By DEEPTI HAJELA

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s that time — December’s waning days, when we prepare to turn the calendar page. Many Americans take stock, review goals accomplished and unmet, ponder hopes and plans. How’s our health? What’s up with our money? What about the country? Will the coming year look like the departing one year, or be something entirely different?

Are we ready?

It can be an overwhelming period. So The Associated Press reached out to professionals with varying expertises — home organization, risk management, personal training, personal finance, and political science — to talk about their perspectives on changes and transitions.

And for something a little different, we gave each interviewee a chance to ask a question of one of the others.

So let’s talk endings and beginnings.

The change expert: Milestones stir emotions

Transitions are professional organizer Laura Olivares’ working life. As co-founder of Silver Solutions, she works with senior adults and their families to help make sure they’re in safe environments, whether that means decluttering a lifetime of possessions, downsizing to another home, or helping families clear a house after a loved one’s passing.

She offers this: Changes, even exciting ones, can unearth sadness or grief over places, things and people left behind. Acknowledging those feelings can help smooth the move from one chapter to another.

“When you let go of something that was meaningful to you, it deserves a moment,” she says. “Whatever that moment is, could be a second, could just be an acknowledgement of it. Or maybe you set it on the on the mantle and you think about it for a while and when you’re ready to let it go, you let it go.”

NEXT QUESTION: Certified personal trainer Keri Harvey asked: “What small weekly habits can I build that will help me stay organized during the year?” Olivares’ tips: In December, do a brain dump of thoughts, ideas, and goals. Then, before Jan. 1, schedule out tasks that move those priorities forward over the course of 2026. Olivares suggests three tasks on each of three days, so nine tasks per week.

The actuary: Planning is important — but sometimes fickle

Probably no group of people think more about the future than actuaries. Using data, statistics and probabilities, they devise models on how probable it is that certain events happen, and what it could cost to recover from them. Their work is vital to organizations like insurance companies.

Listen to R. Dale Hall talk, though, and he sounds almost … philosophical. He’s managing director of research at the Society of Actuaries. Asked how the general public could think about a new year, he readily brings up strategies like mapping out risk scenarios and how to respond.

There’s a balance to be struck, he says: We can’t control or predict everything and must accept the possibility of something unexpected. And the past isn’t always a perfect guide; just because something happened doesn’t mean it must again.

“It’s the nature of taking risk, right? That yeah, there are going to be uncontrollable things,” Hall says. “There are ways to maybe diversify those risks or mitigate those risks, but no one has that perfect crystal ball that’s going to see three, six, nine, 12 months into the future.”

NEXT QUESTION: From personal finance educator Dana Miranda: “Thinking about the variables we consider when making decisions or plans, how might the juxtaposition of the holiday season with the new year affect the way people are evaluating their finances and setting goals at the beginning of each year? … What do you recommend they do to ensure the holiday experience doesn’t skew financial goal-setting?”

Hall’s advice: Keep ’em separate. He recommends people enjoy the holidays and hold off on financial goals until January.

The personal finance authority: Be intentional about money

In her work as a financial writer and a personal finance educator, Miranda encourages people to make conscious choices around their spending and saving, and understand that there’s no absolute rule.

Miranda, author of “You Don’t Need a Budget,” says details are key. What works for one person may not work for another. And it’s something Americans should consider as another year of goals and resolutions approaches. Insisting that the same technique works for everybody can leave people feeling stuck, Miranda says.

“We tend to be not good at talking about the nuances and that leaves people with, ‘Here’s the one right rule. It’s not possible for me to achieve that perfection, so I’m just going to feel ashamed of every move that I make that is not moving toward that perfect goal.’”

NEXT QUESTION: From Jeanne Theoharis, a political science professor, who asked how Miranda gets people to look beyond the micro and consider the larger system of capitalism. “How does she also get people to think about more collective solutions—like union organizing, pressing City Council or Congress for changes?”

Miranda is quick to make it clear she’s not an organizer but says she tries to evoke larger systemic issues when discussing personal finance. “The way that I try to move that needle just a little bit is to always bring in that political aspect to whatever conversation we’re having … to make the systemic and the cultural impact visible.”

