Category: Uncategorized
Real Estate Commission Changes Around the Corner
In March 2024, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reached a landmark $418 million settlement after losing an antitrust lawsuit filed by a group of home sellers. As many as 50 million people who paid commissions on homes sold in recent years could receive a small amount from the class-action settlement. The powerful industry group […]
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Real Estate Roundup: Feeling the Impact of Higher Rates
U.S. commercial real estate prices fell more than 11% between March 2022, when the Federal Reserve started hiking interest rates, and January 2024. The potential for steeper losses has chilled the market and still poses significant risks to some property owners and lenders. On the residential side of the market, the national median price of […]
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The Economic Impact of an Aging World
During the week of June 10, 2024, French markets were rocked by a government bond sell-off after a strong showing by the far-right National Rally party in the European Union election. With polls suggesting the party might win a plurality of seats in the upcoming French parliamentary election, investors feared a promised social spending program, […]
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Some States Will Offer Home Energy Rebates in 2024
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 included two provisions allowing rebates for home energy efficiency retrofit projects and home electrification and appliance projects. State energy offices will administer these home energy rebate programs, with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) providing guidance and oversight. States are not required to offer these rebates. Many states have […]
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What Does the Future Hold for Social Security and Medicare?
Each year, the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds provide detailed reports to Congress that track the programs’ current financial condition and projected financial outlook. These reports have warned for years that the trust funds would be depleted in the not-too-distant future, and the most recent reports, released on May 6, 2024, […]
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Tax Treatment of Home Energy Rebates
The IRS has guided the federal income tax treatment of certain home energy rebates offered by states, with funds provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Background The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 included two provisions allowing rebates for home energy efficiency retrofit projects and home electrification and appliance projects. These home energy rebate […]
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Relief for Certain RMDs from Inherited Retirement Accounts for 2024
In early 2022, the IRS issued proposed regulations regarding required minimum distributions (RMDs) to reflect changes made by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019. The IRS has held off on releasing final regulations so that it can address additional changes to RMDs made by the SECURE 2.0 Act of […]
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Can Productivity Keep Driving the U.S. Economy?
The productivity of U.S. workers increased by 2.7% in 2023 — well above the average annual rate of 2.1% since the end of World War II, and a dramatic change from 2022, when productivity dropped by 2.0%. It’s also a big improvement over the 0.9% growth rate in 2021. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Research […]
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What to Know About T Plus 1 Trade Settlement
On May 28, 2024, settlement cycles on U.S. stocks and other securities will shift from two business days to one. For most investors, this shift will have little or no impact. But it will affect some investors and certain types of transactions. It may be helpful to understand the basics of this important change. T+1 […]
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FAFSA Glitches Delay College Financial Aid Awards for 2024-2025
It’s been a tough financial aid season for college students and their families. The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) was redesigned and simplified for the 2024-25 school year, in what was supposed to benefit families completing the application. But a late rollout and the subsequent discovery of form calculation errors have led to […]
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