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By Kimberly Palmer, NerdWallet The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments. The start of a new year can bring a surge of motivation around setting new goals, including financial resolutions. One way to help those goals become reality, financial experts say, is to make them as specific as possible. Then, track your progress, while allowing flexibility for unexpected challenges. “It’s easier to track progress when we know where we are going,” says Sylvie Scowcroft, a certified financial planner and founder of The Financial Grove in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That’s why she encourages her clients to set clearly defined goals, often related to paying off a specific debt, saving a certain amount per month or improving their credit score. Here are more tips from financial experts about crafting 2025 financial goals : Pick your top priorities Trying to accomplish too much can feel overwhelming. Instead, pick your priorities, says Cathleen Tobin, CFP and owner of Moonbridge Financial Design in Rhinebeck, New York. She suggests focusing on those big, often emotionally-driven goals to find motivation. “It’s more compelling than just a number,” she says. For example, do you want to make sure you’re on track for retirement or save money for a house? “Start there.” Be as specific as possible Scowcroft says she sees clients get tripped up by selecting overly broad goals, such as “get better with money.” Instead, she encourages people to select specific action items, such as “sign up for a budgeting tool and set aside time each month to learn where my money is going.” That level of specificity provides direction so you know what steps to take next, she adds. For example, if your top priority is to become debt-free, then your specific goal might be to pay off an extra $200 of your debt balance each month. Tobin says labeling savings accounts so they correspond with goals can also help. An emergency fund could be named something like “Peace of mind in 2025,” so you remember why you’re saving every time you make a transfer. “It’s more motivating than just ‘emergency fund,’” Tobin says. Track your progress Measuring your progress as the year unfolds is also a critical component of successful goal setting, Tobin says. She compares it to weight loss. If you want to lose 20 pounds by June, then you need to lose about a pound a week for the first six months of the year. Similarly, she says it helps to break savings goals into microsteps that specify what you need to do each week. Schedule a weekly or monthly check-in with yourself to make sure you are meeting those smaller goals along the way. You might want to review your debt payoff progress or check your credit score , for example. “Being able to break it down into steps that can be done each week or twice a month really helps,” Tobin says. Automate where you can If your goal is to save more money , then setting up an automatic transfer each month can help turn that goal into reality, as long as you know you have the money in your checking account to spare. Related Articles Business | Buying a house in 2025: your how-to guide Business | For some FSA dollars, it’s use it or lose it at year’s end Business | A million taxpayers will soon receive up to $1,400 from the IRS. Who are they and why now? Business | Corporate Transparency Act injunction lifted Business | Are religious people more generous than non-religious people? What new study finds “It reduces the mental load,” says Mike Hunsberger, CFP and owner of Next Mission Financial Planning in St. Charles, Missouri, where he primarily supports veterans and current members of the military. He recommends starting small to ease into the change. “I wouldn’t jump to double what you’re currently saving,” he says. For example, when it comes to saving in a retirement account, if you’re starting with a 3% contribution, you might want to bump it up to 4%, then slowly increase it from there. “My number one piece of advice is to start small, but make sure you scale over time,” Hunsberger adds. “Because it’s gradual, you probably won’t notice it impacting your lifestyle.” Adjust as needed “Stay flexible,” Scowcroft says. “Part of it is just being kind to yourself and not being too rigid.” When unexpected challenges come up, such as a big unplanned expense, you might have to pause making progress on your goal and reset. You might even need to change your goal. Scowcroft says that doesn’t mean you “failed,” just that life changed your plans. Dwelling on any negativity won’t help your forward progress. Team up with a friend Sharing your goals with a friend can also make it easier to reach them, Scowcroft says. “It really helps to have an accountability buddy,” she says. She suggests putting a regular “money date” with your friend on the calendar so you can ask each other how you’re doing, brainstorm any challenges or even budget together side-by-side . “It’s a fun excuse to meet up with a friend.” More From NerdWallet Kimberly Palmer writes for NerdWallet. Email: kpalmer@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @kimberlypalmer. The article The Secret to Making Successful Financial New Year’s Resolutions originally appeared on NerdWallet .None

