Markus Andrews

Dorm insurance is a personal property insurance for college students who live on campus.
But you might actually need renters insurance, or be able to cover dorm contents under a parent’s homeowners insurance policy.
Here’s what to consider before taking on dorm insurance.

Terry Vine | Getty Images

As “DormTok” social media posts entice college students to design elaborate dorm rooms — “the stakes of dorm decor have never been higher,” according to House Beautiful — parents may be wondering if they have the right insurance coverage to protect all those purchases.
Enter: “dorm insurance.” Before signing up, first consider your child’s specific needs to see if it is worth the purchase, experts say.

Dorm insurance is a personal property insurance for college students who live on campus, explained Loretta Worters, vice president of media relations of the Insurance Information Institute.
It tends to include coverage for accidental and water damage, and can cost up to $20 a month, according to marketplace site ValuePenguin.
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However, taking on the dorm insurance might not be necessary. In some cases, what your college student really needs is renters insurance, experts say. In others, parents’ homeowners insurance may be enough.
“People tend to buy insurance when it’s not always warranted,” said Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner and founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida.

Here’s how to know if you need to tack on an additional insurance policy for your college student’s dorm room, according to experts. 

How dorm insurance compares to other options

Colleges and universities will often partner with different insurers to offer dorm insurance, Worters said.
Using the partner may come with a price break, but parents could also shop around with other insurers to compare terms.
If parents decide to take on a dorm insurance policy, it would be billed separately from the room and board, said Worters.
Also, expect to pay out-of-pocket. To that point, money from 529 college savings plans cannot pay for dorm insurance because it is not a qualified educational expense, said McClanahan, who is a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council.

Whether you sign up for dorm insurance or not, your child’s dorm possessions will likely be covered under your home insurance plan, according to experts.
A parent’s homeowners insurance will typically cover a college student if they live on campus and are under age 26, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
The limits are typically 10% of the contents in their dorm, “which may be enough, depending on the needs,” Worters said.

For example, if your homeowners personal property is $100,000, the college student would be covered for $10,000. The coverage often includes computers, TVs, electronics, bicycles, furniture, and clothing, said Worters.
But keep in mind that dorm-specific insurance policies tend to have lower deductibles than home insurance policies, Worters said.
It doesn’t matter if the child attends university in a different city or state, said McClanahan. The home insurance policy will often stretch over, so long as the kid lives in a dorm, she said.

4 questions to ask before insuring dorm contents

1. How safe is your campus? A parent may want to consider dorm insurance if the university’s location has high criminal activity or if they have reason to worry about things being stolen, said McClanahan. “But if you look at statistics, most campuses are actually very, very safe, and there’s very little crime on campus,” she said.
The number of on-campus reported burglaries have been declining since 2011, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. In 2011, roughly 12.8 on campus burglaries were reported per 10,000 full-time students. The number fell to 4.7 per 10,000 in 2021, NCES found.
2. What high-value items are in the dorm room? In general, most of the things in a student’s dorm room are not high cost items, said McClanahan. Even so, a parent’s homeowners policy might only pay up to a specified amount, according to NAIC. It will be important to check what the limits are with the insurance agent or insurance company. 
3. Can you afford to replace stolen items yourself? Deductibles for homeowners insurance may be high enough that you’d have a significant outlay before coverage kicks in. Plus, making a claim can be a “ding” on your insurance, leading to higher rates in the future, said McClanahan.
4. Is your student living off campus? In that case, they may need renters insurance, which covers both personal property and certain liabilities. The premiums for renters insurance average between $15 and $30 per month depending on the location and size of the rental unit and the policyholder’s possessions, according to the NAIC.
“If the student lives off-campus, they may be required by the landlord to carry renter’s insurance,” said Worters. “More and more landlords are insisting on coverage before they will rent to a student.” More

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., September 9, 2024. 
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters

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Here’s what CNBC TV’s producers were watching as stocks rallied Monday and what’s on the radar for the next session.

