Markus Andrews

Warren Buffett walks the floor ahead of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 3, 2024.
David A. Grogen | CNBC

Warren Buffett turned 94 on Friday and his sprawling, one-of-a-kind conglomerate has never been worth more than it is today.
Berkshire Hathaway became the first non-technology company to top a $1 trillion market capitalization this week. Berkshire Class A shares also topped $700,000 apiece for the first time ever.

Howard Marks, a great investor in his own right and friend of Buffett’s, credits three things that have allowed the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ to lead Berkshire to new heights, even at his advanced age.
“It’s been a matter of a well thought out strategy prosecuted for seven decades with discipline, consistency, and unusual insight,” said Marks, co-founder and co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Management. “Discipline and consistency are essential, but not sufficient. Without the unusual insight, he clearly wouldn’t be the greatest investor in history.”
“His record is a testament to the power of compounding at a very high rate for a very long period of time, uninterrupted. He never took a leave of absence,” Marks added.

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Berkshire Hathaway

In the midst of the Go-Go stock market of the 1960s, Buffett used an investment partnership he ran to buy what was then a failing New England textile company named Berkshire Hathaway. Today, his company is unrecognizable from what it once was, with businesses ranging from GEICO insurance to BNSF Railway, an equity portfolio worth over $300 billion and a monstrous $277 billion cash fortress.

Eye-popping returns

Generations of investors who study and imitate Buffett’s investing style have been wowed by his shrewd moves for decades. The Coca-Cola bet from the late 1980s made a lesson for patient value investing in strong brands with wide moats. Injecting a lifeline investment in Goldman Sachs in the depth of the financial crisis showed an opportunistic side during crises. Going all in on Apple in recent years spoke to his flexibility at adopting his value approach to a new age.

Buffett made headlines earlier this month by revealing he had dumped half of that Apple holding, ringing the bell a bit on an extremely lucrative trade. (While Apple is widely viewed as a growth stock, Buffett has long argued all investing is value investing — “You are putting out some money now to get more later on.”)
Decades of good returns snowballed and he has racked up an unparalleled track record. Berkshire shares have generated a 19.8% annualized gain from 1965 through 2023, nearly doubling the 10.2% return of the S&P 500. Cumulatively, the stock has gone up 4,384,748% since Buffett took over, compared to the S&P 500’s 31,223% return.
“He’s the most patient investor ever, which is a big reason for his success,” said Steve Check, founder of Check Capital Management with Berkshire as its biggest holding. “He can sit and sit and sit. Even at his age where there’s not that much time left to sit, he’ll still sit until he feels comfortable. I just think he’ll just keep doing as best he can right to the end.”
Buffett remains chairman and CEO of Berkshire, although Greg Abel, vice chairman of Berkshire’s non-insurance operations and Buffett’s designated successor, has taken on many responsibilities at the conglomerate. Earlier this year, Buffett said Abel, 62, will make all investing decisions when he’s gone.
Buffett and Marks
Oaktree’s Marks said Buffett reinforced concepts that are integral to his own approach. Like Buffett, he is indifferent to macro forecasting and market timing; he seeks value relentlessly, while sticking to his own circle of competence.

