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Time for Yahoo Finance's market stocks sliding the S&P 500 on track to snap its six day win streak as investors reassess the recent market rally. Meantime, Home Depot, the top trending ticker on Yahoo Finance shares, giving back some of their earlier gains just under the flat line. The retailer reaffirming guidance announcing it will not raise prices due to tariffs. Shares of Home Depot's competitor lows marginally lower ahead of its quarterly report Wednesday before the open. Meantime, Tesla shares getting a slight.Boost on Monday, Tuesday, Elon Musk committing to being Tesla's CEO for at least the next 5 years while speaking at the Economic Forum in Qatar. The tech billionaire also saying he plans to spend a lot less on political campaigns in the future. Dwave shares are surging on the release of its latest quantum computing system named Advantage 2, it's the company's 6th iteration and its most advanced system. That's the Yahoo Finance Mar minute for more on what's trending on Yahoo Finance, scan the QR code below.

Welcome to we brought to you by synchrony. I'm Ale and this is Yahoo Finance's guide to building your financial footprint. Our community of experts will give you the resources, tools, tips, and tricks you need to grow your money on today's show portfolio checkup. We're breaking down how investors can navigate the 3Ds debt, demographics, and disruption.And investing in gold, does everyone need a little bit of the safe haven asset in their portfolio? One strategist says yes and reveals just how much you need. plus a budgeting burnout all week on wealth, we're discussing how to financially prepare for an unexpected lay off on tap for today, how you can keep saving for retirement even when you're out of a job.But first we take a look at some of the market action 90 minutes into the trading day. Stocks are currently in the red with the S&P 500 on track to snap a 6 day win streak. My next guest says there are 3 Ds investors need to master in order to seize market opportunities. Joining me now is Mike Smith.All Spring Global Investments senior portfolio manager and head of growth equity. So Mike, let's start there. You described the three D's debt, demographics, and disruption as the biggest structural forces since the industrial revolution. Can you walk us through how these themes are reshaping the investment landscape right now?

Absolutely. So, it's a really interesting setup because when, when you focus on the first of the two D's, that the debt and the demographics, uh, those are both a major structural drag on the growth of our country.Um, you know, we, we've accumulated now an enormous amount of debt, uh, over 120% of our GDP. Uh, we have over 70 million baby boomers in our country, uh, that are about to turn 80 starting next year. Um, and those two forces are a drag on our growth rate and a drag on the potential for future growth. And what's interesting about that, it is when growth is low, uh, in the economy, growth stocks do well.Uh, that relates to the, the scarcity value of being a company that can grow in a low growth economy.At the exact same time, uh, because of the adoption of new technologies like AI, the pace of disruption is accelerating, and those disruptive forces are creating winners and losers in every industry, uh, each day. And, and so when you think about how that puzzle, uh, comes together and how to invest in a way to be successful, uh, you want to own grow stocks because those outperform, and you wanna hire managers who can be active.And and who can take advantage uh of going along the winners and avoiding the losers who are getting run over by disruption.

And let's talk about some of those winners and losers. The large cap growth fund that you manage it has heavy names in it like Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia. How do those positions align with that 3D thesis and are they still attracted despite a lot of these elevated evaluations?

But they're the platform companies that provide the infrastructure for that 30. And, and because of that, these are very sticky businesses with, uh, uh, wide and deep moats, uh, great revenues, great margins, great cash flows. They're here to stay. I, I think they went through a period of time over the last 10 years of, of very special performance and the stocks obviously.They did very well. I think coming into this year, our view is it's time to look elsewhere for Alpha, and we see the market starting to broaden out. We see an opportunity, uh, to move down Cap and to move into some underfollowed companies. So while we maintain our exposure to some of those businesses, uh, we think the real special performance is going to be downstream from those companies.

And let's drill into that first deed debt. Is there a company that you think is the most debt resilient out there?

Resilience is the key word, and, and I think the lens you want to look through is who's providing something essential. Uh, and right now, uh, for a lot of reasons, electricity is about the most essential, uh, good or service that, uh, any company can provide. It's the bottleneck, as we build out AI infrastructure, it's oxygen to a very digitized.And, and digital world. Uh, and so we're very interested in investing companies that address that bottleneck. Uh, Quantas Services is a company that we're uh very bullish on. Uh, they've got, uh, incredible visibility because of the backlog of projects that they've built up.Uh, and they're very specialized in the engineering and construction services that they provide to utilities, and, um, their projects are funded by debt, but they earn a very positive return because of the regulated nature of the utility industry.

