How to File your 2024 Tax Return for Free
en
January 28, 2025
TLDR: Learn about ways to file your 2024 tax return for free using online software programs and government-sponsored services; discuss several stocks including IIPR, VTI, CCJ, EQR, AIRR, AAPL.

Filing taxes can be a daunting task, especially for those looking to save money. In this podcast episode, we explore multiple avenues for filing your 2024 tax return without incurring costs. From government-sponsored services to free online software, there are several viable options available.
Key Points in the Discussion
Understanding Your Filing Needs
The need for a specific filing service often depends on individual circumstances, including your income level and how complex your tax situation is. Here are some vital points mentioned:
- Income Thresholds: Various free filing options are available depending on your income. For example, those earning under $84,000 annually can utilize IRS Free File services.
- Optimal Use of Free Resources: If your tax situation is straightforward (e.g., standard deduction without itemizing), using free software from reputable sources like TurboTax or H&R Block can be beneficial.
- Complex Situations: If your tax return involves business income, rental property, or extensive itemizations, hiring a CPA might be more efficient despite the associated costs.
Free Filing Options
Several programs offer resources to file taxes for free.
- IRS Free File: For individuals under $84,000 earning primarily W-2 income, the IRS offers this straightforward service.
- Major Tax Software: Platforms such as TurboTax, TaxAct, and H&R Block allow users to file simple tax returns without charges.
- VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance): This program targets low-income earners (less than $67,000) and others like people with disabilities or limited English.
- Tax Counseling for the Elderly: Focused on seniors, this service assists those aged 60 and older, ensuring they can file their taxes without hassle.
- MilTax: Specifically for military personnel, this service offers tax help and is tailored to the unique situations they may encounter.
- Direct File: Some states offer their own programs, allowing residents to file directly without costs.
When to Seek Professional Help
While free services cover various needs, those whose finances are more complex should consider professional help:
- Owning Multiple Properties: Individuals with several rental properties or extensive investments may benefit from a CPA's expertise.
- Itemizing Deductions: If you have significant deductions such as medical expenses or charitable contributions, a CPA can help maximize your returns and minimize liabilities.
Additional Considerations
- Cost vs. Savings: Hiring a qualified CPA can lead to potential savings that outweigh their fees, especially for complicated tax situations.
- Long-term Financial Health: It's essential to carry out regular assessments of your finances, including tax strategies, for sustained fiscal health.
Conclusion
In conclusion, taxpayers have numerous avenues to file their 2024 tax returns for free. From utilizing free online software to engaging in volunteer tax services, understanding your financial situation is critical in selecting the best option. However, if your tax situation is complex, investing in a qualified CPA may ultimately save you more in the long run. This podcast episode provided valuable insights into efficient tax filing techniques and pointed out that proactive financial planning is key to long-term success.
Was this summary helpful?
on radio, on YouTube, streaming live on investtalk.com and for our podcast subscribers, this is invest talk. Independent thinking, shared success.
Investalk is made possible by KPP Financial, a registered investment advisor firm, serving clients throughout the United States. Here is KPP Financial Chief Executive Officer, Financial Advisor, Justin Klein.
Good afternoon fellow investors and welcome back to invest talk. This is our Monday, January 27th, 2025 edition. And what a day it was in markets. We've been somewhat warning about this for a while that, you know, there's a lot of AI hype out there and, you know, one bad headline and things could come unraveled and it did in a big, big way today.
And so I'm excited for this hour to kind of unpack what happened today and how important it is to markets and let this is a lesson to hopefully all of you out there to understand how market dynamics work and when
investors get two on one side of the boat. Any little thing can really royal markets as a whole and in particular sectors and industries. So that's what we are going to touch on today. But most of all, it's just becoming, helping you become a better investor.
So I'm just inclined to my objective each and every weekday on invest talk is to further your education to help you take that next step in your journey to financial freedom. And that goes that the way that we do that is by answering your finance and investment questions as well as bringing you actionable.
material actionable data that you can take back your situation and make better decisions not today not tomorrow not next week but consistently each week each month each year after year because that's what it takes it's not about.
getting rich quick and hitting that one giant grand slam that's going to set you up for the rest of your life. That can happen. Opportunities like that can present themselves, but you don't want to bank on that. You want to have good money, have it's good investing, have it's good spending habits throughout your life so that you can maximize your chances to succeed. And that's what the show is really about. Now, in just a bit, we'll talk about today's market performance and rundown of the show topics. But as usual, we'll hit our first call of question.
Now, I Justin and Luke would love your opinion on ticker IIPR. I've owned this in the past sold out, but left it on my watch list. Notice the recent drop. I believe due to some defaults of their tenants, but just wanted your overall opinion and think and your thoughts that this would be a potential good entry point. I own very little reach in my portfolio. So looking for some additional exposure. Thanks. I'll listen on the podcast.
