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As problems with the new FAFSA form spill into next year, families are even more worried about how they will afford the high costs of college.
To that end, The Princeton Review ranked schools based on how much financial aid is awarded.
At some of these institutions, the average scholarship given to students with need was more than $70,000 in 2023-24.

Without financial aid, the price tag at some four-year colleges and universities — after factoring in tuition, fees, room and board, books, transportation, and other expenses — is now nearing $100,000 a year.
But even though college is getting more expensive, students and their parents rarely pay the full amount.

Aside from their income and savings, most families rely on federal aid, which may include loans, work-study and grants, to help bridge the “affordability gap,” according to Sameer Gadkaree, president of The Institute for College Access and Success, a nonprofit organization that promotes college affordability.
Still, “we have created this situation where students can’t just work their way through college without taking on debt,” he said. “It’s simply, the math doesn’t work.”
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Problems with the new federal student aid application form have heightened families’ concerns and early signs show that FAFSA issues could continue into the upcoming application season. Already, the U.S. Department of Education recently announced a delayed start in December.
With cost the No. 1 college concern among families, issues with the FAFSA “will continue to affect students and their parents,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor in chief.

That’s where financial assistance from a college can be key.
To that end, The Princeton Review ranked colleges by how much financial aid is awarded and how satisfied students are with their packages. The 2025 edition of the company’s college guide is based on data from surveys of 168,000 students in the 2023-24 school year.

The schools that ranked the highest not only deliver on assistance, but also on calming concerns about college affordability, Franek said: “These colleges are saying, ‘You do not have to mortgage your future to pay for school — we are meeting you where you are.'”
Among some of the schools near the top of The Princeton Review’s list, the average scholarship grant awarded in 2023-24 to students with need was more than $70,000. Of all the financial aid opportunities the FAFSA opens up, grants are the most desirable kind of assistance because they typically do not need to be repaid.
“The takeaway is that they are noting the difficulty that students are having with financial aid and the general fear around scholarship dollars and literally directing financial aid to defuse that worry and that stress” Franek said.

Top 10 colleges for financial aid

Skidmore College
Tai | Flickr CC

1. Skidmore CollegeLocation: Saratoga Springs, New YorkSticker price: $85,230Average need-based scholarship: $53,700Total out-of-pocket cost: $31,530Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
2. Gettysburg CollegeLocation: Gettysburg, PennsylvaniaSticker price: $82,750Average need-based scholarship: $54,032Total out-of-pocket cost: $28,718Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 90%
3. Washington UniversityLocation: St. LouisSticker price: $87,644Average need-based scholarship: $65,777Total out-of-pocket cost: $21,867Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
4. Olin College of EngineeringLocation: Needham, MassachusettsSticker price: $86,993Average need-based scholarship: $56,825Total out-of-pocket cost: $30,168Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
5. Wabash CollegeLocation: Crawfordsville, IndianaSticker price: $65,200Average need-based scholarship: $39,846Total out-of-pocket cost: $25,354Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 94%
6. College of the AtlanticLocation: Bar Harbor, MaineSticker price: $58,401Average need-based scholarship: $39,055Total out-of-pocket cost: $19,346Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 96%
7. Thomas Aquinas CollegeLocation: Santa Paula, CaliforniaSticker price: $47,465Average need-based scholarship: $18,709Total out-of-pocket cost: $28,756Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100% 
8. Reed CollegeLocation: Portland, OregonSticker price: $87,010Average need-based scholarship: $47,265Total out-of-pocket cost: $39,745Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
9. Williams CollegeLocation: Williamstown, MassachusettsSticker price: $85,820Average need-based scholarship: $70,764Total out-of-pocket cost: $15,056Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
10. Princeton UniversityLocation: Princeton, New JerseySticker price: $82,650Average need-based scholarship: $70,246Total out-of-pocket cost: $12,404Average share of need met for first-year students with need-based aid: 100%
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After a strong year for the stock market, tax-gain harvesting could help rebalance your portfolio and save on future taxes.
For 2024, you may qualify for the 0% long-term capital gains rate with a taxable income of up to $47,025 if you’re a single filer or up to $94,050 for married couples filing jointly.
You can use the 0% bracket to reset your “basis” or original purchase price, by selling a profitable asset and then immediately repurchasing.  

Source: Getty Images

During a strong year for the stock market, a lesser-known strategy could help rebalance your portfolio and save on future taxes.
The tactic, known as tax-gain harvesting, involves strategically selling your profitable brokerage account assets during lower-income years. That could include early years of retirement or periods of unemployment.

As of Aug. 26, the S&P 500 has surged more than 18% year to date, with strong growth in August as investors brace for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve in September.
“A lot of times when we’re doing this, we’re looking to realize those gains at 0%,” said Tommy Lucas, a certified financial planner and enrolled agent at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo in Orlando, Florida.
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The capital gains brackets apply to long-term capital gains, or profitable assets owned for over a year. By comparison, short-term investments held for one year or less are subject to regular income taxes.   
“It’s very lucrative, especially if you’re married” and filing together, Lucas said.