How about a stock picks on the demographic side because we're seeing this shift in demand as the older population ages out, right?

Exactly. And, and as baby boomers enter their 80s, their consumption of healthcare, uh, effectively doubles, and unfortunately, uh, that's the period in their life where they really deal with some serious conditions. And so, uh, we're we're excited to invest in companies that bring life-saving technology to to that demographic. Uh, Boston Scientific is a really good example of that. Uh, they specialize in, in medical devices.That treat cardiovascular diseases, uh, to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Uh, they also have a very large pain business and so we think that's a company that's firmly positioned on the right side of change and is winning because of the innovation that they're bringing to those patients.

And finally, disruption, which you say drives creative destruction, what kind of companies are best positioned within that environment?

Yeah, there, there's lots of different, uh, companies to choose from in that realm, and it's very dynamic and exciting. Uh, again, we, we like to think, uh, first principles, what, what's the most essential thing? Uh, and I think, uh, security is, uh, a huge priority for, uh, every enterprise these days, uh, for obvious reasons. And the most interesting thing about what AI introduces toUh, the challenges of, of protecting data and protecting users is it exponentially increases, uh, the surface area of threats, and so, uh, Cyber Ark is a company that helps companies uh address that challenge and, and provides the the leading platform for, uh, protecting identities and end points, and, and we've been very bullish and, and, uh, maintained a core position in that company.

All right, Mike, the 3 Ds to give you that W in investing. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

You bet. Thank you.

Now time for some of today's trending tickers. We're watching Levi Strauss, Hewlett Packard, and Mongo DB. First up, Levi Strauss has agreed to sell Dockers to brand management firm Authentic Brands Group for initial value of $311 million. The Denham company said in October that it was exploring a potential sale of the Dockers brand, all part of its strategy to focus on its core Levi's label and expand its direct to consumer business. The transaction is expected to close on or around July 31st for some of the property.Next, Hewlett Packard getting an upgrade to outperform from inline at Evercore ISI. The analyst saying the risk reward is fairly attractive, specifically for investors who have some duration. The analysts highlighted four key scenarios for HPE when it comes to approval for the long awaited Juniper deal. The firm thinks their upside scenario is more likely, in which case the stock would be worth between 25 to $30 a share. And even without approval for the juniper deal, Evercore says the company has ways to improve profits.Finally, MongoDB cut to hold from buy at Loop Capital Markets. The firm saying the company's cloud platform Atlas isn't gaining traction as quickly as expected, which could lead to slower AI project growth on the platform. The analyst expects consumption growth to continue to decelerate until the company makes progress on its larger enterprise customers. As a result, the firm slashed its price target on shares to $190. That's down significantly from the prior $350.You can scan the QR code below to track the best and worst performing stocks of the session with Yahoo Finance's trending tickers page.Coming up, Americans are putting off home improvement projects due to economic concerns like inflation and tariff uncertainty. We discussed the outlook for the industry next on wealth.Shares of Home Depot wavering this morning, up marginally a bit after a mixed first quarter report as consumers reconsider home renovation projects due to an evolving tariff environment. 71% of homeowners say they put off at least one home project this year. That's according to Angie's 2025 state of home spending report. Among the top concerns inflation, economic uncertainty, and high interest rates. Here to react is Bill Darcy. He's the global president and CEO.The National Kitchen and Bath Association. So Bill, you said that modest growth in remodeling projects, what's expected at the start of the year following a two-year slowdown. Given the concerns that we just laid out. What's been the biggest headwind so far in 2025 and are you still confident in a return to growth by your end?

Yeah, thanks, first of all, thanks for having me on and, and KBA's 55,000 members representing our $235 billion industry. For certain, the tariff and the uncertainty has dampened our modest growth expectations. Um.And we see that, you know, continuing until, uh, the tariffs are fully settled. It's very difficult for the manufacturing sector to price products and ultimately when you get down to the designer specifier talking to the consumer and trying to figure out, you know, what they charge for these projects. So that's just a fundamental challenge for, uh, for our members. But in addition to that, we respect the consumer's hesitancy to spend money that they really want to spend on the home when they really don't know what things are gonna cost.

And with that point, input costs have been rising significantly. Is that mostly due to the tariffs and how are companies really responding to this? Are they absorbing a lot of these costs or are they passing those on to consumers?