Apple’s big iPhone launch

Apple unveiled its latest slate of iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods at its much-watched “Glowtime” event Monday, but investors didn’t seem impressed. The stock fell as the event kicked off, but staged a late-day rally to close in the green.
Shares hit an all-time high in mid-July, and they are almost 7% from those levels.
Still, Apple has been the second-best performing “Magnificent Seven” stock over the last three months.
The group has been led to the downside by Google-parent Alphabet, which is down almost 15% in three months, and Nvidia, down nearly 12%.
Apple, meanwhile is up more than 12% in the past three months. It’s trailing only Tesla, which is up 22% in that period.

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Apple’s performance in the past month

Oracle earnings

The “old school” tech giant reported earnings after the bell tonight.
Shares were up in after-hour trading after the company posted earnings and revenue that beat expectations.
The day after its last earnings report in June, ORCL shares jumped 13.3%. The stock is up 11% in the last three months, and it’s up nearly 33% this year.
By comparison, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) is up about 5% in the last three months, and it’s up 4% this year.
The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) is down about 4% in three months, and it’s up 7% this year.
The Nasdaq Composite is down about 1.5% in three months and up a little more than 12% this year.

Tall order

Monday marked Brian Niccol’s first day as CEO of Starbucks. Shares were up a little over 1%.
Niccol takes over from embattled former chief Laxman Narasimhan, who became CEO in March of last year. Under Narasimhan, SBUX shares were down 7.6%. Shares are down 14% from their 52-week high hit last November.
Niccol had previously been CEO of Chipotle, a role he took in March 2018. Under his tenure, CMG shares were up nearly 750%.
Chipotle shares hit an all-time high in June, just before a 50-for-1 stock split went into effect. The stock is down 21% from that high.

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Starbucks’ 2024 performance

Cancer drug results

Shares of Summit Therapeutics soared 56% on very heavy volume after its lung cancer drug showed significantly better results than Merck’s Keytruda in Phase 3 trials.
It was the stock’s best day since just May, when it jumped more than 270%.
Shares are trading at an all-time high, up more than 630% this year.
Merck, meanwhile, was down 2% Monday.
Summit was the best performing stock in both the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) and iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB).
The second best biotech stock on Monday was Relay Therapeutics, which was up 52% on positive results for its breast cancer drug.

Taking off

Airlines among the best performing stocks Monday, with the US Global Jets ETF (JETS) gaining 2.6%, and posting its highest close since July 31.
JetBlue was the biggest gainer, up over 7%. The latest move came after Bank of America upgraded the stock to neutral from underperform. The company had raised revenue guidance last week.
United Airlines was up about 6%, the biggest gainer in the S&P 500. It posted its highest close since late June.
American Airlines, which will move from the S&P 500 to the midcap S&P 400 as of Sept. 23, was up nearly 4%.

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JETS ETF performance in the past month

 New S&P companies

Speaking of S&P shake ups, two of the three newest members of the benchmark S&P 500 closed higher on Monday.
Palantir was up 14%, its best day since February. It posted its highest close since February 2021. It has more than doubled in price this year.
Dell Technologies rose almost 4%. It’s up nearly 40% this year, but down 40% from its record high hit in late May.
Insurance company Erie Indemnity shed 0.6%. It’s still up more than 50% this year, and hit an intraday record during the session, dating back to its 1995 IPO.

—Kavitha Shastry

CNBC will interview several big market-moving CEOs Tuesday

AT&T’s John Stankey is on in the 10 a.m. hour, Eastern time. The stock shot up 2.5% Monday, hitting a new 52-week high. It is up 8% in a week. The dividend on AT&T is 5.2%.
Michael Arougheti of Ares Management is also in the 10 a.m. hour. The stock is 10% from the July 31 high.
Larry Culp of GE Aerospace is live in the 1 p.m. hour. The stock is 7% from a 52-week high. It jumped 2.5% Monday, but it’s down 5.3% so far in September.

