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As 2025 winds down, here are some moves to help you finish the year strong financially. Morningstar’s director of personal finance and retirement planning, Christine Benz, discusses strategies.This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Benefits of rebalancing your portfolio What are the benefits of portfolio rebalancing, and who most needs to do it? The main benefit of rebalancing is risk reduction. You trim securities that have performed really well, presumably ones with higher valuations today. And you redirect the money into securities where returns have lagged, but valuations might be more attractive. It’s also important to rebalance on an ongoing basis as you get closer to your spending target.As retirement approaches, we need to spend that money, so you want to de-risk your portfolio and build safer asset reserves. Investors age 50 and above really need to take notice of rebalancing. It’s time to take some winnings and build safer assets that you could access if you needed to spend from your portfolio. Moving money into high-quality bonds removes risk and takes advantage of current attractive yields. Why investors saving for retirement should check their international allocation What do you recommend for people who are still working and saving for retirement? They should rebalance as well, but their main consideration should be their U.S. versus non-U.S. exposure. Most investors are underallocated in international stocks. Consider your style diversification as well, paying attention to underperforming areas.Review your retirement contributions, to see if you can boost or even max out your company retirement plan for the year. People over 50 can make catch-up contributions, and there are special catch-up contributions this year for people between 60 and 63. You can contribute to IRAs and HSAs until the tax filing deadline. How to use RMDs to help with rebalancing How can people over 73 connect their RMDs with portfolio rebalancing? Required minimum distributions (RDM) must be taken on time, but they can also help meet your rebalancing. By using appreciated securities to meet your RMD, you de-risk your portfolio, satisfy the IRS’s obligations, and may free up assets to supply your cash flow needs for next year. Why investors should check their insurance coverage Is it also a good time to look at your insurance coverage? Whether you are doing open enrollment for employer-provided health care or for Medicare, it’s important to shop around. Take stock of what has changed in your situation, and in the plans on offer. This is particularly important for employer-provided plans, which change frequently. Married couples often select whichever spouse’s plan looks better and most affordable, but sometimes it’s more cost-effective for each partner to be covered by their own company’s plan. How qualified charitable contributions can help with RMDs How can charitable donations connect with RMDs and lessen your portfolio risk? Investors with highly appreciated holdings in taxable accounts should consider giving appreciated assets directly to charity or sending them to a donor-advised fund. You can disburse from the donor-advised fund to charities over multiple years. Donating removes a highly appreciated asset from your portfolio, which can lessen risk, and removes the tax liability associated with that holding. You won’t owe taxes on donated funds, and you could get a tax deduction.People age 70.5 and older can use the qualified charitable distribution to donate part of an IRA to charity. The amount donated is not taxable to you, and it will satisfy your RMD. If you’re not yet subject to RMDs, it will at least shrink the amount of your IRA that will be subject to RMDs. This article was provided to the Associated Press by Morningstar. For more personal finance content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance Margaret Giles is a senior editor of content development for Morningstar.Christine Benz is director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar. Related Links IRS Adds New Reporting Code for Charitable IRA Gifts A Checklist for Retirees to Finish This Year Trump Savings Accounts: The Hidden Tax-Reporting Challenge Margaret Giles and Christine Benz of Morningstar
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E-Commerce
