Investing

Guaranteed income programs, which provide monthly income to help people with financial needs, have become more popular since the Covid pandemic.
Even as research shows the efforts have been effective in helping improve economic mobility, the backlash against them is growing.
One program in Texas’ Harris County was recently halted before payments could begin.

Urbazon | E+ | Getty Images

About 1,900 residents in Texas’ Harris County were set to start receiving $500 monthly payments starting this spring.
The money — provided through a new 18-month guaranteed income pilot, Uplift Harris, a Harris County Public Health initiative — was aimed at county residents of 10 ZIP codes who are living 200% below the federal poverty line.

The program would provide money with “no strings attached,” so families could decide how to use the resources to meet their needs.
More from Personal Finance:U.S. experiments with guaranteed income — Will it work?This city gave some residents $500 per month to help with Covid-19 crisisNew guaranteed income programs take inspiration from Martin Luther King, Jr.
But before the first checks were sent, state Attorney General Ken Paxton obtained a stay from the Supreme Court of Texas forcing the program to stop the payments.
In a statement at the time of the stay, Paxton called the program an “abuse of power and unlawful use of taxpayer money.”
Paxton did not respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

The decision — which follows the successful execution of other guaranteed income programs in Texas and other states — was “shocking and unfortunate,” according to Christian Menefee, county attorney of Harris County.
“It’s highly unlikely the county continues with the program as it’s currently constituted,” Menefee said.

As guaranteed income grows, so does the backlash

Guaranteed income programs provide cash payments intended to establish an income floor for specific members of a community, according to the Economic Security Project, an advocacy organization. While universal basic income provides money to everyone, guaranteed income may provide either targeted or universal support.
The programs flourished in recent years, helped in part by the Covid-19 pandemic that raised awareness of how direct cash could fill targeted needs.
While the federal government deployed billions of dollars in stimulus checks and child tax credit payments, state and local governments also started to experiment with ways to provide money to residents in need, often with the help of extra federal money provided through the American Rescue Plan Act. 
Today, the Economic Security Project is tracking 150 guaranteed income pilots in 35 states. Around 52,000 people have participated in a pilot at some point in the past couple of years, according to Harish Patel, vice president at the Economic Security Project.
Yet backlashes against the programs have also gained momentum.

Individual demonstrator holds sign asking for universal basic income and universal healthcare in Columbus, Ohio on Jan. 20, 2021. 
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Idaho, Iowa, and South Dakota passed anti-guaranteed income legislation this year, while Arkansas did the same in 2023. Those efforts happened “very quickly,” and similar proposals are expected in an additional 25 states, according to Patel.
The conservative think tank Foundation for Government Accountability, and its lobbying arm the Opportunity Solutions Project, has led those efforts. The organization did not provide comment, but the foundation’s research lays out the reasons for its opposition. It argues guaranteed income programs discourage work, “trap people in dependency” and cost taxpayers millions.
The bills are written in “copycat fashion,” which make it easier to replicate them among states, according to Patel. Yet that structure also leaves less room for rigorous analysis of their reach; the proposals are so general that they may end up limiting all cash assistance, not necessarily just guaranteed income programs, he said.
“Let’s say you have a natural disaster and you want to give out cash,” Patel said. “In some states, they may not be able to if these sorts of very general policies that are written become law.”

One-year Austin experiment helped residents

Others who have researched the effects of the programs say they see evidence guaranteed income works.
In a one-year experiment launched in Austin, Texas, in 2022, 135 households received $1,000 per month. The program, which was focused on high poverty and rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, helped improve housing and food security, early research from the Urban Institute shows.
The city of Austin enlisted the Urban Institute to study the effects of the cash infusions.
“We’re awash in evidence in this country that giving people cash infusions works,” said Mary Bogle, principal investigator for the Austin Guaranteed Income Pilot evaluation and principal research associate at the Urban Institute.
Typically, participant workers are in very low-wage jobs, Bogle explained. Once they have access to guaranteed income, that often allows them to figure out ways to increase what they earn, she said.
“Folks who press arguments about guaranteed income creating dependency aren’t looking at the fact that what guaranteed income is actually allowing participants to do is make good choices,” Bogle said. “They have freedom of choice.”

For Austin resident Taniquewa Brewster, 38, being selected for the city’s guaranteed income program helped her break free from a pattern of sporadic, unstable employment.
She found out about the program when she was still struggling to recover from winter storm Uri in 2021, which left her apartment building without gas for months.
At the time, Brewster’s ability to work was also limited because she found juggling a full-time work schedule and child care for her five children to be next to impossible.
The extra money had immediate benefits. Brewster said she was able to pay for the sports, camp and after-school programs her children wanted to participate in. She also helped her sister with costs for the car they shared.

Though Austin’s guaranteed income has concluded, Brewster said it has a lasting impact on her life, particularly because it helped jump start her career. The program’s money helped her go to school and get more education.
She got a certificate to be a leasing agent and now works for her apartment complex. She also became a notary and is currently training to become a doula.
“That gave me time and a cushion to say, OK …  you don’t have to put things off so that you can be sure that you can take care of your family,” Brewster said.

‘The status quo isn’t working’

Many other guaranteed income program participants have seen life-changing improvements, particularly when it comes to their earnings capability. That is why the programs’ supporters are puzzled by the growing opposition.
“There’s no real cogent vision for what they want to see, other than the status quo,” said Michael Tubbs, founder of Mayors for Guaranteed Income. “And the reason why guaranteed income is so popular is because the status quo isn’t working for most people, Democrats and Republicans.”
Harris County’s program may have been targeted for political reasons, according to Menefee, the county attorney.

Harris County Commissioner Precinct 1 Rodney Ellis answers a question from the press during a press conference responding to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s lawsuit challenging the Uplift Harris program on April 10 in Houston. 
Houston Chronicle/hearst Newspapers Via Getty Images | Hearst Newspapers | Getty Images

“If Democrats increased the margin of victory in Harris County, because we’re such a populous county, we have the potential to flip the entire state,” Menefee said.
Harris County’s funds have to be committed by December, according to Commissioner Rodney Ellis, and the federal money may instead be used for existing programs.
But Ellis is hopeful the guaranteed income program can be revamped to address the state’s concerns, such as placing more controls on how the money is used and changing the random selection process used to choose participants.
Previously selected participants would likely have to apply again, Ellis said.
The efforts to quash the Harris County program may be replicated to push back against other guaranteed income efforts elsewhere, he said. “I assume other conservative attorney[s] general around the country are looking at this and may resort to doing the same thing.”
Brewster, the Austin program participant, suggests that opponents of guaranteed income might change their tune if they were to switch income and resources with low-income individuals for just one month.
 “Sometimes you just need a boost, and most of those families just needed that boost,” Brewster said.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

Experts say to notify your bank that your cards were lost or stolen so they can be canceled and the bank can send you replacements via mail.
Keeping an extra card and cash at home can come in handy if you lose your wallet.
Freezing your credit immediately can prohibit someone from opening up a line of credit in your name if they’ve obtained your identifying documents.

Westend61 | Westend61 | Getty Images

I was packing up to head home from work last week when I noticed something that made my stomach sick.
The space in my backpack normally occupied by my wallet was empty.

I searched every nook and cranny of my bag and even crawled under my desk to search for the small pouch that was home to my driver’s license, credit and debit cards and a New York City MetroCard. I checked with security to see if someone turned it in. No one had.
Eventually, tired from my frantic searching, I accepted defeat and contacted the bank to lock my cards. 
As a CNBC intern who recently joined the personal finance desk, I spend most days speaking with finance experts to inform the stories I write. After losing my wallet, I decided to ask a few sources what course of action I should take to protect my money and identity.
The experts I spoke to validated some of the things I had already done and provided extra security steps I hadn’t considered. 

‘Everyone should freeze their credit’

One thing I didn’t do immediately that each financial planner I spoke with recommended is freezing my credit.

Freezing your credit can prohibit someone from opening a line of credit in your name, according to Ivory Johnson, certified financial planner and founder of Washington, D.C.-based Delancey Wealth Management.
“Everyone should freeze their credit unless they’re going to use it,” said Johnson, who is a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council. “Everyone. Because you can unfreeze it with the click of a mouse.”
More from Personal Finance:Young, wealthy investors turn to alternatives instead of stocks, bondsRent a car for a road trip, or drive your own? 5 things to considerRomance scams cost consumers $1.14 billion last year
This can be smart if you lose your wallet to reduce the risk that a thief uses the contents of your wallet to commit ID theft, experts say. That’s especially true if you carry your Social Security card, which isn’t recommended.
To freeze your credit, you must contact the three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. This was easy to do on each agency’s website — I just made a free account and clicked a button to place a security freeze.