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GE Aerospace’s performance in 2024

Apple’s suppliers

Apple’s event regarding the new iPhone left the stock flat.
But some of the suppliers moved.
Arm Holdings will be a big player in the new iPhone. The stock was up 7% on Monday. It remains 33.5% from the July high.
Taiwan Semiconductor was up 3.8%. The stock is 16% from the 52-week high hit in July.
Broadcom was up 2.8% Monday. The stock is 24% from the June high.
AMD was up 2.8% as well. It is 40% from the March high.
Cirrus Logic was up 1.7% Monday. It is 8.7% from the August 29 high.

GameStop reports after the bell Tuesday

The video game retailer with a lot of ups and downs reports Tuesday afternoon.
Shares are 63% from the May high.
GameStop is up about 11% in the last month. 

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GameStop’s one-month performance

Basel III

CNBC’s Leslie Picker will report on what could be big news for the banks on Tuesday.
Ahead of the possible news, Wells Fargo is 12.7% from the 52-week high hit in May.
Citigroup is 12.2% from the July 17 high.
Bank of America is 11% from the 52-week high, also hit July 17.
Morgan Stanley is 10% from the July 16 high.
JPMorgan is 3.85% from the Aug. 30 high.  We will hear from CEO Jamie Dimon in the morning. 

Boeing August orders and deliveries

CNBC’s Phil LeBeau will be watching for the numbers when they come out at 11 a.m.
Shares are 39% from the high hit back on Dec. 21.
Boeing was up 3.36% on Monday.
It is down 6.2% so far in September.

—Jason Gewirtz More

For months, there’s been a “vibecession.” That’s a disconnect between how well the economy is doing and how people feel about their financial standing.
Now, recent economic data and consumer sentiment are more in line, some experts say.
“The problem with the recessionistas is, of course, they will always at some point be right,” says Brett House, economics professor at Columbia Business School.

For months, economists have wrestled with the disconnect between how well the economy is doing and how badly people feel about their financial standing.
Now, evidence suggests that the so-called vibecession, or that prolonged period of negative sentiment about the economy, appears to be ending, according to Michael Pearce, deputy chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. 

As inflation cools and the Federal Reserve prepares to lower interest rates, Americans’ assessments of the future are improving, which is bringing the country’s economic standing more in line with consumer sentiment, Pearce wrote in a report published Friday. 
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Other economists also note a recent glass-half-full outlook.
“Consumer confidence seems to be catching up with where the economy is,” said Brett House, economics professor at Columbia Business School. “They are kind of meeting in the middle.”
However, it is difficult to pinpoint what is causing the shift in mood, Pearce wrote in his report. 

“Our leading candidates would be a lagged response to the news that inflation is falling back and appears to be on a sustained trend back to 2%,” Pearce wrote. “It could also reflect increased optimism for the future now that the Fed is on a clear path to lowering interest rates.”

Setting the stage for the Fed to cut rates

Recent economic data has paved the way for the central bank to lower its benchmark rate for the first time in years.
The personal consumption expenditures price index — the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge — showed a rise of 2.5% year over year in July. And, though the unemployment rate is still low at 4.2%, it has been trending higher over the past year.
“All signs point to continued progress on inflation, with pressures expected to ease further with the release of the August consumer price index on Wednesday,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.
“Other measures of inflation — the personal consumption expenditures index and unit labor costs — have been telling the same story and have set the table for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates this month,” he said.
Markets are now pricing in a 100% probability that the Fed will start lowering rates when it meets Sept. 17-18, with the potential for more aggressive moves later in the year, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch measure.

‘Nailing a long-awaited soft landing’

Meanwhile, consumer spending has held up even better than expected, according to the most recent reading.
“The American consumer has been resilient,” Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist at the National Retail Federation, said in the September issue of NRF’s Monthly Economic Review, released Friday
Despite earlier expectations of a recession, the U.S. has dodged a downturn, according to Kleinhenz.
“The U.S. economy is clearly not in a recession nor is it likely to head into a recession in the home stretch of 2024,” Kleinhenz said. “Instead, it appears that the economy is on the cusp of nailing a long-awaited soft landing with a simultaneous cooling of growth and inflation.”

