About 30% of financial advisors opted for fixed and indexed annuities in 2023

While annuities can guarantee an income for risk-averse investors, they may play it too safe for others

Whether or not an annuity is the right investment option depends on the buyer’s unique needs. People who plan to retire soon are more likely to opt for the lower-risk investment, but there may be opportunity costs for people seeking higher returns.

Annuities are regulated at the state level

However, certain types of annuities, like indexed annuities, are also nationally regulated by the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to protect investors.

BlackRock says investor demand and improvements in underlying fund technology have supercharged ETF availability in 2025

Investors are likely most familiar with ETFs that invest in an index or other grouping of stocks. However, BlackRock breaks down a wide variety of options, including commodity ETFs, currency ETFs, and bond ETFs.

Look inside a retail investor's portfolio

Online investing platform eToro conducted a survey of retail investors in June 2024. It explored what assets they held and what types of stocks they liked to purchase. The most commonly held asset was cash, with 76% of retail investors holding cash in their portfolios. The next most popular asset was domestic stocks, with 49% of investors.

Alternative investments can be sorted into seven major categories, according to some experts

These categories include real estate, private equity, private debt, hedge funds, collectibles, and more.

17% of US adults said they had invested, traded, or used cryptocurrency in 2023

A survey from the Pew Research Center found that 63% of US adults have “little to no confidence that current ways to invest in, trade, or use cryptocurrencies are reliable and safe.”

Listen to a podcast that answers common questions about alternative investments

This podcast episode starts with an explanation of what alternative investments are, then goes on to explain how people use them to diversify their financial portfolios and answer some common questions about alternative investments. Notably, the host interviews a certified financial planner about the topic.

Mutual funds in seven broad categories averaged a 13.1% annual return in 2023

That 13.1% figure can help set expectations for how mutual funds will perform in 2024 and 2025, past performance does not guarantee future results.

Explore current CD interest rates

Data itself is not (exactly) a financial advisor, but it can help you decide between a variable or fixed rate CD, or CDs with different term lengths. A chart from the Federal Reserve shows the three-month trend of CD interest rates.

The 60/40 method says to allocate 60% of your portfolio to stocks, and 40% to bonds

The 60/40 method used to be the golden rule when planning for retirement, as stocks are more lucrative and bonds are more reliable. However, it isn’t necessarily the go-to recommendation anymore.

More than half of today’s family offices were incorporated after 2010

Family offices are impacting capital markets as private wealth grows. Compared to other financial entities, they have a relatively high allocation to alternatives.

71% of equity investments in Q1 2025 went to AI companies

That's up from just 14% in 2020, according to JPMorgan, which recently conducted an analysis of venture capital investment trends in the US.

Smart tips for making the most of your 401(k)

There’s a lot of advice about handling a 401(k), but it can be mired in disclaimers and legalese. Come prepared to your financial advisor or accountant by watching this informative take on how to properly use a 401(k), from consolidating plans to some of the most common errors.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Americans ages 30 to 34 have $44,800 in their 401(k) accounts on average

Americans ages 28 to 44 save about 13.5% of their pretax income on average, which is close to the recommended retirement savings rate of 15%.

Microsoft was the most popular stock in hedge fund portfolios as of Q1 2024

874 hedge funds held Microsoft stock at the time. This infographic shows more of the most popular stocks in hedge fund portfolios.

Financial rules that many FIRE followers live by include guidelines around tax efficiency and more

Many FIRE proponents follow specific financial rules, like the 4% rule, in order to achieve FIRE. They also take steps to create an efficient tax strategy and take advantage of compound interest.

There are monthly dividend ETFs that pay you to hold them

Traditional dividend stocks and funds pay out quarterly, or four times a year. A select group of stocks and funds pay out monthly, putting cash in investors’ hands 12 times a year. These monthly dividend funds are popular because their regular payouts can help keep budgets on track.

About 88% of all homebuyers feel their home is a good investment

According to data from 2022, 50% of homeowners felt their home was a better investment than stocks. The financial benefits of homeownership are significant: From avoiding rising rents to tax advantages, this interactive article outlines several.

62% of independent workers said they would prefer permanent or non-contract work

In the consulting firm McKinsey’s 2022 “American Opportunity Survey,” 36% of employed respondents (about 58 million Americans) classified themselves as “independent workers.” But they’re not all thrilled about their current professional status.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

The bestselling visual art mediums, visualized

Fine art is a particularly appealing alternative investment for many—but it's also a pretty broad term. This data visualization shows which fine art mediums sold the best in 2024. For instance, paintings accounted for about 59% of all fine art dealer sales that year, whereas sculptures accounted for roughly 15%. See the full picture here.

US pension plan adoption has declined from 1975 to 2021

Pension plans are a form of guaranteed retirement plan for long-time workers, and they were a major part of industries in the mid-20th century. With the rise of the 401(k) and similar tax-advantaged, defined-contribution accounts, these so-called defined-benefit plans have declined in use by employers. Compare US adoption of both kinds in this table.

529 plans can affect college financial aid

Income affects FAFSA financial aid determinations. FAFSA also takes 529 college savings plans into account. The percentage of savings it uses in its calculations depends on who owns the account (parent, student, or someone else). Other schools use a program called CSS to determine financial aid, and those determinations vary.

There are four main types of IRAs to choose from

Those types are traditional, Roth, SEP, and SIMPLE. While all IRAs can help you save for retirement, each type has its own tax advantages and eligibility requirements, such as employment type or income level.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is by far the most popular in the US

The most common types of loans are conventional, jumbo, fixed-rate, adjustable, and government-backed.

The 'Two and Twenty' structure allows hedge funds and private equity firms to earn significant returns

With this structure, firms charge limited partners or "LPs" a 2% management fee for overseeing the fund (assets under management or AUM) and take 20% of the fund's overall profits (carried interest). Many private credit funds also operate under this structure.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Calculate how much of your tax dollars go to each federal program based on your income, filing status, and number of children

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

Animal phobias are likely the most common type of phobias, followed by an extreme fear of heights.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.