Markus Andrews

The Education Department said the full launch of the 2025-26 FAFSA is on track for December 1.
For many families, the financial aid application is a critical step in the college process.

The “phased rollout” of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid is on track for the upcoming academic year, the U.S. Department of Education says.
So far, the 2025-26 FAFSA has been available to limited groups of students in a series of beta tests that began on Oct. 1. It will become available to all students and contributors on or before Dec. 1, the Education Department said. (Typically, all students have access to the coming academic year’s form in October, but last year’s new simplified form wasn’t available until late December after a monthslong delay.)

“I am confident we will able to launch next year’s form by December 1,”  James Kvaal, Under Secretary of Education, told CNBC.
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Yet there are still “many unresolved problems,” some of which also plagued last year’s college aid application cycle, according to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
As of Oct. 29, the government’s FAFSA Issues page lists 22 unresolved issues, down from 25 a few weeks ago, he said. 
Last year, some high school seniors said complications with the new form weighed heavily on their decisions about college. 

“We’ve heard from a lot of students and families that were frustrated,” Kvaal said. “We’ve made a lot of progress resolving those issues and we are now seeing more students able to complete their form.”

The FAFSA’s impact on college choices

For many students, financial aid is crucial when it comes to covering the cost of college.
Higher education already costs more than most families can afford, and college costs are still rising. Tuition and fees plus room and board for a four-year private college averaged $58,600 in the 2024-25 school year, up from $56,390 a year earlier. At four-year, in-state public colleges, it was $24,920, up from $24,080, the College Board found.

The FAFSA serves as the gateway to all federal aid money, including federal student loans, work-study and especially grants — which have become the most crucial kind of assistance because they typically do not need to be repaid.
Submitting a FAFSA is also one of the best predictors of whether a high school senior will go on to college, according to the National College Attainment Network. Seniors who complete the FAFSA are 84% more likely to enroll in college directly after high school, according to an NCAN study of 2013 data. 

Freshman enrollment is down

In part because of issues with the new form, the number of new first-year college students sank 5% this fall compared with last year, according to an analysis of early data by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
The declines in first-year student enrollment were most significant at four-year colleges that serve low-income students, the report also found. At four-year colleges where large shares of students receive Pell Grants, first-year student enrollment sank more than 10%.
The steep drop was “shocking,” particularly at schools that serve a high share of lower-income student said Ellie Bruecker, director of research at The Institute for College Access and Success.
“It’s a very big deal to see that level of decline,” she added.

Bruecker also said she expects the Education Department will be able to meet the deadlines that they’ve set for the the 2025-26 form.
But even if all goes well, students are still working within a condensed time frame compared to the typical October FAFSA rollout, which may be to their disadvantage, she added.
“Even if everything goes smoothly this time, we are still working on a shorter time line — it’s cutting off two to three months,” she said. For families and students dependent on financial aid, “that could feel very stressful.”
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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on Oct. 8, 2024.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

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Here’s what CNBC TV’s producers were watching as the Nasdaq Composite closed at a fresh high, and what’s on the radar for the next session.

The Trump trade

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Trump Media & Technology Group in 2024

Two big tech reports due after the bell

Microsoft is up 1.2% in the past three months. Microsoft is 7.77% from the July 5 high.
Meta Platforms is up 27% over the past three months. The stock hit a high Oct. 7, and it is down 1.6% from that level. The stock has exactly doubled in the last 12 months.

Advanced Micro Devices

The chipmaker reported Tuesday afternoon, beating revenue expectations and matching on earnings in the third quarter.
AMD fell 7% in after-hours trading.
It was on a run as of late, up nearly 8% in the past week.
The stock is up 72% in the past year.
CEO Lisa Su will be on CNBC TV Wednesday in the 9.a.m. hour, Eastern.

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Advanced Micro Devices over the past 12 months

Caterpillar

The industrial giant reports Wednesday morning.
Caterpillar shares are up 12.5% in the past three months.
It is 4% from the high hit two weeks ago.

Your health and your money

Several big name pharma and biotech companies report on Wednesday.
Eli Lilly is due before the bell. The stock is up about 12% in the three months. Shares are up 55% year to date, and they stand 7% from the August high.
AbbVie is up 4.1% in three months. The stock is 5% from the September high.
Biogen is down 14% over the past three months. The biotech is 31% from the January high.
U.S-traded shares of GSK are down 4.6% over the past three months. The stock is 17% from the 52-week high hit back in May.
Amgen reports after the bell. The stock is down about 5% in three months. Amgen is 9% from the July high.

