The Street

Nvidia reported earnings on Aug. 26. Wall Street expected it to beat. Bank of America was not particularly interested in that part of the story.

The firm’s note, published ahead of the report, was really about one thing: whether the market had correctly priced the scale of what Nvidia has been doing with its balance sheet.

The answer, according to Bank of America, was no. The results Nvidia delivered made that argument harder to dismiss.

Bank of America’s Buy rating and $350 Nvidia price target

In a note shared with TheStreet on Aug. 25, analyst Vivek Arya reiterated a Buy rating and a $350 price target on Nvidia, implying roughly 64% upside from where the stock was trading that day.

The note’s title says everything about where the firm directed investor attention: “Balance sheet disclosures could speak louder than EPS beat.”

ALSO READ: NVIDIA Corp. Q2 2027 Earnings: Live Updates of $NVDA Earnings Call, Forecast

Nvidia delivered revenue of $96.2 billion for the second fiscal quarter, up 106% year over year and well above consensus expectations of roughly $92 billion, according to Nvidia’s official earnings release. Data center revenue came in at $89 billion, up 117% year over year. Gross margin held at 75%.

“AI has reached its inflection point. It’s doing useful work. Its tokens are productive and profitable. Now, compute is revenue,” Jensen Huang said on the earnings call. “And demand is accelerating.”

Nvidia also returned roughly $26 billion to shareholders in the quarter through buybacks and dividends, with approximately $99 billion remaining under its buyback authorization.

What the market had not priced properly, Bank of America argued, was the scale of what Nvidia had committed financially to keep the AI ecosystem running.

Nvidia’s $300 billion AI capital commitments and balance sheet risk

Nvidia is no longer just selling chips. It is increasingly financing the companies that buy them.

Bank of America estimated total capital commitments of approximately $300 billion, split between roughly $70 billion in direct equity investments and roughly $230 billion in residual value guarantees and backstops.

The equity side covers much of the AI supply chain, according to CNBC. The largest single check was $30 billion for OpenAI. Beyond that, Nvidia has invested in Anthropic, Safe Superintelligence, Intel, CoreWeave, Nebius, Lumentum, Coherent, Marvell, Synopsys, Nokia, Corning, and others.

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The backstop commitments are the more unusual piece. A $105 billion backstop for SB Energy and a $125 billion backstop for a special-purpose vehicle involving six financial firms were both announced in August, as TheStreet reported.

Against those numbers, Bank of America estimated Nvidia could generate approximately $469 billion in free cash flow across the next two calendar years. The total committed capital represents roughly 64% of that figure.

In a scenario where AI demand stays strong, Nvidia may never have to absorb the full economic cost of those commitments at all.

The worst-case scenario, including purchase commitments and cloud service agreements, puts total obligations at approximately $500 billion. Even that figure represents only about 10% of Nvidia’s enterprise value.

Nvidia valuation de-rating and AMD comparison

Nvidia’s forward earnings multiple had collapsed by roughly 44% from its five-year historical median, putting it at less than half the forward multiple of AMD right now.

The most plausible explanation is that investors were treating the balance-sheet commitments as a tail risk and discounting accordingly.

Bank of America’s counter was that the market had de-rated Nvidia further than the actual worst-case math justified. The $96.2 billion revenue print and the $108 billion Q3 guidance give that counter argument more support than it had before the results landed, as TheStreet reported.

In a note shared with TheStreet on Aug. 25, analyst Vivek Arya reiterated a Buy rating and a $350 price target on Nvidia.Marcin/Getty Images

The Nvidia buyback case and the Apple comparison

The second catalyst Arya identified was buybacks. The comparison he drew was Apple.

Over more than a decade, Apple returned the vast majority of its free cash flow and retired roughly 43% of its shares outstanding. That buyback program put a floor under the stock and helped lift its valuation multiple from a low single-digit figure to the mid-twenties.

Nvidia currently returns roughly a third of its free cash flow to shareholders. Bank of America believes it could increase that to between half and three-quarters.

The $26 billion returned in Q2 alone, with $99 billion still in the buyback authorization, suggests the company already has the firepower to move in that direction.

By next year, Nvidia could be generating close to a billion dollars in free cash flow every single day. A larger buyback would give investors a second reason to hold the stock beyond the AI thesis alone.

What Nvidia’s earnings mean for its customer mix and investors

One data point the earnings call confirmed was the customer mix story. Amazon Web Services announced it will buy 2 million Nvidia GPUs and adopt the company’s new Vera CPU. That kind of hyperscaler commitment reinforces Nvidia’s customer breadth argument directly.

Nvidia’s CFO Colette Kress said capital expenditure among the top five hyperscalers is expected to increase to $1.3 trillion next year from $800 billion in 2026.

That is the demand backdrop Bank of America was betting on when it reiterated its Buy rating. The earnings report confirmed the bet was reasonable.

What happens to Nvidia’s balance-sheet commitments as that spending cycle plays out remains the more important question.

Related: Goldman Sachs spots huge twist ahead of Nvidia’s earnings

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Related: Amazon’s top-rated bed sheets that are as ‘soft as a cloud’ are only $13 for a limited time

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Refinancing mortgages can be a good option for some older homeowners, as it can save them money by lowering interest rates and monthly payments, and potentially changing some of the loan’s features. Put simply, refinancing is replacing the old mortgage with a new one. This can also enable older homeowners to tap into their home equity to sustain their retirement, or start renovations.

And the market is ballooning. In 2026, Redfin expects mortgage refinance volume to increase around 30%, with a total of $670 billion.

Read: HOA fees are soaring and retirees are feeling the squeeze

“More Americans will refinance largely because 20% of mortgaged homeowners have a rate above 6%, and those who bought recently with an elevated rate are chomping at the bit to bring their monthly payments down,” Redfin said in a report.

