Fact checked by Stella Osoba

If you think flying out of major hubs like JFK (New York) or LAX (Los Angeles) is expensive, wait until you see the airports with America’s highest average fares.

Telluride Regional Airport in Colorado tops the list with an eye-popping average fare of $818 in 2024—more than double the national average of $366.

Key Takeaways

• Mountain destinations and remote locations dominate the list of most expensive airports.
• The highest fares are more than double the national average of $366.
• Location and limited competition are significant factors driving up prices.

For High Airfares, Think Regional More Than Popularity

While you might expect major coastal cities to have the priciest flights, it’s smaller regional airports serving remote or tourist destinations that command the highest fares. And there are some surprises: among mountain destinations and remote outposts, Southeastern airports like Dothan, Alabama ($799) and Albany, Georgia ($741) rank among the nation’s most expensive—despite being in areas typically known for lower costs of living.

The trend is clear when looking at the top 10 most expensive airports: they’re either gateways to popular ski destinations or critical air links for remote communities. Pocatello Regional Airport in Idaho ranks fourth with average fares of $795, while Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport in Colorado rounds out the top five at $769.

What’s driving these prices? Limited competition is crucial. Many of these airports are served by just one or two carriers, giving airlines significant pricing power. In addition, fewer passengers mean airlines can’t benefit from economies of scale, leading to higher per-passenger costs passed on to travelers. This can also be seen when looking more broadly at all U.S. destinations, including those not in the contiguous U.S., where Alaskan destinations dominate the top-10 list of highest average airfares.

Below, you can view the list of average one-way domestic airfares within the contiguous U.S., sorted from most to least expensive.

Looking for a Lower Fare? Check Nearby Metro Areas

This pricing dynamic creates stark contrasts. While passengers departing from Telluride pay an average of over $800, those flying from nearby larger airports like Denver International can find fares closer to or even lower than the national average—DEN costs an average of $337. This can mean savings of hundreds of dollars for travelers willing to drive a bit further to reach a larger airport.

It’s also helpful to know where fares are heading upward. Below is a table of travel legs between paired cities that increased the most from 2023 to 2024:

Hidden Costs That Add Up

If you’re looking at local airports and not understanding why there are such differences in the average average airfare, it’s not just baggage fees and seat ticket costs that add up. Airports have “landing fees” that can vary significantly. For example, La Guardia Airport (LGA) in New York costs airlines $17.72 per thousand pounds of maximum gross landed weight (MGLW). That’s not a helpful number, so let’s break it down.

Checking U.S. Department of Transportation figures, the Boeing 737 is the most-used plane at LGA. Assuming a national average of 85% load (percentage of those on board), with the 737’s weight, we get almost $3,100 per flight for about 144 passengers, or $21.50 per passenger ticket.

Meanwhile, doing a similar calculation for JFK, 10 miles away at the other end of New York’s I-678 expressway, we get $6.76 per thousand pounds of MGLW, or about $8.18 per passenger—60% lower.

The Bottom Line

Knowing these price differences can help budget-conscious travelers find significant cost savings. If your destination is near one of these high-fare airports, consider flying into a larger hub and making the final leg of your journey by rental car or alternate transportation. The extra travel time might be worth the hundreds of dollars you could save on airfare.

Fact checked by Katie Reilly

Generation Z is rewriting the rules of investing. Out are the days of waiting until your 30s to start investing or relying solely on traditional stocks and bonds. In are teenagers wielding investing apps, cryptocurrency traders barely out of high school, and social media-savvy Gen Zers who began building their portfolios at an average age of 19.

Born from 1997 to 2012, Gen Z entered the financial world earlier than their predecessors. They are 45% more likely to start investing by age 21 than millennials were. But it’s not just their early start that is shaking things up. Below are four unexpected ways Gen Z is transforming investing.

Key Takeaways

• Gen Z is starting to invest at a young age, with an average starting age of 19. 
• Cryptocurrency has become a cornerstone of Gen Z’s investment portfolios, with 55% of U.S. Gen Z investors holding crypto assets.
• Gen Z’s investment strategies are heavily shaped by technology, with many using mobile apps and robo-advisors to manage their portfolios.

Investing at a Young Age

More than half (56%) of U.S. Gen Zers, aged 18 to 25, own at least some investments, according to a 2022 survey conducted by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and CFA Institute. And they’re getting an earlier start with investing compared to previous generations. Gen Z started investing at age 19 on average, compared to age 25 for millennials, age 32 for Gen X, and age 35 for baby boomers, according to a 2024 survey by Charles Schwab.

This early start could have a substantial impact on long-term wealth accumulation. For example, an investor who begins setting aside $5,000 annually at age 19 could accumulate over $1.5 million by age 65, assuming a 7% average annual return. This is about $500,000 more than someone starting at age 25 despite only contributing $30,000 more overall.

Getting Financial Advice from Social Media

Gen Z investors primarily turn to social media and internet searches to learn about investing and finances. They rely more on social media and family as sources of information than millennial and Gen X investors do. They are also more likely than millennials and Gen X to get information from influencers and financial apps.

On the other hand, millennials and Gen X investors rely more on internet searches, financial companies, and financial professionals for information than Gen Z investors do.

Starting with Crypto

The rise of cryptocurrency may have motivated many U.S. Gen Z investors to begin investing, with 44% saying they started by investing in crypto and 32% saying they started by investing in individual stocks, according to the FINRA Investor Education Foundation survey.

Crypto remains the most popular asset class among U.S. Gen Z investors, with 55% owning some form of crypto, followed by 41% who own individual stocks, and 35% who invest in mutual funds. Crypto is also the most popular investment among millennials, while Gen X favors mutual funds and individual stocks.

Gen Z investors reported a median of $1,000 invested in cryptocurrency, accounting for a fourth of their median overall investment of $4,000.

Experts have long cautioned that cryptocurrency is a highly speculative, relatively new technology that is subject to significant volatility. It’s important to understand the risks before investing.

Looking Ahead

By 2050, today’s teenage crypto traders and app-based investors should be in their peak earning years, potentially creating an investment landscape where AI-powered social platforms replace traditional brokers and digital assets are as common as stocks and bonds.

Small-Scale, App-Based Investing

The majority (65%) of Gen Z investors use investing apps to manage their money and make trades. The FINRA Investor Education Foundation survey found that Gen Zers are much more likely to use investing apps compared to millennials or Gen X investors.

Gen Z investors often start with small amounts of money, leveraging micro-investing apps that offer fractional shares and lower costs.

A majority (67%) of U.S. Gen Z investors say that the ability to start investing with small amounts was a major factor in their decision to invest.

Gaining Wealth

Younger Americans have experienced significant wealth growth in recent years. From the end of 2019 to the end of 2023, inflation-adjusted wealth for households under 40 increased by 49%, according to a Center for American Progress analysis of Federal Reserve data.

