Author: Vishesh Raisinghani

You probably know the importance of retiring with a hefty, well-diversified portfolio of assets. But what if you’ve spent some of your money accumulating things that look like ‘assets’ but are actually hidden liabilities.

Here are the top seven tempting, but deceptive money drains that many people trap themselves into before retirement.

1. Brand new cars

If you’re relatively older and financially secure, splurging on your ‘dream car’ can be the ultimate temptation. Why not buy the toys you’ve always wanted and resell them to someone else who’s just as passionate about motors as you?

Well, the typical new car loses roughly 30% of its value within the first two years alone, according to Kelley Blue Book. The depreciation rate slows down after those initial years, which means buying a modestly used car at an affordable price is a better way to secure your financial future.

2. Timeshares

Spending your retirement on the beach in Cabo Verde is undoubtedly attractive for many people. But there’s a difference between buying a vacation home somewhere tropical and buying a timeshare.

Unlike property ownership, timeshare ownership involves steep initial costs, recurring maintenance fees, low resale potential and rigid usage schedules.

On top of that, the secondary market is notoriously poor, and many owners struggle to exit their agreements. Sales tactics can be aggressive, and the contracts themselves are often complex and difficult to navigate.

Consider creating an annual budget for vacation rentals in your retirement plan instead of locking yourself into these bad deals — you can achieve these goals faster by using a travel credit card as well.

3. Luxury collectibles

Yes, there is an active market for luxury collectibles such as vintage cars, designer handbags and luxury watches. But a Rolex probably doesn’t deserve a spot on your retirement portfolio.

Luxury consumers are a fickle bunch and what’s considered valuable today may not be as valuable by the time you retire.

Diamonds, for instance, were a popular collectible, but have since seen prices decline by 26% in just the last two years, according to The Guardian.

With that in mind, avoid the glamorous “assets” and focus on safe but boring investments like corporate bonds or dividend stocks.

4. Buying a mansion or home upgrades

It’s nearly irresistible to think of your primary residence as the bedrock of your retirement. Collectively, Canadians are sitting on an estimated $4.7 trillion in home equity, which is the largest pool of private wealth in the country, according to Clay Financial.

However, it’s possible to go overboard with this investment. Buying a house that is far beyond your budget or too big for your needs can make it tougher to pay off the mortgage or maintain the property when you’re on a fixed income. It’s also a good idea to avoid excessive and frequent renovations to try and add value to the property.

Instead, focus on minimizing costs and debt, and consider downsizing to tap into some of that built-up equity to make your retirement more flexible and comfortable.

5. Lottery tickets or speculative investments

Buying lottery tickets or pouring money into unproven and speculative investments is rarely a good idea, regardless of your age. But the risks are magnified when you’re older and approaching the end of your career.

Instead of indulging in wishful thinking that a meme-worthy cryptocurrency or random penny stock is going to make you rich overnight, consider the safer path to retirement. Focus on blue chip dividend stocks, bonds or gold.

6. Multiple or excessive mortgages

Rental income from a robust portfolio of real estate is a great way to enhance your passive income in retirement. But if you’re at the end of your career and rely on a fixed income, you should recognize the fact that your capacity for risk is much lower.

With this in mind, consider lowering or paying off all the mortgages on your rental properties. If you can’t, sell a few units to pay off the loans on others in your portfolio.

As a retired landlord, you can’t afford a sudden housing market crash or interest rate volatility.

7. Whole life insurance

Despite what the insurance salesman has probably told you, whole life insurance isn’t an ideal retirement vehicle.

These plans can be five to ten times more expensive than term life insurance, according to PolicyMe, and you have limited control over how the capital is invested.

Instead, focus on relatively simple financial instruments that offer steady cash flow and greater control.

Sources

1. Kelley Blue Book: Car Depreciation Calculator

2. The Guardian: Diamonds lose their sparkle as prices come crashing down, by James Tapper (Jan 25, 2025)

3. Clay Financial: 7 Ways To Access Your Home Equity in Canada (Apr 18, 2024)

4. PolicyMe: Term Vs Whole Life Insurance: What’s Better? (Nov 9, 2023)

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

When you picture a typical homebuyer, you probably envision a young adult in their 30s who is ready to put down roots and buy a property for the family they’re beginning to build.

