Top tips for small businesses, retirement, taxes: Wealth!

On today's episode of Yahoo Finance's Wealth!, Host Brad Smith breaks down key information for small business owners and how to best handle some of the biggest challenges when it comes to personal finance.

According to the US Small Business Administration (SBA), over 17 million small business applications have been filed under the Biden-Harris administration. BE Group Inc. Founder Suzanne Stantley explains: "The most important aspect of starting a business is really understanding the industry that that business owner is operating in," highlighting the Small Business Administration as a great source of information and assistance for small business owners.

KKOS Lawyers Founding and Senior Partner Mark Kohler lays out the top tax strategies for small businesses, breaking down the differences between LLCs and S Corporations.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management Senior Retirement Strategist Chris Ceder joins the show to explain the best ways to start planning for retirement, emphasizing the importance of starting early: "Time is basically our biggest friend when it comes to retirement savings. The earlier you can save, the better."

Meanwhile, Yahoo Finance's Kerry Hannon breaks down how college graduates can get their finances under control and start saving money. CNET Money Editor Dashia Milden adds that Americans are grappling with high prices for items like groceries and gas, forcing them to cut back on savings as they try to manage essential purchases.

Finally, Autoblog Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore explains how electric vehicles could be a more affordable option as drivers make fewer trips to the gas pump and can receive incentives, like rebates and subsidies, for home chargers.

This post was written by Melanie Riehl

Video transcript

Welcome to wealth everyone.

I'm Brad Smith and this is Yahoo Finance's guide to building your financial footprint.

Our community of experts are going to give you the resources, the tools, the tips and the tricks that you need to grow your money.

Hey, on today's show, the meme frenzy rears its head again.

Wall Street, a buzz with gamestop's massive surge on speculation.

The trader roaring kitty holds a big position in the stock.

We'll ask an expert how you can play the trade and what you need to know before starting your own business.

We go directly to the source.

We ask a small business owner who met with members of the Biden administration last week.

Plus the challenges each generation faces when saving for retirement will get you better positioned to save by identifying the right plan for you all that much more during today's show.

But let's begin on this meme stock move that tracking here today, Gamestop skyrocketing right now.

It's up by about 29% as it's holding on to gains as we have just seen there on the screen.

This after a Reddit account linked to Keith Gill, also known as Roaring Kitty posted what appears to be ownership of a significant amount of shares and call options.

Now, we should note we could not independently verify the validity of the post in case you don't know though Gill is wide credited for influencing gamestop's 2021 short squeeze for more on how you can take part in the meme trade.

Should you so choose?

We have Matt Coors host of the Matt core show.

So Matt, we were discussing this earlier during the 9 a.m. hour as well.

And one of our guests from interactive brokers, Steve Sosnick pointed out that you shouldn't be chasing certain trades, but there's a difference between a trade and an investment decision as you and I have discussed in the past.

Yes, 100%.

And I guess I just really want to reiterate that to everyone listening to this trading and investing.

The way I like to describe it.

The best metaphor I could come up with is the fact that there are two completely different sports that happen to be played on the same field and time and time again, we see a lot of people who may, they get into it for one reason and then they switch to the other side during the trade or the investment because things aren't going right.

And I just want everyone listening to know whatever your plan is stick to it and don't change it halfway through the game.

Yeah, I'll pose this question to you as well.

I mean, we talked about the historical element of this.

Everybody remembers when you know, everybody and their grandmother was talking about the ticker symbol, GME and A MC and what the thesis was back then.

It was to really make sure that everybody and, and the little guys and retail traders uh out there were kind of ganging up on the big money, those who had heavily shorted gamestop.

What is the thesis at this juncture from the best kind of analysis that we could layer on to it when you don't have that type of outsized short position that a lot of the institutional money has built up, makes me think of the old adage.

Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story because right now that's still the story.

And as you just alluded to the interest, the short interest is nowhere close.

Back in 2021 it was 120%.

As we're talking right now, it's around 19%.

But right now, people are still buying into that classic David and Goliath movement and it's working because overnight Gamestop added $5 billion to its market cap.

Now, does it have the same juice?

The same, I guess underlying ingredients to make something go crazy.

It's kind of tough because don't forget back in 2021 not only was there a sky high short interest of 100 and 20%?

Everyone was locked inside looking for some sort of community interest rates were at zero.

People were getting stimulus checks right now.

We're just in a different place in the world.

So I wholeheartedly believe money could be made to both the upside and the downside.

But in my personal opinion, this is much more of an active trade, not an investment where you would want to chase it after pumping 30%.

Yeah, we're taking a look at Jamie shares right now on screen and uh a lot of our um viewers who are old enough to remember where it was trading at earlier in the session, remember seeing it up 70% almost 80% right now.

