Amazon Prime Big Deal Days 2026 kicked off today — but so did a bunch of competing sales events from Amazon's major rivals. So, if you're looking to save on any big-ticket tech purchases on your wish list, now is a great time to find a deal. The trick is figuring out exactly which retailer's sale you should be shopping.

Ultimately, you should check prices across multiple retailers for whatever you are buying to find the best deal. But, as you'll see below, you also need to read the product pages closely.

In some cases, for example, the bundle deals vary in exactly what you're getting in the bundle at each retailer. In other cases, opting for the lowest price might mean taking a risk by buying from a third-party seller. So read through to find out what you might be trading by choosing one retailer's deal over another.

Save $100 on Arlo Pro 6 Home Security Cameras

If you're looking for DIY home security upgrades, the Best Buy three-camera bundle is the best deal if you're starting from scratch. It comes with a charging station and four rechargeable batteries.

Neither Amazon nor Walmart offer a bundle like this. The deals I've listed below for comparison are for the cameras themselves. If you went with either of these options, you would still need to buy a charging station and any spare batteries you might want.

With that said, if you already have a couple of Arlo cameras and a charging station, the camera-only deals at Amazon could be a better deal for you. There, you're getting four cameras for $190 compared to just three cameras for a little over $180 at Walmart. That's a full extra camera for just $10 more.

• Get three Arlo Pro 6 cameras with charging station and four batteries for $199.99 at Best Buy
• Get four Arlo Pro 6 cameras for $189.99 at Amazon
• Get three Arlo Pro 6 cameras for $180.98 at Walmart

Save 36% on the Yale Assure Lock 2 Fingerprint Keypad

Boost home security without having to remember lock codes with the Yale Assure Lock 2. It comes with a fingerprint scanner so you can just scan and open. But there's still a keypad so you can provide custom codes for visitors.

Right now, the Walmart option is $2 cheaper than Best Buy for what appears to be the same device — albeit only in satin nickel. If you look closely at the listings, the models are also slightly different.

At Best Buy, the model is YRD420-F-WF1. At Walmart, it's listed as YRD430-F-WF1. In reviewing the product descriptions for both, I can't find any meaningful differences between them.

So it's going to come down to your style preference. You can find three different finishes at Best Buy, all on sale for the same $189 price. At Walmart, only the satin nickel finish is on sale.

• Get the Yale Assure Lock 2 Fingerprint Keypad for $187 at Walmart
• Get the Yale Assure Lock 2 Fingerprint Keypad for $189.99 at Best Buy
• Get the Yale Assure Lock 2 Fingerprint Keypad for $230 at Amazon

Save $110 on the Vantrue N4 Pro Dash Cam

A dash cam is one of the best investments you can make for your car. In an accident, the video evidence will be crucial in determining who is at fault. In a hit and run, you'll have video evidence to help the police find the driver so you can file a claim.

While the price tag on the Vantrue N4 Pro dash cam looks lowest at Walmart, there is an important catch. The kit doesn't come with the 128 GB memory card that you're getting when you buy it from Best Buy. There also doesn't appear to be an option to have it professionally installed, which you can do at Best Buy for an added fee.

The same applies to the Amazon deal. There's no memory card included and professional installation doesn't seem to be an option. It's also not as deeply discounted.

• Get the Vantru N4 Pro with a 128 GB memory card for $269.99 at Best Buy
• Get the Vantru N4 Pro without a memory card for $265.99 at Walmart
• Get the Vantru N4 Pro without a memory card for $299.99 at Amazon

Get $400 off on the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 Vacuum and Mop

At Best Buy, the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 vacuum and mop is on sale for $599.99 and the "comparable value" is listed at $999.99. That means you're saving $400. At Walmart, you'll pay about the same price, but it is sold by a third party seller rather than Walmart. With the price being equal, your best bet is to go for Best Buy where you can buy it directly from the retailer.

You'll notice that Amazon is listed at about $200 below the price offered at either Best Buy or Walmart. But that model is slightly different. It's an AV2800ZE compared to the RV2820ZE at Best Buy.

From the best I can gather, the AV refers to models packaged and sold exclusively by Amazon while the RV refers to the retail model sold directly by Shark and by certain retailers (like Best Buy).

What differences exist between a 2800ZE and a 2820ZE are unclear, but the $200 price difference suggests there's something different. For what it's worth, the AV2820ZE at Amazon is selling for over $680 and only available from third party sellers.

• Get Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 for $599.99 at Best Buy
• Get Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 for $599 at Walmart (from a third party seller)
• Get Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 for $399.99 at Amazon (but confirm the features you want are there as the model number is different)

Get 54% off the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook

If you're looking for a budget-friendly yet reliable laptop, there are a lot of great deals right now, especially at Best Buy. This Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook, for example, is on sale for just $189 at Best Buy. That's over half off of the comparable value of $419.

That's by far the best price across all three retailers and it's the only option that isn't sold by a third party seller.

• Get the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 for $189 at Best Buy
• Get the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 for $237.97 at Walmart (from a third party seller)
• Get the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 with 512 GB of external storage for $332.49 at Amazon (from a third party seller)

Save $70 on the Apple AirPods Pro 3

Right now, you can save $70 on a new pair of Apple AirPod Pro 3 headphones at Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy. All three retailers ship and sell the popular headphones directly so you aren't dealing with a third party seller no matter where you buy.

If you know you're going to grab these, add them to your cart wherever you prefer to shop — or wait until you browse other deals and just add them to your order after you decide which sale you're shopping.

• Get Apple AirPods Pro 3 for $179 at Amazon
• Get Apple AirPods Pro 3 for $179 at Walmart
• Get Apple AirPods Pro 3 for $179.99 at Best Buy

Save 50% on the Beats Studio Pro

The story for Beats Studio Pro is similar to the AirPods. They are 50% off at all three retailers. And you are buying directly from the retailer in all three cases.

The one caveat: if you prefer the matte white style (or you aren't picky about color), that one is available for an even deeper discount at Walmart right now. You can get a pair there for just $119.

• Get Beats Studio Pro for as low as $119 at Walmart
• Get Beats Studio Pro for $149.95 at Amazon
• Get Beats Studio Pro for $149.99 at Best Buy

Related content

• Best Amazon Prime Day Deals 2026
• 5 Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Mistakes That Could Cost You Money
• 10 Unique Ways To Save Money Shopping With Amazon
• Walmart+ vs Amazon Prime

For many of us, retirement planning starts with an age. For some people, that may be 62 or 65. Others may work until 70 to maximize Social Security benefits. Whatever the reason, our planned retirement age is a goal. But what happens if your career ends earlier than expected?

It's a problem playing out in real time. While the August jobs report revealed a more resilient labor market and a steady unemployment rate (4.1%) overall, the information industry lost 23,000 jobs.

The ADP National Employment Report showed private payrolls rose by only 38,000 in August, less than the 46,000 added in July and below the 47,000 economists expected.

When you're in your 50s or 60s, an unexpected job loss combined with a prolonged job search can dramatically disrupt years of retirement planning. Losing income during those final high-earning years can put additional pressure on savings or force you to make significant financial decisions earlier than planned.

The smart move is to build flexibility into your retirement plan in case the worst happens. This can help prevent emotional decision-making — such as choosing to drain retirement accounts or claiming benefits earlier than expected — which can have long-term consequences.

1. Get your financial life in order — and don't forget healthcare

Understanding what your finances would look like if you suddenly lost your paycheck is the first step in preparing for the unexpected.

Start by reviewing fixed and discretionary expenses, available savings and any other sources of income to determine how long you could realistically maintain your lifestyle without working.

While many financial professionals suggest three to six months' worth of emergency savings set aside, returning to work may take longer than that because of the slower job market. Aiming to save more will keep you better protected, especially if you become ill or no longer able to work.

Knowing how much money you need each month can also help you identify expenses that can be cut before you begin withdrawing from long-term savings.

A sudden loss of employment may also mean losing health coverage. If that happens before you're eligible for Medicare, options such as COBRA may come with substantially higher premiums that could drain savings.

Factoring healthcare coverage into any scenario involving unexpected job loss can help buy you more time to consider your options and protect savings.

Having funds outside of retirement accounts can offer another layer of protection. This reduces the need to sell investments or begin taking retirement distributions to cover expenses.

This becomes especially important if sudden unemployment coincides with market volatility — when selling investments may lock in losses or reduce the amount invested for a potential recovery.

2. Stress-test your retirement plan now

Understanding what would happen to your retirement plan in the event of a sudden job loss is also part of the preparation. Stress-testing your plan by running it through different scenarios can help you understand how your finances would be impacted if your current situation changed.

For example, you could model what would happen if you stopped working now, retired several years earlier than your target age, or began withdrawing from savings prematurely.

If you lose your job unexpectedly, retirement doesn't have to be the next step. Before claiming benefits or making withdrawals, consider how that could impact your retirement.

Working through different scenarios can help determine whether relying on those sources of income now makes sense, or whether continuing to work would leave you better off in the long run.

3. Stay connected

In addition to financial preparation, keeping your professional skills and network up to date can give you more options if you find yourself looking for work. This includes maintaining required licenses or designations as well as staying connected with people in your industry.

Keeping up with changes in your field later in life can make it easier to pursue another position if you lose your job, rather than feeling forced into retirement.

For many of us, the age at which we hope to stop working is the first step in retirement planning. But that timeline is subject to change at any time.

Preparing for the possibility of a sudden job loss, building flexibility into your retirement plan and stress-testing it under different scenarios will help you understand how to move forward without minimizing benefits or sacrificing years' worth of savings.

Related Content

• My Wife Was Laid Off at Age 64: Here Are 5 Questions We're Asking
• Facing a Potential Job Loss? Here's How to Prepare
• Don't Let Health Care Costs Wreck Your Retirement: Here's How
• An Expert Guide to Calculating How Much Money You Really Need in Retirement
• I'm a Financial Adviser: This Is What You're Really Losing if You Cut Back on Your 401(k) Contributions

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

The iPhone 18 Pro is here, and it's a stellar upgrade. The new phone delivers 24 hours of battery life with regular daily use, so you're not tethered to your charger.

Do you love taking pictures? The variable aperture and pro controls allow you to capture more creative shots. Overall, the phone offers excellent battery and camera features, making it worth a closer look.

If you're looking to upgrade from your current model, you're in luck, as all the major carriers offer it for free. But "free" comes with strings attached, typically requiring an eligible plan and long-term commitment to receive the full promotional credits. However, is that the right play? I'll break down why getting a free phone from a major carrier isn't really free, and a cost-saving alternative.

Your phone is never free through major carriers

Major carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon make it easy to transfer service or upgrade devices with little to no out-of-pocket expenses. The problem? You have to sign up for a more expensive plan to earn the incentive.

T-Mobile offers the iPhone 18 Pro for free with the Experience Beyond 2.0 plan. This plan is $100 for one line, $170 for two. If you're 55+, you qualify for T-Mobile's senior plans, lowering the costs to $85 for one line or $130 for two.

To be fair, this plan packs ample perks, such as a five-year price-lock guarantee, free ad-supported plans for Hulu and Netflix and unlimited premium data. But if you don't need many of those perks, you'll overpay.

Because the other aspect of earning a "free" phone is that you must keep service for 36 months. For a free iPhone 18 Pro from T-Mobile, your out-of-pocket costs for three years on the plan alone will be…

• $3,600 for a single-line subscriber
• $6,120 for two lines
• $3,060 for a 55+ plan for one line
• $4,680 for two 55+ plans

Sounds expensive? Because it is. Verizon offers a free iPhone 18 Pro with its Unlimited Plus Plan for $80 per month. Meanwhile, AT&T offers the best iPhone 18 Pro deal with the AT&T Value 2.0 plan for $50.

Now, let's compare another option.

Own the phone instead of a plan owning you

Another option is to purchase the iPhone 18 Pro outright. This is a pretty penny upfront, as the base model starts at $1,199. Yet, once you buy the phone, you can use whichever cell service you want, without locking into a multi-year commitment.

If you want a bare-bones cell phone plan with unlimited texting and calling and some high-speed data, you don't have to settle for more expensive plans. Instead, you can use a service like Mint Mobile, where plans start at $15 per month.

Striking a balance between perks and value

Most people don't need the most expensive plan cell phone providers offer, but you want a steady baseline of perks.

Here's a breakdown of the basic plan each carrier offers, its cost, and how much it would be to purchase the iPhone 18 Pro outright and use these plans for the same three years:

Therefore, buying your iPhone 18 Pro outright not only gives you more flexibility to choose a plan that fits your needs, but it could also save you hundreds of dollars over three years.

How trade-ins factor into the math

You'll likely be upgrading from an older phone. Trading in an older device lowers the upfront cost of purchasing an iPhone 18 Pro, as major carriers provide monthly credits to offset some or all of the costs.

Keep in mind, though, that carriers typically spread these credits over a set period, often 24 or 36 months. If you cancel service before this time, you forfeit any remaining credits and must pay off the device balance.

One smart alternative is to work directly with Apple regarding your trade-in. This approach gives you an immediate discount and lets you choose your carrier and plan.

Ultimately, if you haven't upgraded your phone in a while and want better battery life, the iPhone 18 Pro is a smart option. Instead of getting it for "free" through your carrier, you can save thousands of dollars by purchasing it, then choosing a carrier and plan that fits your needs.

Related content

• Apple's New Foldable Phone Poised for Strong Sales
• One of T-Mobile's Most Valuable Offers for Seniors
• Apple's Price Hikes Signal Costlier Electronics for Years to Come
• Mint Mobile's Unlimited Plan Is Just $15 a Month Right Now

If you are considering purchasing a home warranty, you might want to wait until after you've read this. Today's story offers information that can help you avoid getting ripped off.

First, let's clear up a common source of confusion: A home warranty is a service contract, not an insurance policy like your homeowners insurance. It is supposed to help pay to repair or replace major home systems and appliances that break down from normal wear and tear.

That's what the ads of home warranty firms say, and there are 114 such firms in the U.S. The largest is American Home Shield. Check out this NBC News video to get an idea of what many consumers are dealing with.

One of the ways companies that offer these contracts make oodles of money is by promising to be there for you, collecting your monthly coverage payments and then coming up with one reason after another to deny claims when you need to actually use the services they've sold you.

They operate very much like after-market extended auto warranties, an industry whose motto should be, "Oh, so you drove your car after paying for our extended warranty? Who said you could do that?"

You have to give AHS credit for creative advertising — the fortune-teller ads with Saturday Night Live alum Rachel Dratch are fun. Those ads clearly state, "If AHS can't fix your covered item, they'll replace it, no matter its age." You can watch one of the ads here, which is featured on AHS' YouTube channel.

Vonda and Rick's experience: Delay after delay plus incompetence

In our office, we didn't need to look at a calendar to know this summer — the hottest ever recorded in the U.S. — was over. Something, or, to be more precise, the lack of something, was the clue: Not as many complaints from frustrated people calling about their home warranty companies refusing to repair or replace their AC units.

The home warranty is the very definition of a bait-and-switch, with advertising campaigns making the promise that, with various wording and for a monthly fee, the company is your safety net should something happen to a major appliance or your heating and air conditioning system.

A safety net is what longtime Southern California readers Vonda and Rick Perales expected from American Home Shield. "We had been subscribers for over 20 years," Vonda said. "As the company promptly repaired little things, like a dishwasher, we felt certain they would quickly remedy our AC system that had failed. Mr. Beaver, we were so disappointed."

Their discovery of just how much AHS cared about their customers was set out in this summary of a chronology that is the very definition of gross incompetence — at the very least:

• June 18. AC stopped working. Rick contacts AHS.
• June 22. Contractor arrives but says he can't access the unit because it is on a two-story roof with Spanish tile. Later that day, a different contractor arrives and offers the same reason for not accessing the unit on the roof.
• June 23. A third contractor says the AC is too old to fix and makes a request to AHS to replace the entire unit. Only a replacement compressor and fan motor are authorized.

Just a reminder that the ads we mentioned earlier say, "If AHS can't fix your covered item, they'll replace it, no matter its age."

Rick said, "Because our unit was 33 years old, the replacement parts drew too much current, leading to burned wires and the AC failing repeatedly — burning wires is a true fire risk.

"AHS sent out the same contractors, who again could not access the roof, then told us to find our own contractor. They refused to accept responsibility for the delays."

Fed up with the largest home warranty company in the U.S. refusing to honor its contractual commitments — and the statement in its ads — the couple contacted me.

I emailed an AHS media contact, asking her to help my readers. There was no response to my first email, so I sent a second, and this one prompted action, which eventually resulted in a $4,600 buyout of the Peraleses' contract.

Collateral damage

Rick reported that as of July 29, he had made 52 calls to AHS, beginning in June, trying to get contractors to repair or replace their AC. AHS required them to pay an $800 bill for Freon, as it was not covered in their policy. That would have been reasonable had AHS actually repaired their AC. Instead, it was money down the drain.

Vonda wrote to me, "We had to purchase an AC window unit at a cost of $599 and have spent $1,205 on hotel rooms due to the excessive heat. We have paid for this policy for the last 20-plus years. I do not know where we would have wound up without your help. Thank you, Mr. Beaver."

My advice

If you are seriously considering signing up for a home warranty, search the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website for reviews and complaints.

I am not only pointing out AHS, which has a BBB rating of 1.28 out of 5 stars (based on nearly 6,000 customer reviews), but the complaints about many of these companies should make you run the other way!

I have looked for a home warranty company to recommend, but I have not found one.

What can you do instead of buying a home warranty? (Again, I'm not talking about homeowners insurance — that is legit). Instead of a home warranty, consider opening a home maintenance savings account so you can budget for the repairs that every home will require at some point.

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield, Calif., and welcomes comments and questions from readers, which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993, or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1@gmail.com. And be sure to visit dennisbeaver.com.

Related Content

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• 4 Household Expenses You Should Never Pre-Pay in Retirement

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

In a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter, Warren Buffett once advised, "Leave the children enough so that they can do anything but not enough that they can do nothing."

Many parents share this sentiment. A recent survey from Kiplinger and Morning Consult found that parents hope their adult children use an inheritance to improve their lives (22%), not waste it (20%).

Once it's handed over, though, an inheritance can go toward things you'd never condone, or the windfall can shift a child's behavior in unhealthy ways in the long run.

Take David and Kathy, a hypothetical couple who gave their 20-something twins $100,000 each. Instead of using it to buy a house or invest wisely, one twin quit a steady job to day-trade, while the other used it to buy a luxury car that would depreciate over time. What was meant as a gift to open up the future instead became a setback or wasted opportunity.

As Joy Slabaugh, a certified financial planner (CFP) and founder of the Wealth Alignment Institute, explains: "Money can unintentionally interfere with motivation, identity, autonomy or family relationships."

Fortunately, avoiding that outcome doesn't have to change your desire to give or how much, just the way you give it. This holds true for parents as well as grandparents.

Why early inheritances can backfire

An early inheritance is a chance to help adult children while you're still around to see them enjoy it. While more adult children would rather get financial help now (45%) than a larger inheritance later, only 14% of parents say they'd prefer to give now, according to Kiplinger's survey.

Part of that hesitation might stem from research such as a 2026 study that found 42% of heirs spend their entire inheritance within a single year of receiving it. Going from having little to suddenly having a lot can trigger impulsive spending. Depending on the amount, it can also dull the motivation to work hard or invest.

Psychological factors are at play, too. Heirs can experience what researchers call "mortality salience" — the subconscious discomfort of handling "death money," which can prompt rapid spending as a coping mechanism.

Unearned money also tends to be treated more casually than a paycheck. Behavioral economists call this the "house money effect." People spend windfalls, gifts and winnings more freely than money they worked for, as though it were the casino's money rather than their own.

Control of an early inheritance with incentive trusts

For parents who want to give each adult child an early inheritance without fear that it will become a slush fund to live on, one possible solution is an incentive trust.

An incentive trust releases money only when your child meets certain conditions you've set, rather than handing everything over at once. Think of it as a gift with instructions attached. You, the parent, write the rules, while a trustee checks that each one is met before releasing any money. Your child receives a payout only after clearing the bar you set.

If David and Kathy had used an incentive trust, they could have nipped the twins' spendthrift behavior in the bud. Some common conditions they might have required are: a college degree; matching income from a job; or releasing money for a specific step such as buying a first home. Other requirements act as guardrails, such as pausing payouts if a child struggles with substance abuse.

Jon Lapp, a CFP and founder of Haven Financial Advisors, suggests, "Reasonable provisions might support college or vocational training, match retirement savings, help purchase a first home, fund a credible business plan, or give an independent trustee discretion to make staged distributions as the beneficiary demonstrates financial responsibility."