Progress on inflation without a sizeable deterioration in the labor market has created a “classic ‘Goldilocks’ scenario,” Columbia’s House said.
Although as CNBC’s Bob Pisani recently put it, there is still a group of “recessionistas” who have been insisting there is a serious slowdown coming. And yet, fewer economists now see that happening in the near term. Goldman Sachs recently slashed the probability of an economic downturn from 25% to 20%, shortly after raising it from 15%.
“That bandwagon was very crowded in 2023, and for good reason, but the odds of a soft landing have continued to grow over the last 12 months,” McBride said.

Officially, the National Bureau of Economic Research defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.” The last time that happened was early in 2020, when the economy came to an abrupt halt.
In the last century, there have been more than a dozen recessions, some lasting as long as a year and a half.

‘Recessionistas will eventually be right’

“The problem with the recessionistas is, of course, they will always at some point be right,” House said. “It’s certainly the case, at some point in the future, the U.S. economy will dip into a recession.”
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, some kind of economic disruption or correction has happened with pretty predictable regularity, according to House. Now there is the added uncertainty of an upcoming U.S. presidential election and the prospect of significant policy shifts.
“The recessionistas will eventually be right,” House said, but “there is no victory if it comes in a few years.”

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On Sept. 5, U.S. District Judge Randal Hall in Augusta, Georgia, issued a temporary restraining order against President Joe Biden’s second effort to cancel student debt for millions of Americans.
The administration was expected to publish its final rule on its revised student loan forgiveness plan, which could impact more than 25 million Americans, in October.
Here’s what borrowers need to know about what could happen next.

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks as he announces a new plan for federal student loan relief during a visit to Madison Area Technical College Truax Campus, in Madison, Wisconsin, U.S, April 8, 2024. 
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

Earlier this summer, millions of federal student loan borrowers got a promising email. The Biden administration informed them that debt forgiveness was on the way and that they may be eligible.
However, before the U.S. Department of Education could publish its final rule on the debt relief and start to carry out its new sweeping loan forgiveness plan, a Republican-led challenge has managed to at least temporarily block the relief.

Here’s what we know so far.

Relief plan blocked until at least mid-September

On Sept. 5, U.S. District Judge Randal Hall in Augusta, Georgia, issued a temporary restraining order against President Joe Biden’s second effort to cancel student debt for millions of Americans. The Biden administration had previously tried to offer sweeping student debt forgiveness in 2022.
Hall, appointed by former Republican President George W. Bush, was responding to a lawsuit against the relief package brought by seven Republican-led states a few days earlier. The states — Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, North Dakota and Ohio — said the U.S. Department of Education’s new debt cancellation effort, like its previous attempts, is illegal.
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Hall said the states had made a convincing case that the department was overstepping its authority, and blocked the Biden administration from moving forward with its plan until a Sept. 18 hearing.

“The court has only issued a temporary restraining order and the scope of the order is not clear,” said Luke Herrine, an assistant professor of law at the University of Alabama.
It appears the administration can still proceed with finalizing the rule and preparing to cancel the debt, Herrine said. But it likely won’t be able to start forgiving the loans until the courts decide on the rule’s legality, which could take months, experts say.
The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In June 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that Biden’s attempt to cancel around $400 billion in federal student debt was unconstitutional. Immediately after, Biden vowed to find another way to deliver relief to borrowers.
Biden’s first attempt to forgive student debt was through an executive action. This time, his administration has pursued the regulatory process, a lengthier route that it hoped would make its relief package more immune to legal challenges.
It was not expected to publish its final rule on its revised student loan forgiveness plan, which could impact more than 25 million Americans, until October. However, in their lawsuit, the state attorneys general said they had discovered evidence that the Education Department had ordered federal loan servicers to begin erasing the loans as early as Sept. 3.
Yet it’s unlikely the Biden administration would break the rules of the regulatory process timeline, legal experts said.
“I strongly doubt that this allegation is true,” Herrine said.
Most likely, the administration had told the loan servicers to prepare to forgive the debt once the rule is finalized, he said.

