Should you pay extra to have your tax prep fees taken out of your upcoming tax refund? It sounds like an appealing offer - paying nothing out of pocket. But is it really worth it?

The help of a tax preparation service can make your life easier and potentially lead to savings on your tax bill, but having to pay up front for tax prep services can feel like a hit to your wallet.

One option is to allow the company to take your tax preparation fees directly from your future tax refund. We explore when it makes sense to pay for tax preparation services, when it doesn't, and the logistics of paying.

If you’re a business owner, the end of the year can be a very busy time.

With the holiday season on the horizon, you may be juggling the demands of your business while making space to spend time with family and friends.

There are several things you can do by the end of the year to end on a high note and get ready for tax season. With only 12 weeks left, here are some things business owners should do before the end of the year.

Free community college is currently offered to some or all students in 33 states.

With college costs and student debt on the rise, students and their parents need to think about ways to cut the overall cost of higher education. 

Even if a student wants to attend a four-year university, starting at a two-year university can conservatively lead to five-figure savings. Students who decide against earning a bachelor’s degree can gain a credential (associate’s degree) while spending less time and money than they would in a traditional public university.

However, even some community colleges are now offering bachelor's degrees to compete against 4-year schools.

Whether a student’s goal is to start a career as soon as possible or to earn a bachelor’s degree and beyond, using community college to save money and get ahead can be a smart move. In fact, attending a two-year college may be the most broadly-accessible method to reduce costs while still getting a head start on education.

The cost to join a sorority or fraternity can be high. There are lots of extra costs beyond just paying dues, luckily, there are ways to help pay for it. 

Will decreasing college acceptance rates hurt your chances of getting in to your desired school, and will the trend continue? Here's what you need to know. 

Joining a fraternity is a big decision. It can provide a solid network but it’s also expensive. Here’s what you to know when deciding to go greek or stay geed. 

Embarking on the journey to higher education is a life-changing decision. One of the first and biggest challenges many prospective students encounter is whether to pursue a college education in-state or out-of-state. 

As you know, the average cost of tuition has been on an upward trajectory since sometime around the 1980s. College tuition at a public four-year university increased 9.24% between 2010 and 2022, averaging a 12% increase each year in that period. 

Not only does higher tuition mean greater costs for education, but it also means greater likelihood of finding yourself graduating with larger student loans. This is particularly concerning when the average student loan debt of recent graduates is $33,500.

In this episode, I’ll dive into the reasons why opting for an in-state college might prove to be a better long-term decision for you. From location and affordability to in-state benefits and quality of education, I aim to shed light on the advantages of keeping your educational investment in-state.

Applying to college may be the most stressful thing you've encountered in your life so far.

Depending on the college you're applying to, you may have to submit grade transcripts, test scores, evidence of extracurricular activities, essays, and references. 

But one thing that colleges will almost never ask you about is your high school attendance. It's important to note that many high schools do include attendance information as part of your grade transcript.

However, in almost all cases, colleges will not look at your high school attendance record.

As someone who spent her freshman year at the University of Alabama (UA), I know firsthand how costly simply attending two semesters of classes can be there. Add to that the experience of Greek life, and your social circle isn’t the only thing that suddenly expands.

Sorority hashtags and content exploded on social media, as universities eased Covid-19 restrictions and let students resume fall recruitment activities. This was especially true for UA, which is often used as the benchmark for recruitment across the country due to its size and funding.

Earlier this year, Max (formerly HBO Max) released a documentary that examines UA rush through a magnifying glass. Whether you’ve seen the documentary, enthusiastically followed the #BamaRush trend, or you’re simply curious about the price that’s paid for Greek life, this article is a good starting point for learning about the true costs of sorority recruitment.

I’ll break down the rush process, point out its main financial factors, and weigh the pros and cons of taking on Greek life.

There are three main options for college admissions applications: early action, early decision, and regular decision. 

Early decision applications involve a commitment to enroll if admitted. In contrast, early action is non-binding.

Students who are admitted early action are not required to accept the offer of admission. They may accept or reject the offer of admission at the same due date as the regular admission pool, typically by May 1. 

Students who apply for early decision are limited to applying to just one college. Students who apply for early action may be limited to applying to just one college, called single-choice early action or restrictive early action. 

In some cases, restrictive early action colleges will allow early action applicants to apply early action to public colleges but not other private non-profit colleges. Some colleges with non-restrictive early action say that they do not share information about their early action applicants with other colleges, allowing the student to apply early action to more than one college. 

Here's a full breakdown of early action vs. early decision vs. regular admission.