TORONTO — Bruce Brown intercepted a pass and streaked down the court, driving past some token defence from Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson for a one-handed slam dunk. Brown's Toronto Raptors teammates burst off the home team's bench, cheering for the veteran forward. "It's just because they didn't think I can jump, because I haven't jumped really, or they haven't seen it, and then they didn't see it the last year," Brown said, adding he knew he would dunk as soon as he crossed half-court. "I told them I could do it and I was like, ‘if I get the chance to, I'mma dunk it.'" It was Brown's first dunk in eight months as he scored 12 points and had three rebounds off the bench in his season debut on Sunday as Toronto lost to Atlanta 136-107. He'd missed the first 31 games of the Raptors season as he recovered from arthroscopic knee surgery on Sept. 20, a process that took longer than he expected. "I thought I was gonna be out like six to eight weeks but some things didn't go my way," said Brown. "There was a lot of swelling in there for a while. "Things happened, and then I was supposed to come back, like, three, four weeks ago, but there was still swelling there, so they told me to take my time." Brown averaged 9.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.3 blocks over 34 games with the Raptors last season. He was traded from the Indiana Pacers to Toronto on Jan. 18 as part of a package for all-star forward Pascal Siakam. He's averaged 8.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists over his career in 416 games with the Detroit Pistons, Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets, Indiana and Toronto. Brown's return doesn't just add depth to the Raptors' lineup, but brings some much-needed energy to a struggling team that has lost 10 in a row. "You see him get out there and put his body on the line after being out for so long," said Scottie Barnes, who led Toronto with 19 points, eight rebounds, and five assists but eight turnovers in the loss. "He's making himself so tired out there just guarding, pushing himself. That's what the team needs. "We've all got to match that energy every single night. That's the effort we're going to need in order to win games." Head coach Darko Rajakovic said that fatigue is a major factor in the NBA's longest active losing skid. He said that a lack of focus played a role in Toronto's season-high 31 turnovers on Sunday. "We hit a wall. We look tired. We look drained," said Rajakovic. "Guys are not in a rhythm. That's the reality that we're in right now. We've got to find a way to get out of it." It was the third consecutive game where the Raptors had given up over 130 points, and second 29-point blowout in a row. "Getting beat by 30, man, at home — that's unacceptable," said Barnes. "We can't be doing that. We got to go out there and play harder, be smarter. "We had a lot of turnovers today. We can't allow this to happen." Brown was more optimistic. "We just need some rest, and we'll push through it," he said, noting that a stomach flu had spread through Toronto's locker room. "I mean, all teams have this at some point, even championship teams, so we'll push through it. We'll be fine." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2024. John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian PressA MAGA ‘Civil War’ on X between Musk and the far right over H-1B visas

Diamcor Mining (CVE:DMI) Trading Down 16.7% – What’s Next?High Wire Reports Record Q3 2024 Results, Driven by Growth in Overwatch Managed Cybersecurity Business

UnitedHealthcare CEO kept a low public profile. Then he was shot to death in New York

The LPGA said Wednesday that players assigned male at birth or those who have not transitioned to female before puberty are not eligible to compete in LPGA tournaments. The U.S. Golf Association concurrently released similar guidance that applies to its championship season. The new gender policies will take effect at the start of the 2025 season. “Our policy is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach,” LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said in a statement. “The policy represents our continued commitment to ensuring that all feel welcome within our organization, while preserving the fairness and competitive equity of our elite competitions.” Under the new policies, athletes who are assigned female at birth are eligible to compete on the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour and in USGA women’s competitions. Players who were assigned male at birth and have gone through male puberty are not eligible to compete in the aforementioned events. “We remain committed to providing opportunities for everyone to compete for a national title or team but have made changes to our eligibility criteria that reflects current scientific data and strives to maintain competitive integrity,” USGA CEO Mike Whan said in a statement. “Our updated policy reflects a thoughtful and thorough process during which the USGA consulted with leading medical professionals from around the world.” In its statement, the USGA said “current scientific and medical research shows that sports performance differences exist between biological sexes and such differences begin to occur during the onset of puberty.” The LPGA added that its update was “informed by a working group of top experts in medicine, science, sport physiology, golf performance and gender policy law.” The LPGA axed its requirement that eligible players be “female at birth” in 2010, after a transgender woman filed a lawsuit against the tour. The organization currently allows players to compete if they have undergone gender-affirming surgery after puberty and met hormone therapy requirements. Its updated policy would rule golfer Hailey Davidson ineligible. Davidson previously played on the men’s teams at Wilmington and Christopher Newport, a Division III school in Virginia. In 2015, she began undergoing hormone treatments in her early 20s, and in January 2021, she underwent gender-affirming surgery. Davidson missed qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open by one shot in May, and in October came up short in her bid to become the first transgender golfer to earn an LPGA card. As Davidson sought to qualify for the tour this year, the LPGA said its gender policy was under review. The organization in August sent a memo to players saying it would conclude a more than yearlong review of its current policy, which it planned to update ahead of the 2025 season. In October, reports surfaced of a letter signed by 275 current and former female golfers asking the LPGA, USGA and International Golf Federation to repeal their policies allowing people assigned male at birth to compete in women’s events. “Can’t say I didn’t see this coming,” Davidson wrote Wednesday on her Instagram story. “Banned from the Epson and the LPGA. All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’ thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence.” Whan, the USGA CEO, told The Associated Press the organization’s decision was rooted in competitive balance. “It starts with competitive fairness as the North Star,” Whan said. “We tried not to get into politics, or state by state or any of that stuff. We just simply said, ‘Where would somebody – at least medically today – where do we believe somebody would have a competitive advantage in the field?’ And we needed to draw a line.” Earlier this week, Marcoux Samaan announced that she was stepping down as LPGA commissioner, effective Jan. 9.