Costco has sued the U.S. government to ensure it will receive refunds if the Supreme Court rejects President Donald Trump’s bid for sweeping authority to impose tariffs. In a complaint filed on Friday in the U.S. Court of International Trade in Manhattan, Costco said Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs left it uncertain whether businesses can recoup sums they should not have paid. The nation’s largest warehouse club operator said U.S. Customs and Border Protection denied its request for more time to make final calculations of tariffs owed, threatening its right to complete refunds even if the Supreme Court rules against Trump. Customs and Border Protection had no immediate comment. Costco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Based in Issaquah, Washington, Costco joined dozens of companies suing to safeguard potential refunds. It is also among the largest, with $275.2 billion of revenue in its fiscal year ending August 31. Other companies that have sued to preserve refunds include Bumble Bee Foods, Ray-Ban eyeglass maker EssilorLuxottica, Kawasaki Motors, Revlon, and Yokohama Tire, court records show. During oral arguments on November 5, Supreme Court justices from both sides of the political spectrum asked skeptical questions about whether Trump legally used the 1977 emergency powers law to impose tariffs. The justices took the case on an accelerated basis, but have not said when they will rule. Costco has taken multiple steps to address tariffs, including by reducing the number of suppliers, and relying more on local sourcing and its in-house Kirkland brand. Jonathan Stempel, Reuters
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E-Commerce
To Trina Spear, cofounder and CEO of medical apparel brand Figs, change for the healthcare industry has to start with a focus on healthcare workers. We believe if you serve the provider, they will be able to better serve the patient, she says. And that drives better outcomes. That drives a better healthcare system. As part of that focus, Figs gave away hundreds of thousands of scrubs, organized healthcare worker retreats, and donated some $510,000 to healthcare nonprofits in 2024 alone. Now its expanding that work by launching its own nonprofit, the Awesome Humans Foundation, which will provide financial support, training, and resources to healthcare professionals. Our mission is to serve those who serve others, so impact has always been ingrained into the center of the company, Spear says. The big vision that weve always had is, How do we make the experience of being a healthcare professional, no matter where you live around the world, the best it can possibly be? How Figs has helped healthcare workers Figs has long called its customers (and generally every healthcare worker) awesome humans. And the company has done more than just sell those workers scrubs and lab coats. For instance, Figs launched a healthcare advisory board focused on policy solutions around pay, mental health, workplace safety, reduced administrative burdens, and more. The Santa Monica-based company wrote checks to healthcare professionals after the Los Angeles fires to help them get food, support local relief efforts, or get medical essentials for their hospitals. And its donated thousands every yearto nonprofits like the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation, which focuses on mental well-being for healthcare workers, and the Student National Medical Association, which provides mentorship and training. With its own foundation, though, Figs hopes to have an even bigger impact. It also now has the ability to fundraise for that work. Were going to be able to donate multiples [of Figss annual charitable giving], because well be basically crowdsourcing the world, Spear says. If you care like we care, were going to be able to do big things together. The nonprofits focus The Awesome Humans Foundation will have four main focus areas. The first, dubbed Rapid Relief for Awesome Humans, will provide direct financial support to healthcare professionals (who live or study in the U.S. or its territories) who face any sort of monetary hardship. The way Figs supported L.A.-area healthcare workers after the wildfires would fit into that bucket, for example, but through a nonprofit instead of the company writing checks off its balance sheet. Next, the foundation will offer Future Icons grants of $10,000 to help cover tuition costs and fees for U.S. healthcare students. Coming out [of school] with a ton of debt is super debilitating and very hard, and how can we relieve that burden? Spear says. That burden may soon grow for some healthcare workers, too. The Trump administration recently removed an array of healthcare titlesincluding nursing, physical therapy, and dental hygienefrom the Department of Educations professional graduate degree program list, meaning those degrees now face stricter student loan limits. The nonprofits third pillar will be its Ubuntu Grant, which will fund other nonprofitsin the U.S. and internationallythat support healthcare workers. (Unbuntu is an African philosophy that has been translated as I am because we are.) Its fourth piece, called the Healthcare Is Human Award, will reward healthcare leadership and advocacy. For that, anyone can nominate a healthcare professional they see making an impact. (Nominations will be open July 1 to August 31, 2026.) Figs expects the Awesome Human Foundation to make its first grants shortly after its launch on Giving Tuesday, December 2. To the company, this nonprofit aims to fill a void it saw in the philanthropy space. There was no organization that was really focused on all healthcare professionals that served all their needs, Spear says. So we had to build it ourselves.
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E-Commerce
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