Investing

The S&P 500 ended the year up 24.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the year with more than a 13% gain.
“It is exciting to see healthy, positive returns,” said Marguerita Cheng, a CFP and the CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth.
What moves should investors make when stocks have soared? Here’s some advice from Cheng and other members of CNBC’s Advisor Council.

Rear view of woman sitting on top of mountain against cloudy sky during sunrise.
Simonkr | E+ | Getty Images

It was a very good year for the stock market.
The benchmark S&P 500 ended the year with a 24.2% gain, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than a 13% this year and and the Nasdaq soared 43%.

An investor who had $500,000 in the S&P 500 index around 12 months ago, would have roughly $630,000 now, according to an analysis by Morningstar Direct.
“It is exciting to see healthy, positive returns,” said certified financial planner Marguerita Cheng, the CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth.
What moves should investors make when the market is soaring? Here’s some advice from Cheng and other members of CNBC’s Advisor Council.

‘Don’t chase the market’

Although many investors are seeing their portfolios at all-time highs, they should typically avoid cashing out because of the rally, Cheng said.
“I advise clients to remember that the time they are in the market is more important than trying to time the market,” Cheng said.

Indeed, over the last 20 or so years, the S&P 500 produced an average annual return of around 6%. But if you missed the 20 best days in the market over that time span by trying to time things to your advantage, your return would shrivel to 0.1%, according to an analysis by Charles Schwab.
“The market keeps going up, so even though it’s at a high, it might be even higher in the future,” said CFP Sophia Bera Daigle, founder of Gen Y Planning in Austin, Texas.
Yet the recent rally doesn’t mean you should suddenly pour more money into your investments, either, said Ivory Johnson, a CFP and founder of Delancey Wealth Management in Washington, D.C.
“Don’t chase the market,” Johnson said. “Often times retail investors get excessively bullish after the move has already happened, and turn a win into a loss.”

Afraid that the good times will give way to a recession? It may be helpful to zoom out.
Dramatic ups and downs aside, history reveals the market reliably gives more than it takes over long periods.
Between 1900 and 2017, the average annual return on stocks has been around 11%, according to calculations by Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. After adjusting for inflation, that average annual return is still 8%.

Consider rebalancing, risk tolerance

If most of your investments are pinned for retirement, you likely want to stay the course, experts say.
That’s because you’re not supposed to touch that money until your post-working years, which, for most people, is far down the road.
But if you have stocks in a brokerage account that you’ve been holding for over a year, there may be cases where it does make sense to redirect some of your profits, Bera Daigle said.
For example, it can be worth it to do so if you want to pay off debt or don’t have sufficient emergency savings (most advisors recommend salting away three to six months worth of expenses).
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Amid a market rally, investors should typically “execute the same process as you would do when stocks go down,” Johnson said.
“Review your risk tolerance, time horizon and ask if anything has changed,” Johnson said.

It is exciting to see healthy, positive returns.

Marguerita Cheng
CEO of Blue Ocean Global Wealth

Big drops and rises in the market can be a good time to rebalance your portfolio, said CFP Cathy Curtis, founder and CEO of Curtis Financial Planning in Oakland, California.
“It’s quite possible that the rally of the last few months has created an overweight to stocks versus bonds in a person’s portfolio,” Curtis said.
For example, if you want your money allocated 70% to stocks, and 30% to bonds, you may now or at least soon need to sell some stocks and add to your bonds, she added. More

London, Rome and Paris are generally among Americans’ favorite overseas destinations each year.
Many travelers are eyeing different trips in 2024. Demand is surging for major cities in Asia — like Tokyo; Seoul, South Korea; and Shanghai — as the continent reopens from Covid-19-related border closures.
Off-the-beaten-path locales in Europe, ski destinations in Canada and Atlantic beach getaways are also trending, data shows.

Tokyo, Japan.
Matteo Colombo | DigitalVision | Getty Images

When it comes to travel abroad, popular destinations like London, Paris and Rome always seem to top the wish list for Americans.
But many travelers are looking beyond those mainstay cities for trips in 2024. Interest in major Asian hubs, off-the-beaten-path locales in Europe and other areas has surged, experts said.

