Kiplinger's Personal Finance - 09.2026

🟢 已通过两轮自愈质检 & 证据链核验

2026-08-16 Boosty PDF 中文极简摘要

Kiplinger's Personal Finance - 09.2026.pdf

Boosty 帖子：Magazines - 16.08.2026
广告/公司介绍 / 关于 Hennion & Walsh (投资公司)：该公司自1990年起专注于投资级免税市政债券，管理资产超50亿美元；旨在通过低风险的市政债券为个人投资者提供联邦免税的定期收益。
社会保障/退休金 / 社会保障信托基金前景分析：受托委员会预测信托基金将在2032年底耗尽，主因是生育率下降、移民减少及《一项宏伟美丽法案》导致税收下降；若无改革，退休人员福利可能减少约22%。
投资/ETF / ETF 投资表现分析：iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets 基金在两年内上涨64%，得益于美元走弱及台积电、SK海力士等AI半导体需求激增；策略师对2026年新兴市场持看涨态度。
投资/太空股票 / 太空领域 ETF 投资指南：太空ETF波动率极高，平均为S&P 500的三倍多；ARK Space & Defense Innovation (ARKX) 表现稳健，过去12个月回报率41.2%，且将SpaceX作为第一大持仓（占比7.6%）。
经济分析 / 2026年宏观经济环境转变：传统的“2-2-2”经济模式（增长、通胀、利率均为2%）已失效，投资者需适应更高通胀、更高利率及AI驱动的GDP增长；建议通过多元化投资清单应对风险。
投资组合/分析 / 模拟组合审查：免税债券基金：截至2026年4月17日，10万美元虚拟本金年化回报率为4.2%（等同于5.5%应税收益）；市政债券在保护本金和应对全球不稳定局势方面具有优势。
银行服务/理财 / Ally 银行产品分析：Ally提供免费支票账户及收益率为3%的储蓄和货币市场账户；其高收益CD（12个月期）利率最高可达3.7%，并设有“储蓄桶”等自动化理财工具。
Money Smart Women/专栏 / Savvy Ladies 非营利组织访谈：该组织由Stacy Francis于2003年创立，通过300名志愿者为女性提供免费财务建议；约65%的咨询客户年收入在7.5万美元以下。
实用投资组合/IPO / IPO 市场回归与尽职调查：SpaceX已于6月完成IPO，Anthropic和OpenAI也申请上市；提醒投资者在面对AI巨头上市的炒作时，应进行严格的尽职调查而非盲目购买。
生活方式/旅行 / 河 cruise 游预订建议：建议通过获得ASTA或CLIA认证且有实操经验的旅行代理预订河 cruise 以区分公司差异；对于机票预订，建议自行操作以获得更多航班选择权。

🏛️ 哲学与批判理论深度研判 ➔ 立即阅读

透视本期报纸背后的结构性权力机制、普遍概念与具体事件之间的非同一性辩证摩擦。

⚖️ 理性与情感辩证深度研判 ➔ 立即阅读

解构冰冷制度治理（Logos）与民众真实痛感/集体情绪（Pathos）之间的断裂与隐性诉求。

Kiplinger's Personal Finance - 09.2026.pdf

独家排名：为您寻找最合适的银行第 40 页

Kiplinger 个人理财

我们最喜爱的交易所交易基金名单能满足每个人的需求——而且我们的精选基金今年表现出色。第 18 页

如何在退休的第一年茁壮成长第 52 页

寻找一次绝佳的河 cruise 游第 66 页

最终前沿：利用太空股票获利第 28 页

2026 年 9 月 $8.99 www.kiplinger.com

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如此明智，不读它将是非常愚蠢的。

关于 Hennion & Walsh (投资公司)

自 1990 年以来，Hennion & Walsh (投资公司) 专注于投资级免税市政债券。该公司管理着超过 50 亿美元的资产，为个人投资者提供机构级的服务和个性化的关注。

从历史上看，市政债券是一种低风险的投资方式。* 特别是如果您追求免税且定期的投资收益。来自 Hennion & Walsh (投资公司) 的投资级评级市政债券？那么，情况可能会更好。我们从各个角度研究了它们 35 年之久。因此，我们知道如何利用它们来帮助您实现财务目标。

您将学习到以下内容：

✓ 市政债券的收益与风险。
✓ 市政债券如何提供联邦免税收入。
✓ 为什么市政债券具有提供定期收入的潜力。
✓ 智能债券投资策略。
✓ 每个投资者都应该知道的市政债券事实。

费用：$0

致电 (800) 318-4850

获取您的债券指南

无需任何义务，且完全免费

HENNION & WALSH (投资公司) 关键在于信任。®

© 2026 Hennion & Walsh (投资公司)。证券通过 Hennion & Walsh Inc. 提供。美国金融业监管局 (FINRA) 和美国证券投资者保护公司 (SIPC) 成员。投资债券涉及风险，包括可能的本金损失。收入可能需缴纳州、地方或联邦替代最低税。如果提前出售或被赎回，收到的金额可能低于支付金额，且实际收益率可能低于购买时计算的收益率。过往业绩不保证未来结果。 *根据穆迪投资者服务公司 2025 年 8 月 4 日发布的《1970-2024 年美国市政债券违约与回收》报告，1970 年至 2024 年间，投资级市政债券的 10 年累计违约率为 0.09%。

--。

九月目录

Kiplinger 个人理财 / 创立于 1947 年 / 第 80 卷第 9 期

随着 SpaceX (太空探索技术公司) 的股价一路飙升，您是否应该加入其中？

↑ 封面插图作者：Will Tims

读者来信

5 退休支出的挑战 以及您对电视流媒体服务和居家断舍离的看法。

编辑寄语

6 我们的其他出版物概览 从专注于税务的时事通讯到面向收益投资者的报告，Kiplinger 拥有丰富的产品。

前瞻

9 话题 A 预测市场正向您袭来……在无需担心资金耗尽的情况下增加退休支出……在住房市场停滞之际，房屋翻新迎来热潮。

16 简报社会保障信托基金正趋于枯竭。

投资封面故事

18 向 ETF 的巨幅转移 投资者正将资金大量投入 ETF，且新产品层出不穷。Kiplinger ETF 20 的表现如何？我们回顾了完整的心选名单。

28 如何从最后的边疆中获利 太空探索公司的股票正处于热点——且伴随风险。我们为勇敢的投资者找到了几个极具吸引力的选择。

33 色彩斑斓且充满争议的遗产 曾五次担任美联储主席的艾伦·格林斯潘对经济产生了巨大影响。

35 街头智慧 基金经理的吸引力，作者：JAMES K. GLASSMAN。

38 收益投资 股息的黄金切入点，作者：JEFFREY R. KOSNETT。

2026 年 9 月 |

盖蒂图片社

↑ 66

小型邮轮通常能前往大型邮轮无法抵达的地方——而这仅仅是河道巡游吸引力的一部分。

34 更多投资资讯 Kiplinger 25 更新 (34)。共同基金趋势 (37)。

理财

40 寻找最适合您的银行 我们的顶级银行和信用合作社名单重点介绍了具有卓越功能、优质服务和竞争力的利率的机构。

49 自雇人士的税收减免 《Kiplinger 税务快报》编辑 Joy Taylor 为您解答疑问。

50 睿智理财女性 面向女性的财务咨询专栏，作者：JANET BODNAR。

51 信用 / 收益 更换卡片，同时保留您的信用记录。

退休

52 在退休的第一年茁壮成长 当您过渡到新的退休生活时，这是一个巨大的调整。以下是如何在财务和情感上做好准备。

58 退休新世界 整理我的事务，作者：SANDRA BLOCK。

基础知识

60 实用投资组合 在投资 IPO 之前，您需要阅读招股说明书。关键在于知道寻找什么以及在哪里寻找。

62 家庭财务 给家人的最后一份礼物。

64 基础常识 房主：不要忽略这项保障。

奖励

66 河道巡游的诱惑 准备好在一次终身难忘的旅行中探索内陆水道了吗？我们的指南将告诉您关于目的地、成本、物流等需要了解的所有信息。

您的回合

72 您做过的最成功的投资是什么？ 读者每月就不同的话题分享见解和建议。

2 Kiplinger 个人理财

美国巡航线 (AMERICAN CRUISE LINES)

体验新英格兰之最

让自己沉浸在新英格兰的风景、声音和味道中。从古朴的岛屿村庄到令人叹为观止的海岸线美景，新英格兰的夏天是一次真正令人愉悦的体验。探索该地区丰富的海洋遗产，品尝传统的龙虾大餐，并惊叹于镀金时代的宏伟豪宅。回到您船上的舒适避风港，在与同行宾客和船员的温暖情谊中放松身心。

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退休支出的挑战

我觉得（7月号的）“掌握退休后的消费艺术”一文非常有启发且实用。虽然我同意我们应该通过参与那些此前因担心未来财务需求而推迟的活动来享受退休生活，但在决定花钱时，影响我的一个问题是我希望为家人留下资金。因此，我在旅行等消费与为家人提供遗产之间寻求平衡。James Blume，马萨诸塞州坎顿

我的青少年时期有一部分是在奶牛场度过的，我记得有这样一句话：“你不能吃掉你的种子玉米。”换句话说，你节省下来的钱就是“种子”，它在退休后产生部分收入（其余部分由社会保障金和养老金等来源覆盖）。如果你吃掉了种子玉米，未来就一无所有。请确保将种子分散在多个资产类别中，以确保可持续性。这种方法在我的 27 年退休生活中效果很好，我希望这些种子能被

下一代使用，以培育他们部分退休后的作物。J.K.，通过电子邮件

我曾作为一名注册会计师（CPA）拥有相当成功的职业生涯，在我们的净资产达到某个数字后，我在 67 岁时感到基本可以放心退休了。但与你们文章中提到的许多夫妇一样，我也在努力尝试“放宽钱袋子”。我花了整整两年时间才说服自己我们不会没钱，并开始收获一生工作的回报。我有一个弟弟，他正经历着同样的消费焦虑，而他的净资产比我的还要高。

D.O.，通过电子邮件

电视技巧

看看你们当地的图书馆是否提供免费的流媒体服务（见7月号“减少流媒体电视支出”）。我们这里的图书馆提供 Hoopla 和 Kanopy 的访问权限，每张卡每月有一定数量的

借阅额度。而且你可以通过 PBS Passport 计划访问 PBS 系列剧集的完整季。通过向我们当地电台每年捐赠 $60（这本来就是我们可能会做的事），我们就可以

全年刷他们的节目。K.L.，俄亥俄州洛迪

我们喜欢使用阁楼里的天线免费观看 ABC、NBC、CBS、PBS 等广播频道以及一些当地电台。我们从未觉得需要有线电视或流媒体服务。

Bill Billingham，伊利诺伊州惠顿

我非常喜欢 Sling TV 的日票（Day Pass）计划。[日票提供对一组频道的短期访问权限，例如一天或三天。] 对于 ESPN 或 TBS 上的某些重大比赛，对于这个没有有线电视的体育迷来说，Sling 简直是福音！

Jeff Reiter，伊利诺伊州格伦艾林

断舍离并获利

我在家里走走，确定哪些东西是我不再需要或想要的，然后在 Facebook Marketplace 上出售（见7月号“断舍离家居的 10 个技巧”）。这太棒了。我不仅赚了一点钱，还清理了杂物，而且看到别人真正想要并重视他们购买的物品很有趣。此外，这让我保持忙碌，并提醒我已经拥有了多少东西，这样我就不会买更多东西了！

Colleen Roller，通过电子邮件

澄清

如果你对 529 大学储蓄计划进行“超级注资”——即一次性捐赠高达年度赠与税免税额五倍的金额，且该资金不计入你的联邦赠与税和遗产税终身免税额——你必须在五年选择期的第一年提交赠与税申报表（IRS 709 表格）（见7月号“不要担心赠与税”）。

联系我们： 信件可能会为了清晰度和空间而进行编辑；只有在您提供姓名的情况下，我们才会根据要求使用缩写。请发送至 Kiplinger 个人理财，c / o Future US LLC, 130 West 42nd Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10036，或发送电子邮件至 feedback@kiplinger.com。请附上您的姓名、地址和白天的电话号码。

2026 年 9 月 5

编辑寄语

LISA GERSTNER，编辑 LISA.GERSTNER@FUTURENET.COM

6 Kiplinger 个人理财

照片：MATT STANLEY

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预测市场正向你袭来

随着这些平台的扩张，它们正将目标锁定在年龄更大、更富裕的受众群体。但警惕这些炒作是值得的。作者：KERRI ANNE RENZULLI

你是否对谁将赢得你所在州的中期选举有直觉？或者美联储下次何时会下调利率？又或者明年哪位演员将斩获奥斯卡奖？预测市场希望你有这些直觉——并且希望你对自己的直觉足够自信，从而愿意为此投入资金。

预测市场允许用户对未来事件的结果进行投注，这种形式在美国已经以各种形式存在了数十年。但近期技术进步以及特朗普政府时期的法律变更，使得一批新玩家——包括 Kalshi、Polymarket 和 DraftKings Predictions——能够将这一概念转化为任何美国人都可以使用的庞大投注中心。根据投资公司 Bernstein 的数据，这些平台的交易额预计今年将突破 2400 亿美元 billion，到 2030, 将达到 1万亿美元。

为了维持其创纪录的增长，预测市场公司已开始将目光从典型的

GETTY IMAGES

September 2026 9

Ahead

年轻男性用户转向其他人群，包括年长的美国人。Truist Securities 的数据显示，这部分人群目前仅占其流量的 7% 不到。他们实现这一目标的一个关键方式是：将自己的产品宣传为受联邦政府监管的投资，以将其与传统投注平台上的赌博区分开来。

“预测市场公司希望将此推向极致，”Truist Securities 的高级游戏股票分析师 Barry Jonas 表示，“他们需要扩张，而他们为什么不去争取那些拥有更多可支配收入和时间的人群呢？”

由于这些平台在黄金时段投放了无处不在的广告，你可能已经接触过预测市场。

与传统赌博不同，这里没有庄家或博彩公司来设定赔率。相反，平台创建合约，然后由市场决定定价，赔率由首批下单的用户设定。收入主要来自费用，通常是合约价格的一小部分百分比或利润分成。在事件发生之前的任何时间，随着价格波动和新信息的出现，你都可以进行新的投注或出售你的合约——俄勒冈州问题赌博委员会执行主任 Glenn Yamagata 表示，这一特性更像股票而非赌博。

由于这些区别，预测市场被视为衍生品，并受联邦政府监管——从而在与其他投注同一事件的人竞争时获得优势。但它们不仅仅是在与其他个人竞争。

“人们认为这只是普通人对阵普通人，但实际上，你是在与非常专业的机构组织打赌，他们能够获取普通公民无法获得的信息，”Jonas 表示。

此外，人们还担心预测市场可能会被操纵，尤其是通过内部交易。过去一年发生了几起高调事件，包括一名美国陆军士兵被指控利用机密信息对抓捕委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗（Nicolás Maduro）进行投注，在 Polymarket 上赢得了超过 $400,000。

尽管如此，超过一半的用户告诉 Truist，他们更倾向于事件合约而非体育博彩或赌博，因为他们觉得赔率更好，且 70% 的人认为自己赚钱了。

现实情况则截然不同。尽管投注金额通常较小，约一半的用户每份合约投注少于 $100，但大多数人并没有获利。彭博社的一项分析发现，在 Polymarket 上，超过 100,000 个账户损失了至少 $1,000，而获利这么多的人数仅为其一半。此外，研究人员发现，自 2022, 以来，约 10 分之七的 Polymarket 账户亏损。

如果你确实想尝试预测市场，专家建议你提前设定投注金额和频率的上限，并且绝不要使用预留给储蓄目标的资金进行投注。他们敦促道，关键在于将这些投注视为一种娱乐支出，类似于外出就餐或看电影，而不是一种投资。

“预测市场可能很有趣，但你应该像看待体育博彩或去赌场一样看待它们，”北卡罗来纳州立大学（NC State University）的金融学教授理查德·沃（Richard Warr）表示，“如果你是为了投资，有许多更好的资金投向。” ■

在某个预测市场平台上，大约 7 成账户自 2022 年以来一直处于亏损状态。

新闻报道中经常出现相关事件或其预测赔率。随着这些平台在日常生活中变得更加根根深蒂固，以下是您需要了解的关于其运作方式及相关风险的内容。

预测市场如何运作

无论是像 Kalshi 或 Polymarket 这样的独立平台，还是像 Robinhood 和 Coinbase 那样内置在在线经纪账户或加密货币应用中的平台，预测市场都允许您通过购买与特定结果挂钩的合约来对某一事件进行押注。您支付的价格通常在 1 美分到 99 美分之间，具体取决于市场认为该结果发生的可能性有多大。大多数合约被设定为“是 / 否”命题，如果您预测正确，将获得 $1 的固定赔付，且合约设有固定的截止日期。

因此，如果您认为明天会下雨，您购买了一份 20 美分的“是”头寸合约，结果真的下起了大雨，您将获利 80 美分。在这种情况下，如果您押注不下雨，您将损失投入的资金。

联邦商品期货交易委员会，而非州博彩机构。然而，至少有 16 个州已经出台立法来监管或禁止预测市场，理由是它们在本质上与体育博彩市场的功能相同。

这场持续不断的法律争论导致的结果是：混乱。Truist 的报告显示，四分之一的预测市场用户将他们的押注视为一种娱乐形式，18% 的用户将其视为“披着知识外衣的投机赌博”。另有四分之一的人认为它们是对投资组合的有益补充，20% 的人认为它们是一种合法的替代资产类别。此外，美国博彩协会（American Gaming Association）的一项研究发现，25% 的参与者使用其投资预算为押注提供资金。

预测市场的风险

对于许多用户来说，预测市场的一个巨大吸引力在于能够对与其爱好或专业知识重叠的进展进行押注。这可能会导致人们认为自己拥有

10 Kiplinger 个人理财

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前瞻

访谈

退休后无需担心资金耗尽即可增加支出

创建一种类似于工资的收入流可以帮助您安全地放宽预算。

作者：KERRI ANNE RENZULLI

您将您的新书《永恒工资》（The Forever Paycheck）称为您 40 年职业生涯中最重要的一部作品。为什么这本书对您来说是一个如此充满热情的项目？ 这本书讲述的是退休后如何花掉您的积蓄——或者专家所说的“资产减值”（decumulate）——而且这是您不能出错的事情。如果您提取过多，晚年将面临资源短缺。如果您提取不足，本质上就是生活质量低下——无法在您为此储蓄了这么久的生命阶段中获得最大收益。我认为这极其令人悲哀。对我而言，这个问题既紧迫又重要。

为什么许多退休人员在从储蓄到消费的过渡中感到吃力？

这在情感上确实很难，因为动用积蓄感觉像是一种损失。当你投入这么多时间去积累某样东西时，它会显得弥足珍贵。你会想要紧紧抓住它。

在战术层面，我们在积累阶段得到了很多帮助，例如退休储蓄计划中的自动加入和自动递增机制，以及目标日期基金。无需采取任何行动就能做正确的事情已变得极其简单。但对于管理积蓄的提取，目前还没有类似的自动技巧。

您认为解决方案在于创建您所谓的“永恒工资”。这对退休人员有什么帮助？

永恒工资是一股将持续终生的收入流，它使您能够舒适地生活，而无需担心钱会花光。理想情况下，这笔收入流应足以覆盖您的需求和部分欲望——那些您绝对不愿妥协的需求。它并不是针对您所有资金的解决方案。每个人仍然需要将部分资金投资于市场以实现增长。但研究人员发现，拥有稳定的收入流能让您在消费时感到更加安心。

如何资助一份永恒工资？

如果您负担得起，尽可能晚地申请社会保障金以最大化福利，通常是对大多数人来说正确的做法。这是几乎每个人永恒工资的基础，再加上您可能获得的任何养老金。然后查看您的支出，包括那些必需品和欲望，以确定您在日常生活中需要多少钱。减去您从社会保障金和养老金中获得的收入，剩下的就是您的缺口。您可以用年金的保证收入或投资提取来填补这个缺口。就我个人而言，我选择保证收入路线。我的退休收入约三分之一来自社会保障金，三分之一来自永恒工资的其余部分，三分之一来自投资于市场的增长资金。

JOAN CHATZKY 是 HerMoney.com 的首席执行官，也是播客节目《HerMoney With Jean Chatzky》的主持人。

退休人员如何防止通货膨胀或股价大跌等不可预测的事件破坏他们的计划？ 构建永恒工资的全部意义就在于让这些事件不会干扰您。如果您有一份能覆盖需求和关键欲望的工资，而市场出现下跌，您不必被迫抛售。您可以给市场留出回升的时间。而且，在对抗通货膨胀方面，最大化社会保障金是您最好的帮手，因为它具有每年重新计算的生活成本增加额。

在消费方面，退休人员还有哪些误区？ 除了因为恐惧而消费不足、生活质量无法达到最高水平之外，许多退休人员认为整个退休期间的消费将是一致的。事实并非如此。人们在退休初期消费更多，因为那时他们会进行清单上的旅行并开展房屋装修项目。一旦我们进入七十多岁，节奏就会慢下来，消费也会减少。这一事实应该让人们在早期有权多花一点钱。

我们还应该考虑在生前将资金传承下去的方法，无论是给子女还是捐给慈善机构。如果我在九十多岁时去世，我的孩子们那时已经六十多岁了。我真心希望到那时他们不再需要我的钱。■

12 Kiplinger 个人理财

照片由 JEAN CHATZKY 提供

Kiplinger 个人理财

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前瞻

住房市场停滞，翻新热潮兴起

在考虑房屋改造吗？这里教您如何选择合适的项目并争取最优惠的价格。作者：BETH BRAVERMAN

由于负担能力问题继续困扰住房市场，许多房主选择改变房屋内部而非更改住址，以获得所需的居住空间。根据 Citizens Financial Group 最近的一项调查，近一半的房主现在表示，翻新房屋是对其家庭而言最现实的财务选择——相比之下，计划购买新房的人仅占 13%——且十分之七的人预计在未来两年内完成一项改造项目。

“他们找不到其他可以去的地方，”马萨诸塞州北安多弗 Kody & Company 的经纪人 Linda Kody 表示，“他们热爱自己的社区，并且希望拥有一套完全符合自己心意的房子。”

鉴于目前的住房市场状况，翻新热潮在情理之中。根据哈佛大学住房研究联合中心的数据，自 2020 年以来，房价已上涨 54%。与此同时，由于近期抵押贷款利率在 6% 到 6.5% 之间波动，许多房主不愿放弃在几年前利率开始攀升之前获得的 3% 到 4% 的贷款。由此导致的库存短缺——

日历 2026年9月

7 一个关于劳动节的冷峻事实：美国退休人员协会（AARP）报告称，近三分之二 50 岁及以上的工人面临年龄歧视。可以通过在 LinkedIn Learning (linkedin.com / learning) 或 Coursera (coursera.org) 参加与您领域相关的免费或低成本在线课程，来反击“年长员工学习新技能缓慢”的错误认知。无论在任何年龄，增加一项专业认证都能提升就业前景（可在 careeronestop.org / toolkit / training / find-local-training.aspx 查找您所在地区的项目）。

15 如果您是自雇人士或小企业主，今天是缴纳第三季度预估税的截止日期。在降低 2026 年税单的可能策略中：根据去年通过的《一项宏大美丽法案》（One Big Beautiful Bill Act），如果您的收入在 $505,000 或以下，逐项扣除者现在可以扣除高达 $40,400 的州税和地方税（如果您结婚且分开申报，则为 $20,200），这比之前的 $10,000 限额大幅提高（该抵税额在超过此阈值后将逐步取消）。

14 Kiplinger 个人理财

前瞻

目前待售房屋比疫情前减少了 17%——这也意味着那些想要搬家的人可选方案更少。

如果您是众多在未来一两年内考虑改造项目的房主之一，这些策略可以帮助您决定处理哪些项目以及如何控制成本。

战略性地选择翻新项目。

首先考虑您的即时维护需求以及生活方式所需的功能性。例如，如果您计划在退休后继续住在该房子里，请考虑增加一些设计元素，如步入式淋浴间或无障碍入口，这将使您在年长后的生活更加便捷。

“如果您提前准备好房屋，以后不得不搬家的风险将大大降低，”华盛顿特区 HomeRenewed Ventures 的总裁兼首席执行官 Louis Tenenbaum 表示，该公司为希望原址养老的房主提供咨询服务。

Tenenbaum 建议尽可能同时完成所有必要的项目，因为随着健康和行动能力挑战的出现而分阶段进行改造最终会

→ 本月特惠

科技评论网站 Tom's Guide 的特惠主编 Louis Ramirez 表示，随着夏季接近尾声，可以寻找包括凉鞋、短裤和 T 恤在内的季节性清仓商品折扣。Ramirez 还表示，本月还可以找到床垫和小家电的优惠，他建议在 Amazon、Walmart、Best Buy 和 Home Depot 等主要零售商处寻找最低价格。

装修投资回报率最高项目

这五个常见的翻新项目在出售房屋时通常能提供最高的投资回报。

PROJECT / PCT. OF COSTS RECOUPED

Garage door replacement / 267.7% Steel door replacement / 216.4 Stone veneer / 207.9 Fiber-cement siding / 113.7 Minor kitchen remodel / 112.9

来源：Zonda 2025 Cost vs. Value Report

变得更加昂贵且压力更大。基础的升级和维修，例如更换旧电线或修复漏雨的屋顶，也有助于您的房屋保值并降低未来的维护成本。

之后，关注厨房和浴室等高频使用区域。如果您重视转售价值，请专注于那些能让您回收大部分成本的项目。根据房屋建筑数据和营销公司 Zonda 的说法，近期这些项目包括外部升级（如更换车库门或升级外墙护板）、小型厨房翻新以及安装备用电源发电机。

22 随着秋季青少年体育活动的开始，根据 ProjectPlay.org 的数据，家长可以预计每个孩子的主要运动项目每年在设备和旅行上的支出将超过 $1,000，比 2019, 增加了 46%。如何节省？在 Play It Again Sports (playitagainsports.com) 等二手网站以及 Facebook 和 NextDoor 等在线本地市场购买轻微使用过的设备。如果您的孩子在旅行队中，您还可以与其他家长合作拼车或租赁面包车。

控制支出。 对于较大的项目，新泽西州莫里斯敦 Archuleta Builders 的首席执行官兼总裁 Alan Archuleta 建议，首先寻找在您所在市镇有经验的建筑师或设计公司。根据 HomeAdvisor 的数据，这类工作的费用根据范围而异，但平均约为 $6,600。

“从分区角度或实际结构角度来看，建筑师和城镇决定了您可以对房屋做些什么以及不能做些什么，”Archuleta 解释道。

至少从三家承包商那里获取报价，并要求提供列明各项成本的详细报价单。然后，在预算中额外增加 20%，以应对突发费用，例如水损或结构维修，尤其是在旧房子中。佛罗里达州博卡拉顿的认证理财规划师 Mari Adam 表示：“翻新往往会引发原本不需要的规范升级。”

您可以通过选择中端固定装置和材料来进一步降低成本，从而平衡质量与成本。如果您在项目时间上具有灵活性，可能还会发现更好的承包商可用性和价格。

俄勒冈州波特兰 Bridge City Contracting 的所有者 Elizabeth Gomez 表示：“目前最明智的方法是有目的地进行翻新，而不是匆忙启动项目。” 1

2026 15

前瞻

简报

关于市场与您资金的信息

社会保障信托基金日益接近枯竭

→ 为退休人员支付社会保障福利的信托基金前景正变得更加严峻。根据该计划受托委员会 2026 年年度报告的预测，如果没有干预，该基金将在 2032 年底耗尽。这比 2025 年报告的估计时间提前了一个季度。

社会保障福利不会消失，因为它们将继续由工资税提供资金。但如果政策制定者在未来六年内未能实施加强该计划偿付能力的改革，退休人员的福利将减少约 22%。

受托人将这一恶化的预测基于较低的生育率和移民人数的下降，这将减少可用以支持该计划的劳动者人数。第三个促成因素是 2025 年的《一项宏伟美丽法案》（One Big Beautiful Bill Act），该法案

将 2017 年实施的较低普通所得税率永久化，并为 65 岁及以上的纳税人增加了临时额外扣除额。受托人表示，由于这些条款，信托基金从社会保障福利税收中获得的税收金额将会下降。

社会保障问题是可以解决的，但加强该计划可能会影响到劳动者和退休人员。而且，每在没有改革的情况下过去一年，实施变革的成本就会增加。以下是国会为弥补缺口可能采取的一些措施：

增加适用社会保障工资税的收入金额。 2026 年，最高 184,500 美元的收入需缴纳 6.2% 的工资税。根据彼得·G·彼得森基金会（Peter G. Peterson Foundation）的数据，取消该上限将使缺口减少 73%。该措施得到了两党支持：民主党参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦（Elizabeth Warren）和共和党参议员伯尼·莫雷诺（Bernie Moreno）最近表示，他们正在制定旨在取消上限的立法。其他

76%

根据 AARP 最近的一项调查，在 50 岁及以上的成年人中，有 76% 的人表示，如果其国会议员未能实施防止社会保障福利减少的改革，他们投票给该代表的可能性会降低。

16 Kiplinger 个人理财

盖蒂图像 (GETTY IMAGES)

提案则建议提高上限——例如提高到 400,000 美元。

提高退休年龄。 目前，1960 年或之后出生的人员的全额退休年龄（FRA）为 67 岁；早于该时间出生的人员在 66 岁至 66 岁 10 个月之间达到全额退休年龄。根据负责任联邦预算委员会（Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget）的数据，将全额退休年龄提高到 68 岁将消除 12% 的缺口；将其提高到 69 岁并随后与预期寿命挂钩，将使缺口减少 36%。

修改生活成本调整（COLA）公式。 负责任联邦预算委员会（CRFB）估计，将年度生活成本调整与“链式 CPI”挂钩（一种比基本消费者价格指数增长更慢的生活成本计算公式）将使缺口缩小 17%。为高收入受益人设定 COLA 上限可将缺口削减 25%。

由于这些提案中没有一项能完全弥补缺口，因此可能会采取组合改革方案。可以使用 crfb.org / socialsecurityreformer 上的工具来测试各种改革方案。

对社会保障偿付能力的担忧导致在 62 岁申请福利的美国人数增加，尽管这将永久降低其每月领取的金额。但财务规划师表示，虽然一些退休人员有令人信服的理由提前申请，但对破产的担忧并非其中之一。即使国会未能弥补缺口，如果你选择延迟申请，任何福利的削减都将基于一个更大的基数来计算。而且大多数分析师认为，国会在福利减少之前会介入。 SANDRA BLOCK

“能以这个价格拥有一块这种品质的手表，让我觉得我破解了一个秘密代码。”

— Robert M.，马里兰州贝塞斯达

瑞士表是工具，而我们的意大利表是浪漫。

比价值 $12,000 的 Rolex® 更精准？我们敢拿钱打赌。

我们很乐意将我们这款惊艳的意大利时计与价值 $12,000 的 Rolex® 进行对比测试。如果对方更精准，我们将向第一位能证明此点的挑战者支付 $12,000！但我们的机芯每秒精准振动 32,768 次，因此我们非常有信心。凭借惊艳的意大利工艺，我们的经典设计令人瞩目。既然您可以拥有我们的 RossoBlu 经典运动腕表，且仍有足够资金在佛罗伦萨、威尼斯和罗马度过一个精彩的星期，为何要支付 $12,000 呢？请记住，瑞士计算秒数，而意大利让每一秒都难以忘怀。意大利人深知，生活并非由昂贵的地位象征来衡量，而是由瞬间组成：日落时的一杯基安蒂葡萄酒，与爱人共乘的贡多拉，或是伫立在米开朗基罗的西斯廷教堂下感受震撼。意大利在计时领域的天才之举可追溯至 600 年前，即 1360 年代令人惊叹的天文钟的发明。

我们的 RossoBlu 时计提供更高的精准度，同时兼具只有意大利才能提供的灵魂、色彩与优雅。其线条呼应了意大利跑车的雕塑之美，并以构建罗马的同样热情环绕您的腕间。买下这块表，开启旅程，品味美食、美酒、艺术与浪漫。 法拉利、玛莎拉蒂和阿尔法·罗密欧或许速度极快，但我们的 Raffinato 始终准时。

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投资

→ THE KIPLINGER ETF 20

一场向交易所交易基金（ETFs）的大规模转移

在快速变化的交易所交易基金世界中，我们的心选之作脱颖而出。

作者：NELLIE S. HUANG

18 Kiplinger Personal Finance

接近 2万亿美元——这是美国交易所交易基金行业预计今年将吸引的净流入资金（新资金流入减去流出资金），这一数额大致相当于西班牙的经济规模。在 2026, 的前五个月，投资于证券组合但交易方式类似于个股的 ETFs 吸引了 7710 亿美元 billion。TMX VettaFi 的研究与编辑主管 Todd Rosenbluth 表示：“ETF 的市场份额确实在持续增长。”

事实上，美国 ETFs 的总资产在 6 月初突破了 15万亿美元。资产正逼近共同基金的总投资额（23万亿美元），目前约占投资公司管理的所有资产的 40%。在 2020, 资产仅为 5.4万亿美元，占投资公司总资产的 17%。

这种巨大的资金转移引发了一波新的密集推出。根据 FactSet Insight 的数据，2025, 共有创纪录的 1,167 只新亮相。2026 可能会创下新纪录；今年前六个月，已有 730 多只新基金开盘，涵盖了从简单的美国股票产品到更复杂的期权挂钩产品。（参见 7 月号的“ETFs 持续涌现”。）

流入 ETFs 的资金之河在共同基金行业剩余的坚守者中产生了一种“如果不能击败他们，就加入他们”的心态。最新倒下的多米诺骨牌是共同基金公司 Primecap Management，该公司预计将在今年夏天推出其首只 ——Primecap Odyssey Discovery。

2026 19

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在一些行业观察者看来，这一举动标志着一个 era, 的结束。时事通讯《The Independent Vanguard Adviser》的编辑 Jeff DeMaso 表示，这“消除了任何疑虑”，关于基金行业的未来，“投资者正在转向 ETFs”。

下一波浪潮。 3 月，首个现有主动管理共同基金的份额类别开始交易——Dimensional US Micro Cap （代码 DFMC）——这预示着未来将出现更多传统共同基金的份额类别。

去年 11 月，Dimensional Fund Advisors 成为首家获得美国证券交易委员会（SEC）批准开设既有基金份额类别的资产管理公司。

其份额。其次，投资者将能够把共同基金中的资产转移到其份额类别中，而不会触发资本利得税——这对于在应税账户中持有基金份额的人来说是一个福音。

重新评估我们的心选之作。 在此背景下，我们审查了我们的心选名单，我们将其称为 Kiplinger 20. 今年我们将做出三项调整（关于原因的更多详情，请参阅第 26 页的方框）。

但首先，来看一份成绩单。Kip 20 中的 11 只美国股票在过去 12 个月中的平均回报率为 27.1%，而标准普尔 500. 指数的涨幅为 22.3%。三只外国基金平均上涨 27.8%；MSCI ACWI Ex USA

收取极低的 0.03% 费用率。正如其名称所示，iShares Core S&P 500 旨在通过持有基准指数的成分股来复制标准普尔 500 指数。有趣的事实：由于某些成员公司拥有多个份额类别（包括 Alphabet 和 Fox），标准普尔 500 指数实际上追踪的是 503 只股票。另一个有趣的事实：在过去 10 年中，这只没有支付过任何资本利得分配。（接下来的两只基金也是如此。）

iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap 和 iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF 领域有许多优秀的中小型公司指数基金，但我们特意将这些 ETF 与标准普尔 500 指数 ETF 搭配，因为这些基金的持仓没有重叠。你在 S&P Mid- 或 S&P Small- 中找不到任何标准普尔 500 指数的股票，这两只小盘基金之间也没有重复。这使得管理投资组合在不同规模公司股票上的风险敞口变得更加容易。另一个优点是：公司必须通过一项盈利能力衡量标准才能被纳入任何标准普尔股票指数——即最近一个季度盈利为正，且前四个季度的累计盈利也为正。

小型公司股票近期一直在上涨。在过去六个月中，S&P Mid- 和 S&P Small- 的表现都超过了其大盘公司“兄弟”基金。这种上涨趋势会持续吗？华尔街的策略师对此看法不一。一些人预计势头将继续；另一些人则更为谨慎。但这并不重要。多元化投资并不是一种根据市场情况而开启或关闭的开关。始终保持对中小型公司股票的风险敞口永远是一个明智的投资举措。

新推荐 $\rightarrow$ Vanguard Total Stock Market 如果你不确定投资组合中应分配多少比例给大盘—。

Kip ETF 20 中的 11 只美国股票 ETF 在过去一年中平均回报率为 27%；标准普尔 500 指数的回报率为 22%。

共同基金。但根据投资研究公司 Morningstar 的数据，今年早些时候，另有 90 家公司获得了美国证券交易委员会（SEC）的批准，其中一些公司（包括 F / m Investments、Nuveen 和 Thornburg Investment Management）随后为其现有的共同基金推出了份额类别。更多已准备推出：包括 Tweedy, Browne 在内的近十家公司已向监管机构提交招股说明书，旨在为某些基金开设份额类别。

这对投资公司和投资者来说都是双赢。连续几年以来，许多传统共同基金出现了显著的净流出，而增加份额类别可以在一定程度上堵住这个漏洞。个人投资者也能从中受益。首先，他们可能能够投资于以前无法接触到的基金。例如，Dimensional 表现出色的共同基金只能通过顾问购买，但任何拥有经纪账户的人都可以购买

基准指数上涨了 32.8%。我们的六只债券基金上涨了 4.5%，超过了彭博美国综合债券指数 3.8% 的回报率。

我们的精选涵盖了所有基础资产组，以及那些可能为您的投资组合注入一些“动力”的基金。这里重点介绍的 20 只并非旨在代表整个投资组合。相反，在构建适合您的投资时间跨度和风险承受能力的多元化投资组合时，请从中挑选。我们在第 25 页的模型投资组合中纳入了其中一些基金。在构建适合您的投资组合时，可以将它们作为起点。

我们的 20 只精选按字母顺序排列在四个大类中。除非另有说明，回报率和其他数据截至 6 月 30 日。

核心股票基金

iShares Core S&P 500 这只基金可能是投资最基础且最佳的典型案例：它追踪一个广泛的股票指数且

20 Kiplinger 个人理财

GETTY IMAGES (前页)

投资

小盘股和中盘股？请选择这只单一的，它持有近 3,500 只股票，按市值加权。大公司股票约占资产的 72%；中型公司股票占 19%；小型公司股票近 9%。简而言之，这只适合那些希望对所有美国股票进行“设置后即可忘记”式投资的投资者。

该基金还具有其他优势。这里没有“错失恐惧症”（FOMO）：这只全覆盖基金在过去几年中一直与标准普尔 500 指数保持同步。Total Stock Market 的 10 年年化收益率为 15.0%，与回报率为 15.5% 的标准普尔 500 指数相差无几。而且，当小盘股表现良好时，该可以击败标准普尔 500 指数。2020 年，小盘股和中盘股在第四季度反弹，Total Stock Market 的日历年回报率为 20.9%；标准普尔 500 指数则落后，增幅为 18.4%。最后，在过去 20 年中，该的表现超过了 79% 的所有多元化美国股票共同基金和。《The Independent Vanguard Adviser》的 DeMaso 表示：“从长远来看，一个简单的指数基金能让您领先于大约五分之四的投资者。”

Vanguard Total International Stock Index

海外投资终于获得了回报。自 2024 年底以来，外国股票的表现超过了美国股票。Vanguard Total International Stock Index 投资于大约 40 个不同的发达市场和新兴市场——从德国、韩国到澳大利亚和智利——且不包括美国股票。新兴市场股票占该基金投资组合的 26%；欧洲股票占 37%；太平洋地区股票占 28%。在过去 12 个月中，许多海外市场录得稳健回报，该基金上涨了 27.3%。如果您是第一次加入这一行列，或者您想要一种简单、无需繁琐操作的方式来投资外国股票，这只无需过度思考。

指数

S&P 500 / 22.3% / 20.6% / 13.4% / 1.1%

MSCI EAFE / 20.2 / 16.4 / 9.0 / 2.7 彭博美国综合债券指数 / 3.8 / 4.2 / 0.1 / 4.7

截至 6 月 30, 或最新可用数据。*12 个月收益率（所有其他收益率为 30 天 SEC 收益率）。—基金在整个期间内并非一直存在。来源：Morningstar Direct、基金公司、MSCI、S&P Dow Jones Indices、WSJ.com。

September 2026 21

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共同经理 Chris Buchbinder 表示，一些基金经理可能持有 19 到 25 只股票，而另一些则持有 40 到 47, 只。这种思路认为，拥有采用不同方法的多个经理可以增强多元化。在 2025 年初与关税相关的市场抛售期间，经理们抢购了打折的科技股，包括英伟达（Nvidia）和应用材料（Applied Materials）。这些股票的反弹为该基金在过去 12 个月内 26.4% 的回报率做出了显著贡献。

新基金 $\rightarrow$ iShares Core Dividend iShares Core Dividend 回归基础。该基金追踪一个针对支付股息、回购股票或两者兼而有之的美国公司的指数。按美元价值计算，市场中最大的股息支付和回购计划被纳入其中。

结果是一个由 405 只主要为大公司股票组成的投资组合，它与 S&P 500. 并不相似。在最近一次报告中，思科系统（Cisco Systems）、高通（Qualcomm）和埃克森美孚（ExxonMobil）在投资组合中名列前茅。在过去三年中，该 ETF 的年化回报率为 20.5%，在同类群体（专注于以优惠价格交易的大公司股票的基金）中排名在前 10% 的范围内，并与 S&P 500 保持同步。

与同类 ETF 相比，该投资组合更偏向于增长板块——科技股占投资组合的 33%，几乎是典型的大盘价值基金比例的两倍。但 Core Dividend 的很大一部分资产也分布在偏向价值的板块，如能源和金融。总之，该基金是一个良好的投资组合多元化工具。其 2.7% 的股息收益率也具有吸引力。

iShares International Dividend Growth 股息股通常提供收益和较低波动性的双重优势。在这方面，iShares International Dividend Growth 没有让人失望。在过去五年中，该指数基金与同类基金（投资于增长股和价值定价股票组合的外国大公司基金）保持同步，且波动率显著低于平均水平。

该基金追踪一个按股息金额加权的指数——支付金额越大，公司在投资组合中的权重就越大——该指数针对具有连续年度股息增长记录且有能力维持该增长的股票。

在过去 12 个月中，该基金 14.7% 的回报率落后于其同类群体。外国科技股在过去一年中上涨了 113%，推动了外国股票基金的回报，而 iShares International Dividend Growth 相对于同类基金在该板块的配置较轻。其最大的国家风险敞口日本和加拿大在过去一年中分别增长了近 30% 或更多，这有助于该基金的业绩。但前五大持仓股诺和诺德（Novo Nordisk）成为了拖累。由于在减肥药的持续竞争中难以维持市场份额，这家丹麦制药公司的股价在过去 12 个月中下跌了 28%。

我们保持客观视角：在过去九个完整的日历年中，iShares International Dividend Growth ETF 在其中五年中跑赢了同类基金。而且在过去 10 年中，尽管其 8.9% 的年化回报率落后于同类基金的 9.5%，但它是以低于平均水平的波动率实现该回报的。该基金的收益率为 2.6%。

战略股票基金

[...OMITTED...]

State Street Health Care Select

Sector SPDR 不要被该基金名称中新加入的“State Street”所干扰。作为 2025, 年底品牌重塑举措的一部分，基金发起人将其公司名称添加到了这只 ETF（以及包括其他一些 Kip ETF 20 成员在内的其他基金）中，但除此之外没有任何变化。该基金仍然追踪标准普尔 500 指数中的 60 只医疗保健股票，并按市值加权。

从绝对回报来看，该 ETF 在过去 12 个月中表现不错，上涨了 20%。它正在缩小与标准普尔 500, 指数的业绩差距，后者上涨了 22%。该行业的组成成分较为杂乱，表现各异。例如，制药股在过去一年中实现了高达 50% 的增长；而医疗设备和用品公司则下跌了 24%。

医疗保健股近期有所反弹，但在很长一段时间里，它们的表现落后于标准普尔 500. 指数。那么其吸引力在哪里？根据 BlackRock Fundamental Equities（贝莱德旗下通过严格自下而上研究构建投资组合的部门）的观点，该行业的基准面强劲。在 2025, 年的四个季度中，标准普尔 500 指数中近 90% 的医疗保健公司盈利超出预期，在所有行业中排名第二。分析师预计，在制药和管理医疗公司的推动下，医疗保健行业的盈利增长将在 2026, 年加速。此外，医疗保健股在历史上一直以高于大盘的市盈率交易，但现在则以 15% 的折扣交易。

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight 如果您担心标准普尔 500 指数中少数几家科技相关公司过于集中，可以考虑使用该基金来平衡您的投资组合。与传统的市值加权标准普尔 500 指数基金（公司规模越大，其在投资组合资产中所占份额越大）不同，该基金为投资组合中的每家公司分配等额的资产。

结果如何？在传统基准指数中规模最大的股票——英伟达、苹果和微软，并未进入 Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF 的前 10 大持仓。相反，康宁（Corning）和 Moderna 位居该基金投资组合之首。

当最大公司驱动回报时，该基金无法跟上传统指数的步伐。在过去三年中，

22 Kiplinger 个人理财

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投资

例如，Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight 的 14.3% 年化回报率落后于 S&P 500 的 20.6% 涨幅。但当指数中的较小公司反弹时，该 ETF 可能会领先于大盘基准，正如其在 2021 和 2022 年所表现的那样。

iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets 在我们将该基金加入 Kip ETF 20, 的两年里，它累计上涨了 64%，部分得益于美元走弱以及全球对人工智能半导体的需求激增。

台湾和韩国的股票占据了该指数近一半的权重，且这两个国家市场在过去 12 个月里均实现了三位数的增长。包括台积电（Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing）和 SK 海力士（SK Hynix）在内的这些国家的科技股处于领先地位。

这种上涨趋势会持续吗？许多策略师在进入 2026 年时对新兴市场股票持看涨态度。目前仍有理由保持乐观。摩根士丹利的 Lisa Shalett 在最近的一份报告中表示：“随着世界碎片化和技术投资加速，战略资源变得更加重要。在能源、材料和关键供应链方面拥有杠杆的国家，可以作为贸易伙伴和全球生产的关键环节来增强影响力。对于投资者来说，这可以转化为更广泛的机会集。”

JPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor 当形势变得艰难时，高质量股票往往表现得更好。这就是我们将 JPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor 列入此名单的关键原因。该基金持有利润率强劲且债务较少的高质量美国公司的股份。在过去五年中，这个由 200-odd 股票组成的投资组合在动荡的市场中（包括最近在伊朗战争开始后）始终比 S&P 500 在 rough markets 中表现更好。更棒的是，该基金在行情好时也能跟上步伐。例如，从 3 月下旬的市场底部到 6 月，JPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor 上涨了 18.3%，领先于 S&P 500 在创下新高时的 15.2% 涨幅。该 ETF 的长期记录同样令人印象深刻：该基金 13.6% 的五年年化回报率，在投资于快速增长股票和价值定价股票组合的大公司基金中排名在前 15%。

State Street SPDR S&P Kensho New Economies Composite 在 Kip ETF 20 的 20 只 ETF 中，这是最激进、最具投机性的选择。这只基于指数的基金利用 AI 和量化模型，投资于那些凭借处理能力、AI、机器人技术和自动化进步而颠覆传统行业的公司。小公司占投资组合的 60%，中型公司占 22%，大公司占其余部分。最大持仓 Ouster 是一家远程传感技术公司，市值 30 亿美元 billion，属于小盘股领域。

但所有这些飞速的创新都增加了波动性。如果您购买 SPDR S&P Kensho New Economies 的股份，请做好心理准备，并适当控制您的持仓规模，使其与您的投资时间跨度和目标相一致。

State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR 2016 年在该 ETF 中投资 $10,000（该基金追踪 S&P 500 中的 72 只科技股），如今将价值近 $98,000。而同样金额投资于 S&P 500 指数基金则为 $42,000.

