• Biden struggled in the first 2024 presidential debate.
• His weak performance, marked by slurred speech and gaffes, overshadowed his arguments.
• Trump appeared more confident and alert, despite making several inaccurate statements.

The first presidential debate of 2024 did not go well for President Joe Biden.

As he and former President Donald Trump sparred for an hour and a half on Thursday night, it became clear that Biden's style points — or lack thereof — would come to define the night.

Despite a few jabs at Trump, Biden spent much of the debate slurring through sentences and, at times, sounding incoherent.

"We finally beat Medicare," Biden said at one point, just one example of several major gaffes.

But the shortcomings of Biden's performance — which Business Insider's politics reporters called a "complete disaster" — went beyond his speaking segments.

BI spoke to a public-speaking coach and an executive coach, both of whom said Biden's conduct while listening to Trump speak also hurt his image.

'It wasn't the president's finest hour'

When it was Trump's turn to speak, Biden sometimes looked toward the ground as though drifting from the conversation. At various points, Biden held an intense yet vacant stare with his mouth ajar and brows furrowed.

"It wasn't the President's finest hour. He primarily played into his opponent's accusations of weakness, and people often view a leader's speaking performance as shorthand for their leadership style," Paul Falzon, a Singapore-based public speaking and presentation coach with 20 years of experience, told BI.

"I believe he spoke too quickly," Falzon added. "He couldn't enunciate and emphasize keywords effectively, something compounded by the raspy quality of his voice."

Biden's occasional habit of averting eye contact and looking down indicates he was listening carefully and preparing rebuttals, Falzon said. Still, it made him seem "somewhat cowed," Falzon said.

"I don't think Biden's base can put a positive spin on his first debate performance," Falzon said.

Adriana Giotta, a clinical psychologist and executive coach, shared a similar critique of Biden's reactions during the debate.

"Too many stunned, sarcastic, or disconnected facial expressions as a reaction to the speaker do not convey professionalism and equanimity, instead exuding weakness," Giotta told BI about Biden's demeanor.

"I would instead recommend always maintaining a strong posture with the head raised and the gaze looking ahead to keep the facial expression as neutral as possible," she added.

The age of TikTok isn't being kind to Biden

Trump has often used Biden's age to argue that Biden is unfit for office. Biden is 81. Trump is 78.

To be sure, Biden's reactions during the debate can't be taken as absolute indicators that he wasn't paying attention to the conversation or is unfit for office.

But politicians' gaffes land badly in the age of TikTok and Instagram Reels. In Biden's case, social media is filled with clips of him appearing to hobble away during leadership meetings or having to be ushered off-stage by other politicians.

The White House has disputed these clips, saying many were edited or cropped in bad faith to portray Biden as feeble or forgetful.

The damage, however, is not so easily reversed — especially when considering how young voters get their news.

Google recently found that Gen Zers, 41 million of whom are eligible to vote in the US this year, tend not to consume long articles or research, choosing instead to view headlines or watch videos before going straight to social media comments sections.

And Thursday's debate will likely serve up fodder for those who want to portray Biden as a senile man, even if some of his arguments were logical and factual.

Trump, for his part, repeatedly lied about or mischaracterized Biden's policies during the debate, hurling several false statements on immigration and economic growth.

But demeanor-wise, he appeared active and alert. The public-speaking experts BI spoke to agreed that Trump seemed more confident and exuded more conviction.

Trump's body language demonstrated "more assurance, leadership abilities, and reliability to the audience," Giotta said.

Falzon echoed this idea.

"His gestures were more expressive and less aggressive than his debates in 2020, and this gave him the aura of confidence," Falzon said about Trump.

"However, I don't think we should confuse his confidence with substance," Falzon added.

In many moments, the dichotomy between his composure and Biden's was painfully apparent.

And the Trump campaign knows it. Hours after the debate wrapped, it emailed supporters lauding a "split-screen for the ages."

"A strong, focused, and powerful performance from President Donald J. Trump and an incoherent, humiliating, and embarrassing display of Crooked Joe Biden's weakness and decline," it said.

The Trump and Biden campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment from BI.

• Some of Silicon Valley's biggest names are in their tech bro era.
• It wasn't always like this — many Big Tech CEOs have shed more nerdy personas from their startup days.
• Here's a look at tech's most influential executives then and now.

Mark Zuckerberg isn't the only tech CEO whose style has noticeably evolved over the years.