Borrowers in limbo, again

For now, the future of the Biden administration’s new wide-scale student loan forgiveness plan is uncertain.
The Biden administration’s new affordable repayment plan for student loan borrowers, known as SAVE, is also tied up in the courts from a barrage of GOP-legal challenges. Those enrolled in the plan are excused from making payments for the time being.

As things stand, most of the Biden administration’s hopes to deliver relief to borrowers ahead of the 2024 presidential election are now stalled.
That may be part of the point, Herrine said.
“The GOP knows that student debt cancellation is popular and they want to prevent the Biden administration from doing popular things,” Herrine said.

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With the presidential election approaching, experts are sounding alarms about the upcoming expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA.
Without action from Congress, trillions in tax breaks enacted by former President Donald Trump via the TCJA will expire after 2025. The outcome of the 2024 election will determine which political party will handle those expiring tax breaks — and shape America’s tax policy for years to come.

“If the 2017 tax cuts are allowed to expire after 2025, about 62% of taxpayers would see their tax bills go up,” said Erica York, senior economist and research director at the Tax Foundation. “That’s because the TCJA provided tax cuts for the vast majority of taxpayers.”
A majority of Americans, 56%, already believe they pay too much in federal income taxes, according to an April 2024 Gallup poll. Meanwhile, only 22% think they receive valuable services in return, as reported by an AP-NORC survey from January 2024.
Both Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, have called for tax changes that could affect millions of Americans. While there is some overlap on ideas — including an expanded child tax credit and no tax on tips — their approaches differ.
“Everything we have to do should be oriented towards one thing: increasing the rate of economic growth of our country,” Stephen Moore, an economic advisor to the Trump campaign, told CNBC.
The Harris campaign did not provide comment in time to participate in this report.
Watch the video above to learn more about how Harris and Trump each plan to tackle the tax code if they win the White House. More

The IRS is working on plans to avoid increased audits on taxpayers making less than $400,000 — but certain areas can invite scrutiny, regardless of income.
Some red flags could include unreported income, including cryptocurrency earnings and unreasonable tax breaks.
For all returns filed between 2013 and 2021, the IRS examined 0.44% of individual returns and 0.74% of corporate returns as of the end of fiscal 2023, according to the latest Databook.

Photo By Rafa Elias | Moment | Getty Images

The IRS is still working on plans to avoid increased audits on taxpayers making less than $400,000 — but certain particulars of your tax return can invite scrutiny, regardless of income level, experts say.
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, or TIGTA, last week reported the IRS has made “limited progress” in developing the methodology for its audit coverage calculation to comply with a directive from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

In August 2022, Congress approved $80 billion in IRS funding, including tens of billions earmarked for enforcement. The same month, the Treasury issued a directive to the IRS, saying the funds couldn’t be used for increased audits on small businesses or households earning less than $400,000 annually.  
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In response, the IRS agreed to TIGTA’s recommendations and plans to document the development of its audit methodology, the report said.
Meanwhile, the IRS has continued to focus enforcement efforts on higher earners, large corporations and complex partnerships. The Treasury Department on Friday announced $1.3 billion has been recovered from “high-income, high-wealth individuals.”
“It’s not right that everyday Americans pay taxes while struggling to make ends meet, but some of the wealthiest in this country have been able to evade payment,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Friday at an event in Austin, Texas.

Regardless of your income, here are some red flags for IRS audits, according to tax experts.

It’s easy for IRS to catch missing income

While IRS enforcement is focused on wealthy Americans, everyday taxpayers could still face an audit if they haven’t filed an accurate return, experts say. 
One common red flag is missing income. Employers and financial institutions use so-called information returns, such as Forms W-2 or 1099, to report your earnings directly to the IRS. Once the agency has information returns, it can easily flag incomplete filings.
“That has a significant return on investment” for the IRS, according to Eric Hylton, national director of compliance for Alliantgroup and former IRS commissioner for the agency’s small business and self-employed division.

Crypto investors could see enforcement

Crypto investors will also be subject to income reported via information returns.
The IRS finalized cryptocurrency tax guidance in July, which included guidelines for digital asset brokers. Mandatory yearly reporting will phase in starting in 2026, covering activity from 2025.
“Everybody’s been waiting for the tidal wave of this enforcement activity,” James Creech, an attorney and senior manager at accounting firm Baker Tilly, previously told CNBC.