For 2024, you may qualify for the 0% capital gains rate with a taxable income of up to $47,025 if you’re a single filer or up to $94,050 for married couples filing jointly.  
These rates apply to “taxable income,” which you calculate by subtracting the greater of the standard or itemized deductions from your adjusted gross income.
For example, a married couple earning $120,000 in 2024 could still fall below the $94,050 taxable income threshold after subtracting the $29,200 standard deduction.

Reset your basis for future savings

Tax-gain harvesting offers a couple of benefits, including rebalancing your brokerage assets without triggering gains, experts say.
You can also reset your “basis” or original purchase price, by selling a profitable asset and then immediately repurchasing, CFP Sean Lovison, founder of Philadelphia-area Purpose Built Financial Services, previously told CNBC.
After selling assets at a loss, the so-called wash sale rule blocks the tax break if you rebuy a “substantially identical” asset within a 30-day window before or after the sale. But the same rule doesn’t apply for harvesting gains.
“This move can be a game changer” by reducing future gains, especially when you sell later in higher-earning years, said Lovison, who is also a certified public accountant.

The ‘sweet spot’ for tax-gain harvesting

Lucas from Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo said the “sweet spot” for tax-gain harvesting is typically in October or November, once investors can more accurately project their taxable income for the year.Since harvesting gains increases your taxable income, you should leave “some buffer room built in there” to avoid hitting the 15% capital gain bracket, he said.
Typically, tax-gain harvesting is more attractive in lower-income years, such as early retirement before required minimum distributions. But younger retirees with marketplace health insurance can jeopardize premium tax credits with higher income, Lucas warned.

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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled Friday that lower interest rates are coming soon.
Everything from car loans and mortgages to credit cards will be impacted once the Fed starts trimming its benchmark.
Here’s how to make the most of this policy shift.

Last week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell all but confirmed that an interest rate cut is coming soon.
“The time has come for policy to adjust,” the central bank leader said in his keynote address at the Fed’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

For Americans struggling to keep up with sky-high interest charges, a likely quarter-point cut in September may bring some welcome relief — especially with the right preparation. (A more aggressive half-point move has a roughly a 1-in-3 chance of happening, according to the CME’s FedWatch measure of futures market pricing.)
“If you are a consumer, now is the time to say: ‘What does my spending look like? Where would my money grow the most and what options do I have?'” said Leslie Tayne, an attorney specializing in debt relief at Tayne Law in New York and author of “Life & Debt.”
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Currently, the federal funds rate is at the highest level in two decades, in a range of 5.25% to 5.50%.
If the Fed cuts rates in September, as expected, it would mark the first time officials lowered its benchmark in more than four years, when they slashed them to near zero at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“From a consumer perspective, it’s important to note that lower interest rates will be a gradual process,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at Bankrate.com. “The trip down is likely to be much slower than the series of interest rate hikes which quickly pushed the federal funds rate higher by 5.25 percentage points in 2022 and 2023.”
Here are five ways to prepare for this policy shift:

1. Strategize paying down credit card debt

People shop at a store in Brooklyn on August 14, 2024 in New York City. 
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

With a rate cut, the prime rate lowers, too, and the interest rates on variable-rate debt — most notably credit cards — are likely to follow, reducing your monthly payments. But even then, APRs will only ease off extremely high levels.
For example, the average interest rate on a new credit card today is nearly 25%, according to LendingTree data. At that rate, if you pay $250 per month on a card with a $5,000 balance, it will cost you more than $1,500 in interest and take 27 months to pay off.
If the central bank cuts rates by a quarter point, you’ll save $21 altogether and be able to pay off the balance one month faster. “That’s not nothing, but it is far less than what you could save with a 0% balance transfer credit card,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree.
Rather than wait for a small adjustment in the months ahead, borrowers could switch now to a zero-interest balance transfer credit card or consolidate and pay off high-interest credit cards with a lower-rate personal loan, Tayne said.

2. Lock in a high-yield savings rate

Since rates on online savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit are all poised to go down, experts say this is the time to lock in some of the highest returns in decades.
For now, top-yielding online savings accounts are paying more than 5% — well above the rate of inflation.
Although those rates will fall once the central bank lowers its benchmark, a typical saver with about $8,000 in a checking or savings account could earn an additional $200 a year by moving that money into a high-yield account that earns an interest rate of 2.5% or more, according to a recent survey by Santander Bank in June. The majority of Americans keep their savings in traditional accounts, Santander found, which FDIC data shows are currently paying 0.46%, on average.
Alternatively, “now is a great time to lock in the most competitive CD yields at a level that is well ahead of targeted inflation,” said Greg McBride, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst. “There is no sense in holding out for better returns later.”
Currently, a top-yielding one-year CD pays more than 5.3%, according to Bankrate, as good as a high-yield savings account.

