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Senators warn Trump Social Security nominee of consequences of staff cuts

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Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speak to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. 

The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images

Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon are warning Frank Bisignano, the nominee to lead the Social Security Administration, that he will be responsible if staff cuts interfere with the agency’s ability to process and disburse benefit checks.

President Donald Trump has nominated Bisignano, chief executive of payments and financial technology company Fiserv, to serve as commissioner of the agency, which is responsible for sending monthly benefit payments to more than 72 million Americans.

“As President Trump’s nominee for SSA Commissioner, you will be responsible if the Trump Administration’s attacks on the program result in failures or delays in getting Americans their Social Security checks — in other words, a backdoor cut to benefits,” Warren and Wyden wrote in a March 11 letter to Bisignano, shared exclusively with CNBC.

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Bisignano’s Senate confirmation hearing is expected to take place later this month, according to a source familiar with the situation.

In the interim, the agency is under the leadership of acting commissioner Lee Dudek, who according to reports publicly stated before his appointment that he had been put on administrative leave after helping representatives of Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Dudek replaced former acting commissioner Michelle King, who stepped down following reported disagreements with DOGE over access to sensitive data.

The Social Security Administration recently announced plans to cut 7,000 employees and close regional offices.

“This would represent a reduction in workforce of over 10 percent and will have devastating impacts on the program,” Warren and Wyden wrote.

Social Security beneficiaries already may face longer wait times because of the changes, the senators wrote. If the agency seeks to reduce its staff further, “the results will be devastating,” Warren and Wyden wrote.

In the 1980s, smaller Social Security work force cuts led to 80,000 Americans not receiving their benefits, the senators said.

The new cuts could prompt millions of Americans to miss out on the benefits they earned and limit the Social Security Administration’s ability to catch and correct payment errors, the Democratic leaders said.

“The net result could be a disaster: more overpayments and waste in the system, at the same time that Americans who have earned their Social Security benefits are unable to receive them,” the senators wrote.

Fiserv CEO on the nomination to Social Security Commisioner role

In response, a Social Security Administration spokesperson told CNBC via email that improving Social Security services for all Americans is “our common goal.”

“We are identifying efficiencies and reducing costs, with a renewed focus on mission critical work for the American people,” the spokesperson wrote. “These steps prioritize customer service by streamlining redundant layers of management, reducing non-mission critical work, and potential reassignment of employees to customer service positions. SSA is committed to ensuring that all Americans can get the help they need whether that is in our field offices, telephone, or through automated solutions.”

While Trump has vowed not to touch Social Security benefits, he has said that he plans to target “waste, fraud and abuse” in entitlement programs.

The White House on Tuesday said that Trump will “always protect” Social Security and Medicare.

“The Trump Administration will not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits,” the White House stated in a fact check statement.

The White House was not immediately available for further comment.

Bisignano did not respond to a request from CNBC for comment by press time.

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Here’s how the SALT deduction could change amid Trump’s tax cuts debate

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U.S. Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) speaks during a press conference about the SALT Caucus outside the United States Capitol on Wednesday February 08, 2023 in Washington, DC. 

Matt McClain | The Washington Post | Getty Images

As lawmakers debate President Donald Trump‘s tax cuts, a key deduction could become a sticking point in 2025 tax negotiations, policy experts say.

Enacted via the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA, of 2017, there’s currently a $10,000 limit on the federal deduction on state and local taxes, known as SALT. Residents who itemize tax breaks cannot deduct more than $10,000 in levies paid to state and local governments, including income and property taxes.

That could change amid tax negotiations with lawmakers from high-tax states like California, New Jersey and New York.

Since 2018, the SALT cap has been a hot-button issue among certain lawmakers from those high-tax states. Before TCJA, the SALT deduction was unlimited, but the so-called alternative minimum tax reduced the benefit for some higher earners.

The TCJA SALT provision will expire after 2025 without action from Congress.

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Although Trump enacted the $10,000 SALT cap in 2017, he reversed his position last year on the campaign trail, vowing to “get SALT back” if re-elected. He has renewed calls for reform since being sworn into office.

“I’d love to see something happen on SALT,” Trump said in a Fox News interview on Sunday. 

However, it’s unclear how the provision will ultimately change amid competing tax priorities and a limited budget

“The SALT cap is a major revenue raiser,” said Garrett Watson, director of policy analysis at the Tax Foundation. “That’s the balancing act.”

Trillions of dollars in tax breaks enacted via TCJA are scheduled to expire after 2025, including lower tax brackets, a bigger child tax credit and a 20% deduction for pass-through businesses, among others. 

Extending individual and estate tax provisions would reduce revenue by $3.9 trillion over the next decade, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

One SALT reform proposal, which aims to raise the SALT cap to $20,000 for married couples filing jointly, would further decrease revenue by $170 billion, the organization estimates.  

Other plans have called for a higher SALT deduction limit or raising the cap for taxpayers under a certain income threshold.

The budget is ‘too small’ for tax agenda

With control of both chambers of Congress, Republicans plan to use a process known as “reconciliation” to enact Trump’s tax agenda. Currently, the House Republicans’ budget blueprint authorizes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts through 2034, though it could change in Senate negotiations.

That’s an “almost unfathomably large number and somehow too small for the current agenda,” unless lawmakers include offsets to pay for the proposed tax cuts, said Andrew Lautz, associate director for the Bipartisan Policy Center’s economic policy program.

“If there is a major tax deal this year, it seems almost certain that SALT will be part of the discussion,” he said.

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How to price your home to sell in 2025

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Selling a house involves much more than just putting up a “for sale” sign.

