The oldest of the three main U.S. equity indexes opened higher and held its ground all the way through a widely expected rate-cut announcement, Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference and the closing bell on Wednesday. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were up and down throughout Fed Day but also surged on what many market participants may see as a "Goldilocks" scenario unfolding for the economy.

After a third-quarter-point reduction since September, the target range for the federal funds rate is now 3.50% to 3.75%. According to Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates, the latest move by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) "will determine how the year will close out."

Navellier notes "that when Powell is replaced next May with a Trump nominee, further cuts will be forthcoming." He adds that "100% of the time stocks were higher 12 months later" when the FOMC cuts the fed funds rate – good news for a stock market that's less than 2% from new all-time highs. "On top of solid growth forecasts for the U.S. GDP and earnings," Navellier concludes, "a cut today is plainly bullish for stocks."

The Fed's updated Summary of Economic Projections (pdf) – including its dot plot – reflects both concerns about the jobs market and persistent inflation as well as rosier growth expectations. The median forecast shows 2.3% GDP growth in 2026, up from 1.8% in September, core inflation of 2.5%, down from 2.6%, and unemployment steady at 4.4%. Altogether, it adds up to only one rate cut in 2026.

Fed funds futures pricing shows a 75.6% probability the Fed holds its benchmark at 3.50% to 3.75% when it meets in January. We'll continue to track reaction to the December Fed meeting in our live Fed blog.

By the closing bell, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher by 1.1% at 48,057, the broader S&P 500 was up 0.7% at 6,886, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.3% to 23,654.

GEV doubles its dividend

GE Vernova (GEV, 15.6%) doesn't make the list of our favorite dividend-paying stocks yet, but doubling its quarterly payout rate is a good way to get there. GEV, which was spun off from General Electric in April 2024, has generated a total return of more than 377%, including 90%-plus so far in 2025.

GEV declared a dividend of 50 cents per share for the first quarter of 2026, up from 25 cents and payable on February 2 to shareholders of record on January 5. GE Vernova's board of directors also approved an increase in the company's stock buyback authorization to $10 billion from $6 billion.

Susquehanna analysts Charles Minervino and Eric Clay reiterated their Positive (or Buy) rating and raised their 12-month target price for GEV from $750 to $775 after management also reset its long-term revenue and margin forecasts in a December 9 investor update.

GE Vernova said it would see $52 billion in revenue by 2028; its previous forecast was for $45 billion by then. Management also said EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) margin would be 20%, better than its prior forecast of 14%, "as higher pricing flows through the backlog, capacity is scaled, and it continues to execute on its lean strategy."

Minervino and Clay "remain bullish on GEV given its position as the leading gas turbine supplier globally in an environment where load growth expectations continue to accelerate."

Indeed, power demand driven by the AI boom means GE Vernova can "extend its backlog out to 2030" and beyond. "The company's new long-term financial targets give us growing confidence in the trajectory of the business," the analysts conclude.

It's go time for most stocks and sectors

Nike (NKE, +3.9%), Caterpillar (CAT, +3.6%), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, +3.3%) and American Express (AXP, +3.2%) were among 23 of 30 Dow Jones stocks to close higher on Wednesday, and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, +3.2%) rebounded from a steep sell-off on Tuesday.

Nvidia (NVDA, -0.6%) rallied off its intraday lows, but along with Microsoft (MSFT, -2.8%) the leader of the AI revolution was at the bottom of the index. Nine of 11 stock market sectors were up for the day, including tech stocks, while consumer staples were flat and utilities were down as a risk-on mood took hold in the afternoon.

"With the economy performing better than expected amid a complex macroeconomic environment and corporate earnings rising to double-digit growth," LPL Financial Chief Technical Strategist Adam Turnquist writes, "strategists have increased their stock market forecasts for 2026."

The average year-end 2026 price target for the S&P 500 is up from around 6,500 in early September to 7,269 as of December 9. "A bottom-up analysis," he elaborates, "which aggregates analyst price targets for individual S&P 500 components, suggests the index could reach 7,900 by the end of next year."

Turnquist says communication services stocks, real estate and materials stocks have the greatest potential upside, while consumer staples stocks, health care and industrial stocks have the weakest – and industrials are pegged for 12.8% upside.

Based on data collected by FactSet, 2026 earnings per share (EPS) for the S&P 500 is forecast to be $309, year-over-year growth of 13.6% vs full-year estimates for 2025. LPL Research sees the index at 7,300 to 7,400 by the end of next year.

"Key catalysts include the historical precedent of bull market cycles continuing absent a recession, earnings power fueled by accelerating AI spending trends, easing monetary policy, and a stimulus boost from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act," Turnquist concludes.

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Most people have at least a little familiarity with annuities, which are attracting more attention.

Sales set a record for the first half of the year: $223.0 billion in total, up 3% from the same period last year and a record, according to LIMRA, an industry research group.

More people are concluding annuities are right for them. That doesn't mean an annuity is right for you. Different types of annuities do very different things. One type might fit your needs precisely, while another might not at all.

The best plan is to learn about annuities, decide if any might be right for you, then home in on which would be optimal.

Here are four key considerations.

1. Your age

Nonqualified annuities are funded with after-tax money. They're not held in an IRA, Roth IRA or other qualified retirement account.

These annuities offer one of the few ways to get powerful tax advantages with nonqualified savings. As long as you don't withdraw any interest or earnings from the annuity, you won't be taxed on it.

With tax deferral, your money can grow faster. With an IRA or 401(k), you must start taking distributions, knowns as RMDs, by age 73. With nonqualified annuities, there's no age requirement. You can let your money compound without taxes as long as you like.

Sound like a great deal? Sure. It's such a great deal, the government puts restrictions on it. Any withdrawals of annuity earnings before age 59½ are taxed and penalized.

With a few exceptions (such as for permanent, total disability), there's a 10% IRS penalty on withdrawals, along with regular income tax.

All accumulated interest must be withdrawn first before you can take out tax-free return of principal, according to IRS rules.

Because of that penalty, most annuities are bought by people who are in their 50s or older because they're already exempt from the penalty or soon will be. Age is an important consideration.

2. How much you have in savings and investments

With few exceptions, annuities aren't completely liquid. Those designed to build up your savings (deferred annuities), you'll pay a penalty to the issuing insurance company if you make an excessive withdrawal or cancel your policy during the penalty period.

With almost all income annuities, once the free-look period is past, you're committed and can't get your principal back. You're locked into a contract.

If you're considering an annuity, it's important to figure out how much access to your money you might need.

If your savings are minimal and you have a lot of credit card debt, you probably can't afford to lock up money in an annuity. You'll need unhindered access to your funds when expenses come up.

There's no magic number for the amount of savings you need to make a nonqualified annuity feasible, but you don't have to be wealthy. It depends a lot on your circumstances.

Can an annuity be a good idea if you have $250,000 total in savings and investments? You can probably move some of that safely into one or more annuities.

But people with less in savings can safely put money into an annuity. For instance, if you're retired and have a good stream of income from a pension, Social Security and perhaps other sources, you might be able to safely sock away some money in an annuity.

3. Your asset allocation

Annuities of all types (except variable annuities) are designed to reduce risk because they come with guarantees. Income annuities guarantee payments for either a set period or life. Fixed deferred annuities come in various flavors, but (except variable annuities) guarantee your principal.

If you're heavily invested in stocks and can afford to tie up some money in an annuity, it would make sense to use a fixed or income annuity to lower your risk and give you peace of mind.

4. Income generation

If you're retired or semiretired, or about to be, you might need to generate income, especially if you want to delay taking Social Security benefits to maximize your payout.

An immediate income annuity can be a great answer. Most people choose the lifetime option. This lets you create your own lifetime private pension and helps assure you'll never run out of money. It's "longevity insurance."

I'm a big advocate of income annuities, but I know they don't appeal to some people because you're signing over your money to an insurer in exchange for a stream of guaranteed income.

Those folks might want to use a fixed-rate annuity — a multi-year guarantee annuity or MYGA — instead to generate income.

A MYGA is a CD-like vehicle that provides a set rate for a set period, and rates are typically higher than bank CD rates for the same term. For instance, as of November 2025, you can get up to 6.30% on a five, six or seven-year MYGA. Most MYGAs allow penalty-free withdrawals of interest.

If you put $100,000 into a 10-year contract earning 5.75% with that feature, you'll receive $5,750 a year for the next 10 years. If you withdraw all the interest each year, you'll still get your $100,000 principal back at the end of year 10.

Flexibility is a big advantage. Let's say during years one to five, you need to take out all the interest.

In year six, you start receiving Social Security payments and no longer need the income. You can let the interest compound tax-deferred in the annuity for the remaining five years. After five years, the principal will have grown to $132,252.

Determining if an annuity might be right for you takes some thought and planning. Consider your situation in total, and if an annuity can help you meet your goals, act now.

Ken Nuss is the founder and CEO of AnnuityAdvantage, a leading online provider of fixed-rate, fixed-indexed, and lifetime income annuities. Ken is a nationally recognized annuity expert and widely published author. A free rate comparison service with interest rates from dozens of insurers is available at www.annuityadvantage.com or by calling (800) 239-0356. The firm also offers an income- annuity quoting service. There are no fees or charges for the firm's services; 100% of the client's money goes to work for them in their annuity.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Retirees have long expressed their frustration that a portion of the Social Security benefits they've spent a lifetime earning could be subject to federal income taxes. And for years, those concerns have sparked debate across the political spectrum.

During his 2024 campaign, President Trump proposed exempting Social Security from federal income tax. And in recent months, lawmakers in Congress (both Republicans and Democrats) introduced legislation with that same goal in mind.

So far, however, the tax on benefits — which is based on a person's filing status and income — remains in place.

But thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which passed in July, many older Americans can still count on a hefty tax break, at least for the next four years.

The new law temporarily provides a "bonus" deduction of up to $6,000 each year, from 2025 through 2028, for taxpayers 65 and older. (That's $12,000 for married-filing-jointly couples if both spouses are 65-plus.) This is on top of the annual additional standard deduction that these older taxpayers are already allowed.

But unlike the existing additional standard deduction, you can take the new bonus deduction even if you choose to itemize on your tax return.

There are income limits: The value of the bonus deduction begins to phase out at a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of $75,000 for single filers and $150,000 for those who are married and filing jointly.

And it phases out entirely if you have a MAGI above $175,000 as a single filer, or above $250,000 for those married and filing jointly. (It is not available at all to those whose tax status is married filing separately.)

Benefits of the new tax break

For many middle-income individuals and couples, this will make a significant difference at tax time. Most will be able to escape, or at least reduce, the taxation of their Social Security benefits.

And because the bonus deduction isn't tied specifically to Social Security, others will get a break, as well. For example, lower-income retirees, who generally don't owe taxes on their Social Security benefits, can also take advantage of the bonus deduction.

So can older adults who have decided to delay filing for their Social Security payments as long as possible in order to keep growing their monthly payment.

The reform recognizes the financial pressures retirees face today, from rising health care costs to housing instability, and aims to provide a buffer against these challenges.

And if supporters of the new law are correct, the tax relief will also have a positive impact on the overall economy — both locally and nationally — as retirees will have more money to spend on goods and services.

Here's how the bonus deduction for older people works

The new deduction is referred to as a "bonus" because it can be layered on top of the standard deduction you take for your filing status, or on top of your itemized deductions, and the additional deduction that older adults already receive.

Here are some basic examples of what that could look like, based on 2025 deduction amounts, for taxpayers who are eligible for the full bonus deduction.

An eligible single filer, age 65-plus, could receive: $15,750 standard deduction + $2,000 annual additional deduction + $6,000 new bonus deduction = $23,750

An eligible married couple filing jointly, both 65-plus, could receive: $31,500 standard deduction + $3,200 annual additional deduction ($1,600 each) + $12,000 new bonus deduction ($6,000 each) = $46,700

Make the most of your bonus with proactive planning

How can you optimize the bonus deduction for the next four years — and into the future if it's made permanent?

If you're hoping to avoid paying taxes on Social Security, the bonus deduction alone may be enough to keep you under IRS thresholds for your filing status. If you're single and your combined income is between $25,000 and $34,000 — or between $32,000 and $44,000 if you're married filing jointly — 50% of benefits may be taxable.

If your combined income is over those limits, 85% of your benefits may be taxable. Though the bonus deduction won't exempt everyone, it's expected to deliver welcome relief for many retirees.

And with proactive planning, there may be other ways to benefit from the bonus deduction. You might find the time is finally right to do that Roth conversion, for example.

Or, if you had high medical bills or made a substantial gift to charity, you may want to look at itemizing this year.

You can also use the deduction to offset the taxes on required minimum distributions (RMDs).

Your financial adviser and/or tax professional can help you evaluate a variety of strategies that might suit your needs. But don't delay: The clock is already ticking on this opportunity to pay less to Uncle Sam and keep more money in your pocket.

For many older Americans, that's more important than ever.

The passage of the OBBBA represents more than a tax cut; it's also the recognition of this generation's contribution to the nation's economy and an assurance that retirement shouldn't come with new financial burdens.

And I expect, as its implementation continues, that the long-term effects of this innovative law could play a crucial role in shaping retirement policy for generations to come.

Kim Franke-Folstad contributed to this article.

The appearances in Kiplinger were obtained through a PR program. The columnist received assistance from a public relations firm in preparing this piece for submission to Kiplinger.com. Kiplinger was not compensated in any way.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Stocks were choppy Tuesday, with market participants in wait-and-see mode ahead of tomorrow's policy announcement from the Federal Reserve. With the central bank widely expected to cut interest rates again, rate-sensitive small caps outperformed and the Russell 2000 hit a new intraday high.

The small-cap benchmark fell short of a new record close, though, gaining 0.2% to 2,526. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (+0.1% at 23,576) also finished in positive territory, while the broader S&P 500 (-0.09% at 6,840) and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.4% at 47,560) ended in the red.

The Fed will wrap up its final meeting of 2025 tomorrow afternoon. According to CME FedWatch, futures traders are currently pricing in an 87% chance the central bank will lower the federal funds rate by a quarter-percentage point to a range of 3.5% to 3.75% – the lowest it's been since September 2022.

But just "beneath this near certainty lies an unusual public split within the Federal Open Market Committee," says Larry Adam, chief investment officer at Raymond James. "Recent dissents highlight the challenge of balancing a cooling job market against stubborn inflation – casting fresh uncertainty over the policy path for 2026."

And the end of Jerome Powell's term as Fed chair in May adds intrigue to the rate-cut debate. National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, who is the frontrunner to replace Powell, said during a Wall Street Journal CEO Council event on Tuesday that "there's plenty of room" to cut rates moving forward, "if the data suggests we could do it."

For now, Wall Street will have to rely on the FOMC's Summary of Economic Projections, or "dot plot", to see where committee members expect the federal funds rate to be at the end of 2026.

In September, the dot plot revealed median expectations for just one quarter-point rate cut in 2026, following three in 2025. "We don't anticipate major changes to that median view, but the growing gap between market pricing and the Fed's expected rate path is a risk worth watching," says Adam.

Job openings were little changed in October

The Federal Reserve received its last labor market update ahead of tomorrow's policy decision with this morning's release of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 7.67 million job openings in October, a tick higher than the 7.658 million job openings in September.

Total separations, which include quits, layoffs and discharges, slipped to 5.05 million from 5.264 million, as did hires (to 5.149 million from 5.367 million).

"The labor market is holding on, though it remains fairly unfriendly to job seekers," says Elizabeth Renter, senior economist at NerdWallet. "When employers aren't hiring, it makes it difficult for those without work, but also those who could otherwise move on from their current jobs to better opportunities."

The stagnation in both hiring and quits isn't great for the economy, she says, "but it's not bad enough to cause alarm. A more dramatic pullback in hiring could push the unemployment rate up, as could significant layoffs, but we're not seeing either of those in the data, yet."

Nvidia slips after Trump OKs chip sales to China

In single-stock news, Nvidia (NVDA) erased a pre-market lead to end the day down 0.3% even after President Donald Trump on Monday said the tech giant can sell its H200 artificial intelligence chips to China.

The chips would be available to "approved customers," wrote Trump in a Truth Social post, and the U.S. will receive 25% of the sales. "President Xi responded positively" to the news, Trump added.

But the H200 chips are two generations behind Nvidia's B300 chips, says William Blair analyst Sebastien Naji, and "it remains unclear whether there will be actual orders for these older GPUs."

Naji points out that the reversal of the H20 chips in August did not create any new sales. Additionally, China has increased its focus on domestically produced chips from companies such as Huawei and Cambricon.

Still, the analyst does expect sales of the H200 chips, which are more powerful than H20s, to materialize and drive upside to fiscal 2027 revenue estimates.

JPMorgan slides on $105 billion expense forecast

NVDA was one of 19 Dow Jones stocks that closed in the red on Tuesday, but the worst of the bunch was JPMorgan Chase (JPM), which slid 4.7% after increasing its 2026 expense forecast.

The country's biggest bank by assets under management said it expects to spend $105 billion next year, up from an estimated $95.9 billion in spending this year and analysts' forecast for $101 billion.

Marianne Lake, CEO of JPM's Consumer & Community Banking segment, said the spending will cover compensation and product marketing costs, as well as strategic investments such as AI.

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"I got hurt on the job — in my first few minutes, actually — and can't find a lawyer anywhere to take my case." That was how my conversation began with 17-year-old "Beau," who was calling from Charleston, S.C.

"Well, Beau, what kind of job do you have, and how were you injured?"

"Mr. Beaver, you will figure it out sooner or later, so I might as well be upfront. This was to be a weekend job as a porch pirate, working for a guy who runs a crew. A box I picked up exploded, spraying pink glitter everywhere — like what would happen in a gender reveal — and then a loud alarm sounded.

"In my hurry to get away, I tripped over a sprinkler head on the front lawn, fell and fractured my right wrist.

"I want to file a workers' compensation claim and also sue the homeowner who rigged this booby-trapped package, but when I try to speak with an attorney, everyone laughs at me."

I thought, "Yeah, I would, too!" But why would a porch pirate, also known as a thief, from the South be calling me?

Morally satisfying, entertaining videos

We've all seen — on the news and other websites — videos of a porch pirate swiping a package and walking away with a look of great satisfaction on their face, and then BOOM! The package explodes, covering the thief in brightly colored powdered dye or glitter. Next, we hear the creep swearing loudly.

There are hundreds of these videos that are morally satisfying, especially to anyone who has been the victim of a porch pirate.

Unfortunately, many are AI-generated, but everyone I've spoken to enjoys watching the instant karma that's delivered.

Now, going into business as a porch pirate requires only two things: a vehicle and being morally bankrupt. But what if you don't have reliable transportation that enables a quick getaway and still have dreams of financial independence through theft?

You go to work for someone who has both.

As Beau explained, "I met a guy who hires people to steal packages. The process was very smooth, very professional." This is how Beau described it:

The "employer" had one vehicle follow actual delivery drivers and report the addresses where parcels were delivered.

Wearing high-visibility safety vests, Beau and his cohorts were driven to those addresses, where they placed a business card for a tree trimming company on the porch near the recently delivered package, took a photo of it to make the process appear legit, then they would grab the package and leave. (The boss wanted a photo to keep all the Beaus from ripping him off.)

Not only did Beau share a photo of this event, he had an actual video — from walking up to the porch to when he fell.

"This was my first house," he said. "I was nervous, and instead of selecting the photo option on my phone, I accidentally pushed the button for video." (He also mistakenly picked up a package that had already been sitting on the porch, not the one that had just been delivered.)

He played it for me. I almost fell out of my chair, laughing.

Why was this South Carolina teen reaching out to a lawyer in California?

Beau explained that he did not tell his father what "the job" was, only that he fell and needed to speak with an attorney.

"My dad reads your Kiplinger column, and you interviewed a lawyer there some time ago, so we thought you might be able to put us in touch with someone."

Even if I could, I would not.

Could a homeowner actually be held liable in this case?

Every law student in America can tell you about the 1971 Iowa Supreme Court case Katko v. Briney.

The Brineys owned an unoccupied farmhouse that had been repeatedly vandalized and burglarized. They set up a loaded shotgun trap in a bedroom, set to fire when the door was opened, aimed to hit an intruder in the legs. No warning signs were posted.

Katko broke into the house to steal antique bottles and jars and was severely injured when he triggered the trap.

After pleading guilty, he sued the Brineys for actual and punitive damages and was awarded $30,000. The Brineys had to sell much of their farm to satisfy the judgment.

I remember to this day the outrage of students in Professor Ogren's torts class at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. How could any lawyer help to reward this thief? How could a state Supreme Court validate the judgment?

This case is still precedent for the proposition that courts do not approve of potentially deadly booby traps, placing human safety over the value of property.

The law generally permits the use of deadly force only when a person is present and faces an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm. Booby traps, by definition, operate when the owner is likely not present, removing the possibility of a human judgment call on the necessity of force.

Clearly, our genius Beau tripped over a sprinkler head — which was not part of the booby trap — and the glitter did not cause injury. Juries and judges would think, "The kid got what he deserved" — and that is why no lawyer playing with a full deck would take his case.

Has any homeowner been prosecuted or sued for an exploding "bait" package of glitter or dye? I could find no cases, anywhere, over the past several years.

That said, it isn't recommended that you booby-trap your packages.

My advice to Beau

I thanked Beau for his call, telling him that he was far luckier than he realized.

"You were about to embark on a path that could lead to state prison. Think of the fractured wrist as the luckiest break of your life. Get an education, or a trade, steer clear of creeps who dangle quick-money schemes before your eyes. Also, tell your family the truth and about our conversation."

He promised to do so. I think he will.

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield, Calif., and welcomes comments and questions from readers, which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993, or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1@gmail.com. And be sure to visit dennisbeaver.com.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

As a financial professional, you build your business on trust. Clients seek guidance on their most important life decisions, and that relationship is founded on more than just numbers. It's about connection.

What if you could deepen that connection, expand your reach and strengthen your team while making a tangible difference in your community?

Strategic community engagement offers a powerful way to do that. It's about aligning your firm's values with meaningful action.

The benefits go far beyond a simple tax deduction. When done right, giving back can boost brand recognition, drive referrals and foster a company culture that top talent wants to be a part of.

Let's explore how real advisers are turning community spirit into business growth.

Build your brand by building your community

In a crowded marketplace, a strong brand helps you stand out. Community involvement is an authentic way to show your firm's values.

Instead of just telling people about your causes, demonstrate them through action, creating a reputation that marketing dollars can't buy.

Just ask Rob Russell of Russell Total Wealth and Wellness. His Dayton, Ohio, firm decided to move beyond sporadic donations and focus its philanthropic efforts on four core pillars:

• Supporting military veterans and first responders
• Mentoring local youth
• Improving community health care
• Boosting Dayton's business reputation

By becoming a lead sponsor for such organizations as Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Russell name became highly visible at local events.

This strategic approach didn't just feel good; it helped elevate the firm's profile and showed the community who they were.

Turn authentic connections into client relationships

Many advisers find their best clients through referrals, which are built on trust. Community engagement is a natural way to build that trust on a wider scale.

When potential clients see you and your team volunteering or passionately supporting a local cause, they see you as more than just an adviser. They see you as a neighbor.

This is exactly what the team at Russell Total Wealth and Wellness experienced. The firm's deep community involvement led to referrals, including a client who likely would have never attended a traditional seminar. These clients were drawn to the firm's genuine commitment to the community.

David Brooks of Retire SMART found a similar path to connection, with a different method. His calls strategy involves re-engaging past prospects with timely, relevant information.

By reaching out with a thoughtful message tied to current events, he turns a cold lead into a warm conversation.

This approach, focused on personal connections, helped bring in a substantial number of assets in a single year. It proves that focusing on people first pays off.

Strengthen your culture and engage your team

A strong company culture is essential for attracting and retaining great employees. People want to work for a company with a purpose beyond the bottom line.

Involving your team in community initiatives can increase morale, foster teamwork and create a shared sense of pride.

Chad Slagle of Slagle Financial saw his employees become more engaged — and more grateful to work for a company with heart — by shifting to a service-oriented mission. Spurred to action by the death of a local police officer who left behind a wife and daughter, Chad founded Teaming Up for Good, his firm's philanthropic wing.

The initiative, which supports first responders, the military and children, gave his team a powerful cause to rally around. It transformed their workplace into a community of people making a difference together.

Create a legacy of lasting impact

While the business benefits are clear, the most profound outcome of community engagement is the positive change you create. By addressing local needs, you can help build a legacy that lasts.

Slagle's support for the Tyler Timmins Memorial Foundation, created in honor of the fallen officer, shows how a firm can help heal and strengthen its community in a time of need.

Similarly, Josh Bradley of Capital City Financial Partners hosted educational events with FBI agents to teach clients about elder fraud and cybersecurity. By providing this vital service, his firm became a trusted advocate for its community's most vulnerable members.

Actionable steps to get started

Ready to harness the power of giving? Here's how you can start:

Define your mission. Identify causes that align with your firm's values and resonate with your team. What are you passionate about?

Plan with purpose. Start small. You don't need a massive budget to make a difference. Choose one or two initiatives, and do them well.

Involve your team. Ask your employees what causes they value. Giving them a voice will increase buy-in and engagement.

Partner for impact: Collaborate with local nonprofits or community organizations. They have the expertise and infrastructure to help you make a real impact.

Share your story. Let your clients and community know what you're doing. Share updates in your newsletter, on social media or at client events. This inspires others and reinforces your brand's commitment.

Ultimately, integrating community engagement into your business model is a win-win. You'll build a stronger business, a more engaged team and a better community. It's a powerful reminder that doing good truly is good for business.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

The 2020s have been a transformative time for advisers. After the COVID-19 pandemic, recent years introduced an unprecedented explosion of new products, platforms, changing demographics and rising expectations from time-constrained, tech-savvy clients.

Despite these transformations, the core of successful financial advising remains unchanged: the human touch.

In my daily interactions with advisers, the overwhelming viewpoint is: In 2026 and beyond, advisers must harness the power of technology to enhance the personal, authentic connections that are the cornerstone of their role.

Advising — it runs in the family

As shown by our research, the financial advisory industry is no longer simply managing investments; it provides comprehensive financial guidance and support.

However, who receives that support and what they expect from their adviser is changing rapidly.

We're in the beginning stages of the biggest wealth transfer ever. This means new clients who differ widely from their parents and spouses in terms of risk tolerance and communication preferences.

Inheritors might not settle for simply working with their spouses' or parents' advisers. They might look elsewhere to assess their options, and a key differentiator is empathy.

This is a significant opportunity for advisers. They must:

• Adapt their human touch to better serve a younger and more diverse clientele
• Develop skills to understand and address the unique financial needs and concerns of these clients, ensuring that they feel supported and heard

We're already seeing advisers adjust their practices to account for future transitions through family-based planning. Engaging with an entire family to workshop solutions ensures all members approve of the financial strategy, building trust and fostering long-term relationships.

The most successful advisers in 2026 will be those who prioritize coaching and planning with families over transactional services to counteract the increasing complexity of clients' financial lives and the need for personalized, holistic advice.

Humans lead, and technology must follow

Technology remains a fundamental enabler of success for advisers, and the pace of change is accelerating. Great advisers use sophisticated tools to manage portfolios, account transitions and tax-loss harvesting.

As advisers have updated their practices to account for increased demand for personalized counsel, technology will evolve alongside them.

Generative AI is a prime example. Advisers can use generative AI to take notes and recap calls, allowing them to worry less about capturing next steps and instead focus on building rapport with clients.

They can also use generative AI to summarize market trends and advice quickly based on the acumen level of clients and how they like to receive information. In both cases, advancements in technology help advisers focus on the human side of advising.

Extreme investment product proliferation has led to an overwhelming number of options for advisers and their clients, and has indirectly influenced the subsequent rise of separately managed accounts (SMAs).

While SMAs allow clients to receive tailored solutions, it complicates an adviser's bird's-eye view of their entire portfolios.

As more funds become available and clients increasingly expect personalized and flexible support, advisers should leverage AI to examine which will be true value-adds.

For example, advisers should analyze what they're purchasing to confirm products are "true to label" and without "hidden" drawbacks, such as having a high expense ratio relative to the peer group average.

Though all investing is subject to risk, this extra analysis can help advisers feel confident they're giving their clients the best chance for investment success.

Advisers can also leverage tools and support from such asset managers as Vanguard to oversee ongoing portfolio management. Asset managers can help advisers achieve scalability with portfolio construction tools that can run on-demand diagnostics of portfolio risk and return drivers to create custom reports and action plans for clients.

By using AI and other tools to weed through new offerings and develop scalable solutions, advisers can more quickly make decisions, allowing them to spend more time on strategic planning, relationship management and prospecting, and less on administrative tasks.

The talent shortage is a 'right now' problem

McKinsey estimates that, by 2034, the financial services industry will face a shortage of about 100,000 advisers. As with the generational wealth transfer, this is a "right now" situation.

To account for and address shortages, firms, banks and home offices alike must rethink their practice management — both from a talent and a tool standpoint.

For example, we work with advisers who are experimenting with teaming to maximize resources and embrace efficiencies, while other advisers lean on diversified, managed model portfolios to free up time to take on new clients.

To attract and retain top talent, institutions must provide autonomy to advisers where possible. In this era of rapid innovation, it will be important to offer the freedom to choose from a broader universe of products.

Scalable, portfolio-based solutions can help advisers make their role more manageable and appealing.

Institutions can also offer training programs that focus on both technical skills and soft skills, such as communication and empathy, to help advisers connect with new prospects and existing clients.

The reality is that, even in the face of a talent shortage, expectations and demand aren't slowing down. The good news is that neither will the evolution of technology. By leaning into technology to streamline tasks and evolving practice management, advisers can stay ahead.

Conclusion

Next year will be defined by the seamless integration of innovative technology and the irreplaceable human touch.

By leveraging new technology to better provide coaching and planning and address the talent shortage, advisers can thrive in an increasingly competitive market.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Today's clients no longer want piecemeal financial help. They want a family office experience, even if they're not ultra-wealthy.

That means receiving investment guidance, tax filing and planning and estate planning all in one place. The old model of an adviser building a 60/40 portfolio or a CPA filing a return once a year no longer meets expectations.

Clients increasingly expect integrated investment, tax and estate planning support as part of holistic wealth management.

The technology options of the past — single-purpose, siloed solutions — do not deliver on this need. Tax software that doesn't integrate with financial plans or estate planning tools that operate in isolation only add friction and duplication of work.

Investments in tech and talent

Forward-thinking wealth management firms are investing in talent and technology to meet these demands. At the same time, CPAs are reshaping their roles by becoming financial advisers, affiliating tightly with advisers or being acquired outright.

While the largest CPA-affiliated wealth firms now oversee hundreds of billions in assets under management (AUM), the more telling trend is the rapid growth of integrated advisory models in which tax and wealth services are converging to meet client demand for year-round guidance.