超额收益将持续下去是一个不错的赌注。根据晨星（Morningstar）的数据，分析师预计该行业的盈利增长在未来五年中平均每年将增加 18%，标准普尔 500 指数的盈利增长率预计为 12%。

然而，回报越高，风险越大。在过去五年中，科技板块并不是 S&P 500 中波动最大的板块（这一称号属于能源板块），但它是一个

紧随其后。科技精选板块 SPDR 基金（Technology Select Sector SPDR）聚集了众所周知的重量级公司：英伟达、苹果和微软占据了投资组合的三分之一。请根据您的风险承受能力、投资期限以及股票投资组合的整体情况进行投资。

核心债券基金

富达总债券基金（Fidelity Total Bond）在过去的 12 个月里，这只中短期核心增强型（core-plus）债券基金不得不应对波动起伏的固定收益市场。在 2025 年 7 月至 2026 年 2 月期间，广泛的债券市场指数——彭博美国综合债券指数（Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond）上涨了 5%。但在伊朗战争爆发后，随着利率缓慢上升，该指数下跌了 1%。（债券价格与利率呈反向变动关系。）

在每次市场转变中，富达总债券基金——其特点是过去十年在波动率低于平均水平的情况下实现了高于平均水平的回报——表现均优于综合债券指数（Agg），在上涨期间跑赢指数，在下跌期间则表现得更为稳健。其 4.1% 的一年期回报率同样击败了同类产品。大量持有短期国债以及资产支持证券和商业抵押贷款支持证券对此有所帮助。该基金的收益率为 4.7%。

但该基金将在 9 月底经历基金经理变更。我们将密切关注此次过渡的进展，但如果必要，我们已准备好替代方案。

iShares 系统债券基金（iShares Systematic Bond）我们在 5 月刊中将这只中短期核心增强型 ETF 加入名单，以取代已达到目标到期年份的公司债基金——景顺 BulletShares 2026 公司债券 ETF（Invesco BulletShares 2026 Corporate Bond ETF）。

这只 ETF 的内部运作非常复杂。首先，高收益债券（评级为 BB 到 C）可占其资产的 25%。根据最新报告，垃圾债券占资产的 20%；投资级公司

24 Kiplinger 个人理财

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债券（评级为 AAA 到 BBB）占 30%；国债占 32%；政府担保的抵押贷款支持证券占 16%（其余为现金）。其次，系统债券基金比典型的指数基金更具动态性。其方法仍然基于规则和量化，但如果利率上升，该基金的投资组合将进行调整，使其久期（即对利率的敏感度）相对于广泛的通用债券指数下降，反之亦然。“它是一只指数基金，但有其独特的运行轨道，”贝莱德（BlackRock）iShares 固定收益 ETF 全球共同主管 Steve Laipply 表示。根据最新报告，该基金的久期略高于 6 年，这意味着如果利率上升一个百分点，该基金的净资产价值将下降 6%。

该基金在过去 12 个月中的 4.8% 回报率在其中短期核心增强型债券基金同类产品中排名前 15%。其收益率为 4.9%。

新 → 先锋核心债券基金（Vanguard Core Bond） 这只中短期债券 ETF 于 2023 年 12 月推出，因此历史业绩较短。但这只主动管理型 ETF 背后的三位经理还管理着一只采用类似投资方法的共同基金，而该共同基金拥有更长的历史记录。在过去的 10 年里，该共同基金的年化回报率在同类产品（中短期核心债券基金）中排名前 24%。尽管该 ETF 和共同基金是独立且不同的基金，但先锋公司（Vanguard）的高级固定收益客户投资组合经理 Rebecca Venter 表示，“所有的风控准则都是相同的，决策者也是相同的。”

经理们旨在通过投资高质量债券组合并密切关注风险，在不增加波动性的情况下击败综合债券指数（Agg）。他们在共同基金中实现了这一目标。在 ETF 中呢？到目前为止，表现良好。在过去两年中，先锋核心债券基金 5.5% 的年化回报率击败了综合债券指数 3.8% 的涨幅，且波动性相同。

想要一个更温和的核心债券基金——即不会过度涉足高收益债券的基金——的投资者应该考虑这款 ETF。该基金近 97% 的资产被评为投资级。国债和政府抵押贷款债券占投资组合的 48%；公司债券近 33%；以美元计价的外国政府债务超过 11%；资产支持证券占 4%。

其余部分为现金或其他证券。

最后，凭借 0.10% 的年度费用率，你找不到比 Vanguard Core Bond 更便宜的主动管理型核心债券基金了。Venter 表示，该比率是“主动型核心 ETF 的最低成本”。

保守型

45% 股票 / 15% / Vanguard Total Stock Market

10 / iShares International Dividend Growth 10 / JPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor 5 / Capital Group Dividend Value 5 / iShares Core Dividend 55% 债券 / 20 / Vanguard Core Bond 15 / iShares Systematic 10 / Pimco 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate 10 / iShares Short Duration Active

2026年9月 25

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Duration Active 在 2024 年进入 ETF 20 名单时，利率处于数十年来的高点，策略师们对于美联储会下调短期利率还是将其维持在较高水平更长时间持有分歧。我们将这款主动管理型 ETF 视为在利率变动的潜在不确定性之间寻找平衡，同时仍能获得可观收益的一种方式。自从我们将该基金加入 ETF 20 名单以来，其年化回报率为 5%，略高于彭博美国综合指数（Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate index）4.9% 的涨幅，且与其同行（短期基金）持平。

该基金的定位仍为投资者提供了一些优势。策略师们再次就美联储下一步是加息还是降息产生分歧。该基金 2 年的久期意味着，如果利率下降一个百分点，其净资产价值将上涨 2%。但如果利率上升（正如一些策略师现在所预期的那样），每上升一个百分点，净资产价值将下降 2%。从伊朗战争开始到 6 月，两年期国债收益率已从 3.4% 上升至 4.1%。Short Duration 在此期间表现稳健，回报率为 0.1%。相比之下，久期为 5.7 年的 Agg 指数则下跌了 1%。

该基金持有政府债券、公司债券和资产支持债券的组合，收益率为 4.3%。

JPMorgan Income 这款主动管理型基金承担双重职责，在决定何时重点布局哪些板块（无论是高收益债券、国债、抵押贷款支持证券还是新兴市场债券）的同时，提供稳定的每月派息。在过去三年中，该基金 6.7% 的年化回报率大幅领先于 Agg 指数的 4.2% 回报率。

目前，该基金的三位共同经理将大量资金配置在政府支持的抵押贷款证券中（占基金资产的 35%），这有助于近期回报。投资组合的其余部分由抵押贷款和资产支持证券（占资产的 34%）、高收益和投资级公司债券（13%）、新兴市场债券（6%）以及现金（12%）组成。该基金收益率为 5.6%。

Pimco 0–5 Year High Yield Corporate 去年，共同经理 David Forgash 表示高收益市场是一个理想的投资场所。事实确实如此：该基金在过去 12 个月中的回报率为 5.8%。它是 Kip ETF 20 中表现最好的基金，且胜过 67% 的同行。

该基金主要持有期限为一至五年的垃圾债券，这种短期导向起到了作用。虽然过去一年利率有所上升，但短期债务对利率变动的敏感度低于长期债券。该基金拥有相对较短的 2 年久期。

目前，鉴于市场状况，Pimco 的专家倾向于对高收益债券采取“提升质量”的方法。这也是该基金大部分资产的所在地：36% 的资产投资于 BB 级债券（垃圾债券中的最高等级）；另有 40% 的资产投资于 B 级。该基金的短期倾斜及其目前 6.4% 的收益率在违约率上升的情况下提供了一定的缓冲。I

您可以通过 Nellie.Huang@futurenet.com 联系作者。

→ 为什么我们更换了部分基金

在今年的 Kiplinger ETF 20 年度回顾中，有三只交易所交易基金被剔除。

iShares ESG Optimized MSCI USA 已被剔除。该基金倾向于符合严格的环境、社会和公司治理标准的公司，这使其与我们核心基金类别中其他纯粹的、基于指数的 ETF 截然不同。因此，Vanguard Total Stock Market 更为合适。此外，我们在 Kiplinger ESG 20, 中已经有一份考虑 ESG 衡量标准的推荐基金名单，在 20 中包含此类基金显得冗余。

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation 同样被剔除，主要是因为其多年来一直落后于同行。我们认为 iShares Core Dividend 能提供更好的表现，该基金的目标是那些通过股息、股票回购或两者兼而将资本返还给股东的公司。在过去一年、三年和五年中，iShares 在风险调整后的基础上表现优于 Vanguard 基金。而且，它的收益率也更高。

最后，我们通过将 State Street DoubleLine Total Return Tactical 从名单中移出，为 Vanguard Core Bond 腾出了空间。我们仍然非常推崇债券专家 Jeffrey Gundlach 和 Jeffrey Sherman，但其业绩表现一直有些波动。而且，我们渴望在名单中引入一只更稳健的核心债券基金——一只不会为了提高收益率和整体回报而过度倾向于低评级借据的基金。Vanguard Core Bond 符合这一要求，且其极低的成本难以被超越。

26 Kiplinger 个人理财

您为建立财务安全付出了艰苦努力。

现在，通过 LIVING360 打造更丰盈的人生。

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强化您的目标

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建立不可撼动的财务自由

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FOR YOURSELF—OR AS A MEANINGFUL GIFT FOR THE NEXT GENERATION. （为您自己——或作为给下一代的有意义的礼物。）

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现已在所有图书销售渠道同步发售

欲了解更多信息，请访问 WISDOMANDWEALTHSOLUTION.COM。

投资

如何在最后的边疆中获利

太空股票带来了巨大的前景——以及更大的警示。

作者：DAVID MILSTEAD

在第一次登月近六十年之后，以及在航天飞机发射成为常规的时代久远之后，Space Exploration Technologies（更广为人知的名称是 SpaceX，代码 SPCX）的成功，让投资者重新意识到太空探索作为投资新边疆的概念。虽然 SpaceX 首席执行官埃隆·马斯克在思考殖民火星，但目前的日常太空活动正处于繁荣之中。太空产业追踪机构 Bryce Report 表示，2025, 年共有 325 次轨道发射，部署了 4,544 艘航天器，分别比 2024. 年增长了 25% 和 54%。而且，与数十年的 NASA 政府垄断时期不同，去年 87% 的发射是由商业公司完成的。

Global X ETFs 是一家在 4 月推出了 Global X Space Tech ETF 的基金公司，其主题研究总监 Tejas Dessai 表示，可以将太空视为未来基础设施和公用事业的核心支柱。他说：“这可能是我们在过去几十年中看到的最具变革性、创新性和颠覆性的主题之一——能够提供增长和长期收益潜力。”

然而，与任何新兴行业一样，将会有冲向平流层的赢家，也会有在起飞后崩塌的输家。虽然火箭发射的成本在持续下降，但投资者的热情正使许多早期太空公司的股价，嗯，直冲云霄。目前大多数太空投资机会最适合对风险承受能力较高的激进投资者。但仍然有一些方法可以在不冒坠毁风险的情况下接触该行业。我们可以帮助您在这个新边疆中航行。在这样一个带有极强警示的行业中，我们认为值得探索的股票和基金以粗体显示；本文中的价格和其他数据截至 6 月 30。

的航船已启航

投资者几乎无法避开成为最大规模首次公开募股（IPO）的新闻

我们对 IPO 的一般建议是，最稳妥的做法是等待公司在首次亮相几个月后稳定下来，在经历一两次季度收益报告，且早期投资者套现抛售的压力消散之后。到那时，股票的波动性应该会降低，投资者应该能得出股票的公平价格。

即便如此，我们并不确信很快能达到一个公平价格。晨星（Morningstar）分析师 Nicolas Owens 在将股票的“公平价值”估计为仅 $63, 时引起了关注，这一价格不到 IPO 价格的一半，且不到其早期交易价格的三分之一。该数字反映了 Owens 对现金量的估计

目前大多数太空投资机会最适合风险承受能力强的激进型投资者。

在历史上，其 6 月的首次公开募股（IPO）表现亮眼。该公司将 IPO 股票定价为 $135，在交易的第三天最高飙升至 $225，使 SpaceX (太空探索技术公司) 的市值接近 $3 万亿美元——超过了微软和 Amazon.com 等成熟巨头。股价最初超过了许多分析师的 12 个月目标价，例如投资公司 Oppenheimer 的 Timothy Horan 给出的 $190 预估值，他表示预计 SpaceX “将成长为全球最大的通信 / 云 / AI 公司”。在月底，该股收盘价为 $171。

该公司未来将产生多少现金，以及该公司能够成功执行马斯克愿景的可能性。

目前，SpaceX (太空探索技术公司) 的 Starlink 卫星业务在 2025 年贡献了公司 187 亿美元十亿营收的 60% 以上，是一个成熟且盈利的板块，产生了 44 亿美元十亿的营业利润。太空部门约占公司的五分之一，目前处于亏损状态，但正逐步接近盈亏平衡点。然而，该公司的人工智能业务在 2025 年的营收为 32 亿美元十亿，但亏损了 64 亿美元十亿，

28 Kiplinger 个人理财

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抵消了所有卫星业务的利润。

Owens 表示，投资者似乎相信 SpaceX (太空探索技术公司) 将成功开发其 Starship 太空运输系统（该系统可以在一天之内完成发射、返回和再次发射），并且马斯克关于太空 AI 数据中心的愿景将在成本上与地球上的数据中心具有竞争力。他认为这两件事同时发生的概率仅为 7%——而且他表示，即使它们实现了，他的公允价值预估也仅会上升至每股 $154。

FOMO 因素

尽管如此，在快速增长的市场中担心错过突破性机会的心理（FOMO）依然强烈。SRM Private Wealth 的资金管理人 Richard McWhorter 表示，在 IPO 前的几天里，客户纷纷打电话向他咨询关于 SpaceX (太空探索技术公司) 的情况。“这完全是因为埃隆，以及 FOMO 心理。坦白说，我不理解这背后所有非理性的原因。”

在您屈服于 FOMO 之前，请考虑您可能已经通过持有的基金获得了 SpaceX 的风险敞口。许多共同基金公司在还是私有公司时就获得了其股份。Baron Capital 将价值数十亿美元的股份分布在多个基金中，包括 Baron First Principles ETF (RONB)。T. Rowe Price 在其 Technology ETF (TTEQ) 中持有该股份，而富达（Fidelity）则在多个共同基金中持有该股票，包括 Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX) 和 Kiplinger 25 共同基金名单成员 Fidelity Blue Chip Growth (FBGRX)。

甚至指数基金也加入了这场太空竞赛。纳斯达克 100 指数和罗素指数（包括罗素 1000 指数）的制定者决定修改规则，以便比其他股票更早地将纳入其中。

↑ 在佛罗里达州发射携带卫星载荷的 Falcon 9 火箭。

纳斯达克允许在 15 个交易日后加入，而 IPO 股票通常需要等待 3 到 12 个月；罗素则将其等待期改为 5 天。

然而，标准普尔道琼斯指数公司决定不对盈利能力、公众可用股份数量以及股票所需交易时间等规则予以豁免。这意味着追踪标准普尔 500 指数的基金最早要到 2027, 年才会将纳入。

与此同时，太空热已从扩散到许多其他公司，这些公司的大部分或全部收入来自火箭发射或太空设备。它们的故事令人兴奋，但利润难以获得，且股票估值之高，足以让注重价值的投资者感到脊背发凉，就像深空的温度一样。目前，只有能够忍受剧烈波动并承受重大损失的大胆投资者才应考虑这些投机性股票。

其中包括 Rocket Lab (RKLB, $102)，其 Electron 火箭是全球飞行最频繁的小型轨道发射器。该公司已扩展到火箭零部件制造和航天器设计服务，并报告了巨大的收入增长——其 3 月季度的销售额比去年同期增长了 64%——但尚未盈利。尽管如此，在跟踪该股的 19 位分析师中，有 15 位将其评级为“买入”。投资公司 Stifel 的分析师 Erik Rasmussen 表示：

GETTY IMAGES

September 2026 29

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Rocket Lab 的直接竞争相对较少，他称其为“进入市场的最高质量的太空公司之一”。

Rocket Lab 在 6 月宣布将收购卫星运营商 Iridium，Rasmussen 称这一举措具有“变革性”，并表示这“巩固”了该公司最新的太空应用业务线，如通信、地球观测、气象和导航。

Planet Labs (PL, $33) 由三位前 NASA 科学家于 2010 年创立，在轨道上运行着一支由约 200 颗地球成像卫星组成的舰队，客户包括 NASA、北约（NATO）和外国政府。投资公司 Needham & Co. 的分析师 Ryan Koontz 推荐该股，他表示 Planet Labs 是唯一一家能够每天扫描整个地球的公司，并指出该公司拥有地球上每个点超过 1,700 张的图像存档，“这是无法复制的”。但同样需要注意的是，Planet Labs 为实现这一目标而投入的巨额支出意味着它仍然处于亏损状态。

Intuitive Machines (LUNR, $21) 将带您前往月球。该公司拥有 300 艘航天器，用于向我们最近的天体表面运送卫星、表面摄像机和货物。其客户包括 NASA 和商业公司，美国国家航空航天局今年向其授予了价值近 3.3亿美元的合同。分析师预计，营收将从 2025 年起增长五倍，到 2027, 年将超过 11 亿美元 billion，这将使该公司在当年实现盈利。在跟踪该股票的九位分析师中，有七位将其评级为“买入”，其 12 个月的平均目标价几乎是 6 月 30 日价格的两倍。

更好的路径

成熟的公司可以为投资者探索太空提供一种更安全的方式。关键在于寻找一家拥有足够太空业务收入的公司，使其快速增长能够对公司的底线产生实质性影响。以下是三家具有真实太空业务敞口的稳定公司。

Linde (LIN, $519) 是一家在纳斯达克上市的总部位于英国的公司，它是 SpaceX 位于佛罗里达州和德克萨斯州发射综合体的液氧和液氮主要供应商。液化气体是将火箭推进到太空所必需的。

投资公司瑞银（UBS）的分析师 Joshua Spector 认为，Linde 的太空相关销售额将从目前的约 1.5亿美元（不足营收的 0.5 个百分点）跃升至 2030 年的 13 亿美元 billion。到 2030 年，这可能会为其销售增长率增加 0.7 个百分点——对于一家报告 2025 年销售增长率为 2%（不计收购）的公司来说，这具有重要意义。Spector 表示：“而且增长在 2030 年之后并不会停止。”

↑ 位于加利福尼亚州长滩的 Rocket Lab 发动机开发中心的 Archimedes 火箭发动机。

尽管太空机遇正在迅速增加，但 Linde 的估值处于其未来 12 个月预计收益的 28 倍，与其过去八年的倍数一致。

与 Linde 类似，Teledyne Technologies (TDY, $667) 几十年来一直是太空项目的供应商。该公司在用于气候监测的太空传感器领域处于领先地位，包括监测空气中的碳含量以及暗示气候变化的海洋数据。其子公司 FLIR Defense 赢得了美国导弹防御局 SHIELD 项目的合同，该项目是“金穹”导弹防御系统背后的计划。

今年 4 月，Teledyne 宣布成立一个新部门——Teledyne Space，将此前分散在公司不同部门的成像、电子和组件业务合并。

Teledyne 现有的航空航天与国防电子部门一直是一个突出的增长故事，其增长率为 14.4%

30 Kiplinger 个人理财

照片由 ROCKET LABS 提供

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与去年同期相比，最近一个季度的销售额有所增长。太空传感器和摄像头也推动了公司数字成像部门的增长。由于公司总营收约为 60 亿美元 billion，新的太空相关销售可转化为显著的营收增长。该股票最近的交易价格约为预计收益的 30 倍，投资公司 Jefferies 的分析师 Sheila Kahyaoglu 认为这一估值具有“吸引力”。

Honeywell Aerospace (HONA, $221) 是从 Honeywell International 分拆出来的新公司，

该公司在近 60 年里参与了 NASA 的每一次载人太空任务，并为近 1,000 颗卫星提供了设备。它还制造了帮助宇航员在国际空间站呼吸的生命维持系统。

目前，Honeywell Aerospace 并不单独列出太空业务营收，仅表示其国防与太空业务在 2025. 年 174 亿美元 billion 的销售额中占比 41%。高管们表示，预计其国防与太空部门的营收增长将在中个位数百分比，BMO Capital Markets 的分析师 Daniel DiCicco 表示这些目标“是可以实现的，且可能较为保守”。

当从臃肿的综合企业模式中分离出来时，分拆公司可以产生强劲的回报。研究公司 CFRA 的分析师 Jonathan Sakraida 预计，Honeywell Aerospace 的估值将超过预计收益的 18 到 24 倍，而其母公司在过去三年多时间里的交易价格一直处于该区间。 ■

您可以通过 David.Milstead@futurenet.com 联系作者。

适合敢于冒险投资者的基金

基金可以是降低投资于一两只新兴太空股票风险的一种好方法。目前有八只专注于太空领域的交易所交易基金（ETFs）。但请注意：其中五只是在 2026 年推出的，因此没有历史业绩记录。而且这些 ETF 的价格可能会剧烈波动。研究公司 CFRA 的 ETF 分析师 Aniket Ullal 表示，在成立至少一年的两只太空基金中，其平均波动率是 S&P 500 指数的三倍多。我们建议只有那些能够承受剧烈波动且能够承担重大损失风险的人，才去探索下面的 ETF。

ARK Space & Defense Innovation (ARKX, $34) 是最古老的基金之一，于五年多前推出，且拥有最好的历史业绩记录之一。在 Morningstar 2025 年的排名中，它在中盘成长型基金中位列前 1%，且在过去 12 个月中回报率为 41.2%。其 0.75% 的费用率在五只主动管理型太空 ETF 中处于中等水平。

尽管在 IPO 之前该基金并未持有 SpaceX 股票，但其表现依然稳健。不过，该基金随后迅速买入，使 SpaceX 成为其第一大持仓，占基金资产的 7.6%。ARK 对什么是太空股票采取了较为宽泛的定义——自该 ETF 成立以来，它就持有约翰迪尔（John Deere）的股份，理由是使用卫星图像的农业公司也是太空产业的受益者。

Tema Space Innovators (NASA, $30) 是唯一在 IPO 之前就持有 SpaceX 的太空 ETF，该基金吸引了大量投资者资金。这只主动管理型基金的费用率为 0.75%，于 3 月推出，目前资产规模已达 16 亿美元 billion。第一大持仓 SpaceX 约占基金资产的 14%。另一大持仓是一家传统的卫星公司：DISH Network 的所有者 EchoStar。EchoStar 拥有宝贵的频谱（用于卫星与地球之间通信的无线电频率波段），以及在与马斯克公司的一项交易中获得的 SpaceX 股票。一些最受欢迎的小型纯太空概念股构成了该 ETF 前 10 大持仓的其余部分，包括 Rocket Lab、AST SpaceMobile、Intuitive Machines 和 Firefly Aerospace。

Procure Space (UFO, $51) 是所有八只太空基金中最古老的，也是该组三只指数基金中规模最大的。它的费用率同样为 0.75%，使其成为三只指数基金中最贵的一只。该 ETF 在过去 12 个月中上涨了近 77%。Procure Space 追踪 VettaFi Space 指数，该指数包括卫星运营商，或发射载具及依赖卫星系统的设备的制造商。指数中至少 80% 的公司必须有一半或更多的收入来自与太空相关的活动。该指数此前将任何单一成分股的权重上限设定为 4.8%，但为了接纳 SpaceX，已将最高上限提高至 15%，目前 SpaceX 约占该指数和该 ETF 的 5%。

32 Kiplinger Personal Finance

Investing

一个色彩斑斓且充满争议的遗产

五任美联储主席艾伦·格林斯潘给美国经济留下了深远的印记。

作者：ANNE KATES SMITH

艾伦·格林斯潘（ALAN Greenspan）于今年 6 月在华盛顿特区去世，享年 100 岁。他曾在四位总统任期内五次担任美联储主席。格林斯潘被认为是一个数据狂人，其分析能力几乎超过大楼里的任何人；他主导了大部分以经济稳定和通胀温和为特征的时期，这段时期后来被称为“大缓和”（Great Moderation）。他在 20 世纪 90 年代应对了多次金融危机，并于 1999 年登上《时代》杂志封面，被赞誉为三人“拯救世界委员会”的一员。

然而，这位以谈论股市“非理性繁荣”而闻名的人，后来被指责因其宽松的货币政策、对市场泡沫的放任态度以及对去监管的偏好，为大金融危机铺平了道路。华盛顿特区的投资顾问、《独立之神话》（The Myth of Independence，一本关于国会与美联储的书籍）的合著者马克·斯平德尔（Mark Spindel）表示，要衡量格林斯潘的遗产，“你需要一个宽银幕的视角，而不是短视的视角”。

格林斯潘在 1987 年 10 月的“黑色星期一”崩盘中早早经受了考验，当时道琼斯工业平均指数创纪录地下跌了 22.6%。次日早晨，美联储声明将“作为流动性来源以支持

↑ 格林斯潘从 1987 年起至 2006 年担任美联储主席。

经济和金融体系”。格林斯潘兑现了他的承诺，于是“格林斯潘看跌期权”（Greenspan put）——现在被称为“美联储看跌期权”（Fed put）——诞生了。这是一种信念，即美联储会像看跌期权一样，在市场下跌时介入以限制损失。市场策略师、面向投资者的美联储入门指南作者埃德·亚德尼（Ed Yardeni）表示：“市场需要承担风险的观念被‘格林斯潘看跌期权’引入的道德风险所削弱。这是一个充满争议的遗产。”

前美联储理事、现彼得森国际经济研究所高级研究员兼彭博经济研究美国经济研究主管大卫·威尔考克斯（David Wilcox）认为，格林斯潘最大的成就可能是他在 90 年代后期意识到当时的统计数据低估了经济的生产力增长。威尔考克斯说，在深入研究数据后，格林斯潘说服了美联储利率设定机构的同事，他们“极有可能允许经济运行得比当时人们认为的要热得多，而且，天哪，这对国家产生了巨大的回报”。

难以捉摸的沟通风格是格林斯潘的标志。“他很享受同一场演讲能产生两种不同头条新闻的事实，因为他的表达如此含糊，”会计巨头毕马威（KPMG）首席经济学家、长期担任美联储顾问的戴安·斯旺克（Diane Swonk）说道。然而，正是格林斯潘建立了在货币政策会议后发布公开声明的惯例。

值得注意的是，现任美联储主席凯文·沃什（Kevin Warsh）在就职时誓言要“以活力和目标感来履行职责，就像格林斯潘主席那样”。

多才多艺的大师。 在被誉为货币政策的“大师”之前，格林斯潘曾在茱莉亚学院学习音乐，并在 20 世纪 40 年代的一支摇摆乐队中与爵士乐巨匠斯坦·盖茨（Stan Getz）一起演奏萨克斯管。他打网球，并且热爱棒球——这项统计学之球。他也是记者安德里亚·米切尔（Andrea Mitchell）的忠实丈夫。威尔考克斯回忆说，在他加班在格林斯潘办公室工作的场合，“在某个时刻，格林斯潘会抬起手，轻轻挥一下，然后转向桌上的电视。接下来的五六分钟里，他一言不发——那时正是安德里亚·米切尔出现在晚间新闻的时候。” ■

您可以通过 Anne.Smith@futurenet.com 联系作者。

盖蒂图片社（GETTY IMAGES）

2026 年 9 月 33

投资

技术正推动这些基金走高

KIPLINGER 25 更新 / 作者：NELLIE S. HUANG

世上没有新鲜事，只有带着新面孔的老故事。请看：在 Kiplinger 25,（我们最青睐的积极管理、无申购费共同基金名单）中的三只股票基金，在过去 12 个月里的回报率均接近 60% 或更高，远超标准普尔 500. 指数的 22% 涨幅。小公司基金 Oberweis Small-Cap Opportunities 上涨了 59%；Primecap Odyssey Growth 的回报率为 67%；而科技板块基金 T. Rowe Price Global Technology 则攀升了 62%。

科技股，尤其是与 AI 相关的股票，是回报的主要驱动力；科技板块是每只基金中最大的行业敞口，也是过去一年表现最好的板块。但如果这些基金前 10 大持仓中的领头羊能提供任何线索，那么 AI 热潮已经扩展到了除前几年引领市场的那几家公司之外的更多企业。

该基金的主任经理 Ken Farsalas 表示，AI 基础设施的“铲子股”投资推动了 Oberweis 的回报。最大持仓 Lumentum Holdings 生产为云端和 AI 网络（以及其他领域）提供动力的光学产品，其股价已攀升 803%。“人工智能是全球经济中一个世代级的变革媒介，”Farsalas 说道，“在这种背景下，我们预计估值较大盘股有显著折扣的小盘股公司将在未来十年表现出色。”

在 Odyssey Growth 中，芯片公司 Micron Technology 和 Intel（均在基金前 10 大持仓之列）在过去一年分别上涨了 837% 和 523%。但一家工业股 Xometry 也助力了该基金的业绩，它是一个启用 AI 的市场平台，允许设计师和工程师按需制造零件和组件。该股在过去 12 个月里几乎翻了三倍。

Price Global Technology 大量投资于巨头企业，半导体相关股票在投资组合中占据主导地位。台积电（Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing）、超微半导体（Advanced Micro Devices）和 ASML Holding 是前十大持仓中的大赢家。我们上次在 4 月份与该基金经理进行了交流（见《现在是管理科技基金的绝佳时机》）。

可通过 Nellie.Huang@futurenet.com 联系作者。

基金经理的吸引力

街头智慧（STREET SMART）作者：JAMES K. GLASSMAN

我先从你们已经知道的事情开始：指数基金的投资组合由计算机算法决定，以反映特定类别的股票和债券，其历史业绩远好于由人类选择股票和债券的基金——即所谓的积极管理基金。研究公司 Morningstar 计算，在截至 2025 年 12 月 31 日的 10 年间，只有 3.6% 的积极管理大盘成长基金击败了同类别的平均指数基金。

我在 1999 年合著的《道琼斯 36,000》（Dow 36,000）一书中热情地支持指数基金，此后我一直倡导这种投资方式。投资者们已经意识到了这一点。2010 年，指数证券仅占共同基金和交易所交易基金总资产的 19%；到 2025 年底，这一数字达到了 52%。对于持有美国股票的基金，指数基金目前持有 63% 的资产。

在 Vanguard 大幅降低费用以及其他基金公司纷纷效仿之后，指数基金开始兴起。Vanguard S&P 500（代码 VOO，$687） 拥有 1.7 万亿美元资产，其费用率仅为 0.03%，也就是说，100,000 美元的投资每年仅需支付 30 美元。iShares Core S&P 500（IVV，$749） 收取相同的费用，而共同基金 Fidelity 500 Index（FXAIX） 的收费仅为 0.015%。根据投资公司协会（Investment Company Institute）的数据，相比之下，管理型基金的平均费用约为 1%。（除非另有说明，价格、回报率和其他数据截至 6 月 30 日；我喜欢的股票和基金以粗体表示。）

那么为什么不随大流呢？持有积极管理基金有理由吗？有的——有两个理由。第一，根据定义，指数基金在扣除费用后永远无法击败其指数。而积极管理基金则有机会。第二，选择一只积极管理基金并为其加油是投资的乐趣之一。

寻找最佳基金。 一些共同基金确实击败了指数。1996 年，我致力于寻找美国最好的共同基金。我当时在寻找一只具有多元化配置、长期回报率高、风险水平适中、费用率合理且前景广阔的美国大公司股票基金。

我当时的选择在今天依然是我的选择：Fidelity Contrafund（FCNTX），在过去 10 年中，该基金的年平均回报率为 18.2%，而标准普尔 500 指数的年平均回报率为 15.5%。Contrafund 在其类别中已连续五个日历年以及 2026 年至今击败了大多数基金（包括指数基金）。

正如其名，该基金最初可能带有逆向投资倾向，但现在它是一只大盘成长基金。管理或共同管理 36 年的 Will Danoff 拥有坚定的信念。他将在年底退休，但我对将接替他的两位资深富达（Fidelity）经理持乐观态度，且该公司拥有深厚的研究分析师储备。

在 2016 年首次将英伟达（Nvidia）纳入投资组合，现在它是该基金最大的资产。Danoff 在 2004 年 Alphabet（GOOGL，$357） 上市时买入了该股。最近，他一直在减持科技股，尤其是 Meta 和微软，科技板块在投资组合中所占的比例低于其在标准普尔 500 指数中的比例。

在收取 0.74% 费用的情况下击败了指数，这虽然是 Vanguard S&P 500 ETF 收费的 20 倍多，但对于积极管理基金来说仍然相对较低。（由人员进行筛选的基金运行成本比指数基金更高——毕竟，计算机不需要医疗保险。）

如果你认为股票定价是有效的——即股票价格反映了目前已知的所有关于公司未来前景的信息——那么击败市场指数的业绩无疑是非常困难的。再加上费用差异，积极管理者的任务似乎是不可能完成的。

此外，当一只基金确实击败指数时，这可能是运气。在一次实验中，主要的指数编制机构 S&P Global 发现，在 1,000 多只基金的样本库中，有 336 只积极管理基金处于前 50%

指数基金在扣除费用后永远无法击败指数。而主动管理基金则有机会。

照片：NOAH BELLMAN

September 2026 35

投资评论

基金在一年后。但两年后，仅有 81 只主动管理基金仍处于前 50%；四年后，这一数字为 43 只。

丰厚的遗产。 如何寻找那少数被青睐的基金？我寻找那些拥有长期业绩记录、敢于逆市而行且具备买入并持有勇气的基金经理。诚然，许多往昔的伟大经理已经离去，但在某些情况下，他们的基金和投资策略得以延续。

以 Philip Carret 为例，他在 1928 年创立了 Pioneer Fund，并一直管理该基金直到 1983 年退休。Carret 是一位低价股猎手，于 2003 年去世，享年 101 岁。但他的基金（现名为 Victory Pioneer (PIODX)）在过去 10 年的大部分时间里以及 2026 年至今，表现均击败了晨星（Morningstar）的大盘综合基准（一种增长股和价值股的组合）。该基金设有销售费用，但您可以在 Schwab、E*Trade 以及其他可能的平台上找到免佣金的版本。其费用率为 0.92%。

该基金近期一直在增加其对联合包裹服务公司的持仓

许多往昔的伟大基金经理已经离去，但在某些情况下，他们的基金和投资策略得以延续。

（联合包裹服务公司 UPS，$108），这是我 Top 30, 的组成部分之一；以及 NRG Energy (NRG, $146)，一家总部位于休斯顿的化石燃料和可再生能源电力公司，随着电力需求的激增，其股价在五年内几乎翻了四倍。

我一直很喜欢由创始人命名并管理的共同基金。维护家族声誉是一种良好的纪律。其中许多基金现在由家族成员经营。一个很好的例子是 Davis New York Venture (NYVTX)，由 Christopher Cullom Davis 共同管理，他于 1995. 年接替其创始人父亲 Shelby。您可以在富达 (Fidelity)、Schwab 和 E*Trade 找到该基金的无申购费版本；其费用率为 0.91%。在过去的 10 年中，该基金在其中 7 年的同类群体（目前为大盘价值基金）中排名在前一半，在过去十年中，其年化收益率超过标准普尔 500 Value 指数 1.4 个百分点。

Davis 基金在科技股上的配置较轻，而在金融服务业上的配置较重，包括其最大持仓 Capital One Financial (COF, $201)，该公司专注于信用卡业务，既有自有品牌，也有几个领先零售商的品牌。研究公司 Value Line 预测，该股的收益在未来五年将年均增长 13.5%。

创始人 Ron Baron 与其儿子 Michael 仍然共同管理 Baron Partners (BPTRX)，该基金在过去十年表现惊人，尽管费用较高，但年均收益率仍超过标准普尔 500 指数 9 个百分点以上。该投资组合高度集中：仅持有 23 只股票，其中特斯拉是最大持仓，约占资产的四分之一。但这种信念正是基金经理击败指数的方式。同样，由父子共同管理的 Baron Focused Growth (BFGFX) 在其类别（中盘成长股）中排名在前 2%，10 年年均回报率为 21.5%。

想要更多证据证明选股者能击败计算机吗？看看小盘基金。由创始人家族成员管理的另一只基金 Oberweis Small-Cap Opportunities (OBSOX)，以及过去 12 年由 J. David Wagner 管理的 T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Value (PRSVX)，两者的表现都一直优于各自的目标指数。目前有三只基金对新投资者关闭但可能会重新开放，请密切关注：Harbor Small-Cap Growth (HISGX)；Invesco Discovery (OPOCX)，2026 年至今的回报率接近 39%；以及 Fidelity Small-Cap Growth (FCPGX)，在过去 10 年中有 9 年处于其类别的前一半。

当然，您应该持有指数基金，但持有由聪明人管理的基金并不像许多投资者认为的那样疯狂。传奇人物、已故的先锋领航 (Vanguard) 首席执行官 John Bogle 将此类投资比作第二次婚姻：是希望战胜了经验。事实上，许多第二次婚姻确实成功了——管理型基金也是如此。

James K. Glassman 担任 Glassman Advisory（一家公共事务咨询公司）的主席。他不对其客户进行写作。他最近的一本书是《安全网：动荡时代的投资去风险策略》(Safety Net: The Strategy for De-Risking Your Investments in a Time of Turbulence)。他未持有此处提到的任何证券。您可以通过 JKGlassman@gmail.com 与他联系。

36 Kiplinger 个人理财

盖蒂图像 (GETTY IMAGES)

Kiplinger 个人理财订阅者特惠

来自 Jeffrey R. Kosnett 的个人信函

Kiplinger 个人理财收益投资专栏作家

亲爱的读者：

财务的不确定性是生活中的常态。但看着您的储蓄缩水不必成为常态。

好消息是，在任何类型的市场中，总有某种方式在产生现金。而《Kiplinger 收益投资》（ Investing for Income）可以向您展示如何在当前的任何经济环境下——以及在未来——产生能够击败通胀的现金收益。

我在《个人理财》杂志中撰写每月的“收益投资”专栏。我们收到了太多读者关于收益和股息投资建议的咨询，因此我们推出了一本专门致力于帮助您最大化每月现金收益的刊物。

它被命名为《收益投资》，它将向您展示如何在任何市场条件下，安全且可靠地提高您的投资收益。请翻页查看四个产生收益的模范投资组合，帮助您立即开始获利。

《收益投资》是为像您这样需要可支配收入的人士设计的。每一期都充满了提高现金派息的成熟方法。例如：

在次贷危机崩溃后，您是否对房地产望而却步，从而错过了反弹过程中极佳的收益机会？我们将向您展示如何安全地投资于可靠收益率超过 4% 的房地产投资信托基金 (REITs)。
如果您处于最高税率档位——这意味着税率高达 40.8%——请不要错过我们关于易于购买且税后等值收益率为 6% 的市政债券的指导。
我们重点介绍了通过收取天然气和石油运输费而产生 5% 及以上收益的管道公司（包括合伙企业和普通公司）。其中许多公司每年多次提高股息。
我们揭示了目前正处于最佳买入时机的安全、可靠的现金产生型公司债券、市政债券和机构债券，并解释了为什么尽管经济动荡，数百只股票的股息仍将保持安全和可靠。

免费特别报告。请查阅您免费获得的一期《收益投资》。然后寄回随附的申请表，在订阅时可节省 76%。作为感谢，我将为您发送一份免费的特别报告：《高收益市场的收益投资策略》。

您没有任何风险。如果《收益投资》在接下来的 12 个月内没有帮您

“这里有在任何类型的市场中安全且可靠地产生击败通胀的现金收益的成熟方法。”

产生远高于您尝试订阅成本的收益，只需取消订阅并申请 100% 退款即可。无需询问任何原因。

不过，我相信不会发生这种情况。我撰写《收益投资》正是为了回答像您这样的订阅者提出的问题——并帮助您最大化每月的股息收入。

祝您投资成功，

JEFFREY R. KOSNETT 收益投资作家，个人理财

请享受您的免费版《收益投资》

然后在订阅时获得一份免费特别报告。

在线订阅可享受最高 79% 的常规价格折扣。作为感谢，我将为您发送一份免费的特别报告：《高收益市场的收益投资策略》。

收益投资

特别刊

提高现金收益的策略

除非另有说明，所有价格均为 2026 年 5 月 15 日的最新价格。订阅《收益投资》，在每期月刊中获取更及时的利率和收益率。

前半年，不知为何，通过了我们的测试

自 2012 年以来，我们一直认为 2% 的经济增长、2% 的通货膨胀和 2% 的利率这一“2-2-2”模式是对收益投资者的理想状态。而在 2026 年伊始，当时仍有很大机会看到通胀和利率回落，从而开始逐步回归到那个让 2010 年代对投资者（即便对银行储蓄者而言并非如此）如此有利的组合。

好吧，很抱歉，各位。这种情况已经不复存在了。你可以将其归咎于战争和波斯湾的僵局，指责美联储（尽管我们认为这不公平），或者哀叹财政部的债务负担，但无论你选择哪种说法，这就是现实。因此，我们从 2026 年上半年的主要教训是，我们需要适应更快的通胀、更高且可能仍在上升的利率、由 AI 建设驱动的强劲 GDP 增长，以及高企的石油和商品价格。当 2-2-2 趋向于 2-3-3 或更高时，我们的任务是识别出能够让你获益，或至少让你不受损失的众多解药和替代方案。而这些补救措施在很大程度上包含了我们 15 年来一直鼓励的投资清单。

关于灾难的讨论一如既往地被夸大了。例如，即使在 5 月初的大规模债券抛售之后，彭博综合债券指数（Bloomberg Aggregate Bond index）今年的跌幅仅为 0.7%，而高收益债券和市政债券则略高于盈亏平衡点。石油和通胀冲击虽然令人不快，但 Calamos 的首席投资官 Matt Freund 表示，不知为何“市场已经对此相当适应了”，Calamos 是最具资源和创意的一家基金公司之一。

没有迹象表明信用危机正在加速且广泛蔓延。

“收益率曲线正在变得更陡峭，但我不会将其称为一个问题，”Freund 继续说道。他的观点有道理。在 2022 年到 2024 年中期，当曲线处于倒挂状态（意味着短期利率高于长期利率）时，

关于这种情况预示着经济衰退的传统假设得到了广泛关注。我们对此提出了质疑，就像我们质疑许多旧式的教条和经验法则一样。尽管有 AI 和 5 美元的汽油，但衰退从未到来，目前也看不到迹象。

更大的问题是，是去追逐那些正在飙升的资产（如能源），还是担心如果你持有那些突然失宠的分散资产而产生损失。在这里，我们重申我们一贯的观点，即所有优质资产都会经历波动但最终会恢复，而且即使在情绪低落时，总会有某些东西在发挥作用。这一切依然有效。我们的“三天原则”同样有效，如你所知，该原则旨在防止基于恐惧的仓促行动。最新的变数——新任美联储主席 Kevin Warsh，不会引发市场地震。如果他试图

接下页...

本期内容...

除非另有说明，所有价格及相关数据均截至 2026 年 5 月 15 日

最伟大的一代，在暮年

我们过去推崇的债券基金经理已经退休。现在该怎么办？

咨询 Jeff

如何看待期权写作基金；放弃股票股息；关于如何最大限度地减少税收。

模型组合：每月分红

蓝筹现金生产商在市场风暴中提供了一定的庇护。

模型组合：增强现金

在战争的压力下，我们的现金替代组合虽有波动但并未崩溃。

模型组合：免税收益

市政债券继续保持其冷静应对、砥砺前行的名声。

模型组合：追求最大化

我们的专项高收益名单表明，高额的派息可以缓冲市场波动。

在线订购：kiplinger.com / go / investingoffer

Kiplinger Investing for Income：提升现金收益的策略

特刊

...接前页

如果他试图安抚白宫并促使联邦公开市场委员会（FOMC）削减利率，他将面临强烈的抵制。债券市场在 5 月份出现的微型恐慌是对沃什（Warsh）的一个信号，即应将抗击通胀列为首要任务。这意味着通胀将在 4% 左右达到峰值然后放缓；克利夫兰美联储预测未来 12 个月通胀率为 3.7%。这符合我们的观点，即虽然长期利率高于其交易范围的中点，但债券和抵押贷款收益率并不会飙升。

因此，我们年中投资组合的第一个结论是，没有必要放弃债券，尤其是高收益债券、市政债券和国际基金。Thornburg 基金的固定收益主管 Christian Hoffmann 坚持我们所称的“霍夫曼法则”（Hoffmann Rule），即当国债收益率超过 5% 时，买家就会出现。这可能要到仲夏才会发生，但一定会发生。我们仍然不推荐长期政府债券或全债券市场指数基金，但除了商业发展公司（我们发现大多数管理不善）和流动性差的私人贷款机构外，任何支付利息的投资前景都是可以接受的。目前没有迹象表明信用危机在加速或广泛蔓延，例如商业地产违约或市政债券违约。曾被认为易受违约激增影响的浮动利率银行贷款也有所改善；我们最喜欢的贷款基金——富达浮动利率高收益基金（Fidelity Floating Rate High Income）已经收复了 2 月和 3 月损失的三分之二净资产价值，且今年以来总回报率为正 1.9%，外加 7% 的收益率。各种指数显示，高收益债券上涨了约 1%。Kiplinger 收益 25 成员中的富达资本与收益基金（Fidelity Capital & Income，包含少量股票）在 2026 年至今上涨了 7.1%。

转向股票，分红股表现出色。尽管利率趋势如此，三个以分红为中心的核心股票组——能源基础设施公司、房地产投资信托（REITs）和公用事业公司——依然稳健，其中能源类股票大幅上涨，巨大的现金流支撑着高额分红。它们都不是依赖于低利率或利率下降的“债券替代品”。每个板块都受益于推动租金、费用和价格上涨的经济增长。因此，尽管当前 GDP 激增的原因存在争议，但收益投资者是明确的受益者。第一季度业绩的繁荣可能让那些认为战争和高油价会迅速摧毁消费需求并抑制资本投资的人感到惊讶。相反，财报季的到来再次促使华尔街评估业务基本面并淡化政治噪音。（基于这个原因，我们强烈反对取消季度报告的提案。）

另一个 2026 年的教训是，零收益资产并非应对市场动荡的可靠方案。我们不推崇黄金或加密货币，尽管一些读者肯定从中获利，但自袭击伊朗以来，这两者一直表现疲软。如果你对股票、债券和合伙企业心存顾虑，低风险现金持有量每周提供的条款都在改善。由于交易员假设高通胀将持续到 2028 年或 2030 年，但不会持续更久，从而推高了收益率曲线的中段，因此两年期 CD（大额存单）和三年期联邦住房贷款银行票据等持有工具的收益率高达 4.2% 和 4.5%。因此，我们对任何将短久期与高收益相结合的投资保持信心。Calamos、RiverPark 和 Thornburg 提供了许多此类产品。在这三家公司近 100 只共同基金和交易所交易基金中，截至 5 月 15 日，只有 6 只的总回报率为负。下个月我们将提供关于下半年的详细见解。目前，请坚持住。

名誉编辑 Knight A. Kiplinger

编辑 Jeffrey R. Kosnett

执行编辑 Jim Patterson

文字编辑 Frederic Fane Wolfer

艺术总监 Will Tims

设计师 Eva Gans

订阅服务电话：800-544-0155 电子邮件：Kliservice@kiplinger.com

地址更正请发送至：Kiplinger Investing for Income, P.O. Box 37234, Boone, IA 50037-0234.

债券基金的“最伟大一代”已至黄昏

在 2010 年代，以及最近的 2020 年 2 月致信中，我们曾将六只经典基金及其领导者誉为“最伟大一代”。他们分别是：Loomis Sayles Bond 的 Dan Fuss（现年 92 岁，已不再管理基金，但偶尔仍发表评论），他从 1990 年代一直到本世纪初建立了惊人的记录，发明了非传统或多部门债券基金。John Miller（当时在 Nuveen，现就职于 First Eagle）通过证明曾经的“垃圾”市政债券值得冒险，引导 Nuveen High Yield Municipal 在免税排行榜上领先了 20 年。灵活基金 Metropolitan West Total Return 在 1990 年代末到 2010 年代初期间表现出色，由一个三人全明星管理团队领导。遗憾的是，他们现在都已经离职。

那么，延续这个主题，现在是我们为这个群体画上句号的时候了吗？不会有第二个“最伟大一代”，但我们将像往常一样，继续赞赏那些始终能为股东创造良好回报的特定基金和经理。现在，一只债券基金想要在整体行情中脱颖而出并获得超额收益要困难得多（尽管表现糟糕并每年比平均水平多亏损 5% 则很容易）。例如，在 100 多只 GNMA 抵押证券基金中，没有一只能够实现年化五年回报率达到 2%。

在 2026, 由于利率飙升压制了各类债券价值，单个基金的卓越表现变得尤为罕见。一个固定收益基金需要一群能够发现被忽视或侥幸机会的交易员和分析师，才能将其数据提升哪怕 0.25 个百分点。单打独斗的选股英雄已经消失，那位能做出系列惊人到期日和久期预测，或利用美联储内部渠道获取信息的债券大师形象也随之消失。我们经常与在固定收益领域拥有资深且成功职业生涯的男女交谈。与过去几年相比，他们更多地向我们透露，在 2020 年代，没有人拥有所有答案。

此外，现在也没有两三个债券基金品牌占据主导或形成王朝。这是件好事。否则，会出现像我们在 Bill Gross era. 看到的 Pimco 那样的追逐业绩热潮。拥挤地涌入热门基金通常结局糟糕——或者顶多导致均值回归，正如 Gross 曾经传奇的 Pimco Total Return 所显示的那样。自从 Gross 在 2014 年离开以来， Income Fund 的收益是 Total Return 的两倍多，后者自 2021 年以来几乎没能回本，而 Income 的复合增长率为 3.1%。但即便如此，在 2026 年至今仍略微处于亏损状态——而且这是一个团队协作的结果。如今，奇迹已不再多见。

我们之前提到的某些“最伟大”基金现在甚至已不再是原来的样子。Loomis Sayles Bond 依然是 LSBRX，但已被更名为 Loomis Sayles ，并采用了新的管理分配（固定支付）政策。它不能使用 Fuss 的某些策略，例如购买高收益股票或超配海外头寸（例如加拿大省级债务）。现任经理 Matt Eagan 和 Brian Kennedy 曾在 Fuss 麾下工作，他们可以恢复业绩，但那个辉煌的数十年记录早已瓦解。在 FPA New 基金，该基金通过投资汽车贷款和飞机租赁等现金牛资产来分散收益，长期核心人物 Bob Rodriguez 和 Tom Atteberry 早已退休。虽然有能干的继任者，但传奇人物已经离去。

因此，我们建议读者不要筛选长期回报或追随名将，而是在各种债券和收益类别中进行选择，范围涵盖从短期高收益债券、新兴市场公司债、银行贷款到各类市政债券。我们还建议您在每个类别中使用多只基金，重点关注近期业绩和适中的成本。

我们依然强烈倾向于主动债券管理。过去几年的情况进一步证明，与股票不同（在股票市场中，等权重标准普尔 500 指数 ETF 是有意义的），债券指数化是毫无意义的。请不要将我们的评论误认为是在暗示老一辈比今天的债券专业人士更聪明。因此，我们仍然赞赏特定的创意管理人，例如 CrossingBridge、Eaton Vance、PGIM 和 River-North 的管理人，并称赞 Calamos、Janus Henderson 和 WisdomTree 等公司在设计原创新基金时的表现——这些基金通常倾向于高收益且低久期。有时，一个全新的产品由于没有导致净赎回的遗留资产，而具有吸引力；2019 年启动的 Baird Strategic Municipal Bond 和 2022 年诞生的 iShares Flexible Income Active 就是众多例子中的两个。未来还会有更多此类产品，我们会及时告知您。

在线订阅可享受最高 79% 的常规费率折扣。

特刊

咨询 Jeff

读者欢迎将关于收益类投资的问题发送至 jkosnett@kiplinger.com。如果此处没有空间刊登回复，我将亲自为您解答。

亲爱的 Jeff：

我计划将支付 4% 到 5% 收益的高收益债券基金替换为 60% 的 JEPI 和 40% 的 JEPQ，以获得更高的收益，并增加对 S&P 500 和纳斯达克指数的风险敞口。您怎么看？我今年 80 岁，即将停止兼职工作。—— Thomas

亲爱的 Thomas：

就现金流而言，我对此没有异议。但在期权方面，我持有一个不常见的观点——即通过出售股票基金和 ETF 来获取 8% 到 12% 的分配金（这是其主要吸引力），这应该是固定收益投资的替代方案，而非扩大股票配置的理想方式。这对摩根大通（JPMorgan）的 ETF 业绩非常出色。只要 S&P 500 和纳斯达克指数继续走强，您的风险就不大；在过去三年中，摩根大通纳斯达克股票溢价 ETF (JEPQ) 的最大回撤为 8.3%，而旗舰级先锋（Vanguard）高收益债券基金仅为 2.0%。我建议不要过度使用这一策略，但这确实是一个合理的决定。如果您仍想追求纳斯达克指数，可以增加一些 QQQ 或主动管理基金。

亲爱的 Jeff：

您如何看待现金股息较低但股票股息稳定的股票？例如，Commerce Bancshares (CBSH) 经常在 12 月用 5% 的股票股息来补充其现金派息。我计划让这些股票积累起来，并重新投资现金。是否还有其他公司也提供定期的股票股息？—— Stephen

亲爱的 Stephen：

我主要服务于渴望现金分配的读者，因此这个问题很少出现。股息再投资计划很常见，而且房地产投资信托基金 (REITs) 在新冠疫情期间曾获得临时许可，可以用股份代替现金支付。然而，在这种情况下，Commerce 似乎希望将其现金股息占收益的比例维持在 20% 左右，而大多数同类银行的目标则是 30% 或 40%。Commerce 是一家历史悠久且稳健的堪萨斯城银行，拥有大规模的回购计划，因此它本质上是在循环利用其回购的股份。（其总股数多年来一直保持平稳，因此没有通过发行新股来稀释投资者的权益。如果稀释，那将是一个危险信号。）公司采取此政策的好处是，如果暂停或减少这种股份派息，可以节省资金。它还能增强忠诚度。对投资者的好处是，股票股息无需立即纳税；只有在出售时才缴纳税款，而这取决于价格和时机。如果 Commerce 像 50 年前那样仍是一只成长股，我可能会很热情，但其股价在五年内下跌了 16%，且总回报严重落后于该行业。顺便提一下，虽然这种做法在美国很少见，但在英国很普遍，那里的分配金被称为“股票股息 (scrip dividends)”。但 scrip 的名声并不太好。

和许多读者一样，我混合使用免税账户、税收递延账户和应税账户来创造收入并最大限度地减少税收。我知道每个人的情况都不同，但您能否就哪些类型的投资最适合分配到这些不同类型的投资账户中发表看法？—— Wayne

亲爱的 Wayne：

我们的大多数读者正在提取积累的退休基金和其他税收递延资产，不再致力于大规模积累投资余额。每个人都希望限制当前收入的税收负担，但有时这次于其他决定，例如哪些款项需要重新投资，哪些需要申领并消费。我们都明白，将低收益的免税债券放入个人退休账户 (IRA)，而不是放入高票息债务（如高收益公司债）是愚蠢的。但关于这个话题的大多数文献都探讨了一个现实：税收递延结构在提取时最终会将长期资本利得转变为普通收入，这就是为什么我们有罗斯个人退休账户 (Roth IRA) 这一替代方案，以及所有关于罗斯转换成本与收益的计算。而这超出了我们的讨论范围。

作为订阅者，您受邀亲自联系 Kiplinger 专家以

照片：BOB CROSSLIN

特刊

模组投资组合：每月分红

我们每四个月对每个模组投资组合进行一次审查。本次检查与分析发表于 2026 年 4 月刊，涵盖截至 2026 年 3 月 20 日的期间。如需获取最新数据并保持同步，请订阅《Kiplinger 投资收益》（Kiplinger Investing for Income）。

自我们在 12 月的信函中上次报告“每月分红”组合以来，几乎每个行业的股票都遇到了一系列障碍。除了伊朗事务外，还存在经济增长疲软、担心 AI 将破坏商业模式、对信用事故的担忧日益增加，以及交易员和投资者电话会议中感受到的一种通胀和利率将维持在高位且时间更长的氛围。所有这些恐惧的总和支持人们寻求分红之伞的庇护。但从短期来看，收益率并不总能保障提供这些资金的公司之市值。高收益的赢家与输家之间，以及竞争激烈的以分红为中心的共同基金和交易所交易基金（ETFs）的结果之间，差距正在扩大。

需要明确的是，我们并没有遭遇惨败。在 12 个选股中，有 7 个在 3 月 20 日的收盘价高于上一个截止日期（即 11 月 14 日）的价格。但由于三个下跌股跌幅在 11% 到 19% 之间，等权重总回报率仅计算为 2.8%。这虽然好于巨头标准普尔 500 指数 ETF (SPY) 的 2.9% 损失，但远低于 LVHD 的 5.3% 涨幅，后者是富兰克林美国低波动率 ETF，代表了 Kiplinger Income 25 中的这一目标。如果剔除瓦莱罗能源（Valero）和威瑞森（Verizon），即使有 3.6% 的年化分红收益率，我们投资组合的四个月回报率也将为负值。

尽管如此，我们永远不会质疑收取现金的明智之举。而且盈利能力足够强，使得除高风险贷款领域外，削减分红的情况很少见。然而，蓝筹公司近期的惯例年度分红增幅有所收窄。石油营销商和炼油商瓦莱罗能源（Valero）虽然在录得巨额利润，但瓦莱罗（Valero）宣布今年起分红增长 6.2%。美国电话电报公司（AT&T）自 2022 年重组以来尚未提高派息，因为它正努力防止债务消耗更多的现金流。2025 年加入的威瑞森（Verizon）刚刚发布了 2.5% 的增长，尽管 VZ 的投资者在庆祝，因为由于用户数量增加以及对新任 CEO 的极高信心，股价自 1 月以来上涨了 25%。然而，作为道琼斯工业平均指数 30 只成分股之一，威瑞森（Verizon）始终面临被投资者不加区分地抛售的风险，因为投资者将道指视为一个投票站，用以表达对政府或美联储的不满，或者仅仅是为了就此事或彼事发出警告。

名单没有变动，但有一项更新：在 12 月，我们承诺审查薪资和办公管理供应商自动数据处理公司 (ADP) 以及以香料和调味品闻名的麦考密克（McCormick）。两者的股价均有所下跌，但我们目前仍坚持持有。ADP 在去年年底授予了 11% 的分红增长，分析师看好其增长前景。作为一家主要进口商，麦考密克（McCormick）受到关税的影响。其估值取决于市场现在将这些九位数的税款视为沉没成本还是长期干扰因素。麦考密克（McCormick）在 3 月表示，它可能会收购一批联合利华（Unilever）的食品品牌。根据条款，MKC 可能会成为一家规模更大、实力更强的公司。我们倾向于观望，而非匆忙抛售。

1月 Illinois Tool Works

价格，$258 收益率，2.5%

一年总回报率，4.1%

五年年化分红增长，7.2%

2月瓦莱罗能源 (Valero Energy)

$240, 2.0%, 81.3%, 4.1%

3月联合包裹服务公司 (UPS)

$96, 6.8%, -12.5%, 10.0%

4月麦考密克 (McCormick)

$53, 3.6%, -31.8%, 7.1%

5月美国电话电报公司 (AT&T)

$26, 3.9%, 9.8%, N / A

6月家得宝 (Home Depot)

$321, 2.9%, -7.1%, 8.9%

7月摩根大通 (JP Morgan Chase)

$287, 2.1%, -10.7%, 10.8%

8月通用动力 (General Dynamics)

$346, 1.7%, 32.4%, 7.7%

9月 Realty Income (房地产投资信托)

$61, 5.3%, 13.7%, 2.8%

10月自动数据处理公司 (Automatic Data Processing)

$209, 3.3%, -27.7%, 12.9%

11月威瑞森 (Verizon)

$50, 5.7%, 20.5%, 2.4%

12月美国电力公司 (American Electric Power)

$126, 3.0%, 21.9%, 5.1%

或针对您在《Kiplinger 投资收益》（Kiplinger Investing for Income）中阅读到的任何内容寻求更多指导。

特刊

模型组合：增强型现金 (Juiced Up Cash)

我们每四个月对每个模型组合进行一次审查。本次检查与分析发表于 2026 年 7 月刊，涵盖截至 2026 年 6 月 18 日的期间。如需获取最新数据并保持同步，请订阅《Kiplinger Investing for Income》。

“增强型现金”或任何类似的现金等价物组合的一个特点，在于其可靠稳定的每日市场价值与债券和股票中偶尔出现的令人不安的波动之间形成了鲜明对比。但随着波斯湾爆发战争，即使是低风险资产的交易也如此脱离其正常模式，以至于在本次衡量期间，该增强型组合与股市的相关性可能比以往任何时候都更紧密。这使得 2 月 20 日至 6 月 18 日（6 月 19 日为节假日）这一时间段分为两个阶段：初期经历了剧烈的净资产价值（NAV）侵蚀，随后是波动但部分恢复的阶段。结果，我们的虚拟 50,000 美元在期末变为 49,744 美元，下跌 0.5%，随后 726 美元的利息收入使最终总额达到 50,470 美元，该季度的收益率为 0.9%，年化收益率为 2.8%。

