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Almost two-thirds, 63%, of LGBTQ+ people plan to use assisted reproductive technology, foster care, or adoption to become parents, according to a survey by Family Equality.
Gay male couples typically face a more expensive journey, as surrogacy or adoption are their primary choices.
While more employers are offering fertility benefits, many of these packages are limited when it comes to covering surrogacy. 

Bret Shuford and Stephen Hanna knew from early on in their relationship they wanted to raise a child together. But the married couple didn’t think a biological child was a possibility.
As freelancers in the creative arts, Shuford and Hanna don’t always see steady income, even when working on Broadway. The Houston-based couple, known as the “Broadway Husbands,” thought having a child with a donor egg and gestational carrier “seemed like it was something that was only available to people who were very wealthy,” said Shuford, 44.

It’s a safe assumption that having a child with a surrogate, now most often called a gestational carrier, is cost-prohibitive. While expenses vary widely due to a number of medical and legal factors, “the average cost of surrogacy in America has gone from $75,000 five years ago, to anywhere between $150,000 and $250,000 today,” according to Dr. Brian Levine, a reproductive endocrinologist who founded surrogacy matching platform Nodal.
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In the U.S., there are only about 5,000 successful surrogacy journeys per year, Nodal estimates.
“That’s only about 8% of met need,” Levine said. “In plain English, 92% of the people that dream of starting or growing or completing a family with surrogacy will not be able to do so in America due to the sheer time and cost constraints that are there today.”

Why gay male couples face higher costs

Alon Rivel, left, with his family.
Courtesy Alon Rivel

Alon Rivel always wanted to be a father. “As I grew up, I realized I was gay,” said Rivel, 34. “So I thought, this will never happen for me. I don’t have the money, but I wanted it desperately.”

“We were shocked when we started to look into [having a biological child] and realized nothing is covered by insurance unless you can prove that you’re infertile,” said Rivel, who lives in Arlington, Massachusetts. He and his husband believed that “this is complete discrimination on the insurance company’s part because we are gay men.”
“It is not a choice,” Rivel added. “We were born this way and, thus, we are actually infertile.”
Experts say the demand for surrogacy relationships has grown since same-sex marriage became legal in the U.S. in 2015.
Gay male couples typically face a more expensive journey, as surrogacy or adoption are their primary choices. In contrast, same-sex female couples are often able to carry pregnancies to term on their own, though they may possibly have to pay for donor sperm and fertilization.

Sadly, we do see in some states that there are laws that discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community.

Betsy Campbell
chief engagement officer for Resolve: The National Infertility Association

Donor eggs are exponentially more expensive than donor sperm largely because the egg retrieval process is more invasive and complicated. While costs, again, vary wildly, donor eggs and the associated costs can range between $20,000 and $60,000, according to fertility marketplace GoStork, while donor sperm can be from as little as several hundred dollars to around $1,000.
Donor eggs, meanwhile, are only one of many expenses.
Shuford and Hanna’s health insurance covered only the tests done on their sperm samples. Their remaining expenses, they estimate, ran between $150,000 and $180,000. That included around $40,000 for donor eggs, the medical costs to create, store, test and freeze embryos, medical insurance and out-of-pocket medical costs for their gestational carrier, her compensation, and other expenses.
The couple used savings, credit cards and high-interest loans to cover that tab. 
Rivel and his husband’s journey to parenthood ultimately cost $220,000.
“We’re taking money away from our child’s college fund,” he said. “We’re taking money away from our mortgage.”
“Compared to [many of] our friends, our baseline is $200,000 below where they started,” Rivel added.

Employer fertility benefits offer limited help

More employers are starting to offer fertility benefits, often through a specialized fertility benefits manager such as Kindbody, Carrot, Progyny or Maven. In 2022, 40% of U.S. employers offered some type of fertility coverage, up from 30% in 2020, according to the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.
Fertility IQ, which keeps a workplace index of employer fertility benefits, found the average amount of fertility coverage in 2021 was $36,000 per lifetime, flat from the year before.
But while more companies are offering fertility benefits, many of these packages are limited when it comes to covering what’s needed to build families using non-traditional methods. 
Almost two-thirds, 63%, of LGBTQ+ people plan to use assisted reproductive technology, foster care or adoption to become parents, according to a survey by Family Equality.
Yet fewer than half of employers offering fertility benefits provided any benefits for adoption, and only about 10% provided benefits related to surrogacy, according to a 2021 survey from Resolve: The National Infertility Association and health-care consultancy Mercer. And state laws requiring employers of a certain size to offer fertility benefits often leave out coverage for third-party reproduction such as a gestational carrier or the purchase of donor eggs or donor sperm.

