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BUSINESS
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Taxes on tips and overtime: What you need to know
Sponsored StoryNEW TAX BREAKS ON TIPS & OVERTIME (5:59) The “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act included some changes to the way tips and overtime are taxed, and there are a lot of questions about it. CPA and TurboTax expert Lisa Greene-Lewis offers some clarity on these new deductions and reporting them on your taxes. Watch the video above or read the transcript below.Taxes on tips and overtime: What you need to knowVideo transcript: [MUSIC PLAYING]TRACY BYRNES: So the One big Beautiful Bill Act has brought a lot of attention to overtime and tax on tips, and we need to decipher all of it. Lisa Greene-Lewis, CPA and TurboTax expert, is here with us to help us do all that because it’s confusing. Lisa, I think a lot of people think that now, all of a sudden, overtime and tips are free, and that’s just not the case, right?So let’s just start from the beginning. Let’s start with tax on tips. What do people need to know?LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Well, yeah, you’re right Tracy. The first thing you need to know, it’s really a deduction. So it’s not like your not being taxed at all. A deduction is—your tax savings is based on your tax rate. So with the deduction for tips, you’re able to deduct up to $25,000 in tips that you make. So if you’re in a profession that earns qualified tips like a waitress or a rideshare driver, you would be able to deduct those tips up to $25,000.Now, it is also based on income. So if you make over $150,000 and you’re single or over $300,000 and married filing jointly, then, that deduction is phased out.TRACY BYRNES: And tips need to be defined too, right? Because pooled tips are different from regular straight-up tips. Right? And then there’s tips that are reported on your W-2 versus clearly the under-the-table tips. Right? So all that needs to be worked through as well.LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Right. Yes. Since this is the first year that this is implemented, your employer or payer, they’re not required to identify the tips in separate areas. But that’s one thing we have, TurboTax is really focused on is that area in the program. It walks you through all the different scenarios and all the different ways that tips could be reported on, whether it’s on your W-2 in, you know, different boxes, it walks you through how to figure that out, and what to input or what to give to your TurboTax expert, if you have an expert do your taxes.TRACY BYRNES: Right. So it’s really important that right off the bat, report all your tips and then figure out what’s deductible and what’s not. But you really, I mean, in theory, it is all taxable income to start, right?LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Yes.TRACY BYRNES: And then we have to work through it. So who benefits the most from this new tax deduction tax on tips?LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Anyone that’s considered a qualified professional. I know the IRS, they did put out guidance and a list of qualified professions that earn tips. So definitely, rideshare drivers were on there. People like waitresses, anyone like that would be eligible.TRACY BYRNES: Right. Hairdressers, manicurists, things like that. They were all on the list too, I remember. OK. So now, the other big thing now is overtime. And I know people— like so many people, so many hard workers, in our country, firefighters, police officers, make overtime. What do these people now need to know? Because quite frankly, I think they deserve a break.What do they need to know about the new, overtime tax or deduction on overtime?LISA GREENE-LEWIS: The same as the tips. It is a deduction. It’s not like you’re not claiming that income at all, but the deduction for overtime, you’re able to deduct up to $12,500. And that’s if you’re single. It’s a little different if you’re married filing jointly you could deduct up to $25,000 in overtime. And then that is also based on income.So if you earn over $150,000 and you’re single, that deduction is phased out. If you’re married, filing jointly and earn over $300,000 it’s phased out as well.TRACY BYRNES: Lisa, is overtime reported separately on your W-2?LISA GREENE-LEWIS: So this year, since this is the first year, they didn’t update W-2 forms to allow for tips or overtime. So