Estate planning is evolving in the same way. Once a service reserved for ultra-high-net-worth families, estate planning access has been democratized by platforms such as Trust & Will, Vanilla and Wealth.com, which are using technology to rapidly build and update planning frameworks and documents.

Advisers understand the stakes: If clients need to go elsewhere for estate planning, the entire relationship is at risk.

With trillions set to transfer between generations over the coming decades, firms that integrate estate planning will be positioned to retain both assets and trust.

What advisers can do to keep up

For advisers, this shift means rethinking what "comprehensive" really looks like.

It's no longer enough to simply add services; data integration between these offerings is required to deliver truly holistic guidance.

Advisory firms need to start by mapping where their clients' financial, tax and estate data currently reside and then identify and address the friction points between systems and providers.

Building integrations between technology solutions enables important data sharing between tools and teams by allowing information to flow seamlessly between investment, tax and estate planning systems.

In fact, many advisers are embedding tax and estate planning platforms directly into onboarding workflows and client portals so that they become part of ongoing financial advisory conversations.

Even firms not equipped to hire in-house tax professionals and estate planners can integrate with these solutions to deliver tax and estate services that feel frictionless to clients.

Tech requirements

To truly deliver on the family office model, the adviser technology stack of the future must:

• Enable seamless data flow between financial plans, tax returns and estate documents
• Facilitate collaboration between clients, financial advisers, tax professionals and estate planners in one integrated environment
• Provide proactive insights, using automation and AI, to anticipate client needs and optimize decisions in real time

The most innovative firms have already recognized this shift and are moving quickly to make it real.

They are investing in building technology infrastructure that allows shared data without sacrificing privacy and building teams in which tax, legal and financial professionals work in coordination with one another.

Indeed, as technology and talent continue to converge, the family office experience will no longer be a privilege of the ultra-wealthy; it will become the new standard for comprehensive wealth management.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Stocks trended lower throughout Monday's session as caution set in ahead of the December Fed meeting. The central bank is widely expected to announce its third straight quarter-point rate cut Wednesday afternoon. However, uncertainty remains about what's in store for interest rates and the economy in 2026.

"This week's FOMC decision could set the tone for the remainder of 2025 and beyond, shaping expectations for monetary policy, risk appetite, and market leadership," says Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide.

Another rate cut "would reinforce the narrative of easing financial conditions," while "any deviation from the expected path, or hawkish commentary, could recalibrate positioning and volatility as investors reassess the Fed's resolve," Hackett adds.

According to CME Group FedWatch, futures traders are pricing in an 87% chance that the Federal Reserve lowers its benchmark rate by a quarter-percentage point – up from 67% one month ago. Odds are currently for two additional 0.25% cuts in 2026.

Wall Street will also see what the Fed expects for next year, too, with the December meeting featuring the release of the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP), or "dot plot," which summarizes each member's expectations for monetary policy going forward.

In September, the dot plot revealed median expectations for just one quarter-point rate cut in 2026, following three in 2025.

At today's close, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 47,739, the broader S&P 500 slipped 0.4% to 6,846, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.1% to 23,545.

Confluent soars 29% on IBM buyout buzz

Confluent (CFLT) was one of the biggest advancers on Monday, jumping 29.1% after International Business Machines (IBM, +0.4%) said it will buy the data streaming platform in a deal valued at $11 billion.

"With the acquisition of Confluent, IBM will provide the smart data platform for enterprise IT, purpose-built for AI," said IBM CEO Arvind Krishna in the press release.

"A sale to IBM makes sense to us and reflects a combination of platform value (data streaming technology enabling real-time workflows, analytics) and current valuation," says Oppenheimer analyst Ittai Kidron. And Big Blue's broad data portfolio and open-source assets "make a good fit for Confluent."

The acquisition is expected to close by mid-2026.

Paramount makes hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery

In other M&A news, Paramount Skydance (PSKY, +9.0%) is launching a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discover (WBD, +4.4%) after the entertainment and media company announced last week that it will sell its streaming and studio assets to Netflix (NFLX, -3.4%).

Paramount said it will bypass WBD's board of directors and take its $30 per-share bid straight to shareholders, representing a 15% premium to WBD's December 5 close.

But Bernstein analyst Laurent Yoon isn't so sure that'll fly. "If PSKY goes directly to shareholders with the same proposal WBD's board already rejected, we remain skeptical that shareholders would view that offer as superior to NFLX's – at minimum, it's far from a slam dunk, assuming the Board went through a rigorous evaluation process," he wrote in an early morning note.

Yoon has an Underperform (Sell) rating in PSKY, an Outperform (Buy) rating on NFLX and a Market Perform (Hold) rating on WBD.

Carvana to join the S&P 500

Elsewhere, Carvana (CVNA) jumped 12.1% after S&P Dow Jones Indices said it will add the online used car retailer to the S&P 500, effective ahead of the December 22 open.

Ireland-based building materials firm CRH (CRH, +5.9%) and HVAC specialist Comfort Systems USA (FIX, -1.2%) will also join the broad-market index.

The three stocks will replace LKQ (LKQ, -2.0%), Solstice Advanced Materials (SOLS, -0.9%) and Mohawk Industries (MHK, -1.8%).

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The December Fed meeting concluded on December 10, with the central bank issuing its third straight quarter-point rate cut.

The central bank also released its Summary of Economic Projections, or dot plot, which remained more or less the same from September, but gave more optimistic outlooks for the economy and inflation.

"Powell got out his three wood and hit it right done the middle," says Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group. "The market got the cut it wanted and although a January cut isn't the base case, by no means did they put cold water on that potential move. Then the cherry on top was a stronger forecasted economy next year, never something we'd consider a bad thing."

The Kiplinger team is reported live on the December Fed meeting, bringing you the news and our expert analysis of what it could mean for the economy. Scroll for all the updates.

Best Stocks to Buy for Fed Rate Cuts | Falling Interest Rates: What They Mean for Homeowners, Savers and Investors | What's Next for the Fed — as an Institution?

Fed meeting schedule for 2026

The next Fed meeting, which runs from December 9 to December 10, marks the final gathering of 2025. Looking ahead to 2026, the Federal Open Market Committee will hold its first meeting of the new year on January 27 to 28.

"The committee meets eight times a year, or about once every six weeks," writes Kiplinger contributor Dan Burrows in his feature, "When Is the Next Fed Meeting?".

The Federal Open Market Committee "is required to meet at least four times a year and may convene additional meetings if necessary," Burrows adds, noting that "the convention of meeting eight times per year dates back to the market stresses of 1981."

Fed meetings last two days and wrap up with the release of a policy decision at 2 pm Eastern Standard Time. This is typically followed by the Fed chair's press conference at 2:30 pm.

Here is the full Fed meeting schedule for 2026:

• January 27 to 28
• March 17 to 18
• April 28 to 29
• June 16 to 17
• July 28 to 29
• September 15 to 16
• October 27 to 28
• December 8 to 9

- Karee Venema

Who gets to vote at the December Fed meeting?

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has 12 total members, eight permanent and four who rotate each year.

The eight permanent voting committee members include the Fed chair and vice chair, the five Fed governors and the president of the New York Fed.

Four regional Fed presidents are rotated in each calendar year.

The 2025 FOMC voting committee consists of:

• Fed Chair Jerome Powell
• Vice Chair Philip Jefferson
• Fed Governor Michael Barr
• Fed Governor Michelle Bowman
• Fed Governor Lisa Cook
• Fed Governor Stephen Miran
• Fed Governor Christopher Waller
• New York Fed President John Williams
• Boston Fed President Susan Collins
• Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee
• St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem
• Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid

In 2026, the presidents from Cleveland, Philadelphia, Dallas and Minneapolis will rotate in as FOMC voting members, according to the Federal Reserve. Additionally, Jerome Powell's term as Fed chair is up in May.

- Karee Venema

How can you invest for lower interest rates?

With the Federal Reserve expected to cut rates at its final meeting of 2025, many investors may be wondering how they can prepare their portfolios.

One way is to seek out high-quality growth stocks, which tend to see outsize benefits from lower interest rates.

This happens for two reasons, says Kiplinger contributor Charles Lewis Sizemore, CFA. For one, lower rates make capital cheaper and "young, fast-growing companies often rely on external funding."

Additionally, lower interest rates boost the current value of future profits, which increases valuations for firms with long-term earnings potential.

Read more: How to Invest for Fall Rate Cuts by the Fed

Markets are optimistic about a rate cut

Equity index futures pointed to a higher open for Fed Week Monday morning, following through on solid gains for the first week of December. The S&P 500 closed higher for a fourth straight session and its ninth out of 10 on Friday.

"The stock market may have bounced back strongly from its November pullback," E*TRADE Managing Director Chris Larkin observes, "but a new up leg to its rally is still a work in progress."

According to Larkin, what the FOMC does and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell say on Wednesday "will likely determine whether the S&P 500’s October record highs turn out to be genuine resistance level or just the latest notch on the bull market’s belt."

FedWatch shows a near-90% probability the FOMC will cut the target range for the federal funds rate by another 25 basis points, following similar moves in September and October. As Larkin notes, recent incoming economic data highlight both "ongoing labor-market softness and sticky inflation.

So lower interest rates at this meeting "might not be a slam dunk" despite market optimism. "As is often the case, though," Larkin concludes, "Chair Powell’s press conference could play a big role in shaping the market’s short-term response."

– David Dittman

The Fed's windshield is foggy

The three main U.S. equity indexes turned negative less than an hour into Monday's trading session as investors continue to process incoming data from the economic calendar.

The S&P 500 was down about 0.2% a little more than 50 minutes after the opening bell but remained within 0.5% of its October 28 record closing high of 6,890.89. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.1%.

We should probably expect a little intraday up-and-down this week, which will still amount to not much compared to movement in expectations around what the Fed will do this week.

FedWatch has been all over the place amid unprecedented data-blindness due to a record-long government shutdown. Today, it shows a near 90% probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut.

As recently as November 19 markets were about 70% certain the FOMC would hold the target range for the federal funds rate at 3.75% to 4.00% after cutting at its September and October meetings.

“To my knowledge, it’s totally unprecedented,” Peterson Institute of International Economics Senior Fellow David Wilcox told Quartz.

Wilcox said the present situation is "off the charts" and compared the Fed to a person driving with a foggy windshield.

– David Dittman

For whom the Fed bids

As Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal notes, nobody cares about the independence of the U.S. central bank amid lingering questions about what's next for the Fed as an institution during President Donald Trump's second run in the White House.

The White House has already openly discussed whether it would fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell as it lobbied for lower interest rates through most of 2025. And there's a pending Supreme Court case that will resolve Gov. Lisa Cook's future on the Fed's board.

"There's a ton of talk on Wall Street and in the media that Fed independence is at risk of going away," Weisenthal observes. "That is definitely a valid concern."

He cites Trump's public criticism of the FOMC and the fact that the president named the chair of his own Council of Economic Advisors to fill a recent vacancy on the board.

And Trump will soon name a successor to Powell: "One likely candidate is Kevin Hassett, and there is a fear that Hassett will be there to do Trump's bidding, rather than assiduously pursue the Fed's dual mandate."

At the same time: "There's not much evidence that this is a real concern in the market right now." Weisenthal quotes Standard Chartered macro strategist Steve Englander at length but the bottom line is right here:

"Questions have been raised about Kevin Hassett’s credibility with markets and within the FOMC," Englander writes, "but the questions are not showing up so far in inflation breakevens, which are close to post-2024 election lows."

As Englander explains, "If Hassett as Federal Reserve Board Chair is expected to compromise inflation outcomes, this is where we would expect to see these concerns most clearly."

– David Dittman

The first half of the first day of Fed Week

There's a split among the "bullish" sectors – communication services, financial stocks, industrials and technology stocks – in the first half of Monday's trading session. The first two are in the red, the other two are in the green.

And all three main U.S. equity indexes have stabilized with modest losses of 0.2% to 0.3%.

Action in the bond market is similarly stable, with the yield on the 2-year U.S. Treasury note up to 3.602% from 3.564% on Friday. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield is up to 4.178% from 4.139%, the 30-year from 4.822% from 4.792%.

FedWatch shows the probability of a 25-basis-point rate cut has dipped from 89.9% to 87.6%.

What's moving markets while we're watching the Fed? Probably Netflix (NFLX), which faces a hostile challenge from Paramount Skydance (PSKY) as it tries to complete its next eyeball-catching expansion with the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discover (WBD).

NFLX, a leader among communication services stocks, is down more than 4% as of midday Monday. The stock recently split 10 for 1.

Tech stocks were up but off their highs after International Business Machines (IBM) announced an $11 billion deal to acquire data-infrastructure firm Confluent (CFLT), as markets continue to ask whether we're in an AI bubble.

– David Dittman

The Supreme Court and the Federal Reserve

The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today in a case many observers consider a preview of the upcoming matter of whether President Donald Trump can fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook.

The White House is asking the high court to overturn a precedent established in a 1935 case, Humphrey's Executor v. United States, that limits presidential authority to remove the heads of independent agencies.

As Reuters reports, during today's questioning Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked Solicitor General D. John Sauer, arguing on behalf of President Trump, about implications for the U.S. central bank.

"How would you distinguish the Federal Reserve from agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission?" Justice Kavanaugh asked. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Trump's attempt to fire Cook on January 21.

In May, the Court issued an opinion suggesting at least six justices would rule against the president. It did not explicitly overrule Humphrey's Executor, but it did allow him to fire two members of other federal agencies' boards.

And the Court offered a two-sentence summary on the question it will begin to answer next month.

"Finally," the six-member majority wrote in an unsigned opinion, "respondents Gwynne Wilcox and Cathy Harris contend that arguments in this case necessarily implicate the constitutionality of for-cause removal protections for members of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors or other members of the Federal Open Market Committee.

"We disagree. The Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States."

– David Dittman

Does Gen Z even care about the Fed?

In its most romantic guise it's the foundation of a whole new financial system where things like the next Fed meeting simply don't matter. In more prosaic terms what cryptocurrency is and how bitcoin works boil down to digital money.

At the same time, young people recognize what's happening here: crypto is growing and maturing. More evidence comes from an October 2025 YouGov survey surfaced by Marketwatch.com today.

According to YouGov (pdf), 26% of young men own cryptocurrency, and 28% own any crypto-based asset such as individual tokens and/or coins, crypto-based ETFs, or both. Meanwhile, 21% say they have a 401(k), Roth IRA or similar retirement fund. And 24% say they hold individual stocks.

This is consistent with similar findings from YouGov reported by Fortune in February: "Gen Z investors are four times more likely to own crypto than retirement accounts."

To be clear, these are the crypto trends we're watching in 2026.

– David Dittman

Certainty, uncertainty and the Fed

The three main U.S. equity indexes continued to head lower Monday afternoon amid rising volatility (as measured by the market's "fear index") and a lot of known unknowns.

"The uncertainty of the nature of the Fed cut expected this Wednesday has put the market in a wait-and-see mode," Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates observes.

That 87.4% (and falling, if ever so slightly) probability is "clouded by the expectations that the cut will be highly contentious internally and whether the rhetoric will be hawkish enough to bring serious doubts about any further cuts until Chairman Powell is replaced in May."

Navellier notes as well that absence "of complete economic data due to the catch-up from the extended government shutdown also makes reaching conclusions difficult."

He says too that a developing "trend in interest rates is becoming more challenging," highlighting the move in the 2-year U.S. and the 10-year U.S. government yields to their highest levels in more than a month and since March, respectively.

"The VIX had dropped to 15.3 premarket, the lowest in three months," Navellier adds, "and has jumped back to 16.8 in an apparent caution over the upcoming Fed cut."

While the trend remains cautiously positive, he concludes, uncertainty will continue until after Wednesday's FOMC decision and commentary from the outgoing Fed chair.

– David Dittman

About the Fed's data deficit

Much is being made of the economic data deficit the longest government shutdown in the history of the United States has created for the Federal Reserve.

A lot of the ups and downs for expectations about what our central bankers will do with the federal funds rate have been fueled by the absence of information about jobs and inflation.

Now imagine a world where data about the holdings of the biggest investors, traders and speculators on the planet across the full spectrum of financial assets – including buy and sell transactions – is available in real time.

Among the crypto trends we're watching in 2026 is "integration and convergence": where "TradFi" and "DeFi" combine to make things more efficient for everyone.

OK, look, yes, we're not contemplating real-time Consumer Price Index (CPI) data (the dream is, of course, PCE…).

But at least some market participants were limited by the delay in commitment of traders reports from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

And the fast-growing and rapidly maturing crypto industry shows us how to solve problems like that, for the long term.

– David Dittman

Does the Fed need to think about deflation?

"This week will be all about the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement on Wednesday," Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates says. Still, there are notable names on the earnings calendar, including Oracle (ORCL, +1.4%) and Broadcom (AVGO, +2.8%).

Navellier doesn't expect the FOMC to signal more cuts to interest rates in its post-meeting statement "no matter what their dot plot signals" because voting members remain "very uncomfortable with the delay in economic data from the federal government shutdown."

At the same time, the Fed must cut the target range for the federal funds rate two more times – in addition to a 25-basis-point move this week – "and move to a 'neutral' rate."

According to Navellier, "The inflation risk has fizzled, and due to falling home prices, excess rental properties, and falling crude oil prices, if anything, there is a potential deflation risk that the Fed must consider."

As of Monday's closing bell, FedWatch shows an 89.4% probability of a quarter-point rate cut at the conclusion of this week's FOMC meeting.

And we'll be there all the way through to the other side of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference.

– David Dittman

Stocks start Fed Week on a negative note

Stocks trended lower throughout Monday's session as caution set in ahead of the December Fed meeting. The central bank is widely expected to announce its third straight quarter-point rate cut Wednesday afternoon. However, uncertainty remains about what's in store for interest rates and the economy in 2026.

"This week's FOMC decision could set the tone for the remainder of 2025 and beyond, shaping expectations for monetary policy, risk appetite, and market leadership," says Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide.

Another rate cut "would reinforce the narrative of easing financial conditions," while "any deviation from the expected path, or hawkish commentary, could recalibrate positioning and volatility as investors reassess the Fed's resolve," Hackett adds.

At today's close, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 47,739, the broader S&P 500 slipped 0.4% to 6,846, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.1% to 23,545.

Read more: Stocks Slip to Start Fed Week: Stock Market Today

Four rate cuts in the next 12 months?

Scott Helfstein, head of investment strategy at Global X, says it's not out of the realm of possibility for the Federal Reserve to cut rates up to four times over the next 12 months.

"Simply put, real rates, or Fed funds minus inflation, is too high," explains Helfstein. "That will ultimately drive the Fed in the coming meetings. Powell noted that inflation ex-tariffs was much closer to target than the headline number and risks to the employment mandate are rising."

As such, the Fed is expected to cut rates this week and Chair Powell will likely warn that future rate cuts are no guarantee. "This really should not be surprising nor trigger a market move, but it might," says the strategist. "They are going to be data dependent, and as of now, data favors lower rates."

The bottom line, he points out, is that the Fed appears to be on a slow, sustained path toward lower rates. This and strong earnings will likely keep the wind in the stock market's sail.

Looking ahead to 2026, Helfstein believes tech stocks will continue to perform well, but a broader rotation will benefit infrastructure and industrial stocks, as well as utilities.

- Karee Venema

Stock futures signal a lower start on Tuesday

Stock futures are trading cautiously lower ahead of Tuesday's open. At last check, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are down 0.1%, while the Nasdaq-100 is off 0.2%.

As for single stocks, Nvidia (NVDA) is up 0.3% in electronic trading after President Trump said the tech giant could sell its H200 AI chips to China in exchange for the U.S. receiving a 25% cut of the sales.

And alternative asset management firm Ares Management (ARES) is nearly 8% higher on news it will replace snack maker Kellanova (K), which Mars is acquiring, in the S&P 500, effective ahead of the December 11 open.

- Karee Venema

What is the greater risk to the economy: inflation or the labor market?

The Federal Reserve has spent the past several months trying to balance sticky inflation with signs of a major slowdown in the labor market, says Brent Schutte, chief investment officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company.

This isn't anything new, he adds. Remember, the Fed has a dual mandate, as established by a 1977 amendment to the Federal Reserve Act, of maximum employment and stable prices.

But more recently, it's been an even tougher challenge.

Why? For one, says Schutte, there's less information available. Even "before the government shutdown, conflicting indicators of persistent inflation posed by tariffs versus a softening labor market and robust economic growth had already muddied the long-term economic outlook," he notes.

Additionally, economic divides have widened in recent years due to higher interest rates. Schutte says growth in areas that are sensitive to interest rates, including manufacturing and housing, has slowed, while higher-income investors have benefited.

This "K-shaped" economy makes "the Fed's job harder, as a policy that boosts one group may inadvertently drag down the other," Schutte explains. So, while the central bank is expected to cut rates by a quarter-percentage point this week, he believes there will likely be dissent among committee members.

- Karee Venema

Related: Kiplinger Jobs Outlook: A Good September Report Hides Ongoing Weakness

Who appointed Jerome Powell as Fed chair?

Jerome Powell assumed the role of Fed chair on February 5, 2018, after being nominated by then-President Donald Trump, who was serving his first term in the White House.

Powell's initial four-year stint as head of the Federal Reserve ended in 2022, but he was reappointed for a second four-year term on May 23, 2022, after being nominated by then-President Joe Biden.

Powell initially joined the Fed's Board of Governors in 2012 after he was nominated by then-President Barack Obama.

While Powell's second term as Fed chair will expire in May 2026, he can remain on the Fed's board until January 2028.

- Karee Venema

Job openings were unchanged in October

The Fed got its last labor market update ahead of tomorrow's policy announcement with this morning's release of the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 7.67 million job openings in October, a tick higher than the 7.658 million job openings in September.

Total separations, which include quits, layoffs and discharges, slipped to 5.05 million from 5.264 million, as did hires (to 5.149 million from 5.367 million).

"The labor market is holding on, though it remains fairly unfriendly to job seekers," says Elizabeth Renter, senior economist at NerdWallet. "When employers aren't hiring, it makes it difficult for those without work, but also those who could otherwise move on from their current jobs to better opportunities."

The stagnation in both hiring and quits isn't great for the economy, she says, "but it's not bad enough to cause alarm. A more dramatic pullback in hiring could push the unemployment rate up, as could significant layoffs, but we're not seeing either of those in the data, yet."

- Karee Venema

Time to review your portfolio as the Fed lowers rates

No matter how you feel about the Federal Reserve's rate-cutting campaign, it's important to prepare your portfolio for lower interest rates, says Anne Kates Smith, executive editor of Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine.

"The good news for investors is that lower interest rates are largely positive for stocks — even in the second year of a rate-cutting cycle," she writes. Real estate, financials, tech and health care are among the sectors that tend to perform well in the second year of rate cuts, while mid- and small-cap stocks offer attractive options as well.

- Karee Venema

Read more: How to Position Your Portfolio for Lower Interest Rates

Will the Fed cut rates in December?

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates at its December 9-10 meeting as inflation holds steady and downside risks to the labor market remain.

As of December 9, CME Group FedWatch showed futures traders are pricing in an 89.6% probability the FOMC will lower the federal funds rate by 25 basis points (0.25%) to a range of 3.50% to 3.75%. This would mark its lowest level since September 2022.

- Karee Venema

Should you open a CD ahead of the Fed announcement?

Demand for certificates of deposit (CDs) has been on the rise in recent years, thanks to elevated interest rates, which weighed on stock market returns and had investors seeking out less-risky options.

With the Fed expected to cut rates again tomorrow, now could be an ideal time to lock in attractive yields on CDs.

The difference in yields on short-term and long-term CDs is minimal at the moment, so if you do decide to open a certificate of deposit, your choice between the two could rest with how long you're able to lock up your cash.

Remember that when putting your money into certificates of deposit, you're unable to access it until the CD matures. If you do withdraw funds ahead of time, you'll be charged a fee.

Read more: Should You Get a Long-Term or Short-Term CD Before the Next Fed Meeting?

The policy path for 2026 remains uncertain, says Raymond James CIO

The Fed will wrap up its final meeting of 2025 tomorrow afternoon and Wall Street is widely expecting the central bank to cut rates for a third straight time.

But just "beneath this near certainty lies an unusual public split within the Federal Open Market Committee," says Larry Adam, chief investment officer at Raymond James. "Recent dissents highlight the challenge of balancing a cooling job market against stubborn inflation – casting fresh uncertainty over the policy path for 2026."

And the end of Jerome Powell's term as Fed chair in May adds intrigue to the rate-cut debate. National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, who is the frontrunner to replace Powell, said during a Wall Street Journal CEO Council event on Tuesday that "there's plenty of room" to cut rates moving forward "if the data suggests we could do it."

For now, Wall Street will have to rely on the FOMC's Summary of Economic Projections, or "dot plot", to see where committee members expect the federal funds rate to be at the end of 2026.

In September, the dot plot revealed median expectations for just one quarter-point rate cut in 2026, following three in 2025. "We don't anticipate major changes to that median view, but the growing gap between market pricing and the Fed's expected rate path is a risk worth watching," says Adam.

- Karee Venema

How well do you know the Fed?

Fed meetings have become key events on Wall Street after inflation hit a pandemic-induced 40-year peak in 2022 – which forced the central bank into an aggressive rate-hiking campaign that lifted the federal funds rate to its highest level in more than two decades.

But how well do you know the Fed?

With the next Fed announcement on deck, we decided to test your basic knowledge of the Federal Reserve and how its actions impact you and your money.

Quiz: How Well Do You Know the Fed?

A reality check on fixed income and Fed rate cuts

"What does the Federal Reserve's rate-reduction initiative mean in the short run for your fixed-income holdings?," asks Jeffrey Kosnett, editor of Kiplinger Investing for Income.

If past is precedent, some short-term upheaval. After the Fed cut rates by one full percentage point in late 2024, "the year ended with bond markets and fund returns in retreat," says Kosnett. And with sticky inflation and a weak dollar, "there is no sign of fading economic momentum to the degree that traditionally provokes big flows into Treasury bonds and forces those yields down."

Still, investors should hang tight, Kosnett advises, and seek out potential opportunities in places such as non-traditional bond funds and municipal bonds.

- Karee Venema

Read more: What Fed Rate Cuts Mean For Fixed-Income Investors

Another near certainty on Wednesday: Powell's purple tie

The odds of a December rate cut are high. It's also a near-certainty that Fed Chair Powell will be wearing a purple tie during Wednesday's press conference.

That's because Powell always wears a purple tie … and there's a reason for it.

During an early April Q&A session with journalists at the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing conference, Powell was asked about the significance of his purple ties.

"At the beginning, the only significance was that I like purple ties," Powell replied. At his next press conference, he said he went to reach for a red or blue tie and thought, "Maybe not … so I wind up wearing purple."

He said now it's become "a thing," and it supports the fact that the Fed "is strictly non-political" and "bipartisan," and purple is a good color for that.

"Plus, I like purple ties," Powell concluded.

- Karee Venema

Small caps outperformed on Tuesday

Stocks were choppy Tuesday, with market participants in wait-and-see mode ahead of tomorrow's policy announcement from the Federal Reserve. With the central bank widely expected to cut interest rates again, rate-sensitive small caps outperformed and the Russell 2000 hit a new intraday high.

The small-cap benchmark fell short of a new record close, though, gaining 0.2% to 2,526. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (+0.1% at 23,576) also finished in positive territory, while the broader S&P 500 (-0.09% at 6,840) and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.4% at 47,560) ended in the red.

Read more: JPMorgan's Drop Drags on the Dow: Stock Market Today

What time will the Fed statement be released and what changes are expected?

The Federal Open Market Committee will release its updated policy statement at 2 pm Eastern Standard Time today, December 10.

"Available indicators suggest that economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace, the committee wrote in its October statement. "Job gains have slowed this year, and the unemployment rate has edged up but remained low through August; more recent indicators are consistent with these developments. Inflation has moved up since earlier in the year and remains somewhat elevated."

As such, the FOMC voted to lower the federal funds rate by a quarter-percentage point to a range of 3.75% to 4.00%.

This time around, Goldman Sachs economists say the statement "will likely borrow the 'extent and timing of additional adjustments' language used in December 2024 under quite similar circumstances to convey that the bar for any further cuts will be somewhat higher."

They also expect more dissents than at the October Fed meeting, where Fed Governor Stephen Miran supported a half-percentage point cut and Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid supported a pause.

The economists say one other committee member could join Schmid in voting to keep rates unchanged at this meeting and believe that up to five central bankers could issue soft dissents on the Fed's monetary policy choices for this year.

What's a soft dissent? The Fed's December meetings allow all committee members to " tell you what they thought was appropriate policy for the year that just ended," explains Nick Timiraos of The Wall Street Journal. "In other words, do they agree with what just happened? Most years, this is a formality — everyone writes down whatever rate the committee settled on. But when it isn't, you get something fascinating: soft dissents. Officials who didn't vote against the decision (or weren't even voting members) quietly register that they would have done something different. "

"Dissents might actually be somewhat helpful to Powell in getting across that the bar for another rate cut will be higher," Goldman Sachs economists write.

- Karee Venema

Stock futures signal a quiet open on Fed Day

Stock futures are little changed Wednesday as Wall Street awaits this afternoon's policy announcement from the Federal Reserve. At last check, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were up slightly, while the Nasdaq-100 was signaling a lower open.

There is some notable price action among individual stocks, though. Braze (BRZE) is 16% higher in pre-market trading after the consumer engagement platform reported a fiscal third-quarter revenue beat. And Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL) is down nearly 4% after the restaurant chain's fiscal first-quarter top-line miss.

- Karee Venema

Trump to conduct final interviews with potential Powell replacements

President Donald Trump said he will begin the final interviews with the top candidates to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair.

While Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, is widely believed to be the frontrunner, media reports suggest Trump and his team will meet today with Kevin Warsh, who served as a Fed governor from 2006 through 2011.

On Tuesday, Trump told POLITICO that he would only choose someone to replace Powell who is committed to cutting interest rates.

- Karee Venema

When does Jerome Powell's term as Fed chair end?

President Trump has not been subtle in his dislike of Fed Chair Powell. But the question of whether or not Trump can fire Powell has quieted down in recent months, given that the Fed chair's term is up on May 15, 2026.

Christian Hoffmann, head of fixed income at Thornburg Investment Management, says there likely won't be any surprises at the December meeting, but notes that "the biggest thing happening in the background is the question of who will lead the Fed."

He expects Fed Chair Powell to become "a lame duck fairly quickly," with whoever is chosen to replace him to become somewhat of a "shadow Fed chair ... offering opinions or taking potshots from the sidelines."

For what it's worth, Powell's term as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve ends on January 31, 2028.

