Our Favorite Things of 2025

It started as a reason to have a party...

In high school, I spent a summer working at a local liquor store. It only paid a few dollars an hour. So when I heard the "wine guy" (our wine expert) was leaving, I decided to try for his job. I spent a couple weeks at the library researching everything I could about wine... and got the job (plus a nearly $1-per-hour raise).

One wine stuck out to me early on – Beaujolais Nouveau. Each year, Beaujolais is released on the third Thursday of November, just a few weeks after its harvest. In the 1960s, harvesters started a race to get their bottles to Paris the quickest. By the 1970s, it became the Beaujolais Run – a charity competition to deliver bottles as quickly as possible to locations around Europe.

But I didn't love Beaujolais Nouveau for its history... It's because it was cheap, easy to guzzle, and tasted like candy. So one November in the early 1980s, when the wine first came to New York City, I hosted my first-ever Beaujolais party.

During my time at Goldman Sachs, my Beaujolais parties (held at my small apartment on West 55th Street) were so popular that guests had to come in shifts.

I continued the tradition when I came to Stansberry Research. I remember hosting my first Beaujolais tasting on November 21, 2008 for the few dozen employees we had at that time. I still have the list of the wines I served:

• George DuBoeuf
• Joseph Drouhin
• Pascal Chatelus
• Domaine Manoir du Carra
• Gerard Descombes

Today, with several hundred employees, it's a bit harder to do a wine tasting for everyone. But I still enjoy sharing the things I love with the people around me. That's why my team and I have been sharing our favorite things with Health & Wealth Bulletin readers each year for nearly a decade.

If you still need some gifts for friends and family (or even one for yourself), you might find some good ideas here...

(Editor's note: We don't receive any commission or other compensation for any of the products mentioned here.)

Doc's Pick

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, folks working in the airline industry are at a higher risk of experiencing hearing loss than nearly every other industry in the U.S. And while I don't work for an airline, I fly tens of thousands of miles each year, spending hundreds of hours on planes. That's a lot of time for all that cabin noise to potentially damage my hearing.

Hearing loss puts your brain at serious risk by increasing cognitive load, forcing the brain to work harder. It can lead to loss of function and a faster rate of atrophy in the brain. And it can also decrease social engagement and lead to isolation, which are risk factors for developing dementia.

To protect my ears, I bought noise-canceling headphones earlier this year. When I started researching, I knew I couldn't use earbuds. They're uncomfortable and rarely fit well, so ambient noise slips in. And they can damage your hearing or eardrums when worn improperly.

I eventually settled on the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 over-ear headphones. They're comfortable on my ears and incredible at canceling out the engine noise. A flight attendant can walk by, and I'll have no idea. I can quietly listen to music or audiobooks while saving my ears from the plane's extreme decibels.

Our Publisher, Matt Weinschenk

This year, I've spent a lot of time reading books from Stripe Press. Normally, I don't recognize a publishing house for books as a brand, but Stripe has a unique angle.

Stripe is a passion project founded by billionaire brothers Patrick and John Collison. They wanted to publish books that examine how economic progress happens. And they've put together a cool collection of new titles and reprints of classics in attractive hardcovers.

This year, I've enjoyed multiple of their titles worth recommending. That includes:

• Poor Charlie's Almanack, which you may know as the collected works of Charlie Munger. (The entire text is also available on their website.)
• Boom: Bubbles and the End of Stagnation by Byrne Hobart and Tobias Huber, about how bubbles form and advance progress.
• The Scaling Era by Dwarkesh Patel and Gavin Leech, a history of large language model developments that explores how they work and how good they can get.
• The Origins of Efficiency by Brian Potter, which just arrived and details how industrial-production processes improve over time.

Some of the books are on the technical side, but many are enjoyable reads. You can browse Stripe's collection on its website.

Our Senior Editor, Laura Bente

Winter is a brutal season for our cars. And while freezing temperatures can drain your battery, they're also making your tires riskier to drive on...

Air contracts in the cold, which reduces your tire pressure and traction. That means it will take longer for your car to stop. It's also more likely your car will slip and slide on icy roads. This is called hydroplaning, which is when your tire surfs on a layer of water instead of gripping and rolling over the pavement.

Lots of gas stations offer free air-refilling stations with built-in pressure gauges. But I've been to plenty that have missing hoses or just aren't working. Bad news if you live in a remote area.

So if you want to fill your tires wherever you are, buy your own pump...

I swear by my EPAuto portable air compressor pump. The device plugs right into your car's 12-volt outlet and only takes a few minutes to fill your tires to the right pressure. It has a flashlight in case you need to inflate your tires in the dark. And you can also use it to inflate your kids' basketballs and bike tires.

Our Managing Editor, Brady Holt

This announcement is so common, they might as well play a recording...

"We have a very full flight today. If you're in one of our later boarding zones, you will have to gate-check your larger carry-on items."

Traveling with a carry-on is so convenient. You can skip the baggage claim. You have access to everything you need. And it won't get lost or broken.