3. Consider the right time to finance a big purchase

If you’re planning a major purchase, like a home or car, then it may pay to wait, since lower interest rates could reduce the cost of financing down the road.
“Timing your purchase to coincide with lower rates can save money over the life of the loan,” Tayne said.
Although mortgage rates are fixed and tied to Treasury yields and the economy, they’ve already started to come down from recent highs, largely due to the prospect of a Fed-induced economic slowdown. The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is now just under 6.5%, according to Freddie Mac.
Compared with a recent high of 7.22% in May, today’s lower rate on a $350,000 loan would result in a savings of $171 a month, or $2,052 a year and $61,560 over the lifetime of the loan, according to calculations by Jacob Channel, senior economic analyst at LendingTree.
However, going forward, lower mortgage rates could also boost homebuying demand, which would push prices higher, McBride said. “If lower mortgage rates lead to a surge in prices, that’s going to offset the affordability benefit for would-be buyers.”
What exactly will happen in the housing market “is up in the air” depending on how much mortgage rates decline in the latter half of the year and the level of supply, according to Channel.
“Timing the market is virtually impossible,” he said. 

4. Assess the right time to refinance

For those struggling with existing debt, there may be more options for refinancing once rates drop.
Private student loans, for example, tend to have a variable rate tied to the prime, Treasury bill or another rate index, which means once the Fed starts cutting interest rates, the rates on those private student loans will come down as well.
Eventually, borrowers with existing variable-rate private student loans may also be able to refinance into a less-expensive fixed-rate loan, according to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. 
Currently, the fixed rates on a private refinance are as low as 5% and as high as 11%, he said.
However, refinancing a federal loan into a private student loan will forgo the safety nets that come with federal loans, he added, “such as deferments, forbearances, income-driven repayment and loan forgiveness and discharge options.” Additionally, extending the term of the loan means you ultimately will pay more interest on the balance.

Be mindful of potential loan-term extensions, cautioned David Peters, founder of Peters Professional Education in Richmond, Virginia. “Consider maintaining your original payment after refinancing to shave as much principal off as possible without changing your out-of-pocket cash flow,” he said.
Similar considerations may also apply for home and auto loan refinancing opportunities, depending in part on your existing rate.

5. Perfect your credit score

Those with better credit could already qualify for a lower interest rate.
When it comes to auto loans, for instance, there’s no question inflation has hit financing costs — and vehicle prices — hard. The average rate on a five-year new car loan is now nearly 8%, according to Bankrate.
But in this case, “the financing is one variable, and it’s frankly one of the smaller variables,” McBride said. For example, a reduction of a quarter percentage point in rates on a $35,000, five-year loan is $4 a month, he calculated.
Here, and in many other situations, as well, consumers would benefit more from paying down revolving debt and improving their credit scores, which could pave the way to even better loan terms, McBride said.

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The National Flood Insurance Program, a public insurance program sponsored by the federal government insures 4.7 million policyholders and protects more than $1.28 trillion in assets.
Congress has until Sept. 30 to reauthorize the NFIP.
“Without an extension, you’re not going to be able to get a mortgage in any area that requires flood insurance,” said Jaret Seiberg, a managing director and financial policy analyst at TD Cowen.

Shaunl | E+ | Getty Images

Consumers in the market for a home have been patiently waiting for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates — a move it seems poised to make in September.
But without action from Congress, there could be another change at the end of that month that makes it temporarily trickier to buy or sell a home in some areas, or to refinance an existing mortgage.

That’s because the National Flood Insurance Program — the government-sponsored public insurance program that is the largest flood insurer in the U.S. — needs to be reauthorized by Sept. 30 to continue to issue new policies or increase coverage on existing policies.

If you are buying or selling a house, you want to avoid the end of September and the beginning of October.

Jaret Seiberg
managing director and financial policy analyst at TD Cowen

Homeowners insurance policies typically don’t cover flood damage, meaning consumers who want to protect their home and its contents from that peril need a stand-alone flood policy. Mortgage lenders may require applicants to obtain such a policy before closing on a home, depending on the flood risk for the property.
“This is about the ability to get a mortgage in a flood zone after Sept. 30,” said Jaret Seiberg, a managing director and financial policy analyst at TD Cowen. “Without an [NFIP] extension, you’re not going to be able to get a mortgage in any area that requires flood insurance.”
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Congress established the NFIP in 1968 to provide reasonably priced flood insurance coverage. The Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, which included the NFIP authorization, expired on Sept. 30, 2017. Since then, Congress has extended the NFIP’s authorization 30 times — but it has also lapsed briefly three times in that period.

“This has been an issue now for many years where the program faces expiration and Congress, [at the] last minute, reauthorizes it,” said Bryan Greene, vice president of policy advocacy at the National Association of Realtors. “We’re trying to prevent natural disasters, but we seem to always face this potential man-made disaster of not acting timely enough.”

