Markus Andrews

The fourth quarter of the year can be an opportunity to review your finances, as well as prepare yourself for the upcoming year, experts say.
“It’s absolutely a great time to do that,” said Dan Moisand, a certified financial planner and director at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo in Orlando, Florida. The firm is ranked No. 69 on CNBC’s Financial Advisor 100 for 2025.

Strauss/curtis | The Image Bank | Getty Images

Early in the fourth quarter is an ideal time to tackle some financial planning tasks that set you up for success for the rest of the year — and into 2026. 
“It’s absolutely a great time to do that,” said Dan Moisand, a certified financial planner and director at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo in Orlando, Florida. The firm is ranked No. 69 on CNBC’s Financial Advisor 100 for 2025.

One advantage: You have actual financial data available — such as income from work, interest and dividends, as well as money you’ve spent — rather than working with estimated figures, he said. That can aid with year-end tax planning.

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What’s more, now is also a good time to prepare your budget for the upcoming holiday season to make sure you start off the new year without financial stress, said Gloria Garcia Cisneros, a CFP and wealth manager at LourdMurray in Los Angeles.
Last year, about 36% of surveyed Americans took on holiday debt, averaging $1,181, according to a report by LendingTree. The site polled 2,049 adults in December 2024.
Here’s how to gear up your finances for the end of 2025 and prepare for the new year, according to experts. 

‘The most crucial and impactful tax strategies’

While the deadline for individual tax returns falls in April, “the most crucial and impactful tax strategies” often need to happen before December 31, said Chelsea Ransom-Cooper, a CFP, co-founder and the chief planning officer of Zenith Wealth Partners in Philadelphia.

This year, year-end tax planning is even more important, given that President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” made several tax law changes, said Ransom-Cooper, a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council. 

For instance, the law temporarily increased the cap on the deduction for state and local taxes, or SALT, to $40,000 for 2025, up from $10,000. 
That higher cap is a “completely different ball game for a lot of people,” Ransom-Cooper said. Maximizing it may require strategizing — say, by prepaying certain taxes.
On the other hand, there’s a new tax break worth up to $2,000 for cash charitable donations for non-itemizers, said Moisand. However, the law doesn’t take effect until January — which means some taxpayers may benefit from delaying small year-end charitable gifts until the new year.
“The biggest mistake is just thinking of each tax year in isolation without considering the levers that you could pull,” Moisand said.

‘The last thing you want’ for 2026

Use these last months of the year to think about where you are financially and what your goals are for the future, said Cisneros, a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council. That can help keep your spending on track.
This year, early forecasts show that worries about higher costs from inflation and tariffs may prompt consumers to pull back.

About 41% of consumers are concerned that gifts will be more expensive this year and 30% said they expect to spend less this holiday than they did last year, according to a recent report by Bankrate.
Think about different ways to get ahead and avoid overspending, like taking advantage of sales or finding other ways beyond gifts to express care and appreciation for others, Cisneros said. 
“The last thing you want is to start 2026 with a lot of stress financially,” she said. 
CNBC receives no compensation from placing financial advisory firms on our Financial Advisor 100 list. Additionally, a firm or an advisor’s appearance on our ranking does not constitute an individual endorsement by CNBC of any firm or advisor. More

A central issue of the government shutdown is the enhanced subsidies that make health plans bought over the Affordable Care Act marketplace cheaper for millions of Americans.
The ACA enhanced premium tax credits are set to expire at the end of 2025 without congressional action.
Open enrollment for 2026 ACA coverage starts on Nov. 1.
We want to hear from you. How are your health premiums poised to change next year?

Natalia Gdovskaia | Moment | Getty Images

Health insurance is at the heart of the government shutdown.
Without action from Congress, insurance premiums for people who buy coverage via the Affordable Care Act marketplace are poised to more than double for the average enrollee in 2026, according to research from KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.