“I honestly believe that employers don’t realize there is a gap in their benefits. And they often don’t know this until an employee points that out,” said Betsy Campbell, chief engagement officer for Resolve.
She said many employers she speaks to have “the best intentions” but don’t understand how gestational surrogacy works or how family building benefits fall short.
Will Porteous, 39, became a father through gestational surrogacy before joining Maven as its chief growth officer. He and his husband tabulated their parenthood path cost at close to $175,000. “No employer in the entire country that I’m aware of offers anything greater than $75,000 a year, and so that only covers a portion.” 

Will Porteous, right, with his husband, Doug, and their son, Walter.
Courtesy Will Porteous

But Porteous, who lives in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, said full coverage isn’t necessarily what LGBTQ+ couples want to see. “The expectation is to have equitable support to your other co-workers and seeing that your employer cares about that journey,” he said.
That employer support, Porteous said, “really means a lot and it shows that you as an employer care about your employee, regardless of how they’re going to build their family.”

Fertility benefits can help recruit, retain talent

While fertility benefits manager Progyny’s first clients were largely West Coast “Silicon Valley-type” businesses, according to CEO Pete Anevski, it now works with employers in 40 industries.
“There’s a flywheel effect happening,” he said, with more companies realizing benefits need to include family-building coverage “to be competitive, to attract and retain talent in what is still a tight labor market, an inflationary economy, even with concerns around a looming recession.” 
Fertility benefits manager Carrot said it has around 800 corporate clients and 80% of those offer their employees a benefit for surrogacy. “We have seen an increase in surrogacy claims year over year at about 250%,” said CEO Tammy Sun. 
Offering these types of benefits can be key factors for a company when job candidates are making decisions about employment, said Taryn Branca, chief revenue officer at Kindbody.
“I can’t tell you how many of our clients will call us, we will get on the phone with potential candidates that they’re recruiting, or we will provide information to support that recruit coming there because they are asking for very specific information before they’ll accept the offer: if they have surrogacy benefits, if they have donor benefits,” she said.

More than half of respondents in a new Progyny survey of LGBTQ+ community members said they are actively looking to build their families. Of that population, 79% would consider leaving their current job for one that offers better fertility and family-building benefits, and 80% would consider taking a second job to receive those benefits.
“This is not a ‘nice to have,’ this is a ‘need to have’ benefit,” Anevski said.
Rivel’s husband is an early employee at Massachusetts-based Beam Therapeutics. At Rivel’s insistence, he asked his human resources department to look into including surrogacy benefits. Eventually, the company added a surrogacy reimbursement benefit, which at the time Rivel and his husband used it was worth $10,000. 
While $10,000 was a small dent in the couple’s $220,000 surrogacy journey, Rivel said it’s better than nothing. “It’s really admirable that they have it,” he said. “I think it’s a really smart benefit for recruiting more people.”

Adoption also comes with high costs, risks

Adoption is certainly another family-building option. “It’s not for everyone … it’s not without its costs, and the laws vary by state,” Resolve’s Campbell said. “Sadly, we do see in some states that there are laws that discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community, so that’s definitely a consideration.”
The average nonfoster-system adoption costs between $25,000 and $60,000, according to the Child Welfare Information Gateway. As with surrogacy relationships, the adopting parents cover related expenses for all parties, from medical to legal, plus living expenses if a match is made in advance of a birth. And, of course, there are no guarantees.
Shuford and Hanna decided adoption wasn’t a path for them. “There’s a lot of risks involved that we weren’t willing to take,” Hanna said. “We had heard of stories involving birth mothers changing their minds, and children having birth defects that without [genetic embryo testing] weren’t known.”