有一段时间，看起来我们将不得不审查实际的净亏损，这往好里说是令人尴尬，往坏里说则是对我们此处整个设想的挑战——即高收益的短久期替代方案总是能胜过国库券和三个月的银行存款。在 3 月的某个时间点，RiverPark 浮动利率商业抵押贷款支持证券基金（RiverPark Floating Rate CMBS）虽然没有报告任何违约且维持了派息，但其 NAV 下跌了 3% 以上，与股价的相关性从负值变为 +0.23。这虽然不像 CCC 级债券那样，但足以让其股东承受来自股市波动的一些意外波及。PGIM 短期公司债券基金（PGIM Short-Term Corporate Bond）与标准普尔 500 指数的三年相关性仅为 0.10，但在本季度与该指数的相关性达到了 0.64，这解释了为什么该基金曾一度下跌，但在 6 月 18 日结束时 NAV 为 10.72 美元，高于战前 2 月下旬的 10.62 美元。

因此，“增强型现金”的资深投资者知道这种方法是低风险的，但并非没有风险。由于美联储计划接下来是提高而非降低短期收益率，到 11 月时，我们可能会将 CD（大额存单）或国库券重新引入计算方案。但现在还不是时候。我们仍然认为，追求几个百分点的 NAV 增长，或者在富达浮动利率收益基金（Fidelity Floating Rate Income Fund）的情况下，追求来自中等质量信用的额外收益是有价值的。

或许令人惊讶的是，自我们上次报告以来，FFRHX 的保值情况比大多数此类投资都要好。因此，目前的阵容保持不变。

10,000 美元 RiverPark 浮动利率商业抵押贷款支持证券基金 (RCRFX, 8.78 美元, 4.2%) 由于其高票息和浮动利率投资以及良好的长期记录，在此继续保持溢价权重。它在 2022 年仅损失了 1%，而 2022 年是一个比我们在 2026 年看到的任何时期都要险峻得多的区间。

8,334 美元富达低久期债券因子 ETF (FLDR, 50.18 美元, 4.0%) 本金损失了 0.4%。但它保留了一些有趣的高息美元计价外国政府债券，且今年以来上涨了 1.6%，高于该类别的平均水平。

8,333 美元 PGIM 短期公司债券基金 (PB-SMX, 10.72 美元, 3.9%) 拥有一支经验丰富的管理团队，且 PGIM 的记录显示其预期利率将维持较长时间的高位，因此它应该有进一步提高分配额的机会。5 月的派息是该基金至少五年来的最高值。

8,333 美元 Pimco 增强型短期主动 ETF (MINT, 100.72 美元, 4.0%) 略微削减了每月派息，但在我们的选择中，它受股市和长期债券市场波动的影响最小。

5,000 美元 Eaton Vance 超短期收益 ETF (EVSB, 50.85 美元, 4.4%) 具有近 5% 的高到期收益率，以及 1.8% 的稳健年至今总回报率。

$5,000 富达浮动利率收益基金 (FFRHX, $9.01, 6.4%) 正如我们所言，正在提供高收益和正向的总回报。它不仅是现金替代方案的核心持仓，也是任何固定收益计划的一部分。

$5,000 Janus Henderson 短期收益 ETF (VNLA, $48.98, 4.6%) 与 PGIM 基金相似，重点关注 BBB 级公司债券，但借款方通常不同。

无风险 100% 退款保证。

特刊

模拟组合：免税收益

我们每四个月对每个模拟组合进行一次审查。本次检查与分析发布于 2026 年 5 月刊，涵盖截至 17, 2026. 的期间。如需获取最新数据并保持同步，请订阅《Kiplinger 投资收益》（Kiplinger Investing for Income）。

几天前，读者 Marty 询问我们的意见，关于将他 IRA 的最低强制分红重新存入这组免税债券基金，因为他不需要这些分红用于生活开支。从我们组合的结果来看，这无论是在保护本金，还是在零成本地重新投资每月收益，亦或是将收益用于免税购物和餐饮方面，都是一个稳健的计划。自 12, 2025, 上次统计以来的期间内，我们 $100,000 的虚拟本金在 4 月 17 日收盘时价值 $100,021, 这是人们能想象到的最接近持平的表现。$1,354 的收益（总增幅 1.35%）使年化回报率达到 4.2%，对于典型读者而言，等同于约 5.5% 的应税收益。像 AGG 或 BND 这样广泛的应税债券 ETF 收益率为 1.1%，因此市政债券以微弱优势胜出。

但更关键的一点是，如果全球不稳定局势持续或恶化，市政债券将成为旁观者而非处于火力线上的目标。推高长期利率的更高通胀会削弱市政债券的市场价格和资产净值，但很少能达到让耐心投资者感到担忧的程度。州和地方政府以及机场、收费公路等免税发行人的基本状况具有吸引力，甚至风险较高的养老院债券在 2026 年至今的平均涨幅也超过 3%。来自伊利诺伊州和纽约州等经常受到批评的州的通用债券目前的表现优于全国平均水平。随着 2025 年初的艰难时期在同比数据中逐渐消失，这有助于提高下面所有基金的一年期回报率。一方面，在原油及相关能源产品达到某种合理的着陆价格之前，对可能导致信用评级下调的衰退恐惧已经消退。而且，去年曾导致部分抛售的、关于国会可能会修改甚至撤销利息免税政策的周期性（在我们看来是荒谬的）恐惧在 2026. 已经消失。因此，基金名单以及建议的短、中、长期到期余额与上次更新相比没有变化。

短期：15%。 我们仍然认为收益率曲线的中端部分具有更好的价值。但 T. Rowe Price 和 VanEck 的资产净值均保持稳定，显示出强劲的一年期回报，且税后收益足以击败国库券。

$7,500 T. Rowe Price 免税短中期基金 (PRFSX)。 收益率 3.0%。一年期总回报率 5.5%。

$7,500 VanEck 短期市政债券 ETF (SMB)。 收益率 2.8%。一年期回报率 5.1%。

中期：45%。 PGIM 基金的加入以其高收益带来了活力，但也增加了一些风险资产。不过到目前为止，PMIO 看起来是一个极佳的选择，可以增强 Baird 和 Fidelity 已经证明的管理才干。PGIM 基金规模仍然很小，仅 4500万美元，这让我们感到困惑，但在我们之前的报告中它是 3300万美元。

$15,000 Baird 战略市政债券基金 (BSNSX)。 收益率 3.4%。一年期回报率 6.4%。

$15,000 富达中期市政收益基金 (FLTMX)。 收益率 2.9%。一年期回报率 6.8%。

$15,000 PGIM 市政机会 ETF (PMIO)。 收益率 4.7%。一年期回报率 7.4%。

长期：40%。 在经历了去年的资产净值波动后，这里的价格变化不大，尽管作为封闭式 Nuveen 高收益基金且多次成为组合表现领先者的 NMZ 股价下跌了几美分，但随着其重新获得相对于资产净值的溢价，其一年期回报率从 -0.9% 跃升至 +7.8%。

$10,000 NYLI MacKay 战略市政配置基金 (MTFDX)。 收益率 3.3%。一年期回报率 7.9%。

$10,000 Nuveen Municipal High-Income Opportunity (NMZ)。 分红率 7.5%。一年回报率 7.8%。

$10,000 Vanguard California Long-Term Tax Exempt (VCITX)。 收益率 3.5%。一年回报率 7.8%。

$10,000 Vanguard Long-Term Tax Exempt (VWLTX)。 收益率 3.7%。一年回报率 7.6%。

特刊

模型组合：追求最大收益

我们每四个月对每个模型组合进行一次审查。本次检查与分析发表于 2026 年 6 月刊，涵盖截至 2026 年 5 月 15 日的期间。如需获取最新数据并保持更新，请订阅《Kiplinger 投资收益》（Kiplinger Investing for Income）。

突然变得动荡且不可预测的市场再次考验我们的公理，即最大收益可以补偿固定收益本金价值偶尔承受的压力。一年前，在解放日（Liberation Day）关税骚乱导致市场暴跌后，Max 组合损失了 6% 的资本。但其收益弥补了损失的一半以上，这与我们的“长期超高收益主张”（详见 2024 年 3 月的信函）一致。该主张认为，尽管高收益债券、杠杆封闭式基金、高利率贷款机构以及能源和抵押贷款过户证券在经济动荡和交易恐慌期间通常会贬值，但额外的收益（我们的目标是 8% 到 10%）最终会抵消这些跌幅。因此，风险被夸大了。

现在，随着债券价格下跌，以及原本就价格昂贵的公用事业和大多数房地产投资信托（REITs）受到通货膨胀和利率上升的冲击，当前时期带来了另一个挑战。这个等权重、规模为 $100,000 的虚拟组合损失了一小部分本金 (0.3%)。但它在 1 月 23 日至 5 月 15 日之间产生了 $2,733 的收益，使该季度的最终总额达到 $102,414，年化收益率为 7.2%。在 2 月底美国袭击伊朗之前，进展较为顺利，随后引发了一系列的波动，直到 5 月利率飙升，例如，这导致固定利率抵押贷款买家 Annaly Capital 的股价下跌了近 $1.50。尽管如此，我们的 10 个选择中没有一个遭受重大损失，也没有一个削减股息或分配金——除了富达房地产收益基金（Fidelity Real Estate Income）的派息出现常规季节性下降，尽管其收益率较低，但我们将其纳入以保持房地产资产的配置。如果您对 FRIFX 的收益率不满意，我们建议选择杠杆封闭式房地产基金。但请注意，富达基金持有许多高收益债券，而不仅仅是通常的 REITs 份额，因此我们将其作为 Vanguard 高收益公司债券基金的补充，并用于行业多元化。名单无变动。

Abrdn High Income Opportunities (BJBHX, $7.70, 当前收益率或分配率 6.7%, 截至 5 月 15 日的一年总回报 5.8%) 是一只全球高收益公司债券基金，约三分之二的资产投资于美国。

Annaly Capital Management (NLY, $21.68, 12.9%, 24.2%) 随着长期国债和抵押贷款利率上升，其股价在 5 月出现下滑，但股息是安全的。

Ares Capital (ARCC, $18.90, 10.2%, -3.9%) 在不受青睐的商业发展公司（BDC）领域表现强劲，其交易价格较净值（NAV）折价 3%，而 15 家大型 BDC 指数的折价率为 17%。该类别的动荡局面可能需要一段时间才能平息。

BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund (DSU, $9.83, 5.9%, 5.9%) 是一只中度杠杆的封闭式基金（CEF），久期小于 1，其投资组合的到期收益率接近 9%。其净值在 2026 年至今有所下滑，但自 3 月中旬以来已趋于平稳。

Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Global Dividend Income (ETG, $22.75, 6.8%, 22.6%) 由于今年投资者偏好派息股而得以维持。它再次出现了 9% 的净值折价，这看起来是一个买入机会。

Fidelity Real Estate Income (FRIFX, $12.44, 4.6%, 7.7%) 既是债券基金也是股票基金，因此其收益率高于大多数 REITs 基金，但低于其他高收益债券工具。

Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD, $17.89, 11.8%, 22.8%) 继续表现出符合预期的走势。

Plains All-American Pipeline (PAA, $19.19, 7.3%, 41.8%) 在经历了几年管理策略混乱后已完全恢复，并表示打算继续大幅提高股息。

Suburban Propane Partners (SPH, $20.00, 6.5%, 9.7%) 是一家稳定的高收益且无意外的能源过户公司。

Vanguard 高收益公司债券基金 (VWEHX, $5.46, 6.3%, 6.6%) 在 2026 年落后于许多同类基金，但拥有良好的长期记录。您可以随意将其替换为您更倾向的任何其他高收益基金。

Kiplinger

投资收益提升现金收益的策略

Is it worth it? 测试一下……

在风险合理的情况下，产生稳定月度收益最重要的一项原则是什么？

☐ 分散投资。将投资分布在多种资产类别中以降低风险。 ☐ 质量胜于数量。对于股息股，寻找具有长期增加派息记录的公司。对于债券，选择信用评级较高的债券。 ☐ 收益率与总回报。始终追求最高的总回报，其中包含收益和资本增值。 ☐ 税收考量。获得更高收益最快的方法是选择具有税收优惠的投资。

不知道？不要猜测！订阅《Kiplinger Investing for Income》，获取您在任何经济气候、任何市场条件下开始产生更多现金收益所需的洞察力和经验。现在开始无风险订阅并进行测试。

在线订购可享受更多优惠。

为了方便订购，请打开手机摄像头并对准此方块。

投资

通货膨胀具有粘性。用这些基金来对抗它。

基金趋势 / 作者：DAVID MILSTEAD

在可预见的未来，通货膨胀的阴影似乎将继续笼罩经济。使投资组合具备抗通胀能力的一种方法是投资于销售或加工基础材料（如化学品）或自然资源（如矿产和能源）的公司。

这在一定程度上解释了富国银行投资研究所（Wells Fargo Investment Institute）股票分析师 Ian Mikkelsen 最近上调材料板块股票评级的原因。该板块通常随经济增长而上涨，但地缘政治动态也增加了投资者对供应链韧性的关注，这支撑了材料价格的上涨，并使得开采、加工或销售这些材料的公司更具吸引力。

BCA Research 的策略师表示，自然资源也是一种间接的科技交易。“在一个数字化丰盈的世界里，任何仍然稀缺的东西都会增值，讽刺的是，这可能会使自然资源成为人工智能最大的赢家。”

主动管理的富达全球商品股票基金（Fidelity Global Commodity Stock，代码 FFGCX）重点布局能源，在最近一次报告中，能源约占该基金的 40%。埃克森美孚（ExxonMobil）是其最大持仓。接下来的四个最大持仓则销售种子、农作物和肥料。该基金在过去一年上涨了 32.3%——高于该类别的平均水平——费用率为 0.85%。

同样为主动管理的富达精选材料组合基金（Fidelity Select Materials Portfolio，代码 FSDPX）更侧重于工业气体、建筑材料和特种化学品。由于该基金缺乏能源持仓，且在贵金属矿业公司的权重低于某些基金，导致其近期表现落后于同行，但对于在投资组合其他部分已持有能源或黄金的投资者来说，这是一个不错的选择。0.69% 的费用率使其成为该类别中最便宜的基金之一。■

您可以通过 David.Milstead@futurenet.com 联系作者。

20 LARGEST STOCK AND BOND MUTUAL FUNDS 基金按资产规模排名。

股息的黄金地带

收益投资 / 作者：JEFFREY R. KOSNETT

上个月，我宣称短期（但非超短期）到期期限是当前固定收益曲线上的理想位置。那么，对于寻求收益的股票投资者来说，是否也存在一个理想的目标？

今年对于热门的股息基金来说表现出色。例如，截至 6 月 30 日，Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity（代码 SCHD） 的回报率为 18%，这得益于科技和医药股的上涨。根据其最近的季度分配，该交易所交易基金的收益率为 2.7%，低于公用事业、能源合伙企业、房地产投资信托基金，甚至低于标准普尔 500 指数中四分之一的成分股。或许，优化股息的路径就是简单地集中投资于管道公司、REITs 和公用事业公司。但这会排除大量的可能性。

当你将股票与 4% 的银行、国债和货币市场利率进行基准比较时，2.7% 显得很低。但我并不认同，因为优质股票会增值，股息并非固定，且派息通常符合税收优惠资格，最高税率仅为 20%（少数高收入纳税人为 23.8%）。我不会去追逐股票收益率图表中的最高点，因为那里的长期回报可能非常糟糕。

是否存在股息的黄金地带？我设定了一个 10% 总回报的目标，其中包含 2.5%（或更多）的现金收益。以下是我发现可能性所在的地方：（1）筛选出盈利和现金流增长且派息率合理的合格公司。

（2）通过旨在提供高风险调整后回报的公式来筛选派息者的共同基金和 ETF。（3）主动管理型股息基金。（4）积累个股的策略，从而在其平均成本上建立实质性的收益率。关键点在于：仅在收益率达到 2.5% 或以上时买入。关于每一项的看法如下：

筛选具有收益率和回报率的优质股。 如果你设定 10% 的五年或 10 年回报目标，加上 2.5% 的收益率门槛，你会剔除像美敦力（Medtronic）这样高收益但表现糟糕的公司，但会给一系列能源巨头（如 埃克森美孚 (XOM) 和 雪佛龙 (CVX)）、大银行（如 PNC 金融服务 (PNC) 和 第五三银行 (FITB)）以及一些国防承包商开绿灯。这些公司可以增强任何 REITs 和公用事业组合，而无需你费力去寻找那些极小概率的黑马或反转股。

工具型股息基金。 典型代表是 WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend Fund (DHS)，其方法虽然复杂，但筛选出了我刚才描述的大部分内容。其月度股息波动较大，但你能获得超过 3% 的收益且波动率较低；在 2026 年上半年，该基金的回报率为 13.7%。ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs (SDOG) 的方法与 WisdomTree 基金完全不同，但结果相当；其涨幅在 17% 左右。富达高股息基金 (FDVV) 是另一个选择，尽管风险更高，因为该 ETF 包含了像英伟达（Nvidia）和

Alphabet 这样高能的燃料。我会对任何新型或未经证明的股息筛选 ETF 方案保持谨慎，但这三者值得关注。

主动股息基金。 除了上述 Schwab ETF 外，我建议关注 Federated Hermes Strategic Value Dividend A (SVAAX) 及其更侧重于美国的 ETF 兄弟基金 U.S. Strategic Dividend (FDV)。纯粹的主动管理是否能胜过像 ALPS 和 WisdomTree 所采用的基于规则的股息筛选器，这仍是一个开放性问题。但你的回报丰厚，且每股分配额通常每年增长。

买入、持有、收取并增长。 通常，股息增长计划集中在像苹果和沃尔玛在开始支付现金的早期阶段这样的全球赢家身上，因为你可以预见到一辈子的丰厚增长。我提出一种变体：在那些以强劲股息增长著称且收益率在 2.5% 及以上的公司中建立新头寸。这将是我未来专栏的主题。请保持关注。I

Jeff Kosnett 是 Kiplinger 收益投资（Kiplinger Investing for Income）的编辑。您可以通过 Jeff.Kosnett@futurenet.com 与他联系。

优质股票会增值，股息并非固定，且派息通常符合税收优惠资格。

38 Kiplinger 个人理财

照片由 BOB CROSLIN 提供

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理财

为您寻找最合适的银行

我们研究了利率、费用、优质服务及其他账户功能。以下机构脱颖而出。

作者：MALLIKA MITRA 和 ELLA VINCENT

很有可能，您多年来一直使用同一家银行。毕竟，维持现有的支票账户比更换新账户要容易得多。但偶尔审视一下市场上的其他选择是值得的。即使您对目前的银行基本满意，您可能会发现另一家银行更符合您的需求，无论是更低的费用、更高的利率、更优质的面对面服务，还是随着财富增长而增加特权的更具吸引力的优质账户方案。或者，您可以选择继续在目前的机构办理日常银行业务，并在在线银行或信用合作社开设储蓄账户或定期存款账户（CD），以利用闲置资金的高收益。

您在这里会发现许多值得考虑的绝佳选择。在收集存款账户信息的 LendingTree 的帮助下，我们分析了国家银行、信用合作社、在线银行和区域银行账户的利率、费用、余额要求及其他功能，并评选出了每个类别的获胜者。对于前三个类别，我们选择了三家获奖机构并按字母顺序排列。对于区域银行，我们在四个地区（东北部、中西部、南部和西部）各选出了一家获胜者。我们还重点介绍了针对四类客户群体（退休人员、高净值客户、旅行者和有孩子的家庭）可能成为强力选择的两家机构。（有关我们如何评选获胜者的更多信息，请参阅第 48 页的方框。）

利率变动频繁，因此在您决定办理任何此类账户之前，请检查当前的收益率。

GETTY IMAGES

40 Kiplinger 个人理财

此处列出的收益率和其他条款截至 7 月初。

→ 最佳国家银行

这些机构拥有庞大的分行网络以及在线银行工具，让您无论身在何处都能轻松获取资金。它们提供一系列账户和服务，从基础的支票和储蓄选项到优质方案。

大通银行 (Chase Bank)

分布情况： 在美国本土 48 个州以及华盛顿特区约有 5,000 家分行。（利率和条款适用于俄亥俄州哥伦布斯的客户。）大通银行最受欢迎的支票账户 Total Checking 为客户提供四种在每个月度账单周期内免除 $15 服务费的方法。其中一种是每月进行至少 $500 的电子存款（工资单即可）。Premier Plus Checking 具有更多功能，例如免费的银行本票和汇票，同时也提供多种避免月度服务费的方法。在储蓄方面，Chase Savings 提供五种避免 $5 月费的方法。在银行的 CDs（定期存款）中，如果您拥有关联的支票账户，近期办理一个期限为四个月且最低存款为 $1,000 的凭证可获得 3.2% 的收益率。

大通银行还赢得了“最佳便捷访问银行”的称号。凭借任何国家银行中最大的分行网络、超过 14,000 台 ATM 机和充足的在线工具，您可以轻松地通过面对面或虚拟方式管理资金。大通银行甚至在扩大其实体店版图：今年 2 月，它宣布计划在 30 多个州开设 160 家新分行，并翻新近 600 个网点。

2026年9月 41

理财

PNC Bank

pnc.com

分布地点： 在 27 个州和华盛顿特区拥有约 2,300 家分行（利率和条款适用于匹兹堡的客户）。

通过 Simple Checking（简单支票账户），客户只需进行一次任何金额的合格直接存款，即可免除 $5 的服务费；62 岁或以上或 25 岁以下的客户也可免除月费。此外，该账户不收取透支费（如果您尝试消费超过账户余额，交易将被拒绝），且银行本票免费。Standard Savings（标准储蓄账户）同样设有 $5 的月费，但很容易可以避免。PNC 提供广泛的 CDs（定期存款，期限从一个月到 10 年），近期 13 个月期定期存款的收益率高达 3.5%（最低存款额 $1,000）。

如果您倾向于将支票账户和储蓄账户打包在一起，可以关注 Virtual Wallet（虚拟钱包），它包含一个用于日常开支的主支票账户、另一个用于预留未来开支的支票账户以及一个储蓄账户。Virtual Wallet 还提供额外的预算工具，例如提供支出视觉细分的图表以及用于跟踪账单和付款的日历。

对于能够在该银行的存款和投资账户中保持高余额的客户，PNC 提供一些极具吸引力的福利。欲了解更多信息，请参阅第 47 页的“最适合高净值客户”部分。

TD Bank

td.com

分布地点： 在 15 个州（主要在东海岸）和华盛顿特区拥有约 1,050 个网点（利率和条款适用于新泽西州蒙劳雷尔的客户）。

得益于其产品线全面且免除月费的要求合理，TD Bank 一直是我们最佳全国性银行名单中的常客。Essential Banking（基础银行服务）是一款强大的入门级支票账户，13 至 17 岁的人群无需支付月费（否则费用为 $4.95）。Complete Checking（完整支票账户）提供了一种管理日常开支的简单方式，有三种途径可以免除 $15 的月费：每个账单周期直接存款 $500 或更多，日最低余额 $500，或关联的 TD 存款账户日最低合计余额 $5,000。Beyond Checking（超越支票账户）是能够满足更高余额或存款要求的客户的强力选择；欲了解更多信息，请参阅第 46 页的“最适合退休人员”部分。

Simple Savings（简单储蓄账户）如果您在账户中保持至少 $300，则不收取月费（它还提供其他免费方式），其收益率为 0.02%。Signature Savings（签名储蓄账户）的收益率高达 2.5%，但您需要账户中至少有 $250,000 才能获得该收益。（保持 $10,000 余额或关联一个符合条件的 TD 支票账户即可免除 $15 的月费。）与许多其他银行设定的最低限额相比，CDs（定期存款）$250 的最低存款要求较低。

→ 最佳信用合作社

与银行不同，信用合作社是由其成员共同拥有的非营利机构。与营利性机构相比，它们通常具有更高的收益率和更低的费用。许多信用合作社服务于特定的州或地区，但我们选择的所有机构都为全国任何地方的居民提供了加入选项。

Alliant Credit Union

alliantcreditunion.org

所在地： Alliant 在线运营。

如何加入： 加入 Credit Union 基金会；将代表您支付一次性 $5 的会员费。

的免费 High-Rate Checking（高利率支票账户）提供 0.25% 的收益率——这是一个相当不错的利率，考虑到大多数支票账户没有任何收益，而那些有收益的账户通常支付低于 0.1%。客户无需担心银行有时会收取的一些费用，例如更换丢失借记卡的费用；如果您在超过 80,000 台可免费使用的 ATM 机网络之外的 ATM 机提取资金，您每月可获得最高 $20 的费用返还。Jumbo High-Rate

42 Kiplinger 个人理财

GETTY IMAGES

Money

支票账户在满足以下条件时可获得 2% 的收益率：每月直接存款至少 $5,000，在的所有存款账户中保持日均余额 $10,000 或更多，并注册电子账单。或者，如果您每月直接存款至少 $2,500 且接收电子账单，您可获得 1% 的收益率。青少年支票账户 (Teen Checking) 的收益率为 0.25%。

对于储蓄者，High-Rate Savings（高利率储蓄账户）在最低余额仅为 $100, 的情况下收益率为 3.01%，儿童储蓄账户 (Kids Savings) 同样如此。Jumbo Savings（巨额储蓄账户）在最低余额 $100,000 时提供 3.35% 的收益率。CD（定期存款）利率也很丰厚，近期一年期证书的收益率为 3.75%。最低存款额为 $1,000.

Lake Michigan Credit Union

所在地： 约 75 家分行，主要分布在密歇根州，部分在佛罗里达州。

如何加入： 向 ALS 基金会进行一次性 $5 的捐款。LMCU 最受欢迎的支票账户是 Max Checking，该账户没有最低余额要求，也没有月费。如果您满足每月要求（包括进行直接存款、使用 LMCU 借记卡或信用卡至少消费 10 次、登录在线或移动银行至少四次以及接收电子账单），则 $15,000 以下的余额可获得 4% 的收益率。此外还有简单的 Free Checking（免费支票账户）；面向 50 岁及以上会员的 Advantage 50 Checking，提供最高 0.25% 的收益率；以及 Investor Checking（投资者支票账户），收益率为 0.15% 或 0.2%，具体取决于您的余额（需保持最低 $2,500 的日余额以避免 $10 的月费）。

Max Savings 对 $100,000, 以下的余额提供 1.75% 的收益率，且收益率随余额增加，对于 100 万美元或以上的余额，收益率逐渐增加至 3.9%。Max Money Market（最大货币市场账户）对 $25,000, 以下的余额提供 1% 的收益率，对于至少 100 万美元的余额，利率最高可升至 3.9%。有许多 CD 可供选择，收益率高达 3.9%。它们要求最低存款 $500.

PenFed Credit Union

所在地： 分布在 12 个州以及华盛顿特区、波多黎各、美属维尔京群岛和关岛的 38 个地点。

如何加入： 开立一个 Regular Share 或 Premium Online Savings 账户并存款至少 $5.

简单的 Free Checking（免费支票账户）为客户提供免费使用 85,000 多台 ATM 机的权限，以及通过点对点转账服务 Zelle 发送资金的能力。Access America Checking 提供的服务更多一些，包括对 $25 至 $50,000 的余额提供 0.05% 的收益率，以及在某些 PenFed 信用卡上提供增强的奖励。您可以通过设置每月至少 $500 或保持至少 $500. 的日余额，轻松避免 $10 的月费。

储蓄者可以选择 Premium Online Savings，该账户对所有余额提供 2.7% 的收益率，且无需月费。PenFed 还提供期限为六个月至七年的 CD；其中大多数近期收益率为 2.9%，最低存款额为 $1,000。

→ 最佳在线银行

纯在线银行无需承担经营实体分行的运营成本，因此可以将这部分额外资金通过具有竞争力的利率和低廉的费用回馈给客户。我们的精选银行提供了市场上最高的一些收益率，但我们也评估了费用、产品范围、预算工具等因素。

Ally Bank

Ally 的 Spending Account（支出账户）是一个免费的支票账户，可免手续费使用超过 75,000 台 ATM，且每个账单周期可获得 $10 返现，用于抵扣非网络内机器收取的费用。但真正出色的地方在于其储蓄产品。免费的 Savings Account（储蓄账户）对所有余额提供 3% 的收益率，并且能够创建最多 30 个“储蓄桶”，将资金分配给不同的目标，无论是应急基金还是度假基金。您还可以设置“四舍五入”（round ups），使支票账户的交易金额四舍五入到最近的美元，当累计金额达到至少 $5. 时，差额将转入您的储蓄账户。通过“惊喜储蓄”（surprise savings），会识别支票账户中 $25 或以下的金额，该工具认为这些金额可以安全地自动转入储蓄账户，而不会导致支票账户余额过低而无法覆盖您的支出。

的免费 Money Market Account（货币市场账户）同样提供 3% 的收益率，且该银行提供三种类型的 CD（定期存款）。High-Yield CD（高收益）近期对于 12 个月到期的凭证利率最高可达 3.7%。Raise Your Rate CDs（利率提升）提供 3% 的收益率，且如果提高利率，您可以在两年期内一次或四年期内两次灵活提高您的利率。No Penalty （无罚金）的收益率为 2.7%，且提前支取无罚金。这些没有最低存款要求。

Axos Bank

Axos Checking（Axos 支票账户）不收取月费，您只需设置至少 $1. 的直接存款即可获得 1% 的收益率。客户可以免费使用全国 95,000 多台 ATM，并获得无限额的国内非网络内 ATM 手续费报销。Summit Savings（巅峰储蓄）提供 3.75% 的收益率，且无费用或余额要求。

尤其值得关注的是该银行的支票与储蓄组合账户 Axos

2026 43

Money

One。通过满足以下两个要求之一，您在 $250,000 以下的储蓄余额上可获得 4.21% 的收益率（更高余额为 3.5%），在支票账户上可获得 0.51% 的收益率：每月收到至少 $1,500 在合格直接存款且维持至少 $1,500, 的日均余额，或者每月收到至少 $5,000 在所有合格存款（包括纸质支票等存款）且维持至少 $5,000. 的日均余额。

Axos 的其他账户还包括为青少年设计的 First Checking 和 First Savings，以及为维持至少 $250,000. 余额的客户提供额外福利的 Private Client Checking 和 Savings。

Bask Bank

baskbank.com

Bask Bank 以其免费的利息支票（Interest Checking）账户脱颖而出，该账户对所有余额支付 1% 的收益，且没有任何附加条件。客户可以使用超过 55,000 台免手续费的 ATM 机，并能够使用 Zelle 进行资金转账。

其储蓄账户同样令人印象深刻。利息储蓄（Interest Savings）提供 3.75% 的基础收益，但如果在每个账单周期内有至少 $2,500 的合格自动存款，您可以将收益提高到 4%。最近，新客户在开户时还可以获得额外的收益，使总潜在收益达到 4.1%。里程储蓄账户（Mileage Savings Account）让您每年每储蓄 $1 即可赚取 1.75 美国航空 AAdvantage 里程。通过最低 $1,000 的存款，您还可以在 Bask 开立 CD（定期存款）。期限从三个月到两年不等，收益率在 3.65% 到 4.1% 之间。

→ 最佳区域性银行

区域性银行的资产在 100 亿美元到 1,000 亿美元之间，服务于特定区域。因此，与您在全国性银行中发现的情况相比，它们通常提供更个性化的客户服务，并且经常将资金重新投资于社区。

东北部最佳：

ConnectOne Bank

connectonebank.com

所在地： 在纽约州、新泽西州和南佛罗里达州拥有 60 多个网点。

完全免费支票（Totally Free Checking）正如其名，免收月费。这是一个简单的账户，但允许客户通过 Zelle 发送资金。更优简单支票（Simply Better Checking）同样不收取月费，如果您使用直接存款并保持 $500 的日均余额，每月可报销最高 100 亿美元的网外 ATM 手续费。消费者利息支票（Consumer Interest Checking）对 $1,000 或以上的余额提供 1.15% 的收益，如果您使用直接存款且日均余额为 $1,000，每月可报销最高 100 亿美元的 ATM 手续费。（通过将余额保持在 $1,000 或以上，您还可以免除 100 亿美元的月费。）

在 ConnectOne 的储蓄选项中，Connect 货币市场（Connect Money Market）的收益率为 2%，余额在 $25,000 以上的收益率为 2.1%。它要求最低 $1,000 的开户存款，并且您需要保持至少 $5,000 的日均余额以避免 100 亿美元的月费。Connection Plus 储蓄（Connection Plus Savings）对至少 $2,500 的余额提供 3% 的收益，而 CD 的存款要求相对较低，为 $500。四个月的无罚金凭证支付 4% 的收益。

中西部最佳：

Old National Bank

oldnational.com

所在地： 在伊利诺伊州、印第安纳州、爱荷华州、肯塔基州、密歇根州、明尼苏达州、北达科他州、田纳西州和威斯康星州约有 350 个网点。Old National 有四种受欢迎的支票账户选项，其中一个面向学生，另一个面向 50 岁及以上的客户。ONB 日常支票（ONB Everyday Checking）是满足日常需求的各种基础账户，最近的一项促销活动为注册并在前四个月内完成 $12,000 直接存款的用户提供 $600 的奖金。该账户每月收取 $6.95 的费用，但如果您每月直接存款 $500、日余额为 $500、在 Old National 所有合格账户中的日余额为 $1,500，或在账单周期内进行 15 次或更多次借记卡交易，则可免除此费用。ONB 优先支票（ONB Preferred Checking）提供免费的标准支票，且银行不会收取前五次每月网外 ATM 交易的费用（但您可能需要向 ATM 运营商支付费用）。优先支票每月收取 $15 的费用，但如果您在账户中拥有 $5,000 的日余额，或在所有合格账户中拥有 $25,000 的日余额，该费用将降至零。

Old National 提供多种储蓄选项，包括一个面向儿童的储蓄账户。在 CD 中，一个四个月到期的产品最近有 4% 的收益，最低存款要求为 $500。

南部最佳：FirstBank

firstbankonline.com

分布地点： 在田纳西州、肯塔基州、阿拉巴马州、佐治亚州和北卡罗来纳州约有 90 家分行。Essential Checking 账户包含基础功能且无需月费；而免费的 FirstRewards Checking 账户，如果您满足特定的每月要求（进行 10 次借记卡消费、有一笔符合条件的资金转入或转出账户，并接收电子账单），则对最高 $25,000 的余额支付 1.51% 的收益（超过该部分的余额收益为 0.55%）。该账户还报销网外 ATM 费用。Swipe Smart ** 是另一个免费账户，可能适合首次开户的人员或主要使用借记卡的学生（该账户不提供纸质支票）。其他支票账户包括面向 62 岁及以上人士的 USA for Seniors，以及 Interesting **（如果您的余额低于 $1,000，则每月收取 $8 费用），后者对 $1,000 至 $24,999 的余额提供 0.41% 的收益，$25,000 至 $49,999 的余额提供 0.45% 的收益，更高余额则提供 0.5% 的收益。

44 Kiplinger 个人理财

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对于储蓄者，FirstBank 的选项包括 FirstUp Savings，最高 $25,000 的余额收益率为 3.82%。如果您持有至少 $50 的最低余额，银行将免除 $5 的月费。六个月和 30 个月的 CDs（最低存款 $500）收益率为 3.8%，而 Consumer Fed Funds Money Market 账户近期对最高 $99,999 的余额支付 1.46% 的收益，对更高余额支付 2.93% 的收益（如果您持有 Essential 账户或在货币市场账户中保持至少 $100,000，则可免除 $10 的服务费）。

西部最佳：WaFd Bank

分布地点： 在亚利桑那州、加利福尼亚州、爱达荷州、内华达州、新墨西哥州、俄勒冈州、德克萨斯州、犹他州和华盛顿州拥有 200 多个分支机构。

免费支票账户 (Free Checking) 是 WaFd 的基础支票账户，而 奖励支票账户 (Rewards Checking) 是一个升级版本，每月收取 $6 费用，以换取相关特权，例如在 Shell 加油站每加仑油可享受 5 美分的折扣、手机保险、免费使用用于管理儿童资金的 Greenlight 计划以及信用监控服务。

高级奖励支票账户 (Premium Rewards Checking) 每月费用为 $9，但提供更多福利，包括暗网监控、24 / 7 全天候道路救援和远程医疗服务。利息支票账户 (Interest Checking) 提供上述福利，且收益率最高可达 0.25%（余额在 $250,000 或以上）。如果您在 WaFd 的日均余额达到 $5,000，或在符合条件的账户中总计拥有 $50,000，则可免除每月 $12 的费用。

WaFd 的 储蓄 (Savings) 账户在余额至少 $100, 时收益率为 0.1%，对未成年人免费；否则，您可以通过保持至少 $100. 的余额来避免每月 $3 的费用。启动储蓄 (Start Savings) 为 $500 及以下余额提供 5% 的收益率，为 $500, 2.47% 在 $500 和 $1,000, 之间的余额部分提供收益率，为更高金额提供 0.1% 的收益率。（要开设此账户，您必须拥有 WaFd 支票账户。）如果您在寻找大额余额的更高收益，请查看货币市场账户，例如 高收益货币市场 (High Yield Money Market)（$500,000 或以上余额的收益率高达 2%）和 CDs (定期存款)。近期，期限为 7 个月或 13 个月的定期存款收益率为 4%（最低存款 $1,000）。

→ 退休人员最佳选择

无论您是在寻找面对面服务、高收益还是低费用，您都可以在这里找到合适的选择。

富达投资 (Fidelity Investments)

富达的 现金管理账户 (Cash Management Account) 是一种经纪账户，提供了传统支票账户的许多功能，对于在富达拥有其他投资账户的客户来说是一个极佳的选择。现金管理账户没有月费或最低余额要求，标准支票免费。您可以获得全球范围内非网络内 ATM 费用的无限额报销，并且使用借记卡在海外进行交易时无需支付外币交易费。

您有两种方式可以让现金产生收益，且两种方式都允许您随时消费或提取资金。一种是将资金“扫入 (sweep)”合作伙伴银行账户，通过联邦存款保险公司 (FDIC) 的保障，在银行倒闭时最高可保护 $400 万；近期，扫入余额的收益率为 1.84%。或者，您可以将资金持有在富达政府货币市场基金（代码 SPAXX）中，近期七日年化收益率为 3.29%。虽然货币基金是存放现金的低风险场所，但它不享有 FDIC 保障。

TD 银行 (TD Bank)

的 超越支票账户 (Beyond Checking) 提供了许多退休人员可能会欣赏的特权，包括免费的标准支票、汇票、银行本票和汇入电汇。每月还提供一次免费的汇出电汇。只要您的余额至少为 $2,500.，就会报销非网络内 ATM 运营商收取的机器使用费。

46 Kiplinger 个人理财

资金

如果您每月直接存款达到 $5,000 或更多，或保持至少 $2,500, 的日均余额，或者在符合条件的存款账户和贷款中总计余额至少为 $25,000，则无需支付 $25 的维护费。

简单储蓄 (Simple Savings) 账户为 62 岁及以上人士免除每月 $5 的维护费，尽管其近期收益率仅为 0.02%。如需更高的储蓄利率，请查看的 选择促销定期存款 (Choice Promotional CDs)。近期，九个月期的收益率为 3.51%，12 个月期的收益率为 3.25%，且最低存款仅为 $250.

→ 最适合高净值客户

在这些银行持有高额余额的客户可享受一系列特权，包括个性化的财富管理、专属奖励以及许多账户服务的费用豁免。

花旗银行 (Citibank)

citi.com

分布情况： 在美国约有 650 家分行，其中许多分布在芝加哥、洛杉矶、纽约市、迈阿密、旧金山和华盛顿特区的大都市区。

通过其 Citigold 计划，花旗银行为在花旗的存款、投资和退休账户中合计维持每月至少 $200,000 余额的客户提供顶级服务。特权包括一个专门的财富团队协助您制定财务计划，并且您可以访问 Citi Research & Insights，获取花旗分析师的市场评论。客户还可享受支票账户和储蓄账户的月费豁免；免费的标准支票、汇票、银行本票和在线电汇；全球范围内无限额的网外 ATM 附加费报销；以及海外交易的境外交易费豁免。

生活方式福利也是该方案的一部分。会员可免费进入纽约市的少数景点，包括现代艺术博物馆和纽约植物园，以及分布在少数美国城市和部分国际地点的 Citigold 休息室。此外，针对某些订阅和服务（包括 Amazon Prime、Costco Wholesale、Hulu、Spotify Premium、TSA PreCheck 和 Global Entry），每年可获得最高 $200 的返现。

如果在合格账户中拥有 100 万美元的平均每月余额，您将有资格加入 Citigold Private Client，该计划提供额外的福利，包括更广泛的财富管理服务，如遗产和庄园规划以及赠与策略。您还将获得额外的银行福利，例如提高 ATM 取款限额，以及每年 $400 的订阅返现。

PNC 银行 (PNC Bank)

.com

今年春季，推出了 Total Rewards 计划，其福利随您在合格存款和投资账户中的 90 天平均合计余额的增加而增加。如果您的余额在 $25,000 到 $99,999 之间，您有资格进入白银等级，该等级提供的特权包括：合格储蓄账户的标准利率提升 10%（例如，1% 的标准利率将变为 1.1%）、指定信用卡奖励增加 5%，以及免佣金的在线投资交易。黄金等级要求余额在 $100,000 到 $499,999 之间，提供储蓄利率 20% 的提升、信用卡奖励 25% 的加成，以及合格经纪账户免收年度服务费。对于余额在

$500,000 或以上的客户，白金等级提供 25% 的储蓄账户利率提升和 35% 的信用卡奖励加成，以及其他特权。

今年早些时候还推出了 Premier Client，旨在面向在拥有超过 $100,000 存款和投资的客户。该服务包括由专属个人银行家和专属财务顾问提供的一对一指导。到 2027 年为止，将将其现有的 200 家分行转换为专门服务于该计划客户的 Premier 分行。资产在 300万美元或以上的客户有资格加入的 Private Bank。客户将获得由多名顾问组成的团队（包括财富战略师和投资顾问）、许多账户服务的费用豁免，以及无限额的网外 ATM 附加费报销。

→ 最适合旅行者

无论您是经常飞行的商务人士还是偶尔旅行的游客，在旅途中都可以利用这些银行提供的福利。

Capital One

capitalone.com

分布情况： 在少数几个东部和南部州以及华盛顿特区设有约 250 家分行。Capital One 的 360 Checking 是一款综合性能稳健的账户，没有最低余额要求、月费或透支费。此外，当您在海外使用借记卡进行购物或 ATM 取款时，无需支付境外交易费，并且在美国境内可免费使用 70,000 台、Allpoint 和 MoneyPass 网络内的 ATM。如果您使用网络外的机器，不会向您收费，尽管 ATM 运营商可能会收费。的 360 Performance Savings 同样免收月费且无最低余额要求，收益率为 3%。

除了标准银行分行外，该银行在全国设有 Cafés。这些咖啡馆

2026 47

理财

提供银行服务、免费 Wi-Fi、私人工作空间以及餐饮。如果客户使用或 Discover 的借记卡或信用卡支付，手工调制饮品可享 50% 折扣。

Charles Schwab Bank

Schwab 投资者银行支票账户（ Investor Banking Checking account）是旅行者的首选。该免费且无最低余额要求的账户对国际借记卡购物和取款不收取境外交易费，并且您可获得全球 ATM 服务费的无限额报销。该借记卡还提供额外福利，包括延长保修保护、旅行意外险和道路救援调度。

您必须将的支票账户与经纪账户关联，后者无需最低余额。您可以在这两个账户之间轻松转移资金。为了给多余资金找一个安全的存放地，可以考虑经 FDIC 承保的投资者储蓄账户（Investor Savings account）。与支票账户一样，它没有月费并报销所有 ATM 费用。其收益率为 0.15%。

→ 最适合有孩子的家庭

这些机构为年轻人学习消费和储蓄技巧提供专门的账户，并为父母提供帮助管理和监控账户的工具。

Bank of America

分布情况：在 38 个州和华盛顿特区设有约 3,600 家分行。（利率和条款适用于北卡罗来纳州夏洛特的客户。）

对于希望带孩子去当地分行学习银行知识的家庭来说，Bank of America 是一个不错的选择，其网点遍布大多数州。它还推出了几款考虑到家庭需求的 Advantage 账户；对于 25 岁以下的客户，这两款账户均无月维护费且不收取透支费。

由父母持有的 SafeBalance 家庭银行支票账户（SafeBalance for Family Banking checking account）专为小学和初中学生设计，允许孩子使用借记卡，但您可以监控他们的支出，在他们购物时接收提醒，并锁定或解锁借记卡。6 岁及以上的儿童可以登录其在线账户查看余额并监控交易，但不能存款或转账。

青少年和年轻人可以使用由父母共同持有的 SafeBalance Banking 支票账户。从 16 岁起，青少年可以成为该账户的唯一所有者。账户持有人可以通过网络存款和转账，13 岁及以上的人可以使用 Zelle 发送和接收资金。

对于 25 岁以下的账户所有者，Advantage Savings 不收取月费。其收益率为 0.04%。

分布情况：在少数几个东部和南部州以及华盛顿特区设有约 250 家分行。8 岁及以上的儿童可以与父母共同持有的在线 MONEY 青少年支票账户（MONEY Teen Checking account）。该账户没有月维护费或最低存款要求，收益率为 0.1%。孩子将获得一张借记卡，父母可以对其进行锁定或解锁，您可以通过自己的账户登录来监控他们的交易。无论您的账户是在还是其他机构，您都可以从自己的支票账户向 MONEY 账户进行转账。

Capital One 还提供无手续费、无最低存款要求的儿童储蓄账户，收益率为 2.5%。您可以为不同的储蓄目标开设多个账户。 ¶

请将关于本文的评论发送至 feedback@kiplinger.com。

我们如何选择顶尖金融机构

我们利用来自 LendingTree（该公司收集存款账户信息）以及金融机构和其他来源的数据，对全国性银行、信用合作社、在线银行（包括经纪公司的在线账户）和区域性银行进行了评估。我们审查了支票账户、储蓄账户、货币市场存款账户和定期存款单。我们考量的功能包括：利率；最低存款和余额要求；每月维护费以及免除这些费用的便捷程度；ATM 权益（例如免除或报销网外取款费）；免费或折扣权益（例如个人支票、银行承兑汇票、纸质账单和透支保护转账）；透支费；以及在线和移动银行功能（例如是否提供点对点支付服务）。文中列出的收益率和其他数据截至 7 月初。

48 Kiplinger 个人理财

Money

自雇人士的税收减免

《Kiplinger 税务快报》（The Kiplinger Tax Letter）编辑回答读者关于部分时间从事自雇工作的退休人员如何抵税的问题。作者：JOY TAYLOR

我今年 72 岁，四年前从全职工作退休。我现在是一名兼职顾问，在申报联邦税单时，通过 Schedule C 表格报告我的零工收入和抵扣项。我的财务顾问说，即使我在 Schedule A 表格中不进行逐项扣除，我支付的 Medicare 保费也可以抵税。这是真的吗？是的。通常情况下，包括医疗保险和 Medicare 保费在内的医疗费用，只有在进行逐项扣除且总医疗费用超过调整后总收入 7.5% 的情况下才可抵税。但对于提交 Schedule C 表格的自雇人士有一个例外。他们无需逐项扣除，即可抵扣支付的医疗、牙科保险以及合格的长期护理保险保费。他们可以在 Form 1040, Schedule 1, part II, line 17. 申报自雇健康保险抵扣。您以个人名义支付的 Medicare A、B 和 D 部分的保费均属于该抵扣范围。

我几年前从全职工作退休并领取养老金。今年我决定兼职做一名遛狗员，需要开车前往客户家中。我可以按商业驾驶的标准里程率抵税吗？ 可以。对于自雇人士来说，商业驾驶的成本属于可抵扣的业务支出。您可以申报实际支出（包括汽油费、维修费和车辆折旧），或者使用美国国税局（IRS）的标准里程津贴。For 2026, 商业驾驶的标准里程率为每英里 72.5 美分。如果您使用美国国税局（IRS）的标准里程率，还可以抵扣支付的任何过路费或停车费。

请记录一份同步的里程日志，详细记录每次遛狗行程，这将使您在准备税单时更容易计算总商业里程。如果您以后接受美国国税局（IRS）的审计，这也将对您有所帮助。

我最近从全职工作退休，现在是一名独立自由撰稿人。我可以申请 20% 的合格业务收入抵扣吗？

通常可以。自雇人士、独立承包商以及 LLC、S 公司和其他穿透实体的所有者可以抵扣其合格业务收入（QBI）的 20%，但对于 2026 年应纳税收入超过 $403,500（联合申报者）和 $201,750（单身申报者及户主申报者）的个人设有限制。

请注意，您不在 Schedule C 表格中申报 QBI 抵扣。相反，您应在税单中附上 Form 8995 或 8995-A 表格，并在 Form 1040 的第 13a 行进行抵扣。

我是一名律师，五年前从我的律师事务所退休。我现在仍以独立承包商的身份兼职为部分客户提供法律服务。最近我将家里的一个卧室改成了办公室以便工作。我可以申请家庭办公室抵扣吗？可以，只要您符合申请该抵扣的所有规则。虽然雇员不能抵扣家庭办公室费用，但对于在 1040 税单中提交 Schedule C 表格，且将家中或公寓中的房间或空间专门且定期用作主要营业场所的自雇人士或独立承包商，可以使用该抵扣。

如果您符合抵扣资格，有两种计算抵扣额的方法。您可以在 Form 8829. 表格中分摊实际成本。或者，您可以使用简化选项，按每平方英尺 $5 抵扣专门用于业务的空间，最高 300 平方英尺，最大抵扣额为 $1,500. 我

有税务问题？请发送至 askkiplinger@futurenet.com。Joy 将予以回复，并在获得您许可的情况下，可能会在未来的文章中使用您的提问。要查看更多税务问答，请访问 kiplinger.com / tag / ask-the-editor。

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货币评论

为女性提供的财务援助热线

由 JANET BODNAR 撰写的 MONEY SMART WOMEN 专栏

Savvy Ladies 是一个非营利组织，旨在为女性提供构建财务知识的资源。该组织的主要资源是一条免费的财务援助热线，让女性能够从一个由志愿提供时间的财务顾问网络中获得建议。我采访了 Savvy Ladies 的执行董事 Judy Herbst，了解该组织的历史以及客户希望了解的内容。

Savvy Ladies 是如何开始的？

我们的组织由纽约市 Francis Financial 的首席执行官 Stacy Francis 于 2003 年创立，她认为每位女性都应该能够在安全的环境中获得可靠的财务建议。目前，我们在全国拥有一个由约 300 名公益志愿者顾问组成的网络。

哪些女性在寻求你们的帮助？

约 65% 的女性收入在 $75,000 以下。提问最多的州是加利福尼亚州、纽约州、德克萨斯州、佛罗里达州和俄亥俄州，但我们收到了来自每个州的咨询。约 37% 的客户是单身，20% 是离婚。

你们最近发现年轻客户有所增加。

我们每月相当稳定地收到约 180 到 200 位女性的咨询。但在 5 月，我们开展了一场将财务健康与整体健康联系起来的社交媒体活动，这引起了共鸣。我们的提问者人数增加了一倍，尤其是 25 到 34 岁年龄组，该群体占我们客户的 38%。

你们的客户是否有共同的担忧？焦虑是一个共同的主题。超过 60% 的人表示他们对自己的财务状况感到焦虑，另有 8% 的人表示不知道该怎么做，因此近 70% 的人存在某种程度的焦虑。当她们与财务专业人士交谈时，这有助于她们理清现状，理解专业术语以及她们可以做出的选择。有人倾听而无需向你推销任何产品，这种感觉能缓解她们的焦虑。

最常被问到的是哪类问题？我们有 12 个问题类别，排名前两位的是债务管理和预算 / 资金管理。我们收到很多来自中低收入群体女性的问题，询问如何提高信用评分以购买房屋。房屋意味着安全感，而女性正在寻求安全感。

你说你们还收到很多关于投资的问题。总体而言，投资是我们第三大类别。从积累储蓄转向积累财富代表了心态上的巨大转变。通常，来到我们这里的女性拥有储蓄，但不知道下一步该怎么做。

你能举个例子吗？现在，我正在看一个来自一名 26 岁女性的问题，她的收入在 $25,000 到 $49,000 之间，已储蓄 $10,000，想知道她的选择有哪些。我们不会告诉客户该怎么做，但我们可以解释利率和费用，以及例如货币市场基金与定期存款、以及与股票市场之间的区别。

这条热线多年来有变化吗？最初，我们将其视为为处于危机中的女性提供援助。现在情况依然如此，但我们很高兴能够推动女性在债务管理之外，更积极地思考如何积累财富并保持财富。

女性应该如何联系你们？

访问 savvyladies.org 并点击热线链接。填写问题提交表单，我们的志愿者通常会在 72 小时内回复您。

下期预告：女性常见问题解答。 ■

Janet Bodnar 是 Kiplinger 个人理财的特约编辑。可通过 Janet.Bodnar@futurenet.com 与她联系。

对金钱的焦虑是寻求建议的女性中的一个共同主题。

50 Kiplinger 个人理财

摄影：NATH WILLIAM

--。

更换信用卡，保留信用记录

作者：ELLA VINCENT

随着消费习惯的演变，你可能会发现曾经很好用的信用卡不再适合自己。为了在获得更合适信用卡的同时，在信用报告中保留当前信用卡的账户历史记录，可以考虑申请“产品变更”（product change），即更换为同一发行机构的新卡。

例如，如果你曾经经常旅行，但现在将更多预算用于为不断增长的家庭购买杂货，

利率更新

欲了解最新的储蓄收益率和贷款利率，请访问 kiplinger.com / links / rates。欲了解顶级奖励卡，请访问 kiplinger.com / kpf / rewardscards。

Bankrate 首席分析师 Ted Rossman 表示，你可能希望将旅行奖励卡更换为在超市提供高额现金返还的卡片。或者，如果你现在的信用卡消费额高于多年前，那么将其更换为对消费提供更高奖励的卡片可能是合理的，即使你必须支付年费。（反之，如果你目前的卡片有年费，但获得的奖励不足以抵消该费用，那么办理一张免年费的卡片可能是最好的选择。）

为了批准产品变更，发行机构通常会进行一次“软”信用检查（soft credit check），这对你的信用分数没有影响。变更完成后，你的信用额度将转移到新卡上。在信用报告中维持之前账户的开户时长和良好的还款记录对你的信用分数是有益的。

Rossman 表示，不利的一面是，产品变更通常会让你失去获得欢迎奖金（在开卡后，通常在满足最低消费要求后可获得的额外现金返还、积分或里程）的资格，因为你已经是该发行机构的客户。此外，你可能被限制在同一系列卡片内进行更换。例如，如果你目前的卡片是与某个酒店连锁品牌联名的，那么你可能只能将其更换为另一张与该酒店品牌相关的卡片。■

