Federal Prison Cell Phone Contraband For those surrendering to prison, they often consider the trouble that got them there when faced with participating in any activity that would get them in more trouble. In many prison camps, the lowest level of security in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), cell phones are so prevalent that those who recently surrender can have one within days of arriving on the compound. According to a report by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) recovered at least 8,700 contraband cell phones during fiscal years 2012…

The Trump administration last week revealed that nearly 50,000 applications for a key student loan forgiveness “buyback” program remain stuck in bureaucratic limbo, with no resolution in sight. Some borrowers have been waiting nearly a year for a decision. The new data was included in a Department of Education court-ordered status report filed as part of a broader legal challenge over the administration’s failure to process applications for income-driven repayment plans. The department had paused the entire IDR application system after a federal appeals court in February broadened an ongoing injunction that has blocked the SAVE plan, a Biden-era repayment…

J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s 2025 Guide to Retirement includes a chart illustrating how investors describe their investment risk tolerance at different ages, scaled from 1 to 5. Conservative Moderately Conservative Moderate Moderately Aggressive Aggressive Those at a 1 were mostly in bonds, whereas those at a 5 were most likely 100% in stocks. The numbers were paired with age, and the data showed that overall risk tolerance seems to peak around age 55. From that point, folks begin sliding from aggressive (4s and 5s) into more conservative camps. While that might be expected, a more surprising revelation was that investors…

Delays In Student Loan Forgiveness Processing Create Risk For Public Servants As millions of public service workers anxiously await promised student loan forgiveness, a new threat has emerged: due to massive processing delays in federal forgiveness programs, many borrowers may lose eligibility even after making 120 qualifying payments. When forgiveness is granted, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program requires borrowers to be still employed by a qualifying public service employer. Now, lengthy delays in processing Income-Driven Repayment and PSLF buyback applications mean that borrowers who have already completed a decade of service or are close to it could be denied…

Online prepaid cards have proliferated as a way to compensate consumers harmed by companies. Critics say fintechs and claims administrators have unfairly profited from the trend. Last December, Callista Womick, a 34-year-old consultant living in Asheboro, North Carolina, got an email instructing her to click on a link to claim a digital prepaid card. A phishing scam? Nope, the card was legitimate and for $7.44–her share of what was left in the kitty from a class action lawsuit brought against Equifax over a 2017 data breach of the credit bureau that exposed the personal information of 147 million Americans. Legit,…

On May 19, 2025, the Iowa governor, Kim Richards, signed into law the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA) which makes Iowa the 12th state to have done so. This gives Iowa an A-grade Anti-SLAPP law to protect the free speech and related rights of Iowa citizens. The full Iowa UPEPA may be found here. Reviewing the Iowa UPEPA, it seems to be a pretty clean enactment ― I could not easily spot any significant non-uniform provisions in my first cursory review of the new statute. Prior to the adoption of the UPEPA, Iowa had no Anti-SLAPP law at all.…

From fast-casual chains to your fridge at home, artificial intelligence is stepping in where supply chains, labor markets, and budgets are buckling. If you’ve felt the pinch while ordering takeout or reading your grocery receipt, you’re not alone. With inflation lingering, labor costs rising, and potential tariffs threatening imports — 15% of the U.S. food supply is imported, including 32% of fresh vegetables, 55% of fresh fruit, and 94% of seafood — the cost of putting food on the table is surging. Dining out, once a weeknight convenience, now feels like a splurge. Even meal prepping is no longer cheap…

Student loan borrowers are facing an unprecedented credit damage crisis as the federal student loan repayment system remains mired in turmoil, delinquencies surge, and the Trump administration ramps up collections efforts. As a result, millions of student loan borrowers are seeing their credit score plummet as missed or late payments hit their credit report. For more than four years, borrowers were shielded from adverse consequences associated with missed student loan payments. Covid-era policies paused payments and interest accrual. When student loan repayment resumed in 2023, the Department of Education and loan servicers extended flexibilities for borrowers that avoided adverse credit…

As you get older, your budget gets more complex. You own more things and those things need maintenance. You might have a house, which includes a laundry list of associated bills. You have subscriptions you signed up for over the years and sometimes you forget you even have them! Today, we’ll cover ten ways you’re potentially wasting money without even knowing it. Use it as a checklist to scour through your budget to see if you’re wasting money in these ways. Not Earning Interest If you aren’t earning a high rate of interest on your savings account, you’re leaving money…

Taxes are often one of the biggest expenses retirees incur. With our progressive tax system, theoretically, the more you make, the more taxes you must pay. One of the biggest exceptions is income in your Roth IRA. Keep reading as we share how you can save $70,000 or more in this type of retirement account every year. This retirement income strategy could make you a Roth IRA millionaire. Picture your parents or grandparents complaining about the huge amount of taxes they are stuck paying on their IRA distributions and how this level of taxable income increases their Medicare premiums and…