How the latest stock market conditions could impact your personal finance, the state of the family dinner, Black Lives Matter origins in Hurricane Katrina.
The Dow may tumble, but chill, you'll be okay
Watch the news from Wall Street, and your teeth may be clenched while you frantically check your bank account.
Take a deeeeep breath.
It's hard NOT to get anxious when we see the markets dip — they are a symbol for our economy's health.
But looking to the stock exchange is a poor way to measure your own personal finance and wealth.
Financial planner Delia Fernandez has some advice:
- It's not 2008 all over again – "This kind of downturn is normal. We've had seven of these 5 percent downturns since 2009."
- Who should REALLY worry? – "People who've been ignoring their financial plan for 5 to 6 years because they've enjoyed the ride up."
- Retirees definitely should not worry – "You should have been creating a glide path into retirement that got you more and more conservative into stocks, a little bit more in bonds and cash, so that you would be prepared if you were retiring today."
- When should we worry? – "If people were losing their jobs, if financial institutions were going out of business, if you saw the stock market drop more than 12 to 15 percent. It's human to react when we hit a bump in the road, we want to get away from that. But you have to take a deep breath."
- Is there a silver lining? – "Things are on sale! I had a client come in yesterday with a check saying I want to cash in on this. And he's a retiree."
The Brood: The state of the family dinner
From long work hours, to hectic commutes, and transporting the kids from one after school activity to the next -- it's getting harder and harder to sit down for dinner.
Brigid Schulte, Washington Post writer and author of "Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play When No One Has the Time," highlighted the necessity of taking a closer look at our daily schedules.
"Our culture expects parents to be very involved in their kids lives, creating a lot of over scheduling, and making it very hard to sit down for dinner," she said.
But how important is the family dinner? Are kids missing out on important life skills by not participating in meal prep activities? And what's being done to get people back in the kitchen as a family?
Lynn Barendsen is the executive director of The Family Dinner Project at Harvard. Bardensen thinks it's important to find dinner where you can.
"Dinner doesn't have to be a home cooked meal at a table, it can be a late night snack, or a picnic at a soccer game. Don't let the perfect by the enemy of the good," Bardensen said.
Barendsen says making time for a family dinner has many benefits and the key is to make fun and something the whole family can enjoy together.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
A version of this segment also aired on November 24, 2015.
Ships lead massive ocean trash cleanup from Hawaii to California
A fleet of ships is arriving to ports along the coast of California this week. Their haul? Tons of plastic and debris from the massive garbage patch that's lodged in the Pacific Ocean.
This Sunday, the #MegaExpedition href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MegaExpedition?src=hash">#MegaExpedition
The ships are part of the largest-ever clean up effort of ocean trash, launched from Hawaii and sweeping across the Pacific. The trip also aims to map the floating plastic for an even larger clean up in the coming years.
Joining Take Two to discuss:
- , founder and CEO of , the group that's leading the project.
Web extra: Track the ocean clean up with this live map
New music from Method Man, Tom Misch, Julio Bashmore and more
If you don't have time to keep up with the latest in new music, we've got the perfect way to keep you up to date... our regular segment calledTuesday Reviewsday. Every week our music experts join us in studio to talk about their favorite tunes.
This week Alex Cohen is joined by Music Supervisor Morgan Rhodes and Oliver Wang from Soul-Sides.com.
Oliver Wang
Artist: Method Man
Album: "The Meth Lab"
Song: "The Meth Lab"
Artist: Sean Price
Album: "Songs in the Key of Sean Price"
Song: "S.E.A.N"
Artist: Scoop Deville and Demrick
Album: "Loud Pack: Extracts"
Song: "Zone"
Morgan Rhodes
Artist: Tom Misch
Album: "Beat Tape 2"
Song: "Wake Up This Day" (feat Jordan Rakei), "Sunshine"
Artist: Julio Bashmore
Album: "Knocking Boots"
Songs: "Rhythm of Auld" (feat J'Danna), "Kong" (feat. Bixby)
Artist: Various
Album: "Wondaland Presents: The Eephus EP"
Song: "I Know" by Roman Gian Arthur
To hear all of our selections above, click on the full segment audio embedded at the top of this page.
Black Lives Matter rooted in Hurricane Katrina, Slate writer says
Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans 10 years ago this week, leaving 1,800 low-income residents dead -- most of them African American -- and thousands more with nothing.
Slate.com's chief political correspondent
makes the case that Hurricane Katrina marked a turning point for black America, and set the stage for today's Black Lives Matter movement.
"Hurricane Katrina, both the actual event and the aftermath … I think that convinced a lot of black Americans that the country was basically indifferent to their suffering," Bouie said.
One of the few people to voice this opinion publically was Kanye West, who, during a live telethon, said the words, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
West later apologized for his remarks.
Bouie says he doesn't agree with West's statement, but he can understand why many New Orleans residents felt that way.
"When you look at the pre-Katrina structure of New Orleans, you have a very poor city that is largely African American that is sort of defined by decades of segregation and disenfranchisement and deprivation," he said.
He says, because most of the blacks lived below the levy, "it was sort of inescapable that the people who would be most visibly affected by the hurricane were going to be the low income black Americans living in New Orleans."
In the months and years to follow, there would be more disappointments for black residents of New Orleans. Federal reimbursements were often determined based on property value. Those below the levy received little assistance.
Bouie says the disaster gave rise to a kind of national black pessimism that would set the stage for the Black Lives Matter movement.
"Events like Ferguson, events like Trayvon Martin -- I think -- create this similar reaction and a similar sense that no one really cares. And that sense that no one cares -- I think -- is behind the Black Lives Matter movement. And I wouldn't be surprised, if Barack Obama had not never been elected, something like Black Lives Matter -- I think it would have happened a little earlier," Bouie said.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
How to have a pet plan for earthquakes, other disasters
This Saturday marks 10 years since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and its suburbs.
In addition to the impact on human lives, hundreds of thousands of animals also died, were left behind, or were displaced. This prompted changes in the way people's pets are handled during a disaster.
Dick Green, senior director of Disaster Response for the ASPCA's Field Investigations and Response team, has been involved in about 125 international disaster responses. He said nothing he's seen could compare to Katrina.
"We just saw and experienced so many heart-wrenching cases and so many daring rescues, that I just don't think I'll ever see another one of those in my career," he said.
As a result, President George W. Bush signed the Pet Evacuation Transportation Standards Act in October 2006. This requires all planning entities at all levels of government to include people and pets in evacuation plans, Green said.
Whether you're preparing for hurricanes in New Orleans, or earthquakes in L.A., the ASPCA has tips to help you take care of your beloved pets:
- Have a go-bag ready that includes medical records, a photo of your pet and medications the animal may need
- Make sure your pet has up-to-date collars and microchips
- Place alert stickers in your window. Should your pet get left behind, rescuers will know your pet is inside.