• This Memorial Day, you might be firing up the grill and making some classic hamburgers.
• Celebrity chefs, from Ina Garten to Gordon Ramsay, each have their own burger recipes.
• Ree Drummond wraps hers in lettuce, while Rachael Ray makes her own version of a McDonald's Big Mac.

Forget boring lettuce-cheese-and-tomato burgers at your next cookout — it's time to get fired up about something worthy of a celebrity-chef restaurant.

With Memorial Day weekend and grilling season right around the corner, there are chef-approved tips for elevating a classic burger at home.

Potato chips, bacon-tomato jam, and freshly sliced avocado — practically every celebrity chef has their own unique list of toppings they have to add to create their own signature burger.

Here's how 12 celebrity chefs make their perfect burger.

Bobby Flay adds potato chips to make his signature "crunch burger."

Bobby Flay starts with four 6-ounce burgers made from ground chuck or ground turkey for the signature burger served at Bobby's Burger Palace.

He then adds American cheese, beefsteak tomato, lettuce, red onion, a homemade horseradish mustard mayonnaise sauce, and potato chips for the perfect amount of crunch.

Gordon Ramsay says seasoning can make or break your burger.

Gordon Ramsay makes his burger using ground beef and brisket and recommends storing the formed and seasoned burger patties in the fridge before putting them on the hottest spot of the grill.

For toppings, Ramsay adds American cheese, lettuce, tomato, grilled white onions, and mustard mayonnaise. 

Ina Garten makes her hamburgers using two types of beef and egg yolks.

To make Ina Garten's "real hamburgers," mix together 2 pounds of ground chuck and 1 pound of sirloin, steak sauce, egg yolks, salt, and pepper.

Garten also adds a small pat of butter to each burger, sticking it inside so it's covered by the meat before adding the burger to the grill.

Martha Stewart adds Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce to her burgers.

Martha Stewart makes her hamburgers by adding mustard and Worcestershire sauce to ground chuck.

She also recommends adding cheese, tomatoes, raw or grilled onions, pickles, and jalapeños to make the burgers even better.

Ree Drummond wraps her "low-carb" burgers in lettuce.

To make these Pioneer Woman-approved "low-carb" burgers, you'll need lettuce leaves large enough to fold over the entire hamburger patty, tomato slices, red onion, avocado, and chopped pickles.

Drummond also adds her own version of a special sauce, which uses Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise. 

Jamie Oliver tops his "insanity burger" with homemade burger sauce and pickles.

British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's insanity burger comes directly from his cookbook "Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food." The recipe calls for a burger patty made from ground chuck steak.

Oliver uses sliced red onions lightly dressed in vinegar and sea salt, bacon, yellow mustard, Tabasco chipotle sauce, cheese, ketchup, pickles or "gherkins," and homemade burger sauce for toppings.

Joanna Gaines tops her "Gaines brother burgers" with drip jam and melted Gruyére cheese.

In her first cookbook, "Magnolia Table," Gaines shares the recipe for her famous burgers using ground beef, beefsteak tomato, homemade bacon-tomato jam, and Gruyére cheese. 

To make Alton Brown's "burger of the gods," you'll need ground chuck and sirloin.

Alton Brown's "burger of the gods" patties are made with trimmed and cubed chuck and beef sirloin, plus kosher salt.

In the recipe, the celebrity chef and "Iron Chef" host recommends cooking the 5-ounce patties in a cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat.

Guy Fieri's "straight-up with a pig patty" burger requires many ingredients, including "donkey sauce" and applewood-smoked bacon.

To recreate Guy Fieri's burger, you'll want to read the lengthy list of ingredients.

However, some highlights from this "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives"-worthy burger are applewood-smoked bacon, heirloom tomato, Vidalia onion, iceberg lettuce, dill pickles, and two different kinds of sauce.

Giada De Laurentiis' game-day burgers are topped with cheese, tomatoes, and avocado.

To make De Laurentiis' recipe for game-day burgers, you'll need 2 pounds of ground chuck.

The Food Network star elevates these simple burgers with toppings like grilled onions steamed with balsamic vinegar and sugar, mashed avocado, provolone piccante cheese, arugula, and thinly sliced tomato.

Emeril Lagasse is famous for his blue cheese-stuffed burgers.

For Emeril's "kicked-up" blue cheese-stuffed burgers, you'll want to crumble the cheese and form it into small patties. Then, sandwich the cheese between two beef patties before adding it to the grill.

Lagasse's recipe also recommends topping the stuffed burgers with sliced tomatoes, romaine, sliced onions, and his green peppercorn mayonnaise.

Rachael Ray's version of a McDonald's Big Mac calls for homemade special sauce.

Rachael Ray's recipe for "Big Smack" burgers uses her own special sauce, which is made with sour cream or Greek yogurt, ketchup, dill pickle relish, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper.

She makes the actual burgers with ground beef sirloin and tops them with the special sauce, yellow American cheese, chopped Vidalia or white onion, dill pickle chips, and chopped iceberg lettuce.

• This post originally appeared in the Business Insider Today newsletter.
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Happy Friday! Let me offer a penny for your thoughts while I still can. The Treasury Department placed its final order for the coin best known for being stuck to the bottom of your car's cup holders.

In today's big story, we're looking at the impact Trump's tax bill could have on your wallet and why bond investors remain up in arms about it.

What's on deck

Markets: Jamie Dimon isn't feeling too optimistic about the economy.

Tech: We have some advice for Jony Ive about his future work with OpenAI.

Business: The creative ways companies avoid using the word "tariff."

But first, one bill to rule them all.

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The big story

Trump takes on taxes

For President Donald Trump's "big beautiful bill" and your wallet: Is beauty only skin deep?

The tax bill passed the House on Thursday and is now headed to the Senate. And while it's still subject to change, BI's Ayelet Sheffey examined how it could impact Americans' finances.

Here's a look at some of the potential winners and losers of the bill in its current form.

Winners

Service workers: The legislation would eliminate taxes on tips and overtime wages.

Parents: The current child-tax credit would be extended through 2028 and bumped up from $2,000 to $2,500. There's also the "Trump account" that includes a $1,000 deposit from the government for babies born in the US from 2025 through 2028.

Residents of states with high taxes: The cap on state and local tax deductions, known as SALT, would increase from $10,000 to $40,000. The issue's been a source of GOP infighting.

Losers

People with student debt: Existing income-driven plans would be eliminated in favor of two options. One would be a standard payment plan. The other offers loan forgiveness after 360 payments for borrowers based on their income level. (The two new options aren't that much worse than borrowers' current options, but the bill shows more loan forgiveness is a long shot.)

EV owners: Say goodbye to those tax credits. And while we are at it, let's add a $250 annual registration fee. Somewhat relatedly, tax credits for homeowners installing solar panels or energy-efficient heat pumps are on the chopping block.

People on Medicaid and SNAP: The monthly work requirements for many recipients would rise. Elder Americans won't get a pass either, as the work requirement for SNAP benefits would extend to adults age 55 to 64.

One group not on the above list would argue it's the biggest loser from Trump's bill: bond investors.

"Bond vigilantes" have been selling off Treasurys and sending yields spiking in protest of the bill.

So what's their beef? BI's Jennifer Sor has a nice rundown on the group's biggest gripes.

The issue centers on the bill widening the US government's deficit (how much revenue is brought in compared to what it spends money on). At last count, that number reached $1.8 trillion. One estimate sees that growing by $4 trillion over 10 years under the new bill.

A bigger deficit means more borrowing, which isn't good for the economy's growth prospects. The more the US has to worry about paying off debt, the less it can spend on services or benefits for Americans.

And if the debt and deficit keep growing, some investors might wonder whether the government can actually make good on its debts (see: Treasurys).

3 things in markets

1. Beware "global financial market Armageddon," a famed Wall Street bear warns. Societe Generale strategist Albert Edwards fears the worst as Japanese bond yields spike. Here's how the bond yield surge in Tokyo could affect the US.

2. Jamie Dimon says don't get too comfy. The US is still at risk of a fate worse than recession — stagflation — he told Bloomberg on Thursday. It's not a problem that can be ignored either. "I think it's a mistake to think we can go through all the things we're going through and the volatility itself will come down," he added.

3. Would you like an AI video with that research note? In response to client requests for more videos, UBS is using AI to generate avatars of its analysts that explain their notes. Thirty-six analysts, or about 5% of UBS' total, have volunteered to take part, and the bank has plans for more.

3 things in tech

1. The ins and outs of Google I/O. The search behemoth's annual conference was packed with updates, from Gemini's Chrome integration to its nascent Smart Glasses. As Google preps for the AI era, here are the six main takeaways from I/O.

2. Legal-tech darling Harvey goes into the blue Azure. Harvey agreed to spend $150 million on Microsoft's cloud services over two years, according to an internal email seen by BI. The startup, which builds chatbots and agents for legal services, is scaling up and expanding.

3. Dear Jony Ive, please don't give us a voice-controlled device. The former Apple designer and Sam Altman have been teasing new AI hardware following OpenAI's purchase of Ive's startup. BI's Katie Notopoulos hopes the gadget won't require talking in public.

3 things in business

1. The jet-setting rich. Nearly half of summer travelers this year earn over $100,000, according to a Deloitte survey. Luxury travel is booming, but if you don't have deep pockets, you may find yourself cutting back during trips — if you go at all. The wealth gap may not last, though.

