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The five teens who make up The Breakfast Club struck a major chord with its Gen X audience, earning the film over $50 million on a $1 million budget when it was released. John Hughes created characters who felt like real teenagersand he cast five young actors who did a bang-up job portraying these realistic kids with emotion, dignity, and humor. It felt like we were watching real people overcome their prejudices together. Which raises an interesting question: if these were real people, what might they be up to 40 years after that fateful day in detention? Lets imagine what retirement might look like for the former members of the Shermer High School Breakfast Club: Brian (portrayed by Anthony Michael Hall): Trying to rebuild his nest egg for the third time After attending Stanford for a degree in Mathematics, Brian has had a successful and lucrative career as a data analyst. Unfortunately, just like when he was a teenager who thought it was a good idea to take shop to boost his GPA, Brian has continued to try to find shortcuts to reach his financial goals. It started in the late 1990s, when an old college friend who had become a dotcom millionaire invited him to invest in Pets.com, which was guaranteed to take off. Brian talked his wife Alanis into cashing out their retirement accounts, arguing that the 10% penalty theyd pay for accessing money from their IRAs and 401(k) plans would be more than offset by the surefire gains theyd earn. Alanis was not happy when they had to pay the penalty and lost everything. By 2008, Brian and Alanis had partially regained their financial footingmostly because Brian was no longer in charge of family investing decisionsbut the recession hit just as their kids were starting college. Brian and Alanis took distributions from their IRAs to help pay for their kids tuition because they could avoid paying the 10% early withdrawal penalty. The IRS allows you to take a penalty-free withdrawal from your IRA but not from your 401(k) for qualified higher education expenses. Though Brian and Alanis avoided the penalty, their retirement account balances were already diminished because of the recession, so they locked in their losses by taking those distributions. By 2021, with their retirement accounts finally looking pretty solid again, Brian became enamored with NFTs. Without telling Alanis, Brian liberated a decent chunk of his retirement accounts (and again paid the 10% early withdrawal penalty because he was six years away from the minimum withdrawal age of 59) and bought himself some bored apes. He congratulated himself for about a year on making a great financial decisionuntil the NFT bubble burst. Now Brian is not sure whether hes more worried about the state of his nest egg or his marriage when he finally comes clean to Alanis. Andrew (Emilio Estevez): Quietly amassing several million dollars Andrew settled down back in Shermer after attending the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on a partial wrestling scholarship. He took a job selling insurance and he attends every Shermer High School reunion. What very few people know about Andrew is that his background as an athlete taught him how to be an effective investor. Specifically, he learned that your habits make you who you are. So Andrew maxed out his retirement contributions starting with his very first paycheck. Once sales commissions and bonuses started coming in, Andrew made sure that 50% of each one went toward retirement, too. Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson and Emilio Estevez, on-set of the Film, “The Breakfast Club”, 1984. [Photo: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images] But Andrew didnt just settle for contributing to his retirement accounts. He also wanted to optimize his performance, just like he had as an athlete. In the mid-1990s, Andrew learned all he could by watching CNBC and trying to read The Wall Street Journal. Eventually, he went to see Larry Lester, his old bullying victim, who had become a financial planner in Chicago. Despite Larrys understandable wariness, he helped Andrew craft an investment strategy to fit his goals, temperament, risk tolerance, and timeline. By following Larrys plan, Andrew has built a portfolio worth nearly $4 million. He has no immediate plans to retire, since hes only 57, and part of him would love to see if he can get his portfolio up to $5 million. He buys Larry a beer every time he sees him. Allison (Ally Sheedy): Worrying about Social Security After the events of The Breakfast Club, Allison put together a portfolio and received a scholarship for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Once she received her BFA, Allison spent a number of years living with friends, making art, and only working sporadically. She and her friends lived hand-to-mouth and worked for cash under the table when they needed to pay rent. Her artwork was relatively successful, and she had several shows in Chicago galleries, but money was never a priority. When Allison was in her late 30s, her mother became ill. Despite their long estrangement, Allison went back to Shermer to take care of her mother and help her apply for Social Security benefits. Forced to take a retail job while living at home, Allison started thinking