Markus Andrews

Staff cuts and policy changes at the Social Security Administration are going to make Social Security benefits harder to access for many, experts say.
New reports that the SSA plans to migrate from an old computer programming language on an accelerated timeline have prompted more concerns about payments.
“Now I’m concerned that benefits could get disrupted,” one expert says.

A Social Security Administration (SSA) office in Washington, DC, March 26, 2025. 
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images

Fast-moving changes at the Social Security Administration by the Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency have prompted concerns that it may be more difficult for beneficiaries to access the agency’s services.
Some experts are raising concerns that efforts to update the agency’s systems could impact the continuity of benefits.

“Now I’m concerned that benefits could get disrupted,” said Jason Fichtner, a former deputy commissioner at the Social Security Administration who was appointed by President George W. Bush.
Recent changes that have been announced by the agency are cause for concern, experts including Fichtner say.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed not to touch Social Security benefits. Yet recent changes could make it more difficult for eligible Americans to access benefits.
The SSA under the Trump administration has moved to eliminate 7,000 Social Security employees and close six regional offices, Fichtner and Kathleen Romig, a former Social Security Administration senior official, wrote in a recent op-ed. Romig is the director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The cuts will affect the service Americans receive when they either visit Social Security’s website, which has experienced glitches; call its 800 number, which has long wait times; or visit a field office, which can be crowded, they wrote.

That may make it more difficult for eligible Americans to claim benefits, particularly those with disabilities, who may run the risk of dying before receiving the money for which they are eligible.
“The Social Security Administration is in crisis, and people’s benefits are at risk,” Fichtner and Romig wrote.

‘You have to understand the complexity of the programs’

Fichtner said his worries are elevated following reports that the Social Security Administration under DOGE plans to move “tens of millions of lines of code” written in a programming language known as COBOL within an accelerated time frame of a few months.
“If you start messing with the system’s code, that could impact those who are currently getting benefits now, and that’s a new front-and-center concern,” said Fichtner, who is a senior fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance and executive director at the Retirement Income Institute at the Alliance for Lifetime Income.
While the Social Security’s systems could use an upgrade, projects of this size are typically handled over a period of years, not months, Fichtner said. Moreover, they typically start out with smaller tests, such as with one state, to identify bugs or other issues, before expanding regionally and then nationally, he said.
“You can’t just flip a switch one night and expect to be able to upgrade,” Fichtner said. “It takes due diligence, and you have to understand the complexity of the programs.”
Before the COBOL transition reports, Fichtner said he had not been worried about benefit interruptions, though he had been concerned that changes at the agency may impact customer service and that applicants for benefits may see delays.
“There is no validity to these reports,” a Social Security Administration spokesperson told CNBC via email.
In an email statement, the White House also said, “There is no validity to these reports.”

Bigger reforms should be focus, experts say

As DOGE seeks to eliminate fraud at the Social Security Administration, some experts say the focus is misplaced.
To that point, focusing on the agency’s administrative side takes away from the bigger issue the program faces of the looming depletion of the trust funds it uses to help pay benefits, experts say.
DOGE may have good intentions to make the Social Security Administration more efficient, but its actions may not “meaningfully change the financial trajectory of the program,” said Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.
If DOGE makes changes that have to be reversed, that could get in the way of the benefit reforms that Congress must also consider before a projected 2033 trust fund depletion date, she said.
“Current erratic actions have the potential to undermine those much more important, bigger reforms in a misguided attempt to root out very small levels of fraud,” Boccia said.

The Social Security’s trustees in 2024 projected the program’s combined retirement and disability trust funds may last until 2035, at which point just 83% of benefits will be payable unless Congress finds a way to fix the situation sooner.
Those 2024 projections also found the retirement trust fund on its own faces a sooner depletion date of 2033, when 79% of benefits may be payable. A new law that provides more generous benefits for certain public pensioners is expected to move the projected depletion dates closer.
Because the Social Security Administration’s administrative budget is less than 1% of outlays, it’s not the best area to focus on to make the program more cost-effective and efficient, said Charles Blahous, a former public trustee for Social Security and Medicare and deputy director of President George W. Bush’s National Economic Council.
“There’s just not enough money there to make serious headway,” said Blahous, a senior research strategist at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center.

