dunks, soaring rebounds, and blazing fastbreaks — the feats of athleticism that left viewers truly awe-struck. As proponents of Westbrook have often noted, you feel Westbrook on the court. He may have shot Kevin Durant out of town and his teams out of some close games, but there is a reason no other player in the last 40 years has averaged a triple-double over a season. Westbrook did it three times. Amid understandable criticisms of his game is an undeniable fact — Westbrook can do things other players cannot.

5. Kawhi Leonard, F

Team(s): San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Clippers

2010-2019 averages: 18.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.8 steals, 49.2% FG, 38.1% 3FG

All-Star games: 3

All-NBA teams: 8 (three All-NBA, five All-Defensive)

Awards: Defensive Player of the Year (2014-15, 2015-16)

Championships: 2

What to know: Kawhi Leonard has routinely owned the biggest moments during his nine years in the NBA. Leonard won Finals MVP in 2013-14 for his breakout performance, which saw him suffocate LeBron James on defense. Since 2014, Leonard has made leaps on offense every year, all while becoming the most feared perimeter defender in the NBA. After forcing his way out of San Antonio in 2018, Leonard reminded the NBA world of his dominance last spring, averaging 30 points per game in the playoffs to dismantle the Warriors and lead the Raptors to a surprising championship. He now finds himself in the discussion for the best player in the NBA, and he is only 28 — there is more still to come.

4. James Harden, G

Team(s): Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets

2010-2019 averages: 27.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 1.6 steals, 44.7% FG, 36.3% 3FG

All-Star games: 7

All-NBA teams: 6

Awards: Most Valuable Player (2017-18), Sixth Man of the Year (2011-12)

Championships: none

What to know: There is no other experience quite like watching James Harden play basketball. Love or hate how he pounds the ball into the floor and draws fouls, Harden's ability to can ridiculous step-back threes or blitz into the lane for layups in the Rockets' analytics-driven system has made him the best scorer in the NBA. Over the last five years, Harden leads the league in scoring average with a whopping 31.7 points per game. He's finished in the top-five of MVP voting five times this decade. His style may not be for everyone, but it's undoubtedly effective. 

3. Stephen Curry, G

Team(s): Golden State Warriors

2010-2019 averages: 23.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 47.2% FG, 41.8% 3FG

All-Star games: 6

All-NBA teams: 6

Awards: Most Valuable Player (2014-15, 2015-16)

Championships: 3

What to know: Stephen Curry is most responsible for changing the actual sport of basketball over the past decade. Curry rose through the NBA ranks by taking and making shots that were long considered ill-advised. Curry hit them at such a rate that defenses had to make major adjustments, and offenses around the world took notice. Plenty of players now take audacious pull-up three-pointers, but nobody does it like Curry, who at a moment's notice can become the most electric spectacle in sports. Curry's decade was one for the history books: the first unanimous MVP season, several three-point records, the highest-scoring 50-40-90 season ever, and a changing perception about what's a good shot in basketball.

2. Kevin Durant, F

Team(s): Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets

2010-2019 averages: 27.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 50.6% FG, 38.6% 3FG

All-Star games: 10

All-NBA teams: 8

Awards: Most Valuable Player (2013-14)

Championships: 2

What to know: Lost in his torn Achilles, missed Finals opportunity, and free agency madness, all in two months, was Kevin Durant's ascent to Best Player in the NBA. Long known as the NBA's "purest" scorer and the clear next-best player in the league, Durant reached basketball nirvana with the Warriors. Golden State's system allowed him to thrive as both a devastatingly efficient isolation scorer, floor-spreader, playmaker, and a fearsome rim-protector, to boot. He upstaged LeBron James in back-to-back years in the Finals, taking home two straight Finals MVPs. The Achilles injury will likely rob Durant of a year of his prime, but it should not be forgotten that the last time he was healthy on the floor, he had become the game's most unstoppable force.

1. LeBron James

Team(s): Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers

2010-2019 averages: 26.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 1.5 steals, 52.8% FG, 35.6% 3FG

All-Star games: 9

All-NBA teams: 13 (nine All-NBA, four All-Defensive)

Awards: Most Valuable Player (2011-12, 2012-13)

Championships: 3

What to know: This decade saw LeBron James compete for the title of greatest NBA player ever— no small feat. Over the course of 10 years, James became a villain, a hero, a three-time champion, and a force unto himself on and off the court. All the while, between the lines, James controlled every game as only he could. His perennial 27-7-7 stat line is unmatched by any other player, yet still underscores his impact. His eight straight Finals appearances are his crowning achievement, and he would likely have more than three championships if his Cavs did not run into perhaps the greatest team of all-time in 2017 and 2018. As James prepares to turn 35, he enters the 2020s in near-peak form, with a chance to add even more to his resumé and perhaps definitively snag the title of G.O.A.T.

Now, relive some of the great NFL plays of this decade...

The 19 greatest NFL plays of the decade >

• President Trump complained about the US dollar's strength several times in 2019, but eight major currencies are set to outperform the dollar this year.
• The US dollar index (DXY) is up more than 1% year-to-date, rising despite summer recession fears and trade war tensions.
• Here are the eight major currencies to gain more value against the dollar in 2019, from the Singapore dollar to the Russian ruble.
• Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

President Trump railed against the US dollar's relative strength through much of 2019, but eight major currencies are on track to outperform the dollar this year.

The US dollar index DXY is up roughly 1.2% in the year-to-date, surging in strength despite summer recession warnings and continued trade war tensions. It performed best against the Turkish lira this year, a Bank of America note comparing major currencies said Friday. 

Trump reportedly asked White House aides to look into ways to devalue the American currency in early July. A weaker dollar would give the US an advantage in international trade, but currency manipulation would also cut into the country's reputation abroad. Trump even critiqued China in the summer for how its central bank allowed the yuan to slip below a key psychological level in early August.

Here are the eight major currencies that outperformed the US dollar in 2019, ranked in ascending order. Performance is as of December 11.

8. Singapore dollar

Performance against US dollar: 0.4%

7. Taiwanese dollar

Performance against US dollar: 0.7%

6. Japanese yen

Performance against US dollar: 1.0%

5. Indonesian rupiah

Performance against US dollar: 2.5%

4. Mexican peso

Performance against US dollar: 2.8%

3. British pound

Performance against US dollar: 3.4%

2. Canadian dollar

Performance against US dollar: 3.5%

1. Russian ruble

Performance against US dollar: 10.2%

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• Goldman Sachs has been going through some high-profile changes. The storied investment bank is seeing leadership shakeups under CEO David Solomon. 
• The Wall Street bank has been moving away from high-risk businesses like trading and is making pushes into more stable areas like consumer lending. 
• There have been big cultural changes, too. Solomon is looking to create a more transparent workplace, while new tech execs are taking cues from Silicon Valley heavy-hitters. 
• At Business Insider, we are closely tracking the latest developments at Goldman. You can read all of our Goldman coverage on BI Prime.

Storied Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs is going through some massive shifts under CEO David Solomon.

Recently, it's taken big steps involving transparency and inclusion to change up its culture. Its tech execs are also embracing change by promoting APIs and putting Goldman's Marquee app on Amazon's cloud.

Here's everything we know about what's going on inside Goldman. 

Culture and inclusion

• Read the full memo David Solomon just sent to 38,000 Goldman Sachs employees explaining why he's moving his management team out of stuffy offices and into open seating
• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon and his management team are ditching their stuffy offices and moving to an open floor plan closer to the people so they can feel the buzz of New York headquarters
• Goldman Sachs just unveiled a new gender pronouns initiative as part of a broader inclusion push at the Wall Street firm
• Read the memo Goldman Sachs just sent to its employees unveiling a new pronouns initiative

Consumer banking and wealth management

• Goldman Sachs is sending much less mail to potential Marcus customers. A senior exec lays out the reason why.
• A Goldman Sachs exec explains why the bank isn't sweating concerns over the Apple Card's profitability
• A Wall Street firm crunched the numbers around how much Apple will make from its new credit card with Goldman Sachs
• Here's why Goldman Sachs just did its biggest deal in nearly 20 years as part of a pivot to less wealthy clients
• Goldman Sachs execs are opening up about their plans for Marcus, and they think it can do to banking what iTunes did to the music industry
• Goldman Sachs' partnership with Apple could move it a step closer to being 'a bank branch in your pocket'
• Human resources is the next battleground for Wall Street wealth advisers as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs jockey over new turf
• Goldman Sachs has a novel method for predicting the next economic slump, and it's at the heart of its hot new business

Technology

• Goldman Sachs is putting its own Marquee app on Amazon's cloud in a pitch to lure more fintech developers
• Goldman Sachs is embracing open-source code and its chief data officer says it's part of a "new world" of software
• Read the memo the new Goldman tech chief sent to the firm's 9,000-plus engineers where he urges them to ditch presentations in favor of Amazon's famous narratives
• A new Goldman Sachs tech exec hired from Amazon is taking a page from the Jeff Bezos playbook by urging engineers to ditch PowerPoint and write memos
• Goldman Sachs' new CTO shares his strategy for attracting outside developers to work more closely with the bank, giving a glimpse into the future of how Wall Street will work
• A Verizon executive is joining Goldman Sachs as chief technology officer as the Wall Street bank reshuffles its ranks
• Marty Chavez is retiring from Goldman Sachs. We chatted with him about the bank's tech transformation, why now is the right time for him to step down, and what he's planning next.
• Goldman Sachs tech guru Marty Chavez is retiring from the bank
• Goldman Sachs' CEO just warned that the bank's big tech bets might not pay off as quickly as people hope
• Goldman Sachs is scrapping a homegrown email app it once touted — and it's a sign the bank is moving away from building tech in house
• Goldman Sachs is exploring plans to create a Netflix for data, and it marks a new frontier for Wall Street
• Goldman Sachs' internal idea factory hatched a plan for the Google of Wall Street, and it's now looking for the next big thing to disrupt the bank
• Goldman Sachs' big bet on the future of Wall Street had a rocky start. Here's the inside story of the bank's struggle to grow its next business and an exclusive look at its plans

Trading

• Goldman Sachs' massive quant business now rivals AQR and Two Sigma. We talked to the bank's top quant about asset growth, finding data sources, and why critics of computerized trading are wrong.
• Goldman Sachs' CEO tells us the bank is winning over quant clients. That helped it outpace rivals like JPMorgan last quarter.
• Goldman Sachs is cutting about 5% of sales and trading staff after senior equities leaders delivered a tough town-hall talk
• Goldman Sachs is moving away from a tool championed by its former CFO as it pushes its traders to see clients where they once saw quick wins
• Goldman Sachs is shuffling its top stock trading executives as the business tries to claw back market share from Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan
• Goldman Sachs's bond trading unit is still trying to find its way — and it represents a key challenge for new CEO David Solomon

