This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. This report is exclusively available to enterprise subscribers. To learn more about getting access to this report, email Senior Account Executive Chris Roth at croth@businessinsider.com, or check to see if your company already has access. 

New data shows that mobile features have become a key factor that customers weigh when choosing a bank. 

In Business Insider Intelligence's second annual Mobile Banking Competitive Edge study, 64% of mobile banking users said that they would research a bank's mobile banking capabilities before opening an account with them. And 61% said that they would switch banks if their bank offered a poor mobile banking experience.

For channel strategists, the challenge in attracting mobile-minded customers is knowing when to bet budgets and political capital on developing emerging features. It's complicated by most flashy features — such as voice assistants, smartwatch banking, and bank-offered mobile wallets — being deemed a "must" by analysts, media, and rival banking executives. 

The Mobile Banking Competitive Edge Report uses data to inform channel investment decisions by highlighting which mobile banking features are most valuable to customers. Our study has data on consumer demand for 33 in-demand mobile capabilities across six key categories. 

Using that consumer data, the study benchmarks the largest 20 banks and credit unions in the US by whether they offer the cutting-edge mobile features that customers say they care about most. What sets our benchmark apart is that it weights every feature according to customer demand data — not subjective analyst opinion.  

Channel strategists within financial institutions use our report to see which innovative features they should prioritize in development pipelines and to find out how they compare with rival banks and credit unions in offering those features.

Business Insider Intelligence fielded the Mobile Banking Competitive Edge Study to members of its proprietary panel in August 2018, reaching over 1,200 US consumers — primarily handpicked digital professionals and early-adopters, making our sample a sensitive indicator of emerging features. 

Here are a few key takeaways from the report:

• Citi snagged first overall. The bank led the account access section, tied for first in account management, and ranked highly in all the other categories of the study. Wells Fargo took second place, leading in security and control and transfers. USAA came in third, NFCU was fourth, and Bank of America rounded out the top five.
• Demand for security features is sizzling. Following a year of huge breaches being announced at companies like Facebook and Google, consumers' security concerns jumped to become the most important category. The category included the No. 1 feature overall: the ability to turn a payment card on or off. 
• Digital money management features are also highly demanded. Chase and Wells Fargo may be onto something with their millennial-focused banking apps, Finn and Greenhouse, as the generation had sky-high demand for the six features in the category. The most popular feature in the category was the ability to separate recurring payments, such as Netflix and gym memberships.

 In full, the report:

• Shows how 33 mobile features stack up according to how valuable customers say they are.
• Ranks the top 20 US banks and credit unions on whether they offer each of those features.
• Analyzes how demographics effect demand for different mobile features.
• Provides strategies for banks to best attract and retain customers with mobile features.
• Contains 63 pages and 30 figures.

The full report is available to Business Insider Intelligence enterprise clients. To learn more about this report, email Senior Account Executive Chris Roth (croth@businessinsider.com).  

Business Insider Intelligence's Mobile Banking Competitive Edge study includes: Ally, Bank of America, BB&T, BBVA Compass, BMO Harris, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, Fifth Third, HSBC, KeyBank, Navy Federal Credit Union, PNC, Regions, SunTrust, TD, Union Bank, US Bank, USAA, and Wells Fargo.

SEE ALSO: These are the trends creating new winners and losers in the card-processing ecosystem

Join the conversation about this story »

• An English professor at Georgia Tech University taught a course on "adulting," and found most of her students didn't consider themselves adults.
• Many of her students said that adulthood starts when you had kids of your own.
• Recent research has shown young people are putting off traditional milestones like marriage, having children, and home ownership.

The typical college kid may legally be an adult, but that doesn't mean they feel like one.

Rebekah Fitzsimmons would know — she's an English professor at Georgia Tech who taught a course called "Adulting: Coming of Age in 21st Century America."

Over the course of the fall 2016 semester, Fitzsimmons had her students use digital media and historical texts to define what it means to be an adult in today's world.

Early on, the professor learned that her students — who comprised the youngest members of the millennial generation — didn't consider themselves adults. That gave way to one of the main themes of the class: that adulthood starts later for young people today than ever before.

"In previous generations, that maybe happened a little bit sooner, a little bit younger, and there were clear demarcations for, hey, that person's a grown-up," Fitzsimmons told Business Insider.

Fitzsimmons said she had her students write essays about the milestones they thought marked a coming of age, and was surprised by the results.

"The vast majority of them said that they thought it was when you had kids of your own," she said. "It wasn't graduated from college, it wasn't getting your first job."

"I joked with him that my definition was, you're paying your own rent, you have your health insurance. That's what I think being an adult is. But they said, you know, once you have kids, that's it — you're definitely an adult."

And young people are putting off that milestone in record numbers. A recent report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said across the US, women in their 30s were having children at the highest rate in more than 50 years. 

At the same time, the birthrate of women aged 15 to 24 experienced a nationwide decline, the report said.

Young people are waiting longer than their parents to get married, as well. According to a recent Gallup poll, 20% of Americans aged 18 to 30 are married, compared to 32% of Generation X members and 40% of Baby Boomers when they were the same ages. And one recent survey found a typical couple today is together for just short of five years before getting married.

Fitzsimmons said one of the reasons for the cultural shift is that college has become more accessible for young people — increased access to education means more people are putting off traditional milestones like home ownership, marriage, and having children.

But the economy looms large on their decision-making, too, she said, and many young people are feeling pressured to get a jump-start on their professional careers to justify the cost of education.

"Financial pressures are making the suburban home with a white picket fence, two cars in the driveway, two kids and a dog — it just doesn't seem feasible anymore," she told Business Insider.

"Right now my students are coming to college and they're not like, 'Oh, this is great, I'm going to kind of figure things out, I'm gonna find my dream job.' They're like, 'I am sinking in the cost of this college education. It better get me back out.'"

