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Tariffs are taxes on imported goods paid by the entity importing those products. Businesses often pass the cost of tariffs along to consumers through higher prices.
Sometimes, that process is not so subtle.
“We know that tariffs show in prices no matter what, but this was like the most explicit thing imaginable,” said certified financial planner Dave Yeske, the managing director of Yeske Buie, a wealth management firm in San Francisco, California.

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As President Donald Trump continues to set aggressive new tariff rates on imports, U.S. consumers are feeling the effects on their wallets.
Tariffs are taxes on imported goods paid by the entity importing those products. Businesses often pass the cost of tariffs along to consumers through higher prices.

Sometimes, it’s not so subtle.
In June, Dave Yeske, a certified financial planner in San Francisco, California, bought a side table from a seller in Mexico through an online marketplace for antiques. Before UPS would deliver the disassembled table in July, the delivery company required Yeske and his wife to pay about $585 in U.S. Customs and Border Protection fees for each of the two boxes — around $1,170 in all, on a side table that already cost roughly $1,980.
“We were very disappointed,” said Yeske, who is the managing director of Yeske Buie, a wealth management firm in San Francisco, California. “We know that tariffs show in prices no matter what, but this was like the most explicit thing imaginable.”
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Assessed fees are set by the U.S. government, and not by the carrier, according to a UPS spokesperson. Those fees depend on the value of the product and its origin.

When UPS brings in a shipment into the U.S., the delivery company becomes the importer of record, meaning the company is responsible for the duties, taxes and fees associated with the delivery. The retailer can choose to pay the fees, or pass the cost on to the end consumer, the spokesperson said.
Yeske’s experience is not uncommon. After Trump’s first round of tariffs were implemented this spring, consumers began reporting that they received payment requests from carrier companies after a purchase in order to receive their shipments. Experts also warned of scams mimicking those legitimate requests.
While consumers have long faced duties, taxes and fees on imported purchases, Trump’s tariffs are exacerbating the issue, according to Bernie Hart, vice president of customs of Flexport, a logistics firm.
“In today’s world, the dollar amount is too big to not pass it on or to not look for recovery,” he said.
If you plan to order products from overseas, here’s what to keep in mind, according to experts.

How tariffs make costs rise

‘All the hallmarks of legitimacy’

How levies materialize in online orders will depend on where the product is being shipped from, said Bernie Hart, vice president of customs of Flexport, a logistics firm.
If you order a product and it’s already in a warehouse or distribution center in the U.S., you will probably not get hit with import-related duties, taxes or fees, said Hart.
“It’s just when you order internationally, and you don’t really know this when you’re on a website,” he said. 
If the product is coming from abroad and you do get hit with a tariff payment request, it might be real. As noted above, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection will sometimes charge consumers a processing fee in order to release an imported good.
However, scammers are also aware that many consumers are unfamiliar with the ever-changing landscape of tariffs, and will use it to their advantage, experts say. Fraud attempts may appear in the form of a “tariff payment request” text or email claiming to be from a retailer, delivery company or a government agency.
In Yeske’s experience, he said he had “all of the hallmarks of legitimacy,” with the request coming from a UPS delivery driver who routinely made deliveries to his apartment building.
“I had to make the checks out to UPS, so this is not a scammer,” he said. “It was a check made out to UPS given to a UPS delivery driver who had actually delivered a UPS box.”

‘Start with a suspicious state of mind’

If you receive an email or text message that says your upcoming delivery requires a tariff payment before it arrives, “start with a suspicious state of mind,” CFP Yeske said. 
“Taking a beat, taking a breath to figure this out is not going to be a problem,” he said.
Instead of immediately paying the charge, make sure the payment request is real and is coming from a legitimate company or delivery service, he said. 
For instance, instead of clicking through any links the sender provided, go to the company’s website or call the entity’s verified number to corroborate the charge.

