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74 Articles

TAX BREAKS FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS The expanded child credit has gotten lots of attention, but there are other benefits for the taking (and you don’t even need kids). kiplinger.com/kpf/middleclassbreaks RETIREMENT NUMBERS AREN’T EVERYTHING Relying on exact values for your nest egg, replacement income and other retirement targets can breed complacency. kiplinger.com/kpf/retirementnumbers 30 BEST STOCKS OF THE PAST 30 YEARS Amazon and Apple? Sure. But our list of the 30 global stocks that created the most wealth has some surprises. kiplinger.com/kpf/30beststocks Kiplinger Today Profit from the best of Kiplinger delivered to your e-mail inbox every weekday. Sign up for our Kiplinger Today e-newsletter at kiplinger.com/links/ktoday. FACEBOOK: KiplingerPersonalFinance TWITTER: @Kiplinger INSTAGRAM: @KiplingerFinance…

Kiplinger’s ESG 20

Great article about the rise of ESG investing and the debut of the Kiplinger ESG 20 (“Introducing the Kiplinger ESG 20,” Nov.). It’s promising that Kiplinger and Domini Impact Investing’s poll showed a majority of respondents say a company’s environmental, social and corporate governance practices are important to them when choosing investments. Lists like the Kiplinger ESG 20 will continue to help investors choose companies and funds that excel at meeting ESG challenges. Thank you for your coverage of this issue, and I look forward to reading more. JOHN HOEPPNER CHICAGO With much dismay, I read the articles on so-called ESG investing. This woke politicization is infecting everything in our society, to its detriment. No wonder ESG investing is doing well—there is a war on fossil fuels. Banks are blacklisting energy companies. Our…

Kiplinger’s ESG 20

TAX BREAKS FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS The expanded child credit has gotten lots of attention, but there are other benefits for the taking (and you don’t even need kids). kiplinger.com/kpf/middleclassbreaks RETIREMENT NUMBERS AREN’T EVERYTHING Relying on exact values for your nest egg, replacement income and other retirement targets can breed complacency. kiplinger.com/kpf/retirementnumbers 30 BEST STOCKS OF THE PAST 30 YEARS Amazon and Apple? Sure. But our list of the 30 global stocks that created the most wealth has some surprises. kiplinger.com/kpf/30beststocks Kiplinger Today Profit from the best of Kiplinger delivered to your e-mail inbox every weekday. Sign up for our Kiplinger Today e-newsletter at kiplinger.com/links/ktoday. FACEBOOK: KiplingerPersonalFinance TWITTER: @Kiplinger INSTAGRAM: @KiplingerFinance…

Plan a Family Money Talk

The pandemic is subsiding, and life is gradually returning to normal, so you may be planning a traditional family gathering for the holidays. With you and your adult children (or you and your parents) all together in one nonvirtual place, consider broaching the topic of money. I don’t mean you should have a sensitive financial discussion over the turkey dinner or during halftime while watching football. What I’m suggesting is that parents and adult children gently bring up the subject and plan a time in January or February to start sharing crucial information about each other’s finances. Information sharing. Talking about finances is not easy for most of us. Among Americans, it’s often considered impolite, even taboo. In families, the reasons for not discussing details about finances varies. Parents may be reluctant…

Plan a Family Money Talk

Kiplinger’s ESG 20

Great article about the rise of ESG investing and the debut of the Kiplinger ESG 20 (“Introducing the Kiplinger ESG 20,” Nov.). It’s promising that Kiplinger and Domini Impact Investing’s poll showed a majority of respondents say a company’s environmental, social and corporate governance practices are important to them when choosing investments. Lists like the Kiplinger ESG 20 will continue to help investors choose companies and funds that excel at meeting ESG challenges. Thank you for your coverage of this issue, and I look forward to reading more. JOHN HOEPPNER CHICAGO With much dismay, I read the articles on so-called ESG investing. This woke politicization is infecting everything in our society, to its detriment. No wonder ESG investing is doing well—there is a war on fossil fuels. Banks are blacklisting…

Kiplinger’s ESG 20

Plan a Family Money Talk

The pandemic is subsiding, and life is gradually returning to normal, so you may be planning a traditional family gathering for the holidays. With you and your adult children (or you and your parents) all together in one nonvirtual place, consider broaching the topic of money. I don’t mean you should have a sensitive financial discussion over the turkey dinner or during halftime while watching football. What I’m suggesting is that parents and adult children gently bring up the subject and plan a time in January or February to start sharing crucial information about each other’s finances. Information sharing. Talking about finances is not easy for most of us. Among Americans, it’s often considered impolite, even taboo. In families, the reasons for not discussing details about finances varies. Parents may be…

Plan a Family Money Talk

THERE’S NO VACCINE AGAINST INFLATION

ONE OF THE SAD IRONIES OF THE waning COVID-19 pandemic is that just as Americans feel ready to dine in restaurants, board an airplane or go shopping in an actual store, everything seems a lot more expensive than it was a year ago. That’s not an illusion. Consumer prices rose 0.9% in October, up 6.2% from a year earlier, the largest increase in 31 years. Prices have risen across the board, affecting everything from eggs to TVs (see the chart below for some of the hardest-hit categories). Kiplinger forecasts an inflation rate of 2.8% by the end of 2022, a decline from 2021 but higher than the average annual rate of 2% over the past decade. Contributing factors: Wage growth. In what has been dubbed the Great Resignation, millions of workers have left…

THERE’S NO VACCINE AGAINST INFLATION

POST-PANDEMIC MONEY ADVICE

Laurence Kotlikoff is a professor of economics at Boston University and author of Money Magic: An Economist’s Secrets to More Money, Less Risk, and a Better Life. He also developed MaxiFi Planner and Maximize My Social Security—software programs designed to help users raise their living standards by getting the most out of their Social Security benefits. In its most recent annual report, the Social Security Board of Trustees said that if nothing is done, the trust fund will be depleted by 2033, which would mean Social Security would be able to pay out only 76% of promised benefits. What do you say to people who plan to file at age 62—which results in about a 25% cut in benefits—because they’re afraid the program will run out of money? I have run through…

POST-PANDEMIC MONEY ADVICE

THERE’S NO VACCINE AGAINST INFLATION

ONE OF THE SAD IRONIES OF THE waning COVID-19 pandemic is that just as Americans feel ready to dine in restaurants, board an airplane or go shopping in an actual store, everything seems a lot more expensive than it was a year ago. That’s not an illusion. Consumer prices rose 0.9% in October, up 6.2% from a year earlier, the largest increase in 31 years. Prices have risen across the board, affecting everything from eggs to TVs (see the chart below for some of the hardest-hit categories). Kiplinger forecasts an inflation rate of 2.8% by the end of 2022, a decline from 2021 but higher than the average annual rate of 2% over the past decade. Contributing factors: Wage growth. In what has been dubbed the Great Resignation, millions of workers have…