Other Big Tech leaders have significantly changed up their looks since starting their companies; some are nearly unrecognizable (we're looking at you, Jeff Bezos.)

Here's a look at the style transformations of some of tech's biggest names:

Jeff Bezos

Bezos founded Amazon from his garage in Bellevue, Washington, in 1994. He attributes his new look partly to working out with a celebrity personal trainer and changing his diet.

Mark Zuckerberg

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook from his dorm room at Harvard in 2004.

Gone are the days of the Zuck who famously wore the same thing every day to save brainpower for more important decisions. Instead, Zuck can now be seen sporting graphic tees and chain necklaces.

Part of Zuckerberg's physical transformation also stems from hobbies like Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA fighting.

Michael Dell

Dell is another member of the college dropouts-turned-tech founders club.

Larry Page and Sergey Brin

Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in 1998.

Elon Musk

The photo at left shows Musk in 1999, around the time the "PayPal mafia" was formed.

Musk has said he doesn't care for exercise and "almost never" works out, though he's credited fasting and the weight loss drug Wegovy with his appearance today.

Bill Gates

Gates and the late Paul Allen cofounded Microsoft from a garage in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1975.

Jack Dorsey

Twitter was founded in 2006. Cofounder Dorsey has been seen with a full beard pretty regularly since departing as CEO and focusing his efforts more on cryptocurrency at Block, formerly Square.

Richard Branson

Richard Branson started the Virgin brand in 1970 with a mail order record business.

At 73 years old today, Branson's day-to-day life still features plenty of exercise, from tennis and cycling to kite-surfing.

Jack Ma

Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma disappeared from public view in 2020 after criticizing China's financial regulation system. He resurfaced in Thailand in 2022 and has been teaching as a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo.

Anne Wojcicki

Anne Wojcicki founded genetic testing company 23andMe in 2006.

Whitney Wolfe Herd

Whitney Wolfe Herd founded Bumble in 2014 and stepped down as CEO last year.

Evan Spiegel

Evan Spiegel co-founded Snap, which owns services like Snapchat, in 2011.

• The Henley Passport Index ranks the most powerful passports in the world for visa-free travel.
• Singapore is in the top spot with its passport, which allows holders to travel to 195 countries.
• The US passport can access 188 countries, behind passports from 27 other countries.

Thinking of visiting China, India, or Venezuela with a US passport for your summer vacation? Not so fast — or at least not before securing a visa. Some of the best wonders of the world require US citizens to obtain a visa before take-off, an inconvenience in planning that long-awaited international getaway.

US passport holders can access 188 countries globally without a visa, putting it in eighth place among world passports on the global mobility spectrum, according to the 2024 Henley Passport Index. Passports from 27 other countries provide more global mobility than a US passport.

The index is a ranking of passports based on how many countries their holders can access without a visa and is based on data from the International Air Transport Authority.

Singapore is in the top spot with its passport, which allows holders to travel to 195 countries without first securing a visa. Japan had previously held the No. 1 position but has since fallen to No. 2, joining France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, which all allow access to 194 countries.

Below are the countries with the most powerful passports, ranked by ascending number of visa-free travel options, based on the 2024 Henley Passport Index.

10. Latvia, Slovakia, and Slovenia passport holders can visit 186 countries without visas in 2024.

9. Holders of Estonia, Lithuania, or United Arab Emirates passports can visit 187 countries without a visa in 2024.

8. Travelers can visit 188 countries without a visa in 2024 if they have a passport from the USA.

7. Travelers can visit 189 countries without visas in 2024 with a passport from Hungary, Poland, Czechia, or Canada.

6. Holders of Greece, Malta, New Zealand, and Australia passports can visit 190 countries without a visa.

5. Travelers can visit 191 countries without a visa in 2024 if they have a passport from Norway, Portugal, or Switzerland.

4. United Kingdom, Denmark, and Belgium passport holders can visit 192 countries without visas in 2024.

3. Sweden, South Korea, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Finland, and Austria passport holders can visit 193 countries without a visa in 2024.

2. Holders of Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, and France passports can visit 194 countries without a visa in 2024.

1. Travelers can visit 195 countries without a visa in 2024 if they have a passport from Singapore.

Zoe Rosenberg contributed to an earlier version of this report. This story was first published in January 2023 and updates were made in January 2024 and June 2024.