The trainer: Make goals attainable

When it comes to changes and new years, one of the most popular areas is fitness, the subject of many a (failed) resolution. Personal trainer Harvey, of Form Fitness Brooklyn, says you can make positive, lasting change in fitness (and generally) with one philosophy: Start small and build.

“We want to be mindful of making sure that we’re not asking too much or trying to overcompensate for what we feel like we left behind this past year or what we feel like we left on the table this past year,” she says. “It’s very reasonable to try and have the goal of getting to the gym twice a week, maybe three times a week, and then building from there instead of saying ‘Jan. 1, I’m starting, I’m gonna be at the gym five days a week, two hours a day.’ That’s not realistic and it’s not kind to ourselves.”

NEXT QUESTION: From Hall: “What advice do you have for me to transition to an even more robust workout schedule in 2026 without falling into the risk of injuring myself by doing too much too soon?”

Harvey emphasized warming up and having a mobility routine, and making the goal attainable by making it fun. “Find things that you actually enjoy doing and try and fit those in as well so that the idea of starting something new or adding to it isn’t one that comes with a negative like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to have to do this,’ where you’re dragging yourself into it.”

The historian: Learn from your past

It’s not just as individuals that we think about transitions. Nations and cultures have them, too.

We can learn from them if we look at our history honestly and not through the guise of trying to hide the ugly parts, says Theoharis, professor of political science and history at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York Graduate Center.

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She points to the story of Rosa Parks, remembered as the catalyst of the Montgomery bus boycotts 70 years ago. But when Parks chose to resist, she didn’t know what her arrest would mean or what the outcome would be. Theoharis sees a lesson there for people looking to make change in today’s world and even individuals wanting to evolve.

“A number of us would be willing to do something brave if we knew that it would work,” Theoharis says. “And we might even be willing to have some consequences. But part of what looking at the actual history of Rosa Parks or the actual history of the Montgomery bus boycott is in fact you have to make these stands with no sense that they will work.”

NEXT (AND LAST) QUESTION: From Olivares, who wanted Theoharis’ thoughts on today’s civil rights battles. Theoharis referenced voting rights, which have been eroded in recent years. At the same time, remembrances of the turmoil during the Civil Rights years have become glossed over by a mythology of America overcoming its injustices.

There’s a lesson there about what it takes to make real change for individuals, too, Theoharis says: It’s difficult to move forward if you’re not honestly addressing what’s come before. “Part of how we’ve gotten here is by that … lack of reckoning with ourselves, lack of reckoning with where we are, lack of reckoning with history.”

Starved for enchantment

I loved Abby McClosky’s bit on Enchantment this Wednesday (“A case for child-like wonder in a grown-up world”). I so agree with her that our generation is starved for it. The hangover from the last 200 years of scientific materialism lingers.

I suspect that many are unaware that in the last 10 to 20 years science has become far less quarrelsome when it comes to the idea of transcendence. In fact, many of today’s scientists have become receptive to it. One of my favorite examples of this stems from a G.K. Chesterton quote. In his book “The Everlasting Man” (1925), he poses the question; “Suppose somebody in a story says, Pluck this flower and a princess will die in a castle across the sea.” He goes on to explore what we might make of it. He supposes that we would almost certainly say something like, “What!? What could possibly be the connection?” But then why do so many of us find such fairy-tale ideas so appealing? Why do we long for enchantment?

Well, in the last 10 years or so scientists have been talking about a field of study they are referring to as Entanglement. It acknowledges that two seemingly unconnected events can influence one another even at vast distances instantaneously. Apparently, such cause-and-effect phenomona are operating outside of conventional physics, ie. transcendently.

Similar mysteries have been popping up all over the place in studies being done in cosmology, brain science and human consciousness, ESP, Near Death Experience, clarvoyance, evolution and the like. It is becoming ever more plausible to believe that we may, in fact, be living in the enchanted forest.