Taxpayers need ‘to support every line item’   

Another common audit trigger is unreasonable deductions, said Hylton with Alliantgroup.
For example, if you’re making $75,000 per year and claim $15,000 or $20,000 in charitable deductions, that could invite IRS scrutiny, he said.

When claiming a tax break, you need detailed paperwork “to support every line item,” said Hylton said. During an audit, a credit or deduction could be disallowed without proof.
Despite areas of heightened scrutiny, IRS audits are still rare.
For all returns filed between 2013 and 2021, the IRS examined 0.44% of individual returns and 0.74% of corporate returns as of the end of fiscal 2023, according to its latest Databook. More

George Kinder is recognized as the father of the “life planning” movement of financial advice.
Consumers often put the emphasis in the wrong areas when it comes to personal finance, Kinder said.
His “three questions” aim to uncover your goals and desires, and inspire you to take steps to achieve those dreams financially.

George Kinder
Kinder Institute

George Kinder wants everyone to be free.
At first blush, that concept of personal fulfillment or enlightenment may seem better suited to the realms of religion or spirituality than personal finance.

But Kinder, who’s recognized as the father of the “life planning” branch of financial advice, has preached the interconnection of finance and freedom for decades.
In fact, his new book — “The Three Domains of Freedom” — is a treatise on the topic.
“There are kinds of goals that are profoundly inspiring to clients,” Kinder, who founded the Kinder Institute of Life Planning in 2003 after three decades as a financial planner and tax advisor, said in an interview.
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He’s perhaps best known for his “three questions,” which aim to help people uncover the essence of their life goals.

“If you identify those and really paint the picture of what [someone’s] life would be like if they actually had that life, clients are on fire and they solve the financial problems pretty quickly and pretty easily,” Kinder said.
CNBC spoke with Kinder about life planning and why he thinks many people miss the point when it comes to managing their money. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

‘You should be focused on your dream of freedom’

Greg Iacurci: What is the basic premise of the life planning movement?
George Kinder: The basic premise is that financial planning is about delivering a client into freedom. Every person has a dream of freedom, and they ought to be living it. And that goes for people who don’t have any money, people who are in debt, as well as people who have lots of money.
The focus shifts from money — where we have a lot of anxiety and there are a lot of tasks to do — to freedom. What does it actually look like, feel like, and what are the steps to get there?

GI: What do you mean by freedom?
GK: I think each of us has our own feeling for it, and the way we get at it is through the three questions.
If people just focus on the money, they lose track of who it is they really want to be and what it is they want to do. And often they assume, “Maybe I can’t do that until retirement, or maybe I’ll never get there. So I don’t really want to face it. I’ll just try to be more efficient around [my] money.”
The premise of life planning is, no, you should be focused on your dream of freedom, and do some of these exercises to discover what it is. And then you’ll find that the money side of it goes much smoother, because it doesn’t feel like an onerous task.

‘People get lost in the daily stuff’

GI: You think people are blindly saving money or trying to amass wealth without really considering what it’s for?
GK: Everybody I’ve met does that. This is endemic across civilization. People get lost in the daily stuff of it, and they don’t have a structure. Without really having that dream of freedom, the [financial] tasks are tough to follow.
GI: The three questions help underline what is most important to people and what they want to do with their life — it gets them thinking about how they might apply their money to furthering those goals?
GK: Exactly. It puts your eyes on the prize. People don’t know what they’re aiming at, really. I think they end up aiming at things that they read in financial journals or The Wall Street Journal or personal finance blogs. They’re thinking that they’ve got to just fix their IRA and do more budgeting. They get lost in that rather than always keeping their eyes on, “OK, this has a reason, and the reason is that I want to live this kind of life, and if I do these things [then] I can get there, and get there in relatively short order.”

