4. News you need to know
Why you should try to be debt-free by age 45 (Marketwatch): You may want to think about paying off your mortgage and those student loans faster than you thought. If you're still paying off debt when you reach middle age, you won't be able save and invest enough by the typical retirement age, says Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary. How to shed debt in time? Treat yourself like an early-stage business and keep costs down.
Want to get paid more? Move abroad (Quartz): Average salaries in the US have increased by about 2% and 3% the last two years. The real salary bumps are abroad. According to a report for HSBC, average workers under 35 who moved abroad in the last year saw a 35% jump in salary. Those between 35 and 54 experienced a 24% increase. The top two countries for salary gains were the UAE (50%) and Hong Kong (41%).
Is India the next hot market for tech IPOs? (TechCrunch): India has had its fair share of unicorns the last few years, including Flipkart and Paytm. But it has rarely had a big tech IPO. Last week, 23-year-old B2B selling platform India Mart raised nearly $70m during a rare tech IPO for India. Insiders think this could be a bellwether. “[The] Indian market is ready for more tech stocks. We just need to get more companies to go out there," investor Rajesh Sawhney says.
The German case for reining in Google and Facebook (NYT): American regulators have been circling Big Tech the last few years without asserting control. Germany's leading antitrust lawyer may have the answer. He is building an antitrust case against companies like Google and Facebook, which essentially mandate users turn over personal data, by arguing the data gives them an unfair advantage against potential rivals, creating an uncompetitive atmosphere.
Mark Zuckerberg, "former innovator"? (Bloomberg): Inside a fascinating story about Facebook's battle to fend off negative PR is a nugget about its founder discovering that the public no longer considers him a "current innovator." Instead, he was viewed by a Facebook focus group as a "former innovator," someone who "once pushed the envelope." When Zuck heard the news, Bloomberg says he was "incredulous" and concerned about whether that same reputation applied to Facebook, which has long been losing cache among young people. |