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“We’re going to try and have a policy where no windmills are being built,” Trump told reporters Tuesday.
The Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas and wind developer Orsted fell nearly 7% on Wednesday in the wake of Trump’s remarks.

A Vestas wind turbine near Baekmarksbro in Jutland. 
Afp | Getty Images

European wind power stocks tumbled Wednesday after President-elect Donald Trump said he would prevent the construction of new turbines.
“We’re going to try and have a policy where no windmills are being built,” Trump told reporters at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on Tuesday afternoon.

The Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems and Danish wind developer Orsted fell about 7% on Wednesday in the wake of Trump’s remarks.
The president-elect went on a lengthy attack against wind turbines during Tuesday’s news conference, arguing that they are too expensive, require subsidies and lack public support.
Trump’s opposition to wind power creates further challenges for an industry that has already struggled in the face of high interest rates that have raised the cost of developing new projects. In late 2023, for example, Orsted took a $4 billion write-down and canceled two offshore wind projects off the coast of New Jersey.
Still, wind power has expanded in the U.S., growing from 2.4 gigawatts in 2000 to 150 gigawatts by April 2024, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Electricity generation from wind hit a record in April 2024 and beat generation from coal-fired plants, according to EIA data.

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Almost half, 48%, of credit cardholders carry debt from month to month, according to a new report.
Most blame an unexpected emergency expense although higher costs and overspending are also factors.
Many borrowers say it could take years to pay down their balances.

Many Americans are starting 2025 a little worse off than before, at least when it comes to credit card debt.
Almost half of cardholders — 48% — now carry debt from month to month, according to a new report by Bankrate. That’s up from 44% at the start of 2024. Of those carrying balances, 53% have been in debt for at least a year.

Roughly 47% of borrowers said they carry a balance due to an unexpected or emergency expense, most commonly medical bills or car and home repairs. Others cite higher day-to-day expenses and general overspending.
“High inflation and high interest rates have been a nasty combination, and while the worst is behind us, the cumulative effects are significant and will linger,” Ted Rossman, Bankrate’s senior industry analyst, said in a statement.
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Overall, Americans’ credit card tab has continually crept higher. 
The average balance per consumer now stands at $6,380, up 4.8% year over year, according to the latest credit industry insights report from TransUnion from 2024’s third quarter.

By way of example: With annual percentage rates just over 20%, if you made minimum payments toward the average credit card balance ($6,380), it would take you more than 18 years to pay off the debt and cost you more than $9,344 in interest over that time period, Rossman calculated.

Meanwhile, 36% of consumers added to their debt load over the holiday season, according to a separate report by LendingTree.
Of those with debt, 21% expect it’ll take five months or longer to pay it off, LendingTree found. 
According to another report by WalletHub, 24% of Americans said they will need more than six months to pay off their holiday shopping debt. In that survey, most consumers said inflation caused them to spend more than they initially planned.
“Many people need months to repay holiday bills after overspending,” said John Kiernan, editor at WalletHub.

The best way to pay down debt

The best move for those struggling to pay down credit card debt is to consolidate with a 0% balance transfer card, Bankrate’s Rossman said.
“You could pay about $300 per month and knock out the average credit card balance in 21 months without owing any interest,” he said.
As it stands, 30% of credit cardholders expect to pay off their credit card debt within a year, while 41% expect to pay it off in 1 to 5 years, Bankrate also found. Another 13% expect it will take more than a decade.
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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks with the press during the launch of the supercomputer Gefion at Vilhelm Lauritzen Terminal in Kastrup, Denmark, on Oct. 23, 2024.
Ritzau Scanpix | Mads Claus Rasmussen | Via Reuters

Quantum computing stocks dropped Wednesday after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang declared that useful quantum computers are many years away.
“If you said 15 years for very useful quantum computers, that would probably be on the early side,” he said during Nvidia’s analyst day. “If you said 30, it’s probably on the late side. But if you picked 20, I think a whole bunch of us would believe it.”

Huang said that he believes Nvidia will play a “very significant part” in creating the computers and helping the industry “get there as fast as possible.”

