I recently streamed “The Beekeeper,” and Adam Clay is right at home with the John Wicks, Robert McCalls, and Bryan Millses of the world. While the movie was entertaining enough, with a few new elements and twists here and there to make it different, I was struck by a particular scene where a character asks: “I’m 28 years old, why would I need an estate plan?” This article is inspired by that question and tries to answer other estate planning FAQs. Estate Planning FAQs What Is An Estate Plan? An estate plan outlines how your assets will be managed or…

Most people never bother to calculate the actual cost of homeownership before they buy, which makes it difficult to know where to set your home buying budget. The list price of a home doesn’t tell you much about how interest rates will impact your mortgage or how expensive it will be to maintain that house over the time you own it. And a lender or bank, the place you’d expect to provide guidance given that they’re the ones offering you a mortgage, is not too much help in understanding what you can truly afford before you buy. While lenders have…

Dire emails from the U.S. Department of Education flooded the inboxes of millions of defaulted federal student loan borrowers during the last week, warning that the government is preparing to seize a portion of their earnings. The notices followed a formal announcement the department made last month indicating that government officials would quickly step up collections efforts against defaulted borrowers. “Collections on defaulted federal student loans are resuming,” reads the email sent to borrowers. “This means that your tax refund or other federal benefits may be withheld. Later this summer, your employer may also be required to withhold a portion…

How Unused PTO Turned A Prison Dentist’s Retirement Into A $1.2 Million Payday When the state of California cut a $1.2 million check to a retiring prison dentist last year, it wasn’t a bonus or lottery prize. It was a payout for his unused PTO; decades of banked vacation days that turned Dr. George Soohoo’s unclaimed time off into a seven-figure windfall. His story, recently chronicled in the Los Angeles Times, illustrates the immense value of unused PTO for employees and, on the flip side, the massive hidden cost that public institutions and businesses quietly carry on their books. From…

Amid the stock market’s rebound, Chime, the largest digital bank in America, has filed publicly with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering, revealing its detailed financials. As we reported earlier this year, Chime’s revenue grew 30% in 2024 to $1.7 billion, and it posted a net loss of $25 million, a big reduction from its 2023 net loss of $203 million. In the first quarter of 2025, revenue grew 32% from the year prior, reaching $519 million, and it turned a profit of $13 million. Chime has previously said that it was profitable in certain quarters…

Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, Sunday evening, promising lower U.S. drug prices with cuts by 30% to 80%, “almost immediately.” He followed with an executive order on Monday. Some of his observations of an ongoing problem are interesting and likely correct. However, his promise of a solution suggests an ability of the government to set prices and take actions in ways that it lacks. Understanding Global Drug Prices Trump is correct about an “imbalance” in global drug pricing. A 2024 RAND study found that across all drugs, domestic prices were 278% of prices in the other 32 countries that…

President Trump’s executive order aimed at lowering the prices of prescription drugs in the US is unlikely to reduce them very much at all. While Trump made his announcement with great fanfare, he has little or no power to make the changes he promises. Trump’s idea, which is similar to a plan he failed to enact in his first term, would tie drug prices in the US to prices paid in other countries, which almost always are lower than in the US. He seems to want to force other countries to pay more for medicine so consumers in the US…

Huge Threat To Public Service Loan Forgiveness Eligibility In GOP Tax Bill Public Service Loan Forgiveness, the federal program that forgives student loan debt for public servants after 10 years of qualifying payments, is facing a new and unexpected threat. Tucked inside the House GOP’s newly release 2025 tax bill is a controversial provision that would empower the U.S. Treasury Secretary to unilaterally strip specific nonprofits of their tax-exempt status by designating them as “terrorist supporting organizations.” If enacted, this move could instantly disqualify employees of targeted nonprofits from PSLF, upending the financial plans of thousands of student loan borrowers…

GOP Student Loan Forgiveness And Repayment Plan Confirms Intended Relief For Married Borrowers Millions of married student loan borrowers just got a close to definitive answer they’ve been waiting for weeks. A new House GOP bill draft confirms that, if passed, married borrowers who file separate tax returns will not include their spouse’s income when calculating payments under income-driven repayment plans. This clarification, tucked into page 41 of the 103-page draft legislation, ends a short, but intense period of uncertainty with many borrowers bracing for potentially higher student loan bills. The development is a rare bit of good news for…

Republican House lawmakers on Friday unveiled legislation that would narrowly extend student loan forgiveness tax relief for borrowers and their families due to death and disability. But loan forgiveness for most borrowers under other programs would revert to being taxable again next year, as lawmakers allows key provisions of the tax code to expire at the end of the year. This could put millions of borrowers at risk of facing massive tax liability associated with debt cancellation. The legislation is just one piece of congressional Republicans’ plans to enact much of President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda through the budget reconciliation…