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Military spouses have unique advantages as well as hurdles to overcome on their path to starting a small business, including their tendency to move around frequently.
An array of retirement accounts are available for military spouses, depending on the stage their business is in. They can start with Roth IRAs and move on to SEP IRAs. Both have low start-up costs and don’t require hefty contributions at the outset.
Don’t be afraid to call in a financial planner or accountant to help you get your business in order.

fstop123 | E+ | Getty Images

It’s scary enough for individuals to take a chance on themselves and start their own business, but the spouses of military servicemembers are often grappling with a unique set of hurdles on the journey toward entrepreneurship.
Certified financial planner Adrienne Ross can speak to that personally. She and her now-retired Marine Corps husband were constantly on the move during his military career, and that made the complicated process of earning her bachelor’s degree a yearslong process.

“We would move, and it would be like going through the process all over again,” recalled Ross, a partner at Clear Insight Wealth Management in Spokane, Wash. “I went to multiple colleges to complete a degree, and we were never in one place long enough.”
She ultimately completed her education at the University of Illinois Springfield through an online program while she and her family were living outside the U.S., but the ordeal informed her decision to become a financial planner, hang out her own shingle and work with military families toward financial stability.
“The client base I focused on serving is military families because I understand what it’s like to move all the time and have so many disruptions to your work life and personal life – and how it impacts your financial journey as well,” she said.
Unique advantages and disadvantages
The itinerant lifestyle that Ross grappled with as she worked on her degree can be a handicap for military spouses who are trying to build out a business.
“The number one additional hurdle would be things like business licensing,” said Bill Sweet, CFP and CFO at Ritholtz Wealth Management and U.S. Army combat veteran. “Each state and municipality will have its own licensing requirements, and there isn’t always reciprocity.” That’s often the case for teachers and nurses, for example.

“If you’re moving around every two to three years to follow your spouse, it becomes difficult to redo your nursing license on a business income,” he said. “But when it comes to things like retirement savings, I think there are a lot of neat things you can do.”
Servicemembers can enroll in the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan, for instance, which offers benefits and savings like the 401(k) plans available to private-sector employees.

A spousal individual retirement account might be a good starting point for military spouses, even if they themselves aren’t yet employed. The servicemember can sock away up to $7,000 in 2025 ($8,000 for those age 50 and older) into the spouse’s IRA. To make this work, the married couple must be filing jointly.
“Most families today live on two incomes, so they should plan on retiring on two incomes,” said John Power, CFP at Power Plans in Walpole, Mass. “Every military spouse should have a spousal IRA. The IRS allows you to deduct from your income to contribute to your spouse’s IRA – and if you can do that, you should do that.”
While the spousal IRA is enough to start stashing money away for retirement, entrepreneurs can take other steps to beef up their savings as their business grows.
In Ross’s case, she started out with a Roth IRA – a retirement account where contributions are made on an after-tax basis but grow tax free and, most importantly, are free of tax upon withdrawal. “I love Roth IRAs,” she said. “They are super flexible, available to many people and very attainable, especially if you’re getting started with a small business.”
Roth IRA contribution limits are capped at $7,000 for those under 50 ($8,000 for those 50 and over). Be aware that if you have both a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA, the contribution limit of $7,000 is an aggregate amount. The upshot of Roth IRAs? You don’t need a whole lot of money to start saving in the first place.
“You can start with as little as $50 a month, and in most places fees are very reasonable,” Ross said.
Graduating to more complex savings options
When Ross’s business grew, she shifted into using a simplified employee pension plan, or SEP IRA, for retirement savings. These plans are specifically for small businesses, and they don’t come with the hefty start-up costs you might see in conventional retirement plans.
The upshot for young businesses is that the annual contributions to SEP IRAs are flexible, which can be handy in the early years when cash flow is inconsistent. Generally, these accounts allow for a contribution of up to 25% of an employee’s pay (or up to $70,000 in 2025). It should be noted that participant loans are not allowed under these arrangements, however.
“In terms of planning your own retirement, treat the business like a job and treat yourself as an employee of that business,” said Sean Gillespie, president of Redeployment Wealth Strategies in Virginia Beach, Va. “Take the proceeds and feed your retirement the way you would if you were [a W-2 employee] working for someone else.”
Eventually, Ross and Gillespie partnered with another advisor to form a registered investment advisory firm called Apforia. Because of this arrangement, they had the assets and the economy of scale needed to start a 401(k) plan.
In 2025, individuals can put away up to $23,500 in a 401(k) plan, plus $7,500 if they’re 50 and over (or up to an additional $11,250 for employees aged 60 to 63).
It’s OK to seek help
Military spouses seeking to make the leap into entrepreneurship should leverage their connections to peers.
“Having that connection to other military spouses who have their own businesses was really important,” said Ross. “They have that same understanding of what it’s like to be living a nomadic life and trying to build a business or career for yourself despite all of that.”
They should also invest in themselves by calling in a financial planner or an accountant who can help them build a resilient and healthy business.
“Ultimately, I think working with a professional will pay off, and being proactive,” said Sweet. “Pay a little out of pocket and talk to a CPA or CFP about setting up a business.”
JOIN the CNBC CFP® Circle for Mission: Money Management on April 1. This exclusive virtual roundtable, held in partnership with The Association of Military Spouse Entrepreneurs, will focus on how to best manage money effectively. Get your free ticket today! More