What a program lapse would mean for home sales

If the NFIP experiences a lapse in its authority, it will not be able to issue new policies, including for people whose lenders require flood insurance or increase coverage on existing policies (including property owners looking to refinance existing mortgages), according to a spokesperson for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which operates the NFIP.
It’s possible the home sale transaction would be halted or be held up until the buyer can obtain flood insurance, said Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications research at First Street Foundation, a nonprofit organization in New York that focuses on quantifying the financial risk of climate change. That might entail waiting for Congress to reauthorize the NFIP, or looking for coverage on the private market.
The latter tactic isn’t easy. “There are very few private insurers that offer any type of flood insurance,” said Daniel Schwarcz, a professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School who focuses on insurance law and regulation.

“There are some very niche types of policies out there … but for all intents and purposes,” he said, the NFIP is “the only available option for flood insurance.”
And if the NFIP lapses, it could make the search for a private insurer more difficult: “If you eliminate that foundation, the rest of the market isn’t there,” said Seiberg.
When the program lapsed from May 31 until July 2 in 2010, 6% of real estate agents reported a delayed or canceled sale, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors. In that report, from 2011, it estimated a one-month NFIP lapse could affect about 40,000 closings.
“If you are buying or selling a house, you want to avoid the end of September and the beginning of October,” said TD Cowen’s Seiberg. “There is no need to take the risk that the flood insurance program will lapse when you could close ahead of Sept. 30.”

How homeowners would be affected by a lapse

The NFIP insures 4.7 million policyholders and protects more than $1.28 trillion in assets. Those existing policyholders may be shielded by the effects of a lapsed NFIP, said Seiberg.
Policies that are in force will remain in force and the NFIP will continue to pay claims under those policies during a lapse, according to the FEMA spokesperson.
If your flood insurance policy’s renewal or expiration date is around Sept. 30, try to renew it early, said Yanjun Liao, an applied microeconomist and fellow at Resources for the Future, a nonprofit research institution in Washington, D.C.
“Check the expiration date and make plans in advance,” said Liao, whose research focuses on natural disaster risk management and climate adaptation.
Homeowners considering refinancing an existing mortgage may also want to weigh the timing with the Sept. 30 reauthorization deadline in mind, if their lender has required flood insurance coverage.

Why NFIP reauthorization is a ‘catch-22’

The NFIP has been continuously reauthorized because of the “potential consequences” of limited private insurers available, Schwarcz said.
“We’re in this real catch-22,” said Schwarcz. “We have a bad program; no one likes it.
“But you can’t get rid of it because people are dependent on it without a better alternative, and no one can agree on better alternatives.”
Critics often point to policy pricing as a concern.
Until recently, the NFIP had a reputation as being a subsidized insurance program, in which people in places far away from the coast paid for flood insurance for those who live in high-risk areas, said First Street Foundation’s Porter.
Then in 2021, FEMA implemented Risk Rating 2.0, a new pricing system that would accurately reflect the cost of an area’s risk. Homeowners and elected representatives of coastal states have pushed back against that change because of how high premiums got.
“All of a sudden, you went from paying $800 a year to paying thousands of dollars a year for your insurance,” Porter said.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., spoke in early August about the rising costs of NFIP premiums in his Gulf Coast state, and urged Congress to improve the program.
“My team is working on a bipartisan solution that will roll back Risk Rating 2.0, and make flood insurance affordable and accountable again,” said Cassidy in his speech.
Congress is unlikely to let the NFIP entirely expire, given the number of homeowners who depend on the program, Seiberg said.
“The real problem is that the flood insurance program is a financial debacle and Congress doesn’t seem capable of fixing it and, instead, what Capitol Hill does is just kick the can down the road,” he said.

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Stephanie Kiser came to New York City to become a screenwriter. Instead, she worked as a nanny for ultra-rich families.
While she earned six figures by her last year in child care, she wanted out.

Stefanie Kiser Book: “Wanted: Toddler’s Personal Assistant”. Cover design by Jillian Rahn/Sourcebooks.
Courtesy: Stefanie Kiser

Stephanie Kiser came to New York City in 2014 as a new college graduate, hoping to become a screenwriter. Instead, she spent the next seven years as a nanny for wealthy families.
Kiser’s new memoir, “Wanted: Toddler’s Personal Assistant: How Nannying for the 1% Taught Me about the Myths of Equality, Motherhood, and Upward Mobility in America,” details her unexpected career detour.

Her seven years as a nanny saw her escorting one client’s daughter to $500-per-lesson literacy tutors on the Upper East Side, driving Porsches and Mercedes for everyday errands and sheltering in place at a family’s home in the Hamptons during the Covid-19 pandemic. Her clients included families with dynastic wealth as well as those with high-paying jobs such as doctors and lawyers.
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In Kiser’s first nannying job, she was paid $20 an hour, far more than the $14 an hour she estimates she would have made as a production assistant under a short-term contract. Plus, she often ended up working extra hours.
“It usually ended up being like $1,000 a week with everything that I was doing,” Kiser said.
That first job opened doors for higher-paid positions through nanny agencies. In Kiser’s final year as a nanny during the pandemic, she estimates she took home about $110,000.

