Although the benchmark S&P 500 has clawed back to record territory and the VIX has settled into a sleepy 16.7 reading, Wall Street’s memory is shorter than its history would suggest. The Dow and…
I have never really been a fan of certificates of deposit (CDs). Yes, the principal is guaranteed and insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), but the lockup period is extremely inflexible. If…
Picture a 67-year-old who sold a vacation home in 2024 for a $300,000 capital gain. The check cleared, and most proceeds went toward a kitchen remodel, a gift to grandkids, and a brokerage account.…
A 65-year-old single retiree with $300,000 split evenly between two JPMorgan covered-call ETFs can pull roughly $24,000 in annual distributions without filing a single K-1. That math, and the trade-offs behind it, are the…
Buried inside SpaceX’s pre-IPO disclosures is a single percentage that should make every investor lining up for the $75 billion June 2026 Nasdaq debut pause. It’s a quieter number tucked into a concentration-of-risk footnote,…
On the May 19, 2026 episode of The Clark Howard Podcast, Clay from Kentucky asked advisor Wes Moss whether to leave roughly $60,000 in a vested state law enforcement pension earning a guaranteed 4%…
Most people know lenders care about credit scores and income, but many other factors can influence whether a loan gets approved. Lenders use large amounts of data and risk analysis to decide who qualifies…
The iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSEARCA:IEO) just paid a $0.55 distribution in March, the lightest quarterly payment since mid-2024. IEO holders are buying the aggregated dividend policies of America’s…
On December 22, 2020, the SEC hit Ripple (CRYPTO: XRP) with a lawsuit, and the price plunged from around $0.60 in November to roughly $0.20 by the end of the month. Investors were split…
For a 59-year-old hoping to leave work today, the math is unforgiving. A $530,000 brokerage account must generate $48,000 a year across the eight-year gap before Social Security begins at 67. That requires a…
The Invesco S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (NYSEARCA:SPHD) sends income to shareholders every month, with distributions rising roughly 23% in 2025 and 2026 monthly payouts climbing to around $0.208 per share, with…
Crude was sitting at $112 a barrel, the 98th percentile of the past year, before dropping to $81, but the driver is clear. Tankers are still rerouting around the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S.…
Picture a dual-income couple with combined wages well into the high six figures. They already max the 401(k). Their employer offers a high-deductible health plan, and they keep choosing the lower-premium PPO out of…
The Bogleheads forum is full of posts that read the same way: a 56-year-old executive, $1.8 million in a traditional 401(k), a target retirement date of 60, and a creeping suspicion that the account…
Income investors who bought the YieldMax SMCI Option Income Strategy ETF (NYSEARCA:SMCY) wanted exposure to Super Micro Computer’s volatility without owning the stock outright. SMCY’s pitch is compelling: a 105.6% distribution rate, weekly payouts,…