Federated Hermes’ Kathryn Glass wasn’t always set on a career in finance.
She is now co-head of the firm’s high-yield fixed-income group.
With high-yield bonds ‘priced to perfection,’ she’s making specific moves in her portfolio.

Kathryn Glass, co-head of high-yield group at Federated Hermes
Courtesy: Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes’ Kathryn Glass wasn’t always set on a career in finance. Yet these days she’s co-heading her firm’s high-yield fixed-income group — and trying to navigate a market that some say has gotten too expensive.
Glass, who was promoted to the position in February after 27 years in the business, at first seemed destined for a career in Japanese language and literature.

She received a bachelors of arts degree in the subject from the University of Pittsburgh and spent her junior year abroad in Japan. She then got a masters degree in Japanese literature from Cornell University in upstate New York. It wasn’t until her Ph.D. program that she shifted gears — dropping out and getting an internship at Federated Hermes. It also brought her back home to Pittsburgh, where she grew up.
“I was hired at Federated in our muni bond group and money market group, which was the same group at the time, because they had a lot of exposure to Japanese banks, letters of credit,” said Glass, who minored in math during college. “It was a two-year program, where I could learn finance and they were interested in my language skills.”
She was hooked. Glass then went to the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, also in Pittsburgh. She earned her masters in accounting and finance and, in 1999, returned to Federated Hermes, joining their high-yield group as an analyst.
“The reason I ultimately really got interested in the analyst side of this business is because, yes, you need to do math, but you also need to be able to interact with people, read 10-Ks, read 10-Qs, understand strategy,” Glass said. “The gray parts of this is really where you’re able to shine.”
Together, Glass and co-head Mark Durbiano lead a team of 16 in the high-yield fixed-income group. They manage about $13 billion in U.S. high-yield fixed income strategies as part of Federated’s $98 billion in fixed-income assets as of Dec. 31, 2024. Glass is also a senior portfolio manager.

Finding the right stories
The investment process is reliant on research from its analysts, who have a bottom up approach, looking at company balance sheets rather than macroeconomics, she said. She describes the technique as more akin to small-cap equity analysis than investment-grade corporate analysis.
“High yield, it’s stories. There’s lots of reasons companies are in our market. Our job is to get to know the management teams, understand their priorities, [and] continue to monitor it for the life of the investment,” she said.
“It’s a pretty labor intensive focus to get names in and out of the portfolio,” she added. “We want to ride our winners, but we also want to get away from the losers.”
The approach, as seen in its Institutional High Yield Bond Fund (FIHAX), gets kudos from Morningstar. The mutual fund researcher said the Federated fund “stands out thanks to its long-tenured management team and differentiated investment approach.” FIHAX has a 30-day SEC yield of 5.96% and a 0.75% net expense ratio.