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Shares of Eli Lilly and Co in 2024

The homebuilders

As yields rise, the homebuilders are falling.
Jim Cramer and the “Mad Money” team did a good bit on the sector Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB) is down 8.6% since hitting a high on Oct. 18.
D.R. Horton is the worst of the bunch in the last week, down 7.25% in that period. Shares are down 12% in October.
PulteGroup is down about 3% in a week and 9.7% in October.
Lennar is down 9.3% in October.
Toll Brothers fell 2.2% Tuesday. It is down 4.6% in October.
KB Home is down 8.45% in October. More

More investors are making Roth individual retirement account conversions, with a 46% year-over-year increase during the second quarter of 2024, Fidelity reported.
Many advisors opt for year-end Roth conversions because it’s easier to project the tax consequences.
However, investors shouldn’t wait too long if they’re eager to make a Roth conversion for 2024, experts say.

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If you’re weighing a year-end Roth individual retirement account conversion, waiting too long could be risky, financial experts say.  
Roth conversions move pretax or nondeductible IRA funds to a Roth IRA, which can start tax-free growth. The trade-off is upfront taxes on the converted balance, which boosts your adjusted gross income.

The strategy has become more popular, with a 46% year-over-year increase during the second quarter of 2024, according to Fidelity.
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Roth conversion timing is important, particularly for those eager to complete the transaction in 2024, experts say.
Some investors want to pay Roth conversion taxes now while there are lower tax brackets because the current rates are scheduled to sunset after 2025 without action from Congress.
However, it’s difficult to predict future tax law changes with uncertain control of the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Why Roth conversions happen at year-end

Year-end is a popular time for Roth conversions because it’s easier to project the tax consequences, according to certified financial planner Ashton Lawrence, a director at Mariner Wealth Advisors in Greenville, South Carolina.
“You have a clearer picture of your income sources” for the year, such as bonuses, mutual fund distributions or partnership earnings, he said.
Roth conversions boost your adjusted gross income, which can trigger other tax consequences, such as higher Medicare Part B and Part D premiums for retirees, Lawrence warned. 

Don’t wait too long for Roth conversions

While tax projections are important, you shouldn’t wait too long if you’re eyeing a year-end Roth conversion, experts say.
Your financial institution could be overwhelmed if you wait until December, said CFP and enrolled agent Tricia Rosen, founder of Access Financial Planning in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Often, these companies are juggling other year-end transactions, such as qualified charitable distributions, tax-loss harvesting and more.

She said she typically begins the process early with clients to see if a Roth conversion or partial Roth conversion makes sense.
“I’m more conservative,” she said. “But I want to get it done by mid-November.”
Lawrence said that while he typically completes Roth conversions in December, he also begins the process earlier. Often, the timeline can be shorter than investors expect, especially during the holidays, he said.”Right now is a good time to start having that conversation,” Lawrence said. More

U.S. homeowners with mortgages have a net homeowner equity of more than $17.6 trillion in the second quarter of 2024, according to a recent study.
But such homeowners did not acquire that equity overnight.
Homeowners can start to see their equity and net worth increase within five to 10 years.

Nazar_ab | E+ | Getty Images

For most people, buying a home will be the biggest financial transaction they will make.
It’s also generally considered a path to build wealth and increase your net worth, financial experts say.

In the second quarter of 2024, U.S. homeowners with mortgages had a net homeowner equity of over $17.6 trillion, according to CoreLogic. Home equity increased in the second quarter of this year by $1.3 trillion, an 8.0% growth from a year prior.
In the simplest terms, your home’s equity is the difference between how much your home is worth and how much you owe on your mortgage.

It’s a way to increase your net worth over time.

Steven LaRosa
director and senior portfolio manager at Edgemoor Investment Advisors based in Bethesda, Maryland

How new homeowners create equity

Homeowners, however, did not acquire that equity overnight.
“At the beginning of homeownership, the loan is usually quite large, and you have no equity in the house at that point,” said Steven LaRosa, director and senior portfolio manager at Edgemoor Investment Advisors based in Bethesda, Maryland. The firm ranks No. 14 on the 2024 CNBC Financial Advisor 100 list.
Homeowners can start to see their equity and net worth increase within five to 10 years. The rate at which equity grows depends on several factors, like the down payment, loan term, credit score and property value appreciation.

