Lauren Nowacki

1 week ago | bankrate.com | Lauren Nowacki |Pippin Wilbers

On May 22, a federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s plans to dismantle the Department of Education by ordering the ED to reinstate recently-terminated staff members. The ruling coincides with a new study revealing the negative impact a reduced ED workforce has had on student loan borrowers. As the future of the department hangs in the balance, so does the federal student aid program as we know it today.

3 weeks ago | bankrate.com | Lauren Nowacki |Pippin Wilbers

The first of three monthly reports from the U.S. Department of Education suggests that processing for both income-driven repayment plans and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness buyback program is off to a slow start. Borrowers who applied for either program should expect delays and continue making their regular payments to their current loan servicers. Nearly 200,000 of the 5.3 million federal student loan borrowers in default received a collections notice this month.

1 month ago | bankrate.com | Lauren Nowacki |Pippin Wilbers

Paying off student debt together with a partner may shave years off your repayment term and save you thousands of dollars. Risks of paying off debts together include resentment, financial sacrifice and potential divorce complications. Before teaming up to repay debt, ask yourself the tough questions about whether you can afford it and what stresses it could put on the relationship. In May 2019, my husband Mike and I stood across from each other in our kitchen waiting for the other to speak.

1 month ago | bankrate.com | Lauren Nowacki |Pippin Wilbers

The Department of Education will resume federal student loan collections in May, garnishing income from borrowers with defaulted student loans. Also, it has reopened income-driven repayment (IDR) plan applications with one noticeable change and said that it would begin fully processing applications in May. Additionally, the Department stated that spousal income would be taken into consideration when calculating monthly payments — even if the couple files their taxes separately.

1 month ago | bankrate.com | Lauren Nowacki |Jennifer Lee

This is part 1 of 2 of Bankrate’s ’90s era lessons miniseries. Stay tuned later this month for another round of personal finance lessons elevated by Bankrate experts. Some personal finance issues are timeless, but smart money habits can also make them avoidable. You can learn personal finance lessons from TV, but even more from experts in the industry. Today’s technology makes it even easier to follow simple finance rules to succeed with your money.