If you’re in the mood for a fun and cheesy action movie circa the 90s, this list will guide you through a great 90s movie marathon. From corny 90s staples like ticking clocks and invincible heroes to the predictable inspirational speeches, it’s so bad it’s good.
1. Face/Off (1997)
Topping off the list, we have 1997’s Face/Off starring none other than corny movie kings John Travolta and Nicholas Cage. This movie has a respectable rating on IMDb of 7.3 and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound Editing.
The plot is certifiably camp: an FBI agent gets a facial transplant to take on the identity of a criminal mastermind that killed his son to stop a terrorist attack. However, the killer whose face he’s transplanting wakes up too soon and is not too thrilled about it.
2. True Lies (1994)
Numerous cinephiles boast about how good True Lies is and recommend it. This 1994 film, directed by James Cameron, stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis.
A fearless secret agent who takes down terrorists deals with inner turmoil when he discovers his wife could be having an affair with a used-car salesman while he’s dealing with the takedown of a terrorist who is trying to get nukes into the country.
3. Demolition Man (1993)
Several film enthusiasts insist Demolition Man should be on your corny 90s movie list. It came out in 1993 and stars Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes in a tale about a police officer who has been in suspended animation (frozen) for several years. Now that society is crime-free, he is unfrozen to pursue a nemesis of his that is wreaking havoc on the law-abiding society.
4. Last Action Hero (1993)
One claims Last Action Hero is one of the best answers to a request for corny 90s action movies. Starring the ubiquitous Arnold Schwarzenegger, this 1993 action flick is about how a young movie buff is transported into the cinematic universe of his favorite action movie character thanks to a magic ticket.
5. Point Break (1991)
Point Break was a coveted corny 90s classic on many users’ lists. The movie stars Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze, but Reeves’ performance is famously ridiculed in this film. It’s about an FBI agent (Reeves) who infiltrates a group of surfers involved in several bank robberies.
As he befriends the leader of the group Bodhi (Swayze), things get complicated. Despite being directed by Kathryn Bigelow, one of only three women to win an Oscar for Best Director, it’s often lambasted as a terrible film with a cult following. Rated 7.2 on IMDb, it must be a sizeable cult.
6. The Fifth Element (1997)
A film lover listed a bunch of movies, including The Fifth Element, one of my favorites. This is peak Bruce Willis cinema; everyone is at the top of their game. So you have Gary Oldman as the cartoonish villain, Milla Jovovich as the supremely powerful alien in human form with strange orange hair, and Bruce Willis as the former special forces agent who saves the day.
In the future, a cab driver (Willis) accidentally becomes the central target in a search for a legendary cosmic weapon. This 1997 film is clearly loved by most, as it’s rated 7.6 on IMDb.
7. Batman Returns (1992)
Tim Burton’s 1992 Batman Returns is a sequel to Batman. It explores iconic characters like The Penguin, played by Danny Devito, and Catwoman, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, and of course, Michael Keaton stars as Batman. It was nominated for 2 Oscars and has earned a 7.1 rating on IMDb, so corny or not, it’s cemented its way into cinema history as an iconic Batman film.
8. The Rock (1996)
The Rock is a 1996 film that users were most excited about, with one person referring to it as “arguably the pinnacle of the action genre.” It’s rated 7.4 on IMDb and directed by Michael Bay.
A renegade general, played by Ed Harris, threatens the government to launch rockets on San Francisco. Still, a mild-mannered chemist and former convict, played by Sean Connery and Nicholas Cage, team up to stop him.
9. Independence Day (1996)
Independence Day, which landed among a few individual’s lists, is a 90s classic starring Will Smith. This 1996 film is about humankind’s willpower to survive an attack on Earth by an alien race. This huge blockbuster film grossed over $817 million worldwide and has a 7 rating on IMDb.
10. Total Recall (1990)
Yet another Arnold Schwarzenegger film makes this list, with 1990’s Total Recall which is beloved much more than its 2012 remake. Rated 7.5 on IMDb, it’s about a man who has had false memories about living on Mars implanted into his brain, and the people responsible are trying to have him killed.
Source: Reddit.
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As the pandemic persists, most Americans’ financial positions are precarious at best, dire at worst. Thankfully our bank accounts are receiving their own helpful injection: a third stimulus check.
While you might be tempted to splurge your check on a purse or a PS5 (no judgment), you might also consider these financially mindful options, which can help lower your stress and multiply your money.
There are many different ways you can choose to approach this. So, I wanted to give you a lot of different options, in hopes that at least one or two of them may resonate with your unique financial position.
What’s Ahead:
Bulk up Your Emergency Fund
One of the best ways to improve your finances with your stimulus check is to bulk up your emergency fund. That is if you have one. If you don’t, it is absolutely time that you get one started. Trust me, you will be thankful when an emergency comes your way.
You don’t have to start big, but anything is better than nothing. Even if you only deposit ⅓ or ½ of what your stimulus check is, you have already helped create a financial buffer for yourself.
I know that when my family’s emergency fund has at least six months’ worth of expenses in it, we feel much more secure than when it dips lower. The peace of mind of knowing that you are prepared for an emergency, should one come up, is absolutely incredible.
What helped me build my emergency fund up faster was a high-yield savings account. While what they consider “high-yield” these days isn’t exactly what it used to be, they still offer much higher interest rates than you would get at a traditional bank.
There are quite a few options out there, but one of my favorites is the CIT Savings Builder. You only need $100 to open an account, and there are no fees. If you are able to put in a minimum of $100 each month (or maintain a balance of $25,000 or more), then you will earn the highest interest rate they have (1.00%). See details here.
So, if you don’t already have an emergency fund set up, this is the first place I would suggest starting.
CIT Bank. Member FDIC.
Give Your Budget a Boost
Another way to use your stimulus money is to sprinkle it into malnourished areas of your budget. After all, the point of stimulus checks is to stimulate the economy and your budget is where you plan your spending.
For example, maybe you’ve had to reduce your spending on entertainment, travel, or even groceries over the past year. If so, consider using your third round of stimulus money to replenish those silos. You may even consider planning to spread that money out over multiple months’ budgets, in order to create a small safety net just in case your income decreases.
Personally, I started out budgeting using a spreadsheet that I created in 2002 (which has thankfully evolved!). If you are new to budgeting, or just need a little help, there are a lot of budgeting tools out there. Some of these are free and some are not, but spending a small portion of your stimulus check on a subscription to one may not be a bad idea.
One app that can be a big help is PocketSmith, which serves as a personal assistant for your finances. What I like about PocketSmith is that it shows you the future. As you budget, the app demonstrates how today’s expenditures will affect your finances months, and even years, from now. The best thing about PocketSmith, though, is that you don’t have to pay a dime for the basic version. You’ll have to manually import your transactions and you’ll only get six months of future projections, but it’s worth it.
Subscribe to a Financial Management Tool
Financial management tools (think budgeting tools) are extremely useful in improving your finances. They can effectively help you determine your weaknesses and figure out an action plan to help you reach your financial goals faster.
If you don’t have one in your toolbelt, why not consider spending some of your stimulus money on one? Because at the end of the day, using a tool to help you budget is going to save you so much money down the road. This is something almost all financial advisors agree upon – and anybody for that matter who has used one.
Most financial management tools have different plan options, set at different price points, so you can customize your experience to match your needs. There are many different options out there to help you manage your finances, but, two of my favorites are both very interactive, and have multiple options to help you maximize how you manage your finances.
Empower is another great example. They have been around for quite some time now, and I have been using them for years. They not only offer a net worth map (which is one of my favorite tools), but a portfolio analysis, fee Analyzer, and budgeting tool.
Empower ties into all of your bank and investment accounts to aggregate the numbers and figures appropriately. This really helps to give you a bigger picture of everything that is going on with your finances.
(Personal Capital is now Empower)
Invest it
If you already have an emergency fund and have a comfortable budget, then there is another great option. You could use some, or all, of your stimulus check to invest in the stock market instead. You could, with time, turn your check into even more money!
Since my husband and I have started investing in the stock market, it has become one of our favorite activities to help improve our finances. The average return on investments annually in the stock market is around 8%, which can really help improve your finances.