Alternatives

• Goldman Sachs' push into private equity is ruffling feathers at Blackstone — and it might be a sign of big client skirmishes to come
• Goldman Sachs execs are jockeying for control of the firm's lucrative private investing units after a plan to merge it — and the stakes couldn't be higher
• Meet the Goldman Sachs execs tasked with building the firms' new Blackstone-esque private-investing unit — and pumping up the bank's flagging stock price
• 'It's good to be Rich': Meet the Goldman Sachs banker who has built a private investing empire that goes head-to-head with Blackstone — and you've probably never heard of him
• Goldman Sachs is considering a shakeup of its alternative investing units as part of a plan to simplify the bank's strategy

Deals

• Goldman Sachs is assembling a team of senior bankers focused on middle-market private equity. Here are the key hires and the playbook they'll use to land new clients.
• Goldman Sachs unloaded some of its WeWork shares before its investment bankers pitched investors on what it once considered a $60 billion-plus IPO
• Goldman Sachs just revealed it sold part of its Uber stake to SoftBank and it helped boost a $4.5 billion business
• A senior Goldman Sachs fintech banker was about to join JPMorgan — but then got lured back —and it's another sign of the fierce battle for M&A talent
• Goldman just promoted a star tech banker close to Tesla and Microsoft to co-head one of its most profitable businesses, as incoming CEO Solomon makes his mark
• Goldman Sachs just announced a shakeup of its leadership — and it signals the rise of bankers over traders
• A tug-of-war between Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan over a top banker highlights Wall Street's $1 trillion battleground

Careers 

• Another Goldman Sachs partner is out. HR chief Dane Holmes is the latest key player to leave the Wall Street bank in a matter of days.
• Goldman Sachs is offering buyouts to encourage partners to leave as CEO David Solomon works to shrink one of the most elite clubs on Wall Street
• Goldman Sachs is making renewable energy a big priority based on its hiring strategy. It's a sign that its ideas incubator is working.
• The David Solomon era at Goldman Sachs kicked off with 43 words Lloyd Blankfein would never say
• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon shares his best leadership advice
• Goldman Sachs is shaking up the way it stocks one of the most elite clubs on Wall Street — and it shows how banks are back to making money again
• Goldman Sachs' 1MDB problems are eating into employee morale, and insiders worry the firm will use its legal woes as an excuse to scrimp on bonuses
• Goldman Sachs is about to move dozens of jobs out of pricey New York to Utah as Wall Street turns to cheaper cities

Join the conversation about this story »

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• If you feel stressed, confused, or overwhelmed by your money, it might be a good time to hire a financial planner.
• A professional can take a few time-consuming or complicated tasks off your plate, like creating a budget, managing your investments, and calculating exactly how much you need to save to meet specific goals.
• Curious what a financial planner could do for you? SmartAsset's free tool can help you find a planner near you »

When you meet with a financial planner for the first time, you'll have a conversation about your money habits, challenges, and goals. They'll also want to see the numbers: your bank and debt balances, a list of other non-bank account assets, and any insurance policies you have.

From there, you can step back while they do much of the heavy lifting. The ultimate task for most any financial planner is developing a system to optimize your money so you can meet your needs and get closer to buying a house, building a nest egg, taking that once-in-a-lifetime vacation, or whatever is important to you.

Of course, you'll have to put in some effort too, especially if their recommendations involve shifting your spending or your savings. But generally there are a handful of time-consuming and complicated tasks a financial planner can handle so you don't have to.

1. Create a budget

If you find yourself living paycheck to paycheck because of sheer mismanagement, a financial planner can create a budget that accounts for all your expenses while keeping in mind your goals for the future, whether it's buying a house or investing more. You'll first have to provide them with a breakdown of your monthly spending, including how much you pay for housing, food, debt payments, and everything else.

Remember: A financial planner's calculations are only as accurate as the information you give them. They're not there to judge your spending habits, but to make thoughtful adjustments, so make sure you're honest about how much you spend on Ubers and Postmates every month.

2. Identify ways to save on taxes

Most people avoid poring over their taxes at all costs. A financial planner knows exactly what to look for to help you save money and can even connect you with a CPA for deeper insight and strategies.

Whether you're a business owner, a single parent, a freelancer, newly married, or someone who has an unusually complicated tax situation, there's probably an opportunity to minimize your tax liability that's hiding in plain sight.

3. Manage your investments

If investing makes you anxious or stressed, leave it to a pro. Financial planners who are licensed to manage investments will commonly a charge an asset under management (AUM) fee — often in lieu an hourly or flat fee — equal to 1% to 2% of your portfolio. It's a small price to pay if the alternative is not investing at all. In addition to providing general financial planning advice, they'll take control of your investment accounts so you don't have to concern yourself with returns and rebalancing. 

4. Calculate exactly how much you need to save to meet your goals

Once you share your goals with your financial planner, they can calculate exactly how much you need to save to get there. If you're planning to put your kid through four years of college, for example, a financial planner can run the numbers to determine how much you need to save every month, and where to invest it, so that you'll have enough by the time the first tuition payment is due.

You can also enlist a financial planner to see if you're on track to meeting your goals, like retiring at 65, with your current savings rate and investments.

5. Review your insurance coverage

Technology has come a long way and it's easy to get life insurance, disability insurance, renters insurance, and car insurance with less than an hour of research online. Even if you think you're covered from all angles, a financial planner will review your policies in the context of your larger financial picture to make sure your coverage is adequate and aligns with your future goals and current expenses.

6. Hold you accountable

A good financial planner won't just draw up a plan for your money and leave you to it — they want to help you succeed. Whether you agree to meet monthly, quarterly, annually, or on a rolling basis, your financial planner is the ultimate accountability partner for your money.

To be sure, you won't get very far without your own continued efforts, but we could all use a cheerleader — or a nudge when we start to drift off course.

Curious what a financial planner could do for you? SmartAsset's free tool can help you find a planner near you »

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• At a community gathering for Joe Biden's campaign in San Antonio, Texas, the 2020 hopeful was interrupted by a protestor asking about corruption in Ukraine.
• Biden paused while the crowd chanted "We want Joe," then said the protestor "represents Donald Trump very well" and is "just like Donald Trump."
• He also said the man is a "great American" and urged the crowd to "let him go" and "don't hurt him," saying "this is not a Trump rally, this is a real rally."
• The former vice president then returned to his speech, linking Trump's rhetoric about an "invasion" at the border to the El Paso shooting in August that left 22 people dead.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Joe Biden was interrupted by a protestor asking about "corruption in Ukraine" at a campaign event in San Antonio, Texas on Friday.

Rather than engage with the man, who could be heard shouting in video footage of Biden's speech, the presidential candidate let the crowd's chants of "We want Joe" overpower the interruption.

The former vice president then paused the chant to say the protestor "represents Donald Trump very well" and is "just like Donald Trump," who he had been criticizing up until that point in the speech. Biden then called the man a "great American."

It's unclear from the footage whether the protestor was escorted out by security, the crowd, or independently, but after observing his exit, Biden told the crowd "let him go" and "don't hurt him."

"This is not a Trump rally," Biden said, referring to the instances at the president's rallies where crowd members attack protestors, with Trump's apparent support. "This is a real rally."

Ukraine has been at the center of talking points for Trump and his allies after House Democrats introduced the impeachment inquiry against the president, which centers on centers around the false claim that Hunter Biden profited from illegal business dealings in Ukraine and that Biden, who was vice president at the time, tried to cover it up.

Trump, GOP-affiliated lawmakers, and Rudy Giuliani, his lead attorney, have pushed the corruption narrative in addition to baselessly claiming that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election to benefit the Democratic Party, of which there has been no evidence.

Biden also used a significant portion of his speech at the San Antonio event to attack Trump's rhetoric, especially his anti-immigration stance. He recalled Trump's repeated characterizations of southern border crossings as an "invasion," which Biden said preceded the El Paso mass shooting that left 22 people dead.

"He claimed there was an invasion of Latinos coming across the border," Biden said "Well guess what? The words presidents say matter. It wasn't too long after that, that a guy down in El Paso walks into a parking lot and guns down a lot of innocent people and he says, 'I'm doing it to prevent the invasion of Texas by Hispanics.'"

Biden then said Trump was using his anti-immigration rhetoric and family separation as a weapon, which was "morally wrong and un-American."

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• Joe Biden and his allies are seizing on the left's crushing defeat in the UK as proof that only a centrist can beat Trump
• Bernie Sanders could be the most underestimated 2020 candidate, as he surges in the polls and nabs big-name endorsements 2 months after a heart attack
• Joe Biden is underwater with voters earning less than $75,000 a year, who overwhelmingly prefer Bernie Sanders

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• Laura Palumbo, communications director for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, told Insider that she's not surprised by Harvey Weinstein's tentative $25 million settlement with women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.
• Palumbo said having to settle for less than what is deserved is "just a reality" for many victims of sexual assault. 
• In the tentative settlement, Weinstein won't have to admit any wrongdoing, and the funds will be paid by Weinstein Company insurers. 
• More than 30 women — both actresses and Weinstein Company employees  —have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct. The settlement would resolve several civil lawsuits that have been filed against him since 2017.

More than 30 actresses and former Weinstein employees, who in lawsuits have accused Mr. Weinstein of offenses ranging from sexual harassment to rape,

• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The spokeswoman for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NS VRC) told Insider that she's not surprised by the tentative Harvey Weinstein settlement because getting a lower settlement than what is deserved is "just a reality" for many victims of sexual assault.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Weinstein and the board of his bankrupt film studio had reached a $25 million tentative settlement with dozens of actresses and former Weinstein Company employees who had accused the disgraced Hollywood mogul of sexual misconduct, ranging from harassment to rape.

The terms of the settlement state that, if approved, Weinstein would not have to admit any wrongdoing, and the settlement would be paid by the Weinstein Company insurers rather than directly by Weinstein, lawyers told The Times.

Laura Palumbo, communications director for the NSVRC, told Insider that parts of the settlement are likely beneficial to the accusers, but also disappointing.

"What is hardest about that is for so many survivors, that expectation that we're actually going to have to settle, no matter what, for less than we deserve is just a reality," she said.

She said that Weinstein not paying the settlement himself is "disheartening" and an "unfortunate reminder" that he isn't being held directly accountable in the civil cases.