It's only up by about 30%.

Still not shabby of a gain.

But what does this tell you about the meme frenzy if you will or just the the mindset uh in terms of how long a momentum trade can last versus the time period before where we saw it go on for sessions weeks almost.

Yeah, that's an excellent question.

And I actually believe the momentum could be carried for a while.

I I think really momentum is going to beget more momentum.

So as long as things are trending, I think there's actually a greater chance of it continuing to trend, especially because of some of the underlying excitement of what's going on in the options market.

If people continue to pour into it, it's gonna end up becoming a self fulfilling prophecy.

So it's kind of really how many people buy into the concept of the movement as a whole.

And when you think about, of course, just this one name, there's so many others that kind of got pulled into the broader memetic mindset.

If you will, where are the other perhaps opportunities that are out there for those who are trying to figure out?

OK, I don't wanna chase gamestop, but I wanna best anticipate where some of this flow could be moving around.

Yes.

Uh Like you said, a lot of those laden names are getting a similar sympathy reaction.

But in my book, it's kind of really hard to be better than or really duplicate the original.

So I think most eyes, most trading, most excitement is on GME.

But that other basket of quote unquote meme sucks.

Yeah, there's gonna be some sympathy there but in terms of how to play it, how to trade it as you alluded to by no means would I chase if I do want to go in?

Understand that it's a high risk, high reward play, obviously, never put more money on the table than you're willing to lose.

And I think right now there's maybe potentially a lot of novice people joining the market thinking that every single day is the same in the options market.

And I want to clarify to anyone listening and this is maybe potentially a bit more of a deep dive volatility is extremely high.

So whether you're buying calls or buying puts, there's a good chance that you're overpay.

Matt.

Great to see you.

Thanks for hopping on with us to break this down.

Really appreciate it.

Matt cos the host of the Matt Coors Show.

Thank you.

Thanks.

While inflation continues to hit Americans wallets and they're certainly feeling the burn here.

According to a recent CNET money survey, 188 million adults in the US have had to postpone purchases or significant financial goals due to sticky inflation and higher prices here to break down.

The, we've got Deja Milden who is the C net money editor.

Great to see you.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Ho how us walk through some of these results.

Was there anything that jumped out on a at you in terms of what people are willing to or need to push back in terms of purchases right now?

Yeah, good morning.

I think the one thing that's the biggest takeaway right now is that the biggest sticker shock is groceries, that's 77% according to our survey.

And then it's followed by another essential gas, which is at 54%.

So it's clear that what we're seeing is that people are surprised by what they're having to pay for essentials and they don't really have what it takes right now to put more to those longer term goals that we just talked about, right, the vacations, the homes, the cars we even saw according to our survey that people are having to tap into credit cards, I now pay later their savings.

So it's really clear that we're having to take a closer look at our budgets and more importantly what that means for our money now and in the near future.

Yeah, Deja, we get all of these different readings about the consumer.

I mean, we got consumer confidence last week and we were discussing even with the conference board, um their chief economist Dana Peterson hopped on with us to really discuss what their view of the consumer is right now.

And we've seen this moderate over the past about 18 months or so going from the consumer, hey, it's resilient or, or we are, I mean, we are the consumer uh to all the way to this juncture where you're hearing companies like Walmart uh talking about the consumer being relatively consistent or relatively stable, that's a far cry from resilient or, or saying that there is all out strength.

So how do you define and how are you in this data seeing the consumer?

And, and what is that definition of them from your perspective?

What we're seeing right now is that consumers are really having to think about essentials um for that, for them that may look like still visiting Walmart and Target, but really being mindful before they hit that checkout line, right?

So what we're seeing also is that a lot of those companies and retailers are able to slash prices right now.

They're cutting back on, let's say a lot of those essential slashing prices a bit and it can work in our favor.

That being said, we're reaching a point where we're having to boil down what it really means for our budget.

Those savings that we're seeing can really help us to save a little bit more on groceries.

Like we just talked about saving on gas a little bit more.

So it makes it a little bit tougher to really see the consumer really having to plan for long term when right now a good portion of America is just trying to get by.

Yeah, certainly.

And one of the huge things that we're also trying to get our heads around is where they're going towards as they're trying to get by.

Has this changed where they're shopping?

I'd say for many of Americans, we're looking at what it means for when it comes to comparison shopping.

So yeah, that comes down to going to different stores, choosing different brands, even considering wholesale clubs.

We talked to our expert review board and we are seeing that people are shopping their pantry first before even visiting the store.

So that can look really different depending on the consumer.

But more importantly, the bigger picture takeaway there is that we're doing anything we can at this point to save money to cut those costs down.