Howard Marks, co-chairman, Oaktree Capital.
Courtesy David A. Grogan | CNBC

“He doesn’t care about market timing and trading, but when other people get terrified, he marches in. We try to do the same thing,” Marks said.
Buffett, who at Columbia University studied under Benjamin Graham, has advised investors to view their stock holdings as small pieces of businesses. He believes volatility is a huge plus to the real investor as it offers an opportunity to take advantage of emotional selling.
Oaktree, with $193 billion in assets under management, has grown into one of the biggest alternative investments players in the world, specializing in distressed lending and bargain-hunting.
Marks, 78, has become a sharp, unequivocal contrarian voice in the investing world. His popular investment memos, which he started writing in 1990, are now viewed as required reading on Wall Street and even received a glowing endorsement from Buffett himself — “When I see memos from Howard Marks in my mail, they’re the first thing I open and read. I always learn something.”
The two were introduced in the aftermath of the Enron bankruptcy in the early 2000s. Marks revealed that Buffett ultimately motivated him to write his own book — The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor — over a decade ahead of his own schedule.
“He was very generous with his comments. I don’t think that book would have been written without his inspiration,” Marks said. “I had been planning to write a book when I retired. But with his encouragement, the book was published 13 years ago.”
Buffett’s trajectory and his ability to enjoy what he does into his 90s also struck a chord with Marks.
“He says that he skips to work in the morning. He tackles investing with gusto and joy,” Marks said. “I still haven’t retired, and I hope never to do so, following his example.”

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on August 23, 2024 in New York City. 
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

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Here’s what CNBC TV’s producers were watching during Thursday’s trading and what’s on the radar for Friday’s session.

Marvell Technology

The tech earnings parade rolled along on Thursday with Marvell Technology.
The stock is up about 8% after hours after Marvell reported better-than-expected revenue in the latest quarter. The forecast was also stronger than anticipated.
Marvell is down 18% from the March high. Shares are up 8% in the past month.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) is 16% from the July 11 high. The fund is up 36% year to date.
Marvell is the 17th biggest holding in the SMH, making up 1.78% of the ETF.

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Marvell Technology’s performance in 2024

Cooling Nvidia

Yes, the stock cooled down a bit on Thursday. Shares closed 6.4% lower.
A day earlier, Nvidia reported fiscal second-quarter results that included doubling revenue from the year-ago period.
The stock is now 16.5% from the June 20 high.
On Friday, CNBC TV’s Pippa Stevens will report on a part of the Nvidia economy that perhaps doesn’t get enough attention: the companies that provide cooling technology for Nvidia’s chipmaking (and for others as well). 
Names in this space include Vertiv, Schneider Electric and nVent Electric.
Vertiv is 27% from the May high, but it’s up 66% in 2024.
Schneider Electric is 2% from the May high. Shares are up 26% in 2024.
nVent Electric is 23% from the May high. The stock is up 13% in 2024.

Apple’s iPhone and China

CNBC TV’s China correspondent Eunice Yoon will report on tensions and fears in China’s “iPhone City” over worries that more business will leave the nation and move to other parts of the world, including India.
Apple shares are 3% from the July 15 high.
The stock is now up 20% in three months.

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Apple’s performance over the past three months

Investing in OpenAI

In the last 24 hours, the list of big tech names wanting in on OpenAI has grown.
On the list, according to media reports, are Apple and Nvidia. Of course, Microsoft is already on the list.
Microsoft is 12% from the July 5 high. The stock is down 3.2% in a month, and it’s up about 10% so far in 2024.

San Francisco office space

Social media platform X is closing up shop in the city by the bay. Other big names are now giving up their space as artificial intelligence companies roll in.
CNBC TV’s Kate Rooney will have the story on Friday.
Among the big office real estate investment trusts that are seeing the changes directly are BXP and CBRE.
BXP hit a new high Monday. The stock is up 30% in three months.
CBRE hit a new high Monday, as well. The stock is up 33% in three months.

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BXP and CBRE over the past three months

Ubisoft

The French software maker is set to release “Star Wars Outlaws” video game on Friday
The stock is 43% from the November high and down 26% so far this year.
Electronic Arts is 2% from the July 31 high. The stock is up 14% in three months, and it’s up about 10% in 2024.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average

The 30-stock Dow reached another record high on Thursday.
It’s up roughly 2% in a month.
Of the top seven Dow performers, none of them are tech companies.
Nike is tops. Shares are up 13% in a month.
McDonald’s is up 10% in a month.
Walmart is up about 10% in a month.
Coca-Cola is up nearly 8% in a month.
3M is up 6.2% in a month.
Travelers is up 5.8% in a month.
JPMorgan is up 5.4% in a month. More

Investors generally focus on asset allocation, which is the appropriate mix of stocks and bonds.
Many, especially wealthier people, should also pay attention to asset location, experts say.
This aims to boost after-tax investment returns by strategically holding stocks and bonds in certain account types, like taxable brokerage accounts and Roth or pre-tax retirement accounts.