‘It was totally worth it’

Stephen Hanna, left, with his husband, Bret Shuford, and their son, Maverick.
Courtesy Bret Shuford and Stephen Hanna

Like many gestational carrier stories, Shuford and Hanna’s was far from easy or straightforward.
Their first carrier dropped out of the process shortly before the embryo transfer was scheduled to take place but well after contracts had been signed and medical assessments and travel had occurred. The Covid-19 pandemic delayed the process with their second gestational carrier; then, after the first embryo transfer, the pregnancy ended in a devastating miscarriage. The second embryo transfer worked, and their surrogate gave birth to their son, Maverick, in 2022.
“So many times, we felt very excluded,” Shuford said. “We want to be able to have a family and raise our child and have that child be biologically related to us, and we have a right to do that, and we have a right to feel seen and validated in that process.”
But for Shuford, “in the end, it was totally worth it.”
“I mean, Maverick is amazing,” he added. “And we’re so lucky to have a healthy baby and also having someone like Crystal, our surrogate who carried our child.”
“I don’t know that I’ve ever experienced that kind of love in my life,” Shuford said. “So it’s really a powerful experience.” More

Inflation adjustments boosted the long-term capital gains tax brackets for 2023, which apply to investments owned for more than one year.
This means it takes more income to reach the 15% or 20% brackets and you may owe 0% capital gains taxes for 2023, depending on your income.
With taxable income below thresholds, you can sell profitable assets without tax consequences.

Marko Geber | DigitalVision | Getty Images

How to calculate your capital gains tax bracket

With higher standard deductions and income thresholds for capital gains, it’s more likely you’ll fall into the 0% bracket in 2023, Lucas said.
For 2023, you may qualify for the 0% long-term capital gains rate with taxable income of $44,625 or less for single filers and $89,250 or less for married couples filing jointly.

The rates use “taxable income,” which is calculated by subtracting the greater of the standard or itemized deductions from your adjusted gross income.
For example, if a married couple makes $100,000 together in 2023, their taxable income may easily fall below $89,250 after subtracting the $27,700 married filing jointly standard deduction.

By comparison, you may have been in the 0% long-term capital gains bracket for 2022 with a taxable income of $41,675 or less for single filers and $83,350 or less for married couples filing jointly.

Other tax-planning opportunities

With taxable income below the thresholds, you can sell profitable assets without tax consequences. For some investors, selling may be a chance to diversify amid market volatility, Lucas said.
“It’s there, it’s available and it’s a really good tax-planning opportunity,” he added.
Whether you’re taking gains or tax-loss harvesting, which uses losses to offset profits, “you really have to have a handle on your entire reportable picture,” said Jim Guarino, a CFP, certified public accountant and managing director at Baker Newman Noyes in Woburn, Massachusetts.

That includes estimating year-end mutual fund payouts in taxable accounts — which many investors don’t expect — and may cause a surprise tax bill, he said.
“Some additional loss harvesting might make a lot of sense if you’ve got that additional capital gain that’s coming down the road,” Guarino said.
Of course, the decision hinges on your taxable income, including payouts, since you won’t have taxable gains in the 0% capital gains bracket. More

Having a cash cushion can prevent a financial catastrophe in the event of an unexpected expense or job loss.
A new survey finds many people are uncomfortable with the level of emergency savings they have.
Here’s how much respondents say it would take to make them comfortable, and what experts recommend.

Blackcat | E+ | Getty Images

Having ample cash set aside can help prevent an unexpected emergency from turning into a financial catastrophe.
But when it comes to emergency savings, more than half of Americans — 57% — are uncomfortable with the level of money they have set aside, according to a new Bankrate survey.

Of those respondents, one-third are very uncomfortable, the May online and phone survey of 1,025 respondents found.
To feel comfortable with the amount of cash on hand, most respondents — 88% — said they need enough funds to cover at least three months of expenses, up from 72% who said so in 2019 when Bankrate last asked the same question.
Almost two-thirds of respondents — 64% — said they would need enough cash to cover six months of expenses in order to feel comfortable.
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However, less than half — 48% — have enough cash set aside to last three months. Meanwhile, 22% have no emergency savings at all, the survey found.

