24/7 Wall St

The post QQQM Charges 0.15% and QQQ Charges 0.18%. A Wide Spread Can Take That Back on a Single Trade appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (NASDAQ:QQQM) charges 0.15% a year. Its older sibling, Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ), charges 0.18%. Both track the Nasdaq-100 Index. QQQM costs less to hold, and it deserves full credit for that. But if you’re near retirement and assume the cheaper fund always wins, you’re missing one cost. No fund page prints it in bold, yet

The post Forget SPY’s Dividend. Here Is What $100,000 in State Street’s High-Dividend Version Pays appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) is the default core holding for millions of investors, and for good reason. SPY delivers the entire S&P 500 in one trade for an expense ratio of 0.0945%. Income is SPY’s weak spot. State Street, the same firm behind SPY, runs a second fund built from the same index for investors who want a bigger ch

The post He Came Out of Retirement for a 30-Mile Pipeline. Social Security Counted the Welding Pay but Not the Per Diem Kept Off His W-2 Wages appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. A 64-year-old retired welder in West Virginia sees the news that Hope Gas announced a $250 million, 30-mile pipeline expected to create more than 600 construction jobs. He claimed Social Security two years ago at 62. The pay is good, the assignment runs from spring through the end of 2026, and he figures a temporary return

The post Forget the Headline Yield. This Nasdaq Income ETF Told the IRS Most of Your Payout Was Return of Capital appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. People buy the NEOS Nasdaq-100 High Income ETF (NASDAQ:QQQI) for monthly income. It holds Nasdaq-100 stocks and sells call options against them to generate premium. QQQI recently paid $0.6339 per share in September. Its tax filing tells the IRS most of its payouts are return of capital, not income. Four related funds merit comparison: NEOS’s SPY

The post At 69, She Tried to Leave Medicare Advantage. Her Cancer Had Been Gone Four Years. One Medigap Insurer Required Five appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..  A 69-year-old woman finished cancer treatment four years ago and is in remission. She spent four years in a Medicare Advantage plan, fighting prior authorization requests and network limits. Now she plans to use Annual Enrollment, which runs October 15 through December 7, to switch to Original Medicare and add Medigap Plan G. In this exam

The post Two Neighbors Retired With $600,000 Each. His Is in a Roth. Hers Is in a 401(k). Only One of Them Actually Has $600,000 appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. Two neighbors retire with $600,000 each. His is in a Roth account, hers in a traditional 401(k), but the same balance masks different tax treatments that determine how much each can spend, how Social Security gets taxed, and whether the IRS requires withdrawals. Where a $600,000 Balance Ranks Among Retirement Savers A $600,000 account i

The post She Paid $40,000 of Medical Bills From Checking Over 15 Years and Kept Every Receipt. At 68 She Pulled $40,000 Out of Her HSA Tax-Free in One Afternoon appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. Understanding any strategy allowed under health savings account rules is critical, especially when paying medical bills out of pocket, keeping receipts, and reimbursing yourself from the HSA years later. In the headline’s scenario, a saver paid about $40,000 in medical costs out of pocket over 15 ye

The post Cardano vs Ethereum: Which Smart Contract Platform Wins by 2030? appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..Cardano (CRYPTO:ADA) has surged by 76% over the past three months, while Ethereum (CRYPTO:ETH) has gained 71%. However, Ethereum’s overall network is valued at about 35 times more than Cardano’s. Therefore, if you’re considering Cardano vs. Ethereum for a potential investment by 2030, you’re weighing a recent fast rally against a much larger and more established platf

The post 3 Dividend ETFs for a 40-Year Retirement. One Has Paid Every Quarter Since 2005 appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. A retirement that begins at 60 can easily run 40 years, and an income portfolio has two separate jobs over that stretch: keep paying through recessions, and keep those payments worth something as prices rise. Most yield screens only handle the first job. Three dividend ETFs approach both in different ways: the SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (NYSEARCA:SDY), the Vanguard High Divide

The post Earn More Than $24,480 While Collecting Social Security and This Rule Withholds $1 of Every $2 appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. A lot of people assume that once they start collecting Social Security, they have no choice but to stop working. That’s an incorrect assumption, though. It can be beneficial for Social Security recipients to continue to work, especially since the average monthly benefit today is only $2,086. That creates an annual paycheck of just $25,000 roughly, which i

