• Sam Mitchell lives comfortably in a tiny New York home on less than $30,000 a year from Social Security.
• He left a high-paying real estate career in 2008 before moving to Peru and road-tripping across the US.
• He said his fellow peak boomers should be more creative about approaching retirement.

Sam Mitchell, 64, has a yearly income of below $30,000 a year from Social Security. But he said he lives "perfectly comfortably."

He bought a 384-square-foot "little shack" on the side of a road in upstate New York, where he stays for half the year. He stays in a mobile home at the end of a dirt road in Florida the other half. It's a very different way of life from the corporate real estate job he had 15 years ago in Austin making six figures and owning five homes.

Last year, he made a "whopping" $15,000 from his Airbnb operation in the Finger Lakes region, all of which he reinvested in the business.

He thinks his way of life isn't that far out of reach for other people around his age.

"I have friends who are 80 years old who are still working because they're so terrified not having enough money, and I'm going, guys, look at me," he said. "I am making a fourth of the money I was making in 2008, but nobody is going to do it."

Across the country, many peak boomers — or those set to hit the traditional retirement age of 65 between now and 2030 — are worried they won't have enough saved for retirement. Some have told Business Insider they won't be able to retire ever, while others are concerned that with rising rent and food costs, Social Security payments won't be enough to cover basic expenses.

Mitchell, though, said people's definition of "comfort" may be too idealistic.

"I call it the 'C-word,'" he said. "A peak boomer's definition of comfort is the reason they're so freaked out and feeling FOMO. It's called stepping out of your comfort zone, but people are so terrified and can't do it. They have nobody but themselves to blame."

Leaving luxury behind

Mitchell was born and raised in Atlanta and went to college at the University of Florida. He worked as a journalist in Santa Cruz, California, for a few years, then switched to being a real estate agent, a transition he described as "absolutely absurd."

For two decades, he worked on and off at Keller Williams in the Austin market. He said he would "run up a bunch of money" one year, then take a few months off in countries like Costa Rica, before starting the whole process again. He also was a landlord and bought up rental properties across the state.

He recalled attending lavish parties with musicians performing at South by Southwest and Austin City Limits. He also had a nice car and truck, and he anticipated that by the mid-2000s, he was spending about $80,000 a year on expenses.

"The life I was leading in South Austin in 2008 was the life that 95% of this planet probably would have traded for," Mitchell said. "I had a beautiful four-bedroom, three-bath on the South Austin Greenbelt. I was up to five houses."

Around that time, he had a goal of wanting to own 40 houses in Austin by the time he turned 65, then sell one every six months until he was 85. He wanted to follow the path of one of his real estate investor friends.

But that year, he walked away from all of it.

"I made the decision to disentangle myself, this whole career hamster wheel," he said, noting he began liquidating his assets in April of that year. "The pressure just popped in 2008, even before the market crashed."

He sold his primary residence and three other homes, and his license expired at the end of that year. He paid off all his credit cards, got rid of many of his belongings, and left behind the luxurious life, knowing he could always go back to it and make $100,000 "without getting out of my chair."

Moving to New York and Florida

To start life anew, he bought a farm in Peru and built a small house. He lived in Peru and Ecuador for four years, mostly off the grid, before coming back to the US in 2012. He kept one Austin home that he rented to a tenant, who paid him $650 a month.

Upon moving back, he decided to live out of his pickup truck and drive through California, Oregon, and Washington at first. He had a bedroom in the Austin home he could resort to, but he spent 10 months of the year traveling with his dog, Sancho Panza. He did this for about seven years, getting to see much of the US.

He eventually found a home outside of Ithaca, New York, for $35,000 on 14 acres of land. He had almost no money left and was still three years from getting Social Security, but his sister helped him cover the cost with the promise that he would sell the Austin home to pay back his debt.

He put the Austin home on the market on March 9, 2020, perhaps the "single worst day to put a house up for sale in the 21st century," he said, coming just days before the COVID-19 pandemic would lead to lockdowns across the country. With the money, he bought a "new" 2013 truck that had 200,000 miles on it and been wrecked previously.

