Day: August 4, 2025

• My mom, sister, and I went to London for my mom’s 70th birthday.
• We hadn’t traveled together for a while, and it was a relaxing, nostalgic trip.
• We took turns picking where to eat and my mom made friends wherever we went.

Sitting in deep leather armchairs surrounded by Art Deco décor and old-school glamour, we listened as the pianist sang “Happy Birthday” to my mom. It had been 20 years since we’d last stepped inside London’s longest-surviving cocktail bar — the American Bar at The Savoy. We clinked our fancy cocktails together to mark the occasion and toast our mother-daughter adventure in London.

To celebrate my mom’s 70th birthday, my sister and I left our everyday lives behind — husbands, kids, and dogs — to spend six days in one of my mom’s favorite cities. She was born in England and immigrated to the US as a little girl.

Growing up, we made regular trips back to the UK to visit family, but as life got busier, those trips became fewer and farther between. Traveling back to London with my mom — now as a mother to my own 8-year-old — felt equal parts nostalgic, fun, and refreshing.

We didn’t pack our itinerary, but still managed to explore

Our family trip didn’t have a jam-packed itinerary full of the most popular sights. We’d seen London’s main attractions as kids, and my mom was never one to worry about checking things off a list. She’d rather experience a new place than rush to see every landmark.

As a kid, I hated sitting still for too long when there was something new to explore. My son’s exactly the same. I didn’t realize just how relaxing it would be to slow down — to take our time over tea in the afternoon and linger over cocktails in the evening.

One of my favorite parts about our London trip was the variety. Though we didn’t plan everything or stay super busy, no two days felt the same, and my mom was up for anything. We navigated the city on foot, on the Tube, and in taxis. We sipped tea at Claridge’s and coffee at Pret. We cooled off with Aperol Spritzes at the rooftop bar atop Selfridges and got cozy in old London pubs.

We saw the world in Notting Hill and browsed antique maps at the amazing Portobello Print & Map Shop. We also shopped on Carnaby Street, saw Mrs. Warren’s Profession in the West End, and spent an afternoon at the Victoria and Albert Museum. And we went to the V&A café, which is both the world’s oldest museum restaurant and the most beautiful café I’ve ever been to, with its colorful ceramic tiles covering the walls and pillars, bright stained-glass windows, and sparkly globe-shaped chandeliers dangling from the ceiling.

When it came to meals, we took turns picking. Mom chose La mia Mamma, where Italian “mammas” cook your dinner, and wow — the pasta did not disappoint. One night, we donned our fanciest fits for a fine dining experience inside Gordon Ramsay‘s Savoy Grill. Another night, we ate Marks and Spencer’s ham sandwiches in our pajamas in bed.

My mom made friends with strangers wherever we went

One thing that surprised me, though maybe it shouldn’t have, was that my mom talked to everyone. Completely contrasting to her own advice when we were kids, my mom loves chatting with strangers.

Taxi drivers, waiters — you name it. She made friends wherever we went. Because of that, we got tips about good restaurants, learned tidbits about London history, and overall, we met lovely people we might otherwise never crossed paths with.

We did have our share of hiccups on our London vacation: a hotel-bound illness, a lost jacket, a stolen phone. But my mom focused on what went right, not what went wrong. Her positivity made the bad things seem, well… less bad. And a little extra positivity and a friendly attitude can go a long way — especially when traveling.

• Joel and Kathryn Friedman want to downsize, but have been discouraged by the capital gains tax.
• The retired couple is waiting to sell in case Congress reforms the tax on home sales.
• The Friedmans are among a growing number of older homeowners holding onto their large houses.

Joel and Kathryn Friedman, both 71, are counting the days until they can sell their home and move into a 55-plus community.

The retired empty-nesters have been ready to downsize for years, but are reluctant to sell their five-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot Southern California house in large part because of at least $700,000 in capital gains taxes they estimate they’d have to pay.

Since 1997, home sale profits over $500,000 (for married couples) and $250,000 (for single filers) have been subject to a capital gains tax of up to 20%. That threshold hasn’t changed since 1997, meaning that — between inflation and soaring home prices pushing an ever higher number of houses above that limit — many more home sellers have to pay the tax now than when it was first implemented.