The post JPMorgan Runs 2 Income ETFs Built for Monthly Cash Flow in 2026 appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. For anyone drawing on a portfolio, the goal is for a monthly deposit to line up with the rhythm of real bills: rent, insurance, groceries. Two premium income ETFs are designed to match that cadence. The JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (NYSEARCA:JEPI) and the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (NASDAQ:JEPQ) sell index call options through bank-issued notes, but target two very diffe

The post She Turned 59½ in August and Took a $20,000 IRA Withdrawal in March. Five Months Cost Her $2,000 appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. A $20,000 withdrawal taken in March by an account owner who did not turn 59½ until August counts as an early withdrawal. Because the distribution happened before the birthday threshold, the additional 10% tax applies to the full amount, totaling $2,000. The penalty is charged on top of regular income tax, which applies to the withdrawal regardless of timing.

The post Retiring at 62 With $850,000? This Money May Need to Last 30 Years. These 3 ETFs Keep Growing It While You Spend appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. You’re retiring at 62 with $850,000. That’s real money, but it isn’t enormous, and it may need to last 30 years. Over a stretch that long, the urge to move everything into cash can do more damage than any single market crash. Three iShares funds split the work: iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (NYSE:SGOV) for near-term spe

The post Your First RMD Arrives and You Do Not Need the Money. These 3 ETFs Give It a New Job appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. Your first required minimum distribution just arrived, and you have no use for it. Other income covers your expenses. The check sits in cash, outside the tax shelter where it compounded for decades, with no plan attached. You simply have an idle asset. Three ETFs can split that money into distinct jobs. The WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Fund (NASDAQ:DGRW) handl

The post How a 71-Year-Old Collects $3,150 a Month From a Single Fund: JEPQ appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. This article looks at how much money a 71-year-old retiree would need in the JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Income ETF (NASDAQ:JEPQ) to collect $3,150 a month, assuming JEPQ makes up 100% of the portfolio. The figures come from the fund’s actual distribution history and recent share price. Many retirees seek a second income stream alongside Social Security, and a single high-yield f

The post GLD Sells Your Gold Every Month to Pay Itself, and the IRS Can Tax Those Sales at Up to 28% appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) sells gold every month to pay its expenses. The trust holds no cash and earns no income, so it pays its bills in metal. The fund’s own FAQ states: “The Trustee sells a small quantity of gold every month in order to pay the Trust’s expenses.” As a result, “the amount of gold represented by each Share will

The post Why Cathie Wood Keeps Loading Up on Meta appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management spent September adding to Meta (NASDAQ:META) in three separate purchases. Meta fell 4.79% on September 28, 2026. Meta trades at $715.62, below the $761 consensus target. The stock had climbed 23.89% over the past month before the drop, so ARK was buying into strength. Meta is growing revenue faster than almost any company its size, but it is spending heavily on AI infr

The post GameStop Just Gained 31% in a Month: Take Profits, or Buy More? appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. A single name has pulled well ahead of the gaming group, and GameStop (NYSE:GME) now presents investors with a familiar dilemma: lock in gains or add more. GameStop stock is up 31% over the past month to $23.49. That climb in GameStop stock arrived alongside fresh insider buying in the executive suite, giving the rally a clear, company-specific driver. Gaming as a whole moved the other way o

The post If He Spends His Last Two Years on Medicaid, the State Could Send Her a Letter About Recovering $180,000 From the House. She Might Still Lives There, and Federal Law Says the State Can’t Collect a Dollar While She Does appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. When a married man spends his last years in long-term care paid for by Medicaid, the state will eventually try to get that money back. Its usual target is the family house. Medicaid estate recovery can put a claim on a home worth $18

The post Marvell Is Up 210% in 2026: Take Profits, or Buy More? appeared first on 24/7 Wall St.. Few large chip names have delivered a year like Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL), and the scale of that run now forces a real decision on shareholders. Marvell stock is up 210% this year to $263.04, putting it well ahead of its own sector and its two larger chip peers. What matters now is whether Marvell’s fundamentals can keep pace with a share price that has already rallied this far. That gai