You can also check if the request includes the form 7501, an official government document detailing the import, said Hart.
If you realize it is a legit charge, “you could just refuse delivery,” Yeske said, but “you’re then going to have to recover the original cost of the product, which is maybe the tricky part.”
Hart said that in that scenario, you’re going to encounter the seller’s return policy, on top of the carrier looking for their reimbursement as well.
“You really need to understand what that return policy is and what your liability is in that,” he said. You may or may not get all your money back. Some returns can incur a restocking fee, return shipping fee or other logistics costs. 
“Those costs can be substantial,” Hart said. More

The Tripadvisor logo is displayed on a tablet.
Mateusz Slodkowski | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Company: Tripadvisor (TRIP)
Business: Tripadvisor is an online travel company. It leverages its brands, technology, and capabilities to connect its global audience with partners through content, travel guidance and two-sided marketplaces for experiences, accommodations, restaurants and other travel categories. Tripadvisor operates through three segments: Brand Tripadvisor, Viator and TheFork. Its Brand Tripadvisor segment is engaged in providing an online global platform for travelers to discover, generate and share authentic user-generated content in the form of ratings and reviews for destinations, points-of-interest, experiences, accommodations, restaurants and cruises. The Viator segment offers travelers a comprehensive online marketplace that provides access to over 400,000 experiences and more than 65,000 experience operators. TheFork segment offers an online marketplace that enables diners to discover and book online reservations at approximately 55,000 restaurants in 11 countries.
Stock Market Value: ~$2.36B ($18.00 per share)

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Tripadvisor shares in 2025

Activist: Starboard Value

Ownership: 9.01%
Average Cost: $13.92
Activist Commentary: Starboard is a very successful activist investor and has extensive experience helping companies focus on operational efficiency and margin improvement. The firm is known for its excellent diligence and for running many of the most successful campaigns. Starboard has taken a total of 158 prior activist campaigns in its history and has an average return of 22.34% versus 13.18% for the Russell 2000 over the same period.
What’s happening
Starboard intends to engage with Tripadvisor’s management and board regarding opportunities for value creation.
Behind the scenes
Tripadvisor is the operator of three online platforms designed to enhance the travel planning experience. Its legacy business, Tripadvisor.com, is the largest travel guidance platform in the world, with 300 million monthly unique visitors and more than a billion reviews and $900 million in revenue. Viator, a rapidly scaling booking platform for tours and other travel experiences, is expected to do well over $900 million in revenue this year. Lastly, TheFork is a restaurant reservation platform, which is now the largest marketplace for online dining reservations in Europe and is expected to generate over $200 million of revenue this year. Despite owning a trio of market-leading businesses, the company still trades at a heavy discount: around seven-times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization versus low to mid-teens for peers and even higher multiples for Tripadvisor historically. 

