January 14, 2014 By

Tuesday’s need-to-know money news

Today’s top story: Ten ways to fix the student loan crisis. Also in the news: Questions to ask before you retire, simple things you can do to boost your credit score, and the resolutions every indebted consumer should make. Health claim form

10 Ways to Fix Student Loans in 2014
Actions Congress can take to help solve the student loan crisis.

7 Questions to Ask if You Plan to Retire this Year
What you need to know before putting in your papers.

What’s the Simplest Thing I Can Do to Boost My Credit Score?
Boosting your score can be surprisingly easy.

The 4 Resolutions Every Indebted Consumer Should Make in 2014
You’ve got work to do.

How to Get Your Insurance Claim Paid
Steps you can take to help speed along your claim.

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January 13, 2014 By

Should she use 0% credit card offer to pay student loan debt?

Dear Liz: I currently owe $27,000 in student loans at an 11.5% interest rate. I have excellent credit and about $8,000 in savings and contribute 17% of my income to a workplace retirement plan. Should I invest less in my 401(k) and pay off debt instead? I just got a balance transfer offer for 0% for 15 months with a 3% transaction fee. I’m considering taking $3,000 and putting it toward my high-interest student loan.

Answer: If you had federal student loans, transferring any part of your debt to a credit card would be a bad idea. That’s because federal student loans come with consumer protections that allow you to reduce or even eliminate your payments if you fall on hard economic times. You certainly wouldn’t want to reduce your retirement savings to pay off these flexible, fixed-rate loans.

The higher rate you are paying indicates that you have private student loans, which typically don’t have the same protections and which usually have variable rates that will climb higher when inflation returns.

Credit card debt has similar flaws — plus you would lose the interest rate deduction on any student loans you paid off this way. Instead, you may want to investigate the option of refinancing and consolidating your private student loans with a credit union. Credit unions are member-owned financial institutions that often offer better rates than traditional lenders. One site representing credit unions, CUStudentLoans.org, currently advertises variable rates on consolidation loans that range from just under 5% to just over 7%.

If you continued to make your current payments on a consolidated loan with a lower interest rate, you would be able to pay off your loans years faster — saving on interest without jeopardizing your future retirement.

Filed Under: Credit & Debt, Credit Cards, Q&A, Student Loans Tagged With: , , ,
December 30, 2013 By

Putting off retirement savings is an expensive mistake

Dear Liz: I have about $16,000 in student loans at 6.8% interest. At the current monthly payment it would take me about 7.5 years to pay them off. I contribute 10% of my income to my company’s Roth 401(k) plan (my employer matches the first 6% contributed). I also contribute 3% to the stock purchasing plan. I am thinking of cutting back my 401(k) contribution to 6% and not contributing to the stock purchasing plan. Applying the extra money to my loans would reduce the payback period to about 2.5 years. After that, I would increase the contribution amount and diversify with a Roth IRA as well and maybe even begin the stock purchase program again. What do you think?

Answer: Not contributing to retirement accounts is usually an expensive mistake. The younger you are, the more expensive it can be.

Every $1,000 not contributed to a retirement plan in your 30s means about $10,000 less in retirement income. That assumes an average annual growth rate of 8%, which is the historical average for a stock-heavy portfolio.

In your 20s, the cost of not contributing that $1,000 is $20,000 of lost future retirement income. The extra decade of not getting those compounded returns makes a big difference.

People have the erroneous idea that they can put off retirement savings and somehow catch up later. Catching up, though, becomes increasingly difficult the longer you wait. A better approach is to save as much as possible starting in your 20s when the money has the longest time to grow. Then you’ll be in a better position to withstand job losses or other interruptions of your ability to save. If those setbacks don’t happen, you’d have the option of retiring early.

Granted, your plan would require reducing retirement contributions for just a few years. But the federal student loans you have are fixed-rate, tax-deductible debt that you don’t need to be in a hurry to pay off. In the long run, you’d be much better off boosting your retirement contributions.

If you’re determined to pay down your loans, however, use the money you’ve been contributing to the stock purchase plan. Continue making at least a 10% contribution to your retirement plan and increase that as soon as you can.

Filed Under: Credit & Debt, Q&A, Retirement, Saving Money Tagged With: , , ,
December 30, 2013 By

Uncle Sam can help with education costs

Dear Liz: I have rental property, own my home outright, am contributing to a 401(k) and have a pension, so finances are not a big issue. I do have an adult son in law school and would like to know the most fiscally prudent way to pay for it. Are there limits on gifts, and can the money be tax deductible since it is an investment to increase his future earnings?