- Karee Venema

Where can I watch Fed Chair Powell's press conference?

Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference will begin at 2:30 pm Eastern Standard Time this afternoon.

The presser can be viewed on the Federal Reserve's website or on the Fed's YouTube channel.

Labor costs rise at a slower-than-expected pace in Q3

The Federal Reserve was dealt a small inflation win this morning.

Ahead of the open, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the Employment Cost Index (ECI), which measures labor costs, rose 0.8% from Q2 to Q3. The shutdown-delayed data came in below economists' estimate for a 0.9% increase.

Year over year, the ECI was up 3.5%.

The report shows that "the labor market is not a source of excess inflationary pressure at present," says Wells Fargo Senior Economist Sarah House. But the data "offered additional evidence that the gradual softening in the labor market is translating to slower compensation growth."

- Karee Venema

The December rate cut will be a hawkish one, says SWBC CIO

Chris Brigati, chief investment officer at SWBC, believes today's rate cut will be a hawkish one.

"The Fed is divided on how to proceed with rate cuts in 2026 given the delicate balance between job market weakness and still elevated inflation," says Brigati. "There is also uncertainty about the new Fed chair, and that may also add to the central bank's reluctance to make any major rate moves in the months leading up to Chair Powell's term ending."

As such, the central bank is unlikely to signal any additional rate cuts for early 2026. And Brigati thinks the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged in the first half of 2026, even amid pressure from doves, including Powell's eventual successor.

"We remain concerned about a potential inflation resurgence," explains the CIO. "Price data has stayed stubbornly high, consumer spending — particularly among higher-income households — shows little sign of slowing, and a more accommodative Fed stance to counter labor market weakness could reignite demand and add inflationary pressure."

Investors need to "stay alert," Brigati advises, and continue to rebalance portfolios following this year's strong showing from tech stocks. He says investors shouldn't abandon these high-growth stocks; rather, they need to develop a strategy "to cushion against volatility and position for opportunity."

- Karee Venema

Where have all the Fed speakers been?

The Fed-speak has been nonexistent over the past week or so. That's by design. Since Saturday, November 29, and until Thursday, December 11, participants in the FOMC meeting have been bound by a Federal Reserve policy that limits the extent they can talk about the economy and interest rates.

These two-week "blackout periods" begin the second Saturday that falls 10 days before the next FOMC meeting and end the Thursday that follows the meeting. The Fed's blackout period was an unofficial practice that began in the 1980s. It was formalized in 2011 and reaffirmed in January 2025.

Fed-watchers see the policy as a measure against corruption and the potential for information leaks to distort markets. It also provides cover for open discussion during the Fed's most intense periods of policy-making.

Here is a schedule for all blackout periods through January 2027.

- David Dittman

Stocks are mixed ahead of FOMC announcement

With about 45 minutes to go until the latest policy announcement from the FOMC, the main indexes are mixed. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.5% on strength from financial stocks American Express (AXP) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM).

The broader S&P 500 is 0.1% higher, while the Nasdaq Composite is down 0.2%.

Over in the bond market, the 2-year Treasury yield is off 2.7 basis points to 3.586%, while the 10-year Treasury yield is down 2.6 basis points at 4.16%. A basis point = 0.01%.

- Karee Venema

What savers should do after the latest Fed rate cut

As the Federal Reserve wraps up its final meeting of the year, it's a good time for savers to take stock of where their money sits and what adjustments might make sense heading into the new year.

"After the Fed issued rate cuts this year, APYs on savings accounts dropped. Adding to uncertainty for savers is the fact that there will be a new Fed chair next year when Jerome Powell's term ends in May. However, it isn't all doom and gloom. Some savings accounts still offer substantial gains, helping you reach your short-term savings goals," says Sean Jackson, personal finance writer at Kiplinger.

And Sean is right. A rate cut doesn't change APYs overnight. Many of the top online banks were still offering yields in the low-to-mid-4% range throughout 2025.

By late 2025, savings rates remained elevated compared to pre-hiking-cycle norms, though they had eased off their absolute peaks, signaling a gradual, not dramatic, cooling. For savers, that means there's still time to capitalize on relatively high returns before yields drift lower.

To brace for the uncertainty 2026 brings, read Smart Money Moves Savers Should Make in 2026.

- Carla Ayers

The Fed decision is in

As expected, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter-percentage point at its December meeting, bringing the federal funds rate to a range of 3.5% to 3.75%.

Three Fed officials dissented from the latest rate cut

There were three FOMC committee members who voted against today's rate cut. Fed Governor Stephen Miran supported lowering the federal funds rate by a half-percentage point, while Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee supported a pause.

These dissents are "feeding the narrative that the Fed could be on hold after this, if there is so much internal disagreement now," says Jim Patterson, managing editor of the Kiplinger Letter.

- Karee Venema

What changed in the December FOMC statement

Changes to the FOMC's latest policy statement include the following:

Job gains have slowed this year, and the unemployment rate has edged up through September. More recent indicators are consistent with these developments. (Previously read: Job gains have slowed this year, and the unemployment rate has edged up but remained low through August; more recent indicators are consistent with these developments.)

In considering the extent and timing of additional adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, the Committee will carefully assess incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks. (Previously read: In considering additional adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, the Committee will carefully assess incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.)

The Committee judges that reserve balances have declined to ample levels and will initiate purchases of shorter-term Treasury securities as needed to maintain an ample supply of reserves on an ongoing basis. (Previously read: The Committee decided to conclude the reduction of its aggregate securities holdings on December 1.)

- Karee Venema

What did the FOMC's Summary of Economic Projections show?

Federal Open Market Committee members left their projections for interest rates unchanged compared to September. According to the dot plot, the Fed is forecasting just one rate cut in 2026 and another in 2027.

The group expects real gross domestic product (GDP) to be slightly higher this year and next than it forecast in September, at 1.7% in 2025 and 2.3% in 2026. Meanwhile, inflation expectations drifted lower, too, with committee members now expecting PCE inflation to finish 2025 at 2.9% vs its previous estimate of 3.0% and end 2026 at 2.4%, down from 2.6% in September.

Expectations for the unemployment rate were unchanged at 4.5% for 2025 and 4.4% for 2026.

You can see the FOMC's full Summary of Economic Projections here.

- Karee Venema

Powell says the Fed will resume Treasury securities purchases

"In light of continued tightening in money market interest rates relative to our administered rates and other indicators of reserve market conditions, the committee judged that reserve balances have declined to ample levels," says Powell.

As such, the committee decided to initiate purchases of shorter-term Treasury securities, namely bills. The FOMC will begin with $40 billion in purchases in the first month and "may remain elevated for a few months."

- Karee Venema

SEP suggests only moderate rate cuts from here

In his opening statement, Fed Chair Jerome Powell reported that the Fed expects inflation to end the year at 2.9%, based on its preferred gage, and then ease to 2.4% at the end of 2026. He also said that the Fed now expects U.S. GDP growth of 2.3% next year, which is a bit stronger than the central bank had previously projected for 2026.

Powell noted that the labor market has weakened recently, with hiring likely down due to reduced immigration. He also shared his colleagues' average projection for where the Fed's benchmark interest rate is going, with a median estimate of 3.4% at the end of 2026 and 3.1% at the end of 2027.

Those are just estimates, not firm plans, but they suggest only modest additional interest rate cuts from the Fed's current range of 3.5%-3.75%.

- Jim Patterson

Powell agrees that the Fed is basically "on hold" for now

Asked in a follow-up question whether the Fed's modest projections of further rate cuts means that the central bank is "on hold" now, Powell basically said yes.

He indicated that the Fed's benchmark rate is now likely somewhere close to the "neutral" level that neither stimulates the economy nor restrains it to lower inflation.

No one knows precisely where that theoretical neutral point is, but the fact that Powell believes that the Fed has gotten fairly close to it certainly indicates that he won't be in a hurry to extend the string of cuts the Fed has made in recent months.

- Jim Patterson

Market participants aren't too shaken by Powell's rate-cut outlook

There have been several times in recent memory when Chair Powell's cautious take on future rate cuts has sparked a stock market selloff, but we're not seeing that so far today.

At last check, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.8% and the S&P 500 is 0.4% higher. The Nasdaq Composite is hovering around the flatline.

- Karee Venema

While there were more dissents than usual, Powell says all members agree that inflation is too high

Asked about the elevated level of dissenting members of the Federal Open Market Committee who did not support today's quarter-point rate cut, Powell emphasized that everyone on the FOMC agrees that inflation is still too high, and that there are also risks to economic growth right now.

Addressing those two problems puts the Fed in a bind in deciding whether to cut rates to combat inflation, or lower them to boost the economy and hiring.

It sounds from Powell's remarks on the Fed's deliberations this month that today's quarter-point cut was an attempt to balance those competing concerns.

"You can't do two things at once," he noted. All of that certainly fits with the signals that the Fed will be waiting for a bit now before cutting rates again in the new year.

- Jim Patterson

The bond market sees the federal funds rate as closer to neutral, says GammaRoad Capital Partners CIO

The bond market isn't making a major move in reaction to today's Fed decision. At last check, the 2-year Treasury yield was down 5 basis points at 3.563% and the 10-year Treasury yield was 2 basis points lower at 4.166%.

"Treasury futures' muted initial reaction to today's rate cut at both the short and the long end suggests that the bond market now views policy as much closer to the proper neutral rate," says Jordan Rizzuto, CIO at GammaRoad Capital Partners. "This is further evidenced by the tightening of the spread between the two-year yield and the policy rate. Since the Fed's previous rate cut, we have seen long yields steadily rising, and we expect that any dovish guidance in the press conference will renew this recent upward pressure on long rates, as further cuts could be interpreted by bond traders as excessive."

- Karee Venema

The labor market remains a concern for Fed officials

"The labor market has continued to cool gradually ... maybe just a touch more gradually than we thought" in October, Powell said, in explaining why the Fed opted to cut rates again today, when he had suggested at the previous meeting that it might stand pat in December due to a lack of economic data during the government shutdown.

"It doesn't feel like a hot economy" where strong job creation could lead to renewed inflation pressures, he said.

He is not sounding any alarms about the job market, but it does appear that there is a note of concern about hiring among Fed officials.

- Jim Patterson

Chair Powell believes the inflationary impact from tariffs could peak in Q1

Powell expects the inflationary impact of new tariffs to peak in the first quarter of 2026, barring new tariff announcements.

"It takes some months ... quite a while for an individual tariff to take effect," the Fed chair said.

If the FOMC is right about that, then inflation from goods should ease later in the new year, and help lower the overall inflation rate. He noted earlier in his remarks that services costs have been cooling, but rises in goods linked to Washington's new tariff regime have kept the headline inflation number uncomfortably high.

Of course, there is no guarantee that the White House won't roll out additional duties on imported goods and scramble that rosy scenario.

- Jim Patterson

Powell says the Fed is committed to 2% inflation

"We're committed to 2% inflation and we'll deliver 2% inflation," Powell promised, when asked why the Fed is cutting interest rates when inflation is still above its 2% target. "If you get away from tariffs, inflation is in the low 2s," he estimated, and he noted that the Fed can't influence U.S. trade policy.

If the price bump from tariffs turns out to be a one-time issue, as the Fed expects, then Powell said he is confident that overall inflation will get back close to 2%, from its current level near 3%.

- Jim Patterson

Why is Powell worried about job growth?

Asked about concerns on job growth, Powell explains "it's very difficult to estimate job growth in real time," and recently there's been "an overcount," as indicated by revisions on job reports.

Based on recent numbers and revisions, he says, we could be in a place of negative job creation, and in a world where job creation is negative, the chair says, "we have to watch that very carefully."

- Alexandra Svokos

Powell on AI

On the topic of AI and whether it is leading to job losses, Powell allowed that that might be happening, but probably at a minor level right now, despite some prominent layoff announcements from big companies that cited greater reliance on AI.

Across the economy, job losses appear to be small, with relatively few people filing new claims for unemployment benefits. Powell noted that historically, new technologies often prompt fears of automation replacing human workers, but they normally end up making the human workforce more productive in the long run.

Still, he noted that the Fed is on guard against further deterioration in the labor market as part of its dual mandate to keep prices stable and maintain full employment.

- Jim Patterson

Powell on his replacement

Asked about what he hopes his legacy as Fed chair will be as his tenure draws to a close, Powell had a simple message, that he wants the economy to be in a good place when he makes way for whoever his successor turns out to be. That means low unemployment and inflation "under control."

Those happen to be the Fed's two institutional mandates all of the time, but considering the creeping concerns about whether the job market is weakening and whether inflation will behave next year, you can't blame Powell for patting himself on the back if he manages to reach those two objectives by the time he hands off leadership of the Fed next spring.

- Jim Patterson

Job creation, price stability - and wealth inequality

Powell discussed the concept that higher-net-worth and income folks are driving consumption, noting that "it's clearly a thing," especially as asset values, including housing and securities, are high, and the people who own those assets are typically those at the "higher end of income and wealth." (The question and his answer allude to a K-shaped economy.)

Is that sustainable, that the top-third of Americans are driving "way more" than a third of consumption? He muses, somewhat ominously, that's "a good question."

And that's why, he clarifies, he and the FOMC are so focused on building price stability and a strong labor market, as those factors help lower-income and net-worth people. A strong labor market, particularly over a long period, he said, is important for wage growth for people in the lower quartile.

- Alexandra Svokos

The Fed can't save the housing market

While many Americans look to the Fed for lower interest rates they hope will bring more affordable housing, there's little water in that well. For one thing, mortgage rates tend to follow the 10-year Treasury more closely than the Fed.

For another, though, there are factors beyond rates at play in the housing market that are driving up costs. Primarily, there's the problem of supply. Housing supply is low for two reasons: First, because America simply hasn't built enough in recent years. Second, because people aren't moving ... because their mortgage rates are so low from the post-pandemic period, they don't want to sell their house just to buy a house with a high price and high mortgage rate.

So, yes, it's something of a vicious circle the Fed will get blamed for. But until more housing is built, it's hard to see a way out of rising home prices, even if mortgage rates go down.

- Alexandra Svokos

What investors need to do after today's Fed meeting

Today's Fed meeting revealed "quite disparate points of view" among FOMC members that highlight "unanswered questions we're all asking about where the economy is headed next year," says Brent Schutte, chief investment officer at Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company.

The economy is in a delicate state right now, which could lead to weakness or higher inflation 2026, he adds. "This narrow balance is driving internal divisions within the Fed and more dissents."

And investors need to prepare their portfolios for these uncertainties, Schutte advises. "We’re encouraging investors to return to the fundamentals of investing, which means a focus on diversification and relative valuations – with an eye toward intermediate to longer-term relative returns."

For folks looking for a jumping-off point on how to position their portfolios, these core stocks are solid, long-term investments that can provide stable returns and steady growth. And these exchange-traded funds make our list of the best ETFs to buy for 2026 because they possess structural characteristics that make them attractive buy-and-hold options.

- Karee Venema

Markets get a boost from the Fed

All three main U.S. equity indexes closed higher on Fed Day following what many market participants may regard as an ideal scenario for the economy and the stock market described by the Federal Reserve.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher by 1.1% at 48,057. The S&P 500 added 0.7% to 6,886, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3% to 23,654.

The Fed's updated Summary of Economic Projections (pdf) reflects both concerns about the jobs market and persistent inflation as well as rosier growth expectations.

The median forecast shows 2.3% GDP growth in 2026, up from 1.8% in September, core inflation of 2.5%, down from 2.6%, and unemployment steady at 4.4%. Altogether, it adds up to only one rate cut in 2026.

The yield on the 2-year U.S. Treasury note ticked lower to 3.546% from 3.613% on Tuesday. The 10-year yield was down to 4.155% from 4.186%, and the 30-year was at 4.794% vs 4.809%.

The average year-end 2026 price target for the S&P 500 is up from around 6,500 in early September to 7,269 as of December 9, notes LPL Financial Chief Technical Strategist Adam Turnquist.

Turnquist cites the AI boom, stimulus from President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill and easing monetary policy as "key catalysts" for even more upside.

"A bottom-up analysis," he elaborates, "which aggregates analyst price targets for individual S&P 500 components, suggests the index could reach 7,900 by the end of next year."

– David Dittman

What's next for the Fed? FHN Financial's senior economist explains

Today's decision to cut rates was not unanimous, says Sophia Kearney-Lederman, senior economist at FHN Financial. And the dot plot showed that there were four soft dissents, "meaning four additional non-voters did not support the cut at the December meeting and would have preferred to leave rates unchanged."

Kearney-Lederman says talk will now turn to what's next for the Fed. "As Chair Powell said in the press conference, 'All across the Committee, people see the picture pretty similarly, but see the risks quite differently.'"

While the median projection for interest rates at the end of 2026 was unchanged from September, the range of forecasts widened, she notes, adding that the closer the federal funds rate gets to neutral, the slower the pace of rate cuts will be.

The economist believes "the focus will now shift to the great deal of data to be released between now and the next FOMC meeting" in late January, though "as Chair Powell pointed out in the press conference ... there are likely to be some distortions to the data. This means Wall Street and the Fed will remain in wait-and-see mode.

- Karee Venema

"Do you think I should put some money in bitcoin or crypto?" That's a question I get a lot as a financial planner.

These cryptocurrency conversations tend to swing between two poles.

On one end, you have the "bitcoin is going to zero" crowd that will never believe in deregulated finance, the blockchain or bitcoin itself.

On the other, the "bitcoin replaces every asset" crowd that believe the entire future is built on the blockchain, the U.S. dollar is going away, and cryptocurrencies will replace it all.

Both are emotionally interesting and analytically useless.

My position, as always, is simpler. Treat bitcoin like any other asset class. Look at the data. Evaluate risk. Study correlations. Understand where it fits in a portfolio and where it absolutely does not.

A look at historical data

With that lens, I decided to revisit my analysis from 2020, Implications of Adding Bitcoin (Crypto Currencies) to Traditional Portfolios, and look at bitcoin's (potential) role in a portfolio. I pulled historical price data on bitcoin, the S&P 500 and the Magnificent 7 — Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOG; GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon.com (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META), Tesla (TSLA) and Nvidia (NVDA).

The numbers tell a much more reasonable story than the headlines.

1. Bitcoin's recent performance looks different than people think

The first thing everyone wants to know is who "won." On pure returns, bitcoin has outperformed almost everything over longer periods. This is true. It's also incomplete.

The story is really two parts — bitcoin pre-2018 and bitcoin post-2018.

For the purposes of this analysis, I am looking only at bitcoin post-2018, since its 1,000%+ returns pre-2018 are easy enough to interpret. The question now is: Would you still invest new money today?

Below is a look at annual returns across bitcoin, each Mag 7 component and the S&P 500 since 2018.

I compare bitcoin directly to the Mag 7 because, like crypto, these companies represent high-growth, high-volatility, future-oriented assets that dominate both narrative and performance cycles. If an investor is choosing "the next big thing," these are the most realistic substitutes.

Source: Koyfin. As of 11/19/2025

A few things jump out from this dataset:

• Bitcoin has delivered several years of triple-digit returns
• Bitcoin has also had multiple calendar years where it fell more than 50%
• The Mag 7, despite massive recent dominance, still look orderly compared to bitcoin's volatility
• The S&P 500 remains the steady compounder it has always been

So, yes, bitcoin's long-term return profile is exceptional. But when compared with the Mag 7, those exceptional returns come with extreme volatility, and since 2018, it actually underperforms many of the Mag 7.

The level of volatility relative to return would suggest that the risk premium, or excess return an investor can expect to earn from investing in bitcoin, is not justified. Simply put: Return alone doesn't settle the question.

2. Drawdowns: The part most people ignore

If someone tells you only the return, and not the drawdown, they're leaving out the part that determines whether investors actually stick with an asset.

Bitcoin's drawdowns are not just large — they are violent.

Even mega-cap growth stocks, which are hardly low-risk, don't draw down as much as bitcoin has experienced. Nvidia, Meta and Tesla have had large drops, but bitcoin has had periods where it lost more than 80% of its value.

This isn't just an academic point. A portfolio allocation works only if an investor can stay invested. Most people will not hold through an 80% decline, no matter what narrative they believe.

And more importantly, the return (as shown above) has not rewarded investors for holding bitcoin the same way it has for Nvidia, Tesla or even Apple.

In practice, the biggest risk to bitcoin holders isn't the asset itself — it's the behavioral failure it induces.

3. Correlations: The case for diversification is more nuanced than people think

One of the strongest arguments in favor of bitcoin is its historically low correlation to stocks. That was true in the early years. It's less true today.

Using rolling three-month correlations, the relationship between bitcoin and the rest of the market looks very different depending on the period.

A few insights explain most of bitcoin's behavior:

• Bitcoin increasingly trades like a risk-on asset, not a diversifier
• Correlations rise during periods of market stress, the exact moments investors want diversification to work
• Since 2018, bitcoin has not behaved like "digital gold." Specifically, whereas gold has a low correlation to the broader market and lower volatility, bitcoin is the oppositive
• Correlations remain unstable across cycles, making forecasting its performance in the future difficult, especially as a risk diversifier

The bottom line: Based on behavior and the way it moves with the broader stock market (e.g. S&P 500), bitcoin is not your portfolio's insurance policy. It is more like high-beta tech with a different marketing department.

4. So, should bitcoin be in a portfolio?

This is the part where investors expect a binary answer. In my view, it's not that simple.

I suggest investors think about bitcoin the same way you think about private investments, early venture or any asymmetric risk asset — sizing matters more than prediction.

Regarding the specific role of bitcoin in a portfolio, here's how we think about it at Defiant Capital Group (as always, this is highly client-specific and it's not right for all clients):

Potential benefits

Asymmetric upside. The upside tail is real and historically has been meaningful.

Low long-term correlation. Even imperfect diversification can help when position sizes are small.

Rebalancing optionality. Volatility creates opportunities if the investor is disciplined.

Institutional adoption. ETFs and custodial improvements make the asset more investable. As more institutions hold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, there is an increasingly stronger and more stable market for it.

Risks that matter

Extreme drawdowns. The path is often worse than the result.

Regime-dependent correlation. Works until it doesn't.

Speculative flows. Narrative changes drive returns as much as fundamentals.

Behavioral strain. The average investor massively underperforms the asset because they enter and exit at the wrong times.

And for entrepreneurs, who are the bulk of our client base, bitcoin has to be viewed through an even narrower lens.

If most of your wealth already lives in a single business, you don't need more convexity or more volatility. You need stability, planning and liquidity alignment.

Bitcoin had an incredible rally up to 2017/2018, but since then, the performance has looked more like a high-tech stock. Yes, it can still massively outperform the broader market, but at significantly higher risk.

In our view, bitcoin can play a role in a diversified portfolio, but usually a very small one.

5. A practical allocation framework for bitcoin and crypto

Going straight to the point, here's the general framework we use with clients:

1. Keep it small. We view investing in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies like a risky stock investment — there's high concentration, high risk and the ability for loss. Invest only what you are willing to completely lose.

For most investors, that's a 1% to 2% investment, which is typically enough to capture the upside without exposing the portfolio to catastrophic drawdowns.

The larger the allocation, the larger the required discipline of the investor.

2. Rebalance regularly. Volatility is only useful if harvested. Without rebalancing, the allocation drifts into a behavioral problem.

3. Match the sizing to the investor's real risk budget. Look at an investment in bitcoin relative to your existing portfolio and other income streams. Make your allocation in the context of both income and portfolio investments.

4. Understand how bitcoin actually behaves. In our view, bitcoin is no longer a portfolio hedge — its correlation to equity markets is too high, its volatility is closer to that of a mega-cap tech company, and its drawdowns are significantly higher than the broader stock market.

Since 2018, bitcoin has not performed like gold, an inflation hedge or even provided downside protection.

The data simply doesn't support that story.

6. The bottom line

Bitcoin's long-term returns are undeniable. So are its drawdowns. So is its volatility. So is its inconsistent correlation profile.

The most productive way to think about crypto is not as a replacement for traditional assets and not as a guaranteed moonshot. It is an asset with a unique return distribution that can fit into a portfolio if treated with discipline, structure and humility.

At Defiant Capital Group, we don't dismiss bitcoin. But we don't romanticize it either. Like anything else in a portfolio, it has to earn its place.

And the way it earns that place is not through prediction, but through design — the same principle that guides everything we build for clients.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

If you're a federal employee, understanding how to optimize your many benefits before transitioning to retirement is critical to achieving long-term success.

Yet, finding clear and trustworthy guidance that's specific to government workers, and the programs for which you're eligible, can be challenging.

Interpreting the myriad regulations that govern federal benefits has always been difficult, particularly when it comes to retirement. It can be tough to stay up to date with regulations that are subject to change at any time.

Getting timely answers can be a struggle

Since there isn't a single agency in charge of everything and everyone, it can take time to track down valid answers that pertain to your individual circumstances. (Time you likely don't have if you're still working.)

As a financial adviser who frequently consults with government workers, I can appreciate the struggle. Creating plans that optimize their unique benefits has become an important part of my practice.

Many variables can affect a federal employee's future, so it's no wonder clients and prospective clients often come in with a long list of questions when we meet.

There are two topics that come up repeatedly that I think are especially critical. The questions I hear most often are:

1. Should I roll over my Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) in retirement or stick with the plan I have?

The TSP is similar to the tax-advantaged 401(k) plans available in the private sector — and it can be a great plan when you're still working.

It makes investing easy with automatic enrollment, matching agency contributions, catch-up contributions starting at age 50, a Roth option and more.

But once you reach retirement, the TSP can lose some of its luster.

For one thing, the plan doesn't offer as many investment options as you'll find within a traditional or Roth IRA. It has only five funds to choose from (C, S, I, L and G).

Some investments that are popular with retirees can't be purchased through a TSP. These include certificates of deposit (CDs), annuity safe-growth accounts and assets such as real estate. This can make diversifying your risk in retirement more difficult.

There's also the question of the taxes with which TSP account holders will eventually have to deal. Just as with a 401(k), withdrawals from a traditional TSP are generally taxed as ordinary income. This includes contributions made with pre-tax dollars, agency contributions and earnings.

If you've stashed a sizable chunk of your savings in a TSP (unless it's a Roth option), you could be setting yourself up for burdensome tax bills in retirement.

If you're comfortable with the structure of the TSP, you might decide to stick with the plan. But rolling over your TSP to a traditional and/or Roth IRA is worth considering if you're looking for more flexibility in retirement.

A financial adviser can help you consider all the options available, run projections to determine whether a rollover makes sense for you, explain the various withdrawal choices if you stay with the TSP and assist you in making the appropriate moves when the time is right.

2. Should I choose the survivor benefit so my spouse can still receive pension payments if I die first?

When determining what portion of your pension, if any, your spouse will receive upon your death, you have three basic options.

You can choose for your surviving spouse to receive 50% of your pension for the rest of their life, no matter how long that might be. This security comes at a cost: If you make this election, your ongoing monthly pension payments will be reduced by 10%.

That can add up to a hefty sum over the years. (If your spouse dies first, your benefit will be restored to the full amount — but you won't get back the money you lost.)

You can opt for a reduced survivor benefit of 25%. This choice will cost 5% of your ongoing pension payments, which is a smaller, more manageable bite.

It still requires some math to determine if it's the right move. (Your benefit will go back to the full amount if you're the surviving spouse, but the money you gave up in exchange for the survivor benefit will be gone.)

You can go with the self-only option. The payments you receive while you're alive won't be reduced, but your spouse won't receive any payments if you pass first. They'll also lose the health insurance coverage you had under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program, which would remain in place if you chose a survivor benefit.

How might they feel about losing you, the reliable income from your pension and FEHB coverage all at once? That's something you'll have to discuss. If you go for this option or the reduced (25%) survivor benefit, your spouse will have to sign a notarized document agreeing to the choice.

As with any financial decision, there are multiple strategies to consider and numbers to run when making this important call.

Consulting with a financial adviser who understands the nuances of the Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) can help clarify the trade-offs.

For many couples, we've found life insurance can be used to replace both the lost pension and cover the cost of health insurance if a surviving spouse hasn't yet qualified for Medicare.

Life insurance offers other benefits, as well. The beneficiary of the life insurance policy (often the surviving spouse) receives the money tax-free. Life insurance policies can also include long-term care options in which the death benefit can be used to pay for future care, instead.

Asking for help

I often compare getting useful FERS information from the government to trying to break into one of those confounding plastic "clamshell" packages. It's far more difficult and frustrating than it should be.

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has an extensive FAQ section on its website that can give you a good start.

But when you're ready to begin making the decisions that will impact the retirement you've worked so hard for, I recommend talking to an experienced professional who can help you make the most of the benefits you've earned.

Kim Franke-Folstad contributed to this article.

The appearances in Kiplinger were obtained through a PR program. The columnist received assistance from a public relations firm in preparing this piece for submission to Kiplinger.com. Kiplinger was not compensated in any way.

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• To Retire, Mind Your P's: Purpose, Planning and Procrastination

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

After the early steps taken to lower rates from the Fed and historically low spreads in many sectors of public credit, traditional fixed income yields are near the lows of the last few years, prompting advisers to turn to private credit as they look for more durable income solutions.

Asset-based and real estate lending, in particular, offer a timely entry point, providing elevated yields, short to intermediate durations and strong collateral backing.

Over the next 12 to 24 months, these strategies offer a window of opportunity to access income streams supported by structural protections while helping to fill financing gaps left by banks and other traditional lenders.

For income-oriented portfolios, they offer a compelling way to add both resilience and long-term value.

A tangible and timely opportunity

Real estate bridge lending is one area where the opportunity is both tangible and timely. For example, a first-lien loan on an industrial property in a key southeastern U.S. market was recently secured by a 10-acre site with shipping and logistics infrastructure, generating strong in-place cash flow and supported by long-term demand.

The loan carried a conservative loan-to-value ratio and was structured with a fixed-rate coupon and regular interest payments over a short duration.

These types of short-term, income-generating loans, typically backed by income-producing assets, can offer attractive yields, downside protection and the flexibility to recycle capital quickly.

For high-net-worth or income-focused clients, they offer a way to diversify and enhance portfolio durability.

Downside protection and attractive yields

Asset-based lending (ABL) presents a similarly compelling case. Demand from small and midsize businesses remains strong, especially for working capital, equipment purchases and inventory financing.

These loans are typically secured by tangible assets, offering meaningful downside protection and attractive yields.

The ABL market spans a wide range of sectors, including examples such as transportation, equipment leasing and structured risk transfers (SRTs), just to name a few — each with distinct risk-return profiles.

Transactions in these spaces can offer meaningful diversification across borrowers and sectors, which is especially attractive for clients seeking steady income with strong risk reward.

Together, these areas highlight a key point: In private credit, return is driven not only by yield, but by structure.