2. Walmart takes a page from the Big Tech playbook. The retailer is laying off 1,500 people to "remove layers and complexity," effectively flattening management. Companies like Meta and Amazon have led the trend to boost efficiency.

3. Don't say the T-word. Instead of "tariffs," businesses might say they have to raise prices because of "sourcing costs" or "supply-chain issues." Tariff-induced panic buying took off in April, but that burst of activity is winding down, Bank of America credit card data shows. That's bad news for the economy.

In other news

• Now they're being ordered home.The big winners of the loneliness epidemic: nice guys with jobs.
• I'm on the verge of finishing my dream course at Harvard Business School. With Trump's crackdown on foreign students, I don't know if I'll be let back on campus.
• Big Law firm says its Trump deal is nothing more than a 364-word Truth Social post.
• Kid Cudi says Diddy broke into his home, unwrapped his family's Christmas gifts, and shut his dog in the bathroom.
• Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky says there's a 'silver lining' for people starting businesses in a choppy economy.
• Hinge Health just broke open the digital health IPO market. Here's who's getting rich.

What's happening today

• NATO Parliamentary Assembly spring session.

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The Business Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Ella Hopkins, associate editor, in London. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago.

• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have two children.
• The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are raising Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet in the US.
• Archie and Lilibet didn't have prince and princess titles when they were born.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's children might be royals, but their childhoods differ from those of other British princes and princesses.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been raising Prince Archie, 6, and Princess Lilibet, 3, in California following their step back from the monarchy, giving their children almost entirely private childhoods that most royals don't get.

Here's everything to know about Archie and Lilibet.

Prince Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor

Archie was born May 6, 2019, at the Portland Hospital in London, just shy of a year after Harry and Meghan's May 2018 wedding. The couple announced his birth on their Sussex Royal Instagram account, which they stopped using in 2020, with a graphic that read, "It's a boy!"

"We are pleased to announce that Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their firstborn child in the early morning on May 6th, 2019," the post said. "Their Royal Highnesses' son weighs 7lbs. 3oz."

"The Duchess and baby are both healthy and well, and the couple thank members of the public for their shared excitement and support during this very special time in their lives," the statement said.

Harry and Meghan broke tradition after Archie's birth, choosing not to do a photocall when they left the hospital as Princess Diana and Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, did when their children were born. Instead, they introduced Archie to the world with a photocall at St. George's Hall at Windsor Castle on May 8. They announced his name via Instagram the same day.

In 2020, the couple revealed Archie's name was inspired by the Greek word "arche," which means "source of action." They named their charitable organization Archewell for the same reason. Meanwhile, Harrison traditionally means "son of Harry," making it a natural choice for Archie's middle name.

Archie was seventh in the line of succession for the British throne when he was born, but he moved up to the sixth spot after Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022. Archie was christened in July 2019 at the Private Chapel at Windsor Castle, with members of the royal family, including Prince William and Kate Middleton, in attendance.

While they were still working royals, Archie joined his parents on a royal tour of Africa in September 2019 when he was just 4 months old, meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu during his first royal engagement. Meghan later revealed Archie's nursery caught fire during the tour, though he wasn't hurt.

Harry and Meghan also shared a candid holiday card that featured a close-up of baby Archie in December 2019.

Harry and Meghan decided to keep Archie out of the public eye since they stepped back as senior royals and relocated to the US in 2020. He hasn't joined them for public appearances, living out his childhood privately in Montecito, California.

The couple shared a few glimpses of Archie in their 2022 Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan," and he has appeared in a handful of Meghan's Instagram posts since January 2025. Her posts don't include his face, though.

Princess Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor

Meghan and Harry shared they were expecting their second child in February 2021, revealing in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that they were having a daughter. In an essay for The New York Times, Meghan said she had a miscarriage between her pregnancies with Archie and Lilibet in July 2020.

Harry and Meghan welcomed Lili on June 4, 2021, at 11:40 a.m., as the couple shared in a statement on their Archewell website two days after her birth.

In the statement, the pair said that Lilibet "Lili" Diana Mountbatten-Windsor was born at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in California. Lilibet is the first member of the British royal family to be born in the United States.

At the time of her birth, she was eighth in the line of succession, but as of 2022, Lilibet is seventh in line for the British throne.

Harry and Meghan said that Lili's name celebrates her grandmother and great-grandmother. Lilibet was Queen Elizabeth's family nickname, while Lili's middle name honors Princess Diana, who died when Harry was 12.

"On June 4th, we were blessed with the arrival of our daughter, Lili," the couple said in their statement. "She is more than we could have ever imagined, and we remain grateful for the love and prayers we've felt from across the globe. Thank you for your continued kindness and support during this very special time for our family."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex did not release a photo of Lili's face alongside the announcement. They shared the first public photo of her face on their 2021 Christmas card.

Lilibet was christened in the US in March 2023 during an intimate ceremony performed by the Archbishop of Los Angeles, which the royal family didn't attend. Tyler Perry, who allowed Meghan and Harry to stay in his house when they first moved to California in 2020, is her godfather.

Harry and Meghan released another photo of Lilibet for her first birthday, sharing a snap of the young royal at Windsor Castle's Frogmore Cottage.

The Sussex family traveled to the United Kingdom in June 2022 for Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations. During the visit, Lilibet met her great-grandmother for the first and only time. She also met her grandfather, King Charles.

Like her brother, Lili made minor cameos in "Harry & Meghan" and appears on her mother's Instagram, though her face isn't visible in the posts. Meghan also released a recipe for Chantilly Lili, a dessert named after her daughter, in April 2025.

Archie and Lili's titles changed after Queen Elizabeth II died

Archie and Lilibet didn't have prince and princess titles when they were born, instead being referred to as Master Archie and Miss Lilibet on the line of succession.

The Letters Patent, a royal decree made by King George V in 1917, states that only the current monarch's children and grandchildren and the children of the Prince of Wales can use a prince or princess title.

At the time of their births, Archie and Lili weren't the grandchildren of the sovereign or children of the Prince of Wales, making them ineligible for prince or princess titles.

However, Meghan also said in her and Harry's 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey that while she was pregnant with Archie, some members of the royal family "were saying they didn't want him to be a prince," which she indicated may have been because Archie is biracial.

Following the interview, Buckingham Palace said in a statement, "The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan."

"The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning," it said. "While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately."

After Queen Elizabeth died in September 2022, King Charles III ascended the throne, making Archie and Lili the grandchildren of the British monarch. As such, they automatically inherited prince and princess titles, per the Letters Patent.

Meghan and Harry referred to one of their children with their new title in March 2023, as a spokesperson for the couple called their daughter "Princess Lilibet Diana" in a statement to Business Insider about Lili's christening.

On March 9, Buckingham Palace updated the line of succession on its website, officially calling Harry's children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet for the first time.

Although their titles and place in the line of succession changed, Archie and Lili aren't publicly known to have a relationship with the rest of the royal family. Harry and Meghan's relationship with the royal family is still strained, and in a May 2, 2025, interview with BBC News, Harry said his father isn't speaking to him due to disputes over security for the Sussexes when they're in the UK.

• I'm an American who's lived in the Netherlands for 10 years.
• I think visitors should expand their Dutch travel itineraries beyond just Amsterdam.
• Expecting small talk and American-style customer service are other mistakes I see frequently.

Wandering into a Dutch bike lane is a fast track to two things: a near-death experience and an unexpected lesson in Dutch curse words.

After living in the Netherlands for the past decade, I've seen tourists repeatedly make this mistake — and many others.

Whether you're spending a weekend in Amsterdam or venturing farther north to Groningen, knowing what not to do can make all the difference. Here are the six biggest mistakes I see tourists make when they visit the Netherlands.

Only visiting Amsterdam

If your entire Dutch travel itinerary is based in Amsterdam, I think you're making a mistake.

Sure, the iconic city is featured in travel guides for a reason — romantic canals, the Van Gogh Museum, and an army of bikers with zero fear, come to mind — but there's so much more to the Netherlands.

Instead, I recommend visiting cities like Utrecht, Haarlem, and Groningen. Like Amsterdam, they have adorable Dutch houses and lots of charm, but are generally quieter and see fewer groups of tourists.

Traveling to popular tourist destinations without planning ahead

If your plan is to wing it in the Netherlands, you'll likely be disappointed.

I recommend booking tickets for popular tourist excursions like Keukenhof (one of the world's most famous gardens, best known for its tulips) or the Anne Frank House ahead of your trip.

Otherwise, you risk spending the majority of your trip in line with the other hopefuls.

Expecting small talk

In my experience, many people in the Netherlands don't engage in small talk — although, the weather is exempt from this, as complaining about the rain, or the lack thereof, is basically a national sport.

However, this tends to surprise many first-time visitors. I've noticed people here don't typically ask how your day's going while bagging your groceries, unless it looks like your day has been a dumpster fire. Even then, I wouldn't expect a lot of sympathy.

The Dutch are known for their efficiency and getting to the point, and once you get used to it, the directness is kind of refreshing.

Walking in the bike lane

Those red paths at the side of the road aren't decorative — they're high-speed lanes for cyclists with zero patience. Most importantly, they're not safe for pedestrians.

Pro tip: If you hear a bell, move, and make it quick.

Anticipating American-style customer service

If you're used to American-style customer service where the waiter checks on you every five minutes, the Dutch approach might feel way more hands-off.

In my experience, servers won't typically try to upsell you the truffle fries or ask if you're "still working on that." Instead, it's common for patrons to just flag waiters if they need something.