Xavier Lorenzo | Moment | Getty Images

A lack of attention to taxes may be costing investors big bucks.
Many investors are probably familiar with the concept of asset allocation, which entails selecting the right mix of stocks and bonds (say, 60/40) to balance investment risk and return.

But where those assets are held — i.e., the types of accounts in which stocks and bonds are located — is perhaps just as important, especially for wealthier investors, according to financial advisors.
This “asset location” strategy aims to minimize taxes, thereby boosting investors’ after-tax returns.

“Wealthier people should be as focused on tax allocation as they are on asset allocation,” said Ted Jenkin, a certified financial planner based in Atlanta and a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council. “And they’re not.”
Asset location “really starts to make sense” once investors’ income is high enough to put them in the 24% federal marginal income tax bracket, said Jenkin, founder of oXYGen Financial.
In 2024, the 24% bracket starts at roughly $100,000 of taxable income for single people and about $201,000 for married couples filing a joint tax return.

Why asset location works

Asset location leverages two basic principles, according to Connor McGuire, a CFP at Vanguard Personal Advisor.
For one, not all investment accounts are taxed the same way.
There are three main account types:

Tax-deferred. These include traditional (i.e., pre-tax) individual retirement accounts and 401(k) plans. Investors defer tax on contributions but pay later upon withdrawal.
Tax-exempt. These include Roth IRAs and 401(k) plans. Investors pay tax up front, but not later upon withdrawal.
Taxable. These include traditional brokerage accounts. Investors pay tax when earning dividends or interest, or upon sale if there’s a profit.

Additionally, investment income is taxed differently depending on the asset type, McGuire said.
For example, interest income is taxed at an investor’s ordinary income tax rates. The highest earners might pay 37% or more on such interest.
But profits on investments like stocks held for more than one year are generally taxed at a lower federal rate. These long-term capital gains tax rates are 15% for many investors and 20% for the highest earners (plus any surcharges), McGuire said.

It can save you lots of money

D3sign | Moment | Getty Images

At a high level, asset location entails holding high-tax or tax-inefficient investments in tax-preferred retirement accounts like 401(k) plans and IRAs.
Conversely, investors would generally place investments with more-favorable tax rates and efficiencies in taxable accounts.
“It’s important because you want to reduce your tax drag,” said Robert Keebler, a certified public accountant based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and partner at Keebler & Associates.
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Employing such a strategy can boost after-tax returns by 0.05% to 0.3% a year, depending on the investor, according to a 2022 Vanguard analysis.
According to this math, an investor with a $1 million portfolio split equally between stocks and bonds and spread across all three account types (traditional, Roth and taxable) could save $74,000 after 30 years by using asset location, McGuire said.

How to do it

Investors should use asset location within the framework of their appropriate asset allocation, such as a 60/40 stock-bond mix, advisors explain.
Many bonds and bond funds are generally more appropriate for tax-deferred or tax-exempt accounts, they said.
“Earnings from bond investments are mostly interest and taxed at ordinary income tax rates, meaning a hit of up to 37% plus any surcharges for high-income investors,” McGuire said. “So you want those bonds to be sheltered.”

Certain stock investments, like stock funds that are “super-actively managed” and generate ample short-term capital gains, also generally belong in tax-preferred accounts, Keebler said.
(Short-term capital gains are taxes on investments held for one year or less. They’re taxed as ordinary income instead of the preferential long-term rates.)
High-growth investments likely belong in a Roth instead of pre-tax retirement account, since investors wouldn’t pay tax on earnings later, Keebler said. (This assumes investors follow the appropriate Roth withdrawal rules.)