Once Social Security payments kicked in, he relied on the $900 a month to get by. He didn't have many expenses, as he had no children to support, no mortgage, and no health insurance. Though the $900 a month could not compare to his salary 15 years ago, he said it's enough to get by and live comfortably.

He started an Airbnb business on his property after constructing his first tiny house from an eight-foot by eight-foot toolshed. He moved into this property and rented out the 384-square-foot house to tenants who take care of the home during the winter.

He worked with a local Amish family to build two other tiny houses on the property. He also built a little community kitchen measuring eight feet by 20 feet. When all homes are rented, he lives in a 96-square-foot camper.

He said he's still on the red on this business, as he's only open five months a year, but he's hopeful it will soon be profitable. He has a small side hustle buying vacant lots in Florida with two friends, sometimes doubling the money on their initial investments and using their returns to purchase more real estate. Still, it's zero annual income as none of it lands in his pocket.

He also goes to Florida each November for a few months, living near a swamp in a 600-square-foot mobile home.

"If you are willing to do this, then you can easily live comfortably in these beautiful surroundings making less than $30,000 a year," he said. "I'm living proof of it. I have other friends who have made similar decisions, and we're all getting a little sick and tired of the whining."

He said many of his fellow peak boomers need to reconsider what they need to live comfortably, arguing that they need to get more creative with income streams.

"I'm not living under a bridge — I'm running a business," he said. "I live in these absolutely beautiful surroundings, but you just have to trim down on all your gadgets. I just traded in my beautiful i7 computer that was going haywire for a Pentium processor. The guy at BestBuy was absolutely horrified that I was making this decision."

Have you recently moved to a new state? Are you worried about retirement? Reach out to this reporter at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.

• Indonesia is building a new capital from scratch, with Jakarta threatened by rising sea levels.
• Two top officials resigned on Monday, raising questions about the $35 billion Nusantara project.
• Indonesia's government has used influencers and Tony Blair to help promote the grand project.

Indonesia's plans to build a new capital city from scratch have been hit by the unexpected resignation of the two top officials overseeing the project.

Bambang Susantono and his deputy Dhony Rahajoe both quit their roles at the Nusantara Capital City Authority on Monday, outlets including Reuters reported.

State Secretary Pratikno said President Joko Widodo had received Susantono's resignation, Asia News Network reported.

They're expected to be temporarily replaced by two ministers from Widodo's government until permanent appointments are made.

Widodo said on Instagram that work on Nusantara would proceed "according to the shared vision," the South China Morning Post reported.

However, the resignations could be a setback for the new city being built on Borneo's eastern coast.

Indonesia's capital and largest city, Jakarta, faces flood risks due to rising sea levels, so Widodo's administration decided to build a replacement.

Nusantara will cost an estimated $35 billion and won't be finished until 2045. However, about 6,000 government workers are expected to move there in time for the new president's inauguration in October.

Indonesia's government has recruited high-profile figures, including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to promote the project.

It's also tapped up influencers, with Widodo taking dozens of social media stars on a tour last year in a bid to address concerns about deforestation.

There are also rising concerns about how Nusantara will be funded. The Indonesian government has only committed to covering about 20% of the cost, and it's struggled to find other sources of cash. In March 2022, Japan's SoftBank pulled out of investing in the project.

Neither Susantono nor Rahajoe immediately responded to requests for comment from Reuters or Business Insider.

• Jean Jordison, a retired teacher, said her family covered bridesmaid costs at her daughters' weddings.
• She said it didn't feel right to ask the bridesmaids to pay since they were throwing the wedding.
• Bridesmaids spend an average of $1,900, according to The Knot, with some taking on debt.

When Jean Jordison's eldest daughter spent an entire month's salary just to be a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding, she was shocked.

It was around the year 2000, and Jordison's daughter was a brand-new teacher, fresh out of college. She had to pay for a specific bridesmaid dress, alterations, a flight, a hotel stay, and more.