Ultimately, the purpose of an incentive trust is to encourage a desired action or prevent mismanagement. "I would consider this type of trust when the inheritance is large relative to the child's experience, or when there are specific concerns involving addiction, impulsive spending, creditors or an unstable relationship," Lapp says.

What to know before setting up an incentive trust

While an incentive trust sounds good on paper, it can turn into a problem in practice without careful planning.

For instance, Lapp says, "Conditions based on earning a particular salary, entering a certain profession, getting married or having children can become unfair very quickly. Even an earned-income match can penalize a teacher, caregiver, entrepreneur or disabled beneficiary."

Rigid rules can also become outdated, fail to account for unexpected life events such as illness or injury, and place trustees in difficult emotional positions. "When parents use wealth to protect, control, rescue or reward their children, the financial gift can become emotionally complicated for everyone involved," says Slabaugh.

When weighing how best to give an early inheritance, she recommends first asking the right question: "Rather than asking, 'How do we keep our kids from wasting the money?' I encourage families to ask, 'What do we want this wealth to make possible for our children, and what do we want it to teach or reinforce?' "

Other ways to help sooner rather than later

If you plan to give as much as a six-figure sum to your adult children, Lapp advises starting small. "Smaller gifts over several years can provide a useful test of how the child handles money," he says.

Other options Lapp offers include helping fund a Roth IRA when the child has eligible earned income, using a parent- or grandparent-controlled 529 account, paying tuition or medical costs directly to the provider and structuring housing help as a formal loan rather than an informal blank check. He points out that direct tuition and medical payments can also qualify for specific federal gift-tax exclusions when handled correctly.

When the money supports positive choices a child has already made, it can set healthier expectations. That's what parents want most. As Lapp puts it, "The primary goal is to help the next generation, without enabling poor financial management, or creating the expectation that they will always be 'bailed out' by mom and dad."

More Trillion Dollar Talk

• How to Talk to Your Adult Kids About Their Inheritance
• Shielding Your Heirs: The Expert Guide to a Tax-Free Inheritance
• Why So Many Families Are Unprepared for the Great Wealth Transfer — and What You Can Do About it
• Why Leaving an Equal Inheritance to Your Children Could Backfire

It starts at the very beginning. You hold your baby in your arms and feel a deep, primal desire to give them everything they need. At some point, though, it's time to tighten the purse strings and help them make responsible decisions.

Giving your kids everything they want can cause more problems than it solves, not only during their formative years, but also when they're well into adulthood. There can be a fine line between financially helping adult children and putting them into a situation in which they're financially reliant upon you.

The 'too-nice neighborhood' problem

According to a recent survey from mortgage lender Veterans United Home Loans, more than half of parents of adult children are willing to help their kids purchase a home. Sometimes that's helping with a down payment or closing costs. Other times, it's cosigning a loan.

Problems quickly arise when parents help kids buy houses they can't afford to maintain on their own. Whether it's a monthly payment that burdens the budget or homeowners association (HOA) fees that feel excessive, helping your kids buy a house that they can't afford can be more of a curse than a blessing.

Instead, help them buy within their means or match their down payment to ensure they have some financial skin in the game.

Avoid lifestyle inflation by proxy

If you paid for a somewhat luxurious life for your kids or took extravagant vacations when they were younger (and continue to do so into their adult years), your kids might feel that a certain lifestyle is the norm and come to expect it.

Trying to keep up with a lifestyle once provided by financially established parents can rapidly become problematic.

Covering rent, vacations or luxury expenses tells your kids that their current lifestyle is normal even when it's not sustainable. Once support stops, the adjustment can be brutal, and the kids might try to scramble to afford the same niceties to which they've become accustomed.

This isn't to say that you can't occasionally splurge on a fun family vacation or other luxury, but rather to suggest that boundaries are clear that such a splurge isn't to be expected.

You've probably learned how to deal with lifestyle inflation, as many successful people have. Don't allow it to become your kids' problem by proxy.

Gifts should build habits, not dependence

You can be generous with your adult kids without risking bigger problems. Offer to pay for tools that can create momentum so they can stand on their own, such as professional certifications, seed money for a business or contributions to a retirement account.

The goal is empowerment, not entitlement. If you can help set them up for success, do it with clear expectations that you thoroughly discuss.

Ensure the "help" you provide is actually helpful — a certification in a career your child has no interest in will likely be a waste of money, as would seed money for a business your child wouldn't be able to keep afloat.

Talk openly about the trade-offs

If you gift something to adult kids, explain what the gift does and doesn't cover. If you buy a home, clarify who handles taxes and maintenance. If you pay their tuition, make clear it's a one-time payment. Clarity today prevents conflict tomorrow.

Examine the complications and relational strain that can come with changing your role with your child from "parent" to "lender" and decide if it's worth it. If you expect your child to pay you back, have a clear agreement on the terms so there's no ambiguity in the payback of the funds.

Protect your own financial health

Parents often dip into retirement savings to help adult children, but that kindness can jeopardize long-term stability. It can be a bad idea to earmark money to fund your adult child's lifestyle when you might need that money for your retirement.

Remember: Your kids can borrow money for a house or an education, but you can't borrow your way through retirement. Being financially ill-prepared for retirement because you're helping your kids can backfire on everyone involved if they have to then step in to help you survive.

Helping your adult kids in a productive way can be beneficial, but putting your own finances at risk can damage your financial health. Instead, choose when you want to help, and be clear in your intentions of wanting to help your kids thrive in adulthood on their own.

Related Content

• How to Decide How Much Money You Can Afford to Gift in Your Lifetime
• If You're in Your 50s or Nearing Retirement, Protecting Your Well-Being Is as Important as Protecting Your Savings
• Turning Everyday Spending into Free Flights, Hotel Rooms and More
• The Secret to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness? It Isn't Money. A Financial Planner's Take on the American Dream
• Should You Buy a Beach House? The Truth About Vacation Homes, From a Financial Planner

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Welcome to Kiplinger's My First $1 Million series, in which we hear from people who have made $1 million.

They're sharing how they did it and what they're doing with it. This time, we hear from a married 60-year-old transportation truck driver based in Jordan, Minnesota. He reports that he grew up north of the Twin Cities and currently pulls in $130,000 a year.

See our earlier profiles, including a writer in New England, a literacy interventionist in Colorado, a semiretired entrepreneur in Nashville and an events industry CEO in Northern New Jersey. (See all of the profiles here.)

Each profile features one person or couple, who will always be completely anonymous to readers, answering questions to help our readers learn from their experience.

These features are intended to provide a window into how different people build their savings — they're not intended to provide financial advice.

To learn what these millionaires have taught us, check out the articles 5 Key Insights We Learned From 50 Millionaires and 5 Things 50 Millionaires Wish They'd Known Before They Retired.

And to hear more about My First $1 Million, you can check out this podcast with bestselling author and tax attorney Toby Mathis:

The Basics

How did you make your first $1 million?

I started investing in a 401(k) at 26 years old. Followed advice from wife's grandfather.

My mom was a single parent and lived her whole life paycheck-to-paycheck. Even in retirement for her, she had to go back to work to make ends meet.

I was determined I did not want that.

What are you doing with the money?

It's all being managed by Fidelity in their proprietary investment portfolios.

We do plan on at least one family trip a year with our kids, but that's not being paid with the investment accounts, but rather our regular income.

The Fun Stuff

Did you do anything to celebrate?

Not really, but someday we will for our anniversary. I used to tease my wife we were due for a board meeting. I would take her out to dinner every time $100,000 was made.

She never knew what I was talking about until I had over a million saved up.

What is the best part of making $1 million?

The security of believing you are going to be OK and don't have to worry about money if you live within your means the rest of your life and just live off of the money your money makes.

Did your life change?

No, not really.

Does anyone know you're a millionaire?

Fidelity and my kids know, but outside of that, I just tell people I'm set for retirement and that I won't have to work anymore after I feel I'm done.

Any plans to retire early?

I was let go from my previous job after a part of the company I worked for closed that department. Not planning on retiring until 65 because I don't like the idea of paying for my health insurance. And I still like working and being around people.

Looking Back

Anything you would do differently?

I took $50,000 out of my 401(k) at about 40 years old to buy a business. Three years later, the business was broke, and we were going to be getting foreclosed on our home.

Business got sold, and we did a short sale on our house.

My balance on the 401(k) was probably around $125,000 before I took that money out.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Automatic withdrawal is the best thing. You don't see it, you don't spend it.

My first suggestion was going to be to not splurge on toys, but I have always been able to save some money up to buy old cars, motorcycles and snowmobiles and pay cash for them, and I consider them an investment as well.

Did you read any books that helped you on your journey?

We did a Learn the Stock Market class through local community education related to investing, but I did read a lot of MarketWatch and Yahoo Finance and have a Motley Fool membership, so I was always reading something and had a decent idea as to what was going on with the market.

Did you work with a financial adviser?

Not until I was let go from my previous work. I have had an account with Fidelity for the last 15 years and was investing everything on my own until I was let go.

Then I signed up for Fidelity's program, and they have been managing my investments for the last six months.

Did anyone help you early on?

My wife's grandfather showed me how to diversify my accounts.

Looking Ahead

Plans for your next $1 million?

I'm going to keep working and starting all over again with a new 401(k) and an HSA account. I doubt I will get there on the new job's 401(k), but if I keep working to 65, the Fidelity account alone, with an average return, will be $1.7 million.

Any advice for others trying to make their first $1 million?

Starting at a younger age gives you a head start. And the hardest dollars saved are the first few. Compound interest is your best friend.

Do you have an estate plan?

I have a living will, but we have not sat down and divided up every asset yet. That's for sure on the to-do list this year.

What do you wish you'd known …

When you first started saving? Invest your first amount of money to get your company match, and then after that invest as much as you can in an after-tax Roth account.

When you first started working with a financial professional? I have had three different ones. First guy was a family friend, and I trusted him with my investments 100%. Unfortunately, he passed away at a very young age.

Second one took over my accounts, and I couldn't get my money away from him fast enough.

The third one is who I have now with Fidelity.

When you first started investing? I started after talking to my wife's grandpa, and he started me on the right foot with diversification. I would bring my company investment selections to him to let him look at them. And it was usually mostly in an S&P fund, then a Nasdaq fund and usually some international funds, too.

Also, how a nice $10,000 investment can turn into a life-changing investment. Such as an Amazon or even Google. Let it ride and don't touch it.

I was fortunate to be riding the Nvidia wave, but I started with about $1,000 — which is now $27,000 or so. If that had been $10,000, oh my!

If you have made $1 million or more and would like to be anonymously featured in a future My First $1 Million profile, please fill out and submit this Google Form or send an email to MyFirstMillion@futurenet.com to receive the questions. We welcome all stories that add up to $1 million or more in your accounts, although we will use discretion in which stories we choose to publish, to ensure we share a diversity of experiences. We also might want to verify that you really do have $1 million. Your answers may be edited for clarity.

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Let's play a little "would you rather," retirement edition.

Would you rather retire somewhere warm or somewhere warm? Somewhere you can get a tee time, or somewhere you can also get a tee time? Somewhere popular among retirees or… you get the idea.

The playground version of "would you rather" pits opposites against each other: hot or cold, sweet or sour. But one of the biggest decisions of your life — where to retire — often comes down to two places that, on paper, both sound good. According to the moving-services platform HireAHelper, more than 2 million people aged 65 and older were essentially playing this game in 2025.

Take Naples, Florida, and Palm Springs, California. Both are sun-soaked, golf-mad, upscale havens that have been drawing retirees for decades.

Look closer, though — at the taxes, the risks, the culture, the whole character of each place — and the similarities fall away fast. Get past the sunshine, and one of them is probably a much better fit for your next chapter than the other. Here's how they stack up.

What to know about retiring in Naples, Florida

When you picture the Sunshine State, you probably think sandy beige and ocean blue. In Naples, the defining color might be fairway green. It's the self-titled "Golf Capital of the World," with the second-most golf holes per capita of any U.S. city.

So, head in any direction, and you’ll likely run into a golf course or a millionaire, since Naples also has one of the highest concentrations of them per capita in the country.

The price of this side of paradise

Cost of living matters at any age, but especially in retirement when living on a fixed income. It's usually dominated by one thing: housing. Naples is a case in point. Overall, the Economic Research Institute pegs the city's cost of living at about 29% above the national average, but everyday expenses — groceries, utilities, gas — actually run close to or just below the national norm.

The median home sale price is around $1.2 million, according to Redfin, with rents typically $2,000 to $2,500 a month. Set against a median household income near $153,000, it's a market that rewards those who arrive with equity already in hand.

What the taxman takes

Here's where Naples really shines. If you love the word 'no' and hate taxes, this is the place for you because Florida is about as tax-friendly as retirement gets. No state income tax. No tax on Social Security, pensions or 401(k)/IRA withdrawals. No estate or inheritance tax. For a retiree drawing down a pension and retirement accounts, that can mean keeping thousands of dollars a year that other states would claim.

Still, as nice as it is to worry less about taxes, it’s rarely the sole reason people choose Florida. "Clients do not move to Naples just to save on taxes," says Patrick Huey, a CFP® and founder of Victory Independent Planning in Naples. "They move because they want to enjoy the lifestyle, and then we test whether the numbers support that decision."

When you need a doctor

Retirement and healthcare go hand in hand, and Naples delivers. NCH (Naples Comprehensive Health) has been named one of Healthgrades' America's 50 Best Hospitals — the top 1% nationally — and is a Mayo Clinic Care Network member. It is also the region's only Joint Commission-accredited Comprehensive Stroke Center.

Sunshine… with an asterisk or two

Naples is known for warm, sunny days averaging around 83°F. But you can have too much of a good thing. The area logged 53 days with a heat index of 105°F or higher in 2023.

And there's a bigger asterisk. Hurricane season runs June through November, and Naples' low coastal elevation leaves it exposed to storm surge and flooding (Hurricane Ian hit in 2022; Helene and Milton followed in 2024). Redfin flags nearly all Naples properties as facing severe flood and wind risk over the next 30 years. That risk shows up on the bill. Home insurance averages around $9,660 a year for $300,000 in coverage, with flood insurance a separate policy on top.

Huey points to the ongoing cost of property and casualty coverage as the real planning issue in coastal Florida. "For many retirees, the question is no longer simply, 'Can I afford to buy here?' It is, 'Can I comfortably carry this house for the next 20 or 30 years when insurance, maintenance, and association costs are layered on top?'" he says.

His firm has even rewritten a client's retirement plan so they could move out of a floodplain and cut decades of insurance costs. As he puts it, insurance "is what increasingly determines whether the plan will help them sleep at night."

The Naples vibe check

AARP gives Naples an overall Livability Index score of 55 — solid, though dragged down by a low "opportunity" score (fitting for a place more about winding down than climbing up). With a median age of 67.3, this is unmistakably an older community, and a very safe one, with violent crime well below the national average.

It's also politically conservative and roughly 89% white. The lifestyle is upscale and traditional: white-sand Gulf beaches, luxury shopping along Fifth Avenue South and Third Street South, fine dining, and culture at Artis–Naples and The Baker Museum.

"People choose to retire here because they are buying a lifestyle as much as a tax profile," Huey says. "Warm winters, access to the water, strong golf and social communities, and the feeling of being in a place built around retirement all matter a great deal."

What to know about retiring in Palm Springs, Califonia

Tucked into the Sonoran Desert two hours east of Los Angeles, Palm Springs made its name on hot springs, stylish hotels, golf and spas. It’s a glamorous throwback to the era of Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe and mid-century Hollywood. It's been a retiree magnet since the 1970s, drawing people who want an active, artful, unapologetically freer version of retirement.

The price of this side of paradise

Like Naples, Palm Springs isn't cheap. The Economic Research Institute puts its cost of living at about 29% above the national average too, essentially neck-and-neck with Naples. The difference is what it costs to get in the door. The median home sale price is around $590,000, per Redfin — roughly half of Naples' — with rents running roughly $1,480 to $1,970 a month. Median household income sits at about $73,119, notably lower than Naples, reflecting a broader mix of residents.

What the taxman takes

If Naples is the taxman's friend, Palm Springs is where he collects. California is among the least tax-friendly states for retirees with heavy pension and 401(k) income. Social Security is exempt, but pensions and IRA/401(k) withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income at rates from 1% up to 13.3% — the highest top rate in the nation — with most retirees landing near a 9.3% marginal rate.

The one bright spot for legacy-minded retirees: like Florida, California levies no estate or inheritance tax.

"The biggest drawback is California's income tax,” says Joon Um, a CFP® and advisor at Secure Tax & Accounting in Beverly Hills. But he points out that "most retirees are nowhere near the 13.3% top rate" (for state tax).

Um says retirees can manage the bite through "Roth conversions, managing withdrawals before RMDs, and using a mix of taxable, IRA, and Roth accounts to better control taxable income."

Even so, he adds, the tax hit often isn't the deciding factor: "Many retirees accept the higher taxes for California's weather, lifestyle, family and healthcare. Taxes matter, but lifestyle often matters just as much."

When you need a doctor

If the hot springs can't cure what ails you, the medical care can. Desert Regional Medical Center sits right in the city, a Level II trauma center, graded "B" for safety by Leapfrog. And a short drive away in Rancho Mirage, Eisenhower Health earned Leapfrog's top "A" grade for 10 straight cycles and ranks as the #1 hospital in the Riverside County–San Bernardino metro by U.S. News.

Sunshine … with an asterisk or three

This is the desert, so sunshine is the whole point. The area boasts about 300 days of it a year and less than five inches of rain. Winters are glorious, with highs in the 60s and 70s. Summers are the catch, with triple digits for months on end, frequently topping 108°F.

The other asterisks are geological and environmental. The San Andreas Fault runs through the region (earthquake coverage is a separate policy through the California Earthquake Authority), and the area faces extreme drought plus some wildfire and flash-flood risk. The state's broader insurance market is under strain, but Palm Springs proper is less exposed than California's fire country.

The Palm Springs vibe check

AARP scores Palm Springs a 49 on its Livability Index. The environment is its weak spot, a common knock on Southern California, thanks to air pollution. With a median age of about 57, it skews a touch younger than Naples, and the vibe follows.

This is active, sociable retirement. Palm Springs is also one of the most prominent LGBTQ communities in America, with among the highest concentrations of same-sex couples of any U.S. city, and that openness shapes its whole character. It's a mid-century-modern design mecca (Modernism Week is a marquee event), with a lively arts scene (the Palm Springs Art Museum, galleries, a film festival), golf and serious outdoor recreation, from hiking the Indian Canyons to riding the Aerial Tramway up Mt. San Jacinto.

While crime is slightly higher here than in Naples, it’s generally property crime, the bane of resort towns.

So, would you rather?

The choice isn't really about weather or golf since both cities have those in spades. Naples rewards you at tax time and with a genteel, traditional feel, if you can clear the higher cost of buying a home and stomach hurricane season. Palm Springs asks more of you at tax time and costs less to enter, trading hurricanes for heat and earthquakes while giving you a livelier, more diverse, more design-forward scene.

The right answer comes down to your priorities, your budget, and perhaps your politics just as much as your postcard. But if choosing between two sun-drenched havens is your biggest retirement dilemma, that's a pretty good problem to have.

Read More on Where to Retire

• Best Places to Retire in the US
• 7 Great Places to Retire in Florida
• The 'Florida Flip' for Roth Conversions: How to Use a No-Tax State to Lower RMDs
• 10 Reasons You Don't Want to Retire in Florida

Using an independent ATM can cost you a few dollars in fees. But if you paid a surcharge to withdraw cash from a nonbank ATM, you could be eligible for money from a $167.5 million Visa and Mastercard settlement.

The class-action lawsuit alleged that Visa and Mastercard violated antitrust laws by preventing independent ATM operators from charging lower fees when transactions could be processed over less expensive competing networks. The plaintiffs argued that those rules caused consumers to pay higher ATM fees than they otherwise would have. Visa and Mastercard deny wrongdoing but agreed to the settlement.

Consumers who paid an unreimbursed surcharge at an independent ATM between October 24, 2007, and August 14, 2026, may qualify for a payment. Claims are now open, and eligible consumers have until February 10, 2027, to submit a claim.

Who qualifies for the Visa and Mastercard ATM settlement?

According to the settlement website, customers may qualify if they paid a surcharge to withdraw cash from a deposit account at an independent ATM between October 24, 2007, and August 14, 2026. The ATM must have been located in the U.S. or its territories, and the customer's bank must not have fully reimbursed the fee.

Independent ATMs are machines that aren't owned by a bank or other financial institution. You might find them at convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores, bars and other businesses. To qualify, customers must have made the withdrawal using an ATM or PIN-debit card.

Credit card cash advances and prepaid-card transactions aren't included in the settlement.

How much could you receive?

The settlement fund totals $167.5 million, but individual payment amounts will vary. How much you receive will depend on factors including the number of valid claims and qualifying ATM transactions.