可通过 Ella.Vincent@futurenet.com 联系作者。

在退休的第一年茁壮成长

随着创纪录数量的美国人年满 65 岁，在财务和计划上保持灵活性，将是实现最佳退休生活的关键。

作者：CHRIS FARRELL

在担任了数十年的连续创业者——在 80 年代创办电脑杂志，90 年代创办爱好杂志，随后在接下来的二十年里为出版商运营会议——之后，卡尔·兰道（Carl Landau）于 2019 年在 64 岁时退休。住在加利福尼亚州萨克拉门托的兰道说：“我终于感到了疲惫。”

“我一直对这一切充满热情，但意识到我已经这样做了很长时间。”

然而，退休的第一年被证明充满挑战。兰道和他的妻子计划在 2020 年 3 月前往葡萄牙旅行——而就在那个月份和年份，由于 COVID-19 疫情，全世界几乎陷入停摆。随着旅行被取消，生活按下暂停键，兰道做了创业者通常会做的事：他启动了一项新事业，

GETTY IMAGES

52 Kiplinger 个人理财

退休

创建了一个名为《我曾经是个名人》（I Used to Be Somebody）的幽默周播客，探讨职业生涯后的生活与身份。在几个月内，这个项目演变成了第二职业。“我意识到我又给自己创造了一份全职工作，”兰道说，并补充道，他发现自己几乎没有时间去追求对匹克球的热爱，而这正是他退休后最期待的活动之一。

于是，兰道再次调整。他将播客及其配套时事通讯的制作频率降低到每月一次，现在他平均每周工作约 12 小时。其余时间则用于社交和娱乐（匹克球！）。回顾过去，他建议新退休人员在计划中加入灵活性，以适应不断变化的优先级和意外的经历。

他说：“会有起起伏伏，尤其是如果你辛苦工作了 40 年，然后突然之间不再那样做了。”

兰道的故事与其说是一个警示故事，不如说是一个关于接下来的模板，正如数百万新晋退休人员现在正在学习的那样。职业生涯后的岁月，尤其是初期，是一场持续的实验。“无论人们为退休做了多少准备，他们依然是没有准备好的，”明尼苏达州埃迪纳的一家财富管理公司 Accredited Investors Inc. 的联合创始人、认证理财规划师罗斯·莱文（Ross Levin）表示。

由于庞大的婴儿潮一代步入老年，目前在人生下一阶段寻求财务安全和目标的首批退休人员数量达到了历史最高水平。在 2024 年至 2027 年之间，创纪录数量的美国人将年满 65 岁或已经庆祝了这个里程碑式的生日，其中包括今年的 409 万人和明年大约相同数量的人——这一群体被称为“Peak 65”。到 2030 年，所有婴儿潮一代都将至少 65 岁。

许多这类初次退休者在面对进入下一篇章的过渡时，难免心怀忐忑。根据雇员福利研究协会（EBRI）和 Greenwald Research 最近的一项调查，认为自己有足够资金在退休后舒适生活的工人比例从 2025 年到 2026 年下降了 6 个百分点，至 61%。在引发对退休财务担忧的因素中，包括通货膨胀、债务、医疗成本和住房支出，以及对社会保障金和医疗保险未来财务可行性的怀疑。

增加焦虑的是：许多临近退休的人并没有花太多时间规划在结束全职职业生涯后实际上要做什么。这是 2025 年一项调查的

2026 53

退休

由财务规划协会（Financial Planning Association）和《财务规划杂志》（Journal of Financial Planning）开展。在接受调查的财务规划师中，约有一半的人表示其客户在财务上已准备好停止工作，但只有 11% 的人表示他们建议的对象在情感上已为退休带来的生活方式调整做好准备。

如果您正期待不久后退休，或者最近刚刚开启退休之旅，您需要确保这两个环节都得到了妥善处理。专家建议采取以下步骤，以缓解从全职工作到退休的过渡，并确保您在人生下一个篇章中蓬勃发展。

给自己时间去探索

作为一名新退休人员，你面临的挑战之一是这一人生阶段的定义正在发生变化，因为人们普遍比前几代人寿命更长且健康状况更好。是的，“退休”这个词通常仍意味着漫长职业生涯的结束。但如今，个人的发展路径在这一点之后分歧极大。

将退休视为全职休闲和放松的经典愿景仍然是一个选项。然而，越来越多的退休人员开始从事兼职工作、零工经济甚至开启“第二事业”。有些人成为了热情的志愿者或专注的爱好者；另一些人则重返校园。有些人积极承担起祖父母的角色，或成为年迈亲人的护理者。通常，退休人员会追求这些角色的组合，并随年龄增长而演变。

什么才适合你？长期退休的美妙之处在于，你不需要从一开始就全部想清楚，也不必拘泥于单一的愿景。专家表示，将退休的第一年视为一个收集信息的阶段会有所帮助，这将有助于平稳过渡到下一个章节，并在财务、社交和情感方面为舒适且有意义的退休生活奠定坚实的基础。

“第一年是一个测试年，”位于康涅狄格州纽黑文的财富管理公司 Real Wealth Coterie 创始人、注册理财规划师（CFP）Lazetta Rainey Braxton 说道。

专家表示，关键在于愿意尝试，并寻找那些能提供目标感、保持身体和大脑活跃，并帮助你维持社交联系的追求。你还需要对为了实现这些目标可以安全支出的金额有一个清晰的概念。换句话说，在进入退休第一年时，你需要一份“目标计划”和一份“财务计划”。这能让决策更明智且更具灵活性，帮助你在经验和新数据影响你的观点，以及不可避免的意外情况出现时做出调整。

“如果你生活得充实，是因为你对退休对你意味着什么有着个性化的愿景，”波士顿咨询公司 The Future of You 的联合创始人 Lisa Stornaielo 说道，该公司旨在帮助个人和企业应对向退休的过渡。“财务状况是一个重要部分。但我们发现同样重要的是，人们不仅非常清楚自己是从什么工作中退休，而且非常清楚自己是退休去从事什么的，并且对此具有目的性。”

当然，起初你需要时间来减压、锻炼、阅读，以及处理拖延已久的家居项目或类似任务。允许自己放松并享受新体验具有巨大的价值。将最初的几个月视为相当于一次学术休假（sabbatical）——这是一个必要的窗口，用于在与终身职业身份创造心理距离的同时，重新充能身心。

学术休假是暂时的，而退休则不然。在职场世界与退休生活之间导航的深刻转变，归根结底在于时间的绝对数量。执行教练 Joe Casey 在《Win the

愿意尝试，并寻找那些能保持身体和大脑活跃并帮助你维持社交联系的追求。

54 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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退休

Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy（《退休游戏：如何智胜试图偷走你快乐的 9 大力量》）。他写道：“人们在不同的年龄进入退休状态，且资源水平各异。但所有新退休人员都拥有丰富的时间。”

你需要问自己的核心问题是：你将如何投资这份新发现的时间财富？你的目标是什么？什么对你最重要？“我鼓励人们写某种形式的商业计划，”Landau 说。“不需要很复杂。只需列出你的目标、你真正喜欢做的事情以及你不喜欢的事情。”

任何创业者都会告诉你，一份可靠的商业计划不仅能提高成功率，而且还会考虑到蓝图将多次发生变化。以 70 岁的乔伊·诺奎斯特（Joy Norquist）和 69 岁的罗恩·瓦夫佐恩（Ron Wawrzon）的经历为例，他们分别在 2021 年和 2022 年退休——她此前从事保险合规工作，他曾是一家小型制造公司的运营经理。这对来自明尼苏达州圣保罗的夫妇都拥有养老金、退休储蓄，并与一名财务规划师保持着长期的合作关系。他们原计划搬到瓦夫佐恩的家乡芝加哥，但生活发生了变故。瓦夫佐恩遭遇了健康挫折（他现在已经康复），而诺奎斯特的母亲在一次严重跌倒后需要数月的密集护理。那些最初的退休计划因此被搁置。

与此同时，这对夫妇几乎是偶然地发现了他们退休后生活节奏的一部分。一个下午，为了好玩，他们去参观了圣保罗市中心一座高层建筑中的一套公寓，并被那里的景观深深吸引。这对夫妇在两年前搬进了这座建筑。他们加入了一个当地的步行俱乐部，参加当地一家小酒馆的每周学习小组，并与邻居一起享受电影之夜以及其他活动。

诺奎斯特的母亲于 2024 年底去世，这对夫妇去年花费了大量时间处理她的遗产。

现在这些工作基本完成，但芝加哥可能不再具有吸引力，诺奎斯特和瓦夫佐恩正花时间决定退休后的下一步计划。但他们对未来持乐观态度。“我们觉得我们还没有真正开启生活，”诺奎斯特说，“我们正在从现在起规划余生。”

应对关键资金决策

当你从赚钱和储蓄转向消费劳动成果时，退休会引发一系列财务决策，从居住地、医疗费用支付方式，到何时开始领取社会保障福利以及可以安全地从退休账户中提取多少资金。然而，根据 Transamerica 退休研究中心去年的一份报告，在 60 多岁的美国人中，只有四分之一拥有正式的、书面的退休财务策略。

如果你属于后者，现在就是制定计划——或重新审视并更新现有计划的时机。你需要关于支出（需求与欲望）、负债、税率和医疗成本的真实数据，以确定你的现状以及哪些方案最适合你的情况。你可以寻求顾问的帮助（在 napfa.org、letsmakeaplan.org 或 garrettplanningnetwork.com 寻找），或者使用规划软件自行操作，例如 Boldin（基础版本免费；高级功能每月 $12）或 WealthTrace（标准版每年 $229；豪华版每年 $289）。

在第一年需要深思的最关键决策中，包括：何时申请领取社会保障福利。最早申请年龄为 62 岁，最晚为 70 岁；等待时间越长，每月领取的金额就越高。例如，根据社会保障局的数据，今年庆祝 65 岁生日的婴儿潮一代，如果等到达到 67 岁的法定退休年龄（即有权领取 100% 福利的年龄）再申请，其每月领取的福利金将比 62 岁时申请高出约 43%。如果等到 70 岁，每月领取的福利金将比 62 岁时高出 77%。

由于社会保障福利不会因寿命过长而耗尽，且领取金额每年根据通货膨胀进行调整，标准建议是尽可能推迟申请——至少直到达到法定退休年龄。然而，提前申请也可能有正当理由——例如，如果你的健康状况不佳，或者你需要从储蓄中提取过多资金来支付固定支出。顾问可以帮助确定最适合你情况的申请时机，或者你可以利用在线资源寻求帮助，例如

退休人员现状如何？

许多退休人员发现，他们在退休后感到更快乐，更享受生活，且大多数人认为其生活标准几乎没有变化。

生活变化情况 / 改善 / 保持不变 / 下降

生活享受度 / 44% / 38% / 15% 幸福感 / 41 / 43 / 14 财务状况 / 24 / 46 / 28 生活标准 / 19 / 66 / 14 健康状况 / 13 / 52 / 33

来源：Transamerica 退休研究中心，2025年

2026年9月 55

退休

可以使用 Open Social Security（一个免费的策略计算器）或规划软件，例如 MaxiFi（标准方案每年 $109；高级方案 $149）。（如需更多指导，请参阅 4 月号的“最佳时机：何时领取社会保障金”。）

您还需要解决一个难题：从退休投资组合中安全提取多少资金。一个常见的指导原则是“4% 原则”，由退休研究员 William Bengen 在 90 年代中期提出。该原则建议在退休的第一年提取 4% 的资金（假设投资组合在股票和债券之间大致按 50-50 分配），随后每年根据通货膨胀调整提取额。Bengen 计算得出，从历史上看，即使在金融市场最糟糕的情况下，该策略也能确保您永远不会耗尽资金。

虽然 4% 原则是一个简单且方便的衡量标准，但经验表明，严格遵守该原则往往导致退休人员提取的资金少于他们能够负担的支出，这可能会阻碍他们充分享受人生这一篇章。包括 Bengen 本人在内的许多专家已将初始提取率上调至 4.5% 到 6% 的范围。

例如，Bengen 在其 2025 年出版的《更富有的退休生活》（A Richer Retirement）一书中建议，4.7% 将是一个更好的提取起点，并且他将模型投资组合修改为将高达 65% 的长期储蓄投入股票。同样，注册理财规划师（CFP）Rainey Braxton 通常建议第一年最高可提取 5%——理想情况下在 4% 到 5% 之间——并且可能更多一些，这取决于她所称的“了解客户具体情况的细微差别与艺术”。

另一种流行的方法是“桶策略”（bucket strategy），最初由 CFP 兼财富管理师 Harold Evensky 开发，他是佛罗里达州科勒尔盖布尔斯（Coral Gables）理财规划公司 Evensky & Katz 的主席。正如 Evensky 在去年接受 Morningstar 采访时所说，

该策略的“设计目的是为了让客户在市场崩盘时不会恐慌，因为 [他们知道] 买菜的钱从哪里来”。

其基本思路是，在结合社会保障金和任何其他保证收入来源（如养老金）的情况下，预留足够的现金以覆盖例如一年或几年的生活开支。而几年内不需要的资金则投资于由固定收益证券和股票组成的多元化投资组合，这些资产提供了更高的长期回报前景，但短期风险较大。现金缓冲提供了心理安慰，确保您在无需出售贬值的股票或债券的情况下，度过不可避免的市场低迷期。

尽管这两种策略有所不同，但核心结论是一致的：支出计划应该是动态的。本质上，退休的第一年是对实施灵活策略的一次试运行，让您在跟踪实际生活成本的同时，保持足够的灵活性，以便在市场、经济状况或个人优先级发生变化时做出调整。

“人们认为他们需要立即把一切都计划好，”明尼苏达州埃迪纳（Edina）Cornerstone Wealth Advisors 的 CFP Andrea Eaton 表示，“弄清楚实际的现金需求需要一年的时间。最初这确实是一个估算值，可以向上或向下调整。从存钱转变为取钱，单纯需要时间来适应。”

寻找你的新目标

刚退休的人在不再由职业和生计定义自己时，往往会感到迷茫。因此，为你的退休生活建立一种新的目标感，并拥有早晨起床的充分理由至关重要。“你应该在退休之前就开始规划你的生活将是什么样子，”Eaton 建议道。“你的更高目标是什么？你如何参与社区活动？除了为了收入而工作，什么能给你的生活带来意义？”

现在如何寻找这个目标？在富达（Fidelity）的人力资源和高管教练领域工作了 21 年的 Stornaielo 警告说，不要过于沉溺于关于目标的虚饰愿景。她回忆起在富达工作期间参加的一次为期三天的目标研讨会。那次研讨会非常严肃且高深。结束时，她宣布自己的目标是成为“生命之面包中的酵母”，她笑着说，“不管那意味着什么。”

退休预期与现实

退休的实际体验与人们的想象有何不同？事实证明，旅行可能会让位于与亲友共处的时光，而照顾家人可能比预想的更耗时。

活动 / 退休梦想 / 实际花费时间

旅行 / 65% / 44% 花更多时间与家人和朋友在一起 / 56 / 59 追求爱好 / 39 志愿服务 / 24 / 18 照顾孙辈 / 15 / 16 从事有偿工作 / 10 / 5 照顾挚爱之人 / N / A / 9

N / A 不可用。来源：Transamerica 退休研究中心，2025

56 Kiplinger 个人理财

退休

她现在的目标准则要简单得多，也更务实：“帮助人们实现潜能。”她还表示，不要将退休视为生命的终点也很有帮助。“不要纠结于还剩下多少时间。[重点应该是] 我今天能做些什么，让我觉得自己在充分利用时间。”

对于 Laura 和 Ben Cooper 夫妇来说，回馈社区正是他们在退休生活中获得这种感觉和目标感的方式。78 岁的 Laura 曾是明尼苏达大学的法学教授，在 2018 年刚退休时，她成为了双城一个公民计划的志愿者教师。她与 79 岁的 Ben（曾是明尼阿波利斯奥格斯堡学院的数学教授）一起，此后将支持范围扩大到了各种事业，包括当地艺术组织、环保团体、关注难民权利的非营利组织以及当地的图书馆系统。Laura 说，在摆脱了繁忙的职业生涯和抚养已成年的儿子的压力后，他们能够问自己：“我们真正关心的是什么？”

Cooper 夫妇通过捐赠者建议基金（donor-advised fund）管理大部分捐赠，这是一种具有税收优势的慈善捐赠工具，其运作方式类似于用于慈善的个人投资账户。他们发现，慈善工作带来的额外好处是社区归属感和持续学习的机会。他们曾与自然保护协会（Nature Conservancy）的科学家一起出游，参加私人剧院排练以听取演员和导演的见解，并向专家学习国际人权知识。“学习绝对至关重要，而且我们的兴趣相当广泛，”Laura 说。

与家人、朋友和熟人的交谈是思考目标的丰富资源。其中一种技巧是密切关注那些能让你感到充满活力的任务、对话和项目

志愿者活动、指导他人、参加课程或学习新技能，这些活动可能有助于你找到新的目标感。

而不是感到精疲力竭。内省同样有帮助。回想一下人生中其他的重大转折点，看看哪些一致的核心价值观支撑你度过了那些转变。志愿者活动、指导他人、参加课程或学习新技能也是能提供有用信息的活动。

此外，还有一些可以提供帮助的资源。在可能同时提供灵感和实用建议的书籍中，包括：Richard Leider 和 David Shapiro 合著的《当你年老时你想成为谁？有目标地老去之路》（Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Old? The Path of Purposeful Aging）；Marc Freedman 合著的《大转变：驾驭中年之后的全新阶段》（The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife）；以及 David Brooks 合著的《第二座山：对道德生活的追求》（The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life）。

Eaton 建议在退休的第一年结束时进行一次个人审计。问问自己：哪些活动给你带来了最大的快乐和成就感？哪些是在浪费时间？你是否感到孤独？你是否需要在生活中注入更多有意识的社交互动、俱乐部或团体爱好？预算在退休的现实面前表现如何？你是否需要根据第一年的实际现金流来增加或减少支出？

这些问题的答案将帮助你塑造退休的第二年，进而引导第三年。退休在本质上是迭代的——是一系列持续的重新校准。Eaton 表示，你需要不断地问自己：“哪些方面做得不好？我希望明年变成什么样？”

请记住：第一年可能不会和你全职工作前想象的完全一样，而这完全没有问题。第一年不应该是退休生活的最终定稿；它仅仅是一场宏大实验的初步运行。■

请将评论发送至 feedback@kiplinger.com。

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2026年9月 57

退休评论

理顺我的身后事

退休的新世界 / 作者：SANDRA BLOCK

在我漫长的新闻职业生涯中，我非常擅长在截止日期前完成工作，这让我很受编辑们的欢迎。我总是能在 4 月 15 日之前提交纳税申报表。我甚至能按时归还图书馆的书籍。

但面对那些没有硬性截止日期的事情，我就没那么勤快了。我经常推迟处理一些琐碎的任务，比如清理我的香料柜，因为如果我推迟扔掉一些过期的孜然，我不需要担心支付利息或罚金，也不用担心丢掉工作。

我怀疑对很多人来说，遗产规划就属于这一类。我们都知道这是应该做的事情，但由于不知道自己何时离世，完成这项令人不快任务的截止日期并不明确。

重要的是要明白，制定遗产规划不仅仅是决定在你离世后谁将继承你的资产。如果没有关于财务和医疗的预先指示，如果你失去行为能力，你的家人可能被迫通过法院诉讼来获得管理你事务的权限。

我的清单。 现在我已经半退休，而且显然不再年轻，我正在理顺我的遗产。我的第一步是更新我的受益人指定。我和丈夫没有孩子，所以我将他指定为退休账户以及其他非共同所有财务资产的受益人。但我需要在这些账户中增加一名次级受益人——也称为或有受益人。

如果主受益人已故、无法联系或拒绝继承，次级受益人将继承你的资产。如果发生这种情况且没有或有受益人，你的资产将进入遗嘱认证程序——即根据州法律分配资产的法律程序。你可以指定多名或有受益人，因此我计划指定一些我支持的慈善机构。（如果我比丈夫长寿，我可能会将它们指定为主受益人。）

我的下一步是确保我们的财务和医疗授权书是最新的。许多人认为已婚夫妇不需要这些文件，但如果你失去行为能力，如果没有授权书（POA），你的配偶在处理共同所有账户时可能会受到限制。医疗授权书（也称为医疗代理）也是如此，它允许你信任的人代表你做出医疗决定。

如果你没有律师，可以从 LegalZoom 和 Rocket Lawyer 等网站下载相关文件。即使你的州不要求，将这些文件经过公证也是一个好主意，因为金融机构和医院可能不认可没有公证人签署的表格。

你还应该确保你的金融服务提供商会认可你的财务授权书。一些机构要求你使用他们自己的授权书，而在紧急情况下临时办理并不是你想要面对的事情。

我需要处理的最后一项遗产规划任务是起草遗嘱。虽然受益人指定将解决我财务账户的分配问题，但我和丈夫都继承了一些具有很高情感价值的物品，我们需要考虑在离世后这些物品将如何处理。而且，我准备开始清理那些我敢肯定没人想要的东西——这种做法由《瑞典式死亡清理的温柔艺术》（The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning）的作者 Margareta Magnusson 推广。今年早些时候去世的 Magnusson 曾说，断舍离是你能留给继承人最好的礼物之一。这一点很难反驳。（关于整理物品的建议，请参阅 7 月号的“整理家居的 10 个技巧”。）

Sandra Block 是 Kiplinger 个人理财的前高级编辑。评论请发送至 sandra.block02@futurenet.com。

制定遗产计划不仅仅是决定谁将继承你的资产。

58 Kiplinger 个人理财

照片：DENNY GAINER

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基础知识

如何阅读 IPO 招股说明书

由 ADAM SHELL 撰写的实用投资组合

IPO 回归了——炒作也随之而来。SpaceX 在 6 月推出了打破记录的首次公开募股，人工智能巨头 Anthropic 和 OpenAI 也已申请上市，尽管有传闻称后者（ChatGPT 的开发商）可能会将其推迟到 2027 年。随着华尔街将最耀眼、最吸引人的标的推向市场，考虑持有这些新上市公众公司股份的投资者不能盲目购买。现在是尽职调查的时间。是做功课的时间。这意味着是时候研究招股说明书了。这份被称为 S-1 的法律文件类似于公司的“忏悔录”，因为它阐明了投资逻辑，泄露了财务秘密，并标明了所有可以想象到的风险。美国银行资产管理公司（U.S. Bank Asset Management）私募市场投资主管 Kaush Amin 表示：“招股说明书是第一次有强光照射在一家私有公司身上。”

招股说明书可能枯燥、专业，且感觉像是数百页的细则——因为事实往往如此。但它仍然是必读之作。就像购房者在没有查看检查报告的情况下不应买房一样，任何严肃的投资者在没有阅读招股说明书的情况下，都不应冒险购买新上市股票的股份。Edwards Asset Management 的首席投资官 Robert Edwards 表示：“那里才是真实的故事所在。”

投资者需要考虑的另一个因素是市场本身的健康状况。由于牛市依然稳固且投资者情绪乐观，投资银行希望利用这个开放窗口来完成交易，使之前的私有公司上市。根据研究公司 PEInvest 的数据，今年有望成为 2021 年繁荣期以来表现最好的一年。华尔街倾向于先推出其明星。随着投资者兴奋感的增强，华尔街会推出更多投机性强、知名度较低的“独角兽”公司，而这些公司可能带有更大的风险。对华尔街银行家有利的对普通投资者而言未必有利。Edwards 警告说：“[ 周期] 的后期阶段是人们容易陷入投资于糟糕故事的时候。”

通过阅读几个关键章节，即可掌握要点，例如公司从事什么业务、谁在管理、如何赚钱、是否盈利，以及最关键的风险是什么。我们将为您指出必须审查的部分以及需要搜索的最重要披露信息。您可以将下面的信息视为一份关于招股说明书的通俗英语、简明指南（CliffsNotes 类型）。您可以在 S-1 的目录中快速找到所有关键章节。其中包括：

招股说明书摘要。 您的第一站应该是摘要。这为您提供了一个高层级的概—

招股说明书可能枯燥、专业且包含数百页的细则。但它仍然是必读之作。

您不需要金融博士学位或会计学位，就能将招股说明书那像丛林一样繁琐的文字翻译成通俗英语。关键在于知道寻找什么以及在哪里寻找，这样您就可以消化所需信息，从而做出明智的投资决定。资产管理公司 Baird 的投资组合经理 Erin Kolo 表示：“招股说明书真的是唯一能让您准确了解公司健康状况的地方。”

必读章节

由于股票招股说明书不像詹姆斯·帕特森（James Patterson）的推理小说那样有趣、文笔流畅或易于阅读，你可能会庆幸地发现，并不需要将其从头到尾全部读完。你可以从中提取关键

关于公司使命和抱负的观点；其商业模式以及关键的增长驱动因素和风险；当前的销售额和收益（如果该公司盈利的话）；以及未来的收入和利润预测。它还可能包含财务细节，例如管理层预测的总潜在市场（TAM）（例如，SpaceX 的 S-1 文件引用了 28.5万亿美元的 TAM）。你的任务是尝试弄清楚公司的宏伟预期是否真正可以实现。“做一些功课，提出一些问题，并挑战招股说明书中的假设，”Amin 说道。

风险因素（Risk Factors）。 这是公司坦白所有可能出错之项的地方。这里充满了红旗（警告信号）。这类似于你在

60 Kiplinger 个人理财

在高速公路上行驶时看到的“小心”标志：其目的是警告你可能需要应对的潜在麻烦。“你希望充分了解你的投资为何可能无法成功，”Kolo 说道。

将这一章节视为一份风险清单。有无数的事情可能会阻碍一项前景光明的投资。需要留意风险的例子包括：激烈的竞争。监管障碍。法律挑战。对单一客户的依赖度过高。负现金流。依赖未经证实的（或尚未存在的）技术。或者过于激进且可能永远无法实现的增长预测。“风险都在那里；它们都被列出来了，”Edwards 说道。

资金用途（Use of Proceeds）。 IPO 的目标是筹集资金，因此了解公司将如何使用筹集到的资金至关重要。你希望看到的是公司将大部分资金拨给用于推动增长。例如，资助研发、招募顶尖人才和开发新产品，比用于偿还债务等用途更好地利用了现金。

管理层讨论与分析（Management Discussion and Analysis）。 招股说明书的这一部分是管理层向潜在投资者陈述其观点的地方。它提供了关于公司财务状况、近期业务趋势和未来战略的详细描述。它包含了所有关于净利润、收入、现金流、收益和债务的相关数字。请务必检查资产负债表、损益表和其他关键数据点。

更重要的是，管理层解释了数字为何如此。例如，公司高管会解释为什么销售额骤降或飙升，为什么目前还没有现金流，为什么他们在大力押注一个新产品或市场，或者为什么实现增长目标并产生利润可能比原计划花费更长时间。“分析会告诉你公司发生了什么以及为什么发生，”Edwards 说道。

管理层（Management）。 如果你要向一家公司投资，了解谁在管理该公司及其过往记录至关重要。如果一名高管是在时尚界成名的，你不会投资一家像 SpaceX 那样试图通过飞往火星或月球来赚钱的公司。招股说明书的管理层章节就像是一个加强版的执行官简介页。“我首先看管理团队部分，”Conners Wealth Management 的创始人兼总裁 Steven Conners 说道。“如果他们不能很好地执行商业计划，那么他们的产品有多好都无关紧要。”Conners 寻找有成功记录的高管——最好是顶尖大学的毕业生，且在世界顶级公司有工作经验。“这增加了可信度，”Conners 说道。其他需要留意的内容包括招股说明书末尾的任何特殊独立章节，例如 SpaceX S-1 中包含的“财务报表索引”。在这里进行更深入的挖掘。这些内容可以为公司的财务状况提供额外的见解。

最后，请务必阅读有关股票锁定期（内部人士和其他投资者首次可以出售 IPO 股票的日期）的内容。此类信息可以在名为“未来可出售股票”、“分销计划”或“承销”的章节中找到，或者通过在招股说明书中搜索“lockup”（锁定期）或“restricted period”（限制期）等关键词或短语来查找。大多数锁定期允许在 IPO 后 90 或 180 天出售，尽管 SpaceX 采用了某种新颖的分阶段结构。Edwards 表示：“在你的日历上圈出（锁定期）日期。那时你将发现‘聪明钱’对这次 IPO 的真实看法。”

美国银行的 Amin 表示，如果你在购买 IPO 之前想跳过阅读招股说明书，请重新考虑。如果没有它，“你只是在基于炒作和希望进行一场赌博。” ■

请将关于本文的评论发送至 feedback@kiplinger.com。

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September 2026 61

Fundamentals

给家人的最后一份礼物

通过规划自己的葬礼，您可以减轻亲人的压力，并创造一场有意义的告别仪式。

家庭财务 / JULIE HALPERT 撰文

很少有话题像面对自己的死亡这样难以思考。“美国人出了名的害怕谈论死亡，”教授葬礼与墓地法的维克森林大学（Wake Forest University）教授 Tanya Marsh 表示，“我们几乎是刻意地不想面对终结的必然性。”

因此，如果您和大多数人一样，规划自己的葬礼并不是首要考虑的事情。但葬礼消费者联盟（Funeral Consumers Alliance，一个监督葬礼行业的组织）前任主席 Sara Williams 表示，在去世前告知自己的意愿，可以给家人带来一份真正的礼物。在亲人离世后，人们的情绪波动很大，而提前明确您希望被埋葬还是火化、偏好什么样的纪念仪式以及临终服务的其他要素，可以减轻家人在悲痛中做出这些决定的负担。

“这让家人感到安心，因为他们不需要问‘爸爸或妈妈想要什么？’这样的问题，因为爸爸或妈妈已经回答了这些问题，”密尔沃基 Paradise Memorial 葬礼与火化服务公司总裁兼全国葬礼承办人协会（National Funeral Directors Association）发言人 Camelia Clarke 说道。她表示，明确您的意愿还可以帮助防止家庭纠纷。

规划葬礼也可能减轻成本负担。根据全国葬礼承办人协会的一项研究，从 2021 到 2023 年（目前可获得的最 recent 数据），包含棺材和埋葬的葬礼中位成本增加了 5.8%，从 $7,848 增加到 $8,300；包含火化棺和骨灰瓮在内的火葬葬礼中位成本上升了 8.1%，从 $5,810 增加到 $6,280。通过现在制定计划，您可能能够在葬礼的某些方面锁定当前成本，或预留足够的资金以支付未来的费用。

制定个人安排的另一个原因是：您可以拥有决定权。Marsh 表示，越来越多的婴儿潮一代正在规划自己的葬礼，因为他们更有可能摒弃在殡仪馆进行开棺瞻仰和在墓地举行埋葬仪式的传统服务。她观察到，人们不仅对标准火化产生兴趣，而且对水葬（water cremation）和自然有机还原（human composting，人类堆肥）等方式，以及在博物馆、公园和餐厅等地点举行纪念服务也越来越感兴趣。

如果您的子女或其他亲属不在您附近居住，或者您计划被埋葬在与目前居住地不同的地理区域，提前确定细节可以简化家人的后勤工作。

62 Kiplinger Personal Finance

来自德克萨斯州弗里斯科（Frisco）的 Michael Adell 在去年父亲去世时亲身体会到了这一挑战。他的父亲去世时也住在德克萨斯州，但他在自己成长的地方——密歇根州为自己和家人购买了墓地。但他没有做其他任何计划。Adell 必须处理将父亲的遗体运往密歇根州并将其送往殡仪馆等事务。“你在操作过程中边学边做，在其他各种情绪的交织下，这让过程变得压力巨大且艰辛，”Adell 说。

为了避免再次出现这种情况，Adell 找了他的家人，提出帮他们以及他自己规划葬礼。他的母亲、妻子和兄弟都同意了。几个月后，当他的母亲突然去世时，“我唯一需要做的就是给殡仪馆打电话，剩下的所有事情都由他们办理，”他说，“这简单多了。”

制定你的计划。 第一步是决定你想要的安排类型。细节可以包括任何你认为重要的元素，无论是选择墓地、墓碑或骨灰瓮，选择谁来发表悼词，指定你希望在讣告中使用的照片或你希望穿着的寿衣，甚至列出纪念服务上要提供的食物类型。

Clarke 回想起一个人非常喜欢 M&M's 巧克力，要求在殡仪馆周围放置盛满这种糖果的碗；而另一个人则想要一场湖畔服务，并采用全白色调。“棺材是白色的，参加服务的所有人都穿着白色，”Clarke 说。参与这种规划让个人能够“非常具体地表达他们的需求”。

Adell 设计了家人的脚石，精确到字体的选择和字母的高度，并专门留出填写死亡日期的空间，以确保它们看起来一致。“这是一个很傻的细节，但因为我在场，所以这是一个我可以掌控的细节，”他说。

你还需要考虑费用以及如何支付这些费用。向几家殡仪馆索要通用价格表，即所有商品和服务的详细清单；据称，殡仪馆必须提供此清单。

Katie Sheehan 曾是一名遗产规划律师，现任波士顿 Crestwood Advisors 的董事总经理兼财富战略师，她表示，殡仪馆可能会通过合同向你提供服务，但不会保证当前的定价。“客户了解自己购买的是什么非常重要，”她说。“务必阅读细则。”

Williams 表示，提前购买墓地并规划好安排是很好的步骤，但她不建议预付整个葬礼的费用。相反，她建议开设一个死后可支付账户（payable-on-death account），在该账户中你可以存入足够的资金以覆盖预计的

一旦您的计划完成，请将其写成书面形式，并确保您的亲人知晓。

Williams 表示，货比三家可以为您节省大量资金，她指出在同一个城镇，直接火化（不包括瞻仰、吊唁或其他服务）的价格可能会相差数千美元。

许多殡仪馆允许您预付部分或全部服务费用，通过这种方式，您可能能够锁定当前价格。但在做出财务承诺之前，请三思。如果殡仪馆倒闭，或者您搬走后不再想使用其服务，会发生什么？而且您需要确保了解在您去世时是否可能产生额外费用，即使您现在已经付款。由于某些项目（如运输和火化）的成本随时间增加，一些殡仪馆在预先安排时会

费用。当您去世时，指定的受益人将收到这笔资金。

一旦您的计划完成，请将其写成书面形式，并确保您的亲人知晓。Sheehan 表示，许多遗产规划律师会为客户准备一个文件夹，其中包含一个殡葬标签页，客户可以在其中给家人留下指示，包括他们对遗体处置和服务方式的愿望。如果他们已经与殡仪馆达成了预先安排，这里也将是存放相关文件副本的地方。Marsh 表示，无论您是否聘请律师，您都可以与亲人就您的愿望进行沟通，并向他们提供计划和文件的书面副本。■

请将评论发送至 feedback@kiplinger.com。

2026年9月 63

基础知识

房屋所有者：不要忽略这项保障

业主产权保险在发生争议时可保护您的财务安全。

基础知识 / DEBORAH KEARNS 著

您找到了梦想中的房子，卖家接受了您的报价，您正急于完成交易。但在您敲定文书工作时，请确保不要忽略一项在未来可能证明极其宝贵的保单：业主产权保险（owner's title insurance）。如果没有这项保险，如果有一天其他人对产权（即您拥有该房产的法律权利）提出所有权主张，您可能会失去您的房子以及您投入其中的资金。

许多购房者认为，抵押贷款机构要求他们在结账时支付的产权保险已经保护了他们的利益。然而，该保单仅适用于贷款机构的投资。如果出现产权争议，它对您的财务保护毫无作用。

First American Title 的企业承保副总裁 Sarah Frano 表示，虽然购买业主产权保险对购房者来说是可选的，但这样做是值得的，因为它能保障您的投资，包括任何财务损失或法律费用。她说：“我不会在没有产权保险的情况下购买房产。我见过在结账后会出现的各种情况——有时是在有人购房后的几年甚至几十年之后。”

运作方式。 一旦房屋签署合同，贷款机构会进行产权检索，以确保没有未解决的所有权主张，从而使产权能够从一个所有者转移到下一个所有者。但佛罗里达州迈尔斯堡 American Real Title 的所有者 Karina Borgia-Lacroix 表示，产权审查员无法发现所有问题。例如，如果他们漏掉了一位对房屋拥有合法主张的未披露继承人，该继承人可能会将您起诉到法院以挑战所有权。或者，如果房产上存在留置权（例如，承包商完成了工作但前任业主未支付费用），那么如果承包商提起诉讼，房屋可能会被强制执行止赎。当这类问题出现时，如果您没有业主保单，您要么必须支付未偿还的留置款，要么必须在法庭上针对产权主张进行辩护。

Frano 表示，其他可能导致争议的情况包括伪造和欺诈（如伪造签名、冒充或欺诈卖家）；县级记录中的登记错误；登记文件上的姓名拼写错误；以及限制房产使用方式的未知地役权。

虽然您可以在任何时间购买业主产权保险，但最好在结账过程中购买，这样您可以在整个所有权期间保护自己免受产权主张的影响。此外，在结账后购买可能会更复杂且更昂贵。Frano 建议，如果您继承了一处房产，请审查现有的产权保单，看看该保险是否将您作为继承人纳入承保范围。如果未涵盖，您需要购买一份新保单。

产权保险保费由各州分别监管。业主保单的费用预计约为房屋购买价格的 0.5% 到 1%。贷款机构保单的费用要低得多，它是基于贷款金额计算的，通常仅在您的结账成本中增加几百美元。买家通常承担贷款机构产权保单的费用。Frano 表示，至于业主保单是由买方还是卖方支付，或者由双方平摊，则取决于当地的习俗和法律。

Borgia-Lacroix 表示，当您同时购买业主保单和贷款机构保单时，产权代理人通常会提供折扣。您可以在不同的产权保险公司之间货比三家，以比较成本和承保水平。I

请将您的评论发送至 feedback@kiplinger.com。

64 Kiplinger 个人理财

盖蒂图像 (GETTY IMAGES)

--。

一项突破性疗法挽救了丹的生命

“像 Stand Up To Cancer 这样的组织非常重要。它们加快了癌症研究的步伐，使得像我所接受的那种新型创新疗法能够挽救更多生命。”

—— 丹，癌症幸存者

帮助 StandUpToCancer.org 进一步推动癌症研究。

Stand Up To Cancer 是一家 501(c)(3) 慈善组织。

奖励

河川巡游的诱惑

小型船只、个性化服务和极具吸引力的目的地，是选择在内陆水道旅行的几个原因。

作者：MARTHA C. WHITE

“邮轮”这个词通常让人想到在海洋波涛中航行的巨型船只。但越来越多的旅行者正在尝试一种不同类型的水上假期：河川巡游。

与许多海洋远航不同——那些船上拥有从赌场到攀岩墙的一切设施，

河川巡游更关注你访问的地方，而非你乘坐的船只。Tauck（一家旅游和河川巡游运营商）总裁 Jeremy Palmer 表示：“虽然名称是‘河川巡游’，但这实际上既是一次水上体验，也是一次陆地体验。”

对于许多河川巡游者来说，这种区别是其吸引力的重要组成部分。“我的很多第一次尝试河川巡游的人，其实是不喜欢邮轮的人，”旅行社 Diane Frisch Destinations 的所有者 Diane Frisch 说道。国际邮轮协会（Cruise Lines International Association）最近的一项旅行者调查发现，大约五分之一的首次巡游者选择了河川巡游而非海洋航行。

所有迹象都表明这些数字正在增长。规模领先的最大的河川巡游公司 Viking Holdings 的高管表示，截至今年 5 月初，2027 年可用预订量的近 40% 已被占用。

66 Kiplinger 个人理财

盖蒂图像

邮轮行业正对此予以关注：Celebrity Cruises 将在明年推出一系列河川巡游产品。Palmer 表示：“拥有时间、金钱和旅行欲望的核心人群规模从未如此之大。”

这种吸引力是多方面的：大多数河川巡游船最多容纳 200 名乘客，因此你可以期待更个性化的服务、更好的食物和更少的排队。“很多人真正享受的是你所获得的服务水平，”旅游运营商 Adventure Life 的行程规划师 Tilly Pearson 说道。

专门从事河川巡游的旅行社 Dream Destinations 的共同所有者 Hank Schrader 表示，过去十年中，人们在停靠港口期间可以参与和参观的活动数量呈爆炸式增长，一些邮轮公司甚至设有专门针对烹饪或骑行等追求的完整行程。

他说：“改变的是提供方案的多样性。以前就像是，‘嘿，这是你的每日游览。’而现在大多数公司都提供显著不同的选项。”

多样化的选择

巡游者拥有广泛的选择，从价格点、活动强度到岸上观光。请考虑你的旅行偏好、预算以及你所寻求的氛围

2026年9月 67

奖励

而 Schrader 指出，虽然河川邮轮没有船上夜总会和每晚现场娱乐等景点，但有些河川邮轮比其他的更热闹，会提供品酒晚餐，或在停靠港口时邀请当地音乐家登船表演。

河川邮轮在历史上主要面向老年人，但有证据表明这种情况正在发生变化。根据市场研究公司 Future Market Insights 的数据，约四分之一的乘客年龄在 46 到 55 岁之间。邮轮公司正在创建针对年轻群体的行程，例如在慕尼黑啤酒节期间访问德国，或骑电动自行车游览葡萄酒产区。

如果您想以家庭形式出游，请考虑孩子的年龄和成熟度。一些邮轮公司设有最低年龄限制，且通常没有面向儿童的活动项目。Pearson 表示：“我们建议他们要有丰富的旅行经验，或者父母在船上准备一些娱乐活动。”

一个显著的例外是 AmaWaterways，该公司与迪士尼建立了合作伙伴关系。在 Adventures by Disney 旗下的欧洲河川邮轮行程中，包括了“探险指南”和适合儿童的活动。不过请注意，虽然您的孩子可能会因为在德国看到灰姑娘城堡的现实原型而兴奋不已，但在船上您连米老鼠或其他角色的影子都见不到。

虽然在每个港口进行步行游览是常规之举，但想要让血液沸腾、多消耗一些体力的旅行者可以选择包含徒步、骑行、皮划艇和其他活动的行程。AmaWaterways 的一艘名为 AmaMagna 的船甚至拥有一个全尺寸的皮克球场。

Pearson 表示，Avalon Waterways 的 Active & Discovery 邮轮通过旨在让您保持运动的计划，吸引着活跃的旅行者。“您会更多地离开常规路线；您会做更多

独特的事情，”例如在运河中划皮划艇或登山徒步。

在每个港口学习当地历史是河川邮轮体验中不可磨灭的一部分。对于寻求深入了解当地文化的旅行者，AmaWaterways 提供由史密森学会（Smithsonian Institution）项目专家陪同的欧洲行程。American Cruise Lines 则以其知识渊博且充满激情的当地导游而闻名。

管理成本

如果您习惯于看到加勒比海邮轮的广告价每人远低于 $1,000，那么您可能需要坐下来冷静一下。Pearson 表示：“我想每人 $4,500 到 $5,000 是非常入门级的定价。”旅游顾问表示，一次七或八晚的河川邮轮，每对夫妇 $12,000 到 $15,000 是典型价格。

前期成本可能很高，但 Schrader 认为，一旦将住宿、交通、餐饮和观光考虑在内，与参加陆地游相比，邮轮乘客可以获得同样多——甚至更多——的价值。“价格将非常具有可比性，而且您消除了所有的麻烦因素”，因为您只需拆箱一次，而不需要每晚更换酒店。

高昂价格的一个重要原因是，河川邮轮的定价通常是全包式的。除了少数例外情况（详见下文），许多在海洋邮轮上需要付费的特权——酒精饮料、导览游、港口远足——通常都包含在成本中。一些邮轮公司甚至将小费包含在房价中。

尽管如此，旅游专家表示，有一些策略可以帮助控制成本，尽管其中一些策略确实需要做出权衡。

不要指望最后一刻的廉价优惠。

除了极少数例外，你不会像在起飞前几周看到机票那样，在河轮旅行中看到那种“大甩卖”。Viking 主席 Torstein Hagen 在 5 月告诉投资者，2027 季度的提前预订量比去年同期增长了 21%。另一个提前预订的原因是，较便宜的舱位类别通常很快就会被抢光。

寻找折扣。 大多数邮轮公司会为急救人员、军方服务人员以及回头客提供折扣，尽管幅度不大。如果你与朋友同行，有些公司还会提供推荐折扣。另一种常见的激励措施是：如果你通过邮轮公司预订机票，可以获得折扣机票或免费机票。

68 Kiplinger 个人理财

由 AMERICAN CRUISE LINES 提供

奖励

考虑你的旅行风格。 你是否喜欢丰富的岸上观光活动？是否喜欢畅饮烈酒？尽管河轮旅行的定价比海洋邮轮更具包容性，但各大河轮公司对于“全包”涵盖内容的定义略有不同，这为你提供了省钱的机会。例如，不喝酒的人可以通过预订价格较低且不含烈酒的航程来省钱。

避开夏季。 在其他条件相同的情况下，夏季是河轮旅行最受欢迎且最昂贵的时期。“存在淡旺季之交的过渡期。这个时期正在缩短，但通常在 2 月、3 月、4 月或 11 月，由于天气没有那么好，你在欧洲可以获得更好的价格，”Palmer 表示。

单人旅行者应谨慎选择。

传统上，单人旅行者的定价更为苛刻，因为邮轮公司希望弥补如果舱房内有第二名乘客本可以赚到的钱。在大多数航次中，单人附加费可能等于甚至超过人均费率的 100%——这意味着单人旅行者支付的价格可能是双人入住人均价格的两倍或更多——但随着单人邮轮旅行兴趣的激增，这种情况正在发生变化。

“这个市场增长非常快——在过去三年中增长了约 40%，”总部位于英国的邮轮和旅游运营商 Riviera Travel 的销售与市场副总裁 Marilyn Conroy 表示。为了满足这一需求，Riviera 将在明年推出一艘 68 人座的船只，Conroy 将其描述为首艘专为单人旅行者设计的河轮。其他一些公司则针对某些航次或某些舱位类别降低或免除单人附加费。

需了解的后勤事项

河轮专家表示，在开始旅程之前，有一些你需要了解和做的事情，以便让你的旅行获得最大价值。

提前预订。 即使你不是在寻找廉价优惠，提前预订也是明智之举。“这不是在出发前六个月才做的事情，”Palmer 提醒道。“即使提前一年预订，你可能也无法完全获得你想要的，”他补充说，Tauck 的客户平均提前 18 个月预订。

旅行社表示，某些行程可以在临近出发日期时预订——大约提前六到九个月——但警告说，你可能会发现可选的航行日期和舱位类别有限。

当河流无法通航时会发生什么

河 cruise 独有的一种潜在干扰是水量过少——或者过多。过去几年欧洲的热浪导致部分河段的水位不足以通航。相反，水位过高则会导致船只无法通过净空高度较低的历史桥梁。

尽管这两种情况随时都可能发生，但旅游专业人士表示，根据一个非常宽泛的经验法则，早春是由于山顶积雪融化而最容易出现高水位的时候，而夏末到初秋则是干旱情况更常见的时间。

在极少数情况下，整个航程将被取消——

或者行程将继续，但旅客将入住酒店并由巴士在各个港口之间接送。然而，一种更为常见的情况是，一小段河道暂时无法通航。

“邮轮公司非常有能力处理这类情况，”旅游运营商 Adventure Life 的行程规划师 Tilly Pearson 表示，“通常情况下，这只需要更换到另一艘船。”在这种情况下，旅客将由巴士接送到一艘相同的船只上，而工作人员会将他们的行李搬运到新船上的对应舱房。

如果干旱或洪水导致河流无法通行，乘客——或任何其他人——对此几乎无能为力。旅游专业人士表示，因此，旅客不应期望获得全部甚至大部分行程的退款。

用于未来航程的抵用金是最常见的补偿形式；现金退款很少见，且通常仅限于行程大部分被干扰的情况。对于较短时间的干扰，例如损失一天的航行时间，旅客可能完全得不到补偿。Dream Destinations（一家专门从事河 cruise 的旅行社）的共同所有者 Hank Schrader 表示，在这种情况下，有旅行代理人为你撑腰会有所帮助。如果水位问题打乱了你的行程，“旅行社可以帮助为客户争取权益，”他说。

2026年9月 69

--。

奖励

尝试使用旅行代理。 虽然像 Cruise Critic 这样的博客和论坛拥有可供您自行研究的众包智慧，但聘请一名熟悉河 cruise 行程复杂性以及各邮轮公司之间细微差别的旅行代理可能是值得的。根据国际邮轮协会（Cruise Lines International Association）的一份报告，近三分之二预订邮轮（包括海洋邮轮）的人员使用了旅行代理。

“普通消费者无法分辨各公司之间的区别，”Schrader 表示。“当你花费这么多钱时，你会希望做出最好的选择。”他建议通过询问旅行代理是否获得了美国旅行顾问协会（American Society of Travel Advisors）或 CLIA 的认证来对其进行审核。并且询问他们是否参加过河 cruise；理想情况下，您需要一名拥有第一手经验的代理。

(也许)自行预订机票。 让邮轮公司通过其合作伙伴航空公司预订往返目的地的航班，会将决策权移交给对方——这可能是一个优点，也可能是一个缺点。您将不像使用 Travelocity 等预订平台那样拥有这么多选择：您乘坐的航空公司、航班时间（以及任何可能的转机时长）以及您获得的座位在很大程度上都由对方决定。

即便如此，通过邮轮公司预订航班对某些旅行者来说可能是有意义的。“有些人喜欢将所有内容打包在一起，而且有些公司会提供免费的机场接送，”Frisch 说道。许多邮轮公司在特定航次中推广折扣甚至免费机票，如果您使用其旅行保险，通过邮轮公司预订机票是明智的（因为保单仅涵盖您通过邮轮运营商预订的内容）。但如果您对乘坐哪家航空公司、何时飞行以及坐在哪里有强烈偏好，自行预订可能会更合适。

多留一天（或两天）。 专家建议在邮轮出发前一天到达，以防航班延误，因为无论您是否在船上，邮轮都会启航。大多数河 cruise 行程都包含在航程之前或之后预订一天或多天酒店的选项。越来越多的旅游运营商推出了陆水混合行程，其中可能包括额外的几天陆地游览。旅游专业人士表示，这些行程在非洲和亚洲的河 cruise 中尤为受欢迎。

研究旅行保险。 河 cruise 通常的高昂价格使得旅行保险成为保障您投资的一种明智方式。预计需支付行程成本的 10% 左右。Frisch 表示，与从邮轮公司购买相比，大多数旅行者从 Allianz Travel 或 Travellex 等第三方供应商购买保单可能会获得更好的价格；然而，七十多岁及以上的高龄旅行者通常选择邮轮运营商的保单更为有利，因为其他供应商针对高龄旅行者的保费可能会大幅提高。

值得考虑的游轮之旅

欧洲的水路提供了经典的河 cruise 体验，这些行程依然极其受欢迎。但旅游专业人士表示，在遥远的地区以及您自己的家门口，同样有极佳的选择。除非另有说明，以下价格均为每人价格且基于双人入住。

GETTY IMAGES

70 Kiplinger 个人理财

Rewards

欧洲。 很大一部分河 cruise 集中在欧洲水路：游客可以根据自己的喜好选择路线和价格区间，其中沿着多瑙河、莱茵河、罗讷河和塞纳河的行程尤为受欢迎。

寻求标志性旅程的旅行者可以考虑 Viking 公司的 15 晚多瑙河、莱茵河和美因河探索之旅。“从布达佩斯到阿姆斯特丹的 15 天游轮之旅是一次大获成功。如果您想快速领略河 cruise 的精髓，这绝对是最佳路线，”Schrader 表示。亮点包括联合国教科文组织世界遗产地中的中世纪城堡、哥特式大教堂和风景如画的风车。大多数 2027 年夏季的航次起价大约在 $5,000 到 $6,000 之间。

对于活跃的旅行者，Pearson 推荐 Avalon Waterways 的从阿姆斯特丹到巴塞尔的莱茵河“活跃与探索”游轮之旅。（由于该地区地形平坦，以骑行探险为特色的游轮在荷兰非常受欢迎。）除了皮划艇和自行车的远足外，这次七晚的航程还包括徒步旅行、参观酿酒厂和法国美食之旅。对于 2027 年航季，大多数日期的航次起价低于每人 $5,000。

一个受欢迎程度不断上升的地区是伊比利亚半岛。“在葡萄牙，您可以获得很高的性价比，”Riviera Travel 的 Conroy 表示。Riviera 提供一个以美食为主题的七晚之旅，沿着杜罗河穿过西班牙和葡萄牙最著名的葡萄酒产区。2027 年的航次起价约为每人 $4,400，不过促销活动可使该价格降低 $1,000 以上。

对于家庭而言，一次真实的魔法冒险是 Adventures by Disney 的七晚多瑙河圣诞市场游轮之旅。该行程推荐 8 岁及以上儿童参加，亮点包括参观维也纳和萨尔茨堡等地的著名圣诞市场，以及游览《音乐之声》（The Sound of Music）的取景地。2027 年航次的起价为成人约 $6,700，12 岁以下儿童约 $6,000。

美国。 您无需出国即可尽享地区风光和文化。Pearson 表示，American Cruise Lines 拥有“非常出色的历史和故事讲述能力”，并补充说当地导游对该地区非常了解，且通常来自在该地生活了数代人的家庭。如果您真的想让自己沉浸在怀旧的美国风情中，甚至可以乘坐老式明轮船旅行。（不必担心——船只和所有设施都是现代化的。）

American Cruise Lines 的下密西西比河游轮吸引了历史

[...OMITTED...] 随着河 cruise 公司增加新目的地，选择的数量正在增加。

蜿蜒穿过越南和柬埔寨的湄公河游轮通常包括前往暹粒和吴哥窟（联合国教科文组织世界遗产地）的陆路旅程。“湄公河非常、非常受欢迎，”Pearson 表示。“如果人们想要一次独特的体验，这是一个值得关注的选择。”Emerald Cruises & Tours 的 14 晚航程还包括在充满活力的胡志明市、传统村庄和宁静寺庙的时间。许多 2027 年的航次起价在 $5,000 左右，且 Emerald 的票价包含小费。

许多横跨埃及尼罗河的游轮是陆水混合之旅，以纳入参观

[...OMITTED...]