“It’s clear that 2024 is shaping up to be the year of globetrotting,” Airbnb wrote last month.
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Broadly, overseas travel is hot: Searches for international flights are up 13% year-over-year, even though prices are about 10% higher, according to Steve Hafner, CEO of Kayak, a travel website.
“Americans are looking to go abroad,” Hafner said. “They’ve done the domestic stuff the last couple years.”
Here are the trending destinations for Americans in 2024.  

1. Asia takes the crown again

Kanchisa Thitisukthanapong | Moment | Getty Images

Americans flocked to the Asia-Pacific region in 2023 — and that love affair is poised to continue in the new year.
Tokyo and Seoul, South Korea, respectively rank as the No. 1 and 2 trending international hot spots next year among U.S.-based travelers, according to travel app Hopper.
Kayak data shows a similar trend. Its top five hot spots are in Asia: Hong Kong; Shanghai; Taipei City, the capital of Taiwan; Tokyo; and Osaka, Japan, respectively.
For example, searches for Hong Kong and Shanghai are up 355% and 216%, respectively, year-over-year, according to Kayak. (The travel site analyzed search traffic among Americans from March 16 to Sept. 15 this year, for travel planned in 2024, and compared it to the same period last year.)

Kyoto, Japan
Sw Photography | Stone | Getty Images

Japan also ranks highly among non-U.S. travelers: Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo are among the top 24 worldwide destinations next year, according to Airbnb data.
Asian nations were among the slowest to ease border closures related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now that they’re open again, tourists are unleashing a pent-up wanderlust, experts said.
“People couldn’t travel there, and now they are making it up,” said Sofia Markovich, a travel advisor and founder of Sofia’s Travel.
China reopened its borders in January 2023, “one of the last places” to do so, Hafner said.

Japan reopened to tourists starting in June 2022. There are other factors driving increased interest to that nation, like a historically strong U.S. dollar relative to the Japanese yen (and other currencies), which gives Americans additional buying power, and more flights from budget airlines, Hafner said.
Search traffic for Japan has more than tripled for trips during the first nine months of 2024 relative to the same period in 2023 — a larger increase than any other nation, Airbnb said.

Americans are looking to go abroad. They’ve done the domestic stuff the last couple years.

Steve Hafner

Historically, Tokyo has “hands down” been the most popular city for Americans to visit in Asia, said Hayley Berg, lead economist at Hopper. Now, demand is “even greater” than usual, she said.
Tourists may also pay a hefty premium to fly to Asia next year: “Good deal” prices for airfare to the continent is $1,204 for 2024, on average — 45% more than 2019, a much larger increase relative to other continents, according to Hopper.

2. Going off the beaten path in Europe

Stockholm, Sweden.
Leonardo Patrizi | E+ | Getty Images

Overcrowding in the traditional European hubs is driving an influx of tourists to generally less-frequented areas, experts said.  
For example, Stockholm, Sweden; Budapest, Hungary; Helsinki, Finland; and Prague, Czech Republic, respectively rank seventh to 10th on Kayak’s list of trending destinations abroad.
Copenhagen, Denmark, is No. 4 on Hopper’s 2024 hot spot ranking. Prague and Edinburgh, Scotland, are No. 7 and No. 8, respectively.
“People are really discovering the off-the-beaten path places,” Markovich said. “Because your Paris and your Rome and London and Barcelona are just too crowded. And experienced travelers want to get away from that.”
She recommends “a lot” of Scandinavian travel since it’s “so unspoiled by overtourism.”

The Salisbury Crags in Holyrood Park, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Andrew Merry | Moment | Getty Images

Additionally, Finland became a member of the NATO military alliance in 2023, driving more awareness of the nation among Americans, Kayak’s Hafner said.
Cities like Budapest and Prague have always been popular but not to the extent of some European tourist magnets, Markovich said.
One of those typical magnets — Paris — is poised for an additional burst this year: The City of Light is hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Demand for flights to Paris — and for nearby cities — during the Olympics has more than doubled versus this time last year, according to Hopper data.
Lower relative prices for some lesser-known spots in Europe are also likely attracting people, Berg said, especially since average flights to Europe overall are 5% more expensive in 2024 versus 2023, at $717, Hopper data shows.

