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Preparing for 'Taxmageddon'
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Retire Here, Not There: Tennessee
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PLAYWhy Facebook Stock Won't Soar Like G....
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The 5 Biggest Muni Defaults Ever
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Cut Travel Costs With Free Gas
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PLAYBlackRock Manager Still Sees Opportu....
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7 Ways to Cut Moving Costs
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Grad School: Higher Degrees of Debt
How-To Guides
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How to Save for College
Thanks to benefits in the tax code, saving specifically for college and other education expense can have some advantages
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Despite Concern, Banks Give Student Loans the Old College Try
WSJ.comEven as the growth of student debt stirs debate on everything from whether the government should move to ease borrowers' burden to the ability to discharge obligations through bankruptcy, some banks are jockeying for position to lend to ...
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The Borrowing Surge Isn't to Splurge
Barrons.comCan there be a simultaneous boom and bust? It seems that's what's happening in student loans now. Amid all the attention paid to the crisis in the debts taken on by students, they're going to hock at an accelerating rate. Usually credit ...
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To Pay Off Loans, Grads Put Off Marriage, Children
WSJ.comBetween the ages of 18 and 22, Jodi Romine took out $74,000 in student loans to help finance her business-management degree at Kent State University in Ohio. What seemed like a good investment will delay her career, her marriage and ...
Can Private Student Loans Undercut Federal Rates? A provision in a law that has keep rates down on subsidized Stafford loans is set to expire -- unless Congress acts quickly.
SmartMoney.comThe rates on popular federal student loans could shoot up before the next academic season, depending on the outcome of a political battle brewing in Washington.
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College grads: Think about retirement now; Start saving early; avoid your parents’ problems
MarketWatchSTOWE, Vt. (MarketWatch) — The majority of this spring’s college graduates are not ready to take on the world financially. On average, two-thirds of students will graduate with student loans of $25,250 and more than $4,000 in credit card ...
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'Loophole' Closing Eyed to Fund Student Loan Policy
WSJ.comThe White House and Senate Democrats are looking at ending a tax provision benefiting some small business owners to pay for a year-long extension of a freeze in student loan interest rates, which are scheduled to double from 3.4% to 6.8% ...
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The Student-Debt Playbook
WSJ.comAre you or your adult children carrying a big load of student debt? Your family may well feel like the federal deficit is sitting on your shoulders.
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Due Diligence for All Future Student Loans
WSJ.comStudent-loan lenders have no incentive to perform due diligence on an applicant's creditworthiness, academic performance, future earnings potential and financial need because college loans are rarely forgivable in bankruptcy, and the ...
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How Not to Major in Debt
WSJ.comThe total amount of outstanding student debt has surpassed $1 trillion, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. If your child is in the process of choosing a college—or is already enrolled—your family might soon be adding to ...
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The Bill for ObamaLoans; New study: 27% of student borrowers have past due balances.
WSJ.comSpeaking of March Madness, the annual college basketball tourney has nothing on college financing. A recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has the disturbing details for taxpayers.
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Consumers Ramped Up Borrowing in January
WSJ.comConsumer borrowing continued to climb in January, driven largely by student loans, sustaining a trend begun in the final months of 2011. Household borrowing through car loans, student loans, credit cards and other debt, excluding mortgages, ...
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The Feds and Rising Student Loans
WSJ.comYour editorial "The Bill for ObamaLoans" (March 14) rightly points out the fiscal failings of one of the largest government loan programs. At the rate it is going, in 10 years the federal government will create $1.2 trillion of ...
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Start Paying College Loans
WSJ.comAttention, spring college graduates: It's almost time to start paying back those students loans. The typical six-month grace period is about to end for many borrowers, and the first payments are due within 30 to 60 days, depending on ...
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Auto and Student Loans Drive Borrowing Surge
WSJ.comIn another sign that the credit freeze is thawing, the Federal Reserve said Americans ramped up their borrowing at the end of 2011. Household borrowing through credit cards, car loans, student loans and other installment debt—which excludes ...
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Fixed-Rate Student Loans—With a Catch
WSJ.comWith tuition bills due in a few weeks, a growing number of banks are offering stretched parents and students new, fixed-rate loans that promise protection from the specter of rising rates -- for a price.
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Education Department Has Improved Student Loans
WSJ.comYour Sept. 30 editorial "Washington's Quietest Disaster" and the letters of Oct. 11 raise important concerns about the debt burdening college students but miss the mark in describing the role of the federal student-loan ...