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Federated Hermes Institutional High Yield Bond Fund (A shares) in 2025.

Putting her strategy to work
Investing in high yield hasn’t been easy in this market, Glass noted. She’s positioned cautiously right now because spreads — which measure junk bonds’ excess return over risk-free Treasurys — are tight.
“It’s almost a Goldilocks-type scenario where the economy has chugged along quite nicely — but are you getting paid for risk?” she said. “While valuation is a horrible timing tool, it should definitely be a guidepost for you.”
Because the fund is known for being “very pure high yield,” shying away from bank loans and cash as a strategic instrument, she has moved into lower-spread names.
“They’re all still rated in the junk bond market, but the market is pricing them to show that they’re higher quality issuers,” she explained.
Now, she waits for a buying opportunity.
“People need to be aware that we are priced to perfection at this point in time,” Glass said.
“We can bounce along here for a bit longer, but at some point you will have a shock that sends spreads wider,” she added. “Better to be positioned more cautiously and be ready to go back into the market aggressively when that happens.”
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President Donald Trump plans to unveil reciprocal tariffs against U.S. trade partners on April 2.
The White House considers value-added taxes, or VATs, an unfair trade practice.
VATs, similar to a U.S. retail sales tax, are the world’s most common type of consumption tax. They don’t create trade distortions because they apply equally to U.S. and foreign products, economists said.

A container ship at the Port of Hamburg in Hamburg, Germany.
Maria Feck/Bloomberg via Getty Images

President Donald Trump is planning to unveil reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday to retaliate against trade practices his administration deems unfair or discriminatory. Among the grievances is the “value-added tax,” or VAT, which Trump called “far more punitive” than tariffs in a Feb. 15 post on Truth Social.
Many economists, however, disagree with that characterization.

“It would be complete nonsense” to levy a tariff on U.S. trading partners in response to a value-added tax, said Erica York, an economist and vice president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation.
“A value-added tax does not distort trade,” York said. “It’s not a protectionist measure, so it makes no sense to retaliate against a VAT.”
The White House didn’t respond to a request from CNBC for comment.
The precise scope of reciprocal tariffs are unclear. President Trump suggested in recent weeks, for example, that there might be flexibility on reciprocal tariffs, but on Sunday he said that the tariffs would “start with all countries.”

What is a VAT?

Value-added taxes are a tax on domestic consumption, like retail sales taxes charged by U.S. state and local governments.

VATs are the most common type of consumption tax in the world, used by more than 80% of nations, Youssef Benzarti and Alisa Tazhitdinova, economists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, wrote in a 2019 paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research.
More than 170 countries worldwide use VATs, according to the European Commission.

The U.S. is the only nation in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that uses a retail sales tax (rather than a VAT) as its main consumption tax, according to the OECD, which consists of 38 member countries.
VAT rates vary by country. Most European nations charge roughly 20%, for example, though the rate ranges from an 8.1% low in Switzerland up to 27% in Hungary, according to the Tax Foundation.
The average state and local sales tax rate is 7.5% in the U.S, the Tax Foundation said.

Why VATs aren’t like tariffs, economists say

Value-added taxes are different than tariffs, economists explain.
Nations apply VATs equally, regardless of where a good was produced. Foreign nations apply the same tax on domestic goods and imported U.S. products.
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By comparison, foreign tariffs may put U.S. goods at a relative disadvantage: U.S. goods are hit with an import tax but there wouldn’t be an equivalent duty on domestic goods.
Put simply, VATs don’t discriminate based on product origin, while tariffs do, economists said.
“What’s confusing — and, to be honest, just misplaced — [about the White House stance] is a VAT isn’t discretionary: It applies to domestic output as well as imports,” said Bradley Saunders, a North America economist at Capital Economics. “It’s not protectionist.”

How VATs and U.S. sales taxes are different

The OECD considers retail sales taxes and VATs to be in the same category: “taxes on general consumption.”
While consumers bear the ultimate cost of each, the taxes are collected differently, economists said.
The end consumer pays U.S. sales tax when they purchase a product.  

