Author: Money Mechanics

Investors looking for stability during volatile periods often turn to dividend stocks — including real estate investment trusts. On Wednesday, stocks moved lower after President Donald Trump said the United States will attack Iran ” very hard .” Earlier in the day, the president said Iran would “pay the price” for negotiations that were ” taking too long .” Concerns over the conflict have weighed on stocks since the war began in late February, and at other times, equities have popped when there has been news about a potential resolution. Amid this year’s turbulence, real estate stocks have outperformed —…

I work from home, so I typically listen to audio through headphones or AirPods. But I’ve always wanted a desk speaker that doesn’t take up too much space, which made the new Sonos Play a fitting first Sonos product to review. The Play, launched in March, is Sonos’s first new device in more than a year. The $299 speaker is a hybrid: part home speaker, part portable. It sits on your desk in a pill-shaped dock, but at 1.3 kilograms, with a “utility loop” on the back, it’s easy to carry around the house or take outside. Image Credits: SonosImage…

The estate planning field has developed an impressive sophistication when it comes to carrying out a person’s final wishes.Virtually without fail, estate planning documents work as intended, accounts transfer, and instructions are followed to the letter.When it comes to the orderly dispersal of a person’s estate, lawyers and estate planners almost always have the process well in hand. But what they might not fully understand is the reasoning behind the directives. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues CLICK FOR FREE…

Whether you spend your time in front of the TV watching sports, the news, the latest buzzy shows or reruns of your favorite sitcoms, you’ve probably noticed that you’re shelling out more for your entertainment in recent years. Between March 2024 and March 2026, prices for subscription and rental of video and video games, which includes subscription streaming services, surged roughly 25%, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.Costs are rising so much that the phenomenon even has a new nickname: “streamflation.” Netflix, the largest and most popular streaming service, hiked prices for all three of its…

Woman is standing with son in hands. Infant baby is in the office where group of people are working together.gettyEvery so often a headline announces that women are better investors than men citing one or more of four reasons: Women trade less. They churn less. They pay fewer transaction costs. They earn higher risk-adjusted returns.So women are better investors, right?Not so fast. Declaring victory for women investors while ignoring why women own less stock turns a gender difference into a gender war and misses the entire point. The better question is not whether women are wiser than men. The better…

Spending the summer months in Arizona might sound intense — and it often is.Between a stretch of 100-degree days, spiking utility bills, and the sudden storms of monsoon season, the desert climate can certainly feel daunting. But these few months only tell part of the story.From fall through spring, Arizona shifts into a sun-soaked haven. During this period, the Grand Canyon State boasts the mild weather of coastal California at a comparatively lower cost. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues…

Meet Mike, a 67-year-old who has owned the same set of small Texas rental properties for 31 years. He’s ready to step back.The tenant calls, the late-night plumbing emergencies, the property taxes that climb every year? He’s done. So he sells one of his appreciated properties (the highest-maintenance one!), and starts the 1031 exchange clock.Forty-five days to identify a replacement property. One hundred eighty days to close. From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues CLICK FOR FREE ISSUE Sign up for…

For retirees and those closing in on retirement, understanding how to manage required minimum distributions (RMDs) is essential.These government-mandated withdrawals must be taken from tax-deferred retirement accounts, such as traditional IRAs and 401(k)s, starting at age 73. Yet, as a longtime financial adviser, I’ve learned that many investors nearing that age aren’t familiar with how RMDs work or prepared to deal with the extra taxes they can trigger.Even those who know something about RMDs aren’t always aware of recent rule changes or useful strategies that might help reduce their RMD tax burden. That means they could easily make costly missteps…

Dear Wealth Wise: As a retired 66-year-old, I find plenty of guidance on portfolio allocation but very little on asset location — how investments should be divided among taxable accounts, traditional IRAs/401(k)s, and Roth IRAs/401(k)s.Many experts suggest a portfolio split such as 50% stocks (mostly U.S., with some international exposure) and 50% more conservative investments, such as bonds and money market funds. But there’s far less discussion about where those assets should be held to maximize after-tax returns. I feel undereducated on the topic of asset location and would like more guidance on how retirees can optimize investments across accounts…

I think a lot about fixed income for three reasons: The biggest part of my portfolio is a bond ladder. We right now have access to the highest yields in a generation. I am uniquely qualified to educate retail investors on fixed income. Plus, the narrative surrounding fixed income is entirely one-dimensional. Analysts stare at the nominal yields of the 10-Year U.S. Treasury Note or compare standard consumer price index (CPI) prints to project what the Federal Reserve will do with its policy rate. More News from Barchart But if you want to understand why corporate profit margins are tightening…