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ETF Strategist

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ETF Strategist

Fixed-income ETFs are becoming more popular than their mutual fund counterparts.
Bond ETFs pulled in almost $344 billion through Oct. 31 this year, compared with $138 billion going into fixed income mutual funds in the same time, according to Morningstar Direct.
There are now more actively managed bond ETFs than there are passively managed funds.

Momo Productions | Digitalvision | Getty Images

If you’re thinking about putting money into bond exchange traded funds (ETFs) rather than mutual funds, you’re not alone.
Fixed-income ETFs have pulled in nearly $344 billion through Oct. 31 this year, compared with $138 billion going into fixed income mutual funds, according to Morningstar Direct. It’s part of the larger trend of investors preferring ETFs: In October alone, about $74 billion flowed out of mutual funds, while ETFs attracted $166 billion.

And while ETFs have some advantages over mutual funds, and bonds are viewed as safer investments than stocks, experts say it’s important to know what you’re buying.
“You have to remember the role of bonds in a portfolio,” said Dan Sotiroff, senior analyst for passive strategies research at Morningstar. “It’s usually to serve as a ballast — and how big of one is something you have to sort out on your own or with your advisor.”
‘Legitimate edge’
Both mutual funds and ETFs let you invest in a fund that holds a mix of underlying investments. The advantages of ETFs range from lower costs to tax efficiency to their trading all day in the open market. (Mutual funds are only priced once a day, after the markets close at 4 p.m. Eastern Time.)
One reason for assets flowing to bond ETFs is simply that more have been launched in recent years, especially those that are actively managed — meaning professionals are choosing which bonds to invest in — which previously was the sole province of bond mutual funds. In contrast, passively-managed ETFs track an index, and their performance mimics that benchmark, for better or worse.
“Active management has a legitimate edge,” Sotiroff said. Managers there “can bring something different to the equation and have a shot at outperforming their benchmark.” 

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The number of actively managed bond ETFs (511) has surpassed the number of passive bond ETFs (393), according to Morningstar.
The active funds come with higher expense ratios — the yearly fees paid by investors, expressed as a percentage of the fund’s total assets. Investors pay an average of 0.35% for actively managed bond ETFs, versus 0.10% for passively managed bond funds.
Know what bonds you’re buying
Also remember that because bonds pay interest, those ETFs distribute monthly payments to investors, who face taxes on that income if the ETFs are held in a taxable brokerage account. If they are in an individual retirement account or 401(k) account, any growth is tax-deferred and then subject to ordinary income tax rates when money is withdrawn after age 59½. If they’re held in a Roth IRA account, withdrawals are tax-free.
And whether you consider passive or active bond ETFs, it’s important to consider the type of bonds you’re investing in, experts say. For example, U.S. Treasurys and corporate bonds with solid credit ratings are considered investment-grade, meaning that there’s less risk of default.
“The correlation with stocks is really low and that’s important to keep in mind” when seeking to diversify, Sotiroff said.

Investment-grade bonds tend to generate less income than riskier bonds, while high-yield corporate bonds with lower investment ratings may offer higher yields but come with a greater chance of default.
If you are relying on bonds for income in retirement, trying to squeeze too much income out of your bond portfolio could end up backfiring.
Bond ETFs “are basically funding our clients’ living expenses, so we need to be liquid and high quality,” said certified financial planner Tim Videnka, chief investment officer and principal with Forza Wealth Management in Sarasota, Florida.
Bonds lose money, too
But as with all investments, bonds can lose money, too, Videnka said.
In 2022, as the Federal Reserve began raising its benchmark interest rate to fight high inflation, bond prices slumped (prices move inversely to yield), and the year ended as the worst ever bonds, with major bond indexes posting large losses.
The year 2022 “showed you can lose money in the bond market,” said Videnka. “People can sometimes forget what can happen when there’s real fear.”
One reason bond prices fall when rates rise is because newly-issued debt comes with higher interest rates, making existing bonds with lower rates less valuable — pushing down their price.
Although the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate — the federal funds rate — in October for the second time this year, it remains far higher than was the case for years before the Fed started raising rates in 2022. The fed funds rate is the rate that commercial banks charge one another for overnight borrowings to meet reserve requirements, and it ripples through the economy, affecting the rate charged for mortgages, auto loans and credit card debt as well as the interest rate on bonds and savings accounts.
“If you go back 15 years ago, after the [2008-2009] financial crisis, we were in a 0% rate environment and then Covid hit and we had another 0% rate environment,” Sotiroff said.
“Now you actually have [positive] interest rates … you have some returns that make bond ETFs attractive,” he said. More