By contrast, businesses pay VATs in stages across the supply chain, according to the business’ respective “value add.” Businesses get a tax break for their portion of the VAT, and the end consumer ultimately bears the tax cost, according to the International Chamber of Commerce.
VATs around the world are “border adjustable,” according to Eric Toder, a non-resident fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
That means a nation’s exports are exempt from value-added taxes, while imports (from the U.S., for example) are taxable, he wrote.
The World Trade Organization doesn’t view this as a trade barrier, economists said.

“The academic consensus is that adjusting VATs at the border — by levying VATs on imports but exempting exports — does not distort trade flows as long as imported goods are subject to the same VAT rate as domestic goods,” wrote Benzarti and Tazhitdinova of UC Santa Barbara. “For this reason, VATs, as they are currently implemented, are considered to be trade neutral and the [WTO] allows border adjustment of VATs.” More

Members of the U.S. armed forces qualify for special tax breaks and can leverage unique financial planning opportunities, advisors say.
During service, members of the armed forces can kickstart tax-free growth via Roth contributions to Thrift Savings Plan, or TSP, retirement accounts.
If you’re deployed in a combat zone, your income is tax exempt, which could be a chance for other tax strategies.

Mike Kemp | Tetra Images | Getty Images

Members of the U.S. armed forces qualify for special tax breaks, which can offer unique financial planning opportunities, experts say.
Typically, earnings are higher after military service because there are two sources of income: your new career and your military retirement benefits, said certified financial planner Patrick Beagle, owner and president of WealthCrest Financial Services in Springfield, Va. The firm specializes in military and federal employees. 

During service, it’s smart to make after-tax Roth contributions to a Thrift Savings Plan, or TSP, retirement accounts, he said. Roth deposits are after taxes, but the funds grow tax-free. 
“You’re probably making a mistake” if you skip Roth TSP contributions while serving during your lower-income years, said Beagle, who is also a retired Marine aviator.
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‘Tax-free’ combat zone income

Another planning opportunity happens while serving in a combat zone, said CFP Curtis Sheldon, who is also an enrolled agent at C.L. Sheldon and Company in Alexandria, Va. The firm specializes in working with active and retired military members. 
“For the vast majority of people, when you deploy to a combat zone, you have tax-free income,” and even a single day of service counts for the full month, he said. Your earnings are exempt from taxes during that period, including basic pay, bonuses, student loan repayments and more, according to the IRS. 

Typically, you should aim to receive more income during that period to maximize your tax-exempt income, experts say.
For example, you can defer your reenlistment bonus until you’re in a combat zone, and the earnings will be tax-free, Beagle said.

Weigh Roth conversions

While deployed in a combat zone, it’s also a “really, really good year” for higher-ranking individuals to do Roth conversions while temporarily in a lower tax bracket, Sheldon said. These service members may otherwise be higher earners and may have a larger pre-tax retirement account to covert.
Roth individual retirement account conversions transfer pretax or nondeductible IRA money to a Roth IRA, which begins future tax-free growth. The trade-off is investors owe upfront taxes on the converted balance.

Leverage the Savings Deposit Program 

Another benefit is the Department of Defense’s Savings Deposit Program, or SDP, which offers 10% annual interest on savings of up to $10,000 while service members are deployed in a combat zone.
To compare, the average interest rate for traditional banks was 0.41%, as of Mar. 17, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Meanwhile, the top 1% average rate savings account rate was 4.26%, as of Mar. 31, according to Deposit Accounts.
You can close the account after leaving a combat zone and use the money as a “slush fund” for living expenses to defer more Roth contributions into your TSP, Beagle said.
“There are all these different wickets,” he said. “You can pick and choose among all the [military] benefits” to maximize future investment returns. More

Since 1980, median home prices have increased much faster than median household incomes, according to the Urban Institute.
For some, that is putting home ownership out of reach.

FILE PHOTO: An “Open House” sign outside of a home in Washington, DC, US, on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. 
Nathan Howard | Bloomberg | Getty Images

When Maryland Governor Wes Moore was 8 years old, his mother told him she wanted to send him to military school to correct his behavior.
Yet it wasn’t until he was 13 that she finally did send him to a military school in Pennsylvania. He ran away five times in the first four days.