Democrats are demanding that legislation to end the shutdown include an extension of enhanced subsidies, or enhanced premium tax credits, that have made marketplace insurance plans cheaper in recent years for the vast majority of ACA enrollees. Republicans have said they don’t want to include the subsidies in shutdown negotiations.
The impasse leaves millions of individuals who buy marketplace insurance — including self-employed business owners, gig workers and early retirees who can’t yet access Medicare, among many others — in limbo about their future health costs. Open enrollment for 2026 ACA coverage starts on Nov. 1.
ACA enrollees: How are your health premiums poised to change next year, and what impact will that have on the rest of your personal finances?
We want to hear from you.
If you’re willing to share your experience for an upcoming story on this topic, please write to reporters Greg Iacurci and Kate Dore at [email protected] and [email protected]. More

Student loan borrowers who are trying to get into a new repayment plan face delays amid a Trump-era backlog of applications and the shutdown of the government.
Here’s what they can do in the meantime.

The U.S. Capitol is seen on the second day of the federal government shutdown on October 2, 2025, in Washington D.C.
Mehmet Eser | Anadolu | Getty Images

The shutdown of the federal government is likely to worsen the delays student loan borrowers are already facing in accessing programs required by Congress and mandated in their loan terms.
More than 1 million borrowers are in a backlog to enroll in an income-driven repayment plan, according to court records from mid-September.

During the shutdown, Federal Student Aid staff “will not be able to perform regular operations, including working on the IDR backlog,” a spokesperson for the Education Department told CNBC on Wednesday. That day, the U.S. government shut down after lawmakers failed to reach a funding deal, meaning that most of the federal workers at the Education Department would be temporarily put on unpaid leave.
“Even before the shutdown, borrowers were at a breaking point,” said Michele Zampini, associate vice president of federal policy and advocacy at The Institute for College Access & Success.
“Now, with application processing reportedly at a standstill, borrowers will continue to face unaffordable payments.”
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Congress created the first IDR plans in the 1990s to make student loan borrowers’ bills more affordable. Historically, the plans cap people’s monthly payments at a share of their discretionary income and cancel any remaining debt after a certain period, typically 20 years or 25 years.

Here’s what student loan borrowers need to know about getting into a new repayment plan right now.

Delays are ‘disruptive to the lives of borrowers’

As of Aug. 31, there were already 1,076,266 income-driven repayment plan applications pending with the agency, court records show.
“It is not surprising that there will be no progress on the IDR backlog during the shutdown, as the staff who work on it aren’t considered ‘essential,'” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
But, Kantrowitz said, “the failure to clear the backlog is disruptive to the lives of borrowers.”

Many of the borrowers in the backlog are likely trying to switch out of the Biden administration-era SAVE, or Saving on a Valuable Education, plan. A court struck that program down in February and now borrowers who remain in the SAVE forbearance, which borrowers were placed into during the legal challenges, are seeing interest grow on their debt. (The Trump administration started charging interest as of Aug. 1.)
“Interest has been accruing on their loans, but they have been unable to switch to another plan,” Kantrowitz said.
In the meantime, borrowers stuck in the backlog may not be making progress toward loan forgiveness, either under the terms of an IDR plan or through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. PSLF offers debt cancellation to certain public servants or non-profit workers after a decade.

What borrowers in the backlog can do

For now, the best move student loan borrowers stuck in the backlog can do is to salt away the money they would have directed to their payments, Kantrowitz said. That way, you’ll have plenty of cash to draw on when the Education Department switches you into another IDR plan and your first bill comes due.

This remains a waiting game.

Carolina Rodriguez
director of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program

While this waiting period likely doesn’t count toward IDR or PSLF forgiveness, when you first applied for an IDR plan, you were supposed to be put into a 60-day administrative forbearance at first, and those two months still do count on your forgiveness timeline, Kantrowitz said.
“Our advice to borrowers is to maintain thorough records and monitor any applications submitted during this period,” said Carolina Rodriguez, director of the Education Debt Consumer Assistance Program, speaking about the backlog.
“Once processing resumes, it’s important to follow up promptly to ensure their application remains on track,” Rodriguez said. “Beyond that, unfortunately, this remains a waiting game.” More

The purchase price of the average used electric vehicle is nearly at parity with traditional gasoline-powered cars.
Analysts expect this will help the market for used EVs to continue growing, even though President Trump and congressional Republicans eliminated a federal EV tax credit as of Oct. 1.
Focusing on the total cost of ownership rather than the upfront purchase price is a better metric for prospective car buyers, analysts said.