THERE’S NO VACCINE AGAINST INFLATION

HOW A RISING COST OF LIVING WILL AFFECT SOCIAL SECURITY

SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFICIARIES WILL receive a 5.9% cost-of-living adjustment in their Social Security benefits in 2022, the biggest jump since 1982, when benefits rose 7.4%. In 2021, the COLA was just 1.3%. The average monthly benefit will rise from $1,565 to $1,657, or $92 a month. The average monthly payment for a married couple who are both receiving benefits will increase to $2,753, from $2,599. But given price hikes for everything from gas to restaurant meals, some seniors may discover that the pay raise will fall short of increases in their cost of living—particularly when health care costs are taken into account. Medicare Part B premiums for 2022 hadn’t been announced at press time, but they’ve historically increased at a higher rate than Social Security benefits, according to an analysis by…

HOW A RISING COST OF LIVING WILL AFFECT SOCIAL SECURITY

You Can Save More in 2022

Thresholds for tax-advantaged retirement plans are also adjusted annually for inflation. Employer-sponsored retirement plans. In 2022, the most you can stash in 401(k)s, Roth 401(k)s and other employer plans is $20,500, up from $19,500 in 2021. The catch-up contribution for people 50 and older is unchanged at $6,500. IRAs. The maximum you can contribute to an IRA (including a Roth IRA) in 2022 is $6,000, unchanged from 2021. The catch-up contribution for savers 50 and older also remains the same, at $1,000. The IRS increased the amount of money that workers covered by an employer-sponsored plan can earn in 2022 and still deduct contributions to an IRA. (There are no income cutoffs for individuals who aren’t covered by an employer-sponsored plan; they can deduct the maximum allowed.) Single taxpayers who are covered by a…

DONATE CRYPTO AND GET A TAX BREAK

DESPITE A BUMPY RIDE, MANY BITCOIN investors are sitting on big gains, with the cryptocurrency reaching new highs in 2021. One way to avoid the tax bite that comes with selling appreciated crypto is to direct it to charity instead, and investors are taking notice. In 2021 through September, donors contributed $158 million in crypto to Fidelity Charitable donor-advised funds, a 464% increase from the same period in 2020. With a donor-advised fund, you can contribute assets at any time and decide later what charities to support with grants from the fund. Contributions are eligible for an immediate charitable tax deduction for those who itemize and grow tax-free in an investment account. And when you donate appreciated assets (such as stocks or crypto) that you’ve held for more than a year,…

DONATE CRYPTO AND GET A TAX BREAK

POST-PANDEMIC MONEY ADVICE

Laurence Kotlikoff is a professor of economics at Boston University and author of Money Magic: An Economist’s Secrets to More Money, Less Risk, and a Better Life. He also developed MaxiFi Planner and Maximize My Social Security—software programs designed to help users raise their living standards by getting the most out of their Social Security benefits. In its most recent annual report, the Social Security Board of Trustees said that if nothing is done, the trust fund will be depleted by 2033, which would mean Social Security would be able to pay out only 76% of promised benefits. What do you say to people who plan to file at age 62—which results in about a 25% cut in benefits—because they’re afraid the program will run out of money? I have…

POST-PANDEMIC MONEY ADVICE

WATCH OUT FOR JOB LISTING FRAUD

IF ONE OF YOUR NEW YEAR’S resolutions is to find new employment in 2022, be on guard against job-listing scams. Although fake job listings aren’t new, technology has made them more lucrative and easier to disseminate, according to the FBI. Cyber criminals often “spoof” the websites of legitimate companies and post phony job postings on popular online job-listing boards. After applicants have agreed to an interview, the crooks attempt to obtain personal information that can be used to open new credit card accounts or apply for unemployment benefits and other government programs. Even if the offer seems legitimate, don’t provide personal information to a prospective employer until you’ve received a written job offer, says Haywood Alcove, chief executive of the government division of Lexis-Nexis Risk Solutions, which helps state and federal agencies…

MAINTENANCE FOR AMERICA’S INFRASTRUCTURE After months of back-room negotiations, infighting, compromises and delays, the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill over-came its final hurdle on November 5, when the House of Representatives passed the legislation with bipartisan support. The Senate approved the bill last August. The new law includes about $570 billion in new spending above previously expected federal levels. It provides funding for roads, bridges and major projects; investment in railway maintenance, modernization and expansion; and spending on ports and airports. Other funding goes to bolster the country’s infrastructure against climate change and cyberattacks, improve drinking water, and update and expand the power grid. It also funds broadband infrastructure and development. Most spending will start in the second half of 2022, but the majority of the funds won’t be spent until 2024 and later. The…

HOW A RISING COST OF LIVING WILL AFFECT SOCIAL SECURITY

SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFICIARIES WILL receive a 5.9% cost-of-living adjustment in their Social Security benefits in 2022, the biggest jump since 1982, when benefits rose 7.4%. In 2021, the COLA was just 1.3%. The average monthly benefit will rise from $1,565 to $1,657, or $92 a month. The average monthly payment for a married couple who are both receiving benefits will increase to $2,753, from $2,599. But given price hikes for everything from gas to restaurant meals, some seniors may discover that the pay raise will fall short of increases in their cost of living—particularly when health care costs are taken into account. Medicare Part B premiums for 2022 hadn’t been announced at press time, but they’ve historically increased at a higher rate than Social Security benefits, according to an analysis by…

HOW A RISING COST OF LIVING WILL AFFECT SOCIAL SECURITY

2022 KIPLINGER’S MONEY CALENDAR

JANUARY 1 The No Surprises Act takes effect today, providing a number of new consumer protections that will affect your health insurance coverage. The legislation protects consumers from being charged for out-of-network services in emergencies or other situations in which they have little or no choice about who provides their care. Participants in company health care plans will also have access to more information about the cost of services. 3 First trading day for 2022. For our take on the investing outlook, turn to page 26. 8 Start keeping an eye out for your tax documents. By the end of January, your 1099 and W-2 tax forms should be in the mail. Avoid the last-minute scramble and submit your tax return as early as possible so you’ll get your refund—if you’re due one—sooner.…