The fund will also be used to pay attorneys' fees and expenses, settlement administration costs, taxes and service awards to class representatives. The remaining money will be distributed among eligible claimants.

How to file a claim

You can submit a claim online through the official settlement website. The form asks for basic contact information, including your mailing address, phone number and email address. You'll also be asked to estimate the number of qualifying ATM transactions you made during the eligibility period.

You don't need to provide documentation when you submit your claim. However, the claims administrator may later ask for bank statements or other documents to support it. Claims are submitted under penalty of perjury, so your information must be accurate to the best of your knowledge.

Claims must be submitted by February 10, 2027.

Why Visa and Mastercard agreed to the settlement

Visa and Mastercard faced allegations that their network rules violated antitrust laws by preventing independent ATM operators from charging lower fees when transactions could be processed through less expensive competing networks.

Plaintiffs argued that those restrictions caused consumers to pay higher ATM fees than they otherwise would have.

Visa and Mastercard deny wrongdoing but agreed to pay $167.5 million to settle the claims.

Key dates to know

As the class-action settlement moves forward, keep these key dates in mind:

• December 11, 2026: This is the deadline to object to or exclude yourself from the settlement. Objections must be postmarked by this date. If you want to retain your right to sue Visa or Mastercard separately over the claims covered by this case, your request to be excluded must be received by December 11. If you exclude yourself, you won't be eligible for a settlement payment.
• February 10, 2027: Claims must be submitted by this date to be eligible for a payment. If you're mailing your claim, make sure it arrives by the deadline.
• February 17, 2027: The final approval hearing is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET. The court will consider whether to approve the settlement. If the settlement is approved and appeals are filed, payments can't be distributed until those appeals are resolved.

When will ATM settlement payments be sent?

According to the official settlement website, the claims administrator expects to send payments within six months of final approval if no appeals are filed. If there are appeals, payments will be delayed until they are resolved.

If you think you qualify for a payment, submit your claim before the February 10, 2027, deadline. After that, keep an eye on the official settlement website for updates on final approval and when payments will be distributed.

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If you're already contributing enough to capture your full 401(k) match, you've got the basics covered. The bigger opportunities — and the ones I see even diligent savers miss — are found a level up from there.

After more than a decade of helping people build their retirement plans as a CFP® professional, I've found that most people stop optimizing right after the match.

Other savings accounts and strategies that could work in their favor go unused for years, not because they're complicated, but because nobody ever walked through them step by step.

Here are five that can make a meaningful difference for people who are already saving well and want to do more.

1. Take advantage of an HSA's triple tax benefits

If you're eligible to contribute to a health savings account (HSA), it may be the most underused account you have.

HSAs offer a rare triple tax advantage: Contributions can be made pretax or may be deductible, earnings grow tax-free, and withdrawals are tax-free when used for qualified medical expenses.

For 2026, you can contribute up to $4,400 for self-only coverage or $8,750 for family coverage, plus another $1,000 if you're 55 or older.

Most people treat their HSA like a checking account for copays and prescriptions. You don't have to. You can pay medical costs out of pocket now, let the HSA grow untouched for decades and reimburse yourself years later, as long as the expenses were incurred after you established the HSA, weren't previously reimbursed or deducted and you kept adequate records.

I've worked with people in their 50s who'd been quietly saving old medical receipts for this exact reason, without ever calling it a strategy. Used that way, an HSA functions like one of the most tax-advantaged retirement accounts you have access to, not just a place to park money for copays.

2. Choose pretax or Roth in your 401(k) on purpose

Most people never actively decide between pretax and Roth contributions. Their 401(k) defaults to whatever the plan set up on day one, and they never revisit it. I've reviewed plans for people who hadn't looked at this choice in over a decade, even though their income, and the right answer for them, had changed completely in that time.

The difference matters. Pretax contributions generally reduce your taxable income now, while withdrawals are generally taxed as ordinary income later. Meanwhile, Roth contributions don't provide a current deduction, but qualified withdrawals are tax-free.

A useful starting point is to compare your marginal tax rate today with the rate you reasonably expect when the money is withdrawn. Keep in mind future required minimum distributions (RMDs), tax-law uncertainty, and the value of having both taxable and tax-free income sources in retirement.

For 2026, the 401(k) employee deferral limit is $24,500, with an additional $8,000 available if you're 50 or older.

One change worth flagging for this year: If your 2025 FICA wages from the employer sponsoring the plan exceeded $150,000, your 2026 catch-up contributions generally must be made as Roth contributions. It's a rule that's easy to miss.

There's no universal right answer here, only the one that fits your specific tax situation. Modeling your expected income and tax bracket in retirement with a retirement planning tool can help you make that call instead of guessing. (Note: I'm head of support and a financial planning educator at Boldin.) Make it a real decision, not a default.

3. Look into a mega backdoor Roth if you still have room to save

This one is for higher earners who've maxed out the accounts above and still have money left over to put away.

If your 401(k) plan allows after-tax contributions, separate from Roth contributions, you may be able to save well beyond the standard deferral limit. For 2026, the combined 401(k) employee-and-employer contribution limit is $72,000, or 100% of your compensation if less.

Catch-up contributions generally sit on top of that limit, potentially bringing the total to $80,000 if you're 50 or older, or $83,250 if you qualify for the higher age-60-to-63 "super" catch-up.

Once you've maxed your regular deferral and accounted for any employer contributions, the remaining room can sometimes be filled with after-tax dollars, then converted to Roth, either through an in-plan conversion or an in-service rollover to a Roth IRA.

This only works if your plan specifically permits both after-tax contributions and one of those conversion paths, so call your HR department or plan administrator before assuming it's available. Not every plan offers it, but for the people it fits, it's one of the more overlooked ways to build tax-free savings.

4. Stack a backdoor Roth IRA on top of your mega backdoor Roth

If you've just read about the mega backdoor Roth and assumed you've now used up your Roth options for the year, you haven't.

A backdoor Roth IRA lets high earners get money into a Roth IRA even after they've been phased out of contributing directly. You contribute to a traditional IRA on a non-deductible basis, then convert it to Roth shortly after. For 2026, the IRA contribution limit is $7,500, plus $1,100 more if you're 50 or older.

Here's the part I get asked about constantly: Your IRA contribution limit is separate from the limits that apply to your workplace plan. If you're otherwise eligible for each strategy, you can fund a backdoor Roth IRA and execute a mega backdoor Roth in the same year.

The one thing that can complicate a backdoor Roth IRA is the IRS's pro-rata rule, which requires you to consider all of your traditional, SEP and SIMPLE IRA balances together when calculating the tax on a conversion.

The calculation looks at the year-end value of all of those IRAs, not just the account holding your nondeductible contribution.

A mega backdoor Roth, whether converted inside your workplace plan or rolled directly to a Roth IRA, generally doesn't count toward those IRA balances.

If you don't have pretax traditional, SEP or SIMPLE IRA money sitting around, the backdoor Roth IRA stays clean from a tax standpoint. Either strategy can have tax consequences, so confirm the details with your CPA before you move any money.

5. Don't underestimate a plain taxable brokerage account

After three accounts built around tax breaks and rules, a taxable brokerage account can feel almost boring by comparison. But it doesn't get nearly enough credit.

There's no statutory contribution limit, no income cap and no early withdrawal penalty. You can invest as much as you want and sell investments or withdraw cash whenever you want, although selling appreciated investments can create a taxable gain.

That flexibility is rare among the accounts on this list, especially if you're hoping to retire before 59½ and need a bridge to cover expenses before your retirement accounts are penalty-free.

The tax treatment isn't as generous as a Roth or an HSA, but it's still better than most people assume. Long-term capital gains and qualified dividends get preferential rates, not your ordinary income rate.

For 2026, the 0% federal long-term capital gains bracket for married couples filing jointly extends through $98,900 of taxable income. Ordinary taxable income uses that bracket first, so only gains that fall within the remaining space qualify for the 0% rate.

There's also tax-loss harvesting: Selling an investment at a loss to offset capital gains and potentially up to $3,000 of ordinary income, subject to rules such as the wash-sale rule, something you simply can't do inside a 401(k) or IRA.

I've worked with many who treat their brokerage account as an afterthought, something they'll "get to eventually" once the tax-advantaged accounts are maxed. Fund it on purpose instead, particularly if flexibility and access before retirement age matter to your plan.

These add up faster than you'd think

Some of these moves require additional savings, while others change the tax treatment or destination of money you're already saving. The goal is to direct each additional dollar toward the account that best supports your plan.

That distinction compounds. A few percentage points redirected toward a Roth or an HSA in your 50s can mean a different tax bill in your 70s and 80s.

I've watched people run these strategies side by side and see for themselves how much of a difference the right combination makes over 20 or 30 years.

You don't need to implement all five at once. Start by identifying which strategies are available to you, then prioritize the one that best fits your tax situation, savings capacity and need for flexibility.

Before you know it, you will be on your way to a confident retirement knowing that you have optimized your savings.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

From meal planning and research to fact-checking, copy editing and document summarization, artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly altering the contours of daily life, becoming as indispensable as a basic internet connection.

But AI is not a magic wand. It's a tool that, when used responsibly, can improve efficiency and fill in specific knowledge gaps.

Within financial services, AI is becoming a bigger factor, both at the adviser level and among consumers, who have more access than ever to educational tools to support planning and investing.

In some ways, this access can be beneficial to consumers and participants, giving them unprecedented access to resources that help them be more involved and invested in their financial planning.

1. Everyday efficiency

I'm probably not the only person who uses ChatGPT to help with shopping and meal planning. With a single prompt, I have a ready-made grocery list and budget-friendly dinner plan built around my specific tastes and dietary guidelines.

Could I achieve the same thing by flipping through cookbooks or doing a Google search? Probably. But it would take a lot longer to sift through all the recipes that don't meet my criteria.

In finance, AI can serve a similar purpose, helping potential investors to get the lay of the land. Someone can use it to compare two investment options or learn about complementary opportunities.

It's a low-stakes way to familiarize yourself with the dizzying array of investment options.

2. Learning and definitions

AI is a great learning tool. At a basic level, you can use Claude or ChatGPT to provide definitions for common terminology: What is a stock? What is a bond?

Of course, Google does the same thing, but AI does it more efficiently and effectively.

3. Fact-checking professionals

Though AI can't replace a professional, it is effective for fact-checking, much in the way that patients can consult with another doctor to get a second opinion.

Humans are fallible (though they're less prone to errors than their robotic cohorts), so it's always healthy to do some quick fact-checking

However, when it comes to your finances, AI is not, and can't be, a substitute for professional expertise. It can't replace the empathy and connection that another human can provide.

4. Bad prompts produce errors

Ever heard of "garbage in, garbage out"? If you give AI a confusing prompt, you're likely to get a muddled answer.

I experienced this firsthand during planning for a group bike trip. As an avid cyclist, I turned to my trusty AI assistant to help plan a multiday bike route for me and some of my colleagues.

Apparently, something in my prompt was confusing, and on the last day, instead of setting out on a 30-mile ride, we discovered that it was, in fact, an 80-mile route.

I learned a hard lesson: Clarity is everything, and even small errors can lead to mistakes that you might not catch until it's too late.

5. Easily confused

AI is not great at juggling multiple thoughts at once. Specifically, it can conflate similar-sounding but different concepts such as a separately managed account vs an adviser-managed account, or a retirement-plan brokerage window vs a retail-brokerage account.

While these distinctions might seem small to the layperson, they're important because they involve different fee structures, governance and access rules. AI can slip up when multiple concepts converge, even if it gets them right individually.

6. Bias and data limitations

Studies have shown that large language models (LLMs) have consistently demonstrated bias across categories such as gender, race and age. While this is a discrimination problem, it also contributes to functional errors as diversity of thought leads to better, more accurate outputs.

Even in a perfect world, Claude or ChatGPT could never replace your doctor, lawyer or financial adviser. People want to look across the table at someone they trust when discussing critical issues such as their health and finances.

They also want accountability. A couple of years ago, I started working with a running coach. If you're not an avid runner, the idea of a coach might seem ridiculous. Running is just putting one foot in front of the other, right?

Well, in addition to helping with training, sleep and diet, my coach keeps me accountable. I pay for a coach not because I don't know how to run, but because someone showing up to my house in the morning keeps me accountable. I won't skip a run if I know Jeremy is going to be there. AI is not going to solve that issue.

Likewise, the value of the adviser-client relationship is accountability, trust and follow-through. As an investor, AI can be a useful tool to help you become more efficient and better informed, but it will never be a substitute for your financial adviser. Supplement, don't supplant.

You're likely not the only one using AI. Your financial adviser might use it, too, which is OK, even smart, but you're entitled to know how they're using it and make that part of the decision-making process.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Imagine this: You receive a check with the proceeds of an inheritance. Whether you were expecting it or not, the question now is: What do you do with it?

Here's where you might run into some problems. If the amount is larger than $10,000, most banks won't accept a mobile deposit. A Kiplinger colleague recently experienced this after losing a loved one and encountered unexpected challenges.

The check arrived, but they couldn't deposit it electronically. Another issue? They didn't live close to any of their bank's brick-and-mortar branches. If you find yourself in a similar situation, here's what to do.

Ask your bank for solutions

My colleague reached out to their bank, which suggested overnighting the check. If you go this route, send the check via certified mail, then you can track the package and have proof that the bank received it.

But mailing a large check can be uncomfortable for many, including my colleague. If you don't want to mail your check, contact your bank directly to explain your situation.

Chances are, they'll find ways to work with you. Banks usually set deposit limits based on your average daily balance and account age for both savings and investing accounts such as IRAs. Yet, they'll give you more clout when depositing a larger amount.

Other ways to deposit your beneficiary check

Some banks partner with other institutions. This is more prevalent with credit unions. If you don't have a local physical branch, a partner institution might, allowing you to conduct in-person transactions seamlessly.

Another option is to contact the will's executor. Ask them to cancel the check and wire your funds electronically. This can bypass any deposit limits the bank imposes, giving you quicker access to your funds.

My colleague reached out to their brokerage firm for help. The firm eventually decided to send someone to their house to pick up the check for deposit. This is likely a last resort, as many banks don't have the resources or won't offer that service.

Once you deposit your inheritance check, another question emerges: What do you do with the funds?

Buy yourself some time with this step

Proper planning goes a long way to ensure the gift you receive helps you achieve your goals. I recommend opening a high-yield savings account, a money market account or a short-term CD until you decide if there's anything further or more specific you want to do with the funds.

Look for online banks since they offer higher APYs, lower fees and many accept mobile deposits. On the high-yield savings end, here's a smart recommendation:

Money market accounts are great if you want to grow your cash with the purchasing power of a checking account. Keep in mind that some banks set transaction limits, so this account works best for someone who wants guaranteed returns while making minimal transactions.

Meanwhile, a CD locks in a decent rate of return without market volatility, thanks to its fixed interest rate. I recommend a short-term option of three to six months or a jumbo CD (if the deposit is $50,000 or more) to earn a sizable return while you figure out next steps.

Use this Bankrate tool to find and compare options fast:

When choosing an account, look for FDIC insurance. This protects your deposit up to $250,000 per account holder, giving you peace of mind.

Once you choose a savings account, do this next.

Set goals to create lasting wealth

Your loved one left you a valuable resource. It's up to you to determine what to do with it. If you haven't been in a position in which you've had this much money before, my first tip is to find a reputable financial adviser or personal banker.

When searching for a financial adviser, look for the following qualities:

• Fiduciary designation. This ensures they act in your best interest rather than prioritizing commissions or sales targets.
• Reputation. Read client feedback to gauge trustworthiness. Common complaints across reviews can point to recurring issues you might experience too.
• Personal. Find an adviser who asks open-ended questions about your financial goals and values rather than boxing you into a one-size-fits-all approach.
• Services. Can they cover all your financial needs, such as retirement planning, tax strategies, asset allocation and estate planning?
• Proactivity. Goals evolve. Look for an adviser who commits to meeting regularly, so they can update plans as priorities change.

One of the best things about working with a reputable financial adviser is that they can take some of the planning off your plate. Once they understand your goals and values, they can tailor a plan to pay off debt, save/invest, plan your estate and address any other financial concerns you might have.

If you don't have an adviser yet, you can use this Bankrate tool to find a reputable one quickly:

Ultimately, receiving an inheritance check can be a challenging process at a time when you're experiencing the fog of grief. However, by following these steps, you can find the right deposit solutions, give yourself time to figure things out and develop a plan that helps you build wealth now and well into the future, as the gift was intended.

Related content

• Manage an Inheritance Like a Pro in Just 7 Steps
• What Kind of Heir Are You? Take Our Quiz to Reveal Your Money Style
• No One Wants to Ask Their Aging Parents About Their Finances, But Here's How
• Where to Put Inherited Money: What to Do After You Receive a Lump Sum
• How Real Families Are Handling The Great Wealth Transfer

If you thought of your client's career as an investment, what would it be? Would it be safe, like a bond? Or risky, like a stock?

Conventional wisdom says a person's career is more like a bond. The rationale is simple: Most people receive a relatively stable paycheck, so their career income has low volatility.

From there, the traditional advice follows that younger people can afford to take more risk in their investment portfolios and then gradually reduce their equity exposure as they approach retirement.

The logic sounds reasonable as a rule of thumb. The problem is that it's disconnected from how careers actually work. For starters, volatility and risk are not the same thing.

What can go wrong with a career?

Think about some of the risks embedded in human capital:

• Job loss. Career income is illiquid. You can sell a bond whenever you want, but you have to work to get paid. Even a temporary disruption to income can create a cash crunch.
• Disability. This is an obvious risk for certain professions, such as professional athletes, but an unexpected health event can leave anyone temporarily or permanently unable to work.
• Death. For someone with dependents, this raises a very practical question: What happens to my spouse or children if my income disappears?
• Displacement. This risk is particularly relevant in the age of AI. It's anyone's best guess which jobs and industries will be disrupted over the next decade.
• Professional liability. Doctors, lawyers, accountants, executives and others may have substantial career risk tied to litigation or professional mistakes.
• Skill. Career success isn't guaranteed. You may be a CEO spending as though you have another 10 years of high income ahead of you, but a few bad decisions can quickly bring humility to those expectations.
• Volatility. And yes, volatility matters too. Income can fluctuate considerably for people who rely on bonuses, commissions, equity compensation or other forms of variable pay.

Are all these risks important for every client? No, every career is different, and that's a key point.

Looking only at the volatility of somebody's paycheck misses the bigger picture. Human capital isn't a "safe" income stream that we can simply drop into a Monte Carlo simulation. It is a major source of wealth with its own liquidity, concentration, personal and economic risks.

The good news: Many of these risks are manageable

Many of these problems have solutions. A reserve fund can cover expenses during a job loss, buying someone time to find the right next position instead of taking the first available paycheck. Insurance can address disability, death and professional liability risks.

The investment portfolio can also play a role. If a client works in technology and much of their future wealth already depends on the technology sector, maybe their portfolio should have less exposure to tech stocks.

The portfolio can help diversify risks that already exist elsewhere in the client's financial structure.

Of course, not every career risk can be neatly hedged. If AI displaces your job, the solution may involve retraining, changing industries or reducing spending for a period.

Professional liability insurance may cover a malpractice settlement, but it doesn't find you another job. Disability insurance can replace some income, but it generally can't re-create the full economic value of a career.

Risk management doesn't mean eliminating uncertainty. It means identifying the things that could materially affect the client and putting practical protections in place where you can.

So what type of asset is human capital?

In my view, human capital looks much more like a private business than a bond.

Start with the opportunity. For most people, their career is one of the most important engines for wealth creation. Outside of the ultra-wealthy (and even many of those families originally created their wealth through somebody's career or business), human capital is often responsible for producing the majority of lifetime wealth.

Then consider the risks. Like a private business, human capital is:

• Illiquid. You have to work to realize its value. You can't sell 20% of your career tomorrow because you need cash.
• Concentrated. Your eggs are largely in one basket. An injury can end an athlete's career just as a professional mistake can materially impair the career of a doctor, lawyer or executive.
• Non-tradeable. You can't exchange careers with somebody else. If your profession becomes obsolete and you need to retrain, you may be starting over.
• Uncertain. You own both the upside and downside of your future earnings. The result will depend on some combination of skill, effort and luck.

Once you start thinking about human capital this way, the planning implications become more interesting. Instead of simply saying, "You're young, so you can own more stocks," an adviser can ask more useful questions:

• How resilient is this person's career?
• How accessible is their wealth?
• What happens if their income disappears?
• Is their investment portfolio doubling down on risks they already have through their job?
• What protections would allow them to take career or investment risk more confidently?

Those questions get us much closer to real risk management.