Wealthier people should be as focused on tax allocation as they are on asset allocation. And they’re not.

Ted Jenkin
CFP and founder of oXYGen Financial

Individual stocks that investors buy and hold for long-term growth, and stock funds with less frequent internal trading (generally, index funds instead of actively managed ones), are generally better-suited for taxable accounts, advisors said.
Municipal bonds are also generally more appropriate in taxable accounts, advisors said. That’s because their interest is exempt from federal tax.

Additional things to consider

Investors must weigh the particularities of each account type. For example, it may be tougher to access funds from a retirement account before age 59½ relative to a taxable account.
The benefits of diversifying across different account types go beyond investing, too.
For example, withdrawals from pre-tax 401(k) plans and IRAs generally count as taxable income and could therefore trigger higher Medicare Part B and Part D premiums. Withdrawing instead from a Roth account could help prevent those higher premiums, since distributions in retirement generally don’t count as taxable income.
Additionally, it’s impossible to know what tax rates and account taxation will be like decades from now, Jenkin said.
Having money in various accounts will provide tax flexibility n the future, he added. More

A “September surge,” or the idea that more job postings become available after Labor Day, is tied to the end of the summer slowdown as recruiters and hiring managers come back from vacation, career experts say.
There is no data backing the theory, said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter. Yet the fall season is good time to search, job experts say.
Here’s what to know if you’re job hunting this fall.

Piranka | E+ | Getty Images

The season of fall foliage and pumpkin spice lattes is approaching. Meanwhile, the job market might also turning over a new leaf.
A “September surge,” or the idea that more job postings become available after Labor Day, is tied to an end of a summer slowdown as job recruiters and hiring managers return from vacation, career experts say.

“The team is never there together; there’s always someone missing,” said Cara Heilmann, president of the International Association of Career Coaches. 
“It just drags things out much more during the summer months,” added Heilmann, who’s also founder and CEO of Ready Set Go, a career coaching firm.
There is, however, no hard data for the theory, explains Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.
On average, the number of job openings in the U.S. does tend to fall by an average of 1.4% between August and September, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And the number of hires made in the month tends to fall by around 6.0%, on average.
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Yet the fall season may be a good time to search, job experts say.
“We do see a seasonal trend in job seeker behavior, however, with a modest decline in the number of job applications submitted in September,” Pollak said.
On average, more than 20 million applications are submitted through ZipRecruiter each month, with application volumes falling 8.3% between August and September in 2022, for example. Last year, application volumes fell 12.1% between August and September.
As a result, individuals who are actively job hunting may see their chances improve as they compete with fewer other candidates, Pollak explained.
In fact, job-seeking activity tends to peak in January, with 20% more job applications started on Glassdoor than in a typical month, according to Glassdoor data from 2017 to 2020.
Meanwhile, here are some key ways to help you land that job you are after, according to experts.

1. Focus on networking

It will be important for job seekers to “be more strategic” said Erin McGoff, a career educator with more than 5.3 million social media followers across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
Instead of solely applying to hundreds of jobs online, focus on making direct connections with people in those companies, McGoff said.
It’s important now more than ever before to network and to try to land a job “through word of mouth, through your alumni, through any other associations you’re a part of,” McGoff explained.
This direct contact is key because recruiters and hiring managers are often overwhelmed by the sheer number of applicants, McGoff explained.
What’s more, “job boards are becoming extremely cluttered and oversaturated,” she added.

2. Gather insight

Networking with employees at a firm you are applying to for a job can give you information about the company and the interview process, said Aaron Terrazas, chief economist at Glassdoor.
To stand out as a candidate for larger companies, Terrazas said to try to gather key information:

Be familiar with the company culture.
Speak the “company language.”
Research what interviewers are seeking.

