Republicans Reintroduce Bill To Abolish Education Department In late March 2025, Republican lawmakers reignited their long-standing campaign to abolish the Education Department. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT), and newly elected Bernie Moreno (R-OH) introduced a one-line bill that would eliminate the Education Department, setting December 31, 2026, as the agency’s final day of operation​. The straightforward proposal reads: “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2026.” It aims to shut down the Education Department and hand education control back to states and local communities​. “It’s time to empower families and local leaders to make the best…

Fintech stepping in where traditional banks have stepped out In early 2023, the CEO of a thriving CBD company in Colorado opened their laptop to a gut punch: their bank had shut down the company’s account. No warning. No appeals. Just a dead end—and a scramble to meet payroll, pay vendors, and stay afloat. This isn’t some fringe example. Across the U.S., thousands of legal businesses wear the “high-risk” label and are quietly excluded from basic financial services—not because of any wrongdoing, but simply the industries they operate in: cannabis, firearms, crypto, adult content. And few face steeper barriers than…

You likely have seen or participated in these kinds of personal finance decisions: buying a nice watch, talking smooth, and carrying big dreams—while actually being financially far from stability. So, how do you know when you’re in this situation? Let’s break it down—with receipts. 1) You Live On Lifestyle Credit: You pick up dinner at a fancy restaurant, but are dodging your student loan payments. That’s not wealth—it’s debt cosplay. In fact, nearly 60% of U.S. credit cardholders live paycheck to paycheck, and half carry revolving credit card debt from month to month, according to a 2024 Bankrate report. Ask…

Education Department To Resume 15% Wage Garnishment For Student Loan Borrowers In Default Federal student loan borrowers who have defaulted on their loans face harsh consequences. The U.S. Department of Education announced that it will resume involuntary debt collection on defaulted federal student loans starting May 5, 2025. This means the government will restart the Treasury Offset Program, allowing it to seize tax refunds and reduce Social Security benefits for those who owe defaulted student debt. Perhaps most alarmingly for workers, wage garnishment will also kick back in later this summer after required warning notices are sent. In short, after…

The New York Fed’s Survey of Consumer Expectations found that the percentage of Americans who plan to work past 62 fell from 56% to 46% from 2014 to 2024. The average expected likelihood of working beyond age 67 was only 34.2% as of August 2024. With the number of early retirees increasing, it is even more critical for people to make productive decisions and avoid pitfalls. 6 Early Retirement Mistakes Some retirees are well-prepared, having saved and invested with enough discipline to retire on their terms. For others, early retirement is not a choice but the result of layoffs, health…

The Department of Education announced on Monday that major collections efforts against millions of defaulted federal student loan borrowers will be resuming in a matter of weeks. These efforts will include involuntary collections activities that allow the government to intercept tax refunds, offset Social Security payments, and garnish wages from employment, all without a court order. The announcement comes as student loan borrowers are facing unprecedented pressures. The repayment system is mired in turmoil, student loan forgiveness is blocked or threatened across several programs, and the department faces severe personnel reductions following mass firings and resignations. Millions of borrowers are…

We’ve all seen him. That charming, confident man with a nice watch, smooth talk, and big dreams—who turns out to be financially allergic to stability. He talks like a CEO but lives like a couch surfer. Sister, let’s not get it twisted: broke men rarely look broke anymore. They come in designer sneakers and “business plans” that have been in beta since 2019. So how do you know when a man is financially fraudulent? Let’s break it down—with receipts. 1) He Lives On Lifestyle Credit: He picks up dinner at Nobu, but he’s dodging his student loan payments. That’s not…

A charging order creates a lien on the interest of a debtor who owns an interest in a limited liability company and an order that distributions will be paid to the creditor until the judgment is satisfied. Many states have modified their LLC laws to prevent that lien from being foreclosed and the interest sold. One of those states is New Jersey, the LLC Act of which also provides that a court may not order a debtor’s LLC interest to be foreclosed upon. But how will that stand up to an enforcement action by the IRS? We find our answer…

Seeking Student Loan Forgiveness? Consolidating Student Loans Right Now Could Be A Huge Mistake If you’re racing toward student loan forgiveness, whether through Public Service Loan Forgiveness or an Income-Driven Repayment plan, one false move could wipe out years of progress: consolidating your federal loans at the wrong time. Loan consolidation can be a valuable tool in some cases, but in 2025, it comes with unique risks. Thanks to legal upheavals in the student loan system, federal borrowers who consolidate now may see their qualifying payment counts reset to zero, erasing the credit they’ve earned toward loan cancellation. In today’s…

Regarding expenses, retirees are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of higher costs. With fixed or limited income, the threats and implementation of tariffs plus the effect of years of relatively high inflation rates has taken their toll. If you’re already feeling stretched at the checkout aisle, the problems are likely to get worse and here’s what you need to do to prepare. Invest in Inflation Resistant Assets When you put your money in a high-yield savings account, you may get a reasonable interest rate, but it often lags behind inflation. This is fine for short-term funds, as you still want…