This doesn’t mean you are guaranteed an 8% return on your money every year. This is just the average over time. So, some years will be better than others, but there is no time like the present to get started.
Robinhood is an especially good option, geared towards Millennials and Gen Z who are new to investing. Not only is it easy to get started, but they make it simple to navigate trades also. You can even perform all functions directly from their app on your phone, so you can manage your investments on the go!
Robinhood has no fees for setting up an account and it’s commission-free. Plus, they give you a free stock worth between $5 and $200 just for signing up!
Pay a Tax Preparer
If you haven’t filed your taxes yet, and want to make sure you get the best return possible, it may be beneficial to pay a tax preparer. Tax preparers are experts at tax code and finding all of the tax write-offs you may be eligible for. I don’t know about you, but I happen to be a big fan of getting as many tax write-offs as possible because it reduces how much I have to pay in taxes. In fact, for me, it usually means I get a bigger return. Which I love!
If you aren’t sure a tax preparer is worth it for you and your unique situation, you could always go the tax software route instead. Tax software likeTurboTax generally costs much less than a tax preparer does, but can still help you find write-offs to lower your taxes!
Hire a Financial Advisor
If you don’t already have a financial advisor, then this may be a good use of your stimulus check. Financial advisors are an essential tool to have in anyone’s financial toolbelt, definitely if your financial situation has recently changed.
A financial advisor will go through every aspect of your finances with you to help determine the best path for you to reach your goal. And if you aren’t sure what your future financial goal is, they can help you figure that out, too.
Just make sure whomever you choose as your financial advisor is a fiduciary. A fiduciary is a fee-only advisor who doesn’t make commissions on sales. Therefore, fiduciaries have your best interest at heart.
If you decide to hire a financial advisor using your stimulus check, then one of the best places to start is the Paladin Registry. This is an online marketplace specifically created to help you find a financial advisor that will work for you. Even better, they specialize in mostly independent fiduciary financial advisors, instead of advisors at brand name firms.
Open a “Lazy Portfolio” of Long-Term Investments
Earlier I covered how you can use your third stimulus check to begin actively investing in the stock market using platforms like Robinhood.
But what if you’d like to multiply your money in the stock market without being so hands-on? What if you’re not sure what stocks and ETFs to pick?
Then a “lazy portfolio” might be perfect for you. The term “lazy” comes from how easy it is to start and maintain; nobody will call you lazy for having one, since tons of professionals use them!
A lazy portfolio is a bundle of long-term investments that you pick once, and simply allow to mature over years and decades with little to no intervention. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be buying and selling stocks all day to make money in the stock market. In fact, buying and holding often works better, saves you time, and keeps your stress levels much lower than day trading.
You can launch a lazy portfolio using M1, an investing app geared towards mid-to-long-term investments. M1 prompts you to build “M1 Pies,” which are like bundles of bundles of bundles of investments (talk about diversification). For example, a 40% “slice” of your pie could be M1’s “responsible investing” portfolio, made up of a diverse and safe array of ETFs.
Increase Your Auto Insurance Coverage
Like a fire extinguisher, good auto insurance is something you don’t think about until you need it. Then, you’re really, really glad you have it.
As life returns to normal and businesses reopen, you might find yourself commuting again soon (if you haven’t already). For that reason, now is a good time to consider revisiting your auto insurance coverage levels, and fortifying certain areas as necessary.
One example might be your comprehensive coverage. Will your car be exposed to the elements during your upcoming policy period? Has auto-related crime risen in your area during the pandemic? These are both solid reasons to consider increasing your comprehensive coverage levels and/or reducing your deductible.
Buy Life Insurance
Stephen Colbert once asked Keanu Reeves what he thinks happens when we die. The legendary actor responded, “I know that the ones who love us will miss us.”
That’s true for all of us, and if you have family members that rely upon your income, they may suffer financially as well.
If you have dependents, e.g. relatives or children whom you support financially, you might consider taking out a life insurance policy for yourself and listing them as the beneficiaries. I know, facing your own mortality and thinking about what your family will do if you pass away is not a pleasant thought process, but once you get over the initial discomfort, purchasing a life insurance policy can bring peace to you and your loved ones.
Policies are typically sold as “term life insurance” policies, meaning you pick your total years of coverage upfront. Terms typically range from 10 to 30 years, with some providers offering increments of 5 or even more flexible terms. Plus, term life insurance is pretty cheap when you’re young and healthy.
You’ll like be able to find a super cheap rate for a term life insurance policy by visiting Policygenius. You can enter your info just once and see multiple competing rates from reputable, trustworthy companies. Plus, Policygenius isn’t just for life insurance; it’s a veritable insurance bazaar, where you can find the lowest possible rates for auto, home, disability, life, jewelry, health, even pet insurance.
Buy Pet Insurance
Another great way to protect your hard-earned money is to spend a little of your stimulus on some pet insurance. Pets, like people, have expensive medical bills; a single trip to the vet can cost $3,000 – $10,000 depending on the illness or emergency, so it pays to have your fur baby covered.
Thankfully, although the medical bills are equally horrifying, pet insurance is much cheaper than people insurance. A healthy young pet with minimal coverage may only cost around $15 to $30 per month to insure, while an older pet with pre-existing conditions may cost around $70 – $90 per month. An average pet with average coverage levels will cost around $45 monthly.
Plus, having pet insurance can remove a lot of hidden background stress from pet ownership. As a dog owner myself, it’s no fun to think of my little mutt as a potential source of financial burden. Pet insurance eliminates that possibility, so she and I can focus on enjoying each other’s smelly company.
Pay Off Debt
This one may seem obvious, but one of the best things you can do with your stimulus money is to pay off some of your existing debt.
Your existing debt might include student loans, your auto loan, or even run-of-the-mill credit card debt. And even if you’re already on track to pay off these loans in a timely manner, it helps a ton to put a $1,400 ding in it for a few reasons.
First, some of this debt may be charging you month-to-month interest. Credit cards especially are notorious for gouging debt holders with upwards of 29.99% APR, which can quickly drain your credit score and lead you further into debt.
Second, even your lower-interest debt like your auto loan or student loans can benefit from applying your $1,400 stimulus check as an “extra payment” or two. Doing so can reduce your remaining payments but also potentially lower your interest, saving you even more.
If your $1,400 check helps you pay off a loan early, just be sure to check your lender’s early payoff terms. Some lenders will charge you a fee or a percentage of your remaining interest if you pay off your loan early. In most cases, it’s still worth it, but you should factor in these fees nonetheless.
Spend it
Last but not least, spending your stimulus check can be a great way to improve your finances. I realize that sounds counterintuitive, but it’s really not. After all, the government sent out stimulus checks to stimulate the economy during this pandemic. So, if you are already set in all of the other categories, then this is likely the category for you.
Here’s just one example of how spending your stimulus check can improve your finances in the long run: if you invest in home improvements, they can help increase the value of your home. This will net you more money when you go to sell your house or if you decide to apply for a home equity loan with a company. The more equity you have built up in your home, the more opportunities you have to access that money down the road.
Lastly, spending doesn’t always have to provide a fiscal return on investment. If a purse or a PS5 will bring you more than $500 worth of joy, go for it. The purpose of money isn’t just to make it and invest it, but to spend it in ways that improve our quality of life.
So don’t feel guilty about spending your stimulus if that’s the right move for you. Just spend it wisely, and be sure to get a good deal.
Summary
If you qualify for a stimulus check, there are so many things you could do with it. But, the best thing you can do is to use it to improve your finances. There are many different ways to go about this, and it will be different for each one of us.
No matter which path you choose, make sure to maximize your stimulus check’s potential and think before you spend.
