How to time Social Security if your spouse earns more than you do

By Philip van Doorn

Also: Fascinating results from Walmart, what to sell when you have to withdraw from a retirement account and several investment ideas

If you qualify for Social Security benefits, you are probably aware that the longer you wait to begin receiving monthly payments, the higher they will be.

But what if your spouse earns more than you do?

Alessandra Mailto explained what factors you must consider before applying for spousal Social Security benefits.

More from the Help Me Retire column:

I'm married, 60, and want to maximize my Social Security benefits. Will I get 8% more if I delay my withdrawals?We're living in Los Angeles with about $2.4 million. I want to retire at 55 in five years. 'Is retirement a pipe dream?'

Walmart reported excellent results and also taught us about the economy

Tomi Kilgore provided detailed coverage of Walmart Inc.'s (WMT) financial results. This included information for investors and Walmart executives' insight into consumer behavior in the U.S. and other countries.

More corporate-earnings coverage:

Home Depot's stock bounces as home improvement demand may have just bottomedDillard's stock slides 8.5% after earnings miss as consumers continue to shun clothing purchasesDeere's stock climbs after earnings sweep past lowered estimatesCisco to cut 7% of workforce, stock pops as AI spurs order growth

Earnings-season screen: Lilly, Uber among the biggest recent winners of the beat-and-raise game in the stock market

Commander of first Shuttle mission after Columbia disaster talks Boeing Starliner

Rough times for Boeing Co. (BA) have resumed after the successful launch of its Starliner spacecraft, which took two astronauts to the International Space Station in June. A number of problems with the spacecraft have kept Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on the station for more than two months, though the mission was supposed to last eight days. NASA has said the astronauts might need to wait until next year for a ride home on a Space-X Crew Dragon, but Boeing has said the Starliner is safe to take the astronauts home.

James Rogers interviewed Eileen Collins, who commanded the Space Shuttle Discovery in 2005 for NASA's "Return to Flight" mission following the 2003 Columbia disaster. Here is what Collins had to say about Boeing's statement of confidence in the Starliner.

More space coverage from James Rogers:

AST SpaceMobile's stock hits new intraday high ahead of first commercial satellite launchBoeing Starliner saga: Do NASA astronauts get overtime pay in space?NASA to decide how Starliner astronauts will be brought home by end of August

Which investment should you sell?

If you have a traditional individual retirement account or tax-deferred retirement account set up through your employer, you will need to begin taking required minimum distributions (RMD) when you turn 73. (This age will increase to 75 in 2033.)

You might face a difficult choice of which investments to begin selling when you take your RMD. Beth Pinsker gave pointers on how to calculate the RMD and what to think about when deciding which investments to part with.

More from Beth Pinsker: Single cat ladies may be saving the world, one estate plan at a time

How to see what Warren Buffett and other money managers are doing

The largest investors, such as Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.B), which holds a large portfolio of stocks in other companies under the direction of Chief Executive Warren Buffett, need to disclose these investments quarterly.

Gordon Gottsegen dug into these 13-F disclosures available from the Securities and Exchange Commission and shed light on the limitations of the reports.

More on the big investments disclosed by Buffett and others:

As Warren Buffett sold Apple's stock, these funds bought inStanley Druckenmiller trims holdings of 'Magnificent Seven' namesWhy Berkshire likely saw shine in Ulta's beaten-down stockIntel has sold its stake in Arm after a big rally for the chip-design stock

Stocks for investors getting over recession fears

A broad decline in stocks last week followed an Aug. 2 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that showed the U.S. unemployment rate increased to 4.3% from 4.1% the previous month. This week's rally pushed the S&P 500 SPX back into positive territory for August through Thursday, and the index returned 17.2% for 2024. (All returns in this article included reinvested dividends.)

For investors who don't expect a recession to crush the market, Michael Brush has suggestions from money managers about stocks that appear to be attractively priced right now.

How to buy a house (and pay a real-estate agent) under the new rules

Following legal battles, the National Association of Realtors has new rules that have changed how real-estate agents are paid. Instead of forcing a home seller to pay a commission (usually 6%) that is then split between agents representing the seller and buyer, the commissions will now be negotiated separately. Aarthi Swaminathan described various new types of contracts buyers can select from when hiring real-estate agents.

More housing coverage: My homeowners insurance in Tennessee went up 27% - and I've had no claims. What gives?

Is breaking up really so hard... for investors?

Earlier this month a federal judge ruled that Google had been running an illegal monopoly with its search engine, and this week Bloomberg reported that the Justice Department was considering breaking up Google - a unit of Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL).

A breakup of Google would be an unlikely outcome of the court decision, according to Therese Poletti.

But what if Google really were to break up? Mark Hulbert wrote that splitting up the company could turn out to be a blessing for Alphabet shareholders.

More: Alphabet's stock is set to break this bearish record as investor concerns mount

How to react as the Japanese yen carry trade flails

In this week's ETF Wrap, Isabel Wang interviewed Neena Mishra, director of ETF research at Zacks Investment Research, as part of her coverage of a popular exchange-traded fund that holds Japanese stocks while also trying to shield investors from declines in the value of that country's currency.

The yen carry trade is a strategy through which investors borrow at low interest rates in Japan, and then buy dollar-denominated assets. It is a strategy some U.S. investors have found lucrative this year, as they have ridden along using exchange-traded funds.

The WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund DXJ returned 25.5% this year through July, outperforming the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, which returned 16.6% over the same period.

But the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund fell 16.6% over the first three daily trading sessions this month, as SPY declined 6.1%. After bouncing back a bit, the fund was up 20.7% for 2024 through Thursday, while SPY was up 16.9% year-to-date.

Here's a strategy suggested by Mishra for investors who still want to keep money in Japanese stocks.

Pop music as a recession indicator

Can the quality of popular music help predict the likelihood of a recession? Hannah Erin Lang discussed this topic with economists. The answer may surprise and entertain you.

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-Philip van Doorn

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08-16-24 1217ET

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