G.J. Mayer, Lino Lakes

Empowering the insider game

Somehow the St. Paul DFL determined it was appropriate to endorse a candidate in a snap election for state representative in District 64A. The election was called because Kaohly Her left the seat vacant when she was elected mayor. We have been told that a mere 57 delegates were at the endorsing convention.  The endorsed candidate benefited from the DFL voter list and the supposed credibility of the endorsement. Voters who didn’t have the bandwidth to do their own research trusted that the DFL candidate was the best choice.

However, the endorsement undermined all the other candidates who were doing the valuable work of talking to neighbors.

A DFL endorsement with no associated caucus is an undemocratic and inappropriate process, using delegates from last year elected for other purposes. The DFL should not hold an endorsing convention in these circumstances. The 4,500 people who voted in the primary are a much broader representation of the people in District 64A.

No wonder the St. Paul DFL is having trouble getting people to volunteer. By giving credence to such a flawed endorsement, we are empowering the political insider game that has turned off so many of us and kept us from being involved in the St. Paul DFL.

Don Arnosti, St. Paul

Sainted

I had a medical emergency Sunday December 21 and went to St. John’s Emergency room, later to Short Stay Observation. Everyone from Roseville Fire, Allina ambulance and St John’s were great.  I wish to nominate them for Sainted.

David Johnson, Roseville

Reward care-giving, not paper-shuffling

Health-care costs in America keep rising, and much of the blame lies with structural problems made worse — not solved — by the Affordable Care Act and today’s insurance industry. What was sold as “reform” expanded bureaucracy, distorted risk pools, and accelerated the cost spiral that families now face.

A major issue is the way the ACA reshaped insurance risk pools. Insurance only works when enough people are paying in to balance those who use the most care. Yet after the ACA expansions, a large share of the newly added participants were high-cost users who contributed little or nothing toward the true price of their care. Today, according to national expenditure data, roughly 4.6 percent of Americans account for 50 percent of all health-care spending. When this many high-cost users are added to the pool without corresponding contributions, premiums and deductibles rise for everyone else.

Then there’s the administrative machinery itself. The United States now spends an enormous share of its health-care dollars on billing, coding, claim processing, prior authorizations, and compliance — work that adds complexity but not care. Estimates place billing- and insurance-related administrative costs at roughly $500 billion per year nationwide. That includes millions of employees inside insurance companies and millions more inside hospitals and clinics who spend their days feeding data into that system. These layers do not diagnose, treat or heal. They exist to process paperwork, delay approvals, and negotiate payments — and every layer adds cost.

We see the effects on every medical bill. A procedure may be “billed” at a high number, then heavily written off, and finally paid at a negotiated amount that bears little resemblance to the real cost. A $12,000 billed charge may turn into a $3,500 payment, even though the same procedure might cost a cash-pay patient around $1,800. This confusing three-step dance— billed, write-off, paid — does not help patients. It obscures prices and shields the system from accountability.

Follow the dollars and the picture becomes even clearer. The U.S. now spends $4.9 trillion per year on health care — about $14,570 per person. Yet multiple independent analyses show that a very large share of that total never reaches the doctors, nurses and facilities delivering actual care. A significant portion is absorbed by administrative overhead, insurance bureaucracy and compliance structures created by federal rules and industry practices. In other words, a substantial part of our health-care spending is not care at all.

In this writer’s opinion, the only realistic way to reduce costs is to remove unnecessary work. Shrink the administrative empires, simplify the rules, and stop forcing providers to employ entire teams whose job is to navigate insurance complexity. The health-care system should reward people who deliver care — not people who shuffle paper.

If America wants affordable health care, we first must stop paying for a system built to serve itself instead of the patient.

The solution will require restructuring, loss of jobs and a return to competition.

Scott Nintzel, White Bear Township

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By DAMIAN J. TROISE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks slipped in morning trading on Wall Street Monday to kick off another holiday-shortened week.

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The S&P 500 fell 0.4%. With just three trading days left in 2025, the benchmark index is still up more than 17% for the year and it remains on track for its eighth monthly gain in a row.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 144 points, or 0.3%, as of 10:01 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.6%.

Big technology stocks with outsized valuations were among the heaviest weights on the market. Nvidia fell 2% and Broadcom fell 1.3%.