All right, the simple answer to this is yes, we actually own this for clients and it has taken a dive recently, but we've owned it for a long time, collected a lot of dividends, et cetera. But the reason it's fallen is because, as the caller said, they're largest tenant to default. But, as I've said many times, that just because of tenant default doesn't mean that property goes away. They didn't lose the value of the property. They may have to renegotiate that tenant. And if they kick them out, well, they'll
probably bring in another 10. There's plenty of tenants that are that are itching for these type of properties that are licensed and permanent for their particular operation within the cannabis space. And that's, that's what happens with these names. You know, there's not a ton of them. So they don't have as much diversity as a lot of the other reads that are out there. So that brings in more volatility. It's also a smaller cap name. So it tends to be less liquid. And so when bad things happen,
It tends to go down more than probably should. When good things happen, it usually rallies dramatically because of that lack of liquidity as well. I think this is a good buying opportunity. We've been stepping in here at these levels to pick up some more for clients. We still like IIPR, Industrial Property Reads. Innovative, industrial property read.
Now we have a lot of ground to cover over the next 45 minutes or so and our main focus point concerns this topic. How to file your 2024 tax return for free? There are actually a lot of ways to do this depending on who you are, where you live, what your income is, et cetera. So we'll touch on those avenues and talk about, you know, when is it appropriate to use these tools versus maybe hiring a CPA, which a lot of people are hesitant to do, but I think in many instances, people are,
Are what picking up pennies in front of a steamroller type of thing. I think that's the case for a lot of people. So we'll talk about that topic. We have other others on the docket as well. One is in regards to immigration and the economy, immigration and growth of the economy. We have a new president that is certainly cracking down on
immigration. Now, right now he's very focused on illegal immigration and those that have committed violent crimes, et cetera. And the question is, how much will that expand to maybe
immigrants, illegal immigrants that are here and not committing crimes, and as well as, you know, how hard will he be on allowing people who have, you know, real skills coming from other countries, you know, the H1B fight, for example, and how much that impacts
the economy as a whole. So we'll look at immigration and its full impact there. Also, the Fed meeting is coming up, uh, what are we day after tomorrow and
After days move, a lot of people probably aren't really thinking too much about that, but the reality is that it is a big news event to see not only what the path of policy will be, path of interest rate policy will be, but what about the path of, yeah, it's Thursday.
What will be the path of the balance sheet? For example, are they going to continue with QUT? My guess is that they actually do something with QUT before they move rates again. And that would be interesting to see if they can, if they start talking about that in this meeting and then what's the path for their expectations for economic growth as well as inflation and how that was likely to feed into policy going forward.
We'll discuss that and how challenging this new environment is for the fed. With the amount of debt that we have on our balance sheet as a government and the ability to finance that debt. And we'll talk about that story. And then lastly, big oil companies are now focusing on electricity. So we'll touch on whether or not
That is a good way to deploy capital and how they are addressing the high demand for electricity due to AI, due to data centers, due to cryptocurrency, et cetera. And so we'll look at that story if we have time. So a lot of talk, lots to talk about today. We also get the voice bank calls. One is regards to VTI, the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index, as well as Apple.
And we have some questions that came in via the comments section over on a YouTube channel as well. But most importantly, we'll be your live calls. So don't hesitate to give us a call at 888-99 chart. Now, we're heading into a short break and on the other side, I'll touch briefly on today's market activity and then play more of your questions here in the best stock. Now, my phone lines are open and waiting for your finance and investment questions at 888-99 chart.
Invest Talk is made better when listeners add their voices. Hey, this is Don from Durham, North Carolina. Love the show. This is Greta from Palm Desert. Hey, good afternoon. Justin and Luke. This is Rob calling from Las Vegas. And Justin Klein and Luke Guerrero are always ready to provide unbiased answers. This is a broad-based way to get exposure to these minors. I would kind of be in a holding pattern right now.
Voice Bank calls are very important. But so are the spontaneous questions that come in during the Investalk live stream. Let's go take a live call. Chris from Maine looking at G.O.L.D. We asked for live calls and boy did you respond? Jerry from Palo Alto asking about ticker asks and listening on AM1220.
Tell your friends, live a little, live a little. Call and vest talk weekdays from 4 to 5 p.m. Pacific time. I'll listen on the podcast and I thank you very much. 888-99, chart.
At some point, in just about everyone's life, there comes a time when you realize that having a trust and a will is very important for you and, yes, also for your family. But creating a trust and a will has long been a very slow and time-consuming process.
Until now, Trust & Will has already helped hundreds of thousands of families put together their estate plans. You see, Trust & Will makes creating your will easy and affordable. Their simple step-by-step process guides you from start to finish.
reduce stress, and save time for loved ones by having all your documents in one place, and with bank level encryption. I've been through this exercise, and I'll tell you that Trust and Will makes creating your will almost effortless. And if you have questions, live customer support is available by phone, chat, and email. Here's an important point. Each will or trust is state-specific, legally valid, and customized to your needs.