I also wouldn't stress about tipping. Rounding up or leaving a few euros is appreciated, but not expected.

Booking accommodations in the city center

Booking a place to stay in the middle of the city might seem like a good idea. However, there will likely be lots of noise.

Cities like Amsterdam have quieter neighborhoods, like De Pijp or Jordaan, with all the charm but fewer crowds (and significantly less yelling at 3 a.m.). In my experience, you'll also find more locals, better coffee, and aesthetic shops.

Staying just a little outside the chaos means you can still get the vibe you're looking for, but with a good night's sleep. Your future jet-lagged self will thank you.

• Tom Cruise has starred in eight "Mission: Impossible" movies since 1992.
• The actor reprises his role in the 2025 sequel, "The Final Reckoning."
• Here are all of the "Mission: Impossible" movies, ranked from worst to best.

Tom Cruise is taking on one last daring adventure in "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning," which pits Ethan Hunt against an evil AI that threatens to destroy the world.

The actor has been the face of the franchise since the first movie in 1996, and has starred in eight films in total.

The Impossible Mission Force (yes, really) first debuted in the "Mission: Impossible" TV series in 1966, which starred Steven Hill and Peter Graves and ran for six seasons until 1973, before it was revived for another two seasons on ABC in 1988.

With the franchise set to end with "The Final Reckoning," here are all the "Mission: Impossible" movies, ranked.

8. "Mission: Impossible 2" (2000)

"Mission: Impossible 2" should be given way more love than it gets, mainly because the Hong Kong cinema legend John Woo helmed it. Yes, the "Hard Boiled" and "Bullet in the Head" director brought his signature bullet ballet style to the "Mission: Impossible" sequel, with all the slow-motion flair you could ask for.

Is it cheesy? Sure. Does the script need some work? Definitely. Is there any smart subtext or meaning underneath all the action? Absolutely not. This is a peak 2000s action movie, and it knows it. 

"Mission: Impossible 2" is so over the top that once you've made peace with it, it's best to just go along for the ride. Come on, Tom Cruise and Dougray Scott play motorbike chicken with each other before a midair tackle sends them both crashing to the ground. What's not to love? It's the type of vehicular chaos that the "Fast & Furious" franchise's Dominic Toretto would be proud of.

Even so, "Mission: Impossible 2" ranks at the bottom of the bunch.

7. "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" (2011)

The 2011 film "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" takes the franchise into the modern era. It follows Hunt and his team as they're forced to go on the run when they're framed for bombing the Kremlin.

It quickly becomes a race to stop the villainous Kurt Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist), who wants to start a nuclear war so that only the strongest members of humanity will survive. 

It's this plot that keeps "Ghost Protocol" from ascending the ranking, because, as spy thrillers go, stopping a nuclear war feels predictable, and the film fails to do anything unique with the premise. Plus, there's nothing particularly extraordinary about Hendricks as a baddie.

But generic plot devices aside, the film features some brilliant fights and gripping set pieces. The stand-out moment is when Cruise's hero climbs the Burj Khalifa in Dubai with nothing but sticky gloves and rope.

One of the most surprising elements of the film is Jeremy Renner's William Brandt, a disgraced former agent who's grappling with the guilt of failing Ethan on a former mission. That sub-plot works very well among the rest of the action, and it's a clever way of injecting a bit of heart into the mission.

6. "Mission: Impossible 3" (2006)

Two words: JJ Abrams. The "Lost" and "Fringe" creator made his big screen debut in 2006 with "Mission: Impossible 3," which takes a mid-noughties approach to the Impossible Mission Force and gives it a brutal edge.

The sequel pits Ethan, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames), Zhen Lei (Maggie Q), and Declan Gormley (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) against a nefarious arms dealer played by the incomparable Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Part of what elevates "Mission: Impossible 3" from previous films is that it never actually explains what Ethan and the gang are chasing. It's known only by its mysterious codename, the Rabbit's Foot. It could be an infectious disease, a computer virus, a hard drive teeming with currency, or nuclear codes — and that's what makes it so compelling. 

It's also refreshing to see Ethan settled and in love with Michelle Monahan's Julia Meade. What does married life look like for a superspy? How does that complicate his responsibility to save the world? 

The sequel feels very busy, as Abrams packs a lot into a tight two-hour run time. And some parts don't quite work, like Ethan's dynamic with his young mentee Lindsey Farris (Keri Russell). But there are some stellar sequences throughout, like the ballistic shoot-out on the bridge, which is an eye-popping piece of action choreography.

5. "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning" (2025)

"Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning" is the sequel to 2023's "Dead Reckoning," and sees Hunt race to stop an assassin known as Gabriel (Esai Morales) from controlling a sentient AI called the Entity. Just to raise the stakes, the Entity has already taken control of the world's nuclear weapons and plans to wipe out humanity.

While the 2025 movie is billed as the final entry in the franchise, its story doesn't quite live up to the high expectations set by "Dead Reckoning." The first hour is bogged down by lengthy exposition and generic action movie silliness.

That being said, as soon as the action picks up and Cruise embraces his adrenaline junkie persona once more, "The Final Reckoning" provides a breathtaking cinematic experience.

Whether it's the suspenseful scuba dive into a wrecked submarine or how Hunt climbs between two biplanes in the sky to fight Gabriel, the film's ambitious sequences deserve to be seen on the big screen.

4. "Mission: Impossible" (1996)

Taken from the 1966 TV series of the same name, 1996's "Mission: Impossible" introduces Cruise's Ethan Hunt, a field agent working for Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), the main character from the show. 

It has audiences instantly on their toes when Ethan's entire team, including Phelps, are assassinated by a double agent in the opening — forcing our hero to go on the run after being framed for their deaths.

"Mission: Impossible" earned itself a place in cinema history thanks to the brilliantly intense break-in scene, in which Cruise's Hunt hacks into a CIA mainframe computer while suspended on cables.

And of course, the high-octane ending on top of a Channel Tunnel train is a pulse-pounding affair set to the iconic theme music. 

Cruise effortlessly brings Hunt to life alongside top-notch performances from Voight, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Ving Rhames, which really help sell the paranoid atmosphere of the film

3. "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" (2015)

"Rogue Nation" is where frequent Tom Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie properly put his stamp on the franchise. McQuarrie expands the world in a fascinating way with the introduction of the Syndicate, a vast organization made up of rogue agents from every intelligence agency on the planet.

Their mission (should they choose to accept it) is to create disorder and chaos to destabilize the global intelligence community, although their true goals don't become apparent until 2018's "Mission: Impossible - Fallout." Hunt is determined to root out the Syndicate, and its sinister leader, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris).

"Rogue Nation" also introduces Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson), an enigmatic British agent who has a delicious will-they-won't-they dynamic with Cruise's hero.

A brawl in the rigging above an opera stage in Vienna is a stunning highlight, as is Cruise's underwater dive to retrieve a computer chip from a submerged safe. Cruise broke the world record for holding his breath for six minutes while completing that stunt in 2014.

2. "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One" (2023)

"Dead Reckoning Part One" sees Hunt's IMF team chasing a key that will lead them to an unstoppable AI that could wreak havoc on the world.

And, of course, every government agency in the world wants to get their hands on it, so Hunt and his team are effectively on the run from everyone. 

"Dead Reckoning's" focus on AI gives it a grounding in the real world, but the film also continues to elevate the sheer scale of action that audiences have come to expect from the "Mission: Impossible" franchise. 

That jaw-dropping mountain jump at the movie's climax has to be seen to be believed, and it only gets more bonkers after that.

It's a testament to Cruise and McQuarrie that the film feels fresh and new — even if the script does drag on at points. 

Then again, audiences are coming to see Cruise throw himself off a mountain, not to hear Oscar-winning dialogue.

1. "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" (2018)

There's no question that McQuarrie's "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" is the best movie in the franchise, which is impressive considering it's the sixth outing for Hunt and the gang. 

It continues the Syndicate storyline from "Rogue Nation" and dives further into Solomon Lane's scheme. He wants to destabilize the world by irradiating the Siachen Glacier, which supplies water to India, Pakistan, and China. This would kill off a third of the world's population and drastically change society in the process.  

But most of the story revolves around a CIA and IMF mole who goes by the codename 'John Lark.'

The hunt to find this rogue agent crosses the world, introducing the likes of Henry Cavill's CIA agent August Walker and Vanessa Kirby's underworld matriarch, Alanna Mitsopolis. 

The scope of McQuarrie's movie is massive, and its huge stunts mirror that size. A gobsmacking scene sees Hunt dive with Walker from a plane and parachute into Paris. Cruise shot the stunt alongside a cameraman to properly capture the chaotic dive. 

Then, of course, there's the film's exhilarating helicopter chase through a New Zealand mountain range — just another example of McQuarrie and Cruise's commitment to filming these stunts in the most jaw-dropping way possible.

"Fallout" is a thrilling chapter of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise that deepens the audience's understanding of Cruise's hero while delivering a stunning cinematic experience.

• First lady Melania Trump is keeping a low profile during President Donald Trump's second term.
• An infrequent White House presence, she divides her time between homes in Florida, New York, and DC.
• Her latest appearances included the "TAKE IT DOWN" Act signing and an event for military mothers.

It's a refrain dating back to the first Trump White House: Where's Melania?

First lady Melania Trump, who remained an enigmatic figure during President Donald Trump's first term, has kept an even lower profile during his second.