SEE ALSO: 7 things the average American has accomplished by age 35

DON'T MISS: 23 things most millennials have never heard of

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NOW WATCH: Peter Thiel Explains Why He Doesn't Feel Like An Adult

• My savings-account balance doubled in 2018, no thanks to a windfall or some form of personal-finance wizardry.
• I set up automatic savings and kept my savings account at a different bank from my checking account.
• This strategy is championed by author James Clear in his book "Atomic Habits"— he says adding "friction" to bad habits can make them impractical, while automating good habits can make them stick.

I spend a lot of time thinking about money. Part of my job is writing about it, and, perhaps like you, I'm constantly scheming to save more: How else am I going to afford an indulgent vacation or dream house one day?

So I was delighted when I checked one of my savings accounts this week and discovered my balance had doubled since January 2018, and I didn't even know it.

I soon realized my good fortune was thanks to two low-effort actions: I automate my savings, and I keep the account at a different bank.

Almost two years ago, I opened a high-yield savings account at Ally Bank, which was named the best bank for millennials and the best internet bank in 2018 by personal-finance magazine Kiplinger.

I went to my payroll portal and set up auto-savings to direct a fixed amount of every paycheck into my Ally account. It took less than five minutes.

Every two weeks, my savings account balance increases by the same amount, plus interest. Ally currently offers a 2% annual percentage yield; typical savings accounts at traditional banks average 0.07%. That stellar interest rate netted me an extra $68 last year.

With automated savings, the money comes out of my paycheck before I even see it, so I don't know what I'm missing. I just assume that money is off-limits, and I can spend only what's in my checking account, which brings me to the key part of this strategy and the reason I didn't know my savings doubled until now: My savings account is at Ally, but my checking account is at a different bank.

As it turns out, I unknowingly implemented a strategy championed by James Clear, a productivity expert and the author of "Atomic Habits." Clear says the best way to quit bad habits (spending money, in this case) is to add "friction," thereby making it harder to commit the bad habit.

Read more:There's an easy strategy to start breaking your worst habits for 2019, and its opposite can help you build the good habits you want

"The best way to break a bad habit is to make it impractical to do," Clear wrote. "Increase the friction until you don't even have the option to act."

By setting up a savings account at a different bank entirely, I made it harder to just transfer money over into my checking account whenever I'm running low. Clear's examples of adding "friction" include taking the batteries out of your remote to deter TV watching and putting your phone in a different room so any time you feel inclined to scroll Instagram or text people aimlessly, you have to get up and find your phone first.

And the best way to develop good habits, like saving money? Make it easy. I can't think of any easier way to save money than doing it automatically.

As Clear says, "When working in your favor, automation can make your good habits inevitable and your bad habits impossible."

SEE ALSO: I grew my net worth by over $100,000 in 2 years — and I started by saving just $5 a day

DON'T MISS: 7 of the best pieces of advice self-made millionaires shared about money in 2018

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Tim Cook's estimated net worth is $625 million — here's how he makes and spends his money

• When the 2018 crypto crash rocked the cryptocurrency-mining industry, shares of the chipmakers Nvidia and AMD performed wildly different. 
• Nvidia got hit hard in 2018 while AMD managed to post big gains.
• One reason is that Nvidia is a pure graphics processing unit player, whereas AMD sells both GPUs and central processing units, an analyst said.
• There's a lot of optimism that AMD will gain market shares from Intel, he added.
• Watch AMD and Nvidia trade live.

When the 2018 crypto crash rocked the cryptocurrency-mining industry, shares of the chipmakers Nvidia and AMD performed wildly different.

Nvidia lost 32% last year, but AMD gained a whopping 71%. And that's no surprise in the eyes of Christopher Rolland, a semiconductor analyst at Susquehanna International Group.

"Some of the differences between the two stocks are simply because Nvidia is a pure GPU player, whereas AMD has GPUs as well, they also sell a lot of CPUs,"Rolland told Markets Insider.

Simply put, a graphics processing unit (GPU) can only do a fraction of the many operations a central processing unit (CPU) does, but it does so with incredible speed. Therefore, GPUs are more cost-effective for crypto mining, but CPUs have a broader consumer base. 

According to Rolland, the crypto boom in 2017 led both Nvidia and AMD to overproduce GPUs for crypto mining, causing an inventory problem when digital currencies crashed in 2018.

For AMD, thanks to its CPU business, the market has a lot more hope and optimism. "The prospects for their CPU business versus Intel are the best that have been in decades," he said. 

Last year, AMD shares surged by more than 230% through the middle of September as rival Intel was contending with a production delay for its 10-nanometer chips. And while a research report later said Intel may have cured its production problem sooner than expected, analysts noted that the delay "opened the door for AMD to gain share in both servers and PCs - near and long term."

Also at stake is that AMD is widely expected to roll out its 7 nm chips in the first quarter of 2019, which in theory provide better performance than 10nm ones. "There's hope that they are going to gain market share from Intel," Rolland added.

Another reason for the two stocks' different performance, Rolland says, could be the timing of their financial reporting. Usually, Nvidia reports a month later than AMD, which means Nvidia has disclosed more information about its inventory issues.

"Nvidia has already confessed fully to the amount of inventory that's out there," said Rolland. "AMD has only half confessed."

Now read:

• AMD and Nvidia are facing near-term pressure as cheaper gaming chips are flooding the secondary market, RBC says
• AMD and Nvidia's crypto problems 'will persist longer than expected,' RBC says 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The equity chief at $6.3 trillion BlackRock weighs in on the trade war, a possible recession, and offers her best investing advice for a tricky 2019 landscape

• Real estate in Manhattan has been moving toward a buyers' market.
• The median sales price of units sold in Manhattan fell 6% in the final three months of 2018.
• The fourth quarter marked the first time in three years that the figure was below $1 million.

In the latest sign that Manhattan is heading toward a softer real-estate market, the typical cost of housing sold fell below $1 million during the final stretch of 2018 for the first time in three years.