Replacing cards and ID

I filed a lost and found report with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in hopes that my wallet was found in the subway and turned in by a good Samaritan.
I then made a list of everything that was in my wallet … and that was the easy part.
The hard part was getting replacements for everything on my list. I first needed to call each issuer to report the card as lost to ensure I wasn’t responsible for any charges incurred if someone found the wallet and went on a spending spree.
I live in New York City as I attend graduate school and intern at CNBC for the summer. However, my permanent address is in North Carolina.
This made it tricky in requesting a replacement driver’s license. After initially contacting the DMV, I was directed to the state transportation department to change my mailing address so they could send it across state lines. A week later, I’m still without a license.
The North Carolina DMV did email me a temporary driving certificate, but it doesn’t have photo identification on it. A DMV employee told me over the phone that the third-party contractor that prints the state IDs is experiencing delays and that it could take up to 30 days to receive the permanent replacement. I have been relying on my passport for identification in the meantime, but it feels risky carrying that essential document around the city. 

The apps for both Bank of America and Capital One made it easy to cancel my cards and order replacements, but I was left with few options in the interim. 
Luckily, I had a virtual Apple credit card in my phone’s wallet that I applied for last year to purchase a laptop in interest-free installments. I recently paid off the laptop, but had not used the card for anything else, so it came in handy to pay for the subway and dinner on the day I lost my wallet. 
Soon after requesting a replacement debit card, Bank of America sent me a virtual one that I was able to add to my Apple wallet and use immediately. The new physical cards I requested arrived about five days later. 
In the age of online banking, actually walking into a bank to get cash seems “antiquated” to Lee Baker, certified financial planner and owner and president of Atlanta-based Apex Financial, but it’s still an option.
“As long as you’ve got some kind of ID, because they’re going to ask for it, you should be able to go into the bank and say, ‘Hey, I just simply want to withdraw X amount of dollars,'” said Baker, who is also a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council.

Other tips and tricks to manage a lost wallet

Here are a few other key points Johnson and Baker made to protect your identity and money:

Keep cash and a credit card or two tucked away somewhere safe at home for backup.
Rely on a few credit cards, rather than a debit card to make most purchases. There are higher stakes with debit card fraud when it’s your money at risk, experts say, compared to credit card fraud when it’s the credit issuer’s funds at risk.
File a police report for the stolen or lost wallet, especially if the loss will impact scheduled payments and you need documentation proof for a landlord or utility company. This is also important in case someone tries to pass themselves off as you with the driver’s license.
Give copies of identifying documents and cards to someone you trust for safekeeping to serve as a backup if the originals are lost.
Update any accounts or subscriptions you have auto-pay set up for with new card information if you had to request a replacement card.
Change your passwords and add multifactor authentication to credit card and bank accounts.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

Whether you’re mid-career or nearing retirement, it’s important to know where you’re investing — and how those accounts could impact future taxes, experts say.
A mix of pretax, after-tax Roth and taxable brokerage accounts can lower levies in retirement by providing flexibility.
However, the right tax balance depends on your goals, risk tolerance and timeline.

Grace Cary | Moment | Getty Images

Whether you’re mid-career or nearing retirement, it’s important to know where you’re investing — and how those accounts could impact future taxes, experts say.
Many workers are heavily concentrated in tax-deferred savings via a pretax 401(k) plan or traditional individual retirement accounts, which incur regular income taxes on future withdrawals, based on federal tax brackets.

However, many advisors recommend using a mix of pretax, after-tax Roth and taxable brokerage accounts for more flexibility in retirement.
The right mix can provide “a lot of different levers to pull to manage your adjusted gross income,” explained certified financial planner Judy Brown at SC&H Group in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore area.
More from Personal Finance:I lost my wallet. Here’s what experts say I should do to protect my identity and moneyWeddings cost over $30,000: Couples are having ‘micro weddings’ insteadThis ‘bucket strategy’ could lower your taxes in retirement — how to maximize it
Pretax distributions could bump you into a higher tax bracket or trigger higher Medicare Part B and Part D premiums, explained Brown, who is also a certified public accountant.
Medicare Part B and Part D premiums are based on so-called modified adjusted gross income, which is your adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest, from two years prior.

