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This week SpaceX is having its initial public offering (IPO) where it plans to raise $75 billion at a $1.77 trillion valuation. Anthropic and OpenAI have their own IPO plans for later this year. With these highly valued companies coming to market, there’s been a lot of discussion around how index providers will include them in their funds. Index funds are governed by a set of inclusion criteria which determine which stocks can be added to a particular index and when. For example, historically the Russell 1000 only added a stock to its index if at least 5% of its overall shares were available to trade (i.e., 5% float). However, since SpaceX’s IPO is only offering around 4% of its overall shares into the float, FTSE Russell decided to modify their inclusion criteria. Nasdaq also made changes to its inclusion criteria to fast-track larger IPOs after just seven days of being listed rather than on an annual basis in December. The good news is that not all index providers are changing their rules to fast-track SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI into their funds. S&P Global recently stated that “there will be no changes to existing methodology” for their large and megacap index funds. In other words, SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI will need to be public for 12 months and hit certain profitability metrics before they can be considered for the S&P 500 (and similar megacap funds). Nevertheless, some investors are up in arms with Nasdaq and FTSE Russell. They believe that the purpose of the recent rule changes is to force index investors to buy companies like SpaceX at elevated prices. In other words, some believe that index investors are being used as exit liquidity. I see the argument, but how much does this really impact the typical index investor? Let’s find out. How Much Will SpaceX Impact the Typical Index Investor? When an index provider adds a new stock to their fund, the weighting is determined based on the float of the stock, or the total value of all shares publicly available to trade. In this case, SpaceX should have a float of around $75 billion. This is the amount of money the company plans to raise at its IPO. So, for a fund like VTI (Vanguard’s Total U.S. Stock Market Index), which tracks a U.S. market worth around $70 trillion, SpaceX would represent about 0.11% of the index. But not every index does a simple weighting based on float. For example, Campbell Harvey noted how the Nasdaq 100 changed a rule to weight SpaceX at 3x their float, or around $270 billion in Harvey’s estimation. Given that the Nasdaq 100 has a total market capitalization of around $40 trillion, SpaceX would make up roughly 0.68% of the index. In dollar terms, for every $100,000 invested in VTI, $110 would be in SpaceX. And for every $100,000 invested in QQQ (i.e., the Nasdaq 100), $680 would be in SpaceX. This isn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things, but

The post The Ultimate Guide to Dividend Investing for Beginners appeared first on Dividend Power. Investing in the stock market can feel intimidating for beginners, especially with so many strategies, trends, and financial terms to learn. But if you’re looking for a more stable and income-focused approach, dividend investing has become one of the most popular ways to build long-term wealth. By investing in companies that regularly pay dividends, beginners like you can earn passive income while […]

In this week’s stock market outlook, Joel Wenger examines the current market trend, price performance, and headline risks.

Many ask the question: should I contribute to a Roth 401(k) or contribute to a Roth IRA? Below I discuss why, in the vast majority of cases, I strongly favor Roth IRA contributions over Roth 401(k) contributions.  Roth Accounts Who does not love tax free accounts? The Roth, properly distributed, can create tax free income. […]

In March of this year, Vanguard released a new line of Target Maturity Corporate Bond ETFs. (Prospectus here.) The line currently consists of Vanguard Target Maturity 2027 Corporate Bond ETF (VBCA) through Vanguard Target Maturity 2036 Corporate Bond ETF (VBCJ). In other words, one fund for each year, up to ten years in the future. The funds do pretty much what you’d expect from the name: Each fund holds (domestic) investment-grade corporate bonds that mature […]

🎙️ Episode #490 – The fastest path to wealth isn’t one strategy, it’s three. Here’s how business, real estate, and index funds work together. Listen to… The post Meet the $1M Entrepreneur Buying Boring Rental Properties appeared first on Coach Carson.

Investing can be a potent way to expand your wealth over time, but knowing how to get started and which strategies to use can be daunting. Fortunately, there are daily investment strategies that can help boost your earnings and make your money work harder for you. Adapt these strategies into your financial plan and provide steady growth, whether you’re a seasoned investor or just starting out. 1. Start with a Budget Creating a budget is […]

In this week’s stock market outlook, Joel Wenger examines the current market trend, price performance, and headline risks.

The Short Version: The rental property that ticked every box on a popular checklist and still bled cash… and why that’s more common than people admit The category of costs that never appears on a proforma but consistently destroys real estate returns Why simple rules work in the conditions they were built for and fall apart the moment those conditions change What experienced investors use instead of rules of thumb… and how to start building that same judgment Many years ago, I bought a rental property that passed the 2% rule. For those unfamiliar, the 2% rule is a shorthand used by real estate investors: if the monthly rent is at least 2% of the purchase price, the deal cash flows. Simple, fast, easy to apply. The property I bought cleared that threshold comfortably. On paper, the numbers worked. In reality, I lost money on it. I’ve written about this on BiggerPockets recently, and the reaction told me something: a lot of investors have had a version of this experience, and most of them quietly absorbed the loss without understanding what actually went wrong. So let me explain it clearly, because the lesson here matters more than the specific rule. What the 2% Rule Is Actually Doing Rules of thumb in real estate exist for a reason. They give new investors a quick filter. Instead of analyzing every property in depth, you can run a fast calculation and immediately eliminate deals that won’t work. The 2% rule came out of a specific era in real estate investing, in specific markets, under specific conditions. When properties were cheaper and rehab costs were lower and certain categories of expense were more predictable, 2% rent-to-price was a reasonable proxy for cash flow viability. The rule was never meant to be the last word. It was a first filter. Somewhere along the way, a lot of investors started treating it as a conclusion. The Costs That Don’t Show Up on Paper Here’s what the 2% rule doesn’t capture, and what my property taught me the expensive way. Property location affects tenant quality. Not as a moral judgment, but as a practical reality. Lower-income neighborhoods produce higher tenant turnover. Higher turnover means more vacancies, more rehab between tenants, more advertising costs, more property management labor. None of this shows up when you run the 2% calculation. Location also affects the quality of property managers available to you. Skilled property managers are selective. They gravitate toward properties where the math works for them too. In rougher neighborhoods, you end up with the managers who couldn’t attract better clients. I learned this lesson in Baltimore, buying in areas where I couldn’t find a competent, reliable property manager regardless of how hard I looked. There’s also what I’d call the invisible expense category: things that don’t appear on any proforma because they’re impossible to predict in advance. Copper stripped from AC units. Appliances walked out of vacant units. Good

April 2026 delivered another major milestone for the portfolio.  We posted an insane 80% year over year increase. In this article, we provide Bert’s April Dividend Income Report and breakdown his dividend income in greater detail April is usually a quiet dividend income month for me.   In fact, historically, the first month of every single quarter has been my lowest dividend income month.  However, that changed with my April dividend income! (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || […]