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Target sees unexpected shift in customer behavior

May 21, 2026

Under its new CEO, Target has been making major changes to its stores in recent months to reconnect with customers after years of declining sales. As the company’s new strategy rolls out, it is seeing an unexpected shift in customer behavior as it works to regain its footing in retail.

In February, Michael Fiddelke became Target’s new CEO. The leadership change came after the company struggled to boost its sales last year amid consumer boycotts over its rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

It also faced challenges in attracting price-sensitive consumers into its stores due to economic pressures such as tariffs, inflation, and a slow housing market.

In 2025, Target’s comparable sales decreased by 2.6% year over year, while its operating income declined by roughly 8%, according to its fourth-quarter earnings report for 2025.

Target bets on major store changes to rebuild customer loyalty

Shortly after stepping into the role of CEO, Fiddelke sent a memo to employees, stating that Target has “real work to do” to re-engage customers.

He broke this task down into four main steps: “leading with merchandising authority,” “elevating the guest experience,” “accelerating technology,” and “strengthening our team and communities.”

“We will make clear choices, invest where it matters most and bring this strategy to life through our stores, our digital experiences, and — most importantly — our people,” said Fiddelke in the memo.

Since launching this new strategy, Target has made several significant in-store changes. In March, it launched a new Baby Boutique department in hundreds of its stores, which features 2,000 new baby items, including premium brands. It also expanded its Baby Concierge service.

Additionally, it added a front-of-department gifting area in almost 1,000 stores. In April, Target introduced viral apparel brand Parke to its stores, with most items priced under $40. It also added a limited-time Pokémon collection to its shelves.

Currently, it is remodeling 130-plus stores, featuring expanded grocery selections, modern décor and fixtures, and updates to self-checkout. Remodels also include updated spaces and expanded services to support order pickup, Drive Up, exchanges, and returns.

Robert V Schwemmer/Shutterstock.com

Target’s turnaround push draws unexpected reaction from shoppers

As Target’s new strategy continues to unfold, the company saw comparable sales increase 5.6% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, according to its latest earnings report.

Foot traffic in Target’s same-store locations also increased by 7.1% in February, 6.5% in March, and 4.8% in April, according to recent Placer.ai data.

During a media call with reporters, Fiddelke said sales in Target’s baby category increased by 5 percentage points during the quarter. Also, after adding roughly 1500 new health and wellness items, Target saw double-digit sales growth in this category.

Sales in its toy section also grew by double digits after Target increased its toy assortment to contain more items under $10 during the quarter.

Fiddelke said that Target’s performance results during the quarter were “stronger than expected.”

“As we’ve made changes in categories, we see the guests respond well to those changes, and so that’s early evidence to us that we’re on the right path,” he said.

He also acknowledged that shoppers continued to battle economic pressures in the first few months of the year.

“We see a consumer that continues to be resilient, even though they faced a mix of headwinds and tailwinds in the first quarter,” he said.

To keep customers engaged, Fiddelke said Target is planning its “largest reset in food in over a decade.” The company is also beginning its multiyear reinvention in home and beauty categories.

Target now expects its net sales in 2026 to grow in the 4% range, which is 2 percentage points higher than its prior range.

“Despite our updated guidance, we’re maintaining a cautious outlook given the work we know we have in front of us and ongoing uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment,” said Fiddelke.

More Grocery News:

Target’s sales growth comes despite declining U.S. consumer sentiment. In May, consumer sentiment fell 7.7% year over year, according to University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index data.

“Real income expectations continued a decline that began in March,” said University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu in a statement.

“About one-third of consumers spontaneously mentioned gasoline prices and about 30% mentioned tariffs,” she continued. “Taken together, consumers continue to feel buffeted by cost pressures, led by soaring prices at the pump.”

As consumers grow increasingly concerned about the economy, they are taking serious measures to hold onto their dollars, especially when it comes to grocery shopping, according to a survey from consumer insights platform Zappi last month. This shift in consumer behavior poses challenges for Target and other grocery retailers.

How Americans are changing grocery shopping habits:

Approximately 70% of U.S. consumers in the survey listed either price or value as the top influence when shopping for snacks and beverages.
Over 80% saw higher grocery costs in the last six months, including more than one in four seeing increases of more than $50 per week.
In response to rising costs, 90% are adjusting their shopping habits.
Also, 32% said they would buy the least expensive item on shelves that meets their financial needs, regardless of brand.
Additionally, 46% of consumers across all income levels are using coupons or promotions as they shop for groceries, 40% are switching to store brands, 38% are buying only essentials, and 34% are purchasing fewer items to offset price hikes.
Source: Zappi

“Consumers are under real financial pressure, and with nearly one-third willing to buy the cheapest option that meets their needs, the era of growth driven by price increases is coming to an end,” said Nataly Kelly, Zappi chief marketing officer, in a press release.