By comparison, after-tax account distributions, such as Roth 401(k) plans or Roth IRAs, generally don’t incur levies and won’t boost your earnings.
Another bucket is taxable brokerage investments. If you hold these assets for more than one year, you’ll pay 0%, 15% or 20% on capital gains, depending on your taxable income.
While higher earners could incur an extra 3.8% levy on brokerage assets, the combined rate is still considerably lower than the 37% top marginal tax rate on pretax account distributions.
A mix of pretax, after-tax Roth and taxable assets can help you “adapt to changing tax laws and personal financial circumstances” to better manage withdrawals and taxes, said CFP Alyson Basso, managing principal of Hayden Wealth Management in Middleton, Massachusetts. 

The perks of a brokerage account

Your brokerage assets can be especially useful if you’re eyeing an early retirement before age 59½, according to Houston-based CFP Abrin Berkemeyer with Goodman Financial. 
Workplace retirement plans and pretax IRAs typically incur a 10% penalty for withdrawals before age 59½, with some exceptions. However, you can tap your brokerage account at any age without penalty.
The brokerage account can also help you achieve other goals before age 59½, such as covering a down payment on a second home or funding a child’s wedding, Berkemeyer said.

Of course, you’ll sacrifice certain tax benefits to build your brokerage account, such as tax-free growth or upfront deductions for contributions, he said.
But ultimately, the right mix of pretax, Roth and taxable investments depends on your goals, risk tolerance and timeline.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

A recent Supreme Court ruling and the uncertainty about President Joe Biden’s reelection bid may have consequences for millions of student loan borrowers.
Here’s what to know about these developments.

Students study in the Perry-Castaneda Library at the University of Texas at Austin on February 22, 2024 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

New affordable repayment plan faces legal attacks

The Biden administration rolled out its new repayment plan, known as SAVE, or the Saving on a Valuable Education plan, in the summer of 2023, describing it as “the most affordable student loan plan ever.” Under the program, many borrowers expected to see their bills reduced by half or more.
However, Republican-backed states, including Arkansas, Florida and Missouri, filed lawsuits against the SAVE plan earlier this year, putting that relief in jeopardy.
The states argued that the Biden administration was overstepping its authority with SAVE, and essentially trying to find a roundabout way to forgive student debt after the Supreme Court blocked its sweeping plan last year.
In response, two federal judges in Kansas and Missouri temporarily halted significant parts of the SAVE plan on June 24. Days later, the Biden administration successfully appealed part of the injunction against its plan. Yet the fate of SAVE remains in limbo until the judges decide the cases.

Borrowers likely won’t learn more until after the presidential election in November, said Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, a trade group for federal student loan servicers.
Buchanan assumes the cases will eventually reach the Supreme Court.
“Then they themselves wouldn’t even take it up until the October term, for a ruling much later,” he said.
For now, SAVE enrollees can learn more about what the recent legal developments mean for them in a CNBC story from last week.

Chevron ruling may limit Education Department

Meanwhile, a recent Supreme Court ruling is expected to make it harder for the Education Department to deliver relief to student loan borrowers.
The high court in late June overruled the so-called Chevron doctrine, a 40-year-old precedent that required judges to defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of disputed laws. The 6-3 ruling, which split the conservative-majority court along ideological lines, is expected to undermine the federal government’s regulatory power.
“Federal agencies will have less flexibility in developing, implementing and enforcing regulations,” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.

Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, speaks outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, June 28, 2024.
Valerie Plesch | Bloomberg | Getty Images

That could make Biden’s do-over effort at sweeping student loan forgiveness more difficult, Kantrowitz explained. The president had hoped to start canceling borrowers’ debt under a so-called Plan B before the election.
“President Biden’s proposal for student loan forgiveness involves significant interpretation of the statute,” Kantrowitz said. “This makes it more vulnerable to legal challenge.”