Throughout the early aughts, my purse of choice was a brown wristlet covered in monogram Cs.

The wallet-sized bag was, of course, from Coach — or at least designed to look like it was. (I'm pretty sure my aunt bought it from a street vendor in New York City.) But the accessory's impact was all the same.

Whenever I pulled a few dollars out of my imitation bag to buy a candy bar or CD, I felt like Paris Hilton and the other celebrities I'd read about in teen magazines.

Unfortunately, the brand had lost most of its appeal by the time I reached adulthood and could afford a real Coach purse. Its famous letter pattern looked especially outdated.

So, it was shocking to me and other millennials when Coach staged a successful comeback.

Seemingly overnight, the brand's old-school magazine advertisements were replaced with eye-catching TikToks, its unknown models stepped back to make room for stars like Lil Nas X, and its famous neutral bags were pushed to the side for cute, cherry-print purses that Gen Z loved.

The rebrand, which started in 2020, worked instantly and is still boosting sales four years later. Tapestry, the label's parent company, reported Coach as its top earner during the second quarter of 2024 with $1.54 billion in revenue — a 7% increase compared to last year.

And if you speak with any Coach fan about why they like the brand, those numbers won't surprise you.

"A lot of us are looking for an it-brand to wear that isn't totally going to break the bank but is still very cute and high quality. And that's Coach," Erin Keel, a 26-year-old fan from Los Angeles, told Business Insider.

The origins of a legacy brand

Coach, founded by six artisans in 1941, started as a small leather goods company that crafted wallets. It eventually grew with the help of Lillian Cahn and Miles Cahn, who purchased the business in 1961 and renamed it the Coach Leatherware Company. Lillian was responsible for introducing handbags to the brand.

The work of designer Bonnie Cashin was especially popular in the brand's earlier days. She added the now-famous turnkey hardware to various Coach designs and was responsible for crafting a purse that mimicked paper grocery bags. The piece has long been coveted, with Coach selling refurbished Cashin Carry Totes on its site today.

Lew Frankfort, who joined Coach as vice president in 1979 and became CEO in 1995, transformed the company into the American fashion house we now know.

He did so by making Coach a cultural touchstone.

In the late '90s and early 2000s, the brand's monogrammed purses in tan colorways were the epitome of luxury. They were everywhere — from celebrities' arms to red carpets.

But by the 2010s, profits and interest were dropping — something experts then cited to high prices and the elimination of coupons, which later forced Coach to discount items heavily.

Competitor brands like Michael Kors and Kate Spade swept business from Coach around 2014, and Frankfort stepped down from his role as CEO that year to become executive chairman.

With Victor Luis now at the helm, the brand's choice to pull its focus from department stores in 2016 also led to further sales declines. And with fewer people buying Coach bags, consumer ideas of the brand shifted.

Keel, who purchased her first Coach accessory — a discounted cardholder from Coach Outlet — around that time, remembers the change in the brand's perception vividly.

"I was at a party, and I overheard a girl talking about how she had a bunch of designer bags, like Chanel and YSL," she told BI. "Then I heard her say that Coach wasn't really designer and that it was only for people who were broke."

"My face went bright red, and I just felt so embarrassed," she continued. "I remember clutching the cardholder in my hand, trying to cover the fact that it was Coach."

Coach, eight decades later

Thanks to the brand's overhaul, hearing such a strong take on the legacy brand today would almost feel preposterous.

After two leadership changes — Luis was ousted in 2019, and his successor, Jide J. Zeitlin, left in 2020 — Todd Kahn joined the brand.

Under his leadership, Coach returned to its glory days. It began relying heavily on digital marketing across TikTok and Instagram, where its Tabby design eventually took off and became an it-bag of 2023.

One advertisement, in particular, grabbed consumer heartstrings as Lil Nas X, Camila Mendes, and other celebrities opened their Tabby bags to reveal their inner thoughts and "emotional baggage."

Last year, the fashion house also launched Coachtopia, a sub-brand focused on sustainable accessories and creative designs, many of which cater to Gen Z consumers.

The above efforts were flawlessly executed and almost immediately successful. Tapestry reported that Coach sales increased by 11% in the third quarter of 2023. The parent company's most recent report said Coach had acquired 1.5 million new North American customers in the second quarter of this year.

Beth Goldstein, a Circana fashion analyst specializing in accessories, told BI that while fashion is cyclical, it's not necessarily common for a brand to come back as strongly as Coach has in recent years.