旅行保险是保障您河 cruise 投资的一种明智方式。预计费用约为行程成本的 10%。

以及内战爱好者。这段为期八晚的航程在纽奥良和孟菲斯之间往返，许多 2027 年的航次起价大约在 $4,000 到 $6,000 之间。

时间充裕的旅行者可以选择由 American 或 Viking 提供的 22 晚行程，覆盖整条河流，从纽奥良一直延伸到明尼苏达州的圣保罗，欣赏风景从沼泽地变为悬崖的变换。对于 2027 年的航次，每人双人入住的票价起价约为 American 的 $16,000 和 Viking 的 $17,000。

另一个热门行程让您可以通过哥伦比亚河和蛇河，在太平洋西北地区追随探险家梅里韦瑟·刘易斯（Meriwether Lewis）和威廉·克拉克（William Clark）的足迹。American 的八晚航程在 2027 年夏季的大多数航次中起价约为 $6,000。

世界其他地区。 寻求欧洲或美国以外冒险经验的资深河 cruise 旅行者拥有一个不断增长的——

前往大金字塔、吉萨大狮身像以及开罗的历史遗迹和博物馆。Tauck 的九晚旅程包括四晚的尼罗河 cruise，重点参观古代神庙和纪念碑，以及在闭馆后私人参观图坦卡蒙国王的陵墓。2028 年航次的价格和日期尚未公布；2027 年航次的起价约为 $13,000，但近期已售罄。

哥伦比亚郁郁葱葱的山脉和充满活力的文化是 AmaWaterways 沿马格达莱纳河（Magdalena River）七晚 cruise 的吸引力所在。参加这次小众冒险的乘客从色彩斑斓的卡塔赫纳开始旅程，体验传统音乐和舞蹈、历史建筑以及葱郁的乡村。2027 年春季航次起价约为 $4,000，价格在较温暖的月份会下降。I

September 2026 71

轮到您了

读者分享他们的见解和建议。

您做过最成功的投资是什么？

我最成功的股票投资是在 2006 年购买了苹果公司，这是在我的妻子的敦促下做出的，她非常喜欢用她的苹果电脑创作音乐。我们投资了大约 $22,000，20 年后，我们的投资价值已远超 300万美元。

J.C.M.，通过电子邮件

2016 年，我注意到礼来公司（Eli Lilly）的股价因为一项阿尔茨海默病药物的 3 期临床试验失败而大跌。我知道礼来还生产糖尿病药物——这是一种影响数百万人的疾病——因此我认为股价最终会从我买入时的 $68.43 价格反弹。事实确实如此。该股票最近的交易价格超过了 $1,100。

Parker J. McCarthy，亚利桑那州钱德勒

回到 20 世纪 70 年代和 80 年代初，作为一个刚大学毕业的年轻人，我通过公司的退休计划投资了富达麦哲伦基金（当时由彼得·林奇管理）。该基金表现相当不错。但除此之外，这开启了我一辈子的储蓄和理智投资习惯。

C.B.，德克萨斯州清水湖岸

我从 1986 年开始向我的 401(k) 账户供款，公司提供最高 6% 的配比缴款。我将大部分资金投资于一只低成本的标准普尔 500 指数基金。在工作 35 年退休时，我的养老金已增长至数百万美元。

T.B.，休斯顿

在我的父亲（一名股票经纪人）的建议下，我在开始第一份全职工作时开设了一个个人退休账户（IRA）。第一年他帮我缴满了最高限额，之后每年 1 月他都会提醒我缴满全额。

我的父亲已经去世近 30 年了，但现在我已经舒适地退休了，每月在提取资金时，我都会感谢他。

Susan Price，佛罗里达州湖威尔士

我在 55 岁离婚时，已经担任教师和作家超过 30 年。我接下来的余生该怎么过？我开始创业，建立了一家出版教育书籍和媒体的出版公司。10 年后，我卖掉了这家公司并将资金进行了投资。我现在 85 岁，生活依然舒适。

Lina Ingraham，佛罗里达州杰克逊维尔

我在 1991 年以 $90,000 买了一栋双拼住宅（duplex），并住在其中一侧，直到 1992 年我能够买房。我将这栋双拼住宅作为投资房保留，租金收入帮助我支付了孩子的教育费用，并使我的退休供款最大化。我在 2020 年 59 岁时退休，并在 2022 年以 $640,000 将该房产售出。

Rainier Ylescupidez，塔科马

在我丈夫和我二十多岁担任教师时，我们知道我们的薪水

会很低，因此我们希望明智地利用赚到的每一分钱。1972 年，美林证券（Merrill Lynch）在当地的一所高中开设了一门每人 $6 的投资课程。那 $12 是我们做过的最成功的投资，因为它开启了我们对投资世界的认知。我们的第一笔购买？是当时新推出的美国基金新视角共同基金（American Funds New Perspective mutual fund），我们至今仍持有该基金。我们还阅读《Kiplinger》杂志！

A.Y.，马里兰州塞文

在 10 年时间里，我在几所大学兼任教授作为第二职业。我用全职工作的薪水支付开支，用教学收入来帮助完成每年最高限额的罗斯个人退休账户（Roth IRA）供款。此外，我还能够利用额外资金攒钱买车，从而能够全款购车。

D.P.，肯塔基州路易斯维尔

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72 Kiplinger 个人理财

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年金产品系列已在 SEC 注册。在投资之前，您应阅读注册声明中的招股说明书及 Brighthouse Life Insurance Company 提交的其他文件，以获取有关该公司和产品的更完整信息。您可以访问 SEC 网站 www.sec.gov 上的 EDGAR 免费获取这些文件。您也可以向您的金融专业人士索取招股说明书，或直接联系 Brighthouse Financial，电话 (888) 243-1932 或访问 brighthousefinancial.com。2504 BDRM2183050 8109342.1[07 / 31 / 2027]

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9001

[数据参考] 以下原文数字因单位格式转换可能未在译文中完整体现（供参考）：8109342.107、123395253、1891

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September Contents

Kiplinger Personal Finance | Founded in 1947 | Vol. 80 No. 9

With SpaceX's stock headed skyward, should you hop aboard for the ride?

↑ Cover illustration by Will Tims

LETTERS

5 The Challenges of Retirement Spending Plus your thoughts on TV streaming services and decluttering your home.

FROM THE EDITOR

6 A Tour of Our Other Publications From a tax-focused newsletter to a report for income investors, Kiplinger has rich offerings.

AHEAD

9 Topic A Prediction markets are coming for you ... Spend more in retire-

ment without fear of running out... Renovations boom as the housing market stalls.

16 Briefing The Social Security trust fund edges closer to running dry.

INVESTING COVER STORY

18 A Colossal Shift Toward ETFs Investors are pouring money into ETFs, and new ones are popping up everywhere. How do the Kiplinger ETF 20 compare? We review our entire list of favorites.

28 How to Cash In on the Final Frontier Stocks of space-exploration companies are hot—and risky. We found a few compelling options for intrepid investors.

33 A Colorful, Controversial Legacy Alan Greenspan, the five-time chair of the Federal Reserve, had a huge influence on the economy.

35 Street Smart The appeal of a fund manager, by JAMES K. GLASSMAN.

38 Income Investing The sweet spot for dividends, by JEFFREY R. KOSNETT.

September 2026 |

GETTY IMAGES

Contents

GETTY IMAGES

↑ 66

Smaller ships often go to places larger ones can't— and that's only part of river cruising's appeal.

34 More About Investing Kiplinger 25 update (34). Mutual fund trends (37).

MONEY

40 Find the Best Bank for You Our list of the top banks and credit unions high- lights institutions with superior features, great service and competitive interest rates.

49 Tax Breaks for the Self-Employed Joy Taylor, editor of The Kiplinger Tax Letter, answers your questions.

50 Money Smart Women A financial helpline for women, by JANET BODNAR.

51 Credit/Yields Switch cards, keep your credit history.

RETIREMENT

52 Thrive in Your First Year of Retirement It's a big adjustment when you transition to your new post-career life. Here's how to be financially and emotionally prepared.

58 The New World of Retirement Getting my affairs in order, by SANDRA BLOCK.

FUNDAMENTALS

60 Practical Portfolio Before you invest in an IPO, you need to read the prospectus. The key is to know what to look for

and where to find it.

62 Family Finances A final gift to your family.

64 Basics Homeowners: Don't skip this protection.

REWARDS

66 The Allure of a River Cruise Ready to travel inland waterways on a trip of a lifetime? Our guide tells you what you need to know about destinations, costs, logistics and more.

YOUR TURN

72 What's the best invest- ment you've ever made? Readers share insights and advice on a different topic each month.

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→ The Rise of the "Half-Back" Retiree Many people relocate when they retire to a new place they end up not liking. Here's how a half-back move can save your retirement. kiplinger.com/kpf/half-back-retiree

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Letters

The Challenges of Retirement Spending

I found “Master the Art of Spending in Retirement” (July) informative and helpful. While I agree that we should enjoy our retirement by engaging in activities that we may have put off because of concerns about our future financial needs, an issue that impacts me when deciding to spend money is my desire to leave funds for my family. As a result, I balance spending on things such as travel and providing an inheritance for my family. James Blume, Canton, Mass.

Having spent part of my youth on a dairy farm, I recall the saying “You don’t eat your seed corn.” In other words, the money you saved is the “seed” that generates part of your income in retirement (with such sources as Social Security and pensions covering the rest). If you eat the seed corn, you have nothing for the future. Make sure the seed is spread across multiple asset classes to ensure sustainability. This approach has served me well for 27 years of retirement, and I hope the seed can be used

by the next generation to grow part of their retirement crop. J.K., via e-mail

I enjoyed a reasonably successful career as a CPA, and I felt mostly comfortable retiring at 67 once our net worth hit a certain figure. But similar to many of the couples cited in your article, I struggled to “loosen the purse strings.” It took a good two years before I convinced myself we will not run out of money and began to reap the rewards of a lifetime of work. I have a younger brother who is going through the same angst about spending, and his net worth is more than mine.

D.O., via e-mail

TV TIPS

See whether your local library offers free streaming services (“Spend Less on Streaming TV,” July). Ours provides access to both Hoopla and Kanopy, with a certain number of

loans per month, per card. And you can get access to entire seasons of PBS series through the PBS Passport program. By donating $60 a year to our local station, which we would likely do anyway, we can

binge their programs all year long. K.L., Lodi, Ohio

We enjoy watching broadcast channels such as ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and a number of local stations for free using an antenna in our attic. We have never felt the need for cable or streaming services.

Bill Billingham, Wheaton, Ill.

I love Sling TV’s Day Pass program. [Day Pass provides short-term access to a package of channels, such as for one or three days.] For certain big games on ESPN or TBS, Sling has been a blessing for this cable-less sports fan!

Jeff Reiter, Glen Ellyn, Ill.

DECLUTTER AND PROFIT

I walk around my home and determine what I no longer need or want, and then I sell it on Facebook Marketplace (“10 Tips to Declutter Your Home,” July). It’s been great. Not only am I making a little money, but I’m getting rid of stuff, and it’s fun to see someone else really want and value the item they’ve bought. As a bonus, it keeps me busy and reminds me of how much I already have so I don’t buy more stuff!

Colleen Roller, via e-mail

CLARIFICATION

If you “superfund” a 529 college-savings plan—making a lump-sum contribution of up to five times the annual gift-tax exclusion without the funds counting against your lifetime exemption for federal gift and estate tax—you must file the gift-tax return (IRS Form 709) for the first year of the five-year election (“Don’t Sweat the Gift Tax,” July).

CONTACT US: Letters may be edited for clarity and space, and initials will be used on request only if you include your name. Send to Kiplinger Personal Finance, c/o Future US LLC, 130 West 42nd Street, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10036, or send an e-mail to feedback@kiplinger.com. Please include your name, address and daytime telephone number.

September 2026 5

From the Editor

A Tour of Our Other Publications

AMONG my regular tasks is compiling Kiplinger Personal Finance Adviser, a roundup of 10 abbreviated articles from the most recent editions of Kiplinger's various publications. This print supplement is sent monthly to subscribers of The Kiplinger Letter, our business forecasting newsletter. Every time I peruse Kiplinger's periodicals to decide what will go into Adviser, I'm reminded of the remarkable skill and expertise that go into producing each publication, and my latest spin through them inspired me to highlight here what they offer.

Established in 1923, The Kiplinger Letter is Kiplinger's longest-running publication, and it arrives in readers' mailboxes each week. The Letter staff, led by managing editor Jim Patterson, take a forward-looking view, sharing their expectations on what may be next for business and the economy, politics (including election outcomes as well as legislation making its way through Congress), technology, global affairs, and more. Business leaders rely on the Letter's clear-eyed, nonpartisan outlook to inform their decisions.

Also more than 100 years old is The Kiplinger Tax Letter, founded in 1925. Circulated biweekly, the publication is a valuable resource for tax professionals and anyone else with an interest in taxes, diving into policy updates, court rulings, news about the IRS and guidance to lower your tax bill. Its editor, Joy Taylor,

also responds to tax questions from Kiplinger readers, and we publish some of those questions and answers in each issue of the magazine (to see this month's Q&A, on tax breaks for self-employed retirees who work part-time, turn to page 49).

Introduced in 1993, the monthly Kiplinger Retirement Report is all about planning for a financially comfortable retirement and enjoying a rich, rewarding life when you get there. With editor David Crook at the helm, recent issues have covered a variety of topics, from a feature on dealing with rising home insurance premiums to an exploration of why retirees may want to settle in a college town to the Report's annual "Grandparents' Guide to Today's Pop Artists."

For yield-hungry investors, the monthly Kiplinger Investing for Income is a must-read. Editor Jeff Kosnett, who has had a decades-long career with Kiplinger and launched Investing for Income in 2012, points readers to investment opportunities for generating steady income and boosting their cash yield. And if you're a regular reader of this magazine, you know that he writes the column "Income Investing"; you'll find his commentary this month on page 38.

If you're interested in any of the print publications above, go to kiplinger.com/subscription, where you can see a free issue of each and sign up for a subscription. And make sure you check out the rest of our website, too. Led by digital managing editor Alexandra Svokos,

Kiplinger.com hosts a wealth of personal finance content, including up-to-date stock market analysis; articles written by financial advisers, who share their insight on a range of subjects; and much more. You can also sign up for e-mail newsletters, including "Kiplinger Today," a daily collection of the best of Kiplinger's advice, as well as newsletters that focus on specific topics, such as taxes or retirement, at kiplinger.com/newsletter.

Kiplinger Books. Although we don't publish books ourselves at Kiplinger, we have a partnership with Greenleaf Book Group in which finance and economics books are published in association with our brand. Usually authored by financial planners and other credentialed experts, many of these books delve into the same subjects you'll find in our magazine—retirement, taxes, wealth-building and more. The newest release is The Wisdom and Wealth Solution, by wealth adviser Feroz Ansari. ■

Remarkable skill and expertise go into producing each of Kiplinger's publications.

LISA GERSTNER, EDITOR LISA.GERSTNER@FUTURENET.COM

6 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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8 Kiplinger Personal Finance

Ahead

PREDICTION MARKETS ARE COMING FOR YOU

As these platforms expand, they’re targeting an older, more affluent audience. But it pays to be wary of the hype. BY KERRI ANNE RENZULLI

DO you have a gut feeling about who will win your state’s midterm elections? Or when the Federal Reserve will next cut interest rates? Or which actor will nab an Oscar next year? Prediction markets hope you do—and that you’re confident enough in your intuitions to stake money on them.

Prediction markets, which allow you to place wagers on the outcome of future events, have existed in the U.S. in various forms for decades. But recent technological advances and legal changes under the Trump administration have allowed a host of new players—Kalshi, Polymarket and DraftKings Predictions among

them—to turn the concept into massive betting hubs any American can use. Trades on these platforms are expected to top $240 billion this year and reach $1 trillion by 2030, according to investment firm Bernstein.

To sustain their record growth, prediction-market companies have begun to look outside their typical

GETTY IMAGES

September 2026 9

Ahead

younger, male users to other demographics, including older Americans, who currently account for less than 7% of their traffic, data from Truist Securities shows. One key way they're doing this: marketing their offerings as investments regulated by the federal government to differentiate them from gambling on traditional betting platforms.

"Prediction-market companies want to take this as far as they can," says Barry Jonas, senior gaming equity analyst for Truist Securities. "They need to expand, and why wouldn't they go after folks with more disposable income and time?"

You've likely already been exposed to prediction markets, thanks to their ubiquitous ads during prime-time

Unlike traditional gambling, there is no house or bookmaker setting the odds. Instead, the platforms create the contracts and then the market determines pricing, with odds being set by the first users to place an order. Revenue comes mostly from fees, typically a small percentage of the contract price or share of the profits. You can also make a new wager or sell your contract any time before the event happens as prices fluctuate and new information comes to light—a feature more akin to stocks than gambling, says Glenn Yamagata, executive director of the Oregon Council on Problem Gambling.

Because of these distinctions, prediction markets are treated as derivatives and regulated by the fed-

an edge over others betting on the same event. But they're not just competing against other individuals.

"There is this perception that it's just Joe Public versus Joe Public, but in reality, you're betting against very sophisticated institutional organizations that have access to information the typical citizen does not," Jonas says.

There are also concerns that prediction markets can be manipulated, especially by insider trading. Several high-profile instances occurred this past year, including an Army soldier charged with using classified information to place bets regarding the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to win more than $400,000 on Polymarket.

Still, more than half of users told Truist they preferred event contracts to sports betting or gambling because they felt they got better odds, and 70% thought they made money.

The reality looks quite different. Even though bets tend to be small, with about half of users wagering less than $100 per contract, most people don't come out ahead. More than 100,000 accounts have lost at least $1,000 on Polymarket, but only half as many have won that much, a Bloomberg analysis found. Additionally, researchers found that since 2022, about seven in 10 Polymarket accounts have lost money.

If you do want to give prediction markets a try, experts suggest you set limits in advance on how much you'll bet and how often, and never fund your wagers with money earmarked for saving goals. The key, they urge, is to treat these bets as a fun expense, akin to going out for dinner or a movie, not as an investment.

"Prediction markets can be entertaining, but you should think of them the same way you do sports betting or visiting a casino," says Richard Warr, a professor of finance at NC State University. "There are much better places to put your money if you're looking to invest." ■

ABOUT SEVEN IN 10 ACCOUNTS ON ONE PREDICTION-MARKET PLATFORM HAVE LOST MONEY SINCE 2022.

events or their prediction odds appearing in news coverage. As these platforms become more entrenched in everyday life, here's what you need to know about how they work and what the risks are.

How prediction markets operate.

Either on a freestanding platform, such as Kalshi or Polymarket, or one built into an online brokerage account or crypto app, as with Robinhood and Coinbase, prediction markets allow you to wager on an event by purchasing a contract tied to a specific outcome. The price you pay typically ranges from 1 cent to 99 cents, depending on how strongly the market thinks that outcome will occur. Most contracts are framed as yes-no propositions, offer a fixed payout of $1 if you're right, and have a set end date.

So if you think it will rain tomorrow, you buy a contract with a 20-cent "yes" position, and it pours, you'll make 80 cents. If you were to bet against rain in this scenario, you'd lose the money you put up.

eral Commodity Futures Trading Commission rather than state gambling agencies. However, at least 16 states have introduced legislation to regulate or ban prediction markets, arguing that they essentially function as sports betting markets do.

The result of this ongoing legal debate: confusion. One-fourth of prediction-market users regard their bets as a form of entertainment and 18% view them as "speculative gambling with an intellectual veneer." Another quarter say they're a useful supplement to their portfolios and 20% believe they are a legitimate alternative asset class, Truist reports. Additionally, 25% of participants fund their bets from their investment budgets, a study by the American Gaming Association found.

The risks of prediction markets.

One big draw of prediction markets for many users is the ability to place wagers on developments that overlap with their hobbies or expertise. That can lead people to believe they have

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INTERVIEW

SPEND MORE IN RETIREMENT WITHOUT FEAR OF RUNNING OUT

Creating an income stream that mimics a paycheck can help you safely loosen the purse strings.

BY KERRI ANNE RENZULLI

You've referred to your new book, The Forever Paycheck, as the most important work you've done in your 40-year career. Why is this book such a passion project for you? The book is about how to spend down your savings once you retire—or decumulate, as experts call it—and it is not something you can afford to get wrong. If you overdo withdrawals, you'll run short of resources late in life. If you underdo them, you're essentially underliving—not getting the most out of this phase of your life that you saved so long for. I think

that's incredibly sad. For me, this issue feels both urgent and important.

Why do many retirees struggle with the transition from saving to spending?

It's emotionally really hard, because spending from savings feels like a loss. When you put so much time into accumulating something, it feels precious. You want to hold on tight.

Tactically, we've also had a lot of help accumulating, with automatic enrollment and escalation in retirement-savings plans and target-date funds. It has become super easy to do the right thing without doing anything. Those automatic hacks don't exist yet for managing withdrawals from savings.

You think the solution lies in creating what you call a forever paycheck. How can this help retirees?

A forever paycheck is a stream of income that will last for the rest of your life, and that enables you to live comfortably without the fear you'll run out of money. The income stream ideally should be enough to cover your needs and some of your wants—the ones you really don't want to give an inch on. It is not a solution for all of your money. Everybody still needs to have some money invested in the market to grow. But researchers have found that having a regular income stream enables you to feel much more comfortable about spending.

How do you fund a forever paycheck?

If you can afford to, waiting as long as possible to claim Social Security so you maximize benefits is typically the right move for most people. That's the base of almost everyone's forever paycheck, plus any pensions you may get. Then look at your expenses, those necessities and wants, to figure out how much money you'll need on an

JOAN CHATZKY is the CEO of HerMoney.com and host of the podcast HerMoney With Jean Chatzky.

ongoing basis. Deduct the income you'll get from Social Security and pensions, and what is left is your gap. You can fill that gap with guaranteed income

from annuities or withdrawals from your investments. Personally, I'm going the guaranteed route. About a third of my retirement income will come from Social Security, another third from the rest of my forever paycheck, and a third from money invested in the market for growth.

How can retirees prevent an unpredictable event such as inflation or a big drop in stock prices from derailing their plans? The whole point of building a forever paycheck is so these events will not derail you. If you've got a paycheck that covers your needs and key wants, and the market takes a tumble, you don't have to sell. You can give the market time to come back. And maximizing Social Security is your best friend when it comes to fighting inflation because it has a cost-of-living increase that's recalculated each year.

What else do retirees get wrong when it comes to spending? Besides underspending and not living as well as they could be because of fear, many retirees think that spending across retirement will be consistent. It's not. People spend more in the early years, when they take their bucket-list trips and do home-improvement projects. Once we get into our mid seventies, things slow down, and we don't spend as much. That fact should give people license to spend a bit more early on.

We should also think about ways to pass money along, whether it's to children or charities, while we're living. If I die in my nineties, my kids will be in their sixties. I really hope they don't need my money by then. ■

12 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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Ahead

RENOVATIONS BOOM AS THE HOUSING MARKET STALLS

Thinking about remodeling? Here's how to pick the right project and nab the best price. BY BETH BRAVERMAN

As affordability issues continue to plague the housing market, many homeowners are choosing to make changes to their home rather than their address to get the living space they need. According to a recent survey from Citizens Financial Group, nearly half of homeowners now say that renovating their house is the most realistic financial option for their family—compared with just 13% who plan to buy a new home—and seven in 10 expect to complete a remodeling project in the next two years.

"They can't find another place to go," says Linda Kody, a broker with Kody & Company in North Andover, Mass. "They love their neighborhood, and they want a home exactly the way that they want it."

The boom in renovations makes sense given the current state of the housing market. Home prices have jumped 54% since 2020, according to

the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. Meanwhile, with mortgage rates hovering between 6% and 6.5% lately, many homeowners are reluctant to give up the 3% to 4% loans they scored before rates began climbing a few years ago. The resulting lack of inventory—

CALENDAR SEPTEMBER 2026

7 A sobering fact for Labor Day: Nearly two-thirds of workers 50 and older face age discrimination, AARP reports. Counter the misperception that older employees are slow to learn new skills by taking free or low-cost online courses related to your field at LinkedIn Learning (linkedin.com/learning) or Coursera (coursera.org). Adding a professional certification can also boost job prospects at any age (find a program in your area at careeronestop.org/toolkit/training/find-local-training.aspx).

15 If you're a self-employed worker or small-business owner, today is the deadline to pay your estimated taxes for the third quarter. Among the possible strategies to lower your bill for 2026: Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed last year, itemizers can now deduct state and local taxes up to $40,400 ($20,200 if you're married and filing separately), a big jump from the previous limit of $10,000, if you earn $505,000 or less (the write-off phases out above that threshold).

14 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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Ahead

there are 17% fewer homes for sale now than before the pandemic—also means there are fewer options available for those who want to move.

If you're among the many homeowners contemplating a remodeling project in the next year or two, these strategies can help you decide which projects to tackle and how to keep costs manageable.

Choose renovations strategically.

Start by thinking about your immediate maintenance needs and the functionality required for your lifestyle. If you're planning to stay in the house through retirement, for instance, consider adding design elements, such as a walk-in shower or zero-step entryway, that will make living there easier as you get older.

"The risk of having to move later can be significantly reduced if you prepare your home in advance," says Louis Tenenbaum, president and CEO of HomeRenewed Ventures, a Washington, D.C., firm that offers consulting services for homeowners to age in place.

Tenenbaum recommends completing as many necessary projects as possible simultaneously, because trying to remodel in stages as health and mobility challenges arise ends

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BEST BANG FOR YOUR REMODELING BUCK

These five common renovation projects typically offer the highest return on your investment when you sell your home.

PROJECT	PCT. OF COSTS RECOUPED
Garage door replacement	267.7%
Steel door replacement	216.4
Stone veneer	207.9
Fiber-cement siding	113.7
Minor kitchen remodel	112.9

SOURCE: Zonda 2025 Cost vs. Value Report

up being more expensive and stressful. Basic upgrades and repairs, such as replacing old wiring or fixing a leaky roof, also help your home retain its value and reduce maintenance costs in the future.

After that, look at high-use areas such as kitchens and bathrooms. If resale value is important to you, focus on projects that will allow you to recoup a big chunk of your costs. Recently, that included exterior upgrades (such as replacing garage doors or upgrading siding), minor kitchen remodels and installing a backup power generator, according to Zonda, a home-building data and marketing company.

22 With fall youth sports starting, parents can expect to shell out more than $1,000 a year on equipment and travel for each child's primary sport, a 46% increase since 2019, according to ProjectPlay.org. How to save? Buy gently used equipment at second-hand sites such as Play It Again Sports (playitagainsports.com) and online local marketplaces such as those on Facebook and NextDoor. You can also partner with other parents to carpool or rent a van if your child is on a travel team.

Keep spending in check. For larger projects, Alan Archuleta, CEO and president of Archuleta Builders in Morristown, N.J., recommends starting with an architect or design firm with experience in your municipality. Rates for this type of work vary depending on scope, but the average is about $6,600, according to HomeAdvisor.

"The architects and towns dictate what you can and can't do to a home, from a zoning standpoint or an actual structural standpoint," Archuleta explains.

Get quotes from at least three contractors, and ask for itemized bids that spell out costs. Then, add an extra 20% to your budget to allow for surprise expenses, such as water damage or structural repairs, especially in older homes. "Remodeling often prompts code upgrades that would not otherwise be required," says Mari Adam, a certified financial planner in Boca Raton, Fla.

You can lower costs further by opting for midrange fixtures and materials, which balance quality and costs. If you can be flexible with your project's timing, you may also find better contractor availability and pricing.

"The smartest approach right now is to renovate with intention, rather than rushing into a project," says Elizabeth Gomez, owner of Bridge City Contracting in Portland, Ore. 1

September 2026 15

Ahead

Briefing

INFORMATION ABOUT THE MARKETS AND YOUR MONEY

THE SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUND EDGES CLOSER TO RUNNING DRY

→ The outlook for the trust fund that pays out Social Security benefits to retirees is getting more grim. Without intervention, the fund will be depleted at the end of 2032, according to projections in the 2026 annual report from the program's board of trustees. That's one quarter earlier than the 2025 report's estimate.

Social Security benefits would not disappear, because they will continue to be funded by payroll taxes. But if policymakers fail within the next six years to enact reforms that strengthen the program's solvency, retiree benefits will be reduced by about 22%.

The trustees based the worsening projection on lower fertility rates and a decline in immigration, which will decrease the number of workers available to support the program. A third contributing factor is the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which

made permanent the lower ordinary income tax rates enacted in 2017 and included a temporary additional deduction for taxpayers 65 and older. As a result of these provisions, the amount of tax revenue the trust fund receives from taxation of Social Security benefits will decline, the trustees said.

Social Security is fixable, but shoring up the program could affect both workers and retirees. And every year that goes by without reform raises the cost of implementing the changes. Here's a look at some of the steps Congress could take to close the gap:

Increase the amount of earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes. In 2026, up to $184,500 in earnings are subject to the 6.2% payroll tax. Eliminating the cap would decrease the shortfall by 73%, according to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. The measure has bipartisan support: Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Republican Senator Bernie Moreno recently said they're working on legislation to lift the cap. Other

76%

The percentage of adults 50 and older who say they'd be less likely to vote for their member of Congress if the representative fails to enact reforms that prevent Social Security benefits from being reduced, according to a recent AARP survey.

16 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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proposals would raise the cap—to $400,000, for example.

Raise the retirement age. Currently, the full retirement age is 67 for individuals born in 1960 or later; retirees born earlier reach FRA between 66 and 66 and 10 months. According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, raising the FRA to 68 would eliminate 12% of the shortfall; lifting it to 69 and then indexing it to life expectancy would reduce the shortfall by 36%.

Modify the COLA formula. Indexing the annual cost-of-living adjustment to the “chained CPI”—a formula for calculating the cost of living that grows more slowly than the basic consumer price index—would shrink the shortfall by 17%, the CRFB estimates. Capping the COLA for high-income beneficiaries could cut the shortfall by 25%.

Since none of these proposals will close the entire gap, a combination of reforms is likely. Use the tool at crfb.org/socialsecurityreformer to test various reforms.

Worries about Social Security’s solvency have led to an increase in the number of Americans who have filed for benefits at age 62, even though that will permanently lower their monthly payout. But while some retirees have compelling reasons to file early, concern about insolvency isn’t one of them, financial planners say. Even if Congress fails to close the gap, any reduction in benefits will be calculated on a larger amount if you wait to file. And most analysts believe Congress will step in before benefits are reduced. SANDRA BLOCK

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INVESTING

→ THE KIPLINGER ETF 20

A COLOSSAL SHIFT TOWARD ETFS

In the fast-changing world of exchange- traded funds, our favorites stand out.

BY NELLIE S. HUANG

18 Kiplinger Personal Finance

CLOSE to $2 trillion—that’s what the U.S. exchange-traded fund industry is poised to collect this year in net inflows (new money in, minus the money that goes out), a sum roughly the size of Spain’s economy. Over the first five months of 2026, ETFs, which invest in pooled baskets of securities but trade like individual stocks, pulled in $771 billion. “ETF market share continues to grow, for sure,” says Todd Rosenbluth, head of research and editorial at TMX VettaFi.

Indeed, total assets in U.S. ETFs surpassed $15 trillion at the start of June. ETF assets are closing in on the total invested in mutual funds ($23 trillion) and now account for roughly 40% of all assets managed by investment companies. In 2020, ETF assets amounted to just $5.4 trillion and represented 17% of total investment company assets.

That colossal money shift has fueled a rash of new ETF launches. A record-shattering 1,167 new ETFs debuted in 2025, according to FactSet Insight. A new record is likely for 2026; over the first six months this year, more than 730 new funds opened, ranging from plain-vanilla U.S. stock offerings to more-complex options-linked fare. (See “The ETFs Just Keep Coming, July.”)

The river of money flowing into ETFs has created an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” mentality among the remaining holdouts in the mutual fund industry. The latest domino to fall: mutual fund firm Primecap Management, which is expected to launch its first ETF, Primecap Odyssey Discovery, this summer.

September 2026 19

Investing

To some industry watchers, the move signals the end of an era, “settling any doubts” about the future of the fund industry, says Jeff DeMaso, editor of the newsletter The Independent Vanguard Adviser. “Investors are moving to ETFs.”

The next wave. In March, the first ETF share class of an existing actively managed mutual fund began trading—Dimensional US Micro Cap ETF (symbol DFMC)—and it’s a harbinger of more ETF share classes of legacy mutual funds to come.

Last November, Dimensional Fund Advisors was the first asset manager to get an okay from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to open an ETF share class of an estab-

shares in its ETFs. Second, investors will be able to transfer assets in a mutual fund to its ETF share class without triggering a capital gains tax—a boon for those who hold their fund shares in a taxable account.

Reassessing our favorites. Against this backdrop, we reviewed our roster of favorite ETFs, which we call the Kiplinger ETF 20. We’re making three changes this year (for more on why, see the box on page 26).

But first, a report card. The 11 U.S. stock ETFs in the Kip ETF 20 returned an average 27.1% over the past 12 months, compared with a 22.3% gain in the S&P 500. Three foreign funds climbed 27.8%, on average; the MSCI ACWI Ex USA

charges a super-low, 0.03% expense ratio. As its name implies, iShares Core S&P 500 aims to replicate the S&P 500 by holding shares in the bogey’s constituents. Fun fact: Because some member firms have more than one share class, including Alphabet and Fox, the S&P 500 index actually tracks 503 stocks. Another fun fact: Over the past 10 years, this ETF has not paid out any capital gains distributions. (That’s true for the next two funds, too.)

iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap and iShares Core S&P Small-Cap The ETF world has many excellent small- and midsize-company index funds, but we purposely pair these ETFs with the Core S&P 500 ETF because there’s no overlap in fund holdings. You won’t find any of the Core S&P 500 stocks in Core S&P Mid-Cap or Core S&P Small-Cap, nor any duplications between the smaller-cap funds. That makes it easier to manage your portfolio’s exposure to stocks of different-size companies. Another plus: Companies must pass a profitability measure to be included in any S&P stock index—positive earnings over the most recent quarter, as well as positive earnings over the previous four quarters added together.

Stocks in smaller companies have been rallying lately. Both Core S&P Mid-Cap and Core S&P Small-Cap have outpaced their large-company sibling over the past six months. Will the rally persist? Wall Street strategists are divided on that. Some expect the momentum to continue; others are more cautious. No matter. Diversification is not something you turn on and off depending on market conditions. Maintaining exposure to small- and midsize-company stocks at all times is always a good investing move.

NEW → Vanguard Total Stock Market Uncertain about how much of your portfolio to devote to large-,

The 11 U.S. stock ETFs in the Kip ETF 20 returned an average 27% over the past year; the S&P 500 returned 22%.

lished mutual fund. But earlier this year, 90 more firms received the SEC go-ahead, according to investment research firm Morningstar, and some of those firms, including F/m Investments, Nuveen and Thornburg Investment Management, have since launched ETF share classes of existing mutual funds. More ETFs are ready for launch: Nearly a dozen firms, including Tweedy, Browne, have filed prospectuses with regulators with the aim of opening an ETF share class of certain funds.

That’s a win for investment firms and investors alike. For several years running, many traditional mutual funds have seen significant net outflows, and adding an ETF share class could go some way to plug the drain. Individual investors benefit, too. For starters, they may be able to invest in funds they couldn’t access before. For example, Dimensional’s standout mutual funds are only available through an adviser, but anyone with a brokerage account can purchase

benchmark rose 32.8%. Our six bond funds gained 4.5%, beating the 3.8% return of the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond index.

Our picks cover all the fundamental asset groups, as well as funds that might inject a little oomph into your portfolio. The 20 ETFs highlighted here aren’t meant to represent an entire portfolio. Instead, pick and choose among them as you build a diversified portfolio that’s appropriate for your investing time horizon and tolerance for risk. We’ve incorporated some of the funds in model portfolios on page 25. Use them as a starting point as you build a portfolio that’s right for you.

Our 20 ETF picks are listed alphabetically within four broad categories. Unless otherwise noted, returns and other data are through June 30.

CORE STOCK FUNDS

iShares Core S&P 500 This fund may be the prime example of ETF investing at its basic and best: It tracks a broad stock index and

20 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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small- and midsize-company stocks? Go for this single ETF, which holds nearly 3,500 stocks, weighted by market value. Large-company issues make up almost 72% of assets; shares in midsize firms, 19%; and shares in small firms, nearly 9%. In short, this ETF is good for investors who want set-it-and-forget-it exposure to all U.S. stocks.

The fund offers other pluses. There's no FOMO here: The all-encompassing fund has kept pace with the S&P 500 in years past. Total Stock Market's 10-year 15.0% annualized gain falls within spitting distance of the S&P 500, which has returned 15.5%. And the ETF can beat the S&P 500 when small stocks perform well. In 2020, small- and midsize-company stocks rallied in the fourth quarter, and Total Stock Market returned 20.9% for the calendar year; the S&P 500 lagged behind with an 18.4% gain. Finally, the ETF has outpaced 79% of all diversified U.S. stock mutual funds and ETFs over the past 20 years. "A simple index fund puts you ahead of roughly four out of five investors over time," says The Independent Vanguard Adviser's DeMaso.

Vanguard Total International Stock Index

Investing overseas is finally paying off. Since late 2024, foreign shares have outpaced U.S. stocks. Vanguard Total International Stock Index invests in roughly 40 different developed and emerging markets—from Germany and Korea to Australia and Chile—and excludes U.S. stocks. Emerging-markets shares make up 26% of the fund's portfolio; shares in Europe, 37%; and Pacific shares, 28%. Over the past 12 months, many overseas markets posted solid returns, and the fund gained 27.3%. If you're jumping on this bandwagon for the first time, or you want a simple, no-fuss way to invest in foreign stocks, this ETF requires no overthinking.

DIVIDEND STOCK FUNDS

Capital Group Dividend Value This actively managed stock fund is on fire. It aims to generate above-market-average dividend yield by investing in high-quality dividend-paying U.S. stocks. The fund currently yields

1.3%; the S&P 500, 1.1%. Each of the ETF's five managers and a group of analysts independently run a piece of the fund's assets, a hallmark of the way Capital Group, the parent company of the American Funds brand of mutual funds, runs portfolios.

VITAL STATS: THE KIPLINGER ETF 20 AT A GLANCE

Core Stock Funds	Symbol	Price	Annualized total return			Yield	Expense ratio
			1 yr.	3 yrs.	5 yrs.
iShares Core S&P 500	IVV	$749	22.1%	20.5%	13.3%	1.0%	0.03%
iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap	IJH	77	26.0	15.4	9.1	1.3	0.05
iShares Core S&P Small-Cap	IJR	148	37.5	16.0	7.3	1.5	0.06
Vanguard Total International Stock	VXUS	85	27.3	18.7	8.8	2.6*	0.05
Vanguard Total Stock Market	VTI	370	23.2	20.4	12.2	1.0	0.03

Dividend Stock Funds

Capital Group Dividend Value	CGDV	$49	26.4%	24.0%	—	1.3%	0.33%
iShares Core Dividend	DIVB	62	25.6	20.5	12.3%	2.7	0.05
iShares International Dividend Growth	IGRO	88	14.7	15.4	8.3	2.6	0.15

Strategic Stock Funds

State St Health Care Select Sector SPDR	XLV	$159	19.8%	7.9%	6.4%	1.6%	0.08%
Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight	RSP	213	19.0	14.3	8.9	1.5	0.20
iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets	IEMG	83	41.5	22.4	7.4	1.7	0.09
JPMorgan US Quality Factor	JQUA	72	21.8	19.2	13.6	1.0	0.12
State St SPDR S&P Kensho New Economies Comps	KOMP	72	33.7	18.6	2.7	0.6	0.20
State St Technology Select Sector SPDR	XLK	191	51.3	30.8	21.8	0.4	0.08

Core Bond Funds

Fidelity Total Bond	FBND	$45	4.1%	4.8%	0.8%	4.7%	0.36%
iShares Systematic Bond	SYSB	89	4.8	6.9	1.6	4.9	0.25
Vanguard Core Bond	VCRB	77	4.2	—	—	4.7	0.10

Opportunistic Bond Funds

iShares Short Duration Bond Active	NEAR	$51	3.6%	5.6%	3.9%	4.3%	0.25%
JPMorgan Income	JPIE	46	5.1	6.7	—	5.6	0.39
PIMCO 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond	HYS	94	5.8	8.4	5.0	6.4	0.56

Indexes

S&P 500	22.3%	20.6%	13.4%	1.1%
MSCI EAFE	20.2	16.4	9.0	2.7
Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond	3.8	4.2	0.1	4.7

As of June 30, or latest available. *12-month yield (all other yields are 30-day SEC yields). —Fund not in existence for the entire period. SOURCES: Morningstar Direct, Fund companies, MSCI, S&P Dow Jones Indices, WSJ.com.

September 2026 21

Investing

Some fund managers may hold 19 to 25 stocks, others 40 to 47, says co-manager Chris Buchbinder. Having multiple managers with differentiated approaches, the thinking goes, enhances diversification. During the early-2025 tariff-related market sell-off, the managers snapped up discounted tech shares, including Nvidia and Applied Materials. The rebound in those stocks has contributed significantly to the fund's 26.4% return over the past 12 months.

NEW → iShares Core Dividend It's back to basics with iShares Core Dividend. The fund tracks an index that targets U.S. companies that pay dividends, repurchase shares or both. The largest dividend payouts and buyback programs in the market by dollar value make the cut.

The result is a portfolio of 405 mostly large-company stocks that doesn't resemble the S&P 500. Cisco Systems, Qualcomm and ExxonMobil topped the portfolio at last report. Over the past three years, the ETF's annualized return, 20.5%, ranks among the top 10% of its peer group (funds that focus on large-company stocks trading at bargain prices) and keeps pace with the S&P 500.

The portfolio skews more toward growth sectors than peer ETFs do—tech stocks make up 33% of the portfolio, nearly double the percentage in the typical large-value fund. But a good chunk of Core Dividend's assets is in sectors that tilt toward value, too, such as energy and financials. In sum, the fund is a good portfolio diversifier. It's 2.7% dividend yield is a draw, too.

iShares International Dividend Growth Dividend stocks generally offer a one-two punch of income and lower volatility. In that regard, iShares International Dividend Growth does not disappoint. Over the past five years, the index fund has kept pace with peers (foreign

large-company funds that invest in a mix of growth stocks and value-priced shares), with significantly below-average volatility.

The fund tracks an index weighted by dividend dollars—the bigger the payout, the bigger a company's weight in the portfolio—that targets stocks with a record of uninterrupted annual dividend increases and the capacity to sustain that growth.

Over the past 12 months, the fund's 14.7% return lags its peer group. Foreign technology shares climbed 113% over the past year, driving returns in foreign-stock funds, and iShares International Dividend Growth is light on the sector relative to peers. Its biggest country exposures, Japan and Canada, each gained nearly 30% or better over the past year, which helped the fund's performance. But top-five holding Novo Nordisk was a drag. Shares in the Danish drug firm declined 28% over the past 12 months as it struggled to maintain market share amid ongoing competition for weight-loss drugs.

We are keeping things in perspective: In five of the past nine full calendar years, iShares International Dividend Growth ETF has outpaced its peers. And over the past 10 years, though its 8.9% annualized return lags the 9.5% of its peers, it delivered that return with below-average volatility. The fund yields 2.6%.

STRATEGIC STOCK FUNDS

State Street Health Care Select

Sector SPDR Don't be distracted by the new "State Street" addition to this fund's name. The fund sponsor added its firm name to this ETF (and others, including some other Kip ETF 20 members) as part of a rebranding move in late 2025, but nothing else has changed. The fund still tracks the 60 health stocks in the S&P 500 index, weighted by market value.

The ETF had a decent year on an absolute-return basis, gaining 20%

over the past 12 months. It's closing the gap in performance with the S&P 500, which climbed 22%. The sector's industries are a motley crew, and performance varied. Pharmaceutical stocks, for example, posted a whopping 50% gain over the past year; health equipment and supplies companies sank 24%.

Health shares have rallied recently, but for a long stretch, they trailed the S&P 500. So what's the appeal? Sector fundamentals are strong, according to BlackRock Fundamental Equities, a BlackRock division that builds portfolios through rigorous bottom-up research. Nearly 90% of healthcare companies in the S&P 500 exceeded earnings expectations in the four quarters of 2025, the second-best turnout among all sectors. And analysts anticipate an acceleration in healthcare earnings growth in 2026, driven by pharmaceuticals and managed care companies. What's more, healthcare shares have historically traded at a premium price-earnings ratio to the broad market, but they now trade at a 15% discount.

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight If you're worried about an overconcentration of a handful of tech-related companies in the S&P 500, consider this fund to balance your portfolio. Unlike a traditional market-value-weighted S&P 500 index fund—the bigger the company, the bigger its slice of portfolio assets—this fund gives each company in the portfolio an equal portion of assets.

The result? Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft, the biggest stocks in the traditional benchmark, don't rank among the top 10 holdings in the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF. Instead, Corning and Moderna top this fund's portfolio.

This fund won't keep pace with the traditional index when the largest companies are driving returns. Over the past three years,

22 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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for instance, Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight's 14.3% annualized return has lagged the 20.6% gain in the S&P 500. But when smaller companies in the index rally, this ETF can lead the broad-market bogey, as it did in 2021 and 2022.

iShares Core MSCI Emerging

Markets In the two years since we added this fund to the Kip ETF 20, it has gained a cumulative 64%, thanks in part to a weakening of the dollar and surging global demand for artificial-intelligence semiconductors.

Stocks in Taiwan and Korea make up nearly half of the index, and those country markets have each lodged triple-digit gains over the past 12 months. Tech stocks in those countries, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and SK Hynix, led the way.

Will the run continue? Many strategists came into 2026 bullish about emerging-markets stocks. There's still reason to be optimistic. "As the world fragments and tech investment accelerates, strategic resources matter more," Morgan Stanley's Lisa Shalett says in a recent report. "Countries with leverage in energy, materials and critical supply chains can gain influence as trading partners and as essential links in global production. For investors, that can translate into a wider opportunity set."

JPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor When the going gets tough, high-quality stocks tend to hold up better. That's a key reason we have JPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor on this roster. The fund holds stakes in high-quality U.S. companies with robust profit margins and little debt. Over the past five years, the portfolio of 200-odd stocks has consistently held up better than the S&P 500 in rough markets, including most recently after the start of the Iran war. Even better, this fund can keep up in good times, too. From the market bottom in late

March through June, for instance, JPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor gained 18.3%, ahead of the 15.2% climb in the S&P 500 as it hit a new high. The ETF's longer-haul records are just as impressive: The fund's five-year annualized return, 13.6%, ranks among the top 15% of large-company funds that invest in a mix of fast-growing stocks and value-priced shares.

State Street SPDR S&P Kensho New Economies Composite Of the 20

ETFs in the Kip ETF 20, this is the most aggressive, shoot-the-moon play. The index-based fund uses AI and quantitative modeling to invest in companies that are disrupting traditional industries thanks to advancements in processing power, AI, robotics and automation. Small companies make up 60% of the portfolio, midsize firms account for 22%, and large firms make up the rest. Top holding Ouster, a remote sensing technology company, has a $3 billion market value, small-cap territory.

But all that go-go innovation adds volatility. Buckle up if you buy shares in SPDR S&P Kensho New Economies, and size your stake appropriately so that it's in line with your investment time horizon and goals.

State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR A $10,000 investment in 2016 in this ETF, which tracks the 72 tech stocks in the S&P 500, would be worth nearly $98,000 today. The same amount invested in an S&P 500 index fund would be $42,000.

It's a good bet that outperformance will continue. Analysts expect earnings growth in the sector to increase 18% over each of the next five years, on average, according to Morningstar. The earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 is forecast to be 12%.

The bigger the return, however, the greater the risk. Over the past five years, tech hasn't been the most volatile sector in the S&P 500 (that accolade goes to energy), but it's a

close second. Technology Select Sector SPDR is stacked with familiar heavyweights: Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft make up one-third of the portfolio. Invest in line with your tolerance for risk, your time horizon and with regard to the rest of your stock portfolio.

CORE BOND FUNDS

Fidelity Total Bond Over the past 12 months, this intermediate-term core-plus bond fund has had to navigate an up-and-down fixed-income market. Between July 2025 and February 2026, the broad bond market index, Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond, was up 5%. But after the start of the Iran war, as interest rates inched upward, the index has slumped 1%. (Bond prices and interest rates move in opposite directions.)

At each market shift, Fidelity Total Bond—notable for above-average returns with below-average volatility over the past decade—did better than the Agg, outpacing the index during the upturn and holding up better on the downside. Its one-year return, 4.1%, beats its peers, too. A big helping of short-term Treasuries, as well as asset-backed and commercial mortgage-backed securities, helped. The fund yields 4.7%.

But this fund will undergo a manager shift at the end of September. We will be watching closely as the transition plays out, but we have a substitute ready to go if necessary.

iShares Systematic Bond We added this intermediate-term core-plus ETF to the roster in the May issue to replace a corporate-debt fund, Invesco BulletShares 2026 Corporate Bond ETF, that had hit its target maturity year.

There's a lot going on under the hood of this ETF. For starters, high-yield debt (rated double-B to single-C) can be up to 25% of its assets. At last report, junk bonds were 20% of assets; investment-grade corporate

24 Kiplinger Personal Finance

Investing

debt (rated triple-A to triple-B), 30%; Treasuries, 32%; and government-guaranteed mortgage-backed securities, 16% (the rest is in cash). Second, Systematic Bond is a little more dynamic than your typical index fund. Its approach is still rules-based and quantitative, but if interest rates are rising, the fund's portfolio will adjust so that its duration—its sensitivity to interest rates—falls relative to a broad universal bond index, and vice versa. "It's an index fund, but it has its own unique swim lane," says Steve Laipply, BlackRock's global co-head of iShares fixed-income ETFs. At last report, the fund's duration was just over 6 years, which implies that if rates rise one percentage point, the fund's net asset value will drop 6%.

The fund's 4.8% return over the past 12 months ranks among the top 15% of its intermediate core-plus bond fund peers. It yields 4.9%.

NEW → Vanguard Core Bond This intermediate-term bond ETF launched in December 2023, so it has a short track record. But the trio of managers behind this actively managed ETF also run a mutual fund using a similar investment approach, and that fund has much longer track record. Over the past 10 years, the mutual fund's annualized return ranks among the top 24% of its peers (intermediate-term core bond funds). Although the ETF and the mutual fund are separate and distinct funds, "all of the guardrails are the same, and the decision-makers are the same," says Rebecca Venter, a senior fixed-income client portfolio manager at Vanguard.

The managers aim to beat the Agg with no added volatility by investing in a mix of high-quality debt and keeping a keen eye on risk. They've delivered on that in the mutual fund. In the ETF? So far, so good. Over the past two years, Vanguard Core Bond's 5.5% annualized return beat the 3.8% gain in the Agg, with the same volatility.

Investors who want a tamer core bond fund—one that doesn't dip too heavily into high-yield debt—should consider this ETF. Close to 97% of the fund's assets are rated investment grade. Treasuries and government mortgage-backed debt make up 48% of the portfolio; corporate bonds, nearly 33%; dollar-denominated foreign-government IOUs, more than 11%; and asset-backed securities, 4%.

The rest is cash or other securities.

Finally, with an annual expense ratio of 0.10%, you won't find a less-expensive actively managed core bond fund than Vanguard Core Bond. That ratio is "the very bottom cost for active core ETFs," says Venter.

OPPORTUNISTIC BOND FUNDS

iShares Short Duration Bond Active

When we added iShares Short

MODEL PORTFOLIOS

FOUR PORTFOLIOS TO GET YOU STARTED

Use these as a framework to building your own portfolio, tweaking where necessary to tailor it to your tolerance for risk and your investment time horizon.

SIMPLE

75% stock	45%	Vanguard Total Stock Market
	30	Vanguard Total International Stock
25% bond	25	iShares Systematic Bond

GROWTH

80% stock	40%	iShares Core S&P 500
	15	Vanguard Total International Stock
	10	Capital Group Dividend Value
	10	iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap
	5	iShares Core S&P Small-Cap
20% bond	10	JPMorgan Income
	10	Vanguard Core Bond

BALANCED

60% stock	25%	JPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor
	20	Capital Group Dividend Value
	10	iShares Core S&P 500
	5	Vanguard Total International Stock
40% bond	15	iShares Systematic Bond
	15	Vanguard Core Bond
	10	JPMorgan Income

CONSERVATIVE

45% stock	15%	Vanguard Total Stock Market
	10	iShares International Dividend Growth
	10	JPMorgan U.S. Quality Factor
	5	Capital Group Dividend Value
	5	iShares Core Dividend
55% bond	20	Vanguard Core Bond
	15	iShares Systematic Bond
	10	Pimco 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond
	10	iShares Short Duration Bond Active

September 2026 25

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Duration Bond Active to the ETF 20 roster in 2024, interest rates were at multidecade highs, and strategists were divided on whether the Federal Reserve would cut short-term rates or leave them higher for longer. We viewed this actively managed ETF as one way to thread the needle of uncertainty between potential interest rate moves but still earn a decent yield. Since we added the fund to the ETF 20 roster, it has returned 5% annualized, eking past the 4.9% gain in the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond index and in line with its peers (short-term bond funds).

The fund's positioning still offers bond investors some advantages. Strategists are again divided on whether the Fed will hike or cut rates next. This fund's 2-year duration implies that if interest rates fall one percentage point, its net asset value will rise by 2%. But if rates rise, as some strategists now expect, the impact will be a 2% drop in net asset value for every percentage point increase. Since the start of the Iran war through June, two-year Treasury yields have climbed to 4.1% from 3.4%. Short Duration Bond has

held steady, with a 0.1% return over that period. By contrast, the Agg index, which sports a 5.7-year duration, has declined 1%.

The fund, which holds a mix of government, corporate and asset-backed debt, yields 4.3%.

JPMorgan Income This actively managed fund does double duty, providing a steady monthly payout as it navigates which bond sectors to emphasize at any given time, whether high-yield debt, Treasuries, mortgage-backed securities or emerging-markets IOUs. Over the past three years, the fund's 6.7% annualized return beat the Agg index's 4.2% return by a wide margin.

These days, the fund's three co-managers have positioned the fund with a big slug of government-backed mortgage securities (35% of the fund's assets), and that has helped recent returns. A mix of mortgage- and asset-backed securities (34% of assets), high-yield and investment-grade corporate debt (13%), emerging-markets debt (6%) and cash (12%) make up the rest of the portfolio. The fund yields 5.6%.

Pimco 0–5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond Last year, comanager David Forgash said the high-yield market was a good place to be. True words: The fund has returned 5.8% over the past 12 months. It's the top-performing bond fund in the Kip ETF 20, and it beats 67% of its peers.

The fund holds mostly one- to five-year maturity junk bonds, and that shorter-term orientation helped. While interest rates have inched up over the past year, short-maturity debt is less sensitive to interest rate moves than longer-dated bonds. The fund boasts a relatively short 2-year duration.

These days, Pimco's experts favor an up-in-quality approach to high-yield debt, given current market conditions. That's where much of the fund's assets sit: 36% of its assets are invested in double-B-rated debt (the highest junk tier); another 40% of assets are in single-B. The fund's short-term tilt and its current 6.4% yield provide some cushion in the event of a rise in defaults. I

You can contact the author at Nellie.Huang@futurenet.com.

