Investing

Last week, the IRS confirmed that most nonspouse beneficiaries have 10 years to deplete inherited retirement accounts and must take yearly required minimum distributions, or RMDs.
The rule applies to accounts inherited since 2020 if the original account owner had already started RMDs.
However, you could save on taxes by taking bigger withdrawals sooner, depending on your situation.

Martin-dm | E+ | Getty Images

The IRS has finalized rules on required withdrawals for certain inherited individual retirement accounts and other plans. But heirs could owe more taxes later by only taking minimums now, experts say.
In final regulations last week, the agency confirmed most nonspouse beneficiaries have 10 years after the original owner’s death to deplete inherited retirement accounts. These heirs also must take yearly required minimum distributions, or RMDs, which had been a lingering question among tax professionals for years.

Before the Secure Act of 2019, heirs could “stretch” retirement account withdrawals over their lifetime, which reduced yearly taxes. The shorter 10-year window can mean bigger tax bills in withdrawal years, particularly for high-income heirs.
Regardless, heirs are “missing the boat” because they should consider withdrawing more from inherited accounts now while tax rates are lower, said IRA expert and certified public accountant Ed Slott.
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Pretax inherited account withdrawals incur regular income taxes.
Without changes from Congress, dozens of individual tax provisions, including lower federal income tax brackets, are scheduled to sunset after 2025. That would revert rates to 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33%, 35% and 39.6%.

“Every year you don’t use [the lower brackets] is a wasted opportunity,” Slott said. 

Of course, higher taxes after 2025 are uncertain, and other factors may affect the choice to take withdrawals sooner. You should weigh current-year tax consequences — along with tax projections for future years — before boosting income via faster retirement account distributions, experts say.  

Which heirs must start yearly RMDs in 2025

After years of waived penalties, certain heirs will need to begin yearly RMDs from inherited accounts starting in 2025 under those finalized IRS rules, warned certified financial planner Edward Jastrem, chief planning officer at Heritage Financial Services in Westwood, Massachusetts.
“Don’t panic,” he said. “But you need a sense of what’s going on,” including the calculation for your upcoming RMD, which custodians may not provide.
The new IRS guidelines are for heirs who are not a spouse, minor child, disabled, chronically ill or certain trusts. The yearly withdrawal rule only applies if the original account owner had reached their RMD age before death.
If you miss yearly RMDs or don’t take enough, there is a 25% penalty on the amount you should have withdrawn. You can reduce the penalty to 10% if the RMD is “timely corrected” within two years, according to the IRS. More

As buyers continue to struggle with home affordability, experts say programs that help with down payments may be worth another look.
“Anything that you need dollars for in the next three to five years, those dollars should not be invested in the market,” said Janet Stanzak, a certified financial planner and founder of Minnesota-based Financial Empowerment.

Two renters pose in front of their new home that they’re renting from Roots, a program that helps renters invest in real estate.
Courtesy: Katie Curran

When Will Hunnicutt was searching for an apartment in Atlanta earlier this year, pricey leases and application rejections left him feeling defeated.
“The three-and-a-half times income-to-rent ratio is kind of hard to fulfill when they’re wanting $3,000 in a lot of places,” the 30-year-old social worker said.

Then Hunnicutt found a $1,050-per-month two-bedroom apartment tied to Roots, a real estate investment trust based in the Atlanta area that works to help renters of the properties in its portfolio build wealth toward homeownership. His $1,000 security deposit is invested in the REIT, and he has earned another $200 in quarterly rebates so far for taking care of his unit and paying rent on time.
“The end goal is to buy a house, so having investment funds, that passive income, would be very helpful,” Hunnicutt said.

Will Hunnicutt with his dog Bailey in his Atlanta home that he rented through Roots, a company that helps renters build wealth by investing in real estate.
Courtesy: Will Hunnicut

Roots is currently only available in Atlanta, but has plans to expand this fall. It’s just one approach to a broader aim: helping consumers get financially ready to buy a home.
As buyers continue to struggle with home affordability, experts say programs that help with down payments may be worth another look.
The dream of owning a home is moving further out of reach for many as homes get more expensive. Aspiring homebuyers need to make $113,520 a year to buy a typical U.S. home, according to national brokerage site Redfin — 35% more than what a typical household earns annually.