You can have immediate equity in a house when you make a down payment. Let’s say you buy a home priced at $250,000 and put $17,500 down. Your immediate home equity is $17,500, per Freddie Mac.
After that, the equity continues to grow as you make mortgage payments. A portion of each payment includes interest and an amount that reduces the outstanding principal that you still owe.
By way of example: In the first year of a $400,000, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a 5% interest rate, your monthly payment may be $2,147.29, according to LendingTree. About $480.62 would go toward the principal while interest takes up $1,666.67, the analysis found.
The money that goes toward the principal will grow over the life of the loan.
Homeownership allows you to increase your net worth because you can build equity through mortgage payments, which increases your asset value over time as the property appreciates in value, experts say. Unlike rent, which is simply a recurring expense; this essentially acts as a forced savings mechanism contributing significantly to wealth building.
To that point, over the past 33 years, the median wealth gap between homeowners and renters increased by 70% to $390,000, according to the Urban Institute.

More from FA 100:

Here’s a look at more coverage of CNBC’s FA 100 list of top financial advisory firms for 2024:

And, as you pay down the mortgage every month and the value of your home increases, your net worth will ultimately climb in the future as well, LaRosa explained.
“It’s a way to increase your net worth over time,” LaRosa said. “But at the beginning, the first year or two after you buy it, it’s a negative for your net worth.”
Here’s what happens to your net worth after a home purchase and what factors to consider before such a major transaction, advisors say.

It takes time to actually build equity in the home through mortgage payments.

Jeffrey Hanson
partner at Traphagen Financial Group in Oradell, New Jersey

What happens in the first years of homeownership

Let’s say you buy a home for $250,000 and you put 20% down, or $50,000, says Stephen Cohn, co-founder and co-president of Sage Financial Group in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. The firm ranks No. 61 on the 2024 CNBC FA 100 list.
“The asset on your balance sheet is really the $50,000,” he said. “It’s not $250,000.”
What really happens is the cash you had for your down payment has now become illiquid, meaning it’s harder to access than before, said certified financial planner Shaun Williams, private wealth advisor and partner at Paragon Capital Management in Denver. The firm ranks No. 38 on the FA 100.
Additionally, upfront associated costs like closing costs and title insurance might negatively affect your net worth in the short term because you’re spending additional money, said CFP Jeffrey Hanson, a partner at Traphagen Financial Group in Oradell, New Jersey. The firm ranks No. 9 on the FA 100.
And “you’re not accumulating any equity” from the monthly mortgage payment in the first five to seven years,” Cohn told CNBC.
“It takes time to actually build equity in the home through mortgage payments,” Hanson said. More

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 22: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 22, 2024 in New York City. The Dow was down over 100 points in morning trading following a drop of over 300 on Monday. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Stocks @ Night is a daily newsletter delivered after hours, giving you a first look at tomorrow and last look at today. Sign up for free to receive it directly in your inbox.
Here’s what CNBC TV’s producers were watching as the 30-stock Dow snapped a five-day losing streak, and what’s on the radar for the next session.

Case-Shiller housing numbers

The home price data will be out at 9 a.m., Eastern time.
We’ll have them on “Squawk on the Street.”
The S&P 500 Homebuilders Industry is down 5.8% in the last month.
Lennar is down nearly 7% in a month.
D.R. Horton is down 5.2% in a month.
Pulte is down 6.5% in a month.
NVR is down 4.4% in a month. 

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Lennar in the past month

Alphabet

A slate of Big Tech names report earnings this week. Alphabet is up first on Tuesday afternoon.
Alphabet is flat in the last three months.
The stock is 13% from the July high.

AMD earnings

CNBC’s Seema Mody will cover Advanced Micro Device’s report when it comes out Tuesday afternoon after the bell.
The stock is 30% from the March high, but shares are up 14% in the past three months.
Nvidia is up 24% in three months. It is 2.7% from the new high hit last week.

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Advanced Micro Devices in the past three months

Chipotle

The restaurant chain reports quarterly results after the bell Tuesday.
Chipotle’s interim CEO Scott Boatwright will be on in the 4 p.m. hour of CNBC TV.
The stock is up about 22% in the past three months.
It is up 5.2% in October.
The stock remains 12% from the mid-June high.

