In the months before the pandemic pause on student-loans payments, interest and collections, Jennifer Booth regularly received unpleasant phone calls from her student-loan debt collector that fueled anxiety and doubt. They’d ask her questions like, “Why would you go to school at all?” Booth recalled in an interview. Outside of those phone calls, Booth felt…
I have been married for eight years. My husband and I have had our ups and downs, as most married couples do. We got married young — he was 26 and I was 25 — which was probably not the best idea, as we had only known each other about a year and a half….
When their schools received high rankings, college leaders touted the U.S. News best colleges list, but when their rankings dropped a year later, they complained about the list or stopped participating. So what does it mean for a college to offer a high-quality education? That question is at the heart of the continued controversy over…
U.S. News released its “Best Colleges” report on Monday, a much-anticipated annual list that ranks undergraduate colleges in the U.S., as well as some specific programs, such as business and finance studies. And, for the first time, the list for 2024 also ranks undergraduate economics degree programs. So which school has the best undergrad programs…
Dear Quentin, I was involved in a workplace accident that rendered me disabled and recently received a lump sum of $185,000 after deductions for lawyer fees etc. In 2011, when I was injured, I was facing foreclosure and couldn’t take care of our minor children, so life for me fell apart. In 2014, I began…
U.S. News released its influential undergraduate college rankings Monday, a list that continues to inspire both fascination and derision. Despite a change in methodology partially in response to recent criticisms, the same Ivy League and highly selective institutions still dominate the top of the list, even though there’s been some significant moves among the top-14…
Elsa Ortega and her husband, David, are expecting a child at the end of October, and the couple closed on a home in El Paso, Texas, this summer. But when they thought about selling their three-bedroom single-family home for a larger three-bedroom house, they initially were hesitant. The listing went up on a Thursday. “I…
Nigerians on X are currently reacting to a trending video of BBNaija All Stars housemates woefully failing basic education questions. Big Brother came up with a quiz task for the housemates last night. The anchor of the quiz, Venita, asked questions many people think the housemates ought to know but they failed most of…
Nigerians on X are currently reacting to a trending video of BBNaija All Stars housemates woefully failing basic education questions. Big Brother came up with a quiz task for the housemates last night. The anchor of the quiz, Venita, asked questions many people think the housemates ought to know but they failed most of…
My wife attended college the same year I was in high school. My wife is four years older than me. My family has never been on the university path so that was not an option for me. I joined the military after high school. In the same month (before we met) she graduated college and…
With student-loan payments resuming after a three-and-a-half-year pause, young people aren’t the only ones feeling the pressure. There are also a significant number of older borrowers who are not ready for payments to resume on Oct. 1, according to an AARP Foundation survey. People 50 and older make up 20% of all student-loan borrowers, yet…
I spent an afternoon recently researching how parents can deal with the sticker shock of adding a new teen driver to their car-insurance policy, and then took a break to walk the dog. At the end of our very quiet, nearly suburban block, we encountered an unfortunate accident, wherein a young woman with a sticker…
Dear Quentin, I grew up poor and in an unstable environment as a result of my parents’ serial divorces. I started saving at 16 as a direct result of the financial instability of my youth, and my wife and I have been able to build what most of the world would describe as a small…
There’s signs some people aren’t waiting to receive a federal student-loan bill in October to start paying down their debt. Yet after a more than three-year pause on interest, payments and collections, the early start isn’t necessarily a sign that borrowers are flush with cash and ready to extinguish their loans. Department of Education deposits…
Dear Quentin, I am the trustee/executor for my 103-year-old grandmother. She is alive and mostly doing fine. Lately, she has been allowing me access to her finances so there are no surprises when she dies. I just reviewed her investment-account statements and found that her adviser bought hundreds of thousands of…
Rich, young people are leaving California and New York for the Sun Belt. The young and the rich — considered to be filers aged 26 to 35 and earning $200,000 a year and more — have been moving to Florida and Texas in high numbers, according to a new survey released by SmartAsset, which looked…
When I set out to improve my financial knowledge, I garnered insights from books, investment seminars and like-minded people. Still, my greatest lessons came from my own financial mistakes. I’ve made many, and I still occasionally stumble. A few missteps were costly and had lasting repercussions, but the rest were less damaging, especially considering the lessons…
This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org. For years, I worked as a production account manager at an independent video store while pretending to pursue an acting career. I didn’t go to auditions, send my résumé and headshots out or try to find roles in student films. I was an actress in name only. When…
It is never too late to pursue your passions, especially when you don’t let fear stand in your way. This is why, at 58, Nancy Volpe Beringer mustered up the guts to go back to school and pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer. She truly believes that every great idea starts with a dream and that we…
Are you on mute? That may be the least of your worries. Hundreds of millions of people used video-conferencing services like Zoom and Google Meets during the pandemic, but workplace experts say they may be getting lazy, daydreaming during virtual meetings even while they’re logged in, and jeopardizing their professional relationships and career prospects. In…
Despite the ups and downs of life, as brilliantly described by Jonathan Clements, I was able to retire at 58 in 2018. My wife, who is 10 years younger, will follow me in 2024. Throughout our working years and my retirement, we have financially helped our children, who are in their mid- to late 30s….