It was interesting too.

And just lastly while we have you, you laid out the impact on each generation as well.

And some of the findings from this, what was the main takeaway there?

Millennials and gen Z millennials are not planning right now, the majority of millennials are not planning to handle those long term goals and purchases.

Right now, the homes, the vacations, the cars and even more so they're having to tap into savings.

1/4 of millennials are having to do that in order to cover the essentials.

So right now it goes back to, hey, right now might not be the time to buy that home even though prices and interest rates may look favorable depending on the consumer right now.

Essentials are the biggest key in making sure that everyday life is taken care of Deja Milden, who is the C net money editor, Deja.

Thanks so much for taking the time here with us today.

Thank you for having me.

Have a good one.

Certainly, you too guys coming up.

Small businesses make up almost all of the US businesses.

Yeah, it it it does indeed, but it's not easy to start one.

We've got some tips for all of you aspiring business owners.

On the other side of the break, over 99% of businesses in the US are small businesses according to the Small Business Administration and there's been a boom in small business applications.

Over 17 million applications in fact, were filed since 2021.

According to the Biden administration, our next guest was at the White House last week to discuss priorities and sources for small business owners to break it all down for us.

Suzanne Stanley, who is the be Group Inc founder and CEO is here with us.

Thanks so much for taking the time.

Fresh from your visit to the White House, you gotta walk us into what's being discussed, what's being prioritized for small business owners and uh potential entrepreneurs out there looking to start their own small business.

Good morning.

Well, the visit to the White House was extremely enlightening.

Uh The Biden administration has so many programs that they have put in place for the small business.

As you mentioned in the last three years, over 17 million individuals have said, I want to start a small business and those businesses if successful will add a lot of jobs and a lot of revenue to our economy.

And so we talked about the Small Business Administration and all of the programs that they have in place for the small business.

We certainly know that this department has been around for many, many years.

But the programs that they have available for small business have have grown significantly.

There's been more money invested over $10 billion has been invested just to help small business with their capitalization and start up and technical assistance.

Uh We also discussed the Minority Business Development Agency and the fact that it has been made a permanent organization within the Department of Commerce and that they are there to assist small businesses to gain this fortitude and the stamina as well as the insights and expertise to run a business.

Sounds like a wide ranging conversation was had.

Uh I wanna know, as you're kind of engaging with small business owners in your own work, how do you navigate some of the mistakes, the pitfalls that you see small businesses frequently make and how can aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners navigate that themselves?

You know, the most important aspect of starting a business is really understanding the industry that that business owner is operating in many people.

Like those 17 million that we talked about have decided they want to start a business.

But have they really done the research, have they really conducted an analysis of the industry and the segment in which they operate in order to really have a good understanding of what they are stepping into running a business is not like running a household.

There are so many variables that have to be managed.

So many variables that have to be adjusted, you have to understand employment and staffing and health care and health insurance and payroll.

So these businesses really need to undertake a full understanding of what they're getting into.

And that's why these agencies that the federal government has in place.

Are there to assist these small businesses?

I talked about within the Small Business Administration.

Uh There are several departments and I just want to enumerate some of those, you have the small business development centers which are around the country there to assist small businesses and understanding what the industry looks like that they operate in.

You also have the score, business mentors.

Those business mentors are there to provide advice.

Those small businesses can ask questions and receive answers.

They become the guidepost for those businesses as they begin to make the decision to launch their businesses.

You have the veterans business uh outreach program.

Of course, veterans have a number of services available to them that are not necessarily available to all small businesses.

And then you have the women's business development centers.

So no matter where a small business operates in this country, they can access those particular agencies and get assistance and support.

One of the uh viral sayings of a few years past was where the money reside.

And a lot of small business owners wanna know where is the potential free money that they can get in order to make sure that they are putting that capital to work for their small business.

Well, you know, free is an interesting term and most of the um businesses access to capital programs reside within the Small Business administration, as I mentioned already.

And the Minority Business Development Agency, the Biden administration invested $10 million.10 billion dollars to support small businesses and empower them to gain access to this capital that you just mentioned, which is critically important because without capital, a business can't operate.

One of the issues with small businesses.

Is this again, so many of them may be experts in a specific area, but they're not experts in running a business.

And so consequently, they need to have the tools in place to operate their business.

Suzanne, great to speak with you here on the day.

And thanks so much for laying out so much of the access points for small business owners who are either already embarked on their journey or just beginning a new one here, Suzanne Stanley, who is the be group founder and CEO.

Thanks so much.

You're welcome.

Thank you.

Well, starting your own business is one thing, but paying your taxes on your small business, a whole other beast.

Joining us now with some advantageous tax tips for your small business, we've got Mark Koehler who is the KK Os lawyer, senior partner here.