it is going to be integrated into your—it could be integrated into your overall income or it can show up in various boxes this year.TRACY BYRNES: All right. So Lisa, this stuff is really confusing. And throw in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act. There’s a lot going on. What do, what should people do if they’re just overwhelmed?LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Yeah. If people don’t want to do it themselves they can hand their taxes over to our TurboTax full-service experts, and they can fully do their taxes for them, and they can connect with a TurboTax full-service expert, either virtually, or they can come into our new stores that opened up. And you can also get the same expert the next year, once you’ve used our full service.TRACY BYRNES: Yeah, and full disclosure, I have to, I have to admit, I have connected with your virtual team and they’ve been really, really helpful. So Lisa Greene-Lewis, thank you for sharing all that. This stuff is complicated. We have to take our time. We appreciate your insight.LISA GREENE-LEWIS: Thank you for having me. [MUSIC PLAYING]Related: Read next:
Walmart is selling a narrow 5-tier bookshelf with a drawer for only $34
TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.Why we love this dealHaving a bit of extra room in the home can help you stay organized and on task. You can make your life easier by having a small entryway shelf for your bag, keys, and favorite shoes, one shelf with all your TV accessories so you always know where the remote is, or extra space in your office to set important documents so they don’t get lost under other items. Whatever you need some extra space for, Walmart has a convenient and compact shelf that can help you stay organized.The Concetta 5-Tier Bookshelf is on sale for just $34, which is a steal for any type of storage shelf, especially one that’s rated 4.5 stars. It has both open and closed storage, and it’s small enough to fit where you need it. It’s convenient for items lying around the house, or for specific rooms.Concetta 5-Tier Bookshelf with Drawer, $34 (was $40) at Walmart
Courtesy of Walmart
Why do shoppers love it?The five shelves offer space for books, toys, office supplies, paperwork, bathroom accessories, or to show off decorations and hand-made items. The lowest shelf includes a cube drawer to use for smaller items, measuring 13.7 inches wide, 11.7 inches tall, and 10 inches deep. It’s great for keeping towels dust-free, hiding toilet paper rolls, or compiling your skincare and beauty items. It’s also useful for your TV and gaming accessories, like controllers, cables, or the remote control. Related: Amazon is selling the perfect Art Deco-inspired bathroom cabinet for just $50The whole unit measures 55 inches tall, 10.6 inches deep, and 15.35 inches wide, making it a perfect size for smaller areas like the closet, kitchen pantry, or entryway, but it offers a lot of vertical storage space. Additionally, it features stoppers at the top to prevent items from sliding off the back or the sides of the top shelf.Details to knowSizes: Shoppers can choose from a four-tier or five-tier unit.Color: Choose from black or Rustic brown.Weight capacity: Each shelf can hold up to 30 pounds. Each shelf can hold up to 30 pounds, offering an option for larger items like a record player, consoles, and more, and the included anti-tip hardware can put your mind at ease knowing your items are safe and secure. Plus, the whole unit also features adjustable foot pads, leveling the unit, and preventing items from sliding or rolling off. The material is waterproof, stain-resistant, and anti-scratch, offering a durable solution for sliding books on and off the shelf or even using it as a place to set down drinks. Shop more dealsConcetta End Table 2-Pack, $40 (was $60) at WalmartHomeYoobure 4-Tier Ladder Shelf, $38 (was $50) at WalmartMainstays Traditional 5-Shelf Bookcase for $63 (was $70) at WalmartWherever you need space, the Concetta 5-Tier Bookshelf with a Drawer offers a convenient storage solution that can fit into small places or add an addition to larger storage areas. The sturdy shelves can hold up to 30 pounds each, making it great for both smaller and larger items, and the storage drawer offers tons of room as an around-the-home catch-all for any random items lying about that haven’t found a home yet. This bookshelf is just $34 at Walmart, offering a super affordable storage solution for any home.