Bottom Line

Beginning their investment journey at an average age of 19—a full 16 years earlier than Baby Boomers—Gen Zers are leveraging technology, embracing cryptocurrency, and reshaping traditional investment patterns. While social media and influencers may inform their investment decisions, this generation’s embrace of financial education, willingness to start small, and comfort with digital tools suggests they’re not just participating in the market—they’re actively redefining it.

AI is having a significant impact on the business world, affecting jobs, workers, firms, and industries

Fact checked by Vikki Velasquez
Reviewed by JeFreda R. Brown

Artificial intelligence (AI), or technology that is coded to simulate human intelligence, is having a huge impact on the business world. Now prevalent in many types of software and applications, AI is revolutionizing workflows, business practices, and entire industries by changing the way we work, access information, and analyze data.

Key Takeaways

• AI technology promises significant benefits for businesses, including improved customer engagement, data analysis, automation of processes, strategic recommendations, and enhanced decision making.
• AI can be applied in various business areas such as accounting and finance, customer service, recruitment, cybersecurity, sales and marketing, supply chain and logistics, information technology (IT) operations, and legal.
• However, implementing AI in business is not without challenges, which can include ethical and privacy concerns, skill gaps, and integration issues.
• The future of AI for business will necessitate ever more collaboration among governments, businesses, and individuals, as well as further integration of AI into software processes and workflows.

Benefits of Using AI in Business

Artificial intelligence can deliver significant benefits across different departments and business functions. Noémie Ellezam, chief digital strategy officer of Société Générale, the sixth-largest bank in Europe, describes AI as being “an accelerator” of their digital strategy, “with potential impact across all of [their] businesses and business areas.”

Here are some of the advantages that AI can offer businesses.

Improved Customer Engagement and Experience

Tools like chatbots, callbots, and AI-powered assistants are transforming customer service interactions, offering new and streamlined ways for businesses to interact with customers.

Data Analysis and Insights

AI can quickly process large volumes of current and historical data, drawing conclusions, capturing insights, and forecasting future trends or behaviors. These can help businesses facilitate better decision making about customers, offerings, and directions for future business growth.

Automation and Efficiency of Business Processes

AI enablement can improve the efficiency and processes of existing software tools, automating repetitive tasks such as entering data and taking meeting notes, and assisting with routine content generation and editing.

Personalized Recommendations and Targeting

AI can analyze consumer data (such as that captured in a business’s customer relationship management (CRM) system) to understand similarities in preferences and buying behavior across different segments of customers. This allows businesses to offer more personalized recommendations and targeted messaging to these specific audiences.

Applications of AI in Business

AI can be applied to many different business areas, offering increased productivity and efficiency and promising insights, scalability, and growth. Here are some of the business departments and applications in which AI is making a significant impact.

Accounting

Many accounting software tools now use AI to create cash flow projections or categorize transactions, with applications for tax, payroll, and financial forecasting. It can help reduce input errors, catch duplicate or suspicious transactions, and identify opportunities to save money.

Content Generation

Generative AI can assist in writing, researching, and editing as well as creating graphics, videos, and other media. It can be used for everything from marketing campaigns to business document templates like proposals and presentations. AI can also transcribe and translate language and generate code, providing businesses with quicker, easier, and more cost-effective access to these specialized skill sets.

Customer Service and Support

Chatbots and callbots can offer businesses a way to extend their current customer service capabilities and increase the volume of customer inquiries that their team is able to respond to, in addition to freeing up time for customer service agents to focus on more complex cases or interactions. Many AI-enabled call center and voice applications can also perform caller sentiment analysis and transcribe video and phone calls.

Cybersecurity

AI-powered cybersecurity tools can monitor systems activity and safeguard against cyberattacks, identifying risks and areas of vulnerability. It can also help security teams analyze risk and expedite their responses to threats.

Information Technology (IT) Operations

The use of AI in informational technology (IT) operations is so widespread that a special term for it was coined: AIOps. AI can be used to streamline data and maintain IT infrastructure, automating tasks like performance monitoring, workload scheduling, and data backups. It offers IT professionals better insights into the root causes of anomalies and errors, allowing them to resolve system issues more quickly and anticipate future ones.

Financial Analysis, Trading, and Fraud Detection

Financial departments and businesses can benefit from quick and powerful AI-driven data analysis and modeling, fraud detection algorithms, and automated compliance recording and auditing. Because of AI’s ability to analyze large, complex datasets, individual and institutional investors alike are taking advantage of AI tools in managing their portfolios. AI can also detect fraud by identifying unusual patterns and behaviors in transaction data.

Human Resources

AI can assist human resources departments by automating and speeding up tasks that require collecting, analyzing, or processing information. This can include employee records data management and analysis, payroll, recruitment, benefits administration, employee onboarding, and more.

Legal

As a profession that deals with massive volumes of data, lawyers and legal departments can benefit from machine learning AI tools that analyze data, recognize patterns, and learn as they go. AI applications for law include document analysis and review, research, proofreading and error discovery, and risk assessment.

Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing departments can use AI for a wide range of possibilities, including incorporating it into CRM, email marketing, social media, and advertising software. Generative AI can create all kinds of creative and useful content, such as scripts, social media posts, blog articles, design assets, and more.

Supply Chain and Logistics

AI can have a huge impact on operations, whether as a forecasting or inventory management tool or as a source of automation for manual tasks like picking and sorting in warehouses. It can prove useful in allocating resources or people, like drivers, scheduling processes, and solving or planning around operational disruptions.

Challenges and Ethical Considerations for Implementing AI in Business

In October 2023, former President Joe Biden released an “Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence,” citing AI’s “extraordinary potential for both promise and peril.” In it, he touched on how responsible AI use could help address urgent challenges and increase prosperity, productivity, and innovation—but noted that potential downsides include exacerbating social and societal harms such as discrimination, disinformation, and worker displacement.

Here’s a closer look at some of the important ethical and other considerations around implementing AI in business.

Ethical and Privacy Concerns

The introduction of AI to business applications raises urgent concerns around the ethics, privacy, and security of the technology. Governance of AI technology must consider how to develop and expand current legislation around privacy and data protection, including purpose specification, data collection and use limitations, accountability and security of data storage.

AI also requires human oversight to review and interpret the results it generates and monitor how it is generating them, lest it end up reproducing or worsening current and historical biases and patterns of discrimination. For example, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University revealed that Google’s online advertising algorithm reinforced gender bias around job roles by displaying high-paying positions to males more often than women.

Skill Gaps and Workforce Transformation

Although AI can bridge skill gaps, offering workers access to skill sets like coding, translating, and writing, it also creates skill gaps. As a rapidly advancing and developing technology, training and keeping up with knowledge about AI tools can be a challenge for workers and businesses alike. A 2023 survey of small business owners by Microsoft revealed that only 10% of small businesses with up to 24 employees “know how to use AI for their work-related tasks,” while 67% “say they know little to nothing about AI in general.”

