Student Loans
With current college costs, many students turn to federal student aid to earn their degree. The majority of those students receive help through student loans under the federal Direct Loan program. If you’re in grad school or recently graduated with an advanced degree, you might’ve taken on federal loan debt...
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Published on: 2026-07-27
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Student Loan Planner
Millions of federal student loan borrowers are contending with major changes to repayment programs, as the Education Department moves forward to implement sweeping reforms mandated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, legislation that was enacted by congressional Republicans and President Trump last year. But the legislation doesn’t just impact...
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Published on: 2026-07-23
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Student Loan Planner
Key Takeaways: Truist offers a physician mortgage loan of up to $2.5 million. It's available to most doctors and dentists, but not nurses or physician assistants. It's only offered in some states and has fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgage loans. If you're a doctor or dentist, you've likely taken out medical...
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Published on: 2026-07-21
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Student Loan Planner
If you have student loans with Navient and are thinking about refinancing, you may have searched for a NaviRefi loan only to end up on Earnest's website. That's because NaviRefi, Navient's former student loan refinance brand, is no longer offered. Today, borrowers looking for NaviRefi are directed to Earnest, the...
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Published on: 2026-07-20
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Student Loan Planner
A federal court in June 2026 blocked a new Education Department rule that would have restricted new student loan borrowing for certain professional degree programs. The rule, had it been enacted on July 1 as planned, would have imposed new annual and aggregate borrowing limits for professional students, which critics...
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Published on: 2026-07-15
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Student Loan Planner
Lender and Bonus disclosure SoFi®: Fixed rates range from 3.99% APR to 9.99% APR with 0.25% autopay discount and 0.125% SoFi Plus discount. Variable rates range from 5.74% APR to 9.99% APR with 0.25% autopay discount and 0.125% SoFi Plus discount. Unless required to be lower to comply with...
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Published on: 2026-07-09
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Student Loan Planner
Millions of student loan borrowers will soon need to switch out of the SAVE plan. But the exact timing of that transition is murky, and will depend on a variety of factors. SAVE, a Biden-era income-driven repayment (IDR) plan that offered borrowers lower payments than any other IDR option as...
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Published on: 2026-07-09
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Student Loan Planner
Two federal courts ruled against the Education Department this week and struck down controversial new regulations that could have limited student loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The rules, which were set to go into effect on July 1, 2026, have now been vacated. “This was...
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Published on: 2026-07-02
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Student Loan Planner
Grad PLUS loans end for new borrowers on July 1, 2026, replaced by hard federal caps: $20,500 per year for graduate programs and $50,000 per year for professional programs. Borrowers already enrolled may keep access to Grad PLUS for up to three more years under the legacy rules, but only...
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Published on: 2026-06-30
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Student Loan Planner
The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) brings a new payment plan to the student loan landscape. We’ll cover how to calculate the payment and how to get it down to the lowest possible amount. How is RAP calculated? The minimum payment is $10 per month, and there’s a very odd stepwise...
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Published on: 2026-06-26
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Student Loan Planner
A degree can open doors to new job opportunities and higher salaries. But even with the best intentions, life can simply get in the way of achieving your education goals. According to the Education Data Initiative, 39% of first-time bachelor's degree seeking students don't complete their program within eight years....
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Published on: 2026-06-25
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Student Loan Planner
The United States is a popular college destination for students all over the world. However, paying for college in the United States can feel like a daunting task if you’re not a U.S. citizen. It’s still possible to find international student loans if you’re not from the U.S., but it can...
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Published on: 2026-06-25
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Student Loan Planner
I’m still doing some catching up with sharing budget updates. Thankfully, I keep our budget pretty well up-to-date in YNAB even if I’m slow to post the updates on my website. We’ve had some financial challenges recently (with more on the horizon) that have had me feeling stressed. Still, the...
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Published on: 2026-06-10
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Six Figures Under
I used to think that the purpose of budgeting was to get your spending as close as possible to what you predicted you would spend when you set your budget amounts at some earlier point, maybe a month, or even a year, in advance. No wonder so many people hate...
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Published on: 2026-05-13
Source:
Six Figures Under
I’ve been sharing our personal finances online since 2013. For those who haven’t been along for that whole ride, I will let you know that there have been very few times that we have used our emergency fund for anything. Using the emergency fund is the last option. Usually we...
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Published on: 2026-05-06
Source:
Six Figures Under
I’m always eager to wrap up the month’s budget and move on to budgeting for the next month. The eagerness most often comes because we have a financial goal that we’re working on. Having a goal brings greater purpose to things that might feel mundane or tedious (apparently not everyone...
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Published on: 2026-03-18
Source:
Six Figures Under
Last year I shared how my husband and I planned our budget for our first trip to Cuba. We followed up with our actual spending and how it compared with what we had planned. Here’s the next chapter: we’re planning to bring the whole family (including all six kids) for...
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Published on: 2026-03-10
Source:
Six Figures Under
Curious to see what a family of 8 in California spends on groceries for a whole year? I’m pretty sure we’re not your average family, but I’m happy to share our family’s annual spending on groceries last year. One of the side benefits of keeping meticulous financial records is all...
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Published on: 2026-03-03
Source:
Six Figures Under
Here’s to another year of sharing our family’s budget details with the world in hopes of helping as you work on getting a handle on your own family finances. I had planned on making changes to the way we share our budget with you, but when it came down to...
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Published on: 2026-02-27
Source:
Six Figures Under
Some people are shocked to hear that, even after paying off six figures of debt, we still use credit cards. For us, credit cards were never the problem. Our debt was law school student loans. But credit cards are so often misused, causing debt problems or making them worse, that...
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Published on: 2026-02-18
Source:
Six Figures Under