Would you believe...

When you think of a secret agent, a number of things might come to mind. Dashing. Debonair. Intelligent. As for Maxwell Smart? Let’s just say he missed it by that much.

The consequences of missing something—even by that much—can sometimes be graver than others. A new study suggests that people tend to judge work more harshly when a deadline has been missed.

Careful there, Todd ;)

This week’s Stake Trivia Wednesdays is sure to get warm and fuzzy—it’s our special Holiday Edition!

As always, we’ve got great questions, great people and great prizes. Register now and stay off that naughty list 😉 

This is our final trivia night for the season, but don’t fret, there’s plenty to be excited about! This week marks the return of Twelve Days of Giving. Every weekday from Dec 5-20, we’ll be giving away a $100 Amazon card to a lucky subscriber. Be sure to open Stake Your Day every morning to get in on the giving! 🎁 

How to Retire: 20 Lessons for a Happy, Successful and Wealthy Retirement was published by Christine Benz, director of personal finance and retirement planning at Morningstar, in an effort to help retirees and near-retirees do, well, the things described in the title.

Among those lessons is whether or not homeowners close to or in retirement should pay off their mortgage. Benz interviews dozens of experts in the book in search of answers to complex questions like this one, and the long and short of it is there’s no formulaic answer.

For example, if you’re interested in moving/downsizing or perhaps buying property in the sunbelt, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to continuing paying your mortgage when you could extract the equity you already have.

According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, homeowners over 65 in the United States have a median equity of $250,000, and a growing number are using it.

“We are seeing more all-cash buyers,” said Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, alluding to those who sell their home in retirement to buy elsewhere with cash.

There are plenty of other options when it comes to mortgages in retirement, which you can read about here.

Life expectancy has risen considerably over the last century, due in large part to advances in medicine, nutrition, sanitation, and general public health. But it’s important to note the difference between lifespan and healthspan.

For example, the number of people living over the age of 85 is expected to triple by 2050, but a great many will be living longer because modern medicine is able to keep them alive without necessarily giving them a clean bill of health.

There are countless chronic conditions that often manifest in the elderly, but chronic pain in muscles, joints, bones, etc. could be staved off or avoided entirely if more adopted a regularly active lifestyle, including efforts to maintain muscle mass and strength.

On top of maintaining a healthy posture and avoiding chronic pain, muscle function is partly responsible for resting metabolism, which is important for a wide variety of health reasons. The rate at which one metabolizes while resting can help predict the level and intensity of care they may need (or not need) in times of critical illness.

Muscle mass starts to deteriorate at a rate of 1% a year around the time we turn 40, and should be met with a concerted effort to regularly exercise and maintain the mass and healthy functioning of the body’s muscular system.

Michael Jordan transitioned to professional baseball in 1994 during his short-lived retirement from the NBA, and after his quick stint in baseball’s minor leagues, he returned to the Chicago Bulls to casually win three more NBA championships.

Because his baseball career was so quick, he didn’t go through many shoes. Experts believe there are only six pairs of Air Jordan IX cleats in existence, and one of those pairs is up at the Infinite Auctions Winter Auction this month.

The pair was authenticated by Real Game Used, which used a special AI software to photo-match the shoes to MJ himself playing for the Chicago White Sox’ Arizona Fall League affiliate, the Scottsdale Scorpions.

“These Air Jordan IX cleats are more than just a piece of game-used memorabilia; they’re a crossover collectible that appeals to both sneakerheads and sports historians alike,” said Marshall Perkins, CEO of Infinite Auctions. “With their photo-match authentication tying them to specific games during Jordan’s time with the Scottsdale Scorpions, this pair is truly one-of-a-kind.”

Maxwell Smart may have been a goof, but the man his character was inspired by sure was suave 😏 

Throughout the James Bond film franchise, 007 has encountered quite a few characters with peculiar names. Do you remember them? Find out with today’s trivia ;)

Have a great day ahead Staker!

Trivia courtesy of funtrivia.com. Today’s issue written by Michael Cowan, Joey Cowan, and Maureen Norman.