Answer: Interest on student loans is generally tax deductible for the person who takes out the loan if his or her income is below certain limits (the deduction begins to phase out at $50,000 adjusted gross income for single filers and $100,000 for joint filers), said Mark Luscombe, principal analyst for CCH Tax & Accounting North America.

Education tax credits also can help offset college costs. The American Opportunity Credit is limited to the first four years of college, but law school expenses could qualify for the Lifetime Learning Credit, Luscombe said. The credit starts to phase out at $53,000 of adjusted gross income for single filers and $107,000 for joint filers, he said.

If you don’t qualify for other credits and your son is under age 24, you may be able to deduct up to $4,000 in qualified education expenses if your income is below certain limits (modified adjusted gross income of $160,000 if married filing jointly or $80,000 if single), Luscombe said. You can find out the details in IRS Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education.

Another potential tax benefit has to do with the gift tax. You can avoid the hassle of filing a gift tax return, or using up any portion of your gift tax exclusion, if you pay tuition or medical bills for someone else. You have to pay the provider directly — you can’t cut a check to the person receiving the services.

Normally, you’d have to file a gift tax return if you gave any recipient more than the gift tax exclusion limit, which is $14,000 in 2013. You wouldn’t be subject to an actual gift tax, however, until the sum of the contributions over that $14,000 limit exceeded your lifetime gift exemption. The gift exemption is currently $5.25 million, so the gift tax is an issue that few people face.

If you are that rich and generous, then you’ll probably want to discuss your situation with a qualified estate planning attorney to find the best ways to give.

Filed Under: College Savings, Q&A, Taxes Tagged With: , , ,
December 12, 2013 By

Dropouts, addicts and teachers: must-read stories for this week

iStock_000016702801XSmallMy column for Reuters this week covers the perils facing community college students who “stop out” once too often. Reuters also posted an excellent piece on the financial toll addicts take on their families, plus a column on what teachers really want for the holidays (hint: it’s not another coffee mug!).

That break from college? Stopping out leads to dropping out
Taking a break from college isn’t unusual, but taking more than one can doom a student’s chances of getting a four-year degree.

More than 22 million Americans abused drugs or alcohol in a recent survey. What’s a family member to do? Experts offer some advice.

Holiday gifts teachers really want
Teachers share what gifts have meant the most to them over the years.

Finally, don’t forget to enter this week’s book giveaway. Time’s running out! Details here.

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December 5, 2013 By

Should you bail on your 529 plan?

Education savingsLong-time readers know I’m a big fan of using state-run 529 college plans to save for higher education expenses. (Remember the mantra: if you can save for college, you should!) Money in these plans grows tax-free when used for qualified college costs and doesn’t have much impact on financial aid (which is going to be mostly loans, anyway).

But the plans aren’t created equal–in fact, they’re so diverse it’s kind of daunting to track and compare them. Investment research firm Morningstar does just that, though, and every year creates a list of the best (and worst) plans. That list gives us 529 investors a chance to compare our plans against a gold standard and consider whether we need a change.

I’ve changed plans once, from California’s then-middling plan to Nevada’s top-rated one, and was surprised by how easy it was. (We still have some money in California’s plan, which is now higher in Morningstar’s ratings.) Some people are tied to their state’s plan by tax breaks or other incentives, but many aren’t. If you’re not happy with your plan, it’s time to consider a change.

You can read more about it in my Reuters column this week, “Is it time to switch 529 college savings plans?“

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November 27, 2013 By

Can you be too focused on paying off debt?

It’s probably my Lutheran upbringing that makes me wary of extremism in any form. Moderation in all things, doncha know.

Lately, I’m noticing extremism when it comes to paying off debt.

People think they’re doing the right thing by targeting student loans and mortgages for early payoff. But they could be hurting themselves if they’re stinting their retirement funds or leaving themselves with too little financial flexibility.

Let’s take student loans. Their interest is tax-deductible. If they’re federal loans, they have fixed rates and a number of consumer protections, including the ability to delay payments if you run into economic hard times.

Once you prepay those loans, though, the money’s gone. You can’t borrow it back, as you could with a line of credit.

I just heard of another family that rushed to pay off student debt, only to face an emergency fund on fumes when the father was furloughed.

