Personal saving
Employee stock purchase plans can carry ‘a big risk,’ says advisor. What to know before buying in
How employee stock purchase plans works Typically offered to all employees, ESPPs may allow you to purchase company stock at a discount of up to 15%, capped at $25,000 per year for tax-qualified plans. The plan collects after-tax contributions from each paycheck during an “offering period,” and uses the funds to buy company stock on […]
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House Democrats push for Biden’s billionaire minimum income tax
Erik McGregor | LightRocket | Getty Images As Democrats plow forward with a slimmed-down reconciliation package, House lawmakers are separately pushing another piece of President Joe Biden’s agenda: taxing the ultra-wealthy. Reps. Don Beyer, D-Va., and Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., have introduced the Billionaire Minimum Income Tax Act, calling for a 20% levy on households worth […]
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Amazon, Apple, Google and Tesla have all done it. Here’s why companies split their stock
Google is just one of dozens of companies recently making its stock more affordable. The tech giant’s parent company, Alphabet (GOOGL), split its two classes of shares (GOOG) by a 20-to1 ratio in July. Amazon (AMZN) made the same 20-for-1 move in June while Tesla (TSLA) announced around the same time that it’s going with […]
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Here’s how advisors are shifting clients’ portfolios as the Federal Reserve again hikes rates by 75 basis points
The Good Brigade | DigitalVision | Getty Images Here’s how portfolio allocations have shifted “We’re attempting to address both inflation and recession concerns,” said certified financial planner John Middleton, owner of Brighton Financial Planning in Flemington, New Jersey. For stock allocations, he likes companies paying a high dividend, and value stocks, which typically trade for […]
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Top Federal Reserve officials say they misread inflation and now plan to correct the course
Top officials at the Federal Reserve were seeing inflation data come in very hot for months before policymakers moved to wind down monetary policies that were stimulating the economy. A chorus of analysts, economists and former policymakers have chimed in, saying that was a mistake. “The forward guidance, overall, slowed the response to the Fed […]
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More advisors turn to alternative investments to further diversify their clients in volatile market
Marko Geber | DigitalVision | Getty Images After battling downturns in the stock and bond markets, more financial advisors looking to further diversify their clients are turning to alternative investments, according to a recent survey from Cerulli Associates. Falling outside of traditional asset classes, alternative investments are typically added to portfolios for more diversification, income and the […]
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The 8 best options for small business funding
For many small businesses, access to funding can be a matter of life and death. The stakes are especially high given that 18.4% of U.S. businesses fail within the first year, 49.7% after five years and 65.5% after 10 years, according to a LendingTree analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. One […]
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The wealthy now have more time to avoid estate taxes, thanks to an IRS change
If your family has significant wealth, it’s now easier to avoid federal estate taxes, thanks to recent changes from the IRS. The IRS improved a strategy known as “portability,” used by high-net-worth married couples expecting to owe federal estate taxes when the second spouse dies. Here’s how it works: While a spouse may inherit all […]
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How to buy your first car without going broke
Buying your first car after graduation (or while you’re still in college) can be tricky — especially at a time like this when prices are soaring. The average price of a new car was $46,000 in June and the average price of a used car was $28,000, both up more than 20% since the start […]
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Investors have put $43 billion in dividend-paying funds this year. Before you ‘chase dividends,’ here’s what to know
With increased fears of a possible recession, investors seeking steady income may turn to stocks paying quarterly dividends, which are part of company profits sent back to investors. Historically, dividends have significantly contributed to an asset’s total return, sometimes providing a boost during economic downturns. From 1973 to 2021, companies paying dividends earned a 9.6% […]
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