3. Tailor your resume

Submitting a tailored applications is also important, McGoff said.
“The second that recruiters get that generic, untailored resume, it’s just going right into the ‘no’ pile,” McGoff explained.
To avoid spending hours on each job application, it’s also a good idea to assess how much you want the job you’re applying for by using a rating system to compare various jobs, Heilmann advised.
For example, if you see a job post, and you’re not that “jazzed about it,” be fair and rate it on a scale from one to 10, said Heilmann. If you see another opportunity that you’re very excited about and you rate it higher, then you need to spend more time customizing that application, she said.

4. The ‘three-legged stool’

A successful strategy — at any time of year — will involve a combination of applying online, networking and tapping a career coach or recruiter, Heilmann explained.
“I call it a three-legged stool,” she said.
If a job seeker is only doing one, just applying online, for example, “their entire strategy is not balanced,” Heilmann cautioned.
It’s also key to move fast.
“You might not have much time,” Terrazas said. “Fall is bookended by big holidays. It’s a relatively narrow window for job seekers to get on board.” More

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., August 28, 2024. 
Brendan McDermid | Reuters

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Here’s what CNBC TV’s producers were watching as a decline in Nvidia shares weighed on the S&P 500 Wednesday and what’s on the radar for Thursday’s session.

Three big tech stocks to watch Thursday morning

Nvidia is down about 7% after hours after reporting its quarterly report. CNBC TV’s man at the NYSE Bob Pisani called it when he said early Wednesday morning that it was getting harder for Nvidia to impress Wall Street as the beats become more narrow. Profit and revenue more than doubled from the same quarter a year ago, topping Wall Street estimates. Still, the stock is selling off in extended trading. Nvidia is about 11% from the June high.
Salesforce is up 4% after hours. The company beat expectations in its fiscal second quarter, and it hiked guidance. The seemingly always optimistic CEO Marc Benioff told CNBC’s Jim Cramer exclusively tonight that “now we can really show how companies can use AI… it’s amazing what’s going on.” He cited several customers that are using Salesforce’s new Agentforce technology including OpenTable and Wyndham Hotels. The stock remains 19% from the March 1 high.
CrowdStrike is down more than 2% after reporting earnings this afternoon. Fiscal second-quarter results were better than expected, but the cybersecurity giant cut guidance. There is still a lot of angst still about the stock after July’s massive IT outage. CEO George Kurtz is on with “Mad Money” man Jim Cramer on Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern. The stock is 33% from the July high.

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Nvidia’s performance over the past three months

The Great American Bond Market and what’s next

Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger speaks at Deutsche Bank’s tech conference

CNBC TV’s Seema Mody is watching this one.
Intel shares are down 4.5% in three days.
In August, Intel is down 36%.
The stock is now 62% from the Dec. 27 high.

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Intel’s performance in 2024

Walgreens

CNBC stock man Tom Rotunno spent a lot of time on Walgreens on Wednesday. 
The stock hit a new 52-week low. It ended the day at $9.38, down 0.74% in the session.
The relative strength index shows the stock is “oversold” with an RSI of 29. A reading of 30 or lower indicates a stock may be oversold, but that doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to reverse the losses.
The stock hasn’t been this low since October 1996. That’s a long time ago. Back then, “Macarena” was the top song on the Billboard Hot 100.
The one-year mark since CEO Roz Brewer stepped down is coming up.
The stock is down about 64% in 2024.
According to FactSet, four out of 20 analysts think the stock is a buy or rate it overweight. Twelve deem it a hold, and four say it’s a sell or rate it underweight.
Competitor CVS is down 27% this year. Twelve analysts call it a buy or are overweight on the name, and 15 rate it a hold. There are no sell ratings on the stock. CVS is 31% from the 52-week high.

