According to NBC News, there were 88,000 college students in Gaza when the war broke out in October 2023. The students’ lives were upended. Shyama was one of those students. Islamic University of Gaza Campus Destroyed Shyama was a third-year student at the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG), an internationally recognized institution with 18,000 students. Her home, near the occupied border, was bombed at the start of the war and she and her family were forced to evacuate; Shyama fled with a single bag containing her computer and a change of clothes. Over the next several months, she and her…

“Why didn’t they teach this in school?” is a common thought when it comes to filing personal income taxes. Taxes are often one of the most complex and least understood aspects of personal finance. For those recently divorced, the first year of filing separately from your former spouse can feel especially daunting. Despite the stress, with each passing year filing taxes will become much easier. To help you navigate this, we have compiled answers to some of the most frequently asked questions to ensure you start your tax season on the right foot. Who Will Prepare My Return? Hiring a…

By stunningly lopsided votes (Senate 32-1-2, House 70-0-0), the Idaho legislature has approved the passage of the Idaho Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, known as “UPEPA”, into law. The Idaho UPEPA now goes to Governor Brad Little for signing but will not go into effect until January 1, 2026. This now makes ten states that have adopted the UPEPA as their Anti-SLAPP statute (or 11 if one counts Oregon as some do). Thus, the UPEPA now represents almost one-third of all the Anti-SLAPP statutes in the United States. Looking at the text of the legislation, which is found as Idaho…

Imposter scams have long been among the most lucrative for scammers. According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers lost $2.7 to imposter scams second only to investment scams in 2023. While there are many variations of this scam, the most common variations have involved scammers calling, texting or emailing their victims posing as a trusted government agency, such as the FBI, IRS, US Postal Service, FTC or the Social Security Administration. Other times the scammers will pose as a company with which we commonly do business such as Amazon or Netflix. The scammer then, under a wide variety of pretenses,…

Trump Signs PSLF Executive Order President Donald Trump signed a new executive order to reshape the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, known as PSLF, by excluding certain borrowers. The order, signed March 7, directs the Department of Education to bar federal student loan relief for public-service workers employed at organizations deemed to have “a substantial illegal purpose.” In the order’s words, “Individuals employed by organizations whose activities have a substantial illegal purpose shall not be eligible for public service loan forgiveness.” This marks a dramatic shift in PSLF’s scope – effectively targeting specific groups of nonprofit and public-sector employees under…

President Trump and Elon Musk aim to slash the IRS budget and workforce. Here’s a cost effective service that should survive. By Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes Staff The middle-aged woman seated across from me in Kotzebue, Alaska in late February couldn’t conceal her delight. Last year, she’d spent nearly $2,000 to have her simple 1040 tax return prepared–money that covered a 547-mile flight to Anchorage, a $500 commercial tax prep fee and a hotel room for a couple nights as she waited to see if the preparer had questions. Kotzebue, population 3,000 (with 70% of residents Native Americans), has no…

Many people watching the economy — not just economists but also traders and business owners of all sizes — are getting nervous. Job hires were below expectations for the second month in a row and layoffs have taken a big jump. There are growing signs that labor market dynamics, which helped form the foundation of an expected soft landing of the economy after the high inflation bout, may now be on shaky ground. How The Labor Market Interacts With The Economy The labor market’s strength has been critical to the economic recovery. The Federal Reserve’s dual mandate is to achieve…

Looking for ways to get more tax-free income in retirement? You should check out the mega backdoor Roth tax-planning strategy. That is assuming you have already maxed out your Roth IRA and 401(k). Making the maximum mega backdoor Roth contribution in 2025 could help triple your contributions in 2025 versus just contributing to a regular Roth 401(k). The mega backdoor Roth allows for nearly 10 times the contribution limits of a regular Roth, depending on your age. Maximizing your tax-free income in retirement is a great way to avoid running out of money your turn you life savings into a…

President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order that may substantially limit student loan forgiveness for public servants. Public Service Loan Forgiveness, or PSLF, is a popular federal student loan forgiveness program that can eliminate a borrower’s debt after 10 years of working for qualifying nonprofit or government organizations. More than a million borrowers have qualified for relief under the program, largely as a result of improvements made during the Biden administration. But on Friday, Trump announced that he will be signing an executive order to limit eligibility for the PSLF program, based on unspecified concerns about the…

In October 2024 TD Bank pled guilty to both civil and criminal charges including conspiring to violate the Bank Secrecy Act related to money laundering. As a condition of the settlement, TD Bank paid a $1.8 billion criminal penalty which, when added to the civil fines, brought the total to $3 billion to settle the charges. Among the instances of money laundering done through TD Bank as indicated in the settlement agreement was the laundering of $474 million in cash from fentanyl sales in the United States by Chinese criminal syndicates. Additionally, as a further condition of the settlement, TD…