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Rigetti falls on comments for Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

Stocks tied to quantum computing tumbled in premarket trading on the heels of the comments, with Rigetti Computing plunging 25%, while IonQ shed more than 13%. D-Wave Quantum dropped more than 19%, while the Defiance Quantum & AI ETF fell 3%. Quantum Computing, which announced a stock offering to raise $100 million, sank 21%.
The sector had gotten a lift into the end of 2024 as excitement around quantum computing exploded after Google revealed its latest Willow chip, which it said performed better than its 2019 predecessor at reducing errors.
The excitement boosted shares into year end, with Rigetti and D-Wave rallying 1,449% and 854%, respectively
Many investors, however, have warned that it may be too early to rule out proper winners in the sector and real-world use cases for the technology. More

Your paycheck could be slightly bigger in 2025 due to inflation adjustments to federal income tax brackets.
The change may be smaller than in previous years amid cooling inflation.
Regardless, you should monitor federal and state tax withholdings throughout the year to avoid a surprise tax bill.

Simpleimages | Moment | Getty Images

Why your take-home pay could be higher

If you’re starting 2025 with wages similar to your 2024 wages, your take-home pay — or compensation after taxes and benefit deductions — could be a little higher, depending on your withholdings, according to Long.
“When all the tax brackets go up, but your salary stays the same, relatively, that puts you on a lower rung of the ladder,” he said.

The federal income tax brackets show how much you owe on each part of your “taxable income,” which you calculate by subtracting the greater of the standard or itemized deductions from your adjusted gross income.

“Even if you make a little more than last year, you could actually pay less in tax in 2025 compared to 2024,” because the standard deduction also increased, Long said. 
For 2025, the standard deduction increases to $30,000 for married couples filing jointly, up from $29,200 in 2024. The tax break is also larger for single filers, who can claim $15,000 in 2025, a bump from $14,600.  

‘It ends up nearly balancing out’

Despite tax bracket changes, many Americans won’t feel the pay increase amid elevated prices for certain expenses, said Sheneya Wilson, a CPA and founder of Fola Financial in New York.
“It ends up nearly balancing out,” she said.
While inflation is no longer accelerating, there was an uptick in the cost of groceries, gasoline and new cars in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Whether take-home pay is higher or lower than expected, it’s important to monitor your state and federal income tax withholdings throughout the year, especially during major income or life changes, Wilson said.
Typically, if you withhold too much from your paycheck, you can expect a refund, whereas not withholding enough often results in taxes owed.     More

There’s one upside to your student loan payments: they might qualify you for a tax break.
The student loan interest deduction allows qualifying borrowers to deduct up to $2,500 a year in interest paid on eligible private or federal education debt.

Damircudic | E+ | Getty Images

There’s one upside to your student loan payments: they might reduce your 2024 tax bill.
The student loan interest deduction allows qualifying borrowers to deduct up to $2,500 a year in interest paid on eligible private or federal education debt. Before the Covid pandemic, nearly 13 million taxpayers took advantage of the deduction, according to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

Most borrowers couldn’t claim the deduction on federal student loans during the pandemic-era pause on student loan bills, which spanned from March 2020 to October 2023. With interest rates on those debts temporarily set to zero, there was no interest accruing for borrowers to claim.
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But interest on federal student loans began accruing again in September of 2023, and the first post-pause payments were due in October of that year.
By now, borrowers could again have interest to claim for the full tax year’s worth of payments, experts said.
“All borrowers should explore whether they qualify for the deduction as it can reduce their tax liability,” said Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a nonprofit that helps borrowers navigate the repayment of their debt.

Student loan interest deduction worth up to $550

The student loan interest deduction is “above the line,” meaning you don’t need to itemize your taxes to claim it.
Your lender or student loan servicer reports your interest payments for the tax year to the IRS on a tax form called a 1098-E, and should provide you with a copy, too.
If you don’t receive the form, you should be able to get it from your servicer.

Depending on your tax bracket and how much interest you paid, the student loan interest deduction could be worth up to $550 a year, Kantrowitz said.
There are income limits, however. For 2024, the deduction starts to phase out for individuals with a modified adjusted gross income of $80,000, and those with a MAGI of $95,000 or more are not eligible at all. For married couples filing jointly, the phaseout begins at $165,000, and those with a MAGI of $195,000 or more are ineligible.