Ahead of the inauguration, Melania Trump told Fox News that she planned to divide her time between the White House, Trump Tower in New York City, and Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

This schedule has made her an infrequent White House presence, averaging one to three appearances at public events each month.

Melania Trump's communications director, Nicholas Clemens, declined to comment.

Take a look at the first lady's White House activities and appearances thus far.

January 20: Melania Trump attended the inauguration.

Melania Trump held the Bible as Donald Trump was sworn in for his second non-consecutive term, and the couple danced together at several inaugural balls later that evening.

For the swearing-in ceremony, Melania Trump wore a navy coat and skirt by Adam Lippes, an American designer. She accessorized with a matching wide-brimmed hat by Eric Javits.

Her black-and-white inaugural gown was designed by Hervé Pierre.

January 21: The president and first lady joined Vice President JD Vance and Usha Vance at the National Day of Prayer Service.

The service, the last of Donald Trump's inaugural events, was held at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

January 24: Melania Trump and Donald Trump visited California and North Carolina to survey damage caused by natural disasters.

Melania Trump joined Donald Trump to visit Los Angeles in the aftermath of multiple wildfires and neighborhoods in North Carolina damaged by Hurricane Helene.

Together, they met with first responders and residents who had lost their homes and businesses. Melania Trump was photographed hugging and shaking hands with those affected by the natural disasters.

February 22: Donald Trump and Melania Trump hosted the National Governors Association dinner at the White House.

Melania Trump wore a black Dolce & Gabbana tuxedo, similar to the outfit she chose for her official White House portrait, while posing for photos with governors from across the US.

Donald Trump thanked Melania Trump in his speech, saying that she "made the evening beautiful."

March 3: She participated in a roundtable discussion on the "TAKE IT DOWN" Act targeting revenge porn.

"TAKE IT DOWN" is an acronym for "Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks."

The act criminalizes the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated deepfakes, and requires websites to remove them.

"Every young person deserves a safe online space to express themself freely, without the looming threat of exploitation or harm," Melania Trump said in her opening remarks.

March 4: Melania Trump attended Donald Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress.

The first lady's guests included the families of Corey Comperatore, the firefighter who was fatally shot during an assassination attempt against Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, and Laken Riley, who was killed by a man who had entered the US illegally.

Melania Trump wore a gray skirt suit by Dior.

April 1: She attended the International Women of Courage Awards.

Melania Trump, joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, presented awards to several notable women in a ceremony held at the State Department.

"These extraordinary women illuminate the transformative power of love in shaping our world," she said in her remarks at the event. "Their journeys remind us that true courage is born from a deep commitment to others, showing that love fuels the call for justice."

April 21: She appeared alongside Donald Trump at the White House Easter Egg Roll.

Melania Trump read the book "Bunny with a Big Heart" to a group of children at the event.

April 25: Donald Trump and Melania Trump departed the White House together to travel to Pope Francis' funeral.

The president and first lady were among several world leaders who attended the late pope's funeral in Vatican City.

May 8: She hosted an event for military mothers and unveiled a US postage stamp honoring Barbara Bush at the White House.

"I applaud Mrs. Bush's mark defending our society's vital need for women across all avenues, whether CEO or homemaker," Melania Trump said at the unveiling. "We have, can, and will build better families and run innovative businesses at the same time, ultimately shaping a brighter future."

May 19: Melania Trump spoke at the signing ceremony for the "TAKE IT DOWN" Act in the Rose Garden.

The bill, which was first presented to Congress in 2024 before Donald Trump took office, received widespread bipartisan support.

"Artificial intelligence and social media are the digital candy for the next generation: sweet, addictive, and engineered to have an impact on the cognitive development of our children," Melania Trump said in her remarks at the signing ceremony.

May 20: Melania Trump hosted a Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day event for children in the Kennedy Garden.

The first lady greeted the children of White House staffers as they participated in an arts-and-crafts activity.

"It is always special to see children's creativity and spirit on display, especially here at the White House where so many hardworking men and women support the success of our nation every day," she said in a White House statement.

May 21: She spoke at the Senate Spouses Luncheon held at the National Gallery of Art.

Melania Trump, accompanied by Usha Vance, spoke about her Be Best platform, which focuses on children's well-being, and her Fostering the Future initiative, which supports children transitioning out of foster care.

"Together, we will uplift and empower our children, ensuring they have the support needed to thrive," the first lady wrote in a post on X. "Let's continue this vital mission and inspire a brighter future for all!"

• Denmark will raise its retirement age to 70 by 2040, the highest in Europe.
• The move ties pension age to life expectancy, sparking union backlash over fairness.
• Other countries may make similar moves as aging populations put a strain on public finances.

Denmark has officially raised its retirement age to 70 — and other countries may make similar moves.

The Danish Parliament passed legislation on Thursday that will gradually raise the retirement age to 70 by 2040.

The change applies to anyone born after December 31, 1970.

The bill, which passed with 81 votes in favor and 21 against, marks one of the most significant changes to the state pension age in Europe. It also signals a broader shift in how developed economies are preparing for aging populations and mounting fiscal pressures.

The move stems from a 2006 welfare agreement that ties the pension age eligibility to life expectancy. With people living longer, the government argues that raising the retirement age was needed to keep the pension system financially sustainable.

"In 2040, we will raise the retirement age from 69 to 70 years, among other things, to afford proper welfare for future generations," Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, Denmark's employment minister, said in a statement following the vote.

She said it would be the last time her party voted for an increase under the current system, citing the need for a fairer model that reflected differences in career length and job type.

The decision has sparked anger from unions and workers in physically demanding sectors such as construction and agriculture.

Denmark's largest trade union, 3F, has argued that the policy will disproportionately burden lower-income workers. It said surveys had found three-quarters of their members doubted they could keep working into their 70s.

Pension changes have become a flash point across Europe. Just two years ago, France was rocked by months of mass protests and strikes after President Emmanuel Macron's government raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Nonetheless, as demographic pressure mounts globally, Denmark's move may be a bellwether.

Countries including Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK have already scheduled retirement age increases to 67 by 2031, 2028, and 2028, respectively.

With life expectancy continuing to rise, birth rates falling, and the need for a sustainable ratio of workers to retirees, economists and researchers say retirement ages will probably need to be pushed back further.

A 2024 report from the UK's International Longevity Centre projected that Britain would have to raise the retirement age to 71 by 2050 to maintain the ratio of workers to retirees.

Similarly, in the US, the retirement age for full Social Security benefits has already been raised from 65 to 67.

While Republicans have proposed a further increase, President Donald Trump said on the campaign trail in June 2024 that he would "not raise the retirement age by one day."

• President Donald Trump said tariffs of at least 25% would apply to iPhones not made in the US.
• Apple stock fell more than 3% in premarket trading on Friday.
• Trump told Apple CEO Tim Cook that iPhones should be made "in the United States, not India, or anyplace else."

Apple dipped premarket on Friday after President Donald Trump said iPhones manufactured outside the US would face a tariff of at least 25%.

"I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone's that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday.

He warned that if Apple failed to comply, the company must pay the US a tariff of "at least" 25%.

Apple stock was down more than 3% just before 8 a.m ET.

Trump also threatened new tariffs against the European Union on Friday.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

• I spent a week without my phone in the Tangkhul Naga villages of Manipur.
• Trusting strangers' handwritten maps over Google taught me to embrace uncertainty.
• I learned to appreciate all my phone provides without taking it for granted or using it too much.

As I stood at a Himalayan crossroads clutching a paper map, I could feel my fingers twitching for a phone I'd vowed not to use.

I'd traveled from Mumbai to the Tangkhul Naga villages of Manipur and decided to spend a week of my trip not relying on my phone.

At first, the absence of notifications felt liberating — until I realized how much I'd outsourced my survival to technology.

The first hour of my digital detox felt like stepping into a silent void. There was no Google Maps to decode winding mountain trails, and no translator to navigate conversations in the village's Tangkhul dialect.

My heartbeat spiked when a fog rolled in, erasing landmarks. I'd romanticized the idea of "unplugging" — until reality hit.

I was lost, alone, and utterly dependent on strangers and a paper map. Soon, though, the locals became my unexpected compass. An older woman brewing tea over a fire gestured for me to sit with her.

As steam curled from the clay cup, she traced a route on my map with charcoal-stained fingers: "Follow the red prayer flags, then the goats."

Her directions were vague, yet effective. By sunset, I'd traded algorithmic certainty for human intuition and found my guesthouse.

Soon, I found myself slowing down and finding other ways to capture memories

That night, I journaled by candlelight. And, with no phone to document my travels in photos, I sketched scenes from the day.

My first drawing — a mist-cloaked valley — took 40 minutes.

Instead of snapping dozens of photos of the valley from slightly different angles in seconds, I was forced to slow down and remember the details.

It was a refreshing challenge to rely so much on memory and force myself to focus on one task instead of tapping around on my phone.

The sketches also made me realize just how much I'd reduced travel to a series of Instagram snapshots. Now, each drawing captured my memories more profoundly, from the prayer flags flapping in the wind to the sunshine breaking through the clouds.

Ironically, my phone-free "Kodak moments" became more immersive than any filtered photo.

As the trip went on, I started to feel grateful and guilty for having a digital detox in the first place

About halfway through my trip, a teenage girl approached me and asked if I could take her family's photo and put it on Facebook.

Her family posed stiffly outside their home, clutching a prized smartphone — one of the few in the village. Their only internet access was a three-hour walk to town.

