Senator Bernie Sanders’ Student Loan Plan

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has rolled out his plan to address student loan debt, and it’s a doozy. First, Sanders proposes we cancel all $1.6 trillion of outstanding student loan debt outright – including both federal and private loans. This would directly affect about 45 million Americans. The direct savings for the average student loan […]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s Student Loan Forgiveness Proposal

The student loan crisis is taking center stage in the 2020 presidential election campaign.  The numbers are attention-grabbing: student loan debt is now the second biggest form of outstanding consumer debt. With more than $1.5 billion in student loans debt outstanding, education debt eclipsed credit card debt almost a decade ago. Only mortgage debt is […]

Sen. Marco Rubio Student Loan Plan Benefits Vast Majority of Future Borrowers

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has jumped into the student loan policy ring with a series of new proposals, introduced in the Senate as the Leveraging Opportunities for Americans Now Act of 2019 — or the LOAN Act <groan>, for short. Here’s a brief look at the Marco Rubio student loan proposal and how it will […]

What Happens When You Default on Student Loans

If you’re recently out of school, and you have student loan debt, you need to understand what happens when you are delinquent on a student loan and what happens if you default. And you need to do everything in your power to make sure that neither of these things happens. Delinquency If you miss a […]

The Trump Student Loan Plan – What It Could Mean For You

The Trump Administration released a series of education reform proposals this week that, if enacted, could have a substantial impact on college-bound students and student loan borrowers. The White House released the proposal as Congress prepares to reauthorize and amend the Higher Education Act. Both the Administration and Congress are grappling with a huge and […]

Four Finance Blogs That All Recent College Grads Should Read

  I’m going to be honest with you – lots of writers are putting out great finance content with FAR more experience in the industry than me. We try to stick to general money topics here at LoanGifting. Mostly because simple solutions are always better, but partly because in-depth financial discussions get a little dry […]

New Bill in Congress Would Help Student Loan Borrowers Get Assistance From Employers

There’s a new effort underway in Congress to help workers repay student loans. A new Senate bill would allow employers to provide up to $5,250 in student loan repayment assistance tax-free to their employees. The bill, sponsored by Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Mark Warner (D-VA), is dubbed the Employer Participation in Repayment Act. If […]

Read This Before You Refinance Your Federal Student Loans

For many people, refinancing your student loans can save on interest. You can refinance just one loan, or you can consolidate multiple student loans into a single loan with just one monthly payment to keep track of. In many cases, refinancing or consolidation can help lower your payments, get you out of debt faster, or […]

Entering the Nuanced World of Student Loan Forgiveness Programs

Student loan forgiveness programs. Many of us have heard of these mystical things that make student loans practically disappear for lucky, chosen individuals. The programs often feel “mystical” in that they seem unattainable or even unbelievable. For this reason I would like to spend time in this and in future blog posts exploring the tricky […]

Investing 101: What are ETFs and Mutual Funds?

Diversification is important when investing, but how can recent college graduates with loans build diverse stock portfolios? The answer is they can’t – at least not by buying individual company stocks. Saving for retirement is important, but big companies like Amazon and Google have four-digit price tags attached to their shares. Can you really afford […]

Four Finance Podcasts All Recent College Graduates Should Listen To

Thanks to the internet, information has never been easier to access. If you’re reading this blog, it’s probably only one of a dozen you follow for news, advice, or laughs. Or maybe you just landed here by clicking a page from a Google search result. But websites and blog posts aren’t the only information sources […]

Investing 101: What’s The Difference Between Stocks and Bonds?

Let’s face it, few topics are more confusing than investing. Unless you’re a finance major, you didn’t have a class in school that taught you about the stock market. The financial sector is full of obfuscation too and even knowledgeable investors need diligence. “Experts” often make things seem more complicated than they are. They’ll say […]