So, uncomplicate the process with trust and will. Protect what matters most in minutes at trustandwill.com slash invest and get 10% off plus free shipping. That's 10% off and free shipping at trustandwill.com slash invest.
Every investor is working to build a secure financial future. The more you learn about how the market works, the better your chances for success.
Now, let's go take a look at the market today, and it was a bloody day if you look at the major indices. You have the NASDAQ down over 3%, you have the S&P down about 1.5%, but the Dow was actually up.
About two thirds of one percent and small caps only down about one percent it was really large cap growth that took it on the chin and it was all about in video down nearly seventeen percent in the day. Broadcom was down over seventeen percent about seventeen half percent oracle nearly fourteen percent down on the day.
And then you had names like Google down over four, Microsoft down two at Tesla down 2.3. And there were plenty of names that really struggled. But there were also many names that did very, very well on the day. You had Walmart and Costco up nearly 3%. You had Berkshire up about two and a half percent.
Exxon chevron were up over one percent so i'm actually looking at the heat map and if you if you're heading over to our youtube channel watching youtube channel you'll be able to see this is there's just a lot of green on the on the board so despite what you see with the major indexes being deeply read.
It was actually a pretty strong name markets, to be honest with you, unless you were invested in the broad S&P, NASDAQ, or the Mac 7 names. Remember, you're tied to it. Just as last year, Nvidia did very, very well. If you weren't invested in Nvidia, then you did not do that great.
and i think this year could be the exact opposite that if you are in the max seven names uh the bloom is likely going to come off the rose and that there has to do with uh you know this sell-off is really to do with the deep seek uh chinese ai model that touted very strong performance better than open ai's performance with
Chips that are less powerful than in videos, best chips out there that have a shipping embargo on them, you know, restrictions. And the question is, how honest are they really? If they're being honest and they aren't using the most powerful chips and it's truly outperforming chat GPT and an open AI, then this is a watershed moment and it's showing that.
It's not just about capabilities and making AI models better and more capable, but it's also about efficiency. And historically that's part of computing, part of the internet. Everything in technology is not just about having better outcomes, but doing it with less power, less hardware and in a more efficient manner.
That's why we have our phones. Look at our phones in our pockets. It's not just that the hardware is great, but the software has advanced so much that you can do almost anything on your phone that you could do 10, 15 years ago on your laptop.
whether they're truthful or not, it does give you an insight to that. It's not just about capabilities. It's also about efficiency as well. And if they can advance in both directions, actually there's going to be a lot less winners in the tech space and a lot more winners in the real world.
And this is something I might get to probably not this show but in a future show which is about how a lot of a lot of private equity companies are focusing on low margin boring businesses and they're applying AI to these businesses and saying how can we expand our margins, okay, and They can do that with in many instances lower hardware capabilities and so
what this is, once again, this is telling you is that the hype is rarely met in markets. It rarely is met. That's the reality here. You know, the apples in the, in the Amazon's of the world are anomalies. You know, there are a lot of tech companies, I think of Blackberry. So it was a great example.
You know, they were conquering the world in the smartphone space until Apple came along and changed the game. You know, is deep-seak coming along and changing the game in AI? Or is it another AI startup that maybe isn't even public that makes things better or more efficient?
And suddenly, the egregious multiples they're trading at are no longer justified. This is what happened in 2022. When think of all the names that I think of Zoom, well Zoom is a lot more reasonably priced now, it was egregiously overvalued in 2021. Why? Because everyone thought that the growth that they had during the pandemic was gonna run in for now.
And the reality was very different in the stock reprised than now it's more recently priced. But the point here is that there's a bit of a bubble in AI. And this could be that watershed moment that starts allowing the bloom to come off the rose, shall we say.
I certainly think this is, especially if you follow through tomorrow and this week, we look back and say this is the day. At least that was the tender of the market for today. I know that was a long market overview, but a very important one. I've seen a move in markets like this in a while, especially how concentrated it was in those MAG-7 AI names.
And I certainly think that we could look back in this being a historic day in markets. Now we're heading to a break on still to come, my focus point, and more answers to your questions and YouTube questions as well. Maybe in two from YouTube. Give me a call at 888-99-SHART. James from New York, hang on, you will be next.
Got a question for Justin or Luke? You're the best person to ask it. I wanted to pick your brain about apples. What did you think about their earnings call? So this is a good time to add to my position. Call Invest Talk 888-99 Chart.
Have you ever noticed that you can tell a lot about a person just by the kind of suit they wear? It's true. The best way to send the right message is with the perfect suit from Indochino. My experience has taught me that Indochino clothing has the look, feel, and fit I appreciate and have always wanted. Whether you are dressing for a special occasion or for office wear, Indochino offers custom suits at unbeatable prices.