The request gutted me. Here I was, romanticizing my "noble" detox, while they saw social media and connection as a lifeline to opportunity.

For them, an online post has the chance to go viral, which might mean getting a scholarship or other meaningful resources.

My privilege hit hard: I could afford to romanticize disconnection.

I took the photo and promised to tag them later. Still, the guilt lingered: Who exactly was this detox serving?

The more time I spent away from my phone, the more I realized how lucky I was to be able to have it as a resource — a way to navigate and to connect with friends around the world.

Still, it's easy for a phone to become too much of a crutch and a distraction. Maybe I didn't need to go fully phone-free if I was able to find balance by setting mindful limitations and remembering to have gratitude for all it can offer me.

Some of my lessons stuck with me, but it hasn't been perfect

When I returned to Mumbai, I tried to take some of my technology-detox habits with me, from going on long hikes without a phone and spending Sundays offline.

So far, it's been messy. I've missed emails, gotten lost in my city, and had arguments with friends who think I'm ignoring them on purpose.

However, I've also rediscovered the art of waiting and taking in the world around me — staring out train windows, eavesdropping on market banter, and letting my mind wander without a screen to numb the boredom.

I still keep one of the hand-drawn maps a local shepherd gave me during my trip above my desk. It's rice paper inked with jagged peaks, rivers like squiggled threads, and an "X" marking his favorite hidden spring.

It's objectively useless for navigating Mumbai's chaos, but it reminds me that sometimes, the most unexpected paths — ones that force us to slow down, observe, and engage with the world around us — can best reshape our perspectives the most.

• The US Navy dispatched three of its destroyers to support the military's southern border mission.
• USS Stockdale's captain explained to BI that his warship is an ideal platform for this mission.
• He said the Stockdale brings high-end comms and sensors to the table, along with an embarked helicopter.

The captain of one of three US Navy destroyers that deployed this spring to support the military's southern border mission after spending months battling the Iran-backed Houthis in the Red Sea says his warship was well-suited to both assignments.

Amid questions of whether the southern border deployments were overkill, the military acknowledged that it was "a bit unique to deploy a capability of this level for this mission set." But it sent an unmistakable message.

Unlike the Red Sea mission, at the southern border, the value of these warfighting ships isn't as much the firepower they bring to a potential fight but rather the capabilities that other vessels lack, such as robust communications and sensor suites, and endurance.

Cdr. Jacob Beckelhymer, the commanding officer of USS Stockdale, told Business Insider that the maritime security missions are familiar taskings and "part of the broad set of things that destroyers do."

The Stockdale just recently returned to its homeport in San Diego after spending weeks deployed off the coast of southern California in support of US military operations at the southern border.

Transnational criminal operations coming out of Mexico were at the top of the US intelligence community's 2025 Annual Threat Assessment, and the Trump administration has made cracking down on maritime criminal activity, from illegal immigration to human and drug trafficking, priorities.

In addition to thousands of military personnel, the administration has dispatched a range of military assets to the border area, including the three destroyers that battled the Houthis last year.

The Stockdale, like USS Spruance and USS Gravely, had an embarked US Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment for its southern border deployment. These are Coast Guard teams that specialize in law-enforcement operations at sea, such as counterterrorism, counter-piracy, and anti-immigration missions.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers like the Stockdale are equipped with missile tubes that carry a mix of surface-to-air and land-attack munitions and different guns, such as a five-inch deck gun, machine guns, and a Phalanx Close-In Weapons System.

This extensive loadout was needed to battle the Houthis, as the Stockdale and other Navy warships routinely came under rebel missile and drone attacks. The warships faced a very different threat environment at the southern border than in the Red Sea. Beckelhymer said Stockdale's weapon system was in a "different configuration" since they didn't expect to be shot at. At the southern border, the emphasis was on other capabilities.

"The sensor suite is incredible. My surface radar tracking ability, I think, far exceeds what we normally see, particularly on the smaller Coast Guard cutters," Beckelhymer said. "And then I've also got a much larger team."

He touted the ship's combat information center, a multimission room with many monitors that display maps and radars, as an essential tool for monitoring possible smuggling situations and recommending whether it's worth following up.

As Henry Ziemer, an Americas Program fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, previously wrote, a destroyer has "powerful sensors and electronics that can be assets for detecting small boats and semisubmersibles used for illicit activities."

These ships can also coordinate additional assets, he said, and function as a force multiplier.

Beckelhymer said the MH-60R Seahawk helicopter embarked on the Stockdale provides faster air coverage than relying on something from the shore. The helicopter is equipped with a very capable radar and communications suite and can share real-time data and video feed with the destroyer.

The captain said the Stockdale is also an endurance platform. The ship can "stay on station considerably longer" and carry more fuel and food.

During its deployment, Stockdale served as a command-and-control platform, providing maritime awareness and surveillance to the Coast Guard assets operating in the area. The destroyer played a role in helping them apprehend suspected smuggling vessels, and Beckelhymer's crew saved the lives of mariners who were caught adrift with no food or water on board.

Speaking to the missions that his warship has supported, Beckelhymer said "it's really, really humbling to watch young men and women put to action the things that it takes to operate a destroyer at sea in support of priority missions for two separate fleet commanders."

• Cloudflare's CEO has issued a stark warning for content creators.
• Matthew Prince said creators could lose out on advertising cash as people turn to AI for search purposes.
• He suggested creators work with tech companies to block AI bots from accessing their work without paying.

The CEO of one of the internet's biggest gatekeepers has warned that content creators are at risk of losing out on subscription and advertising money as people increasingly turn to AI for search purposes.

Matthew Prince, the billionaire cofounder and CEO of cybersecurity giant Cloudflare, told CNBC on Wednesday that creators need to push back as more of their value is captured directly by AI searches.

"I think that the economy is for sure changing," Prince said.

"What's changing is not that fewer people are searching the internet," he continued. "It's that more and more of the answers to Google are being answered right on Google's page."

Creators may miss out on ad views and subscription sign-ups as search engines and AI bots can now provide answers to search queries while sending fewer people to the original source, which Prince said could spell trouble for content producers.

"If you're making money through subscriptions, through advertising, any of the things that content creators are doing today, visitors aren't going to be seeing those ads," he said. "That means it's gonna be much, much harder for you to be a content creator."

Moving forward, Prince suggested that creators should work with tech companies to block AI bots from accessing their work without paying.

"The fuel that runs these AI engines is original content. So that content has to get created in order for these AI engines to work," he said. "What content creators have to do is restrict access to content, create that scarcity, and say, 'you're not going to get my content unless you're actually getting paying me for creating that content.'"

But Prince said there was still some cause for optimism, particularly for those creating "valuable" work.

"Original content that is actually highly valuable is I think going to be more valuable in this future," he said.

The exec has also spoken about what he sees as AI's potential upside for businesses and how the technology can supplement real workers' skills.

"AI has helped us not replace people, but help make people better," Prince told Business Insider in an interview last month, adding that Cloudflare's use of AI was less about replacing teams and more about giving them "superpowers."

• When I got divorced, I was so scared of being alone that I immediately went on the dating sites.
• I jumped into a relationship very quickly without realizing we had different values.
• When that relationship ended, I learned to heal and focus on myself.

It was only six months since my divorce became final that I did something I still regret. I created a Match.com profile.

I was just a week away from turning 40 and newly alone. I was hiding my pain so well that my friend suggested I start online dating. I knew it was a bad idea, but I took her advice anyway.

I quickly got into a relationship with a man when I should have been focusing on myself and my healing post-divorce.

I did not want to face the pain of being alone and divorced

Getting divorced in my early 40s was not in the plan. When it became my reality, I struggled with loneliness. I had been married for almost 16 years and had known my ex-husband for 18 years. The idea of suddenly being alone at night and having no one to share my day with was scary. It also meant having no financial support and having to rely solely on myself for the first time.

Instead of facing it, I buried that pain. I distracted myself by reading the messages from guys on dating apps.

There were too many choices on the apps, and I quickly found out that you don't know a person unless you've gone out with them a few times and learned to ask the right questions. So that's what I did.

I felt I was interviewing and hiring a man to be a boyfriend; it did not feel great. I wanted a more natural way of meeting someone, but with my busy work schedule, long commute, and kids, the apps were the best way to meet someone.

The dating apps were helping to distract me from my pain, but also making me feel even more alone. I knew I needed to get into a relationship and off the apps fast.

I met someone who seemed like the right match

I wanted a nice, kind guy, and I did not care if he was older or younger. I wanted somebody who could be a great friend and show much-needed love and care.

I thought I found someone who fit the bill right after my birthday. He was tall, handsome, and a little bit older.

He portrayed himself as a strong, caring man. He also made me feel safe. He accepted my flaws, weirdness, and sense of humor.

I filled the emptiness in my heart with the occasional dates with him. I felt alive again when I heard his laughter. It was exciting and fun when we spent time together.

But something didn't feel right. We dated for two years, and ultimately, I realized we had different priorities and values. He was not my match; I just started dating him and stayed with him to avoid the cold, empty bed at night after my divorce.

I paid a high price for my wrong move

I made the biggest mistake of looking happy and making my friends believe I was ready for a new relationship after my divorce. The fact is, I was not prepared for a new relationship, not even close.

I was so eager to find a man to walk down the aisle with again, but I made the wrong move. I forgot to find myself first.

It's been 10 years since that relationship ended, and I have since invested money, energy, and time into my spiritual and personal growth. I can now say I am OK with being single as I approach my 50th birthday. I now value the relationship I have with myself.