The median sales price of units sold in the borough fell nearly 6% from the same period last year to $999,000 from October to December, according to a report from listing broker Douglas Elliman Real Estate, the lowest since 2015. Though the rate of decline is steadying, the number of total sales fell for a fifth straight quarter.

With bidding wars occurring at the lowest rate within the market in six years, according to the report, Douglas Elliman's New York City office president Steven James said market dynamics had offered "an excellent opportunity for buyers."

Co-ops performed better than condos, the report out Thursday said. Most inventory gains were seen in the studio and one-bedroom market, while home prices skewed the overall average higher through larger-sized sales.

"All-in-all, this was a weaker market than a year ago, but there was nothing dramatic to change from prior quarters in 2018," added report author Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel Inc. "It looks like 2019 market sales and prices might show us 'more of the same' as the federal tax law and higher rates play a crucial role in the housing marketplace."

Real-estate activity in Manhattan has contrasted with trends across the country, where housing shortages are expected to persist in the months ahead. Compounded by falling residential-construction activity and rising interest rates, that could price some Americans out of the market.

The new tax law could be one possible reason for the disconnect. Lower mortgage-interest deductions and new caps on state and local tax deductions have reduced incentives for Americans to own homes. This means the next buyer might adjust how much they are willing to pay, according to Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American.

"This is particularly relevant in New York," Fleming said. "It's now more expensive than before to own a higher-priced home."

Meanwhile, the rate at which national home costs are rising appears to be slowing. A CoreLogic report out Wednesday showed annual price gains slowed to 5.1% in November from 6.2% a year earlier.

Now Read:

The world's biggest stock bear explains why the battered market is still doomed to lose another 50%

Industry insiders are predicting a battle between the biggest hedge-fund names for top quant talent

SEE ALSO: The housing market is cooling off — and uncertainty isn't helping

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The equity chief at $6.3 trillion BlackRock weighs in on the trade war, a possible recession, and offers her best investing advice for a tricky 2019 landscape

• We may soon be entering a bear market, but it's not time to panic if you're an investor.
• As Warren Buffett wrote in his 2016 letter to shareholders, investors should do two things when stocks are falling: stay in the market and buy at a bargain.
• President Donald Trump also said now is "a tremendous opportunity to buy" stocks.

Stocks may be teetering on the brink of a bear market, but now is not the time to panic. 

While the Dow and S&P 500 are both on track for the worst losses in a decade, as Business Insider's Callum Burroughs reported, it's important to remember the oft-repeated advice of Warren Buffett: "Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful."

As MoneyTalksNews reported, Buffett, the billionaire investor and founder of Berkshire Hathaway, reiterated some of his best advice for sustaining wealth during a bear market in his 2016 letter to shareholders: stay in the market and buy at a bargain.

Buffett wrote:

"During such scary periods, you should never forget two things: First, widespread fear is your friend as an investor, because it serves up bargain purchases. Second, personal fear is your enemy. It will also be unwarranted. Investors who avoid high and unnecessary costs and simply sit for an extended period with a collection of large, conservatively-financed American businesses will almost certainly do well."

In other words, don't fall victim to widespread panic and begin selling off stocks, because wealth-generating investments are long term.

Read more: An early retiree who interviewed 100 millionaires found many of them built their fortunes using a simple investment strategy championed by Warren Buffett

"American business — and consequently a basket of stocks — is virtually certain to be worth far more in the years ahead. Innovation, productivity gains, entrepreneurial spirit and an abundance of capital will see to that ... Many companies, of course, will fall behind, and some will fail,"he wrote.

Most importantly, it's impossible to predict when economic crises will happen, Buffett said, but they're inevitable.

President Donald Trump seems to share the same sentiment as Buffett. As the US stock market experienced record losses leading up to Christmas, Trump on Christmas Eve told reporters that right now is "a tremendous opportunity to buy" stocks, according to a Reuters report. 

"We have companies, the greatest in the world, and they're doing really well. They have record kinds of numbers," Trump said.

Staying in the market over the long term is a proven way to build and sustain wealth.

John, a self-made millionaire who runs the personal-finance blog ESI Money, interviewed 100 millionaires over the past few years and found that many of them employed Buffett's signature investing strategy: They invest in low-cost index funds, and they tended not to give into the temptation of frequently changing their investments.

SEE ALSO: 21 quotes from self-made billionaires that will change your outlook on money

DON'T MISS: Warren Buffett is the world's third-richest man — see how the notoriously frugal billionaire spends his fortune

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I ate like billionaire Warren Buffett for a week — and I felt awful

• Padmanabh Singh is the 20-year-old 'king' of Jaipur, India.
• Although he's not officially considered a king by the state in democratic India, his position is still respected.
• Singh is a polo star who has studied at New York University and walked the runway in fashion shows.
• Estimates of the royal family's wealth vary, but Singh is estimated to control a fortune of between $697 million and $2.8 billion.

At 20 years old, Padmanabh Singh controls a fortune of between $697 million and $855 million and is called a "king."

Padmanabh Singh, full title Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur, is the young monarch of Jaipur, a city in northwestern India famous for its pink architecture and imperial palaces.

Singh's royal title is not officially recognized by law, as India is a federal parliamentary democratic republic with a president and a prime minister. But it "still inspires respect in this deeply hierarchical country where the aristocracy is venerated despite rapid social change," according to the Guardian.

The wealth of the royal family is estimated to be between $697 million and $2.8 billion.

Singh spends his time playing polo, studying liberal arts, walking in fashion shows, and traveling the world.

Here's a look at the young royal's life.

SEE ALSO: Meet the Ambanis, the richest family in Asia, who live in a $1 billion skyscraper and mingle with royals, politicians, and Bollywood stars

DON'T MISS: The top 10 trips Americans wanted to take in 2018, according to Google

Padmanabh Singh is the 20-year-old king of Jaipur, India. His full title is Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur.