Human capital can also offset bad luck

Human capital isn't just something we need to protect. It can be an important risk management tool in itself.

Imagine someone is about to retire and the stock market suddenly falls 30%. If they're already retired, their options may be limited. They may need to cut spending or sell investments in a down market.

Someone who is still working has another lever available: Their career. They could delay retirement for a few years. They might work additional hours, pursue a higher-paying role or temporarily trade some work-life balance for additional income.

None of those choices is necessarily desirable, but having the option is valuable.

This flexibility can offset bad luck elsewhere in the financial structure, and that has implications for the portfolio. Someone with significant career flexibility may reasonably be able to tolerate more investment risk because they have another resource available if markets disappoint.

The opposite may be true for retirees, or even for younger individuals with fewer marketable skills.

Of course, the right approach depends on how human capital relates to the broader financial picture and interacts with an individual's unique risks.

Bringing human capital into the total wealth picture

Ultimately, I don't think advisers should treat human capital as a safe bond or simply as another line item in a planning projection.

It is a unique asset that creates wealth and carries risks. It can be protected with reserves, insurance and diversification. And, because careers give people the ability to adapt their future income, human capital can sometimes help absorb bad outcomes elsewhere.

That's why it belongs in the same conversation as the investment portfolio, private assets, real estate, liabilities, insurance and other components of a client's total wealth.

Advisers are in a unique position to see all those pieces together. When you understand the client's career as part of that broader financial structure, you can move beyond simplistic rules of thumb and start asking a more useful question:

What can we do to help the client navigate their key risks and maximize their wealth potential?

Related Content

• The Bear Market Protocol: 3 Strategies to Consider in a Down Market
• Why Company Stock May Be Riskier Than Employees Realize
• Taming Risk: Offensive vs Defensive Investing Strategies
• The Retirement Mindset Shift: Deciding When to Ease Off Risk
• Starting to Advise Ultra-Rich Clients? Don't Rebuild Your Firm, Just Rethink It

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

As part of our Trillion Dollar Talk campaign, Kiplinger editors — Alexandra Svokos, Kiplinger digital managing editor and Diane Harris, Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine deputy editor — brought together three of our favorite experts to discuss inheritance.

We had an invigorating conversation about how families can approach these conversations and the types of problems that often come up, as well as highlighting possible solutions for those scenarios.

Joining us for our panel conversation were: Valerie Galinskaya, managing director and head of the Merrill Center for Family Wealth®; Brad Klontz, associate professor of practice in financial psychology at Creighton University Heider College of Business; and Ryan Coon, attorney at Anderson Advisors and J.D. from Willamette University.

Watch the full conversation here:

During this episode of Kiplinger Conversations, we asked viewers to send us their questions. Here's a round-up of those questions, along with our responses. If you have questions on this topic, please reach out to us at KipInheritanceTalk@futurenet.com.

We will do our best to answer as many questions as we can, and your questions might inspire future articles for Kiplinger. The answers provided by our editors are for general informational purposes only. Not all questions submitted will be published, and some will be edited for clarity.

1. Addressing specific numbers.

Question: The overarching question is, how do you have an informed conversation with your adult children without having to discuss specific dollars and cents?

Diane Harris: Great question! It's a very common concern among parents, not wanting to disclose exact numbers.

And you don't need to, honestly. Your general intentions, and why you've made the decisions you've made, and what plans you have in place are what the kids need to know, not numbers. After all, those numbers can change, depending on how long you live and what your expenses will be, particularly when it comes to health or long-term care.

The critical details are not the amounts you intend to leave but whether you have a will and other estate planning documents and, if so, where to find them; the kind of assets you have (for example, do you have accounts that will pass outside of a will, property in addition to your primary residence, investment accounts, and so on); and how you plan to divide them and why.

In particular, it's important to explain your thinking if you intend an unequal distribution of assets among your children, so they understand your reasoning.

And if you have money you intend to give for specific purposes during your lifetime — say, if you plan to help pay for a wedding or assist with the down payment on a home or your grandchildren's college education — it would be good for the children to know that too, so they can plan accordingly.

Alexandra Svokos: It's not unheard of to be concerned about this. In our Trillion Dollar Talk survey, conducted by Morning Consult, we asked adult children to write in the one question they would want to ask their parents about a possible inheritance. The most common response we heard was a version of, "How much will I receive?"

On the flip side, the most common reason parents said they haven't talked to their kids about inheritance yet is that "there are too many unknowns."

Don't let this uncertainty stop the conversation from happening in the first place.

As Diane said, you don't have to lay out everything in your estate — but I would recommend you aim to give your children a ballpark idea of what's in your estate so you can both plan appropriately. Again, exact numbers aren't what matter here; you just don't want to leave them surprised and unprepared when you're gone.

Additional reading:

• We Know You'd Rather Talk to Your Kids About Politics Than Inheritance. Here's the Right Way to Have That Conversation Anyway.
• Why So Many Families Are Unprepared for the Great Wealth Transfer — and What to Do About It
• Counting on the Great Wealth Transfer? Why It May Not Pan Out the Way You Hope

2. One-on-one vs group conversations

Question: Do you feel it is better to have a family group inheritance discussion or one-on-one with each family member?

Alexandra Svokos: The answer to this largely depends on your own family dynamics. If your family regularly has open (and healthy) conversations about finance and future planning, a group setting would make sense. If, however, group settings tend to bring up arguments, you may want to start the conversations one-on-one.

Starting with a one-on-one conversation is also helpful if you're splitting an estate anything besides explicitly equally — that way, you can explain your reasoning without having to balance group dynamics, and you'll be in a space where the heir can openly ask questions to understand your decisions.

But what I would keep in mind, as Ryan said, is that it's not a one-and-done conversation. You can have both group discussions and one-on-one conversations to make sure everyone feels comfortable and confident.

Additional reading:

• The Conversation You’re Avoiding: How to Bring Up Estate Planning with Your Family

3. Handling older parents' finances

Question: My husband is an only child, and his parents own two homes. They are 88 and 87. They have made it clear that everything is coming to us and have started to gift us the max each year $76,000.

We don't know how much they have, and we don't need the money. We worry that they might need extensive care as they get older (her mother lived to 106 years old). We are keeping the money in an interest-bearing account so we can use it for them if they need it later. Are there any recommendations as to how/where we keep these funds they are gifting to us? We want to do what is best for them.

Alexandra Svokos: Thanks for your question. Long-term care costs are something many families are worrying about. In fact, our survey found that 24% of older parents fear that ongoing care costs will deplete their estate.

First and foremost, we recommend speaking to professionals for advice on your own particular case. Our answers here are for general information purposes only.

As a general principle, it's worth having a conversation to ask parents if they have their own plans for managing long-term care. They may feel comfortable making gifts because they have a plan in place, for example, and if not, you can discuss how to set up a plan and what makes sense for you both.

Again, this is generally speaking: If you have funds you may need to use within a short time span, an interest-bearing account where you can immediately access funds (like a high-yield savings account) is a decent idea. If you feel sure you won't have to use funds for a longer time period, you can consider CDs (which typically have higher rates, but lock your money in for a set time period) or investing in the market, although that comes with higher capital gains tax rates if sold within a year, and of course, more risk than, say, a locked-in CD.

Additional reading:

• No One Wants to Ask Their Aging Parents About Their Finances, But Here's How
• Where to Put Inherited Money
• Gift Tax Exclusion 2026: How Much You Can Give Tax‑Free This Year
• I Have $150,000 That I Don’t Need Anytime Soon, but I Don't Want To Put It in the Market. What Should I Do?

4. Estate planning for blended families

Question: Given the realities of today’s blended and often fractured family dynamics, is there a provision that allows us to safeguard the inheritance so it stays within the family?

Diane Harris: Yes, in blended families, as our panelists mentioned during the discussion, a will is often not sufficient to ensure your assets pass as you want them to and protect the people you love and want to provide for.

One key estate-planning tool that helps with this is a trust, which allows you to make stipulations — for example, you might set up a trust in a way that provides for a surviving spouse during his or her lifetime but then ensures that the remaining assets will pass to your children from a previous union. Whatever the specifics you want to put in place, a trust is often a good tool. Laying out your intention for personal property in a letter of intent, while not legally binding, is also often helpful.

Often the most contentious items in an estate — in all families, not just blended ones — are items with emotional resonance, not the investment portfolio. Who gets Mom's engagement ring or Dad's prized watch or the ornament that sat on top of the Christmas tree or Grandma's yellow pie plate… those are the items that can cause the greatest friction in families, experts tell us.

An estate planning attorney can help with all of these decisions. You can find them either via personal recommendations from people you trust or by checking a professional directory such as those from the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils or the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) Directory.

Additional reading:

• The 5 Essential Trusts You Need for 2026 Estate Planning
• This Is How the 'Brady Bunch' Safety Net (aka a QTIP Trust) Protects Your Kids' Inheritance
• The Six Estate Planning Steps Every Blended Family Must Take
• The Little-Known Tool to Protect Your Retirement Savings in a Divorce

5. Children with particular circumstances

Question: How do I or you address issues of a child with dementia and estrangement, re any or partial benefits of an inheritance?

Alexandra Svokos: This is where you definitely want to make sure to get professionals involved. If you are planning to leave something to a child or other heir with whom you're estranged, a letter of intent can help explain the inheritance to them without breaking an estrangement. I would just caution you to remember that a letter of intent is about explaining an inheritance, not about reopening conversations when you're not around to have them.

For a child with dementia or special needs, the answer here is again to make use of trusts. You can, for example, set up a special-needs trust. This is also why I say you'll need professionals involved – be careful about setting these systems and guardrails up so that your legacy gets used in the way in which you want it to be used.

Additional reading:

• The Benefits of a Special Needs Trust
• A 5-Step Plan for Parents of Children With Special Needs, From a Financial Planner
• Managing the Financial Dominoes of Special Needs Planning: A Practical Guide for Long-Term Security
• How to Plan for Retirement When Your Child Has Special Needs
• Is a Living Trust the Right Move for Your Estate Plan?

For many Americans, a traditional measure of financial success has been straightforward: Build wealth and grow net worth.

Saving, investing and planning for retirement are as important as ever. Increasingly, however, people are also evaluating financial success through a broader lens.

Today, many people measure financial progress not only by what they've accumulated, but also by the opportunities, confidence and stability their finances provide.

That shift is reflected in research by Thrivent, where I am the president and CEO: 69% of Americans say long-term financial success is about financial security and peace of mind, while only 3% say it's primarily net worth.

This broader perspective reflects the realities many people face today. While Americans continue to value saving and investing, they also want confidence that their finances can help them navigate uncertainty, support the people and causes they care about and create opportunities for the future.

Money is a tool to build a better life

Nearly two-thirds of Americans say money is a tool for creating the life they want, rather than something to accumulate for its own sake. When money becomes a means rather than an end, financial success takes on a broader meaning. The focus shifts to what it makes possible:

• Preparing for the unexpected
• Caring for loved ones
• Pursuing meaningful experiences
• Supporting important causes
• Building a legacy

A growing account balance can strengthen someone's financial position, but confidence also comes from understanding where you stand, where you want to go and how your financial decisions support that journey.

What this shift means for financial services

As people's definition of financial success evolves, the role of the financial services industry must evolve alongside it.

People will always need sound financial fundamentals and expertise. But increasingly, they're also seeking guidance that helps them align their finances with what matters most to them.

That requires the industry to see the person behind the portfolio. Financial decisions are never just about dollars and cents. They're connected to people's goals, responsibilities, values and aspirations.

Our role is not to define success for someone else, but to help people make informed decisions in pursuit of the outcomes that matter most to them.

That's why trusted guidance is essential. Our industry can help people navigate complex decisions while keeping their goals, priorities and values at the center of the conversation.

When those elements come together, financial planning becomes a way to help people move forward with greater clarity and confidence.

The bottom line

Financial success can't be captured by a single number. It includes what people accumulate, but also the security, choices and opportunities their money creates.

Building wealth remains important. But ultimately, financial success is about aligning money with what matters most and using it to create the life you want to live.

Related Content

• Your Legacy Is More Than Your Money: How to Plan for Values, Not Just Valuables
• Value Investing and Values-Based Investing Gain Momentum
• The Inheritance Your Kids Need More Than Money — and 5 Ways to Pass It On
• How to Support Local Communities With Your Fixed-Income Strategy
• What Will They Remember About You? It's Not Just About Your Money

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Higher prices are here for now. The escalating Iran War will keep energy prices higher, impacting everything from groceries to air travel.

And the Federal Reserve took notice. At its September meeting, it raised the federal funds rate by a quarter of a point.

The rate increase could benefit savers if banks respond by raising rates on savings accounts and CDs. If you're looking to move $25,000 into savings and away from market volatility, I have a few strategies to consider. But first, you'll want to do this.

Finding purpose can simplify decision-making

Every goal starts with one question: Why? This purpose can help you choose the right savings account.

If you have a time-specific goal, such as saving $25,000 for a dream vacation or planning a bigger home renovation, a certificate of deposit could be the smart choice. The best CD rates can earn you more than high-yield savings accounts.

I also like them because you can find a term that matches the timing of your goal, whether that's six months, one year, or even five years down the road.

You can find and compare the best CD terms for your goals using this Bankrate tool:

CDs have fixed interest rates, so once you lock one in, you can't earn more. If the Fed raises rates again in December, you could miss out on higher yields available on newer CDs.

Meanwhile, if you have $25,000 and don't have a time-specific goal, I recommend a short-term CD in the interim (think three to six months). This accomplishes two things: First, it positions you to take advantage of another rate hike if inflation remains elevated and the Fed raises rates again.

Second, if prices continually rise, you'll have quicker access to your cash, allowing you to pivot to other investments with higher earning potential. Then, you wouldn't have to worry about inflation eroding your purchasing power.

Savings accounts that outpace inflation and give you liquidity

I always recommend a high-yield savings account. You'll earn a much higher APY than you would with a traditional brick-and-mortar bank. And many online savings accounts don't come laden with fees, so you'll keep more of your money.

It's a smart option because you earn a return that outpaces inflation for now, and if your goals change, you have liquidity to make the changes whenever you need to.

When searching for the best high-yield savings accounts, here's my recommendation:

One more thing to note: High-yield savings accounts have variable interest rates. This places you in a great position to capitalize on higher returns if the Fed raises rates again.

Ultimately, now is the time for savers to make money moves with inflation remaining sticky and savings rates being higher. If you're looking to maximize your $25k and don't need to touch it, CDs are your best bet. You'll earn the highest returns and won't have to worry about Fed policy.

That said, if you want some flexibility while you figure out your next moves, a high-yield savings account or a short-term CD is a smart alternative. They keep you flexible while the economic conditions hopefully clarify in the coming months.

• Choose a certificate of deposit (CD): If you don't need immediate access to your $25,000 and want the peace of mind of earning a guaranteed return.
• Choose a high-yield savings account (HYSA): If you need liquidity, flexibility for shifting goals or the ability to capitalize on future rate hikes while keeping your cash accessible.

Not sure which option makes the most sense for your $25,000?

A financial adviser can help you weigh your savings goals, timeline and need for access to your money as part of your broader financial plan.

Use the tool below to connect with an adviser who can help you explore your options.

Related content

• Where's the Best Place to Store $10k Now?
• Best CD Rates — Earn Up to 4.40%
• Inflation Is at 3.40%: These Savings Accounts Are Outpacing It
• Best High-Yield Savings Accounts

When shopping for a wireless phone plan, the advertised price isn't necessarily what you'll pay. T-Mobile offers discounted plans for certain customers, including people 55 and older, military members, veterans and first responders, which could help lower your monthly cell phone bill.

The amount you can save depends on the plan and number of lines you choose, and you'll need to meet eligibility and verification requirements to qualify. Some discounted plans also include extras such as streaming benefits and mobile hotspot data.

If you're eligible for one of these T-Mobile discounts, here's how the plans compare and what to consider before signing up.

T-Mobile plans for customers 55 and older

T-Mobile’s 55+ plans are available to new and existing customers age 55 and older. Only the primary account holder needs to meet the age requirement. T-Mobile requires proof of age, such as a driver's license or passport.

T-Mobile offers three 55+ plan options:

• Essentials Choice 55 2.0: Includes unlimited talk, text and data, with 50GB of premium data. The regular price is $50 per month for one line, plus taxes and fees.
• Experience More w/ 55+ Savings 2.0: Adds unlimited premium data, 60GB of high-speed mobile hotspot data, Netflix Standard with ads and travel benefits. It also includes a five-year price guarantee and eligibility for phone upgrades every three years. The regular price is $75 per month for one line, plus taxes and fees.
• Experience Beyond w/ 55+ Savings 2.0: Includes additional benefits such as T-Satellite, unlimited premium data, Netflix Standard with ads, Hulu and unlimited mobile hotspot data. The regular price is $90 per month for one line, plus taxes and fees.

The 55+ plans are geared toward customers who need one or two phone lines. T-Mobile doesn't require an annual contract.

The savings can be significant, particularly on the more expensive plans. For example, Experience Beyond 2.0 regularly costs $105 per month for one line, while Experience Beyond w/ 55+ Savings costs $90. That's a difference of $15 per month, or $180 per year, before any additional discounts.

Military members and veterans may qualify for discounted plans

T-Mobile also offers discounted plans for military members and veterans. Eligible customers include active-duty military members, veterans, National Guard and Reserve members and Gold Star family members.

The eligible military member or Gold Star family member generally must be the primary account holder. You'll also need to verify your eligibility within 45 days of activating the plan. T-Mobile accepts several forms of documentation, depending on your military status, including a DD214, leave and earnings statement or military orders.

Military savings are available on Essentials Military 2.0, Experience More w/ Military Savings 2.0 and Experience Beyond w/ Military Savings 2.0. How much you save depends on the plan and number of lines you need.

For example, T-Mobile says military and veteran families with four lines can save $720 per year on its Experience plans compared with the equivalent regular Experience plans. Be sure to compare the total price and included benefits before choosing a plan, since your savings will vary.

First responders have another way to save

T-Mobile offers discounted plans for eligible first responders, including firefighters, EMTs and law enforcement officers. Active first responders, pensioned retirees and volunteers may qualify, as can parents, children and spouses of first responders killed in the line of duty.

The first responder must be the primary account holder and verify their eligibility within 45 days of activating the plan. T-Mobile may also require customers to reverify their status periodically.

T-Mobile offers three plans with first responder savings: Essentials 2.0, Experience More 2.0 and Experience Beyond 2.0. Savings vary depending on the plan and number of lines. For example, T-Mobile says families with four lines can save $720 per year on its Experience plans with First Responder Savings compared with the equivalent regular Experience plans.

Eligible customers on Experience More 2.0 and Experience Beyond 2.0 can also currently get T-Priority at no additional charge, a $7.50-per-month value. T-Priority gives first responders higher priority on T-Mobile's 5G network, including during periods of heavy network congestion. A compatible device and qualifying plan are required.

Look beyond the monthly price

Some T-Mobile plans include extra perks that can add value beyond wireless service. Depending on the plan, benefits may include Netflix or Hulu, travel perks, T-Mobile Tuesdays offers and a limited-time DashPass membership. Benefits vary by plan and may require activation.

These extras can make a more expensive plan more appealing, but only if you'll actually use them. For example, included Netflix or Hulu could help you save on streaming services if you already subscribe or would otherwise pay for them. Likewise, travel benefits won't add much value if you rarely travel.

When comparing plans, put a realistic dollar value on the benefits you'll actually use and ignore those you won't. Then compare that value with the difference in monthly cost. A plan with a long list of perks isn't necessarily a better deal if you're paying extra for benefits you don't need.

Check T-Mobile deals before you switch or upgrade

Beyond discounts for eligible groups, T-Mobile regularly offers promotions that could lower the cost of switching carriers or upgrading your phone. Before making a move, check the current deals, which may include:

• Device offers: T-Mobile regularly offers promotions on new phones, including some that provide a device at no additional cost through monthly bill credits when you activate a qualifying line or plan. For example, as of this writing, T-Mobile is offering a promotion on the iPhone 18 Pro. Eligibility and plan requirements vary by offer.
• Trade-in offers: If you have an eligible device, you may be able to trade in your phone and receive credits toward a new one. The value depends on the device, plan and promotion.
• Switching offers: New customers switching mobile carriers may qualify for additional incentives. For example, T-Mobile currently offers programs that can help eligible customers pay off a device financed through their previous carrier.

Your eligibility, plan requirements, credits and promotional periods affect the ultimate savings, so carefully read all of the fine print to understand just how much you might save.

Do the math before choosing a discounted plan

A discounted phone plan can lower your monthly bill, but the biggest advertised savings don't necessarily make a plan the least expensive option. A lower-tier plan could still cost less overall, particularly if you don't need the extra features and perks included with a more expensive plan.