“Overcoming data fragmentation and staying continuously connected to consumers will unblock the execution challenges standing in their way.”

This story was originally published by TheStreet on May 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the Retail section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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Elon Musk’s pay package reveals what SpaceX really is: a $1 trillion monster built to colonize Mars

moneyvests

May 21, 2026

Elon Musk's pay package reveals what SpaceX really is: a $1 trillion monster built to colonize Mars

Elon Musk’s new pay package at SpaceX, the largest in corporate history, comes with one little catch: He doesn’t get the money until one million people live on Mars.

The SpaceX board granted Musk one billion restricted shares of Class B common stock on top of his existing stake of roughly 5 billion shares, worth roughly $700 billion at the expected IPO valuation of $1.75 trillion.

The new shares, potentially worth an additional $600 billion or more, only vest if SpaceX hits two conditions: its top market capitalization milestone of $7.5 trillion, and the creation of a permanent human colony on Mars with at least one million inhabitants.

The prospectus answers a question on Wall Street’s mind: why SpaceX is going public this way at all. Three months before filing, Musk merged his AI company xAI and his social media platform X into SpaceX, in a deal that valued the rocket company at $1 trillion and the AI company at $250 billion. That merged company, set to rock public markets next month, seemed Frankenstein-ish, but the filing’s own mission statement shows that the seemingly mismatched parts have a single purpose.

“For the entirety of its existence,” the filing reads, “human civilization has lived on a single celestial body: Earth. The current paradigm, in which human civilization is confined to one planet, exposes humanity to existential threats that are unpredictable and uncontrollable on a planetary scale.”

A few sentences later, it adds: “We do not want humans to have the same fate as dinosaurs.”

SpaceX is a Mars company, and everything else is built as infrastructure for the trip.

Mars colonization, the goal Musk has chased since he was a boy reading Asimov, requires much more than rockets. It requires robots—to build habitats, carry out agriculture, produce fuel, and build all the infrastructure needed to keep humans alive in an environment that’s trying to kill them. It requires the robots to run on AI that can operate on Mars itself, since there’s a communications lag with Earth. And it requires enormous amounts of capital, since none of this technology exists yet.

The merger gave Musk all three pieces under one roof. xAI on its own, loaded down with debt, could not raise the capital to build the AI infrastructure that such a colony would require. SpaceX on its own had no AI business. The idea, as the filing shows, is that the new company can use Starlink’s revenue plus SpaceX’s launch business to subsidize the AI buildout, and use xAI’s technology to make Mars actually governable at scale.

Who will pay for the rest of it? That’s what the IPO is for. SpaceX’s launch business doesn’t seem to need public capital, with Starlink alone generating more than $11 billion in revenue last year. But the Mars-supply-stack as a whole needs more money than even a profitable rocket company can produce.

Public capital has to fund this layer: the Starship production scale-up needed to move what would be millions of tons of cargo to Mars and to produce the orbital AI compute satellites SpaceX says it will begin deploying as early as 2028. The S-1 hints at this throughout, including a stated goal of deploying space-based AI data centers powered by the sun starting in 2028.

SpaceX claims that for this suite of technologies, there’s a total addressable market of $28.5 trillion, roughly the current size of the U.S. economy. Of that, $26.5 trillion sits in AI. The space and connectivity businesses most people generally associate with the company account for less than $2 trillion combined.

Whether public market investors have an appetite for funding something this risky is a separate question. The Mars timeline is estimated on a range from multi-decades to never.

Paul Sutter, a NASA advisor and Johns Hopkins research scientist, wrote in Scientific American that Musk’s Mars timeline doesn’t correspond to a real plan. “It’s like announcing a camping trip on your next available weekend,” Sutter wrote, “without having purchased any camping supplies. And your car is in the shop. And has exploded.”

Plus, the combined company posted a $4.3 billion net loss in the first quarter alone, according to the filing. The drag came almost entirely from xAI, which was folded into SpaceX in the February merger. The AI segment generated $818 million in revenue but lost $2.5 billion on operations, while spending $7.7 billion on capital expenditures—mostly Nvidia GPUs, which the company leased from its own board member. Plus if you add a $1.9 billion accounting charge from paying off xAI’s old debt early, then the bulk of the net loss is SpaceX absorbing xAI’s balance sheet. Starlink and the launch business stayed profitable.

The prospectus opens with an epigraph from Musk himself, set above the corporate mission statement:

“You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great—and that’s what being a space-faring civilization is all about. It’s about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past,” he wrote. “And I can’t think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars.”