“Even though I had the least respected job of my friends, I definitely was making the most,” said Kiser, who is now 32 and works at an ad-tech company in New York City.
CNBC spoke with Kiser about some of the financial lessons she learned during her time as a nanny, and why she ultimately left the role.
(This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity). 

No prospects for job growth: ‘I was very stationary’

Scarlett Johansson on Location for “The Nanny Diaries” on May 1, 2006 at Upper East Side in New York City, New York, United States.
James Devaney | Wireimage | Getty Images

Ana Teresa Solá: When I first saw this book, I thought of “The Nanny Diaries,” a novel published in the early 2000s and then adapted into a movie. What made you decide to turn your story into a memoir instead of a novel? 
Stephanie Kiser: I read “The Nanny Diaries” when I started my first job. It definitely hit home at the time, but I did feel like it was sort of a satire. I didn’t want to villainize the rich or the poor because I have people I love very dearly on both sides. 
The intention of my book was to make a social commentary. It was my hope that I could bridge this understanding a bit between the two sides because there’s this thought that poor people just aren’t working hard enough and rich people are just inherently bad. 
I don’t think that’s necessarily true, but I think that people who are wealthy, who are employing these people who really need these jobs, they do have privilege and an opportunity to either make someone’s life better or worse.

A contract as a nanny is important because there’s no HR.

Stephanie Kiser

ATS: You mention that you could not afford to work in a professional job in New York because the pay was much lower than you were making as a nanny. Did you feel trapped?
SK: When my last boss read this book, she felt sad and was like, ‘I didn’t realize you were so miserable doing the job.’ I said, ‘No, I wasn’t miserable doing the job. I loved your kids so much, but this was not the job I wanted.’
I did feel trapped. I felt like there’s nothing else I could possibly do, and it got a little bit worse as time went on.
All my friends were growing in these jobs and they were getting more experience in their resume, and I wasn’t. I was very stationary in this position.
It wasn’t a good feeling to feel like there’s nothing else I could possibly do. Now I have a different job and this is the first year that I’m earning more than I did nannying, which is great, but the first couple of years after nannying were definitely really hard financially, making that shift.

‘There’s no HR … the contract is really all you have’

ATS: A family offered you a salary of $125,000, plus full health and dental, a monthly metro card and an annual bonus. But you went with a different family for less pay. You mentioned you were waiting on a contract. Why is that so important in the business?
SK: A contract as a nanny is important because there’s no human resources; there’s no laws protecting you. Your employers are fully in charge of everything and they determine everything. [New York State does have a “Domestic Workers Bill of Rights” with a few protections.]
At a regular job, you can be like, ‘I worked 60 hours already this week, and I’m not going to work more.’ You can’t do that here [with a nanny position.]
The contract is really all you have, and to not get the contract was really worrisome. Your whole life was going to be a nanny for this family. And I was coming off of a job where that had been really tricky, feeling like I wasn’t really a person, and I didn’t want to accept a job where that was the case again. 

Stefanie Kiser Book: “Wanted: Toddler’s Personal Assistant”. Cover design by Jillian Rahn/Sourcebooks.
Courtesy: Stefanie Kiser

ATS: Can you describe the differences between an au pair and a nanny?
SK: An au pair is allowed to work a certain number of hours, like up to 30 hours a week or 40 hours a week, but there is a clear boundary because they often work for an agency. The agency that has sent them has told you very clearly they cannot work more than this.
They get a very small stipend, but they do get specific accommodations, maybe they have their own room. They have all their meals paid for, transportation. An au pair has more things in place to make sure that they’re not taken advantage of. Nannies often don’t have these protections.
Nannies who come from agencies are slightly more protected and those are typically the ones who get contracts. But these are the best of the best nannies; these are career nannies who have been doing this for 50 years; they’ve raised so many kids and they have amazing references. Or it’s a young nanny that just got here after graduating from a great university and has like 10 skills that they are able to offer. So this is a luxury, honestly.

ATS: You also describe the uncertainty associated with this job. It seems like nannying work can have a low barrier to entry, with salary growth potential, but then there are all these other risks.
SK: I’ve known nannies who’ve gotten pregnant and they tell their boss. There’s no, ‘We’re going to pay you three months maternity.’ there’s no, ‘We’re gonna let you leave on month eight so you can rest.’ There’s none of that.
You can never really feel safe in the job. If you have a medical emergency, if anything goes wrong — I’m sure there’s exceptions, but for the most part, you’re sort of just out of luck. It is a really risky career in that sense. 