• President Donald Trump's $5 million "gold card" visa aimed at the rich could face limited demand.
• One analyst said even the wealthy may be reluctant to pay that much as a fee rather than an investment.
• The move appears to have boosted interest in the EB-5 visa program, Henley & Partners said.

In February President Donald Trump announced a $5 million "gold card" visa scheme that would offer green card privileges and a "route to citizenship."

He's suggested that as many as one million people might want to buy one, while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said that 250,000 people were "waiting in line" and "willing to pay the $5 million" fee.

This week Lutnick told Axios that a website where potential applicants could register their interest would go live within weeks and that further details would follow.

Dominic Volek, head of private clients at Henley & Partners, an investment migration consultancy, said the scheme was unlikely to generate a rush of applications.

"Their estimations are just simply way off," he told Business Insider. "As a general rule of thumb for wealthy people, they won't spend more than 10% of their liquid net worth on a single discretionary purchase" — whether that's a yacht, a watch, or the right to live in a country.

Volek said that to comfortably afford $5 million, an individual would need at least $50 million in liquid net worth.

"Globally, there's probably only 100,000 to 150,000 people who have that kind of net worth, and the majority are already in the US. And so that leaves you with less than 100,000 people as a potential market," he said.

Even if you're quite wealthy, the idea of handing over $5 million rather than investing it may be a tough sell. Many other countries with citizenship or residence-by-investment programs offer tangible returns, not pure capital outflows.

New Zealand offers residency in exchange for a $2.95 million investment, while Singapore requires a $7.8 million investment.

Tax trouble

"Those were all investments," Volek said. "That's money I put into the stock market, into a business, into a bond, and I get a return."

Another factor is taxation. Unlike many countries, the US taxes citizens — and even green card holders living abroad — on their worldwide income.

"It's not a good place to be from a tax perspective," Volek said. "If the tax treatment is not adjusted, then it will be a massive failure."

Trump's plan has triggered a ripple effect by boosting interest for the more affordable EB-5 immigrant investor visa, which offers green cards for a $1.05 million investment.

"Probably 80% of the prospects we were speaking to immediately called and said, 'Let's start the process. Let's get our petition in,'" Volek said.

According to a recent report from Henley & Partners and global wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth, EB-5 visa enquiries jumped 168% in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of 2024.

By April, enquiries about the EB-5 program had already reached nearly 50% of 2024's total, the firm said.

Lutnick has suggested that the gold card visa could replace the EB-5 program.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• Microsoft's chief product officer of experiences and devices says people should keep learning to code.
• Computer science isn't dead, Aparna Chennapragada said on a recent podcast, and the role of the engineer will endure.
• For project managers, she said that editing and "taste-making" will be more important than ever.

Microsoft CPO Aparna Chennapragada doesn't buy the idea that coding is on its way out.

"I have one other additional bonus thing, which is a lot of folks think about, 'Oh, don't bother studying computer science or the coding is dead,' and I just fundamentally disagree," Chennapragada, the tech giant's chief product officer of experiences and devices, said on Lenny's Podcast.

"If anything, I think we've always had higher and higher layers of abstraction in programming," she added.

Despite fears that AI could ultimately render software engineers irrelevant — or at least materially cut down on job openings in the field — Chennapragada believes that AI only adds a further layer of abstraction in the existing process of programming.

"We don't program in assembly anymore," she said. "Most of us don't even program in C, and then you're kind of higher and higher layers of abstraction. So to me, they will be ways that you will tell the computer what to do, right? It'll just be at a much higher level of abstraction, which is great. It democratizes."

Chennapragada said it's possible that, in the future, we'll think of software engineers more as software operators, but the role itself is unlikely to disappear.

"There'll be an order of magnitude more software operators," she said. "Instead of 'Cs,' maybe we'll have 'SOs,' but that doesn't mean you don't understand computer science and it's a way of thinking and it's a mental model. So I strongly disagree with the whole, 'Coding is dead.'"

As for the fate of project managers, who are subject, like many other middle managers, to big tech's "great flattening," Chennapragada expects them to endure, albeit with modified responsibilities. Taste, she said, will be more important than ever.

"In some sense, if you look at it, there's going to be a supply of ideas, a massive increase in supply of ideas in prototypes, which is great," Chennapragada said. "It raises the floor, but it raises the ceiling as well. In some sense, how do you break out in these times that you have to make sure that this is something that rises above the noise?"

Chennapragada did not respond to a request for comment by Business Insider prior to publication.

AI makes it easier than ever to actualize an idea, she said, which means that sifting through the glut of ideas will be especially important — so project managers will need to further develop what Chennapragada calls "the taste-making and the editing" instincts.

"In a world where the supply of ideas, supply of prototypes becomes even more like an order of magnitude higher, you'd have to think about, 'What is the editing function here?'" she said.

Because it's so much easier to just get started, Chennapragada says she's observed less of an instinct to automatically turn to a project manager for approval. Though final approval will become more important than ever, she believes PMs have to earn the right to judge.

"There's an interesting side effect I am observing in startups that I'm advising, companies, and even within the companies, that there used to be more gatekeeping, I would say, in terms of like — 'Oh, we should ask the product leader what they think,'" Chennapragada said. "And again, there is a role for that editing function, but you have to earn it now."

• The word "tariff" might be about to get scarcer in the retail world, a consumer researcher told BI.
• Walmart drew President Trump's ire after saying the company would hike prices due to tariffs.
• Neutral wordings like "sourcing costs" or "supply chain expenses" may become more common, the researcher said.

The "T-word" may soon go the way of DEI and ESG.

In the months since President Donald Trump began rolling out his shifting tariff policies, companies have been grappling with how to communicate the impact the policy will have on prices. But consumers may be hearing about that less.

Instead, phrases like "sourcing costs," "supply chain expenses" or "import costs" — accompanied with a detailed explanation of measures the company took to mitigate any price increase — will become code for "tariff" in earnings calls and other business meetings, said Denise Dahlhoff, director of marketing and communications research at The Conference Board, which advises companies on economic trends.

"As a business today, you have to think of it as a multi-stakeholder world," Dahlhoff told Business Insider. "There are your customers, your employees, your investors, the government, the president, the media, and your supplier community."

The tariffs are part of Trump's economic agenda to bring back offshored American manufacturing and incentivize companies to make goods domestically by making imports more costly.

Businesses large and small have said they see disclosing tariff costs as a means to retain consumer trust, but major companies that have been explicit about tariff costs or have been suspected of such plans are facing increasing political pressure, often from the president himself.

Walmart announced during an earnings call on May 15 that they would need to raise prices due to Trump's tariffs. In a post on Truth Social on May 17, Trump criticized Walmart for "blaming" his policies and demanded that the retailer "eat the tariffs," adding that he will "be watching" for price hikes.

Walmart did not immediately respond to a request for comments, but a spokesperson previous told BI that the company has always worked to keep prices "as low as possible."

This also wouldn't be the first time Trump took tariff price hikes personally. When it was reported that Amazon was considering displaying how much tariffs are contributing to the price of individual products, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, called the idea a "hostile and political act." Amazon quickly denied ever planning to display tariff costs.

"Saying 'tariff' could be interpreted as a political statement because this country is politically very divided, so it is a very complex environment, and you want to avoid terms that might divide people or might not be universally liked," Dahlhoff said.

Retailers may avoid the issue altogether, and instead leave the consumers to do the math, Michael Baker, a senior analyst at D.A. Davidson, previously told BI.

"Retailers will have learned they need to be very careful — and it's very tricky — on how they articulate that so as to not wind up on a Truth Social post," Baker said. "That does add a layer of complication."

Dahlhoff said company leaders these days should also avoid words like DEI and ESG, which promote equity and environmentalism, but have become very politically charged after Trump threatened to cut federal funding from institutions that engage in these practices. Some businesses like Target have publicly rolled back DEI measures after Trump's inauguration, and promptly faced public boycott. The company changed the name of its DEI strategy to "Belonging at the Bullseye."

"If it was a tight rope businesses were walking before, now it's a thin string," Dahlhoff said.

Peter Cohan, an associate professor of management at Babson College and a venture capitalist, previously told BI that tariff awareness is extremely heightened among consumers, so they have a good understanding of the cause of price hikes at this point, regardless of what businesses call it.

"I do not think it's smart to cave," said Cohan of giving in to the President's demands. "If there isn't pushback, then it's appeasement, and companies changing their policies based on getting an angry call from the President will lose their ability to effectively manage their business."

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• I bought a Lafufu, a cheap, counterfeit, somewhat creepy version of the viral Labubu toy.
• People around the world are shelling out money to buy Lafufus — it's becoming a retail phenomenon.
• Lafufu lovers told BI they love the toys for how ugly they are, not in spite of it.

As soon as I ripped open the packaging of my brand-new Lafufu, I giggled.

It was my fault. Instead of buying an authentic Labubu from Chinese toymaker Pop Mart, I caved and bought a Lafufu. The sad, budget fuzzy doll stands in for the real deal — a toy that has taken the world by storm and made millions for its Chinese owner.

The term Lafufu is an affectionate nickname for these counterfeit Labubus and is often used in videos on social media platforms like TikTok.

The most obvious knockoff sign was my Lafufu's lopsided face, which made its creepy smile look extremely unsettling. The next thing I spotted was its missing hands, but upon closer inspection, I saw they had been attached backward.