Mark.

Great to have you here.

You got a better looking microphone than I do here.

Let's begin as we're kind of thinking about some of the strategies that small businesses are trying to implore for best tax savings.

Where should they begin?

What's number one the lowest hanging fruit?

Well, first, thanks for having me.

This is such an exciting topic, right?

Talking about taxes that everybody's been waiting for this brad.

I'm so grateful you guys are dedicating time to this.

This is awesome.

Um First big thing is, is for a business owner is to realize they've got to find an advisor and maybe get away from someone that's just reporting their taxes.

They're out there, they could be a little hard to find.

But when you find an advisor, you're planning your big picture.

A term we use when we work with our clients is trifecta.

We want to bring it all together with operations, the assets we're investing and then bring it down to our trust or 1040.

And with this trifecta blueprint, when you have a big picture, you know, the direction you're going and then you can start popping in those tax strategies that really move the needle with that in mind.

What are some of the hot button tax topics that you hear your clients asking about as they're trying to best position themselves to take advantage where there are kind of loopholes that they can tap into.

Uh, you bet and, and small business owners are, owners are starving for good tax tips and, and they just want some actionable items.

And the one we love the most is right up there in the top three is the S corporation, the S corporation.

And you could have an LLC taxed as an S corporation.

But when business owners start to get around 60,000 dollars in net income, so gross, minus all my expenses, I'm taking home around 60 I need to be looking at, converting to the S corporation very affordable to do very simple to maintain.

But what you're doing is saving on the number one tax before state and fed.

And that's FICA and we want to save on self employment tax.

A lot of accounts can be too conservative there.

You gotta drive your own car here, people.

You're the captain of your ship.

So have a conversation or review with someone about the self employment tax issue and you actually reduce your chances of an audit when you move to an S Corp. Now you're filing on a different tax return.

Super exciting mark.

Our, our team did the homework.

I mean, you've been an entrepreneur since it sounds like the age of 15.

We've had a lot of tax code changes since then, especially for small businesses.

Is there one that's more outsized in terms of those changes than the rest that small businesses should be tapping into?

You bet I, and the, the technique that brings a lot of the strategies that's come about in the last 6 to 8 years with the tax cuts and Jobs Act is using the family board meeting.

I love the family board because people, business is family, family is business and so too many business owners, Americans pay taxes and then support their kids under age 18, they may be going to college and so they pay taxes at these higher rates when they could get the kids involved in the business.

I want kids, spouses, the parents, any family members you're supporting on a family board.

Now, what does, what that does now is it teaches them business, financial literacy, you're getting their help, you're taking tax write offs for travel, dining, having regular board meetings where you travel within reason and we're now getting income into those kids tax returns where they can build credit, pay for their own tuition in college.

It's just building that legacy.

And Main Street America is the backbone of this country.

And when we involve our family, we're passing on a legacy, Mark Koehler KK OS lawyer, senior partner, Mark.

Thanks so much for joining us here.

Really appreciate it, Brad.

Thanks for having me.

Certainly coming up, everyone feeling stressed about your retirement plan, your stress level may have something to do with the generation you grew up in.

I'll say our next guest will break down how each age group feels about their retirement savings.

That's next.

Retirement planning has changed a lot over the last few decades, about 30 years ago, you could work for the same company for years.

And now by the time that you're ready to retire, there would be a defined benefit plan also known as a pension fund just waiting for you.

Now, most retirement is built on defined contribution plans like 401 K's which largely rely on workers to contribute to their income while employers may contribute some as well as a benefit.

So with how much retirement has changed over the years, how different generations are dealing with the planning for this, for the future?

It can vary.

Joining me now, for more on this, we've got Chris Cedar, who's the Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Senior retirement strategist, Chris.

Great to see you here.

Ok.

So which generation is feeling kind of the biggest hit of the changes here that have taken place over the decades?

Sure.

Yeah, I know uh nice to, nice to spend the time with you today.

Uh You know, the one of the challenges that we have with the generational shift from pensions to 401k plans is really that shift for generation X generation X at the time, really, they were late to basically understanding that so much of the responsibility is now gonna sit on their, on their shoulders.

So being able to save, say early, which is so critical to being able to have long term savings cumulate uh is really where we see, you know, one of the bigger challenges.

So generation X and obviously those uh late, late career boomers are basically those still working boomers are really the two generations that we see are struggling or feeling the most behind in their savings.

And hopefully we'll have, you know, basically the uh you know, a decade or so to really see where they can shore up those savings.

How, how has Gen X then gone about making sure that they can perhaps best fill the gap where, where there has been this drastic change and they were kind of the experimental generation uh to make sure that they are ready for and, and adequately have their number met for retirement.