Both ABL and real estate lending are backed by tangible assets and offer protections that can help mitigate downside risk.

For clients who are wary of duration risk in traditional fixed income or are looking to reduce exposure to public market volatility, these strategies provide targeted, income-producing alternatives.

A rich set of opportunities

This is especially relevant today. Even as interest rates begin to ease, tighter credit conditions and stricter bank capital requirements have limited the flow of traditional financing, including in sectors vital to economic growth like real estate and small business finance.

The securitization market also remains constrained, making it harder for certain borrowers to access capital.

As a result, private credit managers with origination capabilities and structuring expertise are stepping into the gap, creating a rich set of opportunities for investors who are prepared to act.

For advisers, the key is to look beyond traditional corporate direct lending and consider the full spectrum of private credit.

That means identifying managers with access to differentiated deal flow and the ability to source and structure investments in sectors where capital is both scarce and valuable.

When grounded in discipline and strong underwriting, asset-based and real estate lending, in particular, can help advisers construct income portfolios that are more resilient to today's risks and more responsive to tomorrow's opportunities.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

RMDs are like colon cancer screenings: You thought they were only for older folks, and ignoring them now could lead to bigger problems down the road.

When you get to the current RMD age of 73 (updated in the SECURE 2.0 Act) and you're forced to take money from your traditional accounts, you're not just paying taxes on that specific RMD dollar amount.

• Your RMD amount likely makes more of your Social Security taxable
• Your RMD amount could force you to pay extra for Medicare through the income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA)
• Your RMD amount could make you lose out on deductions such as the enhanced deduction for older people and the medical expense deduction
• And you could pay an extra 25% tax penalty on RMDs you don't take out on time

Here are the five biggest mistakes I see retirees make with their RMDs. Learn from these mistakes so that you can plan your RMDs ahead of time and hopefully lower their tax bite.

Mistake No. 1: Waiting until age 73 to create a plan

One of the most consistent concerns I hear from retirees is, "How bad am I going to get killed on taxes when my RMDs start?"

They have projected out their future RMD amount of $10,000, $25,000, even $100,000 in future taxable income, and they're concerned about the tax cost.

But then they stop there. They see the problem, but they figure they can't do anything about it.

Thankfully, you can. Go beyond just projecting your RMD amount, but also project your future tax brackets. Then find the tax years between now and 73 when your taxes are likely to be lowest; this is often before you start Social Security.

Then, during those lower projected tax years, do a Roth conversion at that lower tax rate, so that your future RMD is lower and the Roth money can grow tax-free.

Mistake No. 2: Failing to make use of qualified charitable distributions (QCDs)

A retired pastor came to my office for a new client meeting. He brought in his investment statements, and tax return, and he explained that he had roughly a $12,000 RMD each year and that he gave it all away.

I reviewed his tax return and saw the RMD listed as taxable income, and I saw that he wasn't itemizing his deductions — he was paying more taxes than he should have!

I asked the pastor how he took out his RMD each year to give to charity, and he said, "I want to follow the rules, so I take out my RMD as soon as I can each year and put it in the bank. Then at the end of the year, I write out checks to my church and favorite charities."

I showed him that he could do a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) instead, sending the money from the IRA directly to the charities.

I calculated that using the QCD rules on the $12,000 QCD amount to be $2,263 in income tax savings.

And here's a next-level QCD move: You can start doing QCDs at age 70½, even though RMDs don't start until 73 currently. It just might lower this year's taxes, and it will definitely lower your future RMD amounts.

Mistake No. 3: Doing the wrong tax withholding

I just met a retiree who had his first RMD distribution last year. He and his wife make $36,000 from Social Security and $36,000 from his pension.

They don't need their IRA money, which is why they hadn't taken anything out until their first RMD, which came to $40,000.

His investment company sent him the $40,000 at the end of last year, doing the 10% mandatory federal withholding and no state tax withholding because it wasn't required.

It turned out the taxes on his RMD were $6,400 for federal, not the $4,000 that was withheld, and $2,000 for state — and there was nothing withheld for that.

He had to write out two big checks, and he owed even more because of underpayment penalties.

Before you take out your RMD, do a tax projection to get the withholding right — the standard 10% is almost never the right amount.

Mistake No. 4: Not realizing how your RMD income affects the rest of your tax return

You would think that paying taxes on your RMDs is simple. If you're in the 12% tax bracket, and you take out $10,000, then you just pay $1,200 in extra taxes, right? If only it were that simple.

When you take money from your traditional IRA, especially for the first time with your RMD, you're often surprised at how much it affects the rest of your tax return.

The amount of your Social Security that is taxable is based on how much other income you have. When you have more other income from your IRA, your taxable Social Security amount goes up.

That RMD amount could push you into the next tax bracket. The IRS doesn't hand you a card saying, "You're in the 12% tax bracket forever." When your RMDs start, your income goes up, and often your tax bracket goes higher.

Or perhaps that extra income means that you get less medical deductions or less of the enhanced deduction for older people.

I often see RMDs push retirees over the edge so that they are paying extra for Medicare because of the IRMAA. You can read about those IRMAA tax brackets in the Kiplinger article Medicare Premiums 2025: IRMAA Brackets and Surcharges for Parts B and D. And you can see the 2026 brackets in this Kiplinger article.

When it comes to the U.S. tax code, more RMD income often means more other income and fewer deductions, and then you pay more in taxes than you expected.

Before you take your first RMD, make sure you understand how the new taxable income affects the rest of your income and deductions.

Mistake No. 5: Forgetting that the M in RMD means 'minimum,' not 'maximum'

All these tax mistakes add up to a lot of big surprises when you hit RMD age. Perhaps you've resolved to reduce the tax pain by sticking to just the minimum amount for your RMD. But you don't have to restrict your distribution to the minimum.

Often, the solution to your future RMD tax problems is to bite the bullet this year and do a Roth conversion at a tax rate that you're comfortable with so that your future RMDs are lower.

Also, remember that just because you're required to do RMDs at age 73 doesn't mean you can't take out money earlier. The minimum age to withdraw from your IRA without a penalty is 59½, which means you could have 13-plus years to plan for the likely RMD tax pain.

Lower your retirement taxes by creating your RMD strategy today

RMDs might seem like an annoying part of the tax code, but when it comes to retirement taxes, RMDs affect the rest of your retirement:

• Your tax bracket
• Your Social Security taxation
• Your Medicare premiums
• Your investment strategy
• Your charitable giving

The time to start planning for your RMDs is not the year you turn 73, but even before you retire. In your retirement planning, focus not just on your investment growth, but on how that growth will affect your future tax situation.

That's why I put tax planning as step three in my book, Retire Today: Create Your Retirement Master Plan in 5 Simple Steps, even before your investment planning (step four).

A tax-smart retirement gets you ready for your RMDs well ahead of time and works to minimize their tax impact even when you get to RMD age.

Related Content

• How to Calculate RMDs (Required Minimum Distributions) for IRAs
• I'm a Financial Planner: This Is How You Can Get Started With RMDs
• Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs): Rules, Deadlines, and Important Changes to Know
• Stressing About RMDs? Two Ways to Reduce or Even Eliminate Them
• New Year's Eve RMD Deadline: What to Know and What to Do

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

I still remember a turning point early in my career. I was working at a financial firm that had a strict minimum asset requirement for clients. One day, I met with a couple who had about $250,000 to invest, which was below our firm's threshold.

I knew we could make a meaningful difference in their retirement plan. But when I brought it up with the firm's owner, his response was short and final: "That's too bad, but they don't meet the minimum. We have to move on."

That moment stuck with me. Turning someone away — not because we couldn't help, but because they weren't "wealthy enough" — felt wrong.

I argued that people with limited assets needed our help more than those with higher asset levels. It was clear that if I ever had my own firm, I would do things differently.

Fast-forward to today, and I'm a financial adviser and managing partner of a firm I co-founded called Reverent Asset Management. The name "Reverent" comes from the Latin word for respect, and that concept is at the heart of everything we do.

Respect is not just a branding choice; it's our guiding principle.

Regardless of income, people need to understand how to get the most out of their dollars. In the United States, many people approach or reach retirement without accumulating the amount of retirement savings they would prefer.

For example, as recently as 2022, the median retirement savings for those ages 55 to 64 was $185,000, according to the Federal Reserve.

For ages 65 to 74, it was $200,000. And remember, that's the median, so half of the people in those age groups have less than those amounts. In some cases, much less.

When I'm working with clients, there are principles that guide my approach. These principles also translate into ways in which you can plan for your retirement regardless of how much your portfolio holds.

Principle No. 1: Respect every plan, no matter its balance

Whether you have $10 million or $10,000, it's important for you to understand how to help protect yourself and grow your money. Wealth does not determine worth.

Money can be an emotional and sensitive topic, and people should never feel embarrassed about asking basic questions or discussing modest portfolios. Asking questions and seeking help isn't a sign of weakness; it's a smart move.

If you're preparing for retirement, start with the basics:

• Tally your monthly income in retirement from all sources (Social Security, pensions, savings and part-time work).
• Estimate your monthly expenses.
• Compare the two. If there's a gap, look for solutions: reduce spending, delay retirement or explore additional income options.

Everyone has goals, and everyone deserves a plan.

Principle No. 2: Educate yourself

My 25 years of experience in the financial services industry have taught me that when people truly understand why a strategy makes sense, decisions become clear and comfortable — and they feel more confident making them.

Educate yourself as much as possible about retirement and financial topics. Fortunately, ample books, magazine articles, webinars, podcasts and other sources are easily available.

Just make sure you are getting the information from credible sources. If you have the opportunity, attend workshops or other events that financial professionals offer in your community.

My firm regularly holds free workshops and seminars on retirement planning because we want our community to learn, not just hear a sales spiel.

During individual meetings, we use plain language and whiteboards to break down concepts. We encourage questions. The more you know, the more empowered you are to make confident choices.

An educational approach also means a slower, more thoughtful planning process. By educating first, we let the plan's value speak for itself.

Principle No. 3: Honesty and transparency are crucial

As an investment adviser representative, I am committed to putting clients' interests first when providing investment advisory services. Some industry slogans sound good in ads but tell you nothing about what actually happens.

I start by understanding your goals, then show you, in writing, how I'm paid and whether lower-cost options meet those goals just as well.

For example, many advisers charge fees based on assets under management (AUM), which means they earn more if a client's investments increase in value.

While there is nothing wrong with that in principle, it makes sense to ask how those fees influence the level of risk chosen and whether that risk matches your goals.

With any investment, you will want to know what fees are associated with it. Ask about and factor those in as you determine whether a particular product or portfolio is right for you. Will that investment provide the return you expect and/or need to achieve your financial goals?

Advice you can rely on is built on trust, and trust is built on honesty and transparency.

Principle No. 4: Plan for distribution, not just accumulation

People spend decades building their nest egg, but they may not be prepared for the "distribution phase," when it's time to turn those savings into reliable income.

And while many financial advisers are great at helping clients grow wealth during the accumulation phase, retirement is a whole new ballgame. This is the distribution phase.

It's one of the most important (and often overlooked) parts of retirement planning, when you start drawing down those savings to create an income stream for life.

Why is distribution planning so key? Because once you retire, mistakes can be magnified. You no longer have a paycheck to cover errors or market downturns.

Taking too much risk or withdrawing funds in an inefficient way can quickly derail a retirement plan.

The No. 1 fear I hear from retirees is running out of money. That's why at my firm we create detailed, personalized income plans as part of the financial planning process.

We look at all income sources — Social Security, pensions, investment accounts — and determine the optimal order and amount to withdraw from various accounts. The goal is simple: Make your money last.

Some of that goes back to education. The better you understand how all the pieces of a financial plan work together, the better you can make decisions that are right for your situation.

Whether you're a schoolteacher with a modest 401(k) or a business owner with a multimillion-dollar portfolio, the most important factor in your financial plan is you — your values, goals and life circumstances.

Work with someone who respects that. Choose an adviser who listens, educates and puts your interests first.

When we focus on helping people, not just managing money, we create clarity and confidence for the road ahead.

The appearances in Kiplinger were obtained through a PR program. The columnist received assistance from a public relations firm in preparing this piece for submission to Kiplinger.com. Kiplinger was not compensated in any way. Ezra Byer contributed to this article. Ezra Byer is not affiliated with Reverent Asset Management, LLC or AEWM. 3402624 - 10/25

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Tax season might feel far off, but the IRS has already set the stage for 2026 — and there are some updates worth paying attention to, especially if you're retired or nearing retirement.

Inflation adjustments are raising income thresholds, standard deductions and the extra deduction for adults age 65 and older.

Thanks to a recently passed tax bill, there's also a new limited-time bonus deduction designed specifically for older taxpayers.

Let's break down what's changing, what's new and how it might affect your bottom line in 2026 and beyond.

A little extra for retirees: A bigger additional standard deduction

If you're 65 or older, you get a little more breathing room in your tax return this year. The IRS bumped up the additional standard deduction for 2026:

• Single filers and heads of household (age 65-plus): $2,050 (up from $2,000 in 2025)
• Married couples (65-plus): $1,650 per qualifying spouse (up from $1,600)

If both partners qualify, that's a $100 total increase. It's not life-changing, but enough to slightly reduce your taxable income — and that's always a win.

For those who are both 65-plus and blind, that amount doubles:

• Singles/heads of household: $4,100
• Married, filing jointly: $3,300 per qualifying spouse

This "double bump" is meant to help taxpayers with additional challenges offset a bit more of their income.

Standard deduction amounts are also on the rise

Most Americans take the standard deduction instead of itemizing, and that number is getting a lift for 2026. The new amounts you'll use when filing in early 2027:

With nearly 90% of taxpayers claiming the standard deduction, these adjustments will put a little more money back into most pockets.

The headliner: A temporary $6,000 'bonus deduction' for older people

The biggest new development for retirees is a fresh, temporary deduction created by the GOP's 2025 tax package — a four-year perk for those age 65 and older.

Here's the highlight reel:

• Worth: Up to $6,000 per taxpayer
• Available: 2025 through 2028
• Income limits: Phases out starting at $75,000 (single) and $150,000 (joint)
• Eligibility: You can take it whether you itemize or claim the standard deduction

Even if you already claim deductions for mortgage interest, medical expenses or charitable giving, you can still tack on this additional benefit. Think of it as a short-term tax break designed to ease the burden on older Americans during a high-inflation period.

How these changes could affect you

Whether these updates have a big impact on you depends on your personal financial picture — but for many retirees, even small adjustments can matter.

Here's how to make the most of them:

Stay strategic about income timing. Adjust when and how you withdraw from IRAs, pensions or brokerage accounts to remain in the most efficient tax bracket.

Double-check your filing strategy. Standard vs itemized deductions can look very different with these new thresholds.

Ask about the bonus deduction early. Because it's temporary, you'll want to plan to make the most of it over the next few years.

The takeaway

Updates for 2026 aren't dramatic, but they're still worth knowing — especially if you're managing income from multiple sources in retirement.

A little planning now can help you take advantage of every available tax break, and that means keeping more of your money where it belongs: in your pocket.

If you're not sure how these changes fit into your broader retirement plan, now's the time to talk with a financial or tax adviser who can run the numbers and help you strategize before the next tax season rolls around.

Smart planning today means fewer surprises — and maybe a few extra dinners at your favorite local spot tomorrow.

The appearances in Kiplinger were obtained through a PR program. The columnist received assistance from a public relations firm in preparing this piece for submission to Kiplinger.com. Kiplinger was not compensated in any way.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Taxes are a worry for most retirees, even as they put their working years behind them and ease into what should be a more relaxing time.

Taxpayers were expecting to face even more worries at the end of this year, when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was set to expire.

Fortunately, many of the act's provisions became permanent when Congress passed and the president signed the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB).

But the new law has done more than that. It also includes tax changes that are especially amenable to many retirees and near retirees.

However, they aren't all going to last, so it may be wise to take advantage sooner rather than later.

The 65-and-older advantage

One of those changes is that many taxpayers age 65 and older can qualify for an extra $6,000 standard deduction. This not only lowers your tax bill but could also reduce your taxable income enough to avoid taxes on your Social Security benefits.

Yes, up to 85% of your Social Security benefits can be taxed, depending on your income.

If couples filing jointly are both at least 65, they can each qualify for the extra deduction, making it a total of $12,000.

But there are income restrictions on who qualifies. The deduction phases out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income over $75,000 (or $150,000 for joint filers).

The deduction also won't be around forever; it lasts only through 2028.

Higher deductions for state and local taxes

Some federal income taxpayers may also be able to take advantage of a higher deduction for what they pay in state and local taxes, the so-called SALT deduction, at least until 2029, when this law expires.

The cap on how much you can deduct has been raised from $10,000 to $40,000, but once again, there are income limits.

In this case, the new cap applies to incomes under $500,000 for those filing jointly, or under $250,000 for individuals or married couples filing separately.

For those whose taxable income is over $500,000, the cap is gradually reduced until it reaches the previous level of $10,000.

This new cap could change whether you decide to itemize your deductions rather than take the standard deduction.

Good opportunity for Roth conversions

In addition to taking advantage of the tax changes, there are other steps to consider during this limited period when your tax liability could be lower.

For example, this would be a great time to consider a Roth conversion if you have been saving money for retirement in a traditional IRA, 401(k) or other tax-deferred accounts.

Those accounts are great for saving money, and you do have immediate tax advantages with them since your yearly contributions aren't taxed.

The downside is that when you retire and start spending the money you saved, your withdrawals are taxed.

Plus, once you reach age 73 (age 75 for those born in 1960 or later), required minimum distributions (RMDs) kick in, forcing you to withdraw a certain percentage each year whether you want to or not.

Roth accounts, on the other hand, grow tax-free, aren't taxed when you make withdrawals and don't have RMDs. You do, however, pay taxes when you make a conversion from a traditional account to a Roth.

But that's one reason these next few years may be a good time to move some of your money to a Roth.

You have some wiggle room in your tax bill, thanks to tax provisions such as the extra deduction for those 65 and older, and you can also take advantage of the higher SALT cap.

Pay less, keep more for yourself

One criticism of the OBBB is that lower taxes could increase the federal deficit and add to the country's growing debt. At some point in the future, that debt will need to be addressed — possibly through higher taxes.

In the meantime, consult with a financial professional to make sure you are getting the most out of the tax advantages currently available to you.

An adviser can review your individual situation, analyze your income sources and any available deductions or financial moves, and help you craft a plan that works best for you.

Yes, taxes are a concern even in retirement. But good planning and an awareness of changes that apply to you can allow you to give Uncle Sam less money and keep more for yourself.

Ronnie Blair contributed to this article.

The appearances in Kiplinger were obtained through a PR program. The columnist received assistance from a public relations firm in preparing this piece for submission to Kiplinger.com. Kiplinger was not compensated in any way.

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• Your Golden Years Just Got a Tax Break, But There's a Catch

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

For many people, charitable giving feels like something to focus on later in life, after retirement, when there's more time to reflect and plan.

But from a financial standpoint, the most powerful time to give is often while you're still earning.

That may sound counterintuitive. After all, retirement is when you finally have clarity about what you can afford to give away.

But the truth is, charitable gifts made during your peak earning years can have a bigger financial impact — both for you and for the organizations you support.

1. Tax advantages today, generosity in the future

Here's an example to better illustrate: Deductions are most valuable when your income, and therefore your tax bracket, is at its highest. A $10,000 donation can feel very different depending on when it's made.

If you're in the 35% tax bracket, that gift could save you $3,500 in taxes. Make the same contribution after you've retired and dropped into a 22% bracket, and the tax savings fall to $2,200.

The charitable impact is the same, but the benefit to you is nearly 60% greater during your earning years.

That doesn't mean you have to give away a large sum all at once. One of the best tools for bridging today's tax advantages with tomorrow's generosity is a donor-advised fund (DAF).

These funds allow you to make a sizable, tax-deductible contribution in a high-income year, but decide later how and when to distribute the money to the charities you care about.

It's like setting aside cash in your "charitable account." You lock in the deduction now, but retain the flexibility to give gradually, even long after you've retired.

This approach can be especially useful if you're expecting a one-time jump in income, such as selling a business, receiving a bonus or exercising stock options.

You can offset some of that taxable income by funding a donor-advised account in the same year.

2. High interest rates can work in your favor

Today's higher interest rate environment has also made certain charitable strategies more appealing than they've been in years. Vehicles like charitable remainder trusts or charitable gift annuities can provide reliable income streams for you or your loved ones while ultimately benefiting the causes you support.

With rates up, those income streams are often higher, a welcome development for anyone seeking both generosity and financial security.

3. You'll make an impact now

The bigger picture here is that giving shouldn't be an afterthought or something reserved for the end of your career.

It can be a living, active part of your financial plan, and a way to align your wealth with your values while you're still building both.

The key is understanding what you need to support your lifestyle and what constitutes excess net worth that could be put to work for others.

When giving is integrated into your broader plan, it not only helps you make the most of your resources but also adds purpose to your financial life.

You don't have to wait for retirement to make an impact. You can start now. Often, that's when your generosity goes the farthest.

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• Like Getting Healthy, Getting Wealthy Requires Good Habits

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

If you've ever delayed or avoided checking on your finances because you're afraid of what you'll find, you aren't alone.

A new survey conducted by Wealth Enhancement in partnership with Wakefield Research found that nearly half (44%) of U.S. adults have purposely avoided checking a financial account in the past year due to stress or fear — and younger generations, specifically Gen Z, are particularly susceptible to this.

Psychologists refer to this phenomenon as an avoidant response. When your finances are a source of stress and anxiety, it can often feel better in the moment to avoid them rather than face them head-on.

But avoiding a problem rarely makes it go away; it can lead to even greater setbacks. In the case of personal finances, this can result in a deeper financial hole, leading to increased stress. This perfectly normal stress response can escalate into a cycle that's difficult to break.

For most people, money is emotional

The latest research underscores the notion that money is inherently emotional. Most people (59%, according to the survey), report experiencing difficult emotions, such as anxiety (45%) or frustration (40%).

For many, these negative emotions and stress trace back to very real and rational fears. Daily living expenses and housing costs are two of the biggest financial stressors, and more than half of U.S. adults identify with them — 55% and 42% respectively.

Other common stressors include medical expenses (26%), credit card debt (26%) and retirement planning (18%).

However, money doesn't bring up negative emotions for everyone. Many people also report feeling hope (49%) or pride (22%) when they think about their financial situation.

As challenging as it can be to deal with our emotions around money, the first important step is to confront them and to identify when beliefs are driving them.

Even small changes in your beliefs around money (and your aptitude with it) can help you gain confidence and take action to positively affect your financial situation.

Talking about money helps more than you think

One of the best ways to approach money fears is to discuss them with people you trust.

More than half of those surveyed report being somewhat or very comfortable talking about financial stress. Most often, people turn to a family member (49%), a significant other (38%) and friends (37%) to discuss their financial worries.

Meeting with a financial adviser can also help individuals feel more confident and empowered in their financial lives.

However, this option remains largely untapped; only about one-third of survey respondents said they had met with a financial adviser in the past year. Of those who did, 88% reported feeling less stress afterward.

An adviser can help to give a clear picture of where an individual stands and help take those initial steps that we might not be ready to do on our own. Accountability and regular check-ins can also help us make progress in improving our financial situation.

Turning financial fear into action

Financial stress can take a toll, but avoiding the problem isn't the answer. Even small, manageable changes can improve your situation over time.

Start with something very small, such as reviewing your budget once a week, setting up a regular money conversation with your spouse or seeking the assistance of a professional.

Not only will this give you more awareness of what's going on with your finances, but minor shifts can be empowering.

Survey respondents reported that changes in their financial habits, such as more careful budgeting, keeping an emergency fund, saving for big purchases and cutting back on impulse purchases, would help reduce stress.

But often, turning intention into action is a big step on its own.

Change isn't immediate, and it isn't linear. It's normal for change to take time and sometimes feel a little uncomfortable at first.

Being consistent can help these changes become part of a normal routine and make a tangible impact on our finances with time.

It's also possible to face financial setbacks along the way. Don't let obstacles hinder progress in improving your financial situation. The goal is persistence, not perfection.

Finally, turn those small, short-term changes into regular habits. Make it a point to monitor them regularly.

Revisiting your financial plan — especially one you've crafted with the help of a financial adviser — during times of financial stress can alleviate negative emotions and help you focus on what you can control: Your next step in pursuing your financial goals.

This article is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Stocks notched modest gains Friday after the latest inflation data did little to sway market expectations for a rate cut at next week's Fed meeting. The main indexes managed to carve out weekly gains, too, kicking off a historically strong month on a positive note.

At the close, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% at 47,954, the broader S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 6,870, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.3% to 23,578.

Ahead of the open, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said that the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index – the Fed's preferred measure of inflation – rose 0.3% from August to September and was 2.8% higher than the same month one year ago.

Core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was up 0.2% month over month and 2.8% year over year.

Both the headline and core inflation figures matched economists' forecasts, while the 0.4% rise in personal income came in slightly above expectations. However, the 0.3% increase in personal spending was a bit lower than anticipated.

The data, which was delayed due to the record-long government shutdown, is a bit stale, but confirms "the U.S. consumer and inflation were losing momentum at the end of the third quarter, before the government shutdown became an added headwind contributing to a year-end economic soft patch," says Jennifer Timmerman, senior investment strategy analyst at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

But Timmerman notes that "more timely data" on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan "should bode well for the all-important holiday shopping season."

Specifically, the University of Michigan this morning said consumer sentiment rose 2.3 index points in early December, with the increase primarily coming from younger consumers.

"Consumers see modest improvements from November on a few dimensions," said Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu, though she cautioned that "the overall tenor of views is broadly somber, as consumers continue to cite the burden of high prices."

Today's economic reports had little impact on rate-cut expectations. According to CME Group FedWatch, futures traders are pricing in an 87% chance the Fed will lower the federal funds rate by a quarter-percentage point next Wednesday afternoon, about the same odds as yesterday.

Netflix wins the Warner Bros. bidding war

In single-stock news, Netflix (NFLX, -2.9%) agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's (WBD, +6.3%) film studio and streaming services in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $72 billion, or $27.75 per WBD share. It also said it will pay a $5.8 billion breakup fee if the deal is not approved.

Netflix won out over Paramount Skydance (PSKY, -9.8%) and Comcast (CMSCA, +0.4%), which were also interested in taking over the assets once Warner Bros. spins off its cable network business next year.

"I know some of you are surprised that we're making this acquisition, and I certainly understand why," said Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos on a call with analysts. "Over the years, we have been known to be builders, not buyers."

Sarandos added that while Netflix already has "incredible" content and "a great business model," the acquisition "is a rare opportunity that's going to help us achieve our mission to entertain the world and to bring people together through great stories."

While some media reports suggested an uphill regulatory battle for the deal, Sarandos said he's "really confident" the company will "get all the necessary approvals we need."

WBD is expected to spin off its cable assets in Q3 2026, and estimates are for the Netflix deal to close in the next 12 to 18 months.

Ulta tops S&P 500 after earnings

Elsewhere, Ulta Beauty (ULTA) surged 12.7% – making it the best S&P 500 stock Friday – after the cosmetics retailer's beat-and-raise quarter.

The company also saw notable strength in its e-commerce segment and posted higher-than-expected same-store sales growth of 6.3% for its fiscal third quarter.

"The company quelled fears around a near-term sales slowdown," says UBS Global Research analyst Michael Lasser. "It noted it has seen solid Black Friday and Cyber Monday trends so far. It has continued to gain market share despite driving more efficiencies with promotions. So, we think Ulta left some upside on the table with its Q4 guide."

Lasser reiterated his Buy rating on the consumer discretionary stock and lifted his price target from $680 to a Street-high $690, representing implied upside of 15% to current levels.

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The crypto trends we're watching in 2026 include one major story and three minor themes that support it.

A little more than 17 years after Satoshi Nakamoto famously introduced bitcoin (BTC) to the world, cryptocurrency is still a fast-growing market. It's maturing at a rapid pace too.

The big forces shaping bitcoin and the broader market Satoshi Nakamoto's famous white paper (PDF) created include regulatory clarity and scalability; adoption and use; and integration and convergence. Apart from the potential for big gains, real players in the industry are laying a foundation for less friction in financial transactions.

"Less friction" means "lower costs." That's a real-world benefit we can all get behind. Whether bitcoin is an inflation hedge is a question the market will determine.

But technology has a long-term track record of driving efficiency gains. (The best tech stocks have created a lot of wealth for investors in the process.)

Crypto trends to watch in 2026 include big ideas along those lines — above and beyond "BTC go up."

Crypto trends to watch in 2026

There will be more regulatory clarity and more scale in 2026. For example, the SEC is expected to issue new rules on tokens and decentralized finance protocols in the coming months that observers suggest will free digital assets from the burdens of traditional securities registration.

Ethereum recently introduced its latest upgrade designed to increase "Layer-2" efficiency and make it easier — and faster — to execute transactions. Reducing congestion on the main network will, again, lower costs.

Adoption and use, perhaps as a function of regulatory clarity and increasing scale, are also rising. Consider BlackRock (BLK) CEO Larry Fink, once a loud and "proud" skeptic who is now leading one of the biggest efforts to mainstream crypto.

BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) is now the largest spot bitcoin ETF with more than $70 billion in assets under management.

BlackRock, also an active institutional investor in real estate assets, is among the advocates of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Tokenization enables fractional ownership of relatively illiquid assets, round-the-clock trading, increased transparency and easier management through smart contracts.

Meanwhile, the institution's annual People & Money (PDF) survey found that while 23% of individual investors report they own ETFs, 27% said they own crypto.

At the same time, the integration of DeFi protocols and services into the TradFi system continues. It includes another big institution led by a former crypto skeptic, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and CEO Jamie Dimon. It features the use of stablecoins for payments and cross-border settlements.

Integration and convergence is the biggest, broadest subplot imaginable. It's crypto and artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, for example, and it's also crypto and stocks and prediction markets.

AI enhances blockchain operations by optimizing liquidity pools in DeFi and improving platform security. It also provides a secure, transparent and decentralized infrastructure for AI development and data integrity.

How to invest in crypto trends

Perhaps nothing demonstrates the growth and maturity trend better than price action for Strategy (MSTR), which used to be a software company called MicroStrategy before former CEO and current Executive Chairman Michael Saylor transformed it into a leveraged BTC bet.

Who needs a corporate behemoth with high and rising operating expenses when you can now get the same kind of exposure — and potential upside — with a low-fee ETF and readily tradable options?

Whether Strategy is "not gonna make it" is a question for the market to decide. But it's not doing anything innovative: "BTC go up" is Saylor's big idea.

Bitcoin and crypto aren't going away anytime soon, though. If you're interested in buying financial assets and selling them at higher prices than you paid for them, you owe it to your net worth to explore as full a range of investable options as possible.