And if you're planning your big day, make it even more special with custom groom and groomsman looks from Indochino. Customize every detail to your measurements and your personal taste, including the fabric, lapel shape, buttons, and more, all at a fraction of what other companies charge. You can even choose to visit a showroom and work one-on-one with an expert style guide to get precisely measured. Create your next headlining look with a custom suit from Indochino.
Visit Indochino.com and use code INVEST to get 20% off any purchase of $4.99 or more. That's 20% off at INDOCHINO.com. Promo code INVEST.
The numbers are in. Invest Talk, now with more than 60 million downloads. Justin Klein and Luke Guerrero are ready to answer your finance and investment questions 24-7. Invest Talk, 888-99, chart. We could take a live call and talk to James in New York looking at Kimiko CCJ. Do you own it or lookin' to buy it?
Um, thinking about buying it just for about, um, about 15% today. So I don't know if that's probably over, maybe slightly oversold. So I'm thinking for a bounce play to enter.
It is a bit oversold. I will say that it did close below some decent support that it had tested just a few weeks ago. So the next big support level though will be around $45, $45, $46. So in that range would probably be a better place to pick it up. I do think it gets there now that it broke today. Now it was down big because of the AI news. We still own it for clients because we do think that a nuclear weather AI is
AI's momentum is still there. It's just matter of how much power it's going to really need. But in general, we think nuclear is, we're going through a nuclear renaissance and around the world, we're going to need more and more power for various reasons, not just AI. And so we do think that these selloffs are good buying opportunities. But yeah, $45, $46 in that range is a much better buying point. Okay, thank you.
Thanks for the call. Now, let's pivot over to our main focus point on the day. And it's about how to file your taxes for free. And there are actually a lot of avenues to do this. You know, we're coming up on a tax season. I know, you know, we feel like we just started the year, but April 15th is we'll come up quickly. You only have two and a half months until that date. And so, you know,
It depends on who you are and how much money you make, but let's go over some ways that you can file taxes. Now the first is, if you make under $84,000 per year, there's something called IRS-free file that's now up and moving. Now this is best for individuals that aren't itemizing their deduction, they don't own a business, you don't require extensive adjustments, you have a job, you're probably renting,
You know, simple, usually for young people that don't have very complex lives. Okay, so that's one way to go about it. There's also free software as well from HR Block, TurboTax, TaxPlay, TaxAct, etc. And this is typically those who are just filing your typical 1040s. You maybe have an earned income credit, child tax credit, those type of things. Some of them can do
student loan interest deduction, certain types of dividends and savings account earnings and retirement income. But once again, it's only for if your situation is fairly straightforward and simple. Once again, you're not itemizing, you're just taking standard deduction and adding a few other adjustments from there. Then there's what's called the VITA, which is Volunteer Income Tax Assistance. And this is a federal grant program
Once again, though, for people that have low income, under $67,000, it has to be your income, or if you have a disability, or if you have a limited English speaker, and you need tax filing assistance, where they can't, you know, they don't have the language skills to get through it. That's one way to go about it. Then there's what's called the tax counseling for the elderly. This is an offshoot of VITA. It's called tax canceling for the LDTCE.
And it's for typically those that are 60 or older, but for low and moderate income file is your over 50, you can qualify to use their services. So these are volunteer organizations run by the government. And then there's called mill tax. I don't know if you know this, but if you are in the military, this is the Department of Defense Free Tax Software.
offered in partnership with military one source. And it's for all active military and allows for help with things like multi state filings, housing and rental concerns, deployment situations, combat wages,
Etc. I think it's a great service to our military, so make sure you check that out if you qualify. And lastly, there's something called direct file as well, which is offered by 25 states, so half the states in the country from Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico,
New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Those are the 25 that allow you to potentially file for free as well. So those are some great ways. But I always say this though, if you have a more complex situation, you own a business. If you own a home, multiple homes, you have rental properties. You are itemizing.
in anyways, where you have big health care costs, et cetera. A good CPA is worth it for most people. A lot of people will balk at it. I don't want to spend $500 when I can
in a file for free or just pay TurboTax a nominal fee. But most of the time, if your situation is a bit complex, a good CPA can find ways to save you more than you're going to pay them.
You know, I encourage people to find a good tax professional. If you need one, I'm always a resource whether you're a client or just a listener. It doesn't matter. You can reach out to me and it can help you out. We're not CPAs, not what we do, but certainly have some good ones we work with. So I wanted to highlight that because I know nobody wants to do it, but you have to think about filing your taxes for 2024 pretty soon. The next and best talk will look
At this warning, mortgage scam alert, how criminals are stealing your home equity. The FCC has uncovered a sophisticated mortgage lending scheme implemented by scammers who seek payment through unconventional methods. Best story tomorrow, but for now, I'm Justin Klein, and I'm ready to take your calls at 8-8 99 chart.