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Source: Elle India

Singh, whose family and friends call him "Pacho," is the 303rd descendant of the royal family of Jaipur.

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Source: Elle India

He became king in 2011 after the death of his grandfather, Sawai Man Singhji Bahadur, who was called "the last Maharaja of Jaipur" when he died because he ascended to the throne soon before royal privileges stopped being recognized in India.

Source: The Guardian, Getty Images

• Five 15-year-old girls have died after a fire broke out in a Polish escape room.
• The girls were playing the game, which sees participants get locked in a room where they must solve puzzles in order to get out, to celebrate a birthday.
• A 25-year-old man was also taken to hospital with burns.
• Poland's firefighting chief said "makeshift" electrical wiring which was too close to flammable materials was to blame for the blaze, adding that the man in charge was "probably not there when the fire broke out."
• A day of mourning has been called for the town of Koszalin, northern Poland.

Five teenage girls have died at a Polish escape room, where a fire broke out while they were celebrating a birthday.

The 15-year-old girls were participating in an escape room game in Koszalin, northern Poland when a fire broke out around 5 p.m. local time (4 p.m. GMT and 11 a.m. EST), according to the BBC.

Police spokesperson Monika Kosiec said the bodies of the five girls were found in a room near the fire when firefighters put out a blaze.

A 25-year-old man was also seriously harmed and taken to hospital with burns.

Poland's firefighting chief, Leszek Suski, said on Saturday that "makeshift" electrical wiring which was too close to flammable materials was to blame for the blaze, adding that the man in charge was probably not there when the fire broke out, according to AP.

Escape room games, which have risen in popularity in recent years, see participants get locked in a room, where they must solve puzzles and complete complicated tasks in order to get out.

Read more: A burglar allegedly broke into an escape room — but he had to call 911 on himself when he couldn't get out

Polish officials are now carrying out safety checks on similar games across the country, where the escape rooms are popular.

A day of mourning has been called for Koszalin, while a number of local events have been cancelled, with Polish President Andrzej Duda calling the fire an "appalling tragedy."

"Five joyful girls starting out in life have had life torn away from them," he tweeted.

Poland's Interior Minister Joachim Brudziński also tweeted his condolences to the families of the girls.

"I want to express my sympathy and regrets to the families of the victims of the fire," he said. "I've instructed the chief commander of the State Fire Brigade to carry out fire checks on all places of this type across the country."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The legendary economist who predicted the housing crisis says the US will win the trade war

Talk about "5G" has been circulating for years now, but it's only recently that the next-generation, super-fast wireless technology has become a real, tangible thing that people can actually use.

Right now, only a tiny number of people across a very limited spread of locations have access to 5G. For most of us, 5G is still a mystery, full of tantalizing promise but few details.

But that's going to change as more carriers and device-makers start rolling out 5G products and service that can deliver blazing internet speeds to your smartphone and to your home. And we're likely to learn a lot more about what 5G technology can do during the Consumer Electronics Show — one of the largest tech conferences in the world — that kicks off in a few days.  

Here's everything you need to know about 5G, the wireless technology that will be in the spotlight at CES 2019:

SEE ALSO: 5G wireless service is coming, but don't expect it to super-charge your smartphone's internet anytime soon

What is 5G?

5G is the "evolution" of 4G LTE, which is what currently lets us stream videos, music, browse the web and social media, and use data-intensive apps on our mobile devices. 

As an evolution of something that already exists, 5G is set to be better than 4G LTE. It promises incredibly fast wireless communication for mobile devices, and the ability to handle heavier loads of traffic. That means less of the dreaded network overload that slows your phone's data to a crawl in highly congested areas. 

In addition to mobile networks, 5G will be used to bring faster internet services directly into your home.

5G is fast enough that it could also become an alternative to cables for transmitting all sorts of data. It won't replace cables entirely, but for some applications and industries, it could replace the need for them. It's also suited for new and experimental innovations, such as providing a continuous stream of speed-sensitive data that's required for many self-driving-car systems.

How fast will 5G be and how much will it cost?

We have an idea of what kind of speeds to expect with 5G home internet based on Verizon's 5G home internet service, called Verizon 5G Home, that rolled out in October 2018.

The company promises internet speeds of up to 300 megabits-per-second for a price of $50 per month for existing Verizon customers, or $70 per month for non-existing Verizon customers. That's actually slower than Verizon's top-tier landline internet service Fios — which provides gigabit (1,000 mbps) speeds — and it's not that much cheaper. On top of that, Verizon's 5G Home service is only available to a very limited number of cities. 

Still, not everyone uses Verizon's Fios gigabit internet service. The average internet speed in the US as of 2018 was 96.25 mega bits per second — essentially a third of what Verizon's 5G Home internet speeds can deliver. 

As for mobile wireless, the verdict is still out, but the general message from the telecommunications industry is that it's much faster and more responsive than the current 4G LTE networks. 

AT&T has rolled out its 5G network in 12 cities so far, with a cost of $75 per month for a 15GB data plan. The only issue right now is that no one can really use AT&T's mobile 5G network, as no commercially available mobile devices actually support 5G as of yet. Only in the spring of this year will AT&T customers be able to buy a $500 5G mobile hotspot, to which customers will have to connect their smartphones to use AT&T's 5G network. 

How does it work?

For mobile devices like smartphones, 5G service will be transmitted much like 4G LTE is today — with antennas dotted throughout a city (rooftops, utility poles, etc).  

For home internet, you'll be able to get 5G service through an antenna installed outside of one of your home's windows, that's connected to a WiFi router inside your home. That antenna will pick up one of 5G's "millimeter wave" wireless signals transmitted from millimeter-wave cell towers.

• The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) runs from January 8-11 in Las Vegas.
• The event has become an increasingly important venue for automakers to show off their ideas for the future of transportation.
• This year, automakers like Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Honda are bringing concept and upcoming production vehicles to the event.