The Friedmans are among a growing number of older homeowners discouraged by the tax from selling their valuable properties. Housing economists say that dynamic has exacerbated a shortage of family-sized homes on the market, especially in expensive places like California.

The Friedmans’ house is too big for them, and maintenance costs are only rising, Joel said. “There are a million reasons why we’d like to move, but we’re not because the tax is just burdensome,” he said.

But that could change — there’s bipartisan support in Congress for raising the federal tax threshold to boost home sales in a stagnant market. President Donald Trump recently said he’s weighing eliminating the levy altogether.

Growing desperate to move, the Friedmans finally put their house on the market in May for nearly $4.5 million. But things changed for them in July, when the issue got new attention in Washington.

Just weeks after Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced a bill to eliminate the federal capital gains tax on home sales, Trump said the effort could help juice housing market sales amid persistently high interest rates.

Are you an older American who has struggled to downsize your home or find retirement housing? Reach out to this reporter at erelman@businessinsider.com.

So the Friedmans are letting their listing expire and hoping the law changes in the next year.

“At the moment, it’s a disincentive to put my house on the market, and it’s an incentive, if you already have it on the market and you can afford to wait, to take it off the market,” Joel said.

A $700,000 tax bill

The Friedmans bought their lot and built their home in 1990. Like many California homes, the property has since appreciated significantly.

Joel calculates that he and Kathryn have spent a total of $1.8 million on purchasing their land, and building and improving their property over the last more than three decades. If the couple were to sell their house for $4.5 million, he estimated that federal and state capital gains taxes would apply to about $2 million in profit after existing exemptions. That, in addition to a net investment tax, would put their tax bill at almost $700,000, including more than $400,000 in federal capital gains tax and more than $200,000 in state capital gains taxes.

Evan Liddiard, director of federal tax policy at the National Association of Realtors and a certified public accountant, estimated the couple’s combined state and federal tax bill could exceed $800,000.

While the Friedmans have done well financially, they’re relying on the profits from their future home sale to help fund their retirement. They’re concerned that Joel’s Social Security checks and Kathryn’s pension won’t be enough to cover healthcare bills and long-term care as they age.

“That’s a sizable chunk of change for anybody,” Joel said. “We’re not going to be destitute, but it does help to have the extra cash.”

The future of the tax

Over the last several years, the effort to reform the tax on home sales has been led by a Democrat. California Rep. Jimmy Panetta first introduced a bill in 2022 that would double the tax exclusion to $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for joint-filing couples and index it to inflation.

It’s unclear whether Congress will seriously consider Greene’s bill or move forward with Panetta’s legislation, which has bipartisan support. Liddiard is skeptical that lawmakers would support eliminating the tax entirely, but he argued that Panetta’s bill “would solve most of the problem” by dramatically shrinking the number of home sellers who’d be subject to the tax.

Liddiard said eliminating the capital gains tax or raising the exclusion threshold “is not a cure-all” for housing market woes, but would have a significant positive impact on inventory and affordability.

He argued that reducing the tax burden would mean more homes would hit the market, raising supply and lowering home prices. NAR has been lobbying to reduce the capital gains tax burden on home sellers for years.

But the proposed changes to the tax would disproportionately benefit homeowners in states, like California, that have the country’s most expensive housing markets. They would also tend to help wealthier homeowners who are lucky enough to be sitting on significant home equity.

In June of this year, the first phase of a new container hub at the seaport of Aktau on the Caspian Sea was launched. This hub is one of Kazakhstan’s largest transportation projects in recent years.

But will it truly become a strategic anchor point for the transport corridors passing through the port, or will it instead become a “bottleneck,” reducing overall throughput? And will the port’s own capacity decline during the hub’s construction? Let’s explore these questions.

A step towards transit growth

A container hub is a specialized complex offering a full range of services for container handling, railcars, storage, and more. The project involves constructing a container terminal, establishing a container yard at the seaport, expanding container transport, and acquiring modern transshipment equipment.

