The College Investor Audio Show

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How To Handle Basic Living Expenses During Student Loan Repayment Oct 22, 2025

Show notes

If you've recently graduated college and started full-time employment, you will start entering the repayment phase of your student loans. Even though payments on many student loans were paused during the Covid-19 pandemic, it is wise to make sure that you are ready for when student loan payments unpause.

Hopefully you were able to minimize your use of student loans for living expenses while you were in college. Now it's time to take a look at how to handle your living expenses as you start to repay your student loans.

The good news is that there are plenty of options to fit your student loan payments into your ongoing budget. The important part is to make sure that you are proactive and reasonable about how you will handle your basic living expenses during your student loan repayment.

How To Get Non-Profit Student Loan Forgiveness Oct 21, 2025

Show notes

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.

How Honest Financial Advisors Should Disclose Their Fees Oct 18, 2025

Show notes

Two weeks ago, I was chatting with a reader who was researching low cost index funds. I was so excited because he wanted to learn about expense ratios, commissions, fees, and more. Although I talk about finance all the time, it's still rare to have someone interested for long periods of time.

After chatting for a bit, I got around to asking him what made him so interested in the topic. He seemed like he was doing well enough. He definitely had some investable funds, was on his way to retirement, and everything seemed good.

He told me - "I feel like my advisor isn't steering me in the right path based on what I read online on sites like yours." I asked him to elaborate a little bit for me.

He said - "My advisor consistently talks about how he's the top performer in North Carolina. However, everywhere I read online says to invest with low cost Vanguard funds. When I mention that to him, he changes the subject or diverts to other topics. It makes me feel off..."

Beyond the fact that you shouldn't feel this way with a financial advisor, I firmly believe that your financial advisor should be very transparent with costs for you. When this reader shared his portfolio with me, I was so sad...

Tax-Loss Harvesting: A Step-By-Step Guide Oct 15, 2025

Show notes

Savvy investors are always looking for ways to reduce their tax burdens. Although no one can completely avoid taxes, harnessing the power of tax-loss harvesting is one smart way to save.

No one buys an investment with the expectation that it will lose money. But tax-loss harvesting provides a unique opportunity to benefit from downturns when they occur.

Through tax-loss harvesting, you can use losing investments to offset your realized capital gains and/or some of your ordinary taxable income. Keep reading to learn all about how it works!

Should You Use Your 401k For Student Loan Repayment? Oct 14, 2025

Show notes

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.

Student Loan Forgiveness For Nurses And Healthcare Workers Oct 13, 2025

Show notes

The average student graduates college with over $30,600 in debt. If you went to a 4-year nursing program (or its equivalent), you have probably accumulated around this amount as well.

Tack on grad school costs in case you want to advance your nursing career and you could be looking at around $60,000 in student loan debt.

Even if you do get a well-paying job as most nurses tend to get once they are out of school, a $60,000 loan hanging over your head is still stressful considering that paying back student loans will not be the only responsibility you have after you graduate.

If you are a nurse or healthcare worker who would really like those pesky student loans gone for good, this post is for you. In today’s post, we will provide you with some great resources that will help you get most if not all of your loans forgiven.

This guide is specific to nurses, but you might also find this guide helpful: 80 Ways To Get Student Loan Forgiveness. Let's dive in!

Does The Government Profit Off Of Student Loans? Oct 12, 2025

Show notes

It should be a simple question - does the government profit off of student loans? But depending on who you ask, the federal government either earned a profit or lost money on federal student loans prior to the pandemic. The answer depends on political and accounting perspectives.

During the pandemic, however, the payment pause and interest waiver has caused the federal government to lose money on federal student loans, regardless of the method used to calculate the subsidy rates. By forgoing nearly $5 billion a month in interest, the federal student loan program swung from a profit to a loss even in the most optimistic of projections.

Let’s take a tour of how the federal government’s budget calculates the subsidy rates for various federal programs. But, before we do this, let’s review the concept of net present value accounting.

How To Transfer Colleges (And Should You) Oct 11, 2025

Show notes

Choosing the right school for you can be difficult. Not only does the decision come while you’re still fairly young, but it can also be heavily influenced by external factors that end up not aligning with what you want. Take it from someone who’s been there.

In fact, about one-third of college students transfer schools at some point before finishing their degree. And total transfers represented over 13% of all continuing and returning undergraduates last year.

This article walks through the top reasons students choose to transfer, how to identify when the time is right, and what to do to set yourself up for success at a new school.

New Roth Catch-Up Rule Hits High Earners In 2026 Oct 09, 2025

Show notes

Older workers nearing retirement have long enjoyed a valuable benefit: the ability to make additional, tax-deferred contributions to their workplace retirement plans. But under a new federal rule taking effect in 2026, that benefit is changing for many.

Beginning January 1, 2026, employees age 50 or older who earn more than $145,000 in the prior year will no longer be able to make pre-tax catch-up contributions to 401(k), 403(b), or 457(b) plans. Instead, these contributions must go into a Roth account, meaning they’ll be taxed upfront but grow and withdraw tax-free later.

The change stems from the SECURE 2.0 Act, which included dozens of provisions designed to expand retirement savings and modernize plan administration. The Roth catch-up rule was one of the most debated, prompting the IRS to delay its start date from 2024 to 2026 to give employers time to update payroll systems and plan documents.

In fact, just this month we've seen solo 401k plan providers update their plans to provide more options as well!

Is PSLF Buyback Worth It? What It Will Cost You Oct 08, 2025

Show notes

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program requires 120 qualifying monthly payments while working for an eligible employer. But many borrowers are falling short because months spent in deferment or forbearance (even while employed full-time in public service) did not count. This is specifically harmful because of the SAVE forbearance, which found 8 million borrowers in forbearance due to court rulings outside of their control.

The buyback provision was introduced to address this gap. It allows borrowers to make a lump-sum payment covering past periods of deferment or forbearance, effectively turning those months into qualifying payments. For someone sitting at 117 or 118 payments, buyback could push them over the forgiveness threshold.

In theory, it’s a practical fix for years of technical disqualification. In practice, the process is opaque and there's currently a backlog of 74,000 PSLF buyback requests while the Department of Education is only processing about 5,000 per month.

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