I compared it to my coworker's real Labubu and noticed that the devil really is in the details. The paint job on the legit Labubu was cleaner. My Lafufu, meanwhile, felt flimsier, and its white fur was coarser. The Lafufu's limbs weren't completely mobile — its feet could not be rotated 360 degrees.

And most unfortunately, my poor Lafufu also appeared to have a receding hairline, while the real Labubu had an ample crown of fur on its head.

I snagged the Lafufu toy for 9.77 Singapore dollars, or about $7.50, on local e-commerce platform Shopee. The real toy of this size from Pop Mart costs SG$24.90.

On Shopee, dozens of listings offer various Lafufus, with prices as low as SG$0.60.

Purchasing it was a two-minute affair, a far cry from waiting in line for hours outside a Pop Mart outlet ahead of product drops. In the UK, Pop Mart has temporarily paused physical sales of the toy because queues were getting out of hand.

Labubu and The Monsters toy line was a lucrative product category for Pop Mart in 2024, with sales totaling 3.04 billion yuan, or about $426 million. Pop Mart's stock is up more than 530% in the last year.

While some people may buy Lafufus as a Labubu replacement, others are going out of their way to secure the fake version.

Joey Khong, a trends manager at London-based market research agency Mintel, said, "Like most fakes, Lafufus reflect a combination of systemic market inequalities and genuine human motivations: the desire to belong, to experience joy, and to participate in the cultural moment."

Juda Kanaprach, the cofounder of Singapore-based market research firm Milieu Insight, told me Lafufu is having its "own little cultural moment."

"Whether it's about humor, aesthetics, or just jumping on a trend, everyone's coming at it from a different angle," Kanaprach said. "And that, to me, makes this whole thing more than just a 'fake toy' moment."

Representatives for Pop Mart did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

A cheaper, funnier alternative to Labubu

Lafufu buyers told me they love the fakes because of how ugly they are, not in spite of it.

Miabella Rivera, a college freshman from San Diego, said she got a Lafufu for $12 because the real ones were "impossible to get."

"My Lafufu came without eyes, so I had to superglue them on, but it still turned out really cute," Rivera said.

Renn Lazzerin, who works at an elementary school in Los Angeles as a behavior analyst, has two Lafufus. The first was an unintentional buy — she was scammed by an online seller claiming the doll was authentic.

But soon after, she bought a second Lafufu knowingly, because of how ugly it was.

"The eyes pop out, it has blush blindness, and the teeth are misprinted," Lazzerin said.

"The fake Labubu offers a different serotonin rush than getting an original. It's like, how ugly can it get?" she added.

Khong, the trends manager, said fakes can often look more eccentric or intriguing than real Labubus.

"While anyone with enough money can buy a 'real Labubu' straight from the store, a rare, well-made fake with a unique outfit or expression might require more taste, effort, or insider knowledge to source," he said.

Austin D'Souza, the managing director of Ozzie Collectables, an Australian collectibles store, said Labubus are made with high-quality materials.

"Authentic Labubus are crafted with care and creativity, and counterfeit versions can detract from the unique experience that collectors seek," he said.

"The packaging of genuine products typically features high-quality printing and branding, whereas counterfeit packaging may appear less polished or have inconsistencies," D'Souza added.

Buying a Lafufu has convinced some people to pick up real Labubus

Despite being obvious fakes, Lafufus may be driving up demand for authentic Labubus.

"Even though they're fake, they keep the brand in people's minds. Everyone's sharing them online, making fun of them, and talking about them, which keeps the attention and interest around the real Labubu going," said Kanaprach, from Milieu Insight.

"Buying a fake Labubu was not good enough for me, so I punched the real one to make me feel better about owning just one," said Kimberly Hernandez, a special education assistant from Los Angeles.

The popularity of counterfeits comes with risks

Kanaprach said Pop Mart needs to stay ahead of the game because too many fakes could flood the market. At some point, well-made fakes may become indistinguishable from the real deal.

"Labubu just needs to keep things special, always come up with new designs, keep it limited, and remind people why the original is still worth it," she said.

Khong said a larger problem for brands like Pop Mart is keeping their core fans engaged and satisfied "while riding the volatility of popularity or trend cycles."

While I see the allure of a Labubu — despite never having purchased one myself — I think I'm satisfied with my SG$9.77 Lafufu.

After a few days of staring at its lopsided grin, its deformities have even become endearing.

• Johan Helberg was asleep at home when a 440-foot-long cargo ship crashed into his backyard.
• The NCL Salten was transporting goods to the Norwegian town of Orkanger when it ran aground.
• The ship's owner said it had run aground twice in 2023 and 2024.

A 440-foot-long cargo ship ran aground beside a house in Byneset, Norway, on Thursday morning, local time.

"If the ship had hit the rocky cliff right next to it, it would have lifted up and hit the house hard. It wasn't many meters off," Johan Helberg, the owner of the house, told local newspaper Nidaros.

Helberg said he was asleep when the ship ran aground and did not know what happened until his neighbor alerted him.

"I thought, who in the world rings the doorbell at 5:45 in the morning? I looked out the window, and he said: 'Haven't you seen the ship?'" Helberg told The New York Times in an interview published Thursday.

There were 16 men aboard the NCL Salten, Helberg said in his interview with the Times. The boat was captained by a Norwegian, and its crew comprises Russians and Ukrainians, Helberg said.

Helberg told the Times that his neighbor, Jostein Jørgensen, was "in shock all day" after seeing the ship plow into their backyard.

Jørgensen told the local media outlet TV 2 that he heard the ship at around 5 a.m. local time.

"When I looked out the window, I saw a boat moving at full speed towards shore," Jørgensen said, adding that he expected the ship to turn course initially.

But the ship only stopped moving when it was about "six to eight meters" from Helberg's house wall, Jørgensen told TV 2.

The NCL Salten was transporting goods to Orkanger, a town in Trondheim, Norway, when the crash occurred, per TV 2's report. The ship is owned by Baltnautic, a Lithuanian shipping company.

Baltnautic CEO Bente Hetland told the Times that "nobody was injured in the grounding." She added that the company does not know "what caused the incident and are awaiting the conclusion of the ongoing investigation."

Hetland told TV 2 that the NCL Salten had run aground twice before, both times in Norway. The ship ran aground in Hadsel in 2023 and in Ålesund in 2024.

Baltnautic did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The Norwegian Coastal Administration said on Thursday that no injuries or oil spills had been reported. It added that Baltnautic and the salvaging company it hired could not "pull the ship off the ground at high tide" with a tugboat on Thursday evening.

"Geotechnical investigations will be carried out, and the shipping company's salvage company is awaiting the results of these to determine whether special considerations need to be taken when the ship is to be pulled off. We expect the investigations to take some time," the statement continued.

• Tom Cruise does his own stunts, and it's remarkable what he's been able to pull off.
• Hanging from the side of a plane, skydiving, climbing the world's tallest building — he's done it all.
• He also jumped off the roof of the Stade de France to mark the end of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Tom Cruise has been one of the biggest names in Hollywood since the 1980s, and as his star power grew, so did his ambitions. 

He started to do a lot of his own stunts when appearing in action blockbusters like "Top Gun," "Mission: Impossible," and "Minority Report." Now, stunts have become Cruise's calling card.

His ambitiousness also bled into real life at the 2024 Paris Olympics' closing ceremony when he jumped off the roof of the Stade de France.

Now, the actor has added another stunning aerial sequence to his list of feats, in his latest movie: "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning."

Here are the best stunts of Cruise's career, ranked.

12. For the cargo-plane crash in "The Mummy," Cruise did the stunt inside a NASA plane that trains astronauts for zero gravity.

In 2017's "The Mummy," Cruise finds himself stuck in a cargo plane as it crashes. To pull off a scene like this, actors would typically film it in a controlled setting like a sound stage surrounded by a green screen.

Not Cruise, though.

The star shot the scene in a plane that NASA uses to train astronauts.

The scene was filmed in the plane which had to go up to 25,000 feet to get the look that Cruise was in zero gravity. The plane then did a free fall for 22 seconds.

Cruise did the flight four times to pull off the scene.

11. Cruise flew a helicopter in "Mission: Impossible — Fallout."

For the thrilling helicopter-chase scene in the finale of "Fallout," Cruise spent 16 hours a day training to get to the required 2,000 hours to fly a helicopter on his own.

But Cruise didn't just fly the helicopter. He also pulled off a 360-degree corkscrew dive in it, which would challenge even the most veteran pilot.

10. Cruise is really in an F/A-18 jet for the flight scenes in "Top Gun" Maverick" and had to deal with the G-forces.

When you see Cruise and the cast looking like they are battling G-forces in the jets, complete with distorted faces, it's because they really were.

Cruise and the cast went through training so their dogfight scenes could look as realistic as possible — which meant sitting in the F/A-18 jets as they were spun around and took dramatic dives.

9. Cruise jumped off the Stade de France during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The 2024 Paris Olympics closing ceremony went big on the Americana to mark Los Angeles hosting the 2028 games, with Cruise pulling off a stunt straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster.

He jumped off the roof of the Stade de France and descended into France's national stadium in front of thousands in a stunt that blurred the lines between himself and the daring characters he's known for playing. 

When Cruise got to the stage, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Olympian gymnast Simone Biles gave him the Olympic flag. After it was attached to a motorbike, the actor drove out of the stadium to start the flag's journey to America. He was later shown jumping out of a plane and turning the Hollywood sign into the Olympic rings. 