But a new Bankrate investigation found that some older homeowners may be paying significantly more than they should to refinance due to what it calls a “seniority tax.”

What is a Seniority Tax?

High-pressure sales tactics, misleading refinance pitches, and commission-driven lending practices are some of the culprits, according to the investigation.

Numbers speak for themselves: The analysis found that refinance applicants 55 and older overpay at rates nine percentage points higher than borrowers under 35. On average, lifetime overpayment amounts to 19% to 20% of the loan balance, or nearly $2,400 in 2025. Over a 30-year repayment period, it can add up to a whopping $52,000.

Bankrate home lending expert Linda Bell said that older Americans typically have longer credit histories and stronger credit scores, so you might expect them to qualify for the lowest refinancing costs.

However, Bankrate data shows the opposite is happening, she said.

“The older you are, the more likely you are to overpay. Our watchdog reporting found that aggressive sales tactics, combined with a reluctance to shop around and an aversion to technology, can leave many middle-aged and older borrowers paying more than they should,” Bell said. “While refinancing can be the right move for some, consumers should tune out the sales pressure to decide if it’s the right move for them.”

Red flags seniors should be wary of when they want to refinance

Egregious sales tactics

To conduct its research, Bankrate coupled its proprietary mortgage data with a watchdog investigation, including interviews with 12 home loan professionals and industry insiders, and an analysis of more than 230 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) complaints from older homeowners.

Bankrate lead watchdog reporter Andrew Pentis said the most egregious sales tactics they uncovered included convincing borrowers to refinance even if the benefits wouldn’t outweigh the costs. The most glaring example, he said, involved convincing a senior to refinance by offering him a skipped monthly payment he could use to visit his grandkids. 

“We liken these ‘deals’ to snake oil because there’s no genuine benefit to the consumer. The benefit is to the lender that gets a nice piece of business,” he said.

“The older you are, the more likely you are to overpay. Our watchdog reporting found that aggressive sales tactics, combined with a reluctance to shop around and an aversion to technology, can leave many middle-aged and older borrowers paying more than they should.”

Pushing lower monthly payments

A potential red flag is if a salesperson keeps bringing everything back to the monthly payment.

Steve Sexton, CEO of Sexton Advisory Group, said that if someone tells you they can save you hundreds of dollars a month, it could sound appealing at first.

“But what if you only have eight-10 years left on your mortgage and they’re putting you into a brand-new 30-year loan? Your payment goes down, but now you may be paying interest for another 20 years,” Sexton said.

Pressure to move quickly

Another suspicious sign is pressure to move quickly.

Sexton said that if someone tells you the deal is only good today or that you need to sign right away, that should make you slow down, not speed up.

What can older homeowners do not to fall prey to these tactics

Screen your calls

Pentis said their reporting shows that some national lenders operate call-center-style sales floors that cold-call borrowers all day long, and, unfortunately, older homeowners are more likely to pick up.

“So, one tip is to screen your calls, and remember that refinancing, like other financial products, isn’t necessarily the best move just because a salesperson says it is,” he said.

Shop around

In addition, older homeowners are more susceptible to overpaying on mortgage refinancings because they’re more likely to maintain long-standing relationships with their financial institutions, he added.

His advice: if you’ve decided that refinancing is right for your situation, compare at least three to five different types of lenders to increase your odds of negotiating the lowest rate, but also the best overall loan.

Cody Schuiteboer, president and CEO of Best Interest Financial, echoed the sentiment, noting that you should never accept just one quote for the same loan and the same day.

Instead, always compare the full package of terms, rates, points, and fees, not just the monthly payment.

“By forcing the banks to compete, you neutralize the overpayment issue almost completely,” he said.

Pay attention to the fine print

In addition to shopping around, Sexton also urged you to make sure you’re comparing the same type of loan, because one lender may be showing you a lower rate with much higher upfront costs.

In turn, make sure you pay attention to points and fees, as sometimes a lender will advertise an attractive rate, but you’re paying a lot upfront to get it, he said.

And this may or may not make sense depending on how long you plan to stay in the home, Sexton said.

“I’d also focus less on “how much will my payment go down?” and more on “what is this actually going to cost me?” Look at the closing costs, the new loan term and how long it will take you to break even. If you’re spending $8,000 to refinance and only saving $200/month, it takes more than three years just to get your money back,” he added.

Be aware of additional fees

Refinancing is replacing an existing mortgage with a new one, so borrowers incur all the costs associated with obtaining a new mortgage.

These include administrative and third-party fees, an application fee, an origination fee, an appraisal fee, credit report fees, and underwriting fees, according to Freddie Mac.

While total closing costs vary, they generally range from 2% to 6% of the new loan amount.

“So, for a $300,000 mortgage, closing costs can be 18,000,” home equity expert Michael Micheletti, chief communications officer at Unlock, said. “Many people who don’t have that kind of out-of-pocket money hear that they can “roll the closing costs into” the new loan amount, and do so. Again, it doesn’t affect the interest rate, but since the loan balance is larger, you pay more total interest over the life of the loan.”

Ask for advice

If you’re not sure whether refinancing is right for you, or if you fear you might be at risk of overpaying, consider talking to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development certified housing counselor, financial advisor or knowledgeable family member or friend who doesn’t have a stake in your refinancing application, Bankrate’s Pentis said.

And experts agree that homeowners should never feel rushed.

“Just because a lender says you qualify for a refinance doesn’t mean refinancing is the right move,” Sexton said.

This story written for TheStreet by Nifty 50+

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent moved fast to calm the bond market this month. Two of the biggest names on Wall Street just moved just as fast to say it probably will not be enough. A rebuttal that landed within days of his own announcement.

The pushback lands at an awkward moment for Bessent. The national debt just hit a fresh milestone and a closely watched Federal Reserve speech is only days away. Both developments raise the stakes for whatever the Treasury decides to do next.

Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo doubt the buyback plan

Interest rate strategists at Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo both said the Treasury Department’s expanded bond buybacks will do little to reverse the recent jump in long-term yields. Rates on 10- and 30-year Treasuries briefly dropped after the announcement, then rose again, erasing much of the initial relief, Bloomberg reported.

Goldman Sachs strategists George Cole and William Marshall wrote in an August 21 research note that the buyback expansion “does not address what we see as the main sources of recent long-end volatility.” They added that the buybacks are “unlikely to meaningfully reset rate levels even if scaled up.”

Wells Fargo strategists led by Erik Nelson made a similar case in their own August 21 note, arguing that lowering long-end yields would require macroeconomic shifts rather than Treasury market operations. They pointed to a slowdown in growth and inflation, less uncertainty around Federal Reserve policy, fiscal consolidation, or a decline in investment-grade corporate bond issuance as the kinds of catalysts actually needed to move yields lower.

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Wells Fargo Investment Institute co-head of global fixed income Luis Alvarado offered a blunter version of the same warning, saying the Treasury’s move should provide only “short-term relief” since the underlying drivers behind higher yields remain firmly in place. “So until investors gain greater clarity on those big issues, not the little Band-Aid that was put on today, the risks to long-term trends still remain skewed to the upside,” he told Reuters.

JPMorgan Chase senior research analyst Maia Crook wrote in a client note that the interventions “belie the underlying structural challenges and do nothing to address them.” She warned that higher risk premia may prove the more durable consequence if investors see the Treasury moving away from regular and predictable issuance.

Why Bessent doubled down on Treasury buybacks

The skepticism follows a genuinely aggressive move from Treasury. On August 19, the department said it would at least double the size of its liquidity-support buybacks for 10- to 30-year debt, raising the per-operation cap from $2 billion to at least $4 billion. The Treasury had previously doubled the frequency from two to four operations per quarter, TheStreet reported.

Bessent made the move after the 30-year Treasury yield hit 5.34% on August 18, its highest level in 19 years. Long yields initially fell nine basis points on the announcement and stocks rallied, but by August 20 nearly all of that reaction had unwound, according to CNBC.

Bessent has insisted he still has room to act further. He has referenced having a “big toolkit” at his disposal and may draw on the Treasury General Account, which holds a substantial cash reserve, to buy securities outright. Not everyone views that additional firepower as reassuring. JPMorgan’s rates team has warned that a surprise intervention from the Treasury’s long-standing commitment to regular and predictable debt management could actually raise the term premium investors demand, rather than lower it.

The skepticism follows a genuinely aggressive move from Treasury.Angela/Getty Images

The debt numbers behind Wall Street’s skepticism

The scale mismatch is central to Wall Street’s doubts. The Treasury market is worth roughly $32 trillion, making a doubling of buybacks to $4 billion per operation close to negligible against the overall size of the market.

That mismatch looks even starker against the backdrop of the national debt itself. Outstanding public debt crossed $40 trillion on August 18, the same day the buyback announcement landed, a milestone reached roughly four and a half years after debt first topped $30 trillion, according to TheStreet.

Analysts have also flagged a structural wrinkle in how the buybacks actually work. Treasury is repurchasing longer-duration bonds while simultaneously issuing more shorter-dated bills. A swap that eases near-term pressure on the long end without reducing the government’s overall debt load.

Societe Generale, Deutsche Bank and Scotiabank strategists have all raised concerns about continued pressure on longer-dated yields, leaving the yield curve vulnerable to further steepening. That steepening pressure has already shown up in how long-dated Treasury yields have traded since the announcement.

What this means for the Treasury’s next move

For the Treasury, the episode highlights a tension between tactical market intervention and the deeper fiscal picture driving yields higher in the first place. Evercore ISI analysts have praised Bessent’s tactical skill as an activist Treasury secretary, even while questioning whether the relief can last given what they call a coming tidal wave of maturing debt and deficits.

The timing puts extra weight on Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh’s keynote address at Jackson Hole on August 28. With the debt now above $40 trillion, investors are watching for any signal on whether the Fed sees itself sharing responsibility with Treasury for managing long-term borrowing costs.

Goldman, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, Societe Generale, Deutsche Bank, Scotiabank. The list of firms saying the same thing keeps getting longer. Buybacks buy time. They do not fix a deficit. They do not fix inflation. And until one of those actually improves, the pressure on long-end yields is not going anywhere.

Related: Scott Bessent just made a bold move on the bond market

OpenAI may have delayed its debut as a publicly traded company to 2027, but the artificial intelligence leader still has big expansion plans in 2026 and beyond.

CFO Sara Friar recently told employees that OpenAI will be a public company in 2027, or possibly sooner, CNBC reported. But in the meantime, the company is working on preparing for a usage inflection that will need an untold amount of computing power.

Earlier this month, Nvidia agreed to provide a guarantee of up to $105 billion to help OpenAI lease a data center in Ohio being developed by SB Energy, a SoftBank entity. In the artificial intelligence world, one hand is always washing the other, so Nvidia’s guarantee backs up the $500 million OpenAI and SoftBank each pledged to invest in SB Energy.

That investment is part of the four-year, $500 billion Stargate Project that OpenAI will use to build out AI infrastructure, including data centers, across the world.

The man tasked with overseeing that massive, world-changing project left the company this week, marking yet another high-ranking executive to leave OpenAI recently.

OpenAI data center head leaves company

Just a year and a half after joining the company, Chris Malone, OpenAI’s head of data centers, is leaving the company about a year and a half after joining the company.

Malone spent a decade focused on data center infrastructure at Meta and Google before joining OpenAI last March, but now he becomes the fourth OpenAI executive to depart the company in August alone.