As the auto industry moves toward electrification and autonomy, the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has become an increasingly important venue for automakers to show off their ideas for the future of transportation. Last year, Toyota unveiled a concept for a self-driving delivery vehicle and Ford outlined its efforts to create communication technology for autonomous vehicles.

This year, automakers like Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Honda are bringing concept and upcoming production vehicles to the event, which runs from January 8-11 in Las Vegas.

These are the 11 vehicles we're most excited to see at CES.

SEE ALSO: The 31 coolest concept cars revealed in 2018

Audi E-Tron

Audi will bring its upcoming E-Tron electric SUV to CES.

Honda Autonomous Work Vehicle

Honda will show off an autonomous, multi-purpose vehicle.

Hyundai Elevate

Hyundai will unveil its Elevate concept vehicle, which will have wheels attached to legs the automaker says will allow the vehicle to drive, walk, or climb depending on the environment.

• There are six myths people believe about millionaires, according to an author who studied more than 10,000 millionaires.
• They think rich people didn't earn their money, took risks with their money, and have a leg up with education and careers.
• Believing these myths can prevent one from building their own wealth.

If you don't believe you can be a millionaire, you'll never be one.

That's according to Chris Hogan, author of "Everyday Millionaires: How Ordinary People Built Extraordinary Wealth — and How You Can Too."

The book, out January 7, explores Hogan's findings from a seven-month study of more than 10,000 American millionaires (defined as those with a net worth of at least $1 million) with the Dave Ramsey research team.

They discovered there are several myths circulating the wealthy and how they built their wealth — and believing them can be one of the biggest hurdles preventing you from becoming a millionaire.

"Believing the myths about wealth and the wealthy will prevent you from ever becoming wealthy yourself," Hogan wrote. "Saying, 'I can't' or 'It's not possible for someone like me' will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. You'll be short-changing your potential and guaranteeing your own failure."

Non-millionaires believe that the wealthy didn't earn their money, took risks with their money, and have a leg up with education and careers.

Hogan breaks down the six biggest myths everyday people believe about millionaires that can prevent wealth building:

1. Millionaires inherited their money

"Most millionaires are first-generation rich," Hogan wrote. "That means they worked hard, made sacrifices, and lived on a plan."

Less than a quarter of the millionaires Hogan studied received an inheritance — of those, 16% received $100,000, while only 3% received a minimum of $1 million. 

2. Millionaires are lucky

"People view wealth like lightning strikes, as though they have no control over when and where the millionaire lightning will strike next," Hogan wrote.

On the contrary, his research found that most millionaires are self-made, meaning they worked hard to build their wealth from the ground up. More than three-fourths of the millionaires Hogan studied said anyone can build wealth with discipline and hard work.

But hard work isn't the only attribute characteristic of millionaires — another researcher found that resilience and perseverance are key to building wealth.

Read more: An early retiree who interviewed 100 millionaires discovered nearly all of them got rich using the same 3-step strategy

3. Millionaires make risky investments

"Millionaires understand that risk is something to be managed, not avoided," Hogan wrote. "They simply tread carefully, weigh the risk and potential reward, and then move forward cautiously and confidently, knowing that their success is in their own hands."

The majority of millionaires in his study hit seven figures thanks to their employer-sponsored retirement plan. 

Many millionaires also use a simple investing strategy that's low in risk, according to a self-made millionaire who spent three years interviewing other millionaires: Investing in low-cost index funds.

This strategy, recommended by experts like Warren Buffett, is favored for its high returns and low costs.

4. Millionaires take stupid risks to quickly build wealth

Hogan called building wealth a "long-term play." Most of the millionaires he studied built their wealth "low and slow," he said.

Hogan found it took many millionaires decades to become a millionaire — only 5% reached millionaire status in less than a decade, while nearly half didn't become millionaires until they were almost 50.

"They balanced risk and reward with a long-term mindset, and now they're sitting pretty," he said.

One of the best ways to build wealth is taking advantage of compound interest, in which both the balance and older interest payments earn even more interest over time. The sooner you start putting money away in a high-interest savings account, the more compound interest you'll be able to accumulate.

Read more: A researcher who studied over 600 millionaires found they do 3 things to forge a clear path to financial independence

5. Millionaires have prestigious educations from a private college

An overwhelming number of millionaires Hogan studied didn't attend a prestigious private school; more than half graduated from public state schools, while less than 10% never even graduated college at all.

What makes a difference, Hogan said, is how involved one is. Millionaires were more likely to be involved in extracurricular activities in high school — a sign of "the drive and initiative that would ultimately lead to financial independence," he wrote.

Dr. Kat Cohen, the founder and CEO of college-counseling firm IvyWise, previously told Business Insider that the value of a student's education comes down to what they make of their experience on campus. Being involved, she said, will help them secure long-term career success in the future — which can lead to higher earnings.

6. Millionaires make a lot of money at their job

Around 33% of millionaires never earned more than $100,000 as a household in a single working year, according to Hogan's study, and only 31% averaged $100,000 a year.

"Salary is a factor in building wealth, but it isn't the biggest factor," he wrote. "Millionaires know that how much you make isn't nearly as important as what you do with it."

No matter your salary, what you should be doing with your paycheck is saving at least 20% of it — and living well below your means.

Bottom line: Wealth isn't random and doesn't involve a leg up. The average millionaire has a regular job and used the typical retirement plan and hard work to build their wealth. 

"The average millionaires rejected the myths that told them 'someone like them' couldn't do it," Hogan wrote. "They chose a different path; they chose to swim upstream."

SEE ALSO: The author of 'The Millionaire Next Door' explains 3 ways anyone can build more wealth

DON'T MISS: A woman who studied 600 millionaires found 5 major differences in how they spend their time and energy compared with the average American

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Tim Cook's estimated net worth is $625 million — here's how he makes and spends his money

• Bristol-Myers Squibb is buying biotech giant Celgene in a $74 billion deal.
• The deal combines a massive pharmaceutical company with a biotech giant, both of which have a big presence in the development of cancer drugs.
• BMS said it's expecting to realize $2.5 billion in "synergies" by 2022 — a term that should make employees of the two companies nervous.