This was certainly true back in 1981. The median age of a homebuyer at the time was 31 years old, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

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But the age of the median buyer has moved higher — a lot higher — over the past four decades. It sits at a whopping 56 years old as of 2024.

To put it another way, the person most likely to buy a home in the current market is much closer to retirement and being an empty-nester than to starting a new family.

Here’s a look at what’s driving this strange dynamic in the housing market and how young families can try to shift the odds in their favor.

Grey housing market

Not only are older Americans more likely to buy homes, but many own some of the largest properties on the market.

According to a January 2024 report by Redfin, 28.2% of three-bedroom-plus homes across the country were owned by empty-nest baby boomers. That’s compared to just 14.2% for millennials with kids.

The report suggests that baby boomers were in their prime earning years during the 1990s economic boom when newly-built homes were remarkably abundant. Home values have since shot up, and Americans who purchased homes more than 20 years ago didn’t have to spend as large of a portion of their income to buy property as they would today.

For younger buyers, this might feel like game over, but it isn’t necessarily. Here’s how you can boost your chances of getting onto the property ladder.

Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it

Improving your chances

If you’re in your 30s or 40s, it may feel as though the odds are stacked against you if you’re aiming for homeownership. Although the NAR data shows the median age of first-time buyers was 38 in 2024 (29 in 1981), this cohort only purchased 24% of homes compared to 32% a year earlier.

Nevertheless, with some planning and consistency or creative thinking, you could improve your chances. Start with aggressive saving and budgeting. Cutting back on non-essential spending — even by just $200 a month — can add up to $2,400 a year.

Pair that with steady investing in stocks or low-cost index funds and you can start accumulating funds for a downpayment.

Many young buyers also lean on the “Bank of Mom and Dad” if your parents are able to extend some financial security. About one-third of younger millennials (ages 26-34) who bought a home received assistance with their down payment through a gift or loan from a friend or family member, per a 2025 report by NAR.

You could also consider broadening your geographic search. Consider relocating to more affordable markets. Use first-time buyer programs and state-level assistance. FHA loans can cut required down payments to as little as 3.5%, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Buying a home may seem challenging for younger generations, but with the right financial planning it’s still within reach.

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Stay in the know. Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise sent straight to your inbox every week for free. Subscribe now.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

When many people picture someone aged 16 to 24, they imagine a student buried in books or a young adult starting their first job. But for more than 4.3 million Gen Zers, neither is true — they’re not in school, not working, and increasingly unsure where they fit in.

That’s according to the latest report by Measure of America, a project of the Social Science Research Council. The study estimates that roughly 10.9% of young U.S. adults are NEET, or "not in Education, Employment, or Training."

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The report suggests that even a temporary withdrawal from society can have lasting consequences on a young person’s life.

“It’s associated with lower earnings, less education, worse health, and even less happiness in later adulthood,” the study says.

With nearly one in ten young people facing this grim future, some are now calling for a redesign of the education system to address the issue.

Worthless college degrees

Although college is traditionally seen as the path to building a bright future, political commentator Peter Hitchens argues that this belief no longer holds true.

“In many cases, young people have been sent off to universities for worthless degrees which have produced nothing for them at all,” said the author in a recent episode of his Alas Vine & Hitchens podcast. “And they would be much better off if they apprenticed to be plumbers or electricians. They would be able to look forward to a much more abundant and satisfying life.”

Indeed, nearly 52% of job postings in January 2024 did not require a formal college degree, according to Indeed’s Hiring Lab.

Meanwhile, 39% of firms in blue-collar sectors such as manufacturing and construction said they struggled to find employees in 2024, while 37% said the employees they hired were not suitable for the job, according to Angi.

This skills gap is likely to persist as young adults still see blue-collar work as less prestigious than white collar professions.

A Jobber study conducted in 2023 found that 74% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 20 perceive a stigma associated with choosing vocational school over a traditional four-year university.