3. The Atlantic tropics over the Caribbean

Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands.
Faba-photograhpy | Moment | Getty Images

Although places like Cancun, Mexico, remain popular as warm-weather beach destinations, Americans are increasingly turning to Atlantic tropical vacations over the Caribbean, said Hopper’s Berg.
“This is something new this year that we started seeing emerge” and the trend “will definitely continue” in 2024, she said.
For example, Tenerife, the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands, and Funchal, the capital of Portugal’s Madeira archipelago, ranked No. 9 and 10, respectively, on Hopper’s international trend list. Both are located off the West African coast.

People are really discovering the off-the-beaten path places.

Sofia Markovich
travel advisor

Though not on the Atlantic, Málaga, a Mediterranean port city on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain, ranked sixth on Kayak’s list. The Andalusian city gets about 300 days of sunshine a year, on average, and, according to one recent report, is the No. 1 city in the world for expats.
Search interest there is up 60% year-over-year, Kayak data shows. And that’s following a year in which Málaga was already “overrun,” Hafner said.
“I think that word has gotten out,” he said.

4. Canada’s ski mountains are having a ‘renaissance’

A ski slope at Grouse Mountain in Vancouver, Canada.
Daisuke Kishi | Moment Open | Getty Images

Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal in Canada ranked third, fifth and sixth, respectively, on Hopper’s international trend list for 2024.
Winter tourism likely plays a big role, Berg said.
“We’ve seen a real renaissance of Canadian ski destinations,” she said. “They’re rivaling a lot of European ski destinations.”
Plus, air travel to Canada is generally about a third of the price of a trip to Europe, Berg added. More

This year, 40% of Americans said they do not make financial resolutions for the new year and 68% said they do not have written financial plans at any point in the year, according to research from BMO Financial Group.
However, setting a budget goes a long way in managing your personal finances.

“Many people spend time doing a New Year’s resolution,” said Kamila Elliott, a certified financial planner at Collective Wealth Partners. She explained that people often focus on achieving their personal goals “but an annual budget allows you to focus on your financial goals and understanding what you want to accomplish financially in the year.”
The first step is to figure out your income.
“Knowing your income is extremely important because you know exactly how much you have to deploy,” explained Elliott. “So typically for my clients, we get their pay stubs and look at their net play.”
Net pay refers to your gross pay minus taxes, withholdings and deductions such as Social Security, Medicare and employee benefits such as your health plan.
“I look at it on a monthly basis,” said Elliott, who is also a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council.

“I typically take someone’s biweekly paycheck times 26 and then divide it by 12 or if you are getting paid bimonthly, which is 24 pay periods divided by 12,” she said.
The second step is to calculate your expenses. They can often be split into two types: fixed and variable.
“Fixed expenses are things like your rent, your mortgage, your car payment, things that you know exactly what it will be and how you can plan for it accordingly,” Elliott said.
“Variable expenses can be tricky since some of them you can control and some you can’t,” she added.
“How much are you spending on groceries? How much do you spend on eating out or clothing? Averaging them out will help you get a really good view of what that looks like for you on a monthly basis,” she explained.
The final step is setting a goal.
The budget parameter that many experts recommend is the 50-30-20 budget, where 50% of your take-home pay goes to your needs, 30% to your wants and 20% to savings for your financial future.
Watch the video to find out more about how to set an annual budget for the New Year. More

Sally Anscombe | DigitalVision | Getty Images

Company: Elanco Animal Health (ELAN)

Business: Elanco is an animal health company that delivers products and services to prevent and treat disease in farm animals and pets. Its portfolio serves animals across its core species and offers products in two categories: Pet Health, which is focused on parasiticides, vaccines and therapeutics; and Farm Animal, which consists of products designed to prevent, control and treat health challenges primarily focused on cattle.
Stock Market Value: $7.34B ($14.90 per share)

Activist: Ancora Advisors

Percentage Ownership:  ~3.0%
Average Cost: n/a
Activist Commentary: Ancora is not an activist investor. It is primarily a family wealth investment advisory firm and fund manager with $8.7 billion in assets under management, with an alternative asset management division that manages approximately $1.3 billion. It was founded in 2003 and hired James Chadwick in 2014 to pursue activist efforts in niche areas like banks, thrifts and closed-end funds. Ancora’s website lists “small cap activist” as part of its products and strategies and their strategy has evolved in recent years. From 2010 to 2020, the majority of Ancora’s activism was 13D filings on micro-cap companies and in the past few years they have taken a greater number of sub-5% stakes in larger companies. The alternatives team has a track record of using private and when necessary, public engagement with portfolio companies to catalyze corporate governance improvements and long-term value creation.