The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that it will transfer much of the U.S. Department of Education’s programs to other agencies.
Currently, the agency oversees the country’s $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio, provides funding to low-income students and enforces civil rights in classrooms across the country.

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon smiles during the signing event for an executive order to shut down the Department of Education next to U.S. President Donald Trump, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 20, 2025. 
Carlos Barria | Reuters

The Trump administration says it will transfer much of the U.S. Department of Education’s programs to other agencies, a move experts say is part of President Donald Trump’s directive to dismantle the agency.
During a press call with reporters on Tuesday, a senior administration official said the administration had signed agreements with four other federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to begin managing programs currently under the Education Department.

Under the new agreements, the Labor Department will administer more federal K-12 initiatives, and the State Department will assume additional tasks related to international education and the Fulbright programs, according to the Education Department.
Trump signed an executive order in March aimed at closing the Education Department, which oversees the country’s $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio, provides funding to low-income students and enforces civil rights in classrooms across the country.
Only Congress can unilaterally eliminate the Education Department. But the Trump administration may be trying to use a workaround by contracting with other agencies to perform the department’s tasks.
“They are attempting to hollow out the U.S. Department of Education, leaving behind a shell of the original organization,” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration laid off nearly half of the Education Department’s staffers.

“We’ll peel back the layers of federal bureaucracy by partnering with agencies that are better suited to manage programs,” Education Department Secretary Linda McMahon wrote in a recent op-ed in USA Today.
The government shutdown “underlined just how little the Department of Education will be missed,” McMahon said.
Tuesday’s announcement did not include information on the future of the government’s student loan portfolio. However, administration officials are exploring options to sell some of the debt to the private market, Politico reported in October.
Former President Jimmy Carter established the current-day Education Department in 1979. Since then, the department has faced other existential threats, with former President Ronald Reagan calling for its end and Trump, during his first term, attempting to merge it with the Labor Department. More

A new scheme seeks to convince individuals that their Social Security numbers may be suspended due to criminal activities, the Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration said in a recent warning.
Consumers reported losing more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
Adults ages 60 and over are most likely to report large money losses from scams.

Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images

A new “high pressure” scam seeks to convince individuals that their Social Security numbers may be suspended due to criminal activities, according to a new warning.
“Be aware! It’s a scam!” the Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration said in a recent alert.

The scheme involves emails sent with the subject line, “Alert: Social Security Account Issues Detected.” An attachment with fake letterhead purporting to represent the SSA OIG warns recipients that their Social Security number may be suspended within 24 hours and that their case may be referred for criminal prosecution.
The schemes typically use scare tactics to dupe victims into handing over their money, such as flagging suspicious activity on accounts, claiming personal information is being used to commit crimes, or alleging online accounts or other personal devices have been hacked.

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When recipients of the fraudulent emails call the phone number provided, they may encounter someone impersonating a Social Security Administration employee who sometimes even uses a federal worker’s real name. Alternatively, callers may be directed to send a text via an automated message.
The SSA OIG, which provides independent oversight of the Social Security Administration, is warning recipients not to share their personal information in response to the notices.
“If you get an unexpected call, text, email, letter, or social media message from SSA OIG or any government agency, pause and think scam first,” Michelle L. Anderson, acting inspector general, said in a statement. “The person contacting you may not be who they claim to be.”     

Notably, the SSA OIG “will never send letters like this,” Anderson said.

