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Welcome back! The stars will be out at the Met Gala in New York today. But something shines even brighter than the attendees: their incredibly expensive jewelry.

In today's big story, we're looking at people who feel like a middle-class salary doesn't equal a middle-class lifestyle. 

What's on deck:

• Markets: All the best bits from Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting.

• Tech: Our annual list of the 100 best early-stage investors. 

• Business: How Workday became the most loathed workplace software on the planet.

But first, six figures ain't what it used to be.

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The big story

Middle-class meltdown

"Lately, I'm getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over." 

It's been 25 years since Tony Soprano bemoaned his life in the opening scene of "The Sopranos." A quarter-century later, plenty of Americans feel the same about the middle class.

Business Insider's Jennifer Sor has a report on the people making over six figures who think the middle-class lifestyle they dreamed of isn't realistic for their salary. Take Vincent, a 29-year-old medical sales rep who makes $130,000 a year but feels big-ticket items like a home or a car are out of reach. 

The middle class's obituary has been written before. In 2015, the Pew Research Center noted that middle-income households were losing ground.

Still, it's gotten even harder. Owning a home, a key piece of middle-class life, has become impossible for many. According to a recent report from Zillow, homebuyers need to earn 80% more than before the pandemic.

It's not just life-changing purchases, though. Stubborn inflation has made daily purchases — even something as simple as fast food — a burden. And good luck trying to climb the corporate ladder to get a better-paying job. They aren't hiring. 

Let's address the elephant in the room: A six-figure salary is still a lot of money.

What might seem disappointing for some would be a godsend to those barely getting by.

Location plays a huge factor. The aforementioned Vincent lives in Santa Barbara, California, one of the more expensive cities in one of the most expensive states. 

So why not live in a city with a more affordable cost of living?

Relocating is easier said than done. Cities with higher costs of living tend to have more job opportunities and better jobs. (Although, that's changing.) And even if you're lucky enough to nab a fully remote job — again, good luck — moving away from a big city could cost you in the long run.

Perception, though, is just as detrimental as reality for some. It's always been easy to believe the grass is greener on the other side, but now you can see it 20 times a day across social media. 

Constantly seeing how well others appear to be doing can make it a lot easier to feel bad about your own status. It's why people love hanging out with friends who they think make less than them.

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News brief

Your Monday headline catchup

A quick recap of the top news from over the weekend:

• Jon Stewart says Biden is so old he 'shouldn't be president.'

• There's a messy battle over AI going on in DC — and there's no end in sight.

• Tech titans love Modi's economic powerhouse India — despite mass unemployment and abject poverty.

• Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos hang out with celebrities in Miami during the F1 Grand Prix weekend.

• America's big stagflation scare is over.

• Meta employees say internal posts on support for Palestinians have been 'censored,' in an open letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

• A YouTuber let the Cybertruck frunk close on his finger to test the new sensor update. It didn't go well.

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3 things in markets

1. Investors' summer vacations may be canceled. Thanks to higher inflation and stock market volatility, Wall Street workers' dreams of a summer in the Hamptons may be put on ice.

2. Nvidia is dominating earnings season — and it hasn't even reported yet. The chip-maker has been mentioned, both directly and indirectly, in several mega-cap tech companies' earnings calls this spring. Words like "AI Infrastructure" and "generative AI" point to more money heading to Nvidia for its popular H100 GPU chip.

3.  Warren Buffett raised the alarm on AI. During Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting on Saturday, Buffett likened AI to the atom bomb, saying the world has let the "genie out of the bottle." He also made jokes about his age and expressed thoughts about how the company would move forward without him.

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3 things in tech

1. The Seed 100: The best early-stage investors of 2024. Behind most startup founders is an investor who saw their potential, nurtured their ambition, and backed their ideas. Now in its fourth year, our list celebrates these figures, from OpenAI's Sam Altman to Verge Genomics' Alice Zhang. Plus, we're also highlighting the top 40 women early-stage investors, including Serena Ventures' Serena Williams and Array Ventures' Shruti Gandhi.

2. The EV market isn't in peril — it's just changing. The industry is going through its biggest change yet, but that doesn't mean it's all bad news. Despite what it may feel like, demand for EVs hasn't dried up entirely, and legacy car companies aren't going to give up on them yet.

3. Jack Dorsey is no longer at Bluesky. Amid a posting frenzy on X — where Dorsey was spilling tea all over the platform — Dorsey announced that he left Bluesky, the Twitter offshoot he helped get off the ground

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3 things in business

1. WorkDay is the worst part of many workers' workdays. It's supposed to make everyone's lives easier, but job candidates, employees, and HR people say WorkDay does the opposite. Despite its near-universal hatred, more than half of the Fortune 500 companies continue to use it — and the reality is that its pros outweigh the cons.