2022 KIPLINGER’S MONEY CALENDAR

You Can Save More in 2022

Thresholds for tax-advantaged retirement plans are also adjusted annually for inflation. Employer-sponsored retirement plans. In 2022, the most you can stash in 401(k)s, Roth 401(k)s and other employer plans is $20,500, up from $19,500 in 2021. The catch-up contribution for people 50 and older is unchanged at $6,500. IRAs. The maximum you can contribute to an IRA (including a Roth IRA) in 2022 is $6,000, unchanged from 2021. The catch-up contribution for savers 50 and older also remains the same, at $1,000. The IRS increased the amount of money that workers covered by an employer-sponsored plan can earn in 2022 and still deduct contributions to an IRA. (There are no income cutoffs for individuals who aren’t covered by an employer-sponsored plan; they can deduct the maximum allowed.) Single taxpayers who are…

WHERE TO INVEST IN 2022

The U.S. stock market continues to astound with its resiliency, overcoming obstacle after obstacle like a gold-medal track star clearing hurdles. Pandemic? No longer much of a problem. The highest inflation since the ’90s? Not a deal breaker. Record-high stock prices? We’ll pay up—and buy every dip that comes along, no matter how minuscule. The S&P 500 index logged 64 new highs in 2021 (as of early November), the second-highest annual total in index history. Since our January 2021 outlook a year ago, the broad market benchmark has returned 35.8%, including dividends. We said at the time to expect low-double-digit returns, but that if we were off, it would be because we were too conservative. At midyear, the upper end of bullish 2021 price targets for the S&P 500 among Wall Street…

WHERE TO INVEST IN 2022

Risks and Rewards in 2022

Kiplinger’s: What’s ahead for stocks in 2022? Young: I would say that in 2022, we’re going to be transitioning back to a more normal market. Normal price returns on the S&P 500 are in the 7% to 9% range (slightly higher with dividends reinvested). The reason I wouldn’t get off-the-charts bullish is that we’re entering an environment in which artificial liquidity is starting to dry up. The Federal Reserve is taking its foot off the pedal slightly. If market expectations are correct, the Fed’s program of tapering its bond purchases, which were put in place to stimulate the economy, will finish around June of 2022. I actually think they may taper a little more quickly than that. Later in 2022, we could see our first rate hike of this expansion. Those…

Risks and Rewards in 2022

DONATE CRYPTO AND GET A TAX BREAK

DESPITE A BUMPY RIDE, MANY BITCOIN investors are sitting on big gains, with the cryptocurrency reaching new highs in 2021. One way to avoid the tax bite that comes with selling appreciated crypto is to direct it to charity instead, and investors are taking notice. In 2021 through September, donors contributed $158 million in crypto to Fidelity Charitable donor-advised funds, a 464% increase from the same period in 2020. With a donor-advised fund, you can contribute assets at any time and decide later what charities to support with grants from the fund. Contributions are eligible for an immediate charitable tax deduction for those who itemize and grow tax-free in an investment account. And when you donate appreciated assets (such as stocks or crypto) that you’ve held for more than a year,…

DONATE CRYPTO AND GET A TAX BREAK

WATCH OUT FOR JOB LISTING FRAUD

IF ONE OF YOUR NEW YEAR’S resolutions is to find new employment in 2022, be on guard against job-listing scams. Although fake job listings aren’t new, technology has made them more lucrative and easier to disseminate, according to the FBI. Cyber criminals often “spoof” the websites of legitimate companies and post phony job postings on popular online job-listing boards. After applicants have agreed to an interview, the crooks attempt to obtain personal information that can be used to open new credit card accounts or apply for unemployment benefits and other government programs. Even if the offer seems legitimate, don’t provide personal information to a prospective employer until you’ve received a written job offer, says Haywood Alcove, chief executive of the government division of Lexis-Nexis Risk Solutions, which helps state and federal…

8 Stocks to Buy Now

ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING (SYMBOL BABA, $159) A Chinese crack-down on big tech companies has weighed on shares of this e-commerce giant. China slapped a record $2.75 billion fine on Alibaba after an anti-monopoly probe last spring. All told, shares have slipped 45% over the past 12 months. The stock recovered a bit in October, but some analysts, even bullish ones, have been trimming sales and earnings expectations, given sluggish economic and e-commerce conditions in China. GoodHaven Capital Management portfolio manager Larry Pitkowsky, who likes a bargain with good growth prospects, bought shares in 2021. Alibaba is the leading e-commerce company in China. Growth going forward may be less robust, but shares are cheap and trade at 19 times earnings estimates for 2022, a nearly 50% discount to its long-term average forward price-earnings…

8 Stocks to Buy Now

… and 5 to Sell

HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL (HON, $225) The pandemic is still hurting sales in some of Honeywell’s businesses, including aero-space, as well as chemicals and materials. Rising costs of raw materials are putting a dent in the company’s results, too. Analyst Colin Scarola, at investment research firm CFRA, has a “strong sell” rating on this industrial giant that makes a variety of products, from air conditioners and generators to safety gear and lightbulbs. Post-COVID realities—such as fewer office tenants because of remote work—could mean soft demand for Honeywell products for another two years, he says. At $225, the stock trades at 25 times expected earnings in 2022, a premium to its typical forward P/E of 20. NIKE (NKE, $178) Not every sell recommendation is because the company’s a dog. If you’re looking for stocks to trim, consider Nike.…

These Health Care Stocks Should Thrive

AS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC recedes, routine doctor and hospital visits, along with deferred medical procedures such as cataract surgery and heart valve replacements, are returning to normal. The pandemic has been a global tragedy, but if there is one silver lining it is that the miraculous development of effective COVID-19 vaccines in less than a year is helping to usher in a golden age for the pharmaceutical and health sciences industries. “We’re seeing a revolution today in vaccine development,” says Andy Acker, manager of Janus Henderson Global Life Sciences. Before COVID arrived, the fastest vaccine approval had been four years, and the average was 10 years; with COVID, two vaccines were approved in about 10 months. Validation of the mRNA technology used by Pfizer and Moderna in their vaccines means that…

These Health Care Stocks Should Thrive

MAINTENANCE FOR AMERICA’S INFRASTRUCTURE After months of back-room negotiations, infighting, compromises and delays, the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill over-came its final hurdle on November 5, when the House of Representatives passed the legislation with bipartisan support. The Senate approved the bill last August. The new law includes about $570 billion in new spending above previously expected federal levels. It provides funding for roads, bridges and major projects; investment in railway maintenance, modernization and expansion; and spending on ports and airports. Other funding goes to bolster the country’s infrastructure against climate change and cyberattacks, improve drinking water, and update and expand the power grid. It also funds broadband infrastructure and development. Most spending will start in the second half of 2022, but the majority of the funds won’t be spent until…