Yeah, we were happy to see, I mean, in, in Home Depot's, you know, earnings that they were deciding to for the short term at least, you know, it sounds like they're going to absorb costs, and I think most of our members are trying to do the same, but it only comes within reason. I mean, certainly like fridges, ranges, dishwashers, cabinets, those are the things that have most, more often been impacted by the tariffs. Um, so it's really a matter of the specific type of product if it uses metal or wood and that type of thing, but definitely.It's put a damper on what we saw was a return to solid growth. However, the home is still the most important part of our lives, and we know there's a lot of pent up demand for consumers who want to improve their homes and primarily that means spending money on the kitchen and the bath.

So what advice would you give to homeowners considering remodeling projects? Should they wait for prices to stabilize, or is it better to act sooner than later, given the current environment?

Yeah, if I was a consumer looking to do a project, I would continue with my planning. I, I do respect that, you know, you have to know what things cost. I mean, that is certainly a challenge. But I think the consumers have, you know, when you're, you, you're talking about a kitchen or a bath, especially in a, in a home remodeling project, this is not something that you just thought about 5 minutes ago and then you're going to start doing it tomorrow. So it takes a lot of time to plan. I would continue with the planning, and I think, again, the manufacturers and of our members are really working very hard to work with the consumers and the specifiers to come up.With pricing that is reasonable. And again, I think a lot of them are trying to absorb as much of the cost as possible. So I think the, the, you know, if you want to improve your home, I don't think, you know, pausing is a great idea. I think you really want to continue with your planning, listen to your specifier, listen to your, hopefully NKBA member that you're working with, and they will guide you as best they can, because again, at the end of the day, if you want to improve your home, and some of these things are obviously driven by, you know, uh, breaks and issues in products and things, butAgain, on the bigger projects, um, I would recommend the consumers continue with their planning, and I think they will, things will settle down. I think we all know that it's just a short term uncertainty is what's, you know, troubling the markets at the moment.

And across homeowner demographics, it's the middle income consumer holding back on these types of projects. You say that the return of these consumers is key to the industry's recovery. So what signs are you seeing that the missing middle is coming back and are there certain projects that are fueling the return more than others?

Yeah, you know, exactly. I think that, that missing middle is what we see as the return to really a strong growth, uh, in the market. So the, the luxury sector has been less, uh, impacted, you know, DIY, again, I was very encouraged by what Home Depot was doing and what the numbers that they showed, um, but again, that middle is the most important sector and I think that's really the, the, the where the the the dynamics are happening most, most strongly.I those decisions for those consumers, you know, holding up staying on the sidelines. So again, I would recommend those, um, you know that that missing middle, uh, start to pursue those projects, continue with their planning, get them on the calendar, and, and I think by the time that all happens, we do see a return to growth. It's just, I think this is a moment of time. It is hard to say that, you know, when, when you're talking about a significant cost of investment.But I, I really believe the, the strength of remodeling in the US is, is super powerful, and the need to remodel homes is there. So I think our members will be very successful in the long term. It's a matter of how you manage through the short term, and I think resiliency has been the theme for our members right now.

And probably a big elephant in the room here, Bill, but how sensitive is a remodeling industry to interest rates, especially as the housing market as a whole continues to be pretty sluggish.

Yeah, so historically, when the baby boomer was using cash, it wasn't as much. But now that the millennial buyer is a stronger influencer on that, um, they are using, um, you know, funds. So, uh, you know, typically, I think we watch the housing market and the, the, you know, you say that when, when the interest rates would get around 5%, you see more activity happening in housing.And sometimes with that and remodels are triggered by selling and buying of homes. So in that instance, you know, we, we definitely want to see interest rates come down for that consumer. Um, it's not as much, uh, you know, on the higher end, uh, on the remodeling, but it's still an important part, and I think it does trigger this consumer comfort level with stability, you know, you couldEven gas prices. What does that have to do with remodeling a kitchen? But I think any consumer is, is influenced by rising costs groceries, gasoline, but you know, so it is a factor for sure, but not literally a factor sometimes when the remodeling project is funded, you know, by a combination of funds.

Bill Darcy, thank you so much. Appreciate your insights.

Thank you for having me.