→ WHY WE SWAPPED OUT SOME FUNDS

Three exchange-traded funds got the boot in this year's annual review of the Kiplinger ETF 20.

iShares ESG Optimized MSCI USA is out. The fund, which favors companies that meet stringent environmental, social and corporate governance standards, stood apart from the other plain-vanilla, index-based ETFs in our core funds category. For that reason, Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF is a better fit. What's more, we have a list of favorite funds that invest with ESG measures in mind

in the Kiplinger ESG 20, and the inclusion of such a fund in the ETF 20 seemed redundant.

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation also got shown the door, mostly because it has lagged its peers over the years. We think we can do better with iShares Core Dividend ETF, which targets companies that return capital to shareholders through dividends, stock buybacks or both. The iShares ETF has outdone the Vanguard fund on a risk-adjusted basis over the past one, three and five years. It pays a higher yield, too.

Finally, we've made room for Vanguard Core Bond ETF by shifting State Street DoubleLine Total Return Tactical off the roster. We're still huge fans of bond gurus Jeffrey Gundlach and Jeffrey Sherman. But performance has been a bit lumpy. And we were eager to introduce a tamer core bond fund to the roster—one that didn't tilt too much toward lower-rated IOUs to boost yield and overall returns. Vanguard Core Bond fits that bill, and its super-low cost is hard to beat.

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HOW TO CASH IN ON THE FINAL FRONTIER

Space stocks come with big promise—and even bigger caveats.

BY DAVID MILSTEAD

NEARLY six decades after the first moon landing and long after the days when space-shuttle launches had become routine, the success of Space Exploration Technologies, better known as SpaceX (symbol SPCX), has reawakened investors to the concept of space exploration as a new frontier in investing. And while SpaceX CEO Elon Musk muses about colonizing Mars, current day-to-day space activity is booming. The Bryce Report, a tracker of the space industry, says there were 325 orbital launches and 4,544 spacecraft deployed in 2025, gains of 25% and 54%, respectively, from 2024. And unlike during the decades-long NASA government monopoly, commercial companies conducted 87% of launches last year.

Think of space as a core pillar of infrastructure and utilities of the future, says Tejas Dessai, the director of thematic research at Global X ETFs, a fund company that launched the Global X Space Tech ETF in April. “This is potentially one of the most transformative, innovative and disruptive themes—capable of delivering growth and long-term earnings potential—that we’ve seen in the last few decades,” he says.

As in any emerging industry, however, there will be winners that launch into the stratosphere and losers that implode after liftoff. While the cost of rocket

launches continues to fall, investor enthusiasm is sending the shares of many early-stage space companies, well, sky-high. Most space-investing opportunities now are best suited for aggressive investors with a high tolerance for risk. But there are still ways to get exposure to the sector without hazarding a crash. We can help you navigate this new frontier. Stocks and funds we think are worthy of exploration—in a sector that comes with very strong caveats—are in bold; prices and other data in this story are as of June 30.

THE SPACEX SHIP HAS SAILED

Investors could scarcely escape the news that SpaceX became the biggest initial public offering

Our general advice for IPOs is that the safest course is to wait for companies to settle in some months after their debut, after one or two quarterly earnings reports and selling from early investors cashing out has dissipated. By then there should be less volatility in the stock, and investors should arrive at a fair price for the shares.

That said, we’re not confident that SpaceX will arrive at a fair price anytime soon. Morningstar analyst Nicolas Owens raised eyebrows when he estimated the “fair value” of SpaceX shares at just $63, less than half the IPO price and less than one-third its early trading prices. The figure reflects Owens’s estimate of how much cash SpaceX

Most space-investing opportunities now are best suited for aggressive investors with a high tolerance for risk.

in history with its June debut. The company priced its IPO shares at $135, and they soared as high as $225 on their third trading day, making SpaceX worth nearly $3 trillion—greater than established giants Microsoft and Amazon.com. The share price initially surpassed many analysts’ 12-month target prices, such as the $190 estimate from Timothy Horan, of investment firm Oppenheimer, who says he expects SpaceX “to grow to the largest communications/cloud/AI company in the world.” At month-end, the shares closed at $171.

will produce in the future, as well as the probability that the company can succeed in executing Musk’s vision.

For now, SpaceX’s Starlink satellite business, which accounted for more than 60% of the company’s $18.7 billion in revenue in 2025, is a mature and profitable segment, generating $4.4 billion in operating profits. The space division, which is about one-fifth of the company, is a money loser but is inching closer to breakeven. The company’s artificial-intelligence business, however, lost $6.4 billion on $3.2 billion in revenue in 2025,

28 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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wiping out all the satellite profits.

Owens says that investors seem to believe that SpaceX will succeed at developing its Starship space transportation systems that can launch, return and be relaunched within a day and that Musk's vision for space-based AI data centers will be cost-competitive with those on Earth. He puts only a 7% probability on both of those things happening—and even if they did, he says, his fair value estimate would rise to just $154 per share.

THE FOMO FACTOR

Still, the fear of missing out on a groundbreaking opportunity in a fast-growing market is strong. Money manager Richard McWhorter at SRM Private Wealth says clients flooded him with calls about SpaceX in the days leading up to the IPO. "It is all Elon, and it's FOMO. I don't understand the irrationality behind it all, to be honest."

Before you succumb to FOMO, consider that you may already have SpaceX exposure from a fund you own. A number of mutual fund companies obtained SpaceX shares when it was still a private company. Baron Capital spread billions of dollars' worth of SpaceX across several funds, including the Baron First Principles ETF (RONB). T. Rowe Price held the shares in its Technology ETF (TTEQ), and Fidelity held the stock in several mutual funds, including Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX) and Fidelity Blue Chip Growth (FBGRX), a member of the Kiplinger 25 mutual fund list.

Even index funds are in on the space race. The crafters of the Nasdaq 100 index and the Russell indexes, including the Russell 1000, decided to modify their rules to include SpaceX sooner than they would other-

↑ The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a satellite payload launch in Florida.

wise. Nasdaq allowed SpaceX in after 15 trading days, rather than the three to 12 months an IPO stock would normally wait; Russell changed its waiting period to five days.

S&P Dow Jones Indices, however, decided against waiving rules on profitability, the amount of shares available to the public and the amount of time a stock needs to trade. That means funds that track the S&P 500 index won't add SpaceX until 2027, at the earliest.

Meanwhile, space fever has spread well beyond SpaceX to a host of other companies that generate most or all of their revenue from rocket launches or space equipment. Their stories are exciting, but profits are hard to come by, and share valuations

are high enough to make a value-conscious investor's blood run as cold as the temperatures in deep space. For now, only in-tripid investors who can tolerate wild swings and withstand extensive losses should contemplate these speculative stocks.

Among them is Rocket Lab (RKLB, $102), whose Electron rocket is the world's most frequently flown small orbital launcher. The company has expanded into rocket-parts manufacturing and spacecraft-design services, and it's reporting big revenue gains—sales were up 64% in its March quarter from the year before—but it isn't profitable yet. Still, 15 of 19 analysts who cover the stock rate it a "buy." Analyst Erik Rasmussen of investment firm Stifel says

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September 2026 29

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Rocket Lab has relatively little direct competition and calls it “one of the highest-quality space companies to enter the market.”

Rocket Lab announced in June it will buy satellite operator Iridium, a move Rasmussen calls “transformative” and says “cements” the company’s newest business line of space applications, such as communications, Earth observation, meteorology and navigation.

Planet Labs (PL, $33), founded in 2010 by three former NASA scientists, operates a fleet of roughly 200 Earth-imaging satellites in orbit and counts NASA, NATO and foreign governments as customers. Analyst Ryan Koontz of investment firm Needham & Co., who recommends the stock, says Planet Labs is the only company with a daily scan of the entire Earth and notes that the company has an archive of more than 1,700 images for every point on Earth “that cannot be replicated.” It should also be noted, however, that Planet Labs’ heavy spending to achieve that means it remains unprofitable.

Intuitive Machines (LUNR, $21) will take you to the moon. The company has 300 spacecraft that it uses to deliver satellites, surface cameras and cargo to the surface of our nearest celestial body. NASA and commercial firms are among its customers, with the national space agency awarding it nearly $330 million worth of contracts this year. Analysts see a fivefold increase in revenue from 2025 to more than $1.1 billion in 2027, which should allow the company to turn a profit that year. Seven of the nine analysts who follow the stock rate it a “buy,” with an average 12-month target price nearly double its June 30 price.

A BETTER ROUTE

Established companies can provide a safer way for investors to explore space. The key is finding a company with enough space revenue that its rapid growth can make a real difference in the company’s bottom line. Here are three stable companies that have genuine space exposure.

Linde (LIN, $519), a U.K.-based company that trades on the Nasdaq, is the primary supplier of liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen to SpaceX’s launch complexes in Florida and Texas. The liquefied gases are necessary to propel rockets into space.

Analyst Joshua Spector of investment firm UBS thinks Linde’s space-related sales will jump from about $150 million currently—less than one-half a percentage point of revenue—to $1.3 billion in 2030. That could add 0.7 percentage point to its sales-growth rate by 2030—significant for a company that reported 2025 sales growth of 2%, not counting acquisitions. “And growth doesn’t stop post-

↑ Archimedes rocket engines at Rocket Lab’s engine development center at Long Beach, Calif.

2030,” says Spector. At 28 times estimated earnings for the next 12 months, Linde’s valuation is in line with its multiples for the past eight years, despite the burgeoning space opportunity.

Like Linde, Teledyne Technologies (TDY, $667) has been a supplier to space programs for decades. The company is a leader in space-based sensors for climate monitoring, including the amount of carbon in the air and oceanographic data that suggests climate change. Its FLIR Defense subsidiary won a contract from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency for its SHIELD project, the program behind the “Golden Dome” missile-defense system.

In April, Teledyne announced it’s creating a new division, Teledyne Space, that will combine its imaging, electronics and component businesses that were previously scattered across different segments of the company.

Teledyne’s existing Aerospace and Defense Electronics segment has been the standout growth story, with a 14.4% increase in

30 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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sales for the most recent quarter compared with the same quarter a year ago. Space sensors and cameras also drove growth in the company's Digital Imaging segment. With total company revenue of about $6 billion, new space-related sales can translate into meaningful revenue gains. The stock recently traded at about 30 times estimated earnings, a valuation that analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu of investment firm Jefferies deems "attractive."

Honeywell Aerospace (HONA, $221) is a brand-new spin-off from Honeywell International,

a company that has been part of every NASA-crewed space mission for almost 60 years and has provided equipment for nearly 1,000 satellites. It also makes the life-support system that helps astronauts breathe on the International Space Station.

For now, Honeywell Aerospace doesn't break out space revenue, except to say its defense and space business accounted for 41% of its $17.4 billion in sales in 2025. Executives say to expect revenue increases in the mid-single-digit percentages for its defense and space segment, tar-

gets that analyst Daniel DiCicco of BMO Capital Markets says "are attainable and potentially conservative."

Spin-offs can produce strong returns when separated from an unwieldy conglomerate model. Analyst Jonathan Sakraida of research firm CFRA expects Honeywell Aerospace to achieve a valuation greater than 18 to 24 times estimated earnings, where the parent company has traded for more than three years. ■

You can contact the author at David.Milstead@futurenet.com.

FUNDS FOR INVESTORS WHO CAN TAKE A FLIER

Funds can be a good way to minimize risk from buying into any one or two of the emerging space stocks. There are eight exchange-traded funds focused on space. Be forewarned, however: Five of them launched in 2026, so they have no track record. And the price of these ETFs will likely fluctuate wildly. Aniket Ullal, an ETF analyst for research firm CFRA, says the average volatility for the two space funds that are at least one year old is more than three times that of the S&P 500 index. We suggest only those who can tolerate big swings and who can afford to risk substantial losses explore the ETFs below.

ARK Space & Defense Innovation (ARKX, $34) is one of the oldest funds, launched more than five years ago, and it has one of the best track records. It finished in the top 1% of mid-cap growth funds in Morningstar rankings for 2025 and has returned 41.2% over the past 12 months. Its 0.75% expense ratio is in the middle of the pack for the five actively managed space ETFs.

The solid performance comes even though it did not hold SpaceX stock prior to the IPO. The fund bought in quickly, however, making SpaceX its number-one holding, representing 7.6% of the fund. ARK has taken a broad view of what constitutes a space stock—since the ETF's inception it has owned John Deere shares on the premise that agriculture companies that use satellite imagery are space beneficiaries.

Tema Space Innovators (NASA, $30) was the only space ETF that held SpaceX before its IPO, and the fund garnered a flood of investor money. The actively managed fund, with a 0.75% expense ratio, launched in March and already has $1.6 billion in assets. Top holding SpaceX represents nearly 14% of fund assets. Another top holding is a legacy satellite company: EchoStar, the owner of DISH Network. EchoStar owns valuable spectrum (the radio frequency bands used for communication between satellites and Earth), as well as a chunk of SpaceX stock that EchoStar re-

received in a transaction with Musk's company. Some of the most popular small pure-play space stocks flesh out the rest of the ETF's top 10 positions, including Rocket Lab, AST SpaceMobile, Intuitive Machines and Firefly Aerospace.

Procure Space (UFO, $51) is the oldest of all eight space funds and the biggest of the three index funds in the group. It, too, has a 0.75% expense ratio, making it the most expensive of the three index funds. The ETF has gained nearly 77% over the past 12 months. Procure Space tracks the VettaFi Space index, which includes satellite operators, or manufacturers of launch vehicles or equipment that depends on satellite systems. At least 80% of the companies in the index must get half or more their revenue from space-related activities. The index had capped the weighting of any one of its components at 4.8%, but it raised the maximum to 15% to accommodate SpaceX, recently accounting for roughly 5% of the index and the ETF.

32 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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A COLORFUL, CONTROVERSIAL LEGACY

Alan Greenspan, the five-time Fed chair, left a huge mark on the U.S. economy.

BY ANNE KATES SMITH

ALAN Greenspan, who died in June in Washington, D.C., at age 100, served as chairman of the Federal Reserve five times, under four presidents. Known as a data junkie who could out-analyze just about anyone in the building, Greenspan presided over much of the period characterized by economic stability and well-behaved inflation that became known as the Great Moderation. He navigated a number of financial crises in the 1990s, landing on the cover of Time in 1999, lauded as part of a three-man “Committee to Save the World.”

But the man whose most famous quote was about “irrational exuberance” in the stock market was later blamed for helping to set the stage for the Great Financial Crisis with his easy-money policy, a laissez-faire attitude toward market bubbles and a preference for deregulation. To measure Greenspan’s legacy, “you need a Cinema-Scope point of view, not a myopic one,” says Mark Spindel, a Washington, D.C., investment adviser and coauthor of The Myth of Independence, a book about Congress and the Fed.

Greenspan was tested early by the October 1987 “Black Monday” crash, when the Dow Jones industrial average dropped a record 22.6%. The next morning, the Fed stated it would “serve as a source of liquidity to support

↑ Greenspan served as Federal Reserve chair from 1987 until 2006.

the economic and financial system.” Greenspan made good on his word, and the “Greenspan put,” now the “Fed put,” was born—the belief that, like a put option, the Fed would step in to limit losses in market downturns. “The idea that markets need to accept risk was muted by the moral hazard introduced by the Greenspan put,” says market strategist Ed Yardeni, author of a primer for investors on the Fed. “It’s a controversial legacy.”

Greenspan’s greatest achievement may have been recognizing in the late ‘90s that statistics at the time understated productivity gains in the economy, says David Wilcox, a former Fed director and now a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and director of U.S. economic research at Bloomberg Economics. After a deep dive into the data, Greenspan convinced colleagues on the Fed’s rate-setting body that they “very likely could allow the economy to run much

hotter than people thought at the time,” says Wilcox, “and, boy, did that pay off for the nation.”

An inscrutable communication style was a Greenspan hallmark. “He would delight in the fact that he got two different headlines from the same speech because he was so ambiguous,” says Diane Swonk, chief economist at accounting giant KPMG and a longtime Federal Reserve adviser. And yet, it was Greenspan who instituted the practice of issuing a public statement after monetary policy meetings.

Notably, at his swearing in, current Fed chair Kevin Warsh vowed to fill the role “with energy and purpose, just the way Chairman Greenspan did.”

Multifaceted maestro. Before being dubbed “the maestro” of monetary policy, Greenspan studied music at Juilliard and played saxophone in a 1940s swing band alongside jazz great Stan Getz. He played tennis and loved baseball, the game of statistics. And he was a devoted husband to journalist Andrea Mitchell. Wilcox recalls that on the occasions he was in Greenspan’s office working late, “at a certain moment, his hand would go up, a little flick of the hand, and he’d turn to the TV on his desk. Not a word was uttered for the next five to six minutes—that was when Andrea Mitchell was on the evening news.” ■

You can contact the author at Anne.Smith@futurenet.com.

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TECH IS DRIVING THESE FUNDS HIGHER

KIPLINGER 25 UPDATE BY NELLIE S. HUANG

THERE are no new stories, just old ones with new characters. Consider this: Three stock funds in the Kiplinger 25, our favorite actively managed, no-load mutual funds, have each returned nearly 60% or better over the past 12 months, trouncing the 22% gain in the S&P 500. Small-company fund Oberweis Small-Cap Opportunities is up 59%; Primecap Odyssey Growth has returned 67%; and tech-sector fund T. Rowe Price Global Technology has climbed 62%.

Tech stocks, particularly AI-related shares, were a key driver of returns; tech, the biggest sector exposure in each fund, is the best-performing sector over the past year. But if the leaders among the top 10 holdings in each of these funds are any clue, AI fever has broadened beyond the handful of companies that led the market in previous years.

AI infrastructure pick-and-shovel investments fueled returns at Oberweis, says Ken Farsalas, the fund's lead manager. Top holding Lumentum Holdings, which makes optical products that power cloud and AI networks (among other things), has climbed 803%. "Artificial intelligence is a generational agent for change in the global economy," says Farsalas. "Against this backdrop, we expect small-cap companies, which trade at a material valuation discount to large caps, will outperform over the next decade."

At Odyssey Growth, chip companies Micron Technology and Intel, both among the fund's top 10 holdings, gained 837% and 523% over the past year. But an industrial stock, Xometry, an AI-enabled marketplace that allows designers and engineers to manufacture parts and assemblies on demand, also helped the fund's performance. Those shares have nearly tripled over the past 12 months.

Price Global Technology is heavily invested in mega-size firms, and semiconductor-related stocks dominate the portfolio. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Advanced Micro Devices and ASML Holding are big gainers among the top holdings. We last checked in with the fund's manager in April ("What a Time to Run a Tech Fund").

Reach the author at Nellie.Huang@futurenet.com.

THE KIPLINGER 25

Everything you need to know about our favorite actively managed, no-load mutual funds.

U.S. Stock Funds	Symbol	Annualized total return			Yield	Expense ratio
		1 yr.	5 yrs.	10 yrs.
Dean Mid Cap Value	DALCX	19.3%	11.3%	10.8%	0.9%	0.85%
Dodge & Cox Stock	DODGX	9.7	9.0	13.1	1.1	0.51
Fidelity Blue Chip Growth	FBGRX	35.1	15.1	22.2	0.0	0.61
Marsico Midcap Growth Focus	MXXIX	26.9	12.1	17.1	0.0	1.31
Oberweis Small-Cap Opps	OBSOX	59.4	17.3	19.6	0.0	1.25
T. Rowe Price Dividend Growth	PRDGX	16.5	10.2	12.9	0.9	0.64
T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Value	PRSVX	36.0	7.4	11.2	0.7	0.79
Primecap Odyssey Growth	POGRX	67.3	16.7	18.1	0.4	0.66
Vanguard Equity Income	VEIPX	18.3	11.2	11.7	2.1	0.26
Vanguard Strategic Equity	VSEQX	36.0	12.8	13.9	1.0	0.17

Foreign Funds	Symbol	Annualized total return			Yield	Expense ratio
		1 yr.	5 yrs.	10 yrs.
Baron Emerging Markets	BEXFX	31.3%	3.7%	8.0%	1.5%	1.38%
Brown Capital Mgmt Intl Sm Co	BCSVX	-26.9	-4.7	7.3	0.4	1.31
Fidelity International Growth	FIGFX	17.0	6.4	10.1	0.6	0.84
Janus Henderson Glbl Eq Inc	HFQTX	25.0	11.4	9.0	6.2	0.94

Specialized Funds	Symbol	Annualized total return			Yield	Expense ratio
		1 yr.	5 yrs.	10 yrs.
Fidelity Select Health Care	FSPHX	29.6%	4.1%	10.8%	0.4%	0.62%
T. Rowe Price Global Technology	PRGTX	62.3	9.4	20.0	0.0	0.93
Vanguard Wellington	VWELX	16.2	8.6	10.2	2.0	0.24

Bond Funds	Symbol	Annualized total return			Yield	Expense ratio
		1 yr.	5 yrs.	10 yrs.
Baird Aggregate Bond	BAGSX	3.7%	0.1%	1.7%	4.1%	0.55%
Dodge & Cox Income	DODIX	4.7	1.3	2.9	4.3	0.41
Fidelity Interm Muni Income	FLTMX	5.5	1.3	2.1	3.1	0.37
Fidelity Strategic Income	FADMX	8.1	3.3	4.5	4.4	0.64
T. Rowe Price Floating Rate	PRFRX	4.6	5.9	5.0	6.3	0.76
Vanguard Emerging Markets Bond	VEMBX	11.4	4.2	6.6	5.3	0.50
Vanguard High-Yield Corporate	VWEHX	5.6	3.9	5.2	6.0	0.22
Vanguard Short-Term Inv-Grade	VFSTX	3.8	2.3	2.5	4.6	0.20

Indexes	Annualized total return			Yield
	1 yr.	5 yrs.	10 yrs.
S&P 500 INDEX	22.3%	13.4%	15.5%	1.1%
RUSSELL 2000 INDEX*	40.8	7.0	11.6	1.1
MSCI EAFE INDEX†	20.2	9.0	9.7	2.7
MSCI EMERGING MARKETS INDEX	43.5	7.2	10.1	1.9
BLOOMBERG U.S. AGG BOND INDEX#	3.8	0.1	1.5	4.7

Data as of June 30, or the latest available. *Small-company U.S. stocks. †Foreign stocks. #High-grade U.S. bonds. SOURCES: Fund companies, FTSE Russell, Morningstar Direct, MSCI, S&P Dow Jones Indices. Yields listed for bond funds are SEC yields, which are net of fees; stock fund yields are the yield for the past 12 months.

34 Kiplinger Personal Finance

Commentary Investing

The Appeal of a Fund Manager

STREET SMART BY JAMES K. GLASSMAN

I'll start with what you already know: Index funds, with portfolios determined by computer algorithms to reflect categories of stocks and bonds, have a much better track record than funds whose stocks and bonds are selected by human beings—so-called actively managed funds. Over the 10 years ending December 31, 2025, research firm Morningstar calculates, only 3.6% of active large-capitalization growth funds have beaten the average index fund in the same category.

I enthusiastically endorsed index funds in the 1999 book I coauthored, Dow 36,000, and I have advocated them ever since. Investors have caught on. In 2010, index securities held just 19% of the total assets in mutual funds and exchange-traded funds; at the end of 2025, the figure was 52%. For funds that own U.S. stocks, index funds now hold 63% of assets.

Index funds took off after Vanguard aggressively cut fees and other fund houses followed suit. Vanguard S&P 500 (symbol VOO, $687), with $1.7 trillion in assets, has an expense ratio of just 0.03%, or $30 a year for a $100,000 investment. iShares Core S&P 500 (IVV, $749) levies the same fee, and mutual fund Fidelity 500 Index (FXAIX) charges just 0.015%. That compares with about 1%, on average, for managed funds, according to the Investment Company Institute. (Prices, returns and other data are through June 30 unless

otherwise noted; stocks and funds I like are in bold.)

So why not join the crowd? Is there a reason to own actively managed funds? Yes—two. The first is that an index fund, by definition, will never beat its index after expenses. An active fund has a shot. Second, choosing an active fund and rooting it on is one of the thrills of investing.

In search of the best fund. Some mutual funds do beat the indexes. In 1996, I set out to find America's best mutual fund. I was seeking a diversified U.S. large-company stock fund with great long-term returns, comfortable risk levels, a decent expense ratio and strong prospects.

My choice then is my choice today: Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX), which has returned an annual average of 18.2% over the past 10 years, compared with 15.5% for the S&P 500 index. Contrafund has beaten a majority of funds (including index funds) in its category for five calendar years in a row and so far in 2026.

The fund may have started with a contrarian bent, as the name implies, but it's now a large-cap growth fund. Will Danoff, who has managed or co-managed Contrafund for 36 years, has the courage of his convictions. He'll retire at the end of the year, but I'm optimistic about the two veteran Fidelity managers who will succeed him, and the firm has a deep bench of analysts.

Contrafund first added Nvidia to its portfolio in 2016, and it's now the

fund's top asset. Danoff bought Alphabet (GOOGL, $357) in 2004 when it went public. Lately, he has been trimming technology stocks, especially Meta and Microsoft, and the sector represents a smaller proportion of Contrafund's portfolio than it does of the S&P 500.

Contrafund has whipped the index while charging expenses of 0.74%, which is more than 20 times what Vanguard's S&P 500 ETF charges but still relatively low for an actively managed fund. (Funds with people doing the picking are more expensive to run than index funds—after all, computers don't need health insurance.)

If you believe that stocks are priced efficiently—the price of a stock being a reflection of everything that's known today about a company's future prospects—then beating the performance of a market index is undoubtedly difficult. Throw in the expense differential, and active managers would seem to have an impossible task.

Also, when a fund does beat the index, it could be luck. In an experiment, S&P Global, a major compiler of indexes, found that 336 actively managed funds were in the top half of a universe of more than 1,000

An index fund will never beat the index after expenses. An active fund has a shot.

PHOTO BY NOAH BELLMAN

September 2026 35

Investing Commentary

funds after a year. But after two years, just 81 of those active funds were still in the top half; after four years, 43.

A rich legacy. How do you find the favored few? I look for managers who have a long track record, a taste for bucking the market, and the bravery to buy and hold. It's true that many of the great managers of yesteryear are gone, but in some cases their funds and investing strategies live on.

Take Philip Carret, who founded the Pioneer Fund in 1928 and ran it through his retirement in 1983. Carret, a bargain hunter, died in 2003 at age 101, but his fund today, now called Victory Pioneer (PIODX), has beaten Morningstar's large-cap blend benchmark (a mix of growth and value stocks) in a majority of the past 10 years and so far in 2026. The fund comes with a sales charge, but you can find it load-free at Schwab, E*Trade and perhaps other platforms. The expense ratio is 0.92%.

The fund has lately been adding to its holdings of United Parcel Service

Many of the great managers of yesteryear are gone, but in some cases their funds and investing strategies live on.

(UPS, $108), one of the components of my Top 30, and NRG Energy (NRG, $146), a Houston-based fossil-fuel and renewables power company whose shares have nearly quadrupled in five years as demand for electricity has taken off.

I have always liked mutual funds named and managed by their founders. Upholding a family reputation is good discipline. Many of these are now run by family members. A good example is Davis New York Venture (NYVTX), co-managed by Christopher Cullom Davis, who took over from his founding father, Shelby, in 1995. You can find it load-free at Fidelity, Schwab and E*Trade; the expense ratio is 0.91%. The fund has ranked in the top half of its peer group (currently large-cap value funds) in seven of the past 10 years, outpacing the S&P 500 Value index by 1.4 percentage points annualized over the past decade.

The Davis fund is light on technology and heavy on financial services, including its top holding, Capital One Financial (COF, $201), which specializes in credit cards, both under its own brand and that of several leading retailers. Research firm Value Line forecasts the stock's earnings will rise by an average of 13.5% annually for the next five years.

With his son Michael, founder Ron Baron still co-manages Baron Partners (BPTRX), which has had a spectacular decade, beating the S&P 500 by an annual average of more than nine points, again despite high fees. The portfolio is highly concentrated: just 23 stocks, with Tesla the top holding at nearly one-fourth of assets. But that kind of con-

viction is how a manger beats an index. Similarly, Baron Focused Growth (BFGFX), also managed by father and son, is in the top 2% of its category (mid-cap growth), returning an annual average of 21.5% over 10 years.

Want more evidence that stock pickers can whip computers? Look to small-cap funds. Both Oberweis Small-Cap Opportunities (OBSOX), another fund managed by a member of the founding family, and T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Value (PRSVX), managed by J. David Wagner for the past 12 years, have been beating their respective target indexes. So have three funds that are currently closed to new investors but may reopen, so keep an eye on them: Harbor Small-Cap Growth (HISGX); Invesco Discovery (OPOCX), which has returned nearly 39% so far in 2026; and Fidelity Small-Cap Growth (FCPGX), in the top half of its category for nine of the past 10 years.

Of course, you should own index funds, but owning funds managed by smart people is not as crazy as many investors think. The legendary John Bogle, the late Vanguard CEO, called such investing akin to a second marriage: the triumph of hope over experience. Actually, many second marriages do work out—and so do managed funds.

James K. Glassman chairs Glassman Advisory, a public-affairs consulting firm. He does not write about his clients. His most recent book is Safety Net: The Strategy for De-Risking Your Investments in a Time of Turbulence. He owns none of the securities mentioned here. You can reach him at JKGlassman@gmail.com.

36 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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Strategies to Boost Your Cash Yield

Unless otherwise noted, all prices are current as of May 15, 2026. Subscribe to Kiplinger Investing for Income for more timely rates and yields in every monthly issue.

The First Half, Somehow, Passes Our Tests

Since 2012, we have written that the 2-2-2 pattern of 2% economic growth, 2% inflation and 2% interest rates is ideal for income investors. And as 2026 began, there was a fighting chance that inflation and interest rates would recede, starting a gradual journey back to the combo that made the 2010s so salubrious for investors (if not bank savers).

Well, sorry everybody. That's off the table. You can blame the war and Persian Gulf stalemate, dump on the Federal Reserve (though we think that's unfair), or bemoan the Treasury's debt load, but whatever poison you pick, this is reality. So our primary lesson from the first half of 2026 is that we need to adjust to faster inflation, higher and likely still rising interest rates, hot GDP growth powered by the AI buildout, and elevated oil and commodity prices. Our job is to recognize the numerous antidotes and workarounds that benefit you, or at least keep you whole, when 2-2-2 trends toward 2-3-3 or beyond. And these remedies include much of the same list of investments we have encouraged for 15 years.

Disaster talk is, as usual, overblown. Even after the big bond sell-off in early May, for

example, the Bloomberg Aggregate Bond index is down only 0.7% for the year, while high-yield and municipal bonds are slightly above breakeven. Oil and inflation shocks are unpleasant, but somehow "the markets have gotten pretty comfortable with it," says Matt Freund, the chief investment officer for Calamos,

There is no sign of accelerating and widespread credit distress.

one of the more resourceful and creative fund firms. "The yield curve is getting steeper, but I wouldn't call this a problem," Freund continues. He has a point. When the curve was inverted (meaning that short-term rates were higher than long rates) from 2022 to mid 2024,

the traditional assumption that this situation predicts a recession got wide exposure. We questioned it, as we do so many old-school homilies and rules of thumb. The recession never arrived and is not in sight, AI and $5 gasoline notwithstanding.

The larger question is whether to chase what is surging, such as energy, or to worry about losses if you keep scattered assets that are suddenly out of favor. Here, we reiterate our usual thinking, which is that all good stuff stumbles but recovers, and even when sentiment seems poor, something is always working. All that remains in effect. So does our three-day rule, which, as you know, discourages hasty actions rooted in fear. The latest wild card, new Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh, will not cause a market quake. If he tries to

continued on next page ...

Inside This Issue...

Unless otherwise noted, all prices and related data are as of May 15, 2026

The Greatest Generation, in Twilight

The bond fund managers we have lionized in the past are retired. Now what?

Ask Jeff

How to view option-writing funds; pass on stock dividends; on minimizing taxes.

Model Portfolio: Dividend-a-Month

Blue chip cash producers offer some shelter from market storms.

Model Portfolio: Juiced Up Cash

Amid the stresses of war, our portfolio of cash alternatives bent but didn't break.

Model Portfolio: Tax-Exempt Income

Municipal bonds continue their reputation for keeping calm and carrying on.

Model Portfolio: Going for the Max

Our dedicated high-yield roster shows that lofty payouts buffer market swings.

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Kiplinger Investing for Income: Strategies to Boost Your Cash Yield

Special Issue

... continued from previous page

appease the White House and work the Federal Open Market Committee to cut rates, he will get hard pushback. The bond market's mini tantrum in May is a signal to Warsh to proclaim inflation-fighting as job number one. That implies inflation peaking at about 4% and then softening; the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland predicts 3.7% over the next 12 months. That conforms to our view that while long-term interest rates are above the midpoint of their trading range, bond and mortgage yields are not heading to the moon.

Thus, our first midyear portfolio takeaway is that it is unnecessary to give up on bonds, especially high-yield issues, municipals and international funds. Christian Hoffmann, head of fixed income at Thornburg

funds, sticks by what we named the Hoffmann Rule, which is that when T-bonds pass 5%, buyers appear. That may not happen until midsummer, but it will. We still do not recommend long government bonds or total bond market index funds, but the picture is acceptable for any interest-paying investment except business development companies (most are poorly run, we find) and illiquid private lenders. There is no sign of accelerating and widespread credit distress, such as commercial real estate delinquencies or municipal defaults. Floating-rate bank loans, thought vulnerable to a spike in defaults, have improved as well; our favorite loan fund, Fidelity Floating Rate High Income, has recovered two-thirds of the net asset value it lost in February and March and has a positive 1.9% year-to-date total return, plus a 7% yield. High-yield bonds, as illustrated by various indexes, are up about 1%. Kiplinger Income 25 member Fidelity Capital & Income (which includes a bit of equity) is ahead 7.1% so far in 2026.

Turning to stocks, dividend payers are doing great. Despite the interest rate trend, three main dividend-centric stock groups—energy infrastructure firms, real estate investment trusts and utilities—are sound and, in the case of energy, up substantially, with immense cash flows supporting high dividends. None are “bond proxies” dependent on low and falling interest rates. Each sector feeds on economic growth that boosts rents, fees and prices. So while

the source of the current GDP burst is controversial, income investors are clear beneficiaries. Booming first-quarter earnings may have also surprised those assuming war and high oil prices would quickly crush consumer demand and discourage capital investment. Instead, and yet again, the arrival of earnings season moved Wall Street to evaluate business fundamentals and downplay political noise. (We vehemently oppose proposals to abolish quarterly reporting for that reason.)

Another 2026 lesson, if we need to say it, is that zero-yield assets are doubtful solutions to market turbulence. We do not espouse gold or cryptocurrencies, and although some readers have surely made profits in those, both have been weak since the attack on Iran. If you are wary of stocks, bonds and partnerships, low-risk cash holdings offer better terms by the week. Holding tanks such as two-year CDs and three-year Federal Home Loan Bank notes are up to 4.2% and 4.5% as traders lift the middle of the yield curve on the assumption that higher inflation will last to 2028 or 2030, but not much longer. Hence, we maintain our confidence in any investment that mixes short duration with high yield. Calamos, RiverPark and Thornburg offer many of those. And among that trio's nearly 100 mutual and exchange-traded funds, only six show negative total returns through May 15. Next month we will offer detailed thoughts about the second half. For now, hang tough.

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Special Issue

The Greatest Generation of Bond Funds, in Twilight

Through the 2010s, and as recently as our February 2020 letter, we extolled a sextet of classic funds and their leaders as The Greatest Generation. And they were: Dan Fuss of Loomis Sayles Bond (now 92 and no longer managing, but still occasionally commenting) built an amazing record from the 1990s until well into this century, inventing the nontraditional, or multisector, bond fund. John Miller, then of Nuveen and now with First Eagle, guided Nuveen High Yield Municipal to the top of the tax-free charts for 20 years by proving what were once “junk” municipals are worth the risk. Flexible fund Metropolitan West Total Return shined from the late 1990s until the early 2010s, led by a three-headed all-star management team. Alas, all have departed.

So, following that theme, is it time for us to call it a day on this society? There will be no second Greatest Generation, just praise, as always, for specific funds and managers who always do well by their shareholders. It is way harder now for a bond fund to stand out to the upside against the pack (though it is easy to fall apart and lose 5% a year more than the averages). For example, not a single fund of GNMA mortgage securities—and there are more than 100—has managed to average even a 2% annualized five-year return.

In 2026, outsize individual fund excellence is particularly rare as surging interest rates repress all sorts of bond values. It takes a gang of traders and analysts who find overlooked or fortuitous situations to boost a fixed-income fund’s numbers even by a quarter of a percentage point. Solo stock-picking heroes have vanished and so, too, has the image of a bond maestro who makes a series of spectacular maturity and duration calls or exploits a pipeline into the inner sanctums of the Federal Reserve. We speak all the time with men and women who have long and accomplished careers in the fixed-income business. Much more than in years past, they confide to us that in the 2020s, nobody has all the answers.

Also, no two or three bond-fund brands are now dominant or dynastic. That is positive. Otherwise, there would be a rush of performance chasing, as we saw with Pimco in the Bill Gross era. Crowding into hot funds usually ends poorly—or at best it results in mean reversion, as shown by Gross’s

once-legendary Pimco Total Return. Since Gross left Pimco in 2014, Pimco Income Fund has more than doubled the gains by Total Return, which has barely broken even since 2021, while Pimco Income is up 3.1% compounded. But even Pimco Income is slightly in the red so far in 2026—and it is a group effort. Magic is not in great supply these days.

Some of our Greatest ones are not now even the same. Loomis Sayles Bond is still LSBRX, but it has been renamed Loomis Sayles Income, with a new managed distribution (level payout) policy. It cannot use some of Fuss’s tactics, such as buying high-yield stocks or overweighting foreign positions (Canadian provincial debt, say). The current managers, Matt Eagan and Brian Kennedy, worked under Fuss and can revive performance, but that fabulous multidecade record has long fallen apart. At FPA New Income, which spread the benefits of investing in such cash-cow assets as car loans and airplane leases, long-time brains Bob Rodriguez and Tom Atteberry are long retired. There are able successors, but the legends are gone.

So instead of screening long-term returns and following personalities, we advise readers to choose among a variety of bond and income categories, ranging from short-term high-yield bonds, to emerging-markets corporates, to bank loans, to all manner of municipals. We also advise that you use several funds in each category, with an emphasis on recent performance and moderate costs.

We maintain our powerful preference for active bond management. The last few years reinforce the pointlessness of indexing bonds, unlike stocks, where an equal-weighted S&P 500 ETF makes sense. And do not mistake our comments for any hint that the old-timers were smarter than today’s bond pros. So, we still praise specific creative managers, like those at CrossingBridge, Eaton Vance, PGIM and River-North, and laud firms such as Calamos, Janus Henderson and WisdomTree when they design original new funds—often tilted to high income with low duration. And sometimes a new offering with a clean slate can have appeal for its lack of legacy assets that cause net redemptions; Baird Strategic Municipal Bond, started in 2019, and iShares Flexible Income Active, born in 2022, are two of many. There will be more, and we will tell you about them.

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Special Issue

Ask Jeff

Readers are invited to send questions about income investments to jkosnett@kiplinger.com. I'll answer you personally if there's no space here for a published reply.

Dear Jeff:

I plan to replace my high-yield bond funds paying 4% to 5% with 60% JEPI and 40% JEPQ to get a higher yield and more exposure to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. Your thoughts? I am 80 and about to stop working part-time. Thomas

Dear Thomas:

I am fine with this in terms of the cash flow. But I take the uncommon position that options—selling stock funds and ETFs, for which the 8% to 12% distributions are the primary draw, are alternatives to fixed-income investments and not ideal ways to expand your stock allocation. This pair of JPMorgan ETFs have excellent results. And as long as the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq keep working, you are not risking much; the maximum drawdown over the past three years in JEPQ, the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium ETF, is 8.3%, vs. 2.0% for the flagship Vanguard high-yield bond fund. I would not overdo this strategy, but it is certainly a reasonable decision. And if you still want to chase the Nasdaq, add some QQQ or an active fund.

Dear Jeff:

What are your thoughts about stocks with low cash dividends but consistent stock dividends? For

example, CBSH, Commerce Bancshares, frequently supplements its cash payouts with a 5% stock dividend in December. I plan to let these accumulate and reinvest the cash. Are there other companies that also offer regular stock dividends? Stephen

Dear Stephen:

I cater to readers eager for cash distributions, so this matter rarely arises. Dividend-reinvestment plans are common, and REITs were given temporary clearance to pay shares instead of cash during COVID. In this case, however, it appears Commerce wants to keep its cash dividends as a proportion of earnings in the 20%’s, whereas most comparable banks aim for the 30%’s or 40%’s. Commerce, an old and sound Kansas City bank, has a large buyback program, so it is essentially recycling the shares it repurchases. (Its total share count has remained flat for years, so it is not diluting its investors with new shares. That would be a red flag.) The benefit to a company of this policy is that it can save money if it suspends or reduces this share payout. It also encourages loyalty. The benefit to the investor is there is no immediate tax due on the stock dividend; you pay taxes only when you sell, and that depends on price and

timing. If Commerce were still a growth stock, as it was 50 years ago, I might be enthusiastic, but the share price is down 16% over five years, and its total returns badly lag the sector. Incidentally, although this practice is rare in the U.S., it is common in the U.K., where the distributions are called scrip dividends. Scrip does not have a wonderful reputation.

Dear Jeff:

Like many readers, I use a mix of tax-free, tax-deferred and taxable accounts to create income and minimize taxes. I know everyone’s situation varies, but would you comment on which types of investments are best allocated to these different kinds of investment accounts? Wayne

Dear Wayne:

Most of our readers are drawing on accumulated retirement funds and other tax-deferred assets and are no longer seriously accumulating investment balances. Everyone wants to limit the current tax bite on income, but sometimes that is secondary to other decisions, such as what payments to reinvest and which to claim and spend. We all understand that it is silly to put low-yielding tax-free bonds in an IRA instead of higher-coupon debt such as high-yield corporates. But most of the literature on this topic addresses the reality that tax-deferred structures will eventually turn long-term capital gains into ordinary income when withdrawn, which is why we have the Roth IRA alternative and all the calculations about the cost and benefit of Roth conversions. And that is beyond our scope.

As a subscriber, you're invited to personally contact Kiplinger experts for

PHOTO BY BOB CROSSLIN

Special Issue

Model Portfolio: Dividend-a-Month

We review each of our model portfolios every four months. This check-up and analysis was published in the April, 2026, issue and covers the period ending March 20, 2026. For the latest data and to keep up to date, subscribe to Kiplinger Investing for Income.

Stocks across almost every sector have hit a series of roadblocks since we last reported on Dividend-a-Month in December's letter. Besides the Iran affair, there is weakening economic growth, concern that AI will undermine business models, gathering worry about credit accidents, and a sense on trading desks and in investor conference calls that inflation and interest rates are heading higher for longer. The sum of all these fears supports sheltering beneath a dividend umbrella. But in the short run, yield does not always safeguard the market value of the firms that deliver those dollars. There is a widening gap between high-yield winners and losers and in the results among competing dividend-centric mutual funds and ETFs.

We do not have a wreck, to be clear. Seven of our 12 selections closed March 20 at higher prices than at the previous deadline of last November 14. But because three decliners shed 11% to 19%, the equal-weighted total return calculates to just 2.8%. That is better than the 2.9% loss by SPY, the giant S&P 500 index ETF, but well below the 5.3% gain by LVHD, the Franklin U.S. Low Volatility ETF that represents this objective in the Kiplinger Income 25. Exclude Valero and Verizon, and our portfolio's four-month return would be negative even with its 3.6% annualized dividend yield.

Still, we will never question the wisdom of collecting hard cash. And earnings are strong enough to keep dividend cuts rare outside of high-wire lending. However, blue-chip companies have slimmed their customary annual dividend boosts of late. Oil marketer and refiner Valero is posting giant profits, yet Valero declared a 6.2% dividend rise, effective this year. AT&T has not raised its payout since it restructured in 2022 as it strives to keep its debt from consuming more of its cash flow. Verizon, added here in 2025, just issued a 2.5% raise, although VZ investors are celebrating because the shares are up 25% since January on better subscriber numbers and supreme confidence in the new CEO. However, as one of the 30 in the Dow Jones industrial average, Verizon is always at risk of getting dumped indiscriminately by investors who use the Dow as a voting booth to express disagreement

with the government or the Fed or just to issue a warning about this or that.

No changes to the listings, but one update: In December, we pledged to review Automatic Data Processing, the payroll and office-management provider, and McCormick, famous for spices and condiments. Both stock prices have fallen, but we are standing firm for now. ADP awarded an 11% dividend raise late last year, and analysts like its growth prospects. As a major importer, McCormick suffers from tariffs. Its valuation hinges on whether markets now regard those nine-figure taxes as a sunk cost or a chronic irritant. McCormick said in March it may acquire a bunch of Unilever food brands. Depending on the terms, MKC could become a much larger and more potent firm. We prefer to wait and see than cut and run.

January Illinois Tool Works

Price, $258 Yield, 2.5%

One-year total return, 4.1%

Five-year annualized dividend growth, 7.2%

February Valero Energy

$240, 2.0%, 81.3%, 4.1%

March UPS

$96, 6.8%, -12.5%, 10.0%

April McCormick

$53, 3.6%, -31.8%, 7.1%

May AT&T

$26, 3.9%, 9.8%, N/A

June Home Depot

$321, 2.9%, -7.1%, 8.9%

July JP Morgan Chase

$287, 2.1%, -10.7%, 10.8%

August General Dynamics $346, 1.7%, 32.4%, 7.7%

September Realty Income

$61, 5.3%, 13.7%, 2.8%

October Automatic Data Processing

$209, 3.3%, -27.7%, 12.9%

November Verizon

$50, 5.7%, 20.5%, 2.4%

December American Electric Power

$126, 3.0%, 21.9%, 5.1%

or more guidance on anything you read in Kiplinger Investing for Income.

Special Issue

Model Portfolio: Juiced Up Cash

We review each of our model portfolios every four months. This check-up and analysis was published in the July, 2026, issue and covers the period ending June 18, 2026. For the latest data and to keep up to date, subscribe to Kiplinger Investing for Income.

One of the distinctions of Juiced-Up Cash, or any similar set of cash equivalents, is the contrast between its reliably stable daily market values and the occasional unwelcome excitement in bonds and stocks. But as war broke out in the Persian Gulf, even low-risk asset trading got so unmoored from its normal patterns that for this measuring period the juicer showed dramatically closer correlation to the stock market than perhaps ever before. This divided the interval from February 20 through June 18 (June 19 was a holiday) into two stages: an early and violent start with eroding net asset values, and then a choppy but partial recovery. As a result, our virtual $50,000 finished the period at $49,744, down 0.5%, before $726 of interest income put the final tally at $50,470, for a 0.9% gain for the trimester, or 2.8% annualized.

For a while, it looked as if we would be reviewing actual net losses, which would be at best an embarrassment and at worst a challenge to our entire conceit here, which is that high-yielding short-duration alternatives always win out over Treasury bills and three-month bank deposits. At one point in March, RiverPark Floating Rate CMBS, though not reporting any distress and maintaining its payouts, had shed more than 3% of its NAV as it went from a negative correlation to stock prices to plus 0.23. That's nothing like, say, CCC-rated bonds, but it was enough to subject its shareholders to some unexpected spillover from equity gyrations. PGIM Short-Term Corporate Bond, whose three-year correlation to the S&P 500 is just 0.10, moved 0.64 with the index this trimester, explaining why the fund fell for a while but ended June 18 with a NAV of $10.72, up from $10.62 in late February before the war.

Juiced-Up Cash connoisseurs thereby know this approach is low-risk, but not riskless. And with the Federal Reserve set to boost short-term yields next rather than trim them, it is possible that by November we may be reintroducing CDs or T-bills into the equation. But not yet. We still see merit in angling for a few cents in NAV growth or, in the case of the Fidelity Floating Rate Income Fund, the extra yield from middling-quality credit.

FFRHX, perhaps surprisingly, has held its value better than most of these investments since we last reported. So, the lineup stays on the field.

$10,000 RiverPark Floating Rate CMBS (RCRFX, $8.78, 4.2%) continues its premium weighting here due to its high-coupon and floating-rate investments and its fine long-term record. It managed to lose only 1% in 2022, a much more treacherous interval than anything we see in 2026.

$8,334 Fidelity Low Duration Bond Factor ETF (FLDR, $50.18, 4.0%) shed 0.4% of its principal. But it retains some interesting high-paying, dollar-denominated foreign government debt and is ahead 1.6% for the year to date, which is above average for the category.

$8,333 PGIM Short-Term Corporate Bond (PB-SMX, $10.72, 3.9%) has an impressively experienced management team, and PGIM is on record as expecting higher interest rates for longer, so it should have further opportunities to raise its distributions. May's payout was the fund's biggest in at least five years.

$8,333 Pimco Enhanced Short-Maturity Active ETF (MINT, $100.72, 4.0%) is trimming its monthly payouts a hair, but of our selections it is the least exposed to gyrations in the stock and long-term bond markets.

$5,000 Eaton Vance Ultra-Short Income ETF (EVSB, $50.85, 4.4%) has a high yield to maturity of nearly 5% and a sound, 1.8% year-to-date total return.

$5,000 Fidelity Floating Rate Income (FFRHX, $9.01, 6.4%) is, as we said, delivering high income and a plus total return. It is a core holding not only as a cash substitute but also as a part of any fixed-income plan.

$5,000 Janus Henderson Short Duration Income ETF (VNLA, $48.98, 4.6%) resembles the PGIM fund in that it emphasizes BBB-rated corporate debt, but the borrowers' names are often different.

Risk-Free 100% Money-Back Guarantee.

Special Issue

Model Portfolio: Tax-Exempt Income

We review each of our model portfolios every four months. This check-up and analysis was published in the May, 2026, issue and covers the period ending April 17, 2026. For the latest data and to keep up to date, subscribe to Kiplinger Investing for Income.

A few days ago, reader Marty asked our opinion about redepositing his required minimum IRA distributions into this group of tax-exempt bond funds, because he does not need the distributions for living expenses. Judging by our portfolio's results, this is a sound plan both to protect principal and to reinvest the monthly income at no cost, or to use the income for a spot of tax-free shopping and dining. In the period since our previous tally dated December 12, 2025, our $100,000 of virtual principal closed April 17 worth $100,021, the closest to a flat performance one could realistically imagine. The $1,354 in income (for a total 1.35% gain) puts the annualized return at 4.2%, or a taxable equivalent of about 5.5% for a typical reader. A broad-based taxable bond ETF such as AGG or BND earned 1.1%, so munis won out by a nose.

More to the point, though, is that if global instability persists or worsens, municipals stand to be spectators rather than objects in the line of fire. Higher inflation that boosts long-term interest rates will nip at municipals' market prices and net asset values, but rarely by enough to cause concern for patient investors. State and local governments and tax-exempt issuers such as airports and toll roads are in fundamentally attractive shape, and even nursing-home bonds, which can be risky, are up more than 3% on average so far in 2026. General obligations from often-criticized states such as Illinois and New York are outperforming the national averages so far. This contributes to the improvement of the one-year returns on all the funds below as the rough stretch in early 2025 ages out of the year-over-year figures. For one thing, fear of a recession that could cause credit downgrades has subsided, pending some reasonable landing price for crude oil and related energy products. And the periodic (though, to us, ridiculous) fear that the interest tax exemption might be amended or even rescinded by Congress, which caused some selling last year, is absent in 2026. So there are no changes to either the list of funds or the suggested balance among short, medium and long maturities from our last update.

SHORT-TERM: 15%. We still think the intermediate part of the curve offers better value. But T. Rowe Price and VanEck both kept their NAVs stable, show strong one-year returns and pay enough to beat Treasury bills after taxes.

$7,500 T. Rowe Price Tax-Free Short-Intermediate (PRFSX). Yield, 3.0%. One-year total return, 5.5%.

$7,500 VanEck Short Muni ETF (SMB). Yield, 2.8%. One-year return, 5.1%.

INTERMEDIATE-TERM: 45%. The addition of the PGIM fund adds gusto in the form of its high yield, but also a few riskier assets. So far, however, PMIO looks like a swell choice to augment the proven management talent at Baird and Fidelity. The PGIM fund is still tiny, at $45 million, which puzzles us, but it was $33 million in our previous report.

$15,000 Baird Strategic Municipal Bond (BSNSX). Yield, 3.4%. One-year return, 6.4%.

$15,000 Fidelity Intermediate Municipal Income (FLTMX). Yield, 2.9%. One-year return, 6.8%.

$15,000 PGIM Municipal Opportunities ETF (PMIO). Yield, 4.7%. One-year return, 7.4%.

LONG-TERM: 40%. Following last year's up-and-down net asset values, the prices here changed little, although NMZ, the closed-end Nuveen high-yield fund and the portfolio's performance leader many times, shed a few cents of share value but saw its one-year return vault from minus 0.9% to plus 7.8% as it regained a premium to NAV.

$10,000 NYLI MacKay Strategic Municipal Allocation (MTFDX). Yield, 3.3%. One-year return, 7.9%.

$10,000 Nuveen Municipal High-Income Opportunity (NMZ). Distribution, 7.5%. One-year return, 7.8%.

$10,000 Vanguard California Long-Term Tax Exempt (VCITX). Yield, 3.5%. One-year return, 7.8%.

$10,000 Vanguard Long-Term Tax Exempt (VWLTX). Yield, 3.7%. One-year return, 7.6%.

Special Issue

Model Portfolio: Going for the Max

We review each of our model portfolios every four months. This check-up and analysis was published in the June, 2026, issue and covers the period ending May 15, 2026. For the latest data and to keep up to date, subscribe to Kiplinger Investing for Income.

Suddenly rocky and unpredictable markets are again testing our axiom that maximum yield compensates for occasional pressure on fixed-income principal values. A year ago, after the Liberation Day tariff ruckus tanked the markets, Max lost 6% of its capital. But its income recovered more than half the loss, consistent with our “Long-Term Very-High-Yield Proposition” (detailed in our March 2024 letter). It holds that although high-yield bonds, leveraged closed-end funds, high-interest-rate lenders, and energy and mortgage pass-throughs usually lose value during economic ructions and trading panics, the extra income (our target is 8% to 10%) eventually offsets those declines. So the risk is exaggerated.

Now, with bond prices falling and with utilities and most REITs, which were already expensive, under siege from inflation and rising interest rates, the current period presents another challenge. This equal-weighed $100,000 virtual portfolio lost a little principal (0.3%). But it generated $2,733 of income between January 23 and May 15, which brought the final tally for the trimester to $102,414, for a 7.2% annualized gain. The going was smoother until the U.S. attack on Iran at the end of February, which sparked a series of ups and downs before the May interest rate spike that, for example, nicked nearly $1.50 off the share price of fixed-rate-mortgage buyer Annaly Capital. Still, none of our 10 selections suffered much, and none cut dividends or distributions—except for a routine seasonal dip in the payout from Fidelity Real Estate Income, which we include despite its modest yield to keep real estate in the mix. If you are unimpressed by FRIFX’s yield, we suggest a leveraged closed-end realty fund. But note that the Fidelity fund has many high-yield bonds, not just the usual REIT shares, so we use it as a supplement to Vanguard High Yield Corporate and for sector diversification. No changes to the list.