Invest in a Fund

Given the complexity and diversity of the health care sector, investing in a fund makes a lot of sense for many investors. Here are our favorites (returns and other data are through November 5). BARON HEALTH CARE (SYMBOL BHCFX, EXPENSE RATIO 1.10%) is a young fund off to a sizzling start. Over the past three years, it returned 29.2% annualized, or more than twice the return of the S&P 1500 Health Care index. Manager Neal Kaufman and assistant manager Joshua Riegelhaupt look for innovative, fast-growing companies. The largest holding is Natera, a clinical genetic-testing outfit. FIDELITY SELECT HEALTH CARE (FSPHX, 0.69%) is a member of the Kiplinger 25, the list of our favorite no-load funds. The fund has a 19.8% three-year annualized return, ahead of the 17.0% average annual gain of its…

My Top 10 Stock Picks for 2022

Last December, after beating the S&P 500 index five years in a row, I wrote, “This kind of streak isn’t supposed to happen, and readers should be warned that there’s no guarantee it will continue.” Well, it’s over. My annual selections for 2021 performed just fine, with an average return of 17.4%, but the S&P did much better, gaining 35.8%. (Returns and data throughout the story are through November 5.) Since 1993, I have offered a list of 10 stocks for the year ahead. Nine are culled from the choices of experts I trust, and I include one of my own. For 2021, I’m happy to say, my pick was the biggest winner: ONEOK, the 115-year-old natural gas pipeline company, which benefited from the rise in petroleum prices and was up 139.9%. I’ll…

My Top 10 Stock Picks for 2022

2022 KIPLINGER’S MONEY CALENDAR

JANUARY 1 The No Surprises Act takes effect today, providing a number of new consumer protections that will affect your health insurance coverage. The legislation protects consumers from being charged for out-of-network services in emergencies or other situations in which they have little or no choice about who provides their care. Participants in company health care plans will also have access to more information about the cost of services. 3 First trading day for 2022. For our take on the investing outlook, turn to page 26. 8 Start keeping an eye out for your tax documents. By the end of January, your 1099 and W-2 tax forms should be in the mail. Avoid the last-minute scramble and submit your tax return as early as possible so you’ll get your refund—if…

2022 KIPLINGER’S MONEY CALENDAR

IT’S NO SECRET THAT MUCH OF WALL Street is adopting a green-is-good investing mentality to combat climate change. But that doesn’t mean less environmentally friendly, old-style oil and gas stocks can’t speed ahead from time to time. That’s just what has happened in recent months. Thanks to supply shortages and a rise in demand for fossil fuels as the economy recovers, large-company energy stocks have gained 60% since the start of 2021. That’s more than double the 27% rise in the S&P 500 and tops all other market sectors. And it comes after a disastrous 2020, when energy stocks plunged 34%—the sector’s worst return in a calendar year in more than a decade. The resurgence of old-economy energy stocks comes as U.S. oil prices skyrocket. West Texas Intermediate crude prices recently hit…

WHERE TO INVEST IN 2022

The U.S. stock market continues to astound with its resiliency, overcoming obstacle after obstacle like a gold-medal track star clearing hurdles. Pandemic? No longer much of a problem. The highest inflation since the ’90s? Not a deal breaker. Record-high stock prices? We’ll pay up—and buy every dip that comes along, no matter how minuscule. The S&P 500 index logged 64 new highs in 2021 (as of early November), the second-highest annual total in index history. Since our January 2021 outlook a year ago, the broad market benchmark has returned 35.8%, including dividends. We said at the time to expect low-double-digit returns, but that if we were off, it would be because we were too conservative. At midyear, the upper end of bullish 2021 price targets for the S&P 500 among…

WHERE TO INVEST IN 2022

New Ways to Invest in Bitcoin

THE LAUNCH OF AN EXCHANGE-TRADED fund based on bitcoin futures in October was epic. Less than a month after it opened, PROSHARES BITCOIN STRATEGY ETF had $1.26 billion in assets—one of the biggest ETF debuts ever. A second bitcoin futures fund, Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF, opened two days after the ProShares fund. The bitcoin futures ETFs are actively managed and use similar strategies. The managers buy one-month forward futures contracts—the nearest-dated contract—tied to bitcoin prices. Every month, they close or sell those contracts before they expire and buy new contracts dated for the next month. You can’t actually invest in bitcoin’s spot price—the price at which an asset can be bought or sold for immediate delivery—says Simeon Hyman, head of investment strategy at ProShares. “So the futures market is a good…

New Ways to Invest in Bitcoin

Where to Find Yield in 2022

It is daunting to expect a big profit, or even any profit, over the next several months from standard bonds or bond funds. Breaking even would be acceptable while interest rates and inflation churn. But as I consider 2022, I aver that the economy is marking time until an inevitable return to its pre-pandemic formula of 2% growth, 2% inflation and 2% long-term interest rates, which may land at 2.5% post-COVID. That’s a beneficial backdrop for plenty of income-paying investments, and now is a good time to accumulate income investments that zig when growth and inflation also zig. I looked up 2021 returns (through November 5) for 15 of my most-trusted funds and trusts. The three most successful were PIMCO CORPORATE & INCOME STRATEGY (SYMBOL PCN), BNY MELLON MUNICIPAL BOND INFRASTRUCTURE…

Where to Find Yield in 2022

Good Ideas, Stellar Results

THE MSCI EMERGING MARKETS index includes 27 countries and more than 1,400 stocks—a broad assortment, to be sure. Finding the most promising investments among those stocks and thousands of other candidates can’t be easy. But the four managers at WASATCH EMERGING MARKETS SMALL CAP have a disciplined approach. They start with a quantitative screen that “tees up good ideas,” says Ajay Krishnan, a comanager. The screen helps them zero in on high-quality companies with healthy profits (measured by return on capital) and cash flow. Then they research each prospective firm from bottom to top and top to bottom. The process results in a portfolio of roughly 50 to 80 stocks. It’s a diversified list, but in some ways not as diversified as other emerging-markets stock funds. Not every sector finds a place…

Good Ideas, Stellar Results

Risks and Rewards in 2022

Kiplinger’s: What’s ahead for stocks in 2022? Young: I would say that in 2022, we’re going to be transitioning back to a more normal market. Normal price returns on the S&P 500 are in the 7% to 9% range (slightly higher with dividends reinvested). The reason I wouldn’t get off-the-charts bullish is that we’re entering an environment in which artificial liquidity is starting to dry up. The Federal Reserve is taking its foot off the pedal slightly. If market expectations are correct, the Fed’s program of tapering its bond purchases, which were put in place to stimulate the economy, will finish around June of 2022. I actually think they may taper a little more quickly than that. Later in 2022, we could see our first rate hike of this expansion.…