We're in the heart of the spring home buying season, but while sellers are putting their homes on the market, buyers aren't materializing. Here to break down the data is senior reporter Claire Boston. So Claire, typically this is the time of the year that we see activity pick up, right? But what are we seeing right now and why? Yeah, Ali, it's a really weird market right now. We are seeing listings rise quite a bit. They're up about 30% since last April, but uh when it comes to actually homes going under contract.Things like that, we are down a little bit, about 3% from a year earlier. So what that is telling me is that sellers are really ready to list their homes in this market, but the buyers, you know, they're picky. They have more to choose from. Interest rates are still really high. They feel like they can wait in this environment. So what about on the seller side? What concessions are they willing to make in order to just sell their home as quickly as possible? Yes, so the first thing we're seeing is just a straight up price cut, according to Zillow.Data about 25% of homes in April had some sort of price cut, uh, and that was, I think the highest level since about 2018. So if sellers are missing the mark on pricing, they will adjust. We're also seeing things like closing cost assistance become a lot more popular just as a tool to really get that buyer to the finish line, you know, have them save what can be in some cases tens of thousands of dollars on their transaction. I also wanted to ask you about a new study from Realtor.com that points.a potential silver lining when it comes to a recession or economic downturn. Can you break down what this study is telling us? Right, so we're talking a lot about economic uncertainty on this show pretty much every day, and what Realtor found was that if we enter a recession, up to 30% of uh potential buyers would actually be more willing to buy in that recession. And I think that that speaks to, you know, kind of an understanding that.These times of uncertainty can be an opportunity, you know, and of course during the 2008 financial crisis, home prices fell. Um, you know, I don't think anyone is really thinking that we're going to see a repeat of that just in terms of how bad it was, but, uh, you know, some buyers are really looking for that opportunity for prices to fall and use that as a time to enter the market. Yeah, it seems like it's all about finding the right opportunity at the right time. Claire Boston, thank you so much for tracking that ever elusive housing market for us. Thank you. I appreciate it.Well, switching gears to DC, the Department of Health and Human Services is taking steps to implement President Trump's executive order aimed at lowering health care costs. Here's the latest is Yahoo Finance senior health reporter Angela Kamlani. So Angela, what do weknow?

So we got a little bit of more insight out of the Health and Human Services Department outlining what they say will be negotiations, so another round of negotiations for these pharma companies. Uh, they said that they're gonna negotiate with manufacturers to get the lowest price in an OECD country.With GDP per capita of at least 60% of the US and so that's a guideline for sort of where they're looking at these lowest prices from. They will exclude drugs that have biosimilar or generic competition because those already are pretty low in the country, and they are planning to highlight the commitments they already have. So that's a sign that some of these companies are already playing ball and already negotiating in good faith with the Health and Human Services Department. We do know that some companies have already said they are planning to, uh, bring forth some.Legal challenges to this, so we'll try to, we'll see who who pans out. In a statement, Robert Kennedy Junior Healthcare secretary, said we expect pharmaceutical manufacturers to fulfill their commitment to lower prices for American patients, or we will take action to ensure they do, and that brings up some questions, um, that remain unanswered, which is what exactly does the health department have in terms of power to negotiate and force these manufacturers to provide lower prices, especially in the commercial market.Uh, one of the questions is what happens to the companies who don't, when will they have to commit and what price exactly is being set? Is it the list price out of pocket, you know, there's all of that, um, as part of the question. And let's not forget that this is part of the broader picture, which is, you know, the Trump administration looking at different levers to try and ensure lower drug prices. Health Department is one.FDA expanding importation from abroad is another. The DOJ and FTC are looking to anti-competitive practices, and we've also got the US Trade Representative and Commerce Department looking at other ways to bring legal action. So it's a very multifaceted approach, and this is just the first glimpse we've had on what direction it is going. Very

interesting stuff, and we know healthcare costs continues to be top of mind for a lot of consumers. Angela Kamlani, thank you so much.A quick note before we go to break. Apple announcing its worldwide developers conference will kick off on June 9th at 1 p.m. Eastern time and will run through the 13th. And coming up on wealth, gold is rising this morning as investors await more information on the president's tariff policies. We'll talk about investing in gold next. Stay tuned.We are excited to partner with Synchrony Bank, our premier sponsor for Wealth. Synchrony Bank is working with Yahoo Finance and Wealth to bring you the insights for your personal finance playbook and help you make your money work for you. Let's get a quick check on the markets. We are in the red across the board. Losses are led by the tech heavy Nasdaq. We're seeing the benchmark S&P 500 down about 0.1% on track to snap its 6 day win streak. We also.The Dow Jones Industrial Average under some pressure this morning, down about 0.2%. We'll see if markets can climb back from these losses. That's something that we did see on Monday, so we're going to continue to keep an eye on the latest moves. If we take a look at some of the trending tickers, we're seeing Home Depot performing just above the flat line, up about 0.2% after the company reported mixed quarterly.Results. A lot of eyes were on Home Depot after Walmart came out and said they were going to be raising prices due to the tariffs. Home Depot, though reiterating its guidance and also said that they would not be raising prices at this point. And then real quickly, let's do a quick check on long-term treasury yields. They've been under pressure recently, uh, going to the upside when we think about the bond market, we're seeing the 10 year.Yields trade around 4.5%. The 30 year yields continuing to creep up to that technical key 5% level. So that's something that we're going to continue to watch. In the meantime though, President Trump visited Capitol Hill Tuesday to rally support for its tax bill. According to the White House, he's made it clear he's losing patience with holdout factions within the Republican Party that threatened to delay the bill's passage.Our next guest argues the plan prioritizes politics over economic growth, a trade-off that could mean more uncertainty for Americans in the year ahead. Here to explain is Daniel Bunn, president and CEO of the Tax Foundation, and Daniel, perfect voice to have here. There's a lot of focus on this bill, and I want to start on your politics over growth argument. What's the most glaring example of that within this legislation and why does that concern you?

