What Investors Should Know About a Company's Workforce

• The S&P 500 has been an outstanding buy-and-hold investment, partially due to the fact that the scale is ever changing.

• The Social Security spot money volition apt beryllium depleted by 2032, truthful the U.S. senators who volition beryllium elected oregon re-elected this twelvemonth volition person a accidental successful immoderate imaginable solutions.

• The prices of galore indispensable expenses are increasing astatine a complaint supra wide ostentation portion wage and occupation maturation whitethorn beryllium weakening.

• A survey finds the optimal sitting-standing ratio to marque you much comfy and productive astatine work.

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A afloat transcript is below.

Ever consciousness similar you missed the vessel successful buying the astir palmy stocks? Then you’ll privation to perceive this.

On uncommon occasions, our adept squad of analysts issues a “Double Down” stock recommendation for companies that they deliberation are astir to pop. If you’re disquieted you’ve already missed your accidental to invest, present is the champion clip to bargain earlier it’s excessively late. And the numbers talk for themselves:

• Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 erstwhile we doubled down successful 2009, you’d person $488,969!*

• Apple: if you invested $1,000 erstwhile we doubled down successful 2008, you’d person $49,133!*

• Netflix: if you invested $1,000 erstwhile we doubled down successful 2004, you’d person $461,527!*

Right now, we’re issuing “Double Down” alerts for 3 unthinkable companies, disposable erstwhile you join Stock Advisor, and determination whitethorn not beryllium different accidental similar this anytime soon.

See the 3 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns arsenic of January 26, 2026

This podcast was recorded connected Jan. 17, 2026.

Robert Brokamp: What to cognize astir your stocks workforce and the changing quality of the S&P 500. That is much connected this Saturday Personal Finance variation of Motley Fool Money. I'm Robert Brokamp, and this week, I talk with Dr. Ben Zweig, the CEO of Revelio Labs, astir the insights that could beryllium gleaned from a company's hiring, firing, pay, and different factors. But first, let's sermon immoderate items that caught my attraction from past week. While we speech a batch astir investing successful idiosyncratic stocks present astatine the Motley Fool, we're besides large fans of scale funds. We person them successful our institution 401(k), and they're among the astir fashionable choices. The scale that is astir tracked by scale funds is the S&P 500. It tin beryllium an outstanding concern to bargain and clasp for decades. But the scale itself changes each the time. Sam Roe penning connected his tker substack, that's spelled T-K-E-R cited probe from Goldman Sachs, which recovered that since 1985, 20% of the index's constituents crook implicit each 5 years connected average, and the magnitude of clip spent successful the scale is getting shorter. Back successful the 1970s, the mean institution lifespan successful the scale was 29.3 years, whereas it has been 18.3 years truthful acold successful the 2020s. In fact, six of the magnificent 7 person been added successful the past 25 years. As Sam wrote, "In immoderate fixed period, determination are stocks driving the wide marketplace higher, and often, galore of these marketplace leaders yet stumble and underperform." But different stocks ever look to instrumentality the baton and widen the market's precise agelong inclination higher. "For our adjacent item, we'll punctual you that this is an predetermination year." A fewer caller articles person pointed retired that the US senators who volition beryllium elected oregon reelected this twelvemonth to six twelvemonth presumption volition apt person a accidental successful however Social Security's shortfall volition beryllium resolved.