There are a few explanations behind this valuation disconnect. Since its spinoff from Expedia in 2011 and up until just a few months ago, Tripadvisor had poor governance: a controlled ownership by Liberty Media Corp, a dual class share structure and weak shareholder protections such as a plurality voting standard. This was reflected in the election of directors at the 2025 Annual Meeting, where three directors received a large number of withhold votes including Tripadvisor chairman and former CEO of Liberty Media Gregory Maffei, who received over 60% withhold votes. Small, controlled companies don’t tend to trade very well, and that is what this was. However, this all changed in April 2025 when Tripadvisor bought back Liberty Media’s controlling position and consequently collapsed the dual class structure. While Tripadvisor’s share price has appreciated since, it’s likely there is still some hangover from Liberty Media’s years of control. Secondly, the decline of Tripadvisor’s core nameplate business, which saw revenue decrease 7.95% from 2023 to 2024, is certainly a factor. If the Tripadvisor business was the company’s only segment, this valuation could be justified. But Viator does as much revenue as Tripadvisor and is growing at double-digit rates. TheFork is also growing at high single digits, has $200 million in revenue, $65 million in EBITDA and can reach margins greater than 20% at scale. While Tripadvisor did have a year of declining sales, it is still a market leader with $900 million of revenue and $250 million of EBITDA with the company expecting a return to growth this year.
Enter Starboard, which filed a 13D announcing that it has taken a 9.01% position in Tripadvisor and intends to meet with the company’s board and management team regarding potential value creation opportunities. As is typical in a Starboard investment, there are multiple levers to unlock value here. The first and maybe most likely plan is status quo, which is extremely rare for an activist like Starboard. But if Tripadvisor returns to revenue growth and the other two segments continue to grow revenue and margins, there may be very little to be done here except watch the stock soar as the market starts understanding the company better. If growth does not happen at Tripadvisor, there is an opportunity to run it differently, focusing more on the bottom line than investing for the top line. This is where Starboard has been very valuable in helping companies. Third, while the three businesses have some strategic synergies, if not operational ones, they are run independently and can really show the sum of the parts value through a sale of even just one segment. This is not something that Starboard generally advocates for and is not advocating for it here. But TheFork is a very strategic asset in a space that is ripe with acquisition: Resy to Amex, OpenTable to Priceline Group (now Booking Holdings), and SevenRooms to DoorDash are just a few examples. These deals typically occurred at mid- to high-single-digit revenue multiples. A five-times revenue multiple for TheFork would be a $1 billion valuation, approximately 40% of Tripadvisor’s total enterprise value, despite only accounting for approximately 10% of the company’s total revenue and 5% of its EBITDA. Finally, there is a potential hidden artificial intelligence value here. With hundreds of millions of users and a 25-year history, Tripadvisor has very valuable and unique data that could be a highly valuable asset for AI providers. Moreover, the company has recently announced partnerships with Perplexity and OpenAI, but the terms of these deals are not public.
Lastly, there is the potential sale of the entire company. While Starboard is not a “sell-the-company” activist, any time an activist engages with a company, it ends up in pseudo-play and any potential acquirer who has been kicking the tires will suddenly have their interest piqued. There have been interested potential acquirers here. In February 2024, Tripadvisor announced the formation of a special committee to evaluate proposals for potential transactions. During the Liberty buyback process, Tripadvisor disclosed receiving multiple acquisition offers, and another bid from a strategic buyer surfaced in early 2025 at $18 to $19 per share. Since then, Q1 results were better than expected, future guidance has improved, and the stock has increased more than 20% year to date. If interest existed then, there is no reason it shouldn’t exist now. A sale of the company is not Starboard’s agenda here, but the firm is an economic animal with a fiduciary duty to its investors. If an unsolicited offer comes in, the firm will encourage the company to accept it if the activist thinks that it is in the best long-term interest of stockholders.
With an activist like Starboard engaging, it would be remiss of us not to mention the shareholder discontent at Tripadvisor’s recent annual meeting. Three directors received at least 45% withhold votes with Jeremy Philips and Chairman Gregory Maffei receiving 56.8% and 69.3%, respectively. Since the company does not have a majority voting standard in uncontested elections, all three directors remain on the board. One might look at this and assume that Starboard is targeting these three directors for a potential proxy fight. While Starboard is no stranger to a proxy fight and will go there if necessary, we do not believe that to be the case here. First, most of the reasons for the withhold votes are no longer relevant, and Maffei — who received the most withhold votes — is a well-respected operator. Moreover, much like Starboard, Maffei is an economic animal who prioritizes stockholder return and is likely aligned with Starboard in recognizing the company’s current undervaluation and value accretive opportunities. We think Starboard could add a lot of value here with board representation, but this one seems to feel more like a partnership rather than a battle. 
Ken Squire is the founder and president of 13D Monitor, an institutional research service on shareholder activism, and the founder and portfolio manager of the 13D Activist Fund, a mutual fund that invests in a portfolio of activist 13D investments. Tripadvisor is owned in the fund. More

In her debut book, “Rich Girl Nation: Taking Charge of Our Financial Futures,” author Katie Gatti Tassin writes about the unique hurdles that women face when it comes to money.
Here’s what to know about the so-called “hot girl hamster wheel,” what’s behind it and how women can get ahead.

Katie Gatti Tassin
Courtesy: Katie Gatti Tassin

There are many unique hurdles that women face when it comes to money, such as the wage gap and caregiving responsibilities.
Yet, there’s another challenge in women’s financial lives that is less-discussed — beauty costs, which can be an “insidious force in women’s financial lives,” said Katie Gatti Tassin, author of the new book “Rich Girl Nation: Taking Charge of Our Financial Futures.”

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Tassin, who is also the founder of “Money with Katie,” describes beauty expenses as a “hot girl hamster wheel.” There’s a whole industry dedicated to profiting on women’s insecurities, she said, and it shows up in women’s budgets. 
CNBC spoke with Tassin in late June about how women can escape the “hot girl hamster wheel,” and what to do instead with their cash.
(This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.)

‘Beauty is a depreciating asset by design’

Ana Teresa Solá: The first chapter of your book talks about the so-called “hot girl hamster wheel.” Can you describe what that is? 