Before signing up, compare the cost for the number of lines you need and check whether the advertised price requires AutoPay. Factor in taxes and fees, device payments and any other charges that could affect your bill.

Then consider the benefits you'll actually use. Looking at the total cost rather than the advertised discount can help you determine which plan offers the most value for your budget.

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December sees a major spike in travel as passengers race to visit family for Christmas, Hanukkah and other major holidays that happen that month. Because of that increased travel demand, December is often (but not always) one of the worst months of the year for flight delays industry wide.

However, one silver lining is that cancellation rates typically (but not always) go down that month. You might have an above average chance of being late getting home to the family, but you're less likely to completely miss the holidays altogether.

But within those industry-wide statistics, some airlines definitely perform better than others. To find out which airlines are most likely to get you home for the holidays on time (and least likely to cancel your flight completely), I compared the on-time performance of eight major airlines for the month of December over the last 10 years. The airlines compared include Alaska, Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest and United.

Here's what you need to know before booking those holiday flights this year.

The airlines most (and least) likely to cancel your holiday flight

When looking at official data airlines report to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, just two airlines kept their average December cancellation rates below 1% over the last 10 years.

The two airlines with a vanishingly small cancellation rate during that month are American which canceled an average of just 0.75% of its December flights, and United, at 0.97%. Both rates were well below the 10-year industry average of 1.63%.

On the flip side, three airlines stuck out for having significantly higher than average cancellation rates for that month. Alaska's track record was the worst, with an average December cancellation rate of 2.34%, but Southwest (2.29%) and Allegiant (2.25%) weren't far behind.

So, if you want to minimize your risk of not making it to your destination at all, opt for American or United this holiday season.

The airlines most (and least) likely to delay your holiday travel plans

In an ideal world, you'd not only not have to worry about cancelled flights but you'd actually arrive at your destination at the time originally stated when you booked. With the spike in travel demand over December, the odds of that do get lower on pretty much any airline you choose.

But you'll have the lowest risk of holiday flight delays with Delta. Over the last 10 years, Delta has managed to keep over 82% of December flights on time. It's the only airline in the comparison that managed to keep its average on-time performance above 80%.

With an average December cancellation rate of 1.21%, it's not as low risk as American or United but still better than the 1.63% industry average. So, if timeliness matters and you're willing to accept a slightly higher risk of a cancelled flight, Delta is your most punctual bet.

If you don't want to accept that slightly higher cancellation risk, United and American — the two with the lowest cancellation rates — came in second and third place, respectively, for on-time performance. Both kept just over 79% of their flights running on schedule over the holiday season for the last 10 years. That gives you pretty good odds of arriving on time.

The airlines to avoid in December if you want to make it back to the family on time: JetBlue, Allegiant and Frontier. Of the three, JetBlue performed the worst, with an average December on-time rate of just 69% over the last decade. Allegiant averaged just over 71%, while Frontier averaged 72%.

Of those three with the most delays, JetBlue does at least boast the lowest cancellation rate. Its 10-year average for December is 1.39%, which is slightly below the industry average and significantly better than Allegiant's (2.25%) and Frontier's (1.98%) December cancellation rates.

Which airline should you book for the holidays?

After reviewing the performance data over the last decade, it looks like you'll have the best chances of getting to your family (and maybe even getting there on time) if you book with American or United. But Delta isn't a bad choice, either.

On the other hand, Allegiant might be your worst bet as it has both higher cancellation rates and lower on-time performance in December. Frontier is also a riskier choice for the same reasons.

If you can't completely eliminate the risk of arriving late or not arriving at all this holiday season, you can at least protect your investment by either buying travel insurance or booking your flight with a credit card that includes travel insurance.

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Social media has given us countless ways to "max" different areas of our lives, from sleepmaxxing to vacationmaxxing. Now, the concept has made its way into personal finance.

"Moneymaxxing" is the idea of optimizing your finances so your money works harder for you. That could mean moving your savings to an account with a better interest rate, maximizing credit card rewards or finally canceling subscriptions you don't use.

While the term is new, many of the strategies behind it aren't. Paying attention to interest rates, fees and spending habits has long been a part of smart money management. Moneymaxxing simply packages these habits around the idea of getting as much value as possible from every dollar.

But maximizing every financial decision isn't necessarily the same thing as making the best financial decision. Here’s how you can take advantage of moneymaxxing without spending too much time and energy trying to optimize every financial decision

What is moneymaxxing?

Moneymaxxing is a financial trend centered on making the most of the money you already have. Northwestern Mutual describes it as an approach to making every dollar do as much as reasonably possible so you can direct more money toward what matters to you.

Depending on your finances, moneymaxxing could involve:

• Moving cash to a high-yield savings account
• Strategically using credit card rewards
• Reviewing recurring expenses
• Shopping around for insurance or other financial products
• Automating savings and investments or taking full advantage of benefits offered by your employer

Part of the appeal is that you don't necessarily need to earn more money to get started. Instead, you're looking for opportunities to get more value out of your current income and assets.

The trend may also make money management feel more approachable, particularly for people who are used to consuming financial information on social media. One financial planner described moneymaxxing as similar to the FIRE movement (financial independence, retire early), but more "gamified."

There's nothing wrong with wanting your money to work harder. The trouble starts when optimization becomes the goal instead of a tool for improving your financial life.

When moneymaxxing can go too far

Moneymaxxing can help you make smarter financial choices, but there’s a point where trying to optimize every dollar can create more hassle than value.

Chasing every fraction of a percentage point

One of the simplest ways to moneymax is to make sure your savings are earning a competitive interest rate.

There's still a significant difference between what some traditional savings accounts pay and what you may be able to earn elsewhere. For example, the FDIC reported a national savings rate of just 0.39% as of March 2026.

Moving a sizable emergency fund from an account paying next to nothing to a competitive high-yield savings account could make a meaningful difference. But constantly moving your savings because another bank offers an APY that's 0.10 or 0.20 percentage points higher may not.

Consider the actual dollar amount involved. A 0.20 percentage-point difference on a $10,000 balance amounts to roughly $20 in additional interest over a year, assuming rates and the balance stay the same. Decide whether that amount is worth opening another account, changing transfers and managing another financial institution.

Also read the fine print before chasing an attractive advertised APY. Check for minimum balance or activity requirements, monthly fees and whether the rate is promotional. If you're keeping cash at a bank, you can also confirm that the institution is FDIC-insured.

Spending more to maximize rewards

Credit card rewards can be another valuable moneymaxxing strategy. If you're already going to spend $500 on groceries, earning points, miles or cash back on the purchase can help you get something extra from money you were going to spend anyway.

The problem is when earning the reward starts influencing how much you spend. You might buy something you weren't planning to purchase to trigger a bonus category or justify spending more because you're "getting points." At that point, the rewards aren't necessarily saving you money.

Carrying a balance can be even more costly because interest charges can quickly outweigh the value of the rewards you earned. Ideally, rewards cards should complement spending that's already in your budget, rather than encourage additional purchases.

Making your finances unnecessarily complicated

There's nothing inherently wrong with having multiple accounts, particularly when each one has a clear purpose. But complexity comes with a cost.

More accounts can mean more passwords, statements, payment due dates and rules to remember. It can also increase the chances of overlooking a fee, missing a credit card payment or forgetting about a subscription tied to an old account.

Sometimes there's value in consolidation, even when it isn't mathematically optimal. Earning slightly less interest or cash back may be a reasonable trade-off if your financial system becomes significantly easier to manage.

Focusing on small wins while ignoring big expenses

Moneymaxxing can make finding savings feel like a game. Saving $8 on a subscription or earning an extra $15 in cash back can provide an immediate win.

Just don't let the small victories distract you from the expenses that can make a much larger difference. You might save $100 a year by trimming a few subscriptions, for example, but potentially save much more by shopping around for auto or homeowners insurance, refinancing expensive debt when appropriate or reducing investment fees.

Start with your largest recurring expenses and highest-cost debt. Once those areas are in good shape, smaller optimizations can be the icing on the cake.

Letting optimization take over your life

Moneymaxxing can become counterproductive when every purchase starts feeling like a math problem.

Maybe the grocery store 20 minutes away has slightly cheaper prices, but the closer store saves you time. Or perhaps you could redeem travel points more efficiently by changing your vacation dates, but the original dates work much better for your family.

The mathematically optimal choice isn't automatically the right one. Money is ultimately a tool that can help you create security and support the life you want to live. Spending more for convenience, an experience you value or something that genuinely improves your quality of life isn't necessarily a financial mistake.

How to moneymax without overdoing it

The goal doesn't have to be squeezing every possible cent from your finances. Instead, look for changes that provide a meaningful return without requiring constant attention.

Before optimizing a financial decision, ask yourself:

• How much will I actually save or earn? Calculate the potential dollar amount instead of focusing only on percentages, points or advertised savings.
• How much time or effort will this require? Saving $20 may not be worth spending three hours opening accounts, tracking promotions and moving money around.
• Does this make my finances simpler or more complicated? A strategy you'll easily maintain may ultimately be more valuable than one requiring constant monitoring.
• Am I sacrificing something I value just to maximize the numbers? Your time, convenience and enjoyment have value, too.

Some of the most useful moneymaxxing strategies are relatively boring, and that's a good thing. They can include moving idle cash to an account paying a competitive rate, automating retirement contributions, eliminating unnecessary fees, reviewing major recurring expenses once or twice a year and taking advantage of employer benefits you're already entitled to receive.

These moves allow you to optimize your finances once and continue benefiting without making money management another full-time job.

Get more from your money without overdoing it

Moneymaxxing can be a useful reminder to pay attention to where your money goes and what you're getting in return. But you don't need to extract maximum value from every dollar you spend.

Focus your energy on financial decisions that can improve your bottom line and make your overall plan stronger. And when an extra few dollars isn't worth the time, hassle or sacrifice required to capture it, give yourself permission to leave some of your money "unoptimized."

Moneymaxxing can help you get more from the money you already have, but individual optimizations work best when they support your bigger financial goals. If you want help deciding where to focus your time and money, a financial planner can help you look at the full picture and prioritize the moves that could have the greatest impact.

Use the tool below and connect with the vetted financial professional today:

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One lesson we've all learned in recent years is that things change. Whether they're political, financial or health-related, events we have absolutely no control over can disrupt what we thought were our forever lives, making us consider a future elsewhere.

Even if the circumstances are not quite right to make an immediate move, having a workable Plan B for the future can help establish peace of mind and give you an "escape plan" if needed.

Residency by investment or "golden" visas are one option. But with so many schemes available, it can be difficult to narrow down the right one. Here are five of the top choices to consider.

1. Portugal's golden visa

Ideal for U.S., UK and international investors seeking access to the EU, the Portugal golden visa is perfect for families who can't relocate immediately but want to prioritize flexibility and optionality, with the promise of permanent residency and eventual citizenship.

Applicants are required to spend at least seven days a year in Portugal and invest a minimum of €500,000 (about $568,500) in regulated investment funds. Families can qualify for Portuguese permanent residency rights (without relocating) after five years and citizenship after 10.

Getting a Portuguese passport provides generational benefits as citizenship is passed down. Portugal is therefore a standout route for families seeking the right to live in Europe in the future without needing to uproot their lives now.

2. Greece's golden visa

This golden visa is recommended for anyone seeking Schengen Area access through real estate ownership in the Mediterranean. But it's also a good option if your family is hoping to spend significant time in Greece rather than simply seeking European citizenship.

An attractive lifestyle and climate are on offer, as well as a lower property purchase entry point of €250,000 (about $284,250) in selected areas. However, avoid investing at artificially inflated prices — this practice is common among certain developers seeking to take advantage of the program's high demand.

An additional benefit is that certain property-based investment options provide permanent residence, with no minimum stay requirement to maintain residency status.

3. Malta Permanent Residence Program

The Malta Permanent Residence Program (MPRP) suits families seeking a permanent, potentially lifelong EU residency without applying for citizenship — making it ideal for retirees and mobile families seeking long-term security, as well as investors who value certainty and permanence.

Non-EU citizens can obtain permanent residency upon successful completion of a multi-stage due diligence process:

• Families must apply for a temporary residence permit within six months of their initial application
• Once approved (and following full compliance with program obligations) the permit converts into a permanent residency certificate
• These certificates are issued every five years and are renewable indefinitely provided you maintain a Maltese address

Residency benefits cover up to four generations of a family. One thing to note, however: The MPRP has higher fees than other EU programs, with investors expected to provide almost €100,000 (about $113,700) to apply.

4. France's golden visa (aka the Passeport Talent – Investisseur Economique)

The French golden visa, available through the "Passeport Talent" investor route, is particularly suitable for investors seeking residence in a leading European economy with access to the wider Schengen Area.

A qualifying investment is relatively low at €300,000 (about $341,000) but can be made in only one target company. Other conditions apply, making investment options limited.

It is ideal for internationally mobile investors who want the security and credibility of residence in a Tier 1 country, supported by a relatively fast application process and no prescribed minimum physical stay requirement to maintain/renew the four-year residence permit.

For those who later choose to relocate, integrate and establish France as their principal home, the program may also provide a comparatively fast pathway towards French citizenship.

5. Dubai (United Arab Emirates) visa

Dubai's visa program is well suited to entrepreneurs, business owners, digital professionals and high earners seeking a low-tax jurisdiction, although citizenship pathways are complex and unlikely to be feasible for most applicants.

Investors buying property worth at least 2 million AED (around $545,000) or contributing significantly to businesses can qualify for a golden visa, providing permanent residency.

Given the stellar performance of the Dubai real estate market in recent years, its high yield potential and Airbnb-friendly legislation, this has proven to be an exceptionally popular Plan B investment option for investors around the world.

What's more, the unique structure of the program can allow investors to qualify for mortgage financing on a generous proportion of the property value, making the Dubai golden visa more accessible than most of its peers.

Alternative routes

Many other countries offer alternative residency by investment programs, including Italy, Latvia, Cyprus, Bulgaria and some Caribbean nations. Similar programs are in the pipeline in South America, including Panama, Paraguay, Argentina and others.

Each has benefits and disadvantages, and potential investors are advised to closely examine the qualifying criteria and progress of individual schemes before making a decision.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Think back for a moment to when you were a little boy or girl, out shopping with Grandma, and you saw a toy that you wanted. But she said, in a sweet, loving tone, "Honey, if wishes were horses, then beggars would ride."

Then she explained what that meant: "Wishing for things does not make them happen."

I am modifying that saying slightly as a way of leading into today's story: "Assuming things that are not yet concrete, not yet real, and relying on those assumptions can be a one-way ticket into a nightmare that you have created for yourself."

"Dr. Mark" is living that nightmare today, desperately reaching out to anyone who will listen, seemingly unaware that he burned all helpful bridges years ago.

The letter

In early September, emails with a letter attachment were received by a number of civil attorneys in a midsize West Coast city with the subject line: Possible Employment Discrimination/Withdrawal of Employment after Credentialing Approval.

In summary, the letter stated that the sender, Dr. Mark, was seeking legal advice "regarding a situation involving a medical position for possible unlawful discrimination or other wrongful conduct."

He wrote, "I was approached by a locum tenens company and interviewed with the medical director, who indicated he would be happy to have me join the clinic. The credentialing process led to a confirmation letter that the hiring committee had approved my status as a participating provider." (A locum tenens company in healthcare oversees providers who temporarily fill in for other healthcare professionals.)

However, communications from the company did not specifically state that he was being offered a job. And this is where Dr. Mark — who, at over 70 years of age, has worked for a variety of medical clinics — did something that no lawyer anywhere would have recommended.

"I relied on the expectation that I would be able to proceed with the position," he wrote. "Because of my understanding of restrictions concerning outside employment, I resigned from my existing position."

One week later, he said, the clinic sent him this note: "Leadership has pushed back, and we cannot move forward with your employment." No specific reason was given.

"While I have no proof," he continued, "I am concerned that the decision may have involved age discrimination, ethnicity discrimination or another reason, and I would like an attorney to investigate this." (For the record, Dr. Mark’s ethnicity is not part of a protected class.)

He added, "I resigned from my existing employment in reliance on this opportunity. My former employer will not take me back. Does my reliance create any potential claims for damages?"

An opinion from a labor and employment law attorney

Southern California labor and employment attorney — and a longtime friend of this column — Jay Rosenlieb provided this analysis: "Until you've got a job offer signed by the employer, and you've also signed it and sent it back, there is no deal.

"The offer can still be withdrawn at that point, with no liability to the prospective employer if the employer has done what we recommend to all of our clients."

Rosenlieb went on to describe what an employer should state in writing, that you are being offered a position:

• At a specific rate
• At a specific location
• With a specific start date

Additionally, the employer should include that your employment, where appropriate, is subject to:

• Passing a physical
• Passing a drug screen
• Passing a credit check
• Passing a background search, which includes a criminal background check

Rosenlieb added this warning: "Several states, in an effort to prevent discrimination against people with criminal records, have passed Fair Chance Acts. Employers need to be aware of how these laws impact criminal background checks."

Until you have a job offer in writing, do not quit your job

Rosenlieb added, "Dennis, in your recent story about a woman who wanted to put magnetic signs on her car, assuming the manufacturer and dealer were committing consumer fraud, you explained perfectly the danger of assuming facts that had not been proven.

"It is the same thing here with Dr. Mark. He has blended pieces of evidence that, in his mind, equate to having been offered a job, and relying on that logic, he did the worst thing possible by quitting his present employment."

Rosenlieb pointed out, "Now he wants to blame everyone, seeing himself as a victim. That is not going to fly."

Why would the locum tenens group suddenly just stop the process?

Dr. Mark apparently has a history of burning bridges and, to put it politely, not knowing when to remain silent. I learned that when he was at a teaching hospital, his residents loved and stood up for him when he was faced with being fired.

I met with several of them, who were in tears at the thought of losing this brilliant, gifted teacher. However, the many nurses he had embarrassed and yelled at also were in tears, but of a very different sort.

Dr. Mark never learned to listen when someone tried to talk to him about this, and he would never apologize.

I have no way of knowing what the clinic's background investigation turned up, if anything, but this issue made me feel sad for Dr. Mark.

I emailed him, "What a pity, someone with your level of education, a brilliant physician and teacher adored by your residents, and yet, one problem after another, always the fault of someone else.

"There is a common denominator here, and it has nothing to do with discrimination. Rather, blindness and judgment. Take a good, long look in the mirror."

He replied, "I looked at the mirror, and an old ugly face stared back at me."

The first moral of the story is something that Grandma might have also said: "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

The second moral of the story: Be kind to others, especially on the job, and think long and hard when you're finding that it's always someone else's fault when something goes awry. It might not be them at all.

Dennis Beaver practices law in Bakersfield, Calif., and welcomes comments and questions from readers, which may be faxed to (661) 323-7993, or e-mailed to Lagombeaver1@gmail.com. And be sure to visit dennisbeaver.com.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

The topic of "fat bears" recently came up in Kiplinger's staff messaging system. Eleven months out of the year, you might expect that if we're talking about "fat bears," we're talking about people who are overly pessimistic about the future performance of the stock market, or maybe a really bad time period for stock market performance, i.e., a "bear market."

But summer has ended and snow is starting to trickle down from the outer reaches of Alaska, which means we weren't talking about stocks but, naturally, real-life, actual bears. Of course: We're talking about Katmai National Park's annual Fat Bear Week.

In case you aren't living in a house like mine, where Explore.org's livestream from Katmai plays on the TV every night from July to October, allow me to explain. Fat Bear Week began about a decade ago, run by Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. It is, quite simply, a bracket-based tournament where people can vote online for which bear did the best job of gaining weight over the course of the summer, the better to survive winter hibernation (hi-bear-nation?). If you'd like to do more "research," you can watch the bears fish on the livestreams, though the river has been less crowded in recent weeks as the bears begin to hunker down.

Fat Bear Week ran this year from September 22 to 29, when the winner was crowned. (A hearty congratulations to 89 "Backpack" for being the best fat bear of 2026.) Inspired by this momentous annual event, I had to wonder: Should we all be fat bears when it comes to our finances?

Bear with me here (ha). During Fat Bear Week, we celebrate accumulation. These bears spent the summer eating as much as possible in preparation for a down period. This is much like human beings building up an appropriate emergency fund and making efficient use of their investment portfolio to grow, grow, grow. Or, perhaps, it's more like human beings building up their retirement fund to sustain their dreams. Or both!

But what also amazes me watching these bears all summer is that, for them, it's not a winner-takes-all situation. Despite being solitary creatures, the Katmai bears cohabitate on the river together because they know it's the easiest possible place for them to get food. Sure, they jockey for space and dominance, but they know there's enough salmon for all of them to coexist and get fat together.