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¹ For Figure Home Equity Line, APRs can be as low as 4.49% for the most qualified applicants and will be higher for other applicants, depending on credit profile and the state where the property is located. For example, for a borrower with a CLTV of 45% and a credit score of 800 who is eligible for and chooses to pay a 4.99% origination fee in exchange for a reduced APR, a five-year Figure Home Equity Line with an initial draw amount of $50,000 would have a fixed annual percentage rate (APR) of 3.00%. The total loan amount would be $52,495. Alternatively, a borrower with the same credit profile who pays a 3% origination fee would have an APR of 4.00% and a total loan amount of $51,500. Your actual rate will depend on many factors such as your credit, combined loan to value ratio, loan term, occupancy status, and whether you are eligible for and choose to pay an origination fee in exchange for a lower rate. Payment of origination fees in exchange for a reduced APR is not available in all states. In addition to paying the origination fee in exchange for a reduced rate, the advertised rates include a combined discount of 0.50% for opting into a credit union membership (0.25%) and enrolling in autopay (0.25%). APRs for home equity lines of credit do not include costs other than interest. Property insurance is required as a condition of the loan and flood insurance may be required if your property is located in a flood zone.
Figure Lending LLC dba Figure. 15720 Brixham Hill Avenue, Suite 300, Charlotte, NC 28277. (888) 819-6388. NMLS ID 1717824. For licensing information go to www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org. Equal Housing Opportunity. Licensed in Alabama 22533, Alaska AK1717824, Arizona 0948458, Arkansas 114692, California: Loans are made and arranged pursuant to a Finance Lenders Law License, Licensed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Finance Lenders Law (License 60DBO81967), Delaware 026994, Florida MLD1636, Georgia Residential Mortgage Licensee 61229, Idaho MBL-9625, Indiana 39933, Iowa 88893478 and 2018-0048, Kansas MC.0025537 and SL.0026703, Louisiana 1717824, Massachusetts Mortgage Lender License ML1717824, Michigan FL0021494, Mississippi 1717824, Missouri 19-2421, Montana 1717824, Nebraska 1717824, Nevada 4823, New Hampshire 22423-MB, Licensed by the N.J. Department of Banking and Insurance, New Mexico 1717824, North Carolina L-180811, North Dakota MB103310, Ohio RM.804317.000, Oklahoma ML011894, Pennsylvania 66882, South Dakota ML.05202, Tennessee 151185, Washington CL-1717824, West Virginia ML-36248, Wisconsin 1717824BA
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Despite a $35 million net loss in the second quarter, Zillow saw a slight annual increase in revenue to $506 million, beating Wall Street’s estimates. As a result, the company’s executives told investors and analysts that they were pleased with the firm’s second quarter performance, especially in touring, financing, and renting.
“Zillow outperformed the broader industry for the fourth consecutive quarter as we navigate a tough real estate market,” said Zillow cofounder and CEO Rich Barton on the firm’s second-quarter earnings call Wednesday evening. “I’m pleased with our steady progress on improving and integrating our customer and partner experiences, especially in touring, financing, and renting. The housing super app is coming into focus, opening up significant transaction TAM for the company and our shareholders.”
With the resilient but still slower housing market conditions of the second quarter of 2023, Zillow reported that traffic to its apps and site was at 226 million average monthly unique users, down from 234 million a year ago.
Zillow executives attribute much of this improvement to a healthy top of funnel relative to the weak housing market, and consistent organic traffic to their apps and sites.
Meanwhile, Premier Agent, Zillow’s residential segment, reported a 3% annual decrease in revenue, outperforming both the 22% drop in U.S. home transactions and the high end of the company’s expectations. It also marked the fourth consecutive quarter of outperformance, noted Barton.
According to the executives, the company was able to deliver a better-than expected number of connections to Premier Agent partners, and had strong performance relative to the macroeconomic tailwinds in housing.
Zillow’s mortgage arm, Home Loans, on the other hand, recorded a 17% year-over-year decline in revenue to $24 million. Purchase loan origination volumes in Q2 2023 grew 30% sequentially from Q1 2023 and 73% year over year from Q2 2022. Finally, rental revenue increased 28% year over year to $91 million as the company continued to see strong traffic and growth in multifamily properties.
Although rival CoStar has made noise in overtaking Realtor.com in web traffic, Barton stressed that Zillow has remained the most-visited rental platform since May 2022, according to Comscore.
Barton also touched on its fabled “housing super app.” He reiterated the five growth pillars of the app, touring, financing, seller solutions, enhancing our partner network, and integrating our services.
“The expected output of this strategy is to grow our share of customer transactions from 3% to 6% by the end of 2025,” he said.
Barton also presented Zillow’s product roadmap, touching on different updates and projects underway. He highlighted the launch of Listing Showcase by ShowingTime+ last June in select markets. The product, an AI-powered “super listing” available exclusively on Zillow, was made to allow listing agents to present their brand and properties in a distinctive manner.
Zillow on Wednesday also announced the acquisition of Aryeo, a marketing media solution for agents and brokerages. Aryeo will become a part of ShowingTime+.
Barton also spoke of Zillow’s partnership with Opendoor, which allows sellers on Zillow to request a cash offer from Opendoor, stating that it is now present in 25 markets, compared to 2 when they first launched in February.
The company said it’s projecting third-quarter revenue of $458 million to $486 million.
The Jefferson Avenue commercial district in Buffalo, New York, is anchored by a supermarket.
There are dozens of other businesses and services along the 12-block corridor — a couple of bank branches, a library, a coffee shop, gas stations, a small plaza with a dollar store and a primary care clinic and a business incubator for entrepreneurs of color.
But Tops Friendly Markets, the only grocery store on Buffalo’s vast East Side, is the center of activity. More than just a place to buy food, pick up medications and use an ATM, the store is a communal gathering space in a predominantly Black neighborhood that, for generations, has been segregated, isolated and disenfranchised from the wealthier — and whiter — parts of the city.
Which explains how it came to be the site of a mass shooting on a spring day in May of last year. On that Saturday, a gunman, who lived 200 miles away in another part of the state, drove to Jefferson Avenue and went into Tops, and in just a few minutes killed 10 people, injured three and inflicted mass trauma across the community.
It is a scenario that has sadly, and repeatedly, played out in other parts of the country that have experienced mass shootings. But this one came with a twist: The gunman’s intention was to kill as many Black people as possible.
To achieve that, he specifically targeted a ZIP code with one of the highest percentages of Black residents in New York state. All 10 who died that day were Black.
“The mere fact that someone can research, ‘Where will the greatest number of Black people be … on a Saturday morning,’ that’s not by chance,” said Franchelle Parker, a community organizer and executive director of Open Buffalo, a nonprofit focused on racial, economic and ecological justice. “That’s not a mistake. It’s a community that’s been deeply segregated for decades.”
The day of the shooting, Parker, who grew up in nearby Niagara Falls, was driving to Tops, where she planned to buy a donut and an unsweetened iced tea before heading into the Open Buffalo office, which is located a block away from Tops. The mother of two had intended to complete the mundane task of cleaning up her desk — “old coffee cups and stuff” — after a busy week.
She saw the news on Twitter and didn’t know if she should keep driving to Jefferson Avenue or turn around and go back home. She eventually picked the latter.
When she showed up the next day, there were thousands of people grieving in the streets. “The only way that I could explain my feeling, it was almost like watching an old war movie when a bomb had gone off and someone’s in, like, shell shock. That’s how it felt,” said Parker, vividly recounting the community’s collective trauma in a meeting room tucked inside of Open Buffalo’s second-story office on Jefferson Avenue.
Almost immediately following the May 14, 2022, massacre, which was the second-deadliest mass shooting in the United States last year, conversations locally and nationally turned to the harsh realities of the East Side and how long-standing factors that affect the daily life of residents — racism, poverty and inequity — made the community an ideal target for a white supremacist.
Now, more than a year after the tragedy, there is growing concern that not enough is being done fast enough to begin to dismantle those factors. And amid those conversations, there are mounting calls for the banking industry — whose historical policies and practices helped cement the racial segregation and disinvestment that ultimately shaped the East Side — to leverage its collective power and influence to band together in an effort to create systemic change.
The ideas about how banks should support the East Side and better embed themselves in the neighborhood vary by people and organizations. But the basic argument is the same: Banks, in their role as financiers and because of the industry’s history of lending discrimination, are obligated to bring forth economic prosperity in disinvested communities like the East Side.
I know banks are often looked upon sort of like a panacea, but I don’t particularly see it that way. I think others have a role to play in all of this.