With Biden’s future at risk, so is student loan aid

So what would a Harris presidency mean for those with student debt?
Harris has helped promote Biden’s policies to alleviate the burden of borrowers, and would likely continue his efforts, experts say. However, as a presidential candidate in the 2020 race, Harris put forward a debt relief program that was criticized as 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.)
Ernesto Apreza, press secretary for Harris, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
For now, the fact that Trump is leading in the polls is a concern for consumer advocates.
As president, Trump called for the elimination of the U.S. Department of Education’s existing loan relief programs, including the popular Public Service Loan Forgiveness initiative. He also wanted to slash the department’s budget, and his administration halted a regulation aimed at providing loan forgiveness to those defrauded by their schools.
“When Donald Trump was president, prior to the pandemic, a new student loan borrower fell into default every 26 seconds and more than 99% of educators, first responders and nurses were denied relief they were entitled to under PSLF,” said Aissa Canchola-Banez, political director at Protect Borrowers Action.
“The stakes for Americans with student debt have never been higher,” Canchola-Banez said.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

Micron Technology’s solid-state drive for data center customers is presented at a product launch event in San Francisco on Oct. 24, 2019.
Stephen Nellis | Reuters

Investors are grappling with a host of mixed signals as recent data suggests the economy may be softening and the S&P 500 surges to new highs.
As investors navigate this complicated environment, they may turn to research from top-rated Wall Street analysts as they search for stocks with strong balance sheets and solid growth prospects.

With that in mind, here are three stocks favored by the Street’s top pros, according to TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.
Micron Technology
Chipmaker Micron Technology (MU) is this week’s first pick. The company recently reported beats on the top and bottom lines for the fiscal third quarter, thanks to the demand induced by the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) wave. Management is confident about the road ahead and expects to generate record revenue in fiscal 2025, backed by artificial intelligence-driven opportunities.
Reacting to the results, Goldman Sachs analyst Toshiya Hari reiterated a buy rating on MU stock and increased his price target to $158 from $138. The analyst sees the post-earnings pullback in the stock as a good opportunity for investors to build a position. He expects AI-driven demand and a disciplined supply to fuel better-than-consensus earnings growth in calendar year 2025.
The analyst highlighted several reasons for his bullish investment thesis, including market share gains in the lucrative high-bandwidth memory space and AI compute growth in Micron’s data center business and edge computing.
Hari pointed out that Micron generated free cash flow of $425 million in the fiscal third quarter, marking a rebound from several quarters of negative FCF. He added that the company “remains committed to driving positive cash flow in FY4Q and into FY2025, even considering the material increase in capex that is expected in FY2025.”

Hari ranks No. 25 among more than 8,900 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 69% of the time, delivering an average return of 29.2%. (See Micron Technical Analysis on TipRanks) 
Amazon
We move to e-commerce and cloud computing giant Amazon (AMZN). Recently, Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney reaffirmed a buy rating on AMZN stock with a price target of $225 following his firm’s 12th Annual U.S. Online Retail survey, which involved 1,100 respondents.
Highlighting the survey results, Mahaney said that Amazon continues to be the market leader in the U.S. online retail space, with its dominance reflecting in three vital shopping metrics that his firm tracks – price, selection and convenience. However, he cautioned that the survey indicated a mixed competitive backdrop for Amazon Retail, especially with rival Walmart (WMT) displaying notable improvement in the selection and convenience metrics.
Mahaney noted that AMZN remains three to four times ahead of its closest rival across all the three key metrics. Moreover, the company continues to improve its score in satisfaction, which increased 2% year-over-year to 84% and reflected a significant jump from the 65% bottom seen in 2020. The analyst thinks that the enhanced score is a “reflection of Amazon’s continued focus on improving speed and selection (esp. via the regionalization initiatives).”
The analyst also noted that the penetration of Amazon Prime touched a record high of 81%. Attractive features like Prime Video, Free Same Day Delivery, Prime Music and Grocery made the Prime membership more attractive to the survey respondents.
Overall, Amazon remains Evercore’s “No. 1 Large Cap Long,” with the survey results backing the company’s long-term investment thesis. Notably, the survey results supported the analyst’s views about three fundamental catalysts in 2024 – significant acceleration in the growth of Amazon Web Services, rising operating margins of the North American Retail business and solid free cash flow margins. 
Mahaney ranks No. 20 among more than 8,900 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 63% of the time, delivering an average return of 32.2%. (See Amazon Hedge Funds Trading Activity on TipRanks) 
Twilio
Cloud communications platform Twilio (TWLO) is this week’s third pick. The company reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter of 2024, with active customer accounts growing to more than 313,000 as of March 31, from 300,000 at the end of the prior-year quarter. However, shares declined following the results as the Q2 guidance missed estimates and reflected the impact of weak customer spending.
Nevertheless, Tigress Financial analyst Ivan Feinseth recently initiated coverage of TWLO stock with a buy rating and a price target of $75. The analyst sees the sell-off in the stock as an attractive buying opportunity, backed by his belief that “TWLO is well-positioned to benefit from the ongoing acceleration of AI-driven digital customer engagement.”
The analyst expects Twilio to gain from the demand for artificial intelligence-based automated responses that ensure timely and cost-effective customer interaction. He expects the company’s continued investment in research and development and the integration of predictive and generative AI into its new products to boost customer adoption.  
Feinseth also highlighted Twilio’s cutting-edge “call center as a service” platform and its industry-leading position in the communications market. He expects the company’s cost saving efforts and efficiency measures to drive higher margins and boost profitability.
Feinseth ranks No. 195 among more than 8,900 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 61% of the time, delivering an average return of 13.1%. (See Twilio Stock Charts on TipRanks)  More