There are often "shortcomings" in sexual misconduct settlements, Palumbo said

This isn't the first sexual misconduct civil suit to have what some people believe to be a weak settlement with disheartening shortcomings. 

Many people criticized Gretchen Carlson's $20 million settlement after she made claims against Fox News chairman Roger Ailes, because a non-disclosure agreement barred her from revealing her allegations publicly.

In many cases, defendants will file for bankruptcy to avoid paying victims of sexual assault directly, Palumbo said. In 2018, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis sought bankruptcy after facing huge potential costs in clergy abuse claims.

But, stressed Palumbo, it's not always about the money. A lower settlement can also be used as a symbol or platform to raise awareness about sexual misconduct. In 2017, Taylor Swift received a $1 symbolic settlement in a sexual assault case against a DJ who she said groped her at a meet-and-greet in 2013.

"Regardless of the shortcomings, if this is something for survivors that represents a symbolic victory because they own their experience and challenge someone who is so powerful, then it is so important to acknowledge that," Palumbo said. 

Some women have decided to challenge Weinstein.

The $25 million payout looming in Weinstein's case is part of a larger $47 million settlement meant to close out Weinstein's bankrupt company, lawyers told The New York Times.

More than $12 million of the payout would go toward Weinstein's legal costs, Weinstein's brother, and other former members of the film company's board, The New York Times reported. That leaves $13 million to be divided between 30 or so victims. Each would net out to around $430,000 each if divided equally.

The settlement would resolve many of the lawsuits filed against Weinstein in the last two years, not everyone is on board. Some women have decided to step away from the payout and challenge it.

"While we don't begrudge victims who want to settle, we plan to vigorously object to any provision that tries to bind victims who want to proceed with holding Harvey Weinstein accountable for his actions — which is exactly what we intend to do," lawyers for one of the women, Wedil David, said.

Weinstein is still facing a criminal trial in a separate sexual assault case involving two women. The trial is due to start in January.

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• The cast of the upcoming musical "Cats" has starred in quite a few movies that critics hated. 
• For Judi Dench and Ian McKellen, "Doogal" (2006) is their worst movie.
• Rebel Wilson's worst-reviewed movie is "The Hustle" (2019) which is also considered to be one of the worst comedies of the year. 
• Many of the actors in "Cats" are newcomers who haven't starred in any other major films yet.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

The upcoming "Cats" movie musical features a cast of both new and seasoned actors.

For many cast members, like popular singer Jason Derulo and ballet dancer Francesca Hayward, this will be their first-ever major movie. But others have already starred in a number of flicks, including some critical flops. 

Here are the worst films each of the "Cats" cast members have been in, according to critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes.

Note: Scores were accurate at the time of publication but are subject to change.

Idris Elba - "Prom Night" (2008)

Critic score: 7%

Before Idris Elba was cast as the sneaky Macavity in "Cats," he starred in many acclaimed movies like "Thor: Ragnarok,""American Gangster," and "Zootopia." 

But his most criticized film of all is the slasher movie "Prom Night," which follows a girl who's trying to escape her murderous high-school teacher.

In it, Elba plays a detective who imprisoned the teacher years prior.

As critic Tony Horkin of Empire Magazine wrote, the thriller is "corny, monotonous and very far from scary." 

James Corden - "The Emoji Movie" (2017)

Critic score: 7%

Aside from portraying the dapper Bustopher Jones in "Cats,"James Corden is best known for his late-night talk show, "The Late Late Show with James Corden."

He's also appeared in several popular movies like "Into the Woods" and "Trolls," but critics say "The Emoji Movie" is his worst one yet. 

Corden voices Hi-5, the hand emoji, in the animated film which takes viewers inside their cell phones where emojis thrive. 

As Dave Holmes from Esquire magazine wrote, "'The Emoji Movie' is cynical, dull, exhausting, soulless, joyless, pointless, and never, ever funny."  

Judi Dench - "Doogal" (2006)

Critic score: 8%

In "Cats," Academy Award-winning actress Dame Judi Dench can be seen as Old Deuteronomy, a wise elder cat.

Dench's acting career spans over six decades and includes revered titles like "Pride and Prejudice,""Shakespeare in Love,""Golden Eye," and "Henry V." 

But her worst-rated film yet is "Doogal," an animated film she narrated that's about a dog who must save the world from an evil sorcerer. 

Critics did not enjoy this family movie and felt it was lazy and "dumbed down" for a young audience.

As critic Scott Brown from Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Where is it written that 4-year-olds don't deserve a good story, decent characters, and a modicum of coherence?"

Ian McKellen - "Doogal" (2006)

Critic score: 8%

Fellow renowned actor Ian McKellen will star in "Cats" as Gus the Theatre Cat, a feline who is known for his acting work. 

Although remembered for his impressive roles in "The Lord of the Rings" and "X-Men" movies, McKellen shares his worst-received movie with Dench.

Both esteemed actors provided voiceover work for "Doogal," and McKellen voices a wizard named Zebedee who helps Doogal battle the evil sorcerer. 

But even A-list voices couldn't save this film from bad reviews. Christy Lemire of the Associated Press called this movie "the laziest, most disheartening kind of animated children's film."

Rebel Wilson - "The Hustle" (2019)

Critic score: 14%

Australian actress Rebel Wilson is best known for comedies like "Pitch Perfect" and "Isn't It Romantic," and soon she'll portray the lazy cat called Jennyanydots in "Cats." 

That said, Wilson's worst-reviewed movie to date is "The Hustle," where she and Anne Hathaway played con artists out to swindle their biggest hit yet.

Critics felt the jokes in the comedy missed the mark and it overall lacked any sort of charm.

As critic Peter Travers wrote for Rolling Stone, "Even with Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson as con artists, the setups are flat, the jokes don't land and the actors strain for laughs that never come."

Taylor Swift - "Valentine's Day" (2010)

Critic score: 18%

Best known for her singing career, Taylor Swift has been in a handful of movies, including "The Lorax" and "The Giver."In "Cats," she'll play Bombalurina, a flirty cat who loves to be the center of attention.

None of Swift's movie appearances have received top marks from critics, but her worst-reviewed film to date is "Valentine's Day," a romantic comedy that follows different couples as they get ready to celebrate February 14.

As critic Tom Long from Detroit News wrote, "'Valentine's Day' is a passing nod to love, like a box of chocolates or flowers that soon wilt. It's star-studded amiable fluff with no real value, but it's kind of a tickle if you're in the mood."

Jennifer Hudson - "Winnie Mandela" (2013)

Critic score: 19%

Both an Academy Award-winner and Grammy-winner, Jennifer Hudson will lend her voice to Grizabella in "Cats," where she'll sing the movie's popular song, "Memory."

Although Hudson is best known for competing on "American Idol" and starring in "Dreamgirls," but she's received some negative criticism for her other works, including "Winnie Mandela."

Hudson has the titular role in the film, which received mixed reviews from critics. 

As critic Michael O'Sullivan from Washington Post wrote, "Despite the marquee names and their obvious talent, the film feels like a made-for-TV movie."

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• Around 600 of the roughly 3,000 B Corporations pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.
• B Lab is a nonprofit launched in 2007 that verifies B Corps, businesses that reject shareholder primacy and go above industry norms in their treatment of employees, customers, the environment, and communities, in addition to their shareholders. B Corps include Danone North America, Patagonia, and Allbirds.
• It is releasing a new tool in January in conjunction with the UN Global Compact that will allow companies to measure their sustainability practices and set new goals.
• This article is part of Business Insider's project "The 2010s: Toward a Better Capitalism."
• The Better Capitalism series tracks the ways companies and individuals are rethinking the economy and role of business in society.
• Visit BI Prime for more stories.

On a recent night in B Lab's small downtown Manhattan office, two of the nonprofit's leaders gave Business Insider a demo of a tool they hope will change the way thousands of businesses around the world operate over the coming decade. It was the same day that 533 of the more than 3,000 "B Corporations," like Allbirds and The Body Shop, pledged to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 (20 years ahead of the Paris Agreement goal), and that Time magazine announced 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg was its "Person of the Year."

For the past 12 years, B Lab has been dedicated to moving businesses away from profit at all costs. In the office, there was a sense that as the 2010s draw to a close, the group had not only been one of the first to tap into the most important discussion of the past decade, it had achieved real progress. And less than a day after the announcement, around 70 more B Corps announced they wanted to join the pledge.

"What's exciting is, I think the B Corp community and the B Corp movement continue to be an aspiration," said B Lab's director of standards, Dan Osusky, one of the team members giving the demo of the tool, the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Action Manager. He said B Lab was like a "North Star" for many of the companies who have joined the decade's movement for reconsidering the role of business in society.

Back in 2007, AND1 cofounder Jay Coen Gilbert, along with his former colleague Bart Houlahan and Andrew Kassoy, their friend from Wall Street, formally launched B Lab (the b standing for benefit). They decided that to avoid "greenwashing" and similar disingenuous practices, where companies can give the impression of "doing good" with nothing more than a clever ad campaign, there should be a certification system. B Lab, then, would analyze and then verify businesses that went beyond industry standards for not only sound corporate governance, but for treatment of workers, customers, their communities, and the environment. Examples include Patagonia, Ben & Jerry's, and Eileen Fisher.

The founders' driving force was a rejection of the theory of shareholder primacy that had reigned since the 1980s, which states that a corporation exists solely to benefit shareholders, and that anything that would benefit others would naturally come as a side effect.

In 2010, the team achieved a major victory when it successfully lobbied for the first "benefit corporation" legislation, in the state of Maryland, that allowed companies to embed the values of a B Corp in their charter. Over the next 10 years, B Lab accrued more than 3,000 B Corps and 8,000 benefit corporations around the world.

This year, the Business Roundtable, a collection of around 200 CEOs of the largest American companies, released a statement that rejected shareholder primacy and advocated for a "stakeholder" model in its place, which, despite lacking binding language, gave major credence to B Lab's mission.

Additionally, when international food giant Danone's North American branch became the largest B Corp last year, with 6,000 employees and $6 billion in revenue, B Lab gained a giant corporate ally. You can find the B Corp stamp on Danone's popular American brands, like Dannon yogurt, Horizon Organic milk, and Silk soy milk products.

"By earning a B Corp Certification we show our employees, consumers, customers and others" that the company will "meet high standards of social and environmental impact, transparency and accountability," Danone North America CEO Mariano Lozano told Business Insider. He noted that he has been proselytizing the value of joining the B Corp community to the heads of other companies. Danone CEO Emanuel Faber has also said he's put the international parent company on the path to gaining B Corp certification, and is one of the funders for the SDG Action Manager.

