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Going Cashless: My Journey Into the Future

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Supported by Business Day Going Cashless: My Journey Into the Future Photo Credit Michael Waraksa I didn’t mean to do it. It just sort of happened. But what began with an empty wallet on New Year’s Day has evolved into something akin to a lifestyle change.
I’ve gone cashless.
For the first three months of the year, I have hardly touched paper money or metal coins. There are no grimy bills folded alongside my driver’s license. No quarters or pennies jangling in my pocket.
Instead, I’ve relied almost exclusively on credit cards, Apple Pay, online orders and the occasional generosity of an unsuspecting friend.
By essentially renouncing physical currency, I’ve slipped a little further into the future. Already, some technologically advanced nations — South Korea, Sweden — have all but done away with cash. Yet in the United States, I remain an outlier. In a study last year by ING, the vast majority of respondents from the United State said they would never go completely cashless.
Adver..

Silicon Valley Warms to Trump After a Chilly Start

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Silicon Valley Warms to Trump After a Chilly Start Photo Tech companies have slowly grown more comfortable with President Trump, who was initially a target of Silicon Valley criticism. Chief executives including Apple’s Tim Cook, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos met with the president in June. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times SAN FRANCISCO — Two days after Donald J. Trump won the 2016 election, executives at Google consoled their employees in an all-staff meeting broadcast around the world.
“There is a lot of fear within Google,” said Sundar Pichai, the company’s chief executive, according to a video of the meeting viewed by The New York Times. When asked by an employee if there was any silver lining to Mr. Trump’s election, the Google co-founder Sergey Brin said, “Boy, that’s a really tough one right now.” Ruth Porat, the finance chief, said Mr. Trump’s victory felt “like a ton of bricks dropped on my chest.” Then she instructed members of the audience to hug..

The New Old Age: Many Americans Try Retirement, Then Change Their Minds

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Supported by Health Many Americans Try Retirement, Then Change Their Minds Photo Sue Ellen King returned to work at UF Health in Jacksonville, Fla., after retiring in 2015. Credit Charlotte Kesl for The New York Times Sue Ellen King had circled her retirement date on the calendar: March 8, 2015.
She had worked as a critical care nurse and nursing educator at University of Florida Health (UF Health) in Jacksonville, Fla., for 38 years; co-workers joked that she was there when the hospital’s foundation was laid, which happened to be true. So the send-offs went on for days — parties in the units where she had worked, a dinner in her honor, gifts including a framed photo signed by colleagues.
Ms. King felt ready. She’d turned 66, her full Social Security retirement age. She’d invested fully in the hospital’s 401(k) plan and consulted with a financial adviser. She and her husband, who had already retired, had paid off the mortgage on their three-bedroom ranch. They took a week’s trip t..

Trump Heralds a New Trade Deal, Then Says He Might Delay It

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Supported by Politics Trump Heralds a New Trade Deal, Then Says He Might Delay It Photo “We’ll probably hold that deal up for a little while,” President Trump said Thursday of a new South Korea trade agreement, “see how it all plays out.” Credit Tom Brenner/The New York Times RICHFIELD, Ohio — President Trump heralded a new trade agreement with South Korea at his first public appearance in nearly a week on Thursday, but then immediately suggested that he might delay finalizing it while negotiating with North Korea over its nuclear program.
“I may hold it up until after a deal is made with North Korea,” Mr. Trump said, immediately after celebrating the new agreement. “Does everybody understand that? You know why, right? You know why? Because it’s a very strong card.”
He added, “We’ll probably hold that deal up for a little while, see how it all plays out.”
It was unclear what leverage Mr. Trump believed he could gain in the North Korea talks by delaying the deal with the South. The..