You can do it responsibly, too.

Crypto names to watch in 2026

Crypto is complex. It's murky. It's volatile. The whole market is still smaller than each of Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT). But it's growing and maturing.

Opportunities to participate are expanding too — new ETFs offer staff to do the due diligence on obscure altcoins for you. The CoinShare Altcoins ETF (DIME) fills this bill.

At a more basic level, IBIT makes MSTR obsolete for aggressive investors and traders looking to multiply their gains with riskier strategies. The best bitcoin ETFs and digital asset ETFs are less concentrated vehicles than, say, MSTR for you to use to expand your participation.

The number of crypto stocks creating value in the industry by building platforms to transact, such as Coinbase Global (COIN) and Robinhood Markets (HOOD), is growing too.

Crypto names to watch include bitcoin. "Bitcoin dominance" is receding, but bitcoin can still get bigger. ETH, Solana (SOL), Chainlink (LINK) and Ondo Finance (OND) are just getting bigger faster than BTC.

Core Scientific (CORZ) and Cipher Mining (CIFR) are deeply tied to digital asset mining, which is becoming increasingly professionalized and will see particular benefits from AI integration.

These are good developments, and you can capture their upside for yourself by owning stocks such as COIN and HOOD as well as Galaxy Digital (GLXY) that facilitate digital-asset trading.

Bigger names such as Dow Jones stocks NVDA and old Big Blue, International Business Machines (IBM), are exposed to the biggest, broadest digital trend. You'll find these names — and COIN — in an S&P 500 ETF.

More curious than that about this fast-growing, still-maturing market? You can capture all the major and minor crypto trends to watch in 2026 with an ETF or two.

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It's not too late to do some clever tax planning for 2025 that will save money on your taxes — but if you wait until January, it will be too late.

When it comes to taxes, the best opportunities come from proactive planning throughout the year, rather than waiting until it's over.

For example, most families who have been saving and investing for some time will generate significant capital gains each year. Long-term capital gains rates can be as high as 20%, while short-term rates can be as high as 37%, depending on your income bracket.

An additional 3.8% tax, the net investment income tax (NIIT), applies to investors above certain income limits. For many, this tax bill can be considerable.

How to employ tax-loss harvesting

These gains can be offset with tax-loss harvesting strategies, which involve strategically selling securities at a loss, creating an offset to that year's capital gains, then replacing them with similar assets.

If the new assets perform similarly to the old ones, your portfolio ends up in a similar place, but through the strategic sale, you now have losses to offset potential gains, resulting in lower taxes. (There is nuance involved, such as complying with wash-sale rules, which should be navigated carefully to maximize the benefit.)

Most tax-loss harvesting is effective when it's opportunistic throughout the year. By January, it's too late to even think about it for the previous year.

If you wait until the end of the year, you might find a few assets in your portfolio that are down, but you'd likely find the most opportunities if you use tax-loss harvesting throughout the year.

Consider the market so far in 2025.

In April, the S&P 500 was briefly down as much as 20%, and a wide range of assets could have been opportunistically sold. But you had to be thinking about it throughout the year to be in a position to take advantage.

If you started thinking about tax losses now, you haven't completely missed opportunities for 2025, but you might have missed the best opportunity of the year.

Maximize your charitable contributions

For investors considering their charitable giving strategies, another opportunity for year-round tax planning is available.

If you have securities that have appreciated in value, you can donate them to a charity at their current fair market value (if they have been held for over a year).

Neither you nor the charity owes capital gains tax on the gift.

A moment of market upswing, which could occur at any point during the year, maximizes both the tax benefit to you and the funds available to your charitable cause.

Now is a good moment for this one.

Consider potential Roth conversions

A third tax-saving strategy to triangulate with your year-round planning would be Roth conversions.

If the deductions from tax-loss harvesting and strategic charitable donations pushed you into a lower tax bracket, you could use this opportunity to convert taxable retirement accounts into after-tax Roth accounts.

The big takeaway here is that there are still opportunities in the final months of 2025 to implement a valuable tax strategy, such as our tax-loss harvesting example above.

There could be even bigger opportunities if you make 2026 the year that you begin year-round tax planning.

Estate planning at the end of the year

In addition to tax strategies within your portfolio, the final months of the year are a valuable window for estate planning.

The annual gift tax limit is $19,000 for an individual and $38,000 for a couple in 2025. No taxes are owed, but the gift opportunity is use-it-or-lose-it.

Some families use the end of the year to take advantage of income-shifting. A family member in a higher tax bracket uses the gift tax limits to donate assets to a family member, perhaps a young adult child, in a much lower tax bracket. Future income from that asset is taxed at the lower rate.

The key takeaway is that if your finances have even a little bit of complexity — capital gains, charitable goals, pretax retirement accounts — there are significant opportunities for tax savings.

As the complexity of your finances grows, so do the opportunities.

For many investors, a key stumbling block is the difficulty of coordinating these strategies among different professionals, a wealth adviser, a tax accountant and an estate planning attorney. That's one reason it often falls by the wayside until it's too late.

Some opportunities fade throughout the year, and most savings opportunities are completely gone by the time the tax-filing deadlines roll around.

Your taxes shouldn't be an exercise in digging up historical documents, but an exercise in active savings. There are still opportunities in 2025 taxes, and even more for 2026.

Related Content

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• New Tax Rules: Income the IRS Won't Touch in 2025
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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Many people choose to make philanthropy a priority in retirement, using their resources to bless others and fund a charitable legacy.

Years of hard work and saving provide them with an opportunity to give back in a meaningful way.

But here's the challenge: Without a proactive tax plan, retirees often pay far more to the IRS than they have to, which can limit the amount that reaches the causes they care about most.

Being more intentional about the timing and structure of your charitable contributions can allow you to minimize your tax liability and maximize the impact of your gifts.

Here are four practical strategies that can help make your giving more tax-efficient.

1. Turn your RMD into a tax-free gift

Once you turn 73, you must make required minimum distributions (RMDs) every year from your tax-deferred accounts. These withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income, and they can easily nudge you into a higher tax bracket.

That could trigger a tax on up to 85% of your Social Security benefits and potentially raise the cost of your Medicare premiums.

For those who are charitably inclined, a qualified charitable donation (QCD) can be one of the simplest solutions. If you're 70½ or older, QCDs allow you to make tax-free donations directly from your IRA to a qualified charity.

The donation can satisfy all or a portion of your RMD and isn't reported as taxable income on your tax return. Your charity receives the full distribution, and the IRS gets nothing.

You can make a QCD from any tax-deferred IRA account, such as a traditional IRA, inherited IRA, or a SIMPLE IRA or SEP IRA that you're no longer contributing to. (You cannot use a 401(k) or similar workplace plan.)

In 2025, you can donate up to $108,000, and if you're married, each spouse can donate up to his or her individual annual limit. Just be sure the QCD goes directly from your custodian to the charity. The IRS says the funds can't touch your bank account.

2. Give appreciated stock, not cash

If you own stocks, mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that you've held for more than a year, you may find it makes sense to donate those investments directly to your church or a charity instead of selling them and giving cash.

Here's why: When you sell securities that have appreciated in value over time, the gains are subject to capital gains taxes. Depending on where you live, you also could owe state taxes on the gain.

But if you donate those investments directly to a qualified charity, you won't pay capital gains tax. Instead, you'll get a tax deduction for the full fair market value of the securities at the time of the transfer (if you itemize).

The tax deduction limit is up to 30% of your adjusted gross income, but you can carry over any excess for up to five years.

Meanwhile, the charity can sell the positions and pay zero taxes on the capital gains. If your church or nonprofit doesn't have a brokerage account, many custodians or local community foundations can help facilitate the transfer.

3. Name a charity as a beneficiary of your IRA or 401(k)

If you have more money saved in your 401(k) or traditional IRA than you expect to spend in retirement, you may be planning to designate your child or another loved one as the account's beneficiary when you pass.

But for many people, leaving the account to a favorite charity, or charities, can be a more tax-efficient option.

That's because when a qualified charitable organization receives a distribution from a traditional IRA, it doesn't have to pay income tax on the funds. This is a notable advantage compared to a child or other non-spousal beneficiary, who would have to pay ordinary income tax each year on any withdrawals from the account.

In most cases, family members are now required to take distributions from pretax accounts within 10 years, which could push your beneficiary into a higher tax bracket (especially if they're in their peak earning years).

In other words, leaving $200,000 to a specific charity through a traditional IRA would provide the charity with $200,000 to use.

But if that $200,000 IRA were to go to a non-spousal beneficiary, the taxes owed would likely eat up a good-sized chunk of that generous gift.

Your loved ones would probably be happier to receive a tax-free life insurance payout, a Roth IRA or another tax-smart option.

4. Make a difference with a donor-advised fund

Donor-advised funds (DAFs) have gained popularity since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changed the rules for writing off charitable contributions starting in 2018.

With a DAF, you can bundle or "bunch" several years' worth of donations into one large contribution (in cash or assets) to meet the TCJA threshold for itemizing charitable deductions in that year.

Instead of going directly to a charity in one lump sum, your donation is then invested by the DAF's sponsoring organization. And once it's invested, the donation can continue to grow tax-free until it is paid out, also tax-free, to qualifying causes over time.

Though you'll no longer have a legal right to the money in the DAF, you will have "advisory" privileges, which means you can help plan when and to whom you wish to make grants.

A DAF is relatively easy and inexpensive to set up — and it's a tax-smart way to follow through on your gifting goals.

Faithful giving, wise stewardship

I don't know many people who would say that getting a tax deduction is their top motivation for charitable giving. For most folks, it's more about their value system or part of their faith journey.

Still, tax efficiency can be an important consideration for many donors. The right strategy can help you be a better steward and allow you to give cheerfully, knowing you're making the maximum impact with your money.

An experienced financial adviser can walk you through the pros and cons — and the sometimes complex IRS rules — for these and other gifting options. Don't hesitate to ask for help so you can find the best fit for your family's giving goals.

Kim Franke-Folstad contributed to this article.

The appearances in Kiplinger were obtained through a PR program. The columnist received assistance from a public relations firm in preparing this piece for submission to Kiplinger.com. Kiplinger was not compensated in any way.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Every December, people do the same rituals: They check their credit card rewards, swear they're finally going to tidy up the garage and promise they'll eat fewer cookies in January (not to mention resolve to go to the gym and get those rock-hard abs). Oh, and lose weight — maybe that goes without saying.

But there's one year-end task that matters a lot more than resolutions you probably won't keep for long, and it should take less time than you think: review your insurance.

If that sounds boring, consider this: Insurance is the thing you buy hoping you'll never need it. So if you do end up needing it, you want to be very sure it still fits your life — not the life you had three, five or 10 years ago. As you know, change is inevitable.

Let's walk through the year-end insurance check. It's simple, it's mostly free, and it can save you from nasty surprises and unnecessary heartache.

Do a quick 'life change' scan

Before you open a policy, take two minutes to ask yourself: "What changed this year?"

Common changes that should trigger a review:

• You bought or sold a car, RV, boat or e-bike
• You remodeled, added solar, built an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) or upgraded the kitchen or bathroom(s)
• You started working from home full time or launched a side business
• A child started driving, moved out or moved back in (check gray hairs)
• You got married, divorced or combined households
• You traveled more, rented out your home or made it available for renting via Airbnb or a similar service
• You adopted a dog (especially certain breeds) or added a pool/trampoline

Insurance follows risk. If your risk changed, your coverage needs to as well.

Homeowners: Confirm your coverage actually matches the rebuild cost

Most homeowners assume their dwelling limit (called Coverage A) is "whatever online searches show my house is worth." That's not how it works. Not even close.

Online sites such as Zillow show what they consider to be your home's market value. Insurance is about rebuild cost. In many areas, especially where labor and materials have spiked, such as after a large disaster, rebuild costs will be way higher than what you or anyone ever thought they would or could be.

Think of Coverage A like the foundation of your policy. If it's wrong, everything built on top of it is shaky.

Homeowners: Look hard at your deductibles

Deductibles, especially when listed separately for wind, hail or wildfire, are where you take on more risk yourself.

Two things to review:

• Your standard deductible or percentage
• Any separate percentage deductibles for other types of events

A 2% wildfire deductible on a $1 million dwelling limit is $20,000 out of pocket before the policy pays a dime. Many people don't realize that until it's too late.

If a claim happens tomorrow, could you comfortably write that check?

If not, fix it now, not during a disaster.

Homeowners: Spot the silent gaps

Policies age. So do your assumptions. Here are common year-end blind spots:

Ordinance or law coverage. If you rebuild after a loss, code upgrades can be expensive. Without enough ordinance and law coverage, you pay that yourself.

Loss of use limits. If rents jumped in your area, your additional living expense limit may be too low.

Water backup/sump pump/sewer overflow coverage. These are often add-ons. If your neighborhood floods during heavy rain, check whether you actually have this.

Coverage for jewelry, art, collectibles, firearms, wine, musical instruments. Sublimits are small. If you own expensive items, schedule them.

Your policy is full of "yes, but only up to…" statements. Find those and make sure you understand them.

Auto owners: Confirm that liability fits your current assets

Liability is the part of auto insurance that protects you when you hurt somebody else. It's also the part where most people are underinsured.

A rule of thumb: Your liability limit should at least match your net worth. If you have more to lose now than when you bought the policy, update it. You've worked hard — now protect the assets you've accumulated.

Auto liability is cheap relative to what it protects. This is not the place to pinch pennies.

Auto owners: Update usage and drivers

Insurers base your premium on who drives and how much.

Umbrella insurance: Consider this

Umbrella insurance is the extra layer above home and auto liability. It's one of the best bargains in insurance, but only if the underlying policies are set correctly.

If umbrella insurance is the roof, home and auto liability are the walls. Don't leave gaps between them.

The final step: Document everything and put it on the calendar

A review that lives in your head is a review that disappears by February.

What you can do:

• Write down what you checked and what changed
• Save current declarations pages in one folder
• Set a reminder for next December
• Email your agent a short list of updates or questions

Insurance isn't a set-it-and-forget-it prospect. It's set-it-and-review-it-regularly.

Want to learn more about insurance? Visit icgs.org.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

It was a choppy session for stocks Thursday as market participants weighed the latest jobs data against expectations for a rate cut at next week's Federal Reserve meeting. Still, small caps rallied hard on hopes for lower interest rates, while speculation over a Mag 7 stock's massive spending cuts kept the Nasdaq Composite above water.

Ahead of the open, data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed that U.S.-based employers announced 71,321 job cuts in November – up 24% year over year. While this marked a 53% drop from the number of layoffs announced in October, it's still the highest for the month since 2022.

Employers have announced 1.17 million layoffs for the year to date through November – the most since 2020. According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, it's just the sixth time since 1993 that job cuts through November have exceeded 1.1 million.

The Labor Department also released its weekly jobless claims update ahead of the open, with first-time filers declining 27,000 over Thanksgiving week to 191,000 – the lowest level since September 24, 2022. Continued claims rose by 56,776 to 1.8 million.

The data did little to move the needle on market expectations for a December rate cut. According to CME Group FedWatch, futures traders are currently pricing in an 87% chance that the Fed will lower the federal funds rate by a quarter-percentage point next Wednesday.

Higher odds of looser monetary policy helped small-cap stocks outperform Thursday, with the Russell 2000 climbing 0.8% to 2,531 – a new all-time closing high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (+0.2% at 23,505) and the broader S&P 500 (+0.1% at 6,857) eked out a gain, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.07% at 47,850) closed lower.

Snowflake slumps after earnings

In single-stock news, Snowflake (SNOW) slumped 11.4% after the cloud-based data storage platform reported its fiscal 2026 third-quarter results.

While SNOW beat on the top and bottom lines, its forecast for fourth-quarter product revenue represents slower year-over-year growth than what was seen in Q3.

Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives maintained an Outperform (Buy) rating on the tech stock after earnings, saying he'd be a buyer on any weakness in the shares.

"Overall, we continue to believe that SNOW is well-positioned to be a key 2nd derivative in the AI Revolution as it will continue to benefit from the significant acceleration of use cases and a rapidly growing pipeline," Ives writes in a note to clients.

Salesforce leads Dow Jones stocks after its earnings report

Elsewhere on the earnings calendar, Salesforce (CRM) jumped 3.7% after its fiscal 2026 Q3 results, making it the best Dow Jones stock on Thursday.

While Salesforce reported higher-than-expected earnings of $3.25 per share, its revenue of $10.26 billion came up short of estimates. Still, Wall Street cheered strong guidance for its fourth quarter and full fiscal year.

"CRM delivered a very solid fiscal Q3," says Mizuho analyst Gregg Moskowitz. "Agentforce annual recurring revenue has also now eclipsed $500 million and grew an impressive 330% year over year. Additionally, customers in production with Agentforce grew 70% sequentially, and far more customers are refilling the tank after having used up their commitments."

Moskowitz anticipates a much better year for Salesforce in calendar year 2026, "with legitimate potential for re-acceleration." And following the blue chip stock's year-to-date decline of more than 25%, the analyst finds the current valuation "very compelling."

He has an Outperform rating on CRM and a $340 price target – representing implied upside of 37% to current levels – adding that Salesforce a top stock pick.

Meta soars on metaverse spending speculation

Meta Platforms (META) outperformed its fellow Magnificent 7 stocks today, rising 3.4% after a Bloomberg report suggested the Facebook parent will cut spending to its Metaverse segment by as much as 30%.

The company rebranded itself in 2021 – changing its name from Facebook to Meta Platforms – to reflect a shift toward the metaverse. However, those projects have taken a backseat to Meta's AI initiatives.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says this reported move marks a strategic pivot rather than shrinking ambition.

"AI is the obvious beneficiary," he adds. "Unlike the Metaverse, AI is already delivering measurable improvements across Meta's core platforms, from ad targeting to user engagement, and it's central to future monetization opportunities."

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This is the time of year when Wall Street strategists look into their proverbial crystal balls to get a sense of what investors may face in the new year. This year, Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine spoke with Keith Lerner, the chief market strategist and chief investment officer for Truist Wealth.

Lerner says the U.S. stock market will contend with "a carousel of concerns" but should come out ahead in 2026, thanks to strong fundamentals. Read on to see what's behind Truist's bullish view.

Kiplinger: What do you see ahead for financial markets in 2026? Do you have a target price for the S&P 500?

KL: We don't do targets. When we think about markets, we take a weight-of-the-evidence approach and keep an open mind. We look through four main lenses: History, the economic cycle, fun­damentals and market signals.

Okay, let's start with history.

Warren Buffett said if all you needed was history, the richest people would be librarians. But it's a good starting point.

There's an old saying that's still true: Bull markets don't die of old age. We've had 10 bull markets since 1957. Seven of those have lasted more than three years. In year four, you had further gains every time — an average of 16%. But there's a caveat: Year three tends to be choppy, with an average return of 1%.

We really didn't have much of that in 2025, so maybe that takes a little bit away from the next year's gain. Either way, the average cumulative price gain for those seven bull markets is 229%. At this point [through October 31], we're up 91%. That suggests the bull market has further to go.

We also did a study that found when the Federal Reserve cuts in­terest rates with the market near record highs, a year later, stock prices are up more than 90% of the time, with an average gain of 13.1% — with the key caveat that we don't fall into recession. And I should add that as you move into the fourth year of a bull market, it's not unusual to see pullbacks, with drawdowns of 8% to 10% common.

What's your take on the economy?

We're looking for a slight uptick in economic growth in 2026, after landing at about 1.8% in 2025. So a little bit better, but not gangbusters. The economy helps us to say whether we want to be on offense or defense or somewhere in between. We still want to be tilted toward equities, because we think there's further to go. But we're not at maximum equity exposure because it's not the beginning of the cycle.

There are three main factors that we think will support the economic environment: One, the tax changes that we saw in mid-2025 won't get implemented, or we won't see the benefits, until 2026. Consumers will see some tax refunds in the first quarter when they file their taxes, so we'll hopefully get a little bit of a boost in consumer spending from that. There are a lot of incentives for businesses as far as capital expenditures and accelerated depreciation; that will be helpful for companies.

And on the tariff front, we're at a point where companies are adapting, and at least on the margin there will be more clarity than we saw in 2025. The last factor is that the Fed is cutting rates — we think toward 3% on their benchmark rate by the end of 2026, from a target range of 3.75% to 4.0% at the end of October.

What's the risk to your economic outlook?

There's a divergence between labor-market and other economic data. Some of the reports on gross domestic product look stronger, but the labor market, any way you look at it, is softening. If we show a negative job-growth trend, it suggests that consumer spending, which is two-thirds of the economy, is going to slow down. That's a risk, but not our base case.

Let's discuss fundamentals.

The north star for the bull market is still corporate profits. As the stock market has reached new highs, so have the estimates for earnings. This year we've seen earnings growth expectations broaden out from tech and growth stocks to the average stock and to small caps. In the past couple of months, we've seen earnings trends move up across the board.

Here's the tension in the fundamental story: Valuations by almost any historical metric are high. A price-earnings ratio is a reflection of confidence — the market is expecting good things to happen. If they don't, it could become vulnerable. We need to see an economy that continues to chug along, and we need to see this dominant theme of artificial intelligence, tech and rising earnings trends continue to support the market.

Are you worried about an AI bubble? If uptake of the technology slows, or it isn't monetized as expected, will the boom turn into a bust?

Every bull market has a dominant theme; this one's is AI. Think of it as the ChatGPT bull market. ChatGPT came out in November 2022; the bull market started in October.

People ask me all the time if we're in a bubble. There are definitely pockets of froth, but overall, we're not seeing it. The tech sector is up just over 30% year over year through October. Back in the 1990s tech bubble, we saw 12-month gains of over 100% — that's a red alert you're in bubble territory. The sector is trading at around a 30 P/E; back then, it was closer to 50. That doesn't mean there's no risk. But the tech sector has the strongest earnings trend — estimates keep getting moved higher. That's what we're watching.

What are the market signals you're watching?

One reason the bull market deserves the benefit of the doubt is that the primary uptrend remains intact. Stocks overall are trading above their long-term moving averages [a series of average closing prices over a certain period — say, the past 200 days]. And that's not just in the U.S. but around the globe.

As the bull market matures, we're also watching investor sentiment, although it's an indicator that works better at market bottoms, when there's a lot of fear, than at market tops. When people become complacent and you see huge inflows into the market or sentiment surveys that show more bulls than bears, that's risky.

I would say sentiment is a bit elevated, but we're not seeing extreme euphoria. The carousel of concerns continues to spin, and as one recedes another comes up. These concerns keep euphoria in check.

Given your outlook, what's your portfolio advice?

Although investor goals and risk tolerances vary, we generally maintain a slight tilt toward equities. Compared with a portfolio of 50% stocks and 50% bonds, we recommend around 52% in equities, 44% in fixed income, 2.5% in gold and the rest in cash.

In the equity bucket, we've got 76% in the U.S. and 24% in international. We're still Team USA — that's where the earnings are, and the innovation as well. We have an overweight position in large-cap stocks with a growth tilt, but the outlook for small caps is improving, with lower rates and improving profits.

We're neutral on international markets, but in a world where there are a lot of crosscurrents, you want to be diversified. International markets are still relatively cheap; there is more stimulus in Europe and a new leader in Japan that the market is looking at as pro-business. The dollar looks like it has bottomed, but if it weakens further, for whatever reason, that's a reason to own international stocks. We've also added to emerging markets but are still underweight relative to market benchmarks.

On the fixed-income side, we think yields will trend lower in 2026. We like intermediate-term, high-quality, plain-vanilla Treasuries. We're underweight on high-yield corporate bonds — we're taking our risks on the equity side.

Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.

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I swore I would never write another column specific to one piece of legislation because of its short shelf life in the ever-changing political landscape. However …

There were enough changes in the planning strategies stemming from the One Big Beautiful Bill (expect a cosmetic name change before the midterms) that I thought it would be a disservice to leave my followers in the dark.

We've done our year-end reviews early because most custodians have to execute transactions before the IRS deadline of December 31. Much of this work requires calculations that take some time.

Here are the strategies our clients with $2 million to $10 million are looking at by the end of the year:

1. Different Roth conversion calculations and considerations

I've equated a Roth conversion calculation to walking across a busy street. Look left for income tax rates, look right for capital gains thresholds. Look both ways for electric scooters. In this analogy, Medicare IRMAA brackets.

Now there's a fourth threat: phaseouts on a few of the tax breaks created by OBBB.

The two that we saw come up multiple times in our reviews were the enhanced senior deduction phaseout and the SALT (state and local taxes) cap expansion phaseout. The enhanced senior deduction adds a $12,000 deduction for a married couple, if both are at least age 65.

However, that additional deduction starts to phase out at $150,000 of income. It disappears at $250,000 of income.

A Roth conversion might cost more than the marginal rate if we accidentally breach this threshold. That doesn't mean it's not worth doing.

You might wonder why I attached an asset level of $2 million to $10 million. Many of our clients fall within this range, and portfolios of this size, depending on where the money is held, can make some of these thresholds easy to hit.

Next one on our list is the temporary SALT cap increase. It increases the cap on the deduction for SALT to $40,000 retroactively to the beginning of 2025 through 2029.

However, a phaseout of that deduction starts at $500,000 of income and reverts to $10,000 at $600,000 of income (joint). A Roth conversion might cost more if we cross the line.

These new rules have made calculations more difficult because of the nuanced rules and sheer number of landmines.

We rely on tax-planning software to load a prior year's return, change the tax year to 2025 and see the impact of the new rules.

2. Charitable bunching

Bunching became popular with the advent of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2018. Because of the SALT cap of $10,000 and higher standard deductions, a much smaller percentage of wealthy taxpayers itemize deductions.

We would often "bunch" or "stack" deductions in one year to get over the standard deduction hurdle. The taxpayer would make several years of charitable gifts in one year, often using a donor-advised fund (DAF). Our clients would then go back to the standard deduction in subsequent years.

This is not a new strategy, but it has become more important because more people will itemize under the expanded SALT cap and because there is a 0.5% floor on charitable giving starting in 2026.

Think of that floor like the floor on medical expenses. If a client has $100,000 in adjusted gross income (AGI) and wants to give $4,000, only $3,500 of it would be deductible on Schedule A, because of that floor.

This makes the charitable bunching strategy even more important, as the higher you go with the gift, the more inconsequential that hurdle becomes.

If you're close to the standard deduction threshold, this strategy will become even more beneficial if you revert to the standard deduction in 2026. Starting in 2026, there is an additional $2,000 (joint) charitable deduction available for those who take the standard deduction.

We rely on financial planning software to look forward several years and try to figure out if our clients should be itemizing or taking the standard deduction. Unlike the tax software I referenced, we make a free version of this software.

3. Energy projects

We had several clients scrambling to make the electric car credit deadline of September 30. However, there are credits still available for projects completed by December 31.

These credits have fairly low caps, so you should do one of these projects only if you were otherwise already considering it. The energy-efficient home improvement credit is outlined under IRS Section 25C.

This credit allows you to deduct a certain percentage of materials costs for such things as energy-efficient windows, air conditioning units, etc.

As I think of all these caps, phaseouts and rules, I'm picturing a stack of dominos that my 3-year-old lines up on the living room floor. Accidentally knock one over, and the whole line goes down.

Perhaps that's extreme, but it's now even more important to make sure you don't ruin your strategy by inadvertently pushing over one domino.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

If you were to type into a search engine, "Should I talk about politics with my financial adviser?" you would find a long list of articles by advisers, and for advisers, about how best to avoid politics when discussing financial plans with clients.

I vehemently disagree with the notion that political conversations between financial advisers and clients should be sidestepped.

In fact, I would go so far as to say it is impossible for an adviser to fulfill their fiduciary duty — a legal obligation to act in your best interest — without fully knowing you as a whole person, including your political orientation.

A sound financial plan should be shaped by who you are, what you care about and the kind of world you want your money to help build. So, yes, you should get political with your adviser.

Here are three reasons why it's so important for you to do so.

1. Financial planning is deeply personal

Money isn't just about the numbers. And your financial plan isn't a spreadsheet — it's a reflection of your life: your goals, your fears, your family and your sense of purpose.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to show up as their full selves in all aspects of their lives — and that includes meetings with your financial adviser.

If your adviser brushes off this conversation, it is a red flag. You deserve a space where you can speak openly about what matters to you; whether that's climate change, income inequality, reproductive rights or local community investment.

An adviser who invites those conversations will help you create a financial strategy that feels authentic and aligned, instead of one that leaves you second-guessing whether you're compromising your values for returns.

2. Every dollar we spend has a political impact

Whether we like it or not, money is political. Every dollar you earn, invest, donate or spend influences the economy, industries and political policies in ways that either reflect your values or contradict them.

These choices aren't just abstract. They have real-world consequences for the communities we live in and the planet we want to have around for future generations.

A thoughtful financial adviser should help you understand not just where your money is going — specifically, what companies you're investing in — but also what type of direct impact those companies are having on people and the planet.

Here are some prompts you can use to initiate these conversations:

• What specific industries am I invested in, and how do they derive their profits?
• How do the companies I'm invested in stack up in terms of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics, and what sources of data are you using to determine that?
• How do the companies I'm invested in contribute or detract from the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

3. Sacrificing financial returns for ethical alignment is an outdated misconception

Some financial professionals still believe that investing in a way that prioritizes a client's values by excluding certain industries, or using ESG metrics, means sacrificing returns. That is simply not true.

In fact, companies focused on addressing the world's most urgent challenges by prioritizing people, planet and integrity are better positioned to benefit from rising consumer demand as climate change, geopolitical instability, population growth and resource scarcity intensify.

Furthermore, according to a 2025 report by Morgan Stanley, nearly 80% of global investors stated they are likely to choose a financial adviser based on sustainable investment offerings.

This reflects a broader shift toward aligning financial goals with personal values, proving that impact investing is not just a trend, but a lasting shift in how people view wealth.

A skilled, values-aligned adviser can help you invest in companies whose businesses yield both profit and purpose. It's not about choosing between doing well and doing good. It's about doing both.

Finding the right fit

It is completely appropriate to ask your financial adviser if your investments are aligned with specific values that are important to you.

If you get pushback or are sidestepped by phrases like, "You should ignore politics completely when investing," or "I can put you in an ESG mutual fund," with no further discussion about how those funds align specifically with certain issues or themes, you may want to consider whether this adviser is the right fit for you.

Do not be discouraged. There are financial advisers who are not only open to these conversations but who see them as essential to good financial planning.

You can start your search at valuesadviser.org, a directory of professionals who understand that your portfolio reflects your principles and vision for the future.

Money is powerful. When you bring your whole self — your values, your politics and your purpose — to the conversation, you give that power direction. And a good financial adviser should be right there with you, helping to turn that direction into a plan that truly fits who you are.