Scheduled for completion in 2025, it carries an estimated cost of 20.7 billion tenge (about $38 million). Once completed, the hub will increase the port’s container handling capacity from 140,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) to 240,000 TEU.

The project is expected to become a key link in the supply chain along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, as well as other transport corridors passing through the port.

@”KTZ Express”

From terminal to logistics hub

Asem Mukhamedieva, Managing Director for New Projects and Marketing at KTZ Express JSC, told TСA that the container hub project based at the port of Aktau is part of Kazakhstan’s strategy to develop its transport and logistics sector and is being implemented as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

“Given that the project falls within the scope of this initiative, we attracted a Chinese investor in the form of the port of Lianyungang, which is one of the largest players in the Chinese market, not only in terminal operations but also in maritime infrastructure and seaport management,” said Mukhamedieva.

According to her, the Port of Lianyungang has been a longtime partner of Kazakhstan. The national railway company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), has been cooperating with Lianyungang for 10 years. Their first joint project was the Kazakhstan-China terminal at the Port of Lianyungang, launched in 2014.

In 2017, they opened the largest dry port in Central Asia, KTZE-Khorgos Gateway, at Kazakhstan’s border with China. The third joint venture, constructing the Caspian’s largest container hub at Aktau Port, began in late 2024.

Construction is being carried out by a consortium consisting of Integra Construction KZ LLP and China Harbor Engineering Company, a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company, which ranks 63rd on the Fortune Global 500 list.

The container hub is also part of a larger project to develop alternative routes to traditional maritime trade lanes. According to Mukhamedieva, the Port of Lianyungang, with its vast experience in shipping and port operations, not only shares its expertise with Kazakh partners but also ensures cargo flow toward Kazakhstan and further westward.

This integrated model will connect the three joint terminals into a “hub-to-hub” transport system, unified by a shared digital platform for data exchange and improved cargo management efficiency.

“KTZ Express”

A flagship project

The implementation of the container hub project will create a freight distribution center in the Caspian region, handling cargo flows not only from East to West but also from North to South. For example, the rapidly growing importance of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) is underscored by a 33-fold increase in freight volumes along this corridor last year, according to analysts.

For 2025, a plan has been approved to transport 600 transit container trains along this route (compared to 358 in 2024). In the long term, under agreements with Chinese partners, container transit from China along the route is expected to grow to as many as 3,000 trains.

According to KTZ Express, container transit volumes on the TITR for the first six months of this year reached 20,544 TEU, which is nearly double the volume for the same period last year. This demonstrates strong positive dynamics and growth.

To support this increasing freight flow, Kazakhstan is not only constructing the container hub at Aktau but also expanding the capacity of its two Caspian ports, Aktau and Kuryk, and modernizing key railway sections along the route within the country.
Regarding the hub’s construction and its impact on Aktau Port’s throughput, Mukhamedieva explained that the hub is being built on a 19-hectare section of the Aktau Seaport Special Economic Zone.

“The seaport continues to perform all operations, including those related to container handling. There are no overlaps or disruptions. After the project is completed and commissioned, it will expand the seaport’s container processing capacity. For now, construction does not cause any inconvenience or operational issues for Aktau Port,” Mukhamedieva said.

Moreover, the completion of the first phase of the hub, together with Aktau Port’s existing capacity, has already increased container handling capacity at the port by an additional 100,000 TEU. The second phase will further raise capacity to 240,000 TEU. This will make it possible to handle not only current cargo flows but also the future volumes anticipated along the TITR and the North-South transport corridor.

Aktau Port’s ambitious development and modernization program includes upgrading port equipment, dredging operations, and reclaiming land south of the harbor using dredged material. These efforts will expand the port’s territory from 60 to 100 hectares. According to KTZ Express, this comprehensive approach will prevent the infrastructure from becoming a “bottleneck.”

Thus, as an integral part of Kazakhstan’s key transit corridors, the container hub is also a significant element of the country’s broader strategy for expanding its global trade, a footprint strengthening not only its transit potential but also its export capacity.