One barrier toward homeownership is having enough savings for a down payment. Nearly 40% of Americans who don’t own a home point to a lack of savings for a down payment, according to a 2023 CNBC Your Money Survey conducted by SurveyMonkey. More than 4,300 adults in the U.S. were surveyed in late August for the report.

‘Thousands of down payment-assistance programs’

Down payment-assistance programs come in different forms, and from different sources — including state agencies, cities, nonprofits, financial institutions and mortgage lenders. So you’ll have to hunt around to see what’s available in your area.
Usually, assistance programs focus on first-time homebuyers and buyers who meet certain income qualifications. There are also programs focused on “first-generation homebuyers.”
In many down payment-assistance programs, participants have to take a homebuyer education course. Depending on the program, they may also have to meet other conditions, like getting their mortgage through a specific lender or saving a set amount to contribute toward their home purchase.
The aid can be significant. For example, Alternatives Federal Credit Union in Ithaca, New York, has programs offering $9,000 up to $20,000. The Chicago Housing Authority can assist with up to $20,000.
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These kinds of programs are one way to work toward equality in homebuying, as systemic barriers still block the path to homeownership for many Americans, housing experts say. 
This is especially true for Black Americans, who have largely made up the receiving end of decades of redlining, exclusionary zoning and predatory lending, according to Nikitra Bailey, executive vice president of the National Fair Housing Alliance. 
Programs targeted toward first-generation homebuyers are crucial, she said. While it’s common for family to help with a down payment, would-be buyers whose parents rent are less likely to be able to offer that help.
“We know there are thousands of down payment-assistance programs that cities have adopted,” but their reach in “underserved consumers of color” is limited, Bailey said. “And that’s why ‘first generation’ is very important, because it’s a race-neutral way to target resources to the consumers that the future health of the housing system depends on.”

How much you need for a down payment

Part of the reason coming up with a down payment is so daunting is that buyers often think they have to put down 20% of the home purchase price. They’re mistaken, experts say.
A National Association of Realtors survey based on transactions from July 2022 to June 2023 found the typical first-time homebuyer has an 8% down payment. And some loans require even less, as little as 3.5% or even 0% down.
Keep in mind, putting less than 20% down typically means you would have to pay private mortgage insurance, or PMI. PMI can cost anywhere from 0.5% to 1.5% of the loan amount per year, depending on different factors, according to The Mortgage Reports. Typically, you can request for mortgage insurance to be removed after you reach 20% equity.

‘Those dollars should not be invested in the market’

First-time homebuyers may qualify to make penalty-free withdrawals up to $10,000 from a 401(k) plan or traditional or Roth individual retirement accounts. But financial advisors recommend preserving those funds for retirement when possible.
While Roots may help its renters invest to build wealth, experts typically emphasize saving rather than investing for short-term goals.
Low-risk options including high-yield savings accounts, certificate of deposits or Treasury bills may be ideal for people whose timeline to buy is up to five years.
“Anything that you need dollars for in the next three to five years, those dollars should not be invested in the market,” said Janet Stanzak, a certified financial planner and founder of Minnesota-based Financial Empowerment. “Markets typically cycle in three to five year cycles, and the worst case would be, you find a home you want to move on and your money’s in the market and the market takes a downturn.”

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The heat waves this summer have slowed foot traffic in open houses, according to a recent report. Summertime home sellers may need to get creative to beat the heat.
“When we get a heat wave and it’s paired with humidity, people tend to just stay indoors in the air conditioning,” said Kristin Sanchez, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Heat waves this summer have slowed open house foot traffic in some areas, according to a recent report. Summertime home sellers may need to get creative to beat the heat.
Pending home sales are down 5.6% from a year ago, the biggest decline in eight months, according to Redfin, a real estate brokerage firm. While prospective buyers might be waiting on potential Fed rate cuts to buy homes, as economic research lead Chen Zhao pointed out in the report, another reason for weaker demand is extreme heat in some parts of the country. 

