Perhaps 2026 is shaping up to be one of the biggest IPO years in a while, with Elon Musk's SpaceX reportedly poised to merge with AI firm xAI. Undoubtedly, it's hard to tell when a potential IPO could be, but one thing is almost certain: that demand for a front-row seat to the SpaceX-xAI IPO is going to be out of this world.
Investing in dividend-paying stocks is one way to make your money work for you. As companies grow, they generate a higher profit and share a part of the profit with the shareholders as a cash dividend. However, stocks do carry risk, and there's no guarantee that a company will pay a dividend. Hence, if you're looking for a low-risk, low-cost way to make your money work for you, consider investing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF (NYSEARCA:SPYD) invests in 80 high dividend-yielding companies and tracks the performance of the S&P 500 High Dividend Index. Since it holds limited stocks, you get to own the best of the industry. It aims to provide dividend income and the potential for capital appreciation. The ETF has a yield of 4.57% and an expense ratio of 0.07%. Besides the quarterly dividends, the fund has generated a 1-year return of 4.67% and a 3-year return of 7.85%.
Founded in 1946, Fidelity Investments of Boston is one of America's largest managers of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Retirees looking for ETFs with low management fees have a lot of options at Fidelity. Here are 10 ETFs with the lowest expense ratios at the company. No. 10: Fidelity MSCI Financials Index ETF (FNCL) This ETF invests in financial institutions, seeking to track the MSCI USA IMI Financials Index. Top holdings include JP Morgan Chase, Mastercard and Visa.
The abrdn Platinum ETF Trust ( NYSEARCA:PPLT) has surged 185% over the past year, transforming platinum from an overlooked industrial metal into a standout commodity performer. The rally reflects a fundamental shift in supply-demand dynamics that has platinum outpacing even gold's strong performance. Investors now face the question of whether this momentum can continue or if the rally has run too far.
Undoubtedly, the U.S. equity market, which has gotten heavier in the big tech names, has been seen as a place to do incredibly well, especially when compared to the global markets. And while diversifying outside of the U.S. may still not be key to S&P-beating gains over the long run, I do think that it is worth considering what else is out there if you seek more diversification, lower price-to-earnings (P/E) multiples,
If the AI rally continues this year, I expect it to return to its roots. AI investors poured into hardware companies early on before coalescing into software companies and driving up broader tech valuations to nosebleed levels. This year, I expect hardware stocks to outperform their software counterparts. Money is moving from hyperscalers into the AI buildout, not the other way around. AI models are yet to generate profits, so for 2026, AI hardware companies are still the best picks.
It's been a turbulent past couple of weeks, but the S&P 500 is poised to finish the year with some historically decent gains intact. At the time of this writing, the S&P is up just north of 14%. It's a solid return, but less so when you compare the last two years. When you zoom out to the global picture, the S&P 500's gains have been quite subpar, to say the least.
The Social Security Administration announced a 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2026, which will benefit approximately 75 million Americans receiving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments. This increase translates to an average monthly boost of about $56 for Social Security retirement beneficiaries starting in January 2026, with SSI recipients seeing their increased payments begin on December 31, 2025. The 2026 COLA of 2.8% represents a slight increase from the 2.5% adjustment in 2025, though it remains below the 3.1% average COLA over the past decade.
The end of a calendar year is a good time to assess your investment strategy and make sure it's working for you. And if you're in the process of building wealth for retirement, there are two things you could probably use to supercharge your portfolio - growth and regular income. Investing in ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, is a great way to build out a diversified portfolio while limiting the amount of work you have to do.
"December could bring seasonal tailwinds back to the stock market and return it to all-time highs. Historically, since 1950, it's the third-best month of the year for the Dow and S&P 500; it's also the third-best month for the Nasdaq, since 1971, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac," as noted by CNBC.
The Invesco QQQ Trust tracks the performance of the Nasdaq 100 index and gives access to the 100 largest non-financial companies on the index. QQQ gives access to the top 100 tech stocks in a single ETF. The fund is rebalanced quarterly and reconstituted annually. The Invesco QQQ Trust is a weighted capitalization ETF which means that the companies with a larger market cap have a higher weightage in the ETF.
I'm of the view that passive and active investors alike can find value in owning exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Because there are more ETFs on the market today than individual stocks, there's a fund for every kind of investor. These highly diversified investing vehicles allow investors to purchase a stake in a wide range of companies, with portfolios that are automatically rebalanced based on certain criteria.
I've long been a proponent of diversification, and investing for the long-term in a structured and coherent fashion. Up until recently, most investors looking to create diversified portfolios had to do so on their own, or with the help of an advisor. And before zero trading fees became commonplace (largely due to payment for order flow and the rise of high-speed quantitative investing companies, but that's a story for another day), it was a costly endeavor to do so.
Many Boomers in 2025 need dependable passive income, and one outstanding way to achieve this is to invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Unlike open-end mutual funds, ETFs trade on major exchanges like stocks. They own financial assets, including stocks, bonds, currencies, debt, futures contracts, and commodities such as gold bars. Having more passive income can help cover rising costs, such as mortgages, insurance, taxes, and other expenses.
ETFs stand out for instant diversification. These professionally-managed funds can invest in hundreds or even thousands of stocks. And they are also known for low costs and tax efficiency. But with thousands of ETFs out there, where do you start? To help, we narrowed it down to two stand-out ETFs. These are the Invesco QQQ ( NASDAQ:QQQ) and Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF ( NYSEARCA:VTI) So let's take a closer look.
However, retirees and conservative investors seeking income for living expenses or just as an investment hedge may feel left out - the paltry dividends from pure stock index ETFs are negligible, yet their double digit gains are reliable portfolio asset growth factors that are essential for staying ahead of inflation. The popularity of the ultra high dividend YieldMax ETFs flipped the script and made covered call dividends themselves into a wealth building platform through dividend compounding.