Target-Date Funds Continue Their Rapid Rise
Target-date strategies have grown into one of the largest segments of the US retirement market. In 2025, assets in target-date strategies climbed to $4.8 trillion, expanding 20.3% over the prior year as strong equity markets lifted portfolio values. Over the past decade, the industry has grown 11.9% annualized, reflecting both market appreciation and steady retirement-plan contributions. We explore these market trends and more in the recently released 2026 Target-Date Fund Landscape. Although the category has expanded rapidly, the market remains highly concentrated among a small group of asset managers. The five largest providers control roughly 80% of all target-date assets, underscoring the dominance of established firms in employer-sponsored retirement plans. Vanguard remains the industry leader by a wide margin, overseeing $1.8 trillion, or 37% of all target-date assets. Other major players hold strong positions in different vehicle types. Fidelity and Capital Group dominate in mutual fund offerings, while State Street and BlackRock have carved out leadership positions in collective investment trusts. Target-Date Market Evolves Through CITs and ConversionsTarget-date collective investment trusts surpassed mutual funds as the dominant vehicle in 2024, and the trend continued in 2025. By year-end, CITs held 54% of total target-date assets, up from 52% the prior year, fueled by lower costs and greater flexibility in large retirement plans. Target-date mutual funds are publicly available, highly regulated, and transparent, while target-date CITs are lower-cost, more flexible pooled vehicles mainly used inside large employer retirement plans (like 401(k)s), so someone might choose target-date mutual funds for accessibility and transparency even though CITs are often cheaper for big plans.All 21 new target-date series launched in 2025 were CITs, many based on existing mutual fund lineups from managers such as T. Rowe Price. Closures were modest, with six mutual fund series and four CIT series shutting down, most under $1 billion. Asset flows continued to favor the largest providers. Vanguard led in target-date asset growth in 2025, adding $35.9 billion in new assets, followed by Capital Group ($24.0 billion) and State Street ($22.2 billion). Conversions from mutual funds to CITs also played a key role, reflecting the ongoing shift toward lower-cost institutional vehicles and reinforcing CITs’ growing dominance in the market. Fee Competition Benefits Investors—Without Hurting ManagersFee competition continued to reshape the target-date market in 2025. The asset-weighted average expense ratio for target-date mutual funds fell to 27 basis points, down from 29 basis points in 2024 and roughly half the level from a decade ago. Lower fees directly benefit investors by leaving more of their retirement savings invested and compounding over time. Even small changes can add up. The 2-basis-point decline across more than $2 trillion in target-date mutual funds saved investors over $80 million in 2025. Despite lower fees, asset managers still saw revenue rise as assets continued to increase. Strong markets and steady retirement plan contributions pushed total target-date assets to $4.8 trillion, allowing managers to collect about $580 million more in revenue in 2025. The dynamic underscores a key feature of the asset management industry: In a rising market, falling fees don’t necessarily mean falling revenue. Investors benefited from lower fees, while asset managers still saw increased revenue.Glide Paths Become More Equity-Heavy Target-date portfolio construction has also evolved over the past decade. Managers have gradually increased equity allocations during the early saving years, reflecting longer time horizons and the goal of boosting long-term returns. By the end of 2025, the median equity allocation for investors 45 years from retirement reached 93%, up from 89% a decade earlier. As starting allocations have risen, glide paths for younger investors have become more similar across strategies, while differences remain more pronounced during the midcareer years. Managers have also modestly increased US equity exposure within global portfolios as US stocks have expanded to represent a larger share of global markets since the global financial crisis. Strong Market Returns Boost Target-Date Performance Target-date investors enjoyed strong performance in 2025 as global equities posted robust gains. Across vintages, most target-date strategies produced double-digit returns for the year. Portfolios with higher equity exposure and larger allocations to non-US stocks tended to perform particularly well. Global markets also played a major role. US stocks, represented by the S&P 500, rose 17.9% last year, while developed international stocks, measured by the MSCI EAFE Index, surged 31.2%. Several Fidelity target-date series stood out for their strong results. The firm’s funds claimed the top performance spots in both the 2060 and 2030 target-date categories, highlighting the impact of portfolio positioning during a year of strong equity performance. New Strategies and Analyst Coverage Morningstar Manager Research continues to expand its coverage of the target-date universe. As of December 2025, analysts assigned Medalist Ratings to 29 target-date mutual fund and ETF series and 33 target-date CIT series. Three new strategies entered coverage during the year, including the Gold-rated BlackRock LifePath Index Growth series. This strategy features a fully index-based design and maintains a 50% equity allocation at retirement, which is higher than the allocation used in the firm’s flagship LifePath Index lineup.