Katie Gatti Tassin: The “hot girl hamster wheel” is the collection of recurring expenses that are necessary to maintain what I like to call the “acceptable feminine appearance.” Every single dollar that you spend will function like a commitment to keep spending more money in the future because of the nature of aesthetic enhancement: Your body is eventually going to reject all of these interventions that you’re making. 
Anybody who’s ever gotten acrylic nails is familiar with this struggle, where they grow out and then your nails underneath are brittle and discolored.
ATS: What expenses fall under this type of spending? 
KGT: Typically, for most women, it’s hair, it’s nails, it’s skincare.
Things that are more about form than function, is probably a good way to put it.
Buying toothpaste does not count. Even though that’s still a personal care purchase, because the toothpaste is doing a job for you, it’s about hygiene. Whereas, Crest White Strips would probably count because this is something that you’re doing to intervene with how you look and how you are perceived.
It can take a form that we accept as baseline feminine maintenance or upkeep, and that’s really what I want people to take a closer look at for themselves. 

Rich Girl Nation Book Release

ATS: How does one fall prey to it? 
KGT: If you feel like the way that you look matters, that’s probably because you are accurately picking up on signals that it does. We know that “pretty privilege” is real, and so I want to be careful not to insinuate that anyone who’s falling for this is being made a mark, or is reacting to forces that are completely fabricated or artificial. 
It is true that beautiful people are treated better and are accommodated. We know that. So in some ways, it’s a rational path to start walking down because you sense that there is some return on that investment. 
But what I want to bring people back to is, beauty is a depreciating asset by design. Unlike investing in actual capital — which will grow with time, it will become more valuable — when you invest in beauty, the opposite is happening. It’s going to require more and more cash to extend that half-life.

‘Beauty is about power’

ATS: It sounds like this is not by accident, particularly for women. Why is that? What dynamics are at play? 
KGT: I just had a wonderful interview on my show with a woman named Tressie McMillan Cottom [who is a sociologist and writer], and I think she really nailed it. She said beauty is about power. Beauty is the only power that women can wield; they can use it, but they can never own it.
My perspective is that women are socialized to view beauty as the most powerful and important social capital that is worth their time to pursue.
But I do think as individuals, we have the ability to positively influence one another and give one another permission to opt out — and maybe you’re not opting out all the way. I think a lot of this does come down to survival. 
ATS: You mentioned in the book that the subject matter was “mysteriously absent” from personal finance books and sites you’ve frequented in the past. Why do you think that is?
KGT: The majority of personal finance books and the majority of the personal finance field has historically been written by and for men, which means that men have shaped in subtle and overt ways this field with their experiences, their preferences and their priorities.
By the way, I’m not knocking them. I learned a lot reading the men’s money blogs, but obviously they are not going to be able to guide me on, “Hey, this is why your full highlights routine is making you broke.” It was just completely out of their scope of reference.

How to ‘hot girl detox’

ATS: You provide a strategy to cut back on such expenses called the “hot girl detox.” Is this useful to strike a balance?
KGT: I think it’s a useful exercise for all the spending that you do. It’s just about giving yourself the gift of that insight by sitting down, doing the simple math and then getting curious and experimenting with, “Is this thing giving me the value that I want, and if it’s not, what could I try instead?”

You list out all the beauty and personal care spending that you do in a given year, and you annualize those costs. You’re going to figure out how they relate back to what you’re bringing in income. You’re going to start at the bottom and experiment with removing one thing at a time and seeing how it feels.
If you’re like me and many other women who have gone through this process, what you’re probably going to find is that you are going to get back not just an extraordinary amount of money, but time and mental energy, too.

Investing is ‘the best gift that you can give yourself’

ATS: Once the reader performs their detox, what should they do with the extra cash? 
KGT: The goal really is for that money to go to work for you and your future. What that’s going to look like will depend on the situation that you’re presently in.
If you have a lot of high-interest debt, then the best thing for you to do with that money is to start attacking the debt.
If you don’t have debt, but you also don’t really have any cash savings, then saving that money in a high-yield savings account and giving yourself that cash cushion is probably the next best step.
If you’ve done both of those things already, investing for your future is the best possible thing that you can do. It’s the best gift that you can give yourself. More

Majoring in finance is still considered the ticket to a well-paying position after college, and that is mostly true.
But when it comes to employment prospects, majors in art history, nutrition and philosophy all outperform some business and STEM-focused alternatives, according to a recent analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

For many students, majoring in finance is a proven pathway to a well-paying career and job security.
In fact, U.S. graduates believe that finance offers the best career prospects overall, considering today’s economic climate, according to a new survey by the CFA Institute, a non-profit focused on financial education. The group polled more than 9,000 current college students and recent graduates between the ages of 18 and 25.

