Hope your week is going well and you’ve found a quiet moment to settle in. A lot of financial security comes down to acting before a deadline or a downturn forces your hand. Today’s issue is about a few of those moves.
On the money today:
Bernie Sanders owns 3 homes, and you can build wealth even if you don’t care about being rich
A free IRS PIN can protect your refund from thieves, but the tool goes offline in mid-November
Ultra-rich boomers are quietly bailing on the stock market, and their 1 low-key move is open to you too
Let's get into it.
BEHIND THE HEADLINE
Since 2022, homeowners got richer. Renters got poorer
The Fed’s newest wealth survey shows the typical homeowner’s net worth rose 6% since 2022, to $458,900, while the typical renter’s fell 7%, to $10,600. Sanders owns three homes of his own, and the story below breaks down how anyone can start.
Has your housing cost ever kept you up at night, whether a rent hike, a property tax bill or a repair you didn’t see coming? Hit reply and tell us what happened. Your story may be featured in a future issue.
NEWS
Senator Bernie Sanders doesn’t give ‘a damn about money’ but owns 3 homes. How to build wealth even if you don’t care about being rich
Bernie Sanders owns three homes, drives an 11-year-old car and says he doesn’t give ‘a damn about money.’ What it bought him is peace of mind, the kind where a sick family member or a mortgage payment never turns into a crisis. Two simple moves can build that cushion for you, and neither takes a Senate salary or a bestselling book. One of the two is real estate, and you don’t have to buy a house to get in. Arrived, backed by investors including Jeff Bezos, lets you start with $100, with no landlord work and no midnight calls about a burst pipe.
Why it matters: In the Fed’s latest survey, a record 37% of US families said they don’t have a good idea what their income will be next year, and almost 1 in 5 fell behind on a loan payment. The cushion Sanders describes is what separates those households from everyone else, and it gets built before the surprise, not after.
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NEWS
IRS issues fresh warning to US taxpayers: ‘Sensitive’ information now at risk from bad actors. Act before mid-November to protect your refund
The IRS recently warned that criminals are actively targeting online account credentials, and a fraudulent return filed in your name can freeze your refund for months while you prove it wasn’t you. There’s a free step the agency recommends taking now, but the window closes in mid-November when the tool goes offline until January.
Why it matters: The IRS flagged 2.1 million returns for potential identity theft during the 2025 filing season, and confirmed cases took an average of 20 months to resolve. Until you clear IRS verification, your refund is frozen — and the free tool that helps prevent it goes offline in mid-November.
MUST READ
Ultra-rich US boomers are quietly bailing on Trump’s stock market — here’s the 1 low-key move they’re using to protect millions
The S&P 500 is sitting near record highs, yet Morningstar found nearly 60% of the stocks inside it were down 20% or more from their peaks in August. Ultra-rich investors have noticed the gap, and their move isn’t the usual rotation into bonds. It’s one you can follow without their kind of money.
Why it matters: A Goldman Sachs survey found 80% of investors with $10 million or more are turning to alternative assets, along with 39% of those holding $1 million to $5 million. For anyone nearing retirement with a stock-heavy portfolio, the real question is what to diversify into.
MONEY IQ
A $400 surprise bill lands tomorrow: a car repair, a broken furnace. According to the Fed, what share of American adults couldn’t cover it with cash, savings or a credit card they’d pay off right away?
ALSO MAKING THE ROUNDS TODAY
Federal student loan default gives the government authority to garnish your paycheck, tax refund and Social Security without a court order, and there are specific moves to make before collections get underway
If you’ve maxed out your 401(k), you may be building a bigger tax problem for later, and here’s how to spread the load across different tax buckets before you hit the withdrawal years
More than 9 million eligible older adults aren’t claiming SNAP, SSI or Medicare Savings Program help, and an NCOA search tool shows whether you qualify for up to $10,862 a year
MONEY IQ ANSWER: HOW DID YOU DO?
The correct answer is B) 37%. The Fed’s survey of household well-being found that 63% of adults could cover a surprise $400 expense with cash, savings or a credit card paid off at the next statement. That leaves about 4 in 10 adults for whom a car repair or a broken furnace is a real problem.
That's a wrap for today! Before you go, we'd love to know what you thought of today's newsletter. Hit REPLY if you have more to share — we read every one.
See you soon with another quick roundup of the financial news that matters.