Many are willing to go into debt to finance their white-collar ambitions. American households had accumulated $1.61 trillion in total student loan debt to finance some of these degrees, according to the New York Federal Reserve.

Crippling student debt for degrees that don’t lead to meaningful employment may explain why many young adults are disengaging from society. Fortunately, efforts are underway to turn the tide.

Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it

Plugging the gap and changing perceptions

Shifting perceptions of blue-collar work and creating clearer pathways into trades and vocational careers could be key to addressing the NEET issue.

For instance, TV host Mike Rowe is giving away $2.5 million in scholarships this year to support young people pursuing skills training.

DEWALT, a leading manufacturer of power tools and equipment for construction and industrial use, is investing nearly $4 million through its "Grow the Trades" initiative.

The funding will be distributed as grants to 166 organizations across the U.S. and Canada that are dedicated to training the next generation of skilled tradespeople, including programs focused on skilling, reskilling and upskilling workers in areas such as carpentry, electrical work, HVAC and more.

Vocational training is already gaining traction. As of late 2024, 923,000 students had enrolled in a skilled trades school, up 13.6% from the previous year, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. If these trends continue, the skills gap — and the NEET crisis — could be gradually resolved.

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Stay in the know. Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise sent straight to your inbox every week for free. Subscribe now.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

From a seller’s perspective, the only way to describe the current housing market in the U.S. is lousy. A typical home sits on the market for 40 days on average it’s sold.

With an estimated 500,000 more sellers than buyers, Redfin reports that home listings are sitting at a five-year high.

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Simply put, this is a buyer’s market. Home sellers need to go the extra mile to get the best price.

Here are the top eight ‘buyer repellants’ to avoid if you’re trying to sell your home in 2025.

Clutter

Buying a home is an emotional process and you don’t want buyers’ first reaction to be one of disgust. A dirty, cluttered home makes it difficult for them to picture themselves in your property, which ultimately makes it difficult to sell.

Consider hiring professionals to clean and organize your space before you put it on the market.

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Personal decor

Potential buyers need to visualize their own lives in your space. This isn’t possible when your walls are covered with deeply personal pictures of you and your family.

“The first thing I would do is depersonalize and remove personal photos,” celebrity real estate agent Ryan Serhant advised on an episode of The Rachael Ray Show.

“Your buyer will walk through, they’ll forget to pay attention to the house. They’ll just want to know who lives here. They’re super nosy.”

Unfixed damage

Given how pricey homes are to begin with these days, most buyers are exceptionally sensitive to any additional costs involved with buying your home. A potential buyer is likely to notice everything that needs to be fixed and use it to negotiate a lower price.

This doesn’t mean your home needs expensive renovations. Clever Real Estate recommends that sellers focus on repairs with the highest return on investment, such as garage doors, front doors and minor kitchen remodels or updates.

Dirty carpets or broken floors

Potential buyers can be put off by dirty carpets and broken floors. Fortunately, fixing this is relatively inexpensive. According to Angie’s List, the average cost to repair a carpet is $207. This quick fix can go a long way in your staging process.

Pets

Pet owners might appreciate signs that your home is big and comfortable enough for a pet, but not every prospective buyer fits this description. Some don’t like cats and dogs or have allergies.

Serhant advises putting away your pet’s food bowls and “if you have a 65-pound dog, maybe take the dog for a little walk so your person can come in and not see it without any kind of prejudice or allergies,” he added.

Overpowering scents

It’s tempting to make your home smell welcoming and pleasant, but it’s difficult to know if your potential buyers are sensitive to any odors. The safest option is to aim for a mild or neutral scent that doesn’t distract the viewer.

Excess furniture

Most home listings don’t include the furniture, so minimizing the number of items you leave behind in your listing is probably a good idea. You can work with a professional stager to rearrange or move furniture to make it more appealing for viewers.

Bold paint colors

Just like personal photos, bold and vivid colors are a reflection of your personality and are likely to be distracting for any potential buyer. White is a safer option.