‘That’s how you know they’re wealthy’

ATS: According to the Pew Research Center, about 47% of childless adults under 50 in 2023 said they are unlikely to ever have children. What would that mean for nannies?
SK: I wonder if that applies to the sort of people that I’m writing about. I wonder if for them this is a decline we’ll see or if they’re sort of outliers.
If it is the case, I think it’s a really serious problem. There are a lot of people in New York who come here and they need something to get by, who babysit, maybe it’s their after work job and that’s how they do it. Or there’s people who don’t have papers that are really limited in what they can do, and a lot of times, housekeeping and nannying is the only option.
ATS:  At the end of the book, you write that you received an offer as a personal assistant for a CEO with a $90,000 salary and benefits. Was that starting point below what you had been earning as a nanny at the time?
SK: For sure. As a nanny, I had made $110,000 … So it was a significant decrease.
I had to work very quickly and very hard to get promoted. I was a personal assistant and I was an executive assistant, I changed companies last July and I became a senior assistant, and that was the role where I finally made more than I did nannying. And I don’t think I could have done this, made this transition, if my student loan payments weren’t paused because of Covid.
ATS: You write in your book that some families signal their wealth by having many children. I’m curious to hear more about that.
SK: I think about where I was born and where I came from, and anytime there was a family that had like five or six kids, it was sort of like, ‘Well that makes sense, because they weren’t wealthy.’ And then you come to New York and you see someone on Park Avenue that has five or six kids, and it’s like, ‘That’s how you know they’re wealthy.’

Here, if you do have three kids, you start sending them to preschool at $40,000 a year, and then they’re going to these elite schools from kindergarten to 12th grade that are $60,000 a year, and then you’re sending them to Harvard for four years.
And it’s not even just the schooling, it’s most of the time you’re sending three kids to this school, then you’re employing a full-time nanny after they have private guitar lessons.
ATS: What would you tell women in their 20s who are in the shoes you were in a few years ago? 
SK: Do things in parallel. I don’t think I would have been happy if I had done just the nannying. I couldn’t have survived on just writing, but I think that by doing this in parallel, things turned out exactly how they were supposed to be for me.
Nannying was so important for me because not only was I able to make money to live, but it allowed me to get a foundation. When I moved to New York, I had nothing. Now I have a fully furnished apartment, things that you need to be a fully functioning adult. I have a dog, I’m able to take care of him and I have a car. These are things that I couldn’t have done without being a nanny. More

Employees prepare food orders at a Portillo’s restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022.
Christopher Dilts | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Company: Portillo’s (PTLO)

Business: Portillo’s owns and operates fast casual restaurants in the United States. The company offers Chicago-style hot dogs and sausages, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, chopped salads, crinkle-cut fries and chocolate cake shakes. Portillo’s also offers its products through its website, application and certain third-party platforms.
Stock Market Value: $901M ($12.27 per share)

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Portillo’s in 2024

Activist: Engaged Capital

Percentage Ownership:  9.90%
Average Cost: $11.50
Activist Commentary: Engaged Capital was founded by Glenn Welling, a former principal and managing director at Relational Investors. Engaged is an experienced and successful small cap investor and makes investments with a two-to-five-year investment horizon. Its style is holding managements and boards accountable behind closed doors.

What’s happening

Engaged announced that they have communicated with Portillo’s regarding potential steps to improve the company’s business, including by optimizing restaurant performance, improving restaurant-level cash-on cash-returns, enhancing corporate governance through potential changes to the composition of the board, and exploring a sale of the company.

Behind the scenes

Portillo’s is an iconic midwestern fast casual chain founded more than 60 years ago. It has a differentiated menu anchored by Italian beef sandwiches, hot dogs and milkshakes. The company was acquired by private equity firm Berkshire Partners in 2014 from the founder for approximately $1 billion. Berkshire took it public in October 2021 at $20 per share, and the stock soared to $54.22 per share about a month later. Since then, Berkshire has been selling its position down from 66% to 19% while the stock has declined back below its IPO price. Portillo’s Chicago locations are still among the most productive fast casual restaurants in the industry doing $11 million average unit volume (AUV) and 30% restaurant margins. The non-Chicago locations have achieved AUVs of $6 million to $7 million, more than double quick service restaurants and fast casual industry averages.