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These 5 high-yield savings accounts have no minimum balance requirement

moneyvests

May 21, 2026

These 5 high-yield savings accounts have no minimum balance requirement

While the national average rate for a savings account is 0.38%, the best high-yield savings accounts (HYSAs) boast rates of 3% to 4% APY — or even higher in some cases.

However, some financial institutions require account holders to keep a certain amount of money in their HYSAs in order to earn the highest rate. And that can be tough if you’re just getting started with saving.

The good news: There are a handful of banks that offer competitive rates with zero minimum balance requirements. Here’s a look at some of the top HYSAs available today that don’t require a minimum balance to earn the best rate.

5 high-yield savings accounts with no minimum balance requirement

SoFi High-Yield Savings Account

SoFi’s online bank account offers a competitive 3.3% APY on all savings balances with no minimum deposit required. Right now, however, customers have the opportunity to earn up to 4% APY on their balances over the next six months with SoFi’s “rate boost.”

Read our full review of SoFi

SoFi members with Eligible Direct Deposit can earn 3.30% annual percentage yield (APY) on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. There is no minimum Eligible Direct Deposit amount required to qualify for the 3.30% APY for savings (including Vaults). Members without Eligible Direct Deposit will earn 1.00% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Interest rates are variable and subject to change at any time. These rates are current as of 12/23/25. There is no minimum balance requirement. Fees may reduce earnings. Additional information can be found at http://www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet.

Earn up to 4.00% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) on SoFi Savings with a 0.70% APY Boost (added to the 3.30% APY as of 3/31/26) for up to 6 months. Enroll in SoFi Plus by 12/31/26. Rates variable, subject to change. Terms apply at sofi.com/sofi-plus SoFi Bank, N.A. Member FDIC.

American Express High-Yield Savings Account

The American Express High-Yield Savings Account offers a competitive 3.2% APY and doesn’t require a minimum opening deposit or minimum balance requirements. Interest on your account balance is compounded daily and deposited into your account monthly.

Read our full review of American Express National Bank

Ally Savings Account

The Ally Bank Savings Account is a high-yield account with no minimum deposit required to open, zero monthly fees, and no minimum balance requirement. This account boasts 3.1% APY — more than eight times the national average. Account holders can maximize their savings potential through round-ups, recurring transfers, and a helpful tool that analyzes your checking account spending and transfers “safe-to-save” money to your savings account.

Read our full review of Ally Bank

Bask Interest Savings Account

At 3.75% APY, the Interest Savings Account from Bask Bank pays more than nine times the national average. With no minimum opening deposit, monthly fees, or minimum balance requirement, this account could be a great option for savers who want to keep their banking fees low.

Read our full review of Bask Bank

Synchrony Bank High-Yield Savings Account

Synchrony Bank’s high-yield savings account currently offers 3.4% APY with no minimum deposit, minimum balance requirement, or monthly fees.

This account also offers an optional ATM card for easy access to your funds. Additionally, Synchrony Bank will refund domestic ATM fees charged by other financial institutions, up to $5 per statement cycle.

Key factors to consider when choosing a high-yield savings account

Choosing a savings account with a low or no minimum balance can help you start earning interest on your savings even when starting off small. However, there are a few other key factors to consider when choosing the right account for you:

Minimum opening deposit

This is how much you’ll need to deposit to open your account. Many high-yield savings accounts require a higher minimum opening deposit. This can be a hurdle for new savers who have yet to save up a sizable balance, so be sure to read your account terms and conditions carefully. If you don’t have a lot to save yet, it’s important to choose an account with no minimum opening deposit.

APY

An account’s annual percentage yield (APY) represents how much interest you’ll earn in a year when compound interest is factored in. The higher the APY, the more interest you’ll earn — and the faster your account balance will grow.

Accessibility

Many high-yield savings accounts are offered by online banks, which means there are no physical branches to visit and potentially limited options for transferring or withdrawing your funds.

While it’s common for checking accounts to offer a debit card, ATM access, and mobile check deposit, these features are rare among HYSAs. If quick access to your funds is important, evaluate how various accounts handle deposits, withdrawals, and transfers, and choose an account that makes it easy to access your money.

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Anthropic Is Paying SpaceX $1.25 Billion a Month for AI Compute

moneyvests

May 20, 2026

Anthropic Is Paying SpaceX $1.25 Billion a Month for AI Compute

One of SpaceX’s revenue streams looks very solid: Anthropic has agreed to pay Elon Musk’s company $1.25 billion a month through May 2029.

