Category Archives: US personal finance

US states opposing student loan forgiveness made false claims, files reveal

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Republican states fighting Joe Biden’s plan falsely said they’d be financially impacted by the scheme, debt forgiveness group claims

Newly uncovered documents show that the Republican states fighting Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan have made false claims that they will “suffer injuries”, or rather, be financially impacted by the scheme, a debt forgiveness campaign group has claimed.

The supreme court case that will decide the fate of Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, Nebraska v Biden, rests on one of the plaintiffs, Missouri’s state attorney general, who claims Mohela – as the higher education loan authority of the state of Missouri is known – will be financially affected by the plan for the worse.

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‘I still owe $123,379’: pressure grows on Biden to tackle student loan debt

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Many have been paying thousands of dollars in interest alone, with their principal debt hardly affected despite monthly payments

In 2001, Karen Herrera of Minnesota took advice from a Sallie Mae representative to consolidate her student loan debt with her husband’s. They both worked in the public sector, but due to their type of loans, they did not qualify for public service forgiveness. Herrera lost her job in 2009 due to the economic recession, and though the couple filed for bankruptcy, their student loan debts remained.

Herrera and her husband have continued to make monthly payments throughout the pandemic, as their loans through the Federal Family Education Loan Program were not eligible for the pause on payments.

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Tax day: Venmo and PayPal users face more paperwork under new US rules

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Americans paid through digital payment service required to notify IRS of payments amounting to more than $600 a year, down from $20,000

It’s tax day in the US, the deadline for most individuals to file and pay tax owed. But while this year’s tax season may be closing for millions of Americans who are paid through a digital payment service such as PayPal, Venmo, Zelle and Cash App, the next tax year could come with even more complications.

Under a new law buried in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, digital payment services, or Third-Party Settlement Organizations (TPSOs), will now be required to notify federal tax collectors of payments amounting to more than $600 in total during the course of the year.

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Goodbye to job: how the pandemic changed Americans’ attitude to work

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Millions of workers have been leaving jobs that offer long hours and low pay – and for many the release has been exhilarating

One morning in October, Lynn woke up and decided she would quit her job on the spot that day. The decision to quit was the climax of a reckoning that began at the start of the pandemic when she was first laid off from a job she had been in for three years.

“I’ve always had the attitude of being a really hard worker,” Lynn said, explaining that she believed her skills made her indispensable to this company. “That really changed for me because I realized you could feel totally capable and really important when, really, you’re expendable.”

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How we can truly repay our frontline health workers: clear their debts | Alissa Quart, Astra Taylor And Brittany M Powell

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Many of the workers risking their lives amid the pandemic are burdened with student debt. We owe them more than just applause

Every day at 7pm, New Yorkers have cheered, applauded and banged pots and pans for frontline workers. One of those they have cheered for is Shana-Kay Henry, a physician assistant in the city, who, like thousands of others, is praised as a hero for her brave caretaking efforts during the pandemic.

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Revealed: millions of Americans can’t afford water as bills rise 80% in a decade

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Exclusive: analysis of US cities shows emergency on affordability of running water amid Covid-19 pandemic

Millions of ordinary Americans are facing rising and unaffordable bills for running water, and risk being disconnected or losing their homes if they cannot pay, a landmark Guardian investigation has found.

Exclusive analysis of 12 US cities shows the combined price of water and sewage increased by an average of 80% between 2010 and 2018, with more than two-fifths of residents in some cities living in neighbourhoods with unaffordable bills.

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They became millionaires and retired at 31. They think you can do the same

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The authors Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung are part of a movement called Fire that encourages people to save intensively to retire early

Growing up in poverty in rural China, where her family collectively lived on as little as $0.44 a day, Kristy Shen learned to make decisions based on pragmatism rather than passion from a young age.

On her first ever trip to a toy shop aged eight, after her family moved to Canada, she declined the offer of a teddy bear in favour of a cheaper one and requested that her father send the remainder of the money to their family in China. As a teenager, she chose to be a computer engineer, ignoring her dream to be a writer, based on a formula she devised to rank the best value university courses based on tuition fees versus future pay. And as an adult, any domestic disagreements with her husband, Bryce Leung, are generally won or lost based on who makes the best mathematical case.

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