Kassoy, one of B Lab's cofounders, told us that over the past decade, the financial crisis caused a cultural shift away from corporate criticism on primarily a case by case basis to one demanding systematic change. He said that he saw businesses respond to the millennial generation's demands for this change, as young people came of age in this time, through their spending and participation in the workforce. He sees this past decade as defined by a successful change in the conversation, and the upcoming one as a chance to put that momentum toward actual change.

"Now it's about walking the walk, and things like collective action and public policy create the opportunity for lots of companies to walk the walk," he said. He wants B Lab to be one of the leaders in guiding companies and politicians toward this action.

So, as this decade closes out and another is about to begin, B Lab is setting its focus on sustainability, and has partnered with the United Nations Global Compact. The UNGC is a UN-affiliated network of businesses that make joint commitments to sustainability and share best practices.

B Lab decided that the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 17 goals set in 2015 that are aimed at addressing causes and effects of inequality and man-made climate change, would be their guide. The sustainability tool Osusky and his colleague Laura Velez Villa, who oversees the project, showed us gives companies the ability to assess their sustainability efforts against the SDGs.

Velez Villa pointed out that a central tension that companies face when considering the SDGs is that they were developed for countries, but that the private sector represents 75% of global GDP — that is, if the SDGs are ever going to be achieved, business has to be along for the ride.

"So our answer in putting this out into the world is, regardless of the type of business you are, here is how you make a real dent in these big challenges," she said, referring to the SDG Action Manager.

With the manager, users can answer a series of baseline questions to determine which of the sustainability goals are most relevant to them. For example, an automaker will be especially equipped for working toward No. 13, climate action, but likely not No. 2, zero hunger.

The program will recommend a set of SDGs that the company can have the most impact on, and then the user can go through a series of questions for them. The modules are filled with learning resources provided by the UNGC, and allows companies to set goals for themselves. After answering every question, the tool will generate a percentage, where 100% is an impossible goal, and 40-50% is about what a typical B Corp would score.

Osusky and Velez Villa said that beta testers are indicating that most companies will want to focus on one to five particular SDGs, and that after about a month of being live, the Action Manager will have enough data to show how a company measures up against others in its industry. Velez Villa has set a goal of 5,000 users by the end of 2020, with at least 500 of them using the manager to set goals for their company.

She noted that today's conversation around the role of business seems to be a sudden shift, but has been building for years, and has been accelerated by events like the financial crisis and new research on the dangerous future the planet faces if we continue on the path we're on.

"We all are aware of the Business Roundtable, which is a significant milestone and an important signaling mechanism, but for that type of thing to happen, so much was brewing underneath, right? There's a lot of anger and disappointment and lack of trust in the public," Velez Villa said.

This unrest, from peaceful ones like Thunberg's climate march to the student demonstrations in Hong Kong, is compelling society to rethink power structures, and business is part of that, Velez Villa said.

"It is waking up to the reality that is inequity, and the reality that is environmental injustice," she added. "And I think that something good should come out of that."

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• Leaving work isn't easy — generally, it means making a new life for yourself, making new friends, and finding new hobbies, say these nine retirees from Business Insider's Real Retirement series. 
• While some have chosen to travel, others keep a more low-key lifestyle. Several chose to work again after retiring.
• But, their impressions of retirement so far are similar, whether they've been retired for six months or five years: Life gets better when you're retired. 
• If you'd like help planning for your own retirement, SmartAsset's free tool can find a financial planner near you »

For nine retirees, the circumstances of retiring and how life looked afterwards have been very different. From living a low-key retirement in the Midwest like James R. of Minnesota, to selling their home to travel the world like Joe and Karen Stermitz, there are lots of directions it could take.

The way people end up in retirement isn't always the same, either. Some, like David Fisher of upstate New York, retired at the traditional 65 years old, while others, like Dirk Cotton, retired early. Some retired sooner than they expected, like Bill Davidson, who retired when his former employer downsized, and Edd and Cynthia Staton, who lost their roles during the recession in 2009. 

However they came into retirement, these nine retirees all faced the same question: What comes after work? These retirees weighed in on what it was like to put working life behind them. 

"It's been the happiest time of my life," said Dirk Cotton, who retired at 52.

"It's been the happiest time of my life. And, fortunately for me, I got to retire early and I've already enjoyed it for a long time," said Dirk Cotton, a former AOL employee who lives near Chapel Hill, North Carolina and now spends his days researching and writing about retirement. 

He writes about retirement on his website, and spends his days teaching others about retirement and its realities. "I spend hours and hours and doing this. I love it. I managed a very large organization at AOL and it kept me very, very busy," he said. "But, I think I may be busier since I retired than I was when I was working." 

"I was perfectly happy for the first couple of days taking naps," said Bill Brown, who retired at 65.

Bill Brown, who lives in South Carolina, was worried by his former coworkers' comments that he'd 'go crazy' in retirement. He ended up building a woodworking shed to try something new. 

"I was perfectly happy for the first couple of days taking naps," he told Business Insider. "But, you do get tired of it."

"The first few days of retirement I really spent doing nothing but going over to that shed, looking around, and thinking, 'Hm, I wonder what I'll even bother making,'" he continued. 

Regardless, he said he's learned to enjoy retirement, and when he's not crafting furniture or birdhouses in his woodworking shed, he's traveling with his wife, or doing consulting work.

"The best part is that everything's on my schedule again. The worst part is I am not in law enforcement anymore," said David Fischer of upstate New York.

David Fisher, a former police officer and university safety officer from the Finger Lakes region in New York, loved his work. Saying goodbye to it was tough. 

"The best part is that everything is on my schedule again. The worst part is that I am not in law enforcement anymore. It did hurt my feelings a little bit. I was in law enforcement for almost 40 years, and I don't have that camaraderie with my fellow brothers in blue anymore," Fisher told Business Insider. "I don't hang out with them. I'm not involved in that anymore."

But, Fisher said it's been all about enjoying those memories while making new ones. "It was kind of sad to see that go, but I think I'm clever enough to realize that I need to start that next chapter and do other things I'm going to like as much," he said. 

A typical day is now doing whatever he feels like. "I get up around eight, and then I may take the roadster or the boat out," he said. "I may do some walking around the little point that I live on." Then, he spends time with his family. "I'm very interactive with my two grandchildren and my two children, I have a lot to do with them," he continued. "To me, I see it not as the last chapter of my life, but the next chapter."

"I was constantly bored and looking for purpose in life," said Karen Stermitz, who retired at 55.

After she retired, Karen Stermitz knew she needed an adventure. 

"I retired at 55 and immediately started looking for other work. But we were in a remote little town in Washington, and people wanted me to move to Seattle," she said. While she wanted to work, she found that many of the jobs she tried were rather different than the marketing role she had retired from at HP. 

"I was constantly bored and looking for purpose in life. I did some charity work, I always do charity work," she said. "So for me, the beginning was really hard and very boring."

Luckily, it didn't last long. When her husband, Joe, retired four years later, they sold everything and moved into an overlanding vehicle to travel the world.

For help planning your own retirement, SmartAsset's free tool can find a financial planner near you »

"We had to make a tough decision," says Joe Stermitz, who now travels with Karen, his wife, around the world.

"I've always wanted to drive around the world," said Joe. He knew he wanted to spend his retirement traveling. When the day finally came to leave HP, he took it.

"I said to Karen, 'Hey, want to travel around the world?' And she immediately said yes," he said. So, the two gave up their old life — and their house — in exchange for adventure.

"Making that jump in and that transition was easy. But, to do it, we had to make it tough decision, no home, get rid of the things, and don't look back," he said. 

The Stermitzes have now been retired for about three years, and have been traveling most of that time. 

"It was a little bit of a shock because it was on more on their terms than mine," says Bill Davidson, retired at age 54.

Bill Davidson had always wanted to retire early. "When I was in my 30s, I wrote down several goals, and one was to retire at age 55. Then in 2008,  I lost a lot of money in bad investments or bad timing and I said, 'I'm not sure I'm able to do that," he told Business Insider.

"When I was about 54 and a half my employer said, 'Hey, we're ready for you to go, and we'll give you a nice package to do that,'" Davidson said. "It was a little bit of a shock because it was on more on their terms than mine. But, I still had options, and they paid me through my 55th birthday, they were great."

"It was a shock, but then I said, 'Hey, this is exactly what I wanted to do for 30 years,'" he continued. 

He and his wife, Rose, now divide their time between traveling the world and their home in New Mexico. "We have very full and busy lives doing things we really like doing," he said. "We like to travel and we travel a lot. We like to volunteer, and we do that a lot. We like spending time with the family and our children and grandchildren, too."

"I found as I get older, my tolerance for stress and pressure has diminished," said James R., a former college professor.

James R., who requested not to use his last name to protect his privacy, still works part-time as a professor online, but says that leaving his full-time job gave him a new level of happiness. 

"I found as I get older, my tolerance for stress and pressure has diminished. It's more difficult to deal with hassles now," he said. Since he now works from home, and only part-time, there are certainly fewer hassles these days. 

But after leaving work, he's also realized that he has to find a balance between his introverted tendencies and still being social. 

"I'm an introvert and I'm not particularly social. I figured working at home all the time was perfect for me. But, even a person like me occasionally needs to be around people a little bit," he told Business Insider.

"Retirement was kind of forced on us," said Cynthia Staton, who retired just after the financial crisis in 2009.

"Retirement was kind of forced on us," said Cynthia Staton, who formerly worked as a real estate agent. 

Edd Staton worked in auto financing when the recession hit. "When this first happened to us, and it happened pretty close together, we're thinking, 'Oh, we're highly trained professionals, no problem. We'll find work," said Edd. "Boy, was that a misjudgment on our part. We couldn't find work anywhere. Our entire industries had imploded."

The Statons were stunned. "After months of unemployment and living off of what was obviously shrinking savings, watching the value of our home plummet by two-thirds and seeing our nest egg shrinking, we knew that we had to take drastic action," said Edd. 

"We spent some time trying to figure out what we were going to do with ourselves before we decided that we needed to retire early and move abroad," said Cynthia.

After a trip to South America, the Statons moved from Las Vegas, Nevada to Cuenca, Ecuador in 2010. There, they enjoy a much better financial situation and a lower cost of living. "We could never have the lifestyle that we have here if we were living in the States," said Cynthia.