The AI lab announced earlier this month that it would buy compute capacity from SpaceX’s Colossus data center in Tennessee to run tools for its growing customer base. SpaceX’s S-1, which came out Wednesday and outlines its plans for an initial public offering, says Anthropic will also get compute from its newer Colossus 2 data center.

Anthropic is paying a discounted rate for May and June, the document says, and either side can terminate the agreement with 90 days’ notice. If it stands, SpaceX will earn more than $40 billion from Anthropic through the term of the deal.

An Anthropic spokesperson confirmed the $ 1.25 billion per month tally to Business Insider. The company’s compute chief, Tom Brown, wrote earlier in May that the Colossus compute would be used for inference—meaning how AI models draw conclusions or create outputs.

SpaceX expects to ink similar deals in the future.

“This structure allows us to monetize unused compute capacity in our infrastructure, while still permitting reallocation of the capacity for our own internal initiatives if needed in the future,” the S-1 says.

It wasn’t cheap to get enough chips to sell spare compute to Anthropic. SpaceX is burning lots of money on GPUs and cloud services, the S-1 reveals. AI losses from operations ballooned fourfold last year to more than $6 billion, driven by higher cloud costs and GPU depreciation. For the first quarter of this year, the losses more than doubled to almost $2.5 billion.

The cost of these chips is so large that the filing lists “manufacturing our own GPUs” as one of the “substantial capital expenditures” it is planning.

Producing chips would make SpaceX a competitor to Nvidia, which dominates the market for advanced GPUs.

SpaceX is in a similar bind with Google.

SpaceX uses Google Cloud through its subsidiary, Starlink. The two divisions announced a partnership in 2021, during which SpaceX installed Starlink ground stations at Google data centers.

SpaceX has also become a competitor to Google Cloud by selling hundreds of megawatts of compute to Anthropic. That’s not to mention SpaceX’s ambitious plans to build data centers in space, which Google is in talks to assist with, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The S-1 lists “AI Infrastructure” among SpaceX’s markets, estimating that, based on demand for AI compute and current GPU rental rates, the market could be worth $2.4 trillion.

Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at scouncil@businessinsider.com, or over text, Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp at 415-757-8198. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.

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7 best homeowners insurance companies of 2026

moneyvests

May 20, 2026

7 best homeowners insurance companies of 2026

A burst pipe or an unexpected storm can cause significant damage, leaving you with a big bill and a similarly sized headache. This is why homeowners insurance exists: to protect your finances from these and other scenarios. But with countless insurance providers offering their services, it’s not always easy to find the best one for your coverage needs.

That’s why we evaluated the top homeowners insurance companies across coverage scope and limits, endorsements and flexibility, financial strength, and more to bring you a comprehensive list of the seven best home insurance providers of 2026. We even included some runners-up, just in case they’re a better fit.

Learn more: Is homeowners insurance required? The answer might surprise you.

7 best homeowners insurance providers

Chubb: Best overall
Travelers: Best for claims experience
Erie Insurance: Best for high coverage limits
Nationwide: Best for balanced coverage
American Family Insurance: Best for coverage add-ons
Liberty Mutual: Best for customer experience
USAA: Best for military and veterans

1. Chubb: Best overall

Pros	Cons
Offers excellent standard coverage options Substantially low number of complaints Holds an AM Best Financial Strength Rating of A++ (Superior)

Star rating: 4.6 out of 5 ⭐

Why we like Chubb homeowners insurance

From our research, Chubb offers some of the best standard homeowners insurance options, including replacement cost value (RCV) with no depreciation as the default coverage for personal property.

You can also get additional living expenses (ALE) without a stated limit in certain locations. Meaning, you don’t have to worry about hitting a cap as long as the ALE coverage is sticking to reasonable expenses.

Among the providers we researched and compared, Chubb scored highest across multiple sections, including financial strength. This is evidenced by a low NAIC complaint index and an A++ (Superior) AM Best Financial Strength Rating.

(Note: AM Best is an independent, global credit rating agency that rates insurers on their financial strength — the higher the rating, the more financially secure the company.)

2. Travelers: Best for claims experience

Pros	Cons
Gives the option to file claims online or over the phone, and you can use a dedicated mobile app You can access online quotes in most states without talking to an agent Holds an AM Best Financial Strength Rating of A++ (Superior)

Star rating: 4.6 out of 5⭐

Why we like Travelers

Travelers hits the right notes to provide a high-quality customer experience, including your first step with the quote process. With Travelers, you don’t have to talk to someone over the phone; you can just access an online quote at your own pace and on your own time.

This online-friendly experience continues once you become a customer because you can file claims online rather than call in. You can even use a dedicated mobile app to manage your policy and claims.