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Obama set to unveil student-loan plan
MarketWatchWASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — President Barack Obama is set to unveil Wednesday a plan to reduce the burden of student loans on college graduates as the amount of debt for higher education surges.
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Obama Unveils Plan to Ease Burden of Student Loans
WSJ.comDENVER—President Barack Obama unveiled a plan Wednesday to ease the burden of student debt, speaking in personal terms about the high cost of college.
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Washington's Quietest Disaster; Student loan defaults are growing, and the worst is still to come.
WSJ.comWhen critics warned about rising defaults on government-backed student loans two years ago, the question was how quickly taxpayers would feel the pain. The U.S. Department of Education provided part of the answer this month when it reported ...
Fixed-Rate Student Loans, With a Catch; Now borrowers can swap the potential for higher rates later with the certainty of higher rates now
SmartMoney.comWith tuition bills due in a few weeks, a growing number of banks are offering stretched parents and students new, fixed-rate loans that promise protection from the specter of rising rates -- for a price.
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Discover to Buy Citi Student Loan Portfolio
WSJ.comNEW YORK—Discover Financial Services has reached an agreement to buy a $2.5 billion student-loan portfolio from Citigroup Inc., a follow-up to last year's deal in which Citi sold its 80% stake in Student Loan Corp. to Discover in a ...
For Student Borrowers, a Hard Truth; More people are defaulting on their student loans -- and discovering the consequences are far-reaching.
SmartMoney.comAs many students and parents struggle to make payments on their student loans, many are finding this debt comes with some serious strings attached.
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Sizing Up the President's College-Debt Initiatives
WSJ.comWith student-loan debt exceeding credit-card debt for the first time last year, President Obama recently announced initiatives designed to help ease college graduates' debt burden.
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Graduates With Debt Owe an Average of $25,250
WSJ.comThe average debt of college seniors who graduated in 2010 with student loans rose 5% from a year earlier to $25,250, according to a report. That figure doesn't include data from for-profit colleges, like the University of Phoenix, whose ...
10 Things Student Loan Companies Won't Say; Sure, they'll help pay for college. But good luck paying them back.
SmartMoney.com1.Your co-signer could do you more harm than good Before they will lend thousands of dollars to a college-bound 18-year-old, many lenders will require a cosigner. Approximately 80% or more of private loans have a cosigner, according to the ...
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9-9-9? Nein. A transcript of the weekend's program on FOX News Channel.
WSJ.comPaul Gigot: This week on "The Journal Editorial Report," from Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan to Rick Perry's flat-tax proposal, is real tax reform finally possible? Plus, with many Occupy Wall Street protesters demanding ...
How to Manage Student Loans After Graduation
SmartMoney.comIn 2010, two thirds of bachelor's-degree recipients graduated with education debt, including roughly $25,000 per person in student loans, according to estimates by FinAid.org. On average people take 16 to 18 years to repay this debt, ...
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More student-loan lenders likely to merge; Student Loan Corp. sale may signal start of consolidation wave
MarketWatchCHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Citigroup’s sale of its student-loan business may signal the beginning of a wave of consolidation among private lenders who were cut out of the federal college student-loan program this summer.
For-Profit Schools Face New Debt Rules
SmartMoney.comTaking out federal student loans to help pay for a college education may soon become less risky. The Department of Education this week proposed new rules that would require for-profit colleges and universities to keep the amount of loan debt ...
Student Loans Demystified
SmartMoney.comFor many students, sorting out student loan options is as much a part of the college application process as writing a college essay for admissions. And it's a rare student who isn't confounded by the process. This section should ...
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Parents, students dig deeper to pay for college; Almost half of rising tuition costs paid by parents from income, savings, loans
MarketWatchNEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Faced with rising college expenses, families dug deeper into their own pockets and borrowed more money to pay tuition bills in the 2009-10 school year, according to a survey by Sallie Mae and Gallup released ...
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When Student Loans Live On After Death
WSJ.comIn July 2006, 25-year-old Christopher Bryski died. His private student loans didn't. Mr. Bryski's family in Marlton, N.J., continues to make monthly payments on his loans—the result of a potentially costly loophole in the rules ...
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Citi Sheds Its Student-Loan Business; Once-Thriving Operation Was Hurt by Government Change; Discover Financial Buys Most of It
WSJ.comCitigroup Inc. is selling its 80% stake in Student Loan Corp. to Discover Financial Services as part of a $600 million transaction that marks the bank's biggest step yet to shed assets from its discard pile.