“When we get a heat wave and it’s paired with humidity, people tend to just stay indoors in the air conditioning,” said Kristin Sanchez, a Redfin Premier real estate agent in Nashville, Tennessee. 
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Open houses during the morning, virtual showings

Selling a home during summer with extreme heat will call for more flexibility from sellers, according to experts.
“I’ve been having pretty good luck with doing my open houses during the morning, before the heat of the day kicked in,” Sanchez said.
Sometimes window air conditioning units or ceiling fans are removed for design purposes or to make the space look more appealing, said Terry Mainord, owner and founder of Terry Mainord Design, a staging company in Brooklyn, New York.

If that’s the case, sellers could offer handheld fans or refreshments to help potential buyers stay cool, Mainord explained.
Virtual viewings and walk-throughs have also become a common resource for real estate agents since the pandemic, said Mainord, especially if the buyer is moving from another city or state.
Using these tools can also help buyers get a better sense of the property even if they aren’t willing to trek out in the heat.
“Virtual showings have become a tool in a broker’s tool kit for selling,” said Mainord.

Make sure the HVAC system is serviced

If you’re hoping to sell your home during the summer, make sure the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system in the house is working properly. Buyers touring your home in the heat are likely to notice effects of it not functioning well, like weak air flow, humidity, leaks or air that isn’t cold.
“We want to make sure that the HVAC systems or units are being serviced, that they’re being maintained properly, that they’re working properly,” said Sanchez.
While the status of the system may come up in a home inspection, “it’s better to just get in front of it and make sure the house feels comfortable and that buyers walking through the home can tell that things are working properly already,” she said.
The cost to fix or replace a home’s HVAC system can be pricey and vary significantly; the bill can be as low as $100 or as high as $3,000, depending on factors like the costs of certain parts, according to Angi, a home repair and contractor marketplace.
“HVAC systems can be vastly expensive,” said Ashton Lawrence, director and senior wealth advisor at Mariner Wealth Advisors in Greenville, South Carolina.

A homeowner looking to replace an HVAC system would need to do the due diligence of “putting pen to paper and crunching the numbers” to see which will bring the most benefits, whether that is “immediate tax impact and tax savings” or “increasing the market value of the actual home,” he said.
You might be able to qualify for the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit even if you’re planning to sell the home at some point, for example, said Tommy Lucas, a certified financial planner at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, LLC in Orlando, Florida. The tax credit applies to certain heating, cooling and water heating equipment types. Make sure to look into what state or local incentives you may qualify for.
Make sure to keep documentation that can showcase all the home improvements, installations, costs and the dates. Those can help you increase your home’s “basis” when figuring out the profits from your sale and any capital gains tax incurred.

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As more households stretch to cover price increases and higher interest rates, most Americans falsely think the U.S. is in recession, a new report by Affirm shows.
Confidence in the U.S. economy is “at a low point,” says Vishal Kapoor, senior vice president of product at the fintech company.

By most measures, the U.S. economy is doing well. And yet, many people would argue otherwise.
Roughly 3 in 5 Americans believe that the U.S. is currently in a recession, according to a new survey of 2,000 adults by Affirm.

Of those respondents, most said a recession started roughly 15 months ago, in March of last year, and could last until July of 2025, citing higher costs and more difficulty making ends meet, the San Francisco-based fintech company found in the June poll.
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Persistent inflation has weighed heavily on households, according to Vishal Kapoor, senior vice president of product at Affirm.
“With confidence in the U.S. economy at a low point, consumers are urgently seeking ways to feel in control of their finances,” he said.

According to a separate Guardian/Harris poll from May, 56% of respondents said they believe the U.S. is in a recession, although gross domestic product has been increasing for the past several years.

Officially, the National Bureau of Economic Research defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.” There have been more than a dozen recessions in the last century, some lasting as long as a year and a half. The last official recession was in 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
But regardless of the country’s economic standing, many Americans are struggling in the face of sky-high prices for everyday items, and most have exhausted their savings and are now leaning on credit cards to make ends meet.

We’re in a ‘vibecession’

Economists have wrestled with the growing disconnect between how the economy is doing and how people feel about their financial standing.
We’re in a “vibecession,” Joyce Chang, JPMorgan’s chair of global research, said at the CNBC Financial Advisor Summit in May.
“If you’re a homeowner or if you own financial assets, you’ve done very well, but you’re leaving out huge segments of the population,” Chang said.
“The wealth creation was concentrated amongst homeowners and upper-income brackets, but you probably have about one-third of the population that’s been left out of that — that’s why there’s such a disconnect,” Chang said of the last few years.