Older adults more likely to report scam losses

Government imposter scams may also purport to be from other agencies — the Social Security Administration, IRS, Medicare or Federal Trade Commission, for example. Other schemes may claim to represent well-known businesses.
In 2024, consumers reported losing more than $12.5 billion to fraud — a 25% increase over the previous year, the Federal Trade Commission reported in March.
Investment scams were the most common way to lose money, with $5.7 billion in losses reported by consumers in 2024, followed by imposter scams, with $2.95 billion in losses.
Adults ages 60 and over are most likely to report losses of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars from scams, according to the FTC. The number of older adults who reported losing $10,000 or more to scams went up more than four times from 2020 to 2024, the agency reported in August. In those same years, the number of older adults who reported losing more than $100,000 jumped nearly seven times.

To avoid becoming a victim, the FTC warns consumers targeted by these types of scams not to send or transfer money to anyone.
The agency also recommends independently verifying whether a phone number or website is real and talking to someone you know and trust before transferring money.
Blocking unwanted calls can also prevent scammers from contacting you in the first place, according to the FTC. More

The grace period for federal student loan borrowers who graduated in the spring is ending, meaning bills will soon be due.
Here’s what to know about starting the payments.

Chuck Savage | Getty

Millions of federal student loan borrowers who graduated in the spring will need to start repaying their debt for the first time soon.
That’s because the six-month grace period that the Department of Education allows students after they finish school is winding down for May graduates.

“In other words, ‘Happy Thanksgiving!'” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. “It’s time to start making payments on your student loans.”
Outstanding federal education debt in the U.S. exceeds $1.6 trillion, and more than 40 million people hold these loans. Between 4 million and 5 million federal student loan borrowers enter repayment each year, mainly during November and December, Kantrowitz said. The typical monthly student loan payment is around $350.

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This year, borrowers begin repayment amid a challenging time for the lending system. More than 5 million people are in default on student loans, and President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” phases out several repayment plans that were intended to make payments more affordable.
Here’s what you need to know about starting repayment on your student debt.

It’s easy to miss your first payment

Student loan borrowers are more likely to miss their first bill than any other payment, Kantrowitz said, because their debt has been “out of sight, out of mind, for six months.” Recent graduates are also often balancing other new expenses, including rent, a car, and new work clothes, Kantrowitz said.

As a result, he said, “I tell students to put a reminder in their calendar two weeks before payments are supposed to start.”
You should get your first bill at least 21 days before your payment is due, according to the Education Department. To avoid being late, borrowers can enroll in automatic payments with their loan servicer.
If you don’t know which company is managing your student loans on behalf of the government, you can find out at Studentaid.gov.

Find a repayment plan you can afford

Before your first bill is due, you’ll want to research your repayment options, experts said. As for the right plan, “there’s no simple answer,” said Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a nonprofit.
“It can be very borrower-specific,” Mayotte said.

As a result of a lawsuit brought by the American Federation of Teachers against the Trump administration, the Education Department has made available some of the student loan repayment plans it had partially paused.
Those options are: the Pay As You Earn Repayment Plan and the Income-Contingent Repayment Plan.
Both are income-driven repayment plans, which means they set your monthly bill based on income and family size, and lead to debt forgiveness after a certain period, typically 20 years or 25 years. (However, recent legislation will phase out PAYE and ICR as of July 1, 2028.)
Starting July 1, 2026, student loan borrowers will have access to one more option, the “Repayment Assistance Plan,” or RAP. The plan leads to student loan forgiveness after 30 years, compared with the typical 20-year or 25-year timeline on other plans, but will offer the lowest monthly bill for some borrowers.
Meanwhile, the Standard Repayment Plan is a good option for borrowers who are not seeking, or are not eligible for, loan forgiveness and/or can afford the monthly payments, experts say. Under that plan, payments are fixed and borrowers typically make payments for up to 10 years.
There are several tools available online to help you determine how much your monthly bill would be under different plans. Borrowers should also be able to change into a different repayment plan at any time.