about her own future for the first time as she navigated the Social Security system for her mother. Allison learned that Social Security retirement benefits are based on your 35 highest-earning years in your career and if you have less than 35 years of work history, the calculation uses zeros for the nonearning years to create the average. At the age of 39, Allison realized she didnt have any work history, at least according to the Social Security Administration. She also hadnt put any money away for retirement. At that point, Allison got a steady job as a graphic designer. She contributes to a 401(k) when she remembers, but shes worried about the fact her work history starts at age 40. She knows shes going to have a tiny Social Security benefit, but she tries not to think about it too much. She still paints when she has time. She hopes she might sell a piece for a huge payday someday. Claire (Molly Ringwald): Taking distributions from an inherited IRA After finishing college, Claire moved to Chicago and set some firm boundaries with her manipulative parentsbut they continued to remind her that they held the purse strings. Eventually, Claire decided to make her own way without her parents money or influence. Her father passed away earlier this year, which is when Claire learned that she was the beneficiary of his IRA, which has a balance of over $2 million. In addition to reigniting her mothers resentment of her, the inheritance has also been logistically tricky for Claire. Claire inherited the IRA after the SECURE Act, which means she must empty it within 10 years of her fathers death. She could take the entire balance as a lump sum, but since this is a traditional IRA, it would be considered taxable income. The other option is to take distributions every year for 10 yearsbut first Claire would need to determine if her father had already been taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) before he died, in which case she would have to take the RMD her father owed this year if he hadnt yet satisfied it. No matter what, her taxable income is likely to go up by at least $200,000 per year for the next 10 years. Claire, who still keeps in touch with John Bender, made the mistake of complaining about this situation the last time she talked to him. He said, Boo hoo! Queenie has too much money. Bender (Judd Nelson): Intending to retire on the proceeds of his dispensary Despite his determination to prove the malicious Breakfast Club villain Mr. Vernon wrong, John Bender struggled to graduate from Shermer High School. With nowhere to go after graduation, Bender got a job at the local bowling alley. The job stuckdespite his best effortsbecause the owner knew what Bender Sr. was like and didnt hold Johns behavior against him. Over time, Bender learned marketing, accounting, and inventory from the owner of the bowling alley, and he realized he understood some aspects of running a successful business better than his boss. He just needed a business that he cared about more than bowling. In the 2010s, Bender paid close attention to the states legalizing marijuana. He started putting together a business plan well in advance of Illinois decriminalizing weed in 2019 and was ready to open a dispensary in Shermer almost as soon as the law passed. It turned a profit its first year and continues to do excellent business. Although it took until he was in his early 50s, Bender finally found work he loves. Like many other Gen Xers, Benders entrepreneurial endeavor will help fund his retirement in Latitude Margaritaville, where he hopes to devote himself full time to pickleball. Mr. Vernon (Paul Gleason): Retired in 1994 on his teachers pension Nobody hated breakfast club detention more than vice-principal Richard Vernon, who no doubt would have taken early retirement as soon as he was eligible. The Illinois teacher pension system (currently) provides full retirement benefits as of age 67 after at least 10 years of service, but allows educators to retire as early as age 55 with reduced benefits. The full benefit amount is equal to 2.2% of the teachers highest average salary during their final 10 years, multiplied by the educators total years of service. We know that Vernon earned $31,000 per year in 1984 (as he brags to Bender). Assuming a 4% pay increase per year, his final salary in 1994 would have been approximately $45,700. From there, we can calculate his highest average salary for his final 10 years of teaching as approximately $40,118. If Vernon started teaching at age 22, his full pension would be equal to: 2.2% of ($40,118 x 33 years) = $29,126 per year Of course, by taking his pension 12 years early, Mr. Vernon permanently reduced his benefit, so he has to live on significantly less than $29,126 per year. Somehow, hes decided its Benders fault. Dont you . . . forget about retirement Your retirement requires more than seeing things in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. When planning for retirement, remember these lessons: A brain may make terrible financial decisions. An athlete may understand the importance of habit and incremental improvements. A basketcase may not always recognize when freedom becomes constricting. A princess may feel burdened by the rules of wealth. And a criminal may live long enough to become respected.