Yeah.

No.

And that, that's the challenge.

That's exactly the challenge.

You know, time is basically our biggest friend when it comes to retirement savings, the earlier you can save the better.

So right now, generation X is really thinking about how do you maximize the tax deferred savings?

Looking at 401k is potentially looking at HS A accounts F SAS.

What are the different types of tax advantage solutions that they can take advantage of?

Basically in the last, you know, uh again, last half of their career, uh you know, really looking at those aspects, the one area that we continue to see is a gap that we think would make more sense.

If we could really focus more attention for the generation X is planning, we certainly don't see the plans there, but that's gonna be something that's gonna give them a better course of action to figure out how did they basically navigate some of the trade offs between saving for uh saving for college or dealing with elderly uh family, family members, navigating those challenges while also saving and maximizing their uh you know, basically their opportunity to get tax deferred savings is really gonna be critical in the next several years.

Let's talk about the younger generations as well.

Here are, are, is there a massive delta between how they are planning for retirement than those generations that may either be on the way to retirement or in retirement right now?

And, and how that planning looks vastly different, especially with a lot of quite frankly, the digital resources that are available now too.

Yeah.

No, that, that's exactly right.

And so, I mean, so for, for to take a step back, we generally see that this concept of the financial vortex, which is all these competing priorities that do impact your retirement savings.

Generation X as we call the generation, uh the experimental generation, they were first to deal with that.

But as we look at sort of millennials and gen Z, they also face significant pressure with those uh those competing priorities.

They're just at a different phase of navigating those challenges.

So if you think generation Z uh you know, the millennials, they are the most who actually feel like these competing priorities are gonna be impacting their retirement.

But they're again, they're just at a different phase of, of where they are in the process.

But they're both feeling much better about where they are in their savings.

They're much more proactive around saving for retirement, more than more than the other two generations.

Gen X and Working Boomers have a personalized plan.

So to us, it's really showing the fact that these younger generations have taken more of the ownership are really making sure that their financial security is one of their priorities and they're making good progress and they're getting out of the gate pretty well.

What do you believe the next big innovation on financial and retirement plans could be next?

Yeah.

And innovations are really, really important for, for this, uh, you know, because what we're trying to do is you're really trying to help a very broad based population, all employees are all Americans really need to be taking a bigger role.

So what we've seen in terms of helping in the past is really automating a lot of the features which has gotten people off to the ground, they're making savings, they're making the steps that they want to, you know, get their savings off the ground.

But what's missing is the planning aspect of it and we actually talked about in a couple of segments.

Prior planning is so important as we think about retirement journey today.

It's so unique to what is going on in the individual's lives.

Again, when they may be dealing with student loans, they may have, again, parents that may be living with them or they're financially caring for their parents.

Everyone is gonna have a more unique circumstance that they need to navigate.

And so the aspect of planning is so critical and to your point around uh you know, technology, how it's playing a larger role.

More of these services are being technology enabled.

So building a personalized retirement plan, a lot of times that is actually now technologically available in many retirement plans today, it's not broadly available.

And it's one of those innovations that we continue to see is playing a really huge role in the future so that we can get, we can help individuals not just get started but also be able to manage all the competing priorities and their unique circumstances so that they can start their own course towards retirement.

Chris Cer, who is the Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Senior Retirement strategist.

Chris, thanks so much for taking the time here with us today.

Great, thanks for having me.

Certainly.

It's that time of year when college students put on a baggy zip up robe and a square cap and sit in the blistering sun waiting for their name to be called.

I mean, mine was indoors graduation.

It's a happy time.

It's a whirlwind of excitement and accomplishment for these young folks.

But it can also be strange to go from a college campus to the quote end quote round world Real World where there's jobs to do in bills to pay.

So here with all the money tips that grads should know.

We've got Yahoo Finance's Carrie Han and Carry.

Yes, it is a, it is a round world and it's a very real world out there.

What are the first couple tips here?

Yeah, Brad.

Absolutely love this time.

Uh, in people's lives.

Number one, you know, set big audacious goals.

If you're gonna start saving money, you gotta have a vision for what that is.

You know, you've got a dream to get there.

And so, you know, money might not buy happiness, but it buys you freedom to live the kind of life you want to do the things you want to do.

So I encourage people to, you know, start a vision board.

What are you saving for it?

So helpful to be able to not just have a dollar amount but to visualize it.

And the second thing that is hugely important is don't get caught up in credit card debt.

It is so tempting at this stage in your life to think.

Oh, I'll just pay it back later.

But the fact of the matter is debt is a dream killer and it may get, you may find yourself stuck in a job because you need to have a certain salary to pay back those bills each month.