George Kinder
Kinder Institute

GI: But that’s not necessarily to say that the way that people are saving is wrong, right? You hear these rules of thumb, like you should be saving at least 15% of your income towards retirement. You’re just saying to question why you’re doing that?
GK: It’s not wrong. And moreover, if you read good advice columns, or if you’ve read books or you have an advisor, you’ve got a pretty good bead on how to save and how to invest and all of that. So it’s not wrong. But the focus is off, so that you’re lost.
You said, “saving 15% for retirement.” Well, why are we using the frame “retirement”? What I would argue is a much, much more potent and appropriate term for every human being is “freedom.” And freedom might happen in a year, it might happen in six years. It doesn’t necessarily have to time with what we normally think of as retirement.
GI: Basically, don’t necessarily put off your goals and ambitions until you retire.
GK: Exactly. When we look at these things, we look at, how can we make this happen very, very shortly. Usually by “very shortly” I mean sometimes it’s within a matter of months, and is almost always within a matter of three years, and is usually within a matter of about a year and a half.
It may mean that you’re not getting what it is that you want exactly, but you’re really on the road to it, and you feel a lot of freedom from it.
For instance, if your dream is to live in the country and you’re living in the city: Maybe you do a two-week vacation every once in a while off in the country [but now] maybe you’re doing four or six weeks. Maybe you’re doing more remote work. Maybe you’re already looking at where it is you want to stay, and figuring out how, in a year or two, you can spend three months there. So you’re moving actively toward the freedom as part of the program of financial planning, of your financial life.

‘We only experience freedom in the present moment’

GI: Do you think that this is something that everyone could put into practice, or do you think this is more a luxury that people with means are better suited for? Maybe they’re able to more easily achieve that freedom financially.
GK: When we frame it in terms of financial freedom, then yes, of course, the people who have more means are more capable of it.
But I grew up in a very poor part of the country. I was born in West Virginia and lived across the border in rural Ohio. I think what you realize when you grow up with people who are not well-to-do is you realize every single one of them has a dream of freedom. Every one of them wants to live a life that is extraordinary for them.

So, I would say absolutely this is available for everyone. And the primary reason is that when you arrive at the dream of freedom, if you do it well, you get extremely energized. You get vigorous around its accomplishment. So that’s why it’s not so much about money as it is about the building of passion of who it is you really want to be.
GI: How does your new book further your work on life planning?
GK: The centerpiece of the book is giving inspiration and tips on doing your own life plan, so that you’re living [it]. The second subtitle of “The Three Domains of Freedom” is “Your Life Is Yours.” That portion of the book is dedicated to inspiring the consumer to do it themselves, and if they can’t do it themselves, then to find a fiduciary who combines these things to help with it.
There are two other elements. They may seem far afield, but they’re not really.

Why are we using the frame ‘retirement’? What I would argue is a much, much more potent and appropriate term for every human being is ‘freedom.’

George Kinder
founder of the Kinder Institute of Life Planning

We only experience freedom in the present moment. It’s the only moment we ever experience. I dedicate a third of the book to how to get mastery of the present moment itself, and mindfulness plays a big role in that. In terms of personal finance, it helps because the more that you’re not twisted and torn in the present moment, the more that you’re not struggling or neurotic in some way, the more you’re at peace and the more accessible your decisions.
And then the final third [of the book] takes the notion of “fiduciary” and applies it. What if, in addition to being able to have financial advisors that are fiduciaries, what if every institution, every corporation, every nonprofit, every government, was a fiduciary to the truth, to democracy, to the planet, to humanity? What I’m doing is saying, let’s require them to be fiduciaries, ahead of their own self-interest. And if we did that, I think it would solve the craziness that we’re in. More

In an aerial view, customers leave a Planet Fitness gym on May 09, 2024 in Richmond, California. 
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

September started on a rough note for the U.S. stock market, with certain economic readings showing signs of weakness.
Ignoring the near-term noise, investors looking for stock picks can consider the recommendations of top Wall Street analysts. These experts conduct research and assess the ability of a company to navigate headwinds and deliver growth over the long term.