Travelers falls short on a few endorsement options, but its standard coverage is solid, and it has a great reputation to back up its other offerings. It’s one of only a few providers on our list to receive an AM Best Financial Strength Rating of A++ (Superior).

3. Erie Insurance: Best for high coverage limits

Pros	Cons
Offers guaranteed replacement cost (GRC) dwelling coverage Provides extensive and detailed endorsement options Holds an AM Best Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent)

Star rating: 4.5 out of 5 ⭐

Why we like Erie Insurance

Erie Insurance is one of only a few providers on our list to offer guaranteed replacement cost with its dwelling coverage. This is typically better than extended replacement cost or actual cash value because you know your home’s repairs or building costs will be covered.

Erie also offers extensive add-on and endorsement options, with coverage details publicly available on its website, making it easy for you to customize your homeowners insurance policy.

While Erie most likely offers multiple claim payout options, we couldn’t find specific details online.

4. Nationwide: Best for balanced coverage

Pros	Cons
Offers comprehensive standard coverage options Provides extensive endorsement options Holds an AM Best Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent)

Star rating: 4.4 out of 5 ⭐

Why we like Nationwide

Nationwide offers a wide range of useful coverage options, including additional living expenses, ordinance or law insurance, and the option to upgrade your personal property coverage to replacement cost value rather than actual cash value.

You can also choose from various endorsement options, such as water backup and sump overflow, scheduled personal property, equipment breakdown, and more.

While Nationwide has a lot of coverage options, it doesn’t make viewing specific details about coverage easy. You have to go through the quote process or talk to an agent.

5. American Family Insurance: Best for coverage add-ons

Pros	Cons
Provides extensive and detailed endorsement options Substantially low number of complaints Holds an AM Best Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent)

Star rating: 4.4 out of 5 ⭐

Why we like American Family Insurance

American Family Insurance is one of only two providers on our list, along with Erie Insurance, to score the highest marks for its endorsement coverage. We found that American Family offered a wide range of add-ons and provided detailed information about each option.

Even after our research, it’s unclear whether American Family offers electronic payouts (or only uses checks). However, it’s a solid company, as evidenced by its AM Best Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and its substantially low NAIC complaint index.

Learn more: What does homeowners insurance not cover?

6. Liberty Mutual: Best for customer experience

Pros	Cons
Gives the option to file claims online or over the phone, and you can use a dedicated mobile app Provides multiple electronic payout options Holds an AM Best Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent)

Star rating: 4.3 out of 5 ⭐

Why we like Liberty Mutual

During our research, we found that Liberty Mutual emphasizes providing a superior customer experience. You can access a full online quote without speaking to an agent and view coverage options in detail.

You can also file a claim online or over the phone, and you have access to a dedicated mobile app if that better suits your needs. Unlike some providers on our list, Liberty Mutual offers multiple electronic payout options for successful claims, including bank account and PayPal transfers.

7. USAA: Best for military and veterans

Pros	Cons
Gives the option to file claims online or over the phone, and you can use a dedicated mobile app Provides replacement cost value with no depreciation as the default for personal property coverage Holds an AM Best Financial Strength Rating of A++ (Superior)

Star rating: 4.3 out of 5 ⭐

Why we like USAA

USAA is best known as a provider that exclusively serves military members and their families, which immediately rules out a lot of people from accessing its offerings.

However, if you’re able to secure a membership, USAA has solid financial backing and decent coverage options. We particularly like that its personal property coverage uses replacement cost value rather than actual cash value, though it’s unclear whether you can add equipment breakdown or service line coverage.

On the customer experience side, USAA does a good job of providing multiple ways to file claims, including using a mobile app.

Other homeowners insurance companies to consider

While these companies didn’t make our top list, they’re still worth considering, depending on your needs.

Auto-Owners Insurance

Star rating: 4.3 out of 5 ⭐

What we think: Auto-Owners Insurance scored well with its availability of endorsements and overall flexibility. It was also one of the best providers in terms of financial strength, but it fell slightly short with its online quote process because it didn’t provide many details and directed you to contact a local agent.

Farmers Insurance

Star rating: 4.1 out of 5 ⭐

What we think: Farmers Insurance had a standout score for its claims experience, providing options to file claims online or over the phone, and also giving customers the opportunity to use a mobile app.

However, while Farmers offered sufficient coverage, it didn’t necessarily exceed that of most other providers on our list. One coverage highlight is that it offers guaranteed replacement cost for dwelling coverage, even if the full cost to replace your home exceeds your policy limits.

Allstate

Star rating: 4 out of 5 ⭐

What we think: Allstate is the only provider on our list to achieve a perfect score for its transparency with coverage and the quote process. Meaning, you can access full quotes online, easily view details about specific types of coverage, and obtain sample policy contracts without making any sort of purchase or creating an account.

