Bshapiro Financial

06/22/2026

I am once again bicycling 82 miles—from Wantagh to Westhampton, with a loop around Riverhead—in the Long Island Bicycle Challenge (LIBC) on Sunday, July 26, 2026, to raise funds for cancer research.

The LIBC (www.lichallenge.org/about) is a 501©3 charity. Its mission to raise funds for cancer research and treatment at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. 100% of every rider-raised dollar goes directly to Northwell/Feinstein.

This year I am riding in honor of Kevin Murray, with whom I’ve been friends for more than 30 years. Kevin has been fighting prostate cancer since 2024. He’s a gamer and the odds are in his favor.

Please make your donation today! You can use this link to send your contribution to my fundraising page: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5PA7L3Z9X9SJW. If you can’ t sign in that way, please use https://www.lichallenge.org/rider-and-or-team-donation and click the Donate button next to my name.

If you’d like to send in a paper check (please put my name on the memo line), please remit to: Long Island Bike Challenge, 1366 Odell St., Wantagh, NY 11793.

Please check with your employer to see if they will match your charitable donation: Pan Long Island Challenge DBA Long Island Bike Challenge matching gifts and volunteer grants page

Thank you for supporting our efforts in the fight against cancer.

03/27/2026

How much time do teens spend on social media? With recent court rulings calling out alleged social media addiction, a recent survey by the Pew Research Center reports roughly 1 in 5 U.S. teens say they are on TikTok and YouTube almost constantly. At the same time, 64% of teens say they use chatbots, including about 3 in 10 who do so daily.

A vast majority of U.S. teens reported daily use of the Internet (97%) and platforms such as YouTube (76%), TikTok (61%), and Instagram (55%).

As the infographic shows, a notable share even reports near-constant use: 40% for the Internet, 21% for TikTok, and 17% for YouTube, with a further one-third to one-half saying they use these platforms several times a day.

Sources: The Pew Research Center and Statista.
https://bit.ly/4bLRPBd

03/06/2026

The Strait of Hormuz is a chokepoint for much of the world’s economy. Just what is at risk there?

Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil consumption and liquified natural gas (LNG) trade passes through the strait, making it one of the most critical energy corridors on the planet.

The infographic highlights what moves through the Strait of Hormuz each day—from oil tankers and LNG carriers to the share of global energy consumption dependent on the route. Data comes from Lloyd’s List; the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA); and The Visual Capitalist.

01/20/2026

Inflation doesn’t hit all goods and services in the same way. In fact, when looking at changes in prices during this century you find a wide divergence in prices.

The infographic shows U.S. inflation by category, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and inspired by Mark J. Perry’s “Chart of the Century.”

Source: The Visual Capitalist

01/06/2026

The Rich are getting richer. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2024 the top 20%—with an average household income of $316,100—took home 52.2% of all national income, up 8.7 percentage points from 1974. Meanwhile, the bottom 20% received just 3.1%, further shrinking over the period.

This graphic from The Visual Capitalist shows U.S. household income distribution in 2024, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

11/12/2025

Who are the largest beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program? Almost four in 10 SNAP recipients in the fiscal year of 2023 were children, data from the USDA show, as families, especially single-adult families, struggle with finances more often. Additionally, around two in 10 recipients were over the age of 60, and one in 10 was a child or non-elderly adult with a disability.

One-third of SNAP recipients were non-disabled adults between the ages of 18 and 59. However, on a household level, only 16.9% of households receiving SNAP contained only adults under the age of 50.

Sources: Statista and Horsesmouth

10/28/2025

If you’re saving for college, you should save some more. The cost of attending America’s most prestigious universities continues to soar.

For the 2024–25 academic year, the total annual cost of the top 10 national universities now ranges from $77,500 to $98,300, according to data compiled from U.S. News & World Report and College Board.

The University of Chicago tops the list, with tuition reaching $71,300. Other elite schools like Duke, Yale, and Stanford also hover near the $70,000 mark. Harvard, with one of the largest endowments in the world, lists tuition at $59,300.

Tuition at these universities averages about 50% higher than the $43,400 charged by the typical private nonprofit four-year college. By comparison, public out-of-state universities average around $29,200, while in-state students pay just $11,600.

Additional sources: The Visual Capitalist and Horsesmouth

10/24/2025

Happy Friday! I live in a fantasy world where everyone takes regulations and basic decency as seriously as I do. And then I read this article about Cockroach Advisors who breed in warm weather.

Cockroach advisors like the warm weather, according to a new study from the Journal of Financial Economics.

10/17/2025

It’s still unclear how AI will ultimately affect the workplace. Will it become our assistant for everything, or will it eliminate jobs entirely?

This graphic is based on data from Microsoft Research, which analyzed how people used AI and how closely these tasks correspond with occupational activities.

Interpreters and translators rank first overall, as 98% of work functions corresponded with Copilot conversations with relatively strong completion rates.

Several knowledge workers like historians and writers had high levels of overlap. Passenger attendants and customer service representatives—which together represent nearly three million jobs in America—rank among the top 10.

Sources: Visual Capitalist; Microsoft; and Horsesmouth

09/29/2025

US lawmakers are careening toward a shutdown of the federal government that could deprive policymakers, business leaders and investors of critical data needed to assess the state of the economy. Many federal operations will pause and nonessential employees will be furloughed or fired if lawmakers can’t reach an agreement by the time the current fiscal year ends on Tuesday.

When it comes to the data by which the economy is gauged, things could get very murky at a moment of deep uncertainty.

https://lnkd.in/eygditve