Blog

If you funded your education with Perkins Loans, you may have heard about a number of forgiveness programs and have been disappointed to learn that your student loans don't qualify. While you're probably always interested in ways to lower your student loan payments, having them canceled completely would be reason for serious celebration.

While not all forgiveness programs apply to all loans, the good news is that there are loan cancellation and discharge programs specifically for Perkins loan holders. 

The statistics are stunning. As of 2017, student loan debt hit an all-time high of $1.7 trillion.  More than 44 million Americans owe an average of $37,000.

So, how’s paying back all that dough working out for everybody? According to our recent survey of 1,000 Americans, the answer is decidedly mixed. Much depends on the student’s field of study, who got help from parents, and what type of institution they attended.

Yeah, I know. It’s unromantic—even heartless—to consider your partner’s financial situation a dealbreaker. Right? Well … maybe.

I’ve been in a relationship with someone who was bad with money. I’m a frugal person, and like a lot of people, I fell for my opposite.

Are your finances stressing you out? You're not alone.

Financial-wellness company Payoff released a study recently that shows about one in four Americans—and one in three Millennials—experience finance-related stress so severe that it can be classified as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

When it comes to paying off your student loans, there are all kinds of ways to go about tackling your debt. Two methods that seem to come up often are the snowball and avalanche strategies.

The debt snowball method involves paying off your smallest balances first to create momentum. On the flip side, the debt avalanche method involves paying off your balances with the highest interest rates first. There are pros and cons to both. 

The internet is full of stories about college grads who paid off their loans in record time. But when you're saddled with debt, it often seems impossible. How exactly does someone go about not only taking control over their student loan debt, but eliminating it all together—especially when you don't even have a grasp on your day-to-day finances? 

I was in the same boat. Post college, I struggled for years to make ends meet and avoided the elephant in the room (i.e. student loan debt). Eventually, I decided that I was ready to be debt-free. And within a year of making the decision, I paid off more than $16,000 in student loans.