While Portillo’s has much larger AUV than its peers, the company has an even larger average footprint than peers. While management has been decreasing store size, stores are still 1.5 to 3 times larger than peers. But store size is only one of the problems. This issue is exacerbated by the company’s practice of owning its buildings despite leasing the land it is on. In a business where cash-on-cash returns are paramount, this structure does not make a lot of sense. In addition to costing more to build stores ($6 million to $7 million, which is two to three times higher than peers), these large footprints have driven inefficiencies across labor, maintenance and various other expenses inside the restaurant. Additionally, management has been slow to implement traffic-driving mechanisms, such as loyalty programs and ordering kiosks, both of which have proven successful for competitors. Finally, while customers rate the food and the brand very high, brand awareness is not as strong as it could be, likely in part due to the low marketing budget: 1% of revenue compared to 2% to 3% for growth peers.
The good news is that all these issues make for a lot of opportunity – and many value improvements are already underway. Management has announced a new “Restaurant of the Future” design opening in the fourth quarter that reduces square footage to 6,300 square feet (from 10,000 square feet) and lowers build costs to approximately $5.2 million (from $6 million to $7 million). This is a good indication that they are acknowledging the problem and taking a step in the right direction, but this is a fraction of what can be done to optimize capital allocation. Additionally, management has begun investing in technology and testing small kiosks to drive same-store sales growth, renewing operational focus on drive thru and reducing wait times. The company is also undertaking a big advertising initiative in Chicago to coincide with the beginning of the NFL season. These are great steps, but the pace of these initiatives has been too slow.
Engaged thinks that by being an active shareholder and bringing on a new chief operating officer at Portillo’s, the improvements at the company can be expedited and optimized leading to the expansion of this beloved regional chain to a national brand. Currently, Portillo’s trades at 10-times forward earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. That’s a significant discount to other much more established, known and national QSRs, such as Shake Shack (24-times) and Chipotle (27-times). Closing this gap will take significant capital allocation improvements, technology initiatives, marketing plans, real estate restructurings and operational advancements. Engaged is supportive of management and expects they will recruit a strong operator into the presently vacant COO role. Engaged has a lot of experience in this industry and may be right, but we see this as heavy lifting for an activist campaign – more so than usual. We think it will take more than just a new COO, but directors with financial, marketing, technology and real estate experience. Engaged itself has a strong track record in this sector and has had board seats at Del Frisco’s and Jamba, in addition to settling for an independent board seat at Shake Shack. We expect the firm to look for a board seat at Portillo’s, and the company could certainly benefit from the experience and institutional perspective Engaged brings to the table.
Finally, if management cannot create shareholder value through these operational enhancements, there may be a strategic play. Berkshire Partners’ has taken this company out of the stone age into the 20th century. Now, someone needs to take the baton and bring it into the 21st century and the future. This could be another private equity firm or a strategic investor with the infrastructure and team to quickly expand Portillo’s into a national brand.
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

A massive data breach by a company named National Public Data could have made billions of personal financial records vulnerable.
Many Americans are wondering if they’ve been personally affected and what to do next.
Here’s how experts respond to some of the biggest questions on the breach.

Glowimages | Getty Images

You may have never heard of National Public Data, yet your personal information may have been compromised in the company’s recent massive data breach.
The background check company, which is owned by Jerico Pictures Inc., recently released details of the breach after a proposed class action lawsuit alleged 2.9 billion personal records may have been exposed. Other reports suggest the amount of records leaked may have been more than 2.7 billion.

In an official data breach notice filed in Maine, National Public Data indicated 1.3 million records may have been breached, said James E. Lee, chief operating officer at Identity Theft Resource Center, a non-profit organization focused on mitigating risks of identity breaches and theft.
“It is entirely possible that it is that low; it’s also entirely possible it’s higher,” Lee said of the number of people affected.
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The information breached may have included Social Security numbers, names, email addresses, phone numbers and mailing addresses, National Public Data states on its website.
A third-party bad actor may have hacked into the data in December, with potential leaks of the information in April and over this summer, the company said on its website. National Public Data did not return a request for comment by press time.

As cyber professionals dig into the breached data, they’re finding that not all of it is accurate and much of the information was already available. “The reality is there’s nothing new in this data,” Lee said.
Still, experts say news of the breach is a great reminder to take steps to protect your personal information. Here’s a roundup of answers to common consumers are asking now.

Can you be affected even if you’ve never heard of National Public Data?

Yes. National Public Data is a background check company that provides information either through legitimate sources or by scraping it off the web, Lee said. Because the data is collected more casually, it can be gathered without consumers’ permission and outside of certain regulations. As a result, it may be inaccurate or outdated, he said.
Certain information, such as when you buy a house or pay property taxes, technically is public record, said Cliff Steinhauer, director of information security and engagement at The National Cybersecurity Alliance, a nonprofit focused on cybersecurity awareness and education. Companies can collect and aggregate that publicly available data to gather a picture of who someone is, he said.
“You have varying levels of companies’ ability to protect the data that they’re collecting, and they may not fall under any regulation to do so because it’s like public data to begin with,” Steinhauer said.

Is there a way to know if your Social Security number has been affected?

Certain cyber groups have set up websites to enable individuals to search to see if their personal data was affected by the breach, Lee said. One site — NPDBreach.com — allows for a search by full name and zip code, Social Security number or phone number. Another site — NPD.pentester.com — allows for search based on first name, last name, state and birth year.
“I certainly don’t recommend anybody enter their Social Security number” in the sites, Lee said.
By entering your name, you may get a sense of what information, if any, has been shared. The good news is most people are finding information that has been leaked is inaccurate, Lee said.

What is the best way to protect your personal information?