“We recently reorganized our infrastructure organization to support the scale and pace of our work,” OpenAI told CNBC while adding that the company has an experienced team in place to continue the expansion work.

Related: OpenAI picks perfect moment to childproof ChatGPT

According to Data Center Dynamics, OpenAI divided its compute and infrastructure teams into three distinct groups in March: designing data centers, commercial partnerships with cloud providers and chip companies, and managing data centers already in use.

Sachin Katti, formerly of Intel, was brought in to manage everything related to Stargate in a role that he continues to hold, according to DCD. Meanwhile, Spas Lazarov, who joined the company in 2025 after previously working for Apple, was named head of data center engineering in January. Former xAI member Brent Mayo has been named head of data center build and delivery.

Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images

OpenAI executive exodus continues

In December, OpenAI appointed Denise Dresser, formerly the CEO of Slack, as its chief revenue officer. On August 13, the company announced that she was leaving the role “to pursue other opportunities,” just eight months into her tenure.

Days prior, chief operating officer Brad Lightcap announced he was leaving the company after nearly nine years with OpenAI. Lightcap said he was leaving to start a new venture.

Fidji Simo joined the company in May 2025. She was considered the company’s second in command behind CEO Sam Altman. But she stepped down this summer, transitioning from her full-time role to that of a “part-time advisor” due to the flare-up of a chronic illness that she says she’s been living with for seven years.

While the departures may appear alarming on the surface, OpenAI president Greg Brockman dismissed those concerns during an interview with CNBC earlier this month, calling the departures not “actually that atypical.”

“I actually think that the difference between OpenAI and other organizations is that we are so much in the spotlight, so every departure gets scrutinized in a way that it doesn’t otherwise,” he said.

AI data center opposition gets organized

While Malone has not publicly disclosed the reason for his departure, it has undeniably become harder for tech companies to build out the data center infrastructure they need due to public opposition.

More than 500 counties or municipalities across the U.S. actively restrict or block new data centers from being built, according to a review by Heatmap. While there are more than 3,000 counties across the country, the rate of restrictions has increased in 2026.

The more than 500 counties counted by Heatmap include only those with the “most severe constraints,” including steep setback requirements, noise limits that make operations impossible, and outright bans on permit approvals.

Perhaps most concerning for AI evangelists who have been working to change public perception about the technology, the “overwhelming majority” of those restrictions have been enacted since the beginning of the year.

Nearly 190 have been passed since June 1, and the pace of moratoriums is accelerating, Peter Freed, a founding partner at the Near Horizon Group and the former director of energy strategy at Meta, told Heatmap.

So far this year, more than 50 planned data centers have already been canceled after facing pushback from locals, more than twice as many as were canceled in all of 2025.

Related: Public outcry over data centers has banks recalculating risk

In this interview, Andrew G. Biggs, PhD., Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, explains why the number of workers without a 401(k) or other formal retirement plan doesn’t tell the whole story. He discusses how age, income, student loans, homeownership, inflation, and other financial priorities influence when people save.

Subscribe To “Broadcast Retirement Network” On YouTube For Aging, Finance, Lifestyle, Privacy, Retirement, and Wellness programming Monday through Sunday at 7:30 AM ET.

Transcript:

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Welcome back. We are joined this morning by Dr. Andrew Biggs. He’s a senior fellow of the American Enterprise Institute.

Dr. Biggs, welcome back to the program.

Andrew G. Biggs, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

My pleasure. Thank you.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Did you see how it feels like deja vu? We were doing this yesterday. And just to recap for our audience, you know, yesterday we talked about, we started getting into the numbers.

I had run some data using Claude 4.8, which I think is one of the higher powered artificial intelligence tools that’s out there. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t know. It’s changing every millisecond.

We got as far as coverage. So let’s pick up the conversation now. I’d love to talk to you about the uncovered number, because what I’m trying to get to, I want to be upfront with you in the audience, is that, you know, people say there’s a retirement crisis.

And I’m trying to understand what that means. So let’s talk about those that are uncovered. So based on the data that I pulled, about 47 million people, and this is based on that employed population, about 134 million, 47 million people are uncovered or don’t have a retirement plan account of any type.

Your thoughts?

Andrew G. Biggs, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

Well, I mean, it’s the question, let’s assume the numbers is accurate. It’s, you know, as I said, in yesterday’s session, a lot of these data on retirement are very soft in terms of quality, but let’s assume it’s accurate. You want to know who those people are.

If you’re a high income person, and you’re reaching retirement age, you have zero retirement savings of any type, okay, that’s probably a problem for you. If let’s say you’re a younger person, just straight out of college, and you know, textbook economics says you shouldn’t be saving much for retirement, you probably aren’t saving much for retirement. If you don’t have a retirement plan, it doesn’t matter very much.

Similarly, think about low income workers, people who are sort of in the 20% of what you call the lifetime earnings distribution. These are people with clearly lower earnings. According to the Congressional Budget Office, Social Security overplays, you know, 75%, sometimes higher of their pre retirement earnings.

So should they be saving at all? The answer probably is no. So it is some people think about these data, and they say, well, 100% of people should be saving for retirement 100% of the time.

And just a moment’s thought says that’s not correct. But then you start thinking, well, what is the correct number? And it’s not super clear.

But my point is that the fact that say half of people are not saving for retirement at any given time is not itself proof that people are under saving for retirement.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Okay, so isn’t it true that the some of the lower income workers, maybe younger people that are 18 to 24, just getting started in career, I think this is to your point, they’re going to be contributing to Social Security. Whether it’s around for them, that’s a whole nother debate that we’ll have to have another day in time with your colleagues from different associations. But don’t people move to different strata.

So you start off when you first enter the workforce, unless you’re some kind of genius, you have no experience. So you start off working at a very lower wage until you gain experience, and then you presumably would get more experience, your wages will go up. So isn’t that you’re kind of looking at things in a very staticky way.