Risks and Rewards in 2022

News on Two of Our Favorite Funds

THIS MONTH, INSTEAD OF an update on a single fund in the Kiplinger 25, we have news on two funds. For starters, we’ve received a handful of e-mails about T. ROWE PRICE GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY. We added the fund a couple of months ago to replace a fund that closed to new investors. But Schwab customers have written to us because its brokerage platform says Global Technology is closed to new investors. The fund is not closed to new retail investors, T. Rowe Price says. You can buy shares directly from Price with no problem. But there are certain restrictions on advisers and institutional investors who are new to the fund. Schwab cannot currently support a fund with two availability statuses, in this case being open to retail investors and closed to advisers…

News on Two of Our Favorite Funds

8 Stocks to Buy Now

ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING (SYMBOL BABA, $159) A Chinese crack-down on big tech companies has weighed on shares of this e-commerce giant. China slapped a record $2.75 billion fine on Alibaba after an anti-monopoly probe last spring. All told, shares have slipped 45% over the past 12 months. The stock recovered a bit in October, but some analysts, even bullish ones, have been trimming sales and earnings expectations, given sluggish economic and e-commerce conditions in China. GoodHaven Capital Management portfolio manager Larry Pitkowsky, who likes a bargain with good growth prospects, bought shares in 2021. Alibaba is the leading e-commerce company in China. Growth going forward may be less robust, but shares are cheap and trade at 19 times earnings estimates for 2022, a nearly 50% discount to its long-term average…

8 Stocks to Buy Now

… and 5 to Sell

HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL (HON, $225) The pandemic is still hurting sales in some of Honeywell’s businesses, including aero-space, as well as chemicals and materials. Rising costs of raw materials are putting a dent in the company’s results, too. Analyst Colin Scarola, at investment research firm CFRA, has a “strong sell” rating on this industrial giant that makes a variety of products, from air conditioners and generators to safety gear and lightbulbs. Post-COVID realities—such as fewer office tenants because of remote work—could mean soft demand for Honeywell products for another two years, he says. At $225, the stock trades at 25 times expected earnings in 2022, a premium to its typical forward P/E of 20. NIKE (NKE, $178) Not every sell recommendation is because the company’s a dog. If you’re looking for…

How to Choose the Right Payment App

WHETHER SPLITTING A RESTAURANT BILL WITH FRIENDS, PAYING THE PET sitter or tipping your barber, there’s a good chance you’ve found yourself using a peer-to-peer payment app—or at least considering it. In mid 2021, PayPal reported a 41% increase in payment volume over the past year for its peer-to-peer transfer businesses. One of them is Venmo, which saw a 58% increase on its own platform. PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, Cash App and others make it easy to send and receive money. You link your bank account, debit card or credit card to the app, so you don’t have to swap sensitive financial-account information with the other person in a transaction. Instead, you share details such as a user name, an e-mail address or a phone number. Usually, transfers arrive quickly in the…

How to Choose the Right Payment App

PROTECT YOUR PAYMENTS FROM FRAUD

Secure your apps. Lock your apps with a PIN or biometric authentication, such as your fingerprint, and set up multi-factor verification when possible. For example, if someone tries to log in to your account from an unfamiliar device, you may receive a verification code by text message or e-mail. Monitor transactions. Sign up for alerts for each transaction (through the app or by text message or e-mail), and watch out for suspicious charges on statements from linked financial accounts. Send money to the right person. If you mistype your recipient’s contact information, your money could wind up in the wrong hands. Carefully check that you’ve entered the correct details before you hit send. Alternatively, many apps give each user a unique QR code. Scan your recipient’s code through the app on your…

Honey, We Need to Talk About Money

This month’s column is prompted by a couple of e-mails I’ve received recently from frustrated husbands. “I have been trying to get my wife involved in our financial planning for a few years,” writes Edward T. “I have tried speaking with her and going through our accounts, but she has little interest. I cited one of your columns, and she seemed more receptive. What would you suggest as a starting point?” And from Robert J.: “I keep pushing articles my wife’s way to get her more interested in finances. I keep her posted on our financial picture, and she smiles but never asks questions. I wish I could get her to go a little deeper.” As someone who writes a column encouraging women to take control of their finances, I’m also frustrated…

Honey, We Need to Talk About Money

These Health Care Stocks Should Thrive

AS THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC recedes, routine doctor and hospital visits, along with deferred medical procedures such as cataract surgery and heart valve replacements, are returning to normal. The pandemic has been a global tragedy, but if there is one silver lining it is that the miraculous development of effective COVID-19 vaccines in less than a year is helping to usher in a golden age for the pharmaceutical and health sciences industries. “We’re seeing a revolution today in vaccine development,” says Andy Acker, manager of Janus Henderson Global Life Sciences. Before COVID arrived, the fastest vaccine approval had been four years, and the average was 10 years; with COVID, two vaccines were approved in about 10 months. Validation of the mRNA technology used by Pfizer and Moderna in their vaccines means that…

These Health Care Stocks Should Thrive

What to Do If Your Credit Card Is Closed

ACCORDING TO A REPORT from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, even good borrowers experienced an uptick of account closures from March to June of 2020. If you were part of the inactivity cull, you may be able to remedy the situation—especially if it’s a card that you relied on as a backup. Plus, a canceled credit card may ding your credit score because it reduces the amount of available credit. Your credit card issuer is not likely to tell you if it plans to close your account. However, if you’ve signed up with a credit-monitoring service such as Credit Karma, you may receive an alert. If that happens, call your issuer right away to see how to get your card reinstated. The issuer may restore your account with the previous terms,…

What to Do If Your Credit Card Is Closed

Invest in a Fund

Given the complexity and diversity of the health care sector, investing in a fund makes a lot of sense for many investors. Here are our favorites (returns and other data are through November 5). BARON HEALTH CARE (SYMBOL BHCFX, EXPENSE RATIO 1.10%) is a young fund off to a sizzling start. Over the past three years, it returned 29.2% annualized, or more than twice the return of the S&P 1500 Health Care index. Manager Neal Kaufman and assistant manager Joshua Riegelhaupt look for innovative, fast-growing companies. The largest holding is Natera, a clinical genetic-testing outfit. FIDELITY SELECT HEALTH CARE (FSPHX, 0.69%) is a member of the Kiplinger 25, the list of our favorite no-load funds. The fund has a 19.8% three-year annualized return, ahead of the 17.0% average annual gain…

Lower Taxes on Your RMDs

The buoyant stock market has swelled the amount of money Americans have in their retirement savings plans, which is undoubtedly a welcome development for seniors who will need that money to live on. But most of the more than $13 trillion in savings is stockpiled in tax-deferred plans, which means retirees will eventually have to pay taxes on it. And depending on the size of the account, that tax bill could be significant. To prevent retirees from avoiding taxes forever, the IRS requires owners of traditional IRAs and other tax-deferred accounts, such as 401(k) plans, to take minimum withdrawals based on their life expectancy and the balance of their accounts at year-end. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, which was signed into law in December 2019, increased…

Lower Taxes on Your RMDs

My Top 10 Stock Picks for 2022

Last December, after beating the S&P 500 index five years in a row, I wrote, “This kind of streak isn’t supposed to happen, and readers should be warned that there’s no guarantee it will continue.” Well, it’s over. My annual selections for 2021 performed just fine, with an average return of 17.4%, but the S&P did much better, gaining 35.8%. (Returns and data throughout the story are through November 5.) Since 1993, I have offered a list of 10 stocks for the year ahead. Nine are culled from the choices of experts I trust, and I include one of my own. For 2021, I’m happy to say, my pick was the biggest winner: ONEOK, the 115-year-old natural gas pipeline company, which benefited from the rise in petroleum prices and was…

My Top 10 Stock Picks for 2022

Postpone Distributions Until Age 75?