If you find you’re included in the breach, the steps you should take are not necessarily new.
“There’s nothing additional you should do that you haven’t hopefully have already done, or you know now to do,” Lee said.
Freezing your credit should be at the top of that list. Be sure to submit requests to each of the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

A freeze will help block access to your records by bad actors. However, keep in mind you will need to either temporarily or permanently unfreeze your credit if you want to apply for a new credit card or auto loan, for example.
As you freeze your credit, be extra vigilant that you are on the legitimate websites of the credit bureaus, and not look-alike sites aimed at stealing your personal information.
Additionally, you should change all your passwords, particularly if you have repeated passwords among multiple websites. Ideally, you should enable multi-factor authentication for personal websites to help keep your financial data secure. Also, never share your personal information while using public internet.

Is it worthwhile to pay for extra protection?

In addition to freezing your credit, there are ways to purchase additional protection.
Sites like National Public Data may allow for individuals to opt out of being included in their data collections. However, because there are so many data brokers, it can be time consuming for consumers to contact each one, Steinhauer said. To help, consumers can pay for a data broker removal service that will contact the websites on their behalf.
Additionally, identity theft monitoring tools will let you know if someone tries to open an account using your personal information.
Dark web monitoring services can let you know if your information was found in a data breach that was published on the dark web.

Can you be entitled to money damages if you’re affected by the breach?

While legal organizations may tout the idea that money damages may be available to people affected by the breach, any sums that are eventually paid likely won’t be meaningful, Lee said.
“You’re not going to get a lot of money,” Lee said.
After the 2017 Equifax breach affecting more than 147 million consumers, for example, people reported receiving lawsuit payouts in late 2022 of less than $3 in some cases, while other said they got around $40.
The goal of the solicitations is often to build a multi-state, multi-jurisdiction class action lawsuit, which may consolidate multiple lawsuits.
However, they will need to prove actual harm came from this specific data breach, Lee said. Because there have been so many data breaches, it can be difficult to tie a specific piece of data to this one event, he said. More

There’s still time to boost 401(k) contributions and max out your plan for 2024, but not everyone should, according to financial advisors.
For 2024, employees can defer up to $23,000 into 401(k) plans, up from $22,500 in 2023, with an extra $7,500 for workers age 50 and older.
After getting your employer match, you should weigh high-interest debt, emergency savings and short-term goals before maxing out your 401(k).

Hispanolistic | E+ | Getty Images

There’s still time to boost 401(k) contributions and max out your plan account for 2024, but not everyone should, according to financial advisors.
For 2024, employees can defer up to $23,000 into 401(k) plans, up from $22,500 in 2023, with an extra $7,500 for workers age 50 and older. Some 401(k)s allow added savings beyond those limits.

Generally, “it’s a no-brainer” to save at least enough to get your employer’s full matching contribution, which deposits extra money based on your deferrals, said certified financial planner Donald LaGrange, a wealth advisor with Murphy & Sylvest Wealth Management in Dallas.
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After receiving your employer’s full 401(k) match, you should consider “several variables” before adding more to the plan, LaGrange said.   
Some 14% of investors maxed out their 401(k) employee deferrals in 2023, according to a 2024 report from Vanguard. 
Meanwhile, the average 401(k) savings rate in 2023 — including employee deferrals and company contributions — was an estimated 11.7%, which matched a record high from 2022, the same Vanguard report found. 

If you can afford to go further and max out your 401(k) for 2024, here are three things to consider first, experts say.

1. Prioritize high-interest debt

After getting your employer’s full 401(k) match, paying down high-interest debt such as credit cards and auto loans should be a priority, said Austin, Texas-based CFP Scott Van Den Berg, president of Century Management Financial Advisors.
“With today’s higher interest rates, prioritizing debt repayment is crucial if they must choose between the two,” he said.
The average credit card interest rate was hovering near 25% in early August, according to LendingTree. But that could fall once the Federal Reserve starts cutting rates, which could come as soon as September.
“The key is to pay off the debt first, which will free up cash flow,” for higher 401(k) contributions in the future, Van Den Berg said.

2. Plan for short-term goals

Before maxing out your 401(k), you should also consider whether you’ll need the funds for other short-term goals, such as paying for a wedding or buying a home, experts say.
“A 401(k) is not the most efficient account to save for pre-retirement goals,” LaGrange from Murphy & Sylvest Wealth Management said. “Savings should reflect a family’s goal priorities and timelines.”
If you tap your 401(k) before age 59½, you’ll generally trigger a 10% early withdrawal penalty, along with regular income taxes.

3. Weigh your emergency fund

Most experts recommend keeping a minimum of three to six months of expenses in cash or other liquid assets for emergency savings, depending on your circumstances. Some experts say that should be higher for entrepreneurs or small business owners.
Nearly 60% of Americans aren’t comfortable with their amount of emergency savings, up from 48% in 2021, according to an annual Bankrate survey that polled more than 1,000 U.S. adults in May.
If your emergency savings aren’t sufficient, you may consider boosting cash reserves before maxing out your 401(k), experts say.

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