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2 weeks ago | 
bankrate.com | Brian Baker |Emmanuel Nyame |Erin Kennedy
There are many different types of retirement plans, but one of the lesser known is the cash balance plan. These plans have grown in popularity in recent decades and are often used by high earners in smaller businesses to set aside more for retirement than they could in traditional plans such as a 401(k) or IRA. Here’s what investors should know about cash balance plans. What is a cash balance plan?
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1 month ago | 
bankrate.com | Brian Baker |Erin Kennedy
Tens of thousands of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) shareholders will head to Omaha this weekend, where they’ll hear from 94-year-old CEO Warren Buffett on a variety of topics such as the current state of the economy, his plans for Berkshire’s massive cash pile, and how its diverse collection of businesses is performing. Berkshire shareholders should be in a good mood, with the stock up about 17.5 percent so far in 2025, compared to a 4.5 percent decline for the S&P 500.
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1 month ago | 
bankrate.com | Brian Baker |Erin Kennedy
Home Depot has revolutionized the home improvement industry over the past 45 years, growing from its first stores in Atlanta in 1979 to more than 2,300 locations at the end of 2024. Along the way, its stock became one of the best performers over the past four decades, consistently rewarding shareholders with strong earnings growth and regular dividends.
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1 month ago | 
bankrate.com | James Royal |Erin Kennedy
The Social Security system will begin to run out of money to pay full benefits in 2033, and it’s estimated that, if no fix is made, benefits would need to be cut by about 20 percent to match the annual inflows into the plan. With no clear plan in place and Washington full of gridlock, the cost of a solution continues to rise over time — helping those who want to cut Social Security benefits. But the situation is not hopeless, if the political will can be created to fix Social Security.
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2 months ago | 
bankrate.com | Brian Baker |Erin Kennedy
The stock market has had a rough start to 2025, with the S&P 500 down about 4 percent. President Donald Trump’s tariffs announcement Wednesday afternoon sent futures plummeting as investors digest how they will impact the economy. But analysts surveyed in Bankrate’s First-Quarter Market Mavens Survey see the market heading higher over the next 12 months. They see stocks jumping about 13 percent to new highs by the end of the first quarter of 2026.
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2 months ago | 
bankrate.com | Brian Baker |Erin Kennedy
The stock market has had a bumpy start to 2025, with major indexes such as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite falling into correction territory and several recent market darlings seeing major declines. But legendary investor Warren Buffett and his vast conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) (BRK-B) haven’t been feeling the pain. Buffett’s net worth has jumped more than $25 billion in 2025, according to Bloomberg, thanks to a roughly 18 percent gain in Berkshire’s stock price so far this year.
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2 months ago | 
bankrate.com | James Royal |Erin Kennedy
Bitcoin has been a popular asset for years, and while it’s been volatile during the course of its lifetime, this cryptocurrency has risen over time. So traders may be inclined to buy Bitcoin and other digital assets inside an IRA, giving them potentially huge tax-advantaged gains. To do so, traders need a special type of account called a Bitcoin IRA, which can hold cryptocurrencies. Here’s how a Bitcoin IRA works and what you need to know about it. What is a Bitcoin IRA?
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2 months ago | 
bankrate.com | James Royal |Erin Kennedy
Gold has been a hot commodity in the past few years, as prices seem to soar ever higher. While those returns have been great for gold investors, whether they own the money in a taxable or a gold IRA, the gains have been heavily concentrated in countries that own huge gold reserves. Here are the top 10 countries with the most gold reserves and which ones have been the biggest buyers recently. Who owns the most gold reserves?
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2 months ago | 
bankrate.com | Brian Baker |Erin Kennedy
Google parent Alphabet (GOOG) has agreed to acquire cloud security platform Wiz for $32 billion in cash, the companies announced Tuesday. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close next year, with Wiz becoming part of the Google Cloud business. The acquisition would be the largest in Alphabet’s history and should beef up the security features in the company’s cloud-computing business as it looks to better compete with industry leaders such as Amazon and Microsoft.
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2 months ago | 
bankrate.com | Brian Baker |Erin Kennedy
Warren Buffett is one of the greatest investors ever, so when he offers insight into his investment strategy, people tend to listen. Buffett has made his fortune identifying undervalued businesses and buying them for the company he has led for 60 years, Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire shareholders have been rewarded enormously during Buffett’s stewardship, with the stock returning 19.9 percent annually since 1965, compared to 10.4 percent for the S&P 500.