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celgene started 2019 off with a bang, announcing plans on Thursday to combine in a $74 billion deal.

Celgene shareholders will be paid $50 and one BMS share per Celgene share, valuing Celgene at about $102.43 a share. The deal combines a massive pharmaceutical company with a biotech giant, both of which have a big presence in the development of cancer drugs.

In a news release announcing the deal, the companies used a word that should make BMS and Celgene employee nervous: "synergies." BMS said it expected to achieve $2.5 billion in synergies by 2022.

Read more: Bristol-Myers Squibb is buying Celgene in a $74 billion deal

Essentially, synergies is a fancy word for opportunities for cost cutting. It has to do with areas in which investment bankers or the firms involved in the deal have identified redundancies or opportunities to make the combined company leaner, thus saving on costs.

"This deal is really all about the launches, the pipeline, the value of the synergies," Caforio said on the call.

While synergies can also mean cutting redundancies in things like software and machinery, a large chunk of the savings typically comes from reducing the number of employees at the combined companies.

"While we expect many new opportunities for employees as part of a larger, stronger organization, in any combination of two companies in the same industry, there will be some overlap," the companies said in a document for employees. 

In a presentation to investors, the company gave several clues about where it's likely to cut costs. About 55% of the savings are expected to come from selling, general and administrative expenses, a catch-all that describes many of the functions that help a company run.

Another 35% will come from the research and development budget, including cuts to "overlapping resources."

Still, BMS's chief financial officer, Charles Bancroft, said the companies want to "retain talent, protect key value drivers and leverage the enhanced scale of the new company."

Bancroft told Business Insider that the company doesn't want to disrupt employees working on approval filings the respective companies have in front of the FDA during the integration process. 

"What we get in assets become future value drivers of the company," Bancroft said. 

You can see the full slide below:

• Read more:
• 10 surprises that could rock biotech stocks in 2019, from success in Alzheimer's to a stumble in depression
• Top healthcare bankers from Morgan Stanley and Bank of America see a slowdown ahead after a record year for deals and IPOs
• 16 billion-dollar startups revolutionizing healthcare that you should be watching in 2019
• Pharma giant GSK just made a $5.1 billion bet on a cancer-drug maker

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The reason some men can't grow full beards, according to a dermatologist

• Apple just slashed its quarterly revenue guidance amid slowing iPhone sales in China and a variety of other issues.
• Analysts had recently warned on an impending slowdown in the iPhone market, due in part to slowing economic growth in China.
• Google Trends data shows interest began waning years ago in both China and in the US.
• Watch Apple trade live.

Apple, in a rare move on Wednesday, issued a warning on its quarterly revenue guidance amid slowing iPhone sales in China and a litany of other issues. The announcement slammed shares, sending them down more than 8% early Thursday.

"While we anticipated some challenges in key emerging markets, we did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in Greater China," CEO Tim Cook wrote in a letter to investors. "In fact, most of our revenue shortfall to our guidance, and over 100 percent of our year-over-year worldwide revenue decline, occurred in Greater China across iPhone, Mac and iPad. 

"Lower than anticipated iPhone revenue, primarily in Greater China, accounts for all of our revenue shortfall to our guidance and for much more than our entire year-over-year revenue decline."

But while analysts have warned of an impending slowdown in the iPhone market and Apple suppliers have been cutting their own guidance for the very same reason, Google Trends shows interest has been waning for years.

An analysis from DataTrek Research shows interest in iPhones — Apple's flagship product that accounts for 63% of its revenue, according to UBS — peaked in the US in September 2012, when the iPhone 5 was released. It topped out in Hong Kong in September 2014, when the iPhone 6 was released.

Declining interest among Google users comes as the iPhone's average selling price has risen and the quality has improved, leading to consumers holding onto their phones for longer periods of time.

"The market for +$700 smartphones is a good one, to be sure," Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research, told clients in a report on Thursday. "But technological disruption is all about scale and growth, not just profitability." 

Searches during the most recent iPhone launch — the iPhone XS/XR in September 2018 — were 46% below those in September 2012.

This chart shows how searches for the term "iPhone" have trended within the US over the past 15 years.

The peaks have come toward the end of each year ever since the iPhone debuted, likely due to launches each September.

Now, here's how searches for the term "iPhone" have trended in Hong Kong over the same timeframe. DataTrek Research used Hong Kong as a reliable proxy for "Greater China" results because Google is not available on the mainland. Search volumes for the most recent launch, last September, were 40% lower than the same time in 2014.

Read more: Apple just warned its holiday quarter was a huge miss, and the stock is getting crushed

Analysts responded to the warning by cutting their price targets on Apple shares. Timothy Arcuri, an analyst at UBS, lowered his sales and earnings per share estimates for 2019 and 2020. He also cut his price target from $210 to $180. Still, that target implies a 14% gain from Wednesday's closing price of $157.92. Arcuri maintained his "buy" rating.

"Slower iPhone growth ultimately presents services headwinds, but AAPL still has huge untapped services rev pool (600mn+ active iPhones pay zero) and new bundle appears very likely," he told clients on Thursday.

Read more about Apple's sales and iPhone demand warning:

• Apple plunges $56 billion in premarket trading, dragging global stocks after shock sales warning
• 'Apple's darkest day in the iPhone era': Here's what Wall Street is saying about Apple's bombshell profit warning
• Apple is partially blaming weak iPhone sales on customers taking advantage of the $30 battery-replacement offer
• Apple sounds the alarm on a slowdown in China

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The equity chief at $6.3 trillion BlackRock weighs in on the trade war, a possible recession, and offers her best investing advice for a tricky 2019 landscape

• I visited The Water Tower in Brooklyn, New York, a brand-new rooftop lounge and nightclub designed to look like a water tower.
• Cocktails start at $20 — and one special white truffle-infused beverage costs $150, while a grilled-cheese sandwich will run you $70.
• Although the views were stunning, and the space was beautiful, I don't see myself ever going there again because of the high prices.