There is much concern over worker displacement due to the use of AI technology. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) economists Daron Acemoglu, David Autor, and Simon Johnson have written about how digital technologies have exacerbated inequality over the past 40 years. However, they believe that the nature of AI’s relationship to inequality is still to be determined, and its impact will depend on how it is developed and applied—particularly, whether it is considered as a complement to human workers or a substitute for them.

For example, AI can be used to bolster skills and productivity as an on-the-job assistant or personalized tutor, and it could even help more people get hired by providing resume writing and editing assistance.

MIT professor John J. Horton recommends that business leaders consider the following before deciding whether to replace human labor with AI:

• How much time the task would take otherwise
• How much the employee who performs the task is paid
• Whether AI is capable of correctly performing the task
• How easy it is for a human to confirm whether the AI output is accurate

A 2024 International Monetary Fund (IMF) study found that almost 40% of global employment is exposed to AI, including high-skilled jobs. The study states that 60% of jobs in advanced economies may be impacted by AI, with half of those benefiting from increased productivity and half being affected in a way that could lower labor demand, leading to lower wages, reduced hiring, and, in extreme cases, job disappearance. In contrast, expected AI exposure was lower in emerging markets (40%) and low-income countries (26%), suggesting fewer immediate workforce disruptions but worsening inequality over time as the technology is adopted more widely.

Integration and Compatibility Issues

Companies that have successfully implemented AI solutions have viewed AI as part of a larger digital strategy, understanding where and how it can be instrumentalized to great advantage. This requires considering how it will integrate with current software and existing processes—especially how data is captured, processed, analyzed, and stored. Another important factor is the structure of a company’s technology stack—AI must be able to flexibly integrate with current and future systems to draw and feed data into different areas of the business.

Future AI Trends and Business Opportunities

As AI becomes ever more integrated into business technologies, it’s possible that the focus will shift away from specific AI-powered apps in favor of general AI assistance built into websites, software, and hardware. For example, Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra has AI built into the phone in the form of a transcript assistant, “circle to search” feature, and real-time translation capabilities.

Adriana Hoyos, professor of economics at IE University, writes that as “technology’s influence endures, collaboration between governments, businesses, and individuals takes on unprecedented significance,” with “collaborating partnerships serv[ing] as incubators of innovation.” One example is Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI, which aims to responsibly democratize AI and make it more accessible. However, she notes that governments “shoulder the responsibility of recalibrating regulations to harmonize with technological progress.” She predicts that future drivers of job growth will include big data analytics, climate change technology, encryption, and cybersecurity.

Many successful companies are approaching AI with a view to augment current efforts and work, rather than the intention to replace human workers with AI. This future is already expressing itself in the trend of AI-augmented software development, but AI researcher David De Cremer and chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov see a future in which humans work alongside AI in a complementary way, calling it the “new diversity.” This will necessitate leaders who are skilled in creating inclusive teams and bringing different parties together.

Can You Use AI to Start a Business?

AI can be used to generate business ideas, write business plans, and guide entrepreneurs in the steps it takes to start a business. By making time-consuming tasks like coding a website, writing emails, and scheduling meetings more efficient, AI can save entrepreneurs valuable time and allow them to focus their efforts where they matter most.

Can AI Replace the Workforce In the Future?

Analysis of the impact of AI on the workforce holds mixed predictions for the future. A 2024 IMF study found that nearly 40% of global employment is exposed to AI; however, whether the technology complements or negatively impacts current jobs depends on the experience and current income of workers as well as the current level of economic development in the country of work.

How Is AI Used In Business Analysis?

AI business analytics tools can offer analysts and decision makers insights derived from large and complex datasets, as well as automation for repetitive tasks, such as standardizing data formatting or generating reports. Predictive analytics can identify future trends and patterns from current and historical data.

How Is AI Used In Healthcare?

There are many applications for AI in the field of healthcare, including analyzing large volumes of healthcare data like patient records, clinical studies, and genetic data. AI chatbots can assist in answering patient questions, while generative AI can be used to develop and test new pharmaceutical products. AI-powered robots could even be used to make surgery less invasive.

What Is the Impact of Using AI in Business?

AI is having a transformative impact on businesses, driving efficiency and productivity for workers and entrepreneurs alike. However, its potential to replace the jobs of human workers remains to be seen.

The Bottom Line

One useful way for businesses to think of AI’s future possibilities is in terms of capabilities, as opposed to technologies. AI can support businesses in three broad categories: automating processes, analyzing data to gain insight, and customer and employee engagement. Firms that apply AI strategically in these ways have much to gain in terms of productivity, efficiency, and potential cost savings and growth.

However, AI presents challenges alongside opportunities, including concerns about data privacy, security, ethical considerations, widening inequality, and potential job displacement. Researchers and analysts suggest that a collaborative approach among businesses, governments, and other stakeholders is the key to responsible AI adoption and innovation.

Several major credit card companies have cards that offer roadside assistance without an annual membership fee.

Capital One, Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America are among the companies that offer credit cards with a roadside assistance benefit. For some consumers, one of these credit cards could provide enough value that it makes sense to skip paying for a roadside assistance membership.

Key Takeaways

• Roadside assistance comes in handy if run into issues like getting a flat tire, being locked out of your car, or needing a tow.
• You can pay for a roadside assistance membership through companies like AAA. Or you can explore roadside assistance benefits through your credit card issuer.
• Comparing the costs and benefits of a membership versus a credit card benefit can help you decide which route for roadside assistance works for you.

What Is Roadside Assistance, and What Does It Typically Cover?

Roadside assistance is a service that helps drivers when they run into car trouble on the road. You can get coverage for issues like:

• Towing
• Battery jump or replacement
• Emergency lock-out
• Fuel delivery
• Flat tire

Do Some Credit Cards Really Offer Free Roadside Assistance?

Roadside assistance is a benefit of several premium travel rewards credit cards, though there is usually a cap on each claim and on the number of claims a cardmember can make each year. Other less-premium cards that may or may not charge an annual fee may also offer some degree of roadside assistance as a pay-per-use service; you pay a fee only when you need roadside help or in the form of pre-negotiated discount rates for services like towing.

Capital One offers travel rewards cards and cash-back cards with roadside assistance via Visa and Mastercard.

Chase offers several credit cards with roadside assistance. Some cards, like the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, have a lofty annual fee, while others, like the Chase Slate Edge, do not. Bank of America and Wells Fargo also offer a roadside assistance program for people with Visa credit cards.

The only way to determine if your credit card provides coverage for roadside assistance and how it works is to consult your cardmember agreement under its benefits section or visit the issuer’s website. You can also call the customer service number on the back of your credit card to inquire.

Is Paying for Roadside Assistance Really Worth It?

Over the course of a year, more than half of drivers ran into an issue that required roadside assistance, according to a survey from Agero. If you end up being one of those drivers, you can expect a tow to cost you an average of $109.

You can buy an roadside assistance membership. AAA, for example, offers plans ranging from $64.99 to $124.99 per year. Some car insurance policies include roadside assistance benefits, such as towing, as well.