“You want to project like an open canvas,” Serhant says. “You want your buyer to walk through and imagine themselves living there, and you want them to say, ‘Oh, I love these white walls, I could see how my own Star Wars-themed wall would look here.’"

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Stay in the know. Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise sent straight to your inbox every week for free. Subscribe now.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

On paper, Jackson’s debt-free status and $200,000 annual salary might look like an easy ticket to financial freedom.

But in reality, the 25-year-old heavy-duty mechanic from Canada admits he’s often staring at a bank account that doesn’t reflect his hard work or financial progress.

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“I get my paychecks and I pay my bills with it and then I don’t look at my account all that much,” he said on a recent episode of The Ramsey Show. “I just kind of know there’s always a good chunk of change in there and it usually fluctuates between $15,000 and 25,000.

“But it’s not really going ahead from there because I’m kind of just living, you know?”

Jackson’s situation isn’t unusual, but celebrity finance personality Dave Ramsey believes his “healthy disgust” with his lack of progress at such a young age certainly is. Here’s why many high-income people struggle to accumulate meaningful wealth.

Biggest mistake rich people make

Jackson’s difficulty holding onto his high income isn’t unique. Roughly 36% of Americans earning more than $200,000 a year say they live paycheck to paycheck, according to a 2024 study by PYMNTs.

Among those in this income bracket, 22.8% cited family expenses as the top reason they can’t save money. Another 17% pointed to poor saving and financial habits as the main reason they live paycheck to paycheck.

Lifestyle creep and untamed budgets appear to drive many people to spend as much — or even more — than they earn. According to Ramsey, the biggest mistake high earners make is a lack of intentionality with their money.

Jackson, however, is determined to avoid that mistake.

“I feel like I make too much money to not have some sort of a plan and I don’t want to feel like a fool who squanders a fortune,” he tells Ramsey, who responds with a compliment: “Just asking the question puts you in the top 5%, dude.”

Ramsey’s advice? Start with a robust budget.

Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it

Give every dollar a job

According to Ramsey, the only way to be intentional with your money is to set up a spending plan before the income arrives.

“We’re going to write it down — before the month begins — where every dollar is going to go,” he told Jackson. “Give every dollar an assignment. Contract with yourself. If you have a spouse, do it with your spouse.”

A tight monthly budget should help Jackson earmark cash for necessary expenses, discretionary spending, taxes and emergencies — and ideally leave extra for savings and investments. Working with a financial planner would also be ideal.

Unfortunately, only 27% of Americans use professional help for investment advice and services, according to a 2024 YouGov survey.

Most aren’t doing this work independently either. Just two in five Americans said they have a monthly budget or closely monitor their spending, according to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.

In other words, a robust, professional budget is rare, which helps explain why living paycheck to paycheck is so common. You can avoid the same pitfalls by hiring a professional or setting up a solid budget of your own.

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Stay in the know. Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise sent straight to your inbox every week for free. Subscribe now.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

When the Washington Redskins signed then-rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III for his first contract in 2012, the deal’s estimated $21.1 million price tag was all over the headlines. What didn’t make the headlines was how much Griffin actually got to take home at the time.

In a recent interview with former MMA fighter Demetrious Johnson the Mighty podcast, the former athlete revealed that the deal was structured to give him $14 million upfront as a signing bonus with the rest later, but he only saw $6.9 million appear in his bank account.

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"I called my agent immediately,” Griffin recalls. “I’m distraught! ‘Oh my god, they took all the money out. Where is the $14 million?’ And he’s like, ‘Rob, it’s taxes.’”

Griffin admits the experience stung, but it ultimately highlighted a harsh truth: many pro athletes end up broke simply because they were never taught the financial basics. It’s a lesson that resonates far beyond the sports world.

Lack of financial literacy

Rookie athletes with rare talent in their sport are often entrusted with multimillion dollar contracts, but many are woefully unprepared for this windfall. Griffin admits he wasn’t ready to manage his immense fortune when he was first signed.

“I wasn’t financially literate when I first got into the NFL,” he told Johnson. “I never had that kind of money.”

This is why Griffin — who was just 22 years old at the time — was unaware that marginal tax rates for multimillionaires can be as high as 50% in some states, according to SmartAsset.