The safest way to make sure your carry-on stays a carry-on is fitting it under the seat in front of you. Then it becomes a "personal item." And you don't have to compete with any other passengers to fit it in the overhead bins.

A few months ago, my wife bought a fantastic backpack to fill this role. It's lightweight, flexible, and inexpensive. With some careful packing, she can fit her clothes and laptop inside... and never worry about the flight crew taking it away.

Every time she travels, she sees more and more people at the airport with the same bag. It costs about $40 on Amazon, depending on the color you choose, and it includes three packing cubes.

And if you do need to check a larger bag, I recommend even more packing cubes. These are zippered mesh pouches that help you organize and contain the clothes in your suitcase.

I'm writing this from a family vacation in Italy, and for this trip, I used three packing cubes: one for T-shirts and pants, one for pajamas and a sweater, and one for socks, underwear, and toiletries. My wife and kids have their own cubes, too.

Here's a good set on Amazon. You can get five cubes for as little as $22 or eight for less than $30 (again, varying by color). It also includes a laundry bag for anything dirty that you want to keep away from your clean clothes.

Our Senior Analyst, Jeff Havenstein

As a tall guy, it has always been tough to find clothes that fit me and look good. I've dabbled in just about all the major big-and-tall brands over the years. But I recently was introduced to One Bone.

This is a company that specializes in clothing for all different kinds of bodies – mainly big and tall. The quality of the clothing is top-notch and very comfortable to wear.

My favorite shirt is the Bullet Tee. Consider giving the website a scroll if you've ever struggled to find clothes because of your height or weight.

Finally, for all my golfers out there... I recently read Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect and highly recommend it.

The friend who introduced me to the book reads it at least once a year to get in the right mindset for posting lower scores and having more fun. After all, golf should be fun. And this book helps put things in perspective.

Our Health-and-Wellness Researcher, Ellen Chung

One of the simplest ways to protect your health is to reduce your everyday exposure to microbial bacteria that could make you sick, especially in places you might touch daily but rarely think about... like the lid of your water bottle or travel mug.

So my favorite item would have to be this 3-in-1 tool for cleaning what might be the grossest part of your favorite reusable water bottle, travel mug, or what have you. Specifically, it's the narrow crevice that houses the ring-shaped silicone gasket to keep things leakproof.

If the lid of your water bottle happens to be built this way (I'm looking at you, Hydro Flask Wide-Mouth Cap), that gasket will trap water, even from the hot, soapy bath that you think is enough to get things clean. (It isn't.)

That moist environment – combined with organic matter from your spit or non-H2O beverage – creates the perfect hideout for mold and bacteria. Forgo regular cleaning, and these guys multiply like crazy. That means the potential for health woes like respiratory problems and allergic reactions.

Not to mention, one study found that 20% of reusable bottles tested contained coliform bacteria, which is a fancy way of saying poop bacteria.

So instead of rooting around in the kitchen utensil drawer for my butter knife, I use the thin, flat prong to pop out the gasket. I don't need to look for a separate brush either... I just flip the prong down, and up comes the loop-shaped brush with bristles that's perfect for scrubbing the grooves around the sides.

Then I turn the tool upside down, and there's a long-bristled brush that's perfect for cleaning the bottom of that crevice. Finally, I let the gasket and lid air-dry before reassembling.

It's small and super portable. I've also used it on the lids of my "airtight" food storage containers, too. Mine has yet to break on me, and I've had it for nearly a year. They're usually sold in a three-pack, so you can share the gift of mold-free hydration with your Stanley-crazed kids.

Our Associate Editor, Sara French

Between the upcoming holiday season and potential winter storms, you may soon find yourself with some downtime at home. A great way to break the monotony is with a card game I found this year called Flip 7.

I'd compare it most closely with blackjack in terms of gameplay and Uno in terms of simplicity. Flip 7 is a game folks of almost any age can play because its rules are very straightforward...

Each deck contains 12 cards labeled "12," 11 cards labeled "11," etc. (There are also a few non-numbered cards with special rules, but I won't get into the weeds of it.) Your goal is to pull up to seven different number cards from the deck (i.e., "flip 7").

If you pull a repeat number card (for example, two 12s), you "bust" and are out for that round. But you can also stop pulling cards at any time and bank your points for that round. The number on each card represents its point value. You win if you're the first to reach or exceed 200 points across multiple rounds.

You can go big and push your luck, or you can play more conservatively. Or heck, maybe you know how to count cards and will wipe the floor with your friends and family. Whatever your strategy, you're sure to have a lot of fun.

Each game lasts about 15 to 20 minutes, so it won't take up too much of your time. And again, I'll emphasize the best thing about Flip 7: It's very simple. It doesn't require much brainpower or focus, so it's great for times when you're drinking, would still like to socialize about other things during the rounds, or would like to include younger kids.

Grab a deck today if you're looking for things to do with your family this Christmas.

What are your favorite things this year? Share them with us at feedback@healthandwealthbulletin.com.

Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,

Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
December 12, 2025