Bearing 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.
Planet Fitness
This week’s first pick is Planet Fitness (PLNT), a franchisor and operator of over 2,600 fitness centers. The company recently reported better-than-expected results for the second quarter and reiterated its full-year guidance. Management attributed the Q2 performance to the strength of the company’s asset-light franchise model.
Recently, Baird analyst Jonathan Komp reaffirmed a buy rating on PLNT stock with a price target of $92. The analyst assigned the stock a new “Bullish Fresh Pick” designation, as he is optimistic about the company’s initiatives under the new leadership and other growth drivers.
The analyst noted that management has made efforts to enhance return on invested capital for new units through higher pricing, reduced capital expenditure and extended remodel timelines. CEO Colleen Keating aims to further strengthen the company’s position by bolstering its leadership, improving members’ experience, and enhancing marketing efforts.     
Aside from the new leadership, Komp cited several reasons for his bullish thesis, including Planet Fitness’ solid consumer value proposition and a high-margin franchise model that is expected to be resilient in a tough macro environment.  

The analyst added that “growing cash return capacity, and range of drivers into 2025E position the stock well for a slowing growth environment.”
Komp ranks No. 266 among more than 9,000 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 56% of the time, delivering an average return of 15.1%. (See Planet Fitness Stock Charts on TipRanks) 
Ross Stores
We move to off-price retail chain Ross Stores (ROST). The retailer reported upbeat results for the second quarter, as it attracted customers with its enhanced value offerings. Ross Stores raised its full-year earnings guidance to reflect the demand for its discounted offerings and additional efficiencies.
In reaction to the strong Q2 print, TD Cowen analyst John Kernan reaffirmed a buy rating on Ross Stores stock and raised the price target to $185 from $173. The analyst expects the company’s enhanced merchandising efforts to drive upside to the guidance for the second half of the year.
Kernan highlighted that management’s initiatives to bolster Ross Stores’ value offerings and an increased mix of branded merchandise across certain categories, including ladies apparel and cosmetics, have fueled the company’s comparable sales for the past several quarters.
Kernan noted that the company’s margins and earnings are also benefiting from the merchandising efforts and cost savings across distribution, logistics and store networks. Overall, the analyst expects ROST’s operating margin to expand to more than 13% by fiscal 2028 from 11.3% in fiscal 2023. 
“We believe ROST’s valuation discount to TJX is still too wide (given similar growth and ROIC profiles), which could produce upside to ROST in the near-term,” said Kernan.   
Kernan ranks No. 795 among more than 9,000 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 54% of the time, delivering an average return of 7.8%. (See Ross Stores Technical Analysis on TipRanks)
SentinelOne
Finally, there is cybersecurity provider SentinelOne (S). The company reported market-beating results for the second quarter of fiscal 2025. This marked the first time that the company delivered positive net income and earnings per share on an adjusted basis. SentinelOne also raised its full-year revenue guidance, backed by robust momentum and the strength of its AI-powered Singularity Platform.
Following the results, Baird analyst Shrenik Kothari reiterated a buy rating on SentinelOne stock with a price target of $29. The analyst noted the company’s strong Q2 performance and the 32% growth in the annual recurring revenue, driven by new business and solid expansion within the existing customer base due to emerging products across cloud, data and AI. 
Kothari added that despite a challenging macro backdrop, the company upgraded its full-year outlook with expectations of improved net-new ARR in the second half of the year. The upgraded outlook reflects stronger pipeline retention and better win rates, backed by notable progress in the company’s go-to-market strategy.
Commenting on the expectations of SentinelOne benefiting from the July IT outage led by rival CrowdStrike, Kothari thinks that the management is taking a “prudent” stance. Highlighting the resilience of SentinelOne’s offerings, management noted that there has been a shift in sentiment after the outage, with growing interest in the company’s platform from some of the world’s largest organizations.    
“Overall, S is executing well on its transition to the new operating model and strong RPO [remaining performance obligation] growth (40% y/y) suggests durable demand and potential upside to the prudent outlook,” said Kothari.
Kothari ranks No. 233 among more than 9,000 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 69% of the time, delivering an average return of 22.1%. (See SentinelOne Hedge Funds Trading Activity on TipRanks) More