"The brand did a good job when it said: OK, we need to reset this supply and demand equation, and we need to pull back from retailers that are not doing our brand any favors," she told BI of the brand, noting their discounted products at department stores and other retailers. "And they did that at the expense of sales, but they focused on brand equity and the product and put those two things first."

The multi-generational approach

At the core of Coach's success, of course, is its fan base.

As Tapestry stated in its latest report, many of Coach's original millennial customers are still around, but much of the company's comeback can be credited to Gen Z.

Keel purchased her first Coach purse in 2021 and now has a collection of nearly 20 bags. She regularly posts social media content about her collection and is particularly drawn to Coach's sustainability efforts, its wide range of bag styles, and high-quality products.

"I like Coach because it's trendy but still very timeless," Keel told BI. "And they come out with a lot of different, fun pieces frequently throughout the year, so it's something you never get bored of."

"Nostalgia is one of the most powerful marketing tactics."

Customers are drawn to more than just new, trendy pieces. Old Coach designs are also seemingly impacting the brand's current business.

As the brand previously shared on Instagram, its Tabby bag was inspired by a 1970s Coach design. In June, it also relaunched its Swing Zip bag, which first went on sale in 1998.

Kate Bauer, a 29-year-old from Toronto, collects vintage Coach bags that she exclusively buys secondhand. She told BI that the importance of old Coach styles to the brand's current business has never been clearer.

"Nostalgia is one of the most powerful marketing tactics, and Coach has done a really good job of creating new bags that reference old ones," she told BI. "And that consistent aesthetic has been instrumental in keeping the brand at the forefront of people's minds."

When I entered one of the brand's boutiques earlier this month, I felt two time periods colliding.

The shop's brown walls, warm lighting, and glass cases screamed 2006. So did the few monogrammed wristlets I saw displayed on mannequins. Still, the Tabby purses that lined each shelf brought me back to 2024.

It became clear that the recipe for Coach's comeback was much simpler than I originally thought. The brand didn't need to change much. It simply needed to grow up and get with the times.

Can the Coach comeback last?

Goldstein noted that it's a "natural progression" for most fashion and accessories brands to have ups and downs.

She said Coach's ongoing success story is a little less common, but other Y2K brands, specifically Crocs and UGG, have staged similar comebacks recently and made them last.

All three brands, Goldstein noted, expanded the ranges of their classic products to include more unique styles.

"They all focus on individuality and inclusiveness," Goldstein said of Coach, Crocs and UGG. "They offer a message of 'you be you' and sell products that consumers don't already have."

Like any company, Goldstein said, Coach and similar brands need strong management to leverage future success. A consistent focus on consumer interests and new ideas is also key.

"I don't think any one brand can be as big as it ever was before because there's too much competition now," she said. "But I do think that Coach absolutely has lasting power."

• Elon Musk has amassed a $198 billion fortune through his work at Tesla, SpaceX, and more.
• The 52-year-old is also the father of at least 11 children and finds time to post on X almost daily.
• Here's how the Tesla CEO structures his days.

Elon Musk is a busy man, with interests across several massive tech companies.

He's the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, the owner of Twitter — now X — and he's also a father of at least 11 children.

According to Forbes, he's amassed a fortune worth $198 billion, making him the world's third-richest person. Musk said he didn't get there by working 40 hours a week. The billionaire is known to have a strenuous schedule that he said has demanded 120-hour workweeks in the past.

Still, the South African mogul has similarities to the average Joe in his routine. Like many of us, Musk has a sweet treat in the morning and spends time scrolling social media.

Here's how his days go, according to interviews and posts by Musk himself over the years.

Musk wakes up around 9 a.m. and has said he starts every morning with a doughnut

Musk told The Wall Street Journal in 2023 that he usually goes to bed around 3 a.m. and sleeps for six hours. So, he's typically waking up around 9 a.m. each day.

He might've been trolling when he wrote a response to a doctor that same year on X saying he eats "a donut every morning," but a quick search of Musk's posts reveals he's quite a fan of the pastry.

But, it's all about moderation, according to Musk.

"I only have 0.4 donuts at a time, because my brain neural network quantizes it down to 0 donuts," he posted to X in October.

His mornings usually start with his phone in his hand

Musk said in 2022 that he was trying to break the cycle of checking his phone as soon as he woke up. While on the Full Send Podcast, Musk described it as "a terrible habit" he hoped to escape.