Thank you so much for having me. The, the policies that I would point to are on the one hand, where we see a lot of political effort, the exemptions for tips, overtime, uh, this new deduction for seniors, deduction for auto loan interest, things that really complicate the tax code and don't necessarily deliver broad-based benefits. In fact, they are designed to be very narrow benefit.Um, and the opposite side where I see them not providing uh significant economic growth is in the temporary nature of a lot of the business investment provisions, the things like full expensing for research and development, capex, and things that we think would spur the economy much more effectively than temporary things that do contribute to some of that uncertainty.

Yeah, why is temporary policy making so problematic from a fiscal perspective, economic perspective, and even when we think about business confidence?

So it really gets to the point of where a boardroom might be thinking about making a next investment and thinking through the long-term profitability of that investment and certainty in the tax code can help those conversations move forward. In fact, when we look at the provisions that are in the tax bill, if they were made permanent, the growth impact of the tax bill would more than double, uh, over the long term. It would go from about 0.6% impact on GDP to 1.6%.Over the long term, and that's really a material difference, uh, especially when you think of the impact on growth and in the context of the tariff uncertainty that has really hurt markets and hurt business investment decisions, it's really important for Congress to weigh in in the direction of creating more certainty here.

I want to dig deeper into the salt cap debate. You say the expanded salt uh deduction cap is a reversal of good tax policy. Why do you believe restoring a higher salt cap is a step backwards and who actually benefits the most from this change?

The folks who benefit the most are very high income taxpayers with very high property tax bills and state income tax bills, and it's a very narrow slice of the population. In fact, what the choice policymakers took in 2017 was the right one. Prior to 2017, a lot of these taxpayers who are currently arguing for a larger salt deduction saw much fewer deductions available to them because they were stuck with the alternative minimum tax.The 2017 law took away a lot of the hurt of the alternative minimum tax and made the tax law more transparent with this $10,000 salt cap. So going back on that with a higher salt cap or by bringing more complicated measures in on itemized deductions.would actually be a reversal of the good policies that we saw. In fact, lawmakers should lean more into that broader base lower race rate mentality. And right now it's just a lot of politics around what narrow slices of the population can get some added benefits out of this legislation.

So the bill heads to the Senate next. What specific changes would you like to see from Senate Republicans to restore what you call true fiscal responsibility and some of those growth priorities?

There's two things that I'd like to see. Number one, I would like to see permanence on the pro-growth elements. Uh, and number 2, I would like to see base broadeners both on the business side and on the individual side. I think there's more room for lawmakers to go on some of the energy provisions from the inflation Reduction Act. And on the individual side, there's this new limit on the value of itemized deductions that I would like to see ramped up a little bit more to create a little more wiggle room from the budget perspective.And honestly, they need the lawmakers really need to be serious about the spending cuts they're interested in in order to calm some of these markets. So like we were just seeing on your screen some of the treasury yields moving up into risky territory. Lawmakers really need to be serious about fiscal responsibility to address those concerns.

Yeah, and given where we're at in that economic cycle, inflation is still sticky, debt levels high. How urgent is it that Congress gets this right? and what are the risks if they don't?

The urgency is higher than it's been in in recent years for certain. The challenge for lawmakers is that they're not necessarily facing a true crisis moment. Certainly yields are going higher. There's some concerns about long term debt and deficits, but the real crisis that I think we're moving towards if we don't start getting things right right now is in the early 2030s when someOf the trust funds that fund the long-term entitlement programs would expire and benefits might have to be cut, and that's a real crisis moment I think where Congress would really have to make some very tough decisions, but they could help themselves now by making this bill more fiscally responsible, more pro-growth, and being able to have a more sustainable position as we get closer to some of those harder choices down the road.

A lot riding on this bill. Daniel Bunn, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Thank you for having me.