Vanessa Acosta and her now husband decided to have a “micro wedding” in their backyard instead of a black-tie wedding with 100-plus guests.
Slashing their guest count to roughly half saved them thousands of dollars.
Here’s how a smaller wedding can help you save costs.

Vanessa Acosta marries Sam Roberts in their backyard in Pasadena, California, on May 25, 2024.
Courtesy: Vanessa Acosta

Last year, Vanessa Acosta and Sam Roberts found their dream venue for a black-tie wedding.
But a series of family events made the couple reconsider their plans: “We don’t need to do this big thing where we’re going to put ourselves out financially,” said Acosta, 35, of Pasadena, California.

Instead of hosting around 150 guests and spending about $75,000, the couple decided to get married in their backyard with just 54 of their closest family and friends.
More from Personal Finance:Couples leverage ‘something borrowed’ to cut wedding costsNearly 1 in 5 student loan borrowers keep their balance a secret from partnerWhy couples avoid talking about financial issues
Such events with roughly 50 guests, max, are called “micro weddings.” A so-called minimony is even smaller, usually attended by no more than 10 people, according to The Knot, an online wedding marketplace.
Acosta and Roberts had a new budget of $3,000, and they knew they needed to get creative.
“We DIY’ed and thrifted everything,” Acosta said. “We thrifted my husband’s shirt, he used his really nice dress shoes he already owned. I made my dress and I thrifted the fabrics; I made my veil.”

Cutting the guest list made the wedding “much more manageable,” she said. The couple tied the knot on May 25.

Why micro weddings are becoming appealing

Vanessa Acosta and Sam Roberts pose together on a street in California.
Courtesy: Vanessa Acosta

The average cost of a wedding ceremony and reception in 2023 was $35,000, according to The Knot 2023 Real Weddings Study. The total cost is a $5,000 increase from 2022.
Inflation over the past few years was a key driver to higher costs, according to the Knot. The report polled 9,318 US married couples between January 1 and December 2023.  
“Put simply, weddings are expensive,” said Allison Cullman, wedding expert and the vice president of brand marketing and strategy at Zola, another online wedding marketplace.

‘The number one way’ to save on wedding costs

As the cost of typical weddings in the U.S. has swelled in the past few years, experts say cutting down the guest list is the best way to save on costs, even if you don’t trim it to micro-wedding levels.
In 2023, weddings with 25 to 50 guests took up about 15% of the market; weddings with less than 25 guests made up roughly 2% of the market, according to data from The Wedding Report, a wedding research company, provided to CNBC.
The average guest count at weddings has been declining since 2006, when the average was about 184 people, according to data from The Wedding Report.

We don’t need to do this big thing where we’re going to put ourselves out financially.