“The progress on increasing emergency savings continues to come at a snail’s pace, despite a widespread recognition among Americans that they don’t have enough savings and that they’re not comfortable with what they have,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.
The Covid-19 pandemic helped raise awareness about the importance of having cash set aside.

While government aid helped boost bank account balances, those cash cushions have eroded amid above average inflation and higher costs on debt.
As of the first quarter, U.S. credit card debts totaled nearly $1 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

3 months is the minimum, 6 months is even better

Surveys regularly ask individuals whether they would be able to handle an emergency expense. Unfortunately, the answers typically show many people would come up short.
Most adults — 57% — cannot afford a $1,000 emergency expense, a Bankrate survey from earlier this year found.
In 2022, only 63% of all adults could cover an unexpected $400 expense, down from a high of about 68% in 2021, according to a recent annual Federal Reserve report on economic well-being of U.S. households.

The progress on increasing emergency savings continues to come at a snail’s pace.

Greg McBride
chief financial analyst at Bankrate

When it comes to having ample emergency cash, three months’ expenses is a good first hurdle, experts say.
But having even more money on hand can help cushion the blow of an unexpected expense or income gap. Savers should aim to have at least three to six months’ expenses set aside in an account you can easily access, experts say.
“It’s the first line of defense of recovering from a job loss and finding employment again,” 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.com. Boneparth is also a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council.

Respondents to Bankrate’s new survey indicated six months’ savings was their sweet spot, McBride said.
“That is the lion’s share threshold that people picked in terms of a point people would feel comfortable with their savings,” McBride said.
However, if you are a sole breadwinner or sole business owner, you probably need more than six months’ savings to cover lost income, he said.

Higher rates give savers an advantage now

For those just getting started on building their emergency savings, setting aside enough cash to cover three to six months’ or more in expenses may sound daunting.
But the best way to start is just to get in the habit of setting money aside.
Setting up automatic contributions can help ensure money is set aside before it can be spent. Over time, that can add up.

Catherine Falls Commercial | Moment | Getty Images

“Automating it is really the way to make it happen,” McBride said.
As interest rates rise, savers are now getting a better return on their cash — potentially as high as 5% or more — than they have in 15 years, he noted.
“When you start seeing some meaningful interest accumulate, it … helps sustain that effort to save or inspire some creativity to increase your saving,” McBride said. More

The price of bitcoin topped $30,000 this week as investors grew bullish on the potential for spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds and other big names entering the digital currency space.
However, financial advisors urge investors to do their own research and understand their risk tolerance before diving in.

Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Bitcoin has rallied amid news about possible spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds and other big names entering the digital currency space — and financial experts have tips for investors who want a piece of the action.
The price of bitcoin topped $30,000 on Wednesday as traders grew bullish about spot bitcoin ETF applications from companies such as BlackRock, WisdomTree and Valkyrie. Bitcoin has surged by more than 80% in 2023 but is still more than 50% below its all-time high in November 2021.

U.S. investors currently have access to bitcoin futures ETFs, which invest in bitcoin futures contracts, or agreements to buy or sell the asset later for an agreed-upon price. The long-awaited bitcoin spot ETF, however, would invest in the digital currency directly.
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“I think the spot bitcoin ETF is a watershed moment for bitcoin,” said Douglas Boneparth, a New York-based certified financial planner and president of Bone Fide Wealth. He is a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council.
“It’s a very serious statement to see BlackRock submit that application,” he said, and many crypto advocates believe it’s the beeline for a bitcoin spot ETF product.

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Limit exposure to ‘high-risk’ assets

A bitcoin spot ETF would provide easier access to the asset, allowing investors to buy and sell the digital currency through a brokerage account. However, “easier accessibility to something doesn’t mean you should dive in headfirst,” Boneparth said.  

If bitcoin spot ETFs are approved, investors should treat them like any other asset, he said. You should always do your own research and your own due diligence before taking risks with your money.

Easier accessibility to something doesn’t mean you should dive in headfirst.