For help planning your own retirement, SmartAsset's free tool can find a financial planner near you »

Business Insider is looking for retirement stories to feature in our Real Retirement series. If you're in or nearing retirement and want to share, email yourmoney@businessinsider.com.

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Digital transformation has arrived.

Not a single industry is safe from the unstoppable wave of digitization that is sweeping through finance, retail, transportation, and more.

And in 2019, there will be even more transformative developments that will  our businesses, careers, and lives.

Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has put together a list of 40 Big Tech Predictions for 2019 across Apps and Platforms, Digital Media, Payments, The Internet of Things, E-Commerce, Fintech, Transportation & Logistics, and Digital Health.

Some of these major predictions include:

• Amazon will launch an Alexa-powered car product similar to Apple's and Google's.
• Amazon will buy Snapchat as the social app struggles to add users, compete with Instagram, and make money.
• Despite the hype around the Chase-Visa deal, it alone won't mark an inflection point for contactless payments in the U.S.
• Smart speaker prices will hit $20 for the newest models.
• Social commerce will fail to gain adoption despite social platforms' efforts.
• US-based trading app Robinhood will go public in 2019 — and it won't be the only one.
• While drone delivery regulation inched forward in 2018, the rise of 5G will see companies taking their drone delivery tests to the next level. 
• Telemedicine won't take off. 

Join the conversation about this story »

• Sophia Hutchins commented on rumors about her relationship with Caitlyn Jenner for the first time in a recent interview with Ben Widdicombe for The New York Times.
• Despite media reports that the two are dating, or even engaged, Hutchins told Widdicombe that she and Jenner"were never romantically involved."
• She said they've "been great friends," with both helping each other out in their careers.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Sophia Hutchins has put the rumor mill around her relationship with Caitlyn Jenner to rest.

Since 2017, tabloids have romantically linked the 23-year-old beauty entrepreneur with 70-year-old Jenner, reported Ben Widdicombe in a profile on Hutchins for The New York Times. In it, Hutchins commented on their relationship for the first time.

"We were never romantically involved," she said, adding that the grapevine grew because they never addressed it. "I don't feel a need to address my sex life, quite frankly, unless I want to."

Hutchins and Jenner sparked attention when reports noted the two certainly spend a lot of time together. The two were spotted vacationing in Australia in early December, according to Jaclyn Roth of In Touch Weekly. And even though they spent Thanksgiving apart this year, they have shared the holiday together in the past, reported Melissa Minton for Page Six. The Mirror even recently called Hutchins Jenner's "fiancé."

But Hutchins told Widdicombe they've "been great friends ever since" a makeup artist they were both working with introduced the two. Hutchins, who the Times notes initially identified as a gay man before transitioning in 2016, hired the make-up artist as part of her post-transition glam squad, Widdicombe wrote.

Hutchins' and Jenner's relationship has been mutually beneficial, according to Widdicombe's reporting: Hutchins became Jenner's manager and moved into her Malibu home, while Jenner helped Hutchins get meetings to develop her upcoming beauty product, Lumasol.

Hutchins was recently called Jenner's "close friend" on the "Coming Out" TV special of UK reality TV show, "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here," that Jenner starred in. The special showed Jenner reuniting with Hutchins after being eliminated, according to Lottie Gibbons for UK newspaper Liverpool Echo.

Fans took to Twitter expressing their confusion by the description, Gibbons reported. One person tweeted, "did ITV really just phrase Caitlyn Jenner's girlfriend as her 'close friend.'"

Jenner's publicist emailed Widdicombe a statement on her relationship with Hutchins, in which she said, "Sophia has been my best friend, family, and confidant...Her value in my life is undeniable."

Read the full story at The New York Times »

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NOW WATCH: Here's how to escape a flooding vehicle

• I spent an hour shopping for car insurance, and that 60 minutes saved me $110. 
• Getting quotes from five different car insurance companies helped me to compare costs and find the best coverage, though I still paid more than I hoped to. 
• My quotes ranged from $1,267 for six months to over $2,000. Because every car insurance company prices their policies differently, there can be big differences in what even one person will pay between companies. 
• Read more personal finance coverage.

I write about car insurance often, so for me, shopping around is essential. I spent about an hour shopping around for the best rate, and I'm glad I did. 

My current insurer, Progressive, had raised my quote by about $300, up to $1,377 for six months, though there have been no changes with my driving record. I had a policy with coverage limits of $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 in bodily injury per accident, and $10,000 in property damage (often written as $25/$50/$10) for my 2015 Chevrolet Volt in Seattle, Washington.

For my previous six-month policy, I paid $1,080, including a renters insurance policy. With my new car insurance, I'll be paying $110 less.

My car insurance is high because I have accidents on my record

I know my my insurance is incredibly high. Though I have a pretty good credit history, I'm still relatively young. And, I've got some history: A year ago I was in a not-at-fault-accident with a driver who lost control on a snowy highway in Kentucky (yes, not-at-fault accidents can raise your insurance premium). And, about four years ago, I was in an at-fault accident in Georgia.  

According to insurance comparison site The Zebra, accident surcharge periods can last between three and five years. Since I'm in that period with the at-fault accident, I tend to shop around every six months. 

Additionally, my insurance prices have increased significantly since I moved from Ohio to Seattle, and I try to cut that cost by shopping around. So, I sat down with a cup of coffee one morning and got five quotes. This hour ended up saving me $110, though I still paid more than I hoped. But, even so, I can't recommend this process enough to anyone getting car insurance. There's a lot that goes into pricing car insurance premiums — don't let one company's formula cost you more than you need to pay.

Here's what my shopping process looked like, and how I came to find the best deal for me. For all of these policies, I chose a $25/$50/$10 policy, or $25/$50/$15 when available, with a $500 deductible. I also opted for comprehensive and collision coverage. 

I started with a number in mind to beat: the $1,080 that I paid for my last 6-month policy 

I didn't want to pay more than I paid last time. Since Progressive had raised its rates for me, I went to get a quote from State Farm. Consumer Reports data shows that State Farm is one of the more affordable car insurance companies in Washington, so I figured I'd give it a shot. 

State Farm quoted me $1,267 for six months. That was the new number to beat, though it was still more than I actually wanted to pay. This quote from State Farm for a comparable $25/$50/$10 policy was over $100 cheaper than Progressive's, but that still seemed high. 

A few minutes filling out information with GEICO, and I was quoted $1,338 for six months of a comparable policy. That's just a few dollars less than Progressive's quote, and higher than State Farm's. I kept shopping. 

I tried Seattle-based insurance company Safeco next. I got a quote online with Safeco, which became the new winner. However, Safeco doesn't allow customers to buy policies online. So, I called to get the policy on Monday morning. But, their online quoting didn't ask much about driving history, which meant that they ended up quoting me quite a bit more, bringing the total to over $1,800. Needless to say, that wasn't the quote I went with. 

The company that's cheapest on average was the most expensive for me

I tried getting a quote from Farmers, and it showed me just how important shopping around can be. What was supposed to be one of the cheapest car insurance companies in my state was actually the most expensive for me. Car insurance pricing is incredibly individual. While Farmers is typically the third-most affordable company in Washington, it was actually the most expensive for me. Farmers quoted me over $2,000 for six months of coverage with a similar $25/$50/$15 policy. 

Every car insurance company takes a different look at factors like driving history and credit scores. They all weigh these factors differently, and that influences the premiums. Just because it's typically cheaper in Washington doesn't mean that it always will be, and in this case, that was true. 

Lastly, I wanted to try a pay-by-mile insurance company, so I tried Metromile. I live in Seattle, and I walk most places, so I don't drive every day. I thought that would be an interesting option to try, given that I don't commute. But, Metromile's quote was still $1,148 for a $50/$100/$25 policy based on 800 miles per month, about $118 cheaper than State Farm's unlimited mile coverage. 

As I started learning more about how it worked, though, I wasn't sure that the billing structure would be right for me — with this system, the more you drive, the more you pay. Since I don't commute in my car and mainly use it to go out of the city, I never know how many miles I'll actually put on it. I'm planning on taking a few weekend road trips in the spring, and I don't want those miles to end up costing me more. I decided this probably wasn't the right route for me, given that the cost difference wasn't all that huge. 

Ultimately, I ended up going with State Farm

I'm glad I decided to shop around, because that hour I spent actually did help me save about $110. 

Car insurance policies are truly individual, and every one costs each person a different amount. Your driving history, financial information, and more can all really impact what each company will quote you. And, you likely won't know until you've gotten a few quotes and compared them. 

You'd shop around for anything else you'd buy, and I'm a firm believer that car insurance should be no different.

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• Facebook is set to begin labeling some media organizations as "state-controlled," and Al Jazeera Media Network is asking for clarification from the company.
• The social media network began taking steps to beef-up transparency on its site in the wake of the 2016 US presidential election and announced these upcoming initiatives in October. 
• Al Jazeera fears that labeling it as being editorially controlled by its government "will cause irreparable harm to the network," according to a letter sent to Facebook from AJMN.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Facebook announced in October that it would be making changes to its policies in order to "stop abuse and election interference." One of those changes is the promise to make "state-controlled media" identifiable for Facebook users. 

According to the language used in the announcement, Facebook's initiative defines these organizations as those which are "wholly or partially under the editorial control of their government." Al Jazeera Media Network — along with other news organizations like Russia Today — is facing the possibility of this label. But it doesn't know exactly why.

The social network says media companies that fall into this category need to be held to a higher standard of transparency as "they combine the opinion-making influence of a media organization with the strategic backing of a state." But the companies feel they've received no transparency from Facebook as it builds out this list of state-controlled media organizations. 

"What we're asking for really is transparency," AJMN's executive director of digital, Yaser Bishr, told BuzzFeed News. Bishr said Al Jazeera hasn't received any sort of notice on why and how Facebook would prove that the organization is, in fact, being controlled. 

A late-November letter from AJMN to Facebook outlines how detrimental the network feels this label would be to its reputation as a news source. In the letter, AJMN likens itself to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) because of its public funding. It goes on to confirm that "AJMN is a Private Foundation for Public Benefit under Qatari law" and denies government ownership. 

As the network continues to try and push against the label, Facebook continues to keep silent. The social media company declined to provide more clarification to BuzzFeed News, and it did not immediately respond to Insider's request for clarification or comment. 