Chiwuike Owunwanne, corporate responsibility officer at KeyBank
“Banks have been very good at providing charitable contributions to the Black community. They get an ‘A’ for that,” said The Rev. George Nicholas, an East Side pastor who is also CEO of the Buffalo Center for Health Equity, a four-year-old enterprise focused on racial, geographic and economic health disparities. “But doing the things that banks can do in terms of being a catalyst for revitalization and investment in this community, they have not done that.”
To be sure, banks’ ability to reverse the course of the community isn’t guaranteed — and there is no formula to determine how much accountability they should hold to fix deeply entrenched problems like racism. Several Buffalo-area bankers said that while the Tops shooting heightened the urgency to help the East Side, the industry itself cannot be the sole driver of change.
“There are a lot of institutions … that can certainly play a part in reversing the challenges that we see today,” said Chiwuike “Chi-Chi” Owunwanne, a corporate responsibility officer at KeyBank, the second-largest bank by deposits in Buffalo. “I know banks are often looked upon sort of like a panacea, but I don’t particularly see it that way. I think others have a role to play in all of this.”
A long history of segregation
How the East Side — and the Tops store on Jefferson Avenue — became the destination for a racially motivated mass murderer is a story about racism, segregation and disinvestment.
Even as it bears the nickname “the city of good neighbors,” Buffalo has long been one of the most racially segregated cities in the United States. Of the 114,965 residents who live on the East Side, 59% are Black, according to data from the 2021 U.S. Census American Community Survey. The percentage is even higher in the 14208 ZIP code, where the Tops store is located. In that ZIP code, among 11,029 total residents, nearly 76% are Black, the census data shows.
The city’s path toward racial segregation started in the early 20th century when a small number of job-seeking Black Americans migrated north to Buffalo, a former steel and auto manufacturing hub at the far northwestern end of New York state. Initially, they moved into the same neighborhoods as many of the city’s poorer immigrants and lived just east of what is today the city’s downtown district. As the number of Blacks arriving in Buffalo swelled in the 1940s, they were increasingly confronted with various housing challenges, including racist zoning laws and restrictive deed covenants that kept them from buying homes in more affluent white areas.
Black Buffalonians also faced housing discrimination in the form of redlining, the practice of restricting the flow of capital into minority communities. In 1933, as the Great Depression roiled the economy, a temporary federal agency known as the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation used government bonds to buy out and refinance mortgages of properties that were facing or already in foreclosure. The point was to try to stabilize the nation’s real estate market.
As part of its program, HOLC created maps of American cities, including Buffalo, that used a color coding scheme — green, blue, yellow and red — to convey the perceived riskiness of making loans in certain neighborhoods. Green was considered minimally risky; other areas that were largely populated by immigrant, Black or Latino residents were labeled red and thus determined to be “hazardous.”
“The goal was to free up mortgage capital by going to cities and giving banks a way to unload mortgages, so they could turn around and make more mortgage loans,” said Jason Richardson, senior director of research at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, an association of more than 750 community-based organizations that advocates for fair lending. “It was kind of a radical concept and it has evolved over the decades into our modern mortgage finance system.”
The Federal Housing Administration, which was established as a permanent agency in 1934, used similar methods to map urban areas and labeled neighborhoods from “A” to “D,” with “A” considered to be the most financially stable and “D” considered the least. Neighborhoods that were largely Black, even relatively stable ones, were put in the “D” category.
The result was that banks, which wanted to be able to sell mortgage loans to the FHA, were largely dissuaded from making loans in “risky” areas. And Buffalo’s East Side, where the majority of Blacks were settling, was deemed risky. Unable to get loans, Blacks couldn’t buy homes, start businesses or build equity. At the same time, large industrial factories on the East Side were closing or moving away, limiting job opportunities and contributing to rising poverty levels.
“Today what we’re left with is the residue of this process where we’ve enshrined … a pattern of economic segregation that favors neighborhoods that had fewer Black people in them and generally ignores neighborhoods that had African Americans living in them,” Richardson said.
Case in point: Research by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition shows that three-quarters of neighborhoods that were once redlined are low- to moderate-income neighborhoods today, and two-thirds of them are majority minority communities.
Adding to the division between Blacks and whites in Buffalo was the construction of a highway called the Kensington Expressway. Built during the 1960s, the below-grade, limited-access highway proved to be a speedy way for suburban workers to get to their downtown jobs. But its construction cut off the already-segregated East Side even more from other parts of the city, displacing residents, devaluing houses and destroying neighborhoods and small businesses.
As a result of those factors and more, many Black residents have become “trapped” on the East Side, according to Dr. Henry Louis Taylor Jr., a professor of urban and regional planning at the University at Buffalo. In 1987, Taylor founded the UB Center for Urban Studies, a research, neighborhood planning and community development institute that works on eliminating inequality in cities and metropolitan regions. In September 2021, eight months before the Tops shooting, the Center for Urban Studies published a report that compared the state of Black Buffalo in 1990 to present-day conditions. The conclusion: Nothing had changed for Blacks over 31 years.
As of 2019, the Black unemployment rate was 11%, the average household income was $42,000 and about 35% of Blacks had incomes that fell below the poverty line, the report said. It also noted that just 32% of Blacks own their homes and that most Blacks in the area live on the East Side.
“Those figures remain virtually unchanged while the actual, physical conditions that existed inside of the community worsened,” Taylor told American Banker in an interview in his sun-filled office at the center, located on the University at Buffalo’s city campus. “When we looked upstream to see what was causing it, it was clear: It was systemic, structural racism.”
Banks’ moral obligations
As the East Side struggled over the decades with rampant poverty, dilapidated housing, vacant lots and disintegrating infrastructure, banks kept a physical presence in the community, albeit a shrinking one. In mid-2000, there were at least 20 bank branches scattered across the East Side, but by mid-2022, the number had fallen to around 14, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s deposit market share data. The 14 include four new branches that have opened since early 2019 — Northwest Bank, KeyBank, Evans Bank and BankOnBuffalo.
The first two branches, operated by Northwest in Columbus, Ohio, and KeyBank, the banking subsidiary of KeyCorp in Cleveland, were requirements of community benefits agreements negotiated between each bank and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. In both cases, Northwest and KeyBank agreed to open an office in an underserved community.
Evans Bank opened its first East Side branch in the fall of 2021. The office is located in the basement of an $84 million affordable senior housing building that was financed by Evans, a $2.1 billion-asset community bank headquartered south of Buffalo in Angola, New York.
Banks have been very good at providing charitable contributions to the Black community. They get an ‘A’ for that. But doing the things that banks can do in terms of being a catalyst for revitalization and investment in this community, they have not done that.
The Rev. George Nicholas, an East Side pastor who is also CEO of the Buffalo Center for Health Equity
On the community and economic development front, banks have had varying levels of participation. Buffalo-based M&T Bank, which holds a whopping 64% of all deposits in the Buffalo market and is one of the largest private employers in the region, has made consistent investments in the East Side by supporting Westminster Community Charter School, a kindergarten through eighth-grade school, and the Buffalo Promise Neighborhood, a nonprofit organization focused on improving access to education in the city’s 14215 ZIP code.
Currently, Buffalo Promise Neighborhood operates four schools. In addition to Westminster, it runs Highgate Heights Elementary, also K-8, as well as two academies that serve children ages six weeks through pre-kindergarten. Twelve M&T employees are dedicated to the program, according to the Buffalo Promise Neighborhood website. The bank has invested $31.5 million into the program since its 2010 launch, a spokesperson said.
Other banks are making contributions in other ways. In addition to the Jefferson Avenue branch and as part of its community benefits plan, Northwest Bank, a $14.2 billion-asset bank, supports a financial education center through a partnership with Belmont Housing Resources of Western New York. Meanwhile, the $198 billion-asset KeyBank gave $30 million for bridge and construction financing for Northland Workforce Training Center, a $100 million redevelopment project at a former manufacturing complex on the East Side that was partially funded by the state.
BankOnBuffalo’s East Side branch is located inside the center, which offers KeyBank training in advanced manufacturing and clean energy technology careers. A subsidiary of $5.6 billion-asset CNB Financial in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, BankOnBuffalo’s office opened a month after the shooting. The timing was coincidental, but important, said Michael Noah, president of BankOnBuffalo.
“I think it just cemented the point that this is a place we need to be, to be able to be part of these communities and this community specifically, and be able to build this community up,” Noah said.