The Great American Consumer

There are lots of quarterly reports from retailers due Thursday.
American Eagle is down 9% in the past three months. The stock is 18% from the March high.
Best Buy is up 21% in three months. The stock is 6.3% from the June high.
Burlington Stores is up 36% over the past three months. Shares are 2.6% from the high hit Tuesday
Dollar General is down 13% in the last three months. The stock is 26% from the March high.
Gap is up 10% in three months. The stock is 27% from the June high.
Lululemon is down 12% in three months. It’s down 50% from the high hit in late December.
Ulta Beauty is down 3.75% in three months, 36% from the March high.

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Dollar General’s performance over the past three months

Gold vs. bitcoin

The “Fast Money” traders weighed in Wednesday night. Guy Adami led the pack, saying that “gold has separated itself from bitcoin.”
For some time, many have said the two assets shared similar attributes and advantages for investors and holders.
Gold is up 7% in a month.
Bitcoin is down 13% in a month. More

The Education Department said the launch of the 2025-26 FAFSA will be in phases “to uncover and fix issues’ with the aid application.
For many families, financial aid is key when it comes to covering college costs.

‘The potential for chaos’

“While we wish we could have an earlier FAFSA open date, we support end-to-end testing to ensure the product released on December 1 works for students, families, and schools,” said Beth Maglione, interim president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

Although “testing and improving usability can help,” higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz said he is skeptical that the department will be able to address all of the challenges within this time frame.
“Two months is not a lot of time to implement changes,” Kantrowitz said. 
“A key concern is that they seem to be acting as though there will not be any problems and that this beta testing is mainly an opportunity to build confidence in a perfect system,” he added.
“Even without last year’s FAFSA fiasco, Murphy’s Law suggests that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. Failing to properly plan for the beta testing will guarantee the potential for chaos,” Kantrowitz said.

Financial aid is key amid rising costs

For many families, financial aid is crucial when it comes to covering the cost of college, which is now nearing $100,000 a year.
The FAFSA serves as the gateway to all federal aid money, including federal student loans, work-study and especially grants — which have become the most crucial kind of assistance because they typically do not need to be repaid.
In part because of issues with the new form, students are now relying on loans more, according to Sallie Mae’s recent How America Pays for College report. The share of parents taking out federal parent PLUS loans to help cover the costs of their children’s college education has also grown, other studies show.

To that end, it’s more important that the FAFSA is fully functional for next year, even if it means another delayed start, most experts say.
Submitting a FAFSA is one of the best predictors of whether a high school senior will go on to college, according to the National College Attainment Network. Seniors who complete the FAFSA are 84% more likely to enroll in college directly after high school, according to an NCAN study of 2013 data. 
“The department’s testing plan is a critical step,” said Elizabeth Morgan, a spokesperson for the National College Attainment Network.
“This coming year, we must regain and surpass prior rates of FAFSA completion so more students take advantage of Pell Grants and continue their education beyond high school,” Morgan added.

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Currently, about 16% of 18- to 24-year-olds are neither in school nor working, according to a recent report by the St. Louis Fed.
These “NEETS” are largely discouraged by their economic standing and factors beyond their control.
Others, referred to as “new unemployables,” are struggling to get hired despite being well positioned to find work.

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When cracks start to show in the labor market, young adults are often the first to feel it.
To that point, about 16% of 18- to 24-year-olds are not employed and not enrolled in high school or college, according to a recent report by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, which refers to many in this group as “disconnected youth.”

Also often called “NEETs,” which stands for “not in employment, education, or training,” young, would-be job seekers are opting out of the labor force largely because they are discouraged by their economic standing. Weak job networks, college degree requirements, a lack of transportation or limited access to child care may also play a role, the St. Louis Fed found.

Among 16- to 24-year-olds, the unemployment rate rose to 9.1% in July, which is “typical,” according to Alí Bustamante, a labor economist and director of the Worker Power and Economic Security program at the Roosevelt Institute, a liberal think tank based in New York City.
Although the youth unemployment rate fell below 7% in 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, such lows were “emblematic of how hot the labor market was at that point,” Bustamante said.
“Nine percent is basically what we should be expecting during relatively good economic times for younger workers,” he added.

