How Coffee Snobs Make a Great Cup Anywhere—From the Office to the Top of a Mountain
Having made coffee her profession for 40 years, Rothgeb approaches the morning ritual pragmatically. 'If I'm going on a three-day trip, I might even grind all the coffee at home,' she said. 'Some nerds would freak out if they heard me say that.' Freshly ground beans are, among certain connoisseurs, nonnegotiable. But whatever your level of dedication, it's never been easier to brew a very good cup just about anywhere.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Eliminating capital gains on home sales would be a boon for older homeowners in high-cost states
President Trump recently said his administration was 'thinking about' removing capital gains taxes on home sales to help jump-start the sluggish housing market. The biggest beneficiaries of such a change will likely be longtime homeowners in the country's more expensive housing markets. Removing or increasing the capital gains limit — currently $250,000 for single homeowners or $500,000 for married couples — on home sales has been a longtime priority for the real estate industry, which argues that steep tax bills are keeping some homeowners who wish to relocate or downsize stuck in homes that no longer fit their needs. Read more: Capital gains in real estate: How much you'll pay when you sell your home Take the case of a homeowner in San Francisco, where home prices have more than tripled between 2000 and 2025 to a median price of about $1 million today. A homeowner who purchased in 2000 for $300,000 might have $700,000 of gains if they sell now. Depending on their tax filing status, between $200,000 and $450,000 of those gains could be taxable at rates between 15% and 20%. Under any scenario, their tax bill would be in the tens of thousands of dollars. Those owners are getting more attention in today's market because for-sale inventory is constrained in many parts of the country, pushing home prices to record highs. It's unclear exactly how much helping wealthier homeowners would enliven a sedate market. While it could unlock more inventory, some experts say it could worsen the affordability problem. Any changes to the capital gains limit would require congressional approval. Trump's comments came earlier this week in response to a question from Brian Glenn, a reporter for the conservative network Real America's Voice and boyfriend of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Georgia Republican recently introduced 'The No Tax on Home Sales Act' to eliminate the taxes. Sign up for the Mind Your Money weekly newsletter By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's 條款 and 私隱政策 Around 10% of homeowners nationally have enough equity to surpass the $500,000 limit for couples, according to the National Association of Realtors, which has advocated for reconsidering the caps. In states where home prices have risen rapidly and homes are more expensive, the share can be far higher. Alex Caswell, founder of Wealth Script Advisors in San Francisco, works primarily with clients in California and New York, many of whom have to consider capital gains taxes in their housing decisions. 'This will primarily affect people in affluent towns and those who have owned their homes for a long time,' Caswell said. 'We have experienced a significant price increase since the lows of 2008, so anyone who bought after that period stands to benefit significantly.' He thinks buying and selling activity could tick up in those states if the bill were to pass, but he worries the dynamics could also mean more older homeowners with lots of purchasing power would be competing with first-time homebuyers for smaller, cheaper homes. Read more: How to buy a house in today's market Though just a small percentage of home sales exceed the limit, the number has been growing in recent years thanks to unprecedented home price appreciation during the pandemic. In 2023, 7.9% of home sales triggered capital gains above $500,000, up from around 3% between 2017 and 2019, according to real estate data provider Cotality. In California, nearly 30% of home sales exceeded the $500,000 gains threshold in recent years, along with 24% in Hawaii and 22% in Washington, D.C. 'The current exclusion on $500,000 for a couple is totally inadequate, and that is a real problem,' said John Power, a financial planner at Power Plans in Walpole, Mass. In Massachusetts, 18% of home sales exceeded that cap in 2023. 