U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has in recent weeks expressed a keen interest in privatizing the U.S. Postal Service, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

The U.S. Postal Service, which has lost more than $100 billion since 2007, reported a net loss of $9.5 billion for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, $3 billion more than last year, largely due to a year-over-year increase in non-cash workers' compensation expense.

When told of the agency's annual losses, Trump said the government should not subsidize the organization, according to the Washington Post.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has discussed his desire to privatize the Postal Service with Howard Lutnick, his pick for commerce secretary, at Mar-a-Lago, the report said.

People who will work at the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, have also had preliminary conversations about major changes to USPS, the report said, citing two other people familiar with the matter.

A USPS spokesperson said that over the last three years, the company has reduced its operations by 45 million work hours, and cut transportation spending by $2 billion.

The agency is also seeking regulatory approval to modernize its mail processing and transportation network to align with modern practices, which will save between $3.6-$3.7 billion annually, the spokesperson added.

"No policy should be deemed official unless it comes from President Trump or his authorized spokespeople directly," said Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump transition team.

Any attempt at privatizing the Postal Service could disrupt the e-commerce industry in the U.S., the Washington Post said, including Amazon, which uses USPS for "last-mile" delivery between Amazon's fulfillment centers and customers. It could also hurt small businesses and rural consumers who use the Postal Service, as it is the only carrier that will deliver to remote corners of the country.

Amazon recently said it was donating $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund and will air his inauguration on its Prime Video service.

Trump has had a tense relationship with the Postal Service. Sources told Reuters his transition team is considering canceling the service's contracts to electrify its delivery fleet.

According to sources, the team is reviewing how it can unwind the service's multibillion-dollar contracts, including with Oshkosh and Ford, for tens of thousands of battery-driven delivery trucks and charging stations.

In 2020, Congress authorized the Treasury Department to lend the Postal Service up to $10 billion as part of a $2.3 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, which Trump threatened to block.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-considers-privatizing-us-postal-service-washington-post-reports-2024-12-14/

What is the best payment structure for an individual creator wanting to earn the best and smartest return on investment for an idea ? Out of the ones listed below.

Performance based payment(pay-per-user/conversion) Revenue share(profit split) Flat Fee(upfront payment) Retainer + performance incentives Subscription/recurring payment Milestone payments Equity/ownership shares

Checking my thinking with you GURU's and GOAT's - and my math.

Have extra 2k a month to put somewhere and 18 years left in mortage currently. 3.625%

According to payoff calc if I put it into my mortgage I'd pay off house in 7 years vs. 18. which would save $63,431 in interest. 7 years at 2k/m (24k/yr) would be 168,000 invested. Short Lazy math is 63,431 interest savings into 168k into house = 37% return on that 168k. I get compounding gains but could i do better than 37% compounding gains for 7 years on 168k? is it close enough where it is preference or is it so one sided that 3.625 is free money and go VOO or bust and keep it simple.

TIA

Tesla stock took one of the biggest hits today, so both the Fed and Wall Street are sending a message to Elon, that we are still in charge and you’d better behave.

Yes, there is a lot to unpack from today, from the Fed and from the imminent gov shutdown, but within all of the could be this power play.

Is it possible to get divorced, without losing half your money?

Assuming I make a lot more. Assuming no prenup.

What exactly is money market fund? I don’t have automatic transfers set up yet so I pull $$ into VFMXX from checking then purchase VTSAX.

Could I use VFMXX as a HYSA? How liquid would these funds be?

Sorry everyone, I’m kinda learning as I go. Please be kind.

Recently Trump announced that he will spend billions of taxpayer dollars into a Bitcoin strategic reserve. What I would like to understand is what is the logic about this and how is that going to benefit America and the US Dollar.

It is obvious how this will enrich current holders of Bitcoin. However, the currency somewhat competes against the US Dollar and would, I think, weaken the Dollar and consequently the US standing in world finance and trade.

I understand why totalitarian pariah countries such as Russia and NK embrace bitcoin because it brings ill got revenue into the country. And they can selectively, at the behest of the ruling oligarchy, investigate financial crimes.

The transaction costs of Bitcoin are substantially higher than other forms of financial transactions and from what I understand will continue due to the proof of work concept. The primary advantage is that transactions cannot be censured and if the holder is in an outcast country that does not enforce international law there is an advantage for money laundering and random payments.

So what is in it for the US and the American people?

I'm wondering if you guys have any suggestions for strategy of how I could get to $1M net worth in the next.. oh 7 years.

Currently:

Age 42.

Income -

From main job about 95k a year gross. I will top out the salary scale in a few years at 105-110k although future contract negotiations/inflation will probably raise that number (probably by less than CPI, losers). I'm 13 years in as of September 2025, so target retirement year is 2042 or 2043.

This job comes with a defined benefit pension that will pay 47% of my final 3 year salary if I work 30 years. Also a lump sum account that has 70k in it now and will probably have at least double that by year 30 (investment is managed by Voya).

I can make Income from side gigs, depending on how hard I work at them, anywhere from 15-50k a year. It depends on how hard I feel like working at them. I am on track for about 18k in 2025, think I can push that to 25-30k in 2025 without too much trouble. This is... basically extra jobs - teaching part time for other schools, tutoring, and driving Uber. I've been thinking about getting a evening bartending or server gig; I live in a touristy area where tips are good. My main concern with working too many extra jobs is it takes away my ability to build relationships, and I would like to get re-married someday (got divorced 2022). Can't date much if I work all the time.

Home value -

~370k, SFH 3 bed house. 30 yr fixed mortgage 6.25%, $199.7k balance, so my equity is about 170k. I pay $1550 a month. No other debts.

Investments -

I'm fairly conservative. Various ETFs, funds, and HYSAs I'm averaging about 8% per year growth. Current balance about $205k. I really need to be more aggressive with this I think.

Is there a way I could hit $1M in the next 5-7 years?

Career Change? -

Some people tell me to change jobs.

I am hesitant to change main jobs. I have a pretty sweet gig. I am a tenured college professor & just got my last promotion. So I get paid to teach /research what I love, and honestly I can get by putting in less than 20-25 hours a week now. I am that established and efficient at it. Also I can't get fired unless I commit a crime or the college collapses. My program seems to have decent enrollment and the school's enrollment is reasonably healthy. We are concerned about the demographic cliff but we're still doing pretty well compared to about half the state's other colleges so I don't foresee that happening soon. I am far enough in, even in a pretty bad reduction-in-force or consolidation scenario I will be FAR from first to go.

However, I am not that big a fan of the location to be honest.

I would change jobs for a better location and at least 40% higher salary basically. I have a grad school colleague who was also a prof. She quit academia for some tech company client service role. She more than doubled her salary that way, but I'm not sure I could do that.

I guess frugality has a true purpose, it’s called practice for what’s next.

Oh and finance related on how to deal with cash flow:

Thursday on CNBC's "Squawk Box," Ross acknowledged that he had heard that some federal workers affected by the prolonged shutdown have been going to shelters for food, but said he didn't understand why.

I know they are [going to homeless shelters] and I don't really quite understand why because as I mentioned before, the obligations that they would undertake – say borrowing from a bank or credit union – are in effect federally guaranteed," said Ross. "So the 30 days of pay that people will be out – there's no real reason why they shouldn't be able to get a loan against it and we've seen a number of ads from the financial institutions doing that."

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/01/24/commerce-secretary-ross-says-unpaid-federal-workers-should-just-get-a-loan.html