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Starting a company with someone you trust can feel effortless at first. You’re aligned on the idea, feeling excited about what you’re building together, and running on momentum. Talking about money can feel awkward, overly formal, or unnecessary — especially if you’re friends, former colleagues, or long-time collaborators.

But here’s the truth most cofounders learn the hard way: Startups don’t usually fall apart because the product fails. They fall apart because expectations were never aligned about money, risk, and what happens when things get hard.

A “cofounder prenup” creates early clarity. It’s a set of honest, upfront conversations that help you protect your relationship, the company, and yourselves before capital, equity, or stress complicate everything. The goal is simply to ensure no one is silently carrying assumptions that could later turn into resentment.

So, before that first payment hits your bank account, Mercury, a fintech platform that offers business and personal banking services*, shares what every founding team should talk through together, in the open, to avoid money issues between cofounders.

What’s a cofounder prenup?

If you were getting married to the love of your life, even though you trust that person, you’d probably still talk about finances before making it a done deal, not because you’re planning for disaster, but because pretending money won’t matter is optimistic. You’d likely discuss things like: How do we split expenses? What’s our budget? What happens if one person earns more — or nothing at all — for a while?

A cofounder prenup involves having that same conversation, but with your business partner. It’s not an actual legal document, but rather a set of honest conversations to help you get aligned and document your approach to handling money.

Starting a company together is a legal partnership with real financial consequences. There’s cofounder equity split, risk, debt, outside investors, and long stretches where the business might not pay you at all. And yet, many founders jump in without ever saying out loud what they’re assuming will happen.

Take these cautionary tales from Reddit threads:

• One co-founder says she lost trust over a cofounder equity split dispute.
• One says their co-founder is too risk-averse when it comes to spending.
• Another says their co-founder is spending too much.
• One is unsure how to navigate a partnership with co-founders with different salary needs.

These examples are exactly why the cofounder prenup is so im

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Taking your first international trip is equal parts exciting and nerve-wracking. You’re navigating unfamiliar airports, relying on Google Maps more than you’d like to admit, and discovering that you’re more capable than you thought. For many first-time travelers—particularly college students making the most of their academic breaks—the right destination makes all the difference. The ideal first trip abroad should be walkable, safe, and easy to navigate, giving you room to build confidence without feeling overwhelmed.

EF Ultimate Break highlights 10 destinations that offer memorable experiences without breaking the bank or your comfort zone.

1. Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh feels like training wheels for first-time travel. It’s compact, easy to walk, and full of history without feeling stuffy. You can wander the Royal Mile, hike Arthur’s Seat for a reset moment, and pop into cozy cafés without feeling awkward being alone. It’s calm outside festival season in August, safe, and confidence-boosting. And a huge plus — there’s no language barrier.

2. London, England

If you’re nervous about traveling abroad for the first time, London is a great first destination. The language barrier is nonexistent, public transportation is extremely straightforward, and there’s something to do in every neighborhood. You’ll find familiar comforts alongside new experiences, making it easy to ease into international travel without feeling overwhelmed.

3. Paris, France

While Paris is great as a first-time international destination, it’s also surprisingly great solo, especially if you lean into slower days. Walk along the Seine, people-watch from a café, journal in a park, repeat. You don’t need an intense itinerary here; just being in the city is enough. It’s also a good place to practice being comfortable alone in public.

4. Prague, Czech Republic

Prague is affordable, stunning, and easy to navigate, which is exactly what you want on a first international trip. The city center is very walkable, hostels are social, and you can see a lot in a short amount of time. It’s ideal if you want history, good food, and low stress.

5. Dublin, Ireland

Dublin is friendly in a way that makes travel feel less intimidating. Locals actually talk to you, pubs feel welcoming even if you show up alone, and day trips are easy to plan. It’s a great place to ease into conversations and make friends you will keep for years past your trip.

6. Valencia, Spain

Vale

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Pay transparency is quickly turning into a front-end requirement, not a late-stage negotiation. In a new 2026 hiring survey from Patriot Software, an accounting and payroll software provider for small businesses, job seekers describe salary visibility as a trust signal and a time-saver, especially in a market shaped by layoffs, role consolidation, and longer hiring cycles.

The clearest line in the sand: 44% say they’re unlikely to apply when a posting doesn’t include a pay range.

Key findings (the stats doing the most damage)

• 44% are unlikely to apply to a job posting without a listed pay range.
• 84% believe companies hide pay to reduce workers’ negotiating power.
• 17% received an offer below the posted range when pay was disclosed.
• Among Gen Z, 42% say the top transparency practice that would boost applying and accepting is a clear explanation of how pay is set.

Pay transparency has become an application filter

Employers have long framed pay silence as “flexibility.” Candidates are increasingly treating it as a reason to walk away. Nearly half of respondents say they won’t apply if a pay range is missing, turning compensation disclosure into a first-round screening tool before any recruiter ever reaches out.

Candidates think secrecy is a strategy, not oversight

Job seekers aren’t guessing at why pay is hidden. A striking 84% say companies keep pay vague to limit negotiation leverage. That suspicion runs even deeper among higher earners, where 35% of respondents making over $150,000 believe delayed pay disclosure is used to underpay.