So some of these people will move to higher incomes and then be in a position to save. Some will not, but some will.

Andrew G. Biggs, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

Sure. And this is sort of financial planning people and economists, policy researchers are on the same page more often than not. But one area where they often differ is financial planners will often say something like, you should be enrolled in your company’s 401k from day one, contribute as much as you can, max it out, whatever.

And that’s not what economists think. It’s the sort of workhorse model for economists think that retirement is called the life cycle model. It gets complicated.

But what it basically predicts is that people will want to smooth their consumption, have roughly the same standard of living from one year to the next. You don’t want to have periods of feast and famine, you want something fairly smooth. What that implies for retirement savings is precisely what you just mentioned.

When you start out in your career and you’re young and your earnings are low, you’re not really going to save much for retirement. But as you gain experience and your salary rises, you just save more and more. What that implies for your income after the savings are taken away is it tends to be fairly smooth.

And there’s data that shows us. And so it’s one of those things the simple fact that, you know, a 25 year old is not saving for retiring. He could just be he read his economics textbook.

He’s following what the Nobel Prize winners say you should do. And yet often you’ll hear people sort of scolding them saying, oh, you should be saving. Well, that’s that’s one point of view, but it’s not necessarily the correct one.

So you can’t necessarily infer too much from these sort of raw statistics. You want to know where people end up in retirement and the data on retirement incomes and data on financial security and retirement tell you that however people did it, most people who enter retirement seem to think they did it well in the sense they are financially secure.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

So don’t you think because there’s obviously there’s a lot of research out there and you see this stuff. It’s not necessarily coming from your organization, but you see this stuff where people aren’t saving enough or they need to buy this product or that product. So.

Where does like things where do things like student loan debt, which is ballooned, people have to pay off their loans, where does that kind of factor into the equation? Because, again, I didn’t you know, I’m a simple guy. So I just as Claude, very, very simple answers.

And we can you know, maybe we’ll circle back at the end of this conversation and you can help me like, what did I miss? But where do things like student loan debt, buying a home, having a family, other things that you you you do during your life, where do those factor into this equation of data?

Andrew G. Biggs, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

Sure. It’s early in your career. Often people want to pay off their student loans.

They want to build up a down payment for home. Both of those are saving. Reducing your debt is the same as saving, building up that down payment is saving.

So they’re going to focus on those things that are important to them and to the detriment often of participating in their employer’s retirement plan. So it doesn’t mean they’re saving, they’re not saving, doesn’t mean they’re not saving enough. In other words, it just doesn’t it doesn’t tell you all that much, but it does give you an idea why they might not be participating in a 401k.

Once they get say to their mid-30s around age 40, often they’ve they purchased a home so they just have a monthly mortgage payment to make. They paid off their student loans. That’s when the retirement saving really tends to kick in.

So it’s when you look at the data of how saving rates as a percentage of income change over people’s working careers, you know, it all kind of makes sense. It’s pretty much as economics would predict it to be. But it’s just people, you know, get this idea, you’re going to be saving 100% of the time and they’ve got some explanation for it.

And it’s, you know, it’s not going to kill you if you do that. The point is, it’s not a reason to panic if people aren’t doing it.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Yeah, well, I mean, if you can afford to do it, and these are obviously very challenging times for many of us in terms of affordability, people are putting more of their money towards gasoline and food and home and all those, you know, their kids expenses, etc. So I think that probably, I guess I’ll ask you, that probably plays a role in decision making as well. It’s not, I guess my question is, it’s not a zero-sum game where either save or you don’t save.

It seems like people know what to do and maybe I’m not reading the room correctly. But maybe they, they’re not stupid. They know they need to save for a rainy day.

Sure.

Andrew G. Biggs, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

And I mean, something like gas prices or, you know, inflation, the reaction of how that should affect your savings or retirement really depends on whether you think those higher prices are temporary or permanent. If you think high prices are temporary, and they’re going to come down again, well, then you should save less today and save more in the future. If you think those higher prices are permanent, then it shouldn’t affect your retirement saving very much.

It’s, you know, that’s just the environment you’re living in. So it’s, you know, one thing to bear in mind in all this is, you know, we have all this discussion today, Americans aren’t saving enough for retirement. But if you go to Department of Labor data, you can find data on the amount of contributions going into private sector retirement plans, and that includes both employer and employee contributions.

And you can compare them to total wages and salaries in the private sector, meaning not just the wages and salaries that people are enrolled in plans, but everybody. So you get two pretty reliable numbers, and you divide them, you get contributions as percentage of wages and salaries. If you go back to 1970s, when traditional pensions were at their peak, total contributions to retirement plans in 1975, were something like 5.8% of total wages and salaries. Today, there’s somewhere around 8.5% of wages and salaries. And that’s for two reasons. First is a 401k is a much more numerous amount of coverage is higher today than it was in the past.

Second, with a retirement account like 401k, both the employer and the employee pay in, whereas the traditional pensions only the employer paid in. So, you know, just, you know, objectively, we are saving more for retirement today than we did in the past. So often, that’s just against the perception, people will, if pressed, will acknowledge that retirees today are, are doing pretty well, but they’ll say, Oh, but we’re not saving.

And you know, today’s workers are not saving up for retirement, like what we’re saving more as a percentage of our salaries than people did in the past significantly more. So it’s just, you know, that you try to get the idea of where we’ve been and where we’re going. And you know, that this the way of summarizing is, you know, more workers saving more for retirement than any time in history.

And that is true. And not only the history of the United States, but the history of the world, I would imagine, right? I mean, big retirement savers, if you look at sort of OECD data, total retirement plan assets in the US are about 130% of GDP.