McDonald’s

The burger chain reports in the morning.
The stock is down nearly 5.8% in the last week. That’s after an E. coli outbreak that appears to be linked to onions in Quarter Pounder burgers in several states.
The stock is up about 18% in the past three months.
McDonald’s is 6.5% from the 52-week high.

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McDonald’s shares in 2024

Pfizer

The pharma giant is down 6.2% since last reporting three months ago.
Pfizer is 8.5% from the 52-week high.

JetBlue

The airline reports in the morning before the bell.
The stock is up 11.6% in October and roughly 18% in the past three months.
Activist investor Carl Icahn took a big stake in JetBlue earlier this year.
The stock is up nearly 32% so far this year.

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JetBlue shares in the past three months

A big test for the F-35

The strike on Iran by Israel over the weekend was the biggest test yet for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth fighter aircraft.
Northrop Grumman also makes parts of the plane, including the center fuselage along with radar and communications equipment.
RTX holds Pratt & Whitney, which builds the engine for the F-35. Collins Aerospace, also an RTX subsidiary, makes the equipment that informs the pilots of what’s happening around them. Raytheon, another RTX division, is responsible for the weapons systems. This includes the air-to-air missiles and air-to-ground munitions, as well as the navigation system.
A stock reaction might not be imminent because it takes a long time to make and approve orders. However, defense analysts say this weekend’s strike was key for any country deciding between the F-35 and the Eurofighter, which is a possible competitor for sales in the Western world.
Lockheed Martin is 10% from the 52-week high. The stock is up 22.5% so far in 2024.
RTX is right near the high. Shares are up nearly 50% so far in 2024.
Northrop Grumman is 7.8% from the high. The stock is up 9% in 2024.

Other defense companies

Howmet is up 89% so far in 2024. The stock is 4.25% from the recent high.
CACI is up about 70%in 2024, 4% from last week’s high.
BWX Technologies is up 61% in 2024, 3% from last week’s high.
Leidos is up around 57% in 2024. Shares are just off last week’s high.
Tank maker General Dynamics is up 17% year to date. The stock is 3% from last week’s high.
Israel’s Elbit Systems was up nearly 8% Monday, hitting a new high. The company got a contract from the Israel’s Ministry of Defense to supply a new laser-based anti-missile and anti-aircraft system, which has done well in tests. It could cut some costs for the interceptors used by one of Israel’s current air defense systems. Shares of Elbit are up 21% in three months.
Shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls is down nearly 2% so far this year. Shares are 15% from the 52-week high hit back in March. More

The U.S. has made a remarkable economic comeback since the Covid pandemic.
However, some female-headed households continue to struggle.
The poverty rate for families with children headed by women reached 28.5% in 2023.

As the run-up to the U.S. presidential election has highlighted, there is a growing share of “childless cat ladies” in this country. There is also a larger share of single women with children.
As marriage rates fell, the number of women heading families rose.

Often, this comes with financial challenges. Many single mothers shoulder the financial responsibility of raising children while also being the primary caretakers, a dynamic that affects their labor market participation and income, according to a recent analysis by the Center for American Progress.
Roughly 75% of single mothers are working, and those with full-time jobs have a median annual income of $40,000, according to the center’s analysis of 2022 data. Single fathers had a median income of $57,000 per year, the analysis shows.
Caregiving demands have largely contributed to a persistent gender pay gap, often referred to as the “motherhood penalty.”
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During the pandemic, caregiving responsibilities hit working women especially hard. Across the board, women in the workforce faced steeper job losses and slower job recovery than men, according to research by the U.S. Census Bureau.

But by most measures, pandemic relief helped more people get on their feet relatively quickly. In fact, the economic comeback has been one of the most remarkable in modern history, Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League, recently told CNBC.
Yet, even now, the labor force participation rate for women has not fully returned to pre-pandemic levels. In addition to reduced labor force participation, women’s jobs recovery has lagged men’s: Women now hold just over 3.1 million more jobs than they did in February 2020, while men now hold nearly 3.7 million more jobs, according to a separate report by the National Women’s Law Center.
“This is another area where we see returning to a pre-pandemic status quo as not good enough,” said Julie Vogtman, the National Women’s Law Center’s director of job quality.

