Social Security, student debt relief, holiday shopping: Wealth!

On today’s episode of Wealth!, Host Brad Smith breaks down some of the top tips for everything from positioning your portfolio to planning your holiday shopping.

As the third quarter earnings season kicks off, Keith Buchanan, GLOBALT Investments senior portfolio manager, breaks down what investors can expect. “The expectations for earnings have started to accelerate from mid-single digits to next year to mid-double digits. And coming into this fourth quarter is a real transition quarter from that lower healthy growth to robust growth,” he tells Yahoo Finance. Thus, he expects areas like financials (XLF), industrials (XLI), and consumer discretionary (XLY) to be poised for growth heading into 2025, explaining, “Those valuations are miles away from where they traditionally trade on a relative to the broader S&P 500 (^GSPC).”

The AI race is just getting started, and Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood is betting big. Asking for a Trend Host Josh Lipton dives into Cathie Wood’s OpenAI investment and why she’s so bullish on the company.

Black, Hispanic, and Latina women are newer to investing and focused on building generational wealth, a recent J.P. Morgan Wealth Management report found. JPMorgan Wealth Management head of communications Verónica Navarro Espinosa explains that education, accessibility, and confidence are helping break down barriers. “Investing is overwhelming. There is so much information everywhere that is hard to decide where you’re going to go. But we’re starting to see that there is a path forward. We’re seeing people are starting to be more comfortable. Also, the tools to invest are becoming more accessible,” she says.

Despite cooling inflation, many American household budgets remain under pressure — particularly those of retirees. However, some relief may be on the way as Social Security’s cost of living adjustment (COLA) is expected to increase benefits by 2.5%. Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Kerry Hannon breaks down the details, examining how this benefit adjustment is calculated, its impact on Social Security beneficiaries, and the broader challenges Americans face when saving for retirement.

A Missouri federal judge placed an injunction on President Biden’s SAVE student loan forgiveness plan, which features a clause to eliminate 100% of remaining interest for loan borrowers. As the plan sits in legal purgatory, Edvisors director of corporate communications Elaine Rubin breaks down the Biden administration’s biggest hurdles in pushing forward its student loan forgiveness agenda. “So in this election year, we know that the Kamala [Harris] administration, they are aiming to continue some of the plans that the Biden administration has already started. So defending the SAVE Plan and going towards that broad forgiveness,” Rubin explains.

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The fall travel season is officially here, and over half of travelers plan to manage the cost of their trips by cutting back on other expenses, according to Hopper. Hopper lead economist Hayley Berg notes that travelers should book their travel by October 14, when they can get the best airfare prices on their holiday travel. She adds that prices for holiday travel increase after Halloween. She also encourages travelers to be flexible with their travel dates, explaining that you can save about $200 per domestic ticket just by being flexible around your Thanksgiving and Christmas travel dates. While these holidays are the cheapest travel days, she explains that Monday or Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and Monday before Christmas Eve are the other cheapest times to fly.

Consumers are shopping early for the holiday season, turning to retailers offering discounts, a recent CNET survey shows. Dashia Milden, CNET money editor, explains, “The majority of shoppers right now are planning on leaning on those early holiday sales. When we start thinking about [Amazon’s (AMZN)] Prime Day sales literally launching tomorrow. Target (TGT), Walmart (WMT), Best Buy (BBY), you name it.” On top of looking for deals, shoppers are also cutting down their holiday spending. She tells Yahoo Finance, “The majority of shoppers are shopping early to try to take advantage of some of those savings, and they’re still making sacrifices. A percentage are spending less on non-essentials, such as travel and dining. People are setting smaller budgets, even and even choosing to go ahead and get fewer gifts. So when we start looking at that, it’s very clear that the holidays are important and that they’re willing to make some sacrifices in the meantime.”

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Wealth!

This post was written by Melanie Riehl