And so I really encourage people to just try very hard to avoid debt and carry a lot of young adults, new grads will arrive at their jobs, have to make decisions about contributing to retirement savings account when they're like, well, wait a minute, like I'm still trying to take care of this debt that I just amassed over four or five years.

So what are your tips there as they're looking at into the future and trying to make the smart decisions.

Yeah, this is a tricky one because you do see, I can't possibly, I don't have enough money to set aside in my retirement account.

But absolutely do as much as you can even if it's a small amount.

But if you can, possibly, if your employer offers a retirement plan, try to get up to the match 4 to 6% of your salary that will, you know, really be super helpful to you.

You can bump it up as you go along.

If you're working for yourself, automatically starts on an individual retirement account and Ira and automatically put a little bit of each paycheck into that if you get confused about.

Oh my gosh.

Well, what should I be investing in?

And your employer will offer lots of opportunities of different kinds of funds I suggest start with a low cost index fund.

This is easy.

It's really broadly diverse.

You start with a US stock fund, you can do an International Fund index fund.

It may be a little bit of bonds, but right now you really want the equities to really give you the most growth over time and compound.

So if you're really confused, just go to the I love the S and P 500 Index.

It's been a great return over its history and you can't go wrong.

There's some cool stops in there as well.

You know, you got Microsoft, you got Amazon, you got Tesla but, but the other thing here is do not raid your account if you switch jobs.

This is super tempting to do, especially if it's just a small amount.

You go.

What the heck?

I could use that to pay off these bills or to go on a trip.

Don't do it.

Let your money continue to grow for you.

Carrie, great tips here.

Uh We do have a little bonus activity though.

A little more fun in this conversation.

What can you tell some of the fresh grads about enjoying spending their money?

Yeah, this is something my dad told me when I graduated.

He's like set some aside to to spend on fun things, right?

You know, it's not.

Oh yes, you have these big goals for your future but save in order to go do some fun things with your spending and you know what?

It's priceless.

The return on this kind of life experience doesn't have your to return on equity or whatever it might be, return on investment.

This is a memory.

These are memories.

These are stories you're telling your whole life and, and I just encourage people to really build that kind of investment in your future as well.

Well, in the words of Aubrey Drake Graham and roaring kitty YOLO carry Hannon.

Thanks so much.

Thanks.

Coming up.

Gas prices are expected to rise this summer.

So could the upfront cost of an ev be worth it?

We'll talk about that next it's a tough automobile market out there.

Car prices have come down from 2021 highs but other factors are giving consumers some pause.

A new note from Bank of America points to the quote all in cost ownership which includes elevated interest rates, insurance and maintenance costs.

But one big auto executive thinks ev ownership could actually save Americans money.

Yahoo Finance's executive editor, Brian Sazi spoke to Ford Ceo Jim Farley about the consumer experience with electric vehicles.

We think almost half of Americans would save money by buying an EV, they take the politics out of it.

You know, we think for customers, they love the flexibility, they love not having to go to the gas station.

Uh They, they love having a full tank every morning.

They like having a digitally enabled car that normally comes with the NEV V. There's a lot of incredibly attractive consumer aspects of an EV I think it, it, it started off as an expensive technology and one that was really dominated in the urban world where, you know, politics play out and of course, with the charging infrastructure and building a whole new infrastructure outside of gas stations, it was bound to be, you know, politicized, but that's what we're focused on its company.

We're focused on the, the customer, we're seeing customers who buy a maki or lightning, they don't go back to an ice vehicle.

They, they, it's like a different experience for them and they don't wanna go back to the other experience.

And for more on this, we turn to Greg Migliori who is the editor in chief of auto blog.

Greg.

Great to see you and thanks for joining us on this topic here.

I mean, you just heard from the Ford CEO talking about some of the potential cost savings that buyers of EVs long term could potentially bake into their financial planning.

Where is that stacking up in terms of the prioritization and the purchase decision making that we're seeing right now more broadly among consumers.

Hey, good morning, Brad.

Thanks for having me.

I I quite agree with Jim Farley.

I think he's spot on.

I think, uh you know, with evs, it's a technology that doesn't need to be politicized.

It's just a good, interesting technology.

I think it works for a lot of people and for some people it won't.

Perhaps they need to stick with, you know, gas vehicles or hybrids plug in hybrids.

But I think Jim is taking a very practical approach to the market and he's also trying to take a, you know, measured approach.

He wants to educate consumers saying, hey, you know, maybe a home charger can work for you and that will relieve range anxiety.

A lot of times when you install a home charger, you can get some tax rebates or incentives from your either your insurance company or utility company, things like that with gas prices, it seems like they're always a fluctuation.