There are options if you can’t pay

The start of student loan repayments may cause financial hardship for many borrowers.
Struggling borrowers should first see if they qualify for a deferment, experts say. With a deferment, loans may not accrue interest, whereas they almost always do in a forbearance.
If you’re not working, you can request an unemployment deferment with your servicer. If you’re dealing with another financial challenge, meanwhile, you may be eligible for an economic hardship deferment. Those who qualify for a hardship deferment include people receiving certain types of federal or state aid and anyone volunteering in the Peace Corps, Kantrowitz said.
Other, lesser-known deferments include the graduate fellowship deferment, the military service and post-active-duty deferment and the cancer treatment deferment. More

Many Americans who buy health insurance on the Affordable Care Act marketplace will lose premium tax credits in 2026 unless Congress acts.
The subsidies are expected to expire at the end of the year, the so-called subsidy cliff.
Financial advisors say there are steps households can take this year and next to reduce income and qualify for lower ACA premiums.

Andresr | E+ | Getty Images

The so-called subsidy cliff for Affordable Care Act health insurance premiums is about to return in 2026.
But there are steps households can take to avoid the cliff — and potentially save thousands of dollars on premiums next year, according to financial planners.

The subsidy cliff refers to the strict income threshold households must meet to qualify for premium tax credits. Those tax credits, or subsidies, make monthly insurance premiums more affordable for 22 million Americans who purchase health plans through the ACA marketplace, the vast majority of enrollees.
Before 2021, households with incomes at or below 400% of the federal poverty line were eligible for subsidies. Anyone earning more — even $1 more — was ineligible. Those individuals had to pay the full, unsubsidized ACA insurance premium.

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But Congress passed legislation during the Biden administration that made the subsidies more generous and eliminated the subsidy cliff.
But that cliff will come back in January, absent congressional action. Its return could amount to a huge financial shock for households that lose premium tax credits as a result, financial advisors said.
“It’s one of those phantom taxes that has a tremendous impact,” said Tommy Lucas, a certified financial planner and enrolled agent at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, which was No. 69 on CNBC’s Financial Advisor 100 list for 2025.

About 1.5 million people — roughly 7% of all ACA enrollees — had incomes over 400% of the poverty line in 2024, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Households at risk of losing the subsidies should “do everything to stay as far away from that cliff as possible,” Lucas said. “You don’t want to put your toes up to that cliff and play with it.”

It’s not a foregone conclusion that the cliff will return.
Extending the enhanced subsidies was a key demand for Democrats during the government shutdown.
A group a Senate Democrats broke from their party to help Republicans pass legislation to end the shutdown, without an extension to the enhanced ACA subsidies. However, Republican leaders assured that the Senate would vote on a health care bill drafted by Democrats before the second week of December.
Many observers view its success as a long shot.
“It looks pretty much like a done deal that those subsidies will go away,” Lucas said. “[It’s a] plan-for-the-worst and hope-for-the-best scenario.”

The financial impact of the ACA subsidy cliff

The healthcare.gov website on a laptop arranged in Norfolk, Virginia, US, on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025.
Stefani Reynolds | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The income threshold for the subsidy cliff varies by household size.
For example, a one-person household would lose ACA subsidies in 2026 if the individual’s income exceeds $62,600. The threshold is $128,600 for a household of four.
The financial impact of the cliff will vary based on age, geography and income, according to a recent analysis by Shameek Rakshit, a research associate at KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.

Households just over the threshold — especially older adults, who typically have higher premiums — will generally be the hardest-hit, Rakshit wrote.
For example, a 60-year-old earning $64,000 (409% of the federal poverty line) would pay about $14,900 in annual premiums without a tax credit in 2026, according to Rakshit. Meanwhile, someone of the same age living in the same city, making $62,000 (396% of the poverty line), would receive a tax credit and pay approximately $6,200.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks at a press conference with other members of Senate Democratic leadership following a policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on October 15, 2025.
Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images

The individual making $62,000 would have a premium capped at 10% of annual income, while the one earning $64,000 would pay the full, uncapped price, likely about a quarter of that person’s income, he wrote.
“Managing income becomes incredibly important,” said Jeffrey Levine, a certified public accountant and certified financial planner based in St. Louis. “The worst thing you could be is $1 over the cliff.”
“If you’re on that border … basically [do] anything to get back under,” said Levine, the chief planning officer at Focus Partners Wealth.