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has finalized a rule that will remove an estimated $49 billion in medical bills from credit reports.
With the change, Americans with medical debt could see their credit scores increase by an average of 20 points, the CFPB reported.
Vice President Kamala Harris also announced more than $1 billion in medical debts have been eliminated.

sturti | E+ | Getty Images

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday announced it has finalized a rule to remove about $49 billion in medical debt from credit reports, a change that will affect an estimated 15 million Americans.
Individuals who have medical debt on their credit reports may see their credit scores increase by an average of 20 points following the rule, according to the CFPB. It said the change is also expected to result in the approval of about 22,000 additional affordable mortgages every year.

With the rule, consumer reporting agencies will be prohibited from including medical debt information with credit reports and credit scores sent to lenders. In addition, creditors will no longer be able to use certain medical information for lending decisions. The CFPB proposed the rule in June.
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More than 100 million Americans struggle with medical debt, which comprises the largest type of debt in collections ahead of auto loans, credit cards and utilities, according to the Biden-Harris administration.
Consumers are often asked to pay balances that should be covered by health insurance or financial assistance programs, and also frequently report receiving inaccurate medical bills, according to the CFPB.
The consumer finance watchdog agency’s move comes after its own research found medical bills on credit reports are not good predictors of whether someone will repay a loan.

“People who get sick shouldn’t have their financial future upended,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. “The CFPB’s final rule will close a special carveout that has allowed debt collectors to abuse the credit reporting system to coerce people into paying medical bills they may not even owe.”

A 2022 report released by the agency found medical bills accounted for $88 billion of debts reported on credit reports as of June 2021. Following those findings, the three major credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — took some types of medical debt off credit reports, such as debts under $500. Credit scoring companies FICO and VantageScore also moved to de-emphasize the impact of medical debt on credit scores.

More than $1 billion in medical debt eliminated

Along with the finalization of the CFPB rule, Vice President Kamala Harris announced that more than $1 billion in medical debt has been eliminated for more than 750,000 Americans in certain states, counties and cities.
Residents have had medical debt eliminated in states including New Jersey and Connecticut; counties including Cook County, Illinois; Lucas County, Ohio; Wayne and Oakland counties, Michigan; and cities including Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio; New Orleans; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Washington, D.C.
Up to $7 billion in medical debt may be eliminated for almost 3 million Americans by the end of 2026 with the support of the American Rescue Plan Act, legislation that was enacted in 2021.
“No one should be denied economic opportunity because they got sick or experienced a medical emergency,” Harris said in a statement.

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If you’re eager to max out your 401(k) plan early in 2025, you could miss part of your employer’s matching contribution without the “true-up” feature.
The true-up deposits the rest of your company’s 401(k) match if you max out employee deferrals before year-end. 
Roughly 67% of 401(k) plans that offer matches more than annually had a true-up in 2023, according to a yearly survey by the Plan Sponsor Council of America in December.

Gipi23 | E+ | Getty Images

A penalty ‘for maxing out too early’

Lump-sum investing, or putting larger amounts of money to work sooner, maximizes time in the market, which can increase growth potential, according to research from Vanguard released in 2023.    
But it’s important to understand your 401(k) plan before front-loading contributions, because not all plans offer a true-up feature, experts say.

Roughly 67% of 401(k) plans that offer matches more than annually had a true-up in 2023, according to a yearly survey released by the Plan Sponsor Council of America in December.

Clients have been “penalized for maxing out too early” without a true-up, which meant “leaving money on the table,” said CFP Ann Reilley, principal and CEO of Alpha Financial Advisors in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is also a certified public accountant.
For example, let’s say you’re under age 50, making $200,000 per year, and your company offers a 5% 401(k) match without a true-up.
With 26 pay periods and a 20% contribution rate, you’ll reach the $23,500 deferral limit for 2025 after 16 paychecks and only receive about $6,200 of your employer match. In this case, you’d miss roughly $3,800 of your employer 401(k) match by maxing out early without a true-up.
You can learn more by checking your 401(k) summary plan description, which outlines key details about the account, Reilley said.  