At the end of the day, sharing your political views with your financial adviser isn't risky. It's responsible.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

When Americans move abroad, their financial lives become significantly more complex. From navigating foreign tax systems to understanding how U.S. retirement accounts are treated overseas, the stakes rise even as the margin for error narrows.

That's why choosing the right cross-border financial planner is so important. High-earning and high-net-worth U.S. taxpayers must find someone who understands the full scope of cross-border financial planning and is committed to a long-term relationship.

A brief review: Types of financial planners

When we talk about different "types" of financial planners, they can be differentiated across three spectrums:

For Americans living in the U.S., these distinctions help guide their choice of professional financial planning service. But for those moving abroad, the meaning of these categories takes on new importance.

Why cross-border planning changes everything

Let's say you're working with a U.S.-based investment manager who doesn't offer planning services. That might work fine while you're stateside; many people feel more comfortable steering their own financial planning ship and personally checking that their compass is pointing due north.

But moving abroad without the support of cross-border expertise to guide the revision and implementation of your financial planning framework can lead to costly mistakes.

Take France, for example. It's often considered one of the "easier" Western European countries for Americans to retire to, thanks to a favorable tax treaty and a relatively straightforward long-stay visitor visa.

But even there, there are common tripwires. One of the most overlooked is the cotisation subsidiaire maladie, more commonly known as the PUMa tax.

The PUMa tax was introduced to help fund France's universal health care system and applies to residents who receive significant passive income, such as dividends, rental income or investment gains, but have little or no earned income.
Here's how it works:

• If your earned income is below 20% of the French social security threshold (PASS), which is €9,273.60 in 2024 (the most recent tax year), and
• Your passive income exceeds 50% of the PASS, or €23,184 in 2024, then
• You may be subject to a 6.5% tax on the portion of your passive income above that threshold.

This tax does not apply if you receive replacement income such as pensions, disability payments or unemployment benefits.

It also doesn't apply if your spouse or civil partnership (PACS) partner earns above the threshold or receives qualifying replacement income.

The formula used to calculate the tax is nuanced, adjusting the rate based on how much earned income you have.

For example, Jean and Marie, both U.S. citizens, move to France and become French tax residents. They draw no earned income in France (well below the €9,273 threshold for 2024) and instead live off €120,000 of U.S. investment dividends.

Because their passive income easily exceeds the €23,184 "50% of PASS" threshold for 2024 and their earned income is minimal, they could face about €6,375 in tax (6.5% of the amount above €23,184) — a surprise many couples who retire abroad don't budget for.

This example illustrates a broader point: Even in jurisdictions considered expat-friendly, the financial landscape requires U.S. financial planners to have a certain familiarity with the local system in order to offer the highest-quality service.

Without a planner who understands both U.S. and local systems, you may be exposed to unexpected liabilities that at best are vaguely annoying, but at worst could derail your retirement plans.

The value of holistic financial planning for expats

When you take a holistic approach to cross-border financial planning, you're able to integrate the following when building a cross-border financial plan:

• Thoughtful relationship-building time in the initial meetings
• Tax planning across jurisdictions, i.e., cross-border tax planning
• Visa and immigration considerations
• Estate planning under foreign laws
• Currency and banking logistics
• Retirement account treatment abroad

A holistic approach ultimately allows the planner to structure the client's portfolio in a way that avoids triggering unexpected taxes or compliance issues.

And, depending on where your cross-border planner is based, they may be equipped to help you navigate the cultural and bureaucratic differences that come with living in another country.

Common pitfalls

1. Continuing with a U.S.-based planner without cross-border experience

Americans understandably want to maintain their existing financial planning relationships when they move abroad.

But, as Arielle Tucker, CFP® and founder of Connected Financial Planning, notes, "Unless your planner has experience with cross-border clients, and ideally specializes in your destination country, they may not be equipped to serve you effectively."

2. Working with EU advisory firms

On the other hand, some expats choose to work with a foreign firm, thinking that working with a local firm in their adopted country is a logical or even savvy financial move. However, this can present challenges.

"Foreign firms typically have higher fees and transaction costs than the U.S., and foreign mutual funds and ETFs are considered PFICs (Passive Foreign Investment Companies for American investors," says Ricardo Jesus, financial adviser at Liberty Atlantic Advisors (also an Adviser Intel contributor).

"This causes additional reporting and tax complications. Plus, client service expectations differ radically between the U.S. and Europe. As an example, execution timelines are often much slower."

Final thoughts

Candidly, moving abroad can feel like you've turned your life upside down and changed the operating language. So, it's completely understandable to seek familiarity among the chaos.

But, speaking as someone who has moved to different countries nearly half a dozen times, I can attest that prioritizing familiarity can come at the expense of long-term stability, particularly when we're talking about financial planning.

Moving abroad is a major life change, and your financial plan needs to reflect that. That said, it doesn't need to be an overwhelmingly frightening change.

Working with a cross-border planner or firm that takes a holistic approach outsources the challenging task of finding the optimal financial through-line in your life abroad, allowing you to be fully present in the new day-to-day of living your life abroad.

Related Content

• I'm a Cross-Border Financial Adviser: 5 Things I Wish Americans Knew About Taxes Before Moving to Portugal
• How to Manage Retirement Savings When Living Abroad
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• The Pros and Cons of Retiring Abroad

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

The main U.S. stock indexes closed higher Wednesday after investors, traders and speculators sorted another set of employment data. Market participants seem encouraged by the prospect of at least one more rate cut by the Federal Reserve as another record-setting earnings season winds down.

The ADP National Employment Report has all but sealed a rate cut at the next Fed meeting. Private-sector payrolls were down 32,000 in November vs a FactSet-compiled consensus forecast for 40,000 new jobs. The probability the central bank trims the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points next week is 89.0%, up from 88.0% on Tuesday, according to CME FedWatch.

"Hiring has been choppy of late as employers weather cautious consumers and an uncertain macroeconomic environment," ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson said, noting a broad-based slowdown led by a pullback among small businesses. November's decline follows an upwardly revised gain of 47,000 in October.

But it's the third decline in four months for private-sector payrolls, and, along with combined losses of 32,000 in August and September, establishes a downward trend, according to BMO Capital Markets Senior Economist Sal Guatieri.

Weakness was widespread across industries, while small businesses shed staff for a fourth straight month. "This might reflect smaller firms struggling more to adapt to tariff-related supply disruptions," Guatieri said.

"The Fed won't have the BLS's official November jobs report before next week's policy decision," Guatieri concludes, "but the ADP report might be all that it needs for the more dovish-leaning governors to counter some hawkish-leaning regional presidents to push through another rate cut."

Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group (UNH, +4.7%) was the top-performing Dow Jones stock after Roundhill Investments launched the Roundhill UNH WeeklyPay ETF (UNHW, +4.9%), a single-stock exchange-traded fund that generates weekly income.

At the closing bell, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.9% at 47,882, the broad-based S&P 500 was up 0.3% to 6,849 after opening in the red, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite had also rallied from a negative start to post a 0.2% gain at 23,454.

Fly like American Eagle Outfitters

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO, +15.1%) soared on a beat-and-raise fiscal third-quarter report, outshining multiple hot AI-related names on the earnings calendar in the process. People may say they're frustrated right now, but they keep spending money … at least at American Eagle Outfitters.

The consumer discretionary stock rose as much as 17.2% after the retailer posted earnings of 53 cents per share (+29.3% year over year) on sales of $1.36 billion (+5.7% YoY). Wall Street expected EPS of 43 cents on sales of $1.32 billion.

"Strong momentum has continued into the fourth quarter," CEO Jay Schottenstein said in a statement, "including an excellent start to the holiday season." The CEO cited a "record-breaking Thanksgiving weekend, led by an acceleration in demand across brands and channels and underscored by outstanding growth" for American Eagle's two key channels.

The retailer raised its guidance for fourth-quarter operating income from a range of $125 million to $130 million to $155 to $160 million based on estimated comparable sales and total revenue in the range of 8% to 9%.

About that AI hyperscaler spending

AEO outshone tech stocks such as Asana (ASAN, +7.8%), Box (BOX, +6.7%), Marvell Technology (MRVL, +7.9%) and Okta (OKTA, +5.5%), which also posted impressive gains after reporting results and sharing guidance.

CrowdStrike (CRWD, +1.6%) was down as much as 5.9% and bounced around the breakeven line before closing higher. But Gitlab (GTLB, -12.8%) and Pure Storage (PSTG, -27.3%) simply got crushed.

GTLB suffered because its expectations-beating revenue figure was "more modest than expected," according to Mizuho analyst Gregg Moskowitz, who reiterated his Neutral (or Hold) rating on GTLB but cut his 12-month target price from $52 to $47.

PSTG was down big even though it beat revenue estimates, met earnings forecasts and raised its guidance for full-year operating income from $615 million to $634 million. What management didn't do is provide a meaningful estimate for fiscal 2027 sales to AI hyperscalers, including its customer Meta Platforms (META, -1.2%).

"Given this lack of visibility," Susquehanna analyst Mehdi Hosseini cut his rating on PSTG to Neutral (or Hold) from Positive (or Buy). Hosseini maintained his $100 12-month target price as he "waits for greater insight into the company's hyperscaler business."

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The market for initial public offerings (IPOs) was gaining momentum heading into the fourth quarter of 2025, but quickly lost steam as the record-long government shutdown put a short-term halt to public offerings.

According to Renaissance Capital, the 64 IPOs we saw in Q3 raised a combined $15.3 billion, marking the biggest quarter of new issuance since 2021.

"Twenty-four IPOs raised $100 million or more, another post-2021 high, led by a wave of high-profile unicorns," wrote Renaissance Capital in its Q3 2025 Quarterly Review (pdf). "Renewed interest in growth stocks allowed many of these names to price above the midpoint, and while a few of the earlier IPOs had explosive debuts, like billion-dollar deal Figma's historic 250% pop, more rational appetite prevailed towards quarter end."

But October saw just 22 new listings, and November had half that, with the 33 total offerings raising a combined $5.5 billion.

And while Renaissance Capital does not expect a rush of offerings through year's end "due to a backlogged SEC, pressure on AI and other tech stocks, and the approaching holiday slowdown," there are several names in the pipeline that could make their market debut before the new year.

Among them is medical supplies company Medline, whose estimated deal size of $5.37 billion will make it the biggest IPO since Rivian Automotive (RIVN) raised $11.9 billion in its 2021 offering.

When is the Medline IPO?

In late October, Medline announced that it had filed its IPO paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company updated its filing on December 8, saying it will sell 179 million shares and expects them to be priced between $26 to $30 apiece.

While the exact date of the Medline IPO is unknown, the company is likely to start trading on or around Wednesday, December 17. Its stock will be listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "MDLN."

Who owns Medline?

Medline previously traded on the public markets in the mid-1970s, but was taken private by Jim and Jon Mills, who founded the company in 1966.

In 2021, a group of private equity firms – Blackstone, Carlyle and Hellman & Friedman – acquired a majority stake in Medline for roughly $30 billion, in what was then the largest leveraged buyout since 2008.

According to the company's regulatory filing, Medline currently operates 22 manufacturing facilities and 69 distribution centers across more than 100 countries. It employs 43,000 folks worldwide.

Its growth is impressive too. The company has enjoyed more than 50 straight years of annual net sales growth. In 2024, Medline generated net sales of $25.5 billion, up 10% from the year prior. And in the first six months of 2025, net sales rose 9.8% to $13.5 billion.

Can I buy MDLN stock?

"An initial public offering enables a private company to 'go public,' or start trading in public markets, by issuing its own shares on a stock exchange for the first time. In this way, any investor can buy shares and the company can raise capital to grow," Kiplinger contributing writer Tom Taulli writes in his article, "What Is an Initial Public Offering (IPO)?".

But buyer beware: IPOs can be volatile — especially for retail investors. While new stocks tend to have strong first-day showings, returns for the first year are generally weak, says the team of analysts at Trivariate Research, a market research firm based in New York.

"In this froth and frenzy, opportunities mix with peril," writes David Milstead, senior associate editor at the Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine. "The safest course may be to wait for companies to settle in some months after their debut, after one or two quarterly earnings reports."

Ultimately, the decision to buy the Medline IPO comes down to your own risk tolerance and personal investing goals. If you do choose to buy shares of MDLN stock when they first begin trading, it's prudent to do so in a small amount that you can afford to lose and have a trading plan in place.

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If you're a high-income investor, your brokerage account could be quietly working against you.

Mutual funds, long considered a cornerstone of diversified investing, can trigger surprise tax bills that eat away at returns. The reason lies not in your investment performance, but in the structure of the funds themselves.

The problem: A tax bill you can't control

When you own a mutual fund, your money is pooled with the funds of thousands of other investors. The fund manager actively buys and sells stocks or bonds within that pool. When appreciated securities are sold, those gains must be distributed to shareholders each year under federal law.

That sounds straightforward until you realize two major drawbacks:

No control over timing. The manager's sales decisions are driven by portfolio strategy and redemptions, not your personal tax situation. You can end up realizing gains even when you didn't sell anything.

"Phantom" gains. You can owe taxes even if your fund's value drops. If the manager sells appreciated holdings to meet redemptions, those gains are still passed to remaining investors.

In short, you're paying for someone else's selling decisions and possibly paying taxes on income you never pocketed.

A painful lesson from 2022

This dynamic became painfully clear in 2022, when the S&P 500 fell nearly 20%. Many investors saw their portfolios lose value, yet still received capital-gain distributions.

Actively managed funds had to sell appreciated positions to meet investor withdrawals during the downturn.

Consider the Growth Fund of America (AGTHX). It lost roughly 25% in 2022 but still distributed $3.71 per share in long-term capital gains that December.

Investors were hit twice: a shrinking portfolio and a tax bill on "phantom" gains.

The triple drag: Loads, taxes and fees

Let's break down the hidden costs with a real-world example from The Growth Fund of America®.

• Front-end load. Class A shares charge up to 5.75%. A $100,000 investment could lose $5,750 before the money even hits the market.
• Tax drag. In December 2024, the fund distributed $1.15 per share in dividends and $6.38 in long-term capital gains. For a high-income taxpayer, that could mean roughly $1,900 in federal taxes, according to IRS Publication 550 and Topic No. 559 (net investment income tax).
• Expense ratio. The annual 0.61% fee equals $610 on $100,000.

Combined, the first-year headwind can be staggering. Add the $1,900 tax and $610 fee to the $5,750 sales charge, and your $100,000 investment effectively starts 8.25% behind.

Smarter, tax-efficient alternatives

High-income investors don't have to accept this structural disadvantage. More efficient tools can help reduce taxable drag and improve after-tax returns.

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs). ETFs generally avoid distributing capital gains because of their in-kind redemption mechanism. That structure allows managers to swap appreciated securities out of the fund without triggering taxable events.

Combined with typically lower expense ratios, ETFs are often the better choice for taxable accounts.

Separately managed accounts (SMAs). An SMA gives you direct ownership of the underlying securities. That ownership allows for individualized tax-loss harvesting, which can offset gains elsewhere in your portfolio.

For investors with significant assets and complex tax situations, this added flexibility can be valuable.

Direct indexing. Direct indexing takes tax efficiency a step further. Instead of buying a single fund, you hold the actual stocks of an index. Your adviser or manager can harvest losses from specific positions while keeping overall exposure aligned with the benchmark.

This granular control can meaningfully reduce taxable income over time.

The bigger idea: Asset location matters

Tax efficiency isn't just about what you own, it's about where you own it. Growth-oriented or high-turnover funds belong in tax-advantaged accounts, such as IRAs or 401(k)s.

Your taxable brokerage account should be designed with low-turnover, tax-efficient investments.

This concept, known as asset location, can make a measurable difference. Studies consistently show that thoughtful asset location can boost after-tax returns by 0.5% to 1% per year, a compounding advantage that grows over decades.

The bottom line

If your taxable accounts are filled with actively managed mutual funds, you might be losing money to taxes you can't control. ETFs, SMAs and direct indexing can give you back that control while improving efficiency.

Your portfolio isn't just a collection of investments; it's a financial ecosystem that must work together across account types. By being intentional about structure and location, you can stop the silent erosion and keep more of what you earn working toward your future.

Josh Taffer is a Founding Partner and Wealth Advisor of Journey Wealth Strategies and is an investment adviser representative of Signal Advisors Wealth, LLC ("Signal Wealth"), a Registered Investment Adviser with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Editor's note: This is the final article in a three-part series about the three stages of divorce. Part one is I'm a Financial Adviser Who's Been Through Divorce: This is How I Break It Down for Clients. Part two is A Financial Adviser's Guide to Divorce Negotiations: Civil – or Not.

As we enter the final stage of your divorce journey, you can take a deep breath — the hardest part is now in the rearview.

You've gathered all the paperwork, chosen the proper legal path and come to an agreement with your former spouse on custody/support and how to divide assets and debts.

For this last stage — finalization — we take you through the loose ends that you'll need to tie up before closing the book on the divorce and beginning this next, best chapter of your life.

Stage Three: The Finalization

The ink is dry on your divorce decree. You're now single. Congratulations. After popping the cork on your well-deserved glass of champagne, you'll need to tackle some administrative business. Let's get started:

1. Update account ownership and beneficiaries

You and your spouse might have parted ways, but is that reflected in your financial matters? After finalizing your divorce, you should update ownership and beneficiaries on all accounts — including retirement accounts, traditional investment accounts, insurance, estate plans, etc.

If you're now the sole owner of your home, you'll need to update the deed to reflect the change. The same goes for the title to your car. It's also a good idea to change all the passwords to ensure that your finances are private.

Be vigilant: If something happens to you, do you want your former spouse to have control?

2. Implement the settlement

In stage two, you and your spouse determined how to split debts and assets. Now, you'll need to put those plans into action — transferring property, refinancing loans and rolling over retirement funds.

Unfortunately, this division could take time, so stay on top of your financial adviser. If you have workplace retirement accounts or pensions to divide, you'll need to prepare a QDRO (qualified domestic relations order), which is a court order determining how those retirement assets should be split.

This could be a detailed calculation, if pensions are involved, so you might consider hiring an outside party to help, although your attorney or Certified Divorce Financial Analyst can handle, as well.

Once the retirement assets are split, there is a little-known QDRO rule that allows the recipient to take a one-time penalty-free distribution if certain conditions are met (you'll still need to pay taxes, though).

3. Consider insurance options

If you were previously on your spouse's health insurance, you'll need to get your own policy. COBRA is an option, but it is expensive, so you should consider alternatives such as the Affordable Care Act.

Beyond health insurance, think about obtaining other types of insurance, including life insurance, long-term care and disability.

If you can't obtain insurance through your work, talk to an insurance broker you trust.

4. Create a new financial plan

As you begin life as a single person, you'll need to adjust and reassess your financial goals. This is a good time to sit down with a financial adviser to create a budget, develop a plan for retirement and begin building an emergency fund.

Unfortunately, many women tend to be overly conservative with their investments, and they miss out on the gains.

Rest assured, you can be more aggressive without gambling on your future.

Creditworthiness might also be an issue. If you're establishing credit in your own name for the first time, you might need to get creative.

When I was married, I only had joint credit cards. After my divorce, the only card I could qualify for was at Express (the clothing store), so I would buy a couple of items, then quickly pay them off.

This helped me to establish a credit history, and a short time later, I was approved for additional cards.

5. Update estate and legal plans

Is your will/trust updated? Do you need a new power of attorney or health care directive? You'll want to update all your estate and legal documents.

Lastly, life is not stagnant. If something comes up after your divorce decree is finalized, don't be afraid to revisit the agreement. Nothing is set in stone.

If you encounter an unexpected expense for the children, or if you or your former spouse's work situation drastically changes, you can file to have the original agreement amended.

Divorce isn't just an ending. It's a new beginning. Now that your divorce is over and all your accounts and documents are current, it's time to take all that challenge and hardship and turn it into something positive by building a life on your own terms.

I'll be here cheering you on.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Investors, traders and speculators welcomed beat-and-raise earnings announcements from two up-and-coming technology companies and a positive forecast from an aircraft maker as the main U.S. equity indexes got back into the green on Tuesday. Momentum ebbed briefly, but fundamentals grounded in the AI revolution and the power of flight carried the trading day.

Everybody from Washington, D.C., to Wall Street is alert to President Donald Trump's weekend revelation that he knows whom he will name as the next Fed chair. Trump said today he will announce his choice early in 2026, though markets remain more focused on the next Fed meeting.

In the meantime, the delayed release of September Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE) data on Friday is the highlight of this week's economic calendar. CME FedWatch shows an 89.2% probability the Federal Open Market Committee will cut interest rates by 25 basis points when it meets next week.

"After an opening stumble yesterday, stocks are catching a bid today," observes Louis Navellier of Navellier & Associates. "It's being led by semiconductors again, as the volatility of the AI theme has picked up, despite the pledges of an enormous build-out of data centers."

Navellier notes a challenge to Nvidia (NVDA, +0.9%) as the leader of the AI revolution from Alphabet (GOOGL, +0.3%), with Amazon.com (AMZN, +0.2%) joining the competition today with the introduction of its own new AI chip.

Meanwhile, Boeing (BA, +10.2%) was No. 1 among the 30 Dow Jones stocks after Chief Financial Officer Jay Malave said the aircraft maker expects deliveries of its 737 and 787 jets to be up next year. Malave also said Boeing will generate positive free cash flow in the "low single digits." Boeing hasn't reported a profit since 2018.

"Expectations are still high for a strong finish to the year," Navellier concludes, "but we may have to get the Fed cut for the positive momentum to arrive."

At the closing bell, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite had added 0.6% to 23,413, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4% at 47,474, and the broad-based S&P 500 had risen 0.3% to 6,829.

MDB and CRDO see an AI boom-and-bounce effect

MongoDB (MDB, +22.2%) was up as much as 27.6% to a new 52-week high after management of the large-cap stock reported earnings of $1.32 per share (+13.8% year over year) on revenue of $628.3 million (+18.7% YoY), beating a consensus forecast for EPS of 81 cents on revenue of $593.8 million.

CEO CJ Desai cited continued strength in MongoDB's Atlas product, which saw annual sales growth of 30%, and "meaningful" margin outperformance. "Reflecting this strength," Desai said, "we are raising our guidance on the top and bottom line for the rest of the year." The document database provider upped its full-year EPS guidance from a range of $3.63 to $3.73 to $4.76 to $4.80.

MDB stock is up more than 40% year to date but remains more than 45% below its November 16, 2021, all-time high of $585.03.

"Companies across industries and geographies are choosing MongoDB because we provide a unified data platform that powers mission-critical workloads today and also positions them to capitalize on the emerging AI platform shift," the CEO said.

Credo Technology (CRDO, +10.1%) also reflected the impact of the AI boom (and provided, for now, relief from worries about an AI bubble), rising as much as 24.9% on strong results and upbeat guidance.

Management reported EPS of 67 cents (+28.8% YoY) on revenue of $268.0 million (+272.1% YoY), ahead of Wall Street estimates of 49 cents on $235.0 million. Gross margin was 67.7%.

"These are the strongest quarterly results in Credo's history," CEO Bill Brennan said, noting Credo's 20% sequential and 272% annual revenue growth, "and they reflect the continued build-out of the world's largest AI training and inference clusters." Management expects to see fiscal third-quarter revenue of $335.0 million to $345.0 million and gross margin between 64.0% and 66.0%.

Brennan says continued growth for Credo's core franchises, as well as ramp-ups for recently introduced products and services, establishes "an outlook with strong revenue growth and profitability through fiscal 2026 and beyond."

Earnings are fundamental

It is a relatively light day for reporting, but the earnings calendar remains a source of support for a bull market.

"Operating earnings at S&P 500 companies should hit an all-time high of $618 billion for the third quarter of 2025," writes Jason Zweig, author of The Intelligent Investor column for The Wall Street Journal, citing estimates from S&P Dow Jones Indices.

"That's up a remarkable 14% over the second quarter, itself a record," Zweig notes. Profit margins of 13.6% are also at record levels.

Tech stocks Asana (ASAN, +4.9%), Box (BOX, +2.9X%), CrowdStrike (CRWD, +2.5%), Gitlab (GTLB, +5.4%), Marvell Technology (MRVL, +2.0%), Okta (OKTA, +1.5%) and Pure Storage (PSTG, +7.1%) are scheduled to release results after the closing bell. American Eagle Outfitters (AEO, -1.9%), a consumer discretionary stock, will also reveal numbers this evening.

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This stretch coincides with year-end holidays and tax planning and is accompanied by an increased focus on charitable activities.

During this time, nonprofits are ramping up requests with annual appeals and year-end campaigns, while donors are making charitable giving part of their annual holiday traditions and tax strategies.

Each year brings unique conditions that impact giving approaches. This year, the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) and interest rate cuts drove many of the conversations donors had with their advisers as they planned their year-end giving and tax impacts.

In the wake of the legislation, many donors are now seeking to front-load contributions this year before tax changes take effect in 2026, including the new 0.5% floor on charitable contributions for taxpayers who itemize.

Considerations like these are part of smart philanthropic giving and tax planning. Yet, as year-end approaches, it's important to think beyond giving season when it comes to charitable giving and its implications, for donors' financial portfolios and for the nonprofits receiving funds.

Year-end giving for year-round impact

Charities understand — and often drive — the push for year-end giving, particularly in late November and throughout December.

In fact, nearly one-third of annual giving occurs in December, with 10% taking place in the last three days of the year.

But budgeting for expected giving only goes so far, and nonprofits need support throughout the year.

What's more, many charities support causes and engage in work that is, by definition, unpredictable. Occurrences from natural disasters to shifting regulations can create a significant and unexpected need for support outside of the traditional giving period.

Many donors want the opportunity to support these needs and unexpected giving opportunities. Often, this unexpected giving is in addition to gifts planned throughout the year.

The good news is that donors can leverage several tools to help sustain the work of the nonprofits and causes they support throughout the year.

Here's a closer look at some of the ways donors can increase the impact of their donations all year long while still achieving the tax benefits of year-end giving.

Separate contributions and grantmaking

One of the most effective ways to combine year-end giving with year-round impact is leveraging the right giving tools.

A donor-advised fund (DAF) is one such tool that allows investors to contribute when it makes the most sense for their portfolios while ensuring their contributions can be used to support charities throughout the year.

When contributing to a DAF, individuals receive an immediate deduction and can recommend grants to nonprofits at any time.

In the context of year-end tax planning, these contributions are a vital mechanism that can lower taxable income and, in many cases, reduce overall tax liability when a donor's full financial picture for the year comes into view.

Additional contributions and grantmaking recommendations can happen when they make the most sense, and funds in a DAF — which are earmarked for charity — can be invested and grow tax-free over time.

This growth, combined with traditionally lower fees and the power to separate gifting and granting, means donors can significantly increase their charitable impact with the right DAF partner.

Prioritize recurring giving

Like any business, nonprofits crave stability and predictability when it comes to resources and financial commitments. Recurring grants are a crucial way that donors can support a nonprofit year-round and provide that predictability of funding.

In fact, 3 in 4 charities prefer repeated gifts over a one-time gift for the same amount, according to Vanguard Charitable's recent Why Giving Matters report.

At the same time, donors who utilize recurring grants tend to give more over time.

Over a five-year period, a typical recurring donor's most recent grant will be 40% greater than their first, and the total recurring grant amount will increase by 8% each year on average, the report shows.

Recurring grants help close the gap for year-round impact and provide stability when traditional fundraising efforts tend to slow.

Tap into recoverable grants

Recoverable grants offer another way for donors to support nonprofits as needs and resources fluctuate.

Recoverable grants provide grantees with the immediate, flexible and high-impact backing they need, when they need it.

It's different from a traditional grant in that the funds may be recovered (sometimes even beyond the initial granted capital) by the DAF and used to recommend additional grants to other nonprofits.

A recoverable grant can be a powerful year-round giving tool that allows nonprofits to navigate funding gaps or capitalize on unique opportunities to expand or scale their impact.

Give without restrictions

Giving with few limitations on how the funds will be used is another way to empower nonprofits to maximize their impact outside of giving season.

Nonprofits consistently identify unrestricted giving as a top priority in helping to alleviate more pressing needs. This approach enables organizations to allocate funding where it's most needed to help fulfill their mission, which can include channeling donations directly to programming, hiring, fundraising events and more.

Each of these gifting strategies reflects a vote of confidence in the nonprofit's long-term vision and its ability to reach its goals.

With the right approach, donors can achieve the tax benefits associated with their charitable giving while ensuring maximum philanthropic impact throughout the year and beyond.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Here's another saying for you: "What begins in California could spread throughout the country."

Today's story will be of special interest to personal injury (PI) lawyers who run settlement mills and plaster billboards near airports, on buses and buy TV ads that proclaim something along the lines of, "Hire me! I get millions of dollars for my clients!"

It will also be of serious interest to anyone thinking about hiring one of these law firms.

Often, attorneys in these ads say, "I care. Call me." But good luck getting them on the phone to talk to you — ever!

State bars across the country apply terms such as "misrepresentation," "dishonest" and "false advertising" to ads that promise direct attorney access ("call me") when clients are able to reach only non-legal staff or automated systems.

These settlement mills routinely deliver cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-no-one, substandard legal representation, not to mention those who engage in fraud.

But now they're being taken on, and their efforts are aimed directly at the lawyers' bottom lines via legislation that should give crooked PI attorneys nightmares.

Uber fights back

Uber has filed civil RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) lawsuits in federal courts against several personal injury law firms and affiliated medical providers in California, New York and Florida.

I discussed these suits with a friend of this column, Southern California attorney Shawn Steel, who represents personal injury victims and has taught ethics and jurisprudence courses to doctors-in-training at Cleveland Chiropractic College since 1991.

The basis of Uber's allegations, according to Steel: Uber alleges a conspiracy to artificially increase claim values by creating evidence of injury, staging accidents and fabricating damage. Clients are steered to medical providers who perform or recommend unnecessary procedures to run up treatment bills.

The lawsuit takes the business model of personal injury mills head on. Uber is especially vulnerable to these schemes because it is required by some states to have insurance policies with much higher limits than those of individual drivers — even taxi cabs.

"The more insurance available, the greater the claim value if you've got the medicals," Steel underscores.

However, it must be noted that Uber customers in California and other places that have high insurance limits are the ones bearing the burden of higher insurance premiums because they're charged higher fares.

"Uber is using the RICO statute," Steel notes, "which is aimed at prosecuting organizations engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity, and if successful, this could establish a precedent for corporations to fight back against what they allege — and can prove — is fraudulent activity."

A ballot measure to protect consumers

In October, Uber filed a proposed California ballot initiative, called the Protecting Automobile Accident Victims from Attorney Self-Dealing Act, aimed at protecting consumers from what it claims are predatory practices by some personal injury lawyers.