Abrdn High Income Opportunities (BJBHX, $7.70, current yield or distribution 6.7%, one-year

total return through May 15, 5.8%) is a global high-yield corporate bond fund with about two-thirds of its assets invested in the U.S.

Annaly Capital Management (NLY, $21.68, 12.9%, 24.2%) saw its share price slip in May as long-term Treasury and mortgage rates rose, but the dividend is safe.

Ares Capital (ARCC, $18.90, 10.2%, -3.9%) stands tall within the out-of-favor business development company universe, trading at a 3% discount to NAV, vs. 17% for an index of 15 large BDCs. The category’s heavy seas may take a while to calm.

BlackRock Debt Strategies Fund (DSU, $9.83, 5.9%, 5.9%) is a moderately leveraged CEF with a duration of less than 1 and a portfolio whose yield to maturity is nearly 9%. The NAV has slid so far in 2026, but it has leveled off since mid-March.

Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Global Dividend Income (ETG, $22.75, 6.8%, 22.6%) is hanging in there due to this year’s investor preference for dividend-paying stocks. It has opened a 9% discount to NAV again, which looks like a buying opportunity.

Fidelity Real Estate Income (FRIFX, $12.44, 4.6%, 7.7%) is both a bond fund and a stock fund, so it yields more than most REIT funds but less than other high-yield bond vehicles.

Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD, $17.89, 11.8%, 22.8%) continues to do what everyone expects.

Plains All-American Pipeline (PAA, $19.19, 7.3%, 41.8%) has fully recovered after a few years when its management strategy was confused, and it says it intends to keep raising dividends sharply.

Suburban Propane Partners (SPH, $20.00, 6.5%, 9.7%) is a constant high-income and no-surprises energy pass-through.

Vanguard High Yield Corporate (VWEHX, $5.46, 6.3%, 6.6%) is lagging many of its peers in 2026 but has a fine long-term record. Feel free to sub any other high-yield fund you may prefer.

Kiplinger

Investing for Income Strategies to Boost Your Cash Yield

Is it worth it? Test yourself...

What's the single most important principle for generating steady monthly income with reasonable risk?

☐ Diversification. Spread your investments across a mix of asset classes to reduce risk. ☐ Quality Over Quantity. For dividend stocks, look for a long history of paying increasing dividends. For bonds, select those with higher credit ratings. ☐ Yield vs. Total Return. Always aim for the highest total return, which includes both income and capital appreciation. ☐ Tax Considerations. The fastest way to higher yields is to choose tax-advantaged investments.

Don't know? Don't guess! Subscribe to Kiplinger Investing for Income and get the insight and experience you need to start generating more cash income in any economic climate, under any market conditions. Start a risk-free subscription now and put it to the test.

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Investing

INFLATION IS STICKY. FIGHT IT WITH THESE FUNDS.

FUND TRENDS BY DAVID MILSTEAD

THE specter of inflation seems likely to haunt the economy for the foreseeable future. One way to inflation-proof your portfolio is to invest in companies that sell or process basic materials, such as chemicals, or natural resources, such as minerals and energy.

That partly explains a recent upgrade of stocks in the materials sector by Ian Mikkelsen, a stock analyst for the Wells Fargo Investment Institute. The sector typically sees gains as the economy grows, but geopolitical dynamics are increasing investors' focus on the resilience of supply chains, too, and that supports higher prices for materials and makes the

companies that extract, process or sell them more appealing.

Natural resources are an indirect tech trade, too, say strategists at BCA Research. "In a world of digital abundance, whatever remains scarce gains value, which could ironically leave natural resources as the biggest winners from artificial intelligence."

Actively managed Fidelity Global Commodity Stock (symbol FFGCX) is big on energy, which made up nearly 40% of the fund at last report. ExxonMobil is the top holding. Its next four biggest holdings sell seeds, crops and fertilizer. The fund is up 32.3% over the past year—above-average for the category—

with an expense ratio of 0.85%.

Fidelity Select Materials Portfolio (FSDPX), also actively managed, has a heavier emphasis on industrial gases, construction materials and specialty chemicals. The fund's lack of energy holdings and a lighter weight than some funds in precious metals miners has caused it to lag peers recently, but it's a good option for investors who already have exposure to energy or gold elsewhere in their portfolio. An expense ratio of 0.69% makes it one of the cheapest funds in the category. ■

You can contact the author at David.Milstead@futurenet.com.

20 LARGEST STOCK AND BOND MUTUAL FUNDS Funds are ranked by asset size.

Stock mutual funds

Name	Symbol	Assets* (billions)	Annualized total return		Max. sales charge
			1 yr.	5 yrs.
1 Vanguard Total Stock Mkt Idx Adm	VTSAX	$1,648.3	23.1%	12.2%	none
2 Fidelity 500 Index®	FXAIX	827.5	22.3	12.2	none
3 Vanguard 500 Index Admiral	VFIAX	706.0	22.3	13.4	none
4 Vanguard Total Intl Stock Index Admiral	VTIAX	654.9	27.4	8.8	none
5 American Funds Growth Fund of Amer A	AGTHX	360.6	18.9	11.5	5.75%
6 American Funds American Balanced A	ABALX	287.6	20.6	9.7	5.75
7 American Funds Washington Mutual A	AWSHX	218.1	15.3	12.3	5.75
8 American Funds Invmt Co of Amer A	AIVSX	186.4	19.4	14.5	5.75
9 Fidelity Contrafund	FCNTX	182.6	27.6	14.6	5.75
10 American Funds New Perspective A	ANWPX	180.0	25.7	15.1	none
S&P 500 INDEX			22.3	13.4
MSCI EAFE			20.2	9.0

Bond mutual funds

Name	Symbol	Assets* (billions)	1-yr. total return	Yield	Max. sales charge

1 Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Adm	VBTLX	$394.4	3.7%	4.5%	none
2 Pimco Income A	PONAX	227.8	6.4	5.6	3.75%
3 Dodge & Cox Income I	DODIX	109.3	4.7	4.3	none
4 American Funds Bond Fund of Amer A	ABNDX	100.7	3.3	4.0	3.75
5 Vanguard Interm-Term Tx-Ex Inv	VWITX	88.6	6.2	3.3	none
6 Fidelity U.S. Bond Index®	FXNAX	69.2	3.8	4.4	none
7 Baird Aggregate Bond Inv	BAGSX	57.9	3.7	4.1	none
8 Vanguard Short-Term Investment-Grade Inv	VFSTX	55.2	3.8	4.6	none
9 PGIM Total Return Bond A	PDBAX	53.9	4.2	4.3	3.25
10 JPMorgan Core Bond A	PGBOX	53.1	3.5	3.7	3.75
BLOOMBERG U.S. AGGREGATE BOND INDEX			3.8	4.7
ICE BOFA U.S. MUNICIPAL INDEX			6.2	3.4

Data as of June 30, or the latest available. Unless otherwise indicated, funds come in multiple share classes; we list the share class that is best suited for individual investors. *For all mutual fund share classes combined. ©Only share class. MSCI EAFE tracks stocks in developed foreign markets. SOURCES: Morningstar Direct, WSJ.com.

September 2026 37

Investing Commentary

The Sweet Spot for Dividends

INCOME INVESTING BY JEFFREY R. KOSNETT

LAST month I proclaimed short (but not ultra-short) maturities as the ideal place along the present fixed-income curve. Is there also an ideal target for yield-seeking stock investors?

This year has been swell for popular dividend funds. Through June 30, for example, Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity (symbol SCHD) returned 18%, boosted by tech and drug winners. Based on its most recent quarterly distribution, the exchange-traded fund yields 2.7%, which lags utilities, energy partnerships, real estate investment trusts and even a fourth of the names in the S&P 500. Perhaps the path to optimizing dividends is simply to concentrate on pipelines, REITs and utilities. But that leaves out a pile of possibilities.

When you benchmark stocks against 4% bank, Treasury and money market rates, 2.7% appears weak. I disagree, given that good stocks appreciate, dividends are not fixed, and the payouts are often tax-qualified, with a maximum 20% tax bite (23.8% for a few rich taxpayers). I would not chase the top of the stock-yield charts, where long-term returns can be awful.

Is there a dividend sweet spot? I set a goal of 10% total return that includes 2.5% (or more) from cash. Here's where I found possibilities: (1) A screen for qualifying companies with rising earnings and cash flow and a reasonable payout ratio.

(2) Mutual funds and ETFs that filter dividend payers by a formula designed to provide high risk-adjusted returns. (3) Actively managed dividend funds. (4) A strategy of accumulating individual shares, building a substantial yield on their average cost. The twist: Enter only at yields of 2.5% or above. Thoughts on each:

Screening quality stocks for yield and return. If you set a 10% five- or 10-year return target, plus a 2.5% yield hurdle, you lose high-yielding losers like Medtronic but green-light an array of energy giants such as ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX), big banks such as PNC Financial Services (PNC) and Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB), and some defense contractors. These embellish any collection of REITs and utilities without requiring you to spot long shots and turnarounds.

Gadget-type dividend funds. The archetype is WisdomTree U.S. High Dividend Fund (DHS), whose method is complicated but selects much of what I just described. The monthly dividends are lumpy, but you get more than 3% with low volatility; in the first half of 2026, the fund returned 13.7%. ALPS Sector Dividend Dogs (SDOG) has a method utterly unlike that of the WisdomTree fund, but results are comparable; it is up 17% and change. Fidelity High Dividend (FDVV) is another option, albeit riskier as the ETF includes high-octane fuel such as Nvidia and

Alphabet. I would be chary of any new or unproven dividend-filter ETF schemes, but this trio is worthy.

Active dividend funds. Besides the Schwab ETF mentioned above, I suggest Federated Hermes Strategic Value Dividend A (SVAAX) and its more U.S.-focused ETF cousin, U.S. Strategic Dividend (FDV). Whether purely active management outdoes the rules-based dividend screeners like those employed by ALPS and WisdomTree is an open question. But you get paid well and distributions per share often rise annually.

Buy, hold, collect and grow. Normally a dividend-growth plan centers on world-beaters such as Apple and Walmart in their early years when they start to pay cash, because you can anticipate a lifetime of generous raises. I propose a variation: Build fresh positions in 2.5%-and-up payers also known for robust dividend growth. This will be the subject of a future column. Hold the thought. I

Jeff Kosnett is editor of Kiplinger Investing for Income. You can reach him at Jeff.Kosnett@futurenet.com.

Good stocks appreciate, dividends aren't fixed and payouts are often tax-qualified.

38 Kiplinger Personal Finance

PHOTO BY BOB CROSLIN

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MONEY

FIND THE BEST BANK FOR YOU

We studied interest rates, fees, premium services and other account features. These institutions rose to the top.

BY MALLIKA MITRA AND ELLA VINCENT

CHANCES are, you've been with the same bank for years. After all, it's easier to stick with the checking account you have now than to switch to a new one. But every once in a while, it's worth looking at what else is out there. Even if you're mostly satisfied with your current bank, you may find that a different one better fits your needs, whether with lower fees, higher interest rates, superior in-person services, or more-attractive premium account packages that layer

on the perks as your wealth grows. Or you may choose to stick with your current institution for everyday banking and open a savings account or certificate of deposit at an online bank or credit union, taking advantage of high yields on your extra cash.

You'll find plenty of great options to consider here. With the help of LendingTree, which collects deposit-account information, we've analyzed interest rates, fees, balance requirements and other features of accounts at national banks, credit unions, online banks and regional banks, and we've named winners in each of

those categories. For the first three categories, we selected three honorees and listed them in alphabetical order. For regional banks, we chose one winner in each of four areas: the Northeast, the Midwest, the South and the West. We've also highlighted two institutions that may be strong choices for customers in each of four profiles: retirees, high-net-worth clients, travelers and families with kids. (For more on how we selected the winners, see the box on page 48.)

Interest rates change frequently, so before you commit to any of these accounts, check the current yield.

GETTY IMAGES

40 Kiplinger Personal Finance

Yields and other terms listed here are as of early July.

→ BEST NATIONAL BANKS

These institutions have large branch networks as well as online banking tools, making it easy to access your money wherever you are. And they offer a range of accounts and services, from basic checking and savings options to premium packages.

Chase Bank

chase.com**

Where it is: About 5,000 branches in all of the lower 48 states and Washington,

D.C. (Rates and terms are for customers in Columbus, Ohio.) Chase's most popular checking account, Total Checking, gives customers four ways to waive the $15 service fee during each monthly statement period. One is by making at least $500 in monthly electronic deposits (a paycheck will do). Premier Plus Checking has more bells and whistles, such as free cashier's checks and money orders, and offers multiple ways to avoid the monthly service fee, too. On the savings side, Chase Savings comes with five ways to avoid the $5 monthly fee. Among the bank's CDs,

you could recently get a 3.2% yield on a certificate with a four-month term and a $1,000 minimum deposit if you have a linked checking account.

Chase also wins the title of bank with the best access. With the largest branch network of any national bank, more than 14,000 ATMs and ample online tools, you can easily manage your money in-person or virtually. And Chase is even expanding its brick-and-mortar footprint: In February, it announced plans to open 160 new branches in more than 30 states this year and to renovate nearly 600 locations.

September 2026 41

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PNC Bank

pnc.com

Where it is: About 2,300 branches across 27 states and Washington, D.C. (Rates and terms are for customers in Pittsburgh.)

With Simple Checking, customers can get the $5 service fee waived with just one qualifying direct deposit of any amount; those who are 62 or older or who are younger than 25 also avoid the monthly fee. Plus, the account charges no overdraft fees (if you try to spend more than you have in your account, the transaction will be declined), and cashier's checks are free. Standard Savings also comes with an easily avoidable $5 monthly fee. PNC offers a wide range of CDs (from one month to 10 years), with yields as high as 3.5% recently on a certificate with a 13-month term ($1,000 minimum deposit).

If packaging your checking and savings accounts together appeals to you, check out Virtual Wallet, which includes a primary checking account for daily expenses, another checking account to reserve funds for upcoming expenses, and a savings account. Virtual Wallet features extra budgeting tools, too, such as graphics that provide a visual breakdown of your spending and a calendar to track bills and payments.

PNC has some attractive benefits for customers who can keep a high balance in their deposit and investment accounts with the bank. For more, see the "Best for High-Net-Worth Clients" section, on page 47.

TD Bank

td.com

Where it is: About 1,050 locations across 15 states (mostly on the East Coast) and in Washington, D.C. (Rates and terms are for customers in Mount Laurel, N.J.)

TD Bank has been a recurring winner on our list of the best national banks, thanks to a well-rounded suite of products with reasonable

requirements to avoid monthly fees. Essential Banking is a strong starter checking account with no monthly fee for those ages 13 to 17 (otherwise, the fee is $4.95). Complete Checking provides a simple way to manage daily spending, with three avenues to get the $15 monthly fee waived: $500 or more in direct deposits each statement cycle, a minimum daily balance of $500, or a $5,000 minimum daily combined balance across linked TD deposit accounts. Beyond Checking is a strong choice for customers who can meet higher balance or deposit requirements; for more, see the "Best for Retirees" section, on page 46.

Simple Savings charges no monthly fee if you keep at least $300 in the account (it offers other ways to avoid the fee, too), and it yields 0.02%. The Signature Savings yield goes as high as 2.5%, although you'll need at least $250,000 in your account to earn that much. (Maintain a $10,000 balance or link an eligible TD checking account to avoid the $15 monthly fee.) The $250 minimum deposit requirement for CDs is low compared with the minimums many other banks impose.

→ BEST CREDIT UNIONS

Unlike banks, credit unions are non-profit institutions collectively owned by their members. They often have higher yields and lower fees than their for-profit counterparts. Many credit unions serve specific states or regions, but all of our picks offer an option for anyone to join no matter where in the country they live.

Alliant Credit Union

alliantcreditunion.org

Where it is: Alliant operates online.

How to join: Join the Alliant Credit Union Foundation; Alliant will pay the one-time $5 membership fee on your behalf.

Alliant's free High-Rate Checking comes with a 0.25% yield—a decent rate, considering that most checking accounts don't yield anything, and those that do typically pay less than 0.1%. Customers don't have to worry about many of the fees banks sometimes charge, such as those to replace a lost debit card, and you get a monthly rebate of up to $20 for fees charged if you withdraw money from an ATM outside of the network of more than 80,000 machines you can use fee-free. The Jumbo High-Rate

42 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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Checking account earns a 2% yield if you make a direct deposit of at least $5,000 monthly, maintain an average daily balance of $10,000 or more across all your deposit accounts with Alliant, and sign up for electronic statements. Or, if you have at least $2,500 in monthly direct deposits and receive e-statements, you get a 1% yield. Teen Checking earns 0.25%.

For savers, the High-Rate Savings account earns 3.01% with a minimum balance of just $100, as does the Kids Savings account. The Jumbo Savings account comes with a 3.35% yield on a $100,000 minimum balance. The CD rates are generous, too, with a one-year certificate recently yielding 3.75%. The minimum deposit is $1,000.

Lake Michigan Credit Union

lmcu.org

Where it is: About 75 branches, mostly in Michigan, with some in Florida.

How to join: Make a one-time, $5 donation to the ALS Foundation. LMCU's most popular checking account is Max Checking, which has no minimum balance requirement and no monthly fee. It offers a 4% yield on balances up to $15,000 if you meet monthly requirements that include having direct deposits, making at least 10 purchases with your LMCU debit or credit card, logging in to online or mobile banking at least four times, and receiving electronic statements. There's also the simple Free Checking account; Advantage 50 Checking for members 50 and older, offering a yield up to 0.25%; and Investor Checking, with a yield of 0.15% or 0.2%, depending on your balance (maintain a minimum $2,500 daily balance to avoid the $10 monthly fee).

Max Savings provides a 1.75% yield on balances up to $100,000, and the yield gradually increases to 3.9% for a balance of $1 million or more. The Max Money Market account comes with a 1% yield for

balances up to $25,000, with the rate rising to as much as 3.9% for a balance of at least $1 million. There are plenty of CDs to choose from, with yields as high as 3.9%. They require a $500 minimum deposit.

PenFed Credit Union

penfed.org

Where it is: 38 locations across 12 states as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam.

How to join: Open a Regular Share or Premium Online Savings account and deposit a minimum of $5.

The simple Free Checking account provides customers with fee-free access to more than 85,000 ATMs, as well as the ability to send money via peer-to-peer transfer service Zelle. Access America Checking offers a bit more, including a 0.05% yield on balances of $25 to $50,000 and enhanced rewards on some of PenFed's credit cards. You can easily avoid the $10 monthly fee by setting up a monthly direct deposit of at least $500 or maintaining a daily balance of at least $500.

Savers can opt for Premium Online Savings, which offers a 2.7% yield on all balances for no monthly fee. PenFed also offers CDs with term lengths of six months to seven years; most of them recently yielded 2.9%, with a $1,000 minimum deposit.

→ BEST ONLINE BANKS

Online-only banks don't face the overhead costs of running physical branches, so they can funnel that extra money to customers through competitive interest rates and low fees. Our picks offer some of the highest yields on the market, but we also assessed fees, the range of offerings, budgeting tools and more.

Ally Bank

ally.com

Ally's Spending Account is a free checking account that provides

access to more than 75,000 ATMs without surcharges, and you get a $10 rebate per statement cycle for fees levied by out-of-network machines. But where Ally really shines its savings products. The free Savings Account comes with a 3% yield on all balances, plus the ability to create up to 30 "savings buckets" to allocate cash to different goals, whether an emergency fund or a vacation. You can also arrange "round ups" so that transactions from your checking account are rounded up to the nearest dollar and the difference is transferred to your savings account when you've accrued at least $5. With "surprise savings," Ally identifies amounts of $25 or less in your checking account that the tool deems safe to automatically transfer to savings without risk that your checking balance will dip too low to cover your spending.

Ally's free Money Market Account also comes with a 3% yield, and the bank offers three kinds of CDs. The High-Yield CD recently had a rate of up to 3.7%, for a certificate with a 12-month maturity. Raise Your Rate CDs offer a 3% yield and the flexibility to increase your rate once over a two-year term or twice over a four-year term if Ally raises its rates. The No Penalty CD has a 2.7% yield and no penalty for early withdrawals. The CDs have no minimum deposit requirement.

Axos Bank

axosbank.com

Axos Checking charges no monthly fee, and all you have to do to earn a 1% yield is set up a direct deposit of at least $1. Customers have fee-free access to more than 95,000 ATMs across the country and get unlimited reimbursement of domestic out-of-network ATM surcharges. Summit Savings offers a 3.75% yield with no fees or balance requirements.

Especially noteworthy is the bank's checking-and-savings bundle, Axos

September 2026 43

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One. You earn a 4.21% yield on savings balances of less than $250,000 (3.5% on higher balances) and 0.51% on checking by meeting one of two requirements: Receive at least $1,500 in monthly qualifying direct deposits and maintain an average daily balance of at least $1,500, or receive at least $5,000 in all monthly qualifying deposits (including deposits such as paper checks) and maintain an average daily balance of at least $5,000.

Among the other accounts from Axos are First Checking and First Savings, designed for teenagers, and Private Client Checking and Savings, with extra benefits for customers who maintain a balance of at least $250,000.

Bask Bank

baskbank.com

Bask Bank stands out for its free Interest Checking account, which pays a 1% yield on all balances with no strings attached. Customers get access to more than 55,000 surcharge-free ATMs and the ability to transfer money with Zelle.

The savings accounts are impressive, too. Interest Savings offers a base yield of 3.75%, but you can boost that to 4% with at least $2,500 in qualifying automated deposits during each statement period. Recently, new customers could also get a little extra yield when they open an account, bringing the total potential yield to 4.1%. The Mileage Savings Account lets you earn 1.75 American Airlines AAdvantage miles for every $1 you save annually. With a $1,000 minimum deposit, you can also open a CD with Bask. Terms range from three months to two years, and yields range from 3.65% to 4.1%.

→ BEST REGIONAL BANKS

Regional banks have between $10 billion and $100 billion in assets and serve specific areas. As a result, they often have more-personalized customer service than you may find

with a national bank, and they often reinvest money into the community.

Best in the Northeast:

ConnectOne Bank

connectonebank.com

Where it is: More than 60 locations across New York, New Jersey and South Florida.

Totally Free Checking is, as the name implies, free of monthly fees. It's a simple account, but it allows customers to send money via Zelle. Simply Better Checking also charges no monthly fee, and it reimburses up to $10 monthly in out-of-network ATM fees if you use direct deposit and maintain a $500 average daily balance. Consumer Interest Checking yields 1.15% on balances of $1,000 or more, and it reimburses up to $10 a month in ATM surcharges if you use direct deposit and have an average daily balance of $1,000. (By keeping your balance at $1,000 or more, you'll also skip the $10 monthly fee.)

Among ConnectOne's savings options, Connect Money Market has a 2% yield, or 2.1% for balances above $25,000. It requires a $1,000 minimum opening deposit, and you need to maintain an average daily balance of at least $5,000 to avoid the $10 monthly fee. Connection Plus Savings offers a 3% yield on balances of at least $2,500, and the CDs come with a relatively low deposit requirement of $500. The four-month penalty-free certificate pays 4%.

Best in the Midwest:

Old National Bank

oldnational.com

Where it is: About 350 locations in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Tennessee and Wisconsin. Old National has four popular checking-account options, including one for students and another for customers 50 and older. ONB Everyday Checking is the basic account for everyday needs, and a recent promotion offered

a $600 bonus for signing up and making $12,000 in direct deposits in the first four months. The account comes with a $6.95 monthly fee, but you can get it waived with $500 in monthly direct deposits, a daily balance of $500, a $1,500 daily balance across all qualifying accounts with Old National, or 15 or more debit card transactions during the statement cycle. ONB Preferred Checking offers free standard checks, and the bank won't charge you for the first five monthly transactions at out-of-network ATMs (but you may pay fees to the ATM operator). Preferred Checking has a $15 monthly charge, but it goes to zero if you have a daily balance of $5,000 in the account or $25,000 across all eligible accounts.

Old National offers a variety of savings options, including a savings account for kids. Among CDs, one with a four-month maturity recently had a 4% yield, with a $500 minimum deposit requirement.

Best in the South: FirstBank

firstbankonline.com

Where it is: About 90 branches across Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina. Essential Checking includes the basics for no monthly fee, while the free FirstRewards Checking pays a yield of 1.51% on balances up to $25,000 (0.55% on the portion of the balance higher than that) if you meet certain monthly requirements: making 10 debit card purchases, having one qualifying transfer into or out of the account, and receiving e-statements. The account also refunds out-of-network ATM fees. Swipe Smart Checking, another free account, may make sense for people opening their first account or students who primarily use a debit card (the account doesn't offer paper checks). Other checking accounts include USA Checking for Seniors, for those 62 and older, and Interesting Checking ($8 monthly fee if your balance falls

44 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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below $1,000), offering a yield of 0.41% on balances of $1,000 to $24,999, 0.45% on balances of $25,000 to $49,999, and 0.5% on higher balances.

For savers, FirstBank's options include FirstUp Savings, yielding 3.82% on up to $25,000. The bank waives the $5 monthly fee if you have a minimum balance of $50. The six- and 30-month CDs ($500 minimum deposit) yield 3.8%, and the Consumer Fed Funds Money Market account recently paid 1.46% on balances up to $99,999, and 2.93% on higher balances (you avoid the $10 service fee if you have an Essential Checking account or keep at least $100,000 in the money market account).

Best in the West: WaFd Bank

wafdbank.com

Where it is: More than 200 branches across Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington.

Free Checking is WaFd's basic checking account, and Rewards Checking is an elevated version that comes with a $6 monthly fee in exchange for perks such as a discount of 5 cents per gallon on gas at Shell stations, cell phone insurance, free access to the Greenlight program for managing money with kids, and a credit-monitoring service.

Premium Rewards Checking has a $9 monthly fee but comes with more benefits, including dark-web monitoring, 24/7 roadside assistance and telehealth services. Interest Checking offers those benefits plus a yield as high as 0.25% (on balances of $250,000 or more). It waives the $12 monthly fee if you have a $5,000 average daily balance or $50,000 across eligible accounts with WaFd.

WaFd's Savings account, yielding 0.1% on balances of at least $100, is free for minors; otherwise, you can avoid the $3 monthly fee by maintaining a balance of at least $100. Start Savings offers a 5% yield on a balance

up to $500, 2.47% on the portion of the balance between $500 and $1,000, and 0.1% on larger amounts. (To open this account, you must have a WaFd checking account.) If you're looking for better yields on big balances, check out the money market accounts, such as the High Yield Money Market (yielding as much as 2% on $500,000 or more) and CDs. Recently, a certificate with a seven- or 13-month maturity yielded 4% ($1,000 minimum deposit).

→ BEST FOR RETIREES

Whether you're looking for in-person services, high yields or low fees, you can find a suitable choice here.

Fidelity Investments

fidelity.com

Fidelity's Cash Management Account is a brokerage account offering many of the features that come with a traditional checking account, and it's a great choice for customers who have other investment accounts with Fidelity. Cash Management has no monthly fee or minimum balance requirement, and standard checks are free. You get unlimited reimbursement of out-of-network ATM fees worldwide, and you pay no foreign-transaction fee on transactions you

make abroad with your debit card.

You have two options to earn a yield on your cash, and both allow you to spend or withdraw your money at any time. One is to "sweep" the funds into partner bank accounts, protecting up to $4 million against bank failure with Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. coverage; recently, sweep balances earned a 1.84% yield. Alternatively, you can hold the money in Fidelity Government Money Market Fund (symbol SPAXX), with a recent seven-day yield of 3.29%. While a money fund is a low-risk place to park cash, it doesn't come with FDIC coverage.

TD Bank

td.com

TD's Beyond Checking account offers a number of perks that retirees may appreciate, including free standard checks, money orders, cashier's checks and incoming wire transfers. One outgoing wire transfer is free each month, too. And TD reimburses fees that out-of-network ATM operators charge to use their machines as

46 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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long as you have a balance of at least $2,500. You won't pay the $25 maintenance fee if you have $5,000 or more in monthly direct deposits, maintain a daily balance of at least $2,500, or have at least $25,000 in combined balances in eligible TD deposit accounts and loans.

The Simple Savings account waives the $5 monthly maintenance fee for those who are 62 and older, although its yield was recently just 0.02%. For a better interest rate on your savings, check out TD's Choice Promotional CDs. Recently, yields included 3.51% for a nine-month term and 3.25% for a 12-month term, and the minimum deposit is just $250.

→ BEST FOR HIGH-NET-WORTH CLIENTS

Customers who keep big balances with these banks reap a host of perks, including personalized wealth management, exclusive rewards and waived fees on many account services.

Citibank

citi.com

Where it is: About 650 branches the U.S., with many in the Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Miami, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., metro areas.

Through its Citigold program, Citibank rolls out the red carpet for those who maintain a monthly balance of at least $200,000 in combined deposit, investment and retirement accounts at Citi. The perks include a dedicated wealth team who help you craft a financial plan, and you get access to Citi Research & Insights, offering market commentary from Citi analysts. Customers also enjoy waived monthly fees on checking and savings accounts; free standard checks, money orders, cashier's checks and online wire transfers; unlimited reimbursement of out-of-network ATM surcharges globally; and waived foreign-transaction fees on transactions overseas.

Lifestyle benefits are part of the package, too. Members get complimentary access to a few New York City attractions, including the Museum of Modern Art and the New York Botanical Garden, as well as to Citigold lounges, which you'll find in a handful of U.S. cities as well as some international locations. Plus, get an annual rebate of up to $200 on certain subscriptions and memberships, including Amazon Prime, Costco Wholesale, Hulu, Spotify Premium, TSA PreCheck and Global Entry.

With an average monthly balance of $1 million in qualifying accounts, you're eligible for Citigold Private Client, which offers additional benefits, including more-extensive wealth management services, such as legacy and estate planning as well as gifting strategies. You also get extra banking benefits, such as increased ATM withdrawal limits, and $400 in annual subscription rebates.

PNC Bank

pnc.com

In the spring, PNC debuted its Total Rewards program, which has benefits that increase along with your combined 90-day average balance in eligible PNC deposit and investment accounts. If you have a balance between $25,000 and $99,999, you're eligible for the silver tier, which offers perks such as a 10% boost on the standard interest rate on eligible savings accounts (so a standard rate of 1%, for example, becomes 1.1%), a 5% bonus on rewards with select PNC credit cards, and commission-free online investment trades. The gold tier, requiring a balance between $100,000 and $499,999, provides a 20% rate boost on savings, a 25% bonus on credit card rewards, and no annual service fee on eligible PNC brokerage accounts. For those with a balance of

$500,000 or more, the platinum tier offers a 25% savings account rate boost and a 35% bonus on credit card rewards, among other perks.

PNC also launched Premier Client earlier this year, aimed at customers with more than $100,000 in deposits and investments at PNC. The service includes access to a dedicated personal banker and a dedicated financial adviser, who offer one-on-one guidance. Through 2027, PNC is converting 200 of its existing branches into premier branches that cater to clients of this service. Those with $3 million or more in assets qualify for PNC's Private Bank. Clients get a team of several advisers, including a wealth strategist and investment adviser, waived fees on many account services, and unlimited reimbursement of out-of-network ATM surcharges.

→ BEST FOR TRAVELERS

Whether you're a jet-setter or an occasional traveler, you can take advantage of the benefits these banks offer when you're on the road.

Capital One

capitalone.com

Where it is: About 250 branches in a handful of eastern and southern states and Washington, D.C. Capital One's 360 Checking is a solid account all around, with no minimum balance requirement, monthly fee or overdraft fees. Plus, you pay no foreign-transaction fee when you use your debit card for purchases or ATM withdrawals abroad, and you get free access to 70,000 in-network Capital One, Allpoint and MoneyPass ATMs in the U.S. If you use an out-of-network machine, Capital One won't charge you, although the ATM operator likely will. Capital One's 360 Performance Savings is also free of monthly fees and minimum balance requirements, and it yields 3%.

In addition to its standard bank branches, the bank has Capital One Cafés around the country. The cafés

September 2026 47

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offer banking services, free Wi-Fi, private workspaces, and food and drinks. Customers get 50% off handcrafted beverages if they pay with a Capital One or Discover debit or credit card.

Charles Schwab Bank

schwab.com/bank

The Schwab Investor Banking Checking account is a prime choice for travelers. The free, no-minimum account imposes no foreign-transaction fees on international debit card purchases and withdrawals, and you get unlimited reimbursement of ATM surcharges worldwide. The debit card provides extra benefits, too, including extended warranty protection, travel accident insurance and roadside dispatch.

You must link Schwab's checking account to a Schwab One brokerage account, which requires no minimum balance. You can easily transfer money between the two accounts. For a safe place to park extra funds, consider Schwab's FDIC-insured Investor Savings account. Like the checking account, it has no monthly fee and reimburses all ATM fees. It yields 0.15%.

→ BEST FOR FAMILIES WITH KIDS

These institutions offer specialized accounts for young people as they

learn the ropes of spending and saving, as well as tools for parents to help manage and monitor the accounts.

Bank of America

bankofamerica.com

Where it is: About 3,600 branches in 38 states and Washington, D.C. (Rates and terms are for customers in Charlotte, N.C.)

For families who want to take their kids to a local branch to learn about banking, Bank of America is a good bet, with locations in most states. And it offers a couple of its Advantage accounts with families in mind; both have no monthly maintenance fee for those younger than 25 and charge no overdraft fees.

The parent-owned SafeBalance for Family Banking checking account, designed for elementary and middle-school children, lets your kids use a debit card, but you can monitor their spending, get alerts when they make purchases, and lock and unlock the debit card. Children 6 and older can log in to their account online to view balances and monitor transactions, but they can't deposit or transfer money.

Teens and young adults can use the SafeBalance Banking checking account, which parents co-own. Starting at age 16, a teen can become the sole owner of the account. Ac-

count holders can make deposits and transfer money online, and those 13 and older can send and receive money with Zelle.

For account owners younger than 25, Advantage Savings charges no monthly fee. It yields 0.04%.

Capital One

capitalone.com

Where it is: About 250 branches in a handful of eastern and southern states and Washington, D.C. Children 8 and older can jointly own Capital One's online MONEY Teen Checking account with their parents. The account has no monthly maintenance fee or minimum deposit requirement, and it offers a yield of 0.1%. Kids get a debit card, which parents can lock or unlock, and you can monitor their transactions with your own account login. You can make transfers into the MONEY account from your own checking account, regardless of whether your account is with Capital One or another institution.

Capital One also offers the no-fee, no-minimum Kids Savings Account, with a 2.5% yield. You can open multiple accounts for various savings goals. ¶

Send comments about this article to feedback@kiplinger.com.

HOW WE CHOSE THE TOP FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS

With data from LendingTree, which collects deposit-account information, as well as from financial institutions and other sources, we evaluated national banks, credit unions, online banks (including online accounts from brokerage firms) and regional banks. We reviewed checking accounts, savings

accounts, money market deposit accounts and certificates of deposit. We looked at features including interest rates; minimum deposit and balance requirements; monthly maintenance fees and the ease of waiving those fees; ATM benefits, such as waived or reimbursed fees for out-of-network withdrawals;

free or discounted benefits, such as personal checks, cashier's checks, paper statements and overdraft-protection transfers; overdraft fees; and online and mobile banking features, such as the availability of peer-to-peer payment services. Yields and other data listed in the article are as of early July.

48 Kiplinger Personal Finance

Money

TAX BREAKS FOR THE SELF-EMPLOYED

The editor of The Kiplinger Tax Letter responds to readers asking about deductions for retirees who work part-time for themselves. BY JOY TAYLOR

I am 72 years old, and I retired from my full-time job four years ago. I am now a part-time consultant and file Schedule C, reporting my income and deductions from the gig, with my federal tax return. My financial adviser said I can deduct the Medicare premiums that I pay, even though I don't itemize on Schedule A. Is that true? Yes. Generally, medical expenses, including premiums paid for medical insurance and for Medicare, are deductible only by those who itemize, and only to the extent that total medical expenses exceed 7.5% of adjusted gross income. But there is an exception for self-employed individuals who file Schedule C. They can deduct premiums they pay for medical and dental insurance and for qualified long-term-care insurance without itemizing. They claim the self-employed health insurance deduction on Form 1040, Schedule 1, part II, line 17. Premiums that you pay in your name for Medicare parts A, B and D are part of that deduction.

I retired from my full-time job a few years ago and receive a pension. I decided this year to work part-time for myself as a dog walker, and I drive to my clients' homes. Can I deduct the standard mileage rate for my business driving? Yes. The cost of business driving for self-employed individuals is a deductible business expense. You can claim either your actual expenses,

including gas, repairs and depreciation on your car, or the IRS's standard mileage allowance. For 2026, the standard mileage rate for business driving is 72.5 cents per mile. If you use the IRS's standard mileage rate, you can also deduct the cost of any tolls or parking fees that you pay.

Keep a contemporaneous mileage log detailing each of your dog-walking trips, which will make it much easier for you to figure your total business mileage when you are preparing your tax return. It will also help you if you are ever audited by the IRS.

I recently retired from my full-time job, and I am now an independent freelance writer. Can I claim the 20% deduction for qualified business income?

Generally, yes. Self-employed people, independent contractors, and owners of LLCs, S corporations and other pass-through entities can deduct 20% of their qualified business income (QBI), subject to limitations for individuals with taxable income in 2026 of more than $403,500 for joint filers and $201,750 for single filers and head-of-household filers.

Note that you don't claim the

QBI deduction on Schedule C. Instead, you would attach Form 8995 or 8995-A to your return and take the write-off on line 13a of Form 1040.

I am a lawyer and retired five years ago from my law firm. I still do legal work for some clients on a part-time basis as an independent contractor. I recently turned one of the bedrooms in my house into an office where I can do my work. Can I claim the home office deduction? Yes, if you meet all of the rules for claiming the write-off. Even though employees can't take a deduction for home office expenses, the write-off is available to self-employed people or independent contractors who file Schedule C with their 1040 and use a room or space in their home or apartment exclusively and regularly as their principal place of business.

If you qualify for the write-off, there are two ways to figure the deduction. You can allocate your actual costs on Form 8829. Or you can use a simplified option by deducting $5 per square foot of space used exclusively for business, up to 300 square feet, for a maximum write-off of $1,500. I

Have a tax question? Send it to askkiplinger@futurenet.com. Joy will reply and, with your permission, she may use your query in a future article. To see more tax questions and answers, go to kiplinger.com/tag/ask-the-editor.

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Money Commentary

A Financial Helpline for Women

MONEY SMART WOMEN BY JANET BODNAR

SAVVY Ladies is a nonprofit organization providing resources for women to build their financial knowledge. The group's primary resource is a free financial helpline that lets women get advice from a network of financial advisers who volunteer their time. I spoke with Savvy Ladies executive director Judy Herbst about the organization's history and what its clients want to know.

How did Savvy Ladies get started?

Our group was founded in 2003 by Stacy Francis, CEO of Francis Financial in New York City, who believed that every woman should be able to get sound financial advice from a safe place. We now have a network of about 300 pro bono volunteer advisers nationwide.

Who are the women seeking your help?

About 65% of the women have incomes under $75,000. Our top states for questions are California, New York, Texas, Florida and Ohio, but we get queries from every state. About 37% of our clients are single, and 20% are divorced.

You recently saw an uptick among younger clients.

We pretty consistently hear from about 180 to 200 women each month. But in May we ran a social media campaign linking financial health with overall health, and that struck a chord. We doubled

our number of questioners, especially in the 25- to 34-year-old age group, which makes up 38% of our clients.

Do your clients have a common concern? Anxiety is a common theme. Over 60% say they are anxious about their finances, and another 8% say they have no idea what to do, so nearly 70% have some anxiety. When they speak to a financial professional, it helps them clarify their situation and understand the terminology and the choices they can make. There's something about having someone listen to you without trying to sell you anything that eases their anxiety.

What kinds of questions are asked most frequently? We have 12 categories of questions, and the top two are debt management and budgeting/money management. We get a lot of questions from women in the low- to moderate-income group about how they can improve their credit score to buy a home. A home means security, and women are looking for security.

You say you also get a lot of questions about investing. Overall, investing is our third-largest category. Shifting from building savings to building wealth represents a big shift in mindset. Often the women who come to us have savings but are unaware what to do next.

Can you give an example? Right now, I am looking at a question from

a 26-year-old woman with income in the $25,000-to-$49,000 category who has saved $10,000 and would like to know what her options are. We are not going to tell clients what to do, but we can explain rates and fees and the differences between money market funds versus certificates of deposit versus the stock market, for instance.

Has the helpline changed over the years? Initially, we thought of it as assistance for women in crisis. That's still the case, but we're happy that we've moved the needle to get women to think proactively beyond debt management to how to build wealth and keep it.

How should women contact you?

Go to savvyladies.org and click on the helpline link. Fill out the question submission form, and one of our volunteers will generally get back to you within 72 hours.

Coming up: Answers to women's FAQs. ■

Janet Bodnar is editor at large of Kiplinger Personal Finance. Contact her at Janet.Bodnar@futurenet.com.

Anxiety about money is a common theme among women who seek advice.

50 Kiplinger Personal Finance

PHOTO BY NATH WILLIAM

Switch Cards, Keep Your Credit History

BY ELLA VINCENT

As your spending habits evolve, you may find that a credit card that once served you well is no longer a good fit. To get a more suitable card while preserving your current card's account history on your credit report, consider requesting a "product change," switching to a new card from the same issuer.

If you once traveled frequently but now dedicate more of your budget to groceries for your growing family, for example, you may want to swap a travel

RATE UPDATES

For the latest savings yields and loan rates, visit kiplinger.com/links/rates. For top rewards cards, go to kiplinger.com/kpf/rewardscards.

rewards card for one that offers a high rate of cash back at the supermarket, says Ted Rossman, principal analyst at Bankrate. Or if you charge more

to your credit card today than you did years ago, it may make sense to replace it with one that offers higher rewards on your spending, even if you must pay an annual fee. (Conversely, if your current card has an annual fee but you aren't gaining enough in rewards to justify it, it's probably best to get a no-fee card instead.)

To approve a product change, issuers typically run a "soft" credit check, which has no impact on your credit score. Once the change is complete, your credit line transfers to the new card. Maintaining your previous account's age and positive payment history on your credit report can be beneficial for your credit score.

On the downside, a product change usually leaves you ineligible for a welcome bonus (extra cash back, points or miles you can earn when you open a card, typically after meeting a minimum spending requirement) because you're already a customer of the issuer, says Rossman. You may also be limited to switching within the same family of cards. If your current card is co-branded with a certain hotel chain, for example, you'll likely be able to replace it only with another card associated with that hotel brand. ■

Reach the author at Ella.Vincent@futurenet.com.

TOP-YIELDING SAVINGS

Taxable Money Market Mutual Funds	7-day yield as of June 23	Minimum investment	Website
Gabelli US Treasury MF (GABXX)	3.60%	$10,000	gabelli.com
T. Rowe Price Cash Res (TSCXX)*	3.54	2,500	troweprice.com
DWS Govt & Agency MF (DTGXX)	3.51	1,000	dws.com
Northern U.S. Govt MMF (NOGXX)*	3.45	2,500	northerntrust.com
Tax-Free Money Market Mutual Funds	7-day yield as of June 22	Tax eq. yield 24%/35% bracket	Minimum investment
T. Rowe Price Tax-Ex MMF (PTEXX)*	2.37%	3.12%/3.87%	$2,500
Fidelity Muni MMF (FTEXX)	2.31	3.04/3.77	1
Schwab AMT Tax-Free MF (SWWXX)*	2.30	3.03/3.76	1
Amer Cent T-F MMF (BNTXX)	2.26	2.97/3.69	2,500
Savings and Money Market Deposit Accounts	Annual yield as of July 1	Minimum amount	Website
Pibank (Fla.)†	4.40%	$0	pibank.com
Elevault (Ark.)^	4.34	0	elevault.app
Axos Bank (Calif.)†	4.21	0	axosbank.com
Brilliant Bank (Kan.)†#	4.00	1,000	brilliant.bank
Certificates of Deposit 1-Year	Annual yield as of July 1	Minimum amount	Website
T Bank (Texas)†	4.16%	$500	tbank.com
Merrick Bank (Utah)†	4.16	25,000	merrickbank.com
Happen Bank (Calif.)‡	4.15	500	happen.com
Popular Direct (N.Y.)†	4.15	10,000	populardirect.com
Certificates of Deposit 5-Year	Annual yield as of July 1	Minimum amount	Website
NASA FCU (Md.)&	4.28%	$1,000	nasafcu.com
TAB Bank (Utah)†	4.20	1,000	tabbank.com
Merrick Bank (Utah)†	4.20	25,000	merrickbank.com
Sallie Mae Bank (Utah)†	4.15	2,500	salliemae.com

*Fund is waiving all or a portion of its expenses. †Internet only. ^Operates through a mobile app. #Money market deposit account. ‡CD term is 11 months. &Must be a member; to become a member, see website or call. SOURCES: Bankrate, DepositAccounts, Money Fund Report (MoneyNet).

TOP-YIELDING CHECKING Must meet activity requirements*

Account Issuer	Annual yield as of July 1	Balance range^	Website
Oklahoma Central CU (Okla.)&	6.00%	$0–10,000	oklahomacentral.creditunion
Andrews FCU (Md.)&	5.25	0–25,000	andrewsfcu.org
Dow CU (Mich.)&	5.12	0–20,000	dowcreditunion.org
PenAir CU (Fla.)&	5.05	0–10,000	penair.org

*To earn the maximum rate, you must meet requirements such as using your debit card several times monthly and receiving electronic statements. ^Portion of the balance higher than the listed range earns a lower rate or no interest. &Must be a member; to become a member, see website. SOURCE: DepositAccounts.

YIELD BENCHMARKS

	Yield	Month ago	Year ago
U.S. Series EE savings bonds	2.40%	2.40%	2.70%
U.S. Series I savings bonds	4.26	4.26	3.98
Six-month Treasury bills	4.00	3.79	4.29
Five-year Treasury notes	4.24	4.18	3.84
Ten-year Treasury notes	4.48	4.47	4.26

As of July 1, 2026. EE savings bonds purchased after May 1, 2005, have a fixed rate of interest. Bonds purchased before May 1, 1995, earn a minimum of 4% or a market-based rate from date of purchase. Bonds bought between May 1, 1995, and May 1, 2005, earn a market-based rate from date of purchase. Source for Treasuries: U.S. Treasury

September 2026 51

THRIVE IN YOUR FIRST YEAR OF RETIREMENT

As a record number of Americans turn 65, staying flexible—in your finances and your plans—will be key to achieving your best post-work life.

BY CHRIS FARRELL

AFTER several decades as a serial entrepreneur—launching computer magazines in the '80s and hobby magazines in the '90s, then running conferences for publishers for two subsequent decades—Carl Landau retired in 2019 at age 64. "I finally felt fatigue," says Landau, who lives in Sacramento, Calif.

"I always had so much enthusiasm for it all and realized that I had been doing this for a long time."

That first year of retirement, though, proved challenging. Landau and his wife planned a trip to Portugal for March 2020—the month and year the world practically shut down thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. With travel canceled and life on pause, Landau did what entrepreneurs do: He launched a new venture,

GETTY IMAGES

52 Kiplinger Personal Finance

RETIREMENT

creating a wry, weekly podcast looking at life and identity post-career that he called I Used to Be Somebody. Within months, the project had morphed into a second career. “I realized I had built another full-time job,” says Landau, adding that he found he had little time to pursue his passion for pickleball, one of the activities he’d most looked forward to in retirement.

So Landau recalibrated again. He scaled back production of the podcast

and a companion newsletter to once a month, and he now averages some 12 hours a week at work. The rest of his time is reserved for socializing and recreation (pickleball!). Looking back, he recommends that newbie retirees bake flexibility into their plans to accommodate shifting priorities and unexpected experiences.

“There are going to be ups and downs, particularly if you worked really hard for 40 years and all of a

sudden you’re not doing that,” he says.

Landau’s story is less a cautionary tale than a template for what comes next, as millions of newly minted retirees are now learning. The post-career years, especially in the beginning, are an ongoing experiment. “No matter how prepared for retirement people are, they are unprepared,” says certified financial planner Ross Levin, cofounder of Accredited Investors Inc., a wealth management firm in Edina, Minn.

Thanks to the aging of the massive baby boom generation, the ranks of first-time retirees looking for financial security and purpose in the next stage of life are historically large right now. Between 2024 and 2027, a record number of Americans will turn 65 or will have already celebrated that milestone birthday, including 4.1 million this year and about the same number next year—a cohort known as Peak 65. All boomers will be at least 65 by 2030.

Many of these freshman retirees understandably face the transition to their next chapter with some trepidation. The percentage of workers who feel confident that they have enough money to live comfortably in retirement fell by six percentage points from 2025 to 2026, to 61%, according to a recent survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research. Among the concerns stoking worries about finances in retirement were inflation, debt, healthcare costs and housing expenses, as well as doubts about the future financial viability of Social Security and Medicare.

Adding to the anxiety: Many near-retirees haven’t spent much time planning for what they will actually do once they’ve put a full-time career behind them. That’s the key takeaway from a 2025 survey

September 2026 53

Retirement

by the Financial Planning Association and the Journal of Financial Planning. About half of the financial planners surveyed said their clients were financially prepared to stop working, but only 11% said the people they advise were emotionally prepared for the lifestyle adjustments that retirement entails.

If you're looking ahead to retiring soon or have recently embarked on the retirement journey, you want to make sure you have both parts of the process covered. Experts recommend these steps to ease the transition from full-time work and to ensure that you flourish in this next chapter.

GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO EXPLORE

Part of the challenge you face as a new retiree is that the definition of this stage of life is changing, as people generally live longer and in better health than previous generations. Yes, the word retirement still typically signifies the end of a long career. But individual paths diverge wildly from there these days.

The classic vision of retirement as full-time leisure and relaxation remains an option. Increasingly, though, many retirees take on part-time jobs, gig work or even encore careers. Some become passionate volunteers or dedicated hobbyists; others go back to school. Some embrace an active role as grandparents or become caregivers to aging loved ones. Often, retirees pursue a mix of these roles that evolves with age.

What's right for you? The beauty of a long retirement is that you don't have to figure it all out from the jump or stick with a single vision. It helps, experts say, to view the first year of retirement as a period for gathering information that will help smooth the transition to this next chapter and build a strong foundation—financially, socially and emotionally—for a comfortable, meaningful retirement.

"The first year is a test year," says CFP Lazetta Rainey Braxton, founder of the Real Wealth Coterie, a wealth management firm in New Haven, Conn.

The key, experts say, is to be willing to experiment and to seek out pursuits that offer purpose, keep your body and brain active, and help you maintain social connections. You also need a good idea of how much you can safely spend to make those things happen. In other words, you need both a purpose plan and a financial plan entering your first year of retirement. That allows for smarter decision-making and flexibility, helping you adapt as experiences and new data inform your views and the inevitable curveballs come your way.

"If you're thriving, it's because you have a personalized vision for what retirement means to you," says Lisa Stornaielo, cofounder of The Future of You, a Boston-based consultancy that helps individuals and corporations navigate the transition to re-

retirement. "Your finances are an important piece. But what we've found is just as important is that people are very clear not only on what they're retiring from but also on what they're retiring to, and there's an intentionality around that."

Of course, you'll need time at first to decompress, exercise, read, and tackle long-delayed home projects or similar tasks. There is immense value in giving yourself permission to relax and enjoy new experiences. Think of those first few months as the equivalent of taking a sabbatical—a necessary window for recharging mental and physical energies while creating psychological distance from a lifelong work identity.

A sabbatical is temporary; retirement is not. The profound shift to navigate between the working world and retirement comes down to the sheer volume of time. Leaving a full-time career suddenly frees up roughly 2,500 hours each year, calculates executive coach Joe Casey in Win the

Be willing to experiment and seek out pursuits that keep your body and brain active and help you maintain social connections.

54 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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Retirement

Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy. “People enter retirement at different ages and with various levels of resources,” he writes. “But all new retirees are time-rich.”

The core question to ask yourself: How will you invest that newfound wealth of time? What is your purpose? What matters to you? “I encourage people to write some sort of business plan,” Landau says. “It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Just list your goals, what you really enjoy doing and the things you don’t like.”

Any entrepreneur will tell you that a solid business plan not only hikes the odds of success but also takes into account that the blueprint will change multiple times. Take the experience of Joy Norquist, 70, and Ron Wawrzon, 69, who retired—she from a career in insurance compliance, he from working as an operations manager of a small manufacturing company—in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The Saint Paul, Minn., couple both have pensions, retirement savings and a long-term relationship with a financial planner. Their plan was to move to Chicago, where Wawrzon is from, but life intervened. Wawrzon faced a health setback (he’s fine now), and Norquist’s mother required months of intensive care following a serious fall. Those initial plans for retirement went on hold.

Meanwhile, the couple discovered part of their post-retirement rhythm almost by accident. One afternoon, for fun, they went to an open house for a condo in a high-rise building in downtown Saint Paul, and they fell in love with the view. The couple moved to the building two years ago. They joined a local walking club, they participate in a weekly study group at a local tavern, and they enjoy movie nights with neighbors and other activities.

Norquist’s mother passed away in late 2024, and the couple spent much of last year dealing with her estate.

Now that’s mostly done, but Chicago may no longer beckon and Norquist and Wawrzon are taking their time to decide what comes next for them in retirement. But they view the future with optimism. “We feel like we haven’t really launched yet,” Norquist says. “We’re figuring out the rest of our lives from here.”

TACKLE KEY MONEY DECISIONS

As you shift from earning and saving money to spending the fruits of your labor, retirement triggers a cascade of financial decisions, from where to live and how you’ll pay for healthcare to when to start taking Social Security benefits and how much you can safely withdraw from retirement accounts. Yet only one in four Americans in their sixties has a formal, written financial strategy for retirement, according to a report last year from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.

If you’re among them, now is the moment to create a plan—or revisit and update the one you already have. You need realistic numbers on expenses (needs and wants), liabilities, tax rates and healthcare costs to figure out where you stand and what options make the most sense for your circumstances. You can work with an adviser (find one at napfa.org, letsmakeaplan.org or garrettplanningnetwork.com) or do

it yourself using planning software, such as Boldin (free for the basic version; $12 a month for advanced features) or WealthTrace ($229 a year, standard; $289 a year, deluxe).