Allstate did fall short in a few areas, specifically with its available coverage, but we liked that it’s transparent about what it offers.

State Farm

Star rating: 4 out of 5 ⭐

What we think: State Farm scored average or above average in everything we researched, but didn’t really stand out against better providers on our list. One of State Farm’s better areas was its claims experience, as you can file claims over the phone or online, and it’s nice to have those options.

Progressive

Star rating: 3.5 out of 5 ⭐

What we think: Compared to the other providers on our list, Progressive scored rather poorly in our research. It’s fairly transparent about its coverage details and offers an online quote process, but it has an NAIC complaint index above the industry median, and its available coverage options weren’t necessarily better than those offered by competitors.

How to choose the best homeowners insurance

Assess your coverage needs

Standard homeowners insurance policies include:

Dwelling coverage: Covers the structure of your home, including the walls, floors, and roof. This insurance may also include coverage for attached structures, such as a garage.
Personal property coverage: Covers your belongings, such as furniture and electronics.
Personal liability coverage: Provides liability coverage if someone is injured on your property.
Loss of use coverage: Helps pay for additional reasonable expenses you incur, such as lodging and food costs, if you can’t stay in your home while repairs or rebuilding are underway.

In general, you want all of these coverage options, but you have to determine what coverage limits you need by calculating the cost of your home and belongings and figuring out how much risk you want to take on versus how much you want to pay.

Consider endorsements and add-ons

In addition to the standard homeowners insurance coverage, you may want to consider adding endorsements to your policy. Here are some popular options:

Other structures coverage: Covers other structures on your property, such as a shed or detached garage, that aren’t attached to your home.
Additional replacement cost: Provides additional coverage for rebuilding your home, often without factoring in depreciation. This can be useful if building costs exceed your home’s value.
Water backup: Covers water damage from your sewer, sump pump, or similar system backing up.
Ordinance or law insurance: Helps cover the costs of meeting existing building codes if needed during repairs or rebuilding.
Valuables endorsement: Provides additional coverage for high-value items. Standard personal belongings coverage typically sets limits on replacement cost and may exclude certain high-value items.
Flood insurance: Covers you in case of flooding.
Earthquake insurance: Covers you from earthquake damage.

Learn more: How much does flood insurance cost in every state?

Compare providers

Once you’ve compiled a list of your coverage needs, it’s time to compare quotes between providers. You can use an agent or comparison website to quickly view offers from multiple companies at the same time, or you can individually research available providers on your own. There’s no right or wrong way; it just comes down to what you’re comfortable with and have the time for.

You can immediately rule out any provider that doesn’t offer the coverage limits or endorsements you’re looking for.

As you compare quotes and prices, remember to also consider whether a provider has a mobile app or online access, and how payouts work. It might be worth asking friends and family in your area about their experiences with different insurance companies.

Homeowners insurance FAQs

What is the best insurance company for homeowners?

The best homeowners insurance companies include:

Chubb: Best overall
Travelers: Best for claims experience
Erie Insurance: Best for high coverage limits
Nationwide: Best for balanced coverage
American Family Insurance: Best for coverage add-ons
Liberty Mutual: Best for customer experience
USAA: Best for military and veterans

Should I bundle my home and auto insurance?

Bundling your home and auto insurance can be an easy way to save on your premiums and consolidate your insurance policies in one convenient location. This is especially true if your insurance provider offers a mobile app that lets you quickly manage your policies from just about anywhere.

How can I lower my home insurance premium?

Consider these strategies for lowering your home insurance premium:

Bundle policies: Bundling, such as buying both your auto and home insurance policies from the same provider, is often an easy way to save on coverage.
Stay loyal: It’s common for many insurance companies to offer a loyalty discount that adjusts depending on how long you’ve stayed with them.
Compare providers: While a loyalty discount is useful, it’s likely still worth taking the time now and then to see what’s available from other insurers. You can often switch providers without any negative impact, though whether you will be charged a cancellation fee depends on your plan.
Add home security: A home security system is a common way to protect your home, and insurance providers may offer a discount if you have one installed.
Adjust your coverage: Raising deductibles or lowering coverage limits is a quick way to lower your premiums. However, you should only do this after careful consideration of the potential benefits and risks.

How much does homeowners insurance cost?

The annual premium for homeowners insurance in the U.S. ranged from $893 to $1,907 in recent years, according to data from the Insurance Information Institute. However, different factors can affect the cost, with location playing a large role in determining the final price.

What does homeowners insurance cover?

Standard homeowners insurance policies typically cover the dwelling itself, personal belongings, and sometimes attached structures. They may also provide liability coverage if someone is injured on your property, as well as loss of use coverage if you have to find temporary housing while your home is uninhabitable for repairs or rebuilding.