This is much like us human beings and the stock market. It's an open place for all of us to accumulate together, especially since online brokers and trading platforms have further democratized the market, making it easier for more people to join in and invest in their own futures (and invest in futures, if they so choose).

The bears also represent a diversified portfolio. Yes, bears eat a lot of salmon. But they also eat a whole lot of berries and sedge grasses. It's important not to go all-in on any one investment.

There is also quite a lot of family and community happening in Katmai. Twelve years into Fat Bear Week, many of today's contenders are the progeny of previous winners. Dedicated viewers have watched these competitors grow from their first summer on the river as cubs into the thousand-pound behemoths they are now.

What you can also see on the livestream (or if you're lucky enough to get out there and visit yourself) is mother bears getting fish for cubs and teaching them how to fish. These mother bears show cubs smart places to situate themselves in order to get their own fish, and they train the cubs in how to fend for themselves.

This brings to mind two things we do as humans. First, we have the drive to provide for our children. Many of us are building net worth not just for fun, but to provide for families and future generations.

Second, we hope our legacies can live on, which is why we try to demonstrate values and teach hard-fought lessons to younger people and children around us, just like those mother bears. These are both worthy impulses (and are why we've been talking so much about The Trillion Dollar Talk here at Kiplinger).

But that brings me around to an unavoidable fact: Bears are wild animals. As one park ranger put it, discussing an incident of infanticide (cub-icide?) this summer, "These are wild animals in wild spaces doing wild things."

We are, at the very least, domesticated animals, which means we do not have to act like fat bears all the time.

Bears survive by staying fairly singularly focused on eating and preserving energy during the months in which they are awake. We, however, get to do other things besides accumulate. We can take on inefficient passions, like running or, well, catch-and-release fishing, just because we want to do it and it makes us happy. We can take work sabbaticals and lower-paying jobs because they allow us to spend more time with people or on activities we value beyond money. We can host dinner parties!

We also get to actually enjoy using what we accumulate. We get to use money on fast cars and slow travel — or further education and hobbies. Or vacations to national parks to try to spot a bear! Or, ahem, maybe some of you are more like bears and want to use what you've accumulated to rest: I hear "sleepcations" are on the rise.

We don't have to be checking market performance every hour, and, as long as you're in a reasonable financial place, it's OK to spend $7 on a ridiculous latte every so often.

The point is, life for us humans is not all about gathering as much money as we can and stockpiling for winter. We also, if we're lucky, get to live full, well-rounded lives, which is a privilege. And for a little bit today, I plan to use some of that privilege to marvel at these full, well-rounded bears.

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With online threats such as identity theft, phishing and scams becoming more common, cybersecurity tools can provide an additional layer of protection for your personal and financial information. Surfshark may be best known as a VPN provider, but the company has expanded its offerings to include a broader collection of privacy and security tools.

Today, Surfshark offers antivirus protection, data breach alerts, private web searches, tools that limit online tracking and other security features. This guide explains Surfshark's major features, what they do and what to consider when deciding whether they fit your online privacy and security needs.

Keep in mind that cybersecurity tools can reduce certain risks, but they can't eliminate the threat of online scams, fraud or cyberattacks. Good security habits, including using unique passwords, enabling multifactor authentication and independently verifying unexpected requests, remain important.

What is Surfshark?

Surfshark launched its VPN in 2018, with a focus on giving users more privacy and control over their online activity. While the company now offers a broader range of security tools, its VPN remains at the core of its service.

A VPN, or virtual private network, creates a more private connection by routing your internet traffic through a remote server. In the process, it encrypts your traffic and masks your IP address, making it more difficult for third parties to track your activity while you browse.

Surfshark builds on that VPN protection with additional privacy and security features, depending on the plan you choose. It currently offers three plans:

• Surfshark Starter: Includes Surfshark's VPN and Alternative ID, which lets you use alternative contact information instead of sharing your primary details online.
• Surfshark One: Adds antivirus, data breach alerts and scam protection to the VPN and Alternative ID features.
• Surfshark One+: Includes everything in Surfshark One, plus identity theft coverage and personal data removal through Incogni.

A VPN can add protection when you're online

Surfshark's VPN is designed to make online activity more private by encrypting your internet traffic and masking your IP address. You can set the VPN to connect automatically, so your internet traffic is routed through the VPN without having to manually turn it on each time.

A VPN can also add a layer of protection when you're using public Wi-Fi at an airport lounge, hotel, coffee shop or other location away from home, where you may have less control over the network you're connecting to.

Surfshark allows you to use its VPN on multiple devices simultaneously, including smartphones, laptops and tablets.

Alternative ID can help you share less personal information

The more personal information you share online, the more places that information could potentially be exposed in a data breach. Surfshark's Alternative ID can help limit that exposure by giving you alternative contact information to use when you don't want to provide your primary details.

Alternative ID can generate an online name, email address and phone number to use for newsletters, promotions, online accounts and other websites. An autofill feature can enter those details for you, making it easier to sign up for discounts and offers without repeatedly sharing your primary contact information.

Using alternative information won't prevent identity theft or fraud, but it can reduce how widely your personal details are shared online and add another layer of privacy.

Surfshark Alert can flag exposed information

Surfshark Alert monitors for signs that your personal information has appeared in a data breach. Depending on what you choose to monitor, the service can alert you to exposed email addresses, passwords, addresses, credit card details and other identifying information.

Getting an early warning gives you an opportunity to respond. For example, if a password or email address is compromised, you can change your login credentials, review affected accounts for suspicious activity and take additional steps to secure them.

Surfshark Alert doesn't prevent data breaches or keep your information from being exposed. Instead, it helps you identify potential exposure so you can take action if your information is compromised.

CleanWeb can block ads, trackers and malicious content

Surfshark's CleanWeb feature blocks ads, trackers and potentially harmful content while you browse. It's available through the Surfshark VPN app and as a browser extension, which can provide protection even when you're not connected to the VPN.

Blocking trackers can limit how much of your browsing activity is collected, while filtering potentially malicious content may reduce your exposure to websites and other online threats designed to compromise your personal information. CleanWeb adds another layer of privacy and security, but it doesn't eliminate the risk of encountering scams or malicious content online.

Antivirus adds protection against malware

A VPN can help protect your privacy and internet traffic, but it isn't a substitute for antivirus software that scans your device for malware. Surfshark Antivirus adds that layer of protection by continuously scanning for viruses, malware and other threats.

Surfshark says its malware database is updated every three hours to help identify emerging threats. The antivirus also includes webcam protection on Windows and macOS, which can block camera access and alert you when an app or website attempts to use your webcam without permission.

Surfshark Antivirus has also been independently tested by AV-TEST. In its June 2026 Windows 11 evaluation, Surfshark Antivirus received 6 out of 6 for protection, 4.5 out of 6 for performance and 6 out of 6 for usability.

Surfshark Antivirus is included with Surfshark One and Surfshark One+, but not the Starter plan.

Know where Surfshark's protection ends

Surfshark offers many features to enhance your protection against online threats, but it's important to understand its limitations, too. A VPN, antivirus software or security tool cannot prevent every scam.

It's still possible to be tricked into sending money, sharing a verification code, providing account credentials or responding to a convincing impersonation attempt. That's why basic security practices remain important:

• Independently verify unexpected financial requests: If you receive a text or email asking you to transfer money, provide account information or take another financial action, verify the request through a trusted channel. Open your bank's app, type its website address into your browser or call a known number rather than using a link or contact information in the message.
• Use unique passwords: Create a strong, unique password for every account, particularly financial accounts. Avoid easily guessed information such as a pet's name or birthdate. If one password is exposed in a data breach, using unique passwords can help prevent criminals from using the same credentials to access your other accounts.
• Enable multifactor authentication: Turn on multifactor authentication when it's available. It requires an additional form of verification beyond your password, making it more difficult for someone to access your account with stolen credentials. When available, an authenticator app or passkey can offer stronger protection than verification codes sent by text message.

How Surfshark could fit into your online security

Surfshark’s tools, like Alternative ID, Alert and Clean Web, can all work together to boost your online security. Consider the protections you already have in place and the risks that you're most concerned about when deciding which tools and protections you may need.

For example, if you're mainly interested in protecting your internet connection, your needs will be different from someone who wants a full suite of antivirus, breach monitoring and data broker removal under the same service.

Surfshark's appeal is in its ability to combine several privacy and security tools in one ecosystem at an accessible price point. However, those tools work best as part of a broader approach to protecting your money and personal information online.

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Once most Americans decide to move overseas, they follow a predictable series of steps:

• Sell the house
• Ship the belongings
• Buy property in the country of their choice
• Begin a new life

But in recent years, I've started seeing a different series of steps that lead up to the move — steps more in keeping with any major financial decision:

• Research
• Testing
• Evaluation of the conclusions
• The move

The most intriguing of those steps is "testing." That may involve a trial run — a month or two living in the new country to see if it's a good fit.

The growth of the medium-term furnished-apartment market makes the experiment easier. Companies such as Blueground offer fully furnished apartments designed for stays of a month or longer, giving prospective residents an alternative to both hotels and traditional long-term leases.

Airbnb offers another alternative — extended stays in private homes and apartments.

A trial run in Italy

For someone considering a move to Italy, this can be particularly useful. Instead of visiting Rome, Bologna, Florence or another potential destination for a week, you can spend six or eight weeks there and experience something much closer to ordinary life.

There is one important caveat: Americans can generally visit Italy without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period, but longer stays require an appropriate Italian long-stay visa. The rules also depend on what you plan to do while you're there.

For someone considering a permanent move, understanding those requirements is part of the testing process itself. An immigration lawyer can help determine which visa, if any, is appropriate before signing a rental agreement or making other commitments.

You can shop for groceries, take public transportation, work remotely, explore different neighborhoods and figure out the actual monthly cost of living without having to buy a house or sign a yearlong lease.

A furnished apartment through a rental service can be particularly useful because the basic logistics are already handled. Utilities and internet are generally part of the arrangement, and the resident doesn't have to buy furniture or negotiate the kind of long-term lease that can be difficult for someone who is still figuring out whether a city is right for them.

Airbnb's marketplace of individual hosts can provide more variety, while a professionally managed operator such as Blueground offers more consistency in quality and support.

A local furnished rental may offer better value for a longer stay but can involve more paperwork and local knowledge. House shares can be an inexpensive option and provide an immediate opportunity to meet people.

The best choice depends on what you're trying to learn.

Your fact-finding mission

If you're testing whether you can actually live comfortably in a particular city, for example, the goal shouldn't necessarily be finding the cheapest possible apartment, but rather obtaining useful information before making a much larger financial commitment.

Think of it as a financial fact-finding mission.

• What will your monthly expenses be?
• How much will you spend on groceries, restaurants, transportation and utilities?
• Will you need a car?
• How often will you travel back to the U.S.?
• What kind of health insurance will you need?
• Depending on how long you stay, what could the arrangement mean for your tax and immigration situation?

The answers can be very different from what you might conclude during a vacation in Italy — vacationing somewhere and living there are fundamentally different experiences.

A beautiful neighborhood may turn out to be too noisy. A picturesque town may become frustrating if you need a car for everything. A city that appears inexpensive may prove less affordable once you maintain the lifestyle you're accustomed to.

Conversely, a destination you had initially overlooked may turn out to be an ideal fit.

It's much better to discover those things while renting an apartment for six weeks than after purchasing a €300,000 (about $343,800) home.

Americans may assume that if they're serious about moving abroad, they should immediately purchase a home. But ownership eliminates much of the flexibility that makes an international move attractive in the first place.

Renting for several months allows you to determine whether you like the country, the city and even the neighborhood. You can then make a property purchase based on actual experience rather than assumptions formed during a vacation.

The growing availability of companies has effectively created another step between a vacation and a permanent residency. Instead of choosing between a hotel and a traditional lease, prospective residents can find furnished accommodations intended for the middle ground — long enough to experience a place as a resident, but short enough to preserve flexibility.

Is this the right move?

Of course, renting an apartment for a month or two doesn't answer every question. Americans considering a permanent move abroad still need professional advice about residency requirements, taxes, estate planning, health insurance and other cross-border financial and legal issues.

But those decisions should follow a more fundamental question: Can I actually see myself living here?

An international move doesn't have to begin with a one-way ticket. Rather, it can begin with a month-long rental — and a much smarter opportunity to decide whether the place you fell in love with on vacation is actually somewhere you want to call home.

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This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

Older generations hold $124 trillion in assets they plan to pass on to loved ones and charity over the next two decades. Many will wait until they are gone to share the wealth, but some are opting to give while they live.

It makes sense. A new survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of Kiplinger found that, when asked what they would want an inheritance used for, both parents and adult children said practical things such as paying down debt, buying a home or securing a retirement.

"There's a recognition that the money would be more useful in their 40s and 50s than in their 60s and 70s," said David Blanchett, head of retirement research at Prudential. "But if you wait to give them that money, you won't get to see it in action. You won't know what impact it has."

For retirees who plan to wait until they die to pass on their inheritance, fear of outliving their money can create paralysis. After all, people are living well into their 80s, which means their money needs to last longer. "There's always an element of what if I need it, I won't be able to take it back," says Michael Conrath, JPMorgan's chief retirement strategist. "Legacy and retirement are connected in terms of the math and in terms of the emotions."

To overcome the fear of running out of money, Conrath says to break retirement savings into three buckets — stable, variable and legacy. The stable bucket is for recurring bills such as rent, food, utilities and healthcare, while the variable bucket is for travel, hobbies, entertainment or other wants. The third bucket is for legacy, which is where the giving comes from.

"Once you have those two parts covered, it really gives people the freedom and the comfort knowing they have the capacity to gift money," said Conrath. "It's a way to remedy some of the fear."

Benefits of giving while you're living

There are several reasons to favor giving while you're alive, for both the giver and the receiver.

Benefits for givers:

• They can reduce the total size of their taxable estate before passing away, minimizing potential state or federal estate taxes.
• They can gift up to $19,000 per recipient in 2026 (married couples may gift up to $38,000 to an individual) without triggering gift tax filings or dipping into their lifetime exemption.
• They may gift appreciated stock to a qualified charity or an heir, thereby avoiding capital gains tax on the stock's growth.
• They may pay medical or tuition bills directly to the institution (which bypasses the $19k limit entirely), or fund a 529 plan.
• They experience the immediate joy and satisfaction of supporting loved ones during key life milestones.

Benefits for heirs:

• They can use the funds immediately to improve their financial health.
• They don't have to pay taxes on it; the federal tax code doesn't treat gifts as taxable income for the recipient. (Appreciated stocks are the exception.)
• Direct gifts eliminate potential delays and legal complications associated with going through probate court after a donor passes away.

How to give while you live

If giving while living sounds like something you want to do but you aren't 100% on board, Blanchett says to test the waters with small gifts. You don't have to give your heirs their entire estate, but you could help your adult child with a down payment on a home or pay for daycare or college tuition for your grandchild.

It can be something as small as a cash gift or an extra deposit into the 529 account. Not only can you help them now when they need it, but you're also preparing them to manage the inheritance they will receive later.

Don't sacrifice your retirement

There is a lot of joy and satisfaction in giving while living, whether it's to your adult children, grandchildren or a beloved charity. Don't start writing checks willy-nilly, though. If you plan to rely on Medicaid, you could disqualify yourself by giving monetary gifts during the 5-year look-back period. Be certain you have a locked-down plan for how to pay for long-term care, as those costs have ballooned in recent years.

In other words, giving can't be at the expense of your retirement. As Pam Krueger, founder and CEO of Wealthramp, warns, you don't want to end up giving too much and being broke.

"The best answer for most people is you don't have to do it all now, and you don't have to do it all later," said Krueger. "Protect your own financial security first and foremost, and then say, 'OK, I can give this much now while I'm alive and this much when I'm dead.'"

Editor's note: Want more help making this decision? Take our quiz on giving while you live vs waiting until death.

We know this can be a contentious conversation. If you want to share your opinion, reach out to us at KipInheritanceTalk@futurenet.com.

More Trillion Dollar Talk

• From Buffett to Beyoncé: What Celebrities Have Said About Inheritance
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• The Great Junk Transfer: Heirs Want Meaning, Not More Stuff
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Give while you're living or wait until you die? That's the choice for many retirees sitting on a sizable nest egg as they live out their golden years.

At last check, an estimated $124 trillion in assets are expected to be passed on in the Great Wealth Transfer, according to research firm Cerulli Associates. While most of it will go to heirs after their deaths, many people want to give while they are still alive.

After all, a new Morning Consult survey conducted on behalf of Kiplinger found that when asked what they would want an inheritance used for, both parents and adult children cited practical uses such as paying down debt, buying a home or securing retirement, all of which can benefit heirs now or in the future.

On the one hand, if you wait until you die, the money has more time to grow and compound; on the other, if you give while you live, you can enjoy the fruits of your labor or help someone now. You can also do a little bit of both: give a little while you are alive and leave the rest for when you're gone.

Which giving approach works best for you depends on your financial goals, risk tolerance and personal values. To determine which type of giver you are, take our quiz.

Editor's note: We know this can be a contentious conversation. If you want to share your opinion, reach out to us at KipInheritanceTalk@futurenet.com.

More Trillion Dollar Talk

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Forget sightseeing and shopping. These days, a growing number of travelers want to focus their vacation on something else: a good night's sleep. More than half of travelers surveyed by Kayak last year said they'd book a "sleepcation."

"It's the number-one travel trend we see," says Amanda Al-Masri, vice president of wellness at Hilton, which publishes a yearly trends report.

"It just keeps bubbling to the top. People see travel as a way to conscientiously think about sleep habits and getting rest, even if they're traveling with kids."

But getting high-quality sleep outside of your own bed can be a challenge. "Travel disrupts many of the signals the body relies on to sleep well," says Mark Kovacs, CEO of the Kovacs Institute and former vice president of health and performance at wellness resort Canyon Ranch.

"When you change time zones, sleep in a new environment, eat at different times, drink more alcohol or caffeine, and expose yourself to unfamiliar noise or light, the body does not always know when it should be alert and when it should shut down."

In response, hotels and resorts are investing heavily in sleep-related technology and services designed to help guests combat stress, recover from travel fatigue and improve sleep quality while away from home.

At some Hilton resorts, guests now have access to amenities such as compression boots, yoga mats and air purifiers. Properties such as the Four Seasons San Francisco, Six Senses, and Carillon Miami have jumped on board the trend as well, with luxury-priced offerings such as dedicated sleep concierges and customized sleep programs.

"A lot of times they'll sell it as a ‘sleep suite,' so you're paying more than you would for a standard room," says Clint Henderson, managing editor of travel site The Points Guy. "But obviously, there's a market for it, because you're seeing these things proliferate."

The extra cost of a sleep suite's amenities can be substantial. At Equinox Hotel New York, for example, a stay in a traditional room in mid October starts at about $1,300 per night, while a stay in the "Sleep Lab," including an adaptive mattress (which responds to such factors as your heart rate and temperature to improve sleep comfort), personalized sleep and wake automation, and a steam and ice shower, costs about $1,800 per night.

Thinking of going on a sleepcation? Here's how to get the most value from your trip.

Choose your experience.

The best sleep retreat for you will depend on your budget and whether you're traveling specifically to improve your sleep or simply looking to get better rest while on vacation or a spa visit.

Many hotels provide à la carte sleep amenities, such as a pillow menu, aromatherapy offerings, and spa services and exercise classes aimed at promoting peaceful slumber. Even if you're planning a more traditional vacation, sleeping in and skipping a few activities could make it more restful.

"It's really important to think about your travel style and look at what your needs are, and then match them with an accommodation that could fit that," says Danielle Desir Corbett, host of the affordable-travel podcast The Thought Card.

If you're looking for a special-occasion splurge, and you care about the overall luxury experience as much as sleep improvement, you might consider a high-end hotel's sleep suite, which will typically include amenities such as a temperature-regulating smart mattress and artificial circadian lighting.

Keep in mind, however, that even the most-optimized rooms can't guarantee better sleep. "You could spend $2,000 a night on a hotel room for a sleepcation and then sleep terribly," Henderson warns.

Maximize the hotel's benefits.

Whatever the sleep-focused amenities your hotel or resort offers, it's up to you to make sure you're getting the most out of the offerings.

"The absolute worst thing you could do is go into a sleep vacation, bring your laptop and be like, ‘Okay, I'm going to spend half my time working and half my time vacationing,' " says Dave Grossman, who runs the MilesTalk travel website. "You're probably not going to get the benefits then."

Instead, prioritize the downtime. Try not to over-schedule yourself during the day, and avoid heavy dinners and alcohol.

In general, the evidence is stronger for the benefits of analog offerings (the right pillow, for example, and a cool, dark room) than for high-tech tools such as smart mattresses, circadian lighting systems and biometric sleep tracking, which might increase screen time and place a disproportionate emphasis on metrics and data — and potentially even create more anxiety around your sleep.

