For many in the U.S., achieving The American Dream means going to college and getting a degree to help land a good-paying job and all the trappings that come with it. It means that and more for immigrants who sacrificed everything to give their families a shot at a better life. But here’s the thing: unless you’re swimming in wealth, higher education comes at a significant cost, meaning students must secure financial aid. Students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to receive federal aid and comprehensive financial aid packages from most colleges and universities. While this sounds…

Conservative Microsoft Explores Bitcoin Investment While MicroStrategy and Nvidia Drive Crypto Innovation Students of history know that even the most iconoclastic revolutionary sooner or later becomes a conservative. It’s no different in the tech sector. Those AI founders who are currently tearing up the rulebook? The decentralization pioneers building the next iteration of the web? One day they too will be legacy firms, grappling with upstart innovators in the battle to remain relevant. So when Silicon Valley aristocracy like Microsoft changes tack and embraces an emerging technology like bitcoin, everyone needs to sit up and take notice. Next month, the…

This founder built his brand on a simple idea: Forget about changing the world. Get rich doing mundane and even dirty jobs better. By Brandon Kochkodin, Forbes Staff Nick Huber’s first business, Storage Squad, didn’t begin with a slick pitch deck to potential investors or an analysis of the total addressable market, but with a simple Craigslist ad. It was 2011, the summer before his senior year at Cornell University. While some friends were heading to New York City for investment banking internships, Huber was going home to Leopold, Indiana, unsure of what he wanted to do. He figured he’d…

Student loan forgiveness processing appears to have stalled for tens of thousands of borrowers under a key debt relief program. And advocates are getting worried. The Biden administration had approved more than 700,000 borrowers for student debt cancellation and other benefits, including refunds of prior payments and corrected credit reporting. The approvals were enacted using group discharge authority for borrowers who were allegedly defrauded by their school or impacted by school closures. But years after borrowers received notifications that they qualify for a complete discharge of their federal student loans, many are still waiting on loan forgiveness. Meanwhile, advocates for…

There are more than turkeys being pardoned this holiday season. Joe Biden made news by announcing a presidential pardon for his son Hunter Biden who faced two separate federal criminal charges. The pardon means Hunter Biden will not be sentenced for his crimes, and it eliminates any chance that he will be sent to prison. The judges overseeing his cases will likely cancel the sentencing hearings, which were slated for December 12 in the gun case and December 16 in the tax case. Many are criticizing Biden for the pardon after he made promises to not pardon Hunter. Biden felt…

Every year, it feels like holiday advertising starts earlier and earlier. Many people begin shopping in October which can cause them to lose track of the money and gifts they already purchased. And then in January, families find themselves with a mountain of credit card debt and clutter. Did you know that 46% of Americans are still paying off debt from the last holiday season, according to WalletHub. What if you did something different this year? What if you created a manageable budget, reduced spending, and simplified gift-giving? Here are three simple steps to save money and reduce spending over…

Meet the fintech founder fighting fraud. Credit card transactions carry little information about whom customers are paying. This makes it hard for banks to know whether they?re sending money to a bakery, a marijuana dispensary . . . or a fraud ring. “Banks are relying on data infrastructure from the 1960s,” says MacTavish, who cofounded Spade along with Cooper Hart, 29. Through data partnerships, AI and human review, the three-year-old New York City-based startup builds expansive databases covering tens of millions of businesses to provide banks with precise details about the merchant, business category and location. The information is valuable…

Welcome to NerdWallet’s Smart Money podcast, where we answer your real-world money questions. In this episode: Learn how to maximize Southwest Companion Pass benefits and how to plan effective charitable giving to make your donations count.How can you get and use the Southwest Companion Pass? What’s the best way to plan charitable giving to make the most impact? Hosts Sean Pyles and Sara Rathner discuss travel savings and effective philanthropy to help you understand how to maximize rewards and make thoughtful donations. Sean begins by talking to travel Nerds Meghan Coyle and Sally French to discuss the Southwest Companion Pass,…

Financial stress is real right now. Maybe your job’s been affected, or unexpected health expenses have popped up. The kids are home for the holidays, and it feels like there’s a lot to juggle. You’re not alone—Vanguard Group saw early withdrawals from 3.6 percent of their 5 million customer accounts 2023, up from 2.8 percent in 2022. A question I hear often as a financial coach is whether it’s smart to dip into your retirement account, such as a 401(k). While it might seem tempting, here are five crucial questions you should ask yourself before deciding to withdraw or take…

For thousands of years, charitable giving has followed a familiar pattern: physical cash (or checks) handed directly to an organization. This was how I made my first charitable gift. At eight years old, when my parents gave me a weekly allowance, they encouraged me to be generous by giving $1 to our local church. Nervously, I brought my $1 to church that Sunday, waited for the offering basket, and dropped it in. Everything went smoothly, and I let out a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from my forehead. A New Paradigm Shift In Charitable Giving This traditional way of…