Can you believe it's 2025 already? Life moves pretty fast, and starting a new year always reminds me of that. Are you prepared for the unexpected? Fabric by Gerber Life helps you get term life insurance in minutes so you can help protect your family's financial future. Fabric was designed for busy parents like you, and it's more than life insurance.
Free digital wills, access to investment accounts to invest for your kid's future, and more. Fabric by Gerver Life is term life insurance you can get done right from your couch, all online and on your schedule. You could be covered in under 10 minutes with no health exam required.
If you got kids, and especially if you're young and healthy, the time to lock in low rates is now. Even if you have life insurance through your employer, it may not offer enough protection for your family, and it may not follow you if you leave your job. Fabric has flexible, high-quality policies that fit your family and your budget.
like a million dollars in coverage for less than a dollar a day. Fabric has partnered with Gerber Life, trusted by millions of families like yours for over 50 years. There's no risk, and there's a 30-day money-back guarantee, and you can cancel at any time. Join the thousands of parents who trust Fabric to help protect their family. Apply today in just minutes at meetfabric.com slash invest talk.
That's meatfabric.com slash invest talk. M-E-E-T fabric dot com slash invest talk. Policy is issued by Western Southern Life Assurance Company, not available in certain states, prices subject to underwriting and health questions.
Your questions are free. The answers are unbiased. Justin Klein is here now ready to take your calls live. Invest talk 88899 chart. Hi, this is Jack. I just wanted to find out I'm invested heavily in VTI, which is a Vanguard ETF. And most of my retirement portfolio along with our savings are in VTI because I'm a true believer that the market does go up over 20 years at about 8%
per year. Is that a good strategy or should I be looking at other things? Thanks. All right, looking at VTI, which is the Vanguard total stock market index. And this is a good vehicle to just get broad access to the markets because there's 3,600 names in this fund. But it's still very top heavy. You have Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, and Meta.
as the top holdings now is this better than owning the s&p long term i think it is uh it's broader tends to get a lot of mid and smaller cap names not just the mega cap names and it's you know just more diversified you can see that with today right the s&p was uh down about one and a half percent and what did vt i do if vt i was
This was down 1.38%. So the S&P that was down 1.46. So it was slightly better. You're talking about 1.43 versus 1.46. Yeah, slightly better. And that just shows you that the difference is there, but it's not dramatic because you are still heavily
Allocated towards those big tech names what i would rather have is our our funds longer term that are more equally weight equally weighted.
Okay, where you're not putting more money in the biggest names that oftentimes are the most expensive. That's why there's, remember, big needs market cap. There's nothing to do with earnings. If they do with revenue or profits or anything like dividends or anything like that. All it has to do with how, what's the market cap with the company, the bigger the market cap, the oftentimes more likely it is to be overpriced. And so that's why longer term the,
Equally waiting indices tend to work better. So I know probably using this as part of your equity allocation. But I don't think it should be all of your application. I think you need more diversity here. And top of that, you have no foreign exposure. Has all domestic equities. And so.
That's an issue as well. And then the risk, right? It's not just about, oh yes, market goes up over time, but it's, what's that volatility? Could you hold through an O8? Could you? Did you? That's a big question as well. A lot of people think over long term, yes, there are likely outcomes. But in the intermediate, there can be terrible outcomes that don't feel good.
And think about how people sold out in 07 and 08. I didn't get in fast enough. So that is part of the equation as well. So if you help kind of getting a broad understanding of your situation, your strategy, your broad economic or broad financial plan, et cetera, I encourage you to reach out and schedule a portfolio of you as well. Now let's go take a live call. Paul from Palm Desert asking about the Chinese AI news. They talk about deep-seek.
That's the one, Justin. Okay. What's your question? I'm sorry. I missed the beginning of the show, so I don't know how much you talked about it in the situation. My question is, how much of the information that came out today on the whole AI play with deep-seeking and all that, how much of that information can you really trust and how much has been verified? Do you have any feel for that?
I don't. I am very much a person that does not trust Chinese data and information. Now, that could mean two things. It can mean they're lying about all of it, both from the chip hardware as well as the output. Or they could be lying about part of it. Maybe they do have a model that's better than JetGPT or OpenAI.
but they did it on hardware that has been banned, right? And they found other ways to get around the sanctions. I think that's probably the most likely. I think it's, that's a pretty big leap to say, not only do we make our software better than yours, but we did it on way worse hardware.