As a credit card benefit, you will most likely only pay for roadside assistance if you use it unless you have a premium travel card that provides flat coverage amounts per incident.

If you are deciding between an annual membership and roadside assistance offered by your credit card, consider:

• The cost of a membership
• Membership benefits as described in your cardmember agreement
• Your credit card’s annual fee, if any
• Your card’s coverage or its pay-per-service options and charges for roadside assistance
• Any limits to payouts, frequency of claims, and the service area for roadside assistance via membership or your credit card

The Bottom Line

You could potentially save money by leveraging your credit card benefits and ditching the annual fee for a roadside assistance membership. Unless you carry one of the premium travel rewards credit cards you will likely pay for roadside assistance if you leverage your card benefits, but you only pay if you need it.

Do your research on roadside assistance memberships, card benefits, and fees to help you find the right coverage and cost for you.

However, they may just be adding another free option to those already available to taxpayers

Leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), now officially under the United States Digital Services, Elon Musk has promoted the creation of a mobile app for Americans to file their taxes for free. This would add to the options the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) already offers for free tax filing. 

Key Takeaways

• The DOGE is considering creating a new mobile app for Americans to file their federal taxes for free. 
• The IRS already offers to three ways to file taxes for free: paper forms, IRS Direct File and IRS Free File. 
• The DOGE discussions have negatively impacted the stocks of popular tax preparers H&R Block and Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax. 

What Musk’s DOGE Commission Is Considering

During a November DOGE meeting, The Washington Post reported that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who has since parted ways with the DOGE efforts, discussed the possibility of creating a mobile app so Americans could file their federal taxes for free. Musk posted on X in November about his desire to simplify the tax code, so this would be a step in that direction.

However, that’s easier said than done. The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) consists of more than 4 million words, so creating an app that not only encompasses the entire code but also calculates taxes based on the code is quite an undertaking.

What Are Taxpayers’ Options for Tax Preparation?

Currently, taxpayers have three primary ways of filing taxes: do-it-yourself (DIY), using tax software or hiring a CPA.

IRS DIY

Taxpayers can choose from three IRS options when doing their own taxes, all of which are free to use: 

• Print, fill out and mail in the tax forms
• Use IRS Direct File to file online
• Use IRS Free File to file online

While all of these methods are free to use, the Direct File and Free File programs have requirements, so not all taxpayers are eligible to use electronic filing. Also, they can be time-consuming, especially if you have many itemized deductions, complicated investment income, or own a business. When filing yourself, it’s possible you could miss deductions that could save you money, or you may make filing errors that could cost you later. 

Use Tax Software 

Taxpayers can use a variety of tax software programs to make tax preparation easier. These include TurboTax, TaxSlayer, H&R Block, and others. Some are free to use but have limitations, while others have paid tiers that offer additional features like live support. These can be pricey, depending on the amount of assistance you need. 

Hire a CPA

Hiring a CPA to prepare and file taxes is easily the most expensive option. However, if you have many itemized deductions, have complicated investment income or losses, are self-employed, or have additional forms such as schedules for student loan interest, hiring a CPA could save you money in the long run–and land you a bigger refund. 

How Are The Major Tax Preparation Services Reacting?

Following the report of the DOGE’s interest in a mobile app for free tax filing, Intuit and H&R Block suffered sharp drops in their stocks. Intuit stock dropped 5.1%, while H&R Block stock dropped 8.2%.

At H&R Block, George Agurkis, director of government relations, issued a statement saying the company looks forward to engaging with the incoming administration and DOGE regarding tax administration, according to Yahoo Tech. Intuit CEO Susan Goodarzi told The Verge the company doesn’t “lobby against free” and free tax filing is “not relevant to our business.”

The Bottom Line

DOGE leadership has discussed creating a new mobile app so Americans can file their taxes for free. However, there already are free tax filing options, both through the IRS and by using certain tax preparation software. You should review these options along with available paid options to see which filing method best suits their individual tax needs. Doing so could save money upfront or in the form of a larger refund–or both.  

Several brokers are under scrutiny for how they handle and make money on idle cash in customer accounts.

Brokers could be making significant returns on your idle cash in brokerage accounts and keeping the majority.

Brokers and banks are facing mounting scrutiny over their cash sweep programs. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating them, and customers have filed class action lawsuits.

How are brokers making money on idle cash, and what can you do to earn better returns on your deposits?

Key Takeaways

• Brokerage firms often sweep uninvested cash in their customers’ brokerage accounts into bank accounts.
• The banks typically keep the majority of the returns on that cash.
• Some brokers could be making up to 10 times more than you receive on your idle cash.
• Investors can consider proactively investing their cash balances in high-yield savings accounts or CDs to net better returns.

What Do Brokerage Firms Pay on Average for Cash on Deposit?

Brokerage firms can transfer their customers’ uninvested cash from their brokerage accounts to higher-interest accounts. While it stands to reason customers would benefit from the higher interest, there is mounting concern that brokers keep most of the returns for themselves.

In 2025, the SEC fined Wells Fargo Advisors and Merrill Lynch $60 million for failing to consider their client’s best interests when choosing cash sweep program options.

According to a Bloomberg Law analysis, other brokerage firms are facing class action lawsuits alleging that customers were underpaid billions of dollars due to the low interest rates that banks and investment firms paid.

How Much Do Brokerages Earn on Those Deposits?

Cash sweep programs are lucrative for brokerage firms. They can move billions of dollars of customers’ money into sweep accounts and pay customers a fraction of the interest being earned.

Brokerage firms may seek to sweep cash into affiliated banks, often paying low interest rates. According to some reports, brokers could make 10 times more than their customers do on their cash.

What Can You Do to Earn Better Returns on Your Brokerage Deposits?

You do not have to accept the default cash management programs brokerage firms offer. You can consider placing that uninvested money in a high-yield savings account, offering interest rates close to 5%.

You can explore putting it in a CD if you do not need immediate access to that cash. As of January 2025, CD rates are as high as 5.50%.

The Bottom Line

Brokers commonly employ cash sweep programs, although this practice has attracted SEC scrutiny and class action lawsuits.

As an investor, you want the highest returns possible on your money. You can explore alternatives to the default sweep accounts that your broker uses. Take a look at the cash management options your broker offers. You can also explore options like moving that money to a high-yield savings account or a CD.

Janet Yellen is the first woman to be the U.S. Treasury Secretary

Reviewed by Michael J Boyle

Janet Louise Yellen is a distinguished American economist who made history as the 78th United States Secretary of the Treasury, a position she held between January 26, 2021, and January 2025. Prior to this role, she served as the 15th Chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, showcasing her extensive experience in economic policy and leadership. Yellen is notably the first woman to lead the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve, as well as the first person to have headed both these institutions and the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

In nominating her to head the Fed, Former President Barack Obama called Yellen, “one of the nation’s foremost economists and policymakers” who is “renowned for her sound judgment and ability to build consensus.”