If possible, try to get some rest before your sleepcation begins. "The number-one travel tip for me, with respect to sleep, is to embark rested," says corporate sleep consultant Nancy Rothstein. "It's really important, and it takes some planning and a bit of willpower."

If you're flying across time zones, you may want to start shifting your sleep schedule a few days before your trip to match your expected routine when you get there. And try to avoid staying up late to work or pack the night before you leave.

Stretch your budget.

Leverage your credit card or hotel loyalty points to offset the cost of your trip. If you have flexibility, booking your sleepcation during off-peak seasons or from Monday through Thursday may not only cut your costs but also mean fewer crowds — and less noise — that could interfere with your shut-eye.

Planning to stay at a luxury resort? You may get more value by booking through a travel adviser, who can often access perks such as late checkout, room upgrades or free breakfast, even if you have not stayed at any of the resort's locations before.

Advisers can also give you insight into whether a property offers a true, sleep-focused experience or a broader wellness retreat in which sleep is just one element, Grossman says.

By taking a do-it-yourself approach, you can get many of the benefits of a sleepcation without paying a premium. Plan to stay for a few nights (to counter the "first-night effect," or the tendency to sleep poorly on night one in an unfamiliar place) at a local hotel in a quiet location with positive reviews when it comes to comfortable beds, supportive pillows and, if it's hot, good air conditioning.

"Find a nice, budget hotel that's in a quiet area, and just give yourself time, because time is a luxury these days," Henderson says. "Give yourself the space and time to sleep."

Request an upper-level room that's far from the elevators to avoid noise from other guests, and limit your before-bed screen time. Corbett also recommends bringing small things that might help you sleep at home, such as your pillowcase, a sound machine or a humidifier.

"A lot of these accents that we use at home come travel-sized so you can just pack them in your carry-on," she says.

Temper long-term expectations.

While a long weekend may leave you feeling refreshed, catching up on your missed Zs will not permanently undo the cognitive and physical wear of chronic sleep deprivation. And it won't cure underlying sleep disorders such as chronic insomnia, untreated sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome.

Even if you don't have medical-related sleep challenges, the benefits of a sleepcation may be short-lived if you cross several time zones and return home to a hectic schedule, a screen-intensive environment and a worn-out mattress in a cluttered bedroom.

Still, sleepcations present a great opportunity to reset your habits and jump-start a more sleep-conducive routine at home.

"Sometimes, just that disruption of your typical day-to-day with a vacation — hopefully in a beautiful spot in a beautiful hotel — gives you the moment in time to make those changes, and hopefully they find their way home with you," Al-Masri says.

Use these sleep-tourism takeaways to get better rest at home

You don't need to travel and spend thousands of dollars — or have the most high-tech tools — to improve your sleep. "One of the biggest ironies of sleep is that trying too hard to optimize it can sometimes backfire," says psychologist Shelby Harris, author of The Women's Guide to Overcoming Insomnia: Get a Good Night's Sleep Without Relying on Medication.

"For people who are prone to insomnia, excessive focus on sleep metrics, routines and performance can increase pressure and anxiety around sleep, making it even more difficult to get the rest they are seeking."

Try these tactics, used by the sleep tourism industry, to get better rest without leaving home.

Lower the thermostat. Temperature has a major role in the quality of your slumber. "The body needs to lower its core temperature to initiate deep sleep, which is why many of the best hotels maintain rooms around 65 to 68 degrees," says Mark Kovacs, CEO of the Kovacs Institute and former vice president of health and performance at wellness resort Canyon Ranch.

Install blackout curtains. Ambient light seeping in from outside can disrupt your body's clock, making it harder to fall — and stay — asleep at night. Installing blackout curtains or shades can help keep that light out of your bedroom.

Limit in-room light. Lower light levels before bed can help signal to your body that it's time to go to sleep. "Simply dimming lights an hour before bed and keeping your bedroom dark can make a meaningful difference," Kovacs says.

The glow from digital clocks, blue light from your cell phone, and even small, bright lights on other devices when charging contribute to an environment that's less conducive to sleep. If you can't remove all such sources, consider a sleep mask.

Invest in a good pillow. Look for a supportive, comfortable pillow that keeps your head and neck in a neutral position and does not require mid-sleep adjustments, Harris says. "If you're waking up with neck pain or headaches, or you're folding your pillow in half every night, that's usually a sign it's time for a change," she adds.

Declutter your bedroom. A hotel room's calm, uncluttered environment may help you sleep. You can achieve the same effect at home by keeping surfaces in your bedroom clean.

Consider a white-noise machine. Good hotels have top-notch soundproofing. If you can't get rid of external noise at home, a sound machine can mask the racket outside.

Curb in-bed activities. Working, watching TV or scrolling on your phone in bed can lead your brain to associate it with a place for being awake. Instead, reserve the bed for sleep and intimacy only. "If you can't fall asleep, or you've been awake for a while, don't just lie there getting frustrated," Harris says. "Get out of bed, do something quiet and relaxing in dim light, and come back when you're sleepy."

Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.

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The Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate by a quarter point on September 16. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh told reporters that the underlying inflation data he's reviewing shows the overall price trend isn't improving as the Fed wants. That's not really a surprise either if you've been to the gas station or grocery store recently.

When the Fed hikes rates, it affects your finances in several ways. For savers, this can be good news, as you earn higher returns on savings accounts, especially at online banks.

On the flip side, borrowing costs can also rise on loans and credit cards. Understanding how Fed policy affects your finances can help you save more money. Here are a few examples.

Should I get a variable-rate or fixed-rate savings account?

Savings accounts come with different types of rates. Traditional savings accounts at brick-and-mortar banks, as well as high-yield savings and money market accounts, have variable interest rates. This means that if the Fed hikes rates again, you can earn higher returns without doing a thing.

Meanwhile, CDs offer fixed interest rates, so once you lock one in, you won't benefit from another Fed rate hike. For this reason, I don't recommend a longer-term CD right now unless you've met your savings and retirement goals and are looking for less risky options as you approach or are in retirement.

Instead, I recommend either a short-term CD or a high-yield savings account in the interim. Why? Because we could see another rate hike before the end of the year. The escalating conflict in Iran has pushed gas prices higher, and that will trickle down to everything else.

If you're on the fence about where to turn, here are some scenarios and solutions:

You can also use this Bankrate tool to compare the best CD rates:

How higher rates affect your borrowing (and what to do about it)

While savers benefit from higher Fed rates, borrowing rates also increase. Knowing how to minimize these increases can lower your total loan costs. Here are some examples:

High-interest credit card debt

Credit card APRs work in lockstep with Fed rate hikes. If you're paying the minimum balance but struggle to pay down the balance, a credit card offering a 0% introductory rate can be a smart choice. I like them because your payments go entirely to principal, giving you momentum to pay it off.

The Wells Fargo Reflect® Card gives you a 0% introductory APR for the first 21 months on purchases and qualifying balance transfers completed within the first 120 days of opening your account. Almost all credit card issuers charge a balance transfer fee — usually 3% to 5% of the total balance transferred — so keep that in mind when budgeting your options.

HELOCs and lines of credit

Both have variable interest rates that rise with rate hikes. The easiest solution is to pay down the principal as quickly as you can to lower total loan costs. In some cases, you can ask your lender to convert your variable-rate balances into fixed-rate loans.

You can also shop around and refinance. When considering a refinance, research closing costs, potential prepayment penalties and whether the new interest rate significantly lowers your overall monthly payments.

If you decide to shop around, use this Bankrate tool to find the best rates:

What if I want to finance a car or home?

When planning larger purchases, try to pay as much in cash as possible. For auto loans, choose a shorter repayment term to reduce your total loan cost. And receive your financing outside of the dealership, where you stand to earn the best deal.

Buying a home is trickier because, while Fed policy does affect mortgage rates somewhat, the 10-year Treasury Yield is the main driver and it's keeping mortgage rates high. If you plan to buy a home with cash, it doesn't matter. But for the rest of us, using builder buydown programs to lower interest or taking on an assumable mortgage can be a smart move if the opportunity is right.

While a Fed rate hike boosts returns on high-yield savings accounts and CDs, it also raises borrowing costs across credit cards, loans, and mortgages. Navigating these changes effectively requires placing your cash where it earns the highest yield while actively managing variable debt to minimize interest.

Interest rate changes can affect everything from where you keep your savings to how much you pay to borrow. If you're weighing a major financial decision or want help adjusting your strategy as rates change, a financial adviser can help you look at the bigger picture and determine what makes sense for your goals.

Use the tool below to connect with a vetted financial professional today:

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Welcome to Kiplinger's My First $1 Million series, in which we hear from people who have made $1 million.

They're sharing how they did it and what they're doing with it. This time, we hear from a married 54-year-old health insurance executive living in Arizona. He's still working but hopes to retire soon.

See our earlier profiles, including a writer in New England, a literacy interventionist in Colorado, a semiretired entrepreneur in Nashville and an events industry CEO in Northern New Jersey. (See all of the profiles here.)

Each profile features one person or couple, who will always be completely anonymous to readers, answering questions to help our readers learn from their experience.

These features are intended to provide a window into how different people build their savings — they're not intended to provide financial advice.

To learn what these millionaires have taught us, check out the articles 5 Key Insights We Learned From 50 Millionaires and 5 Things 50 Millionaires Wish They'd Known Before They Retired.

And to hear more about My First $1 Million, you can check out this podcast with bestselling author and tax attorney Toby Mathis:

The Basics

How did you make your first $1 million?

I made my first million through the stock market when I was in my mid-30s. I had set a target to reach $1 million by 40, so I was very happy when we first achieved it.

We achieved it through investing proactively in company stock and a diversified portfolio outside of company stock. To be fair, I had a lot of faith in the company and overindexed buying company stock through my 401(k), betting it would continue to outperform, thus generating outperforming gains, which it did.

Outside of the company stock, we also invested in companies we knew a lot about or in industries we were very interested in, like biotech.

Not all of these investments paid off, but many did, which allowed us to build up our post-tax accounts and use the money for many things, including further investing for our future.

What are you doing with the money?

We have done many things which are important to us.

First, we continue to invest and let the money work to earn more money. With this, we've realized a much higher net worth than we ever imagined! And it continues to grow. If you can leave the money invested, good things happen!

Second, we funded our children's college educations. Education is important to us, and we are giving them the best start we can help with by paying fully for their colleges so they can pursue their dreams without initial debt.

Third, we've been able to have a mostly worry-free mindset. We want something, we buy it.

We aren't free spenders (our mindset wouldn't allow it), but we know there are certain things we like.

The rest, we buy when we want without thinking of the cost because we know we have enough, and we know we are controlled to not overspend or spend frivolously.

The Fun Stuff

Did you do anything to celebrate?

Not really. We maybe opened a good bottle of champagne and went out to a nice dinner. Not much else.

What is the best part of making $1 million?

There are two things.

1. It truly makes me happy. Not necessarily because of the financial freedom (although that's a nice part!), but because it's a tangible long-term plan I can look back on and see I achieved it. I feel proud of that.

2. Taking care of my family. Family is the most important thing to me. I won't retire until I know I've taken care of our children and our financial future. Then it's time to have a little fun and take care of me for a minute.

I'm not sure when that will be, but the tug is getting stronger.

Did your life change?

No, it did not. For as long as I can remember, I've always had a plan to make $1 million and beyond. Making the first million was a nice accomplishment, but as our lives evolved and plans adjusted, it was just a step in our larger plan.

Does anyone know you're a millionaire?

Our parents know because they have been great inspirations for us. We have taken many positives and challenges from their experiences and the way they've lived their lives to help us craft ours.

Telling them was only to explain the thank-you and share how they've helped us, and our children, become who we are and what we are able to do.

Any plans to retire early?

I plan to retire early. I love what I do, but I can feel the pull to relax and step back. I'm not sure what age — originally my target was 50.

Once we started having children, I changed my target to 54. I'm not ready yet, more due to mindset and lack of a plan for what I want retirement to look like, but I know I'm not far off.

Looking Back

Anything you would do differently?

Invest to diversify our income stream through owning real estate to gain the monthly cash flows. I've always had an interest in doing this but never did because we wanted to keep as much money in investments to grow in the stock market.

Because of this, we have been teaching our children about the importance of diversification, including beyond the stock market and in income-producing assets, to help give them insights we didn't have early on.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Celebrate. We didn't do much —opened a bottle of champagne and went out to a really nice meal. But looking back, we sacrificed by not traveling much and holding our money in investment accounts rather than enjoying it to create more experiences.

I would tell my younger self to continue with your plan, but take a few more moments to let loose and create more experiences.

Did you read any books that helped you on your journey?

I read a lot. There's not one book or article stream which has influenced me more than another, but altogether my reading informs my education and efforts.

I intentionally read every day, including about financial items, to stay current and have the ability to evolve our plan forward.

Did you work with a financial adviser?

To get to our first $1 million, no. I was very interested in investing and did it on my own. After we started having children, we realized we have had a little luck to get here, and now we need to be less risky and trust experts more and more.

We did a lot of research to find a financial adviser who understands our plans, dreams, future and needs.

We've been with our Schwab financial adviser and team for 20 years, and the peace of mind it has given us is priceless. I'm still active with our investments, but I can't risk our future with our adviser team at the helm.

Did anyone help you early on?

My mom and dad and a dear friend at the company I worked at. With my mom and dad, I learned what to do and not to do through reflecting on our lives growing up as children. I learned the importance and satisfaction of ensuring the family is taken care of first.

I also learned the importance of having a plan and knowing it deeply, which they didn't always do.

My dear friend at the company I worked for helped reinforce the importance of having a plan and end goal. We are very like-minded, and in those moments of self-doubt, we were always there for each other to talk through financials and help reflect, analyze, evolve and execute as needed.

Looking Ahead

Plans for your next $1 million?

We've made many "next millions" off our first million already! Our plans have not and will not change: Continue to let the investments work and make more money to give us further freedom to live the lives we want and create/live the plans we make for our next chapters in life.

Any advice for others trying to make their first $1 million?

Be intentional. Like with most things in life, when you have a specific plan and target, you can build a pathway to get there.

Have the confidence and skills to stick to your plan and end goals, but be careful — things rarely go exactly to plan. You need to have the intelligence and confidence to pause, review, analyze, evolve, execute to adapt your financial plan to the changes you encounter.

This should help you to not overreact when something goes wrong or pops up and should help you take advantage of opportunities and risks as they arise so you can stay on your path and achieve your goals.

Very few roads are completely straight — recognize the turns and adapt.

Do you have an estate plan?

Yes and no. We have a will, powers of attorney and written instructions, but we do not have a formal estate plan. Arizona has a simple wealth transfer process for heirs, but we know that's not good enough or protected enough.

We are working on creating a thorough estate plan with all the necessary components to further protect what we have and ensure our children continue to be taken care of long after we are gone.

We also are building a charitable trust to set some money into to grow via investments and provide a yearly stream of charitable donations to issues we are passionate about, such as child and senior health.

What do you wish you knew right now as you think about retiring?

I wish I were better prepared mentally at this stage than I am today. We have the financials to retire early, but the lack of a plan on what our retirement chapters may look like is scary.

We are learning what to think through and the many different strategies to enter our retirement years, but I feel I could be better prepared to be confident in knowing what we may want at this stage.

What do you wish you'd known …

When you first started saving? When you have a plan and end goal and understand what the plan entails, it's OK to take some additional risks. Risks aren't all created equal. I wish I would have known that when I started investing and saving.

I don't regret anything and have had a life well beyond what I thought possible. That said, I know there are risks we could have taken earlier on (such as starting our own business), which would have been exciting and challenging, adding additional context to our lives.

When you first started investing? I would have paid more attention to averting future tax risk. Early on, we were intentional about building our pretax and post-tax financials, but were not very good with financial instruments such as Roth IRAs, as we typically thought the extra money pretax would build faster and provide more over the long term.

While we found this to be true, we are facing tax hurdles in the future. We are working through this with our financial adviser team, but it is a cause of future stress in the moment.

What do you wish you'd known when you first started working with a financial professional? Trust their knowledge to continue to diversify. We made our first million primarily through aggregating investment into the stock of the company I worked for. This worked out well, but also created a mindset to limit some diversification when we shouldn't have.

Our financial adviser team has tried to change our mindsets for years, and while we have been listening to them the last few years, we realize we incurred risk we didn't need to, probably for similar gains over the long term. I still won't tell them they were right. 😀

Does financial freedom make retirement or planning for retirement easy?

Not as much as you think. The financial security is definitely a plus, but without a plan and view of what you want your retirement chapters to look like, retirement is still very scary.

We are fortunate enough to be able to plan for how we want our retirement years to look, but not being clear on options, what it may take and how it may feel is universal across any financial situation.

Especially as people live longer, it's important to pay as much attention to the mental side of retirement preparation as it is the financial side.

If you have made $1 million or more and would like to be anonymously featured in a future My First $1 Million profile, please fill out and submit this Google Form or send an email to MyFirstMillion@futurenet.com to receive the questions. We welcome all stories that add up to $1 million or more in your accounts, although we will use discretion in which stories we choose to publish, to ensure we share a diversity of experiences. We also might want to verify that you really do have $1 million. Your answers may be edited for clarity.

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Jet fuel prices have doubled compared with this same time last year, according to the International Air Transport Association. That has sent airfare prices soaring and caused some airlines to start canceling some flights.

For travelers, that means the cost of getting to your destination, let alone splurging on the things that make a vacation fun, is eating up more of your travel budget.

While finding ways to be frugal and stretch every dollar of your travel budget is great, there are some travel habits that feel frugal, but really aren't when you do the math. Here are seven travel habits you might think are saving money on your next vacation and why they aren't actually worth it.

1. Buying rental car insurance

Saying yes to the optional rental car insurance or damage waiver might feel like the responsible thing to do. But depending on where you're driving, it probably isn't necessary. Your existing car insurance likely covers you in a rental car. If it doesn't, almost any travel credit card you have will likely include free rental car coverage (as long as you book the rental with that card).

Before you book, check your card's perks and coverage options — paying special attention to the fine print for any exclusions or caveats. Between your credit card and your existing car insurance, it should be safe to decline the optional coverage in almost any scenario.

2. Buying travel insurance

As with rental car insurance, many travel cards include at least some form of trip protection akin to travel insurance. While only the more premium cards, such as the American Express Platinum Card, have more comprehensive travel insurance included, many cards at least offer some degree of trip-cancellation protection.

For smaller or lower-cost trips, the basic coverage already included with your travel card might be enough. For more expensive trips, knowing what your card already covers can help you avoid paying for overlapping coverage. Instead, you can get a policy that fills in the gaps.

3. Paying for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry

It's not a question of whether TSA PreCheck is worth it. Both it and its international counterpart, Global Entry, can be a great option for saving time at the airport. But before you fork out the cash, you should check your travel credit card perks. More cards now offer complimentary credits for these time-saving screening programs that effectively make them free to you.

Taking a few minutes to see if you already have a card with the perk or even getting a new travel rewards card that includes it can save you money as well as time. In most cases, getting the complimentary credit is as easy as paying for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry with the eligible card. After that, the credit will be automatically applied to your statement.

4. Buying the cheapest airfare

Budget airlines can have enticingly low airfare when you're browsing your flight options. But as you probably know, they make up for it by nickel-and-diming every other part of your flight.

Not only are checked bags extra, but you might not be able to bring a carry-on suitcase for free. Want to sit next to your travel companion for the flight? Choosing seats costs extra. Forgot to check in before leaving the house? Checking in at the airport costs extra. Need to print out the boarding pass? Extra.

Before booking the cheapest airfare you find, add in all the extra fees you'd pay by choosing it. If the entire cost of airfare, fees included, is still lower than the competitors, that's when the budget airline is a good deal.

But if it ends up being the same (or more) than the competitor, it's not worth it. Budget airlines such as Frontier and Allegiant tend to have more frequent flight delays than major airlines such as United or Delta — not something you want to deal with if you're not really saving money.

Check the layover, too. Some of the cheaper tickets can have layovers so tight, you'll miss your connecting flight if the first one is even a little late. In other cases, it might be at a different airport entirely, so you'll be spending extra money and adding stress to your trip by racing to catch a connecting flight at a different airport. If you're only saving a few bucks, a stressful connecting flight is not worth it.

5. Booking the cheapest hotel

Just as the cheapest airfare might not end up being the best deal once added costs are factored in, the cheapest hotel can also end up costing more.

For one, location matters when you're a tourist. If the hotel is far from attractions you plan to visit, you could spend more time and money on transport. Add those extra transport costs to the hotel's price tag.

Another factor to consider is complimentary breakfast. If paying a few bucks more per night means a free breakfast every morning, that's one less meal per day you have to buy.