As more of those households stretch to cover price increases and higher interest rates, there are new indications of financial strain.
A growing number of consumers are falling behind on their monthly credit card payments. Over the last year, roughly 8.9% of credit card balances transitioned into delinquency, the New York Fed reported in May.
And more middle-income households anticipate struggling with debt payments in the coming months.  

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A recent AARP poll shows voters ages 50 and up are divided in their support for who takes the Oval Office in November.
Here’s what a push to put Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket could mean for those voters.

U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris walk to the East room to welcome the 2023 WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces during a celebration at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 9, 2024. 
Craig Hudson | Reuters

Last Wednesday, a group of “Boomers for Biden-Harris” threw a virtual party that was attended by about 400 participants across the U.S.
This week, the names on the Democratic presidential ticket are poised to change now that President Joe Biden announced he has dropped out of his reelection campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

“Seniors loved President Biden,” said Laurie Plotnick, 76, a retiree and president of the Florida Democratic Senior Caucus who attended last week’s event.
“He made our lives so much better,” said Plotnick, citing Biden’s work to curb Medicare prescription drug costs and efforts to increase Social Security benefits and cap rents.
“We were very supportive of him staying in the race, if that is what he wanted to do,” Plotnick said.

Biden on Sunday announced in a letter posted on the social media platform X that he plans to “stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
The decision came amid growing momentum in the Democratic party calling for him to call off his reelection efforts. Now, some Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are demanding that he resign from the presidency as well.

“If the Republicans continue to say that President Biden should leave now, [they] will be insulting every person over 60 in the entire country,” Plotnick said.
Biden, 81, is the oldest American president. Former President Donald Trump, 78, is also among the oldest world leaders.
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Age has become a focal point in the presidential race, and not just because of the candidates’ advanced ages. Debate over whether to raise the retirement age took center stage in the runup to the Republican presidential nomination, with former candidate Nikki Haley suggesting raising the age for workers who are currently in their 20s while also limiting wealthy Americans’ access to Social Security and Medicare.
A recent AARP poll found voters ages 50 and over will help determine who wins in November, based on responses from likely voters in the 44 most competitive congressional districts. Yet their support is divided, with voters ages 50 to 64 leaning Republican by a 13-point margin and voters 65 and over favoring Democrats by five points.
A majority of all respondents — 80% — said Social Security will either be an extremely or very important issue that influences how they vote.
The next presidential administration may be poised to influence Social Security and Medicare policy, as both programs have trust funds that are nearing their depletion dates. While benefits will still be available, they may be reduced, if Congress does not act sooner.

Both Biden and Trump have promised not to touch benefits. But Trump has also talked about cutting entitlements, including in a March CNBC interview, which has prompted senior advocacy groups to endorse Biden.
The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare endorsed President Joe Biden for the 2024 race in June, in only the second time it has made such an endorsement in its history after it also endorsed Biden in 2020.
As of press time, the National Committee had not weighed in on the prospect of Harris as a frontrunner for Democratic nominee.
Social Security Works, which also endorsed Biden, is now endorsing Harris, according to Nancy Altman, the organization’s president.
“I think she’s going to be even better,” Altman said of Harris’ policies for seniors.
As senator, Harris was a co-sponsor of the Social Security Expansion Act, which calls for expanding benefits while raising taxes on the wealthy. As part of the Biden administration, she has helped to lower Medicare prescription drug costs. More

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Spot ether exchange traded funds are set to begin trading on Tuesday. Crypto enthusiasts are hopeful it will broaden the investor base for Ethereum, a blockchain technology many argue has a far wider use case than bitcoin. 
These ETFs will invest directly in ether, which is the cryptocurrency used in the Ethereum network. There are already ether ETFs that track futures contracts, but these are the first to track spot ether.
Spot ether ETF applications

Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH)Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE)Bitwise Ethereum (ETHW)VanEck Ethereum (ETHV)          21Shares Core Ethereum (CETH) Invesco Galaxy Ethereum (QETH)Fidelity Ethereum (FETH)                                             Franklin Ethereum (EZET) iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA)
Like the spot bitcoin ETFs that launched in January, most are waiving fees initially — in many cases for up to a year.  