But as of last year, he still wakes up and immediately looks at his phone for emergencies, the Journal reported.

If his posts on X (formerly Twitter) are any indication, the habit persists. He's been active on Twitter since before he bought it in 2022.

It's unclear if Musk slots in time to post and respond to others each day, but it certainly looks like he rarely takes a day off from the app.

"Some days I wake up and look at Twitter to see if it's still working," Musk told Walter Isaacson in the "Elon Musk" biography.

Showering is an important part of his daily routine

Musk previously credited showering with having the biggest positive effect on his daily life.

During an AMA session on Reddit in 2015, a user asked which of his daily habits impacted his life the most.

"Showering," Musk responded.

He decides which Tesla to commute to the office in

As the CEO of one of the leading EV makers, it's no surprise that Musk has more than one option for his daily commute.

When an X user posted a meme about deciding between driving a Cybertruck without autopilot or Tesla Model S with self-driving technology, Musk responded that it's a choice he faces "every day."

The Cybertruck has been in the backdrop of many celebrity paparazzi shots and Instagram posts since its official launch in November.

It's unclear if Musk is keeping up with the daily lifting routine he spoke about in 2023

Like many, Musk appears to have had ups and downs in his relationship with physical exercise over the years. In 2021, he told Joe Rogan that he'd avoid it altogether if he could.

"I almost never work out, except for picking up my kids & throwing them in the air," he said on X in June 2023.

But less than two months later, he said he was "lifting hard almost every day." Around the same time, talks of Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg going head-to-head in a fight swirled online.

Sometimes, his work days can last all night

Musk has admitted on several occasions that running more than one company isn't easy. He splits time between his companies depending on the "crisis of the moment," the 52-year-old said in 2021.

One X user pointed out in January 2023 that Musk had testified in a lawsuit in the morning, attended an event at a Nevada Tesla factory in the evening, and worked with Tesla on AI at night — all in one day.

Musk responded that he'd also spent time at "Twitter HQ past midnight."

And then was at Twitter HQ past midnight. Very long day.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 26, 2023

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

"I go to sleep, I wake up, I work, go to sleep, wake up, work—do that seven days a week," Musk told the Journal in 2023. "I'll have to do that for a while — no choice — but I think once Twitter is set on the right path, I think it is a much easier thing to manage than SpaceX or Tesla."

On the Tesla earnings call in April 2024, Musk said: "Tesla constitutes the majority of my work time, and I work pretty much every day of the week. It's rare for me to take a Sunday afternoon off."

Musk goes to bed around 3 a.m. and gets about 6 hours of sleep every night

Although he's not getting eight hours a night, Musk has upped his sleeping schedule from being nearly nonexistent in the past.

In May 2023, Musk told CNBC that he's no longer pulling all-nighters. Instead, he said he tries to get at least six hours of sleep.

According to Isaacson's biography of Musk, the billionaire has spent many nights awake and pondering the issues his companies face. His former partner Claire Boucher — known by her stage name Grimes — also told Isaacson that Musk once stayed up all night playing the "Elden Ring" video game when it first came out.

He has a history of sleeping on the floors of his offices and the Tesla factory.

After purchasing Twitter in 2022, Musk all but moved into its San Francisco headquarters. He said there's a couch in the library that he would crash on from time to time.

• Russia is sustaining high casualties in attacks in Ukraine, The New York Times reported. 
• Around 1,000 Russian troops a day were killed or wounded, officials told the publication. 
• But Russia is able to recruit new troops to replace the casualties, according to the Times.  

An average of 1,000 Russian troops a day were killed or wounded in Ukraine in May amid waves of head-on attacks on Ukrainian defenses, US, UK, and other Western intelligence agencies said, according to The New York Times.

UK military intelligence has put the casualty rate at 1,200 a day in May, which it said was the highest reported since the start of the war. It said Russia's total number of killed or wounded since it launched the invasion in February 2022 now stood at around 500,000.

It's unclear how many of these troops were killed and how many were wounded. Business Insider has contacted The Ministry of Defence for comment.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in June put the figure of the total number killed or wounded at around 350,000.

The reported casualty increase in May came as Russia intensified its attacks on Ukrainian positions in the Kharkiv region, which borders Russia in northern Ukraine.