4 ways to lower income to qualify for ACA subsidies

Momo Productions | Digitalvision | Getty Images

There are a few financial steps households on the edge of the cliff can take — this year and next — to reduce their income and qualify for subsidies, according to financial advisors.
“A lot of these [strategies] are for people on the fringe,” Lucas said. “If you’re blowing it by $50,000, there’s probably nothing we can do.”
The first thing to know: The key number is the household’s annual “modified adjusted gross income” for 2026.
Enrollees will estimate their MAGI for 2026 when they sign up for health insurance on the ACA marketplace during open enrollment, and will receive premium subsidies based on that estimated income. Households that underestimate their income would need to repay excess subsidies to the federal government.
Financial advisors say there are four ways households can potentially reduce their MAGI and qualify for lower premiums.
1. Roth IRA conversions and withdrawals
A Roth individual retirement account is a type of after-tax account — accounts are funded by after-tax contributions but the balance grows tax-free.
Withdrawals are also tax-free for many people. Importantly, that means withdrawals from a Roth IRA generally don’t count toward adjusted gross income, Lucas said.
Those on the edge of the ACA subsidy cliff might therefore withdraw Roth account money for income in 2026 without raising their annual income and losing their premium tax credits, financial advisors said.
However, Roth IRAs come with rules that could trigger tax penalties for the unwary.

For example, investors must be age 59½ or older to withdraw account earnings free of taxes and penalties. They must also have owned the Roth account for at least five years.
Breaching these rules would mean a withdrawal’s earnings count toward one’s adjusted gross income, and investors would additionally owe a 10% penalty.
By comparison, investors can withdraw any contributions to Roth accounts at any time without penalty.

Those who don’t have ample Roth savings can consider converting pre-tax money currently held in a 401(k)-type plan or IRA to Roth funds, Lucas said.
They would need to do so by the end of 2025, he said. That way, they’d have a larger pool of Roth funds available to them next year, he said.
Investors would owe income tax on the conversion, but it may be worthwhile if they can save thousands of dollars on health premiums next year, Lucas said.
2. Contribute to an IRA, HSA or other tax-advantaged account
Households can also consider contributing to a pre-tax account like an IRA or health savings account in 2026, Lucas said.
Investors generally get an upfront tax break for saving in these accounts, thereby reducing their adjusted gross income.
But again, there are caveats.
For example, the ability to write off IRA contributions depends on factors like income and your workplace retirement plan.

Rostislav_sedlacek | Istock | Getty Images

Further, HSAs are only available to households enrolled in a high-deductible health plan. They’d need to pick that health insurance plan by Dec. 15 for coverage to start at the beginning of 2026.
However, more households likely have health savings accounts available to them through the ACA marketplace due to the “big beautiful bill” passed in July. That law makes anyone covered under a bronze or catastrophic plan — two tiers of plans available on the ACA marketplace — eligible for an HSA.
However, a plan with a high deductible might not make financial sense for a household planning for many costly medical procedures next year, Lucas said.
3. Sell investments at a loss
Investors who own stocks or other investments like bonds in a taxable brokerage account might consider selling those assets for income in 2026 — but generally only if the assets haven’t generated a big profit, or even if they’re in the red, Lucas said.
That’s because only the capital gain — i.e., profit — is counted as part of one’s adjusted gross income. A stock or other asset with a small net gain wouldn’t be expected to significantly raise one’s AGI.