Mortgage pre-payers face a similar problem these days. Before the financial crisis, they could have opened a new equity line even if their incomes were diminished or non-existent. These days lenders are wary of anyone who’s lost a job, which can make borrowing against a home problematic when you’re facing a financial crisis.

One solution is to open a home equity line of credit and keeping it open and unused for emergencies. Another is to simply make sure your debt payoff strategy makes sense with your larger financial picture. If you’re not saving enough for retirement or emergencies, those should be your priorities long before you target low-rate, tax-deductible debt.

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November 22, 2013 By

Will declining enrollment lower college costs?

Education savingsThe number of high school graduates peaked in 2011 at 3.4 million and will drop to about 3.2 million next year. That’s not a huge decline, granted, but it’s a big change from the two previous decades where colleges could count on an ever-growing population of “traditional age” students.

Still, the experts I interviewed for this week’s Reuters column about declining enrollment don’t believe we’ll see lower college costs any time soon. Less demand will moderate the increases, they say, and so will an improved economy. States are likely to restore some of the funds they cut during the recession and its aftermath, which should decrease the pressure to keep raising tuition.

The short version: college demographics, and college costs, are a many-faceted thing. There wasn’t just one factor that led to spiraling tuition costs, and a single factor won’t reverse that trend.

So keep contributing to that 529.

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November 4, 2013 By

Settling student loan debt: not exactly the easy way out

Education savingsCredit card debts can be settled for pennies on the dollar. Not so student loan debt. Borrowers usually can’t threaten bankruptcy to get a settlement, and the federal government has extraordinary powers to force borrowers to pay. (The feds collect between $1.11 and $1.22 for every $1 owed.)

But in the right circumstances, student loan debt can be settled. My latest column for Reuters explains who might be in a good position to try: those who have a lump sum to offer, and whose prospects for paying up otherwise are dim.

Also, in case you missed it, check out “Saving for college? 529 plans aren’t as safe as you think.” These tax-advantaged plans are still the best way for most families to save, but you need to keep a close eye on your mix of stocks, bonds and cash as your kids approach college age. Bond-heavy portfolios are common in the final years of age-based plans, but those could be in for some shocks if interest rates rise.

 

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October 25, 2013 By

Why millennials have to be smarter than their parents

Help at financial crisisNerdWallet recently published a fascinating study contending that high debt loads will prevent today’s college graduates from retiring before age 73. I have a few nitpicks with the study, but the underlying message is clear: millennials will have to be a lot smarter than previous generations if they want a decent, on-time retirement.

First, my nitpicks.  NerdWallet contends the current average retirement age is 61. It’s actual 62 for women and 64 for men, according to the most recent research by Alicia Munnell, director of the influential Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. (Munnell authored another interesting brief showing that the “real” Social Security retirement age is now 70, which gives people the same expected length of retirement they had back in 1940. Furthermore, an argument could be made to move it to 73 for millennials, who will live even longer than Boomers. I won’t make that argument, though, since I wouldn’t have to wait that long…I’m sure most others wouldn’t, either.)

The NerdWallet study also assumes that paying off student loans inevitably will prevent millennials from making significant contributions to their retirement funds for the first 10 years of their careers—years when they would get the most benefit from retirement contributions. Thanks to the miracle of compounding, $1,000 contributed to a retirement account can grow to $20,000 or more by retirement age. Wait 10 years to contribute that first $1,000, and your growth is cut by half, to $10,000.

So here’s what millennials should know:

Retirement contributions can’t wait. Retirement really has to be your top priority from the time you get your first paycheck. You can’t get back lost opportunities to save and nothing—including debt repayment—is more important than this.

Don’t be in a rush to pay back student loans. Federal student loans, especially, are flexible debt with a ton of consumer protections. If you can’t pay your student loans and contribute to a retirement fund, then consolidate your loans to a longer payback period so that you can put some money away for tomorrow. Yes, you’ll pay more interest on your loans, but that cost will be swamped by the growth of your retirement accounts once you factor in the tax breaks and compounding you’ll get. If you have a company match, the calculation’s even more of a slam dunk.

Get a better 401(k). Beggars can’t be choosers, and many millennials will have to take what they can get in this very tough job market. As they build their skills and networks, though, they should start looking for positions with companies that offer good 401(k)s with generous matches. In the meantime, they should contribute to any workplace plan that’s offered. No plan? Set up an IRA with automatic transfers to fund it. You’ve got to find a way to save if you want to quit work someday.

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