However, a lack of essential financial skills isn’t restricted to those who earn big payouts and have complicated tax situations. On average, U.S. adults could only answer 49% of 28 personal finance questions correctly, according to the 2025 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index.

This rate of financial literacy has remained more or less the same over the past eight years, according to the report.

The report also found how detrimental this lack of financial skills could be. Adults with low financial literacy were twice as likely to be constrained by debt, three times more likely to be financially vulnerable and five times more likely to not have at least one month of emergency savings.

Simply put, learning new financial skills could help you mitigate many of the economic risks most people face. However, there is another, potentially easier way to boost your personal financial security: hiring a professional.

Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it

Working with a professional

If you don’t have the time or inclination to learn about money, you could simply hire a professional to manage your situation for you.

Experienced accountants, tax advisors, investment advisors or financial planners can help you create a better path to any of your financial goals and place guardrails on your budget to make sure you’re not vulnerable.

Unfortunately, only 27% of U.S. adults work with financial advisors, according to a 2024 survey by YouGov. Those who may need this assistance the most are also the least likely to work with professionals.

Only 9% of adults who did not finish high school work with financial advisors, while 45% of those with postgraduate degrees do.

Hiring a professional can be expensive, but the costs are often offset by the added tax savings, improved investment outcomes and better money management that an experienced advisor can offer.

This could be one of the reasons why the NFL Players Association launched its Financial Advisors Program to help connect professional athletes with a prescreened list of financial professionals.

The platform helps protect young rookies from financial mistakes Griffin and his peers can be at risk of making.

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• This is how American car dealers use the ‘4-square method’ to make big profits off you — and how you can ensure you pay a fair price for all your vehicle costs

Stay in the know. Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise sent straight to your inbox every week for free. Subscribe now.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

Not all college degrees are created equal — and some could actually leave you struggling financially.

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Recent research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York based on 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed which majors lead to the lowest median incomes within five years of graduation (ages 22 to 27).

Here are the seven worst-paying college degrees as per their median early-career wages.

Do they cost more than they’re worth?

1. Foreign language (median salary: $40,000)

Mastering a foreign language may be a useful life skill, but it isn’t likely to be a lucrative one. The median early-career wage for foreign language degree holders is just $40,000 and the underemployment rate is a whopping 51.1%.

However, if you can combine your foreign language skills with other skills, you could land a relatively lucrative career as a foreign exchange trader, sommelier, diplomat or court interpreter, according to Indeed. Foreign diplomats can earn six-figure salaries.

2. General social sciences (median salary: $41,000)

Roughly 54.1% of graduates whose major was general social sciences are underemployed, according to the Fed.

Students are taught critical thinking and research skills in this multidisciplinary program, and they can usually choose concentrations.

Combining a versatile bachelor’s degree like this with a law degree is one way to boost your earning potential.

3. Performing arts (median salary: $41,900)

A degree in performing arts could be highly satisfying and enjoyable if you’re naturally artistic. However, having your talent recognized and monetizing art is as difficult as ever, which means your performing arts degree isn’t likely to lead to a fortune.

According to the Fed, graduates with a major in performing arts earn a median salary of $41,900 at the start of their career and the underemployment rate is a staggering 62.3%.

Read more: Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it

4. Anthropology (median salary: $42,000)

With a 9.4% unemployment rate and 55.9% underemployment rate, it seems graduates who major in anthropology face a difficult job market.

Part of the reason for this difficult job market could be the fact that the organizations that need to hire anthropologists tend to be ones with limited resources, like non-profits, government agencies or academic institutions.

5. Early childhood education (median salary: $42,000)

Shaping young minds is an essential but overlooked and underappreciated skill. According to ZipRecruiter, the average hourly pay for an early childhood education teacher in the U.S. is $17 an hour.

One study found staff turnover is higher in early care and education (ECE) centers with lower wages. It also appears there’s little potential to grow your salary since the mid-career median wage is just $49,000.

6. Family and consumer sciences (median salary: $42,000)

This degree gives students an education in areas like nutrition, human development, family dynamics, interior design and home economics.