Pandemic relief helped

“Deeper structural inequities” are hindering meaningful gains in women’s labor force participation, Vogtman said.
Federal relief aid, primarily through the American Rescue Plan Act, did help mitigate employment losses and create the conditions for strong jobs recovery and wage growth. It also saved the care system from collapse and cut child poverty in half, according to Vogtman.
“These were historic investments, and it kept the child-care infrastructure from crumbling,” Vogtman said.
However, “the very programs that drove the recovery have now largely expired and, in their absence, have left women and families struggling and unable to meet the rising costs of goods, especially for child care and housing, two areas where rising costs have outpaced inflation,” Vogtman said.
Another recent poll found that 91% of single moms worry about their financial future.

Many women and families are still struggling

The Good Brigade | Getty

Although inflation has eased, many women struggle to get by with paychecks that cannot keep up with costs for housing, groceries, child care, health care and other expenses, the National Women’s Law Center also found.
At the same time, “the child care crisis, which was simmering prior to the pandemic, has come to a boil,” according to a separate KPMG analysis.
Between 1991 and 2024, the costs for child care rose at nearly twice the pace of overall inflation.
Now, “existing federal programs designed to support child care access among low-income families suffer from chronic underinvestment and structural limitations, leaving many parents and caregivers with impossible choices to make ends meet for their family,” Hailey Gibbs, associate director of early childhood policy at the Center for American Progress, said in a statement.

Poverty is higher for female-headed households

The American Rescue Plan of 2021 temporarily boosted the maximum child tax credit to $3,000 from $2,000, with $600 extra for children under age 6, and families received up to half via monthly payments. 
As a result of the expanded child tax credit, the child poverty rate dropped to a historic low of 5.2% in 2021, according to a Columbia University analysis.
However, in 2022, the rate more than doubled to 12.4% once pandemic relief expired, the U.S. Census Bureau found.

The poverty rate for families with children headed by single women rose even higher, jumping from 11.9% in 2021 to 26.7% a year later. In 2023, it reached 28.5%, the National Women’s Law Center found.
Notably, the terms of the current child tax credit are set to expire at the end of tax year 2025. At that time, the child tax credit is scheduled to drop to a maximum $1,000 per child.

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There’s still time to lower your taxes or boost your refund for 2024, financial experts say.
You can boost pre-tax 401(k) plan contributions, increase withholdings or make payments to the IRS.
You may also weigh bunching deductions, such as charitable gifts, for a bigger tax break.

Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images

There’s still time to lower your taxes or boost your refund for 2024, financial experts say.
Typically, there’s a refund when you overpay taxes during the year via withholdings or estimated payments. You can expect a tax bill when you don’t pay enough.

Since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or TCJA, there are fewer ways to reduce your taxes, said certified financial planner and enrolled agent Tricia Rosen, founder of Access Financial Planning in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
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When filing taxes, you take the standard deduction or total itemized tax breaks, whichever is larger.
Enacted by former President Donald Trump, the TCJA doubled the standard deduction, which means fewer people claim itemized tax breaks for charitable gifts, medical expenses or state and local taxes.
“It’s tough to get over the standard deduction, especially if you’re married,” Rosen said. For 2024, the standard deduction is $29,200 for married couples filing jointly and $14,600 for single filers.

However, there are some year-end tax planning strategies to consider, experts say. 

Boost pre-tax 401(k) contributions

There’s still time to increase your pretax 401(k) contributions for 2024, which reduces your adjusted gross income, Rosen said.
Pre-tax deferrals provide an upfront tax break, but you’ll pay regular income taxes on withdrawals in retirement.
For 2024, employees can defer up to $23,000 into 401(k) plans, up from $22,500 in 2023. Workers age 50 and older can save an extra $7,500 for catch-up contributions.

Increase paycheck withholdings

If you’re expecting a tax bill, you can increase paycheck withholdings or make payments to the IRS, according to Tommy Lucas, a CFP and enrolled agent at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo in Orlando, Florida.Often, taxpayers make withholding elections once via Form W-4, but “there’s a whole slew of things that can change,” such as second jobs, marriage, divorce or birth of a child that may impact your situation, Lucas previously told CNBC. 

Consider ‘bunching deductions’ 

As year-end approaches, you can tally your itemized deductions to see if you’re close to exceeding the standard deduction, Rosen said.
Depending on your goals, you could weigh “bunching deductions” into a single year to reach the itemized deduction threshold, she said.
For example, you could combine charitable gifts for multiple years into a single one rather than making donations yearly.
Typically, Rosen runs projections both ways to see how it could impact a client’s taxes for the current year. More