"As the mother of three daughters, I just thought, 'Oh my gosh, there has to be a better way,'"Jordison, who lives in Iowa City, Iowa, told Business Insider.

Jordison, who worked as a school librarian and preschool teacher before retiring, said that when her daughters got married in the aughts, they opted to pay for all the bridesmaids' expenses.

"It just didn't seem right to ask people to pay for stuff," she said.

Today, the average amount spent on being a bridesmaid is $1,900, according to data compiled by The Knot. Those costs include a bridal shower and wedding gift, the bachelorette party, dress, and hair makeup — which are all on top of other potential wedding guest costs, like flights and hotels.

It's not unheard of for bridesmaids to go into debt just to stand by their friend's side at the altar. Three women recently told The Cut they took on debt to fulfill their role as bridesmaids, with one saying she spent a total of $3,200 even without doing everything the bride wanted.

The high expenses associated with being a bridesmaid have been controversial, with countless articles offering advice for people who say they can't afford to be in a bridal party.

But to Jordison there's a straightforward solution: the bride, or whoever is paying for the wedding, covers the bridesmaid costs, so they only get what they can actually afford.

"I just think nobody should have to go in debt to be in your wedding," she said.

For her first daughter's wedding, Jordison said she knew they wanted to cover the bridesmaid expenses. The bridesmaids included the bride's two sisters, a close friend who had just graduated from college, and a close family friend who was in her teens, as well as one other person.

She said they picked out affordable bridesmaid dresses, shoes, and jewelry. They didn't skimp on anything, but they found options that were within their means — and there wasn't a big destination bachelorette party, which has become increasingly common.

"We're not millionaires, but we're not in poverty either, and it just seemed like we should be figuring out how to pay for this wedding because it was our wedding, our party," she said.

One of Jordison's other daughters eloped, but when her youngest got married, they again covered the costs for the bridesmaids, which included her two sisters and two sisters-in-law.

Jordison said she thinks too many people get caught up on traditions or trying to do things they can't afford. She said for her first daughter's wedding they were able to have 400 guests, but opted not to do a sit-down dinner and didn't have any wedding favors.

She said it often seems that couples getting married have big ideas for their events that they want other people, like guests or the bridal party, to help pay for.

Jordison said covering the bridesmaids' expenses was well worth it.

"I know the young women that were involved all appreciated it, too, because none of them were in a position where it would've been easy to pay for those things," she said.

While Jordison said it felt right for her family to cover those costs, wedding etiquette experts say the best thing to do is be transparent about expenses from the jump. They also say there are some costs bridesmaids expect to pay, like for their dress, while others should be optional or covered by the bride, like hair and makeup.

Jordison's advice to others is to think of your wedding more like a family event than an entertaining event and to do what's right for your family, regardless of traditions and expectations.

"I just think in this day and age, you can have the wedding you want," she said. "And it doesn't have to be this extravaganza."

Have a news tip or a story to share about the costs of being in a bridal party? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@businessinsider.com.

• Ukraine has deployed special forces to Syria to fight Russian mercenaries there, per the Kyiv Post.
• They are backing Syrian rebels in fighting the Assad regime in the southwest, per the outlet.
• Ukraine is also fighting Wagner mercenaries in Sudan, the outlet previously reported.

Ukraine has deployed special forces units to Syria to combat Russians there, according to the Kyiv Post.

Ukrainian special forces are fighting side by side with Syrian rebels against Russian mercenaries and Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime in the Middle Eastern country, the outlet reported.

It released a video obtained from sources within the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence.

According to the outlet, the video, dated March 2024, shows Ukrainian special forces targeting Russian checkpoints, strongholds, foot patrols, and convoys of military equipment in southwest Syria.

The Ukrainian soldiers used rocket-propelled grenades, improvised "Tarab" mortars, and what looks like command wire or radio-controlled improvised explosive devices in the attacks, the outlet reported.

An unnamed Ukrainian intelligence source told the outlet that the troops had backed Syrian rebels in carrying out multiple strikes on Russian military facilities since the start of the year.

The Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Russia has been involved in Syria's civil war since 2015, when it launched a military intervention after the country's president requested support against opposition and the Islamic State.