Higher deferrals, catch-up contributions for 2025 

Of course, many investors can’t afford to max out employee deferrals amid competing financial priorities.  
Only about 14% of employees maxed out 401(k) plans in 2023, according to Vanguard’s 2024 How America Saves report, based on data from 1,500 qualified plans and nearly 5 million participants.
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The Social Security Fairness Act has been signed into law by President Joe Biden.
The law eliminates two provisions, the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset, that reduced Social Security benefits for some public pensioners.
Here’s how that affects retirement planning for almost 3 million beneficiaries.

President Joe Biden after he signed the Social Security Fairness Act at the White House on Jan. 5 in Washington, D.C. 
Kent Nishimura | Getty Images News | Getty Images

President Joe Biden on Sunday signed the Social Security Fairness Act into law, clearing the way for nearly 3 million public workers including teachers, firefighters and police to see an increase to their Social Security benefits.
Now, two provisions that reduced Social Security benefits for certain public workers who receive pensions — the Windfall Elimination Provision, or WEP, and the Government Pension Offset, or GPO — have been eliminated.

The WEP and GPO were put in place more than four decades ago. When the provisions were created, the goal was to ensure that workers who earn public pensions from employment where they did not pay into Social Security, but who also qualify for Social Security benefits through other work, receive the same payout as workers who pay into Social Security for their entire careers.
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The WEP was enacted in 1983 and reduces Social Security benefits for some workers who also receive pension or disability benefits from work where Social Security payroll taxes were not withheld.
The GPO was enacted in 1977 and reduces Social Security benefits for certain spouses, widows and widowers who also receive income from their own government pensions.

How much Social Security benefits may increase

The new law affects benefits payable after December 2023.

More than 2.5 million Americans will receive a lump-sum payment of thousands of dollars to make up for the shortfall in benefits they should have received in 2024, Biden said on Sunday.
Eliminating the WEP will increase monthly Social Security benefits for 2.1 million beneficiaries by $360, on average, as of December 2025, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated.
Eliminating the GPO will increase monthly benefits by an average of $700 for 380,000 spouses and by an average of $1,190 for 390,000 surviving spouses as of December 2025, according to CBO.

“The Social Security Administration is determining the timelines for implementing this new law,” a Social Security spokesperson told CNBC on Monday. “We will provide more information on our website as it becomes available.”
For now, beneficiaries should make sure the Social Security Administration has their current mailing address and direct deposit information on file, according to the agency. That information can be updated online or by calling or visiting a Social Security office.

WEP, GPO often came as unpleasant surprise

The WEP and GPO benefit reductions often came as an unpleasant surprise to affected beneficiaries during the retirement planning process because the provisions were often not well publicized, said Abrin Berkemeyer, a certified financial planner and senior financial advisor at Goodman Financial in Houston.
“It should be a windfall for quite a lot of folks,” Berkemeyer said of the change.
For some beneficiaries affected by the change, the extra income will be life-changing, according to CFP Barbara O’Neill, owner and CEO of Money Talk, a provider of financial planning seminars and publications.
O’Neill, a former Rutgers University professor, has been personally affected by the WEP.
Once she started to claim her pension, she notified the Social Security Administration. At that point, her monthly benefits were reduced, but it took about five months for the change to be processed, prompting the agency to claw back the benefits she was overpaid during those months.

Now that the WEP and GPO provisions have been eliminated, that takes away a common source of overpayments, where beneficiaries owe money to the Social Security Administration after receiving more money than they were due. The provisions have prompted overpayment issues due to a lack of available data on pensions from noncovered employment, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Generally, the elimination of the WEP and GPO will make retirement planning simpler, experts say.
The extra money the change provides to beneficiaries puts less pressure on them to generate income from other assets they may have, said Michael Carbone, a CFP and partner at Eppolito, Carbone & Co. in Chelmsford, Mass.
What’s more, it also eliminates the need for the complex calculations the provisions required in order to gauge benefit income, said CFP Andrew Herzog, associate wealth manager at The Watchman Group in Plano, Texas.
“That certainly makes things easier,” Herzog said. “It gives people a sigh of relief.” More