Douglas Boneparth
President of Bone Fide Wealth

When investors are weighing “high-risk assets” such as bitcoin, the financial services industry may suggest limiting a portfolio to 1% to 5% exposure, Boneparth said. He personally limits speculative assets — such as bitcoin, private equity, hedge funds and more — to 5% to 10% of investable assets, he said.

Room for growth with a small percentage

A small allocation can still have significant upside potential, said Ivory Johnson, a CFP and founder of Delancey Wealth Management in Washington, D.C. He also suggests limiting bitcoin exposure.
“If bitcoin has the potential to double and you have a 2% allocation, that’s huge,” said Johnson, a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council. And if the price plunges by 50%, you only lose 1% of your portfolio, he said.
Of course, your target investment allocations should always depend on your individual risk tolerance, timeline and your goals, Boneparth added. More

While the overall price of travel is up 16% from this time in 2019, per the NerdWallet Travel Price Index, the latest figures from the consumer price index show airfares are down 13.4% since last year.
Americans are eager to travel this summer despite higher costs.
If now is not the best time money-wise to take the leap, there are two ways you can stretch your travel budget.

Marko Klaric / EyeEm | EyeEm | Getty Images

Americans are eager to travel this summer despite inflation-strapped budgets.
“They’re booking flights, hotels, rental cars, vacation homes,” said Hopper economist Hayley Berg. “They are also exhibiting deal-seeking behavior.”

The overall price of travel is up 16% from this time in 2019, according to the NerdWallet Travel Price Index.
But that still feels like a deal, considering some recent easing in prices as inflation cools. Airfares are down 13.4% since last year, according to the latest figures from the consumer price index. Car rental prices peaked in July 2021, according to NerdWallet, and have been consistently declining. Rates in May are down 12.4% year over year.
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Nearly 85% of American adults intend to travel this summer, according to a survey conducted by The Vacationer. Moreover, more than 60% of adults intend to travel for the July 4 weekend.
International travel is particularly popular this summer, primarily due to pent-up demand, as this is the first summer without Covid-related travel restrictions, Berg said.

‘Deal-seeking behavior’ limits inflation effect

Americans are being extra savvy with their dollars this year. More than nine in 10 adults, 92%, say they look for ways to save on travel, according to a recent NerdWallet survey of 2,000 American adults.
“What’s been challenging about inflation is there’s just not a ton of variability in your choices a day,” said NerdWallet travel expert Sally French. “You might be able to go for the organic eggs or the regular eggs.”
“With travel, people do have those options: It’s possible to travel cheaply.”

These workers take ‘hush trips.’ Here’s how they’re hiding them from the boss

Hopper users are applying price-watching features, booking their flights when they are on sale and coming back to check the price of their trips and hotels 30% to 50% more than they did pre-pandemic, according to Berg.
“Despite that period of planning getting smaller, they’re checking prices more,” she said. “That tells us that there definitely is price sensitivity, but we’ve not seen a slowdown in demand.”
“I do think it’s the deal-seeking behavior that’s enabling a lot of this travel,” Berg added.

Two ways to stretch your travel budget

If now is not the best time money-wise for you to take the leap, here are two things to consider:

Vacation in late summer, early fall. For international trips, consider going in September or October, where you could save roughly half the price compared with the summer high season, said Berg. “Travel prices always decline dramatically in the fall because it’s an off-peak,” said Robert Frick, a corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union.However, if that’s not realistic for families or students for whom the academic year is starting, Berg suggests considering the end of August and flying mid-week. “You’re going to save about $50 a ticket on international flights, anywhere from $150 to $200 per ticket just by buying on those less-popular days,” she said. You can also save on hotel nightly rates if you check in on a Monday and out on a Thursday or skip that Saturday-night stay.

Leverage credit card benefits. Cash prices have gone up for hotel rooms, but points rates haven’t caught up yet, so this is a good time to take advantage of any rewards balances you have accrued, said French. “Don’t save them,” she said. “Spend them now because typically, they’ll be more valuable this year than even other years.”Now may also be a smart time to consider a credit card with valuable travel benefits, even if it carries an annual fee. “It can be a turn off to see a credit card that has any $100 annual fee, but the reality is, a lot of these credit cards offer benefits that can save you money in the long run,” French said. Some of these credit cards with airline or hotel brands offer free checked bags, free hotel room nights, travel insurance and even TSA PreCheck.