College applications present students with a challenging and time-consuming project — perhaps the largest they have faced in their lives. As a parent, you can help your child manage the process, but you can also hurt their chances if you make the wrong moves.

Here’s a collection of college admissions secrets that can help you craft the ideal college list, get your child into schools they love, and choose one that you’ll be able to afford.

Whether you take the SAT or ACT, you’ll need to know how these college entrance exams are structured, the subject matter they include, and what kinds of scores are competitive.

How people physically handle their cash, whether organized or disorganized, directly reflects their money mindset.

Today's episode is an interview Robert had with Chuck Jaffee from the Money Life Show. He helps answer a reader question: what happens if you have money saved for college in a 529 plan, but then your child (or niece or nephew) don't actually go to college. What are the options? If you're starting from scratch, should you still consider a 529 plan?

We hope you enjoy the episode, and if you want to learn more about the Money Life Show, check them out on your favorite podcast platform.

Receiving multiple college acceptance letters can be both thrilling and confusing. It's a time when students may wonder if it’s permissible to hang onto more than just one of those golden tickets. But you shouldn’t jump to say yes to more than one offer. Each college admissions offer you accept constitutes a commitment and potentially a legal obligation.

Here’s a closer look at whether or not you can accept more than one college admission offer and how you should navigate this important decision with potentially lifelong implications.

To defer enrollment in college after you've been accepted, you can work with your college’s admissions office to complete its formal deferment process.

If you wish to change your college decision after you've been accepted to college you can, but be sure to follow the correct procedures. 

Many grad students leave school with huge amounts of student loan debt, but there is hope, in the form of graduate school student loan forgiveness programs. 

A 529 plan is an education savings account with federal tax benefits. The plans can be complicated, so we've broken down how 529 plans work into simple terms.

In 2011, some protestors encouraged borrowers to refuse to repay their student loans as part of Occupy Wall Street. They said that if enough borrowers joined this protest, the lenders would have no choice but to cancel the student loan debt.

Few people participated, and even those that did only lasted for a month or two. Nobody went into default as part of this protest.

More recently, after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked President Biden’s broad student loan forgiveness plan, some student loan protestors are once again urging their fellow borrowers to intentionally default on their federal student loans as a form of debt disobedience.

This kind of strategic default on federal student loans was a dumb idea then and it is a dumb idea now.

When a borrower defaults on their federal student loans, the only one hurt is the borrower, not the federal government.

Borrowers can’t force the federal government to forgive their student loans by refusing the repay them. Borrowers have no leverage, not even if they act together as a collective.

Even if the borrowers had some leverage, the U.S. Department of Education does not have the legal authority to forgive student loans, just as it doesn’t have the authority to incarcerate defaulted borrowers. Only Congress has the ability to pass laws to forgive student loan debt.

We break down the best business checking accounts for August 2023. Learn more here.

Wondering how to choose a business bank account? All bank accounts are slightly different, so there are several factors you need to consider. Learn more. 

The Private College 529 Plan lets you lock in current tuition rates for the future. But which schools recognize the plan and is it worth the cost? Learn more. 

For many college students, dorm room move-in day is fast approaching. Our tips show you how to prepare and make dorm room move-in easy. Learn more. 

Did you know that your student loans could get you fired?

Imagine this: One day your boss pulls you into his office, sits you down, and says there is a problem. However, your work itself has been flawless. But he doesn't want to talk to you about work — he wants to talk to you about your credit report.

You see, when you were hired, you agreed to let your employer run your credit report (maybe unknowingly, simply signing a form in your hiring packet). And now, for whatever reason, your boss lets you know that HR has concerns about your debt. Suddenly, you go from star employee to looking for a job.

You already know that student loans suck. It's a fact of life. But did you know that your student loan debt can get you fired? It's happened, and here are eight reasons why, and what you can do to prevent it.

The student loan double-consolidation loophole can make Parent PLUS loans eligible for all income-driven repayment plans, but it's ending in 2025. Learn more. 

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 work the same way when it comes to investing.

If you expect a guaranteed return on your investment, your portfolio could end up underperforming (or even worse, you fall victim to an investment scam). Here’s what you need to know about guarantees when it comes to your investments.

A liberal arts college emphasizes undergraduate studies in the liberal arts. But with expensive tuition, is a liberal arts degree worth the cost?

We dive into whether parents should give their child a credit card to use for when they go off to college.

Federal student loan repayment, paused for almost four years, is about to restart. Here are the important dates you need to know.  

Student loans can weight heavily on your finances after you graduate. Find out how student loans impact your credit score, both negatively and positively. 

The friends you make in college can be as valuable as the degree you earn, but meeting new people is hard. Follow these tips on how to make friends in college. 