History tells me that, you know, sanctions don't work very well. You know, Nvidia maybe sold it to India and India, you know, got those chips backdoor, you know, sold those chips backdoor to China. I think that's probably more likely something like that. You know, maybe it was India could have been another country or another way that they got those chips in there. Maybe they smuggled them in. Who knows? But
The point here is that that's not really the point. The point is that the AI names have been priced in perfection. And any little hint that maybe that OpenAI and NVIDIA aren't the leaders, that aren't the ones making all the breakthroughs in the space, starts to re-rate these names lower. That's the reality here.
You know, is there a world where the innovation is not just on. How good these models are, but that. How efficient are the models are as well? Okay, because if you can do the same thing with less computing power as open AI is doing, that's also an improvement. That's also a leg up. And so.
There are multiple avenues going forward where these quote-unquote winners today are not the winners of tomorrow. Because once again, even if the software doesn't keep up or the efficiency doesn't keep up or both. And so that's really the news here. Whether they're being truthful or not, I think starts to shed some doubt on the space of the whole. Does that make sense? Yeah, it sure does. I appreciate the insight. Yeah, no problem. Thanks for the call.
eight nine nine chart eight nine nine two four two seven eight second through an asher question on today's show now let's talk a little about immigration we have eight new president and he is making some sweeping changes on the immigration fronts uh... the suspending the asylum process he's halted at referee refugee admissions he put pressure on states comply with federal deportation orders as well as move to end
The birthright citizen citizenship now that last part is probably not going to hold up in court, but the rest of it, you know, he definitely has some power here and he's wielding it already just one week in office and. You know, the numbers show that while yes, there are definitely migrants and illegal immigrants that commit crimes and do some bad things. The majority of them are.
at least net positive for from net positive to the economy. And many argue that they're the key reason the economy continue to grow post-COVID and that they brought that inflation. Think if you flood the market with new workers, new labor supply in an economy that's
Roughly three quarters services, right? Services, you can import services for the most part. The services have to come from people in the country. And immigration, when our birth rate is very low is a main reason how we get more people. And so the big question is, what type of economic drag will a crackdown have on the broader economy?
Now already, legal migration last year was about $820,000. And that was that 25-year average. So yes, it perked up dramatically post the initial COVID shutdowns, but it started to slow already and is likely going to slow even more.
The Brookings Institute modeled out a scenario where Trump was able to reshape the entire immigration system entirely. And what they show is that going forward, it would have about a, it would could boost inflation by about one and a half percent over three years, okay, as well as
Over the next decade, drop total growth of the economy about 2.1%. That's not dramatic, but it's material. You're not talking about tens of a percentage point. And that's something that you have to consider because the inflationary impact is obvious. If you have less workers,
That means wages have to go up to attract more workers that maybe don't typically want to do that job. You're already seeing farm workers shortages already. And these companies will have to raise prices to protect their profits. They always do.
or cut down on production, which would limit supply, which is also inflationary. So that's really the big impact here, I think, is on the services side of the economy, creating more inflation, et cetera. But understand that while
Cracking down on immigration in some respects is probably a good thing long term. Going too far can also be detrimental to the broader economy over the long term as well.
Now I've been telling your friends that are audio podcasts available in video form over on YouTube channel and we get questions submitted over there. So let's answer one of those right now. Selena Marie says, I entered a partial position in EQR, EQR.
And what are your thoughts on the REIT and what would be a good entry point? What are your thoughts on the potential growth of the REIT? So she is looking, at least she, looking at equity, what is that PQR? Equity residential, equity residential, it's a REIT, it's engaged in acquiring,
Developing and owning and managing multifamily properties properties in the US now first off. This is an area that we like we bought a
competitor, we looked at EQR. It was, I was saying our top five of the apartment rates that are out there, but we ended up going with another one. Equity Residential owns multifamily in Southern California, San Francisco, Washington, New York, Seattle, and Boston. Now,
The main reason we didn't pick this one is the locales. We think there's more growth in lower cost areas. And so we much rather go with those type of reads. Doesn't mean this one's bad. It's just we were bigger fans of some of the other options out there in the marketplace.
Now, funds for operation for 2024, once they report, you four, should come in about plus 3%, not a lot of growth. This year, funds for operation expected to go up 4%, once again, not a lot of growth. Now, some of the other ones we were looking at had much better growth in funds for operation closer to the high single digits. So I like where you're looking
And I don't mind this one. I don't have any huge issue with it. I just think you could find better performers in better regions of the country than EQR. So there's my take on equity, residential,
Now let's answer two in a row from our Invest Doc YouTube channel. Kevin Seagrist says, Hi, Justin and Luke, I mentioned in an ETF, A-I-R, sorry, A-I-R-R, there we go, A-I-R-R. And this is the first trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF.
He says it's currently 10% of my portfolio and I'm wondering if I should trim it back. We'd like to hear your thoughts on this ETF and whether I should hold cut or potentially add to this position. So this is one of those sexy names or sexy titles, right? American resident renaissance that, you know, I'm going to invest in companies that are going to be part of this
Renaissance of America. And these are a lot of made in small cap names, a lot of small cap names, actually. And the reality is you are taking a lot of risk. And these are 90% industrials. Small cap industrials, 10% financial services. And its top holding is F-I-X.