While confidence about career prospects in finance increased over the past year, confidence decreased in other areas including STEM and healthcare, the CFA Institute also found.
However, finance ranks well behind many other majors when it comes to employment opportunities after college, other data shows.
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“For me, a career in finance represents a pivot to stability,” said Rafael Perez, 29, who is pursuing a Master of Science degree in finance at California State University in Sacramento. “I’ve been a creative my entire life, so discovering my affinity for finance was a relief in a sense.” 
Perez says he still experiences some pushback from his peers. “When I tell people I’m getting an MS in finance, they often jokingly call me a ‘finance bro,'” he said. “Despite the negative connotations of the phrase, it also reflects an expectation of financial success and prestige.”

Students and their families are paying more attention to which college majors are most likely to pay off, and are putting greater emphasis on a degree’s return on investment, according to Peter Watkins, CFA Institute’s senior director of university programs. “There’s an awareness from students that they have to make sure the degrees will make them work-ready,” he said.

New grads face a tougher job market

As young adults enter the real world, they are facing an increasingly tight labor market.
According to a recent analysis of labor market conditions for recent college graduates by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, job opportunities “deteriorated noticeably in the first quarter of 2025.” Among this group, the unemployment rate jumped to 5.8% — the highest reading since 2021.
Although finance majors had higher salaries compared to most other majors, grads with nutrition, art history and philosophy degrees all outperformed both finance and STEM fields when it comes to employment prospects, the New York Fed found.

For finance and computer science, the unemployment rate in those fields was 3.7% and 6.1%, respectively. By comparison, the unemployment rate for art history majors was 3%, and for nutritional sciences, the unemployment rate was just 0.4%, the New York Fed found.
After notching significant gains since 2020, the rise of computer science majors came to a near standstill this year, other reports show, fueled by concerns that artificial intelligence is rapidly taking over jobs in the field.
Economics majors also fared worse than majors such as theology and philosophy when it came to the employment rates for recent college graduates, according to the New York Fed. Philosophy majors have an unemployment rate of 3.2%, for example, and for economics, it’s 4.9%.

The New York Fed’s report was based on Census data from 2023 and unemployment rates of recent college graduates.
The disconnect between the New York Fed’s outcomes by major and the CFA survey findings — which is based on perceptions — is likely due in part to societal expectations, particularly from parents, Watkins said. “It may possibly be parental guidance, as in, ‘go for business,'” he said.

Demand for humanities majors rises

Meanwhile, demand for humanities majors is on the rise, and with good reason.
At a conference last year, Robert Goldstein, the chief operating officer of BlackRock, the world’s biggest money manager, said the firm was adjusting its hiring strategy for recent grads. “We have more and more conviction that we need people who majored in history, in English, and things that have nothing to do with finance or technology,” Goldstein said.
This demand for liberal arts degrees is fueled by the rise of artificial intelligence, which drives the need for creative thinking and so-called soft skills. 
“It’s a bit of a gold rush in AI, people who are adopting quickly are going to succeed quickly,” Watkins said.
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Retirees may see an approximate 77% increase to their Social Security benefits by waiting from age 62 to age 70 to claim benefits, depending on their personal circumstances, according to new research from the Bipartisan Policy Center.
For individuals who can and want to wait to claim, that poses the challenge of how to fund their expenses during those interim years.
Experts say having a so-called “bridge strategy” can help.

Alenapaulus | E+ | Getty Images

Eligibility for Social Security retirement benefits starts at age 62.
But for prospective beneficiaries who can wait, the biggest benefit becomes available at age 70.

For many retirees, that poses a dilemma — how to fund those interim years while they wait to claim that highest monthly benefit check.
That may mean working longer for prospective beneficiaries who are able to do so.
Another option, for those who can afford it, may be to self-fund those interim years.
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Having such a “bridge strategy” can help protect retirement assets and manage the risk that a retiree may live longer than they expect, according to a new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank.

Experts generally agree that delaying Social Security retirement benefits typically provides the highest value.
“Social Security provides a guaranteed stream of inflation-protected income for as long as you live,” said Emerson Sprick, director of retirement and labor policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “The value of that is immense.”

How delaying Social Security boosts retirement income

Retirees may claim Social Security retirement benefits at age 62 — but their monthly benefits will be permanently reduced for doing so.
If they wait until their full retirement age — typically age 66 to 67, depending on their date of birth — they will receive 100% of the benefits they have earned.
But for every year they delay from full retirement age to age 70, they stand to boost their benefits by 8%, a return that is difficult to match elsewhere, such as in the stock market where there are no guarantees the money will go up.
Yet research shows many people do not wait until age 70 to claim Social Security retirement benefits.
While more than 90% of people would benefit from waiting until 70, only about 10% of beneficiaries do, according to a 2022 report from the National Bureau of Economic Research.

