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 […]

Should I Get A Credit Card If I’m Still Paying Off Student Loans?

If you have a pulse and a mailing address, you’ve probably been deluged with offers from credit card companies in the mail. They come in big, clunky envelopes and usually have numbers like $40,000 printed on the front in heavy font. Despite the endless (and annoying) letters, credit cards can be useful tools for your […]

Retirement Accounts – What Is A 401k Anyway?

Retirement isn’t on the radar for most college graduates dealing with student loan debt, but it’s never too early to plan for the future. And like student loans, there’s a lot of unfamiliar and confusing terminology. Learning about financial assets like stocks and bonds can be bewildering, especially when taxes come into play. Financial products […]

Budgeting Under the Burden of Student Loan Debt

Every week, there seems to be a new story about someone climbing out of crushing student debt. But beyond the headlines, you’ll usually discover a common theme – these people already had a good job and were able to make extreme sacrifices to their budget like selling a car or living at home for a […]

Before and After Debt: The Rise (and Stagnation) of Employer Tuition Payment Programs

The Familiar Issue of Student Debt Debt, by nature, exists as an effect. It is the effect of buying something before we can truly buy it—a borrowing that can loom for a long time, growing with interest, if we do not find an effective strategy to pay it off. As many of you reading this […]

Some Hopeful News on Loan Forgiveness and Debt Collectors

Recent News Changes (or hopes for change) in student loan policy pop up in the news fairly frequently. Here are a couple such changes that will undoubtedly have tangible impacts on federal loan borrowers:  A temporary expansion of public service loan forgiveness, and the recent end to specified government student debt collectors. As we continue, we […]

What’s The Difference Between Refinancing and Consolidating Student Loans?

College students are expected to know a lot of terminology when deciding how much money to borrow.  Unless your major is in finance or accounting, definitions to terms like consolidation, refinance, interest rate, and default might sound like a different language. Kids as young as 17 are expected to understand the magnitude of going into […]

Should I Invest For Retirement Before Paying Off Student Loans?

America has a savings problem. With more and more transactions going digital, it’s easy to lose track of spending. Healthcare, housing, and education are getting more and more expensive and opening a retirement account can be overwhelming (or at least tedious). And if you’re a college graduate with student debt, how do you even begin […]

What Happens If I Default On My Student Loans?

Default is the scariest word a borrower can hear, especially one dealing with heavy student loan debt. Student loans have some harsh penalties if you don’t pay and failing to stay on top of them can crush your credit score. But how does a loan reach default and what options do borrowers facing mounting penalties […]

Extra Relief for Public Servants with Federal Student Loans

As we try to emphasize on this blog, federal student loans have a number of benefits over private ones. You’ll have access to plenty of relief options, including income-based repayment and total forgiveness for public servants. Private loans have fewer options for borrowers who fall on hard times, if anything at all. The government is […]