“That place ended up really helping me change my life,” said Moore while speaking about retirement security at a BlackRock conference in Washington, D.C., on March 12.
One obstacle — the tuition costs — prevented his mother from sending him sooner, he said.

Moore was able to attend the school thanks to help from his grandparents, who borrowed against the home they bought when they immigrated to the U.S., to help pay for the first year’s tuition.
“They ended up sacrificing part of their American dream so I could achieve my own,” Moore said.
“That’s what housing helps provide,” Moore said. “It’s not just shelter. It’s security; it’s an investment. It’s a chance you can tap into something if an emergency happens. It’s a chance that you now have an asset that you can hold onto, and you can pass off to future generations.”

After retirement funds, housing generally represents the second-most-valuable asset people have, Moore said.

Some now less likely to own homes than in 1980

Yet achieving that homeownership status can feel unattainable to prospective first-time buyers in today’s economy.
Around 30% of young Maryland residents are thinking of leaving the state because of high housing costs, Moore said.
Both renters and homeowners across the U.S. are struggling with high housing costs, according to a 2024 report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The number of cost-burdened renters — meaning those who spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities — climbed to an all-time high in 2022. At the same time, millions of prospective homebuyers have been priced out by high home prices and interest rates.
Many hopeful first-time home buyers may feel that it was easier for their parents and grandparents’ generations to reach home ownership status.
Research shows those feelings are justified.
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Since 1980, median home prices have increased much faster than median household incomes, according to recent research from the Urban Institute.
Across the country, today’s 35- to 44-years olds — who are in their critical homebuying years — are less likely to be homeowners than in 1980, according to the research.
For that age cohort, the homeownership rate has dropped by more than 10% compared to 45 years ago, the Urban Institute found. Because today’s 35- to 44-year-olds are also forming households at a lower rate, that number is likely understated, according to the research.

Ultimately, that can have lasting impacts on their ability to build wealth, said Jun Zhu, a non-resident fellow at the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center.
“When you have a house, when the house appreciates, you’re going to earn home equity,” Zhu said. “Earning home equity is actually a very important way to earn wealth.”
Those 35- to 44-year-olds who are in lower income quartiles have seen the biggest declines in homeownership compared to their peers. That is driven in part by the fact that people who are married are more likely to be homeowners, while lower-income individuals are less likely to be married.
Education is also a factor in widening the homeownership gap, according to the Urban Institute, as a smaller share of heads of households who have the lowest incomes are getting college degrees.

Racial divide in homeownership rates persists

Separate research from the National Association of Realtors also points to a racial divide with regard to housing affordability.
In 2023, the latest data available, the Black homeownership rate of 44.7% saw the greatest year-over-year increase among racial groups but was still well behind the white homeownership rate of 72.4%. Other groups fell in between, with Asians having a 63.4% and Hispanics having a 51% homeownership rate.
Strong wage growth and younger generations reaching prime home buying age contributed to the increase in Black homeownership in 2023, said Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of real estate research at the National Association of Realtors.
Yet the Black homeownership rate has stayed below 50% over the past decade, Evangelou said, which means most continue to rent instead of owning. That ultimately limits their ability to grow their net worth and accumulate wealth.  
Policy changes could make it easier for Americans to buy their first home. That could include providing educational opportunities for low-income households, offering down payment assistance and encouraging housing production by reducing zoning restrictions or other regulatory barriers, according to the Urban Institute. More

A view of the Microsoft headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux, a suburb southwest of Paris, France, on Jan. 13, 2025.
Mohamad Salaheldin Abdelg Alsayed | Anadolu | Getty Images

Tariffs under the Trump administration have triggered concerns about the impact on demand and fears of a potential recession, roiling the stock market.
Amid the ongoing volatility, the pullback in several stocks with strong fundamentals presents a lucrative opportunity to build a position. Top Wall Street analysts are spotting attractive names with robust long-term growth prospects — and they are trading at compelling levels.