If you’re still not seeing prices that work, consider shelving that bucket-list trip until next year. Frick sees travel at its peak this year as people are getting over a “claustrophobia hangover” from the pandemic lockdowns. He expects prices to be significantly lower next year as demand wanes. More

Diamond prices are down 18% from their all-time highs in February 2022, and are lower 6.5% year-to-date, according to one Global Rough Diamond Price Index.
And market watchers predict their value will dive further.
Diamonds, alongside other jewelry, saw elevated prices during the Covid-19 pandemic which culminated in a peak early last year.

Diamond rings and bracelets on display in a show window in Antwerp, Belgium. (Photo by Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images)
Yuriko Nakao | Getty Images News | Getty Images

“Diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” as the old song goes.
But they’re not an investor’s favorite currently, with the precious gems losing some significant value over the last few months.

Diamond prices are down 18% from their all-time highs in February 2022, and are lower 6.5% year-to-date, according to one Global Rough Diamond Price Index. And their value is about to dive further, market watchers predict.
“A slightly better-than-average-quality 1-carat natural diamond was $6,700 a year ago, today this same diamond is selling for $5,300,” Paul Zimnisky, the CEO of Paul Zimnisky Diamond Analytics, told CNBC.
Diamonds, alongside other jewelry, saw elevated prices during the Covid-19 pandemic which culminated in a peak early last year.
“Consumers were ready to spend,” management consulting firm Bain & Company said in a report dated February last year. “They were flush with cash from buoyant capital markets and economic stimulus programs, and eager to spend it on meaningful gifts for their loved ones,” they said.

A diamond necklace in a Harrods department store in London.
Leon Neal | Afp | Getty Images

When people could not travel or eat out, all of that excess money went into luxury goods and jewelry, said CEO of Angara Jewelry Ankur Daga.

And when the economy started opening up again, diamond prices started moderating, and slid into a “steep decline,” he added.
Continued competition from man-made diamonds, a slower Chinese economic recovery and an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop are also drivers of a lackluster market, according to industry experts.

A ‘perfect substitute?’

An increasing amount of consumers are turning to lab-grown diamonds, said Edahn.
“The share of lab grown diamond sales versus natural diamonds is rising. In 2020, they were just 2.4%. In 2023 to date they are already up to 9.3%,” he said.
Lab-grown diamonds are made in a controlled environment using extreme pressure and heat that recreates how natural diamonds are forged hundreds of kilometers in the Earth’s mantle.
They are chemically, physically and optically identical to natural diamonds, and are deemed to be a “perfect substitute,” Daga said. But more importantly for most — they are a lot cheaper.
And more people are turning to them for their choice of engagement rings.
“Lab is indistinguishable over mined diamond, and if I can get a bigger diamond for the same price, why not?” said 29-year-old Singaporean Jonathan Lok, who proposed to his fiancée with a 0.76 carat lab-grown diamond ring late last year.
He added that his fiancée had specified for a smaller diamond, and did not want him to spend an exorbitant amount on the ring.

Colorless lab-grown diamonds at the Diam Concept laboratory in Paris, France, on March 16, 2023. Lab grown diamonds are made in a controlled environment using extreme pressure and heat that recreates how natural diamonds are forged hundreds of kilometers in the earth’s mantle.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Prices of lab-grown diamonds have been “nosediving,” said Edahn Golan, the CEO of Edahn Golan Diamond Research & Data, with prices sinking 59% in the last three years.
“Three years ago, you would be able to buy a lab grown equivalent 20% to 30% off of the natural price. Now it’s anywhere between 75% and 90% off natural prices,” Daga said, attributing the cheaper prices to machines becoming more efficient in producing more man-made diamonds.
The lab-grown diamond industry, which is energy-intensive, have also been seeing soaring energy costs taper off from its peak.
In the bear case scenario, he expects natural diamond prices to record a drop of between 20% to 25% from current prices in the next 12 months, which would mark a 40% drop off the February peak. And Daga is not alone.
“There is room for continued price declines, and that is a very likely scenario, especially since retailer margins for lab grown diamonds are especially high, around 60% compared with 34% for natural diamonds,” said Golan.
However, even so, the plunge could eventually hit a “natural floor” due to labor costs.
“Labor costs have been going up still, and labor is still a very critical part of producing the diamond. So there is a natural floor somewhere,” Daga said, adding that a flatline will follow after a 25% drop.