Learn more: What exactly does homeowners insurance cover?

Methodology

Our list of the best homeowners insurance providers is based on a comprehensive rubric we created to compare national homeowners insurance providers according to various factors, including coverage scope and limits, endorsements, financial strength, and more.

We did not consider every available homeowners insurance company. We only considered companies that write standard homeowners policies in the U.S. under their own brand.

All of the providers on our list rank among the top U.S. homeowners insurance groups by multiple-peril market share, according to NAIC data. These providers also sell directly to consumers or through independent agents under nationally recognized brands.

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Is Trump’s IRS Immunity Deal A Way For Him To Pardon Himself?

moneyvests

May 20, 2026

Is Trump’s IRS Immunity Deal A Way For Him To Pardon Himself?

Topline

President Donald Trump’s settlement with the IRS was updated Tuesday to include a provision that appears to bar the government from prosecuting Trump and his family for certain crimes and end any IRS audits against him, a sweeping move that Democrats and legal experts have criticized as a way for the president to get around restrictions on him pardoning himself.

President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One on May 15 in Beijing.

Key Facts

Trump and the government first announced the settlement of his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS on Monday, saying he was dropping the case in exchange for the creation of a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, but an addendum to the settlement agreement was added Tuesday.

That addendum says the U.S. is “forever barred” from prosecuting or bringing civil claims against Trump, his two oldest sons, the Trump Organization and other “affiliated individuals” for actions that already happened by the date of the settlement, both tied to the IRS suit and for “any matters currently pending or that could be pending” before other government agencies.

Legal experts have interpreted the provision to mean the government must drop any ongoing tax audits for Trump, his oldest sons and the Trump Organization, and more broadly cannot prosecute Trump or sue him in civil court for tax and many other types of charges.

The updated settlement has been criticized as amounting to a “get-out-of-jail-free card” or a “pardon” for the president, as the issue of whether Trump could more straightforwardly just pardon himself for crimes has been a legal grey area—but it’s widely believed he cannot.

Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance said Tuesday that Trump “seems to have found a way around the likely legal rule that a president can’t pardon himself,” while House Democrats described the updated settlement as a “Super-Pardon” in a letter Wednesday to Trump administration officials.

The Justice Department has not yet responded to a request for comment on the updated settlement, but Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testified to Congress on Tuesday, before the updated settlement was made public, that Trump did not play a role in negotiating the IRS settlement.

Crucial Quote

“Donald Trump just got the one thing that most experts agree—even with the expansive power he has as president—that he can’t do for himself, and that’s give himself a pardon,” Vance told MS Now on Tuesday about the updated settlement agreement. “This would seem to say that he’s off scot-free.”

Can Presidents Pardon Themselves?

Legal experts have long debated whether presidents have the power to pardon themselves, and no president has ever tested the system by trying—though Trump has previously suggested he could. The DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a 1974 memo during Richard Nixon’s presidency and the Watergate scandal that determined presidents cannot pardon themselves, pointing to “the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case.” While there could be ways around that prohibition—like using the 25th Amendment to temporarily step down from the presidency and then have the vice president pardon the president—presidents could not straightforwardly issue a pardon to themselves, the Nixon-era DOJ wrote. Lawyers have long pointed to that memo to say presidents can’t pardon themselves, but the guidance isn’t legally binding. That means Trump or any future president could still try to pardon themselves, and it would likely ultimately be up to the Supreme Court to determine whether or not that’s allowed.

What Can Trump Still Be Investigated For?

The updated settlement agreement applies only to actions that have occurred before Trump settled the IRS case this week, and to tax returns that have already been filed. The DOJ has confirmed that means the IRS could still audit tax returns Trump files in the future. The language in the updated settlement agreement is fairly vague, so the full scope of the crimes Trump can or cannot be prosecuted for may ultimately have to be tested in court, if a future presidential administration takes legal action against the ex-president or his family.

How Does This Differ From The Supreme Court’s Immunity Ruling?

The Supreme Court in 2024 gave Trump widespread relief from federal prosecution, as justices ruled current and former presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for their “official acts” in office. Presidents still can be prosecuted for actions they take as private citizens that are separate from their job, however—but Tuesday’s settlement agreement now appears to immunize Trump from many unofficial acts that could potentially still be prosecuted, such as issues with his personal tax filings. It also appears to cover possible crimes involving the president and his oldest sons’ business interests, as his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. and the Trump Organization—who were plaintiffs in the IRS case—are also covered by the settlement.