‘NEETS’ are being ‘left out and left behind’

Still, some young adults in the U.S. are neither working nor learning new skills.

In 2023, about 11.2% of young adults ages 15 to 24 in the U.S. were considered as NEETs, according to the International Labour Organization.
In other words, roughly 1 in 10 young people are “being left out and left behind in many ways,” Bustamante said.
Even though “that’s typically the norm,” he said, “we should be expecting these rates to be lower.”
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Young men, especially, are increasingly disengaged, according to Julia Pollak, a labor economist at ZipRecruiter.
“The NEET trend is mostly a male phenomenon,” she said.
Pollak explained that’s in part due to declining opportunities in traditionally male occupations, such as construction and manufacturing, while “women’s enrollment in schooling, education outcomes, and employment outcomes have mostly trended upwards.”
Almost 70% of disconnected young adults have no more than a high school diploma, the St. Louis Fed also found.

‘New unemployables’

Meanwhile, other young adults who are actively looking for a job are well qualified but often struggling to find positions, comprising a contingent of “new unemployables,” according to a recent report by Korn Ferry. 
According to Korn Ferry’s report, a “perfect storm” has also created a glut of new unemployables, or highly trained workers who struggle to find job opportunities.
“Employers are holding on to the talent they have and increasingly focusing on talent mobility,” said David Ellis, senior vice president for global talent acquisition transformation at Korn Ferry.
This “talent hoarding” has led to fewer available job openings even for well-qualified candidates, he said.
At the same time, firms are scaling back on new hires, limiting the opportunities at the entry level, as well.
While the teen employment rate is the highest it has been in more than a decade, early 20-somethings are struggling to find jobs, Pollak explained.
“It’s the 20- to 24-year-olds that saw a massive drop-off in the labor force participation during the pandemic, and who have lagged behind ever since,” Pollak said.
Overall, hiring projections for the class of 2024 fell 5.8% from last year, according to a report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, or NACE.
As more candidates compete for fewer positions, stretches of unemployment are also lengthening. Now, the number of people unemployed for longer than six months is up 21%, Korn Ferry found.

‘Unemployable’ to employable

Despite those trends in the job market, “all is not lost,” Ellis said.
“Don’t wait to reach out,” he advised. Get back in touch with former employers or colleagues through LinkedIn or email and set up informational interviews. After that initial approach, ask for any job leads or contacts.
In the meantime, make yourself more visible by writing about noteworthy topics in the industry and updating your resume to include keywords and so-called title tags, which highlight important elements at the top.
Finally, don’t limit yourself to roles that include a promotion or a raise, Ellis also advised. Rather, aim for a “career lattice,” which could entail taking lower position to gain skills that will pay dividends later.

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With college affordability a top concern for families, saving for higher education is more of a priority.
Financial experts often recommend a 529 college savings plan.
Anyone can contribute — you don’t have to be the account holder or the designated beneficiary to help grow a college savings account.

Jamie Grill | Getty Images

It may not be the season’s new hot toy, but gifting a child money toward college could have a more lasting impact.
Daniel Trujillo, 39, a certified public accountant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said he was blown away when his friend suggested putting money into a college savings account in lieu of a gift for his son Teo’s birthday.

“When my son turned 2, one of my friends made a contribution to the 529 instead of a present,” Trujillo said. “I thought that was pretty darn cool.”

‘It’s going to take a village’

As overall participation rates in 529 college savings plans have been rising, so too are gifts from friends and family.
Altogether, total investments in 529 plans jumped to $450.5 billion as of June, up nearly 10% from $412.5 billion the year before, according to data from the College Savings Plans Network, a network of state-administered college savings programs.
Of the $6.94 billion in contributions in the most recent quarter, roughly 5.4%, or $372.6 million, came from plan gifting platforms.
“We are seeing an increase in gifts of all sizes with an average of $100 from friends and extended family for a child they love,” said Wayne Weber, CEO of Gift of College, a gifting platform for higher education and workplace benefits.