There are a couple countries that are higher, essentially, because they have sort of privatized social security programs. I mean, it’s like Australia or the Netherlands. You know, they’re, they’re essentially their, their pay as you go programs are kind of small, their funded programs are high, but compare the US say to France, and retirement savings, they’re about 12% of GDP, somewhere around that.

I mean, we, we save much more than the typical developed country for retirement. So it’s, you know, it’s just something it doesn’t, you don’t want to be Pollyanna-ish about, doesn’t mean everybody’s guaranteed to be happy. But it means we’re, by and large, doing a pretty good job.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

So are there lessons, let’s, in the last minute and a half, two minutes, are there lessons or takeaways for our friends in the retirement industry, the financial services industry, and also policymakers, people on the Hill?

Andrew G. Biggs, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

Well, one lesson is people sort of have to chill out. The simple fact you’re not having a retirement plan today, isn’t, isn’t a reason to panic. But even, and this is just an interesting factoid, I use Federal Reserve data, and I looked at retirees who had no retirement plan at all, no pension, no 401k, no IRA, most of them were doing pretty well.

And the reason for that is some of them are very low income, so there’s high replacement rate from Social Security. Others tended to be small businessmen, farmers, they owned assets that were producing income, even in retirement, even if they didn’t have a formal retirement plan. So we need to think broadly about these things.

Often we think retirement income is going to come Social Security to 401k. In the reality, people get income from a lot of different places. And so we just have to be a little bit more nuanced and be willing to dig a little bit deeper.

Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network

Yeah, really important. You know, I guess TBD, right, because it’s an ongoing exercise. These numbers will change over time.

It’ll be interesting to see Dr. Biggs next year when they do the survey, what the impact of some of the inflation that we’ve experienced. I wonder if anyone’s done like the research, retirement savings and coverage and tied it to, you know, plotted it against inflation. I guess we’ll have to find out.

Dr. Biggs, really appreciate you sticking around for two episodes of the program. Always great to talk to you. And look, when your next article comes out, we’ll bring you on for a third time this month.

Certainly appreciate it. And you’re welcome back on the program anytime, sir.

Andrew G. Biggs, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

Thank you very much.

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Why we love this deal

Bedrooms are arguably one of the most important places in a home you can decorate. As a place where you sleep and rest, it’s crucial to make it comfortable and relaxing. One of the best ways to do so is with a new comforter set. However, we all know how pricey that can be. Luckily, bed-in-a-bag comforter sets come with practically everything you need to make over your bed, and they can be affordable, too.

Amazon is filled with comforter sets available in a range of prices, with both affordable and expensive options to choose from. If you want an expensive look with a budget-friendly price, the CozyLux 7-Piece Vertical Quilted Comforter Set is the perfect choice. The queen-size, beige color is on sale for only $30, which is 25% off its original $40 price tag. It’s an incredible deal for all of the pieces you get.

CozyLux 7-Piece Vertical Quilted Comforter Set, $30 (was $40) at Amazon

Courtesy of Amazon

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Why do shoppers love it?

This seven-piece comforter set provides all the bedding essentials needed to change the look of your bedroom. A queen-size set comes with a comforter, two shams, a flat sheet, a fitted sheet that can fit a mattress up to 14 inches high, and two pillowcases. Since many standard comforter sets come with three pieces and cost just as much, if not more, it’s an affordable way to upgrade your bedding. 

Crafted from high-density microfiber with down-alternative fill, both made of polyester, the comforter has an ideal thickness that can be used all year long. During the final weeks of summer, you can get away with using it on its own. When it gets colder, you can easily layer it with blankets or quilts to get extra warmth. 

One of our favorite features about this comforter set is the design. With vertical channel stitches, it has a quilted appearance that makes it look more modern than a standard comforter. While simple, it looks high-end, adding a hint of style.

Related: Amazon’s $50 farmhouse storage cabinet has 2 barn doors and an adjustable shelf

Details to know

Sizes: Twin, twin XL, full, queen, oversized queen, king, California king, oversized king, super king, and super king plus.

Colors: 21.

Material: Polyester.

Amazon shoppers raved about the comforter set, highlighting everything from the material to the design. One shopper called it “so soft and dreamy, saying the comforter is fluffier than other options and remains fluffy even after washing and drying. “The best comforter I have purchased in a long time,” they added.

“The perfect blend of luxury and cozy comfort at an affordable price,” a shopper said. “It is incredibly soft, comfortable, and feels great to sleep under. The quality exceeded my expectations, and it has a luxurious look that makes it seem much more expensive than it actually is.” Another customer emphasized the comforter’s design, saying it has a “high-end look” with its stitching.

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Sasttie 7-Piece Comforter Set, $34 (was $40) at Amazon

Bedsure 7-Piece Comforter Set, $36 (was $54) at Amazon

Himeet 7-Piece Comforter Set, $27 (was $43) at Amazon

The CozyLux 7-Piece Vertical Quilted Comforter Set is on sale for only $30, but only for a limited time.

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Why we love this deal

As much as we love the pile of shoes in our closet, a lot of styles are seasonal, which means we only get a certain amount of time each year to wear them out. Sneakers, though, are a 365-day shoe that are stylish, supportive, and perfect for summer, fall, winter, and spring. Great for a trip to the gym or a dinner out with friends, most sneakers are equipped with special technology to comfort your feet, relieve toe and heel pain, and offer adequate arch support through it all, and the AOV Orthotic Sneakers are just one of the many pairs on the market that do that.

The $70 sneakers, which are specially designed to address common shoe problems and concerns, are on sale at Walmart for 40% off. Available in a variety of colors, not all styles are marked down in the same way, but most of them have some sort of discount applied to help you save some money when it comes to shoe shopping. Take advantage of this incredible deal and grab your own pair just in time to break them in come fall. 

AOV Orthotic Sneakers, $42 (was $70) at Walmart

Courtesy of Walmart

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Why do shoppers love it?