2. The days of McDonald's dollar menu are long gone. Fast-food prices have shot up since the start of the pandemic, and people are sick of it — they're placing smaller orders or opting to cook at home instead. Grocery inflation cooling off, soaring wages, and more are to blame for rising prices.

3. We need to talk about whatever's happening with Starbucks' drinks. Iced Lavender Oatmilk Matcha, anyone? BI's Katie Notopoulos was left befuddled by the wacky, multi-ingredient sweet drinks now on offer at Starbucks, but she noted that the rise of complicated concoctions has coincided with the rise in popularity of the Starbucks app. 

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What's happening today

• This year's Pulitzer Prize winners will be announced.

• Tonight is the Met Gala.

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The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, editor, in London. George Glover, reporter, in London. Grace Lett, associate editor, in Chicago.

• Debra Crockett decided to retire early eight years ago and moved from the US to Turkey.
• Her Social Security checks are enough to cover her basic monthly expenses given the strength of the US dollar.
• She said moving abroad was the best financial decision she made for her retirement.

Eight years ago, Debra Crockett decided it was time for a change.

She and her then-husband were doing well in the US. They were earning decent wages, owned a home, and had a couple of cars, but after working her whole life — most recently as a director of retail sales — she decided she was ready to see the world.

To make that happen, Crockett retired a few years ahead of schedule, collected early Social Security, and sold her house, cars, and most of her other valuable belongings. Using the housesitting platform Trusted Housesitters, Crockett could live in local homes in her desired travel destinations without having to pay for housing.

When her 90-day visa expired in Europe, Crockett set her sights on Turkey, and she's been there ever since.

"I live here for next to nothing," Crockett told Business Insider.

BI reviewed documents verifying Crockett's expenses. When converted to US dollars, her rent is $463 a month, her electric bills are $25 a month, her water bill is just over $1 a month, and her internet is just over $11 a month.

Even with the nearly $200 it takes to renew her residency in Turkey each year, her Social Security check is $2,929 a month, verified by BI, which is more than enough to cover her basic expenses.

"It's ridiculous to think that you have to have millions or hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank to survive. I live totally on my Social Security," she said. "I have other funds, but I use those mainly for traveling expenses. I don't have any bills. I paid everything off when I left the US, and I keep a daily report of everything I spend."

By keeping daily notes of her expenses, Crockett can easily detect if she goes over her budget one month, allowing her to adjust her spending for the next month. She also said that one of her biggest expenses in the US was her healthcare — something that she has found is also much more affordable in Turkey.

Crockett is among many Americans who became expats over the past few years, moving from the US to a location abroad with the hopes of living a better, cheaper life. Older Americans, in particular, are benefitting from more affordable bills as the US faces a looming retirement crisis, and many boomers feel like they do not have sufficient savings to retire on time — or at all.

Of course, moving abroad has its challenges, requiring funds to travel and the ability to leave friends and relatives behind. But Crockett said it was important to her that she didn't spend the entire second half of her life working, and it's allowed her to make the most out of her retirement.

"We work all our lives from high-powered jobs to blue-collar jobs. It really doesn't matter. We all work hard and we get maybe a few years of retirement," Crockett said. "That just doesn't seem like it's worth it. So if you can, just sell it all. It's only things, and you can replace it with beautiful memories in the future."

'I'm living a great life on limited expenditures'

Crockett rents her apartment to allow her the freedom to get up and move if she choose, but for now she plans to remain in Turkey. Notably, the Turkish economy is struggling — in March, the country hiked interest rates to 50% to fight "higher than expected" inflation that has burdened Turkish citizens.

American expats don't feel the same financial pressures, though, because the Turkish Lira has weakened against the US dollar, allowing American cash to go much further.

"I'm living a great life on limited expenditures," Crockett said.

"There is a huge expat community here, so there's never a language issue at all," she continued. "You can go down to the beach and just sit with a glass of wine and look at the beautiful scenery, or you can be more adventuresome. There's walking groups, there's jogging groups, there's knitting groups, there's yoga, there's something for everyone here."

BI has previously spoken to retirees in the US who are facing severe financial strains. One 63-year-old said that she doesn't see her Social Security keeping her afloat due to the lingering impacts of the pandemic, which caused her to lose her job and run through her savings.

"I know so many people my age that just don't know what they're going to do," she said. "Other countries take care of their older people, and we should be able to do it, too."

Crockett said that living in Turkey has given her so much financial relief that she doesn't see money being an issue for her as long as she remains abroad. She contributes to the community financially through donations as often as she can, and she said she's grateful for the welcoming atmosphere that greeted her upon her arrival.