Key Takeaways

• Janet Louise Yellen made history as the first woman to serve as the United States Secretary of the Treasury, beginning her term on January 26, 2021, under then-President Joe Biden’s administration.
• She also broke ground as the first woman to chair the Federal Reserve, holding the position from 2014 to 2018.
• Yellen has held significant roles in economic policy-making, including chairing the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton and advising both Presidents Obama and Biden.
• Yellen advocates for the necessity of government regulation in economic markets and prioritizes low unemployment over low inflation, aligning with dovish policy perspectives.

Early Life and Education

Janet Yellen, born on August 13, 1946, in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, to a Polish Jewish family, has had a distinguished career in economics and public service. Her mother, Anna Ruth, was an elementary school teacher and her father, Julius, was a doctor who treated patients out of the family’s brownstone. Demonstrating early academic prowess, Yellen served as editor-in-chief of her high school newspaper at Fort Hamilton High School, where she graduated as valedictorian in 1963. She graduated summa cum laude with an economics degree from Brown University in 1967 and went on to receive her Ph.D. from Yale University in 1971 under the guidance of Nobel laureate James Tobin.

Her exceptional note-taking in Tobin’s class led to the creation of “Yellen Notes,” a valuable resource for future Yale economics students. Recognized for her academic excellence by her professors, including Joseph Stiglitz, Yellen embarked on a teaching career at prestigious institutions such as Harvard, The London School of Economics, and the University of California at Berkeley, before joining the Federal Reserve Board of Governors as an economist from 1977 to 1978.

Notable Accomplishments

Janet Yellen has made significant contributions to economic policy and governance through her roles on various economic committees and councils, including the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the U.S. Council of Economic Advisors, and the American Economic Association. She was also an advisor for the U.S. Congressional Budget Office. She has served as a research associate for the National Institute of Economic Research and held positions on the board of the Pacific Council on International Policy, among other affiliations.

Yellen began three decades’ worth of service in the Federal Reserve System when she served as a governor for the Federal Reserve Board between 1994 and 1997. In 2004, she became president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, where she was credited with foreseeing the subprime mortgage crisis more accurately than her peers.

Janet Yellen’s notable accomplishments also include her role as Vice-Chair of the Federal Reserve from 2010, where she advocated for using all available tools to reduce unemployment, a stance that was somewhat controversial at the time. In 2013, she broke new ground as the first woman to chair the Federal Reserve, guiding the U.S. economy through a period of significant recovery and staunchly supporting financial reforms to strengthen the banking sector.

During her tenure, the unemployment rate fell from 6.7% to 4.1%, with decreases every month she was in office. She was a strong defender of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform and Consumer Protection Act, arguing that it strengthened the banking system. After her term at the Fed, Yellen joined The Brookings Institution before being nominated by President-elect Joe Biden as Treasury Secretary, a position in which she was confirmed in January 2021, continuing her focus on employment and economic recovery.

On the Federal Reserve Board

Yellen was appointed to the role of the Federal Reserve’s vice-chair for a four-year term on Oct. 4, 2010, by then-President Obama. Yellen used her position to convince the Fed to adopt a 2% annual inflation target, a policy aimed at stabilizing prices and guiding economic expectations. Her appointment as Chair of the Federal Reserve was urged by Democrats, who favored her over former Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers, citing her exceptional qualifications, dedication to addressing unemployment, and proven track record in bank regulation.

On October 9, 2013, Obama nominated Yellen to succeed Ben Bernanke as the first female Chair of the Federal Reserve Board, a position she assumed in February 2014. Taking office in February 2014 as the Fed’s 15th chair, Yellen was tasked with keeping the gradual recovery of the economy on track.

Yellen’s four-year term was slated to end on Feb. 3, 2018.  She was scheduled to remain a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System until 2024. But on Nov. 20, 2017, she announced her resignation from the Federal Reserve Board as soon as Jerome Powell was sworn in. She was the first chair in nearly 40 years to not receive a second term.

U.S. Treasury Secretary

Former President Joe Biden nominated Janet Yellen as the 78th head of the U.S. Treasury, and she was confirmed by the Senate as Treasury Secretary on Jan. 26, 2021. “She has spent her career focused on unemployment and the dignity of work,” Biden said, “She understands what it means to people and their communities when they have good, decent jobs.” As a member of Biden’s Cabinet, Yellen is the first woman to head the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve.

In its first year under Secretary Janet Yellen, the U.S. Treasury made significant strides in pandemic recovery, reducing unemployment to 3.9% and surpassing pre-pandemic GDP levels. Yellen led efforts to restore U.S. global leadership, securing a landmark global corporate taxation deal. Under her guidance, the Treasury implemented key American Rescue Plan programs, disbursed billions in economic relief, and advanced equity through targeted investments in underserved communities.

In fiscal year 2023, the U.S. Treasury, under Secretary Yellen, and the Office of Management and Budget reported a deficit reduction and economic growth, with the deficit over $1 trillion lower than at the start of President Biden’s term. The economy added nearly 14 million jobs, with unemployment below 4% for a historic period, and workforce participation at a 20-year high.

Important

Janet Yellen received the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government in 2017. During her acceptance speech, she said “The Federal Reserve’s very effectiveness in setting monetary policy depends on the public’s assured confidence that we act only in its interest.”

Economic Philosophy

Yellen is a staunch economic dove (supporting low-interest rates and expansionary monetary policies, valuing low unemployment over keeping inflation low). Much of the research she performed as an academic economist focused on employment. She and her husband, George Akerlof, are both Keynesian economists who believe that economic markets need governmental regulation to function correctly. They have both created economic models, such as the efficiency wage theory, showing how firms seeking to maximize profits would pay higher than minimum wages. 

Yellen has consistently advocated for fiscal policies that address economic inequality, emphasizing the need for economic policy to benefit all members of society, particularly benefiting workers and middle-class families. Yellen advocates for a modern supply-side economics strategy, which involves significant investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, and clean energy to create jobs and stimulate economic growth. Her economic philosophy includes supporting policies that provide direct financial assistance to middle-class families, such as tax credits and housing assistance, to mitigate the impacts of economic downturns and pandemics.

Note

The efficiency wage theory model was a rebuttal to conservatives such as Robert Lucas, who argue that flexible wages and prices would allow the economy to revert to form more easily after market upheavals. These models helped to form the foundation of the New Keynesian philosophy.

Yellen’s Philosophy With the Fed

Yellen was the first Democrat to chair the Fed in nearly 30 years but stressed the importance of the Fed being independent of political processes and staying nonpartisan. As chair, she sought to emulate the philosophy of James Tobin, an economist who believed that an economy can be rescued from recession through governmental intervention.

While in the public eye, Yellen followed Bernanke’s cautious approach, using meticulously researched data and a technocratic manner to minimize surprise announcements or other releases that could roil the markets. She backed Bernanke’s bond-buyback program and continued his stimulus campaign. During her term, she also tightened financial and banking regulations to prevent the financial abuses that led to the financial crisis of 2007-09 from repeating themselves.

