The New Middle-Class Squeeze: Why $100K Feels Broke

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.

Investors have likely heard that investing in stocks is a smart move for your financial future. But that’s only true if you build an investment portfolio that aligns with your financial goals. Unfortunately, the process of investing in stocks seems shrouded in mystery for many beginners. The good news is that researching stocks doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Like all skills, you’ll need to learn the basics to get started.

Robert was on Money Life with Chuck Jaffe this week discussing how Google AI overviews get the answer wrong over one-third of the time. This has serious consequences and you need to be mindful about what you're reading.

Being on top of your finances means that financial mistakes become fewer and farther between. But tax filing happens just once per year, and it’s easy to make mistakes that lead to overpaying the IRS. When that happens, filers have the opportunity to correct their mistakes by filing IRS Form 1040-X. Once the amended return is processed, the IRS cuts overpaying taxpayers an extra refund check.If you’ve ever made a mistake on your tax return, you may have the opportunity to correct it. We dive into how to file an amended tax return.

College tuition can vary widely between in-state and out-of-state rates — often more than double the cost for nonresidents. To make higher education more affordable, many states have entered regional tuition reciprocity agreements.These programs allow students from participating states to attend public colleges in neighboring states at discounted rates. While programs vary, these options offer matching in-state tuition or other big discounts to make college more affordable.There are four major programs that serve clusters of states:Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE)New England Tuition Break (NEBHE)Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP)Souther Regional Education Board's Academic Common Market (ACM)For many families, understanding these programs can open the door to colleges beyond state lines without the steep price tag.

President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that his administration plans to send “a dividend of at least $2,000 per person” to most Americans, excluding high-income households. The payments would allegedly be financed entirely by tariffs collected on imported goods, rather than through borrowing or new taxes.Trump described the initiative as both a payment to everyone and a tool to reduce the national debt, now approaching $37 trillion. This post comes after a tough week for Trump at the Supreme Court, where his tariffs faced skepticism from multiple Supreme Court Justices.

Starting July 1, 2026, the federal student loan system will enter a new era.A sweeping set of federal policy changes will reshape how families and graduate students borrow for college starting in 2026. The legislation, passed this summer, eliminates some long-standing loan programs and replaces them with new caps and repayment plans.While the reforms aim to contain debt growth and improve accountability for colleges, they also mark a clear shift away from the flexible borrowing model that has defined federal student aid for years. The Result: fewer borrowing options, stricter limits, and new tradeoffs for both students and parents.

For decades, earning six figures was seen as the turning point between “getting by” and “getting ahead.” But today, more Americans are discovering that $100,000, or even $200,000, no longer feels like financial security.Between rising living costs, disappearing tax credits, health insurance subsidy cliffs, and inflation that still lingers, many millennial and Gen Z households earning well above the median income are wondering: Where is all the money going?When you combine the math of what these families actually take home with other statistics, like dropping homeownership and lower savings rates, the picture becomes clear: outdated tax policies and benefit cliffs, combined with higher costs of living, are holding families back.

You can potentially use a 529 plan to pay for trade school, vocational school, and apprenticeships.If you or your family have saved money for your education within a 529 plan, you can use those funds to pay for qualified education expenses without tax implications. But how about students who opt to attend a trade school instead of a traditional college or university? Can you still use the funds in your 529 to cover college costs?We explore what the funds in your 529 can be used for, whether apprenticeships are eligible, and share some tips of how to fill any potential funding gaps. 

At first glance, the Trump administration’s push to privatize federal student loans might look like a political calculation. But the economics behind recent policy changes tell a subtler story.Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), the administration’s sweeping higher-education and tax package, the federal government is tightening who can borrow and how much through programs like Parent PLUS and Grad PLUS. These loans have long been among the government’s most profitable, often taken out by creditworthy parents in the middle or late stage of their careers, or graduate students pursuing high-paying careers like medicine and law.Now, new borrowing limits and the elimination of Grad PLUS for future students are changing that dynamic. Families and graduate borrowers who once relied on federal programs for large sums may soon find themselves turning to private lenders instead.It’s a structural shift that accomplishes, in practice, what privatization would have done politically: it moves the most lucrative borrowers (and the profits that come with them) into the private market, while leaving the federal government with the less profitable parts of the student loan portfolio.