New data shows that not only will Social Security claims increase in 2025, but higher earners may also be claiming early, especially at age 62, according to an Urban Institute analysis of Social Security Administration disclosures.
The increases in claims may be due to several factors, including a large baby boom population becoming eligible for benefits, new efforts to notify spouses about benefit eligibility and new changes at the Social Security Administration that may have prompted “fear and confusion among applicants and beneficiaries,” according to the Urban Institute.
Those early claimants face steep benefit cuts.
A person who would be eligible for a $2,000 monthly benefit at full retirement age of 67 would instead receive just $1,400 per month if they claim at age 62 — a 30% permanent reduction, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.
If instead that same individual waits until age 70, they would receive $2,480 per month — a 77% increase from their age 62 benefit, according to the Center.

How a ‘bridge strategy’ may help beneficiaries delay

A Social Security Administration office in Washington, D.C., March 26, 2025.
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images

By delaying benefits, most Americans receive a higher total sum from the program than if they claim early, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.
In addition to increasing wealth, delaying also helps protect beneficiaries if they live longer than they expect. They not only start out with a higher monthly check, but that check is also regularly adjusted for inflation.
To be sure, not everyone can afford to wait to claim Social Security benefits. For certain situations, particularly if someone is in poor health, experts generally say claiming early makes sense.
Yet for those who can and want to delay their Social Security start date, having a “bridge strategy” — money to fund the interim years while delaying Social Security — can help ensure that beneficiaries do not miss those perks, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Other retirement research has also pointed to the value of using bridge strategies to delay Social Security.
The best-case scenario is working until age 70, which can enable a prospective retiree to continue funding their investment portfolio while also delaying Social Security benefits, said Jason Kephart, senior principal for multi-asset strategy ratings at Morningstar.
For those who instead tap their portfolios early, that may ultimately result in higher lifetime spending over a 30-year retirement, according to Kephart’s research. A lower investment balance later in life due to later Social Security claiming may result in less money to pass on to heirs, Kephart said.

Where prospective retirees may turn for income

Adamkaz | E+ | Getty Images

Prospective retirees may opt to withdraw funds from their investment portfolio as their bridge strategy.
However, that will require ongoing investment decisions including how much to withdraw. It may also open individuals to sequence of return risk if they begin taking that money in a down market, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. Withdrawals during a market downturn not only reduce the size of a portfolio but also limit future growth.
Alternatively, aspiring retirees may turn to annuities as an interim funding strategy, although experts say that may also have drawbacks. Annuities require investors to part with a lump sum in return for a steady stream of income. For some investors, it may be too difficult to part ways with that money upfront.

Immediate annuities, which provide set payments for a defined period starting from the date of purchase, may provide the simplest option for a bridge strategy, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. However, the value of that strategy may depend on interest rates when the annuity is purchased.
Deferred annuities, which provide set future payments based on certain interest rates and market conditions, may provide another way to fund a bridge strategy, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. However, there is the risk that circumstances may change between the annuity purchase date and the start of the regular payments, the research notes.
For prospective retirees, it helps to consider bridge strategy options well before age 62, according to Sprick.
“The answer is having a good financial advisor,” Sprick said, as well as employer-provided information on the retirement income choices available. More

President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” increases the SALT deduction limit to $40,000 for 2025.
However, there’s a phaseout, or benefit reduction, between $500,000 and $600,000 of income.
Those individuals could face a “SALT torpedo,” or artificially high tax rate, said certified public accountant Jeff Levine.

U.S. Representative Josh Gottheimer, D-NJ, speaks during a press conference about the SALT Caucus outside the Capitol on Wednesday February 08, 2023 in Washington, DC. 
Matt McClain | The Washington Post | Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ delivers a temporary higher limit on the federal deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT. But the phaseout, or income-based benefit reduction, could trigger a tax surprise for some higher earners, experts say.
If you itemize tax breaks, you can claim the SALT deduction, which includes state and local income taxes and property taxes. Trump’s legislation raises the SALT deduction limit to $40,000 starting in 2025, with a 1% yearly increase through 2029, before reverting to $10,000 in 2030. 