What’s happening

On Dec. 14, Bloomberg, citing people familiar, reported that Ancora has taken a position in Elanco and is pushing for a replacement of the company’s CEO, changes to the company’s board composition and improved margins.

Behind the scenes

Elanco is one of the largest global animal health pharmaceutical companies, developing and marketing products for both pet health and farm animals. It operates in a secularly growing industry, which has seen a massive wave of consolidation, and has been historically recession resistant. The company is one of four players – including Zoetis, Merck Animal Health and Boehringer Ingelheim – who collectively have 80% market share. Elanco spun out from Eli Lilly in 2018 and was met with a lot of excitement: In its first day of trading, the stock closed higher by 50% from its IPO price. The reason why the stock was received so well was because management publicized opportunities to grow revenue at or above industry growth rates and to improve margins by approximately 1,000 basis points over five years. In 2018, Elanco’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization margins were 21% versus 38% for Zoetis, its closest peer. While Zoetis’s product mix allows for higher margins, that gap is still way too big and Elanco management targeted 31% EBITDA margins by 2023.

Then, on Aug. 20, 2019, Elanco announced an agreement to acquire Bayer’s Animal Health business. Elanco explained this acquisition as being too good of an opportunity to pass up, as it would significantly expand scale and change the mix of the business. As a result, management accelerated the timeline of its margin target goal by a year and announced that because of this acquisition they would reach their goal of 31% EBITDA margins by 2022. But then, in 2020, management revised its guidance and stated that it was now hoping to achieve 31% EBITDA margins by 2024, a year later than its first projection and two years later than its last projection. To confuse and frustrate shareholders even more, management claimed that they have realized significant cost savings, but this is not resulting in margin expansion.
In October 2020, Sachem Head Capital Management filed a 13D on Elanco also taking issue with the company’s EBITDA margins and progress in improving them. On Dec. 13, 2020, Sachem Head and Elanco came up with a cooperation agreement, giving the activist three board seats for William Doyle, Scott Ferguson and Paul Herendeen. Scott Ferguson has since resigned from the board, but Doyle and Herendeen currently serve as directors.
Now, Ancora has taken an approximately 3% position and intends to push for margin improvements, a board refreshment and CEO replacement. Ancora sees this as a failure of corporate governance and accountability. Aside from management’s failure to improve margins over the past five years, they overpaid for Bayer and were late in converting their debt from variable to fixed resulting in much higher interest expenses. Further, the board that does not appear to hold management accountable. For instance, at the 2023 annual meeting, 62% and 71% of voting shareholders were against the election of two directors. Despite the results, the board did not make any changes. The director who received 71% of votes against him is the chairman of the company, R. David Hoover.
The board’s chickens may be coming home to roost. Ancora will have the opportunity to replace four directors at the next annual meeting, one being the company’s CEO Jeff Simmons. Ancora is pushing for board refreshment and the replacement of the CEO, but the firm might be able to do that in one fell swoop. If Simmons is not re-elected as a director, it will be hard for even this board to keep him as CEO.  Ancora will likely nominate three industry directors and one Ancora executive, signaling their intention to be a long-term shareholder. Of the four incumbent directors up for re-election at the next annual meeting, all received over 20% “against” votes at their last election in 2021 (with two of them over 46% and Simmons over 37%) and were not even being contested. That was when Elanco was trading at $35.76 per share. It is now at about $14 per share. Shareholders should be waiting for Ancora with flowers and chocolate. We think Ancora should easily win three seats in a proxy fight, and it could have a better than even chance of winning the fourth. Institutional Shareholder Services understandably does not like recommending voting against a sitting CEO, but it also does not like a board that has ignored the will of its shareholders. Even if Simmons can retain his board seat in a proxy fight, if this goes to a vote, the large number of shares voted against him will send a strong message to the board and likely be the writing on the wall for him.
We rarely see a company set up so well for board refreshment and management change. A refreshed board and management team that can get gross margins from the mid-50s to the 60s and EBITDA margins up to the high 20s (even below management’s promised 31%) would substantially increase shareholder value. 
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.  More