Coming up, gold is rising this morning as investors await more information on the president's tariff policies. We'll talk about investing in gold. Stay tuned.Gold is rising this morning as the US dollar slips with investors continuing to weigh policy uncertainty around tariffs as well as the potential Russia Ukraine ceasefire. We've seen investors pile into gold as a safe haven asset amid all of this uncertainty. Our next guest says gold belongs in everyone's portfolio. Here with more is Robert Haberkorn. He's RJO Futures senior market strategist. Robert, thanks for being here. So why should all investors have some gold there?

And, uh, an infer, a hedge against inflation. And, you know, while some of the inflation numbers have been coming down as of recently, uh, the thing that's not coming down right now that we're seeing is anything with government spending. Uh, I know there's a lot of talk right now on the, uh, bill that's moving forward, but, uh, we have yet to see what's gonna come out of that. And, uh, with government spending like it's been over the last few years, and, uh, no indication that it, with it coming down here, gold is a great spot to, uh, hedge your assets right now for a weakening dollar.

So how do you see fiscal policy influencing gold prices over the next 12 to 18 months and given the fact that we have this growing debt crisis right now, is that a bigger upside risk to inflation and the current tariff picture, especially since we've seen some recent signs of relief on that front?

Yeah, the biggest thing is with the deficit spending and treasury yields. Treasury yields continue to move higher here.And while treasury yields are moving higher, the price of gold has gone up and made record highs here at $3500 an ounce. Um, with yields pushing over 5%, uh, and gold still maintaining its upside and going higher here, that's pretty impressive here, because gold does not yield interest. And typically in this environment, when, when, uh, when there is unknown, uh, safe haven buyers do go to treasury, uh, bonds to get that yield. They're doing that.But they're also buying gold at the same time, pushing it to all-time highs. Expect this trend to continue here this year, um, and into 2026 for gold to continue on a strong path forward in spite of US Treasury yields beinghigh.

So for beginners looking to gain exposure to gold, there are multiple ways to invest, either through physical gold, ETFs, futures trading. What's your preferred approach, and what are the trade-offs between each strategy?

Well, of course, the easiest way is to buy physical gold, but, uh, sometimes people are looking for a little more exposure to it, and futures markets, uh, are a great way to do that. When you buy a futures contract, you, uh, do get leverage, but with leverage does come risk. So I'd recommend speaking to someone, uh, about that versus just buying it on your own in a futures trading account. Talk to someone that does manage and help people trade.Futures. Um, the, another way to do it is, of course, through ETFs. Um, but, uh, what we do on our side of the business is help people buy, uh, or sell gold, uh, futures, uh, via the Coex. And, uh, it just offers a great point of leverage if you're looking for a sizable amount, uh, and you also don't have to worry about having all the physical gold, you know, on your person.

So as you find your preferred investing method, how much gold should a typical investor hold? Do you suggested 5 to 10% for conservative investors, but what factors should drive that allocation higher or lower?

I think 5 to 10% is a good point, but given the situation we're in right now with spending and and the deficit here, uh, there's nothing wrong with looking up as high as I think 15% right now. Um, but 5 to 10% generally for a conservative, uh, to even go a little higher, up to 15%, I don't think that could hurt anybody in this environment.

And gold continues to trade near all-time highs, so is it too late to get in the game? Do, do you want to buy now or maybe wait for a potential dip?

I hear that, that question daily, and I've been hearing that question daily for the last 23 years. Uh, you know, actually going back to COVID here. But, uh, I do think we have higher highs coming in gold, and I do think that, uh, you know, the downside is limited right now. Uh, the downside being possibly down around, uh, the, the 2900 level here. We are trading at 32, over 3200 announce right now, but, uh, I do think downside is limited for the time being.

Robert, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Thanks for having me.

Coming up, saving for retirement while unemployed. We have the best options for you to consider. That's next on wealth.