If this measure gets on the ballot in November 2026 and passes, it will be a tsunami for PI mills and medical providers who have relied on an endless stream of attorney liens on settlements to pay their inflated bills.

There is real, palpable fear of similar initiatives spreading throughout the country, hitting personal injury lawyers in the pocketbook.

Supporting documentation for the ballot initiative notes that it would ensure victims keep at least 75% of a settlement or judgment by restricting arrangements between attorneys and health care providers and eliminating financial incentives for attorneys to inflate medical expenses.

Attorneys would also be prohibited from receiving kickbacks from or paying kickbacks to medical providers who refer their patients.

No more 'I charge what the market will bear'

The initiative would tie recoverable medical expense damages to standardized rates.

Medical costs would be based on Medicare or a national database rather than the actual bills from lien-based providers. This would eliminate situations where accident victims are sent to doctors who are comfortable with charging hugely increased rates because their friend, the attorney, ensures payment with settlement liens.

So, if this initiative passes, excessive medical charges would not be fully recoverable regardless of what providers bill.

Criticism from consumer advocates

As would be expected, personal injury attorneys are gearing up for a huge battle in the media.

Consumer Attorneys of California (COAC) calls the initiative misleading, saying it undermines accident victims' ability to secure strong legal representation. It also argues:

• That the limit on fees discourages attorneys from taking complex cases, leaving victims underrepresented
• That the case is nothing more than a corporate liability shield, not consumer protection

What this means for consumers

Regardless of whether the initiative becomes law, if you need an attorney after being involved in an auto accident, your best way of finding a reputable one is the tried-and-true referral from friends, family or other lawyers.

Read online reviews on sites like Google, Avvo, Martindale-Hubbell and Yelp. Pay more attention to the two- and one-star reviews — the details in the negative reviews are more important for you to know than the glowing praise.

Be sure the lawyer has a local office, not just a phone number. You might want to even go there to make sure it exists.

Most important of all, over the phone or with a paralegal or the law firm's investigator who comes to your home and interviews you about the accident, say, "I expect to deal with and speak to (the name of the attorney) and meet with them in person." Write this on the retainer agreement. Then, if it does not happen, you will have strong grounds to fire that law firm.

If you are dealing with a settlement mill, those requests will be refused.

If anyone gives you any trouble, call me. You can reach me at (661) 323-7911, or send me an e-mail at Lagombeaver1@gmail.com.

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield, Calif., and welcomes comments and questions from readers, which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993, or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1@gmail.com. And be sure to visit dennisbeaver.com.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

All three main U.S. equity market indexes closed lower on Monday amid a continuing sell-off for bitcoin and stocks leveraged to digital assets, as well as tepid economic data. History suggests better things are ahead, at least for the S&P 500, with investors, traders and speculators looking forward to another rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

"The S&P 500 clawed its way back from nearly a 5% intra-month drawdown to finish November with a modest 0.1% gain," LPL Financial Chief Technical Strategist Adam Turnquist writes, citing oversold conditions, solid earnings, renewed AI optimism, and repricing of rate-cut expectations at the next Fed meeting as fuel for the rebound.

According to Turnquist, momentum from late November indicates good things for December. "Historically, since 1950, the S&P 500 has averaged a 1.4% gain in December and finished higher 73% of the time." That's the strongest positivity rate of any month. "However," the analyst adds, "December's strength typically emerges in the second half of the month."

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) declined to 48.2% in November from 48.7% in October. According to ISM, a Manufacturing PMI above 42.3% over a period of time generally indicates economic expansion.

"Although December's headline was somewhat softer than expectations," Barclays economist Jonathan Millar writes, "we do not view the miss as especially meaningful."

Millar notes that the ISM print "was more downbeat than the competing S&P Global Manufacturing PMI," which declined to 52.2% in November from 52.5% in October. The "breakeven" level for the S&P PMI is about four points higher than the ISM threshold, the economist says, though "both point to flat manufacturing."

The main event on this week's economic calendar is the delayed release of September Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE) data. The Fed prefers core PCE over the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to measure price stability.

It is late, but it's the best inflation data we have heading into the next Fed meeting. CME FedWatch reflects an 87.6% probability the Federal Open Market Committee will cut interest rates by 25 basis points next week.

At the closing bell, the broad-based S&P 500 was down 0.5% at 6,812, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average had shed 0.9% to 47,289, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was off 0.4% at 23,275.

Bitcoin and crypto stocks lead the way lower

Coinbase Global (COIN, -4.8%) makes the list of the riskiest S&P 500 stocks right now because of days like Monday. "Bitcoin (BTC) bounced from $82,000 to approximately $92,000 and then lower again today at $86,000," Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani observes. "This price action suggests weak market sentiment, which has impacted digital asset equities."

Chhugani notes that COIN is down more than 20% over the last 30 days, and Robinhood Markets (HOOD, -4.1%) is down more than 10%. "However, unlike previous crypto corrections," he adds, "operating businesses look strong and only signs of speculative excess appear in the long tail of Strategy (MSTR, -3.3%) copycats."

The analyst suggests market concerns about MSTR, which is explicitly a bitcoin stock and was down as much as 12.2% on Monday, are overstated: "There is no realistic scenario which threatens the longevity of MSTR." Strategy revealed in a regulatory filing on Monday that it purchased 130 bitcoin from November 17 through November 30.

In addition to updating its BTC holdings, Strategy announced the establishment of a $1.44 billion U.S. dollar reserve fund "to support the payment of dividends on its preferred stock and interest on its outstanding indebtedness."

Management also revised its fiscal year 2025 guidance to reflect a year-end bitcoin price in a range of $85,000 to $110,000 versus a prior estimate of $150,000.

Meanwhile, Chhugani concludes, "Coinbase is executing hard on its 'everything exchange' vision." The analyst expects management to announce the launch of two major products on December 17, including tokenized equity trading and the introduction of prediction markets on its primary platform.

It will compete with Robinhood, which "continues to aggressively diversify from its equity trading business into crypto, tokenized equities and prediction markets" as the crypto exchange business model and the broker-dealer business model converge.

"Coinbase wants its users to trade crypto, equity and prediction markets on the same platform," the analyst concludes.

NVDA > the entire crypto market

Nvidia (NVDA, +1.7%), incidentally, is bigger in market cap terms than the entire universe of cryptocurrencies – bigger than bitcoin plus ethereum, as well as all the other altcoins combined.

The leader of the AI revolution added another $72 billion to its total value after it announced a $2 billion investment in electronic design automation software maker Synopsys (SNPS, +4.9%).

"The complexity and cost of developing next-generation intelligent systems demands engineering solutions with a deeper integration of electronics and physics, accelerated by AI capabilities and compute," Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi said in a statement. "No two companies are better positioned to deliver AI-powered, holistic system design solutions than Synopsys and Nvidia."

For the record, Apple (AAPL, +1.5%), Alphabet (GOOGL, -1.7%) and Microsoft (MSFT, -1.1%) are also bigger than crypto, and Amazon.com (AMZN, +0.3%) is not far behind.

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This was 20 years ago, well before the Affordable Care Act mandated that those tests be covered. My mom wanted to pay for it so we might have a clue about my own risk level, but I didn't want her to spend $10,000 or more.

I was in my late 20s then. If her tests came back positive, I would need to be tested, too. At an additional $5,000, that felt financially out of reach, so we decided to forgo genetic testing.

Still, her diagnosis forced me to think differently about my health, and I tried to work proactively with my doctors. Rather than standard mammograms, my doctors recommended annual MRIs, since mammograms are not as effective for young women with dense breast tissue.

But insurance didn't see it that way. They labeled the screenings "medically unnecessary" and flat-out refused to cover them, even with a direct family history of cancer.

The pink tax is alive and well

Across the board, women like my mom and me pay more for health care. According to the World Economic Forum, the average American woman spends 18% more on health expenses than a man. It's part of a broader pattern you may know as the "pink tax."

We've all seen it: higher prices on shampoo, razors, dry cleaning and clothing. In health care, the pink tax shows up in our medical bills.

Excluding pregnancy (don't get me started on that), women pay an average of $266 more per year than men. That may not sound like a lot, but it adds up.

Over time, nearly every major health expense we face is tied to gender: contraception, fertility treatments, pregnancy and childbirth, menopause, osteoporosis, dementia, autoimmune conditions, cancers of the breast, ovaries, cervix and uterus, and the list goes on and on.

And, when we're not paying for our own care, we're often the ones providing it.

Women are far more likely to become unpaid caregivers for aging parents, ill spouses or children with medical needs. That caregiving comes at a steep cost: lost wages, foregone promotions and reduced retirement savings.

It's an invisible tax that slowly eats away at our long-term financial security.

Where the gap hurts most

The health care system's biggest blind spots often align with uniquely female health concerns. Take reproductive care.

The cost of contraceptives still falls mostly on women. While the ACA improved coverage, regulatory changes around abortion, contraceptives and fertility treatments are creating new financial hurdles.

When I was considering fertility treatments to conceive my daughter, the cost wasn't covered in Nebraska, where I lived at the time. Each cycle of in vitro fertilization costs about $12,000, and most couples need several rounds before they conceive.

Today, IVF is covered only by health insurance in a small handful of states.

Then there's menopause. Every woman goes through it, but comprehensive menopause care remains largely absent from standard insurance coverage. Only 26% of plans cover menopause-related prescriptions in full, according to GoodRx.

Hormone replacement therapy is often treated as optional, even though it's seen as the gold standard for treating severe symptoms. Without coverage, women must choose between suffering or shouldering the cost themselves.

And it doesn't stop there. Because of their genetic structure, women are more likely to be diagnosed with autoimmune diseases like lupus, colitis and multiple sclerosis. They're more likely to take medical leave for a disability during their working years.

And they suffer from Alzheimer's at twice the rate of men. The Alzheimer's Association estimates the lifetime cost of care for someone living with dementia to be $405,262. That information is staggering.

Take control of your health care

These health care disparities aren't going away anytime soon. It's up to each of us to find ways to protect our physical and financial well-being. Here are a few places to start.

Use your workplace benefits

If you're employed, start with your health insurance policy. During open enrollment, review your options — especially if you expect higher medical expenses in the coming year. Choose the most comprehensive plan you can afford, even if the monthly premium is higher. It may save you far more in out-of-pocket costs down the road.

Next, explore additional benefits your employer might offer, such as:

• Voluntary supplemental health plans for critical illness or hospital stays
• Mental health services to connect with a therapist
• Caregiving support or employee assistance programs
• Menopause-specific resources (increasingly offered by large employers)

Don't be shy about asking HR what's available. These programs are there for you. Use them.

Maximize HSAs and FSAs

Health savings accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs) can help offset costs. HSAs, for example, offer a triple tax advantage: Contributions go in tax-free, grow tax-free and can be withdrawn tax-free for qualified medical expenses.

You must pair an HSA with a high-deductible health insurance plan, but you can roll funds over indefinitely, even into retirement.

FSAs, meanwhile, must be used in the year you contribute to them (although you may be able to carry over a small balance year-to-year depending on your employer's plan).

If you expect high medical bills, say, for fertility treatments, max out your FSA so you can pay for treatment with pre-tax dollars.

Protect your income

Don't overlook disability insurance. If your employer offers group coverage, consider using it. Short-term disability usually starts within a few weeks and lasts a few months. Long-term coverage typically kicks in after 90 days and can replace around 60% of your salary for up to a few years.

If possible, consider an individual policy to supplement what your employer provides. It's not cheap, but it can be a lifesaver when you need it most.

Get professional help

A financial adviser can be a great resource for helping you budget for high-cost years and help you analyze your insurance plan. Don't have an adviser? Start by searching for a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® (CFP®) professional through the CFP Board's professional directory, which allows you to filter by location, specialization and fee structure.

If you can't afford an adviser, you can find a pro bono adviser through the Foundation for Financial Planning, which can pair you with a volunteer financial planner for free if you qualify based on income and other circumstances.

Hard-won progress, but still fighting

A year ago, my mom's cancer returned. She's fighting it with everything she has. Now that my family history has become impossible to ignore and changes by the ACA have taken effect, genetic testing is covered for her, but still not for me.

However, my insurance company finally treats my case as high risk. For the first time in 18 years, insurance approved an MRI.

The irony isn't lost on me: Eighteen years of paying out of pocket for the screening that would actually benefit my health, while insurance covered the less effective option.

The pink tax on health care is real. But with dogged planning and advocacy, we can minimize its sting on our financial and physical well-being. Persistence and advocacy can eventually lead to better coverage.

The key is never to accept "no" when it comes to our health.

We shouldn't have to fight this hard for care that fits our bodies. But until we don't have to, we need to plan and speak up.

Our lives depend on it.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Whether it's fatigue due to the ongoing political maelstrom, lifestyle aspirations or a desire to invest in euros, the motivations are understandable. But the financial implications of moving from the U.S. to Portugal are often misunderstood.

As a cross-border financial adviser who's lived and worked in both the U.S. and Portugal, I've seen firsthand how complex this transition can be.

Here are five things I wish every American knew before moving to Portugal.

1. Even if you're living in Portugal, you're still a U.S. taxpayer

Fortunately, this one is becoming an increasingly "obvious" fact to point out thanks to the increase in resources available to Americans researching a move abroad.

That said, it's always worth noting because there are still plenty of Americans who assume that once they leave the U.S., they leave their tax obligations behind, which isn't the case.

Unlike nearly every other country in the world, the U.S. applies a citizenship-based taxation model, meaning that U.S. expats are subject to tax on worldwide income, regardless of where they live.

U.S. expat tax provisions do offer some relief. While the foreign earned income exclusion (FEIE) is often touted as a tax-saving strategy, it's most beneficial in countries with lower tax rates than the U.S.

Since Portugal ended its non-habitual residence (NHR) scheme, Portuguese tax rates easily exceed those in the U.S., often making the Foreign Tax Credit (FTC) a more strategic choice.

Navigating which to use — FEIE or FTC — requires careful planning and often depends on your residency status, income type and long-term goals.

Also, don't confuse the FEIE threshold or standard deduction with exemption from U.S. tax filing. Filing can unlock benefits like credits and deductions, and it's essential for maintaining compliance, especially if you may return to the U.S. or inherit assets.

2. Beware of costly missteps involving foreign funds and PFICs

One of the most common — and costly — mistakes Americans make after moving to Portugal is investing in local mutual funds or ETFs.

These are often classified as Passive Foreign Investment Companies (PFICs) under U.S. tax law, which subjects them to punitive taxation and complex reporting requirements.

It takes practice to reframe the assumption that all ETFs and mutual funds are good for your portfolio. In this case, foreign ones can be financially unhealthy.

The IRS treats PFICs harshly, and the paperwork alone can be overwhelming.

If you're planning to move to Portugal with U.S.-based investments, consulting a cross-border adviser is essential, particularly where significant wealth management is concerned, and ongoing financial planning that takes into account your new cross-border context may be required.

3. Investing in euros isn't necessarily the best money move

Many Americans want to invest in euros to diversify or hedge against the dollar. And this is a perfectly understandable instinct given the economic volatility the U.S. has experienced (and wrought at a global scale) this year.

But it's not as simple as opening a Portuguese brokerage account. You'll need a U.S. address to buy U.S. mutual funds, and European platforms often come with higher fees and limited transparency.

While savings account rates in Portugal hover around 1.6% for standard retail deposits, even Portugal's best term-deposit or niche offers (typically less than 3.0% for one-year terms) still fall well short of top U.S. high-yield accounts, many of which exceed 4.0% APY.

In short, yes, Portugal offers stable and safe options, but there's nothing that truly rivals the highest U.S. yields.

Moreover, client service in Portugal is markedly different compared to what Americans are used to. Bureaucracy and red tape can slow down even basic transactions.

There's also a saturation of services targeting Americans, many of which assume Americans are wealthy enough to absorb financial losses — I know firsthand this is not necessarily the case.

This misunderstanding does a disservice to the growing number of middle-class Americans moving abroad for affordability and quality of life.

4. Portugal's tax landscape is rapidly shifting

Portugal's popular NHR regime has officially ended.

In its place is the Tax Incentive for Scientific Research and Innovation (Incentivo Fiscal à Investigação Científica e Inovação (IFICI), which offers limited benefits and applies only to specific professional categories.

As a result, many Americans are reconsidering Portugal in favor of countries like France and Italy, where long-term planning is more straightforward.

If you're still set on Portugal, proactive planning is more important than ever.

5. U.S. investments can be a stabilizing anchor

Political instability is a common reason Americans cite for leaving the U.S. But while emotions may drive the move, the factors that shape the decisions you make about your portfolio should be grounded in data.

Historically, the U.S. stock market has delivered strong annualized returns, even through periods of volatility. European markets have shown more variability in recent years, especially in southern economies.

Maintaining U.S.-based investments can provide regulatory clarity, familiar structures and a stabilizing anchor in uncertain times.

Conclusion

Moving to Portugal can be a beautiful life change. But financially, it's not a clean break for Americans, as much as they may be moving for the mental relief of living somewhere new and foreign.

As someone who's lived and invested in both countries, I recommend maintaining your money in the U.S. and building a cross-border strategy that can encompass the scope of your financial goals — not just your geography.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

With stock markets hitting highs and a flood of new companies selling their shares to investors, it's easy to get FOMOIPO — fear of missing out on initial public offerings. But the fortunes of many of the debuts in this year's surge are tied to artificial intelligence (AI) or cryptocurrency, making the batch of new issues perhaps even riskier than the typical crop.

Through September 30, there were 161 U.S. IPOs, according to IPO research firm Renaissance Capital, compared with 150 for the entirety of 2024. Renaissance counted 64 IPOs in the third quarter, raising a combined $15.3 billion—the biggest quarter for new issuance since 2021.

One of 2025's top-performing IPOs has been CoreWeave (CRWV), which operates a cloud platform for artificial intelligence computing. Priced at $40 per share at its March IPO, it closed out September at $137, giving it a market capitalization of $71 billion. Circle Internet Group (CRCL), a trading platform for bitcoin and an issuer of a stablecoin (a type of cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar), was priced at $31 in June and is now $133, giving it a market value of $30 billion.

Both are unprofitable, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. (Prices, returns and other data are as of September 30, unless otherwise noted.)

"The IPO market tends to be a lot busier in periods when asset prices may be somewhat inflated, toward the top of a market cycle," says Nick Einhorn, the director of research at Renaissance. The "danger," he says, is that when the cycle turns, IPO stocks can fall sharply.

IPOs have always been risky because the companies are typically younger or less established than those already trading on the stock exchange, and IPOs don't have a track record of delivering results to a broad shareholder base.

A go-to exit strategy

IPOs originated hundreds of years ago as a way for companies to raise capital to expand their business — especially needed in an industrial economy that required property, manufacturing plants and equipment.

The market has evolved over time, particularly in the final decades of the 20th century, when the U.S. economy shifted and became dominated by technology companies. Today, raising capital is sometimes secondary to giving early owners a way to exit their investments profitably or providing a way for employees compensated with stock to easily know what their shares are worth.

For many companies, a big part of the IPO story is the buildup to its first day of trading with individual investors — and whether the shares will "pop," producing a big return. Einhorn says the average first-day return for IPOs of $100 million or larger so far in 2025 has been 27%, compared with 16% in 2024.

In this froth and frenzy, opportunities mix with peril. The safest course may be to wait for companies to settle in some months after their debut, after one or two quarterly earnings reports.

Investors should also know when a company's "lock-up period" ends. This is a window, typically 90 to 180 days from the IPO, when company insiders cannot sell their stock. IPO investors can typically expect some selling pressure when it expires.

Jay Ritter, a University of Florida finance professor with a longtime specialty in IPOs, says his work suggests investors look to more mature companies, which he defines as having at least $100 million in revenue when they come public.

According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, 42 of the companies with IPOs this year make the cut, including curriculum provider McGraw Hill (MH) and online ticket reseller StubHub Holdings (STUB). Ritter says he has found "a pretty strong pattern" that the mature companies, on average, do as well as the broader market, while less-mature companies "all too often struggle."

Investors interested in IPO stocks should consider valuation measures — particularly price-to-sales ratios, for unprofitable companies — and generally use all the typical methods they use to pick investments, says Ritter. "Don't think of it as an IPO or recent IPO, think of it as a stock, whether it has been traded for three months or 30 years."

Consider the old guard

Not all of 2025's biggest IPOs fall into edgy, trendy categories, and a couple of newbies that might be worth exploring, analysts say, are a little more old school.

Venture Global (VG) pursued an IPO because it needed capital to continue an ambitious plan, launched in 2022, to produce, refine and sell liquefied natural gas from the U.S. Gulf Coast. The company has chosen so far to sell at market prices rather than use long-term contracts for revenue certainty. With $31 billion in debt, it has little margin for error.

That risk may be priced in, however, because the shares, which went public in January at $24, are now at $14, trading for less than 10 times estimated earnings for the next 12 months. Analyst Manav Gupta, of investment firm UBS, in August boosted his rating on the energy stock from Neutral to Buy, with a 12-month price target for the shares of $18.

Pork producer Smithfield Foods (SFD) was a public company until its Chinese parent, WH Group, took it private in 2013. WH Group decided to bring it back to public markets in January by selling 13% of the company at $20 a share. Analysts expect earnings per share of $2.35 in 2025 and $2.39 in 2026, up from $1.88 in 2024. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is under 10.

Six of the seven analysts who cover the consumer staples stock have a Buy rating, with an average 12-month target price that suggests a 25% gain from its recent close.

If getting in on the ground floor of brand-new companies is something you want to gamble on, limit your investment to no more than you can lose. You can diversify the risk by choosing an exchange-traded fund, but be forewarned that the ride can be bumpy.

Renaissance Capital's Renaissance IPO (IPO) adds new IPO stocks once per quarter, removing any that have traded for more than three years. The average age of the 31 stocks in the fund is 1.3 years, and it has less than 1% overlap with the S&P 500.

In 2025, it's up 14.5%, roughly even with the 14.8% gain for the S&P benchmark index and ahead of the 10.4% return for the Russell 2000, a popular small-stock index. In the past 10 years, the ETF has been in the top 5% of its category (mid-cap growth funds) three times, but in the bottom 10% five times. On the plus side, its expense ratio of 0.60% puts it among the cheapest 20% of funds in the category.

The First Trust US Equity Opportunities ETF (FPX) is a bit less volatile and has a similar expense ratio, at 0.61%. The fund seeks to replicate the IPOX-100 U.S. index of large, liquid IPOs, which IPOX says captures about 85% of the total market capitalization of IPOs in the previous four years. The ETF is up 39.3% so far in 2025.

Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.

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Whether you're pleased or disappointed about the resumption of the Federal Reserve's rate-cutting cycle may depend on whether you are primarily a borrower or a saver. Regardless of where you fall on that spectrum, if you're an investor, now is a good time to review your portfolio and make some tweaks to accommodate — and capitalize — on a lower-rate regime.

The quarter-point rate cut from the Fed in September was the first since December 2024. The central bank followed this up with another one in October, and while it's too soon to call the December meeting, more rate cuts are expected in 2026.

Traders were recently betting that by next April, the federal funds rate (the interest rate that banks charge each other for overnight loans) would sink to a target rate of 3.25% to 3.5%, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. That's a full percentage point lower than the Fed's benchmark rate in early September — two points lower than when the current monetary easing cycle began in September 2024.

The good news for investors is that lower interest rates are largely positive for stocks — even in the second year of a rate-cutting cycle. Dating back to 1990, the S&P 500 Index has gained an average 11% in price in year two of Fed rate cuts, according to Sam Stovall, a market historian and chief investment strategist at research firm CFRA.

Zeroing in on how the market performs following a pause of several months during a rate-cutting cycle, Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at wealth management firm Carson Group, found that since 1970, the S&P 500 has been higher nearly 91% of the time in the year following the resumption of rate cuts, returning an average 12.9%.

Of course, a lot depends on the health of the economy and whether rate cuts are occurring when a recession is imminent or underway or when the economy remains relatively healthy. Looking at the 45 rate-cutting campaigns going back to 1954, market strategists at Glenmede, another wealth management firm, found that the average S&P 500 gain over the course of the cycle was 13%; with no recession the average gain was 24.2%, and with a recession it was just 6.6%.

"We look at the economy as still on fairly firm footing," says Detrick. Although there are signs of labor-market slowing, there is also evidence of stronger-than-expected retail sales, he notes. "We have an okay economy being led by very strong corporate earnings growth. A Fed rate cut is the cherry on top, and they are likely to cut well into 2026. That's bullish for equities," he says.

Strong stock sectors for Fed rate cuts

Historically, the sectors that have performed best in the second year of rate cuts include real estate, financials, tech, health care and consumer staples, according to CFRA. That might not be the case this time around: Although Stovall currently recommends investors overweight stocks in the financial and tech sectors (as well as communications services), he has an Underweight rating on health care stocks, and he sees real estate and staples shares merely keeping pace with the market.

It's simply too early to shift into sectors traditionally considered more defensive, says Detrick. He still likes large-cap stocks in the financial, tech and industrial sectors, which have been leaders in the current bull market. "We're sticking with the ones who brought us to the dance," he says.

Nonetheless, it's a good time now, especially if you're nervous about the market's highfliers, to make sure you have some exposure to midsize- and small-company stocks, he adds, as well as international fare.

Lower rates may be the catalyst long-suffering small-cap stocks have needed. Indeed, on the heels of the September rate cut, the Russell 2000 Index, a popular small-cap benchmark, hit its first new high since November 2021 — an interval when the S&P 500 set 89 new highs, according to Stovall.

As interest rates drop, "small-cap companies are likely to benefit disproportionately," note the strategists from Glenmede. That's because more than half of small-cap debt is issued at floating rates. "As interest expenses fall," they say, it "should provide a meaningful tailwind to earnings."

Moreover, small firms should see a more sizable benefit from corporate tax relief, while also being less exposed to the impact of tariffs than large companies, according to Glenmede. And despite the recent rally, valuations remain compelling compared with their blue-chip cousins. "Small- and mid-cap stocks could have a very long runway — well into 2026, we think," says Detrick.

A good way to add more exposure to mid- and small-cap stocks is with the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH) and the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR). Both exchange-traded funds are members of the Kiplinger ETF 20, the list of our favorite ETFs. (Prices, returns and other data are as of September 30.)

Step away from cash

You've no doubt noticed that your cash is earning less. But further deterioration in the economy — continued weakness in the job market, say — could send cash yields to the basement. "The imperative to put cash to work is increasing," say strategists in the chief investment office at UBS Financial Services.

For short-term spending needs, stick with the modest yields on certificates of deposit and money market funds, they advise. For expenses that are one to three years away, consider a bond ladder, with IOUs of staggered maturities.

Cash earmarked for needs up to five years out can be invested in intermediate-term government or investment-grade corporate bonds, according to UBS. Baird Aggregate Bond (BAGSX), a longtime member of the Kiplinger 25, the list of our favorite actively managed no-load mutual funds, yields 3.9% and has ranked in the top half of similar funds in seven of the past 10 years.

Or, recommends UBS, consider a multi-sector bond fund, whose managers can pick and choose among a wide array of fixed-income assets.

One to explore is the Pimco Multisector Bond Active ETF (PYLD). The ETF, with a yield of 5.1% and a total return of 7.0% over the past 12 months, had a hefty stake in securitized assets (think pooled mortgage loans and the like) at last report.

Finally, investors looking to replace regular income from cash, and who can tolerate the higher risk of stocks, can seek out dividend payers, such as those found in the Kiplinger Dividend 15, our favorite dividend-paying stocks.

Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.

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We work with families who have $1 million or more saved — we call them Midwestern Millionaires. They're the kind of people who pack their lunch, pay off their home and try to do things the right way.

For those who have spent decades saving, serving and doing the right thing, sending painful amounts of money to Uncle Sam to pay taxes can feel downright unfair.

When you have a high income and a high net worth in retirement, then taxes will likely be your greatest expense.

Tax avoidance, not evasion

I get it. One of our clients, Jeannie, looked me straight in the eye during our first meeting and said, "Joe, there's one thing you need to know about me — I hate taxes." That moment inspired my bestselling book I Hate Taxes (request a free copy here).

And, honestly, she's right. You shouldn't feel bad about wanting to keep as much as you can of what you earned through all your years of hard work.

Let's be clear: I'm not talking about breaking the rules. I'm talking about using them to your advantage.

As Judge Learned Hand famously said, "Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible ... There is nothing sinister in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible."

That is exactly what smart tax planning is about: paying your fair share, but not a penny more — and not tipping Uncle Sam.

The IRS has a plan for you. Do you have a plan for you?

Here is the truth most retirees don't realize: You already have a tax plan — it's set out for you by the IRS.

If you don't take control of how and when you pay taxes, the government will happily make that decision for you by imposing required minimum distributions (RMDs).

Creating your own retirement tax plan now can allow you to decide when and how much to pay in taxes.

Plus, you can structure your retirement income so more goes into your pocket and less goes into Uncle Sam's.

Taxes are on sale — for now

Current tax rates are among the lowest in U.S. history. The top tax rate today is 37%. In the 1980s, it was 70%. And in the 1940s, the highest tax rate was 94%!

When clients ask me, "Joe, when's the best time to plan for taxes?" my answer is simple: right now.

If taxes were going to double over the next 10 years, would you do something today? Of course. And with our national debt now over $38 trillion, that future isn't hard to imagine.

That's why I say taxes are currently on sale, and like most sales, this one may not last forever.

When you shop at the grocery store, you check prices before putting items in your cart. But with tax-deferred accounts, most Americans are shopping blind.

Every time you add money to your 401(k) or traditional IRA, you're agreeing to pay taxes later, but you don't know how much "later" will cost.

Would you invest in something if you didn't know the price? Of course not, and that's why understanding your future tax liability is so crucial.

Now, as I always say, the tax code is written in pencil, which is why we must proactively plan for what we call tax diversification.

Three tax buckets

We teach our clients to think of their savings as being in three buckets:

• Taxable bucket. Checking, savings, brokerage accounts
• Tax-deferred bucket (Uncle Sam is the joint owner of this one). 401(k)s, IRAs, TSPs, 457s, 403(b)s
• Tax-free bucket. Roth IRAs, Roth 401(k)s, HSAs

Here is the goal: to move money from the "tax later" category to "tax never." I always ask, if we had a magic wand, which bucket would we want our money in? The tax-free one, of course.

Unfortunately, most people have the majority of their wealth in tax-deferred investments. So, typically, what they do is contribute to a Roth from their taxable bucket.

Or they look at doing Roth conversions by moving a portion of their tax-deferred bucket to the tax-free bucket and paying taxes now while they are lower.

You can't take it with you

You've worked hard, you've saved, you've done everything right … Now it is time to ask yourself, What is all of this for?

I tell people all the time that there will be no U-Haul hitched to your hearse. You can spend your money, give it to your family, give it to charity … or give it to Uncle Sam.