Russia is sending troops into head-on high-casualty attacks, known as human wave or "meat grinder" attacks. The attacks were used by Russia in brutal battles to seize control of the towns of Avdiikva and Bakhmut last year, but US officials told the Times they are proving less successful now.

However, US officials told the Times that Russia has been able to replenish its troop numbers, recruiting around 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers a month, while Ukraine is struggling to find new recruits.

Ukraine said in February that it believes 31,000 of its troops have been killed since the start of the war, but Western intelligence officials told The Washington Post the number is likely much higher.

Russia has offered relatively lucrative contracts to new recruits, has drafted thousands of prisoners into the military, and has contracted foreign mercenaries to replace its losses.

In September 2022, Russia drafted 300,000 civilians into the military, but it's unlikely that the Kremlin will need to launch another draft in the near future, US officials told the Times.

• Some young people are choosing to be NEET to focus on mental health and values.
• They see being idle as more beneficial than taking the wrong job.
• Waiting for the right career can boost mental wellbeing and reduce stress, a psychologist says.

Being unemployed and idle may sound like a choice nobody would make, but some young people are voluntarily choosing to become NEETs.

The acronym stands for people who are not in employment, education, or training.

And their numbers are on the rise. According to the International Labour Organization, about a fifth of people between 15 and 24 worldwide in 2023 were considered NEETs, a level not seen in nearly two decades.

Though extended periods off from employment may lead to a lack of momentum, a psychologist says they could also have some positive mental benefits.

The rise of the voluntary NEETs

Some Gen Zers are reclaiming the NEET label on social media, believing that being voluntarily dormant is more appealing than taking the first job that they can find.

Ryan Warner, a psychologist and business consultant, told Business Insider there's a "huge grind culture" in the US where people think working harder yields better results.

"However, the newer generation is starting to have a different spin on how they view success," he said.

According to the American Psychological Association's 2023 survey, 77% of workers reported feeling stressed at work.

"A lot of people say, 'Hey, we'll just grind through it, get over with','" Warner said. "But some individuals are saying, 'No, I'm going to actually take the time for myself, reduce some stress, some anxiety, some depressive symptoms to protect my overall mental well-being.'"

Mental health and a work-life balance are huge priorities for many Gen Zers and they are keen to work at organizations with empathetic values and flexibility.

Experts have raised concerns about Zoomers and millennials becoming "lost" or "disconnected" as they struggle to enter the workforce or find themselves suddenly laid off.

Some career and recruitment specialists told BI being a NEET could be a "big mistake" and a result of "unrealistic views" creating a "false reality" about how career opportunities come about.

They said big gaps on someone's résumé could be a red flag to potential employers, and that sometimes, fulfillment comes from putting yourself out there.

However, according to Warner, waiting a bit longer to find a job that aligns with your values and identity creates fulfillment in life and can mitigate burnout and other "long-term psychological challenges." It can also boost confidence and psychological resilience, Warner said.

"When they take that time off for themself, they're able to reevaluate their values and what's important to them, and in turn, that strengthens their identity and self-worth," Warner said. "That actually provides a sense of autonomy and control over one's life."

Warner added that, in contrast, being forced into a job that doesn't fit can lead to feelings of helplessness and a lack of agency.

Overall, it's a risk-reward analysis individuals have to make.

The reward for taking a job could be financial stability, but the risk could be feeling unfulfilled or experiencing anxiety and depression.

"A lot of individuals are recognizing the risks far outweigh the rewards, and in turn are choosing a different approach," he said.

• I lived in Panama for two years and my son split time between there and the US.
• He got to enjoy two summer vacations; one in the US, and one in Panama.
• We no longer live there, but I'm thankful for the experiences we had. 

In May 2021, I moved to Panama. My partner and I lived there for two years, and during that time, my son would spend one month with us and one month with his dad and stepmother in the States. This was possible only because he has been homeschooled since first grade, and his dad and I established a system to keep his work in both homes synchronized.

The experience was hectic and difficult at times, but I am a big believer in experiencing different countries, cultures, and people — and in the idea that sometimes you have to take a big leap to do so.

Kids start their summer vacation mid-December in Panama

We learned a lot during our time in the country, and one of the more pleasant surprises was that summer vacation there generally begins in mid-December (at the end of the rainy season) at the end of the second trimester of school. School doesn't pick back up again until February.