Key Background

Trump sued the IRS in January, asking for $10 billion because the IRS allegedly violated his privacy when a contractor leaked details of his tax returns to news outlets. The IRS never actually responded to the lawsuit, and the judge in the case expressed concerns about it moving forward, questioning whether Trump and the IRS—a federal agency he ultimately controls as president—were actually on opposing sides, as is required for litigation to proceed. Trump settled the case before the judge could rule on whether or not to throw it out, however, sparking widespread criticism not only about the settlement itself, but also the optics of Trump getting a 10-figure fund out of a lawsuit that was potentially never valid to begin with. The first part of Trump’s IRS settlement created a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for those who feel they’ve been victimized by the Justice Department, though the pool of money has been widely criticized by Democrats and ethics experts as being a “slush fund” for Trump’s political allies to get taxpayer funds, including those convicted for participating in the Jan. 6 riot. Former Trump official Michael Caputo became the first person to officially request relief through the fund late Tuesday, asking for $2.7 million in compensation, and Capitol police officers who defended the Capitol during the riot sued the government Wednesday over the fund’s legality.

Warren Buffett sits on a record $397B in cash while Michael Burry shorts AI for $1B, betting it’s 1999 all over again

moneyvests

May 20, 2026

Warren Buffett sits on a record $397B in cash while Michael Burry shorts AI for $1B, betting it's 1999 all over again

While investors pour into the market, riding the updraft of wildly successful artificial intelligence stocks, two men wait for it all to come crashing down. These men are Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors, and Michael Burry, who predicted the 2008 housing crash. And neither investor is impressed by today’s market.

“We’ve never had people in a more gambling mood than now,” Buffett told CNBC (1). “Absolutely non-stop AI. Nobody is talking about anything else all day,” said Burry in a recent Substack post.

Must Read

Both billionaires are putting their money where their mouth is. Berkshire Hathaway, where Buffett remains chairman, has refused to dish out its massive cash pile, which has risen to nearly $400 billion. In 2025, Burry reportedly shorted the AI boom for $1 billion by purchasing puts against Nvidia and Palantir (2). What do they see that the rest of the market can’t?

It’s boomtown in bust county

Both investors think the market is in for a bad time.

Buffett is notorious for sitting on piles of cash. Unlike many money managers, the longtime Berkshire Hathaway leader is content to do nothing when the market is going up. He told CNBC that of the sixty years he’s been in business, only five have offered juicy opportunities to buy (3). When the opportunity isn’t there, Buffett doesn’t buy.

Meanwhile, Burry compared the current market to the 1999-2000 dot com bubble.

“Stocks are not up or down because of jobs or consumer sentiment,” Burry wrote (4). “They are going straight up because they have been going straight up.”

SEC filings indicate Burry’s fund, Scion Asset Management, bought $187.6 million in puts on Nvidia, along with $912 million in puts on Palantir, in 2025 (2). Both stocks have been massive beneficiaries of the AI wave, skyrocketing in valuation (5). And optimism remains high; as of writing, Palantir’s trailing twelve-month price-to-earnings ratio is over 150 (6).

What this means for investors: two of the world’s most successful investors think a market crash is inevitable, and AI stocks may be smashed the hardest.

Why patience is key

Patience is perhaps the investor’s greatest defense against market crashes, and a killer edge when it comes time to buy.

Buffett is famous for saying “be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.” The second half is key: the billionaire has a massive appetite for stocks once a bubble has popped. At the height of the 2008 financial crisis, Berkshire Hathaway invested $5 billion in Goldman Sachs preferred stock at a 10% annual dividend, plus warrants to buy another $5 billion in common shares at $115 each (7).

In 2011, Goldman redeemed the preferred shares, handing Berkshire roughly $3.7 billion in profit (8). The lesson: investors might be better off withholding AI money and loading up cash in preparation for what could be an epic market crash.

That’s not to say AI companies are worthless. Many internet companies that suffered during the dot com bust went on to dominate the digital market and are worth trillions today. Amazon alone is worth $2.9 trillion (9), while Nvidia, which IPO’d in 1999, is now the world’s most valuable public company at over $5 trillion (10).

The question may be one of choice and timing: what companies hold durable value? And when is the best time to buy shares?

Investors could do worse than follow the moves of Berkshire Hathaway’s former CEO and current chairman. Buffett’s commitment to staying within his “circle of competence (11)” means he’s unlikely to be swayed by the AI hype, a storm that could sweep away impatient shareholders.

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Topline

Key Facts

Crucial Quote

Can Presidents Pardon Themselves?

What Can Trump Still Be Investigated For?

How Does This Differ From The Supreme Court’s Immunity Ruling?

Key Background

Further Reading

Must Read

It’s boomtown in bust county

Why patience is key

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