With that in mind, here are three stocks favored by the Street’s top pros, according to TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.
Microsoft
First on this week’s list is tech giant Microsoft (MSFT), which is considered to be one of the key beneficiaries of the ongoing artificial intelligence wave. MSFT stock is in the red so far this year due to pressures in the broader market and the weak quarterly guidance issued by the company.
Recently, Jefferies analyst Brent Thill reaffirmed a buy rating on MSFT with a price target of $550, saying that following the recent sell-off, the stock’s risk/reward profile looks attractive at 27-times the next 12 months’ earnings per share. Thill said that despite the recent underperformance, MSFT remains one of Jefferies’ favorite large caps. He sees multiple drivers for the stock to reboot, including the possibility of growth in Azure and M365 Commercial Cloud to stabilize or inflect as AI revenue becomes more significant.
The analyst noted Azure’s continued share gain against Amazon’s Amazon Web Services and solid AI-driven backlog growth, with MSFT seeing 15% backlog growth in the December quarter compared to Amazon’s and Alphabet’s Google Cloud’s 8% and 7% growth rates, respectively. For M365 Commercial Cloud, Thill expects Copilot to continue to experience a solid but gradual adoption that will become more material in Fiscal 2026.
Another driver highlighted by Thill was the continued expansion in MSFT’s operating margin despite significant AI investments. “MSFT’s margin in the mid-40s are still well above large cap peers in the mid 30s,” he said.

Finally, Thill contended that while Microsoft’s free cash flow (FCF) estimates have contracted by 20% since Q4 FY23, he sees the potential for positive revisions to FY26 estimates as capital expenditure growth starts to moderate and AI revenue grows.
Thill ranks No.677 among more than 9,400 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 57% of the time, delivering an average return of 7.5%. See Microsoft Ownership Structure on TipRanks.
Snowflake
Cloud-based data analytics software company Snowflake (SNOW) is this week’s second stock pick. The company delivered better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 and issued a solid full-year outlook, driven by AI-related demand.
On March 23, RBC Capital analyst Matthew Hedberg reiterated a buy rating on Snowflake stock with a price target of $221. Following a meeting with the management, the analyst said that he has a “better appreciation for the company’s goal to be the easiest-to-use and most cost-effective cloud enterprise data platform,” for AI and machine learning (ML).
Hedberg views SNOW stock as an attractive pick, especially after the recent pullback, due to its superior management team, a $342 billion market opportunity by 2028, and the right architecture. He also highlighted other positives, including the strength of the core data warehousing and data engineering products and the progress made in AI/ML offerings.
“With 30% growth at a $3.5B scale, multiple idiosyncratic revenue drivers and margin improvement, SNOW remains one of our top ideas,” said Hedberg.
The analyst also highlighted that while Snowflake’s CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy is focused on product innovation, given his experience at Google and Neeva, he is also working equally as hard on improving the company’s go-to-market selling to both data analysts and data scientists.
Hedberg ranks No.61 among more than 9,400 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 64% of the time, delivering an average return of 18.8%. See Snowflake Insider Trading Activity on TipRanks.
Netflix
Finally, let’s look at streaming giant Netflix (NFLX), which continues to impress investors with its upbeat financial performance and strategic initiatives. In fact, the company surpassed the 300 million paid membership mark in Q4 2024.
Recently, JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth reiterated a buy rating on Netflix with a price target of $1,150. The analyst noted that NFLX stock has outperformed the S&P 500 so far in 2025, reflecting optimism about the company’s 2025 revenue outlook, solid content slate and growing dominance in the streaming space.
Anmuth thinks that “NFLX should prove relatively defensive against macro headwinds,” given the robust engagement and affordability of the platform coupled with high engagement value. The analyst also highlighted that the company’s low-price ad tier at $7.99 per month in the U.S. makes the service widely accessible.
Aside from robust engagement, Anmuth expects Netflix’s 2025 revenue growth to be bolstered by organic subscriber additions and a rise in average revenue per member due to recent price hikes, with the higher prices expected to drive more than $2 billion in revenue from the U.S. and UK.  
The analyst also expects Netflix to gain from an attractive content slate in 2025, with key releases like The Residence, Harlan Coben’s Caught, Devil May Cry, The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox, Black Mirror Season 7, and You Season 5. Overall, Anmuth has a bullish stance on NFLX due to multiple drivers, including expectations of double-digit revenue growth in 2025 and 2026, continued expansion in operating margin and a multi-year free cash flow ramp.
Anmuth ranks No. 82 among more than 9,400 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 61% of the time, delivering an average return of 19.2%. See Netflix Options Trading Activity on TipRanks. More

If you’ve inherited an individual retirement account, costly mistakes could shrink your balance, experts say.
Since 2020, most non-spouse heirs must follow the “10-year rule,” and IRAs must be depleted by the 10th year after the original account owner’s death.
Starting in 2025, some of these beneficiaries also must take required minimum distributions, or they could face a 25% penalty.