By the end of April 2018, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Russian aerial bombings had directly killed more than 7,700 civilians, a quarter of them children, as well as 4,749 opposition fighters and 4,893 members of ISIS.

Ukraine's military presence in Syria, however, has not been reported until now.

According to Alexander Libman, a professor of Russian and East European Politics at the Free University of Berlin, their presence in Syria would be "deeply" surprising as Ukraine faces "major" manpower issues on the battlefield back home.

"Sending any troops away from the country would be indeed rather strange," he told BI.

Even so, this is not the first time Ukrainian special forces have been seen fighting outside Ukraine.

Ukrainian special forces were reportedly seen interrogating captured Wagner mercenaries in Sudan in an undated video shared by the Kyiv Post in February.

Sergey Sukhankin, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, told BI at the time that the operation may have been part of "some sort of tacit agreement" between Western allies and Ukraine to battle Russian mercenaries in Africa, in exchange for certain military backing for Ukraine in its war against Russia.

• I bought a backpack from an Amazon seller that I thought was a genuine JanSport, but it broke.
• After trying to take advantage of JanSport's warranty, the company told me I had a counterfeit bag.
• Now, I verify the seller and review ratings before buying name-brand items on Amazon.

While doing back-to-school shopping for my kids in August 2022, I purchased a black JanSport backpack on Amazon.

Ordering school supplies online is easier than toting three kids to a store, and I'm a huge fan of JanSport backpacks because of their quality, durability, and limited lifetime warranty. I'm 43 years old and still use the same navy JanSport I had in high school.

Within a few months, one of the straps of the new backpack had torn off. I've never had this happen, so I sent the bag to JanSport, knowing their warranty covers defects.

Anytime I've had issues with a JanSport over the years, I've shipped my bag back to the manufacturer, and they've replaced the product for free.

But, instead of sending me a new bag, it was returned to me with this message: "We are sorry to inform you that your backpack is not an authentic product made by JanSport. It is an imitation and is not covered by our warranty."

At the time, I didn't understand how this could have happened.

Then, I discovered my backpack hadn't been sold to me by Amazon or even JanSport. It was shipped directly to me by a third-party seller.

Many Amazon sales come from third-party sellers, which can be hard to vet

Over 60% of Amazon's sales come from independent third-party sellers. Although this allows the online retailer to offer a greater range of products, it can also be challenging to monitor who's selling them.

An Amazon representative told Business Insider the company has "proactive measures in place to prevent counterfeit products from being listed and continuously monitor[s] our store." But some items, like my bag, fall through the cracks.

When I realized my JanSport was counterfeit, I contacted the seller through Amazon to request a refund. Even though I was well outside the return window, the seller replied the same day.

They told me I could keep the damaged backpack and they'd process my refund immediately. I wasn't surprised I was able to get my money back since Amazon has a zero-tolerance policy on the sale of counterfeit goods.

I now take a few extra precautions when shopping for name-brand items on Amazon

Now, when I buy name-brand items, I shy away from third-party sellers because it's harder to guarantee a product will be 100% authentic.

Next time I plan to buy something on Amazon, I'll check who's selling it. I can do this by looking under the "Buy Now" button on each listing.

In the future, I'll also spend a few extra minutes checking the ratings of any seller I'm thinking of ordering from. Sellers with only a few reviews, many one-star reviews, or comments that mention fake items, defective products, or lots of lost packages are all red flags to me.

Lastly, buyers can also report counterfeit products to Amazon Customer Service.

An Amazon representative told BI, "If you received a product from a third-party seller that you don't believe is authentic, we recommend customers contact the customer support team for a full refund of the order, stop using an item immediately, and dispose of it."

• Climate change has become one of the more polarizing issues dividing Americans in recent years.
• Biden and Trump have starkly different approaches in their handling of climate issues.
• Biden has sought to enact tougher regulations. Trump largely has the ear of oil and gas interests.

For millions of Americans, there's nothing more important than the well-being of the environment.