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On Monday, Apple will release the iPhones next operating system, iOS 26, to the general public. The new operating system features the most radical redesign of the iPhones software in over a decade. Gone are iOSs flat, minimalist interface elements, replaced by a new transparent design language called Liquid Glass. But iOS 26 is offering iPhones more than a facelift. The new operating system is also packed with new features, including more advanced AI tools, a revamped calling experience, an all-new Games app, and dozens of enhancements to major apps, including Maps, Photos, Messages, and more. If you plan on upgrading to iOS 26, however, there are a few steps you should take before installing the iPhones new operating system. Heres how to get your iPhone ready for iOS 26. Make sure your iPhone will run iOS 26 First, be sure your iPhone can actually run iOS 26. The great news is that the new OS supports a ton of older iPhone modelsmore than two dozen. The bad news is that if your iPhone was released before 2019, it wont be capable of running iOS 26. With the release of iOS 26, Apple is dropping support for three iPhone models that can currently run iOS 18: the iPhone XS, the iPhone XS Max, and the iPhone XR. All three models were released in 2018, and none will support iOS 26, likely because they dont possess the graphics or processing power to run the new Liquid Glass design adequately. Yet Apple has still managed to offer iOS 26 support on iPhones that first came out six years agoand every model since. Here are all 30 models of iPhone that can run iOS 26: iPhone 17 iPhone Air iPhone 17 Pro iPhone 17 Pro Max iPhone 16e iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhone 14 Plus iPhone 14 Pro iPhone 14 Pro Max iPhone 13 iPhone 13 mini iPhone 13 Pro iPhone 13 Pro Max iPhone 12 iPhone 12 mini iPhone 12 Pro iPhone 12 Pro Max iPhone 11 iPhone 11 Pro iPhone 11 Pro Max iPhone SE (3rd generation) iPhone SE (2nd generation) If you have any of these iPhones, youll be able to install iOS 26 onto them. However, note that some features, such as those powered by Apple Intelligence, will require more recent iPhone models, including the iPhone 15 Pro and above. Make sure your iPhone is already running the latest iOS When upgrading to a new OS, the installation processincluding carrying over all your data without a hitchtends to run more smoothly, some believe, if the iPhone you are upgrading is currently running the latest iOS. Whether this advantage is actually true is a matter of debate. Still, it doesnt hurt to ensure that your iPhone is running the latest operating system before upgrading to iOS 26. As of the time of this writing, the latest operating system for the iPhone is 18.6.2. To upgrade to the latest iOS (before iOS 26 is released), do the following on your iPhone: Open the Settings app. Tap General. Tap Software Update. Your iPhone will then check to make sure it is running the latest operating system, and if it is not, it will prompt you to upgrade by tapping the Update Now button. Free up your iPhones storage space Our iPhones often get cluttered with apps we dont use, games we dont play, and documents and photos we no longer need. All this leads to excess data on our phones, which takes up valuable storage. And when installing a major new operating system, the most critical thing you need for the installation process is enough storage space. Depending on which iPhone model you are upgrading, you may need 10GB or more of free storage space on your device. If you dont have it, then your iPhone wont be able to download the new OS’s installer files. Usually, the biggest storage hogs on iPhones are games and media files. If you need to free up a lot of storage space quickly, consider deleting any unnecessary types of this kind of data, with the caveat that you should always keep a backup of the files you will be deleting, so you can recover them later if needed. If you need help discovering what may be hogging the most space on your iPhone, you can do so by doing the following: Open the Settings app. Tap General. Tap iPhone Storage. From this screen, your iPhone will even recommend which files and apps may be able to be deleted, allowing you to free up storage space. Back up your iPhone There is one more crucial thing you should do before upgrading your iPhone to iOS 26: back up your device. By backing up your iPhone first, youll ensure that you have a copy of your iPhone data in the rare instance that the iOS 26 installation process goes horribly wrong and you lose all your data. Apple allows you to back up your iPhone through several methods, including creating a backup on your Mac or PC. However, the easiest way to back up your iPhone is to use the iCloud Backup feature. iCloud Backup stores your iPhone data in the cloud, where Apple keeps it safe. You can use this data to restore an older iPhoneor a brand new onewith all your data. To back up your iPhone using iCloud Backup before installing iOS 26, do the following: Open the Settings app. Tap your Apple Account ID. Tap iCloud. Tap iCloud Backup. Tap Back Up Now. You can view Apples instructions for all available iPhone backup options here. Apple will make iOS 26 available to the general public on Monday, September 15.