In terms of public-private collaboration, some banks have been involved in a deeper way. In 2019, New York state, which had already been pouring $1 billion into Buffalo to help revitalize the economy, announced a $65 million economic development fund for the East Side. The initiative is focused on stabilizing neighborhoods, increasing homeownership, redeveloping commercial corridors including Jefferson Avenue, improving historical assets, expanding workforce training and development and supporting small businesses and entrepreneurship.
In conjunction with the funding, a public-private partnership called East Side Avenues was created to provide capital and organizational support to the projects happening along four East Side commercial corridors. Six banks — Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, the second-largest bank in the nation with $2.5 trillion of assets; M&T, which has $203 billion of assets; KeyBank; Warsaw, New York-based Five Star Bank, which has about $6 billion of assets; Northwest and Evans — are among the 14 private and philanthropic organizations that pledged a combined $8.4 million to pay for five years’ worth of operational support, governance and finance, fundraising and technical assistance to support the nonprofits doing the work.
Laura Quebral, director of the University at Buffalo Regional Institute, which is managing East Side Avenues, said the banks were the first corporations to step up to the request for help, and since then have provided loans and other products and education to keep the program moving.
Their participation “is a signal to the community that banks cared and were invested and were willing to collaborate around something,” Quebral said. “Being at the table was so meaningful.”
Richard Hamister is Northwest’s New York regional president and former co-chair of East Side Avenues. Hamister, who is based in Buffalo, said banks are a “community asset” that have a responsibility to lift up all communities, including those where conditions have arisen that allow it to be a target of racism like the East Side.
“We operate under federal charters, so we have an obligation to the community to not only provide products and services they need but also support when you go through a tragedy like that,” Hamister said. “We also have a moral obligation to try to help when things are broken … and to do what we can. We can’t fix everything, but we’ve got to fix our piece and try to help where we can.”
In the wake of a tragedy
After the massacre, there was a flurry of activity within banks and other organizations, local and out-of-town, to respond to the immediate needs of East Side residents. With the community’s only supermarket closed indefinitely, much of the response centered around food collection and distribution. Three of M&T’s five East Side branches, including the Jefferson Avenue branch across the street from Tops, became food distribution sites for weeks after the shooting. On two consecutive Fridays, Northwest provided around 200 free lunches to the community, using a neighborhood caterer who is also the bank’s customer. And BankOnBuffalo collected employee donations that amounted to more than 20 boxes of toiletries and other items that were distributed to a nonprofit.
At the same time, M&T, KeyBank and other banks began financial donations to organizations that could support the immediate needs of the community. KeyBank provided a van that delivered food and took people to nearby grocery stores. Providence, Rhode Island-based Citizens Financial Group, whose ATM inside Tops was inaccessible during the store’s temporary closure, installed a fee-free ATM near a community center located about a half-mile north of Tops, and later put a permanent ATM inside the center that remains there today. And M&T rolled out a short-term loan program to provide capital to East Side small-business owners.
One of the funds that benefited from banks’ support was the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund, which has raised $6.2 million to address the long-term needs of the East Side.
Bank of America and Evans Bank each donated $100,000 to the fund, whose list of major sponsors includes four other banks — JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, M&T and KeyBank. Thomas Beauford Jr., a former banker who is co-chair of the response fund, said banks, by and large, directed their resources into organizations where the dollars would have an immediate impact.
“Banks said, ‘Hey, you know … it doesn’t make sense for us to try to build something right now. … We will fund you in the work you’re doing,'” said Beauford, who has been president and CEO of the Buffalo Urban League since the fall of 2020. “I would say banks showed up in a big way.”
Fourteen months later, banks say they are committed to playing a positive role on the East Side. For the second year, KeyBank is sponsoring a farmers’ market on the East Side, an attempt to help fill the food desert in the community. Last fall, BankOnBuffalo launched a mobile “bank on wheels” truck that’s stationed on the East Side every Wednesday. The 34-foot-long truck, which is staffed by two people and includes an ATM and a printer to make debit cards, was in the works before the shooting, and will eventually make four stops per week around the Buffalo area.
Evans has partnered with the city of Buffalo to construct seven market-rate single family homes on vacant lots on the East Side. The relationship with the city is an example of how banks can pair up with other entities to create something meaningful and lasting, more than they might be able to do on their own, said Evans President and CEO David Nasca.
The bank has “picked areas” where it can use its resources to make a difference, Nasca said.
“I don’t think the root causes can be ameliorated” by banks alone, he said. “We can’t just grant money. It has to be within our construct of a financial institution that invests and supports the public-private partnership. … All the oars [need to be] pulling together or this doesn’t work.”
‘Little or no engagement with minorities’
All of these efforts are, of course, welcomed by the community, but there is still criticism that banks haven’t done enough to make up for their past contributions to segregating the city. And perhaps more importantly, some of that criticism centers on banks failing to do their most basic function in society — provide credit.
In 2021, the New York State Department of Financial Services issued a report about redlining in Buffalo. The regulator looked at banks and nonbank lenders and found that loans made to minorities in the Buffalo metro area made up 9.74% of total loans in Buffalo. Overall, Black residents comprise about 33% of Buffalo’s total population of more than 276,000, census data shows.
The department said its investigation showed the lower percentage was not due to “excessive denials of loan applications based on race or ethnicity,” but rather that “these companies had little or no engagement with minorities and generally made scant effort to do so.”
“The unsurprising result of this has been that few minority customers or individuals seeking homes in majority-minority neighborhoods have made loan applications … in the first instance.”
Furthermore, accusations of redlining persist today, even though the practice of discriminating in housing based on race was outlawed by the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
In 2014, Evans was accused of redlining by the New York State Attorney General, which said the community bank was specifically avoiding making mortgage loans on the East Side. The bank, which at the time had $874 million of assets, agreed to pay $825,000 to settle the case, but Nasca maintains that the charges were unfounded. He points to the fact that the bank never had a fair lending or fair housing violation, no specific incidents were ever claimed and that the bank’s Community Reinvestment Act exam never found evidence of discriminatory or illegal credit practices.
The bank has a greater presence on the East Side today, but that’s because it has grown in size, not because it is trying to make up for previous accusations of redlining, he said.
“Ten years ago, our involvement [on the East Side] certainly wasn’t what you’re seeing today,” Nasca said. “We were looking to participate more, but we were participating within our means and our reach. As we have grown, we have built more resources to be able to do more.”
Shortly after accusations were made against Evans, Five Star Bank, the banking arm of Financial Institutions in Warsaw, New York, was also accused of redlining by the state Attorney General. Five Star, which has been growing its presence in the Buffalo market for several years, wound up settling the charges for $900,000 and agreeing to open two branches in the city of Rochester.
KeyBank is currently being accused of redlining by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. In a 2022 report, the group said that KeyBank is engaging in systemic redlining by making very few home purchase loans in certain neighborhoods where the majority of residents are Black. Buffalo is one of several cities where the bank’s mortgage lending “effectively wall[ed] out Black neighborhoods,” especially parts of the East Side, the report said.
KeyBank denied the allegations. In March, the coalition asked regulators to investigate the bank’s mortgage lending practices.
Beyond providing more credit, some community members believe that banks should be playing a larger role in addressing other needs on the East Side. And the list of needs runs the gamut from more grocery stores to safe, affordable housing to infrastructure improvements such as street and sidewalk repairs.
Alexander Wright is founder of the African Heritage Food Co-op, an initiative launched in 2016 to address the dearth of grocery store options on the East Side, where he grew up. Wright said that while banks’ philanthropic efforts are important, banks in general “need to be in a place of remediation” to fix underlying issues that the industry, as a whole, helped create. (After publication of this story, Wright left his job as CEO of the African Heritage Food Co-Op.)
Aside from charitable donations, banks should be finding more ways to work directly with East Side business owners and entrepreneurs, helping them with capital-building support along the way, Wright said. One place to start would be technical assistance by way of bank volunteers.
“Banks are always looking to volunteer. ‘Hey, want to come out and paint a fence? Want to come out and do a garden?'” Wright said. “No. Come out here and help Keshia with bookkeeping. Come out here and do QuickBooks classes for folks. Bring out tax experts. Because these are things that befuddle a lot of small businesses. Who is your marketing person? Bring that person out here. Because those are the things that are going to build the business to self-sufficiency.