From the protection of lakes and streams to the battle to curb greenhouse gas emissions, many voters in the upcoming US presidential election want to see the federal government play an active role in climate issues.

But some voters also oppose stronger federal oversight of the environment, arguing that the economic benefits of increased oil drilling is paramount — while also dismissing global agreements on climate change as detrimental to the country's autonomy.

One thing is clear though: the lion's share of voters believe that climate change is real.

The latest quarterly survey from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication revealed that 72% of Americans believed that climate change was occurring, while only 15% disagreed. That same survey showed that 58% of Americans felt global warming was caused by humans, while 29% believed it was a natural occurrence.

And the divergence in views on the cause of climate change has hardened political divides in recent years, with Democrats largely pushing for more protections while the GOP has been more receptive to energy interests who have largely opposed such rules.

Here's a look at President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump's positions on climate — which is poised to be a defining issue for Gen Z and millennial voters this fall.

Where Joe Biden stands on climate

Biden has sought to position himself as one of the most pro-environment presidents in US history, following in the footsteps of his onetime boss, President Barack Obama.

Under Obama, the US joined the Paris Agreement, an international treaty which was crafted to significantly reduce the level of greenhouse emissions. But President Donald Trump withdrew from the plan while in office, blasting it as detrimental to the US economy.

On the same day as his January 2021 inauguration, Biden rejoined the Paris climate accord, putting the country back in line with nearly 200 countries that pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

That same day, Biden also revoked a key presidential permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a project championed by Trump but opposed by many Democrats, environmental groups, and an array of Native American communities.

In September 2023, Biden canceled seven Trump-era oil and gas leases in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which contains some of the most pristine lands in the country.

Biden has also pushed through new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules that will limit tailpipe emissions from future trucks and passenger vehicles and strengthen the reporting requirements of methane emissions from oil and natural gas operations.

Where Donald Trump stands on climate

Trump's staunch opposition to the Paris Agreement is well-known.

During his first term in office, he rolled back key environmental protections, opening up lands to logging and even weakening efficiency standards for dishwashers and lightbulbs.

In April 2024, Trump suggested to a group of wealthy oil executives assembled at Mar-a-Lago that they should collectively raise $1 billion to help him win a second term in order to dismantle regulations that they oppose, according to The Washington Post. Per the newspaper, Trump then stated that such a sum would amount to a "deal," as the executives would avoid more stringent rules with him in the Oval Office.

Trump has also railed against Biden's strong support of electric vehicles, arguing that their ramped-up production will hurt the economy. The ex-president hopes that such a message will gain steam in places like Michigan — the Midwestern battleground state where he hopes to upset the incumbent in November.

The Project 2025 proposal, which outlines what Trump would do early in a second term, spells out the approach that his administration would likely take regarding oil and gas production — which the former president strongly advocated for while in office.

Two of goals for a Trump-run Department of Energy: "Unleash private-sector energy innovation by ending government interference in energy decisions" and "Stop the war on oil and natural gas."

• Indian stocks plummeted on Tuesday, suffering a $390 billion wipeout.
• The flagship NSE Nifty 50 index dropped nearly 6%, posting its worst day in more than four years.
• The losses came after Narendra Modi's party won far fewer seats than expected in India's election.

Indian stocks had their worst day in more than four years on Tuesday as Narendra Modi's narrower-than-expected election victory rattled markets.

Mumbai's NSE Nifty 50, the main stock market index, tumbled as much as 8.5% before ending 5.9% lower as investors reacted to news that the coalition led by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to win about 300 seats in the Indian parliament.

That would give Prime Minister Modi a slim majority, but fall well short of the 400-seat landslide predicted by earlier exit polls.

It was the Nifty 50's worst trading session since the start of the pandemic in 2020, erasing nearly $390 billion in market value, per data from Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, yields on 10-year government bonds edged up, and the Indian rupee fell by around 0.5% against the US dollar.

On Monday, stocks climbed to record highs as traders bet on a landslide win for Modi — but Tuesday's results could make it much tougher for him to push through policy, analysts said.