Congress isn’t finished tweaking the rules for retirees. Legislation dubbed SECURE Act 2.0 would make a number of changes to the rules governing retirement savings, including the age at which required minimum distributions start. The proposed legislation would raise the RMD age from 72 to 73 starting on January 1, 2022; to age 74 on January 1, 2029; and to 75 on January 1, 2032. Proponents of a higher age for RMDs argue that life expectancies have increased since RMDs were created, which means seniors need more time for their money to grow. In the mid 1970s, when the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, first authorized IRAs, U.S. life expectancy at birth was 72.6 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While life expectancy declined between 2019…

The first SECURE Act may have provided a break for retirees who need more time for their savings to grow, but it could increase taxes on funds they leave to their heirs. Before 2020, beneficiaries of inherited IRAs (or other tax-deferred accounts, such as 401(k) plans) could transfer the money into an account known as an inherited (or “stretch”) IRA and take withdrawals over their life expectancy. That enabled them to minimize taxable withdrawals and allow the untapped funds to continue to grow. Now, most adult children and other non-spouse heirs who inherit an IRA (or inherited one on or after January 1, 2020) must deplete their inherited IRAs within 10 years after the death of the original owner (see “The Inheritance Challenge,” Dec.). Spouses still have the option of rolling the…

IT’S NO SECRET THAT MUCH OF WALL Street is adopting a green-is-good investing mentality to combat climate change. But that doesn’t mean less environmentally friendly, old-style oil and gas stocks can’t speed ahead from time to time. That’s just what has happened in recent months. Thanks to supply shortages and a rise in demand for fossil fuels as the economy recovers, large-company energy stocks have gained 60% since the start of 2021. That’s more than double the 27% rise in the S&P 500 and tops all other market sectors. And it comes after a disastrous 2020, when energy stocks plunged 34%—the sector’s worst return in a calendar year in more than a decade. The resurgence of old-economy energy stocks comes as U.S. oil prices skyrocket. West Texas Intermediate crude prices recently…

When to Call In a Professional

IT’S HARD TO BEAT THE MARKET AND THE index funds that track them. The numbers don’t lie: Only one-fourth of all actively managed funds in the U.S. topped the average of their index fund counterparts over the 10-year period that ended in June, according to the latest Active/Passive Barometer report by Morningstar. But in certain pockets of the market, active managers do a better job of beating their benchmarks. Studies show that active funds that invest in small and midsize companies, foreign shares and intermediate-term bonds, for instance, have had more success beating their benchmarks than funds in other market segments, according to Morningstar. “Areas of the market that are less picked over are more target rich for active fund managers,” says Ben Johnson, director of global ETF research at Morningstar.…

When to Call In a Professional

New Ways to Invest in Bitcoin

THE LAUNCH OF AN EXCHANGE-TRADED fund based on bitcoin futures in October was epic. Less than a month after it opened, PROSHARES BITCOIN STRATEGY ETF had $1.26 billion in assets—one of the biggest ETF debuts ever. A second bitcoin futures fund, Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF, opened two days after the ProShares fund. The bitcoin futures ETFs are actively managed and use similar strategies. The managers buy one-month forward futures contracts—the nearest-dated contract—tied to bitcoin prices. Every month, they close or sell those contracts before they expire and buy new contracts dated for the next month. You can’t actually invest in bitcoin’s spot price—the price at which an asset can be bought or sold for immediate delivery—says Simeon Hyman, head of investment strategy at ProShares. “So the futures market is a good…

New Ways to Invest in Bitcoin

A Guide to 401(k) Plans

IF YOUR EMPLOYER OFFERS a 401(k) plan, it’s your primary ticket to a comfortable, secure retirement. There are limits on how much you can contribute, but they’re generous. In 2022, you can save up to $20,500 in your 401(k) plan, up from $19,500 in 2021. (Workers age 50 or older can put in an additional $6,500.) And contributions are deducted from taxable income, so you get even more bang from your bucks. When you’re just starting out, maxing out your contribution can be a challenge. The general rule of thumb when it comes to saving in your 401(k) is to try to contribute 12% to 15% of your gross income. If that’s too much, resolve to put in at least enough to qualify for your company’s matching contributions. Most large companies offer…

A Guide to 401(k) Plans

Best Sources of Emergency Cash

If you have an emergency fund, congratulations. But when emergencies pile up, should you drain the fund to cover every one of them? It’s a question I asked myself recently after I inherited a car from my mom. While having my own wheels has improved my life, the car has needed repairs that I didn’t plan on. My emergency fund could have covered the work, but I would have been left without a backup fund to pay my rent if I lost my job. Fortunately, I had a credit card with a very low balance. Plus, it had a sufficiently high credit limit to cover the repairs without hurting my credit score. Loans you can live with. If you know you will need cash for something coming up—such as new tires for…

Best Sources of Emergency Cash

Where to Find Yield in 2022

It is daunting to expect a big profit, or even any profit, over the next several months from standard bonds or bond funds. Breaking even would be acceptable while interest rates and inflation churn. But as I consider 2022, I aver that the economy is marking time until an inevitable return to its pre-pandemic formula of 2% growth, 2% inflation and 2% long-term interest rates, which may land at 2.5% post-COVID. That’s a beneficial backdrop for plenty of income-paying investments, and now is a good time to accumulate income investments that zig when growth and inflation also zig. I looked up 2021 returns (through November 5) for 15 of my most-trusted funds and trusts. The three most successful were PIMCO CORPORATE & INCOME STRATEGY (SYMBOL PCN), BNY MELLON MUNICIPAL BOND…