"It's eye-opening," she said. "It's an amazing, fulfilling experience to wake up in a country where you know absolutely no one, and you have to rely on your skills of communication, intuition, your skills of just being able to survive. And it's so fulfilling and so rewarding."

Are you living abroad? Did moving improve your quality of life or do you want to return to the US? Share your story with this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.

• Walmart primarily focuses on delivering ultra-low prices, which sometimes means lower quality.
• However, the retailer plans to stock more premium items to attract wealthier shoppers.
• I visited Walmart to see which fancy brands and products it already carries.

There's a reason "Save money" comes before "Live better" in Walmart's well-worn motto.

The Bentonville-based retail giant's primary focus since day one has been to drive down costs and offer rock-bottom prices. Before 2007, its motto was "Always low prices."

The strategy has served it well, even if there are sometimes necessary compromises regarding product quality.

But in recent years, the company has taken steps to shake the characterization of cheapness in favor of value, part of a larger push to attract higher-income shoppers with the sort of products and brands you'd see at Target or Whole Foods.

And now, with the announcement this week of its upscale Bettergoods private label grocery brand, Walmart is leaning more into the second half of its slogan.

Before the new products hit shelves, I visited my local Supercenter to see what premium items the retailer already carries.

• Hunterbrook Media is a hedge fund that also does journalism. Or maybe a journalism startup that also runs a hedge fund.
• Will that work? A new story in The New Yorker wonders whether you can combine those things.
• One thing the story makes clear: Having well-connected parents is useful for startup founders.

Can a hedge fund also be an investigative-journalism outfit?

That's a provocative question, generated by the existence of Hunterbrook Media, the combination hedge fund/investigative-journalism outfit that launched this spring.

The idea in a nutshell: Hunterbrook's small team of investigative journalists look for stories about companies that could be attractive targets for a hedge fund to invest in or — more likely — bet against. Then the journalists tell Hunterbrook's hedge-fund arm about the stories they will publish about a company so the fund can short the company (or invest in it).

You can read more about that via The New Yorker's Clare Malone's excellent look at Hunterbrook, though it's way too soon to assess how any of this will work.

Read The New Yorker's story on Hunterbrook

Hunterbrook's first big published investigation was into the mortgage underwriter United Wholesale Mortgage. Before publication, Hunterbrook's fund went short on UWM and long on its rival Rocket Mortgage; a month later, UWM shares are up and Rocket is down slightly. ("We're just getting started, but early signs are that it's working," the company told my colleague Bradley Saacks last month.)

But Malone's piece also raises a different question: What kind of background do you need to raise $10 million for a media startup — and $100 million for a hedge fund — these days?

And that one does have an answer: It helps if you are very, very connected.

Malone never uses the epithet "nepo baby" to describe the Hunterbrook cofounders Sam Koppelman and Nathaniel Horwitz. But they are indeed people who have successful and well-connected parents: Koppelman's father is the screenwriter and TV showrunner Brian Koppelman; Horwitz's mother, Geraldine Brooks, is a much-lauded journalist and author, so was his father, Tony Horwitz, who died in 2019.

That family history, of course, doesn't automatically persuade people to give a couple of 20-something Harvard grads millions of dollars for their first foray into journalism. But it certainly helps them meet people that will eventually do that.

And Malone spells that part out quite clearly:

"Nathaniel and Sam have a pretty ridiculous network," Matthew Termine, one of the Hunterbrook reporters on the U.W.M. investigation, told me. E-mails that Koppelman wrote to the chair of Sony Entertainment about his application to Harvard appeared in the 2014 Sony Pictures leak, as did a note to the school on his behalf from Matt Damon. (Koppelman's father co-wrote "Rounders" and "Ocean's Thirteen.") For a time, he dated the "Euphoria" star Maude Apatow. Horwitz, for his part, once wrote about a series of conversations he had with the Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes as her life and company crumbled.

Hunterbrook's advisers include Paul Steiger, the founder of ProPublica, and Daniel Okrent, the first public editor of the Times. Former Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Matt Murray and the financial journalist Bethany McLean gave notes on the U.W.M. investigation before publication. Hunterbrook's hedge fund has raised a hundred million dollars, and the company received seed funding from, among others, the venture arm of Laurene Powell Jobs's Emerson Collective and the hedge-fund billionaire Marc Lasry, who, Brian Koppelman once told the Financial Times, helped the "Billions" showrunner develop an "understanding of the billionaire psyche."

So, again: None of Horwitz's or Koppelman's family histories and networks will make their company succeed. But it certainly didn't hurt them getting out of the gate.

Correction: May 6, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated Nathaniel Horwitz's experience in finance; he previously worked at RA Capital.