"The sudden shift in the early counts and polls that suggest a reduced majority for PM Modi and the BJP is proving to be a nasty shock for Indian financial markets," AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould wrote in a morning note.

"Just as the 10-year bond, rupee and headline Sensex equity index had strengthened as voting closed, in anticipation of a Modi landslide, all three are now giving up some of those gains."

• The former CEO of Yum! Brands Inc. David Novak increased the company's market cap by $28 billion. 
• In the award-winning executive's new book "How Leaders Learn," Novak shares insights for leadership.
• He said learning how to get honesty from people around is important to combat delusion. 

Shortly after Wendy and I got engaged, I went to Louisville to meet her parents. She was anxious to know what kind of impression I'd made, so at the first opportunity, she pulled her mother aside and said, "So, what do you think?" At that moment, they could hear me trash-talking her two brothers, Jeff and Rick, as we played basketball in the driveway.

"Well," my future mother-in-law, Anne, replied, "he's a very loud man."

She was right. Wendy says I'm like a big puppy dog, jumping around, barking, and wagging its tail. When you're in a position of leadership, that kind of enthusiasm can get you into trouble because people confuse it with excessive optimism, even delusion. They can assume you don't want to hear about the bubble-bursting realities of a situation — even if all you want is the truth.

Here's an example: I'm incredibly proud of my podcast, "How Leaders Lead." I think the conversations are inspiring and helpful to leaders around the world. Ask me about it, and you'll hear (and see) my enthusiasm pour out. After building it for a year, we hired an experienced podcast producer and brand builder, Tim Schurrer, who is now the CEO of David Novak Leadership, to help us improve it. During one meeting, when we were still getting to know each other, I asked him how we could improve. I could tell he was hemming and hawing. He gave me vague answers. I finally said, "Tim, the only thing I care about is getting to the best possible product. What do you think we should do?" That made it safe for him to give me the reality: compared to other highly successful podcasts, he said, our intros and outros just weren't good enough. We weren't drawing people in with a big idea to get them excited, and we weren't leaving them with a clear takeaway. It was hurting our audience engagement. "OK," I said. "What do we do to fix it?" He gave us a better model, we implemented it right away, and it made our podcast better.

Active learners deal in reality. They recognize an essential truth: delusional people don't learn well. They work hard to follow the often repeated advice of my mentor at Yum!, Andy Pearson: learn to see the world the way it really is, not how you wish it to be. If you assume that the best ideas and soundest knowledge are based in reality, what are the chances that you're going to be open to them if you're clinging to what you wish rather than acknowledging what is? And how can you possibly know where or how to grow and learn if you don't know your starting point?

Unfortunately, we don't usually see the world the way it really is. Our brains create stories (rooted in those categories, templates, and heuristics I described in the last chapter) about everything we perceive, based on our experiences, desires, and expectations. Along the way, when information seems to be missing or contradictory, the brain fills in gaps or makes choices about what information to use or discard. (Surprise, surprise, it really likes information that proves the story right, a problem called confirmation bias.) An example that neuroscientists point to all the time is the divergent stories different people will tell after witnessing the same event. They'll swear that what they saw was the truth, even though it often isn't, or at least not the whole truth. Optical illusions are the visual manifestation of the brain filling in the gaps. The brain interprets the information it receives in a certain way, and we can't unsee it, even though we know it's not the truth or reality.

Basically, it's easy to be a little delusional. Long before neuroscientists could begin to describe how we process information and create meaning from it, great philosophers and thinkers knew it was a challenge. In the early twentieth century, the influential lawyer Clarence Darrow said, "Man does not live by truth, but by the illusions that his brain conceives."

So, what's an active learner to do? Well, here's what else Darrow said: "Chase after the truth like all hell and you'll free yourself, even though you never touch its coat tails." 

I'm a little more optimistic. I think we can get close to the truth in many situations. It starts by inviting more truth-tellers into your life who will keep orienting you to reality. But you can't make your perception of reality somebody else's responsibility (or base your judgments on their judgments). If you want to see the world the way it really is, you've got to hunt for the truth. You've got to chase it like all hell.

Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review Press. Excerpted from "How Leaders Learn: Master the Habits of the World's Most Successful People" by David Novak with Lari Bishop. Copyright 2024 David C Novak. All rights reserved.

• Facebook's new strategy leans more into TikTok-like Discovery and less into friends and family.
• It wants to reach a young demographic that will like things like Marketplace and the Dating app.
• Don't roll your eyes — it just might work.

Meta just unveiled its plan for Facebook to win over a surprising demographic: Gen Z.

I say surprising because it's widely known that Facebook is "for old people" — many teens and young people think of it as something their mom or grandma uses. According to a 2023 Pew survey on teen internet use, only about a third of US teens ages 13-17 used Facebook. Compare that to Pew's 2014 survey, when 71% of teens used Facebook.

Meta's new plan for Facebook — and winning over younger people — revolves around two prongs:

First, more discovery in the feed. This basically means more recommended content like Reels and other posts in the feed instead of posts from friends and family — sort of like how the Instagram feed has lately been more about the discovery of people you don't follow. That's a big reversal from the 2018 change to Facebook's news feed that prioritized posts from your friends and family over publisher content.

Secondly, Facebook is hoping to lure back young adults with offerings like Marketplace, Dating, Groups, and Events.

Note that Facebook is looking for "young adults" rather than teens — this may be partly because Meta is anxious about promoting its products too directly to teenagers when the company is facing serious scrutiny and lawsuits about its apps' effects on teen mental health. It might not be a great look to be courting a teen audience at the moment.

But Facebook also has more to offer "young adults" than teens. In rolling out the latest changes, Facebook gives the example of a recent college grad, maybe 22, who has just moved to a new city. They need to furnish their apartment on the cheap — so they use Marketplace to get a used couch. That person might find fun things to do through Events and join some local Groups. They might also use Facebook Dating. And maybe they hang out on the app and watch some entertaining Reels in their feed, too. (Video accounts for about 60% of time spent on Facebook, according to Meta.)

Don't laugh — I think this actually might work. The real secret power here is Marketplace, the swap meet-like service that's incredibly useful for lots of people. I know several people who reluctantly joined Facebook just to be able to use Marketplace. I use Marketplace all the time.

Some of Facebook's plan does sound a little overly positive. I'm sure Meta would prefer us all to think of Groups as a nice place to find tips about houseplants rather than remembering Groups like Stop the Steal. And I don't think Facebook Dating is a huge hit. (Meta says Dating numbers are up 20% year-over-year but doesn't say how many people are using it.)

And there's another thing really going for Facebook that I won't be surprised if young adults, joining for the first time, are pleasantly surprised by: The site works pretty well. That sounds like a really low bar, but consider what it's competing with: Craiglist, Evite, Reddit. Not exactly the most user-friendly sites. What a 22-year-old who finally joins Facebook might discover is something of an "everything app" (much to Elon Musk's dismay, I'm sure).

Maybe it's not so much a social network anymore; it's a place to accomplish basic tasks and watch some video. It might not keep you glued to the app for hours when you're trying to go to sleep like TikTok does, but growing a younger demographic by offering utility is a good long-term strategy.

Not long ago, Instagram seemed against the ropes, mired in millennial avocado toast cringe. But it managed to get its mojo back and compete against TikTok, even with teens. Mark Zuckerberg has even managed to turn his reputation largely by wearing some new clothes. I know it seems improbable that Facebook could become cool for Gen Z, but don't count it out — they just might pull this off.

• A Wisconsin woman made $250,000 in 2021 secretly working two jobs. 
• The extra money allowed her husband to take a career break and significantly boosted their savings. 
• She shared why she ultimately gave up "overemployment" after 18 months. 

In 2020, Lisa was making roughly $110,000 working remotely in a corporate manufacturing role, but she wasn't satisfied with her pay.

Lisa, who's in her 40s and based in Wisconsin, landed a job offer for a hybrid role in the same industry that paid nearly $150,000 a year, she told Business Insider via email. But she had been hoping for more money.