Among the most critical decisions to ponder in year one: when to claim Social Security benefits. The earliest you can apply is age 62 and the latest is 70; the longer you wait, the bigger the monthly payout will be. For instance, boomers celebrating their 65th birthday this year who wait to file until they hit their full retirement age of 67—that is, the age at which they’re entitled to 100% of their benefits—will get a monthly benefit that is roughly 43% bigger than if they’d claimed at 62, according to the Social Security Administration. Wait until age 70, and that monthly benefit will be 77% higher than the payout at 62.

Because you can’t outlive your Social Security benefit and the payout is adjusted annually for inflation, the standard advice is to hold off filing for as long as possible—at least until your full retirement age. However, there can be good reasons to claim earlier—if, say, your health is poor or you’d otherwise need to withdraw too much from savings to pay fixed expenses. An adviser can help determine the optimal time to claim for your situation, or you can tap online resources for assistance, such as

HOW ARE RETIREES DOING?

Many retirees find they’re happier and enjoying life more in retirement, and the majority see little difference in their standard of living.

HOW LIFE HAS CHANGED	IMPROVED	STAYED THE SAME	DECLINED
Enjoyment of life	44%	38%	15%
Happiness	41	43	14
Financial situation	24	46	28
Standard of living	19	66	14
Health	13	52	33

SOURCE: Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, 2025

September 2026 55

Retirement

Open Social Security, a free strategy calculator, or planning software such as MaxiFi ($109 a year, standard plan; $149, premier). (For more guidance, see “Perfect Timing: When to Claim Social Security,” April.)

You’ll also need to tackle the puzzle of how much money you can safely withdraw from your retirement portfolio. One common guideline is the 4% rule, developed by retirement researcher William Bengen in the mid ’90s. It suggests taking out 4% in the first year of retirement (it assumes the portfolio is split roughly 50-50 between stocks and bonds), then adjusting subsequent withdrawals annually for inflation. Historically, Bengen calculated, that strategy would ensure you would never run out of money, even in the worst-case scenario for financial markets.

Although the 4% rule is a simple and convenient metric, experience has shown that strictly adhering to it often leads retirees to withdraw less than they can afford to spend, potentially stopping them from enjoying this chapter of life to the fullest. Many experts, including Bengen himself, have revised the initial withdrawal rate upward to the 4.5%-to-6% range.

In his 2025 book A Richer Retirement, for instance, Bengen suggested 4.7% would be a better starting point for withdrawals, and he changed his model portfolio to have as much as 65% of long-term savings in stocks. Likewise, CFP Rainey Braxton typically recommends that you can withdraw up to 5% the first year—ideally, somewhere between 4% and 5%—and possibly a little more, depending on what she calls “the nuance and art of knowing the client’s circumstances.”

A popular alternate approach is the bucket strategy, initially developed by CFP and wealth manager Harold Evensky, chair of the Coral Gables, Fla., financial planning firm Evensky & Katz. As Evensky said in a Morningstar interview last year,

the strategy was “designed so the client wouldn’t get panicked if the market was falling apart because [they’d know] where the grocery money was coming from.”

The basic idea is to set aside enough cash to cover, say, one or several years of living expenses, when combined with Social Security and any other guaranteed sources of income, such as a pension. Money that you won’t need for several years is then invested in a diversified portfolio of fixed-income securities and equities, which offer the prospect of higher long-term returns but at greater short-term risk. The cash cushion offers peace of mind that you’ll get through the inevitable market slumps without needing to sell depreciated stock or bonds.

Despite the differences between the two strategies, the central takeaway is the same: Spending plans should be dynamic. In essence, the first year of retirement provides a trial run to implement a fluid strategy, allowing you to track your actual lifestyle costs while remaining flexible enough to make adjustments if market or economic conditions or personal priorities shift.

“People think they need to have it all figured out right away,” says Andrea Eaton, a CFP at Cornerstone Wealth Advisors in Edina, Minn. “It

takes a year to figure out your actual cash needs. It really is a guesstimate initially, and that can be changed up or down. It simply takes time getting used to taking money out versus putting money in.”

FIND YOUR NEW PURPOSE

Newbie retirees often feel unmoored when they are no longer defined by their job and the need to make a living. So it’s important to build a new sense of purpose for your retirement years and have good reasons for getting up in the morning. “You should be working on what your life will look like before you even retire,” Eaton advises. “What is your greater purpose? How are you getting involved in your community? What gives your life meaning beyond working for an income?”

How do you find that purpose now? Stornaielo, who spent 21 years at Fidelity in human resources and executive coaching, warns against getting too caught up in pretentious visions about purpose. She recalls a three-day retreat focused on purpose that she attended while still at Fidelity. The retreat was very serious and high-minded. At the end of it she declared her purpose was to be “the yeast in the bread of life,” she laughs. “Whatever that means.”

RETIREMENT EXPECTATIONS VERSUS REALITY

How does the actual experience of being retired differ from how people envision it? As it turns out, travel may take a back seat to time with friends and family, and caregiving may be more time-consuming than anticipated.

ACTIVITY	RETIREMENT DREAM	ACTUALLY SPENDING TIME
Traveling	65%	44%
Spending more time with family and friends	56	59
Pursuing hobbies	39	39
Volunteering	24	18
Taking care of grandchildren	15	16
Engaging in paid work	10	5
Caregiving for a loved one	N/A	9

N/A Not available. SOURCE: Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, 2025

56 Kiplinger Personal Finance

Retirement

Her purpose mantra now is far simpler and grounded: “Helping people achieve their potential.” Also helpful, she says, is not to think of your retirement as the end part of your life. “Don’t get hung up on how much time is left. [The focus should be] what I can do today to feel like I’m making the most of my time.”

For Laura and Ben Cooper, giving back to their community is what’s providing that feeling and sense of purpose in retirement. Laura, 78, a former law professor at the University of Minnesota, became a volunteer teacher in a citizenship program in the Twin Cities when she first retired in 2018. Along with Ben, 79, a former mathematics professor at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, they’ve since branched out to support a variety of causes that include local arts organizations, environmental groups, nonprofits focused on refugee rights, and their local library system. Freed from the busyness of active careers and raising their now-grown son, they were able to ask themselves, says Laura, “What do we really care about?”

The Coopers manage much of their giving through a donor-advised fund, a tax-advantaged charitable-giving vehicle that works like a personal investment account for philanthropy. Added benefits of their philanthropic work, they’ve found, are the sense of community and opportunities for continued learning it has given them. They’ve joined outings with Nature Conservancy scientists, attended private theater rehearsals to hear from actors and directors, and learned from experts about international human rights. “Learning is absolutely vital, and we have pretty diverse interests,” says Laura.

Conversations with family, friends and acquaintances are a rich resource for thinking about purpose. One technique is to pay close attention to the tasks, conversations and projects that leave you energized

Volunteering, mentoring, taking a course or learning a new skill are activities that may help you find a new sense of purpose.

rather than drained. Introspection helps, too. Think back to other major life transitions and see what consistent core values carried you through those shifts. Volunteering, mentoring, taking a course or learning a new skill are activities that also offer useful information.

And there are resources that can help. Among the books that might provide both inspiration and practical suggestions: Who Do You Want to Be When You Grow Old? The Path of Purposeful Aging, by Richard Leider and David Shapiro; The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife, by Marc Freedman; and The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life, by David Brooks.

At the end of your first year of retirement, Eaton suggests conducting a personal audit. Ask yourself, What activities brought you the most joy and fulfillment? Which were a waste of time? Are you feeling lonely? Do you need to inject more intentional

social interactions, clubs or group hobbies into your life? How is your budget holding up against the reality of retirement? Do you need to scale your spending up or down based on your actual first-year cash flow?

The answers to those questions will help you shape your two of retirement, which in turn will help guide your three. Retirement is iterative by nature—a series of continuous recalibrations. You want to be continuously asking yourself, says Eaton, “What didn’t go well? And how do I want next year to be?”

Know this: Your first year probably won’t look exactly as you imagined it would before you stopped working full-time, and that is perfectly fine. Year one isn’t supposed to be the final draft of your retirement; it is simply the initial run of a grand experiment. ■

Send comments to feedback@kiplinger.com.

GETTY IMAGES

September 2026 57

Retirement Commentary

Getting My Affairs in Order

THE NEW WORLD OF RETIREMENT BY SANDRA BLOCK

DURING my long career in journalism, I was good at meeting deadlines, which made me popular with editors. I've always filed my tax return well before April 15. I even return my library books on time.

But when it comes to things that don't have a hard deadline, I'm less diligent. I often postpone mundane tasks, such as cleaning out my spice cabinet, because I don't have to worry about paying interest or penalties—or losing my job—if I put off tossing some expired cumin.

I suspect that for a lot of people, estate planning falls into this category. It's something we're all aware we're supposed to do, but since we don't know when we're going to die, there's no specific deadline for completing this unpleasant task.

It's important to understand that creating an estate plan isn't just about deciding who will inherit your assets after you're gone. Without advance directives for your finances and healthcare, your family could be forced to go to court to obtain the authority to manage your affairs if you become incapacitated.

My checklist. Now that I'm semi-retired and definitely not getting any younger, I'm in the process of getting my estate in order. My first step is to update my beneficiary designations. My husband and I don't have children, so I've named him as the bene-

ficiary for retirement accounts and other financial assets that aren't already jointly owned. But I need to add a secondary beneficiary—also known as a contingent beneficiary—to those accounts.

A secondary beneficiary will inherit your assets if the primary beneficiary is deceased, can't be located or declines the inheritance. If that happens and there is no contingent beneficiary, your assets will go into probate—the legal process by which assets are distributed in accordance with state law. You can name multiple contingent beneficiaries, so I plan to designate some of the charities I support. (If I outlive my husband, I'll probably name them as my primary beneficiaries.)

My next step is to make sure our powers of attorney for finances and healthcare are up to date. Many people believe married couples don't need these documents, but if you are incapacitated, there may be limits on what your spouse can do with jointly owned accounts without a POA. The same goes for power of attorney for healthcare (also known as a healthcare proxy), which gives someone you trust the ability to make healthcare decisions on your behalf.

If you don't have an attorney, you can download the documents from websites such as LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer. It's a good idea to have these documents notarized, even if your state doesn't require it, because financial institutions and hospitals may not recognize

forms that aren't signed by a notary.

You should also make sure that your financial service providers will honor your POA for finances. Some institutions require you to use their own POAs, and obtaining one at the last minute is not something you want to have to deal with in an emergency.

The final estate-planning task I need to tackle is drawing up a will. Although beneficiary designations will provide for distribution of my financial accounts, both my husband and I inherited items that have a lot of sentimental value, and we need to think about what will happen to them after we're gone. And I'm going to start getting rid of things I'm pretty sure nobody wants—an effort popularized by Margareta Magnusson, author of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. Magnusson, who died earlier this year, said that decluttering is one of the greatest gifts you can leave to your heirs. Hard to argue with that. (For advice on sorting through your stuff, see '10 Tips to Declutter Your Home," July.)

Sandra Block is a former senior editor of Kiplinger Personal Finance. Send comments to sandra.block02@futurenet.com.

Creating an estate plan isn't just about deciding who will inherit your assets.

58 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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HOW TO READ AN IPO PROSPECTUS

PRACTICAL PORTFOLIO BY ADAM SHELL

IPOs are back—and so is the hype. SpaceX launched its record-breaking initial public offering in June, and artificial-intelligence heavyweights Anthropic and OpenAI have also filed to go public, although there's talk that the latter, the developer of ChatGPT, may delay its IPO until 2027. With Wall Street bringing its brightest, shiniest objects to market, investors thinking about owning a piece of these freshly minted public companies can't buy blindly. It's due diligence time. Homework time. And that means it's time to study the IPO prospectus. This legal document, known as the S-1, is akin to a company confessional, as it lays out the investment thesis, spills financial secrets and flags every risk imaginable. "The prospectus is the first time a significant light is shined on a private company," says Kaush Amin, head of private market investing at U.S. Bank Asset Management.

A prospectus can be dry, technical and feel like hundreds of pages of fine print—because it often is. It's still a must-read. Just as a home buyer shouldn't purchase a house without reviewing the inspection report, no serious investor should risk buying shares of a newly public stock without reading the prospectus. "That's where the real story is," says Robert Edwards, chief investment officer at Edwards Asset Management.

Another consideration for investors is the health of the IPO market itself. With the bull market still on solid ground and investor sentiment up-

beat, investment bankers want to take advantage of the open window to get deals done and take previously private companies public. This year is shaping up to be the best year for IPOs since the 2021 boom, according to research firm PEInvest. Wall Street tends to roll out its star IPOs first. And as investor excitement builds, Wall Street rushes out more-speculative, lesser-known unicorns, which can carry greater risks. An IPO that's good for Wall Street bankers may not be good for Main Street investors. "The later stages [of an IPO cycle] is when people get caught investing in bad stories," Edwards warns.

highlights, such as what the company does, who's running it, how it makes money, whether it's profitable and, most critical, what the risks are, by reading just a few key sections. We'll point you to the parts that are necessary to review and the most important disclosures to search for. Think of the information below as a plain-English, CliffsNotes-type guide to a prospectus. You can find all the key sections quickly in the S-1's table of contents. Among them:

Prospectus Summary. Your first stop should be the summary. This provides you with a high-level over-

A PROSPECTUS CAN BE DRY, TECHNICAL AND A HUNDRED PAGES OF FINE PRINT. IT'S STILL A MUST-READ.

You don't need a PhD in finance or an accounting degree to translate a prospectus's thicket-like prose into plain English. The key is to know what to look for and where to find it so you can digest the needed information to make an informed investment decision. "The prospectus is really the only place that you're going to get an accurate picture of the company's health," says Erin Kolo, a portfolio manager at money management firm Baird.

MUST-READ SECTIONS

Because a stock prospectus isn't as fun, well written or easy to read as a James Patterson whodunit, you might be relieved to learn it's not necessary for you to read it from cover to cover. You can glean the key

view of the company's mission and ambitions; its business model, along with key growth drivers and risks; its current sales and earnings (if it makes money); and future revenue and profit estimates. It may also include financial details such as the total addressable market (TAM) that management is projecting (SpaceX's S-1, for example, cited a TAM of $28.5 trillion). Your job is to try to figure out whether a company's lofty expectations are truly within reach. "Do some homework, ask some questions and challenge the assumptions in the prospectus," says Amin.

Risk Factors. This is where the company fesses up to everything that can go wrong. It's full of red flags. It's akin to "Caution" signs you see

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driving down the freeway: The purpose is to warn of potential trouble you might have to navigate. “You want to fully understand how your investment might not pan out,” says Kolo.

Think of this section as a risk checklist. There are countless things that could get in the way of a promising investment. Examples of risks to look out for include: Intense competition. Regulatory hurdles. Legal challenges. Too high a reliance on a single customer. Negative cash flow. Reliance on unproven technologies (or technologies that don’t yet exist). Or growth projections that are too aggressive and may never come to fruition. “The risks are all there; they’re all listed,” says Edwards.

Use of Proceeds. The goal of an IPO is to raise money, so it’s important to know how the company will use the money it raises. What you want to see is the company earmarking the bulk of the proceeds to fuel growth. For example, funding research and development, recruiting top talent and developing new products are better uses of the cash than, say, paying off debt.

Management Discussion and Analysis. This part of the prospectus is where management gets to present its side of the story to prospective investors. It provides color on the company’s financial condition, recent business trends and future strategy. It includes all the relevant numbers on net income, revenues, cash flow, earnings and debt. Make sure to inspect the balance sheet, income statement and other key data points.

More importantly, management explains why the numbers are what they are. Company execs explain, for example, why sales plunged or skyrocketed, why there’s no cash flow yet, why they’re betting big on a new product or market, or why it might take longer to meet their growth targets and post a profit than originally planned. “The analysis tells you what’s happening with the company and why,” says Edwards.

Management. If you’re going to invest money in a company, it’s important to learn about who’s running it and their track record. You wouldn’t invest in a company that’s seeking to

make money by flying to Mars or the moon, as SpaceX is, if the top executive made his or her mark in the fashion business. The management section of a prospectus is an executive bio page on steroids. “I go to the management-team section first,” says Steven Conners, founder and president of Conners Wealth Management. “If they can’t execute the business plan well, it doesn’t matter how good their product is.” Conners looks for executives with a record of success—preferably graduates from leading universities who have work experience at the world’s top companies. “That adds credibility,” says Conners. Other things to look for include any special stand-alone sections at the end of the prospectus, such as the “Index to Financial Statements” included in the SpaceX S-1. Do a deeper dive here. These can add additional insights into the company’s financial condition.

Finally, make sure to read about the timing of share lockups (the date insiders and other investors can sell IPO shares for the first time). This information can be found in sections with names such as “Shares Eligible for Future Sale,” “Plan of Distribution” or “Underwriting,” or by searching the prospectus using key words or phrases such as “lockup” or “restricted period.” Most lockups permit selling 90 or 180 days after the IPO although SpaceX is using a novel staggered structure. “Circle the [lockup] date on your calendar,” says Edwards. “That’s when you’re going to find out what the smart money really thinks of the IPO.”

If you’re tempted to skip the prospectus before buying an IPO, think again, says U.S. Bank’s Amin. Without it, “you’re just making a bet based on hype and hope.” ■

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A Final Gift to Your Family

By planning your own funeral, you can spare your loved ones some stress and create a meaningful send-off.

FAMILY FINANCES BY JULIE HALPERT

FEW subjects are as difficult to consider as your own mortality. “Americans are famously afraid to talk about death,” says Tanya Marsh, a Wake Forest University professor who teaches a class on funeral and cemetery law. “We almost willfully don’t want to confront the inevitability of the end.”

So if you’re like most people, planning your own funeral is not top of mind. But making your wishes known before you pass away can be a real gift to your family, says Sara Williams, past president of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, the watchdog organization for the funeral industry. Emotions run high following the death of a loved one, and outlining whether you would like to be buried or cremated, the type of memorial you prefer, and other elements of your end-of-life services relieves your family of making those decisions while they’re grieving.

“It gives the family peace of mind because they don’t have questions like, ‘What did Mom or Dad want?’ Mom or Dad already answered those questions,” says Camelia Clarke, president of Paradise Memorial Funeral and Cremation Services in Milwaukee and a spokesperson for the National Funeral Directors Association. Clarifying your wishes can also help head off family disputes, she says.

Planning your funeral may alleviate the cost burden, too. According a study by the National Funeral Directors Association, from 2021 to 2023 (the most recent data available), the median cost of a funeral with a casket and burial increased by 5.8%, from $7,848 to $8,300; the median cost of a funeral with cremation, including a cremation casket and urn, rose by 8.1%, from $5,810 to $6,280. By creating a plan now, you may be able to lock in current costs on some aspects of the funeral or set aside the right amount of funds to cover the expenses later.

Another reason to make your own arrangements: You get a say

in them. Increasingly, baby boomers are planning their funerals because they are more likely to shun a traditional service involving an open-casket viewing at a funeral home and a graveside service to bury the remains, says Marsh. She has seen a growing interest not just in standard cremation but also in practices such as water cremation and natural organic reduction (human composting), as well as in memorial services at locations such as museums, parks and restaurants.

If your children or other relatives don’t live near you, or if you plan to be buried in a different geographic area from where you

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live now, settling the details ahead of time can ease the logistics for your family. Michael Adell, of Frisco, Texas, experienced that challenge firsthand when his father passed away last year. His father, who was also living in Texas when he died, had purchased cemetery plots for himself and his family in Michigan, where he was raised. But he hadn't made any other plans. Adell had to handle such matters as flying his father's body to Michigan and then getting him to the funeral home. "You're learning when you're doing, which makes it stressful and hard with all the other emotions that are going on," Adell says.

Eager to avoid that situation again, Adell approached his family members and offered to plan their funerals as well as his own. His mother, his wife and his brother all agreed to it. When his mother died suddenly just a few months later, "all I had to do was call the funeral home, and they did everything else," he said. "It was a lot easier."

Set your plan. The first step is to decide the kind of arrangements you want. Details can include any elements that you feel are important, whether it's selecting a funeral plot, headstone or cremation urn, choosing who will give the eulogy, specifying a photo you want in your obituary or the clothes you'd like to be buried in, or even listing the type of food to be served at the memorial service.

Clarke recalls one individual who loved M&M's and requested to have bowls of the candy placed around the funeral home, while another wanted a lakeside service featuring an all-white color scheme. "The casket was white, and everyone at the service wore

white," Clarke says. Engaging in this planning allows the individual "to be very specific in what they want."

Adell designed his family members' footstones, right down to the font and height of the lettering and leaving room just for the date of death, to ensure they would look consistent. "It's a dumb detail, but it's a detail I get to control because I'm here," he says.

You'll also need to think about the costs and how you'll cover them. Ask several funeral homes for a general price list, an itemized menu of all their goods and services; funeral homes are required to provide this list, says

you via a contract but will not guarantee current pricing, says Katie Sheehan, a former estate-planning attorney and now a managing director and wealth strategist at Crestwood Advisors in Boston. "It is important for clients to know which they are purchasing," she says. "Always read the fine print."

Buying a cemetery plot and structuring your arrangements in advance are good steps to take, says Williams, but she discourages prepaying for the entire funeral. Instead, she recommends opening a payable-on-death account, in which you can deposit enough money to cover the estimated

ONCE YOUR PLAN IS COMPLETE, PUT IT IN WRITING, AND MAKE SURE YOUR LOVED ONES KNOW ABOUT IT.

Williams. Shopping around could save you a lot of money, she says, pointing out that in the same town, a direct cremation (which involves no viewing, visitation or other services) could vary in price by thousands of dollars.

Many funeral homes allow you to pay for some or all the services in advance, and you may be able to lock in current prices by going this route. But think twice before you make a financial commitment. What happens if the funeral home goes out of business, or if you move away and no longer want to use its services? And you need to make sure you understand whether additional expenses may apply at the time of your death, even if you pay now. Because the cost of certain items, such as transportation and cremation, increase over time, some funeral homes will make prearrangements with

expenses. When you die, the designated beneficiary receives the funds.

Once your plan is complete, put it in writing, and make sure your loved ones know about it. Many estate-planning attorneys prepare a binder for clients that includes a funeral tab where they can leave instructions to family members, including their wishes regarding disposition and services, says Sheehan. If they have made prearrangements with a funeral home, that would also be the place to keep a copy of that paperwork. And regardless of whether you work with an attorney, you can have conversations with your loved ones about your wishes and provide them with written copies of the plans and documents, says Marsh. ■

Send comments to feedback@kiplinger.com.

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HOMEOWNERS: DON'T SKIP THIS PROTECTION

An owner's title insurance policy shields your finances in the event of a dispute.

BASICS BY DEBORAH KEARNS

YOU found your dream home, the seller accepted your offer, and you're eager to close on the sale. But as you finalize the paperwork, make sure you don't overlook a policy that could prove invaluable down the road: owner's title insurance. Without it, you could lose your home and the money you've put into it if someone else one day lays an ownership claim to the title—your legal right to own the property.

Many home buyers assume that the title insurance their mortgage lender requires them to pay for at closing protects their interests. However, that policy applies only to the lender's investment. It does nothing to shield your finances if a title dispute arises.

Although purchasing an owner's title insurance policy is optional for home buyers, doing so is worthwhile because it can safeguard your investment, including any financial losses or legal fees, says Sarah Frano, vice president of corporate underwriting with First American Title. "I would not buy a property without title insurance," she says. "I've seen the variety of things that can pop up after closing—sometimes years or decades after someone purchases their home."

How it works. Lenders order a title search once a home is under

contract to ensure there are no outstanding ownership claims so that title can pass from one owner to the next. But title examiners don't catch everything, said Karina Borgia-Lacroix, owner of American Real Title in Ft. Myers, Fla. If they miss an undisclosed heir with a valid claim to the home, for example, that heir could take you to court to challenge ownership. Or if there's a lien on the property for, say, work that a contractor completed but went unpaid by the previous owner, then the home could be forced into a foreclosure if the contractor files a lawsuit. If you don't have an owner's policy when these types of problems arise, you'll either have to pay the outstanding liens or defend yourself against title claims in court.

Other scenarios that can result in a dispute, says Frano, include forgery and fraud (such as fake signatures, impersonation or fraudulent sellers); recording errors in county records; mis-

spelled names on recorded documents; and unknown easements that limit how property can be used.

While you can purchase owner's title insurance at any time, it's best to do it during the closing process so you can protect yourself against title claims during the entirety of your ownership. Plus, purchasing it after closing can be more complex and expensive. If you inherit a property, review the existing title policy to see whether the insurance covers you as an heir, says Frano. If it doesn't, you'll need to buy a new policy.

Title insurance premiums are regulated by each state. Expect to pay roughly 0.5% to 1% of the home's purchase price for an owner's policy. You'll pay much less for the lender's policy, which is based on the loan amount and typically adds just a few hundred dollars to your closing costs. Buyers usually cover the cost of the lender's title policy. With the owner's policy, whether the buyer or seller pays—or the cost is split down the middle—depends on local customs and laws, Frano says.

Title agents often provide discounts when you combine the purchase of an owner's and a lender's policy, says Borgia-Lacroix. You can shop around among title insurance companies to compare costs and coverage levels. I

Send your comments to feedback@kiplinger.com.

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A BREAKTHROUGH TREATMENT SAVED DAN'S LIFE

"Organizations like Stand Up To Cancer are so important. They accelerate the pace of cancer research, so that new and innovative therapies—like the one I received—can save more lives."

DAN, Cancer Survivor

Help push cancer research further at StandUpToCancer.org.

Stand Up To Cancer is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

REWARDS

THE ALLURE OF A RIVER CRUISE

Small ships, personalized service and compelling destinations are a few of the reasons to travel on inland waterways.

BY MARTHA C. WHITE

THE term cruise ship typically brings to mind a mammoth vessel navigating through the ocean waves. But a growing number of travelers are trying out a different kind of water-based vacation: river cruises.

Unlike many ocean excursions, on ships featuring everything from casinos to climbing walls on board,

river cruises focus more on the places you visit than the vessel you take. “Although the title is ‘river cruising,’ this is really a land experience as much as a water experience,” says Jeremy Palmer, president of Tauck, a tour and river cruise operator.

For many river cruisers, that distinction is a big part of the appeal. “A lot of my first-time river cruisers are people who don’t like cruises,” says Diane Frisch, owner of the

travel agency Diane Frisch Destinations. A recent traveler survey from Cruise Lines International Association found that about one in five first-time cruisers opted for a river cruise instead of an ocean voyage.

All signs point toward those numbers growing. Executives at Viking Holdings, the largest river cruise company by a large margin, said almost 40% of available 2027 reservations were taken by early May

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of this year. The cruise industry is paying attention: Celebrity Cruises is launching a line of river cruises next year. “That core market of people with time, money and the desire to travel has never been bigger,” Palmer says.

The appeal is multifaceted: Most river cruise ships hold a maximum of 200 passengers, so you can expect more personalized service, better food and fewer lines. “What a lot of people

really enjoy is the level of service you get,” says Tilly Pearson, trip planner at tour operator Adventure Life.

Hank Schrader, co-owner of Dream Destinations, a travel agency that specializes in river cruises, says the number of activities people can do and see while in port has exploded over the past decade, and some cruise lines have entire itineraries dedicated to pursuits such as cooking or cycling.

“What’s changed is the number of different offerings,” he says. “Before, it was like, ‘Hey, here’s your daily tour.’ Now most lines are offering significantly different options.”

A VARIETY OF CHOICES

Cruisers have a wide range of options, from price point to activity level to on-shore excursions. Consider your travel preferences, budget and what kind of vibe you’re looking

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for. While Schrader notes that river cruises don't have attractions such as on-board nightclubs and live entertainment each evening, some river cruises are livelier than others, with wine-tasting dinners or local musicians coming on board at port to perform.

River cruises historically catered to older adults, but there's evidence that's shifting. According to market research firm Future Market Insights, about a fourth of passengers are between 46 and 55. Cruise lines are creating itineraries aimed at a younger crowd, such as visiting Germany during Oktoberfest or touring wine country by electric bike.

If you want to cruise as a family, consider the age and maturity of your kids. Some cruise lines have age minimums, and there's generally no kid-oriented programming. "We recommend they're well traveled or that parents bring some entertainment on board," Pearson says.

One notable exception is AmaWaterways, which has a partnership with Disney. European river cruises under the Adventures by Disney banner include "adventure guides" and kid-friendly activities. Be aware, though, that while your kid might be thrilled to see the real-life inspiration for Cinderella's castle in Germany, you won't spot so much as a whisker of Mickey or other characters on board.

While walking tours at each port are typical, travelers who want to get their blood pumping and exert a little more energy can choose from itineraries that include hiking, bicycling, kayaking and other activities. One AmaWaterways vessel, the AmaMagna, even has a full-size pickleball court.

Pearson says the Active & Discovery cruises from Avalon Waterways appeal to active travelers with programs that are designed to keep you moving. "You're off the beaten path a little bit more; you're doing more

unique things," such as kayaking in a canal or hiking a mountain.

Learning local history in each port is an indelible part of the river cruise experience. For travelers seeking a deeper dive into local culture, AmaWaterways offers European itineraries with program experts from the Smithsonian Institution. American Cruise Lines is known for its knowledgeable, passionate local guides.

MANAGING THE COSTS

If you're used to seeing Caribbean cruises advertised for well under $1,000 per person, you might want to sit down. "I'd say $4,500 to $5,000 per person is very entry-level pricing," Pearson says. Travel advisers say $12,000 to $15,000 per couple for a seven- or eight-night river cruise is typical.

The up-front cost might be steep, but Schrader argues that cruisers can get as much—or more—value compared with taking a land tour once you factor in lodging, transportation, meals and sightseeing. "The price is going to be pretty much comparable, and you've taken away the entire hassle factor" because you

only have to unpack once rather than change hotels every night.

One big reason for the high price tag is that river cruise pricing is generally all-inclusive. With a few caveats (more on those below), many of the perks you'd pay for on an ocean cruise—alcohol, guided tours, port excursions—are typically included in the cost. Some cruise lines even bundle gratuities into the rate.

Still, travel experts say there are some tactics that can help keep your costs in check, although a few of them do come with trade-offs.

Don't count on last-minute bargains.

With rare exceptions, you won't find the kind of fire sales you sometimes see for flights within a few weeks of departure. Viking chairman Torstein Hagen told investors in May that advance bookings for the 2027 season were up 21% compared with a year earlier. Another reason to book early is that cheaper cabin categories usually go quickly.

Seek out discounts. Most cruise lines offer discounts, albeit modest ones, for first responders, military service

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COURTESY OF AMERICAN CRUISE LINES

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members and repeat customers. Some also offer referral discounts if you're traveling with friends. Another common incentive: Discounted or free airfare if you book your flights through the cruise line.

Consider your travel style. Do you like a plethora of shore excursions? Free-flowing liquor? Despite having more inclusive pricing than ocean cruises, major river cruise lines do vary somewhat in what falls under the umbrella of all-inclusive, which gives you opportunities for saving money. For instance, non-drinkers might save by booking a cruise that has a lower price point and doesn't include hard liquor.

Skip summertime. All other things being equal, summer is the most popular—and most expensive—time to go on a river cruise. "There is a shoulder season. It's getting smaller, but generally, in February, March,

April or November, you can get a better rate in Europe just because the weather isn't as nice," Palmer says.

Solo travelers should be selective.

Traditionally, pricing has been even tougher for solo travelers because cruise lines want to recoup the money they would otherwise earn if a second passenger were in the cabin. Single supplements can equal or even exceed 100% of the per-person rate on most sailings—meaning that a solo traveler could pay twice or more the per-person price that would apply for double occupancy—but that's changing as interest in solo cruising soars.

"This market has grown tremendously—about 40% over the past three years," says Marilyn Conroy, vice president of sales and marketing for Riviera Travel, a U.K.-based cruise and tour operator. To meet this demand, Riviera is launching a 68-passenger vessel next year that

Conroy describes as the first river cruise ship for solo travelers. A number of other lines reduce or waive single supplements for certain voyages or for certain cabin categories.

LOGISTICS TO KNOW

River cruise pros say there are some things you need to know and do before beginning your journey to get the most out of your trip.

Book early. Even if you're not bargain-hunting, it's smart to book well in advance. "This is not something you do six months out," Palmer cautions. "You might not get exactly what you want even if you book a year out," he says, adding that Tauck customers book an average of 18 months ahead.

Travel agents say it's possible to book some itineraries closer to your departure date—think six to nine months—but warn that you might find limited sailing dates and cabin categories available.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A RIVER IS UNNAVIGABLE

One potential disruption unique to river cruises is too little water—or too much. Heat waves in Europe over the past few years have led to some stretches of river not having enough water to be navigable. Conversely, high water can leave vessels unable to pass under historic bridges that have a low clearance.

Although either of these situations can happen at any time, travel pros say that, as a very broad rule of thumb, early spring is when high water is most likely to occur as snowmelt pours down from the mountains, and late summer to early fall are times when drought conditions tend to be more common.

In rare instances, an entire sailing will have to be canceled—

or the itinerary will continue, but with travelers staying in hotels and being transported by bus from port to port. A far more common scenario, however, is a short stretch of river becoming temporarily unnavigable.

"The cruise lines are very well equipped to deal with those kinds of situations," says Tilly Pearson, trip planner at tour operator Adventure Life. "Typically, it just involves transferring to a different ship." In these instances, travelers will be ferried by bus to an identical vessel, while staff will bring their luggage to the equivalent cabin on the new ship.

If a drought or deluge makes the river impassable, there isn't much passengers—or anyone else—can

do about it. As a result, travelers shouldn't expect to get all or even most of their trip reimbursed, travel pros say.

Credit toward a future sailing is the most common form of compensation; cash refunds are rare and generally limited to cases in which the majority of a trip was disrupted. For shorter disruptions, such as losing a day on the water, travelers might not be compensated at all. In this situation, having a travel agent in your corner can help, says Hank Schrader, co-owner of Dream Destinations, a travel agency that specializes in river cruises. If water problems scramble your itinerary, "travel agencies can help advocate for clients," he says.

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Try using a travel agent. While blogs and forums such as Cruise Critic have crowdsourced wisdom you can use to do your own research, enlisting a travel agent who is familiar with the complexity of river cruise itineraries and the nuances among cruise lines can be worthwhile. Almost two-thirds of people who book cruises (including ocean cruises) use travel agents, according to a report from Cruise Lines International Association.

"The average consumer cannot tell the difference between the lines," Schrader says. "When you're spending this kind of money, you want to make the best choice you can." He suggests vetting travel agents by asking whether they're certified by the American Society of Travel Advisors or CLIA. And ask whether they've ever been on a river cruise; ideally, you want an agent with firsthand knowledge.

(Maybe) book your own airfare. Letting the cruise line book your flights to and from the destination on one of their partner airlines takes the decision-making out of your hands—which could be a plus or a minus. You won't have as much choice as

you would with a booking platform such as Travelocity: The airline you fly, the times of your flights (as well as the length of any layovers you might have) and the seats you get are largely out of your hands.

That said, booking flights with the cruise line might make sense for some travelers. "Some people like having everything in one package, and some companies will give you free airport transfers," Frisch says. Many cruise lines promote discounted or even free airfare on select sailings, and booking airline tickets through the cruise line is smart if you're using its travel insurance (because the policy covers only what you booked through the cruise operator). But if you have strong preferences about which airlines you fly, when you fly and where you sit, you might be better served by booking on your own.

Take an extra day (or two). Experts suggest arriving a day before your cruise departs just in case your flight is delayed, because the ship will sail whether or not you're on board. Most river cruise itineraries include the option of booking one or more days at a hotel either before or after your voyage. An increasing number of tour

operators have hybrid land-water itineraries that can include several more days of touring on land. Travel pros say these are especially popular for African and Asian river cruises.

Look into travel insurance. The high price tag that typically comes with a river cruise makes travel insurance a smart way to cover your investment. Expect to pay about 10% of the cost of the trip. Frisch says that most travelers can probably get a better price buying a policy from a third-party provider, such as Allianz Travel or Travellex, compared with purchasing it from the cruise line; travelers in their upper seventies and older, however, are often better off with a policy from the cruise operator because premiums for older travelers can be sharply higher with other providers.

CRUISES TO CONSIDER

European waterways offer the classic river cruise experience, and these itineraries remain extremely popular. But travel pros say there also are terrific options in far-flung locations—as well as in your own backyard. Prices below are per person and based on double occupancy, unless otherwise noted.

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Europe. A significant portion of river cruises are on European waterways: Cruisers have their pick of routes and price points, with itineraries along the Danube, Rhine, Rhone and Seine especially popular.

Travelers looking for an iconic journey might consider Viking's 15-night exploration of the Danube, Rhine and Main rivers. "The 15-day Budapest-to-Amsterdam cruise is a home run. If you want to get river cruising in a nutshell, that's absolutely the best route to take," Schrader says. Highlights include medieval castles, Gothic cathedrals and picturesque windmills at UNESCO World Heritage sites. Most summer 2027 sailings start between roughly $5,000 and $6,000.

For active travelers, Pearson recommends Avalon Waterways' Active & Discovery Rhine River cruise from Amsterdam to Basel. (The Netherlands is broadly popular for cruises featuring cycling expeditions because of the region's flat terrain.) In addition to excursions via kayak and bicycle, the seven-night cruise includes hiking, visits to breweries and a French-food tour. For the 2027 season, sailings start below $5,000 per person for most dates.

A region that's rising in popularity is the Iberian Peninsula. "You get a good bang for your buck in Portugal," Riviera Travel's Conroy says. Riviera has a gastronomy-themed, seven-night tour along the Douro River through Spain and Portugal's most well-known wine regions. Sailings for 2027 start at about $4,400 per person, although promotional offers can knock more than $1,000 off those rates.

For families, a real-life magical adventure is the Adventures by Disney seven-night Danube River Christmas-market cruise. Recommended for kids ages 8 and up, highlights include visits to famous Christmas markets in places such as Vienna and Salzburg and tours of sites from The

Sound of Music. Prices for 2027 sailings start at about $6,700 for adults and $6,000 for kids under 12.

The U.S. You can get your fill of regional scenery and culture without going abroad. American Cruise Lines has "really good history and storytelling," Pearson says, adding that the local tour guides are deeply knowledgeable about the area and usually from families who have lived there for generations. If you really want to immerse yourself in nostalgic Americana, you can even travel via an old-fashioned paddle wheeler. (Don't worry—the ships and all the amenities are modern.)

American Cruise Lines' lower-Mississippi cruise attracts history

ing number of options as river cruise companies add new destinations.

Mekong River cruises that wind through Vietnam and Cambodia often include an overland journey to Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor Wat, a UNESCO World Heritage site. "The Mekong is very, very well loved," Pearson says. "If people want a unique experience, that's one to look at." A 14-night voyage on Emerald Cruises & Tours also includes time in vibrant Ho Chi Minh City, traditional villages and tranquil temples. Many 2027 sailings start in the $5,000 range, and Emerald's fares include gratuities.

Many of the cruises that traverse Egypt's Nile River are land-water hybrid tours to incorporate visits

Travel insurance is a smart way to cover your investment in a river cruise. Expect to pay about 10% of the cost of the trip.

and Civil War buffs. The eight-night cruise ferries travelers between New Orleans and Memphis, with many 2027 sailings starting between roughly $4,000 and $6,000.

Travelers with time on their hands can watch the scenery change from bayous to bluffs on a 22-night trip that covers the entire river, from New Orleans to St. Paul, Minn., on voyages from American or Viking. For 2027 sailings, per-person, double-occupancy fares start at roughly $16,000 for American and roughly $17,000 for Viking.

Another popular itinerary lets you follow in the footsteps of explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in the Pacific Northwest via the Columbia and Snake rivers. An eight-night voyage on American starts at about $6,000 for most summer 2027 sailings.

The rest of the world. Seasoned river cruisers looking for adventures outside Europe or the U.S. have a grow-

to the Great Pyramids, the Great Sphinx of Giza, and Cairo's historical sites and museums. Tauck's nine-night journey includes a four-night Nile cruise highlighting ancient temples and monuments, as well as a private, after-hours visit to King Tutankhamun's tomb. Prices and dates for 2028 sailings have not been released yet; prices for 2027 sailings start at about $13,000, but they were recently sold out.

Colombia's lush mountains and vibrant culture are the draw in AmaWaterways' seven-night cruise along the Magdalena River. Passengers on this under-the-radar adventure begin their journey in colorful Cartagena and get to experience traditional music and dance, historic architecture, and lush countrysides. Spring 2027 sailings begin around $4,000, with prices dropping in the warmer months. I

September 2026 71

Your Turn

Readers share their insights and advice.

What's the best investment you've ever made?

My best stock investment was purchasing Apple in 2006 at the urging of my wife, who loved her Apple computer for composing music. We invested about $22,000, and 20 years later, our investment is worth well over $3 million.

J.C.M., via e-mail

In 2016, I noticed that Eli Lilly's stock had taken a hit due to a failed Phase 3 clinical trial for an Alzheimer's medication. I knew Lilly also made diabetes medications—a disease affecting millions—and figured the stock would eventually rebound from its $68.43 price when I bought it. And it did. The stock recently traded at more than $1,100.

Parker J. McCarthy, Chandler, Ariz.

Back in the 1970s and early '80s, as a young guy just out of college, I invested in the Fidelity Magellan Fund (when Peter Lynch was running it) through my company's retirement plan. It did pretty well. But beyond that, this started me on a lifetime of saving and intelligent investing.

C.B., Clear Lake Shores, Texas

I started contributing to my 401(k) in 1986 with a company match of up to 6%. I invested most of the money in a low-cost S&P 500 fund. When I retired after 35 years, my nest egg had grown into several million dollars.

T.B., Houston

On the advice of my father, a stockbroker, I opened an IRA when I started my first full-time job. He made the full contribution the first year and then reminded me to contribute the full amount every January.

My dad's been gone for almost 30 years, but now that I'm comfortably retired, I thank him every month when I take a withdrawal.

Susan Price, Lake Wales, Fla.

I had worked for over 30 years as a teacher and writer when I was divorced at age 55. What was I going to do for the rest of my life? I started a business, developing a publishing company that produced educational books and media. After 10 years, I sold that company and invested the money. I'm now 85 and still living comfortably.

Lina Ingraham, Jacksonville, Fla.

I bought a duplex for $90,000 in 1991 and lived on one side until I was able to buy a house in 1992. I kept the duplex as an investment property, and the rental income helped me pay for my children's education and maximize my retirement contributions. I retired at 59 in 2020 and sold the duplex for $640,000 in 2022.

Rainier Ylescupidez, Tacoma

As teachers in our twenties, my husband and I knew that our salaries

would be low, and we wanted to use every cent we earned wisely. In 1972, Merrill Lynch offered a $6-per-person course on investing at a local high school. That $12 was the best investment we ever made, as it opened our eyes to the world of investing. Our first purchase? The new American Funds New Perspective mutual fund, which we still hold today. We also read Kiplinger magazine!

A.Y., Severn, Md.

For 10 years, I had a second job as an adjunct professor at various colleges. I used the salary from my full-time job to pay expenses and the income from teaching to help make the maximum yearly Roth IRA contribution. In addition, I was able to use the extra funds to save up for a car, helping me pay cash for it.

D.P., Louisville, Ky.

ANSWER OUR NEXT QUESTION:

→ What charitable causes do you support, and why?

Send an e-mail to yourturn@futurenet.com with your response, which we may publish on this page in a future issue. Please include your name (initials will be used on request) as well as your city and state. Responses may be edited for clarity and space.

72 Kiplinger Personal Finance

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制度与权力批判深度研判：Kiplinger's Personal Finance (2026-09)

▌ 本日全报思想与文化深思雷达 (Intellectual & Cultural Significance Radar)

在系统通盘梳理本期报纸所涉及的金融理财、投资趋势与生活方式报道后，以下 3 个具体维度在制度伦理与资本逻辑层面最值得学者进一步深思：

公共保障的私人化转移与避险心理 [F1_9, F1_10, F1_15]
- 现象简述：报纸重点推介投资级免税市政债券，强调其极低的违约率（1970-2024年仅0.09%）以及为个人提供“机构级服务”的特性。
- 思想文化深思切入点：这揭示了在不确定性时代，个体如何通过寻求具有“准公共属性”的金融工具（市政债券）来构建私人安全网。当个体将财务目标的实现寄托于对特定信用评级（如穆迪报告）的依赖时，这种从“社会共识保障”向“精算信用保障”的转移，反映了现代个体对制度确定性的重新定义。
技术前沿的资本化与权力兑现 [F1_6, F2_21]
- 现象简述：报纸将太空股票定义为“最终前沿”（The Final Frontier），引导投资者通过投资太空产业获利。
- 思想文化深思切入点：这呈现了“技术理性”如何迅速被资本逻辑捕获。太空探索这一人类文明的宏大叙事，在理财话语中被简化为一种资产类别。这种转化揭示了资本如何通过定义“前沿”来扩张其权力边界，将科学探索的公共潜能转化为金融市场的波动收益。
退休生活的消费悖论与心理异化 [F1_4, F2_26]
- 现象简述：报纸一方面提供“在退休第一年茁壮成长”的指南，另一方面推介高端河道巡游等奢侈消费。
- 思想文化深思切入点：这里存在一种深刻的张力：退休被定义为一种需要“管理”的生存状态。个体在追求“茁壮成长”的财务纪律与被诱导的消费主义之间徘徊。这种状态揭示了资本逻辑对个体生命周期的深度殖民——即便在脱离生产关系的退休阶段，个体的生活质量依然被量化为资产配置与消费能力的函数。

▌ 精选核心专题深度思想论证 (In-Depth Dialectical Monograph)

专题一：信用神话与制度性避险：从市政债券的低违约率看现代安全感的重构

在当下的金融语境中，Hennion & Walsh 等机构推介的投资级市政债券被赋予了极高的确定性，特别是引用穆迪报告指出 1970-2024 年间的 10 年累计违约率仅为 0.09% [F1_15 🔍]。这一数据在理财话语中不仅是财务指标，更是一种“信用神话”的构建。现实的困境在于，个体在面对未来不确定性时，倾向于将安全感建立在历史数据的线性外推之上。

从话语策略来看，报纸将“免税且定期”的收益与“机构级服务”相结合 [F1_9, F1_10]，试图将一种复杂的金融产品包装成一种稳定的生活保障。这种修辞掩盖了金融工具与真实社会保障之间的本质区别：前者是基于契约与评级的私人资产，而后者是基于社会契约的公共权利。当个体通过购买市政债券来寻求“财务目标”的实现时，实际上是在用一种私人化的金融手段替代对公共制度的依赖。

引入哈贝马斯的“生活世界殖民化”理论，我们可以发现，个体的生存安全感正被完全地“系统化”为一种精算的概率模型。当 0.09% 的违约率成为个体心理支撑的基石时，生活世界的互助逻辑被金融系统的信用逻辑所取代。这种转移标志着一种深刻的异化：个体不再通过社会关系的增强来获得安全感，而是通过持有被评级机构认可的资产来获得一种“量化的心安”。

专题二：前沿叙事的金融化：太空经济中的资本逻辑与认知殖民

报纸将太空股票描述为“最终前沿”并引导投资者从中获利 [F1_6, F2_21]，这一表述在现象学上极具研究价值。它将人类对未知世界的探索欲（Wonder）直接转化为一种投资动机（Profit）。这种现实困境在于，当“最后的边疆”被定义为一种资产类别时，太空探索的本质已从科学发现转向了资本增殖。

这种叙事在版面呈现上与传统的银行选择 [F2_24 🔍] 或 ETF 转移 [F2_19 🔍] 处于同一逻辑维度，这意味着在资本的视角下，星辰大海与银行账户并无本质区别，皆为资本配置的选项。这种逻辑揭示了权力如何通过理财话语将个体的认知边界向外推移，使其在潜意识中将“技术突破”等同于“股价上涨”。

从韦伯的理性化进程来看，这是一种极端的“形式理性”对“实质理性”的覆盖。太空探索本应承载着关于人类命运、宇宙伦理的实质性追问，但在理财指南的框架下，这些追问被简化为对收益率的计算。个体在投资太空股票时，实际上是在参与一场关于“未来权力”的博弈，而这种博弈的入场券被限定在金融资本的持有量上。

这种现象对理论的反向质询在于：当人类最宏大的理想被完全金融化后，我们是否还具备定义“非营利性进步”的能力？事实证明，当资本逻辑完成了对“前沿”的定义权垄断，个体的想象力将被限制在资产负债表的增长之中，从而导致一种深层的精神贫困——即便在投资星辰，内心依然被禁锢在金融市场的波动之中。

▌ 面向学者的开放性思想追问与研究路标 (Open Horizons for Scholarly Inquiry)

【信用认知追问】：当极低的历史违约率 [F1_15 🔍] 被作为营销核心时，这种对历史数据的过度依赖如何影响投资者在面对“黑天鹅”事件时的认知韧性？这种基于数据的安全感是否是一种脆弱的心理防御机制？
【价值边界追问】：在太空经济 [F1_6 🔍] 与 ETF 巨幅转移 [F2_19 🔍] 的背景下，资本的流动方向正从传统实业转向高波动性的前沿技术与金融衍生品。这种转移如何重新定义“价值”的内涵，以及它将如何进一步加剧社会在认知能力与财富获取能力上的阶级分化？

理性与情感辩证深度研判：Kiplinger's Personal Finance (2026-09)

▌ 本日全报生活世界痛感与情感政治深思雷达 (Lifeworld & Affective Significance Radar)

在系统通盘梳理本期报纸所涉及的所有报道后，以下 3 个具体维度在生活世界痛感、情感政治动员与制度理性冲突层面最值得学者进一步深思：

【投资级资产的低违约率与安全感构建】 [F1_15 🔍]
- 事件简述：穆迪报告显示 1970-2024 年间投资级市政债券的 10 年累计违约率仅为 0.09%。
- 情感政治与伦理深思切入点：极低概率的量化数据（0.09%）被转化为一种强烈的“安全感”承诺。这种制度理性试图通过历史数据的连续性来对冲未来的不确定性，揭示了金融产品如何通过“概率论”来抚平投资者的生存焦虑。
【退休第一年的生存状态与心理调适】 [F1_4, F2_26]
- 事件简述：报纸专门探讨如何在退休的第一年“茁壮成长”（Thrive）。
- 情感政治与伦理深思切入点：将退休定义为需要“茁壮成长”的阶段，暗示了从职业身份（生产性逻辑）向退休身份（消费/生活逻辑）切换时的心理断层。这不仅是财务规划问题，更是个体在失去社会生产角色后的存在主义危机。
【前沿资本狂热与尽职调查的理性拉锯】 [F1_6, F2_21, F2_27]
- 事件简述：报纸引导读者利用“太空股票”获利，同时强调在投资 IPO 之前必须阅读招股说明书，了解寻找关键信息的路径。
- 情感政治与伦理深思切入点：分析“最后边疆”的浪漫主义叙事如何与“招股说明书”的枯燥理性共存。制度理性试图通过技术性的尽职调查（Due Diligence）来约束由技术乌托邦驱动的群体性非理性狂热。

▌ 精选核心专题理性与情感辩证论证 (The Dialectic of Logos and Pathos Monograph)

专题一：概率理性的安全神话：市政债券违约率中的量化 Logos 与生存 Pathos

在 Hennion & Walsh 的市政债券推广逻辑中，我们观察到一种典型的“量化理性（Quantitative Logos）”运作模式。通过引用穆迪投资者服务公司 1970-2024 年的长期报告，将投资级市政债券的 10 年累计违约率精确到 0.09% [F1_15 🔍]。在这种理性架构中，风险被简化为一个极小的概率数字，旨在向投资者传递一种近乎绝对的安全性。

然而，这种冷色调的制度理性在进入个体的“生活世界（Lifeworld）”时，实际上是在应对一种深层的生存恐惧。对于追求“免税且定期投资收益”的投资者而言 [F1_10 🔍]，0.09% 的数字并非简单的统计学结果，而是一道心理防线。这种辩证摩擦在于：制度端提供的是基于历史数据的“概率理性”，而个体需求的是基于未来的“确定性情感”。

当报纸强调“我们从各个角度研究了它们 35 年之久” [F1_10 🔍] 时，它实际上是在用“时间积累”这一经验维度来弥补量化数据的冰冷。Logos（0.09% 的违约率）与 Pathos（对本金损失的恐惧 [F1_14 🔍]）在此处达成了一种脆弱的平衡。这种平衡揭示了当代金融理财的本质：它不仅是资产的配置，更是通过对历史数据的操纵，为个体在充满不确定性的资本市场中构建一个心理上的“避风港”。

专题二：前沿资本的浪漫主义与技术理性的对冲：太空股票的欲望逻辑

本期报纸将太空股票描述为“最终前沿”（The Final Frontier）[F1_6, F2_21]，这一修辞将金融投资从单纯的资本增值行为提升到了某种探索主义的浪漫高度。从情感逻辑来看，这种叙事动员了读者的好奇心与对未来的想象力，将投资行为与人类文明的扩张挂钩，从而在潜意识中降低了投资者对高风险的感知。

然而，报纸在同一逻辑链条中迅速引入了“制度理性”的对冲机制：强调在投资 IPO 之前必须阅读招股说明书，并掌握“寻找什么以及在哪里寻找”的技术细节 [F2_27 🔍]。这里出现了一组剧烈的辩证冲突：一边是关于“最后边疆”的宏大、感性的乌托邦叙事，另一边是关于“招股说明书”的琐碎、理性的技术审查。

这种摩擦揭示了资本市场的一种认知失调：投资者被感性的叙事吸引进入（Pathos），但被要求用理性的工具进行防御（Logos）。这种结构暗示了当代投资者的精神分裂状态——他们渴望参与到改变世界的宏大叙事中，但又必须依赖于极其枯燥的法律文件来确保自己不被这种叙事所吞噬。这种“浪漫主义驱动 $\rightarrow$ 技术理性防御”的循环，标志着在纯粹的财务指南之外，个体在面对前沿资本时，实际上是在进行一场关于“欲望”与“恐惧”的心理博弈。

▌ 面向学者的伦理与社会心理开放性追问与研究路标 (Open Horizons for Ethical & Sociological Inquiry)

【关于概率理性与心理安全感的阈值研究】：当违约率被量化至 0.09% 这种极低水平时，它在多大程度上能真正抵消个体对系统性风险的本能恐惧？量化数据是否在某种程度上掩盖了不可量化的“黑天鹅”风险？
【关于身份转换期的心理韧性构建】：针对“退休第一年茁壮成长” [F2_26 🔍] 的引导，如何从社会学角度构建一套非财务性的支持系统，以帮助个体完成从“生产性身份”向“生活性身份”的平稳过渡？
【关于金融修辞的意识形态分析】：分析“最终前沿” [F2_21 🔍] 等修辞如何将高风险金融投机合法化为“文明探索”，以及这种话语策略如何影响普通投资者的风险认知边界？

2026-08-16 Boosty PDF 中文极简摘要