Now fix was down comfort systems, USA. It's in the HVAC arena. It is down, it was down 25% on the day. So obviously this ETF did not do very well. In fact, it was down 5.5% on the day. If you're going to buy an industrial REIT, I much rather buy one that they focus more mid and large cap as a broader
allocation, not just in these smaller cap names. So what this is telling you is that, yeah, you should probably be cutting back. You should probably be reducing your exposure to this ETF pretty dramatically. 10% of your portfolio, that's a bit high for me. I would cut at least in half, probably closer to 3%. I know you still have diversification with so many names are in it.
52 different names, but they're high risk because they're small cap. Now, some of them I like, BWXT, we actually own for clients. We've owned that for a while. It's the second biggest holding, but it's very, very tied to the AI infrastructure. And so while that's good, longer term, near term, there's a lot of risk and a lot of these names are very expensive. So yes, I would cut it back.
Now, let's invest talk. I'm Justin Klein. We have one goal here each and every weekday. Let's help you achieve your own version of financial freedom. And our work continues after this final break. Let's get you questions in right now at 8-8-9-9 chart. Justin Klein is here and ready to tackle your questions. I've heard you say multiple times that you prefer shorter duration treasury bonds. Can you explain to me why it is more advisable? Call Invest Talk 888-99-Chart.
Okay, so you have a website, and managing that website is just one of your responsibilities, right? So website security is not another job you need to worry about. Enter Kinsta. Founded in 2013, Kinsta is a hosting service dedicated to delivering exceptional speed, security, and reliability to businesses that depend on WordPress websites.
Kinsta provides enterprise-grade security to protect customers' sites and data. In fact, Kinsta is one of the very few hosting companies dedicated to WordPress with certifications that guarantee the highest level of security for a website. Kinsta offers other benefits too, like faster speed, up to 200% faster. Kinsta has an intuitive custom dashboard called MyKinsta that makes managing a site, or multiple sites, a breeze.
Plus, Kinsta gives you unmatched human-only customer support, while many other hosting services stick you with an automated, GPT-based support chat. Ready to experience Kinsta's hosting for yourself? Get your first month free when you sign up at kinsta.com today. It's the perfect opportunity to see why Kinsta is trusted by thousands of businesses worldwide to power their websites.
Visit k-i-n-s-t-a.com to get this limited time offer for new customers on select plants. Don't miss out? Get started for free today!
Every investor is working to build a secure financial future. How they get there and when they get there, that depends on many variables. The more you learn about how the market works, the better your chances. So don't forget to call, InvestTalk 88899, chart. Hey Justin, this is Tim from Michigan.
I know you're both pretty positive on Apple, but I see it's down about 13% in the last month. And I'm wondering what your updated opinion is long-term and short-term for Apple, whether or not now is a good opportunity to buy some more, or if you see some potential additional downside in the near future with the possibility of tariffs and other things like that. So I'll look for your response on the podcast. Thank you.
Well, I think that latter part is very important to start off with, which is, yeah, tariffs are an unknown. We know that Trump says a lot and a lot of it is part of the art of the deal, right? Coming out there with a big grandiose statement and threat and coming to some sort of resolution that is more in the middle or sometimes not even doing that thing at all because you get what they want or
there's some other policy that they care to focus on besides that, right? And so you see that already with everyone thought it'd be tariffs on China. Well, all these talking about tariffs on Mexico and Canada first. And that might not even come to fruition. Now he's kind of teasing maybe some Chinese tariffs. So it's kind of all over the board. I can't sit here and predict it. I don't think you can sit here and predict exactly how it's going to settle out. What I will say is that Apple is pulled back and
It's a lot cheaper the most couple weeks ago and it is into some decent support. Now is it into some huge support? Not really, you know, to get a bounce today. It was up nicely compared to the rest of the market. So certainly outperformed. It just shows you there's not a lot of hype around it and AI. In fact, market kind of is thinking that Apple is behind an AI. And what's pretty clear throughout Apple's history is that
You know they just work behind the scene they're not the first to come out and do it but we do when they do make a big push in a certain direction. They do it well because they vetted it and they have a large team that has has good history of producing good products and good software and they're likely to.
of the
There's definitely some downside to, I think, 200 in that range. And it's at $229 now. Would it shock me to see it go back down there? No, definitely not, especially if this is a catalyst for a broader market sell-off, a NASDAQ, lead sell-off, where money just comes out of the NASDAQ because it's generally weak, that's going to hurt Apple as well.
It's in the tech sector, and it's going to generally ride, even though today it didn't really correlate. It's generally going to correlate with the broad tech sector, and if that comes under pressure, Apple will as well. Adding a little bit here is not a bad idea, but understand that there is some modest risk to the downside into about the 200 level. That's where we would be aggressive to pick up Apple. Thanks for the call.