Djelics | E+ | Getty Images

If you’ve inherited an individual retirement account, you may have big plans for the balance — but costly mistakes can quickly shrink the windfall, experts say.
Many investors roll pre-tax 401(k) plans into traditional IRAs, which trigger regular income taxes on future withdrawals. The tax rules are complicated for the heirs who inherit these IRAs.

The average IRA balance was $127,534 during the fourth quarter of 2024, up 38% from 2014, based on a Fidelity analysis of 16.8 million IRA accounts as of Dec. 31.
But some inherited accounts are significantly larger, and errors can be expensive, said IRA expert Denise Appleby, CEO of Appleby Retirement Consulting in Grayson, Georgia.
More from Personal Finance:This inherited IRA rule change for 2025 could trigger a 25% tax penaltyHalf of parents still financially support adult children, report findsTreasury scraps reporting rule for U.S. small business owners
Here are some big inherited IRA mistakes and how to avoid them, according to financial experts. 

What to know about the ’10-year rule’

Before the Secure Act of 2019, heirs could empty inherited IRAs over their lifetime to reduce yearly taxes, known as the “stretch IRA.”

But since 2020, certain heirs must follow the “10-year rule,” and IRAs must be depleted by the 10th year after the original account owner’s death. This applies to beneficiaries who are not a spouse, minor child, disabled, chronically ill or certain trusts.
Many heirs still don’t know how the 10-year rule works, and that can cost them, Appleby said.
If you don’t drain the balance within 10 years, there’s a 25% IRS penalty on the amount you should have withdrawn, which could be reduced or eliminated if you fix the issue within two years.

Inherited IRAs are a ‘ticking tax bomb’

For pre-tax inherited IRAs, one big mistake could be waiting until the 10th year to withdraw most of the balance, said certified financial planner Trevor Ausen, founder of Authentic Life Financial Planning in Minneapolis.
“For most, it’s a ticking tax bomb,” and the extra income in a single year could push you into a “much higher tax bracket,” he said.

Similarly, some heirs cash out an inherited IRA soon after receiving it without weighing the tax consequences, according to IRA expert and certified public accountant Ed Slott. This move could also bump you into a higher tax bracket, depending on the size of your IRA.
“It’s like a smash and grab,” he said.
Rather than depleting the IRA in one year, advisors typically run multi-year tax projections to help heirs decide when to strategically take funds from the inherited account.
Generally, it’s better to spread out withdrawals over 10 years or take funds if there’s a period when your income is lower, depending on tax brackets, experts say. 

Many heirs must take RMDs in 2025

Starting in 2025, most non-spouse heirs must take required minimum distributions, or RMDs, while emptying inherited IRAs over 10 years, if the original account owner reached RMD age before death, according to final regulations released in July.
That could surprise some beneficiaries since the IRS previously waived penalties for missed RMDs from inherited IRAs, experts say.
While your custodian calculates your RMD, there are instances where it could be inaccurate, Appleby explained.

For example, there may be mistakes if you rolled over a balance in December or there’s a big age difference between you and your spouse.
“You need to communicate those things to your tax advisor,” she said.
Generally, you calculate RMDs for each account by dividing your prior Dec. 31 balance by a “life expectancy factor” provided by the IRS.
If you skip RMDs or don’t withdraw enough in 2025, you could see a 25% IRS penalty on the amount you should have withdrawn, or 10% if fixed within two years.
But the agency could waive the fee “if you act quickly enough” by sending Form 5329 and attaching a letter of explanation, Appleby said.
“Fix it the first year and tell the IRS you’re going to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” she said. More