One of New York City's newest bars is perched on top of a Brooklyn hotel and designed to look like one of the many industrial-looking water towers that dot the borough's rooftops.

The Water Tower, which opened in November 2018, is super-exclusive: It's reservation-only and seats only 45 people. Cocktails at the club, which is open from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. and features a rotating set of international DJs, start at $20 — and one specialty drink, infused with white truffles, will cost you $150. 

The food menu includes items such as a $70 white-truffle grilled cheese, an $80 seafood platter, and caviar service ranging from $95 to $525. 

Berton Rodov, the club's creative director, said they aim to cultivate a specific vibe at The Water Tower.

"We have a fun, diverse crowd," he told me when I went to check out the club one afternoon. "Honestly, we try to curate the experience here, being that it's a small space, and it's the most luxurious extension of this brand."

But, he added, that's "not saying you have to be rich to come in." He said the crowd tends to be, "cool kids, models, people just here to have fun," and they "try to look out for locals, too."

After visiting the club one early December afternoon, I can't say I was entirely convinced that their target audience isn't just rich people.

Here's what The Water Tower looks like inside.

SEE ALSO: I visited New York's new Playboy Club, where Playboy Bunnies serve drinks in their iconic costumes and members pay up to $100,000 a year — and it wasn't at all what I expected

DON'T MISS: 5 restaurants in NYC earned the highest Michelin rating for 2019 — and 2 of them have topped the list every year since the ranking started

The Water Tower is perched on the rooftop of Brooklyn's Williamsburg Hotel, which already includes an outdoor bar and a pool.

It was built as an "homage" to the iconic water towers that dot many Brooklyn rooftops.

Rooms at the Williamsburg Hotel start at around $200 per night, according to its website.

Source: The Williamsburg Hotel

• I tried the Mediterranean diet, a whole-foods meal plan based on vegetables, fish, and healthy fats like those from olive oil and avocados.
• The plan has been linked to benefits like a lower risk of disease, a healthier mind, and reduced symptoms of depression.
• I learned a lot while trying the regimen, and I'd like to stick with it for a long time. 

You could say I've been around the diet block. I've been vegan, restricted my eating to an eight-hour window as part of an intermittent fast, and given the ketogenic diet a try — all in an attempt to give myself more energy, feel healthier, and power through the activities I enjoy, like yoga, hiking, and rock climbing.

The one regimen I've never tried, however, is the one I write about most: the Mediterranean diet.

The plan's cornerstones are vegetables, fish, olive oil, beans, nuts, and whole grains. Items like processed foods, red meat, poultry, and dairy get slashed. 

Studies suggest that people who eat this way have a reduced risk of diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer, so it's no surprise that dietitians and clinicians say the approach is a great way to fuel the body. An expert panel convened by U.S. News & World Report also called the Mediterranean diet the best overall diet, for the second year in a row.

Leafy greens provide key vitamins and minerals needed for healthy skin, hair, and nails, while whole grains support good digestion, and fish and nuts provide protein to maintain muscle and keep energy levels steady. The Mediterranean diet is also rich in several ingredients that may be critical to a healthy mind, and one recent study found that people with depression who were put on the diet saw a significant reduction in symptoms.

Two types of healthy fat — monounsaturated and omega-3 fatty acids — are staples of the plan, as well as several antioxidants found in berries and dark chocolate. Previous studies have found a link between both of these ingredients and a lower risk of dementia and higher cognitive performance.

Research has also suggested that two other Mediterranean ingredients — leafy greens and berries — could help protect against a phenomenon called neuro degeneration, which often characterizes diseases including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

I'm a sample size of just one person, so it's worth taking my experience of the diet with a grain of salt. That said, I learned a ton on the plan. Here's a glimpse.

DON'T MISS: There's even more evidence that one type of diet is the best for your body and brain — and it could save you money, too

SEE ALSO: The best ways to lose weight and keep it off, according to science

I initially thought that adopting the Mediterranean diet wouldn't involve dramatic changes to my existing habits. I love crunchy veggies like broccoli and put avocados on everything. But I also eat a lot of ready-made items full of ingredients that the plan shuns, like white rice.

One of my favorite go-to meals at the end of a busy day is a Trader Joe's chicken tikka masala frozen dinner. With a big helping of white rice and chicken as the main ingredients, however, it's not very Mediterranean-diet-friendly.

So I hit Trader Joe's for basics: olive oil, frozen and fresh produce (depending on what was on sale), several kinds of frozen fish (half the price of fresh), canned beans, lemons, Greek yogurt, whole-grain bread, brown rice, and roasted nuts.

Research suggests I'm not the only one who's found the Mediterranean diet easy on the wallet. People put on the plan as part of a recent study saved roughly $26 per week — or $1,344 per year — compared to those who stuck to a traditional diet.

• If your 2019 plans include looking for a new job at a hot startup, we've got you covered.
• It's once again time for Business Insider's annual picks of enterprise startups poised to flourish in 2019 and beyond.
• We selected a variety of startups at a variety of stages and locations.

As the New Year approaches, many of us find this is a natural time for self-reflection on our lives.

If you've come to the conclusion that you're ready for a new job and want to go to a startup that plays in the $3.8 trillion world of enterprise tech — selling wares to other businesses, not to consumers — we've got you covered.

Here's our annual list of promising enterprise startups who did so well in 2018, they are poised for future success in 2019 and beyond.

We looked at a variety of factors when selecting this list including the experience of leaders and founders, the reputations of investors and the amount of funding raised along with valuations, based on data from online finance database Pitchbook, keeper of such records. We also selected startups at a variety of stages from just starting out to well established.