'You don't have to be rich to have a $1 million home these days in much of the Northeast or Pacific Coast,' he said. Still, in 18 states tracked by Cotality, less than 5% of home sellers run up against the higher capital gains exceptions. No matter where they're located, homeowners who have been in their homes for decades and have had the longest time to build equity are most likely to be affected. The Budget Lab at Yale calculated that in 2022, the average homeowner above the exemption was nearly 65 years old, with a net worth of $5.7 million and a home valued at $1.4 million. While Trump and Taylor Greene have floated eliminating the tax altogether, other advocates have argued for raising the limits. The current caps have been in place since 1997, meaning they haven't kept up with inflation. If they were tied to inflation, they would be just over double current levels, at $506,000 for single filers or $1.13 million for married filers, according to an analysis from Laura Lynch, owner of the Tiny House Adviser in Abiquiu, N.M., previously worked in Florida, where she commonly ran into cases where clients were close to or over the exclusion limits. She said it could be particularly problematic in divorce cases, where one party might receive a home in the settlement and then be subject to the lower $250,000 cap for single filers. Today, she specializes in clients interested in downsizing and tiny home living. She counsels clients facing a big tax bill from a sale that it may be best to pay it and move on if moving to a smaller, cheaper home means they can avoid taking out high-interest home equity loans or lines of credit in the future. 'I advise people to be aware that the only fee-[free] and interest-free way to use home equity is to downsize,' Lynch said. 'Those living on small incomes in retirement are often in a low capital gains bracket, and even max capital gains is far less than ordinary income.' Claire Boston is a Senior Reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance. Sign up for the Mind Your Money newsletter
Washington Post
42 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Carolyn Hax: Ding! Letting work interrupt their vacation doesn't work for spouse
Adapted from an online discussion. Dear Carolyn: On vacation, I put up my OOO message and am truly unreachable to co-workers, but my husband checks his email and Teams several times a day and encourages his co-workers to text him to keep him updated. It feels like his work phone and laptop are always dinging. I have become resentful. Our jobs are similar, by the way, and nothing at his workplace is ever so urgent that he can't take care of it on the next business day. It's just a difference in the way we approach our days off. I find that it interferes with our quality time, but I'm not sure whether it's an overstep to request that he stop doing this. — OOO OOO: That last sentence is decent framing to start the conversation. Beats screaming on the beach. Or you can skip the whole philosophical-exploration stage and suggest pragmatic compromise. Start by acknowledging that you're each entitled to your preference — but there is also your shared vacation experience, which warrants respect as well. Right? (Presumably he nods, 'Right.') So you're hoping he'll agree to clearly defined space for each: individual time, and paired time. And in paired time, you'd like to be unplugged. That can be an agreed upon time of day, or number of days when you're on vacation. So, each of you can be plugged in (if you want to be) till noon Wednesday, then you're unplugged the rest of the week — or plugged in till noon daily, then off the rest of the day. Or whatever. You get the idea. Good luck, and I'll think do-not-disturbing thoughts. For OOO: I've been your husband, and I've been you, too. Here is some food for thought. A friend of mine once said it's not just that you need vacation from work — your co-workers need a vacation from you, too. It's a great opportunity to allow your co-workers and direct reports to shine, make decisions and operate independently. It also sets a terrible precedent that vacation is really just air-quotes 'vacation.' Unless it's about you, in which case your co-workers are taking real vacation, but you never leave because you're special. Aarrgghh. Bottom line — the co-workers probably find this inability to step away really annoying. — Thought-Feeder Thought-Feeder: Pointy points, but fair ones, thanks. Dear Carolyn: What do you do when your husband tells you he can't live with you anymore because of how badly you behaved with your in-laws during a recent visit? To be clear, it's nothing I did or said to them. I was upset with his treatment of me when his family was visiting. I have since moved out because he insisted he couldn't sleep in the same bed with me and didn't want to inconvenience his mom, who's staying for six months. — Out Out: You get a good attorney, stat. As a reader pointed out, it's time to protect yourself and your assets with your decisions, starting with where you live. And it's time to count every day as a blessing that you're getting out of a three-person marriage with your husband and his mom. I feel for you more deeply than this advice probably conveys. No doubt you're hurt and reeling. But no matter what pain you're in now, and no matter what love you once shared, your husband's loyalties lie with his mother. That was always going to strand you emotionally, it was just a matter of when. I'm sorry. Look out for you now, and treat yourself with the respect and compassion you didn't get from your marriage.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Tesla plans 'friends and family' car service in California, regulator says