Here are ten money mindset quotes that can help you frame budgeting, building wealth, and more.

College is more expensive than ever, but if you need to withdraw from school early, tuition refunds are not guaranteed. Find out how college refunds work. 

If you are paid hourly, how does it translate to an annual salary? The math is easier than you think. Here's how to convert hourly wage to annual salary. 

A FERPA waiver, when signed by a student, allows parents to gain access to academic records during college. However, this raises an interesting question: should parents push their college-bound children to sign?

Many parents, accustomed to having access to their child’s academic records throughout high school, are surprised when they no longer have the same access once their child enters college. As a result, some parents may consider requesting – or even pressuring – their child to sign a FERPA waiver. But is this a good idea?

We’ll explore the nuances of FERPA, the implications of signing a waiver, and the potential consequences of forcing a college student to comply.

We all hope terrible situations will never hurt us or our loved ones. But making practical plans for your eventual death will make your passing easier. That’s true whether you die unexpectedly at a young age or you live to be 140 years old.

Here are the six key estate planning documents that most people will eventually need. You might think all you need is a will, but once you understand how everything works, you'll see why you need all these documents and how they work together to ensure your family's needs and your final wishes are met. 

Remember, you don't want to end up like Chadwick Boseman's family.

If you don’t have a robust estate plan, keep reading to find out what you need.

The SAVE repayment plan is a new, updated version of the REPAYE income-driven repayment plan. How will it impact you? Learn more. 

As you prepare for college, have you considered that there may be risks in attending? Here are five of the biggest risks of college. Find out more. 

Investing for dividends is a key way to grow your portfolio and your wealth over time because dividends compound and grow over time.

If your financial aid package falls short of your need, you can ask the college for more financial aid by sending them a financial aid appeal letter.

A financial aid appeal is not like a negotiation. It is not like bargaining for a lower price on a car at the car dealership.

Most students lack leverage to get the college to throw out its financial aid rulebook. Good grades and test scores, and strong extracurriculars may get a student into a college, but aren’t enough to earn the student a full scholarship.

To get an increase to your financial aid package, you need to know how to present your financial situation correctly. Merely asking for more money will not work, unless your appeal is supported by documented special circumstances.

A successful financial aid appeal is based on providing the college financial aid administrator with relevant new information about special circumstances that affect your ability to pay for college. In this article, we'll show you how to write a financial aid appeal letter and let you know what supporting documentation to provide.

It's difficult to get a loan when you're unemployed. Find out what factors lenders consider, and how to manage your existing credit when you've lost your job. 

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 student loans, you may want to reconsider.

In this article, we cover the various 401(k) taxes and penalties, and present some alternative ways to eliminate your student loans.

Considering taking out subsidized or unsubsidized student loans? Read this first and know the difference when it comes to Federal Direct loans.

529 plan performance is tough to measure - it's not just the investment returns, but it's also about the tax benefits and fees.

Minimizing costs is usually key to maximizing returns, but not always. Sometimes, state income tax breaks can compensate for the cost of 529 plans with higher fees. So, how can you find the best 529 plan for your state and situation?

A more focused analysis of 529 plan portfolio performance net of costs and state income tax breaks yields results that differ from traditional 529 plan ratings.

Let's break it down.

This step-by-step guide helps you prioritize which debts to pay first, how to keep going, and ways to better pay off loans and credit cards.

One of the biggest fears families have about using a 529 plan to save for college is the dreaded 529 plan penalty.

There are many ways to save and pay for college, and the absolute best way to do it varies depending on your specific situation. A 529 plan, which is designed to help you with higher education expenses, is a type of tax-advantaged account that allows you to save and invest money.

As long as you withdraw that money for qualified expenses, you can do so without paying taxes on it. However, if you don't use the funds in your 529 plan for qualified education expenses, you may be assessed a tax penalty.

Thankfully, it's fairly straightforward to avoid this 529 plan penalty, as long as you take a few precautionary steps.

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, and maintain eligibility for these programs.

Here’s what you need to know about the different ways to get nonprofit student loan forgiveness.

The main difference between a prepaid tuition plan and 529 plan is that prepaid tuition plans allow you to lock in tuition credits at today's prices.

Prepaid tuition plans and 529 college savings plans are specialized savings accounts used for future college costs. Prepaid tuition plans act like defined benefit plans, while 529 plans act like defined contribution plans.

There are other significant similarities and differences between them. Get the details for each to figure out which plan makes more sense for your college needs.

Feeling the pinch when it comes to saving for college? If so here are practical tips on how to save for college for multiple children.