Where to Find Yield in 2022

Shop for a New WIRELESS PLAN and Save Big

We’ve witnessed a lot of changes in the past couple of years, but you may have overlooked the upheaval in the wireless industry. Sprint customers finally became T-Mobile customers in 2020, thanks to the companies' completed merger (although some Sprint customer plans are still in transition). The deal reduced the number of major wireless carriers from the big four—AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon—to the big three. But the big four weren’t the only ones making waves. Cox Communications, a cable provider, appealed an October 2021 court decision that stopped a wireless network deal with Verizon. Cox was hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow cable providers Comcast and Charter Communications, which have entered the mobile fray as Xfinity Mobile and Spectrum Mobile, respectively, with network deals with Verizon. Add in the…

Shop for a New WIRELESS PLAN and Save Big

Good Ideas, Stellar Results

THE MSCI EMERGING MARKETS index includes 27 countries and more than 1,400 stocks—a broad assortment, to be sure. Finding the most promising investments among those stocks and thousands of other candidates can’t be easy. But the four managers at WASATCH EMERGING MARKETS SMALL CAP have a disciplined approach. They start with a quantitative screen that “tees up good ideas,” says Ajay Krishnan, a comanager. The screen helps them zero in on high-quality companies with healthy profits (measured by return on capital) and cash flow. Then they research each prospective firm from bottom to top and top to bottom. The process results in a portfolio of roughly 50 to 80 stocks. It’s a diversified list, but in some ways not as diversified as other emerging-markets stock funds. Not every sector finds a…

Good Ideas, Stellar Results

News on Two of Our Favorite Funds

THIS MONTH, INSTEAD OF an update on a single fund in the Kiplinger 25, we have news on two funds. For starters, we’ve received a handful of e-mails about T. ROWE PRICE GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY. We added the fund a couple of months ago to replace a fund that closed to new investors. But Schwab customers have written to us because its brokerage platform says Global Technology is closed to new investors. The fund is not closed to new retail investors, T. Rowe Price says. You can buy shares directly from Price with no problem. But there are certain restrictions on advisers and institutional investors who are new to the fund. Schwab cannot currently support a fund with two availability statuses, in this case being open to retail investors and closed to…

News on Two of Our Favorite Funds

THE RIGHT PLAN FOR YOU

We picked solid, competitively priced plans for four profiles. If you are not inclined to shop around, call your carrier and ask if there’s anything it can do for you. For example, the plan you originally signed up for may not be offered to new customers anymore, so you could be upgraded to a newer plan at your current price. FAMILIES For a family of four looking for a combination of phone and plan deals, T-Mobile’s Magenta plan is a solid choice. It costs $35 per month per line and it comes with 100GB of premium data and 5GB of high-speed hotspot data (after which the data slows to 3G speeds, but data use is unlimited). The plan also comes with a basic Netflix account. T-Mobile currently has a promotion that offers…

GET READY FOR 5G

On top of keeping current customers happy and attracting new ones, all carriers are focused on increasing and improving their 5G infrastructure while making sure customers understand what all of this means for them. “We’re about two years into the 5G rollout, and it typically takes anywhere from four to six years for the telecom operators to fully cover the United States,” says Daniel Hays, a telecom principal with PwC US, which provides auditing, tax planning and consulting services. If you have access to a 5G network and your phone is 5G compatible, your access speed could still be slower than you expect. Carriers are still retrofitting towers, and they are adding them in more densely populated areas before they branch out to rural areas. For example, in New York City, you…

GET READY FOR 5G

Preparing for a New Life

PROFILE WHO: Selin, age 25 WHAT: Afghan refugee and former attorney WHERE: Fort Dix, N.J. What was your life like in Afghanistan? I was born as a refugee in Iran. My family returned to Afghanistan in 2002, when Hamid Karzai was there and the U.S. had taken control of everything. I started university in 2013. I studied physics at Kabul University, and after that I studied law at American University in Afghanistan. After I graduated, I got a job as an associate attorney at a corporate legal firm. I was paying for my rent, I was paying for my own expenses, and compared to many people in Afghanistan, I had a good income. How did you feel when you arrived in the U.S.? It was the first time that I was the person in need.…

Preparing for a New Life

How to Choose the Right Payment App

WHETHER SPLITTING A RESTAURANT BILL WITH FRIENDS, PAYING THE PET sitter or tipping your barber, there’s a good chance you’ve found yourself using a peer-to-peer payment app—or at least considering it. In mid 2021, PayPal reported a 41% increase in payment volume over the past year for its peer-to-peer transfer businesses. One of them is Venmo, which saw a 58% increase on its own platform. PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, Cash App and others make it easy to send and receive money. You link your bank account, debit card or credit card to the app, so you don’t have to swap sensitive financial-account information with the other person in a transaction. Instead, you share details such as a user name, an e-mail address or a phone number. Usually, transfers arrive quickly in…

How to Choose the Right Payment App

PROTECT YOUR PAYMENTS FROM FRAUD

Secure your apps. Lock your apps with a PIN or biometric authentication, such as your fingerprint, and set up multi-factor verification when possible. For example, if someone tries to log in to your account from an unfamiliar device, you may receive a verification code by text message or e-mail. Monitor transactions. Sign up for alerts for each transaction (through the app or by text message or e-mail), and watch out for suspicious charges on statements from linked financial accounts. Send money to the right person. If you mistype your recipient’s contact information, your money could wind up in the wrong hands. Carefully check that you’ve entered the correct details before you hit send. Alternatively, many apps give each user a unique QR code. Scan your recipient’s code through the app…

Honey, We Need to Talk About Money

This month’s column is prompted by a couple of e-mails I’ve received recently from frustrated husbands. “I have been trying to get my wife involved in our financial planning for a few years,” writes Edward T. “I have tried speaking with her and going through our accounts, but she has little interest. I cited one of your columns, and she seemed more receptive. What would you suggest as a starting point?” And from Robert J.: “I keep pushing articles my wife’s way to get her more interested in finances. I keep her posted on our financial picture, and she smiles but never asks questions. I wish I could get her to go a little deeper.” As someone who writes a column encouraging women to take control of their finances, I’m…

Honey, We Need to Talk About Money

What to Do If Your Credit Card Is Closed

ACCORDING TO A REPORT from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, even good borrowers experienced an uptick of account closures from March to June of 2020. If you were part of the inactivity cull, you may be able to remedy the situation—especially if it’s a card that you relied on as a backup. Plus, a canceled credit card may ding your credit score because it reduces the amount of available credit. Your credit card issuer is not likely to tell you if it plans to close your account. However, if you’ve signed up with a credit-monitoring service such as Credit Karma, you may receive an alert. If that happens, call your issuer right away to see how to get your card reinstated. The issuer may restore your account with the previous terms,…

What to Do If Your Credit Card Is Closed

Lower Taxes on Your RMDs

The buoyant stock market has swelled the amount of money Americans have in their retirement savings plans, which is undoubtedly a welcome development for seniors who will need that money to live on. But most of the more than $13 trillion in savings is stockpiled in tax-deferred plans, which means retirees will eventually have to pay taxes on it. And depending on the size of the account, that tax bill could be significant. To prevent retirees from avoiding taxes forever, the IRS requires owners of traditional IRAs and other tax-deferred accounts, such as 401(k) plans, to take minimum withdrawals based on their life expectancy and the balance of their accounts at year-end. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, which was signed into law in December 2019, increased…

Lower Taxes on Your RMDs

Postpone Distributions Until Age 75?