Facebook has yet to provide a complete list of which media outlets will be labeled as "state-controlled," and it hasn't provided more information on what exactly those labels will look like. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A 45-year-long study discovered trends in successful hyper-intelligent children

• When my parents were in their 80s, they moved in with me so that I could care for them. For the first time, I was responsible for other human beings.
• Then 33, I decided to get a 20-year term life insurance policy worth $100,000.
• Twenty years later, my husband and daughter are the beneficiaries of the policy (now worth $250,000) and I pay just $18 a month for the coverage. It's set to go up to $200 soon, though, and I'm not sure if I should spend that much.
• Interested in an affordable term life insurance policy? Compare quotes today with Policygenius »

A day before I got on a plane for a recent weeklong international business trip, I sent my sister a text message. "Not to be overly morbid, but I have a life insurance policy with Company X. Paolo wouldn't know where to begin."

"Understood," she replied a minute or so later. "Hopefully info I don't need to know."

I hadn't thought of that policy for a while, other than being reminded of it when I noticed the monthly premium deducted from my bank account. But prior to the longest and longest-distance trip I'd taken away from my husband and young daughter, I figured I should make sure that someone besides me knew what paperwork to look for.

My Italian husband speaks English fairly well, but I'm not sure he'd be able to navigate grief, loss, and pursuing a death payout with a giant American insurer.

So, much like delegating to a loved one the responsibility of scattering the ashes, I put my sister in charge of chasing down the money should anything happen to me.

Why I bought a life insurance policy

Should anything happen to me. I first seriously considered that possibility when I became responsible for the lives of other human beings — and that's when I bought a term life insurance policy worth $100,000.

I was self-employed and shopping for health insurance when the salesperson, who had called on me at home, asked if I was interested in a life policy as well.

Two rooms away, I could hear the muffled tones of the TV in front of which my 80-year-old parents were seated — dozing, probably — in recliners.

They'd been living with me for about six months at that point, as they could no longer afford to maintain their own home or pay for assisted living.

I was 33, single, hustling to make a living as a freelance writer and editor, and increasingly feeling the weight of responsibility of caring for them. Should anything happen to me, what would happen to them?

A mouth swab later (to confirm that I was a non-smoker), and I was the holder of a $100,000, 20-year term life insurance policy that cost me $12 a month, automatically deducted from my checking account.

Purchase a life insurance policy from Policygenius today and protect those who depend on you »

Within a few months, I increased the policy to $250,000, which changed my premium to $18 a month. That was still peanuts to pay for peace of mind and an abstract concept — my elderly parents outliving me — that I figured would never really become reality.

By the time I purchased that effortlessly cheap life insurance policy those many years ago, I'd already done some adult things. I was a homeowner twice over. I had pets. I'd made the decision to forge an unconventional career as a freelancer, and I was rocking it.

But buying that policy had more gravitas than any other of those big adulting moves I'd made. The realization that I was responsible for the well-being of other human beings, even if I was no longer around, meant that I had crossed the threshold to full-on mature adulthood — and there's been no turning back.

My life insurance premium is about to go way up

Fast forward 20 years, and my parents are no longer the beneficiaries of my life insurance policy. Now, it's my husband and young daughter.

A payout of $250,000 might not be that much in the grand scheme of things, nor would it assuage their grief — or my eternal guilt in the afterlife for abandoning them too soon. But it's enough to pay for college, pick up and move to another city, and provide a little bit of a soft landing after what I trust would be a devastating blow.

As is the rule with term life insurance policies, that attractively low premium comes with an expiration date. Next year, the premium will jump from its current $18 to just under $200 — I guess since the possibility of me actually dying, so abstract at 33, is a lot more plausible at 53.

That's the clincher with term life insurance — it works according to the laws of attrition, which are not in favor of the aging. It's cheap when you're young, and a lot more expensive when you hit middle age.

And if I cancel the policy now, it has no cash value (unlike whole life policies, which can have some payout if cancelled), so the $4,500 or so I've paid into it is gone in a poof.

It was easy to not think about an $18 monthly expense — less than half of what I pay for a gym membership or to get my nails done once a month. But $200 a month? We'll feel that, and my husband and I need to decide whether we'll maintain the policy or cancel it.

He doesn't like to talk about such things — too morbid for him. Yet people my age — including friends and relatives — drop dead of heart attacks or aneurysms; they get cancer and they have fatal car accidents.

That I get on planes and trains frequently and without my family only increases (marginally perhaps, but still) the odds that something actually could happen to me.

Is $200 too much to spend for my loved ones' security, and for my peace of mind? Where's the line between a strictly economic decision — for which the answer would surely be no — and a pragmatic and emotional one: How much is peace of mind actually worth?

I have all the questions and none of the answers, and I suppose we'll put off making a decision until the rate increase kicks in.

For the record, there's one thing I do know: Having a life insurance policy doesn't make me worry any less about the plane crashing.

Life insurance will never be cheaper than it is today. Compare quotes from Policygenius and lock in your rate »

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NOW WATCH: Most maps of Louisiana aren't entirely right. Here's what the state really looks like.

• Recess is a sparkling CBD beverage geared towards anxious, aesthetic-obsessed millennials.
• Founder and CEO Ben Witte launched Recess in October 2018 with a brand-marketing-first approach.
• While Recess has skyrocketed in popularity on social media, the company has been navigating unclear CBD regulations behind the scenes.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Recess's Instagram page is like stepping into a pastel, millennial dreamscape.

Recess is a one-year-old, New York-based startup whose product is a canned beverage containing CBD. While the brand has skyrocketed in popularity on social media, the company has been navigating unclear CBD regulations behind the scenes.

Recess' Instagram has no shortage of vivid imagery: A cartoon Saturn dips into a warm periwinkle sea, three pink Recess cans spout octopus arms, and a creamsicle colored Recess can crashes into the moon.

"We canned a feeling," Recess founder and CEO Ben Witte told Business Insider.

SEE ALSO: Political pioneer Stacey Abrams created a spreadsheet to plan her life goals back in college. More than 25 years later, she is still using that same spreadsheet. Here's how it works, according to Abrams.

Ben Witte, founder and CEO of Recess, launched his CBD beverage brand geared towards anxious, aesthetic-obsessed millennials in October 2018.

"I believe CBD is the caffeine of the 21st century," Witte told Business Insider. 

Recess, as in "take a recess," was born out of Witte's own use of CBD oil to aid anxiety. He observed the growing anxiety economy, including substances like marijuana, and practices like mindfulness. Witte said he noticed CBD "bubbling up on the periphery" about a year before starting Recess. 

Recess was incubated at Life Capital, a brand studio and investment firm, with Witte's then-partners Justin Hauser and David Hess. Witte spun out the idea for Recess himself and focused on a fall 2018 launch.

Recess has been operating for just over a year. In that time, it has grown from two employees working out of Witte's living room to 30 employees with about 4,000 accounts nationwide.

Recess executed an online direct-to-consumer only launch, a nontraditional approach for a beverage company. Instead of putting Recess into stores right away, Witte drove potential customers to the Recess website through Instagram marketing and sold the drink directly to consumers via personal shipments. Recess had 40 times its projected sales in its first month, leading to 5,000 back orders.

Following the success of the launch, Witte began employing retail distribution marketers and brought on beverage distributor Big Geyser as a strategic partner.

Today, Recess has about 4,000 accounts nationwide. It currently ships to all of the continental US with the exception of three states — Idaho, South Dakota, and Mississippi — which are particularly tough on hemp.

Recess opened Recess IRL, a pop-up store in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, in February.

The pop-up was set to last for two months, but its success kept it open for eight months. Recess hosted events with creatively kindred brands and partners, like restaurant review website The Infatuation, at the pop-up.

Recess attracted heavy-hitting talent from the beverage industry in its first year.

Laurie Breton, a veteran of the beverage industry with 17 years of operations experience at Dr Pepper Snapple Group, joined Recess as its head of supply chain in May.

"I fell in love with the energy behind this product, how they were thoughtful about the way they were rolling out their distribution model, and they were thoughtful about the product itself," Breton told Business Insider.

Breton pointed to the simplicity of Recess' can design and intention behind the beverage's ingredients and flavors. 

"I really liked the way the brand was positioning itself — and then just talking to Ben, and what he believed in, and the excitement of this just great category that's about to unfold," Breton said.

Breton also highlighted the diversity of backgrounds of the Recess team, which has alums of beverage companies, like Vita Coco and Heineken, and fashion companies, like Rag and Bone. 

Breton told Business Insider that she believes Recess is both thoughtfully constructing and owning the category of sparkling CBD beverages, and that Recess can reach the heights of a White Claw, which is currently dominating the hard seltzer beverage category.

The secret sauce of Recess' success is a brand-marketing-first approach catered to social media.

"I think there's a fundamental shift that has happened, which is, in the past, brands were built on the shelf, and today they're built on your phone, and that changes everything," Witte said. 

"I want to create a world that transported people. So our Instagram is kind of like psychedelic," Witte explained.

Anthropomorphized Recess cans, affirmations, and cheeky, irreverent phases in Recess' pink, blue, and orange pastel palette culminate to establish the "psychedelic" aesthetic of Recess' Instagram feed.

"I really look at our brand as a social commentary on living in 2019, which is this insane time," Witte said. "But in many ways, I look at the brand as poking fun at millennial culture and our anxiety, which is so much in our own heads." 

While Recess has skyrocketed in popularity via social media, the company has been navigating unclear CBD regulations behind the scenes.

Legislation around hemp in the US has advanced in the past five years, but a lack of regulatory guidelines for CBD products from bodies like the FDA leaves CBD companies like Recess without clear map.

The part of the 2014 farm bill pushed by Mitch McConnell created pilot programs that allowed states to experiment with the growth and marketing of hemp. Then, The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, making it an agricultural commodity and defining hemp to include its cannabinoid derivatives and extracts, like CBD.

"It basically allows and encourages all 50 states to cultivate hemp, and then remove hemp extract, including CBD, from the controlled substance list, shifting the regulation from the DEA to the FDA," Witte explained. "That bill passed in December of 2018, one month after Recess launched. So it was like very good timing."

Witte is a board member of the US Hemp Roundtable, which is the hemp industry's national business advocacy organization.

The US Hemp Roundtable currently has more than 90 member companies and is led by Jonathan Miller, a lawyer and former state treasurer of Kentucky.

"Shortly after the farm bill passed, the FDA said that they were going to be developing a path for federal regulation of CBD, and it's been quite slow," Miller said about the Hemp Farming Act of 2018. "We've been a little frustrated with their delay and with some of their mixed signals." 

Miller says the US Hemp Roundtable is hopeful that the FDA will have comprehensive regulations for CBD coming out soon. 