UK cannot stand idle With terrorism and the spread of international crime posing serious dangers after the collapse of dictator Bashar al-Assad’s barbaric regime in Syria, Britain cannot be an idle bystander. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy are aware of the risks which is why they are urging a transition in power without fresh bloodshed. When the HTS Islamist group at the heart of the overthrow is designated a terrorist organisation, the understandable fear is that Syria could be swapping one tyrant for another. The collapse of authority in Libya after Muammar Gaddafi’s 2011 assassination, which led to waves of refugees flocking across the Mediterranean to Europe, is a warning of what can happen in failing states. Britain’s direct influence is limited but hopefully by co-operating with allies we can play a role in helping Syria enter a happier era. Tackle this Football faces the biggest health challenge in the sport’s history as more former players blame headers for causing their brain injuries. The latest 75 legal cases are not just about responsibility and compensation but the very future of the sport. Many young children playing football now do not head the ball in training as a precaution and a decision may soon have to be taken on the adult game. Headers are an important part of the game but with evidence mounting that they are causing damage, players may one day find they are uninsurable. Football authorities must tackle an issue that won’t go away. Dan & dusted There are no flies on McFly’s Danny Jones after he beat Coleen Rooney to be crowned King of the Jungle. The second member of the band to win I’m a Celebrity, after Dougie Poynter in 2011, will be singing all the way home from Australia.GENEVA (AP) — Soccer’s biggest ever global club tournament is coming to the United States next year and the 32-team group stage will be drawn Thursday. European powers Real Madrid and Manchester City, Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, recently crowned South American champion Botafogo and top clubs from Asia, Africa and Oceania are among the teams who are in the draw for FIFA’s revamped Club World Cup. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get updates and player profiles ahead of Friday's high school games, plus a recap Saturday with stories, photos, video Frequency: Seasonal Twice a week

PALERMO, Calif. (AP) — Two children were wounded in a shooting Wednesday at a small religious K-8 school in Northern California and the shooter died from a suspected self-inflicted gunshot, sheriff’s officials said. The children’s conditions were not immediately known. The shooting occurred Wednesday afternoon at the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists, a private, K-8 school in Palermo, a community of 5,500 people about 65 miles (104 km) north of Sacramento. Related Articles National News | Abandoned mines in the US pose dangers to people and property when land gives way National News | Dog food recalled in 7 states for salmonella risk after puppy litter gets sick, FDA says National News | White House says at least 8 US telecom firms, dozens of nations impacted by China hacking campaign National News | Powell: Fed’s independence from politics is vital to its interest rate decisions National News | United Healthcare CEO kept a low public profile. Then he was shot to death in New York Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea said the 911 calls reported “an individual on campus who had fired shots at students,” and said that the shooter did not appear to have a connection to the school. The motive was not immediately known, he continued. One student was flown to a nearby hospital, Honea said. Authorities rushed students to the Oroville Church of the Nazarene to be reunited with their families, the sheriff’s office said. The school has been open since 1965 and caters to fewer than three dozen children, according to its website.