During the latter part of her term, Yellen advocated for “gradual rate hikes” believing a sharp rise in rates could hit the economy with an “adverse shock.” While the Federal Reserve does not directly focus on stock market performance, the S&P 500 has returned 46% since she became Fed Chair in 2014, an average of more than 10% per year.

Personal Life

While working at the Federal Reserve in 1977, Yellen met fellow economist George Akerlof. They married in 1978, and have a son, Robert, who is also an economics professor.

Yellen’s professional life has been marked by her contributions to labor and macroeconomics, particularly through her work on efficiency wages, which she explored alongside her husband. Her work on this topic studied why firms often choose to pay more than the minimum needed to hire employees. She co-authored two economics books, one with her husband and one with former Fed governor and professor Alan Blinder.

Yellen has been awarded honorary doctoral degrees from institutions including Bard College, Brown University, the London School of Economics, New York University (NYU), the University of Baltimore, the University of Michigan, the University of Warwick, and Yale University. She was also honored with the Wilbur Cross Medal for her outstanding contributions to scholarship, teaching, academic administration, and public service at Yale.

What Are Janet Yellen’s Qualifications?

Janet Yellen received an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Yale University. She then taught as an economics professor at Harvard University for five years before being hired as an economist at the Federal Reserve. She returned to academia later teaching at Berkeley’s Haas Business School. In 1994, President Clinton appointed Yellen to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and she became its chair in 2013. She served as Treasury Secretary under then-President Biden from 2021 to 2025.

What Kind of an Economist Is Janet Yellen?

Janet Yellen has been described as a “dove,” which means she generally prioritizes issues of unemployment and labor over inflation concerns. At the same time, she has made comments raising concern over the size of the U.S. fiscal deficit, which is a “hawkish” stance.

What Are Janet Yellen’s Views on Interest Rates?

Yellen has been a critic of the persistently low interest rates maintained by the Fed since her departure as chairwoman. She notably oversaw the first interest rate hike at the Fed under her tenure since 2008.

What Is Janet Yellen’s Net Worth?

Janet Yellen’s net worth is estimated to be roughly $20 million.

The Bottom Line

Janet Yellen is a highly accomplished American economist who has made history by becoming the first woman to serve as both the Chair of the Federal Reserve and the Secretary of the Treasury. Her economic philosophy emphasizes the importance of government regulation in economic markets and prioritizes low unemployment.

Throughout her career, she has advocated for policies that benefit workers and middle-class families. Yellen’s contributions to labor and macroeconomics, including her work on efficiency wages, have left a lasting impact on the field.

How it affects job growth and wages

Reviewed by Michael J Boyle

Immigration reform can be a contentious topic for many Americans. While the vast majority of immigrants live and work in the United States legally, in 2023, 23% of all immigrants were unauthorized.

During the first Trump administration, 1.5 million undocumented immigrants were deported. The Biden administration had deported and expelled (denied entry at the border) more than 4.4 million such individuals, as of February 2024.

While President Trump cited an array of reasons for his action, from human trafficking concerns to abstract population caps—“Our country is full,” he announced in April 2019—his argument was always largely economic, with unauthorized immigrants “straining the system.”

Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, and then-Senator Kamala Harris all advocated downgrading illegal border crossings to a civil offense.

During his time in office, President Joe Biden played up the positive contributions of undocumented immigrants to society.

So who’s right and who’s wrong when it comes to undocumented workers and the economy? We’ll look beyond the heated rhetoric and explain what researchers from both sides of the political spectrum have to say. 

Key Takeaways

• Undocumented workers often take low-skilled jobs and are more willing to work nights and weekends.
• Increased immigration has a very small positive impact on the wages of native-born Americans on a long-term basis.
• First-generation immigrants cost the government more per capita, but their children cost less than native-born Americans.

Impact on the Job Market

In his first administration, President Trump’s hard line on undocumented immigrants was based on the assumption that those immigrants take jobs from American citizens.

On the surface, this appeared to be a logical conclusion for a cohort that represented 10.5 million people in 2017. But, advocates say this argument ignored the dynamic nature of the job market.

Contributions of Immigrants to the U.S. Economy

Immigrants aren’t just workers—they’re also consumers who buy goods and services. Some researchers believe mass deportation would shrink overall economic output.

In its 2024 report, the American Immigration Council estimated that it would reduce gross domestic product (GDP) by 4.2% – 6.8%.

In addition, mass deportation would have a huge impact on U.S. tax revenues. The report states that in 2022, undocumented immigrant households paid:

• $46.8 billion in federal taxes
• $29.3 billion in state and local taxes
• $22.6 billion to Social Security
• $5.7 billion to Medicare

Taking Low-Skilled Jobs

What’s more, undocumented workers often take low-skilled jobs in which American citizens have little interest, including those in labor-intensive fields like agriculture and forestry.

Bipartisan research and advocacy organization New American Economy found that low-skilled immigrants were 18% more likely to work unusual hours than their U.S.-born counterparts.

Dropping Birthrates and Aging Workers

Birthrates are dropping in the U.S. The average American woman in 2022 was having 1.7 children, according to the latest numbers from The World Bank. Therefore, some experts say immigrants can help fill a hole in the labor market that will ultimately boost the economy.

In addition, an aging U.S. population also presents a challenge to the labor market. According to the Conference Board, this will limit the labor supply unless migrants are available to fill the growing number of job openings.

The Committee for Economic Development concluded that because roughly half of the immigrants from Latin America were between 18 and 35, the U.S. wouldn’t have to shoulder the cost of their schooling.

Bringing in even 100,000 of these immigrants annually would represent an injection of human capital that would otherwise cost us $47 billion in education and childcare costs.

Note

Immigration reform helped ramp up deportations, secured funds for a longer border wall, and suspended the entry of most new immigrants during the COVID pandemic.

Will Wages Drop?

One of the claims you’ll often hear amnesty critics say is that allowing more workers to compete for American jobs will suppress wages for existing employees.

Wages Decrease and Increase

The basic rules of supply and demand would seem to support that claim. When the number of workers goes up, the amount companies have to pay presumably goes down.

However, several studies have shown that the impact on wages among low-skilled workers is relatively modest.

Most put it at less than 1%. Researchers Gianmarco Ottaviano and Giovanni Peri found that in the long run, increased immigration had a very small positive impact, 0.6%, on the wages of native-born Americans.

Even if pay for these jobs were to decrease, that might not be the case in every field. Supporters of immigration reform say that the availability of more workers is a boon for businesses, which benefit from lower production costs.

Research by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), reported in 2024, also estimated that the average wage growth of U.S.-born citizens might slow due to a 2021 to 2026 immigration surge.

However, that slow-down would reverse and wages would increase somewhat “due to higher innovation-related productivity and because the increase in the number of less-educated workers boosts the demand for more-educated people to work with them.”