Right.

Insurance rates and all sorts of maintenance costs are going up because the average age of a vehicle has hit, I think 12.6 years, uh, vehicles are older and older with evs, there's often fewer maintenance costs, fewer maintenance chores associated with the vehicle.

So I think trying to present it as a practical option for a lot of people could really resonate with a lot of American drivers.

It's interesting because we've gotta kind of figure out where we are in terms of this cycle of uh for the EV purchases.

What's gonna bring down pricing?

Number one, what's also kind of the general consumer sentiment around evs as a whole?

And have we, have we hit and already moved through the the trough in demand as many of the companies are kind of entering into this demand generation phase and trying to get the messaging correctly as well.

I mean, it, it part of that was trying to make ev sexy like nobody, he was looking at the leaf a decade ago or a decade plus ago and saying, man, I gotta get in that car now, Tesla came along.

Lucid came along.

You've seen Mercedes come along with the EQ series and ultimately, that's added in this kind of uh this appeal to it.

So where are we at in the cycle right now?

Yeah, I think we're sort of moving beyond that early adopter phase and we're still in that spot where a lot of the early adopters have their vehicles and then there's some skeptics people who think, well, I'm open to the technology but I'm not sure it's gonna work for me.

And that's where like an approach, like what Jim Farley is taking could be very effective.

Uh, I also think getting some more products, some more refreshed products on the market, uh, to your re could really help.

Uh, Chevy is going to launch the new Equinox Electric this year.

They're expanding the range of the electric Silverado this year.

So it's more, they're moving beyond just the work truck versions into some higher spec trims, uh things like that, that will help grow the market and offer consumers a greater variety of vehicles.

I think a lot of it does come down to just a product decision.

You know, you're in market for a new car, you think?

Hey, that Rivian looks pretty good.

I'm interested in that.

Maybe I'll go ahead and investigate that or hey, I've had a Chevy Equinox for years now.

There is an electric version.

Let me find out more about that.

So I do think right now we're at like 8% of the overall market is ev si could see us getting to like 10 or 12% this year.

If some of these new product launches resonate with consumers, it was clear in 2023 that the cyber truck in the lead up to and then in the kind of falling action thereafter, the ability to deliver a few of the vehicles and, and start to really move them into market.

That that was the story of 2023 for the EV market.

Is there a clear or outsized winner right now in terms of mind share or even market share for 2024 that could potentially take the king.

You know, right now, I think it's too early to tell.

I do think Rivian which unveiled a portfolio of new vehicles, I think in February or March, they look very strong.

They're also refreshing some of their core models.

That's the R one S and the R one T those are going to hit the market fairly soon.

Like I said, Chevy has a whole fleet of electric vehicles, you know, from Silverado to the equinox.

The Blazer ev is going to get some, I think critical mass this year, they're flooding the zone and like crossovers, which is a critical space.

Uh So I think basically as more and more products launch, uh you know, again, we'll see how it shakes out.

It's hard to really like pick who's winning right now.

I think it is a little too early.

I know we're in June already but I mean, right now, I think it's, you know, nobody has really achieved any sort of, you know, pole position as we speak five months into the year.

Greg, always great to get your insights.

Thanks so much Greg Mor, who is the editor in chief over at auto blog.

Great to see you.

Thank you.

Well, if you still haven't booked your summer travel plans, it may be worth it to use or sign up for a credit card that offers the best rewards, but which card is best for you to help with some tips when making that important decision?

We've got Yahoo Finance's own Kendall.

Little Kendall.

Great to see you here in studio with us.

All right.

So for the folks that are still planning out those summer vacations, there are a range of card options that they could lean into for some of these rewards.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

I think when you are talking about travel credit card rewards, you really wanna focus on one your budget and then how you travel.

So say for instance that you're a really frequent traveler, you're always on the go.

Then you might wanna look for a card where you can get the airport lounge access or the annual credits to your travel expenses.

Even if it has an annual fee, you're probably going to be uh worth that extra price.

You also are gonna wanna look for rewards and categories that are travel related, whether that's airfare, hotel spending.

So you can really maximize the cost that you're incurring when you're traveling a lot.

And then on the other end of the spectrum, we have people who are beginners to travel rewards who may only travel once or twice per year.

In that case, you might benefit more from a low or no annual fee card that actually reward you on your daily spending.

So your groceries, your gas, then you can accrue those points and miles throughout the year and then cash them in when you actually do travel.

And finally, there's also the type of traveler who always uses the same airline, maybe they live in a hub city or always travels using the same hotel chain.

Then they might want to consider a co branded card and that co branded card is going to give you benefits on the actual loyalty program for the travel brand.

Maybe that means early check in to your hotel or priority boarding on the airline.