"Most new industries don't like to be regulated; we want regulations," Miller said. "Our greatest challenge is not the FDA, it's fly by night companies selling products saying that they have CBD, and they don't have CBD in them, or they've got heavy metals in them, or they might have some toxins in them."

Miller says he hopes to see FDA regulations requiring CBD companies to follow good manufacturing practices and to use appropriate disclaimers on their product labels. 

"We want regulation. We agree it is the wild wild west out there," Witte echoed about the current lack of clarity around CBD regulations. "We think the biggest risk to Recess are bad actors that don't take quality and compliance seriously."

Recess is based in New York. Governor Cuomo signed legislation that gives New York a regulatory framework for the growth and sale of hemp on December 9.

In October, Witte told Business Insider that New York's unclear regulations for CBD were preventing Recess from investing more in the state.

"For companies like us that would be investing significantly more in New York state, we'd be hiring a lot more and investing a lot more and kind of sales and marketing in New York if the regulatory environment was more clear," Witte said. "We had to shift our manufacturing, the state of New York because of the fact that we remain in a state of limbo."

The legislation signed by Cuomo on December 9 "establishes a state permitting process for growers, processors and sellers of hemp extract" and "requires laboratory testing of hemp products, including CBD, and product labeling," according to the governor's website. 

"We were pleased to learn that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo at last signed legislation to provide a much-needed regulatory framework for the growth and sale of hemp here in New York State," Witte told Business Insider the day after Cuomo's action. "While a big step in the right direction, we at Recess look forward to continuing to work closely with the Governor, oversight agencies and the industry to ensure that hemp products are produced, packaged and sold safely for all consumers."

Despite New York's slowness to provide a regulatory framework for CBD, Witte is glad he launched Recess in New York. 

"I think New York is the best place in the world to build a consumer brand. And for beverages in particular, it's also the best, but hardest market," Witte explained. In a condensed borough like Manhattan, with bodegas around every corner, accounts are plentiful and brand awareness spreads fast. Furthermore, "For the community we're looking to cultivate, creatives, this is obviously ground zero for that," Witte said.

Though conventional wisdom would say to launch a CBD company in southern California, Witte knew Recess belonged in New York.

"You want to establish your brand outside of the California marijuana echo chamber," Witte said.

Recess has its sights set on national expansion, and it will be releasing three new flavors.

Recess is currently being sold in stores in the New York metro area and southern California, including Los Angeles, Orange Country, and Santa Barbara County. Witte said Recess will be launching in Chicago, Nashville, Miami, Austin, and New England at the beginning of 2020. 

Recess will be adding a QR code to its cans in the new year, which consumers will be able to scan to learn about the testing Recess performs for each batch of its beverage. For example, consumers will be able to validate the CBD levels in beverage to verify that there is no THC (the psychoactive component of cannabis) present.

Recess is leaning into its strength of content creation, which will appear beyond Instagram in the new year.

"We're making a big push into content and editorial. We have a new website coming, which is going to have a whole dedicated editorial platform focused on creatives," Witte said.

He believes that the editorial site will be effective in "extending what we're doing on Instagram onto our own website, and really having it become its own kind of content destination in its own right."

Recess will be focusing on collaborations and partnerships, especially with merchandise. Recess dropped a limited edition can, covered in fluffy white clouds, in collaboration with the label Opening Ceremony on December 6. 

The company will also be adding three new flavors to its roster in February.

• This is a preview of The Rise of Banking-as-a-Service research report from Business Insider Intelligence.
• Purchase this report.
• Business Insider Intelligence offers even more insights like this with our brand new Banking coverage. Subscribe today to receive industry-changing banking news and analysis to your inbox.

Fintechs are encroaching on incumbents' share in the banking game, forcing them to explore new business models — but tech-savvy legacy banks can treat this as an opportunity rather than a threat by moving into the Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) space.

BaaS platforms enable fintechs and other third parties to connect with banks' systems via APIs to build banking offerings on top of the providers' regulated infrastructure. This means banks that launch BaaS platforms can actually benefit from fintechs entering the finance space, as it turns fintechs into customers rather than just competitors. Other benefits from launching a BaaS platform include being able to monetize such platforms, establishing strong relationships with fintechs, getting ahead of the curve in terms of open banking, and accumulating additional data from third parties.

In TheRise of Banking-as-a-Service, Business Insider Intelligence looks at the benefits banks stand to gain by offering BaaS platforms, discusses key players in the industry that have already successfully launched BaaS platforms, and recommends strategies for FIs looking to move into BaaS.

The companies mentioned in this report are: BBVA, Clearbank, 11:FS Foundry, Starling.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• Offering BaaS also allows banks to unlock the opportunity presented by open banking, which is becoming a vital part of the financial services industry.
• There are two key types of players — BaaS-focused fintechs and BaaS providers with a retail banking arm — that banks will need to learn from and compete against in the BaaS space.
• Banks that have embraced digital will have an easier time ensuring that their infrastructure and systems are suitable for third parties.
• It's vital for incumbents to accurately assess third-party needs to create an in-demand portfolio of white-label BaaS products.

 In full, the report:

• Outlines what BaaS is and how it relates to open banking. 
• Highlights the benefits of launching a BaaS platform, including two different monetization strategies.
• Explains what BaaS players are currently doing in the space, and outlines the services they offer.
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• On "Saturday Night Live," Kyle Mooney emerged as a somewhat horrifying portrayal of Baby Yoda for a Weekend Update segment with Michael Che.
• Mooney joked around as the internet's favorite creature from "The Mandalorian," and he did it while wearing a full get-up complete with green makeup, a mask, and a replica of The Child's spherical, floating crib.
• A timelapse video tweeted by the official SNL account shows the process of getting Mooney into the elaborate Baby Yoda get-up.
• The Baby Yoda episode was hosted by Scarlett Johansson with musical guest Niall Horan.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Unsurprisingly, "Saturday Night Live" made mention of the internet sensation that is Baby Yoda, the breakout star of Disney Plus' "The Mandalorian."

That mention took the form of a somewhat horrific portrayal of The Child (the Baby Yoda character's actual name in the show) by Kyle Mooney, who appeared on Michael Che's Weekend Update segment in an elaborate green get-up.

Che and Mooney joked about Baby Yoda's overnight fame, with Mooney using a high-pitched impression of what the adorable creature might sound like if he was a 35-year-old man.

"I've been blessed," Mooney joked. "People are liking the show. All the memes, and the fans. Some sliding in the DMs a little bit. Not saying nothing, but it's been very beneficial. And let's just leave it at that."

SNL's official Twitter account posted a timelapse video of the costuming and makeup process for Mooney's Baby Yoda, and it looks intense. The costume appears mostly comprised of the Baby Yoda head prop, which had the face cut out for Mooney, who wore green face paint.

Mooney also appeared inside a replica of the spherical, floating crib that Baby Yoda rides around in on "The Mandalorian." The character design was great, but unfortunately for Mooney, he was galaxies away from the cuteness overload that is Baby Yoda.

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• 19 more 'Baby Yoda' tweets and memes from the latest episode of 'The Mandalorian' to get you through the week

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• In a matter of four years, I lost both my mom and dad. After my mom died, my dad made me the beneficiary of his life insurance policy.
• At the time of my dad's death, I could afford the ticket out to say goodbye — but not much else. The payout from his life insurance allowed me to buy my first home, and completely changed my life.
• When I saw what life insurance could do, I bought a policy of my own to protect my wife.
• Need a life insurance policy? Protect your loved ones today with a quote from Policygenius »

On Halloween morning 2013, I received the first in a series of three calls that would change my life forever. It was early, around 7 AM, and receiving calls from family members at that hour is never good news, unless it's your birthday. This wasn't my birthday. This was the morning I found out my mom had died.

I had missed the call, but when I checked my phone and saw a voicemail from the contact entry labeled Mom & Dad, my stomach dropped. My body could feel the news I was about to learn, well before I returned that call.

Delaying the switch from living a life that included a mom to one without for a bit longer, I went into the kitchen to smoke a cigarette before calling my dad back. Five minutes later, I'd hear that she'd died from heart failure, primarily caused by being a life-long smoker. And yet still, I didn't regret that cigarette one bit.

I had spent the time it took to inhale it thinking about her, and how my small family was about to be so much smaller. That voicemail was saved in my phone for four years, until Mom & Dad wasn't an applicable entry in my contacts anymore.

Losing my dad

On December 2, 2017, I got a voicemail from my dad's sister-in-law, who lived down the road from him. My dad had been spending a lot of time with my aunt and uncle since my mom's passing, and I was glad that he had people who cared for him in such close proximity.

I've lived a lot of different places in my life: California, Chicago, New York, Washington state, but currently reside in New Orleans. The morning I received this call, my wife and I were getting ready to go get our Christmas tree.

I listened to the message: "Kelly, it's imperative that you call us back right away," and bristled at the formality of it. The cold tone. As an only child, my mom, dad, and grandparents on my mom's side were the main hub of what I considered my family.

I had other family members, sure, but they weren't the sort to leave messages using words like "imperative." That's a word a bill collector would use, not someone on your family tree, regardless if you share DNA with them.

My dad's body had been found by his youngest brother, a down-and-out sort of guy who'd been living with him for awhile, while he tried to turn his life around.

When I got to the house a few days later, I stood alone in my dad's bedroom, piecing together clues, breathing in the smell of him, and the remaining smell of my mom, even after all those years.

His cause of death was described to me by the coroner of the small town where he lived as a massive heart attack. His actual phrasing was "the widow maker." Since no one was left to be widowed, I re-named this in my mind as "the orphan maker."

He'd collapsed in the bathroom. My uncle said the noise was so loud that it shook the whole house, sending him running to see what had happened. Standing in the bathroom, I saw the intimacy of death. The humbleness of it all.

He had a clean pair of underwear folded up on the bench next to the sink, and a pair of socks. He'd probably been about to freshen up for bed. I took the underwear and threw them away in the kitchen trash. Half annoyed by the constant absence of trash cans in men's bathrooms, but mostly concerned with wanting to preserve my dad's dignity.

I couldn't do much, at that moment, frozen in grief and staring down a daunting laundry list of immediate tasks that I had no idea how to complete, but I'd be damned if anyone was gonna see my dad's underwear.

My dad's life insurance payout was more than I could have imagined

My dad was a planner, an organizer up to the minute of any given day. Shortly after my mom's death, he'd made a handwritten list of instructions for me, very simple, very dad-like. Who to call when he dies. Where he wants to be buried. What to do with his stuff. And how to claim his life insurance.