Many roles are found in education, community human service agencies and government agencies, which often come with low salaries and slow upward mobility.

7. General education (median salary: $42,000)

This degree gives students basic knowledge in a broad variety of subjects. According to Learn.org, it prepares them for both a wide range of entry-level careers and graduate-level study in a specific field. More then half of the holders of this degree in the adult working-age population also have a graduate degree.

What to read next

• Financial aid only funds about 27% of US college expenses — but savvy parents are using this 3-minute move to cover 100% of those costs
• Here are 5 ‘must have’ items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you?
• How much cash do you plan to keep on hand after you retire? Here are 3 of the biggest reasons you’ll need a substantial stash of savings in retirement
• This is how American car dealers use the ‘4-square method’ to make big profits off you — and how you can ensure you pay a fair price for all your vehicle costs

Stay in the know. Join 200,000+ readers and get the best of Moneywise sent straight to your inbox every week for free. Subscribe now.

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

Many seniors across the country would consider their senior living community a safe haven. But for some, these properties turn out to be money traps right when their personal finances are most fragile.

Martha Bray, an 84-year-old Vietnam veteran, found herself trapped in such an unfortunate situation.

After 10 years of living at River Glen of St. Charles, a senior living community near Chicago that she describes as her “dream” home, the property was acquired by two investment companies that swiftly raised rents. She told NBC News that her monthly maintenance surged from $1,395 to $6,500 — a 365% increase.

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Unable to pay this extortionate rate, Bray ultimately decided to move out and receive only 75% of the $314,000 entry fee she paid to move in. Based on the property’s value at that time, she estimates her total loss at $100,000.

“I just want people to know not to believe a damn word anybody says,” she told NBC News.

“Your money is not safe.”

Indeed, many seniors are exposed to similar risks when they sign up for these seniors communities. Here’s why the industry’s image as a safe haven is looking increasingly shaky.

Private equity’s invasion

Factors that make seniors living facilities valuable to many families also make them attractive to investors. Elevated rents, recurring revenue and the nation’s aging population has made this a lucrative asset class for private equity firms.

According to the American Seniors Housing Association’s (ASHA) annual report on the industry, eight of the 50 largest operators in the U.S. senior housing space were private equity firms in 2024. And at least three had partnerships with real estate investment trusts (REITs).

Private equity’s influence could expand further in the years ahead. A survey of seniors housing trends by global real estate investment firm JLL, showed that 78% of institutional investors planned to expand their investments in senior care facilities. “Opportunities exist for investors to acquire high-quality real estate at below replacement cost,” says the 2025 report.

The impact of private equity ownership on residents of these facilities can be “significant and troubling,” according to the Center for Medicare Advocacy.

According to their analysis, properties taken over by one private equity firm in Iowa received lower overall and health inspection ratings, had fewer nursing staff, faced more abuse citations, incurred higher federal civil monetary penalties, and experienced more payment denials for new admissions

Put simply, some investment firms may be incentivized to put profits and shareholder returns above the interests of vulnerable seniors. If you or your loved ones live in such facilities or are considering moving in, you should take some steps to protect yourself.

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Protect yourself and your loved ones

There are several ways you and your family can reduce the risk of financial damages from seniors living arrangements.

Before you sign up, make sure you review the contract carefully and consider having the terms reviewed by an experienced lawyer. You should also try to find out which entity owns the property you or a loved one is considering.

There are minimal disclosure requirements for senior living property transactions, so it’s not easy to find out if a facility is owned by a private equity firm, but the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) offers some limited information on its website about “affiliated entity performance” that could be helpful.

The CMS is also advocating for tighter regulations and more disclosures to bring transparency to the industry and help consumers find out who owns the properties they or their loved ones live in.

Last year, Democratic Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren introduced the Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act, which aims to “root out corporate greed and private equity abuse in the health care system.”

If you believe the industry needs greater transparency and tighter protections, reach out to your local representative to encourage them to support the bill as it makes its way through Congress.

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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.

