If you’re saddled with student loan debt, there may come a point where it feels tough to get ahead. You’re making payments, but a good portion of it isn’t even touching the principal. The culprit? Your interest rates. Federal student loans have fixed interest rates that don’t change over time, so you’re stuck with your […]

Over the course of your lifetime there will be a variety of scenarios where businesses and people will rely on your credit score to help them decide if you’re a good person to do business with and what kinds of rates you deserve. Having a strong credit score can open the door to more opportunities and savings. […]

Debt relief programs are not as benign as they’d like for you to think. It works like so: You sign up with a debt settlement company. They negotiate with your creditors to allow you to pay a lump sum that is less than the full amount that you owe. You then pay the program a specific amount each month. […]

If you are employed by a nonprofit or government and have student loan debt, you may be eligible for loan forgiveness, cancellation, and/or consolidation of Federal student loans under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program (PSLF). Created under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, PSLF allows borrowers who work full-time for nonprofits and government agencies […]

The first step in tackling any issue is realizing that you have a problem. If you and your partner realize that you have a problem with credit card debt before falling behind on your payments or getting calls from your creditors, you are on the road to proactively dealing with the issue. There are several […]

You’ll start the process by putting away money in preparation for debt negotiations. Your settlement company will tell you the total amount you need to save in advance. You’ll make a monthly payment into a dedicated bank account for several months or years, depending on your monthly budget and anticipated amount to be resolved. The […]

Most personal loans lack collateral property that can be taken if the borrower defaults, so they rely on the integrity of the borrower to repay the loan’s principal and interest. In many cases, lenders do background and credit checks on potential borrowers to assess their risk. Personal loans used to be simple part of the […]

There are benefits and drawbacks to both sides of the argument over whether to take a secured or unsecured loan, but the final decision comes down to answering two questions: Do you have a valuable piece of collateral, typically a home or automobile? Are you willing to risk losing that asset if you can’t make payments […]

Make Savings Part of Your Monthly Budget If you wait to put money aside for when you consistently have enough of a cash cushion available at the end of the month, you’ll never have money to put aside! Instead, bake monthly savings into your budget now. Read more on this and other big savings mistakes—and how to […]

Employment scam Someone contacts you about a great new business opportunity. They need an employee or partner to sell cameras (or some other expensive product) for them. Scammers trick innocent and trustworthy people into sending them money and merchandise. The scammer may even say they found you through eBay’s Trading Assistant program. They will ask […]