Energy stocks gained ground along with rising oil prices. U.S. benchmark crude jumped 2.4% to $58.11 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 2.2% to $61.56 a barrel.

Exxon Mobil rose 0.9%.

Gold prices pulled back after recent sharp gains. The price of gold slumped 3.5%, though prices for the precious metal are still up about 66% for the year.

Wall Street faces another short week in the final stretch of 2025. Markets in the U.S. will be closed on Thursday for New Year’s Day.

Treasury yields fell in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.12% from 4.13% late Friday.

Markets in Europe and Asia were mixed. Shares in Taiwan were higher even after China’s military said it was conducting drills around the self-governed island that Beijing claims as its territory. Taiwan’s benchmark Taiex gained 0.9%, but the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gave up early gains, falling 0.7%.

Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this story.

By LEAH WILLINGHAM and JEFF MARTIN, Associated Press

A potent winter storm threatened blizzard-like conditions, treacherous travel and power outages in parts of the Upper Midwest as other areas of the country braced Monday for plunging temperatures, strong winds and a mix of snow, ice, and rain.

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The snow and strengthening winds began spreading Sunday across the northern Plains, where the National Weather Service warned of whiteout conditions and possible blizzard conditions that could make travel impossible in some areas. Snowfall totals were expected to exceed a foot across parts of the upper Great Lakes and as much as double that along the south shore of Lake Superior.

“Part of the storm system is getting heavy snow, other parts of the storm along the cold front are getting higher winds and much colder temperatures as the front passes,” said Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster at the National Weather Service office in College Park, Maryland. “They’re all related to each other — different parts of the country will be receiving different effects from this storm.”

About 350,000 customers were in the dark Monday morning, with about a third of those outages in Michigan, according to Poweroutage.us. There were more than 1,600 flight delays and more than 450 cancellations at U.S. airports on Monday, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware.

Blizzard conditions continued in some parts of northern Iowa on Monday morning, especially in open rural areas, according to the weather service’s office in Des Moines. Blowing snow was expected to continue through the morning.

The National Weather Service warned of 1 to 3 feet of lake-effect snow from Monday through Thursday and high winds, with gusts up to 75 mph, in western New York on Monday. Similar conditions were expected along Lake Erie in Michigan and Ohio.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a social media post that travel in the Buffalo area could become dangerous beginning at 11 a.m. Monday because of potential whiteout conditions and urged people to avoid driving.

The very strong cold front meant parts of the central U.S. woke up Monday to temperatures up to 50 degrees F colder than a day earlier, according to the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center. The cold front was accompanied by strong gusty winds.

The weather service warned of “dangerous wind chills” as low as minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit in North Dakota and into Minnesota from Sunday night into Monday.

People cross 7th street in the heavy snow on Sunday Dec. 28, 2025 in downtown Minneapolis. (Jerry Holt /Star Tribune via AP)

In the South, meteorologists warned severe thunderstorms are likely to signal the arrival of a sharp cold front — bringing a sudden drop in temperatures and strong north winds that will abruptly end days of record warmth throughout that region.

The high temperature in Atlanta was around 72 F on Sunday, continuing a warming trend after climbing to 78 F to shatter the city’s record high temperature for Christmas Eve, the National Weather Service said. Numerous other record high temperatures were seen across the South and Midwest on the days after Christmas.

But the incoming cold front was expected to drop rain on much of the South late Sunday night into Monday, and a big drop in temperatures Tuesday. Forecasters said the low temperature in Atlanta to 25 F by early Tuesday morning. The colder temperatures in the South are expected to persist through New Year’s Day.

In Dallas, Sunday temperatures in the lower 80s could drop down to the mid 40s. In Little Rock, high temperatures of around 70 on Sunday could drop down to highs in the mid-30s on Monday.

“We’re definitely going back towards a more winter pattern,” Oravec said.

The sun rises over a winter scene in Lowville, N.Y., on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)

The storm is expected to intensify as it moves east, drawing energy from a sharp clash between frigid air plunging south from Canada and unusually warm air that has lingered across the southern United States, according to the National Weather Service.

Willingham reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Martin reported from Kennesaw, Georgia.