“Anything short of the capacity-building … that will allow folks to rise to the occasion and be self-sufficient I think is almost a waste,” Wright added. “We don’t need them to lead the plan. What we need them to do is be in the community and [be] hearing the plan and supporting it.”
Parker, of Open Buffalo, has similar thoughts about the role that banks should play. One day, soon after the massacre, an ATM appeared down the street from Tops, next to the library that sits across the street from Parker’s office. Soon after the ATM was installed, Parker began fielding questions from area residents who were skeptical of the machine and wanted to know if it was legitimate. But Parker didn’t have any information to share with them. “There was no outreach. There was no community engagement. So I’m like, ‘Let me investigate,'” she said. “I think that’s a symptom of how investment is done in Black communities, even though it may be well-intentioned.”
As it turns out, the temporary ATM belonged to JPMorgan Chase. The megabank has had a commercial banking presence in Buffalo for years, but it didn’t operate a retail branch in the region until last year. Today it has four branches in operation and plans to open another two by the end of the year, a spokesperson said.
After the Tops shooting, the governor’s office reached out to Chase asking if the bank could help in some way, the spokesperson said in response to the skepticism. The spokesperson said that while the Chase retail brand is new to the Buffalo region, the company has been active in the market for decades by way of commercial banking, private banking, credit card lending, home lending and other businesses.
In addition to the ATM, the bank provided funding to local organizations including FeedMore Western New York, which distributes food throughout the region.
“We are committed to continuing our support for Buffalo and helping the community increase access to opportunities that build wealth and economic empowerment,” the spokesperson said in an email.
In the year since the massacre, there has been some progress by banks in terms of their interest in listening to the East Side community and learning about its needs, said Nicholas. But he hasn’t felt an air of urgency from the banking community to tackle the issues right now.
“I do experience banks being a little more open to figuring out what their role is, but it’s slow. It’s slow,” said Nicholas. The senior pastor of the Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church, located about a mile north from Tops, Nicholas is part of a 13-member local advisory committee for the New York arm of Local Initiatives Support Coalition, or LISC. The group is focused on mobilizing resources, including banks, to address affordable housing in Western New York, specifically in the inner city, as well as training minority developers and connecting them to potential investors, Nicholas said.
Of the 13 members, seven are from banks — one each from M&T, Bank of America, BankOnBuffalo, Evans and KeyBank, and two members from Citizens Financial Group. One of the priorities of LISC NY is health equity, and the fact that banks are becoming more engaged in looking at health disparities is promising, Nicholas said. Still, they have more work to do, he said.
“I need them to think more on how to strengthen and build the economy on the East Side and provide leadership around that, not only to provide charitable things, but using sound business and banking and community development principles to say, ‘OK, if we’re going to invest in this community, these are the types of things that need to happen in this community,’ and then encourage their partners and other people they work with … to come fully in on the East Side.”
Some bankers agree with the community activists.
“Putting a branch in is great. Having a bank on wheels is great,” said Noah of BankOnBuffalo. “But if you’re not embedded in the community, listening to the community and trying to improve it, you’re not creating that wealth and creating a better lifestyle for everyone.”
What could make a substantial difference in terms of banks’ impact on the community is a combination of collaboration and leadership, said Taylor. He supports the idea of banks leading the charge on the creation of a comprehensive redevelopment and reinvestment plan for the East Side, and then investing accordingly and collaboratively through their charitable foundations.
“All of them have these foundations,” Taylor said. “You can either spend that money in a strategic and intentional way designed to develop a community for the existing population, or you can spend that money alone in piecemeal, siloed, sectorial fashion that will look good on an annual report, but won’t generate transformational and generational changes inside a community.”
Banks might be incentivized to work together because it could mean two things for them, according to Taylor: First, they’d have an opportunity to spend money in a way that would have maximum impact on the East Side, and second, if done right, the city and the banks could become a model of the way to create high levels of diversity, equity and inclusion in an urban area.
“If you prove how to do that, all that does is open up other markets of consumption all over the country because people want to figure out how to do that same thing,” Taylor said.
Some of that is already happening, at least on a bank-by-bank case, said KeyBank’s Owunwanne. Through the KeyBank Foundation, the company is able to leverage different relationships that connect nonprofits to other entities and corporations that can provide help.
“I see this as an opportunity for us to make not just incremental changes, but monumental changes … as part of a larger group,” Owunwanne said “Again, I say that not to absolve the bank of any responsibility, but just as a larger group.”
Downstairs from Parker’s office, Golden Cup Coffee, a roastery and cafe run by a husband and wife team, and some other Jefferson Avenue businesses are trying to build up a business association for existing and potential Jefferson-area businesses. Parker imagined what the group could accomplish if one of the banks could provide someone on a part-time basis to facilitate conversations, provide administrative support and coordinate marketing efforts.
“In the grand scheme of things, when we’re talking about a multimillion dollar [bank], a part-time employee specifically dedicated to relationship-building and building out coalitions, it sounds like a small thing,” Parker said. “But that’s transformational.”
Whether you found a billing error on your credit card statement, suspect a fraudulent charge or simply aren’t satisfied with a product you purchased, the Fair Credit Billing Act of 1974 (FCBA) gives cardholders recourse to dispute charges and get their money back. But that grace period comes with a time limit, as disputes must be submitted in writing no later than 60 days after your credit card statement is issued.
Here’s what you need to know about the FCBA, including credit card dispute time limits, valid reasons for filing a dispute and how long credit card disputes take once they are filed.
Understand your legal rights
The ability to dispute false charges isn’t just a courtesy extended by credit card issuers; it’s a legal right protected by the FCBA. In accordance with that federal law, you have 60 days from the date your credit card statement is issued to dispute a billing error. To comply with this policy, your dispute must be submitted in writing.
🤓Nerdy Tip
The legal minimum time frame for filing a dispute is 60 days, but some credit card processors allow for a longer window. For example, Visa, Mastercard and American Express each allow chargeback requests up to 120 days from the date of the transaction in certain cases. If it’s been longer than 60 days, check with your issuer directly to determine whether you can still file a dispute.
Once you’ve filed your dispute, the FCBA provides that the credit card issuer must acknowledge receipt of your dispute and launch an investigation within 30 days. From there, it has 90 days to either resolve the dispute with a credit to your account or provide a written explanation of why the charges stand.
Before you dispute a credit card charge
Although all cardholders have the legal right to dispute unfair credit card charges, the process can be complicated, so it’s best to make sure your dispute is valid before filing it.
🤓Nerdy Tip
Disputes can’t be filed on pending charges, so if you see a suspicious transaction, you’ll have to wait until it has fully processed. Note that pending transactions can sometimes be caused by credit card holds, meaning they don’t match the final amount that will be charged.
To save yourself from unnecessary paperwork, take these steps before you follow through with initiating a dispute:
Run a search on the name of the company. Some companies operate under multiple names, using one name for customer-facing purposes and a different one for operations and logistics. If you see a transaction from a company name you don’t recognize, a quick online search may help you realize what the charge is.
Check your email, past statements and other payment records. Do you have a free trial or subscription that you forgot to cancel? Or do you have recurring but infrequent charges, like an annual bill? If you take a few minutes to check through your email for order confirmations and review past credit card statements, that will help ensure this isn’t a charge you simply forgot about.
Talk to authorized users to see if they recognize the charge. If your spouse, child, employee or anyone else is an authorized user on your credit card or has access to use the card, they may be the source of the unrecognized transaction.
Contact the merchant directly. If you’re certain there was a billing error — or alternatively, if you’re simply not satisfied with a product you purchased — contact the merchant directly. Explain the issue with the transaction and request a chargeback. If the chargeback is approved, the transaction will be reversed and funds will be returned. And even if the merchant is uncooperative, that documentation will help speed up the investigation once your dispute is filed.
Put your dispute in writing
Although it may make sense to initiate a credit card dispute online or by phone, full compliance with the FCBA requires that you follow up that initial contact in writing within that 60-day window. This ensures that both you and your credit card issuer have record of the dispute and that an investigation can be conducted with accurate information.