These bestsellers address the complaints from sneakerheads about toe pinching, chafing, rubbing, and less-than-adequate support. A standard design won’t cut it when it comes to comfort, so these sneakers are specially designed with a few key features to make sure you can wear them for hours with no irritation or pain. 

The sneaker has a wide toe box, which promotes a more natural toe spread, minimizing squeezing and friction, which helps relieve toe valgus, flat feet, and bunions. The interior also has an adjustable, removable orthotic insole that provides exceptional arch support and cushioning with a deep heel cup, helping reduce fatigue and discomfort when you’re walking for long periods of time. The cherry on top is the innovative air cushion technology, which provides great shock absorption and extra cushioning, reducing impact on your feet and joints. Whether you’re running and standing all day, these design features will make all the difference in reducing strain and pain on your feet, legs, and back. 

The sneakers are made from a leather and mesh upper, which makes them not only cool to look at but also it’s what helps keep your feet dry and protected from the elements. Even the orthotic insole is breathable to promote airflow and prevent overheating inside your shoe. The sneakers are equipped with a non-slip rubber outsole which delivers consistent stability and a secure grip on all types of surfaces, whether that be the track, treadmill, concrete, or grass. 

Related: Adidas marked down its popular sneakers that feel like you’re ‘walking on a cloud’ to just $36

With 17 colors to choose from and sizes ranging from 6.5 through 11, there’s a set of sneakers for everyone. Since they are designed as a women’s shoe, if you typically use men’s sizing, make sure to reference the sizing chart to find the proper size. These kicks prove you don’t have to be designer-made to be pain-free while walking, standing, or working out. 

Details to know

Material: Leather, mesh, and rubber. 

Colors: 17.

Sizes: 6.5 through 11. 

“Life-changing shoes for me,” one shopper said. “I’ve had such success with these shoes that I’m pain-free for the first time in decades.” They are roomy and comfortable, and the wider toe box makes all the difference when walking, running, or standing for extended periods of time. “Most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn,” another shopper said. 

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Sweechee Cork Footbed Sandals, $22 (was $37) at Walmart

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The start of a new season is the perfect time to add a few new pairs of shoes to your closet, and at $42, the AOV Orthotic Sneakers should be one of them. 

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Why we love this deal

Not everyone is as handy as they’d like to be when it comes to home repairs, but it’s a skill that is important whether you live in a house, apartment, condo, or even a college dorm. Knowing how to tinker and toy with the smaller maintenance projects in your home doesn’t just save you money to put towards the bigger ones when you need a professional. It’s also good to know how to quickly fix, adjust, tighten, or loosen your home appliances so you’re not waiting around for someone else to do the job. And contrary to popular belief, you don’t need an extensive toolkit or high-level machines to do these small DIY projects. The Craftsman Mechanics Tool Set is the compact but versatile kit that provides the basics and a helpful carrying case to keep it all contained. 

The $30 kit, now on sale for 51% off, is at a 365-day low price at Amazon, meaning there’s no better time to add one to your cart. It’s affordable, easy-to-use, and only $15, but there’s no telling when this incredible discount will end, so hurry now to get one.

Craftsman Mechanics Tool Set, $15 (was $30) at Amazon

Courtesy of Amazon

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Why do shoppers love it?

In this 10-piece set, you get a low-profile ⅜-inch drive ratchet along with nine metric sockets, also known as interchangeable head fixtures, of varying sizes. There’s a bonus 11th piece — the helpful and handy carrying case that doubles as storage when you aren’t using the set. 

For those unfamiliar, a drive ratchet is a handheld tool used primarily for tightening or loosening nuts and bolts. Smaller metric sockets are great for fixing small bolts, trim pieces, and light fixtures, whereas larger ones are used for adjusting heavy machinery, bikes, suspension components, and heavy-duty mechanical parts. With this kit, you can adjust a bolt on your kitchen mixer, adjust a mismatched piece in the lawnmower, and fix the pipes when a small leak occurs.

Both the ratchet and sockets are made with a corrosion-resistant alloy steel in a high-polish chrome finish. The specialized material has incredible strength and durability, able to absorb high-impact shocks without cracking or breaking. The drive ratchet delivers a five-degree arc swing, meaning it provides smooth movement in tight spots, allowing you to swing and move the handle back a great deal without needing to relock and turn the bolt again. The sockets are specially made with a six-point design to provide even more torque and grip. All 10 pieces have a molded slot in the convenient case, which is made of blow-molded plastic. 

Related: Amazon’s $40 166-piece tool set is a DIYer’s dream that can fix practically anything

Although these tools are certainly made to stand up and last over time, the set comes with a full lifetime warranty from Craftsman. This covers any defects in materials and workmanship for the life of the product, which means the brand will replace your set for free if any of these issues arise. 

Details to know

Material: Alloy steel and plastic. 

Dimensions: The set includes a ⅜-inch drive ratchet and metric sockets measuring 10 millimeters, 11 millimeters, 12 millimeters, 13 millimeters, 14 millimeters, 15 millimeters, 16 millimeters, 17 millimeters, and 18 millimeters wide. The case measures 8.46 inches long, 6.46 inches wide, and 2.01 inches high.

Weight: 2.01 pounds.

Warranty: Lifetime.  

“A high-value must-have for the car or junk drawer,” this set provides quality tools at a low cost. Shoppers are surprised at how nice the ratchet and sockets are, and how well they work, requiring little to no hand strain. “The full lifetime warranty is what pushes it above the endless unbranded emergency kits for me,” one shopper said. The compact storage case is a big bonus for a lot of shoppers who appreciate that it helps keep all 10 pieces organized and easy to find. 