Demand for Skilled Workers Can Grow

This theoretically strengthens demand for high-skill jobs, such as managers and accountants, that don’t face as much competition from undocumented workers. Therefore, reform could presumably boost wages, at least marginally, for jobs that require a college degree.

Important

According to one analysis, the fiscal impacts of immigrants are generally positive at the federal level when projected over a future time horizon of 75 years.

Effect on the Treasury

One of the most contentious concerns is over the effect that illegal immigration has on government coffers. A path to citizenship for workers who are already in the country means many of them would contribute federal and state income taxes for the first time.

But they would also have access to a range of benefits to which they’re currently locked out—education at public schools, Medicaid, nutrition assistance, and the earned income tax credit (EITC).

Financial Cost vs. Contribution of Immigrants

In 2017, researchers Robert Rector and Jamie Bryan Hall of the conservative Heritage Foundation analyzed the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act, which would limit the number of visas given to low-skilled workers.

They suggested that immigrants without a high school degree—the typical level from Latin America is a 10th-grade education—receive an average of $4 in government benefits for every $1 they contribute in taxes.

Rector and Hall concluded that the 4.7 million low-skilled immigrants estimated to enter the U.S. in the next decade would be a net drag on the Treasury of $1.9 trillion.

But a 2016 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report paints a very different picture. While first-generation immigrants may cost the government more on a per-capita basis than U.S.-born citizens, their children cost less.

That’s because second-generation immigrants exhibited “slightly higher educational achievement, as well as their higher wages and salaries.” As a result, they pay more in taxes.

That previously mentioned 2024 CBO report estimated that the 2021 to 2026 immigration surge would add $1.2 trillion to federal revenues from 2024 to 2034. In addition, it would increase the total nominal GDP by $1.3 trillion (or 3.2 percent) in 2034 and by $8.9 trillion for the 2024 to 2034 period.

The CBO also estimated that for that period, the surge would increase mandatory spending, increase debt interest, but as a result lower deficits by $0.9 trillion.

Adding to Social Security

There’s also some evidence that immigrants help bolster Social Security, which retiring Baby Boomers are pressuring with withdrawals.

Back in 2013, chief actuary Stephen Goss of the Social Security Administration and other researchers estimated that roughly 1.8 million immigrants used a Social Security card that did not match their name to gain employment in 2010.

The result? These individuals tended to pay far more into the system than they pulled out in benefits.

At the time, Goss asserted that undocumented residents kicked $13 billion into Social Security through payroll taxes, but only gained $1 billion in benefit payments.

In 2022, they reportedly paid $25.7  billion in Social Security taxes.

What’s a Good Immigration Policy?

Broadly speaking, a good immigration policy could be one that secures U.S. borders yet welcomes immigrants with an achievable path to legal residency and citizenship. It could support the nation’s security and prosperity while strengthening its future by admitting people from around the world.

How Many Immigrants Tried To Enter the U.S. Illegally in 2023?

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, over 2 million immigrants who attempted to make illegal border crossings in 2023 were apprehended.

Do Undocumented Immigrants Hurt the U.S.?

This can be a primary point of contention among U.S. politicians. Some argue that undocumented immigrants are a severe drain on U.S. resources and threaten the financial lives of Americans. Others demonstrate that they often take lower paying jobs that are going unfilled, contribute to the economy as consumers and taxpayers, and support social welfare programs. Their children tend to go on to contribute to the U.S. economy more substantially.

The Bottom Line

Those who cross into the U.S. without documentation are seen by some Americans as a potential detriment to society and the economy. Other people believe that unauthorized immigrants lower costs for their employers and represent a sizable consumer group.

Indeed, some research indicates that they create more job opportunities than they take. While some studies have shown that illegal immigration suppresses wages in low-skilled segments of the workforce, the effect over time, if any, appears to be minimal.

And while first-generation immigrants may cost the government more than native-born workers because of their lower incomes, many pay far more into Social Security than they receive. They also add younger workers to the nation’s aging labor force.

Reviewed by Erika Rasure
Fact checked by Pete Rathburn

Benjamin Franklin was correct when he said nothing was certain except death and taxes. But while taxes have been eminent, they’ve been far from consistent, especially in the United States. The tax plan has undergone a series of reforms and changes over the years, tracing its roots back to pre-independence America.

Key Takeaways

• Colonists and post-Revolution Americans paid excise taxes on everything from real estate and liquor to sugar and tobacco.
• Income taxes were first introduced to pay for debts incurred from the Civil War.
• New taxes, like Social Security, were introduced with Roosevelt’s New Deal.
• The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 aimed to cut individual, corporate, and estate tax rates.

A Tax-Free America

Before a federal government was established, America was tax-free, at least for income taxes. Although they didn’t pay taxes on earnings, American colonists paid the British excise taxes on everything from real estate to tea. The colonists revolted, leading to the infamous Boston Tea Party and an uprising against the British in 1773.

Following the American Revolution, the newly established government was cautious about taxation, and direct taxation was prohibited by the Constitution. Government revenues were collected through tariffs and duties on liquor, tobacco, sugar, and legal documents.

The first challenge came in 1794 with the Whiskey Rebellion when Pennsylvanian farmers burned down tax collectors’ houses. Defending the right to collect indirect taxes, Congress put down the revolt using military force.

Funding War

New Taxes

The sanctity of the Constitution and the ancestral aversion to taxes was tested in the 1790s when conflict with France led to a property tax. The War of 1812 was funded through higher duties and excise taxes. The impact of the Civil War created the income tax.

The American Civil War incurred a massive amount of debt. To help pay for it, Congress passed the Revenue Act of 1861, and tax was levied on incomes exceeding $800 and was not rescinded until 1872. This act created the modern progressive tax system with allowances for deductions. The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was founded, originally called The Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.

War, Prosperity, and Depression

World War I led to three acts that raised tax rates and lowered exemption levels. The number of people paying taxes in the U.S. increased to 5%, and separate taxes were introduced for estates and excess business profits.

These taxes were rolled back following the war in five phases, and the economy experienced a huge boom. Government tax receipts reached $3.6 billion in 1918, the last year of the war. Despite lower taxes, the government raised $6.6 billion in 1920. The stock market crash in 1929 and the resulting financial fallout saw these revenues fall to $1.9 billion by 1932.

Important

The U.S. Constitution originally forbade taxes levied in proportion to each state’s population. The 16th Amendment was ratified in 1913, and an income tax was implemented on those with an annual income of over $3,000, affecting less than 1% of Americans.

The New Deal

Roosevelt’s New Deal and WWII saw taxes introduced or increased to boost the economy. The New Deal ran a heavy deficit that required revenue. By 1936, the top tax rate was a staggering 79%, and the economy’s output plummeted. Taxes were raised several more times, except the 1938 Revenue Act contained a corporate tax cut that Roosevelt objected to but nevertheless signed into law.

By 1940, the need for the U.S. to prepare for war and support its allies led to aggressive taxation. By 1944, those with incomes of $500 faced a 23% tax, and the rates climbed to 94%. By 1945, 43 million Americans paid taxes, and the yearly receipts were more than $43 billion, up from $8 billion in 1941.