Then her husband had an idea: What if she tried to juggle both jobs at the same time?

For 18 months between 2020 and the end of 2021, Lisa secretly worked one fully remote job and a second hybrid job. In 2021, she made roughly $250,000 across her two full-time roles, according to documents viewed by Business Insider.

Lisa said the extra income provided a huge boost to her family's finances. She and her husband are now confident they'll be able to pay for their three children's college educations and various extracurriculars, in addition to future family vacations. Working two jobs also made it possible for her husband to take a much-needed break from the workforce and focus on caring for their children.

"Working the two jobs gave us the freedom to let my husband finally leave his job which was so stressful we feared it was literally taking years from his life," said Lisa, whose identity is known to BI — she asked to use a pseudonym because of his fear of professional repercussions. "It's given us a financial cushion that would have been impossible otherwise."

Lisa is among the Americans secretly juggling multiple jobs to increase their incomes. Business Insider has interviewed roughly 20 "overemployed" people, many of whom are in the IT and tech industries, who've used the extra money to pay off debt, save for retirement, and afford expensive vacations and weight-loss drugs. While some companies may be OK with their workers having a second gig, doing so without approval could have negative repercussions.

As a woman, Lisa is fairly unique in the overemployed community, because most of the job jugglers BI has interviewed are men. In part, this could be because it's less common for women to work in IT and tech. Some workers have told BI that the prevalence of remote roles in these fields — and the flexibility these gigs can offer — make them well suited to overemployment.

It's also possible that some women — many of whom still handle the majority of household and childcare responsibilities — don't have time to pursue a second job. In Lisa's case, her husband's break from the workforce for a couple of months made it easier for her to juggle both roles.

Lisa shared how she managed to balance both jobs and why she ultimately decided to give up her overemployment.

A looming return-to-office mandate made overemployment seem unsustainable

Lisa said having her husband home when he wasn't working was a "huge bonus," particularly since their children did remote schooling for the entire 2020-21 school year due to the pandemic. He was able to slowly return to the workforce, doing part-time work before accepting full-time employment.

Having essentially three full-time incomes for over a year is what truly transformed the family's finances, Lisa said.

When she worked from home, Lisa didn't have too much trouble juggling both jobs — she said she worked roughly 40 to 50 hours a week across the two roles.

On the days she had to go into the office for her hybrid role, she said brought both of her work laptops, which conveniently looked identical. She generally worked from an office cubical, but when she pivoted to her second job, she would go to a private room.

"There were moments when I thought I'd fail but I got positive reviews from both jobs while I was there," she said.

Lisa said she didn't feel guilty about keeping her jobs a secret from her employers, in part because she thinks many companies are greedy — and prioritize profits over workers.

"I felt like I was sticking it to the man when I could," she said.

But near the end of 2021, Lisa started to question how much longer she'd be able to keep this up. When pandemic conditions eased, she thought her fully remote employer would pivot to a hybrid work schedule — and managing two hybrid jobs seemed impossible.

So she decided to try to get ahead of things.

Lisa said she was able to secure a job offer for a role that paid about $175,000 a year and required in-person work. The job paid less than the roughly $250,000 she was making across her two jobs, but it was more than either of them paid individually. In early 2022, she decided to take the job — and said goodbye to her two roles.

"It was a good career move at a time when I thought that remote work was going to disappear," she said.

While some companies have called workers back to the office, others have continued with fully remote working arrangements. In April, about 22% of full-time US workers aged 16 and older worked from home at least some of the time — 10% did so all of the time — according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While some overemployed workers have been forced to adjust their plans due to return-to-office mandates, others are still chugging along.

Lisa said she'd consider job juggling again if she could find two fully remote jobs that checked most of her boxes. Among her biggest concerns would be burnout.

"Doing two jobs that need me 100% sounds tremendously stressful, and I would much rather do a job that values all of me and pays me as such," she said.

Are you working multiple remote jobs at the same time and willing to provide details about your pay and schedule? If so, reach out to this reporter at jzinkula@businessinsider.com.