Bitcoin ETF have been a hit. Will ether ETFs be the same?

By the standards of ETF launches, spot bitcoin ETFs have been a success: They recently topped $17 billion in net flows year to date since their debut.
For a new asset class, that is a big hit.
However, at $1.3 trillion in total assets, bitcoin has about three times the value of ether, which has about $414 billion in assets. That may limit the initial appeal of ether ETFs.

Bitcoin prices rose going into the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs. Ether has been a bit spottier: It is up 50% in 2024, but most of the gain came in the first three months of the year.
Still, for Ethereum enthusiasts, the primary value of a spot ether ETF is that it’s a perfect vehicle to educate the public about the use cases for Ethereum, which are far greater than anything bitcoin has to offer.
Ben Johnson, Morningstar’s head of client solutions and an ETF research veteran, noted that while bitcoin is often advertised as digital gold, “Ethereum is more like picks and shovels.”
“The case for the former is that it is finite and could be a store of value, the latter is not finite and being used to build some real-world applications,” he said. 

What the Ethereum platform does

Many investors have never been impressed with bitcoin, primarily because the use case seems limited: It is purely a digital currency. But the Ethereum platform is different. 
Bitcoin and Ethereum both utilize blockchain, which is a decentralized, immutable ledger to record transaction histories, but they have very different purposes. 
Bitcoin uses the blockchain as a digital currency. Ethereum utilizes digital money just like bitcoin, but its blockchain has broader purposes. (Ether is the cryptocurrency used in the Ethereum network, but in practice the terms Ethereum and ether are often used interchangeably.) 
Ethereum is a platform for building smart contracts, which are self-executing programs that enforce a pre-existing contract or agreement. It can be as simple as “If I do this, you do that.” The key is that they execute automatically, are done on the blockchain (the Ethereum network) and produce the same result each time they are executed. They also have a wide variety of applications.
The most common use is for decentralized finance, or “DeFi.” This is just a fancy term for using financial services on the blockchain. In theory, you could perform almost any banking services: Users can send, lend or borrow money, open a savings account, trade stocks or derivatives or other cryptocurrencies, get insurance. Theoretically, you could also do real estate transactions. Users can perform these functions using software called “decentralized apps.”
The use case goes beyond financial services. Users can play games. Corporations could use it for tracking supply chains. It could even be used as a clearing platform to settle stock trades. 
Another application for Ethereum: stablecoins. These are cryptocurrencies whose value is pegged to another asset, usually the dollar. Because cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether are volatile, many DeFi applications rely on stablecoins for lending, borrowing and trading.
The promise is a transaction network that — in theory — could be a much cheaper and faster way to do business.

Does this open the floodgates for more crypto ETFs?

It’s not clear whether this latest development will open the floodgates for more crypto ETFs — or whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will find a way to stop the potential tidal wave.
Any applicant for other crypto ETFs would still need to show that the underlying market was not subject to manipulation, a crucial requirement for approval of these funds.
But a lot may depend on the political climate.
In the past, for commodities, the SEC has traditionally required a regulated futures market to trade alongside the asset. Right now, that only exists for bitcoin and ether, so it would take time to develop futures markets for other crypto products. 
“Under the current regime in Washington, that would not change,” Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise told me. “But if you get a change of regimes in Washington, that could change.”
Regardless, expect a lot of trading. “These new ETH ETFs will likely trade a lot,” Johnson at Morningstar told me. “I’d guess that if and when options on these ETFs become available, this will all go into overdrive…. These ETFs effectively add a whole new wing to the crypto casino.” 

Is Ethereum essentially a tech play?

For the moment, selling Ethereum as a new transaction platform is the main game, and Ethereum enthusiasts have a potent argument: that the platform is a technology investment at heart.
“A lot of investors view bitcoin as digital gold, a store of value, whereas investors view Ethereum more as a technology play,” Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise, said on CNBC TV last night.
Note: Jan van Eck, CEO of VanEck; Morningstar’s Ben Johnson; and David Mann, ETF product and capital markets at Franklin Templeton, will be on ETF Edge Tuesday, July 23 at 1:10 p.m., Eastern.  ETFEdge.cnbc.com. More

Trading is expected to begin as soon as Tuesday.
The ether exchange-traded funds come about six months after the launch of bitcoin ETFs, which saw some of the most successful debuts in the industry’s history.
BlackRock, Fidelity and Grayscale are among the firms slated to launch funds.