The healthcare.gov website on a laptop arranged in Norfolk, Virginia, US, on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025.
Stefani Reynolds | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Further, an investment with a net loss could even help lower an investor’s AGI, Lucas said.
If capital losses exceed capital gains, investors can generally lower their income dollar-for-dollar up to $3,000.
Here’s a simple example: If an investor bought a stock for $9,000 and sold it for $10,000, they would only include the $1,000 gain in their AGI. If they sold the stock for $8,000, it would reduce income by $1,000 without other investing losses, all else equal.
4. Work less
Hourly workers or others who have flexible incomes might simply choose to work less in 2026 to ensure their income is low enough to qualify for a premium tax credit, advisors said.
“If someone is going to end up being $5,000 over the cliff, they should literally just stop working,” said Levine of Focus Partners Wealth. More

The standard Medicare Part B premium will increase to $202.90 per month in 2026, up 9.7% from $185 per month in 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has announced.
Because those monthly premiums are typically deducted directly from Social Security benefit payments, those rates affect just how much of a cost-of-living increase beneficiaries will see in 2026.
The Social Security Administration has announced a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment for 2026.

Momo Productions | Digitalvision | Getty Images

The standard Medicare Part B premium will increase to $202.90 per month in 2026, up $17.90, or 9.7%, from $185 per month in 2025, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The increase marks the second-highest Part B premium increase in dollars, according to Mary Johnson, an independent Social Security and Medicare analyst. The highest increase of $21.60 per month happened in 2022.

Retirees may see this as a “continuation in relentless cost increases,” Johnson said via email.
Medicare Part B is medical insurance that covers both medically necessary and preventive services.
Part B premiums are typically deducted directly from Social Security checks. Any increase to those monthly premium payments affects how much of an increase Social Security beneficiaries may see in their monthly checks in 2026.

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The Social Security Administration has announced a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment for 2026, which is expected to add about $56 per month on average to retirement benefits.
The Part B premium for 2026 may be seen by beneficiaries as “taking a significant chunk of or even most of their COLA,” Johnson said.

A hold harmless provision ensures that Social Security benefit payments do not decrease from one year to the next as a result of Medicare Part B premium increases.
That said, other automatic deductions from Social Security checks for premiums tied to private Medicare Advantage insurance plans or Part D prescription drug coverage may reduce benefits, according to Johnson.
The $202.90 standard Part B premium rate will apply to individuals with modified adjusted gross income less than or equal to $109,000, and for married couples who file taxes jointly with modified AGI less than or equal to $218,000.
Approximately 8% of Medicare Part B beneficiaries pay what is called an income-related monthly adjustment amount that is added to their monthly premiums if their incomes are higher, according to CMS.
The annual deductible for Part B will be $283 in 2026, according to the agency, a 10% increase from the $257 annual deductible in effect for 2025.
The increases to both Medicare Part B premiums and deductibles are primarily due to “projected price changes and assumed utilization increases that are consistent with historical experience,” according to the CMS fact sheet on the price changes.
Income-related adjustment amounts are typically based on tax returns filed two years prior. Beneficiaries who have since had their income go down, or who have experienced a qualifying life event, may report that by submitting a form to the Social Security Administration. More

As the Virtus Terranova U.S. Quality Momentum ETF (JOET) celebrates its five-year anniversary, creator Joe Terranova discussed his strategy for picking stocks.
Terranova also shared his vision of creating a suite of related ETF products.
These other funds would apply his same investing rules to other assets outside of U.S. large caps, such as small-caps and European equities.

Joe Terranova
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

Joe Terranova plans to stick by the winning quantitative approach that’s allowed his Virtus Terranova U.S. Quality Momentum ETF (JOET) to identify stocks like Palantir early before the rest of the market has piled in over the last five years.
The ETF — created by Terranova, chief market strategist for Virtus Investment Partners — has risen 10.9% this year, beating the 6.8% gain in the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) in that time.