This schedule created an interesting opportunity for my son, who was about to be 12 when he experienced his first summer in Panama. Besides how incredible it was to play in the ocean and wear short sleeves in the middle of January, he also found himself surrounded by kids everywhere we went — something that he hadn't always experienced in his time in the country.

My son got to spend more time playing with kids during the summer

Panama's schools run on a trimester system, and the trimesters typically run from February to June, June to September, and September to December. For the majority of the school year, I was able to find a few friends for him through Facebook groups for expat families. We connected with other homeschooled children from France, South Africa, and Germany, but he had a harder time making friends with Panamanian children — or even spending much time with them at all. The added challenges of language barriers and adjusting to a new home in a new country for only half the year didn't help.

But summer in Panama brought about new opportunities for hanging out with kids. He didn't sign up for any camps or programs (at the time, his Spanish was very new), but he also didn't shy away from getting to know kids at the parks, playgrounds, and when we were out at local events.

His first January in Panama offered a respite from the newness of it all; he could spend a little time just being a kid with other kids. It was comforting to find that a language barrier didn't always matter when two (or more) kids could bond over play, no matter where we were. He had some schoolwork to work on to maintain his participation in classes in the States, but we focused on keeping things light so he could have more unstructured time to experience what was around him.

While we lived in Panama, my son got two summers

Making a major change or move is almost always a challenge, and doing so when you're not even a teenager yet takes mental and emotional fortitude that not everyone has. Though our long-term plans in Panama didn't work out the way we imagined, and now we split our time evenly between the US and France, the years we spent there were unique and fun — and that's in no small part due to the summers my son experienced there.

By the time summer rolled around in the United States, most Panamanian children were back in the classroom, and the rainy season was rolling in. In a sense, my son got to experience the best of both homes: friends in each spot, plenty to see and do, and two summers to be as free as he wanted.

• The NTSB said Boeing "blatantly violated" rules about investigations.
• It said a Boeing exec made "unsubstantiated speculations" about the Alaska Airlines blowout .
• It will coordinate with the DoJ, which is considering criminal charges over the blowout.

Boeing has apologized after the National Transportation Safety Board said it "blatantly violated" rules about investigations.

On Tuesday, a Boeing executive held a media briefing about January's Alaska Airlines blowout. Sharing non-public information about investigations without the NTSB's consent is against the agency's rules.

The director of the NTSB's office of aviation safety sent a scathing letter to Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun on Thursday.

Timothy LeBaron said that since Boeing has been party to "several other investigations over the years," it is familiar with the investigative processes, "perhaps more so than most other entities."

In the letter, LeBaron said that Boeing Commercial Airplanes' senior vice president for quality, Elizabeth Lund, "made unsubstantiated speculations about possible causes" of the Alaska Airlines blowout.

"This disregard of federal regulations and rules governing NTSB investigations cannot be tolerated," he added.

The blowout sparked a crisis at Boeing, after a door plug came off a 737 Max in midair. Four bolts designed to hold it in place were never installed, the NTSB said in a preliminary report.

CNN reported that in the media briefing, Boeing blamed missing paperwork for the lapse in quality control.

LeBaron said that Lund shared "unsubstantiated speculations" and that "part of the released information was either inaccurate or unknown to the NTSB."

He also criticized Boeing for speaking about the investigation into a Southwest Airlines incident that occurred in May. The 737 Max experienced a Dutch roll, a rare but serious stability problem.

Boeing's chief engineer, Howard McKenzie, said the event had "nothing to do with design or manufacturing," according to LeBaron. However, LeBaron said that the NTSB hasn't ruled this out as contributing to the Dutch roll.

As a result of these statements, the NTSB said Boeing will no longer have access to its investigative information as it develops factual records.

The agency said it "will be coordinating with the DOJ Fraud Division to provide details about Boeing's recent unauthorized investigative information releases in the 737 Max 9 door plug investigation."

The Justice Department is considering whether to prosecute Boeing over the blowout.

In a statement shared with Business Insider, Boeing said: "As we continue to take responsibility and work transparently, we conducted an in-depth briefing on our Safety & Quality Plan and shared context on the lessons we have learned from the January 5 accident."

"We deeply regret that some of our comments, intended to make clear our responsibility in the accident and explain the actions we are taking, overstepped the NTSB's role as the source of investigative information," it added.

"We apologize to the NTSB and stand ready to answer any questions as the agency continues its investigation."

