Soup's on

In the winters of yesteryear your folks probably kept cough drops handy. The only problem? No kid wants to taste medicine. If you were lucky though, you got Luden’s—the only medicated cough drop with a great tasting taste.

However great cough drops taste, we sometimes crave chicken noodle soup when we’re sick. It may not provide the same relief as medicated cough drops, but Progresso is launching a soup-flavoured hard candy!

That’s some interesting candy, man ;)

A new rule was quietly implemented in California in June that allow the state’s insurers to raise premiums on its customers to recoup losses incurred from paying out other customers making a claim.

This practice was previously banned, but one rule change announced in June by California State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara allows the industry to raise premiums across the board in order to make up for losses caused by massive events like the wildfires which left entire Los Angeles County neighbourhoods in ashes over the last two weeks.

This rule was implemented in tandem with the establishment of California FAIR, the “insurer of last resort” that will be levying assessments in the billions to cover the claims being settled by private insurers themselves.

In other words, California FAIR will raise costs on private insurers, and private insurers will in turn raise costs on consumers to recoup their own losses.

In spirit, FAIR was supposed to alleviate pressure on both consumers and insurers. According to consumer advocates, the program and the new rule in practice are combining to simply raise costs on Californian residents, including those in low-risk areas and non-fire zones.

On the other hand, Lara says a macro risk assessment of California’s fire exposure and the way the state’s insurance industry has been repositioned leave few options but to raise premiums.

According to a new report published by GOBankingRates, you now need $1 million in savings to retire comfortably in 15 American states.

The cheapest state to retire comfortably in is West Virginia, where the report estimates you’ll need $712,913 in savings to accommodate an annual budget of $50,954 during retirement. Those numbers rise to $2.2 million and $110,921, respectively, in the country’s most expensive state to retire, Hawaii.

Some research has shown the average amount required in the United States today is around $1.2 million, with some even going as high as $1.46 million.

However, plenty are doing just fine with considerably less, according to an AARP report intended to reassure near-retirees that the seven figure estimates don’t necessarily reflect reality.

“I think it’s easy to explain concepts by using that number, and it’s more realistic than using $100,000 or $10 million,” said Colin Exelby, a certified financial planner in Towson, Maryland, in the report. “But other than that, I don’t think it’s really helpful and can probably cause anxiety and stress if you’re not hitting that number.”

You can find the list of 15 states here that supposedly require over $1 million to retire in, along with several that don’t, including—perhaps surprisingly—Florida.

Conventional wisdom says it’s important to sweat at least once a day to maintain one’s health and longevity. Federal guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week.

A new study suggests those who squeeze a week’s worth of exercise into one or two days—commonly referred to as weekend warriors—derive the same health benefits as those who spread their activity throughout the week.

The study was led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, who analyzed data from 90,000 people at the U.K. Biobank. Each person was categorized as either a weekend warrior, regular, or inactive, and the researchers determined the first two were equally effective in reducing the risk of cardiovascular and neurological disease.

“Because there appears to be similar benefits for weekend warrior versus regular activity, it may be the total volume of activity, rather than the pattern, that matters most,” the study’s co-senior author, Dr. Shaan Khurshid, said in a news release.

That said, nobody is recommending staying totally inactive for the majority of the week based on an intention to go hard on the weekend.

“Even if your time is very limited, I would never tell an athlete to go into a workout cold,” says Mandy Gallagher, a level-one USA Cycling coach based in Durham, North Carolina. “Do something active during the week, even if it’s just for ten minutes a day.”

Saturday marked 50 years to the day that Led Zeppelin launched their turbulent 1975 North American tour, the beginning of which was plagued by illness and injury.

After years of topping charts and selling out stadiums, the band fell on hard times in the form of Jimmy Page’s broken left ring finger and Robert Plant’s chest cold that would eventually turn into the flu.

Perhaps making matters worse was the fact that they invited the press to join them on their private jet throughout the tour as an olive branch for the years-long rocky relationship the two parties had with one another. This left the band vulnerable to further criticism given the inability of its two leaders to perform at the level they’d come to be known for.

The first North American gig took place on Jan. 18, 1975, during which the band had to cut both Dazed and Confused and Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You. The Bloomington, Minnesota crowd outright booed when the show concluded after 135 minutes, rather than the three hours they were expecting.

On the plus-side, the show also marked the live debut of When The Levee Breaks and the global debut of the Physical Graffiti masterpiece, Kashmir.

Overall, the tour eventually hit its stride, poetically returning to form at the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, on Feb. 3. Page’s finger had finally healed, Dazed and Confused was re-introduced, and and a healthy Plant happily proclaimed, “no doubt about it…the tour has begun.”

We’re a little luckier than our pal Charlie Brown—we get mail all the time! Sure, it might be electronic but we’ll take it 🤣 Here’s a gem from last week…

Joan Cameron loved our story about expiration dates on over-the-counter medications. “I’ve had a bottle of low dose aspirin on my desk for a while and have tried several times to phone and find out what the expiry date is…it’s really bothersome that they don’t put best before dates on.”

You probably DJ your own playlists these days, but once upon a time it was your favorite jock who doled out the tunes 😏 

Today is National Disc Jockey Day, and that got us thinking about the likes of Dr. Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap. If you want to relive those WKRP in Cincinnati days and earn a shot at a $25 Amazon eGift Card while you’re at it, adjust your dial to today’s trivia ;)

Winner will be notified tomorrow afternoon. Keep an eye on your inbox!*

Have a great day ahead Staker!

Today’s issue written by Michael Cowan, Joey Cowan, and Maureen Norman.


*SEE FULL STAKE TRIVIA CONTEST RULES HERE.