The College Investor Audio Show

We live in a world of unprecedented consumer guarantees. When you buy a t-shirt online, you expect to be able to return the shirt if it doesn’t suit you. If your pineapple from Aldi turns out to be rotten, you can get your money back and get a new pineapple for free.  We’re used to guarantees that protect us from all kinds of minor financial setbacks. Unfortunately,  guarantees don't wor...

Investors have likely heard that investing in stocks is a smart move for your financial future. But that’s only true if you build an investment portfolio that aligns with your financial goals.  Unfortunately, the process of investing in stocks seems shrouded in mystery for many beginners. The good news is that researching stocks doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Like all skills, you’ll need to...

Robert was on Money Life with Chuck Jaffe this week discussing how Google AI overviews get the answer wrong over one-third of the time. This has serious consequences and you need to be mindful about what you're reading.

Being on top of your finances means that financial mistakes become fewer and farther between. But tax filing happens just once per year, and it’s easy to make mistakes that lead to overpaying the IRS. When that happens, filers have the opportunity to correct their mistakes by filing IRS Form 1040-X. Once the amended return is processed, the IRS cuts overpaying taxpayers an extra refund check. If y...

College tuition can vary widely between in-state and out-of-state rates  — often more than double the cost for nonresidents. To make higher education more affordable, many states have entered  regional tuition reciprocity agreements . These programs allow students from participating states to attend  public colleges  in neighboring states at discounted rates. While programs var...

President Donald Trump  said on Truth Social  that his administration plans to send “a dividend of at least $2,000 per person” to most Americans, excluding high-income households. The payments would allegedly be financed entirely by tariffs collected on imported goods, rather than through borrowing or new taxes. Trump described the initiative as both a payment to everyone and a tool to r...

Starting July 1, 2026, the federal student loan system will enter a new era. A sweeping  set of federal policy changes  will reshape how families and graduate students borrow for college starting in 2026. The legislation, passed this summer, eliminates some long-standing loan programs and replaces them with new caps and repayment plans. While the reforms aim to contain debt growth and im...

For decades, earning six figures was seen as the turning point between “getting by” and “getting ahead.” But today, more Americans are discovering  that $100,000 , or even $200,000, no longer feels like financial security. Between rising living costs, disappearing tax credits, health insurance subsidy cliffs, and inflation that still lingers, many  millennial  and  Gen Z househ...

You can potentially use a 529 plan to pay for trade school, vocational school, and apprenticeships. If you or your family have saved money for your education within a  529 plan , you can use those funds to pay for qualified education expenses without tax implications.  But how about students who opt to attend a trade school instead of a traditional college or university? Can you still us...

At first glance, the Trump administration’s push to privatize federal student loans might look like a political calculation. But the economics behind recent policy changes tell a subtler story. Under the  One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) , the administration’s sweeping higher-education and tax package, the federal government is tightening who can borrow and how much through programs like&nb...

The final version of the  One Big Beautiful Bill is going to reshape the future of student loan repayment . Starting July 1, 2026, all new federal student loan borrowers will only have two options: the  revised Standard Plan  or the newly introduced  Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) . For current borrowers, the transition comes between 2026 and 2028, when legacy plans like SAVE,...

When debt is cancelled or forgiven, the general rule under  IRS Topic 431  is that the cancelled amount counts as taxable income (unless an exception applies). For student loans: If you receive forgiveness of a federal student loan (or discharge)  and no exception applies , the amount may be reported on a  Form 1099-C and taxed . However, most forgiven student loans from 2...

The American Federation of Teachers and the U.S. Department of Education have temporarily resolved  key disputes in a major federal lawsuit  challenging the handling of income-driven repayment and forgiveness programs. In a  joint status report filed Friday  (PDF File) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, both sides asked Judge Reggie B. Walton to deny, for...

Google AI overviews are misleading or inaccurate in 37% of finance-related searches, according to The College Investor's latest analysis. This is an  improvement from last year , where 43% of AI Overviews were inaccurate - but a one-third error rate is troubling when it comes to personal finance. This is causing consumer confusion, and potentially harming Americans' finances. The overviews we...

The goal of test prep is to learn tips and tricks that help maximize your time and performance on a college admissions test. Students are taught best practices for creating a study schedule, pacing themselves during the test, and using process of elimination to narrow down the answers. While not required, test prep can certainly help put you at ease on test day – and it is commonly correlated with...

U.S. citizens are eligible for U.S. federal student aid regardless of where they live. This means that expats can qualify for federal student loans.  But there are a few complications and opportunities when borrowing and  repaying federal student loans  for expats.  Here's what you need to know if you're a U.S. citizen living abroad and you're hoping to take out federal student...

You have  graduated college  and are getting ready to start paying off your student loans. You are getting the check ready to start the process of paying off your student debt when it hits you that you don’t actually know who owns your student loans or how much you owe exactly? What to do? The first step to becoming financially free is figuring out the exact amount of debt you are carryi...

You are ready to go back to school and so you go to apply for a  student loan with the best rate . The problem? Someone already took out student loans in your name and now you,  the real you,  cannot take out any more money for school. Education is expensive enough when you take out loans on your own!  And now you have to deal with a mess somebody made when you were not looking...

If you've recently graduated college and started full-time employment, you will start entering the repayment phase of your student loans. Even though payments on many student loans were  paused during the Covid-19 pandemic , it is wise to make sure that you are ready for  when student loan payments unpause . Hopefully you were able to minimize your use of  student loans for living e...

There are a variety of programs that can provide  non-profit student loan forgiveness  for individuals working for a 501(c)(3) or other nonprofit organization. By participating in these programs, eligible borrowers can have their student loans forgiven or significantly reduced after meeting specific requirements. However, the onus is always on the borrower to make sure they find, apply,...

Two weeks ago, I was chatting with a reader who was researching low cost index funds. I was so excited because he wanted to learn about expense ratios, commissions, fees, and more. Although I talk about finance all the time, it's still rare to have someone interested for long periods of time. After chatting for a bit, I got around to asking him what made him so interested in the topic. He seemed l...

Savvy investors are always looking for ways to reduce their tax burdens. Although no one can completely avoid taxes, harnessing the power of tax-loss harvesting is one smart way to save. No one buys an investment with the expectation that it will lose money. But tax-loss harvesting provides a unique opportunity to benefit from downturns when they occur.  Through tax-loss harvesting, you can u...

If you’re a recent college graduate with limited cash flow, paying off student loans can feel like an insurmountable task. It’s easy to feel trapped, as you feel the pressure to  pay off your student loans as quickly as possible . But while eliminating your student loans is an admirable goal, some sacrifices aren't worth it. For example, if you’re considering using your 401(k) to pay off your...

The average student  graduates college with over $30,600 in debt . If you went to a 4-year nursing program (or its equivalent), you have probably accumulated around this amount as well. Tack on grad school costs in case you want to advance your nursing career and you could be looking at around $60,000 in student loan debt. Even if you do get a  well-paying job  as most nurses tend t...

It should be a simple question - does the government profit off of student loans? But depending on who you ask, the federal government either earned a profit or lost money on federal student loans prior to the pandemic. The answer depends on political and accounting perspectives. During the pandemic, however, the payment pause and interest waiver has caused the federal government to lose money on...