🤓Nerdy Tip
Many major issuers offer options to dispute a charge in writing from your online account. Simply go to your account activity, select the charge in question and look for a link that says “report a problem,” “dispute charge” or similar. Then follow the prompts to complete your written dispute.
Your written dispute should include your name and account number, the date you’re filing the dispute, the date of the transaction in question and an explanation of why you’re disputing the transaction. If you’re dissatisfied with the quality of a product and have already reached out to the merchant, include that information as well. And make sure to include copies of any supporting documentation.
Shuffling through standby lines at Disney theme parks is a battle scar some guests wear proudly. Other park guests prefer to spend less hours in long lines. The Disney virtual queue is one way guests can seek some relief.
Instead of standing in line for a ride over an extended period, the virtual queue lets you enjoy other parts of the park until it’s your turn to get on the ride. Let’s explore what the Disney virtual queue is and how it works.
How the Disney virtual queue works
Disney’s virtual queue feature helps manage high traffic at popular attractions, and it can be a welcome respite for large groups or families with young children. That said, it’s only available for a few attractions and experiences at each Disney park. Availability changes daily and is limited, and joining the queue isn’t guaranteed.
For example, one day the virtual queue might be available for “Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance” at Disneyland, but it might not be offered the following day. Disney’s virtual queue is often used for newly launched attractions and experiences, so look out for virtual queue availability if you want to participate in a popular offering.
If you’ve secured a virtual queue boarding group number on your reservation day, the Disney app will push a notification through when it’s your group’s turn to get in line. Once you receive this notification, you’ll have an hour to get to the attraction or experience.
Upon arriving at the attraction, tap your Disney app, MagicBand+ or your admission card on the touchpoint or check in with a cast member to get into the line.
Although virtual queues at Disneyland and Disney World don’t eliminate lines entirely, it reduces the wait — especially during peak days.
How to join a Disneyland or Disney World virtual queue
How do Disney virtual queues work in practice? To join the Disney virtual queue, follow these steps:
Make a park reservation. To join the virtual queue, all participating members should have a valid admission ticket and park reservation for the day. If you have an Annual Pass or a Park Hopper ticket and are visiting from another park, you may not be able to join the queue.
Download the Disney app. You’ll need the My Disney Experience app to join the virtual queue and receive updates about your place in line.
Enroll your group’s tickets. Choose a designated person from your party to handle the virtual queue for your group. This person must use the app to link their Disney account to each group member’s admission tickets.
Find attractions using the virtual queue. Available experiences for Disney’s virtual queue vary depending on the day and park. Click on “Virtual Queues” from the app’s home screen to see if your desired experience is available on your reservation day. The times the queue is available to join will also be listed.
Launch the Disney app. Launch the app a few minutes before your chosen queue time. For example, if the queue opens at 7 a.m., launch the app at 6:50 a.m. and refresh the page until the queue officially opens. If you’re hoping to join the virtual queue before the parks open, you don’t need to physically be at the park to join. However, once the park opens, you’ll need to physically be at the park to join the queue.
Confirm your details. Make sure you’ve chosen the correct experience and that each participating group member is included in your queue details. If you need to modify your group, select “Edit” to the right of the section.
Join the queue. Select “Join Virtual Queue” to finalize your selection. If successful, you’ll receive a boarding group number. Remember, despite getting into a boarding group, getting on a ride or into a show isn’t guaranteed.
Disney virtual queue tips
Getting a boarding group assignment for a virtual queue can be competitive, so here are some tips to give you the best chance of securing your spot:
Launch the Virtual Queue option in the Disney app about 10 minutes before the queue time opens.
Get ready to rapid-fire hit the refresh button to (hopefully) get into the queue and secure a boarding group number.
If queueing up later in the day, make sure you’ve entered the park already. If you have a Park Hopper ticket, you need to be at the park where the queue will be used.
Keep your day flexible. If you miss your return window, you might not be accommodated to enter the line.
Don’t have multiple members in your party simultaneously attempt to join the virtual queue. This doesn’t improve your chances of getting into the queue; rather, it might hinder your success.
Disney virtual queues recapped
Joining a virtual queue for a popular Disney World or Disneyland experience is generally a no-brainer.
The biggest caveat is that you won’t know exactly when you’ll be called to return to the line, which makes planning your day a little more challenging.
However, the time it saves you from standing in line can be spent grabbing a snack or quick lunch, or enjoying another attraction with a shorter standby line.
Plus, when Disney offers a free feature to maximize your time at the park, it’s generally wise to seize the opportunity.
Frequently asked questions
Is Disney World still using virtual queues?
Yes. Disney World and Disneyland are currently using virtual queues for select attractions. The list of rides that offer virtual queues are subject to change. Check the Disney website or the Disney app to confirm which attractions and experiences are available at Walt Disney World and Disneyland.
What is Disney’s virtual queue?
The Disney virtual queue offers guests a way to minimize their time in line at certain attractions and experiences. When a guest secures a boarding group in a virtual queue, they’re free to explore the rest of the park until their group number is called to return to the line.
How much is Disney’s virtual queue?
The option for virtual queue at Disney World and Disneyland Resorts doesn’t have an additional cost. However, guests who are interested in using the virtual queue must have a valid admission ticket and park reservation.
(Top photo courtesy of Disneyland Resort)
How to maximize your rewards
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Northwestern Mutual Renews Partnership with Marquette University and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with New $35 Million Investment Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute champions southeastern Wisconsin as national hub for technology research, innovation and talent MILWAUKEE, Aug. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Northwestern Mutual, Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are deepening their commitment to the Northwestern Mutual … [Read more…]
In our latest real estate tech entrepreneur interview, we’re speaking with Paul Burke from ColivingCircle.
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m the Founder and CEO of ColivingCircle, a marketplace for finding coliving. I’m a solo founder working on everything from development, design and content to partnerships and customer support.
What problem does your product/service solve?
As coliving grows in popularity among renters we’re seeing more companies enter the space. Because every coliving space is unique – geared towards different lifestyles and interests, there is a need to provide a marketplace that helps consumers find the right coliving space for them.
You previously built RentHoop to connect roommates (interview is here). What learnings from that led you to your new product, ColivingCircle?
We’re actually talking to buyers regarding selling RentHoop which will be the end of a long chapter of my life that occupied most of my mid-20s.
As a first-time founder, I didn’t have the context or experience to know how to best build a product, evaluate an industry, allocate resources or manage a team. It’s all trial by fire when you’re just starting.
Over a span of a couple of years, I began to develop a level of objectivity that helped me see the industry from a different light. While the need for a product like RentHoop was, and still is, massive, there’s a reason people still use Craigslist, primarily, for finding roommates. It’s a tough business to monetize until you achieve density, scale and products people will pay for. Those things typically require a good amount of capital, especially for a low-velocity product like finding a roommate, room or sublet.
My goals this time around are very different than they were for RentHoop. For ColivingCircle, I am not looking to build a ‘startup,’ one optimized for user growth and raising money from VC’s, but a business with limited overhead that seeks profitability and can be self-sustaining.
What are you most excited about right now?
Coliving is “the antithesis to social distancing” as Rolling Stones Magazine put it. In the short-term, many coliving spaces are taking a hit.
The positive is that many people who are sticking it out in coliving spaces are able to experience community in a wonderful way. From some of the interviews I’ve done on the ColivingCircle podcast, we’re hearing about how people don’t feel isolated or lonely because they have others around.
We’re going to see demand for coliving explode in the next year and enter the mainstream.
What’s next for you?
Continue to advocate for the industry and connect people with a coliving space near them. We already have about a dozen partnerships with coliving spaces in the United States so we’re excited to officially launch!
What’s a cause you’re passionate about and why?
I’m half-Egyptian and those roots are extremely important to me. My family and I took a trip to Egypt this past September and we got the opportunity to work closely with a boys and girls orphanage. In the last week we were able to purchase them a school bus with the help of some family and friends. We continue to support them so they can receive an education and the opportunity to live out their dreams.
Thanks to Paul for sharing an update to his story. If you’d like to connect, find him on LinkedIn here.
We’re constantly looking for great real estate tech entrepreneurs to feature. If that’s you, please read this post — then drop me a line (drew @ geekestatelabs dot com).