He'd made me the sole beneficiary, immediately after my mom passed, but I wasn't made privy to what that amount might be. I thought it would be tacky to ask, so I didn't.

When I called the insurance company to begin the process of filing the claim, I found that the payout would not only cover the complete cost of his burial, but would also provide me with a remainder that I later used to buy my first home.

Life insurance will never be cheaper than it is today. Find out your rate with a quote from Policygenius »

My dad's careful planning not only made a tragic event a tad more manageable, but it set me up to have a sense of security in my life that I never imagined I would have.

At the time of my dad's death, I could afford the plane ticket there, but not a whole lot else. If he hadn't had life insurance, and if he hadn't spoken directly to me about how to claim it, I don't know what I would have done. His ashes would probably be in a coffee can on my desk, and not entombed in a beautiful mausoleum next to my mother.

Getting a life insurance policy of my own

Living from his example, I purchased a policy of my own, and talked to  my wife about it. For $44 a month, I'm covered until I'm 95 and my wife will get $77,000 when I die — enough to make the loss just a little bit easier.

These are never pleasant conversations to have, but a far less pleasant scenario would be trying to figure it all out during a tragedy, when all you have energy for is crying.

My dad was a rock when I was growing up. Supportive every step of the way. And he stayed that way till the day he died. Past it.

A life insurance policy can protect your family if the unthinkable happens. Get a quote today from Policygenius »

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• The 2020 Mercedes AMG GLC 63 is a high-performance midsize SUV with a potent twin-turbo V8 engine under the hood.
• The Mercedes AMG GLC 63 offers 469 horsepower and a 0-60 mph time of four seconds or less.
• The SUV is also packed with Mercedes luxury.
• I thought the Mercedes AMG GLC 63 was a staggeringly good set of wheels.
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I've gone through a few phases with AC/DC. The Australian hard-rock band was among my beloveds when I was a youngster first dropping needles on vinyl. But progress happens fast when you're that age, and although AC/DC — this was between "Highway to Hell" and "Back in Black"— absolutely got it done, Elvis Costello, Marshall Crenshaw, X, Blondie, Talking Heads, the Clash, and the Replacements sent me on a different course.

And yet ... AC/DC still gets it done. The straightforward pleasures of that straightforward down-under rock are indisputable, to this day.

I was was reminded of this recently when I borrowed a 2020 Mercedes AMG GLC 63 SUV and put the pedal down for the umpteenth time in the week I tested the vehicle.

A 469-horsepower, twin-turbo V8 will do that to a body and spirit. I was ... thunderstruck. And I didn't even have the AMG GLC 63 S, which takes the oomph up to 503 horsepower.

Aufrecht-Melcher-Grossaspach on the sheet metal means that the workaday GLC, with its mere 300 horsepower, has been amplified. The 63 means that the V6 in the 43 trim has gained two cylinders. As with many German automobiles, these specs, these numbers, this data — it's all rather cerebral. You really don't know what to expect when you click your seat belt, grab hold of the steering wheel with both hands, toggle the SUV into Sport+ mode, and, to borrow a phrase from gladiator Maximus, "unleash hell."

After all, who really wants to meander to the legal speed limit in more than four seconds? Furthermore, who wants to hit 60 mph with no roaring Teutonic soundtrack in the ears, minus a kick in the lumbar vertebrae from a nine-speed transmission that from first to second to third gear feels like it has anger-management issues.

Whomp! Whomp! WHOMP! Check the speedometer and get off the gas. But goodness, do you taste the potential.

In an SUV! Not the snazzy AMG GLC coupé, with its rakish fastback. An elevated German hatchback, basically, for the 21st century. Many thanks, good folk of Breman, for bolting this beast together. Sorry about the groceries splattered on the rear window.

Some more good work from Mercedes

Mercedes is doing some very, very good work these days. We've tested a whole bunch of models over the past two years and have found nothing to complain about and many things to make into objects of admiration. But the AMG GLC 63 stands out. 

The V8 is gobsmackingly brilliant. Note that 469 horsepower meets 479 pound-feet of torque, creating power delivery that's spectacularly linear and a sense that it might never run out. Like, never never. Even if it did have a limit, you wouldn't want to meet it, not on public roads, anyway. I mean, the beefier S trim lapped the Nürburgring in less than eight minutes. It has only about 35 more horsepower. 

The AMG GLC 63 isn't even Porsche-like, in case you were waiting on the inevitable cross-German comparison. In fact, the Merc made me wonder whether I was still as captivated by the Porsche Macan Turbo, a $96,000 demon that I sampled with a track-ready "Performance Pack," as I once thought. OK, I think the Porsche drives better. But the AMG GLC 63 is badder, and faster, and has 19 more ponies. (Yeah, yeah, I know — 440hp from a Porsche V6, versus 469 from a "Biturbo" Mercedes AMG V8, indicates that Porsche can get some serious tuning on with a smaller motor. But that V6 is working. With the Merc, the power simply happens, a large thing moving in a void and filling it with its presence.)

The GLC AMG 63's all-wheel-drive system actually managed an early snowstorm in the Northeast quite effectively, but for my money, this drivetrain is more about surefootedness on relatively dry pavement. On that score, the limited-slip differential, the chunky brakes, the upgraded suspension, and the confidence-inspiring steering — all AMG-ified — made me forget that I was running on winter tires. I could do anything I wanted with any corner that came my way. My experience with AMG cars made this a not-unfamiliar frame of mind. But in an SUV? With enough cargo space for a long weekend's luggage or a week's worth of groceries? 

A versatile, luxurious mashup of muscle car and family hauler

We could put a price on that, and it would be lower than what Mercedes has put on the AMG GLC 63, which in my tester was well-equipped but not insanely optioned above the $73,750 starting price. At nearly $80,000, I kid you not, this guy is a bargain.

And a versatile, luxurious mashup of muscle car and family hauler. My Merc came wearing a handsome "Obsidian Black Metallic" paint job and with a lovely all-black interior, detailed with natural-grain ash and aluminum trim. The instrument cluster and infotainment screen are a single, continuous pane of glass, making for an elegant interface that covers all the tech bases, from Bluetooth pairing to excellent GPS navigation to device pairing with wireless charging. OK, the touchpad backup interface isn't the world's most awesome, but I'm in a forgiving mood. You can always switch to Apple CarPlay or Android Auto if you get frustrated. In my case, the angelic Burmester audio system made me forget any problems I might have endured.

But although I had to forgive a bit, I didn't have much of anything to forget. The Mercedes AMG GLC 63 is that kind of SUV. It etches itself in memory. And those memories rock.

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• Michael Mitchell makes thousands of dollars a month on YouTube from posting videos about sneakers.
• Mitchell is part of a growing movement of "shoetubers," or YouTube influencers who make money from videos about reselling sneakers.
• He's had brand partnerships with companies like Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Foot Locker, and Champs and also makes money through Google's AdSense program.
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Reselling sneakers can be profitable on its own. But there's a whole wave of sneakerheads who have figured out how to use YouTube to make even more.

Michael Mitchell is one of these so-called "shoetubers." The 25-year-old says he earns between $1,200 and $10,000 a month from his videos, which largely focus on sneaker culture and the art of reselling. He is one of many influencers capitalizing on a platform that rewards content creators monetarily for amassing views on their videos. 

Mitchell didn't plan to be a shoetuber. He used to resell sneakers through his business, called A Sneaker Life, which involved him buying sneakers early, reviewing them for his audience on Instagram, and reselling them. At the same time, Mitchell was reselling sneakers to be able to afford the collection of shoes that he was amassing himself.

In his first year of college at Johnson & Wales University in 2014, Mitchell says he pulled in around $150,000 in sales from reselling shoes. 

"The whole YouTube aspect of it was just on the side," said Mitchell, who initially used the platform to promote his business. "And then YouTube just kind of took off."

As Mitchell grew his business, the rise in the sneaker resale market, which a Cowen & Co. analysis estimated could be worth $6 billion by 2025, became fodder for its growth. Eventually the sneakerhead's YouTube career skyrocketed when he made a video in 2015 that outlined how to afford being a sneakerhead. The video went viral and brought in a wave of new subscribers, fans, and customers.

Mitchell currently has 513,000 subscribers on his "A Sneaker Life" channel and 154,000 subscribers on his personal YouTube channel about his life.

Here's how Mitchell went from a sneaker reseller to a shoetuber making thousands of dollars a month.

SEE ALSO: A sneakerhead who made nearly $7 million in sales last year reveals his secrets to tapping into the exploding multibillion-dollar resale market

Mitchell says he started at the right time

When Mitchell first started shoetubing in 2013, he said there were maybe 100 sneaker videos posted on YouTube a month. He said that having 10,000 subscribers was considered an accomplishment back then.

"And now you have typically like 20,000 to 100,000 videos every month because everybody wants to do it," Mitchell said, explaining how much the shoetuber world has changed through the years.

His subscriber count skyrocketed after he posted a video about how to become a sneakerhead in 2015

"It just got big where I was making enough YouTube revenue where I kind of just stopped reselling sneakers and became more of just a collector," Mitchell said.

Mitchell currently has 513,000 subscribers on his "A Sneaker Life" channel and 154,000 subscribers on his personal YouTube channel about his life.

Now he makes thousands of dollars a month through YouTube

Google's AdSense program is responsible for part of how YouTubers make money. The amount that a YouTube creator earns per 1,000 views is called the clicks per minute (CPM) rate, which Mitchell says determines a lot of his revenue and tends to fluctuate video to video.

Mitchell says he now makes between $1,200 and $10,000 a month through YouTube thanks to a partnership with Complex Media and Google's AdSense program.

Most of his money comes from brand deals

"Brand deals are huge for, I would say, shoetubers and just YouTubers in general," said Mitchell, who estimated that 80% of his income comes from brand deals with companies like Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Foot Locker, Champs, and resale marketplaces like StockX and Goat. 

Mitchell says brands essentially buy an ad placement through a deal with a YouTuber. These deals put Mitchell in the position of having part of his content determined for him by his sponsors and were a part of the reason Mitchell decided to transition from reseller to shoetuber.

Additionally, he said, "I didn't really want to be known as a sneaker reseller, more so just, I guess — as cringey as it is to say — an influencer."

For budding shoetubers and resellers, Mitchell offers words of wisdom

"My biggest advice would be to really study the market and know what you're doing before thinking, 'Oh, this is just a great idea and anyone can do it,'" he said, suggesting that would-be resellers get in the habit of reading sneaker blogs and reguarly checking websites like StockX. 

"It takes a lot more work than people think," he added.