Haul trucks driving down Jwaneng Diamond Mine in Jwaneng, Botswana, on May 11, 2023.
Monirul Bhuiyan | Afp | Getty Images

The middle-market stage of diamond production involves the cutting and polishing of the diamond before fashioning it into jewelry, which is the “most complex” and extensive portion of the value chain, according to Bain & Company.

Sanctions on Russian diamonds

Additionally, diamond market watchers are not expecting sanctions on the world’s leading producer, Russia, to lead to severe price spikes.
Earlier in May, the G7 economies convened a discussion on imposing sanctions on Russian diamonds, with the United Kingdom taking the lead in sanctioning Russia’s state-owned company Alrosa.
“The Russians have ramped up diamond sales in recent months in an attempt to claw back market share lost last year following the disruption in trading,” Zimnisky stated.
Russia is the world’s largest producers of diamond, followed by Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the Diamond Registry.
According to Edahn, Russia will face no issues selling its diamonds despite the sanctions, especially if the larger buyers continue to take a shine to Moscow’s prized stones.
“Countries like India, UAE, and even the EU, didn’t place sanctions on rough diamond imports. So again, no real shortages,” he said.
India is the world’s top diamond importer, with the U.S. coming in second, followed by Hong Kong, Belgium and the UAE. More

The recent tax season was relatively smooth compared with 2022, but national taxpayer advocate Erin Collins still sees room for growth.
The backlog of original paper returns dropped significantly, refunds arrived more quickly and customer service improved, according to Collins’ report.
However, the agency has lingering problems, including a pileup of amended returns and taxpayer correspondence.

D3sign | Moment | Getty Images

The recent tax season was relatively smooth compared with last year’s. But national taxpayer advocate Erin Collins still sees room for improvement as the IRS rolls out funding plan changes.
“Overall, the difference between the 2022 filing season and the 2023 filing season was like night and day,” Collins wrote in her midyear report to Congress. This year, taxpayer experience “vastly improved” compared with 2022, she said.

As of April 22, the backlog of original paper returns dropped from 13.3 million to 2.6 million, refunds generally arrived more quickly and customer service improved on key phone lines, according to the report.
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However, the agency has lingering problems, including a pileup of amended returns and taxpayer correspondence, Collins wrote. The reduction of amended returns — which require manual processing — declined by only 6% from April 2022 to April 2023.
Many amended business return delays are because of the so-called employee retention credit, a complicated pandemic-era tax break the IRS is targeting for inaccurate and fraudulent claims. As of March 3, more than 866,000 companies claimed and received the credit, totaling over $152.6 billion, according to the latest IRS Data Book.

Focus on service and technology

Collins also shared recommendations related to the IRS’ Inflation Reduction Act spending, emphasizing the need for improved taxpayer service and technology. 

“To achieve and sustain transformational improvement over the longer term, the IRS must focus like a laser beam on IT,” she wrote, citing the importance of “robust online accounts,” e-filing for all returns, faster relief for identity fraud victims and modernizing agency systems.  
Prior to recent funding cuts, the original $79.6 billion plan allocated only $3.2 billion for taxpayer service and $4.8 billion for business systems modernization. The remaining funding was earmarked for enforcement and operations support.

If they can fix their IT and the service piece, we’ll need less on the enforcement side.

Erin Collins
National taxpayer advocate

“If they can fix their IT and the service piece, we’ll need less on the enforcement side,” Collins said in early June, speaking at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ annual conference.
Although the debt ceiling deal slashed $21.4 billion of IRS funding from the original $79.6 billion, the White House said they didn’t expect the budget cuts to fundamentally change the IRS’ plans. 
Still, there are funding concerns, depending on budget priorities for future administrations.
“With adequate funding, leadership prioritization and appropriate oversight from Congress, I believe the IRS will make considerable progress in the next three to five years in helping taxpayers comply with their tax obligations as painlessly as possible,” Collins wrote in the midyear report. More

The Supreme Court is expected to rule by the end of June on President Joe Biden’s $400 billion student loan forgiveness plan.
Two lawsuits have challenged the legality of the plan, which was not approved by Congress, and would be among the most expensive executive actions in U.S. history.