Floods. Wildfires. Deadly heat. Rising seas. In the face of scary climate news, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. After all, extreme weather threatens one of your biggest assets — your home. But there are steps you can take to protect your house, your family and your finances from climate change.
1. Evaluate your risk
The best place to start is by getting a realistic picture of how likely your home is to experience a natural disaster.
For a broad overview, check the National Risk Index from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The site shows the likelihood of events such as hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes and coastal flooding at a county or census tract level.
To gauge your home’s individual risk, try riskfactor.com, a tool from the nonprofit First Street Foundation. Plug in your address to see your home’s chances of flooding, wildfires, strong wind or extreme heat over the next 30 years, along with recommended solutions.
Local government agencies can also help you evaluate your property’s hazards. For example, the nearest fire department or forestry agency may be able to assess your property’s wildfire risk, says Kimiko Barrett, a wildfire research and policy analyst at Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit research group.
Local governments may have elevation certificates and other information about a property’s chance of flooding, says Susanna Pho, co-founder of Forerunner, a provider of flood resilience software.
Did you know…
An elevation certificate is a document that lists a building’s lowest elevation point and flood zone as determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Planning a move? Look beyond curb appeal when evaluating potential homes, says Aris Papadopoulos, a resilience expert at Florida International University’s Extreme Events Institute. In the face of climate change, homeowners “need to prioritize the resilience of the house a lot more than they ever did before,” he says.
For example, you may want to ask how old the roof is and whether the home has ever been damaged by a disaster. (In some states, sellers must disclose their home’s flood history.)
Consider the elevation of the home, too. If it’s less than 15 feet above a coastline, river bank or even a dry creek bed, it could be at risk of flooding, Papadopoulos says.
You can check the websites listed above to evaluate a potential home’s risk before you put in an offer. You may also want to consult the Buyer’s Guide to Resilient Homes from the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes.
2. Buy the right insurance coverage
Once you know which disasters pose the biggest risk to your home, check your insurance policy to make sure you have the coverage you need.
What’s covered (and what’s not)
Most homeowners insurance covers fire and wind damage but won’t pay for claims related to external flooding sources like heavy rain or overflowing rivers. If your home is at risk, you’ll need to buy flood insurance separately.
🤓Nerdy Tip
Although scientists aren’t sure whether climate change influences earthquakes, it’s worth noting that homeowners insurance won’t cover earthquake damage either. If you live near an active fault, you may want to consider earthquake insurance.
Keep in mind that a separate deductible may apply for certain types of disaster claims. (A homeowners insurance deductible is the amount of a claim you’re responsible for.)
For instance, you may have a $1,000 deductible for most claims and a 2% deductible for hurricane claims. The percentage is based on your dwelling coverage limit. So if your house has $300,000 worth of dwelling coverage, your deductible for a hurricane claim would be $6,000.
Choose the right coverage limits
Imagine your home burns down in a wildfire, and it costs $400,000 to rebuild. If your policy has only $350,000 of dwelling coverage, you’ll have to pay the extra $50,000 yourself. That’s why it’s so important to choose coverage limits that are adequate for your home.
Did you know…
Dwelling coverage is the part of a homeowners policy that pays to rebuild or repair the structure of your home.
Your dwelling coverage limit should reflect the reconstruction price of your home — not the price you paid for it or what you could sell it for today.
Although insurance companies have calculators that can help you choose the right amount, you may also want to speak with a licensed contractor in your area, says Dori Einhorn, the owner of Einhorn Insurance Agency in San Diego.
She recommends asking, “If I have to rebuild my house from soup to nuts, what am I looking at? How much is that going to be?”
You can then compare that estimate with the dwelling coverage limit your insurance agent suggests. “If your agent comes back with a figure that’s drastically different,” Einhorn says, “that’s a good indication that they don’t know what’s up.”
You’ll also want to check the limit on your personal property coverage, which pays for damage to furniture, electronics and other belongings. The best way to gauge how much your stuff is worth is to take a home inventory.
If it’s been a while since you reviewed your coverage limits, take another look to make sure they’ve kept up with inflation. And don’t forget to tell your insurance company about any major renovations you’ve done recently. Things like upgrading your kitchen or building an addition can increase the amount of coverage you need.
Finding coverage in tough markets
In certain high-risk areas such as Florida, Louisiana and California, it’s getting harder to buy affordable insurance. Some homeowners have received non-renewal notices from their insurers and had trouble finding another company to cover them.
If you find yourself in this situation, a good independent insurance agent is often your best resource. They can shop around on your behalf and look for lesser-known companies that may be willing to insure your house. Many states have created “insurers of last resort” to provide policies for people who can’t get them anywhere else. An independent agent can help you find your state’s last-resort insurer, if it has one.
3. Make your home more resilient
While having insurance can be a vital part of disaster recovery, you can take certain steps to prevent damage in the first place. Some of these changes may earn you a discount on your homeowners policy.
Your plan of action depends on your budget and which disasters are most likely in your area. Below are recommendations to help strengthen your house against three common causes of insurance claims: flooding, wildfires and wind.
Flooding
“The most fail-proof way to protect against flooding is to elevate your home,” Pho says. But not everyone can afford such an expensive project. To minimize flood damage, you can also:
Elevate appliances such as water heaters, heating and cooling systems, and electrical panels.
Avoid storing valuable items on the lowest level of your home.
Keep your gutters and downspouts clean.
Install a sump pump or other drainage system in your basement.
Use landscaping to channel water away from your home.
Install sewer backfill valves to keep flood water from entering your home through drain pipes.
Anchor fuel tanks to a concrete slab to keep them from washing away.
Add flood vents to let water flow through your basement without compromising the structure of the building.
Wildfires
Wildfires typically don’t engulf your home in a huge wall of flame, according to Barrett. Instead, most homes catch fire due to embers, which are “flying balls of flame that launch themselves a mile ahead of a wildfire front,” she says. If they land on a part of your house that’s flammable, they can ignite a spot fire that destroys your home.
To reduce your home’s wildfire risk, Barrett recommends taking a holistic approach, looking at your entire home and addressing flammable areas one by one.
Start with your roof. Does it have valleys where pine needles or other debris can gather? Clean them out regularly. If you have a wooden roof, can you replace it with a more fire-resistant alternative, such as asphalt or metal?
Even small things can make a difference, Barrett says — like moving firewood away from the house or making sure you don’t leave a wooden broom leaning against an outside wall.
Below are a few other steps you can take to make your home more resistant to fire:
Replace exterior materials with less flammable alternatives such as metal window frames, stucco walls and multi-pane windows.
Design your landscaping to create a defensible space around your home. This includes choosing fire-resistant plants, minimizing the use of mulch, keeping lawns well mowed and clearing debris.
Install fire sprinklers.
Cover vents, chimneys and soffits with fine metal mesh to keep embers out.
Seal gaps in exterior walls with fire-resistant caulk or foam.
Wind
Your roof is one of your first lines of defense against a hurricane, tornado or other windstorm.
So when it comes time to get a new one, “I would ask people to look to replace it not just with another roof built to code but to something that’s built above code,” says Papadopoulos. “You’ll have a stronger roof on your house that in case of a tornado or hurricane is less likely to tear apart. And when you lose that roof, believe me, you lose the whole house.”
Papadopoulos recommends installing a roof that’s up to a standard known as Fortified, developed by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety. The Fortified program is a set of building upgrades designed to protect homes and businesses from wind, hail and other severe weather.
Other Fortified upgrades include things like chimney bracing, pressure-rated windows and doors, and attic vents that are resistant to wind and rain.
To further reduce your home’s risk of wind damage, you can:
Choose a garage door rated for wind and impact.
Install hurricane shutters or impact-resistant windows.
Make sure porch and carport roofs are properly anchored.
Brace soffits by sealing the area where they’re inserted.
Minimize items that could turn into projectiles by securing outdoor furniture, keeping trees properly trimmed and using mulch instead of gravel for landscaping.
Add hurricane clips or straps to help secure your roof.
For more ideas on strengthening your home against climate change, see flash.org, which offers tailored advice based on where you live. You can sort the site’s suggestions by cost, impact and type of disaster.
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