The Disconnect Between Federal and State Reentry Policies: A Costly Burden on Taxpayers Imagine moving from New York to Maryland with a credit score of 700, only to be told your history doesn’t count and your score is now 300—you have to start over. This is precisely what happens to federally incarcerated individuals who complete rehabilitation programs, only to face state-level barriers that ignore their progress under the First Step Act (FSA). Each year, thousands of federal prisoners leave prison in hopes of a second chance, particularly those who are minimum and low security prisoners who participate in FSA, a…

President Donald Trump on Friday unexpectedly announced that he would be moving the entire federal student loan system from the U.S. Department of Education to the Small Business Association. “I’ve decided that the SBA, the Small Business Administration, headed by Kelly Loeffler, will handle will all of the student loan portfolio,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. The transfer will happen “immediately,” he said. Trump’s statement comes one day after he issued an order to close the Department of Education – which most legal experts agree cannot be done without Congressional authorization. It also comes after the Trump administration…

During Women’s History Month, Latinas’ contributions, accomplishments, and struggles are too often overlooked. Latinas In The U.S. Just over two-thirds of the Latina population is native-born, and their numbers are increasing. There are over 31 million Latinas in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census Bureau, an increase of nearly 90% from the 16.6 million in 2010. Among racial and ethnic groups, this growth constitutes the largest increase for females. According to the 2023 U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, Latinas comprise 49.4% of the total Hispanic population and 17% of all adult women nationwide. Sixty percent of Latinas are…

The federal student loan system is in crisis, and advocates for borrowers are warning that the situation will likely get even worse for those in repayment and for borrowers pursuing student loan forgiveness, following President Donald Trump’s executive order on Thursday calling for the U.S. Department of Education to be eliminated. The order also suggested that the federal student loan system should be privatized. Millions of borrowers, particularly those in income-driven repayment plans or who are pursuing student loan forgiveness, are currently facing major challenges. The SAVE plan, a Biden-era repayment program that lowered payments for many, remains frozen as…

Social Security: Massive Changes Started In March Millions of Americans have started to or will soon see significant changes in their Social Security benefits as new laws and policies take effect in March 2025. Some of these changes are unequivocally positive while others are more mixed. Many individuals will be thrilled with the rollout of the Social Security Fairness Act —which repeals the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset —triggering a wave of retroactive payments and monthly benefit increases for affected retirees​. At the same time, a controversial policy reversal means Social Security will resume withholding 100% of benefits…

Trump-induced chaos is making financial matters much worse for schools. Moody’s has just downgraded its outlook for higher education for 2025 from stable to negative citing the actions the government has taken and is threatening to take against colleges and universities. Most colleges and universities have been beset by financial challenges for a number of reasons over the last several years including enrollment challenges both because of the demographic cliff and because there are fewer students who are willing and/or able to pay the tuition as well as the inability to quickly adjust to changing market demands. We have witnessed…

If you want to retire in or to California, you may wonder how California will take your Social Security and other retirement benefits. There is some good news and some bad news here. The good news is that regardless of where you choose to retire in California, you will not owe state taxes on your Social Security benefits. However, California will still take a chunk of your other retirement income sources. The ok news is that while California has a reputation as a high-tax state, you may or may not owe a high amount of taxes on other retirement income.…

Trump’s Department Of Education Executive Order President Donald Trump has officially signed an executive order and said during a White House event that he is initiating action to “begin eliminating the Department of Education, once and for all.” This unprecedented move comes despite legal limits requiring an act of Congress to abolish the Department entirely. “We are going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible,” Trump said. During the event, Trump did not say anything specific about the student loan program, but earlier in the day his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said to reporters: “The…

A recent Barron’s article made the case for retirees being able to withdraw 5% per year from their portfolios, opening with, “It’s time to throw out the 4% rule and give your retirement paycheck a raise.” The sentiment is a sharp contrast from the publication’s 2022 article floating the idea that retirees might need to downgrade from 4% to 1.9%. Even the Wall Street Journal has wavered, platforming an academic paper that found “. . . A retiree who wants no more than one-in-20 odds of ‘financial ruin’ should withdraw just 2.26% a year.” Each percentage point can represent significant…

Student loan borrowers in income driven repayment plans, such as Income Based Repayment (IBR), Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and Income Contingent Repayment (ICR), have been in limbo for the last month wondering if they are able to keep their existing student loans payments or not. Borrowers in these plans are required to certify their income and family size annually in order to accurately assess what their monthly student loan payment would be. Failure to recertify on time can result in payments rising significantly. Yesterday, Federal Student Aid released guidance to their loan servicers to move recertification dates impacted by…