The Best REIT ETFs to Buy in 2026 for Income‑Focused Investors
Real estate investment trusts, or REITs, are popular long-term investments with income investors because of their attractive yields. Some investors own REITs as a way to diversify their investment portfolios, too. After lagging the broad US stock market during the past several years, REITs have staged a comeback in 2026. Rather than buy one or more REITs individually, income investors can get exposure to a collection of REITs through a real estate exchange-traded fund.What Is a Real Estate ETF?Real estate ETFs are managed products that invest in a basket of real estate operating companies and/or REITs. Real Estate Operating Companies (REOCs)Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)Trade on public exchangesTrade on public exchangesFocus on real estate development and building projectsManage a wide variety of properties and collect rentReinvest profits for growthDistribute income as dividendsThe biggest difference between the two is that REOCs typically reinvest profits back into their businesses, while REITs must pay out 90% of their taxable income to shareholders as dividends. As a result of their legal structure, REITs typically offer attractive yields, and that has made REITs the investment of choice for most real estate ETFs.ETFs that invest in real estate stocks can be simple one-stop solutions for a few reasons:REIT ETFs maintain a portfolio of real estate stocks and thereby provide instant diversification within the sector.REIT ETFs are, in general, low-cost.Real estate ETFs are easy to buy and sell; many of the best REIT ETFs are managed by popular asset managers with brokerage platforms.Those investors who’d like to get exposure to real estate stocks through an ETF have several highly rated REIT ETFs to choose from.The 5 Best REIT ETFs to Buy in 2026To come up with our list of the best REIT ETFs, we screened on the following:ETFs that land in one of Morningstar’s two real estate categories ETFs in those categories that earn Morningstar Medalist Ratings of Bronze or higher with 100% analyst coverage. All data is as of March 6, 2026. Dimensional US Real Estate ETF DFARSchwab US REIT ETF SCHHSPDR Dow Jones Global Real Estate ETF RWOVanguard Global ex-US Real Estate ETF VNQIVanguard Real Estate ETF VNQMorningstar expects the highly rated real estate ETFs on this list to outperform their peers over a full market cycle. But even though the funds on our list of the top REIT ETFs all focus on real estate, they practice very different strategies, and as a result, they can behave very differently from each other. Investors need to do some homework to understand exactly what a particular REIT ETF invests in before buying.Here are a couple of things for investors to think about as they research the funds on our list of top-rated REIT ETFs to buy.Do I want an active REIT ETF or a passive REIT ETF? Most real estate ETFs are passive investments, which means they’re tracking a particular index; there’s no manager actively picking stocks. Just one of the names on our list of top REIT ETFs is actively managed.Do I want an ETF that sticks with US REITs or one that includes non-US real estate stocks? Three of the funds on our list of top real estate ETFs focus on US real estate, one invests in US and non-US real estate, and one focuses exclusively on non-US real estate. Why go international with a real estate ETF? Geographical diversification, for one. Non-US real estate stocks often provide higher yields than their US counterparts, too.Here’s a quick look at each of the best REIT ETFs. Be sure to review an ETF’s complete report for more details.Dimensional US Real Estate ETFMorningstar Medalist Rating: GoldMorningstar Category: Real EstateActive or Index? ActiveIndex Tracked: N/AYield: 2.69%The only Gold-rated fund on our list of the best REIT ETFs to invest in, Dimensional US Real Estate ETF follows an active rules-based strategy that provides exposure to a broad swath of US REITs. A sound investment process and strong management team underpin the ETF’s high rating.Read Morningstar’s full report on Dimensional US Real Estate ETF.Schwab US REIT ETFMorningstar Medalist Rating: SilverMorningstar Category: Real EstateActive or Index? IndexIndex Tracked: Dow Jones Equity All REIT Capped IndexYield: 2.76%The first of several index funds on