In an earnings call this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk teased an expansion of his company's fledgling robotaxi service to the San Francisco Bay Area and other U.S. markets. But California regulators are making clear that Tesla is not authorized to carry passengers on public roads in autonomous vehicles and would require a human driver in control at all times. 'Tesla is not allowed to test or transport the public (paid or unpaid) in an AV with or without a driver,' the California Public Utilities Commission told CNBC in an email on Friday. 'Tesla is allowed to transport the public (paid or unpaid) in a non-AV, which, of course, would have a driver.' In other words, Tesla's service in the state will have to be more taxi than robot. Tesla has what's known in California as a charter-party carrier permit, which allows it to run a private car service with human drivers, similar to limousine companies or sightseeing services. The commission said it received a notification from Tesla on Thursday that the company plans to 'extend operations' under its permit to 'offer service to friends and family of employees and to select members of the public,' across much of the Bay Area. But under Tesla's permit, that service can only be with non-AVs, the CPUC said. The California Department of Motor Vehicles told CNBC that Tesla has had a 'drivered testing permit' since 2014, allowing the company to operate AVs with a safety driver present, but not to collect fees. The safety drivers must be Tesla employees, contractors or designees of the manufacturer under that permit, the DMV said. In Austin, Texas, Tesla is currently testing out a robotaxi service, using its Model Y SUVs equipped with the company's latest automated driving software and hardware. The limited service operates during daylight hours and in good weather, on roads with a speed limit of 40 miles per hour. Robotaxis in Austin are remotely supervised by Tesla employees and include a human safety supervisor in the front passenger seat. The service is now limited to invited users, who agree to the terms of Tesla's 'early access program.' On Friday, Business Insider, citing an internal Tesla memo, reported that Tesla told staff it planned to expand its robotaxi service to the San Francisco Bay Area this weekend. Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment on that report. In a separate matter in California, the DMV has accused Tesla of misleading consumers about the capabilities of its driver assistance systems, previously marketed under the names Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (or FSD). Tesla now calls its premium driver assistance features, 'FSD Supervised.' In owners manuals, Tesla says Autopilot and FSD Supervised are 'hands on' systems, requiring a driver at the wheel, ready to steer or brake at all times. But in user-generated videos shared by Tesla on X, the company shows customers using FSD hands-free while engaged in other tasks. The DMV is arguing that Tesla's license to sell vehicles in California should be suspended, with arguments ongoing through Friday at the state's Office of Administrative Hearings in Oakland. Under California state law, autonomous taxi services are regulated at the state level. Some city and county officials said on Friday that they were out of the loop regarding a potential Tesla service in the state. Stephanie Moulton-Peters, a member of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, said in a phone interview that she had not heard from Tesla about its plans. She urged the company to be more transparent. 'I certainly expect they will tell us and I think it's a good business practice to do that,' she said. Moulton-Peters said she was undecided on robotaxis generally and wasn't sure how Marin County, located north of San Francisco, would react to Tesla's service. 'The news of change coming always has mixed results in the community,' she said. Brian Colbert, another member of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, said in an interview that he's open to the idea of Tesla's service being a good thing but that he was disappointed in the lack of communication. 'They should have done a better job about informing the community about the launch,' he said. Google spinoff Waymo, which is far ahead of Tesla in the robotaxi market, obtained a number of permits from the DMV and CPUC before starting its driverless ride-hailing service in the state. Waymo was granted a CPUC driverless deployment permit in 2023, allowing it to charge for rides in the state. The company has been seeking amendments to both its DMV and CPUC driverless deployment permits as it expands its service territory in the state. This article was originally published on
