“Moneyminding” can deliver a payoff. Empower research finds Americans now spend nearly 4 hours a day thinking about money.

People are checking in, and in. Nearly one-fifth (17%) scan their financial accounts, including credit cards and investments, multiple times per day, and a quarter (24%) look at bank balances daily. Keeping a close eye is more common among younger generations. For many, it leads to action.

Some 45% say these financial thoughts support long-term financial goals, while 35% are motivated to manage everyday money matters. One in five report improving credit scores or paying off debt as a result.

— The Editors 

🏡Keep scrolling: Zillow surfing is surging.* The real estate platform’s stock has jumped 60% over the past year, powered by 230 million unique monthly visitors. Over a third of people (34%) have housing costs on the mind, according to a new Empower study.

💸Earn and spend: Microsoft has joined* Nvidia in reaching a $4 trillion market cap, buoyed by 18% revenue growth — its fastest in three years. Rising tech company valuations reflect heavy investment in AI chips, servers, and data centers, with spending projected to hit $2.9 trillion* over the next three years.

🧾Tax tip: A new tax break allows individuals to exclude up to $25,000 in cash tips from federal income taxes between 2025 and 2028. The benefit applies to earners making up to $150,000 ($300,000 for joint filers). It will impact roughly 4 million workers in hospitality, personal care, and food service.

💲GDP watch: U.S. gross domestic product rose 3%* in Q2 2025, adjusted for inflation. This follows growth for the first half of the year that averaged 1.25% — a point behind 2024’s pace.

Egg prices may be unpredictable, but cage-free production is on a steady climb. The U.S. now counts 130 million* cage-free hens, making up nearly 46% of the nation’s flock. That’s nearly five times more than in 2012, when it was less than 10%.

The average American is expected to eat 271* eggs this year, and as of August 8, a dozen cage-free, brown eggs cost $3.81* on average.

Time to learn

Class is in session for ChatGPT. OpenAI’s* new "study mode" swaps quick answers for step-by-step guidance, encouraging users to solve problems. Alongside, the release of GPT-5 is rolling out to users from free to pro tiers.

OpenAI reports more than 700 million weekly active* users and over 5 million paying business subscribers. Together, they generate more than 2.5 billion* messages per day. Those numbers follow a recent $8.3 billion capital boost from investors. 

Snack-sized celebration

How far would someone go for birthday perks? One Los Angeles man racked up 40 freebies in a single day, fueled by a spreadsheet and a free* quad-shot from Starbucks. The tour bagged him everything from wings and cheesecake to ice cream and soft pretzels.

It’s a fun way to pocket savings in a city where lunch averages $13.45 and coffee costs $5.07 — second only to New York among six major metros, according to Empower findings.

Language upgrade

Duolingo, a language-learning platform, saw daily active users jump 40%* to 47.7 million and paid subscribers rise 37% to 10.9 million in Q2 2025 from a year earlier. Subscriptions now bring in the lion’s share of total revenue (though the Duolingo owl might claim otherwise), generating $210.7 million of the quarter’s $252.3 million. The app is free, but premium plans range from about $96* to $168 annually.

In case you missed it — read on.

• How net worth stacks up by age across the U.S.

• Where retirement dollars may stretch furthest in 2025

• Money meets lifestyle: Sports tourism is on a $1.3 trillion trip