The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images

Within two weeks, the Supreme Court justices should break for their summer recess. And yet there’s been no ruling on President Joe Biden’s sweeping student loan forgiveness plan.
For many borrowers, it’s been an anxious wait.

“Waiting to hear whether or not it will pass is nerve-wracking at best, debilitating at worst,” said Richelle Brooks, 35, a single mother in Los Angeles whose monthly student loan payment was as high as $1,200 at one point. “We’re all staying tied to our phones each week.”
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However, legal experts said it makes sense that this ruling is taking time.
“Given all the moving pieces — and given the case’s significance — I’m not surprised to see it come so late in the term,” said Steven Schwinn, a law professor at the University of Illinois Chicago.
Northeastern University law professor Dan Urman agreed. “The more complicated, difficult cases tend to take longer,” he said.

Justices considering ‘several thorny issues’

There’s no precedent for the kind of sweeping debt forgiveness the Biden administration is trying to carry out. And at an estimated cost of $400 billion, the policy would be among the most expensive executive actions in U.S. history.
As a result, Biden’s plan “raises several thorny issues,” Schwinn said.
“This case is a little tricky — trickier than we might think at first glance,” he said.

There is the core issue of whether or not Biden has the power to forgive so much student debt without authorization from Congress.
Administration officials insist that he’s acting within the law, pointing out that the Heroes Act of 2003 grants the U.S. secretary of education the authority to make changes to the federal student loan system during national emergencies. The country was operating under an emergency declaration due to Covid-19 when the president rolled out his plan to cancel up to $20,000 in debt for borrowers.
Yet the plaintiffs trying to block forgiveness say the president is incorrectly using the law, which they argue allows only for narrow applications of relief and not the kind of across-the-board loan cancellation the president wants to deliver. Around 37 million people would benefit from Biden’s program.

Plaintiffs left some justices unconvinced

The justices also have to consider if the plaintiffs against the Biden administration have successfully shown they’d be harmed by the president’s policy, which is typically a requirement to gain the right to sue. The need to prove so-called legal standing is designed to prevent people from suing against different policies and programs simply because they disagree with them.
Two legal challenges against the program made it to the high court: one brought by six GOP-led states — Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina — and another backed by the Job Creators Network Foundation, a conservative advocacy organization.
The states argue that a reduction in loan business for the companies in their states that service federal student loans would hurt their bottom line. Meanwhile, the complaint by the Job Creators Network Foundation centers on two student loan borrowers who would be partially or fully excluded from the aid.

[Justice] Barrett was vocally and deeply uncomfortable about ruling that any of the plaintiffs had standing.

Jed Shugerman
law professor at Fordham University and Boston University

Before the justices considered these challenges during oral arguments at the end of February, most legal experts expected the conservative justices to side with the plaintiffs.
However, several pundits changed their tune afterward.
Conservative justice Amy Coney Barrett seemed especially unconvinced that the plaintiffs proved injury, said Jed Shugerman, a law professor at Fordham University and Boston University.
“Barrett was vocally and deeply uncomfortable about ruling that any of the plaintiffs had standing,” Shugerman said.
At least one or two other conservative justices also seemed conflicted over the question of standing, Shugerman said, adding more reason to why the deliberation is taking time.

Decision still expected before end of term

In high-profile cases that attract a lot of political attention such as Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, the justices also tend to write lengthier decisions that try to show they arrived at their conclusion through legal rather than partisan reasoning, Shugerman said. And longer opinions take more time to write.
Still, anxious borrowers can take some relief in knowing the high court is most likely to announce their ruling by early July, Schwinn said: “It’ll almost surely come before the end of the term.”

Shugerman said the same: “The justices preserve July and August for getting out of town.”
Still, there is a small possibility that the court wants to hear another round of oral arguments before it issues its decision, he added. In that case, borrowers would have to wait until October, when the justices begin their next session, or later for their answer. More