In addition to some key things to consider — like knowing market conditions, preparing your home for showings and deciding whether to work with a real estate agent — it’s important to get the right asking price, according to Joel Berner, a senior economist at Realtor.com. 

Otherwise, your home is going to sit on the market for a long time, and eventually you will have to cut the price anyway, he said. 

“Getting the price right to start is really important,” Berner said. 

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Zillow’s home trend expert Amanda Pendleton agreed, and said that homes that are well priced and marketed tend to sell in a matter of weeks comparted with homes that miss on the right asking pricing. Those can linger on the market for two months or more, she said. 

Here’s what to consider if you are looking to sell your home, according to experts. 

What’s happening in the housing market

Home sale listings have been picking up this year. This can create a more competitive environment for home sellers as buyers will have more options to choose from, Berner said.

For the week ending March 1, new listings increased 0.1% compared to the week prior, growing for the eighth consecutive week, Realtor.com found. In February, for-sale inventory was up 27.5% from a year prior, per the site’s monthly housing report

The disappearance of the starter home

Meanwhile, sellers have been forced to drop home prices while homes sit on the market for longer. The average time a listing spends on the market is up to 66 days, five more days than last February and the highest since February 2020.

In February, Realtor.com’s monthly report indicated that 16.8% of listings had price reductions, a 2.2 percentage point increase compared to last year, and the highest February activity since 2021.

A January report from the National Association of Realtors indicated a decrease in homes sold above asking price (15% vs. 16% the previous month and year). Meanwhile, homes listed got an average of 2.6 offers from buyers, up from 2.1 a month before but flat from 2.7 a year ago.

It’s not the same seller’s market from the past few years, said Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist at the National Association of Realtors.

How to get the price right

To get an accurate sense of your property’s value and determine a reasonable listing price, Berner urges home sellers to research recent sales of comparable homes, and focus on properties similar in size, amenities and condition.

To ensure you don’t undersell your home, determine how much equity you need from the sale to cover the down payment, closing costs and moving expenses for your next home, Berner said.

“If you’re really afraid of underselling and have the option to not list your home, then maybe that’s going to be the right option,” Berner said.

For a general idea of your home’s value, online home price estimators, also known as automated valuation models, can be helpful. Such tools use algorithms and publicly available data to estimate a property’s worth, according to Bankrate.

But keep in mind that the estimate might be helpful only for a ball-park figure, experts caution. AVMs rely on public records, and if they haven’t been updated yet, the data might not reflect renovations or changes to the home, Bankrate noted.

A professional home appraiser or a real estate agent will be able to come into your home and look at any upgrades that you’ve made and provide a more detailed evaluation, Lautz said.

“Hire an experienced local agent who’s going to know your neighborhood like the back of their hand,” Pendleton said.

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Most of the $124 trillion ‘great wealth transfer’ will go to women

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Family Matters: Successful Estate Planning

Women’s prosperity is on the rise

Women have historically lagged in financial resources and opportunity, largely due to a persistent gender wage gap. Women today still earn only 80% of what their male counterparts do. 

However, women are achieving increasing levels of education and working as much, if not more, than their male counterparts, which has resulted in rising wages and greater representation in senior leadership positions.

“Increased wage gains, coupled with the ‘great wealth transfer,’ position women to be key drivers of economic growth,” Bank of America Institute’s report said. And, “as wealth increases, women’s prosperity will help to ‘grow the pie’ of total affluence.”

By 2030, roughly two-thirds of the private wealth in the U.S. will be held by women — which will be the largest wealth transfer by gender in history, according to a separate research report by McKinsey.  

For that reason, the money that is being passed down can create a safety net that didn’t previously exist for women, according to Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner and founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida.

“You can’t bank on it 100%, but that can ease the pressure,” said McClanahan, who also is a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council.

How to navigate the wealth transfer

There are a few key considerations to help women better prepare for the greatest generational wealth transfer in history, according to Christa O’Brien, a financial advisor at Northwestern Mutual.

Have the conversation: “Many often forget to consider the downsides that are associated with wealth transfers if they don’t have a plan in place,” O’Brien said. For example, if the individual who passed did not have life insurance, long-term care or supplemental disability insurance, there may also be debts left behind that can erode the inheritance.

“That’s why it’s important to plan early and make sure all beneficiaries are part of financial planning conversations with trusted advisors,” she said.

Where you live matters: “Whether it’s an inherited 401(k), a life insurance payout or liquid assets transferring to your name, there are implications on how much you should take out, and when,” O’Brien said. Everyone’s situation and the way they plan is different, she said, but the common goal is to lessen the future tax liability and spare your own heirs much larger bills. 

Plan for longevity: Women live almost six years longer than men, on average, and given longer life expectancies, women should consider strategies that ensure their savings last longer, such as delaying Social Security benefits to increase monthly payouts. 

That makes it even more important to start working with a financial advisor on a long-term investment strategy as well as buying long-term care insurance for yourself, O’Brien said. By doing so, “when the next wealth transfer takes place, you’re setting that beneficiary up for greater financial success,” she said.

Build financial security: Not only do women have smaller nest eggs than men, but they also tend to invest more conservatively. Think about ways you may be able to grow cash or assets through options like a high-yield savings account, Roth individual retirement account or money market account, O’Brien said, depending on your time frame.

“As important as it is to invest to grow your money, consider being a little more aggressive with money you don’t need right now and less aggressive with money you might need,” O’Brien said. 

Be aware of financial scams: Financial scams are a grave and growing threat to consumers’ financial security, and more often older adults and women are targeted. For them, the financial blow can be especially devastating.

“To protect yourself from fraud, be cautious when sharing information with unknown sources and verify credibility before making financial decisions,” O’Brien said. 

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