However, the $40,000 SALT cap starts to phase out once modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI, exceeds $500,000. The SALT limit drops to $10,000 once MAGI reaches $600,000. MAGI is adjusted gross income with some tax breaks added back in. 
This phaseout can create a “SALT torpedo” — an artificially high tax rate — when MAGI falls between $500,000 and $600,000, certified public accountant Jeff Levine said in a LinkedIn post this week.
In some cases, you could pay a 45.5% federal tax rate on earnings between those thresholds, experts say.  
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Here’s how the “SALT torpedo” works and who could be impacted, according to tax experts.

How the SALT deduction phaseout works

Under Trump’s legislation, the SALT deduction limit for 2025 is now $30,000 higher. But a 30% phaseout kicks in once MAGI exceeds $500,000 for 2025.
Between $500,000 and $600,000, “you’re losing 30% for every dollar” of benefit between those thresholds, said certified financial planner Jim Guarino, managing director at Baker Newman Noyes in Woburn, Massachusetts. He is also a CPA.
At $600,000, if you multiply the extra $100,000 of income by 30%, that’s a $30,000 benefit reduction, which drops the $40,000 SALT cap back to $10,000.

A ‘quirky’ phaseout boosts tax rate

With the 30% SALT deduction phaseout between $500,000 and $600,000 of MAGI, some individuals could pay a higher-than-expected tax on earnings between those thresholds, according to Robert Keebler, a CPA with tax advisory firm Keebler & Associates in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Between $500,000 and $600,000, you’re increasing taxable income while losing part of the SALT deduction, which raises your effective tax rate — the percent of taxable income you pay.
If taxable income rises while the SALT deduction falls, your effective tax rate on income between $500,000 and $600,000 could far exceed your regular income tax rate, Keebler said in a LinkedIn post last week.

“It’s definitely a quirky little phaseout provision,” Andy Whitehair, a CPA and a director with Baker Tilly’s Washington tax council practice, told CNBC. “When people start actually crunching numbers, they might be in for some surprises.”
Whitehair also shared a basic example of the phaseout on LinkedIn this week.
If your income is $500,000 and you subtract $75,000 of itemized deductions (including $40,000 for SALT), your taxable income is $425,000.
By contrast, $600,000 of income would drop the SALT deduction to $10,000, which reduces itemized deductions to $45,000, and raises taxable income to $555,000.
When comparing taxable income for each example, the true difference is $130,000 with the $30,000 lost SALT deduction. If you multiply that by the 35% tax bracket, you get $45,500.
In this simplified example, there is $45,500 more federal tax owed by earning $100,000 more, which is 45.5%, Whitehair said.
If your 2025 earnings could be near $500,000, you should run projections with a tax advisor and weigh strategies to reduce MAGI, experts say.
With the steep tax penalty between $500,000 and $600,000, you may reconsider Roth individual retirement conversions, incurring large capital gains or other moves that could boost your income, according to Keebler.

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The fund has outperformed the MSCI USA Large Cap Index since inception, 13.7% to 7.8%, according to FactSet.
Top holdings currently include Robinhood, Oracle and Advanced Micro Devices.
Picking stocks that fall under multiple themes helps the fund stand up under changing market moods, Lee said.

Tom Lee, managing partner and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, speaking on CNBC’s “The Exchange” on Oct. 31, 2023.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Tom Lee’s Fundstrat Capital rose to prominence with timely macroeconomic calls on the market, and now his new ETF is flexing the firm’s stock picking prowess.
The Fundstrat Granny Shots US Large Cap ETF (GRNY) is quickly emerging as one of the most popular and successful active stock funds of the year. The fund hit $1.5 billion in assets under management just eight months after its launch last November, rapidly growing in an industry where some funds take years to reach 10% of that level.

Performance has also been excellent so far compared to peers and a benchmark index. The fund has outperformed the MSCI USA Large Cap Index since inception, 13.7% to 7.8%, according to FactSet. Measured by Morningstar, the fund’s return of about 14% this year is in the top three percent in its category, which includes nearly 1,400 other funds.

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This Fundstrat ETF is outperforming most of its peers and the broader market in 2025.

