Hello Friends! It is Black History Month in the US ♥️. To us, this month is incredibly important. Every year we find the dialogue about our shared history is getting richer. Are there plenty of concerns? Yes, there are. Opportunities to act? Yes, there are. And in the current focus our personal understanding of the ongoing contributions to all that we are together increases, and the world – at least the one close to us – gets better and becomes fuller. #thankyou

While you’re busy with the hustle and bustle with friends, family, and your community all preparing to celebrate the big holidays, don’t forget to pause and nourish yourself a bit along the way. Curl up for a moment in those footie socks with some wassail and catch yourself up:

• Martha Deevy on optimizing 100-year lives and the importance of financial resiliency

• Key updates from California, Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, New York State, and Virginia

• DCIIA, The Aspen Institute, and Morningstar – joint venture in expanding equitable retirement

• What’s one piece of hopeful news you heard this week? – check out Hot Sauce and Cool Stuff

• Pix of the week to boost your day

This week we chat with Ida Rademacher, Vice President and Director of Aspen’s Financial Security Program, and Karen Andres, Director of Policy and Market Solutions for the Program. We’re hitting four hot topics: the power of automatic enrollment. What happens when we re-imagine retirement? Innovation among our financial services providers. And maybe most importantly, the call for a national strategy on financial inclusion.