Vanessa Acosta

The lowest count was in 2020, when the average headcount declined to 107, primarily due to restrictions from the Covid-19 pandemic, said Shane McMurray, CEO and co-founder of The Wedding Report. The size of weddings rebounded in 2021 to 124 because people wanted to socialize after the lockdowns, he said.
“But because of how expensive it is to get married now,” he said, the size of weddings is “probably going to start to come back down.”
“The number one way to save money on your wedding is to cut the guest count,” said McMurray, as many wedding costs, like meals, invitations and favors, are based on your headcount.
Indeed, “having a minimony or a micro wedding allows you to still have an incredibly special celebration without having to pay for 150 meals,” said Cullman.

A sign that reads, “Welcome to the wedding of Vanessa and Sam.”
Courtesy: Vanessa acosta

“It literally was not stressful to deal with the food situation for like a 50-ish person wedding,” said Acosta, who booked a taco stand for $640 instead of roughly paying $90 per plate for about 150 guests.
“Ninety times 150 people. It was a drastic change to go from that to a taco stand that was able to feed every single one and there was still food left over,” said Acosta.

Set a ‘clear and realistic’ budget

Engaged couples should come up with a “clear and realistic” budget from the beginning, as well as make a list of what their priorities are, said Cullman. Doing so will help you when you have to make “difficult decisions to stay within your budget,” she said.
“Couples should discuss what is the most important to them, and what they want to allocate towards items that will make their wedding feel unique, authentic, and most of all, fun,” said Cullman.
Confirming such priorities will help you “determine where to focus your budget and where you can save,” said Lauren Kay, executive editor of The Knot.
You might need to make trade-offs along the way.

“Typically, the venue requires the majority of your budget, and food and beverage costs are determined by the number of guests,” said Kay. “So if the location is your highest priority, keeping this in mind will help you properly allocate your budget and make decisions on the guest list size.”
Being flexible with the ceremony date can also help reduce costs, said Cullman, as off-peak dates can be less expensive.
Exploring “upcycled” or thrifted attire typically won’t “set you back hundreds of dollars,” she said. In that vein, you can even take the proverb of “something borrowed” more seriously and rent a wedding dress or even flowers.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

Tax identity theft victims are waiting nearly two years for resolution and refunds from the IRS, the National Taxpayer Advocate reported last week.
As of April, the agency had roughly 500,000 unresolved cases, up from 484,000 in September.
However, the IRS is working on a “range of improvements” to address the issue.

Erin Collins, national taxpayer advocate at the Taxpayer Advocate Service, speaks at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., on May 19, 2021.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

There’s a pileup of tax identity theft cases at the IRS — but the agency is working on a “range of improvements” to speed up service.
As of April, the agency had roughly 500,000 unresolved identity theft cases, up from 484,000 cases in September, National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins reported last week. Identity theft victims have waited more than 22 months for resolution, plus several weeks for refunds.

Tax identity theft happens when criminals use stolen personal information to file a fraudulent tax return to claim a refund. If a criminal files before the taxpayer, the IRS rejects and freezes the second return for investigation.
More from Personal Finance:Romance scams cost people $1.14 billion in 2023. It’s ‘insidious’ fraud, expert saysThis ‘bucket strategy’ could lower your taxes in retirement — how to maximize itSocial Security cost-of-living adjustment may be lower in 2025. Here’s why
The wait has only grown longer over the past several months. Collins reported in January that identity theft victims were waiting 19 months for resolution and refunds, which stemmed from Covid-19 shutdowns and pandemic relief.
Those delays have caused “significant hardship” for taxpayers, especially lower earners, she wrote.
Nearly 70% of the cases involved taxpayers with an adjusted gross income at or below 250% of the federal poverty level.

“It has been four years from the onset of the pandemic, and the IRS’ delays in helping victims are unconscionable,” Collins wrote last week.
While taxpayer service has improved through the 2024 season, the backlog of identity theft cases remains “one of the most significant ongoing service gaps,” the IRS said in a statement.

IRS plans for ‘faster service’

The IRS said it’s working on improvements to provide “faster service” to identity theft victims, including more resources to work cases.
The agency also plans to review its processes and engage with stakeholders to “identify and prevent evolving tax-related identity theft threats.”
“Identity theft cases are complex and take time to resolve,” but increased funding has better positioned the agency to tackle these cases more quickly, the IRS said.