Charging an electric vehicle.
Tashdique Mehtaj Ahmed | Moment | Getty Images

The price of used electric vehicles has come down to levels comparable with gasoline cars, a dynamic poised to boost their popularity despite the loss of a federal tax incentive for EVs, according to auto analysts.
In August, the price premium for used EVs relative to used vehicles with a gasoline engine narrowed to just $897, on average, the smallest price gap on record, according to Cox Automotive.

The average list price for used EVs was $34,704 in August, down 1.1% from July and 2.6% from a year earlier, it found.
This price tag excludes a federal tax credit that ended after Sept. 30, after Republicans scrapped it as part of a multitrillion-dollar legislative package in July. That tax break was worth up to $4,000 for used EVs (and $7,500 for new EVs) — meaning the average used EV cost less than its gasoline counterpart after incentives.

Consumers bought nearly 41,000 used EVs in August, up 59% from a year earlier, Cox data shows.
Analysts expect that momentum to continue, driven in large part by affordability even absent the federal tax break.
2026 will be “the year of the used EV,” said Scott Case, the CEO of Recurrent, an EV market research firm.

Why leased EVs help drive down prices for used ones

Automakers leaned heavily on leasing in recent years to move electric vehicles, analysts said.
Since 2023, more than 1.1 million EVs have been leased, Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox, wrote in an analysis last month.
This was partly due to the so-called leasing “loophole.” Consumers could more easily claim a $7,500 tax credit when leasing a new EV than buying one, the latter of which came with more restrictions.
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Now, a large volume of electric vehicles are reaching the end of their lease term. Lease returns and trade-ins are boosting the supply of used EVs, driving down prices, Valdez Streaty wrote.
In fact, 14 used EV models had a lower average price than their gasoline counterparts in August, according to Valdez Streaty.
“For mainstream buyers, EV affordability in the used-vehicle space is finally within reach,” Valdez Streaty wrote.

The top-selling models — Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model Y, the General Motors-owned Chevrolet Bolt EV, Tesla Model S and Ford Mustang Mach-E — all had prices below the market average in August, which shows their appeal to budget-conscious buyers consumers, Valdez Streaty wrote.
For example, two high-volume models — the Renault-owned Nissan Leaf and the Tesla Model 3 — carried an average price tag of $12,890 and $23,278, respectively, according to Valdez Streaty. The Chevrolet Bolt EV was $14,705.

Not the ‘end of affordable EVs’

Valentinrussanov | E+ | Getty Images

By contrast, the market for new electric vehicles is likely to struggle for the rest of 2025 and into next year, analysts said.
Average new EV prices in August were $57,245, representing a nearly $9,100 premium over the average gasoline car, according to Cox Automotive.
That doesn’t include the now-expired $7,500 federal tax credit, which brought new EVs closer to price parity with their gasoline counterparts.
“The tax credit helped get a lot of butts in seats,” Aaron Bragman, Detroit bureau chief for Cars.com, told CNBC. “It helped a lot of people get into EVs.”

However, there are still some relatively affordable new electric vehicles even without the federal tax break, he said.
For example, the 2025 Nissan Leaf has a starting price under $30,000, Bragman said.
A few others — the Fiat 500e, Hyundai Kona Electric and Chevrolet Equinox EV — have a starting price under $35,000, according to Cars.com.
“The end of the [tax] credit doesn’t mean the end of affordable EVs,” Bragman wrote in an e-mail. “Brands like Nissan, Chevrolet, and Hyundai are rolling out lower-priced options, and used EVs are getting more attractive too, with plenty available under $25,000. Battery costs are also coming down, which will help keep prices competitive in the long run.”

For mainstream buyers, EV affordability in the used-vehicle space is finally within reach.

Stephanie Valdez Streaty
director of industry insights at Cox Automotive

In fact, the tax break’s expiration doesn’t seem to negatively influence interest among prospective new-car buyers, according to J.D. Power.
More than half of new-vehicle shoppers are either “very likely” (24%) or “somewhat likely” (35%) to consider buying an EV in the next 12 months, rates that have remained fairly consistent for the past year, according to a September study by J.D. Power.

