We’ve quietly entered a new phase of phone fraud where criminals don’t need thousands of calls anymore. They just need your voice.

In April 2025, American’s received 5 billion robocalls a month. By October, that dropped 24%.

Sounds like progress?

Until you look closer…

Although calls were down thanks to carriers adding auto-blocking features, there are now new, sophisticated calls sneaking through.

Welcome to the era of Voice Cloning.

AI can now copy a voice from just a few seconds of audio. It could be a voicemail, a TikTok, or a podcast clip and now that over 50% of adults post voice notes publicly every week, it’s never been easier to clone a voice.

One scammer can spin up thousands of “personalized” calls in minutes…that sound just like someone you trust.

In fact, a global study found 70% of people can’t tell a cloned voice from a real one.

The most effective scam right now is the “crisis call” where a fake child, grandchild or spouse calls claiming they’re in trouble and need money right now.

It works because cloned voices bypass the only real defense system our brain has: skepticism.

And it get’s even worse when we look at the numbers.

Americans lost $12.5 billion to fraud last year. Phone scams delivered the biggest hit, with a median loss of $1,500 per victim.

Which is more than double the losses from email scams.

Business and corporations aren’t immune either. Deepfaked CEO voices have caused multi-million-dollar wire transfers to be sent out and never seen again.

Right now, regulators are scrambling to fix this issue:

But, as with all things these days, the tech is moving faster than the rules.

So, your behavior is now the last layer of security for your finances.

No matter how real a call sounds, hang up and call back on a known number and never make a decision based on the voice alone.

The U.S. pulled the biggest trade-policy handbrake in modern history and the ripple effects are hitting every company, every supply chain, and eventually…every consumer.

In 2025, the administration went full “America first” on trade.

Critics are focused on the projected: 8% GDP hit, 7% lower wages, and a $1,200 tax increase per US household…

But, despite those projections, the strategy seems to be working.

Companies like Hyundai Steel, Posco, and Emirates Global Aluminum have all announced U.S. factories. And, semiconductor and AI-related investment is projected to top $250 billion this year alone.

However, the waves in the market are real and CEO confidence has taken a nose-dive due to the unknowns of the tariff rollout, with 89% now citing tariffs and geopolitics as a top risks.

Due to the unknowns, companies have paused reshoring plans, not because tariffs aren’t impacting their bottomline, but because they’re waiting to get a real understanding of the new rules of the game.

The era of “Manufacture in China, Ship to America” is over.

But, so is the era of “cheap costs above all else”.

And now, resilience is the new operating system.

The Trump administration even floated the idea of a “tariff dividend check”. Which would be a $2,000 payment funded directly from the almost $200 billion in expected tariff revenue.

Whether Congress actually approves it is unclear, but the message is obvious: tariffs don’t solely exist to raise costs, they’re a new revenue source for the government that have the potential to make their way back into your pocket.

We’ll be covering the $2,000 dividend payment in more detail as we get more information.

Washington’s latest idea to “solve” the housing affordability crisis is simple: if people can’t afford homes over 30 years…just stretch the debt to 50 years.

President Trump and FHFA Director Bill Pulte have floated the new 50-year mortgage as a way to bring monthly payments down and make homeownership “affordable” again.

On paper, it sounds reasonable.

In reality, it could be one of the worst debt traps on the market.

For a median-priced home (~$400k), analysts estimate the monthly savings will be anywhere from $72-225 when comparing a 50-year mortgage to a 30-year.

But, over the life of the loan, you will pay nearly double in interest.

Which means the banks loaning you that money stand to make over 200% of the home’s price in interest alone.

And when you look at the rate you build equity in the home, it gets even worse.

After 20 years on a 30-year mortgage, you’ll own about 46% of the equity in your home.

If you had a 50-year mortgage…you only own 11% after 20 years.

So, you’re basically just a long-term renter who’s responsible for all the repairs and maintenance of the home, relying entirely on an endless appreciation in your home’s value to make the math work.

But, it doesn’t stop there…when you layer on the demographics of homeownership it get’s even worse.

The median first-time buyer is about 40 years old in 2025. On a 50-year term, they won’t own their house outright until they are 90 years old.

90!!!

That completely destroys the original purpose of the 30-year mortgage:

With a 50-year mortgage, homeownership isn’t a ladder into wealth it’s now a lifetime buy now, pay later plan.

The biggest problem with this whole plan is that it’s a demand-side hack in a supply-side crisis.

What does that mean?

If you give people the ability to borrow more over longer timelines, without building more homes, prices won’t go down.

They go UP.

The tiny monthly “savings” on a 50-year mortgage will get swallowed by higher home prices, and you’re left with a generation of buyers holding 50-year debt and almost no equity.

If you need half a century to afford a house.

The problem isn’t the amortization schedule.

It’s the system.