There are more than 200 billionaires in California. Now, Golden State labor leaders are pushing for a tax on that wealth to help pay for education and Medicaid funding shortfalls. The new union-led proposal would create a “one-time 5% tax” on “everything from investments to property value,” as well as “other assets, like jewelry and paintings.” That alarms critics.

Opening the door?
The California proposal is the “first politically viable wealth tax,” said Harold Meyerson at The American Prospect. The purpose is to address a “crisis for many Medicaid recipients.” It has “greater significance” at a moment when the “fortunes of the very wealthy are reaching stratospheric levels” while middle-class Americans see their incomes stagnate. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is likely running for president, and he has opposed a wealth tax in his own state. “Would he oppose a national one if he wins” at a national level? said Allysia Finley said The Wall Street Journal. Probably not. “Who doubts that Democrats will seek to sock Americans with higher tax bills to pay for their entitlements?”

The real problem is the Trump administration’s “massive planned reduction in Medicaid funding,” said Mark Kreidler at Capital & Main. Addressing that issue is more important than worrying whether California billionaires can handle a “one-time tax on a fraction of their collective wealth.” The proposal will get “plenty of pushback,” including from Newsom, but the bigger question is addressing an “existential threat to the collective well-being of the Golden State.”

Gathering signatures
The tax would apply only to the 2025 net worth of California billionaires who have a “combined wealth of nearly $2 trillion,” said Axios. Because it would apply to their total wealth, billionaires “wouldn’t be able to avoid the tax by moving assets outside California.” Advocates must gather more than half a million signatures to place the measure on the state’s 2026 ballot. If approved, billionaires will have five years to pay their bill.

Retirement, at least in some form, may be possible sooner than you expect and could happen many times during your professional career. As people live longer and spend more years working, many have opted to pursue “microretirement” or take extended breaks from work without pay. This gives people a chance to rest but can also hold them back from career advancement and future stability.

What is it?
Microretirement is a trend in which people take regular breaks from work, usually lasting weeks or even months, with plans to return to their jobs after. This time can be used for relaxation, travel or personal projects. 

These breaks are “not your standard PTO,” because they are “intentional, unpaid time to rest and recharge,” said Fast Company. Microretirements can take many forms, including quitting and only finding a new job once ready to work again, “setting up a plan with your employer that allows you to take unpaid frequent work breaks,” or “taking breaks from your business if you are a business owner.” This is different from quiet vacationing, in which people still appear to be working while on a trip or out of the office.

The trend has grown across all age groups, as only 21% of employees worldwide describe themselves as engaged in their jobs in 2024, according to Gallup’s State of the Workplace Report. However, Gen Z has particularly taken to it, “using microretirement to avoid burnout, find greater fulfillment in their work and enhance their overall well-being,” said Fast Company. 

Should you do it?
The concept of taking extended breaks from work is not new. But as we “live and work longer,” retirement “can feel so far away,” said Michael Edwards, the managing director of Explore Worldwide, to The Independent. “There’s a sense of ‘why should I wait?’ None of us know what the future holds, and for many, retirement might feel too late to do the sort of traveling we have our heart set on.”

There are some downsides to microretirement, especially concerning a person’s financial future. Taking time away from a job can “affect your earnings, investments and funding your retirement,” said Fast Company. It can also affect potential career growth. You could also be “seen as a job hopper,” said HR professional Kenyetta Nesbitt-Simmons to the outlet. 

Gloria Estefan performs during the 26th Annual Latin Grammy Awards last night in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Cuban American artist’s album “Raíces” won Best Traditional Tropical Album. Other big winners of the night included Bad Bunny, Karol G and Paloma Morphy.
Kevin Winter / Getty Images for The Latin Recording Academy

The latest books are not playing around. This month’s new releases are searing and serious stories of women’s suffering, wrath and progress. They include a nonfiction exploration of the laws governing spousal consent, a work of fiction about the complicated relationships among women in a family, and the life story of Canada’s foremost feminist novelist.

‘Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts’ by Margaret Atwood
This memoir from the Canadian author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” spans almost 600 pages and, “more than most literary memoirs, is a vessel of wrath,” said Dwight Garner at The New York Times. Luckily, “wrath is interesting.” The book covers everything from Atwood’s upbringing and her relationship with longtime partner Graeme Gibson to her intense connection with both the natural world and her own dark side. (out now, $35, Doubleday)

‘Cursed Daughters’ by Oyinkan Braithwaite
This is the second novel from Nigerian British author Oyinkan Braithwaite. She shares a “lingering fascination with the dark secrets that might bind the women of a family together,” said Leu, although the “true family curse may just be these women’s inability to reckon with their past.” (out now, $29, Doubleday)

‘Without Consent’ by Sarah Weinman
This book chronicles the long legal battle to make marital rape a crime in the U.S., starting with the country’s first trial of its kind back in 1978. There’s still no federal law against marital rape, and there are “numerous exceptions and qualifications needed in many states to prove such assaults occurred,” said Rachel Louise Snyder at The New York Times. (out now, $32, Ecco)