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DeWalt 192-Piece Mechanics Tool Set, $165 (was $290) at Amazon

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Workpro 2-Piece Adjustable Wrench Set, $18 (was $20) at Amazon

You might not consider a Craftsman Mechanics Tool Set a must-buy, but for only $15, it provides everything you need for emergency repairs and home projects, which is more than worth it for peace of mind. 

Apple has been one of the few companies to remain largely unaffected by the round of layoffs at Big Tech.

But marking another targeted workforce reduction at a company that has largely avoided the sweeping layoffs seen across Big Tech, Apple is cutting more than 200 jobs across teams.

These teams include employees working on Siri, artificial intelligence, and Vision Pro. 

The cuts affect about 100 positions in Apple’s Vision Pro organization and roughly another 100 across Siri and software teams, Bloomberg reported. 

A newly filed California WARN notice, reviewed by TheStreet, now provides a more detailed look at part of the reduction.

Apple said it will permanently eliminate 147 positions across three Bay Area locations: 

79 jobs at One Apple Park Way in Cupertino

28 at 599 N. Mathilda Avenue in Sunnyvale

40 at 605 W. Maude Avenue in Sunnyvale

The separations are expected to occur on Oct. 19 and Oct. 20, 2026. The affected employees are not represented by a union and do not have contractual bumping rights.

The filing shows the cuts include software development engineers, machine-learning and AI/ML roles, computer-vision engineers, engineering program managers, and AR/VR software developers. 

The two Sunnyvale sites alone account for more than 30 AR/VR software-development positions.

The cuts come only months after another Apple workforce reduction previously reported by TheStreet.

Apple planned to close its Towson Town Center store in Maryland in June, affecting 78 employees. 

The closure drew an unfair labor practice complaint from the union representing workers, which accused Apple of denying them transfer opportunities given to employees at other closing stores.

Apple disputed those allegations and said the Towson closure was tied to conditions at the mall. 

Apple’s previous known reductions were in November 2025, when the company eliminated some sales positions, and in 2024, when more than 600 workers were affected after Apple ended its electric-car project.

These new cuts land inside two businesses Apple has spent years positioning as part of its future: artificial intelligence and spatial computing.

Apple is rebuilding Siri

The Siri reductions arrive less than three months after Apple introduced an entirely rebuilt version of its digital assistant at the Worldwide Developers Conference.

TheStreet reported in June that Apple’s AI strategy was facing a crucial test at WWDC after years of investor concern that the company had fallen behind rivals in generative AI. 

More Layoffs:

Samsung cuts jobs as it shifts U.S. headquarters

Another popular soda giant closes warehouse operation, cuts 184 jobs

Meta layoffs take disturbing turn in new lawsuit

Bank of America had identified a more capable Siri, agentic AI, on-device models, and Private Cloud Compute as key developments investors needed to see.

Apple’s answer was Siri AI.

The company described it as an entirely new version of Siri, built on a new architecture and capable of using personal context, understanding what is on a user’s screen, searching across apps, and drawing on information from the web.

TheStreet subsequently reported that Bank of America saw the overhaul as important to Apple’s broader AI investment case, particularly whether a more capable Siri could give customers another reason to upgrade their devices.

Goldman Sachs made a similar argument after WWDC: Apple does not simply need to prove that it can build AI. 

It needs AI to make its devices more useful, encourage upgrades, and eventually create more opportunities for its Services business.

The latest restructuring now shows the workforce consequences of that transition. Bloomberg reported that the Siri cuts are tied to the assistant’s new technical architecture, which requires different expertise. 

Apple is eliminating some existing roles, reallocating resources, and creating new positions supporting the updated system.

That makes the Siri cuts less a retreat from AI than a change in who and what Apple needs to build its next version.

Apple cuts roles in Vision Pro and Siri.Anatoly Kireev / Getty Images

Apple’s spending points to AI research

Apple’s latest financial results reflect that the company is spending substantially more on research and development, even as it eliminates some existing technology roles.

Apple spent about $11.7 billion on R&D in its fiscal third quarter, compared with roughly $8.9 billion a year earlier, an increase of about 32%.

For the first nine months of fiscal 2026, R&D expenses reached roughly $34 billion, up from about $25.7 billion in the prior-year period.

Apple said the increase was primarily driven by higher infrastructure costs, including investments in artificial intelligence, as well as higher headcount-related expenses.

Apple’s challenge is increasingly not whether it will spend on AI, but whether those billions translate into features compelling enough to strengthen iPhone upgrades, Services growth, and its broader ecosystem.

Vision Pro faces a different problem

The Vision Pro cuts point to a more difficult strategic adjustment.

AppleInsider first reported that Apple had laid off at least 60 workers tied to its Vision Products Group and related virtual-reality work. 

The publication said an entire VR-focused group had been affected as Apple shifts more attention toward smart glasses and Siri AI.

Apple is not abandoning Vision Pro. It continues to develop VisionOS, and its newest Siri AI features are also being extended to Vision Pro. 

The company has told employees that the headset and operating system are not going away, but the economics of the current product remain difficult.

AppleInsider noted that Vision Pro’s high price and heavy design have limited its appeal, while consumers have increasingly shown interest in lighter smart-glasses products.

Apple is therefore scaling back parts of the organization around its current headset while continuing to work on what could come after it.

That distinction matters.

The Vision Pro launched as Apple’s first major new hardware category in years and as the foundation for what the company calls spatial computing.

The latest layoffs suggest Apple still believes in wearable computing, but may no longer believe today’s version of Vision Pro warrants the same level of resources.

None of this is happening because Apple’s overall business is collapsing.

Apple reported $109.4 billion in fiscal third-quarter revenue, up 16% from a year earlier and the company’s strongest June quarter on record. Diluted earnings per share increased 29% to $2.02, while iPhone, Mac, and Services each set June-quarter revenue records.

That makes the most recent layoffs more about resource allocation than about broad cost reduction.

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