Who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson? What we know about the suspect on the runAs Bashar Al-Assad fled to Moscow, the looters started raiding the presidential palace and people took to the streets of Damascus to celebrate his demise. The Syrian president had tried to hang on until the bitter end, still desperately sending an SOS to anyone who would listen, including Donald Trump. The despot had run out of road. The world is still grasping the speed of events in recent days, and the collapse of a ruling dynasty that laid waste to the country during a catastrophic civil war. But the implications are also quickly sinking in — and not least the prospect of more upheaval and violence as groups tussle for control. Assad had managed to endure the popular uprising against him for more than 13 years. But the message from his one-time allies and foes was clear: You’re on your own. Russia, which had saved his skin back in 2015, only offered him sanctuary this time. Iran turned its back on him by saying in not so many words that he had brought it all on himself. Multiple Arab and U.S. officials told Bloomberg that a power vacuum could now be dangerous. Memories of Muammar Qaddafi’s Libya and Saddam Hussein in Iraq loom large in the region: In both countries, those entrenched rulers were swept aside in brief moments of euphoria, only for the countries to descend into deeper turmoil. “Chaos is expected in transitions and so is factional — even bloody — competition,” said Bader Al-Saif, an assistant professor at Kuwait University and an associate fellow at Chatham House. “Syria has not been its normal self for over a decade now, divided into enclaves and spheres of influence on top of socioeconomic and political decay.” The onset of Syria’s conflict in 2011 displaced millions of people, sparking a migrant crisis that still reverberates in European politics today. Its Middle East neighbors, meanwhile, are already grappling with the fallout from Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Russia has military bases in Syria and will seek to protect its interests. But the Kremlin is occupied by its war in Ukraine. Iran, which has traded direct attacks with Israel in recent months, is also weakened. Arab officials, though, don’t expect the Islamic Republic to give up its influence in Syria without a fight. The pace of the events that unseated Assad after more than 50 years of his family in power was stunning. A little over a week ago, his survival seemed almost a foregone conclusion. Then insurgents led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham captured the crucial cities of Aleppo and Hama, before closing in on Homs and Damascus, the capital. On Sunday morning, rebels seized control of the television station and hailed the “fall of the criminal Assad regime.” Assad decided to step down and left the country, Russia’s foreign ministry later said. The rebel advance unwound a stalemate in Syria, which had seen Assad’s forces backed by Moscow and Tehran claw back control of most of the country, with the exception of a rebel stronghold in the northwest and a Kurdish stronghold in the northeast. It unleashed a political situation in which much remains uncertain – not least the nature of the new government forming in Damascus. It’s also unclear whether that leadership will be able to govern the war-torn country at all. The mood reflected those concerns on Sunday night as a curfew was imposed and several buildings housing security agencies and the passport and immigration authority were consumed by flames, with locals speculating about Israeli strikes. “The fear today is that all the factions are united against one enemy but they will eventually be consumed by infighting,” said Bahjat Hajjar, co-founder of an NGO called Madaniya who fled Damascus shortly after 2011 due to his opposition to the Assads. Speaking at a conference in Bahrain on Sunday Anwar Gargash, adviser to United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, warned of threats to Syria’s territorial integrity, an ongoing “spiral of chaos and violence” in the Arab world, and the prospect of “extremism and terrorism.” Saudi Arabia, which is involved in efforts to shape the transition period in Syria, issued a statement on Sunday warning against “chaos and division.” U.S. President-elect Trump, meanwhile, made one thing clear: America won’t intervene to stop that from happening. In a post on social media platform X on Saturday, Trump wrote, “Syria is a mess, but is not our friend.” The U.S. designates the rebel group HTS, which formed an alliance with al-Qaeda more than a decade ago, a terrorist organization. HTS has since sought to project itself as a force for unity, but many U.S. and Middle Eastern officials are doubtful. “The guys who are taking over are terrorists, but they’re sending some interesting messaging,” said Jason Greenblatt, a former Middle East envoy in Trump’s first administration. “If they realize Trump means business and is not going to tolerate that and is hopefully going to galvanize the region to fight against terrorism, they ought to figure out a way to comply.” Still, the risks and opportunities presented by an unstable Syria have drawn in myriad foreign powers since 2011 and look likely to continue to do so. More than a decade of conflict has left between 300,000 to 500,000 people dead, decimated cities and pushed much of its population into poverty. The World Bank has estimated that Syria’s economy shrank by more than a half by 2020 from its prewar level of around $60 billion. Syria’s human development index rolled back 35 years because of faltering education and health services. The economy tanked. There were reports of looting following the declaration that Assad’s government had fallen. Turkey is likely to seek to capitalize on opportunities created by Assad’s fall after 24 years to repatriate the millions of Syrian refugees living in Turkey. To that end, Ankara has urged a peaceful transition of power. “We’ve been working for the stability of Syria for a long time — we are familiar with the actors,” Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan told media at a forum in Doha on Sunday. “We have to work together with Syrian people, not only Turkey but also regional actors, the international actors, to make sure that there is a good and smooth transition period.” In another development, Israel said its ground forces crossed slightly into Syrian territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that was a necessary, temporary move after Syrian troops abandoned positions on their side of a buffer zone between the two countries. An Israeli minister said the aim is to make sure there are no strategic weapons in the area that can be used against Israel, which also said it had struck chemical weapons and missile storage sites in Syria. That’s as Iran finds itself on the defensive. The same goes for Russia, which is now needed to preserve some stability without Assad, according to Elena Suponina, a Moscow-based Middle East expert. “Syrian euphoria could help engender the kind of unity we need to see,” said Charles Lister, senior fellow and director of the Syria Program at the Middle East Institute. “But after 14 years of ferocious conflict and division, the hill ahead is steep.” ------- With assistance from Onur Ant.