The majority of 401k and state sponsored IRA plans offer target date funds or index funds that shift from risky to more conservative investments as you get closer to your retirement date, but you don't have to rely on someone else's plan to make that happen. Yahoo Finance's Carrie Hannon set up her own target date retirement fund, and you can too. Carrie, walk us through some of the steps that you took.Hey, Brad, thanks a bunch. Um, yeah, I'm not exactly a do it-yourselfer, but when it comes to my retirement investments, I'd like to have a little more hands-on than, than just set and forget, right? So, I, I decided I was gonna create a custom target date fund for myself. Um, and so what I did is I picked the date, uh, thatI thought would be the year, you know, ostensibly you would retire, so maybe it's 2035, 2045, whatever it is, and then I looked at the various mutual fund companies and other financial services, you know, T. Rowe Price does its Vanguard fidelity on down the line, and I looked at what their target date fund in the year that I selected as when would be my retirement date.Um, I looked what their funds had and what the holdings, uh, number 2 was, so I picked the date and I did my research, uh, who had a date fund in that year. The second thing is I checked the holdings. What did they, what is that target date fund hold? Which index funds, and generally they are index funds. Do they have an international fund, a total stock market, a bond fund, international bond fund.Number 3 is look for low expenses. I, I looked through the different fund companies. These are across the board. These are typically fairly low fee, uh, investment, so you want to go there. Um, the fourth thing I did was, OK, I just, I picked who I was gonna go with, and in my case it was Vanguard. Uh, I already had an account there, so it was pretty easy. I opened up my IRA there, my individual retirement account there, and I added the funds. I looked at exactly what their fund had in that target date.I added those precise funds into my own account, but I tweaked a little bit because whereas they had a certain percentage in equities and a certain percentage in bonds, I wanted a little more equity exposure. I was a little bit more of a risk taker than they had a line for me, so I, I tweaked it just a bit, but I used that as my guidepost, right? So you know, I'm not going to go flying down into the gutter with my bowling ball here. I, I use that as my guard rails and the last thing.That I do is every so often and certainly once a year I go back and I rebalance it. I tweak it to get it exactly to make sure the asset allocation is right for my risk tolerance and my time before I think I'm gonna need those funds and so it's very important to to sort of look at it, rebalance it because now you're in control. There's not a fund manager who's gonna be a target fund manager who's gonna be doing that for you. And the truth is, Brad, I actually ended up with.The lower cost fee because um the target date fund as a whole was more expensive than the individual index funds that I put into my account but I'm not paying for someone to manage it, right? I'm taking that responsibility, but I got to tell you it's loads of fun and it keeps me paying attention to my investments. Maybe not everyone wants to do that, but it makes me feel in control. Carrie, thanks so much for bringing this down for us. Appreciate it. Thanks, Brad.

You just heard from Kerry Hannon discussing how she set up her own target date fund for retirement. It's becoming an increasingly popular retirement savings vehicle.Target date fund assets soared to a record high in 2024. That's according to a new Morningstar report. G finance senior columnist Carrie Hannon is back with us with this story. So Carrie, what makes these funds so popular and what did we learn from this latest report?

Yeah. Well, good morning. Uh, here's the thing, Ali. This is, these are so, it has become the retirement vehicle of choice for, for most, uh, people in 401k plans in particular, because most employers now offer this as the default investment when they enroll people into their 401k plans. And so these started about 15 years ago, and they've absolutely taken off as the kind of, uh, do it-yourself investing, uh, without having to lift a finger in a way it's not.Exactly do it yourself, but you just kind of set these aside in the target fund, your retirement funds, and, and it automatically will readjust to keep the balance. So here's how they work. In general, uh, what the manager of this fund will do, and I will say 8 in 10 401k investors through Vanguard now hold these target date funds. I mean, they're huge. No wonder the $4 trillion right? And so what that, uh, manager does is they allocate between stocks and bonds, right? And they're usuallyIndex fund. So if you pick the date you think you're gonna retire, and, and I usually tell people, just pick what your full retirement age might be, say, at 67. Um, and so maybe you would have a, a Target 2044 fund, for example. Um, that's what you look for. And then as you near retirement, these investments become, you know, skewed to the more conservative, move towards bonds. If you feel like you have like a little more equities, then you pick, um, a later date for your target date fund. And if you want to be more conservative, you go theOther direction. But what I love about these and why they're so great for many investors is like when the markets go jangly, uh, we don't sit there and worry because these are, uh, kind of balancing, diversifying your investments in a way that, so you don't have to be panicking, and you know that they're gonna rebalance in order to keep you focused on what the goal is. So that's why, Ellie, I think these have really, uh, taken off and been a great solution for many people who kind of just like, are deer in headlights when they look at, what should I invest in?

So Carrie, if you're thinking about enrolling in a target date fund, what are some of the best practices?