our list of the best real estate ETFs, Schwab US REIT provides pure exposure to domestic REITs. The Dow Jones Equity All REIT Capped Index includes liquid US REITs with market caps above $200 million and weights them by market capitalization. Read Morningstar’s full report on Schwab US REIT ETF.State Street SPDR Dow Jones Global Real Estate ETFMorningstar Medalist Rating: BronzeMorningstar Category: Global Real EstateActive or Index? IndexIndex Tracked: Dow Jones Global Select Real Estate Securities IndexYield: 3.27%The first global real estate fund on our list of REIT ETFs to buy, SPDR Dow Jones Global Real Estate ETF holds about 28% of its portfolio in non-US real estate. More than 90% of the index this ETF tracks comprises REITs. The Dow Jones Global Select Real Estate Securities Index includes large, liquid REITs and real estate operating companies from around the world weighted by market capitalization.Read Morningstar’s full report on SPDR Dow Jones Global Real Estate ETF.Vanguard Global Ex-US Real Estate ETFMorningstar Medalist Rating: BronzeMorningstar Category: Global Real EstateActive or Index? IndexIndex Tracked: S&P Global ex-US Property IndexYield: 4.25%The highest-yielding ETF on our list of the top real estate ETFs to buy, Vanguard Global ex-US Real Estate ETF excludes US REITs from its portfolio. Asian real estate securities dominate the portfolio, and, as a result, the fund’s category-relative performance can fluctuate with the broad Asia-Pacific market. Also notably, its portfolio is skewed more toward real estate stocks instead of REITs.Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Global ex-US Real Estate ETF.Vanguard Real Estate ETFMorningstar Medalist Rating: SilverMorningstar Category: Real EstateActive or Index? IndexIndex Tracked: MSCI US Investable Market Real Estate 25/50 IndexYield: 3.63%Vanguard Real Estate ETF is by far the most popular and largest name on our list of top REIT ETFs to buy. Its portfolio features REITs, as well as real estate management and development firms.Read Morningstar’s full report on Vanguard Real Estate ETF.Pros and Cons of Investing in REIT ETFsPros of REIT ETFsCons of REIT ETFsAttractive yields at a low costLess tax-efficient than other ETF typesA managed product with limited per-issue riskLess overall portfolio diversification than in the pastTend to do well when interest rates fall and/or the economy strengthensTend to underperform when interest rates rise and/or the economy weakensREIT ETFs provide investors with access to a diversified portfolio of real estate securities, thereby reducing per-issue risk. Real estate ETFs also tend to be low-cost and offer attractive yields.But given their income focus, REIT ETFs aren’t as tax-efficient as other types of ETFs that do not invest in dividend-paying stocks. Real estate ETFs typically perform best when interest rates are falling or when the economy is strengthening. They often underperform when interest rates rise or the economy weakens.Although real estate is often touted as a diversifier in an investment portfolio, recent research from Morningstar suggests that the asset class has become a less effective diversifier over time. “In the past, real estate has had relatively low correlations with the broader US equity market,” explains Morningstar portfolio strategist Amy Arnott. “In recent years, however, real estate has generally moved more in tandem with the broader US equity market.”How to Find More Top REIT ETFs to BuyUse these Morningstar resources to help find more REIT ETFs to research further:Review Morningstar’s list of Real Estate Medalist Funds, which includes top-rated ETFs and mutual funds.Research real estate ETFs based on your personal selection criteria by using our Morningstar Investor Screener. The tool, which is available to Morningstar Investor members, allows investors to screen and rank REIT ETFs based on various criteria.Interested in assembling your own basket of REITs instead of buying a REIT ETF? Review Morningstar’s list of The Best REITs to Buy. Visit Morningstar’s real estate sector page for the latest articles and videos about REITs.
Oil futures rise as traders await decision on reserves
Oil futures rose on Wednesday as traders awaited what could be a historic release of emergency government reserves to counter the disruption to supplies from the attack on Iran.