Total cost of ownership

Consumers should focus on total cost of ownership rather than upfront purchase price when choosing a car, analysts said.
This means a car owner should account not only for upfront purchase price, but for the full suite of financial costs, like repairs, maintenance and fuel.
Such costs are generally cheaper for electric vehicles, and can therefore make the lifetime cost of EV ownership less expensive than that of a gasoline-powered car, according to studies and industry experts.
“I think this is the bigger argument” in favor of EVs, said Case of Recurrent.
Factors like geography and charging accessibility are important here, analysts said. For example, relying heavily on public charging networks may flip the economic calculus, since public charging is often more expensive than charging at home, they said.

State incentives are still available

While the federal electric vehicle tax incentive has disappeared, there are additional incentives available from utilities, automakers, and state and local governments that can, in some instances, shave thousands of dollars off an EV’s upfront cost, experts said.
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island are among the states that offer relatively generous incentives, analysts said.
“There are a lot of state supports still for these EVs,” said Al Salas, CEO of Eco Auto, an EV dealer with operations in Massachusetts and Washington state. More

A Nvidia HGX H100 server at the Yotta Data Services Pvt. data center in Navi Mumbai, India, on Thursday, Mar. 14, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Notable technology industry analyst Dan Ives says Big Tech companies and private equity firms are gearing up to make a flurry of acquisitions to stay ahead in the AI arms race. The analyst shared his picks for stocks that are prime acquisition targets as the dealmaking boom gets underway.
“With the regulatory landscape becoming more lenient to acquisitions with the new administrations stepping in and no longer representing steep hurdles, we believe that the tech M&A floodgates are ready to be opened as more opportunities arise to add accretive assets with an easier path forward,” Ives said late Wednesday note to Wedbush Securities clients.

Over the past few months, several technology firms have entered into deals to sell their businesses to AI and AI-adjacent firms. Core Scientific agreed in July to sell its data center business to CoreWeave in a $9 billion all-stock deal. Around the same time, Palo Alto Networks announced it would acquire CyberArk, an Israeli security firm valued at $25 billion, while NiCE unveiled plans to purchase consumer-focused generative AI company Cognigy for nearly $1 billion.
Ives pointed to C3.ai and Sandisk as being among the prime M&A targets, while Apple and IBM are most likely to be highly acquisitive during this AI merger wave because the two Big Tech companies are looking to play catch up in the AI race.
“While plenty of funding is expected to build AI use cases, we anticipate significant consolidation within the space over the next 5-10 years as more niche use cases for AI will be picked up and added to growing AI product portfolios from large-scale tech players and other financial buyers to capitalize on the exploding demand for AI across both enterprise and federal landscapes,” Ives wrote.
Here are the analyst’s top publicly traded takeover candidates.

Ives stock picks for AI-related M&A

Tickers
Companies
Stock Performance (YTD)

TENB
Tenable Holdings
-25.66%

QLYS
Qualys
-6.33%

AI
C3.AI
-48.85%

LYFT
Lyft
68.33%

TRIP
TripAdvisor
4.47%

SNDK
Sandisk
—

Source: Wedbush Securities

Sandisk shares have surged more than 200% since the stock began trading under the ticker SNDK in February. Lyft and Tripadvisor are up 68% and 5% since the beginning of this year, respectively.
However, Tenable Holdings stock fell 26% this year, while C3.ai shares plunged 49% over the same period. Qualys shares slid roughly 6% in the year to date. More

A Jefferies analysis of Morning Consult data showed sentiment and brand awareness for Disney and its streaming platform have fallen to lowest in at least two years in the last two weeks.
The drop follows the company’s decision to temporarily halt Jimmy Kimmel’s show and price increases for Disney+.

Gregg Donovan displays a sign at the El Capitan Entertainment Centre, where “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is recorded to celebrate the show’s return on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, U.S. on Sept 23, 2025.
Gabriel Cortes | CNBC

The image for Disney and its streaming service plunged to multiyear lows after pulling comedian Jimmy Kimmel temporarily off air, a move that managed to alienate members of both political parties, according to analysis by investment bank Jefferies.
The firm, using Morning Consult data, shows sentiment for the company and its Disney+ platform have fallen to levels not seen in at least two years. Sentiment from Democrats, who had typically had better views of Disney before the past two weeks, soured more strongly than Republicans. Though both groups showed significant declines.