Yeah, I, I think it's important two things. First of all, remember, um, that yes, you may be defaulted into one of these plans or you may have selected it in your, in your in your retirement plan, uh, yourself. And this can be on your own through your individual IRA as well as your employer 401k or employer provided plan, but, um, look to make sure that each year youEscalate how much you put in. So if you can just bump it up 1% each year, then you're continually to grow how much you are investing on a regular basis into these retirement accounts as often we forget to bump it up each year and, and generally it's a very good idea. Some employers are now doing that for you, but, but do try to pay attention. The second thing, Ali, is.Look for fees. OK, I, I preach on this a lot, but fees can really erode the actual value of your retirement account over town, over time. Most target date funds are in index funds. So these are very low cost in general. They're a little more than a straight index fund because, yes, you're paying for someone to manage that rebalancing for you so you don't.Worry about it, but some target date funds do invest in actively managed funds, not just index funds. Some do a hybrid. Those that are those that are in the actively managed funds tend to be more expensive, so, uh, the fees are higher. So pay attention. That is an important element, uh, and if you're selecting your own target fund, you can look.Inside and see what they're holding uh when you go to that target date fund and it'll show you uh what percentage, what funds are they index funds are they managed funds and, and I tend to lean towards uh thinking the index funds are a good way. The lower fees, the better you can, the better for you ultimately.

That'ssome great advice there. Carrie Hannan, thank you so much as always.

Thanks.

This week on wealth we're helping you budget for burnout, walking you through the financial impact if you quit your job or unexpectedly laid off. Today we're focusing on the impact to your retirement savings. Joining me now is Christine Benz. She is Morningstar director of personal finance and retirement planning. So Christine, you say the first rule during a job loss is, quote, do no harm. Why is protecting cash reserves more important than contributing to those retirement savings?

Well, Allie, thanks for having me on. And I do think that's an important point. When people have job loss or they separate from their jobs, inevitably, the household budget becomes a little tighter. And so this can be a really risky time for your total financial plan, where you might be more likely to rely on credit cards to get you through, or the pot of money that you've saved for your retirement may look tempting as a source of funds. So you want to be super careful.Obviously about credit card debt. No need to go over why that can be a risky thing to avoid. Um, but in terms of invading your portfolio, if you are not yet of retirement age, you'll pay, um, a penalty of 10%, plus you will pay ordinary income tax if you've made pre-tax or traditional, uh, contributions to those accounts. So you want to be super careful about pre, pre, um,Preeminently about invading that that 401k planearly

and I thought this was a really interesting opportunity that you mentioned using a a period of unemployment as a time to consider a Roth conversion. So for folks who are unfamiliar with that, what exactly is a Roth conversion? How does someone go about doing it and what are the biggest advantages there when it comes to a period of time when your income's low?

Right. So, uh with Roth accounts, um, you can enjoy tax-free withdrawals, and then you aren't subject to what are called required minimum distributions when you're in retirement, no one is telling you that you have to get the money out on a predetermined basis. So Roth accounts are really attractive things. You can take traditional tax.Deferred accounts and you can make conversions to Roth. The issue is that you will owe taxes at the time that you do the conversions. So you want to be careful about when you do those conversions. If for whatever reason you find yourself in a trough in terms of your income, that can be a really attractive time to make a conversion.The key is that ideally you would hold the taxes due on that conversion, apart from the funds in the, the 401k or IRA. So you wouldn't want to have to take money out of the IRA to pay the tax bill.So get some tax advice here, but for people who do have the wherewithal to pay those taxes due on conversions, it's an attractive thing to investigate.

What about for someone with some income or savings cushion? What are the best ways to keep retirement savings on track during a period of unemployment?

Well, one would be to consider an IRA contribution. A key hurdle with IRAs is that you have to have earned income. But if you're part of a married couple and one of you has enough earned income to cover the contributions that you're making, you can contribute to an IRA in your name. So that is one idea. Um, another idea is if you are covered by a qualifying high deductible healthcare plan,You can make contributions to a health savings account. Now, that isn't the same as a retirement savings account, but it is uh a way to have additional assets that will be available for you in retirement. And finally, I would call out a taxable brokerage account as a really flex.vehicle to potentially look to. If you do have some income that you can set aside, there is no earned income requirement there, and you can put as much into that taxable brokerage account as as you want to or if you're able to. It's just important to note that you will pay.Income on any distributions or you pay tax on any income distributions that are made, and you'll also pay tax obviously on any um appreciation. If you sell assets out of that account, you will, you pay taxes onthose gains. Hey,

Christine, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.

Thank you so much.

Let's do a final check of the markets here. We're still seeing all three major indexes trading in the red here. We're seeing the Nasdaq leading the declines down about 0.1% of the Dow Jones Industrial Average down about 0.1%, and the S&P 500 is off 0.1% at this point, looking to snap that six day win streak. And that is it for wealth. I'm Alec Cannell. Thank you so much for watching. Stay tuned for market domination with Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton. That's coming up at 3 p.m. Eastern.