Now, let's touch lastly on the Fed. This is Fed week. I know there's fireworks going into this week, but Wednesday, we will get the Fed meeting. And the big question is, what will they say? And it's really about inflation. What is their inflation expectation going forward? What does that mean for policy? We have a new Trump administration that once again, promised a lot. And it's very hard for the Fed to
handicap this, like I said with Apple. What are the, what were the dot plots move, if at all, on the inflation front, or are they kind of holding steady until they get some more clarity there? And I think that's the reality. If you look at the betting markets, the odds markets, you have, there's not a better than average chance of a cut until June.
That means you have this meeting and two more before the market is expecting the Fed to really do anything at all. So that gives them that meeting would be June 18th, so called the end of the second quarter. So you pretty much have two full quarters to see what policy will actually be implemented and how does that start feeding into inflation and inflation expectations.
This is an important meeting. I think one of the most important in a while, and everyone gets hyped up by them, because it's not just going to be about the rates, not the headline here. The headline will be expectations of inflation, as well as, as I said at the top of the hour, QT. Are they gonna end that at some point this year, most likely? And this could be a meeting where they start to tease that, because they do like to signal well in advance.
While I'm just inclined to squeeze another Invest Talk program, we thank you for listening. We encourage you to tell your friends and family about our free podcast downloads, which you can find anytime at iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and be sure to rate and review on iTunes as well. And if you need help, better understanding your portfolio strategy, your broader financial situation, I encourage you to schedule a portfolio review with myself or Luke.
by heading over to investdoc.com. Save free and confidential service. We do it via Zoom. We can share screens, see our faces, and we can see yours, most of all. And if you need help optimizing your 401k, we can do that as well. Just start at investdoc.com. Independent thinking should success. It's investdoc. Good night.
Investalk is a trademark of KPP financial. Because of the nature of the interactive dialogue inherent in the format of this program, it's important for the listener to understand that not all comments made will apply to them. Specifically, nothing said shall be taken to be investment advice.
or shall statements on this program be considered an offer to buy or sell security. Because such advice is rendered solely on an individual basis and at times will require that the investor review a prospectus before investing. Investog is a copyrighted program of Klein, Pavliss, and Peasley Financial, a registered investment advisor firm which retains all rights. For more information regarding KPP's investment advisors, call 1-800-557-5461.
Thank you for listening, and your comments and questions are welcome on our 24-hour listener line at 888-99-CHART.
Was this transcript helpful?
Recent Episodes
Insurers are Dropping HOAs, Threatening the Condo Market

InvestTalk
Insurance companies stopping coverage for homeowners' associations may destabilize the condo market
January 31, 2025
How the Federal Reserve Impacts Your Money

InvestTalk
Discussion on how Federal Reserve's interest rate decisions impact various economic aspects like borrowing costs, job markets, savings, investments. Topics: Polaris Inc., Market Wrap, Folio Beyond Alternative Income & Interest Rate Hedge ETF, Fixed Annuities, Digital Dollar Ban, Boise Cascade Co., Verizon Communications Inc. Mention of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Vertiv Holdings LLC.
January 30, 2025
Mortgage Scam Alert: How Criminals Are Stealing Your Home Equity

InvestTalk
Uncovered mortgage lending scam by criminals seeking unconventional payments; topics covered: NVDA, Market Wrap, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton ADR, Mortgage Scam Alert with stolen home equity focus, Interfor Corp., Long-Term Treasuries, First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF, Ituran Location & Control Ltd., Cryptocurrency, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Cl B, Stock Market and Artificial Intelligent.
January 29, 2025
Whatâs a Financial Go Bag and Why Do You Need It?

InvestTalk
Today's discussion is about preparing a 'financial go bag', its importance during emergencies, and how to assemble it. Also, market wrap forEnphase Energy Inc., Tetra Technologies Inc., Crocs Inc., Johnson & Johnson, and others; key benchmarks like Treasury Yields, Gold, Silver, Oil, and Gasoline; The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) for Retirement; Equity Risk Premium; Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp.; Inflationary Fiscal Policy, Tariffs. Check out Fabric, Indochino, Kinsta, Trust & Will.
January 25, 2025

Ask this episodeAI Anything

Hi! You're chatting with InvestTalk AI.
I can answer your questions from this episode and play episode clips relevant to your question.
You can ask a direct question or get started with below questions -
What was the main topic of the podcast episode?
Summarise the key points discussed in the episode?
Were there any notable quotes or insights from the speakers?
Which popular books were mentioned in this episode?
Were there any points particularly controversial or thought-provoking discussed in the episode?
Were any current events or trending topics addressed in the episode?
Sign In to save message history