You'll also want to check amenity fees. While not every hotel does this, some have started charging for certain amenities — such as gym access or pool towels — similar to the way airlines charge extra for checked bags or in-flight snacks. Check which amenities come at an added cost and, for any that you plan to use, add those extra fees to the price tag.

Considering these details allows you to compare the total cost to you between hotels, rather than comparing the nightly rate.

6. Packing too light

Managing to fit everything in a carry-on is a great goal. But if you're overly militant about this, you can leave things at home that would have saved money on the trip. This is more true if you're traveling to a climate very different from your own.

My first international trip as a Californian was to Sweden in January. When I showed up in the warmest coat I owned, a Swede asked me why I was wearing a "summer jacket" in the middle of winter. I had to buy a proper winter coat there.

Check the forecast ahead of time. For example, if it's going to rain, packing a small umbrella is worth the room it takes to avoid having to buy one of the overpriced options people sell to unprepared tourists at your destination.

The "packing too light" habit can cost in toiletries, too. Travel-size hygiene products are great for shorter trips. But for a longer vacation, you'll likely be better off packing full-size products in your checked bag to avoid buying extra while you're away.

7. Buying the cheapest luggage

One of the most frugal things you can do is treat luggage as a "buy it for life" item. A good suitcase will come with a slightly painful price tag, but it'll last you decades.

My Samsonite set is seven years old and looks the same as the day I bought it. The no-name brands I'd bought before this set all suffered broken handles, stuck wheels or missing zippers within a year or two.

Even if you don't travel often, a good set of luggage is worth it. Something that lasts a decade or more for a frequent traveler could last a lifetime for someone who only travels once or twice a year.

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Gen Xers and millennials are in line to receive trillions of dollars in the Great Wealth Transfer, but first the money must pass to the surviving spouse. Known as horizontal wealth transfer, women will benefit more, as they statistically outlive their husbands by an average of five years.

Of the $124 trillion in wealth expected to transfer hands during the next two decades, $54 trillion will move horizontally to the spouse, according to a 2024 Cerulli Associates report. Once the widow spends money on healthcare, travel and other expenses, what's left will go to the younger generations.

Inheritance of any size might be welcome, given that many Gen Xers and millennials, based on a new survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of Kiplinger, don't expect any windfall. That's even though 47% of parents expect to leave a meaningful one.

This gap between expectation and reality highlights a crucial step in the wealth transfer process: The horizontal shift between spouses. Understanding why it occurs and how surviving spouses can plan for it is essential to preserving family wealth for the next generation.

Why the horizontal wealth transfer happens

Making sure your spouse is taken care of usually drives horizontal wealth transfer, but if that's not enough, the tax code offers incentives to stay motivated. The Unlimited Marital Deduction lets an individual transfer an unlimited amount of assets to the surviving spouse free of estate and gift taxes. If the wealth was passed to an adult child or children upon the first spouse's death, it could trigger estate taxes in certain circumstances.

"The typical process is you leave your money to your spouse, and after that it goes to the kids," said Derrick Longo, a wealth adviser at Savant Wealth Management. "But there's no default right answer. It's very specific for every family and situation."

If you're a surviving spouse, do this

In the Great Wealth Transfer, surviving spouses will be the first to receive the wealth; they need to plan now to preserve it later.

Take the so-called widow's tax penalty for starters. This occurs in the year after a spouse dies and the surviving partner starts filing as a single taxpayer. At that time, their tax brackets are reduced by 50%, and the standard deduction is cut in half, forcing them to pay more taxes if they don't plan for it. But if they do prepare, they have options, including:

• If the surviving spouse has dependent children, they can delay filing as single for two years. After that, they might choose to file as head of household.
• They can file a married filing jointly return for the calendar year in which the spouse passed away.
• Space out income-generating events such as retirement withdrawals and Roth conversions from the inheritance.

On the positive side, the surviving spouse gets a big tax break on inherited real estate, stocks and taxable investment and savings accounts. The value of the assets resets to the current market value on the date of death, erasing capital gains built up over the lifetime (known as a "step-up" in cost basis). If you sell soon after, you might owe little to no capital gains tax, depending on state property laws and how the assets were titled.

The surviving spouse can also roll an inherited IRA or 401(k) into their own name, delaying required minimum distributions (RMDs) until they turn age 73 or 75, depending on their birth year. If a child inherits that same account, the 10-year rule usually applies, requiring them to empty the account (and pay the taxes) within a decade.

Manage healthcare to preserve future wealth

Expected drains on future generations' inheritances include long-term care and healthcare costs. In Kiplinger's survey, 24% of parents fear these costs will erode their wealth.

It makes sense. Fidelity estimates the average 65-year-old will spend about $185,000 on healthcare in retirement, and that doesn't include long-term care, which can get expensive. The average annual cost for a private room in a nursing home was $129,575 in 2025, while an in-home aide cost $80,080. Money once earmarked for the kids can quickly become money spent on aging without the proper planning.

When it comes to covering healthcare expenses in retirement, surviving spouses can take out long-term care insurance, self-fund future healthcare expenses from their savings, health savings accounts (HSAs) or investments.

Which option makes sense for you depends on your health, longevity and finances.

For instance, long-term care insurance might make the most sense if:

• You can afford the premiums.
• Your family or trusted friends can handle the paperwork and claims process for you.
• You crave peace of mind that comes with insurance.
• You're healthy enough to meet underwriting guidelines.

Meanwhile, self-funding your long-term care needs might make the most sense if:

• You're healthy.
• Your family health history is largely free of chronic or heritable debilitating illnesses.
• You've saved enough for your retirement.
• You have liquid assets you can access easily without triggering major tax consequences.

Figure out how to spend to keep the estate growing

An inheritance can bring a desire to spend more, but to ensure the surviving spouse has enough to go around, a retirement spending strategy is essential to the planning process. Spouses can use several withdrawal strategies beyond the traditional 4% rule, including the bucket approach, the flooring strategy and a delayed Social Security collection plan, among others.

If you need help staying disciplined and want to worry less because you know where your money is and how much you can spend, the bucket approach might be for you.

If you want a steady monthly income or are hesitant to spend because of stock market fluctuations, the me-first or flooring method of spending might be for you.

For surviving spouses who want to maximize cash flow later on, the delaying Social Security strategy could be the best approach.

The idea is to find a plan that matches you and stick to it. That will ensure you have enough money to live your ideal retirement and have some left for the remaining heirs.

Plan today to preserve for tomorrow

The horizontal wealth transfer is the first stop of the Great Wealth Transfer, and it's set to benefit women primarily. With $54 trillion expected to pass to surviving spouses, that's a lot of money to protect, preserve and grow.

The good news is the next-in-line spouse doesn't have to wait until their partner is gone to prepare. A little foresight now can help ensure the windfall lasts for generations to come.

More Trillion Dollar Talk

• How Real Families Are Handling The Great Wealth Transfer
• The $124 Trillion Great Wealth Transfer: Fact vs Fiction Quiz
• Could You Handle a Sudden Windfall?
• Before You Leave Your Home to Your Children, Ask These Questions

Home equity is what a house is worth today, minus whatever is still owed on the mortgage. A $600,000 home with $100,000 left to pay carries $500,000 in equity.

Years of rising property values mean some homeowners have far more wealth tied up in their house than in retirement savings. The problem is that home equity isn't money you can easily spend.

This guide explains how retirees can use that equity, the options available and what to consider before turning housing wealth into retirement income.

If you sell your home

Selling clears the debt entirely, but it often returns less than homeowners expect because the listing estimate doesn't account for the costs of selling.

Alex Byder, founder of BD Homebuyer, buys residential property directly from sellers and regularly sees this gap. "Almost every seller I meet has anchored on a number they saw online," he says, "and that number has nothing subtracted from it. Cut 10% off the listing estimate before you plan anything around it.

"On a $650,000 sale, that is $32,000 in commission, roughly $12,000 in inspection items, and $4,000 a month in carrying costs for every month it sits. Sixty days on the market is normal, so budget for it."

The same arithmetic determines whether downsizing frees up much money. A smaller home in a newer or more convenient location may cost nearly as much, while sales fees absorb some of the difference.

If you borrow against your home

Borrowing lets retirees access equity without selling. There are three main options:

• A home equity loan provides a lump sum with fixed monthly payments. It suits a known expense, such as adapting a bathroom.
• A home equity line of credit (HELOC) provides an amount that can be drawn when needed. Interest is charged only on what is used.
• A reverse mortgage requires no monthly loan payments. Interest is added to the balance, and the debt is settled when the house is sold or the owner dies. It is available from age 62, with the most common version insured through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

Timing matters, however. Retirees can struggle to qualify for traditional loans, while opening a reverse mortgage earlier can provide advantages that waiting doesn't.

Why retirees can struggle to borrow against their home

Having substantial equity doesn't automatically make borrowing easy. Lenders are more interested in the income available to repay the loan.

Banks approve home equity loans and HELOCs partly by comparing monthly income with monthly debt payments, known as the debt-to-income ratio.

Equity doesn't count as income. Consider a homeowner with $700,000 in equity, no mortgage, $3,200 a month from Social Security and a pension, and $900,000 in retirement savings. They may be financially secure but still have relatively little qualifying monthly income.

One way around this is asset depletion.

The lender treats retirement savings as though they were being paid out monthly, often dividing the balance across 360 months. A $900,000 balance could therefore add $2,500 a month of qualifying income.

Not every lender offers this. Credit unions and smaller local banks may have more flexibility than large banks operating under stricter lending rules.

Why a reverse mortgage credit line works differently

If a home equity loan or HELOC is difficult to qualify for, a reverse mortgage offers another way to borrow. It can be set up as a line of credit rather than taken as a lump sum.

The homeowner draws on the approved amount only when needed, while the unused portion grows at the loan's interest rate plus half a percent.

Someone who opens a line at 62 with $200,000 available and leaves it untouched would have roughly $514,000 available by 77 at 6.5% annual growth.

Someone who waits until 77 gets an amount calculated from scratch based on their age, rates and home value. That gap is the cost of waiting.

A reverse mortgage credit line can also be more dependable than a HELOC. Banks can freeze or cut HELOCs, while a reverse mortgage credit line cannot be cut because of market conditions, as the Congressional Research Service's overview explains.

How a reverse mortgage can protect retirement savings

A reverse mortgage credit line can also help retirees avoid selling investments when markets fall.

Selling after a downturn means selling more shares to raise the same amount of cash, leaving fewer invested when the market recovers. Planners call this sequence of returns risk.

Barry Sacks, a tax attorney, and Stephen Sacks, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Connecticut, examined this strategy in the Journal of Financial Planning. They found that opening a credit line early and using it selectively gave retirement savings better odds of lasting 30 years than keeping the home as a last resort.

Say a $1 million portfolio falls 22% to $780,000 and the retiree needs $50,000. Taking it from investments means selling 6.4% of the reduced portfolio. Taking it from the credit line allows those investments to remain in place and potentially recover.

Note that borrowed money isn't considered as income, which can matter when retirement withdrawals would otherwise push income high enough to trigger higher Medicare premiums.

What a reverse mortgage costs and when it makes sense

Reverse mortgages are expensive to set up. Upfront government mortgage insurance premiums cost 2% [Ed note: should this be 'up to 2.5%'?] of the home's value, up to the FHA lending limit. On a $600,000 home, that's $12,000 before lender fees, appraisal and legal costs. Monthly mortgage insurance premiums then cost half a percent a year on the amount borrowed.

In return, the debt cannot exceed what the home sells for, the unused credit line keeps growing, and no monthly loan payment is required.

A reverse mortgage doesn't make sense for everyone. Someone planning to sell within about five years may not be able to justify the upfront cost, while using one for an optional lump-sum purchase can be expensive.

If you can comfortably qualify for a HELOC and only need occasional access to money, this lower-cost option may make more sense.

What to do this year

Anyone between 60 and 65 with substantial equity and modest savings can start comparing these options before they need the money.

Get a HELOC priced while income can still support the application. Then ask what a reverse mortgage credit line opened at 62 could be worth compared with opening one at 75.

The decision that protects a retirement is rarely made when the money runs short. It is usually made years earlier.

Related Content

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• Turning a Reverse Mortgage into a Retirement Investment Tool
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• Extra Cash? Should You Pay Off Debt or Invest?

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

529 savings accounts are a popular way for grandparents to help pay for education. Contributions to 529 accounts are treated as gifts to the beneficiary, and many states give residents who fund accounts in that state a deduction or credit on state tax returns. Distributions from 529 plans used for college, post-secondary credentialing programs and certain apprenticeship programs are tax-free.

And 529 accounts aren’t just for college. They can also help pay for K-12 education. Tax-free distributions of up to $20,000 per year per beneficiary can be taken from 529 accounts to pay tuition for elementary and secondary school. This amount can now also help cover the costs of materials for curricula and online studying, books, educational tutoring, fees for advanced placement tests or college admission exams, and educational therapies performed by licensed providers to students with disabilities.

The $20,000 annual limit doesn’t apply to 529 distributions used to pay for college, postsecondary credentialing programs or apprenticeship programs. Tax-free 529 payouts cannot be made to cover homeschooling expenses. You should know that not all states treat payouts for K-12 schooling as tax-free for state tax purposes, so be sure to check your state’s tax laws.

Leftover funds

What if the beneficiary decides to skip college? Or money is left in the 529 account after the beneficiary has completed school? You can always withdraw it and use the money for purposes other than education, but you will owe regular income tax and a 10% additional penalty tax on the withdrawn earnings.

There are several tax-saving options for handling unused 529 funds. For instance, under the federal tax laws, some 529 funds can be transferred tax-free to a Roth IRA for the 529 beneficiary in a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer. This relief, enacted under the 2022 SECURE 2.0 Act, is subject to important rules. The 529 account must have been open for at least 15 years, with the same beneficiary. There is a $35,000 lifetime cap on such transfers. 529 contributions made in the prior five years are ineligible for the transfer. And the amount of 529 funds transferred to the beneficiary’s Roth IRA in a year can’t exceed the annual contribution limit for Roth IRAs, which is $7,500 in 2026.

Note that any actual contributions made to any IRA owned by the beneficiary count against this limit. For example, let’s say a 529 account beneficiary contributes $3,000 to his traditional IRA in 2026. Only $4,500 of 529 funds can be transferred to his Roth IRA for 2026.

And if the beneficiary has already maxed out IRA contributions in a year, then no 529 funds can be transferred to a Roth IRA for that year.

There are a few other tax-saving options for dealing with excess 529 funds. You can keep the money in the 529 account in the event the beneficiary later decides to attend graduate school, participate in an apprenticeship program or enroll in a postsecondary credentialing program. Leftover funds can be rolled over from a beneficiary’s account to an ABLE account for a disabled beneficiary or the beneficiary’s disabled siblings.

Alternatively, you can roll over leftover funds to a 529 account set up for another family member, such as a sibling or parent. You can also use up to $10,000 to help pay off the beneficiary’s college debt (this $10,000 is a lifetime limit, not an annual limit).

Have a tax question? Write askkiplinger@futurenet.com.

Joy Taylor, the Kiplinger Tax Letter editor, will reply and, with your permission, choose a few queries for our online “Ask the Editor” feature. For past questions and answers go to www.kiplinger.com/tag/ask-the-editor.

Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Retirement Report, our popular monthly periodical that covers key concerns of affluent older Americans who are retired or preparing for retirement. Subscribe for retirement advice that's right on the money.

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If you’re looking to grow your money without facing any market risk, a certificate of deposit (CD) might be an appealing choice. But unlike making regular deposits into a savings account, a CD usually has just one initial deposit, and you’ll need to determine how much you should invest.

There’s no universal dollar amount or percentage general rule, and the deposit amount depends on your individual situation. To start, consider the money’s purpose and when you’ll need it. When you deposit money into a CD, it’s locked up for a fixed period, which could be several years, so your CD should generally contain money you won’t need to access soon for everyday expenses or emergencies.

Because CDs generally offer a guaranteed rate for a set term, they can be useful for money you know you won’t need right away. The key is deciding which savings you can comfortably lock up and which should remain easily accessible. Before putting money into a CD, make sure you have enough cash available for emergencies and other near-term expenses.

Keep your emergency fund out of a traditional CD

CD terms can range from several months to five years, though you might occasionally find terms as long as 10 years. If you withdraw your money before the CD matures, you'll usually pay an early withdrawal penalty.

Because of those restrictions, a traditional CD generally is not the right place for emergency savings. A high-yield savings account (HYSA) or another liquid account gives you easier access to your money without an early-withdrawal penalty.

Before opening a CD, make sure you have enough accessible cash to cover emergencies and upcoming expenses, such as insurance premiums, home repairs, taxes and medical costs. Once those needs are covered, you can consider putting additional savings you won't need right away into a CD.

Match the CD amount to a specific savings goal

If you have a specific savings goal in mind, you can use your CD to help you reach it. You could use a CD in several ways by depositing:

• $20,000 you’ve saved into a short-term CD for a car you plan to buy next year
• $50,000 you’ve saved toward a downpayment on a home you plan to buy in two years
• The cash you’ve saved for a major renovation you plan to start in three years

If you know you won’t use that money until a certain date, a CD can serve multiple purposes. It essentially puts a "do not touch" sign on the money, which could help you save it. At the same time, the money earns interest, helping it grow.

Calculate whether the return is worth locking up your money

Current 12-month CD rates average 1.71%, but shopping around can make a significant difference. Some of the top one-year CDs we have found currently offer annual percentage yields (APYs) of 4.20% to 4.25%. Minimum deposits vary, though, ranging from $1,000 at Accordia Bank to $5,000 at Colorado Federal Savings Bank.

At 4.25% APY, here is approximately how much different deposits could earn over one year:

• $5,000 = $212.50
• $10,000 = $425
• $25,000 = $1,062.50
• $50,000 = $2,125

Some of the top high-yield savings accounts currently offer APYs of 4% or more. For example, Newtek Bank currently offers 4.20% APY with no minimum deposit, while Poppy Bank offers 4.00% APY with a $1,000 minimum deposit.

That's competitive with today's top one-year CDs, but there is an important difference. High-yield savings account rates are variable and can change at any time, while a traditional CD typically locks in your APY for the full term. In exchange for that guaranteed rate, you give up some access to your money.

When CD and savings rates are this close, the difference in earnings might be relatively small. The table below shows how much you could earn at different deposit amounts and how much extra a slightly higher CD rate could put in your pocket.

Note: These are illustrative examples based on APY and assume the money remains in the account for one year. HYSA rates are variable and can change at any time, while a traditional CD generally locks in its APY for the term.

Don't overlook early withdrawal penalties

Before you deposit a large amount, check the CD’s early withdrawal penalties. If you need to access the money before it matures, it could cost several months of interest, depending on the bank and term. Penalties can be particularly steep for CDs with longer terms.

Some financial institutions offer no-penalty CDs as an alternative. You’ll still have a guaranteed CD rate, but you can avoid fees if you need to withdraw your money early. You’ll usually be required to withdraw the full amount, and the CD account typically closes once you make that withdrawal.

Rates, terms and early-withdrawal penalties can vary significantly by financial institution. Use the tool below to compare current CD rates and find an account that fits your savings timeline:

Consider splitting a large amount among several CDs

One downside of CDs is that your money is generally locked up until the CD matures. A CD ladder can help you balance earning guaranteed rates with having portions of your savings become available at regular intervals.

For example, say you have $50,000 to deposit. Rather than putting the entire amount into one five-year CD, you could divide it equally among five CDs with different maturity dates. You could put $10,000 each into one-year, two-year, three-year, four-year and five-year CDs.

With this strategy, one CD matures each year, giving you access to $10,000, plus the interest it earned. You can use that money if you need it or re-invest it in another CD to continue the ladder. This gives you more flexibility than locking the full $50,000 into a single five-year CD.

Watch the FDIC and NCUA insurance limits

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) generally insure deposits up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured institution, per ownership category. Some CDs offer additional insurance coverage beyond the standard $250,000 limit, so be sure to check your financial institution’s specific coverage policy.

If you’re considering making a six-figure deposit, you’ll need to verify and monitor these insurance limits to verify that all of your money is protected.

How much should you put in a CD?

Rather than starting with a specific percentage of your savings, consider how much cash you have beyond your emergency fund, when you will need the money and whether you can comfortably leave it untouched until the CD matures.

The right amount is one that allows you to take advantage of a guaranteed rate without leaving yourself short on accessible cash. Before opening a CD, account for your emergency savings, near-term expenses and other financial goals so you are less likely to need the money before maturity.

Deciding how much to keep in cash is just one part of your larger financial plan. If you want help balancing savings with investments, retirement goals and other priorities, a financial adviser can help you determine where your money might work best.

Use the tool below to connect with a vetted financial professional and get started today:

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