If your retirement plan is structured properly, you can live comfortably, give generously and still leave a lasting legacy without giving the IRS a tip on your way out.

Smart tax planning

The IRS is very good at making taxes complex, but your strategy doesn't have to be.

With tactical and intentional planning strategies — using Roth conversions, charitable giving, income diversification and more — you can cut your tax bill, strengthen your retirement and put more of your money toward what truly matters.

At Peak Retirement Planning, we believe that every dollar you save in taxes is another dollar that can serve your family, your community and your legacy.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

While this advice is well-intended and generally useful, it turns out that following this advice blindly can sometimes make things worse than if you had done nothing at all.

Let's start with that last point about avoiding probate. Many people have heard horror stories about probate, and consequently they want to do everything they can to enable their estates to avoid it.

There are multiple ways to try to accomplish this, from establishing trusts to setting up payable-on-death (aka transfer-on-death) accounts and more.

Small estates already protected

Before bothering with any of these avoidance maneuvers, however, you should be aware that "small" estates don't need to go through probate in the first place.

Almost every state has laws that allow certain estates to bypass or at least greatly simplify probate … and the definition of "small" can be quite generous.

For example, California estates worth less than $208,850 in 2025 don't have to go through court at all (and assets like vehicles and IRAs with named beneficiaries don't even count against this limit). You can visit EstateExec.com for details by state.

Overdoing automatic transfers

If an estate doesn't qualify as "small," some people attempt to bypass probate by putting everything into assets that transfer automatically on death … but overdoing this process can leave a real mess for the survivors.

For example, if everything automatically transfers, what will be left to pay your final bills (medical, credit cards, funeral expenses and more)?

Automatically transferring everything will effectively make your estate insolvent, enabling your creditors to sue the recipients of your transfers, and leaving a real headache for the person responsible for finalizing your affairs.

One approach to handling this is to leave some of the money in accounts that don't automatically transfer … but if you leave too much, then probate will be triggered anyway.

Be careful here: While California's limit is over $200,000, South Carolina's equivalent limit is only $25,000.

Another thing to consider is that assets change in value over time, so while you may equitably set things up so one child gets a bank account that's payable on death and another gets your stock portfolio, by the time you eventually pass away, those could be at very different values.

This could result in unwanted discrepancies between the amount each person inherits.

If there are only a couple of heirs, you could list them at their desired percentages for every account, but if you have more people you want to inherit, or there are specific bequests involved, it can get a little messy.

Trust mistakes

Rather than using payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts, some people try to avoid probate by way of a trust.

One common misunderstanding involves a "testamentary trust," in which the will establishes a trust upon the decedent's death.

While there may be valid reasons to set up such a trust (for example, to provide for the care of a minor), you should be aware that these trusts are officially funded with assets after those assets have gone through probate … and thus don't avoid probate at all.

Another area of misunderstanding that can lead to costly mistakes concerns cost basis. When you sell an asset, you typically owe taxes on any gains you make if the selling price exceeds the original cost of the item.

So if you bought a house for $250,000 and sell it for $600,000, you will owe taxes on the $350,000 gain.

However, the U.S. tax code gives heirs a break on this tax: Many assets enjoy an automatic step-up in cost basis upon death, so if your mother bought the house, and it was worth $600,000 at the time of her death, the house would be assigned a new cost basis of $600,000.

You could turn around and sell the house for $600,000 with no taxes owed!

Unless the house had been placed in an irrevocable trust … in which case there would be no automatic cost basis step-up, and thus taxes would be due on the full $350,000 gain.

You can see how things would likely have been much better for their heirs if nothing at all had been done, and they had simply inherited the house according to normal probate processes.

Revocable trusts do generally benefit from a cost basis step-up at the time of death, and can be quite helpful — but they have their own gotchas, and in any case, you'll want to be sure that some provision has been made to pay your debts at the time of death (even if they're just your latest credit card charges), along with sufficient funds to keep everything maintained while your estate is settled and everything resolved.

The will

Of course, if you put everything (or almost everything) into assets that bypass probate, then your will won't really matter, because the will only affects things that don't automatically transfer (i.e., things subject to probate). Maybe that's OK, but it's something to take into consideration.

If not, everything will bypass probate, then a will can be quite important, especially if you have strong ideas about what you want done with your estate upon your death.

Perhaps you want to make a large charitable donation, perhaps you have certain belongings you wish to go to certain people, or perhaps you simply want to ensure that a friend or distant relative inherits a share of your estate (or that a close relation doesn't!).

However, if you're not careful, you can end up with a flawed will that can be challenged and overturned in court. Without very careful wording, for example, it can be difficult to "cut someone out of your will."

For example, many states have laws that protect a surviving spouse from such situations, and upon request from such a spouse, the court will simply overrule your will. In another example, a child of a Louisiana decedent is usually entitled to a significant portion of the estate, regardless of almost anything the will may say.

For these reasons, if you intend to do anything "unusual" in your will, it makes sense to have an experienced lawyer help you draft it. And then be sure an interested party will have access to the will upon your death … it doesn't do any good to have a will if no one can find it when the time comes.

Intestate estates

On the other hand, if you're not going to do anything unusual in your will, you may wonder why you should even bother in the first place.

After all, every state has laws that require your estate to go to your closest relations (i.e., spouse, children, etc.) if there is no will, and no one should feel slighted if the estate goes to the "normal" distribution percentages.

In fact, settling an estate can be even easier without a will. If there is no will, no one needs to prove that the signature on the will was yours, and that you were in your sound mind and not under duress when you signed it.

If there is no will, distributions can be made directly to the "heirs-at-law" (your closest relations as defined by law), but if there is a will, the heirs-at-law must be officially notified so they have a chance to contest the will. And so on.

Lawyers generally cringe when they hear someone saying that settling an estate can be easier without a will, because it's just accepted wisdom that everyone should have a will.

We're certainly not recommending that you avoid writing a will. If you care about the outcome, it's probably a good thing to do.

We're just pointing out that, like everything in life, there are pros and cons, and you should decide what's best for you … and that for better or worse, the majority of people opt not to bother in the end.

Estate planning vs estate settlement

While all aspects of estate planning are optional, estate settlement (the process of winding up the decedent's affairs) is mandatory.

And no matter what plans have been made, there are still myriad things that must be done after the death, even if everything has been set to transfer "automatically" (for example, various federal and local agencies must be notified, the residence must be cleaned out, debts resolved and more).

If your goal is to make things easy on your surviving family, one other thing to consider is estate settlement preparation, which doesn't involve legal documents or anything formal: just pulling together some basic information like a list of major assets, the location of keys, how to contact the heirs, etc.

Although often overlooked, settlement preparation is probably the easiest aspect of estate planning. Even something as simple as a list of financial accounts can transform the settlement process from a complex investigation into a straightforward task.

You can just list things in a basic spreadsheet, you can use a purpose-built product like The NokBox, or you can even use something like EstateExec, which will also automatically guide your executor through the settlement when the time comes. (Note: I am the founder and CEO of EstateExec.)

Summary

Traditional estate planning can be helpful, especially for larger estates, but it can also backfire, so if you are going to engage in it, it is best to get advice and help from an experienced professional.

And if the estate is on the smaller side, one of the most important things you can do is to ensure your executor will have some basic information about your estate when the time comes.

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• Probate: The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Side of Estate Planning
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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Few companies have Coca-Cola's (KO) track record when it comes to returning cash to shareholders, but as a defensive dividend machine, KO stock hasn't been able to keep up with the broader market in the past couple of decades.

The Buy-rated Dow Jones stock remains one of Wall Street's favorite names in the consumer staples sector, but truly long-term shareholders would have been better off putting their cash in an S&P 500 index fund.

That might come as something of a surprise, given Coca-Cola's global reach and impeccable blue-chip credentials. No less an investing eminence than Warren Buffett has maintained a massive position in the fizzy drinks maker for nearly four decades.

The Oracle of Omaha drank Coca-Cola — and studied its business — for more than 50 years before adding it to the Berkshire Hathaway equity portfolio in the late 1980s.

To this day, KO is the holding company's fourth-largest position. With a stake of 400 million shares worth about $26 billion, KO accounts for almost 10% of Berkshire's U.S. stock portfolio.

Buffett's affinity for Coca-Cola is due in no small part to all the cash it returns to shareholders. As a member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, KO is about as reliable a dividend grower as they come. The company has increased its payout annually for more than six decades.

KO has also been generous in returning cash to shareholders through stock buybacks. In the past five years, Coca-Cola has spent an average of $154 million per quarter to repurchase its own shares.

That's what a mature company in Coca-Cola's position needs to do to keep shareholders happy. With average annual revenue growth of only about 3% in the past two decades, KO isn't exactly a growth stock.

The bottom line on Coca-Cola stock?

It shouldn't come as a surprise that a defensive dividend payer such as KO trails the broader market over the past couple of decades. As a low-beta stock, KO tends to lag the S&P 500 when the market is rising, but also holds up better when everything is selling off.

A long bull market driven by outsize gains in tech and communication services stocks is going to leave defensive names behind.

That's partly why KO stock lags the S&P 500 on an annualized total return basis over every standardized time frame beyond one year. In the past three-, five-, 10- and 15-year periods, KO lags the broader market by anywhere from 5 to 12 percentage points.

As for the past two decades? It's not good. Have a look at the chart below to see what KO's chronic underperformance looks like on a brokerage statement.

If you put $1,000 into Coca-Cola stock 20 years ago, it would be worth about $6,200 today, good for an annualized total return of 9.6%. The same amount invested in the S&P 500 would theoretically be worth about $7,900 today.

Truly long-term shareholders have benefited from the ballast a consumer staples stock such as KO can provide in tougher markets, but as a less risky name, it also provided less reward.

The Street is bullish on KO at current levels. Of the 24 analysts covering the stock surveyed by S&P Global Market Intelligence, 13 rate it at Strong Buy, seven say Buy and four call it a Hold. That works out to a consensus recommendation of Buy, with high conviction.

Speaking for the bulls, Jefferies analyst Kaumil Gajrawala calls KO a "standout" among industry peers.

"The business is strong and getting stronger," says Gajrawala, who rates shares at Buy. "Volumes are healthy. Coke's mix and pricing dynamic is one of the best in our space, and free cash flow is set to accelerate."

More Stocks of the Past 20 Years

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The U.S. stock market has been notching new highs, which tends to kick up the likelihood of a market pullback (defined as a drop of 5% to 10%) or even a correction (a 10% to 20% sell-off). That's where the JPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor ETF (JQUA) comes in.

The fund – a member of the Kiplinger ETF 20, our favorite exchange-traded funds, invests in high-quality U.S. companies with robust profit margins and little debt. Over the past five years, the portfolio of 200-odd stocks has consistently held up better than the S&P 500 Index in down markets.

In the tariff swoon of early 2025, for instance, JPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor lost 16.7%; the S&P 500, 18.8%. The fund weathered 2022, a tough year, better than the broad-market benchmark, too. And yet, despite the fund's defensive characteristics, its five-year annualized return, 15.8%, has, for the most part, kept pace with the 16.5% climb in the S&P 500.

Quality hallmarks of this JPMorgan fund

But minimizing losses is just a fringe benefit of this index fund's quality focus. The fund's underlying benchmark starts with the 1,000 largest U.S. stocks and ranks them on 10 quality measures that touch on profitability, financial strength and earnings quality.

Companies with good return on equity (a profitability measure), free cash flow (money left over after operating expenses and spending to maintain or upgrade long-term assets) to sales, and cash flow interest cover (a gauge of a company's ability to pay its interest obligations using its operating cash flow), for example, will rank well. Low volatility and stable earnings, among other measures, also matter.

The firms that rank best in each quality measure, on average, make it into the fund, and stocks are weighted by average quality scores.

At last report, Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Broadcom (AVGO) made up the fund's top five holdings. But concentration at the top isn't a concern here: The five stocks account for just 11% of assets.

By contrast, the five biggest stocks in the S&P 500 — Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon.com (AMZN) and Meta Platforms (META) —make up 28% of the index.

Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.

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What does the Federal Reserve's rate-reduction initiative mean in the short run for your fixed-income holdings?

You'll recall that one year ago, the Fed cut three times, starting by hacking its benchmark overnight funds rate by 0.50 percentage point in September. The year ended with bond markets and fund returns in retreat. It's wishful thinking that cheaper short-term credit and falling money market yields will spark a general bond-buying binge and propel your 2025 total returns toward 10% by year-end.

My judgment is that long-dated bonds are expensive and risky and that we are set for an encore of 2024, when the fourth quarter was a downer, with 19 of 23 fixed-income categories in the red, according to Morningstar.

So I do not expect further advances over the 5% to 8% returns earned through the third quarter. Instead, and pardon the cliché, it looks like déjà vu all over again, with a lot of losses and a few breakevens.

"If you have 6% in the bag already, which is 2% a quarter, I figure now it is sideways or giving a little back" the rest of the year, says Warren Pierson, co-chief investment officer for Baird Asset Management.

Last year, every time the Fed cut, rates on the 10-year note and longer maturities increased, meaning a loss of principal, adds Nick Losey, who manages high-yield and asset-backed securities for Barrow Hanley. (Rates and bond prices move in opposite directions.)

He expects a repeat. Inflation is edging higher, the dollar is weak, and there is no sign of fading economic momentum to the degree that traditionally provokes big flows into Treasury bonds and forces those yields down.

Hang tight

These are not sell signals, just a reality check. Credit conditions are good, yields are respectable, and enough pension funds, banks and insurance companies will keep buying even as individuals withdraw money from bond mutual and exchange-traded funds.

And there is a cavalry of sorts. Bond honcho Christian Hoffmann at Thornburg Investment Management insists that when 30-year Treasuries reach 5%, a herd of buyers will arrive and stanch the sell-off. That may be true, and if you think 5% through 2055 is a fair deal, that is your business. I disagree, and I advise against long T-bonds virtually anytime — and especially now.

Fixed-income thinkers and managers just cannot shake their unpleasant memories of how last fall's Fed rate cuts hurt, rather than helped, bond values.

Morningstar's fourth-quarter 2024 figures tell this story as well as anyone. The four gainers in that list of 23 were floating-rate bank loans and high-yield bonds, which are more correlated with stocks than with Treasuries; ultra-short bonds, which are tantamount to cash and rarely lose any principal under any conditions; and, in a surprise, non-traditional bond funds, which are go-anywhere, actively traded portfolios. All four categories are still in fine shape and are definite keepers.

Municipal bonds also held up in last year's fourth quarter, with some of the smallest losses on the charts. Tax-exempts are well positioned to end 2025 on a better note, even if taxable bonds struggle. The oversupply of municipals that dragged down principal values in the first half is no more.

Also in the past is the overblown (but damaging) fear that the budget-and-tax bill would end or limit the tax exemption. But municipals got so cheap that the buyers returned, so the various muni indexes are back in the green for the year to date.

One fund I like is Baird Strategic Municipal Bond (BSNSX), showing a year-to-date return through September of 3.5% and a tax-free yield of 3.3%.

Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.

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We wanted our kids to grow up confident, capable and ready to conquer the world. Instead, we bubble-wrapped them, praised their every burp, then wondered why they graduated college expecting their boss to give them a participation trophy, maybe even nap time.

The American Dream turned into the American Dread

We imposed the concept of the American Dream on our kids, even though it didn't pan out for us.

• Go to college
• Do internships
• Catapult into a job
• Remain loyal
• Work long hours
• Put in your time
• Pay your dues
• Get married
• Have babies
• Retire

… repeat.

Not so fast — the world changed. Education prices skyrocketed, home costs went out of reach, divorce rates hit 50%, and people got laid off. You know the end of the story: The American Dream died.

The overprotection pandemic

Our generation fought hard so our kids wouldn't have to struggle the way we did. But in doing so, we robbed them of resilience.

We filled out their college applications, called their professors and intervened with their managers. We became helicopter parents, then drone parents — silent, hovering.

By the time they entered the workforce, some were shocked to discover that not everyone thought they were amazing.

The first bad performance review felt like a hate crime. The phrase "constructive criticism" triggered calls to HR.

We made 'work' a four-letter word

Remember when a job was something you earned, not something that came with a sign-on bonus and emotional-support snacks? Some parents gave their kids allowances, not for chores, but for existing. We told them to "follow their passion," as if passion alone paid the rent.

No wonder they have existential crises when the espresso machine breaks at work.

PapersOwl found that Gen Zers have responded to their unhappiness in the workplace in interesting ways. One way some 7% of Gen Zers surveyed admitted to was via revenge quitting, which is quitting out of retaliation for being frustrated, upset and unheard.

Another new term is quiet cracking. It's burnout that develops slowly and simmers. Workers are physically there, but mentally, they've checked out.

The message? Gen Z perceives that there are toxic workplaces that they don't want to endure. Did we ill prepare them for what we would call the real world?

White collar vs blue collar: The great hard work divide

Once upon a time, hard work had a universal meaning: show up, give it your best and keep showing up. Today, it depends on which collar you're wearing.

For white-collar workers, hard work has become more about optics than output. It's the performance of productivity — being online, on camera and on the brink of burnout.

The modern corporate warrior measures success in unread emails, color-coded calendars and caffeine intake.

White-collar exhaustion is mental — the slow bleed of PowerPoints, politics and performative passion projects. It's not about sweat; it's about sweating appearances.

For blue-collar workers, hard work still means showing up early, staying late and producing something real: A truck gets loaded, a roof gets repaired, a customer gets served. Their pride comes from tangible results, not virtual visibility.

When blue-collar workers hear a white-collar worker complain about emotional exhaustion from too many Slack messages, it's hard not to roll their eyes. But all is not rosy with blue-collar workers either.

I spoke with Silvija Martincevic, CEO of Deputy, a workforce management platform for hourly work. The platform released a nationwide snapshot of how U.S. shift workers feel and why that matters.

"Our 2025 Shift Pulse Report shows sentiment slipping among shift workers, with 67% of workers indicating they are planning to change jobs in the next six months.

"Flexibility, clear communication and meaningful recognition aren't just nice-to-haves, they're essential to keeping employees engaged and reducing turnover."

Martincevic added, "Disengagement doesn't happen overnight; it builds quietly through burnout, unpredictable schedules and a lack of recognition. Gen Z is simply more vocal about not accepting that status quo."

White becomes blue

There is also an interesting trend that Resume Builder pointed out, that four in 10 Gen Z adults are moving away from white-collar jobs and pursuing blue-collar or skilled trade jobs, such as plumbing, welding or electrical work, including more than a third who hold a bachelor's degree.

They cite the chief motivation for this is to avoid student debt. This also reduces the risk of being replaced by AI.

Martincevic echoed this: "White-collar job insecurity and AI disruption fears are driving Gen Z toward trades and frontline careers, which they believe are safer from these threats.

Tech-savvy and pragmatic, they know AI can design a system, but it's the human touch that still truly matters in frontline blue-collar careers."

FlexJobs noted in its Work Shift Pulse Report that 85% of professionals today have said that their career expectations have shifted since graduation, and 62% are ready to make the shift from white-collar to blue-collar jobs if they're offered better pay and more stability.

The great cultural disconnect

We told our kids to chase balance but forgot to teach boundaries. Maintaining a work ethic became optional. Deadlines became guidelines. Being late was self-care.

Employers now face entry-level hires who expect mentorship, mission statements and mindfulness breaks before noon. The problem isn't laziness — it's that we raised them for a world in which effort was optional and validation was guaranteed.

Reality Check 101

Here's the truth:

• Work is work. It's not always fun. That's why they pay you.
• Failure isn't fatal. It's tuition for life.
• Grit beats genius. Every. Single. Time.
• Respect is earned. Not by demanding it, but by delivering results.

The new collar: The future doesn't care what color your shirt is

Here's the twist no one saw coming: Robots don't care whether your collar is white or blue. They just care if you're useful.

AI doesn't get tired, doesn't call in sick and definitely doesn't ask for a raise. It's already rewriting the rules — automating the physical grind of blue-collar jobs and the repetitive tasks of white-collar work.

The next generation isn't competing against each other anymore; they're competing against efficiency itself.

Yet, this is the best news of all — because what machines still can't do (yet) is care, create or connect. The future of work won't belong to those who can out-code or out-lift the machines, but to those who can out-think, out-adapt and out-human them.

Maybe the next version of hard work isn't about punching a clock or padding a résumé. It's about showing up with curiosity, courage and a willingness to learn — skills that will never go out of style.

If we can teach that to our kids — not entitlement, not exhaustion, but engagement — maybe we'll finally get it right.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

If you're a high earner or affluent professional, you might feel a profound sense of whiplash. You've done everything right — you maximized your retirement savings, paid down your mortgage and watched your portfolio grow.

Yet, the threat of a "jobpocalypse" can still feel unsettling.

The good news is that this anxiety is a signal to act, not panic. Your goal now isn't just to grow your money; it's to use that wealth to buy yourself optionality — the freedom to choose your next move, negotiate from strength or take the time you need to find the right next opportunity without financial stress.

A key lesson from this new era of job volatility is simple: Liquidity is your ultimate defense, and optionality is the ultimate luxury.

The 18-month rule: Your career gap insurance

For years, standard financial advice suggested keeping three to six months of expenses in an emergency fund. For high earners, that advice is woefully inadequate.

Think about it: Replacing a six-figure salary requires a specialized job search that takes time. Networking, interviews and due diligence can easily stretch beyond a year. That's why you need to upgrade your financial defenses.

The new gold standard for affluent families is the 18-month rule of fixed expenses.

This rule dictates setting aside 18 months of your non-negotiable costs — the expenses that keep the lights on and the family running smoothly.

What goes in your 18-month safety net?

• Housing. Mortgage or rent payments, property taxes, HOA fees
• Debt service. Car payments, student loan minimums, etc.
• Insurance. Health, life, auto and home premiums
• Non-negotiable family costs. Essential groceries, utilities and fixed costs like private tuition or necessary childcare

You should keep this capital in highly liquid, low-risk accounts — think high-yield savings accounts, money market funds or short-term Treasury ETFs.

This money is your career gap insurance, providing you with the peace of mind that you will not have to liquidate growth assets — like your stock portfolio — at a loss just to cover the rent.

Creating the financial eject button

Beyond holding cash, strategic planning requires creating immediate, low-cost access to capital that doesn't force you to sell your investments. We call this the financial eject button.

While we generally advise paying off high-interest consumer debt, not all debt is bad. Low-interest, tax-deductible debt, like your primary mortgage, is often efficient to carry.

However, the real strategic move is setting up a contingent source of liquidity while you are still employed and highly creditworthy.

• Home equity line of credit (HELOC). If you have significant equity in your primary residence, a HELOC offers a flexible line of credit secured by your home. It's inexpensive to establish and costs you money only if you actually draw on it.
• Pledged asset line (PAL). Offered by most brokerages, a PAL allows you to borrow against the value of your non-retirement investment portfolio.

The value of these facilities is simple: They are preapproved, ready to deploy and can provide immediate, non-taxable cash flow if your income stops.

Establishing these resources now ensures that you avoid the worst-case scenario: being forced to sell good, long-term investments into a declining or turbulent market just to cover an unexpected expense.

Your career is an asset: Reinvest in it

Just as you audit your investments, you must audit your career. With artificial intelligence rapidly transforming how work gets done, the durability of even highly compensated specialized roles is questionable.

You must treat your professional standing as a primary wealth-generating asset that requires continuous strategic reinvestment.

Ask yourself: Are your specialized skills complementary to AI or easily replaceable by it?

Make the "résumé refresh" a low-effort, year-round discipline. This means:

• Networking. Make time for one meaningful professional conversation per month.
• Upskilling. Identify new certifications or adjacent skills that make you adaptable.
• Auditing. Periodically update your résumé, even if you're happy in your role.

Finally, remember that the true measure of your wealth is not your net worth, but your well-being. Your financial strength should empower you to trade a small amount of income for a dramatically increased balance and fulfillment.

The true value of your wealth plan is the confidence it grants you to say, "No, thank you" to a toxic environment or an unsustainable work pace.

By adopting the 18-month rule, establishing your financial eject button and continuously investing in your own adaptability, you move beyond merely surviving market changes.

You achieve the financial fortitude necessary to navigate whatever comes next — and do so entirely on your own terms.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Few companies have been as critical to mobile communications as Qualcomm (QCOM). The tech giant's chips and technology power devices made by everyone from Apple (AAPL) to ZTE (ZTCOY). At the same time, Qualcomm rakes in billions of dollars of revenue in royalties from licensing its patents.

Based on its ubiquity and illustrious history of technological innovation, you might think QCOM has been a great buy-and-hold bet.

It has not.

Mostly, QCOM has been dead money. And as for the past two decades, it has been a sinkhole of opportunity cost.

Qualcomm was founded in the 1980s, but it emerged as a tech disruptor when the cellphone market blew up in the latter part of the following decade. The company's CDMA digital cellular technology became a global standard, and nearly every handset manufacturer licensed it.

Qualcomm followed that win by pivoting to designing semiconductors for mobile devices. Snapdragon, which integrated CPUs, GPUs, modems and other components onto a single chip, became the go-to processor for Android smartphones.

Today, Qualcomm is evolving its Snapdragon platforms to power AI, PCs and high-end Android smartphones, among other endeavors. It even hopes to compete with Apple's (AAPL) M-series chips.

However, while analysts tend to be bullish about Qualcomm's prospects, its past performance has been desultory.

A valuation hangover from the go-go dot-com days did investors no favors for years – but legal headwinds and dashed dreams hurt more. The company spent a good chunk of the 2010s fighting antitrust lawsuits in the U.S. and overseas. Qualcomm also had a bruising standoff with a little customer known as Apple.

Adding insult to injury, Qualcomm's attempt to acquire NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) was blocked by regulators. A hostile takeover bid for Qualcomm by Broadcom (AVGO) was similarly halted.

Take a look at Qualcomm's top line and you'll see that revenue would grow as much as 30% one year – and then decline 7% the next. The unstable and uncertain situation naturally took a toll on returns.

The bottom line on Qualcomm stock?

Over its entire life as a publicly traded company, QCOM stock almost doubles the performance of the broader market, with an annualized total return (price change plus dividends) of 19.9% vs. 10.8% for the S&P 500.

Unfortunately, that's about the only time frame in which QCOM looks good. Indeed, the tech stock lags the broader market on pretty much every standardized time frame you pull up. (Over the past 10 years, QCOM does outperform the S&P 500 by about 1.6 percentage points.)

What does this sort of chronic underperformance look like on a brokerage statement? Take a look at the above chart and you'll see that if you put $1,000 into Qualcomm stock 20 years ago, it would today be worth about $5,600 – or an annualized total return of 9%.

The same sum invested in the S&P 500 would theoretically be worth $7,900 today, or 10.9% annualized.

Can QCOM stock finally start delivering for patient investors?

Of the 36 analysts covering the semiconductor stock surveyed by S&P Global Market Intelligence, 11 rate it at Strong Buy, five say Buy, 19 have it at Hold and one calls it a Strong Sell. That works out to a consensus recommendation of Buy, albeit with modest conviction.

Speaking for the bulls, Argus Research analyst Jim Kelleher likes the way Qualcomm is navigating the rolling loss of its Apple business by focusing on a host of other opportunities.

"Snapdragon processors are well suited for the age of on-device Gen AI," the analyst writes. "Qualcomm is experiencing rapid growth in markets such as automotive, networking and IoT and has an unmatched royalty stream. On that basis, QCOM appears undervalued on significant long-term growth prospects."

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Stocks were choppy in Friday's abbreviated session, though the three main indexes extended their daily win streaks to five on Black Friday. Today's gains came even as futures and options trading were temporarily halted ahead of the open due to a cooling issue at a Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) data center.

"'Better late than never' may turn out to be the stock market's story for November," says Chris Larkin, managing director of Trading and Investing at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley. "While it might be too soon to say we've seen the last of tech volatility, over the past [five] trading days, the S&P 500 erased nearly all of its November pullback, rallying from a nearly 10-week low to roughly 1% below its record close."

Today, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 6,849, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6% to 47,716 and the Nasdaq Composite finished 0.7% higher at 23,365.

For all of November, the S&P 500 closed flat, the Dow gained 0.3% and the Nasdaq shed 1.7%. These are pretty impressive returns considering the three indexes were staring at month-to-date losses ranging between 3.8% and 6.9% one week ago.

Larkin says that the market needs to prove it can sustain its momentum, but that the selling seen earlier this month "looks like it could be more of a short-term AI-selling climax than a sign of heightened bearishness."

History is certainly working in the bulls' favor. According to Yardeni Research, December has been one of the best months for stocks, with the S&P 500 averaging a 1.3% gain since 1928. And the index has finished the month in positive territory 70 times over that same time frame.

Analyst sees 65% upside for red-hot CleanSpark

In single-stock news, CleanSpark (CLSK) surged 12.3%, extending its post-earnings surge. Earlier this week, the bitcoin miner and data center developer reported "transformative" fiscal 2025 results that showed a more than 100% year-over-year rise in revenue.

"We are evolving into a comprehensive compute platform that is prepared to optimize value from both AI and bitcoin workloads," said Matt Schultz, Chairman and CEO of CleanSpark. "Our deep expertise in power procurement, infrastructure development, and efficient scaling gives us a unique advantage in meeting surging global demand for compute."

CLSK ended Friday with a weekly gain of 55% and Needham analyst John Todaro thinks the red-hot crypto stock can climb even higher. The analyst reiterated his Buy rating and raised his price target to $25 from $23 – representing implied upside of 65% to today's close – as CleanSpark "transitions more toward high-performance computing from bitcoin mining."

Intel gains on Apple buzz

Intel (INTC) was another notable gainer in Friday's shortened session, surging 10.3% after TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo tweeted that the chipmaker is expected to start shipping Apple (AAPL, +0.5%) low-end M processors as early as 2027.

"There have long been market rumors that Intel could become an advanced-node foundry supplier to Apple, but visibility around this had remained low," the Apple supply chain analyst posted. "My latest industry surveys, however, indicate that visibility on Intel becoming an advanced-node supplier to Apple has recently improved significantly."

The former Dow Jones stock has more than doubled since the start of the year thanks to big investments from the U.S. government and Nvidia (NVDA, -1.8%). But analysts are still sitting on the sidelines.

Of the 45 analysts following INTC who are tracked by S&P Global Market Intelligence, four say it's a Buy or Strong Buy, 24 have it at Hold, and seven rate it a Sell or Strong Sell. This works out to a consensus Hold recommendation.

Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson is one of those with a Neutral (Hold) rating on Intel.

"We see recent investment announcements as the impetus for much of the valuation disconnect, with these ties having seemingly increased optimism around INTC's opportunities," he says. "And, while we do believe these deals bolster INTC's balance sheet, we are less certain around near or longer-term positive business ramifications that might result from this newsflow."

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