Financial Reform Targets Private Student Loans
SmartMoney.comConsumers with mortgages and credit cards aren’t the only ones who stand to benefit from the financial reform bill. College students and graduates with private student loans could see new protections as well.
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It’s payback time for student-loan borrowers; For those who can’t pay, there are a variety of payment plans that can help
MarketWatchSCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (MarketWatch) — Many recent college graduates will soon be a little poorer each month. The reason: the six-month grace period for federal Stafford loans, the most popular type of student loan, is about to end for those who ...
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Government Sees High Returns On Defaulted Student Loans
WSJ.comDefaulting on federal student loans may not be such a bad thing--at least, not for the federal government. After paying the companies that actually collect the loans and other costs, the U.S. Department of Education expects to recover 85% of ...
Private Student Loans Are Making a Comeback
SmartMoney.comGetting a private student loan is about to become easier. A new push by private lenders and credit unions to capture some of the college lending market could open more doors for students looking to borrow, but the loans these businesses ...
Congress's Unfinished Tax Business (Part 2)
SmartMoney.comCongress departed Washington at the end of September with a big pile of unfinished tax work left behind. It’s unlikely anything tax-related will get done until after the Nov. 2 midterm elections. Until then, here’s Part 2 of my scorecard of ...
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Sallie Mae Keeps Student Loan Portfolio
WSJ.comNEW YORK—SLM Corp. will keep its portfolio of federal student loans on its own books as it seeks cash to repay upcoming debt maturities and find other ways to unlock value for shareholders.
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Student Loans Get a Makeover
WSJ.comFamilies shopping for student loans to help pay for college this fall could find it easier to get a federal loan—and will probably pay less, too—as new laws relegate private lenders to a smaller role. But securing a private loan could ...
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Student-Loan Default Rates Worsen
WSJ.comThe default rate for federal student loans rose to 13.8% from 11.8% for students beginning repayment in fiscal 2008 compared with those starting a year earlier, according to new data released Friday by the Department of Education.
Buying Your Way Into College
SmartMoney.comForget the standard advice that everyone should apply for financial aid. This year, forgoing aid applications may actually boost the chances of getting accepted.
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What the New Student-Loan Policy Means; Columnist Sue Shellenbarger answers readers' questions
WSJ.comQ: I have two student loans, a private variable-rate loan from a bank with a floating rate currently at about 3%, and a fixed-rate loan at 6.8% from the government. How will the government's new student-loan policy affect these kinds ...
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Student Loans: Legislation to Clarify Co-signer Obligations
WSJ.comWhen a student dies, the bill for his student loans often lives on – to the painful surprise and dismay of his co-signers. New Senate legislation seeks to change that, by requiring lenders to make clear the obligations of co-signers in the ...
Have Private Student Loans Become Smarter?
SmartMoney.comDeferred payment plans. Rock-bottom rates. Even loan balances wiped out for good behavior. These are all features of new loans designed to help college students and parents swallow the increasing costs of college – but they may not be as ...
Borrowing from a 401k, cosigning student loans, and required minimum distributions
SmartMoney.comQUESTION: I pay $180 a month for private mortgage insurance. Should I borrow from my 401(k) to pay down the principal and use the $180 toward repayment? Is there more value in this strategy than having it evaporate into the insurance?
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Sallie Mae Is Back in Shape
Barrons.comSallie Mae is a real beauty, but few investors are giving her a second look. Sallie, whose formal name is SLM, is a complex, one-of-a-kind financial company, with an attractive business mix that involves holding, originating and servicing ...
Credit Comes Back
SmartMoney.comAfter more than two years of tight lending, banks are loosening their grip, offering more mortgages, student loans and credit cards. In a continuing series, SmartMoney charts the slow return of easier credit, and examines the good deals and ...
College Loans 101: New Rules for Borrowers
SmartMoney.comWith college costs still climbing—private-college tuition has soared almost a third since 2004—more students are becoming first-time borrowers. Indeed, 53 percent of incoming freshmen reported using loans last fall, the first significant ...
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Wells Fargo To Forgive Loans In Student Death, Disability
WSJ.comWells Fargo & Co. is changing the terms of its private student loan agreements, forgiving loans beginning Friday if a student beneficiary dies or is permanently disabled.
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10 Things Hollywood Won't Tell You
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A new wedding trend trades "walking down the aisle" for a walk on the wild side.
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The Reignited Tech Sector
Technology stocks have rebounded and are once again the darling of the market. Can the resurgence last?
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Why a 'Balanced' Portfolio May Not Work
Arends: That 60/40 portfolio of stocks and bonds your adviser is pushing might not work.