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E-Commerce
For over two decades, businesses have chased the elusive goal of improving employee engagement, yet the results have been lackluster. Gallup data shows U.S. engagement languishing at 31%, virtually unchanged since their landmark 2013 study. Annual or semiannual surveys conducted as perfunctory exercises fail to capture the fast-changing dynamics of todays workplace. Their delayed resultsoften taking months to reach managersrender them largely unactionable, leaving employee concerns unaddressed. Moreover, few leaders in organizations, including line managers who most directly influence engagement, have ever been held accountable for improving their leadership effectiveness and team engagement. As a result, employees, perceive their employers efforts as insincere, grow jaded, frustrated, and cynical, paradoxically becoming even less engaged. Instead of using outdated engagement surveys, organizations should use pulse-surveysshort, frequently administered questionnairesto gauge how employees are feeling, and then administer fixes to improve well-being. In my new book, The Power of Employee Well-Being: Move Beyond Engagement to Build Flourishing Teams, I posit that employee well-being drives thriving workplaces. Emerging research shows employee well-being has a profound influence over productivity, retention, and true workplace vitality. And, as the adage goes, you dont know what isnt measured. Pulse Surveys: A Smarter Approach Pulse surveys are concisetypically 15 questions employees can complete in minutesthat capture employee sentiment in real time, enabling workplace managers and companies to swiftly respond. Phil Willburn, vice president of People Analytics, Insights, & Experiences at Workday, an HR technology company specializing in workforce analytics, so strongly believes in their data-driven impact, his company has pulsed its own employees weekly for over seven years. In 2022, it’s pulse surveys identified workload issues during a hybrid work transition, leading to policy adjustments that reduced stress by 15% and enhanced team belonging. Bobby Melloy, regional director of People Science at Culture Amp, an HR technology company focused on employee experience, emphasizes the pulse survey’s adaptability: As the rate of change increases, the importance of frequent pulsing grows. Culture Amps client Canva used monthly pulses in 2023 to improve collaboration during rapid growth, boosting employee commitment by 18%. Designing Effective Pulse Surveys Strategic design is critical for pulse surveys to enhance well-being, and to meaningfully inform leadership decision-making. Melloy of Culture Amp advises, Pulse survey items should be dynamic, measuring things that will change over time, such as, ‘Do I feel a sense of belonging on my team?’ or ‘Does my manager show appreciation for my work?'” Questions about meaningful work are also vital. Willburn of Workday highlights his favorite: Is the work I do is meaningful to me? He explains, you can overcome so much distraction or pressure workload if you really believe in your work. Both Willburn and Melloy agree, employing a five-point scaleStrongly Agree to Strongly Disagreeis best for pulse surveys. Its intuitive, familiar design minimizes fatigue, ensures nuanced feedback, and supports frequent pulsing. Finally, surveys should be concise and conducted weekly, monthly, or quarterly to balance actionability with trust. Melloy cautions, survey only as often as you can act on that data . . . you dont want to sacrifice participation rates by getting people to become cynical about your pulses. Driving Accountability and Trust Once data is collected, managers should receive the feedback and respond by holding team discussions and creating actionable plans to address concerns like morale or stress. Melloy emphasizes: Unaddressed feedback breeds distrust. Without follow-through, pulsing risks eroding the psychological contract with employees. Senior leaders should also monitor all survey scores to swiftly identify managers who prioritize performance over well-being. Managers with lower scores should receive coaching. A Call to Action Pulse surveys empower leaders to make transformative decisions and prioritize employee well-being. Phil Willburn told me that Workdays weekly pulses uncovered collaboration gaps during a critical global product launch, prompting leadership to form cross-functional task forces. The informed intervention led to a 20% increase in project delivery performance. Bobby Melloy highlighted a client whose pulse data revealed that some employees felt highly unsupported by their managers. This led to the firm launching targeted coaching programs that remedied the friction. These vivid examples highlight how pulse surveys provide real-time employee insights, and empower leaders to act swiftly, build resilient cultures, and create workplaces that inspire loyalty and attract top talent. Pulse surveys also drive well-being by empowering employee voices, ensuring people work for supportive and effective managers, feel connected to their teamand have all the support they need to do their jobs. Phil Willburn said it best: Pulse surveys give leaders the pulse of their people, turning challenges into opportunities for support.
Category:
E-Commerce
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