Here are the 44 enterprise tech startups to bet your career on in 2019:

SEE ALSO: From Elon Musk to Satya Nadella: Here are the 29 top tech CEOs of 2018, according to employees

Zapier: The plumbing that connects the internet

Valuation: Unknown
Total raised to date: $1.2 million
Year founded: 2011
HQ: Sunnyvale, CA

What it does: Zapier helps users easily connect apps together through integrations. In other words, it will automatically connect one piece of workplace software to another

Why it's hot: This seven-year-old company has raised a total of $2.56 million, but this year, it announced that it already has a $35 million annualized run rate, a key measure of revenue. Oh, and by the way, at Zapier, you can work in pajamas from the comfort of your bedroom, if you really wanted to. This all-remote company even started a delocation package of $10,000 to move away from the pricey San Francisco Bay Area. 

Platform Science: a telematics bigwig is back with a new company

Valuation: Unknown
Total raised to date: $14 million
Year founded: 2015
HQ: San Diego

What it does: Platform Science does what it calls "enterprise IoT fleet management" which is a lot of buzzwords that means it puts a specialized computer into each truck (or other fleet vehicle) stuffed with all kinds of apps, communications, mapping, fuel economy, driver performance. Plus it allows other software developers to write apps for the device, too.

Why it's hot: CEO John Kennedy is a former Qualcomm bigwig, who sold his last telematics company for $800 million. Now he's back with a new telematics company that uses all the latest tech to take on the legacy players.

BigID: help for GDPR

Valuation: $26.06 million
Total raised to date: $46.16 million
Year founded: 2015
HQ: New York

What it does: BigID offers a way for companies to find and identify their most sensitive data.

Why it's hot: Data privacy software became a hot category after European GDPR data privacy rules were mandated in May. This helped the company raise $30 million this year from investors like Scale Venture Partners and the investment arms of Comcast and SAP. Founder and CEO, Dimitri Sirota, also sold his previous security startup to CA in 2013.

The future of retail is looking bright.

So bright that Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, expects the industry to top $5.5 trillion by 2020!

While in-store and desktop purchases are certainly helping the retail industry boom, the biggest factor for this incredible growth is in your pocket.

Find out why the smartphone will be crucial for retailers in 2018 and beyond with the first part of a brand new slide deck from Business Insider Intelligence called The Future of Retail: Mobile Commerce.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• US retail is growing $200 billion year-over-year
• In-store retail is still dwarfing e-commerce
• But e-commerce is growing almost 4x faster than in-store
• Mobile commerce is driving most of that growth
• And much more

To get your copy of the first part of this FREE slide deck, simply click here.

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• A partial shutdown of the federal government on December 21 complicated things for several select government agencies and services.
• Though all essential government services remain open, Americans may feel the shutdown's effects while trying to use the services of various agencies, including national parks and museums. 
• See the ways the shutdown is affecting average Americans. 

After lawmakers came to a gridlock over a spending deal, the federal government entered a partial shutdown on December 21. 

The shutdown does not affect the entire federal government but does impact a slew of agencies, including the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Homeland Security, the Interior, State, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development.

See the shutdown's effects on everyday Americans: 

SEE ALSO: Here's what happens during a government shutdown

Many national parks have closed campgrounds to visitors to prevent facilities including trash sites and toilets from overflowing.

Park closures have prevented at least one wedding, and can potentially create greater risk for visitors because of reduced staffing.

Source: Reuters

The parks that remain open rely on volunteers and visitors to clean up after themselves.

Source: Reuters

The National Zoo, in addition to the 17 museums run by the Smithsonian closed their doors several days into the shutdown after running out of emergency funding.

Source: Reuters

• Top Trump administration officials were slated to receive pay raises on Saturday, but the White House directed agencies to hold off.
• The pay raises would have come amid a government shutdown in which more than 800,000 federal employees are furloughed or working without pay.

The White House is halting pay raises for top administration officials, including top cabinet members and the vice president, while the government shutdown continues.

Acting Office of Personnel Management Director Margaret Weichert sent a memo to federal agencies on Friday stating that "it would be prudent for agencies to continue to pay these senior political officials at the frozen rate until appropriations legislation is enacted."

SEE ALSO: Democrats warn that a formal request for Trump's tax returns may not come quickly

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 6 airline industry secrets that will help you fly like a pro this holiday season

This is a preview of a research report from BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about BI Intelligence, click here.

Social media is becoming increasingly influential in shoppers' purchasing decisions. In fact, the top 500 retailers earned an estimated $6.5 billion from social shopping in 2017, up 24% from 2016, according to BI Intelligence estimates.

In addition to influencing purchase decisions, social media is a large part of the product discovery and research phase of the shopping journey. And with more and more retailers offering quick access to their sites via social media pages, and shoppable content becoming more popular, it's likely that social media will play an even larger role in e-commerce. 

In this report, BI Intelligence examines the advantages and disadvantages of each platform, and reviews case studies of successful campaigns that helped boost conversion and increase brand awareness. Additionally, we explore how retailers can bring social aspects into their own sites and apps to capitalize on consumers' desire for social shopping experiences.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• Social media is becoming more influential in all aspects of the purchasing journey.
• Facebook is the clear winner in social commerce, with its huge user base and wide-ranging demographics.
• However, retailers should have a presence on every platform their target market is on. Each platform will require a different strategy for retailers to resonate with its users.
• Retailers can also benefit from bringing social aspects in-house. They can do this by building their own in-house social networks, or by embedding social media posts into their sites.

In full, the report: 

• Provides an overview of the top social media platforms — Facebook, YouTube, Instagram — that retailers should be using, the demographics of each platform, as well as their individual advantages and disadvantages. 
• Reviews tools recently developed by these platforms that help retailers create engaging content.
• Outlines case studies and specific strategies to use on each platform.
• Examines how retailers like Sephora, Amazon, and Poshmark are capitalizing on consumers' affinity for social shopping by creating their own in-house social networks.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

1. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >>Learn More Now
2. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> Purchase & Download Now

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