The Powerball jackpot has ballooned to an estimated $760 million, the sixth-largest prize in the game’s history.
There are two payout options for the winner: annuitized payments worth $760 million or a lump sum valued at $383.6 million.
The next Powerball drawing is on Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET.

mphillips007 | iStock Unreleased | Getty Images

Assemble a team of financial experts

Typically, lottery winners “don’t have the knowledge base to handle this large sum of money,” said Andrew Stoltmann, a Chicago-based lawyer who has represented several lottery winners. “It’s very similar to what we see with our professional athlete clients.”
That’s why it’s critical to find the right team of experts, including a financial advisor, accountant and attorney, he said.

The winner also needs to prepare for the “estate tax consequences” of the multimillion-dollar windfall, according to Warren Racusin, a wealth planning attorney and partner at Lowenstein Sandler.

For 2024, the federal estate tax exemptions are $13.61 million per individual or $27.22 million for married couples. But without changes from Congress, those limits will drop by roughly one-half in 2026 when provisions sunset from the Republicans’ signature 2017 tax overhaul.
“There are a variety of estate planning ideas and techniques that you can use to save on estate taxes and benefit your family,” Racusin said.

Saturday’s Powerball drawing comes roughly 2½ months since a single ticket sold in California won the game’s $1.765 billion jackpot. Meanwhile, the Mega Millions jackpot is back down to $92 million and the odds of winning that prize are roughly 1 in 302 million.
Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO: More

Struggling borrowers will be shielded from significant penalties for late and missed payments through September 2024.
Here’s what borrowers need to know.

Miodrag Ignjatovic | E+ | Getty Images

Borrowers don’t need to apply

Borrowers do not need to enroll in the on-ramp period, the U.S. Department of Education says. If your loans were eligible for the pandemic-era payment pause, which mainly include those in the Direct program, then borrowers will also qualify for this relief.
Loans that don’t qualify include private student loans and commercially held Federal Family Education Loans.

On-ramp period isn’t the same as payment pause

Unlike during the pandemic-era pause on federal student loans, when interest rates were set to zero, the debt will continue to grow at its pre-Covid rate over the next year (interest formally began accruing on federal student loans Sept. 1.)
To be clear: forgoing payments or making only partial payments during the on-ramp period means you’ll likely have a larger bill come October 2024.

For that reason, Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, a trade group for federal student loan servicers, said he hoped borrowers weren’t thinking this is just another payment pause.
“There is a fundamental difference here, which is that interest is accruing now,” Buchanan said.

Collection activity halted

Aside from the accruing of interest, experts say there are unlikely to be other significant penalties of not making payments during the on-ramp period. However, like with all things student loans, it makes sense to be careful. One borrower told CNBC that her account was put into past due status when she didn’t make her October payment.
Still, the Department of Education says it will not report your missed payments during this period to the credit bureaus.
Borrowers should also be shielded from collection activity, including the garnishments of their wages or retirement benefits, said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

It’s still best to make payments

If you can afford to make your student loan payments, most experts recommend that you do so to avoid ending up with a larger bill when the on-ramp period ends.
Still, these experts say some borrowers with small debt balances who believe they will qualify for President Joe Biden’s Plan B for student loan forgiveness are taking their chances and holding off on making their payments.
“They’re trying to buy themselves time,” said Braxton Brewington, press secretary for the Debt Collective, a union for debtors.
Biden’s plan is currently working its way through the regulatory process. It is unclear if the administration’s second attempt at providing people relief will end any differently than its first, with a failure at the Supreme Court. More

Your Money

Women have about 44% less saved by the time they retire, research shows.
Although the goal of a comfortable retirement feels out of reach for most, some key steps can help.
The year-end process is a great time to reset your long-term strategy, experts say.

What begins as a gender wage gap inevitably becomes a significant shortfall by retirement.
In the U.S., women who work full time are typically paid about 80 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts.

That gap has persisted despite women’s increasing levels of education and representation in senior leadership positions. Women are also still more likely to take time out of the labor force or reduce the number of hours worked because of caretaking responsibilities, often referred to as the “motherhood penalty.” 
That contributes to a growing wealth discrepancy, which is especially difficult to manage for those nearing retirement, according to Stacy Francis, a certified financial planner and president and CEO of Francis Financial in New York.

More from Women and Wealth:

Here’s a look at more coverage in CNBC’s Women & Wealth special report, where we explore ways women can increase income, save and make the most of opportunities.

“Not only do we start with less money in our pockets, but we also live longer and our costs in retirement are higher,” said Francis, who is also a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council.
By the end of a career, a full-time working woman will have lost out, on average, $417,400 of income, the Center for American Progress found.
Men and women have similar overall participation rates in their workplace saving plans, but men’s account balances are roughly 44% higher than women’s balances, largely due to the persistent gender wage gap, according to an analysis by Vanguard.

More than half of women workers, or 57%, feel they don’t have enough income to save for retirement and only 19% are “very confident” that they will be able to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle, a separate survey by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies found.
“Today’s women are more educated and enjoy unimaginable career opportunities than previous generations,” said Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of Transamerica Institute and TCRS. “Yet, despite these advancements, women continue to be at greater risk than men of not achieving a financially secure retirement.”

Women continue to be at greater risk than men of not achieving a financially secure retirement.

Catherine Collinson
CEO and president of Transamerica Institute and TCRS

At the same time, their life expectancy is five years longer than that of men.
“The statistics are sobering,” said Kelly O’Donnell, chief client officer at Edelman Financial Engines. “The math tells us it’s harder for women because they are going to live longer and have less.”
But there are moves women can make to narrow or even close the retirement gap once and for all, experts say. These three steps are key:
1. Start with ‘a financial look in the mirror’
“One of the most important things they can do is take a financial look in the mirror,” Collinson said.
Most experts recommend meeting with a financial advisor to shore up a long-term strategy. Many employer-sponsored plans now offer counseling or one-on-one coaching. There’s also free help available through the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.  
“A natural starting point is checking with your employer’s retirement provider and working on a plan,” Collinson said.
Once you’ve identified where you stand, “you can start making plans to address expectations and assumptions that could possibly affect your long-term trajectory,” she said.
2. Take advantage of 2024 changes
The IRS recently raised the contribution limits to retirement accounts for 2024, increasing the thresholds to $23,000 for 401(k) plans and $7,000 for individual retirement accounts.
More employers have also introduced some type of emergency savings benefits, many as a result of the new retirement legislation in Secure 2.0 — a law that focuses on improving retirement security by making it easier for workers to build and access emergency cash.
“If your employer is offering you something akin to free money, take it,” Douglas Boneparth, a certified financial planner and president and founder of Bone Fide Wealth, a wealth management firm based in New York, recently told CNBC. “That’s always going to be beneficial.”
“However, if it’s not being paired with an appropriate amount of discipline, it doesn’t matter,” added Boneparth, who is also a member of CNBC’s FA Council.
Above all else, use this as an opportunity to make the most of the financial education being offered, he advised.
3. Reset your long-term strategy
The year-end process is a great time to reflect back and evaluate what the year ahead has in store, according to Kate Winget, chief revenue officer for Morgan Stanley at Work.
“Start with a look at all the benefits you can take advantage of,” she said, such as employer contributions to a 401(k), equity compensation and stock purchase plans. “This is where you want to maximize your retirement plan,” she said.
Then, “layer in health-care benefits,” Winget added. “This is part of the overall compensation.”
Whether married or single, women need to assess their situation and plan for this accordingly, she said.
Since women are more likely to outlive men, Francis advises her female clients to consider that at some point, “they are going to be on their own.”
That may mean having to work longer to reach their retirement goals, Collinson cautioned.
“When you do finally retire, you’ll have a larger nest egg and a short time to make that nest egg last,” she said. More

Though financial stress is high going into 2024, many individuals aspire to keep financial resolutions.
Experts say the key to success with those goals is paying yourself first.