• A Texas millennial is on track to earn nearly $350,000 this year secretly working two remote jobs.
• Despite holding two jobs simultaneously, he typically only worked about 50 hours a week. 
• He's considering giving up overemployment because it's taken a toll on his health and relationships.

In 2021, Phil saw the workload at his software engineering job reduced considerably. He began wondering what he could do with the extra time on his hands.

Soon, an idea came to mind: He might be able to juggle two remote roles simultaneously.

"Since many jobs were remote at that time, I thought of trying my luck," Phil, who's in his 30s and based in Texas, told Business Insider via email. His identity is known to BI, but he asked to use a pseudonym due to fears of professional repercussions.

After a couple of months, he landed a second full-time role and didn't tell either employer about his "overemployment."

Secretly working two jobs has made a big impact on Phil's finances. He's on track to make nearly $350,000 this year, according to documents viewed by Business Insider. Roughly $150,000 of this would come from his second employer — a subsidiary of a US-based company that pays him in a foreign currency. He said being overemployed made it possible for him to allocate nearly $75,000 to his retirement funds last year.

Having a second gig has also provided Phil with valuable job security. Last year, he said he was among the thousands of IT and tech workers who were laid off, but he had another paycheck to rely on until he found a new "job two." What's more, he said he hasn't typically worked more than 50 hours a week across his two jobs.

But despite all these benefits, Phil is considering quitting his second job sometime this year, in part because he said job juggling has taken a toll on his physical and mental health, as well as his personal life.

"Overemployment definitely helps as far as financial security is concerned," he said. "But that comes with a cost."

Phil is among the Americans who have secretly worked multiple remote jobs to boost their incomes and job security. BI has interviewed over 20 of these job jugglers, many of whom work in the IT and tech industries. These people have made as much as $1 million a year across their jobs and used their earnings to pay off student debt, save for retirement, and afford expensive vacations and weight-loss drugs.

While some companies may be OK with their workers taking on a second job, doing this without approval could have negative repercussions. Additionally, intense competition for remote roles, return-to-office mandates, and burnout have led some job jugglers to question whether overemployment is sustainable.

Phil shared his top tips for managing two full-time jobs, the biggest downsides of this lifestyle, and why he might give it up.

Doing the "bare minimum" and limiting meetings are keys

After he started job juggling in 2021, Phil said he began looking for information online about whether secretly working multiple remote jobs was legal — and whether anyone else was doing the same thing. That's when he first learned about the "overemployed community." There are over 300,000 members of the subreddit r/overemployed — where workers share tips for finding jobs and avoiding detection.

"To my surprise, I saw that people were doing up to five parallel jobs, netting home over $1 million," he said.

Over the past few years, Phil has maintained the same primary job — or "job one" — but cycled through a few secondary roles. He quit one because he needed a break and was laid off from another. For a couple of months, he said he tried juggling three jobs at once until the workload proved to be too much.

When it comes to finding remote jobs, Phil said he's generally used LinkedIn and the remote-specific job board We Work Remotely.

When it comes to managing multiple jobs, Phil said there's one big key: time management.

Phil's strategy has been to do the "bare minimum" at both of his jobs, which he said has been necessary from a time management perspective. He said he avoids meetings he thinks are "useless" and sometimes double-books these meetings across both employers to save time.

"Having two 40-hour-a-week jobs doesn't mean you have to work 80 hours a week," he said. "You have to be smart enough to do more in less time."

If you want to advance in a career and stay at a company for a long time, overemployment isn't for you, Phil said.

"If you consider work to be just a means to get financial security and are happy to see others get promoted while you are just meeting the expectations at both the jobs, then it's a good idea."

Why overemployment might not be sustainable

Phil said overemployment has come with a few big costs.

First, he's found it difficult to focus on any single job, which he thinks has affected his work quality.

"I was more worried about doing the bare minimum at both the places to survive," he said.

Second, he said the longer working hours — which have occasionally extended to as many as 60 or 70 hours a week — have been draining and left him with less time to focus on his relationships.

"It takes a toll on your health," he said. "Anything up to 50 hours a week is sustainable for me and that is what I would suggest for most people."

It's for these reasons that Phil said he's considering giving up overemployment this year.

Before anyone starts job juggling, he recommends they consider the impact it could have not just on their finances — but also on other areas of their lives.

"Look at your life as a whole and not just from a work-money point of view," he said.

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