Stock chart icon

JOET, RSP YTD chart

To select the ETF’s holdings, Terranova follows a strict set of rules-based principles. First, he and his team screen the 500 largest U.S. companies for stocks with the highest positive momentum, calculated using their total returns over 12 months. The top 250 stocks are then included in the selection list.
The securities are then graded on three quality factors — return on equity, debt-to-equity ratio and annualized sales growth rate over the past three years. The top 125 stocks with the highest composite scores make up the equal-weighted ETF’s holdings.
Although the fund isn’t actively managed in a traditional sense, it is rebalanced every quarter. Terranova said he doesn’t miss the emotions of actively managing a fund, since his rules-based strategy has helped him capture alpha that he otherwise might have missed.
“In January of ’24, Palantir qualified. Wasn’t in the S&P at this point, because we’re not scanning the S&P,” Terranova said in the “Quality in the Streets, Momentum in the Sheets” episode of The Compound and Friends podcast with fellow CNBC contributor Josh Brown. “I am telling you 100% I would have sold the stock if I had discretion six times over. I would have found six different times to sell that stock, the strategy, the discipline.”
Terranova estimated that he bought into Palantir while it was trading around $16.76. Shares of the analytics tools builder traded around $173 on Monday and have soared 129% in 2025.

The investor also thanked his approach for capturing the market’s “personality” and helping him get in early on other themes, like the current healthcare rally. On the flip side, Terranova’s strategy has also helped him sell out of positions that he otherwise might have grown attached to.
“I have more affection towards the holdings that have been there for multiple quarters,” he told CNBC on the sidelines of the podcast episode recording. “Tesla’s a great example. Tesla’s revenue growth flattened out, and I could see what was coming — that we were going to sell Tesla. And on Halloween, the strategy liquidated Tesla, which looks like a pretty good move.”
Going forward, Terranova intends to build a suite of ETF products that applies his investing rules to other assets outside of U.S. large-cap stocks, such as small-caps and European equities. He believes his strategy will continue to succeed in allowing him to create a core equity holding and shock absorber for investors’ portfolios.
“Momentum is a reflection of technical confidence. Quality is a reflection of fundamental confidence. And you want to invest around the confidence,” Terranova said to CNBC. “To me, that’s where you get the long-term success.”
The JOET fund has an expense ratio of 0.29% and has around $240 million in assets under management. More

For the most part, college costs keep rising, along with the amount students have to borrow to help cover the tab.
But more than half of students earning bachelor’s degrees from public four-year universities graduate with zero student debt, according to newly released data from the College Board.

For the most part, college costs continue to rise, along with the amount students borrow to cover the tab. However, there is an exception.
Overall, college tuition has jumped by 5.6% annually, on average, since 1983, significantly outpacing other household expenses, according to a study by J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

But when broken down by institution type, the differences are striking: For the 2025-26 school year, tuition and fees for four-year private colleges averaged $45,000, according to newly released data from the College Board. At four-year, in-state public colleges, it was $11,950.
Over the decade from 2015-16 to 2025-26, average inflation-adjusted tuition and fees rose by 2% for private nonprofit four-year students and fell by 7% for public four-year in-state students.

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More than half of students earning bachelor’s degrees from public colleges and universities graduate without student debt. The average debt among those who do borrow is $27,420, down nearly 20% over the last decade.
By comparison, bachelor’s degree recipients from private institutions graduate with an average debt of roughly $34,420 per borrower, the College Board found.
“Public universities provide the most affordable path to a high-quality college education,” said Waded Cruzado, the president of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. “There has been even more progress on net tuition and fees, what students actually pay,” he said.

In fact, few families pay the school’s sticker cost. Altogether, nearly 75% of all undergraduates receive some type of financial aid, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

‘College affordability is a huge concern’

Still, with the price at some schools nearing six figures a year, cost can be a major deterrent. “College affordability is a huge concern,” said Robert Franek, editor-in-chief of The Princeton Review.
For a majority of students and their families, financial aid is the most important factor in decisions about choosing where to attend school and how to pay for it. The amount of aid offered matters, as does the breakdown between grants, scholarships, work-study opportunities and student loans. 
“What matters to parents and students shopping for colleges is the sticker prices of the schools they are considering, not how those prices compare to those of previous years — or even decades ago,” Franek said.

To that end, it may be a mistake to rule out private colleges based on cost alone, according to Franek. 
When it comes to offering aid, private schools typically have more money to spend, and many schools are giving out substantial aid packages — often in the form of merit aid, or “free money,” he said.
At the end of the day, “It’s not the sticker price that matters most but what the family will need to pay, based on — hopefully — the financial aid the student gets.”
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