Young woman counting money.
Jose Luis Pelaez Inc

As the calendar turns to a new year, many Americans are vowing to change their money habits.
To that point, 48% of investors recently surveyed by Allianz Life Insurance Company say they are more likely to make and keep a financial resolution in 2024 to either save more or manage their money better.

That includes paying down credit cards, building emergency savings and investing more towards retirement.
Experts say the best way to tackle those money goals, and make sure they do not fall by the wayside, is to make them automatic.
Many people start with the bills, including rent, mortgage, utilities and food, and wait to save money with whatever is left over, noted Lawrence Sprung, a certified financial planner and founder of Mitlin Financial in Hauppauge, New York.
“A resolution that we talk about very, very frequently is paying yourself first,” said Sprung, who is also the author of the book “Financial Planning Made Personal.”

More from Your Money:

Here’s a look at more stories on how to manage, grow and protect your money for the years ahead.

To be sure, finding extra money to set aside or pay down debts can be difficult now, with Americans still feeling the stress of a higher cost of living.

Allianz’s survey found 73% of respondents say their pay hasn’t kept up with inflation, even after pay increases.
Meanwhile, 82% said the restarting of federal student loan payments will make it tough to make ends meet.
Separately, a recent Bankrate survey found that 59% of adults feel the economy is in a recession, even though economists say the economy is strong.
Elevated financial stress can make prioritizing short- and long-term money goals feel more difficult.
“It takes a lot of discipline, especially when money is tight,” said Kelly LaVigne, vice president of consumer insights at Allianz Life.
To stay on track, it helps to write down your to-do list, he said.
Experts also recommend scheduling the payments you want to make ahead of time.

1. Make credit card payments a priority.

If you have outstanding credit card debt, paying down that debt should be your first priority, according to LaVigne.
“You’re losing money significantly by not paying those balances as quickly as you can,” LaVigne said.
As the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates, credit card debt has become more expensive, with some borrowers facing interest rates of 20% or higher, according to LendingTree.
“Paying on time, every time, is job number one for anyone with a credit card,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree.
If you’re 30 days late one time with a credit card payment, that can do serious damage to your credit rating, he noted.
Setting up auto pay, either through a bank’s or credit card issuer’s website, can help ensure you do not miss those deadlines.
While auto pay is a “good thing,” it doesn’t completely absolve you of responsibility, Schulz said. Because technology is imperfect, you still need to keep track to make sure the payments go through. Moreover, some months you may want to pay more than others to knock those balances down.
Over time, making automatic payments can be a winning strategy.
“The easier you make it on yourself to pay down your debt, the more likely you are to stick with it,” Schulz said.

2. Build emergency savings.

To avoid running up credit card balances, it helps to have some emergency cash set aside.
Experts generally recommend having at least three to six months’ living expenses in an emergency fund.
As interest rates have climbed, you can earn more on those savings. Some online savings accounts are currently offering rates as high as 5% or more, according to Bankrate.
To make sure you regularly contribute funds towards your savings, it helps to have the money automatically deducted from your paycheck into your bank account.

3. Ramp up retirement investing.

As you juggle higher living costs and other financial priorities, it can be tempting to put investing toward retirement on the back burner.
But your most powerful asset when it comes to retirement is time. The more time your money is invested, the more opportunity there is for it to compound, or to earn interest on interest.
If you have a workplace retirement plan like a 401(k) plan, experts say it’s wise to invest at least up to the company match. For example, if you contribute 5% of your salary, your employer may also put in 5%. While terms may vary by employer, that’s free money you don’t want to miss out on.
When deciding how much of your total income to set aside, Sprung said 10% is a good general rule of thumb.
“Pay yourself that 10% and then utilize the remaining 90% to pay all those bills,” Sprung said.
Once you get used to living off 90% of your income, you won’t miss the 10% you’re saving, he explained.
“Automation is key, because once you do that and you don’t see the money, it makes it so much easier to live off of that 90%,” Sprung said.
It’s up to you to decide how to allocate that 10%, such as devoting half toward emergencies and the other half toward retirement.
“You have to determine where those savings need to be directed, and where you need them the most,” Sprung said. More