Bill Gates is widely known as the billionaire who co-founded Microsoft, but one of the other factors that has contributed to his wealth is his pragmatic, relatively-conservative investment strategy.

For example, take the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust portfolio. Its investments include stakes in railways, waste management and fast food restaurants, which are considered relatively low-risk investments compared to other offerings. Gates is also the owner of nearly 270,000 acres of farmland across the U.S., according to The Associated Press.

However, one asset class that you won’t find in his well-diversified portfolio is cryptocurrency. In fact, the billionaire has long been a vocal critic of digital currencies.

"There are people with high I.Q.s who have fooled themselves on that one," the 69-year-old shared with The New York Times in a recent interview.

Here’s why the tech entrepreneur isn’t a fan of this digital asset class.

Crypto is too risky

Gates’ skepticism of Bitcoin and other crypto assets isn’t a recent phenomenon. Back in 2021, the tech billionaire said he wasn’t a fan of the asset because of its volatility.

“I do think that people get bought into these manias who maybe don’t have as much money to spare. So I’m not bullish on Bitcoin,” Gates shared with Bloomberg. He suggested that the unpredictable fluctuations in Bitcoin’s market price made it a better fit for those who were already financially secure, such as fellow billionaire Elon Musk.

“Elon has tons of money and he’s very sophisticated so I don’t worry that his Bitcoin will randomly go up or down,” Gates added. “My general thought would be that if you have less money than Elon then you should probably watch out.”

According to BlackRock’s calculations, Bitcoin is 3.9 and 4.6 times more volatile than gold and global equities, respectively. This volatility is clear to anyone who has seen a recent price chart of the asset — each Bitcoin traded at just USD$42,000 at the start of 2024 before hitting USD$106,000 by December, and then dropping back to USD$85,000 as of February, 2025.

For some, these wild ups and downs suggest the crypto asset class is still speculative, which makes it unsuitable for risk-averse investors. However, for someone with an appetite for risk, there is a way to add cryptocurrency exposure without compromising your overall portfolio.

Small speculative bets

Not all wealthy investors are as cautious as Gates, but even the most adventurous ones understand the need for a strategic approach with robust guardrails for their risky ventures.

Billionaire Mark Cuban, for instance, has been a fan of cryptocurrencies for several years. In 2017, he shared his approach to high-risk bets with Vanity Fair. “If you’re a true adventurer and you really want to throw the Hail Mary, you might take 10% and put it in Bitcoin or Ethereum,” he said. “But if you do that you’ve got to pretend you’ve already lost your money.”

Since the value of Bitcoin is up 1,300% since that interview aired, the potential upside may have justified the risk of losing 10% of your portfolio.

Musk seems to have taken a similar approach. As of 2025, there are 11,509 BTC on Tesla’s balance sheet collectively worth less than USD$1 billion — a fraction of the company’s market capitalization and Musk’s personal net worth.

With this in mind, investors with an appetite for risk and sizable investments in other secure assets can consider putting a small fraction of their portfolio in relatively risky (but fun) assets like cryptocurrencies.

Sources

1. DATAROMA: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust (Dec 31, 2024)

2. The Associated Press: Bill Gates owns a lot of American farmland, but not the majority by Philip Marcelo (May 2, 2022)

3. Daily Mail: Bill Gates’ withering assessment on wildly popular investment: ‘People with high IQs have fooled themselves’ by Tilly Armstrong (Feb 3, 2025)

4. Indy100: Bill Gates urges people not to make one hugely popular investment by Sinead Butler (Feb 4, 2025)

5. iShares: Bitcoin volatility guide: Trends & insights for investors by Jay Jacobs (July 11, 2024)

6. CoinMarketCap: Bitcoin price today

7. YouTube: Mark Cuban’s Guide to Getting Rich | Vanity Fair (Oct 8, 2017)

8. Bitcoin Treasuries: Bitcoin Treasuries

This article Bill Gates claims ‘people with high IQs’ have ‘fooled themselves’ with this 1 wildly popular investment — says Elon Musk can handle it, but too risky if you’re not rich. Do you own it?originally appeared on Money.ca

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.