Note

The Social Security Act of 1935 was part of Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Nixon and Stagflation

The Revenue Act of 1945 rolled back $6 billion in taxes, but the burden of Social Security and an expanded government kept them from going much lower. The highest tax rate was over 80% in the 1950s, and the pay-as-you-go withholding system introduced as a wartime measure was never eliminated.

Rather than rolling back rates, the tax code was being rewritten to allow deductions or to lower rates on private foundations while raising rates on corporate profits. This explosion in loopholes made the tax code difficult to understand.

The 1960s and 1970s were a time of massive inflation, with government deficits growing with the addition of Medicare to the Social Security system. Taxes were not indexed for inflation, and the real value of income decreased. President Richard Nixon was forced to pay over $400,000 in back taxes, but the controversy over the Watergate scandal eclipsed the president’s tax evasion.

Reaganomics

The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 was a temporary turning point for taxation. This Act significantly lowered all the individual tax brackets and changed how companies accounted for capital expenditures, encouraging investment in equipment.

The Reagan administration’s budget was based on an accepted inflation rate, and when the attempts to quash inflation kicked in too quickly, a deficit was created. Consequently, Reagan decreased some of his tax cuts in 1984 to cover the shortfall. In 1986, the IRS claimed that 941,000 Americans were millionaires, partially due to the high-level tax cuts under Reaganomics.

In 1986, another tax reform act lowered the top rate from 50% to 28%, cutting corporate taxes from 50% to 35%. With more Americans now willing to take their wealth in taxable income, the overall tax receipts were relatively unchanged despite the drop.

Negative Income Tax

Under President Bill Clinton, modest tax increases started in 1993, and 1997 saw the expansion of negative income tax. Negative income tax allowed those below certain income thresholds to obtain tax credits.

New Millennium Tax Cuts

The Great Recession

The 2001 tax cut introduced by former President George Bush once again dialed back the trend of tax increases but continued to increase tax credits and negative income tax. Though not intended for it, this long-term tax cut helped shorten the recession following the dot-com market crash, sparing the economy from any specific stimulus measures. The tax cuts expired in 2010 just as baby boomers were leaving the workforce and the world was reeling from the effects of the financial crisis and the Great Recession.

2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

In 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), based on Reagan Administration tax proposals to slash individual, corporate, and estate tax rates. The law made a series of concessions, including cutting tax rates across various income tax brackets. The TCJA lowered tax rates across income levels to reduce Americans’ income tax burden and eliminated popular itemized deductions.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is set to expire at the end of 2025 unless it is extended by Congress, which, if it happens, is expected to cost more than $4 trillion over 10 years.

What Is an Example of a Tax Law?

The Social Security and Medicare withholding are examples of a tax law, as is paying taxes on capital gains.

What Is the $600 Tax Law?

The Internal Revenue Service requires anyone who makes $600 or more to report the income.

What Is US Tax Law?

U.S. tax law dictates how and when people, businesses, and entities must pay taxes. The U.S. Constitution allows the government to receive taxes to fund itself.

The Bottom Line

After the American Revolution, Americans paid excise taxes on liquor and real estate. Income taxes were first introduced during the Civil War. The 16th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provided the ability to levy taxes on individual states. Taxation provides funds for Social Security, Medicare, education, and military spending.

Most Americans instinctively view a strong dollar as positive—and for good reason. A solid greenback means greater purchasing power abroad, cheaper imports at home, and a sense of national economic strength.

However, when it comes to the stock market, currency strength can be a double-edged sword, creating headwinds for companies with substantial international operations or those that sell mainly to overseas markets-potentially dampening overall market performance.

Key Takeaways

• Dollar strength reduces the value of foreign earnings for U.S. companies, potentially impacting corporate profits and stock valuations
• Multinational companies and exporters tend to face greater challenges during periods of dollar strength.
• Investors can adapt their portfolios with sectors that historically perform well during strong-dollar periods.

Why Is a Strong Dollar “Bad” for the Stock Market?

When the dollar strengthens, American products become more expensive for foreign buyers around the world, potentially reducing demand and market share abroad. This hurts exporters and domestic companies’ foreign operations. When those international revenues are converted back to USD, they translate into fewer dollars, directly impacting corporate earnings.

For example, if a company earns ¥10 billion in Japan, it will book $62.5 million in profits if the dollar is trading at 160 USD/JPY. But if the dollar strengthens to 170 USD/JPY it would yield just $58.8 million.

Large technology companies and industrial manufacturers, which can derive much of their revenue from overseas, are particularly vulnerable to dollar strength. This impact can cascade through the broader market, because these sectors represent a significant portion of major stock indices like the S&P 500.

What Investors Need to Know

In a strong-dollar environment, investors might consider increasing their allocation to companies with predominantly domestic revenue streams, as these businesses are naturally hedged against currency fluctuations. Smaller-cap stocks often fit this profile, as they typically have less international exposure than large-cap multinationals.

Sectors that have historically demonstrated resilience during periods of dollar strength include utilities, telecommunications, and real estate investment trusts (REITs), which generate most of their revenue domestically. Additionally, companies that benefit from lower import costs, such as retailers sourcing products from overseas, may outperform during these periods.

How to Hedge Against a Rising Dollar

Currency-hedged ETFs can help investors maintain international exposure while minimizing the impact of currency fluctuations. These instruments use financial derivatives to neutralize the effect of exchange rate movements on returns. Examples include the iShares Currency-Hedged MSCI EAFE ETF (HEFA), which provides broad exposure to developed market stocks while hedging against currency fluctuations, and the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ), which offers exposure to Japanese stocks while protecting against yen weakness relative to the dollar.

For investors looking to capitalize directly on dollar strength, the Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP) tracks the dollar’s value against a basket of major currencies. When the dollar strengthens, UUP typically rises in value. However, it’s important to note that currency-focused ETFs like UUP can be more complex and have higher fees than traditional stock or bond funds. They’re often better suited as tactical positions rather than long-term core holdings in most portfolios.

Upsides of a Strong Dollar

While dollar strength can present challenges for investors, it also creates opportunities:

• Enhanced purchasing power for U.S. investors buying foreign assets.
• Potential bargains in international markets as foreign stocks become cheaper in dollar terms.
• Lower input costs for U.S. companies that import raw materials or components.
• Reduced inflation pressure as import prices decline.

The Bottom Line

While a strong dollar can be a drag on the stock market, informed investors can position their portfolios to weather and even benefit from these conditions. The key is to understand which sectors and companies are most vulnerable to currency strength and adjust allocations accordingly. Diversification across domestic-focused companies, currency-hedged international investments, and sectors that benefit from dollar strength can help create a more resilient portfolio. However, investors should remember that currency trends can reverse quickly, making it important to maintain a balanced, long-term approach rather than making dramatic portfolio shifts based solely on currency movements.