“It’s definitely been a positive surprise because we know how crowded the space is. … This product really seems to be connecting with people, and from the comments we’ve received … people have been buying it regularly, so they’re not doing it as a one-time speculative purchase,” Lee told CNBC about the fund’s growth.
The “granny shot” in the title is a reference to shooting a basketball free throw underhanded. For Fundstrat, it means a stock that falls under multiple key investment themes which the firm is tracking that drive earnings growth. Those themes include energy and cyber security, an AI-category called global labor suppliers, and the impact of millennials.
“The strategy may not look flashy — but it’s grounded in a disciplined, rules-based process designed to increase the likelihood of consistent results over time,” the fund’s website says.
The result is a portfolio of about 35 S&P 500 stocks, rebalanced every three months. Top holdings currently include Robinhood, Oracle and Advanced Micro Devices.

Picking stocks that fall under multiple themes helps the fund stand up under changing market moods, Lee said.
“A stock that’s both an AI story and tied to millennials then has a better chance of outperforming, because at any moment AI may not be in favor, but millennials might, so you’re improving your chances of continuous outperformance,” Lee said.
The next step will be sustaining the outperformance over the long-term, which has tripped up many star fund managers in the past. Lee said he believes the focus on long-term trends and earnings growth gives this strategy staying power.
“I think the idea of using a thematic approach and thinking about the story arcs that last a long time to find the stocks [that] outperform, I think that’s what’s really resonated with us. I think that is how you can still outperform,” Lee said.
The Granny Shots fund has an expense ratio of 0.75%.
Disclosure: Tom Lee is a CNBC contributor. More

Families will pay more for some key back-to-school essentials such as backpacks ahead of the new school year.
Concerns that potential tariffs will drive prices even higher are changing the way many parents shop, reports show.

A variety of school supplies, including lunch boxes and backpacks in different colors and patterns, are on display for the upcoming school year.
Deb Cohn-Orbach | UCG | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

Although inflation is cooling, President Donald Trump’s new tariff rates are threatening to drive prices higher, which could leave some parents in a bind amid the back-to-school shopping season.
Families are now paying more for some key back-to-school essentials, such as backpacks, ahead of the new school year. CNBC used the producer price index — a closely followed measure of inflation — to track how the costs of making certain items that students need changed between 2019 and 2025.

In the face of more expensive gear, many families are prepared to cut back.
Back-to-school spending for K-12 students is estimated to reach a collective $30.9 billion, or an average of roughly $570 per child this year, according to a new 2025 back-to-school retail survey by Deloitte. However, that is down from $586 in 2024, even with higher prices across categories. Deloitte polled more than 1,200 parents in May.
“This season, we’re expecting families to approach back-to-school season with a bit of caution as some concern about the economy and their own personal financial situations are top of mind,” said Brian McCarthy, a principal in Deloitte’s retail strategy & analytics practice.

Trump’s initial “liberation day” tariff agenda, which set a 10% baseline levy for nearly all countries as well as much higher duties on dozens of nations, was set for April 2, but those higher rates were paused for 90 days. On Monday, Trump signed an executive order delaying the tariff deadline until Aug. 1.
The full effect of steep new tariffs hasn’t been felt by shoppers yet, according to Jack Kleinhenz, chief economist at the National Retail Federation.

“However, if the large increases in tariffs announced earlier this year take effect and are sustained, they will infiltrate consumer prices, causing a downshift in spending,” he said in a July 8 blog post.
“Economic fundamentals appear solid at this juncture, but uncertainty is pervasive,” Kleinhenz said. 

Back-to-school shopping strategies

Concerns over inflation, potential tariffs and product shortages are already pushing consumers to change their back-to-school shopping habits, reports also show.
According to Deloitte, 75% of parents said they will switch brands if their preferred brand is too expensive, up from 62% in 2024; 65% will shop at affordable retailers over their preferred stores.
And, 56% are cutting back on non-essential purchases altogether to save money, according to data from Intuit Credit Karma.
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Nearly two-thirds, or 62%, of shoppers also said they’ll begin back-to-school shopping before August, a significant increase from 2024, another report by Coresight Research found. That’s “probably to preempt any price rises,” said Coresight analyst John Mercer.
“We haven’t seen the tariff impact on that yet, largely because of the pauses,” he added.
“At some point, if tariffs come in, there will be price impacts,” Mercer said, and “consumers are right to be concerned.”
Still, over half of parents — 53% — said they would go into debt to cover extracurriculars, and 46% would do the same for back-to-school items to help their child “fit in” at school, also up from the year before, according to NerdWallet’s 2025 back-to-school shopping report. Many parents are influenced to splurge on a “hot” back-to-school item or first-day outfits, Deloitte also found.
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