And you're also accruing those rewards within the loyalty program to help you reach elite status more fast.

So I think depending on what type of travel that you're used to and your budget that's really important to consider.

Now back in March, the, the consumer financial protection said that it would begin looking into credit card reward programs and that was after a surge in complaints.

So what are some of the most common complaints here?

Yeah.

So in May, actually the CFP B then released a report that went into detail on those complaints.

And so generally the credit card rewards complaints were focused around people who could not use the rewards that they had earned for some people that meant that maybe they actually didn't qualify or weren't eligible for a bonus that they thought they would be or their, um, rewards program devalued those rewards before they could use them.

Other people saw things like account issues and tech problems keeping their rewards in a limbo.

And then there were also people who had their account closed or closed their account and just completely lost access to their rewards before they could use them.

Finally, we got to get to some tips for consumers to avoid having these issues in the first place too.

Yeah.

So I think the number one most important thing is probably the most boring thing is reading your terms and conditions specifically.

You wanna look for rewards program terms.

That's where you're going to find all the info about how you can make sure you qualify for a bonus.

What purchases actually count for your rewards.

It's all the fine print that you don't wanna read, but it's really, really important information to have.

And then secondly, you should use your rewards.

Don't just let them sit in your account forever stockpiling them.

That's how you lose the value of them.

So if you have a cash back card, maybe at regular intervals throughout the year, you're cashing it in.

If you earn points or miles, maybe you set a goal for a vacation and then you're using those rewards and accruing them toward that specific goal.

You don't want to do is just let them sit and never use them so they get devalued or you lose access.

Yeah, terms and conditions a good night time read if you're trying to get to sleep usually, but it could be very valuable as well.

Thanks so much for taking the time.

Thanks Brad.

Coming up, everyone earning season is slowing down but it's not over yet.

We have one company's earnings that you the consumer should be paying attention to.

Next.

Dollar Tree will be reporting its latest quarterly earnings on Wednesday.

Here to tell us what you the consumer should be looking out for is Yahoo Finance's own, Josh Lipton.

All right, Josh, this is gonna be a big one DLTR.

Here we go, Brad.

All right.

So listen, earning season may be mostly behind us, Brad.

But there are still important names reporting this week including as you said, Dollar Tree Streets expecting Q one eps of 144 on revenue of 7.6 billion, which would represent growth of about 4% on the top line.

The company in total operates roughly 17,000 locations.

Remember there are the Dollar Tree stores that are mostly in the suburbs and cater to middle income consumers.

There are also the family dollar locations that are mostly located in urban areas and sell groceries and cleaning products.

Now, this is an interesting moment for the company as it is in turnaround mode.

CEO rick drying took the reins of dollar last year and he has been making changes, opening new stores mostly dollar trees but closing unprofitable Family Dollar stores.

I checked in with Joe Feldman from the Telsey Advisory group.

He argues this is a smart strategy.

Yes, Joe says it's gonna create some volatility here in the near term, but his opinion is building a solid foundation for the future.

The turnaround has a challenges.

Feldman says an improvement at family dollar hasn't come as rapidly as maybe some hoped.

That helps explain why the stock is down about 15% this year.

In more recent news, the company also announced that nearly 200 shuttered 99 cents only stores are gonna be reopened as Dollar Tree locations.

It's after their leases were secured out of bankruptcy proceedings.

Now, Feldman likes this move saying these stores are in premium retail centers and complement the current network.

More broadly.

We do know the consumer that dollar tree careers to is facing challenges right now, including the impact of elevated inflation.

Increasingly, shoppers seem much more focused on buying what they need rather than what they want.

So how does Dollar tree navigate this environment?

Well, the company has been raising prices.

Remember they broke that dollar price point a few years ago, they went to 125 as a standard price point and are even higher priced items as well as in other words, bulls on the stock, but they can now sell fewer items but still maintain healthy revenue and margin growth.

Brad back to you those family dollars, they were key to my financial planning when I first moved to New York.

I was there so often.

They might as well just give me a badge.

Josh, thanks so much.

You got it.

Appreciate it.

Let's do a final check of the markets here as we're taking a look at the Dow, the S and P 500 the NASDAQ, we are mixed right now.

The Dow and the S and P A 100 seeing some slippage.

We did start the day in positive territory across the board as we are approaching lunchtime here in New York, the Dow is down by about seven tens of percent.

S and P 500 by about two tens of percent in the red, NASDAQ holding on to gains though up three tens of percent.

That's it for wealth today.

I'm Brad Smith.

Thanks so much for watching.

Hey, you can stay tuned for market domination with Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton, who you just heard from coming up at 3 p.m. Eastern time.

You do not want to miss it.