Representation of Ethereum, with its native cryptocurrency ether.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission appears to have given the green light for exchange-traded funds that hold ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency. Trading is expected to begin as soon as Tuesday.
Several fund issuers submitted additional registration statements Monday afternoon, and exchanges have given notice that the funds will trade on Tuesday, indicating that the SEC has signed off on the funds.

The regulator did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Monday. It approved rule changes for exchanges to list ether funds in May.
Some of the companies that have been vying to launch ether funds include massive asset managers such as BlackRock, Fidelity and VanEck. Crypto-focused firms such as Bitwise, 21Shares and Grayscale — which is effectively converting its multibillion-dollar Ethereum Trust into two ETFs with different fee levels — are also jumping in.
The ether ETFs come about six months after the launch of bitcoin ETFs, which saw some of the most successful debuts in the industry’s history. Combined, the funds have attracted more than $16 billion of net inflows, led by the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), according to FactSet.
The ether funds are not expected to be as popular as the bitcoin funds, in part because the total market for ether is roughly one-fourth the size of the leading cryptocurrencies.
Still, the funds are expected to be large by the standards of most ETF launches. Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan has predicted the funds will attract $15 billion over their first year and a half on the market, with many investors holding both bitcoin and ether funds.

“If you think about an investor who doesn’t have a specific view — who just wants exposure to what blockchains can do — their starting point would be to have exposure to both bitcoin and eth,” Hougan said.
There are some funds on the market already that use ether futures contracts, but these new funds will be the first in the U.S. to buy and hold spot ether.

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With Kamala Harris as the front-runner to replace President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee in the 2024 election, here’s what to know about where she stands on key money issues.
Harris has supported legislation and advocated for policies regarding retirement, taxes, workers’ compensation and more.

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a moderated conversation with former Trump administration national security official Olivia Troye and former Republican voter Amanda Stratton on July 17, 2024 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Chris Dumond | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Taxes

With trillions in tax breaks expiring after 2025, taxes and the federal budget deficit will be key issues for Harris to address as part of her platform, experts say. 

Without action from Congress, dozens of provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA, will sunset, including lower federal income brackets, a bigger standard deduction and a more generous child tax credit, among other changes. That could mean higher taxes for more than 60% of filers, according to the Tax Foundation.
Broadly speaking, it seems like Harris would be “largely on board” with most, if not all, of what Biden and his administration have been promoting, “especially in the big picture,” said Garrett Watson, senior policy analyst and modeling manager at the Tax Foundation. 
Biden has called for higher taxes on wealthy Americans and corporations.
One big question is whether Harris will stick with Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on those making less than $400,000, Watson said.

Last week, Harris also touted the administration’s child tax credit expansion during the pandemic at a political event in North Carolina, which has been a priority for Biden and the Democrats.
However, Harris voiced some distinctions from Biden before becoming vice president, Watson noted.
During her 2020 presidential campaign, Harris called for a repeal of the TCJA’s corporate tax rate, which dropped the top levy from 35% to 21%. Her repeal would have reverted the top rate back to 35%. By comparison, Biden has called for raising the corporate rate to 28% in 2024.
— Kate Dore

Health care

During Harris’s 2020 presidential bid, she backed a “Medicare for All” plan to expand health-care access and lower consumer costs. She described health care as a “right,” not a “privilege.”
Under that proposal, all Americans would transition to a Medicare health plan — either public or offered by a private insurer — over a 10-year period.
If chosen as the nominee, Harris is unlikely to push that plan in the current presidential contest, said Drew Altman, president and chief executive of KFF, a nonprofit health policy research organization. That’s because Democrats seem to have coalesced around Biden’s “kitchen table” proposals to reduce health costs, he said.
For example, in 2022, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which extended enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, making ACA health plans more affordable for millions of households; those subsidies last through 2025. It also capped insulin co-pays at $35 a month for Medicare beneficiaries.
Harris would likely seek expansions of health coverage under the ACA and Medicaid, Altman said. She’d likely try to expand negotiations over prescription-drug prices, which currently apply only to Medicare beneficiaries and some medications, he said.