“The last two weeks for Disney have been as eventful to say the least, and have been equally controversial,” analyst James Heaney wrote in a Thursday note to clients. The analyst noted a recent price hike for Disney+ added to the plunging mood around the brand.
Disney became a cultural flashpoint after taking Kimmel’s late-night comedy show briefly off the air in the wake of his comments about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk last month. ABC made the move after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr hinted the network’s broadcast license could be yanked. Local ABC-affiliated stations owned by Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair preempted the show in their areas before Disney’s decision.

Stock chart icon

Disney shares, 1-month

Heaney noted that the entertainment giant faced backlash for both Kimmel’s original comments and the subsequent move to halt his show’s production. And then bring him back.
Critics of Disney’s decision — including Democratic-leaning Hollywood power players — argued that the company was acquiescing to appease President Donald Trump’s administration rather than stand up for the First Amendment right of free speech. Kimmel’s show returned to much higher viewership than is typical.
A chart Heaney shared with clients of the bank’s research showed the readings of positive Disney sentiment divided by negative sentient among Democrats, Republicans and all consumers plunging to near zero, the lowest readings going back to before 2024.

Disney also announced late last month it was upping prices for many of its subscriptions by $2 to $3. The new cost tiers take effect Oct. 21.
Heaney noted that Disney as a whole saw its highest brand awareness in the past two years. For Disney+ specifically, the jump was much smaller, which the analyst said bodes well from a business perspective for CEO Bob Iger.
“This is clearly a PR hit for Disney,” Heaney said. “But the data implies a smaller impact on Disney+ than the brand as a whole, which may limit the amount of streaming churn.”
Disney shares have dropped 6% over the last month, pulling the stock into the red for 2025. But Heaney reaffirmed his buy rating and $144 price target, which implies nearly 30% upside over Wednesday’s close. More

During the federal government shutdown, Social Security benefit payments will still go out on time, according to the agency.
But certain services may not be available as the Social Security Administration furloughs some staff.
If the consumer price index data release is delayed this month, that may have an impact on when the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for 2026 is announced.

Richard Stephen | Istock | Getty Images

Social Security services during the shutdown

Local offices will remain open, but services will be reduced, according to the Social Security Administration.
According to the agency, consumers can still:

apply for benefits
request an appeal
change address or direct deposit information
report a death
verify or change citizenship status
replace a lost or missing Social Security payment
obtain an expedited payment in an emergency
change a representative payee,
obtain a new or replacement Social Security card

SSI beneficiaries will still be able to make changes to their living arrangements or income.
Offices will be open for hearings before administrative law judges.

However, certain in-person services will not be available, according to SSA, including:

proof of income letters
updates or corrections to earnings records
overpayment processing

It also will not be possible to replace Medicare cards, the agency said.
To access benefit information and services, SSA is urging individuals to log on to their online My Social Security accounts.

Social Security COLA may be delayed

A government shutdown could delay the release of key economic data.
New consumer price index data is scheduled to be released on Oct. 15. The Social Security Administration is expected to announce the 2026 cost-of-living adjustment this month based on that data.
If the CPI data release is delayed, that may have an impact on when the Social Security COLA is announced, according to the Department of Labor.
More than 74 million beneficiaries may see an increase in their monthly payments next year, based on the annual inflation adjustment. Estimates released in September pointed to a 2.7% to 2.8% benefit boost for 2026, which would push the average retirement benefit up by about $54 per month.

‘The question is, is it going to be a long shutdown?’

Not counting the current one, the federal government has had 14 shutdowns since 1980, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.
This lapse “feels different” due to the strong political opposition between the parties, said Maria Freese, senior legislative representative at the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said the federal funding lapse may lead to “irreversible” cuts to health care and social benefit programs. Trump did not elaborate on exactly which programs could be affected. The White House did not respond to a request for further information by press time.

The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare is still telling people that benefit checks will continue to go out, Freese said.
“The question is, is it going to be a long shutdown?” Freese said. “It does take a while to get these agencies shut down, so if it’s only a couple of days, people don’t even really notice.” More