They're not the most extreme stunts of Cruise's career, but perfectly captures his showmanship.

8. Cruise climbed a 2,000-foot cliff in "Mission: Impossible 2."

In the opening scene of 2000's "M: I 2," Cruise is seen climbing a cliff. And yes, that's really him.

Cruise scaled the cliff in Utah with nothing but a safety rope. He also did a 15-foot jump from one cliff to another.

7. Cruise held his breath for six minutes for an underwater stunt in "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation."

In one scene, Cruise's Ethan Hunt has to dive into an underwater safe to retrieve the computer chip that will lead him closer to the villain.

Along with having to hold his breath the whole time, he must keep away from a large crane that's circling around the safe.

For the scene, Cruise first jumped off a 120-foot ledge. Then, in a 20-foot deep-water tank, Cruise held his breath for six minutes.

6. Cruise broke his ankle jumping between buildings while making "Mission: Impossible — Fallout."

Tom Cruise loves to run in his movies; it's become his trademark. But his ability to continue running came into question after a stunt went wrong on the set of "Fallout."

While jumping from one building to another, Cruise hit the wall of the building the wrong way and broke his ankle.

The accident halted production for months and doctors told Cruise his running days might be over. But, six weeks later, Cruise was back on set doing sprints.

5. Cruise climbed the tallest building in the world for "Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol."

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building in the world, and Cruise climbed it.

For "Ghost Protocol," the actor's climb got him up to 1,700 feet in the air.

He also fell four stories down by rappelling on the surface of the building.

4. Cruise did 500 skydives and over 13,000 motocross jumps for the thrilling motorcycle stunt in "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part 1."

For the latest "M:I" movie, Cruise once again pushed himself.

And one stunt in particular is definitely up there as one of his craziest ideas yet: driving a motorcycle off a cliff.

The star did 500 skydives and over 13,000 motocross jumps to prepare for the stunt. And that wasn't just so Cruise had the skill and comfort to pull off the stunt; the training also made it possible for director Christopher McQuarrie and his crew to map out camera angles to capture it. 

The stunt was then done on the first day of principal photography.

"We know either we will continue with the film or we're not. Let's know day one!" Cruise told "Entertainment Tonight" on why it was done on the first day.

Cruise ended up doing the stunt six times on the day of shooting.

 

3. Cruise hung on the side of a plane as it took off for "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation."

Cruise clung to the side of a massive Airbus A400M plane as it took off and went up to 1,000 feet dealing with speeds of 100 knots.

To protect the actor, he was secured with a wire attached to the plane. He also had special contacts on to protect his eyes from debris.

Cruise did this stunt eight times.

2. Cruise navigated between two flying planes in "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning."

In the climax of "The Final Reckoning," Hunt holds on to a biplane during takeoff, before eventually punching its pilot, throwing him out of the vehicle, and climbing into another plane being flown by the villain, Gabriel (Esai Morales).

The ambitious nature of the scene is what we've come to expect from Cruise, but seeing him cling on for dear life above the valleys of South Africa is nothing short of astounding.

Yes, he was strapped to the two different vehicles during multiple takes to achieve the sequence, but watching it unfold on the big screen is still breathtaking.

1. Cruise did 106 skydives with a broken ankle to pull off the HALO jump in "Mission: Impossible — Fallout."

While Cruise was healing the broken ankle he sustained earlier in the "Fallout" production, he went and pulled off the most amazing stunt he's done in his career so far.

In the movie, Cruise's character and CIA tagalong August Walker (Henry Cavill) decide to do a HALO jump — a high-altitude, low-open skydive, in which you open your parachute at a low altitude after free-falling for a period of time — out of a giant C-17 plane to get into Paris undetected.

Cruise did this for real by executing the jump 106 times over two weeks, many of them done during golden hour, a very brief period of perfect lighting that occurs just before sunset.

• UBS is using AI to create avatar videos from analysts' notes.
• 36 analysts covering a range of sectors are taking part in the Swiss bank's initiative.
• UBS told Business Insider that clients have been seeking more video options.

Banks are using AI to save their analysts' time while giving clients what they want.

Bank of America uses "Banker Assist" to aggregate information to offer insights unique to each client, while Goldman Sachs has a "GS AI Assistant" that functions as an in-house ChatGPT for staff.

Swiss bank UBS has gone further, using AI to generate avatars of analysts that explain their research to clients, and it's planning to do this more.

The Swiss bank started using AI avatars of some analysts in January. About 36 UBS analysts, or 5% of its total, have volunteered to take part. They cover sectors including technology, consumer goods, and energy.

UBS's use of AI avatars was first reported by The Financial Times.

Using OpenAI and Synthesia tools, a script is generated in a matter of seconds that is then edited by staff.

Scott Solomon, head of global research technology at UBS, told Business Insider that his team started creating videos of analysts a decade ago, but capacity restrictions meant they were capped at about 1,000 annually.

Analysts were writing an average of two notes a week but would only go to the video studio once a quarter, he said.

The new tools are "enabling somebody to use a capability in video that they weren't really able to use before," he said.

It also gives clients another way to digest information and meet their rising demand for video, Solomon said.

He compared an avatar to other parts of an analyst's toolkit. "When an analyst joins UBS, we give them Excel, we give them our authoring platform, we give them a CRM [customer relationship management] tool so they can talk to clients. I want them to have an avatar," he said.

Solomon said the next step would be integrating the technology so that a video can eventually be created when an analyst publishes a note — without the need for editing.

He said he hoped this would become possible by the end of the year.

Even if the process was fully automated, UBS said analysts will still assess a video based on their notes before it is sent to clients.

Solomon said that ideally, the avatars would eventually become part of the onboarding process, so that whenever a note is published, there's a video too.

The next step would be integrating this capability directly into the authoring platform.

"We have the script generator, we have the ability to send the script to generate the avatar, and then we obviously have the ability to deliver the avatar to clients," Solomon said.

"We want to string all that together so that as they're writing the note, they can get the video with it as well. Our goal is absolutely not to do 50,000 videos a year, but clearly there's an opportunity to do more videos than we are today."

• Systems engineer Michael Floyd worked at Lockheed Martin for four years.
• Floyd was the breadwinner for his family, but chose to become a stay-at-home dad.
• He and his wife budgeted for the transition and even built a chicken coop to counter egg prices.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Michael Floyd, a 36-year-old stay-at-home dad from Ithaca, New York. It's been edited for length and clarity.

When my wife was pregnant with our child, I was the main breadwinner for our family. We were deciding between two options: putting our daughter in childcare or me becoming a stay-at-home dad.

My wife's plan has always been to become a full-time professor at a top university, so we knew she wouldn't be staying home with our daughter. On the other hand, I was working as a systems engineer for Lockheed Martin, with a six-figure salary.

I took three months of parental leave, and after that, my decision was clear. I left my six-figure engineering job to care for our child while my wife focused on her career. Here's how we decided and budgeted for the change.

New York state childcare would've cost us $30,000 a year

While I was at Lockheed Martin, my wife was working a postdoctoral position at Cornell University. We were also making additional income from our Airbnb rental and two full-time rental properties.

We did calculations, and in our city in New York state, childcare would cost about $30,000 annually.

But I didn't officially decide to be a stay-at-home dad until I spent time caring for my daughter during my parental leave. I noticed just how much attention she needs. I don't trust that even the best childcare worker could attend to my daughter to the degree that I would want.

Plus, until my daughter is of the age where she can raise her voice and let me know something's wrong, it's really hard for me to allow a stranger to watch her. I'm sure 99% of workers are amazing, but I don't want to take a chance on the 1%.

I enjoyed my job, but I left to take care of our daughter full time

I found my job to be fun because it felt like solving Sudoku puzzles all day, but it required me to sit at my desk for 10-hour shifts.

Since I hurt my back during my 6-year service in the military, long periods of sitting or standing make it flare up. After four years doing my job, the last two of which were remote, I felt isolated, so I knew I had made the right decision to leave.

I don't have any plans to return to work at the moment, but it's not off the table for the future.

Since I was the main breadwinner, we had to budget for me to stay home

We canceled our housekeeper and our CrossFit memberships. We also switched from Verizon to T-Mobile, which saves us over $100 each month, and removed one of our three vehicles from our insurance.

I've cut down on our grocery bill by adjusting my diet to rely on more plant-based sources of protein like lentils rather than expensive meats. We also switched to cloth diapers, which we estimate will save us up to $2,000 by the time she's potty-trained.

I even built a chicken coop in response to egg price inflation. I converted the old shed in our backyard into a chicken coop. We currently have five chickens, but our coop can hold up to 20, and we spend $60 on chicken feed monthly.

Being a stay-at-home parent is demanding, but worth it

The biggest challenge of being a stay-at-home dad has been how emotional my daughter's crying rants can be. You'd think that you could just put her in a crib and leave and let her cry it out, but you can't.

It's constant work, but that doesn't affect me much. What affects me is that when she's crying, there's not always something I can do. It's an emotionally difficult experience. Sometimes, it'll be 6 p.m. and she's tired of me and the bottle, and she just wants to be comforted by her mother. In those moments, she's completely inconsolable.

But the best part about being a stay-at-home parent is seeing all of her firsts. When she started smiling after one month, it made everything worth it. There's a lifetime of firsts coming, and I can't wait to see all of them.

If you left a high-paying job to be a stay-at-home parent and would like to share your story, please email the editor, Manseen Logan, at [email protected].