Transparency without follow-through backfires

Posting a pay range isn’t a credibility win if it doesn’t hold through the offer stage. Seventeen percent of respondents say they were offered below the posted range when a range was disclosed. For candidates, that gap turns “transparency” into a broken promise and can erode trust faster than saying nothing at all.

Gen Z wants the logic, not just the number

Younger workers are pushing beyond “What’s the range?” to “How does pay actually work here?” Among Gen Z respondents, 42% say the single most helpful transparency practice is a clear explanation of how pay is set, pointing to rising demand for clarity on progression, criteria, and fairness, not just a band of numbers.

Summary

The takeaway is less philosophical than practical: Pay transparency is already changing hiring behavior. Job seekers are using salary visibility to decide where to spend their time, and they’re reading compensation clarity as a proxy for respect and trust. For small businesses trying to compete on speed and credibility, visible pay ranges and consistent follow-through are rapidly becoming baseline expectations.

Methodology

Patriot Software reports results from a January 2026 survey conducted via Pollfish of 1,000 U.S. adults who applied for at least one job in the past 12 months, across multiple industries.

In the survey, participants answered questions about job postings, pay disclosure, interview experiences, and how compensa

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Investing today isn’t just about stocks or retirement accounts. Providers are racing to combine investing, taxes, estate planning, banking and financial advice into a seamless, unified experience.

Robinhood’s newly launched, limited-access Concierge service is a timely example. Eligible clients gain full-service tax filing, estate planning documents and access to a certified financial planner (CFP). The offering is currently available by invitation and slated to run through April 2026. While Concierge currently targets high-asset households — $1 million in assets or a $500,000 transfer — it hints at a bigger ambition: Turning a simple trading app into an all-in-one wealth platform.

As this article from Finder.com explains, the move is part of a larger trend in wealth management. With trillions of dollars expected to transfer across generations in the so-called Great Wealth Transfer, companies are competing not just on returns, but on convenience — offering bundled access to a broad range of financial services under one digital roof.

Research backs up this shift. A 2023 FIS survey found that nearly half of consumers — from Boomers to Gen Z — say that access to a single platform to manage all their financial services is their top priority. Meanwhile, a 2022 Cerulli report found that 58% of retail investors would like to consolidate investable assets with one provider, yet only 37% currently do. These numbers make it clear: Investors want simplification, and providers are racing to deliver it.

How Robinhood Concierge works

Robinhood brings together three main services through partners:

• Full-service tax filing via Taxfyle, pairing clients with a CPA or Enrolled Agent.
• Estate planning documents via Vanilla, including wills, revocable trusts and powers of attorney.
• Dedicated CFP access to help manage services across financial needs.

While Robinhood itself doesn’t provide tax or estate services, it manages the overall experience — including perks like a 1% match on qualifying transfers and priority support.

Building these services also aligns with Robinhood’s broader goal of capturing a larger share of clients’ financial lives. During Robinhood’s most recent earnings call, CEO Vladimir Tenev emphasized the company’s three-part strategy: “number one in active traders, number one in wallet share for the next generation, and [its] long-term mark

Por Lucas Lilieholm y Mostafa Salem, CNN

El ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Irán expresó su optimismo de que se pueda llegar rápidamente a un acuerdo con los negociadores estadounidenses para evitar una confrontación militar, en mitad del incremento de fuerzas militares de Washington en Medio Oriente.

“No creo que tome mucho tiempo. Quizás en cuestión de una semana o así podamos comenzar negociaciones realmente serias sobre el texto y llegar a una conclusión,” declaró Abbas Araghchi el viernes en una entrevista en MS NOW.

El diplomático afirmó que el siguiente paso para su equipo era preparar una propuesta para el enviado para el Medio Oriente del presidente Donald Trump.

“Creo que en los próximos dos o tres días, eso estaría listo y, tras la confirmación final de mis superiores, se entregaría a Steve Witkoff y quizás necesitaríamos otra sesión para hablar de eso y luego empezar a trabajar en ese borrador para, con suerte, llegar a una buena conclusión”, confió.

Estados Unidos no ha pedido a Irán que detenga el enriquecimiento de uranio y Teherán no ha ofrecido suspenderlo voluntariamente, declaró, además, el viernes Araghchi.

“No hemos ofrecido ninguna suspensión, y la parte estadounidense no ha pedido enriquecimiento cero… de lo que estamos hablando ahora es de cómo asegurarnos de que el programa nuclear de Irán, incluido el enriquecimiento, sea pacífico y permanezca pacífico para siempre”, señaló Araghchi en la misma entrevista a MS NOW.

El presidente Donald Trump insistió el fin de semana en que EE.UU. “no quiere ningún enriquecimiento”, sugiriendo que Washington no se conformará con un acuerdo que permita siquiera un bajo nivel de procesamiento de uranio por parte de Irán.

Araghchi, quien mantuvo la segunda ronda de negociaciones con los enviados estadounidenses Steve Witkoff y Jared Kushner en Ginebra el martes, manifestó también que un “acuerdo de ganar-ganar” significa que el programa nuclear de Irán “permanece pacífico” a cambio del levantamiento de sanciones.

El ministro de Relaciones Exteriores calificó el aumento militar de EE.UU. en Medio Oriente como “totalmente innecesario” y “poco útil”.

“(Una) opción militar solo complicaría esto y solo traería consecuencias desastrosas no solo para nosotros, quizás para toda la región y para toda la comunidad internacional”, advirtió.

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