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“People are more willing to reach out to family and friends so the child is not burdened with student loans,” said Chris McGee, chair of the College Savings Foundation, a nonprofit that provides public policy support for 529 plans.
In 2023, 45% of parents said they would ask a family or friend to make a contribution. In 2024, that percentage jumped to 65%, according to the College Savings Foundation’s State of Higher Ed Savings survey.
“It’s the realization that it’s going to take a village to afford higher education,” McGee said.

Financial experts and plan investors agree that 529 plans are a smart choice for many.
As of 2024, 74% of parents surveyed have started making regular contributions to a 529, according to Fidelity’s College Savings Indicator — a spike from 58% in 2007, when the study was first conducted. Fidelity polled nearly 2,000 families with children high school age and younger between April and May. 
And yet, only 30% are on track to hit their college savings goals, Fidelity also found.
Gifting can help narrow the gap, according to Jordan Lee, the CEO of Saving for College and Backer, a San Francisco-based company focused on making 529 plans more accessible.
Even small contributions will compound over the years, he added, and can serve as “a great way to stay involved and help a kid with their future in a meaningful way.”
The average size of a monthly gift is roughly $65, while one-time gifts average $370, according to data provided by Backer.
“That can be super significant depending on how actively you promote the opportunity to friends and relatives,” Lee said.

How to ask for college savings gifts

Lee suggests checking whether your plan has a gifting platform, with a link or code that can be sent to friends and family. Otherwise, you can set up a personalized gift page through an app like Backer and share the link with your loved ones ahead of holidays, birthday parties, graduation ceremonies or even on a baby shower.
“It’s kind of a no-pressure way to invite people to contribute,” Lee said.
If family members are reluctant to forgo the fun of a wrapped present, Lee suggests splitting the difference.
“There’s some hesitation sometimes but it’s not either/or — give a physical book or toy and set up a contribution,” Lee said.
According to Fidelity’s most recent data, 79% of parents say they would welcome contributions to their child’s college savings account in lieu of traditional gifts — and 66% would prefer it.

The benefits of a 529 plan

There are many advantages to a 529 plan. In more than half of all U.S. states, you can get a tax deduction or credit for contributions, even if your aren’t the account holder or the designated beneficiary.
A few states also offer additional benefits, such as scholarships or matching grants, to their residents if they invest in their home state’s 529 plan.
Earnings then grow on a tax-advantaged basis, and when a child withdraws the money, it is tax-free if the funds are used for qualified education expenses.
The restrictions around 529 plans have also loosened to include continuing education classes, apprenticeship programs and even student loan payments.
Thanks to Secure 2.0, as of 2024, families can roll over unused 529 plan funds to the account beneficiary’s Roth individual retirement account without triggering income taxes or penalties. Among other qualifications, the 529 plan must have been open for at least 15 years.
“The legislative updates that have come through have certainly broken down barriers to entry to 529 plans,” said Tony Durkan, a vice president and head of 529 relationship management at Fidelity Investments.
The maximum contribution limits for 529 gifts
This year, gift givers can put up to $18,000, or up to $36,000 if you’re married and file taxes jointly, per child into a 529 without those contributions counting toward your lifetime gift tax exemption. That’s up from $17,000 and $34,000 for married couples filing jointly in 2023. 
High-net-worth families that want to help fund a family member’s higher education could also consider “superfunding” 529 accounts, which allows front-loading five years’ worth of tax-free gifts into a 529 plan.
In this case, you could contribute up to $90,000 this year, or $180,000 for a married couple. But then you wouldn’t be able to give more money to that same recipient within a five-year period without it counting against your lifetime gift tax exemption.
A larger lump-sum contribution upfront may potentially generate more earnings compared with the same-size contribution spread out over a few years because it has a longer time horizon, according to Fidelity.

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