Additionally, abortion is likely to be “the defining issue” of the 2024 election, according to Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund. Harris is among Democrats’ “strongest, most effective voices” relative to protecting abortion access, she said.
Abortion is an economic issue, Altman said.
Women must generally weigh affordability and career advancement when choosing to have children, he said. Women in states that have enacted abortion bans — following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — have missed work and paid to travel out of state for the procedure.
— Greg Iacurci

Student loans

Harris has helped promote Biden’s historic policies to forgive the debt of student loan borrowers, and would likely continue the president’s efforts, experts said.
However, as a candidate in the 2020 race, Harris put forward a debt relief program that was criticized for being overly complicated and narrow. To be eligible, borrowers needed to receive a Pell Grant and open a business in a disadvantaged community, among other requirements.
In contrast, Biden has favored more broad debt cancellation, advancing plans that would reduce or eliminate the balances of tens of millions of Americans.
A White House spokesperson recently told CNBC that Harris is proud of her and Biden’s work to forgive $167 billion in student debt for nearly 5 million Americans so far. The vice president plans to bring more relief to borrowers, he said.
Current U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona wrote that he was “All in!” for Harris in a post on X Sunday evening.

KALAMAZOO, Michigan – JULY 17: US Vice President Kamala Harris makes remarks before a moderated conversation with former Trump administration national security official Olivia Troye and former Republican voter Amanda Stratton on July 17, 2024 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Harris’ visit, following the attempted assassination of former President Trump, makes this her fourth trip to Michigan this year and seventh visit since taking office. (Photo by Chris duMond/Getty Images)
Chris Dumond | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Harris has also taken on predatory schools and fought for relief for borrowers.
As the attorney general in California, Harris investigated and sued Corinthian Colleges, and obtained a $1.1 billion judgment against the now-defunct for-profit conglomerate. The U.S. Department of Educated ended up looking into the schools, and in 2022 forgave $5.8 billion in student debt for 560,000 former Corinthian students.
— Annie Nova

Income inequality

Before becoming vice president, one of Harris’ signature proposals — known as the Lift the Middle Class Act — would have provided an annual tax credit of up to $6,000 for lower- and middle-income workers, on top of the benefits they already receive, to help close the wealth gap. Harris proposed repealing the Trump tax cuts to pay for it.
Since then, the cost of living has only skyrocketed, hitting working-class Americans especially hard, said Laura Veldkamp, a professor of finance and economics at Columbia University Business School.
In that context, “there’s a good rationale” for refloating a tax credit for those making under a certain income threshold, Veldkamp said.
— Jessica Dickler

Housing

Harris has been a proponent for affordable housing policies both during her tenure as vice president and as senator.
“Every American deserves affordable housing,” Harris posted on X on July 16, referring to the Biden administration’s call to cap rent increases by 5% on landlords with 50 or more rental units or risk losing federal tax breaks.

More recently, Harris announced the recipients of a $85 million grant under the Pathways to Removing Obstacles for Housing, a first-of-its-kind project that aims to lower housing and rental costs for families.
Harris in May also declared a budget of $5.5 billion to boost affordable housing, invest in economic growth, build wealth and address homelessness in the U.S. through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. The funds will be allocated to six different HUD programs.
— Ana Teresa Solá

Social Security

Equal pay

Harris has taken aim at the gender pay gap with a plan to eliminate discriminatory pay practices and penalize companies that don’t comply.
Under a plan she unveiled in 2019, companies with 100 or more employees would be required to report pay and total compensation for men and women, as well as the percentage of women in leadership positions to obtain an “Equal Pay Certification.” Businesses without that certification would be fined at 1% of their average daily profits during the last fiscal year.

Women earn just 84 cents for every dollar earned by men, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the National Women’s Law Center, although the pay gap worsens significantly for Black and Latina women.
Revisiting the effort to require companies to disclose pay data could help, said Columbia University’s Veldkamp.
“Various forces lead to inequalities and making them run the numbers may bring to light problems they may want to remedy,” she said.
— Jessica Dickler

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