The agency on Tuesday warned tax professionals to protect themselves from identity theft criminals who could be targeting them and their clients.
“Security threats against tax professionals and their sensitive taxpayer information continue to evolve, and it’s critical to stay on top of the latest developments to protect their business and their clients,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement on Tuesday.  More

If you’re a wealthy investor between the ages of 21 and 43, alternatives are probably at the top of your list of investments that may provide the most growth.
Yet wealthy investors who are ages 44 and up still tend to steer toward traditional stocks and bonds.
If you’re interested in alternatives, it’s wise to consider the risks and costs, experts say.

pixelfit | E+ | Getty Images

Young, wealthy investors don’t want their parents’ investments.
If you’re between the ages of 21 and 43 and have at least $3 million in investable assets, your preferred investments likely aren’t your traditional mix of stocks and bonds, according to new research from Bank of America.

Nearly one-third of young, wealthy investors’ portfolios are in alternative assets like hedge funds, private equity, and crypto and digital assets, according to Mike Pelzar, head of investments at Bank of America Private Bank.
Meanwhile, less than half of their portfolios are in traditional stocks and bonds.

Where wealthy investors ages 21 to 43 see greatest opportunities for growth

Real estate investments, 31%
Crypto/digital assets, 28%
Private equity, 26%
Personal company/brand, 24%
Direct investments in companies, 22%
Companies focused on positive impact, 21%Source: Bank of America

That’s in contrast to wealthy investors ages 44 and up, who have about three-quarters of their portfolios allocated to stocks and bonds, and only about 5% in alternative assets like hedge funds, private equity and real estate, he noted.
“The two different cohorts think very differently about what the greatest opportunities are for growth with their investments,” Pelzar said.
Younger investors’ appetite for alternatives isn’t expected to let up, with 93% indicating they plan to use more of those investments in the next few years, Bank of America’s research found.

Why younger investors have a different outlook

Much of the difference between younger and older wealthy investors’ outlook comes down to what kind of investments they grew up with, Pelzar explained.
“This younger generation has enjoyed much greater access to a broader set of asset classes than the older generation did as they were growing up,” Pelzar said.
The younger generation may also have less trust in traditional stocks and bonds after having lived through the financial crisis and dot-com bust. More recently, the increased correlation between equities and fixed income may be prompting them to diversify their assets.
“They’re looking to spread around the risk,” Pelzar said.

Where wealthy investors ages 44 and up see greatest opportunities for growth

Domestic equities, 41%
Real estate investments, 32%
Emerging market equities, 25%
International equities, 18%
Private equity, 15%
Direct investments in companies, 15%

Source: Bank of America

At the same time, younger, wealthy investors also have higher cash allocations, the research found. Some experts worry having more cash can lead to missing out on bigger market returns, even as today’s elevated rates guarantee the highest interest on cash in more than a decade.
“Underinvesting is a risk, and it’s one that I think more younger investors are susceptible to,” Callie Cox, chief market strategist at Ritholtz Wealth Management, recently told CNBC.com.
But higher cash allocations may make sense for younger, wealthy investors who have a lot of their net worth tied up in alternative investments that tend to be more illiquid, or who are planning to make big purchases, like buying a home, Pelzar said.

What to consider when planning

Another reason why young, wealthy investors may be turning to alternatives is because they have more choices.
“There’s never been a bigger menu of opportunities to put your money into,” said Douglas Boneparth, a certified financial planner and president of Bone Fide Wealth, a wealth management firm based in New York City.
When diversifying to alternatives, it’s important to be aware of the potential costs involved, said Boneparth, who is also a member of the CNBC FA Council.

Alternative investments may require your money to be locked up for a certain period of time, he said.
Alternatives may also come with unique costs, such as the 2 and 20 fee structure. It’s a fee arrangement that is standard in the hedge fund industry, and is also common in venture capital and private equity, where an annual management fee of 2% is charged for managing assets and a 20% standard performance or incentive fee applies to profits made by the fund above a certain predefined benchmark.
Expense ratios — management fees charged by investment funds — may also be higher for alternatives, Boneparth noted.
If you’re invested in an area like collectibles, the bid-ask spread — or the difference between quoted prices for a sale and purchase — may be larger or more unpredictable, he said.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More