Congress isn’t finished tweaking the rules for retirees. Legislation dubbed SECURE Act 2.0 would make a number of changes to the rules governing retirement savings, including the age at which required minimum distributions start. The proposed legislation would raise the RMD age from 72 to 73 starting on January 1, 2022; to age 74 on January 1, 2029; and to 75 on January 1, 2032. Proponents of a higher age for RMDs argue that life expectancies have increased since RMDs were created, which means seniors need more time for their money to grow. In the mid 1970s, when the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, first authorized IRAs, U.S. life expectancy at birth was 72.6 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While life expectancy declined…

The first SECURE Act may have provided a break for retirees who need more time for their savings to grow, but it could increase taxes on funds they leave to their heirs. Before 2020, beneficiaries of inherited IRAs (or other tax-deferred accounts, such as 401(k) plans) could transfer the money into an account known as an inherited (or “stretch”) IRA and take withdrawals over their life expectancy. That enabled them to minimize taxable withdrawals and allow the untapped funds to continue to grow. Now, most adult children and other non-spouse heirs who inherit an IRA (or inherited one on or after January 1, 2020) must deplete their inherited IRAs within 10 years after the death of the original owner (see “The Inheritance Challenge,” Dec.). Spouses still have the option of…

When to Call In a Professional

IT’S HARD TO BEAT THE MARKET AND THE index funds that track them. The numbers don’t lie: Only one-fourth of all actively managed funds in the U.S. topped the average of their index fund counterparts over the 10-year period that ended in June, according to the latest Active/Passive Barometer report by Morningstar. But in certain pockets of the market, active managers do a better job of beating their benchmarks. Studies show that active funds that invest in small and midsize companies, foreign shares and intermediate-term bonds, for instance, have had more success beating their benchmarks than funds in other market segments, according to Morningstar. “Areas of the market that are less picked over are more target rich for active fund managers,” says Ben Johnson, director of global ETF research at Morningstar.…

When to Call In a Professional

A Guide to 401(k) Plans

IF YOUR EMPLOYER OFFERS a 401(k) plan, it’s your primary ticket to a comfortable, secure retirement. There are limits on how much you can contribute, but they’re generous. In 2022, you can save up to $20,500 in your 401(k) plan, up from $19,500 in 2021. (Workers age 50 or older can put in an additional $6,500.) And contributions are deducted from taxable income, so you get even more bang from your bucks. When you’re just starting out, maxing out your contribution can be a challenge. The general rule of thumb when it comes to saving in your 401(k) is to try to contribute 12% to 15% of your gross income. If that’s too much, resolve to put in at least enough to qualify for your company’s matching contributions. Most large companies…

A Guide to 401(k) Plans

Best Sources of Emergency Cash

If you have an emergency fund, congratulations. But when emergencies pile up, should you drain the fund to cover every one of them? It’s a question I asked myself recently after I inherited a car from my mom. While having my own wheels has improved my life, the car has needed repairs that I didn’t plan on. My emergency fund could have covered the work, but I would have been left without a backup fund to pay my rent if I lost my job. Fortunately, I had a credit card with a very low balance. Plus, it had a sufficiently high credit limit to cover the repairs without hurting my credit score. Loans you can live with. If you know you will need cash for something coming up—such as new…

Best Sources of Emergency Cash

Shop for a New WIRELESS PLAN and Save Big

We’ve witnessed a lot of changes in the past couple of years, but you may have overlooked the upheaval in the wireless industry. Sprint customers finally became T-Mobile customers in 2020, thanks to the companies' completed merger (although some Sprint customer plans are still in transition). The deal reduced the number of major wireless carriers from the big four—AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon—to the big three. But the big four weren’t the only ones making waves. Cox Communications, a cable provider, appealed an October 2021 court decision that stopped a wireless network deal with Verizon. Cox was hoping to follow in the footsteps of fellow cable providers Comcast and Charter Communications, which have entered the mobile fray as Xfinity Mobile and Spectrum Mobile, respectively, with network deals with Verizon. Add in…

Shop for a New WIRELESS PLAN and Save Big

THE RIGHT PLAN FOR YOU

We picked solid, competitively priced plans for four profiles. If you are not inclined to shop around, call your carrier and ask if there’s anything it can do for you. For example, the plan you originally signed up for may not be offered to new customers anymore, so you could be upgraded to a newer plan at your current price. FAMILIES For a family of four looking for a combination of phone and plan deals, T-Mobile’s Magenta plan is a solid choice. It costs $35 per month per line and it comes with 100GB of premium data and 5GB of high-speed hotspot data (after which the data slows to 3G speeds, but data use is unlimited). The plan also comes with a basic Netflix account. T-Mobile currently has a promotion…

GET READY FOR 5G

On top of keeping current customers happy and attracting new ones, all carriers are focused on increasing and improving their 5G infrastructure while making sure customers understand what all of this means for them. “We’re about two years into the 5G rollout, and it typically takes anywhere from four to six years for the telecom operators to fully cover the United States,” says Daniel Hays, a telecom principal with PwC US, which provides auditing, tax planning and consulting services. If you have access to a 5G network and your phone is 5G compatible, your access speed could still be slower than you expect. Carriers are still retrofitting towers, and they are adding them in more densely populated areas before they branch out to rural areas. For example, in New York…

GET READY FOR 5G

Preparing for a New Life

PROFILE WHO: Selin, age 25 WHAT: Afghan refugee and former attorney WHERE: Fort Dix, N.J. What was your life like in Afghanistan? I was born as a refugee in Iran. My family returned to Afghanistan in 2002, when Hamid Karzai was there and the U.S. had taken control of everything. I started university in 2013. I studied physics at Kabul University, and after that I studied law at American University in Afghanistan. After I graduated, I got a job as an associate attorney at a corporate legal firm. I was paying for my rent, I was paying for my own expenses, and compared to many people in Afghanistan, I had a good income. How did you feel when you arrived in the U.S.? It was the first time that I was…

Preparing for a New Life

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