Building Assets vs. Paying Off Loans→

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Snowball. Avalanche. Gazelle.

Search engine optimization (SEO) words for the National Geographic, you ask?

Maybe, but they’re also terms for debt-payoff strategies popularized by personal finance commentators. Being debt-free, and getting there as fast as possible, are widely promoted in the personal finance community. This is, of course, a good thing. Having no debt is a great accomplishment and can come with some real emotional benefits. Some people feel less stress just knowing they don’t have debt payments.

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The Limitations of Refinancing Student Loans

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Interest rates are down, and the desire to refinance existing debt is up. Especially student loans. The past few years have seen a swarm of companies come on the scene with the purpose of helping facilitate the refinancing of student debt. A swarm of new companies means an avalanche of advertising. Like all good advertising, they make it seem like you're missing out by not using their services.

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SLPs and Student Loans: Student Loans Part 2: Is Public Service Loan Forgiveness for You?→

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A guest post I wrote for the ASHA Leader blog.

This blog post is the second in a two-part series about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. This follow-up offers an infographic to help audiologists and speech-language pathologists filter out if you should or should not pursue this particular forgiveness program.

SLPs and Student Loans: Navigating Student Loan Forgiveness for Audiologists and SLPs→

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A guest post for the ASHA Leader blog. 

With many job opportunities available at hospitals, schools and other nonprofit institutions for communication sciences and disorders professionals, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Programoffers applicable and helpful loan repayment options. Navigating the qualifying requirements, however, can cause more frustration than learning to insert a flexible fiberoptic endoscopic examination of swallowing scope.

ASHA Leader Blog: Financial Tips for Recent CSD Grads

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ASHA Leader Blog: Financial Tips for Recent CSD Grads

Part 1 of 2 posts focusing on recent SLP graduates starting their careers!

Congratulations! You’re the owner of a newly minted degree giving you access to a great career in speech and hearing sciences. Now what? The transition from college to a full-time career is exciting, a bit liberating and often overwhelming. Let’s talk about two financial areas where you should focus your attention as you job hunt this summer. Read more.

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ASHA Leader Blog: Financial Spring Cleaning: 6 Questions to Ask Yourself

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My latest guest post to the ASHA Leader blog.

Forget cleaning your home! It’s boring, and let’s be honest, in two weeks it’s going to be a mess again anyway. You’re busy helping people and only have so much time. This spring I suggest you clean up your finances. To help you get started, I offer six questions for you to ponder:

Check out the full piece!

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ASHA Leader Blog: The Perfect Complement to Your School or Hospital Pension

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My first guest post to the ASHA Leader blog! 

If your employer provides a pension, be happy. A pension provides a powerful retirement tool in your arsenal. The jovial folks at the Department of Labor and National Association of State Retirement Administrators estimate 85 percent of state and local government employees participate in a defined benefit pension. I’m looking at you, public school clinicians. If you work at a federally operated hospital (like a Veterans Affairs facility) or institution, this applies to you, too. Even many nongovernment-operated hospitals offer pensions.

Shut Up, Brain!

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Shut Up, Brain!

“Well, I guess we’ll get there someday…maybe, haha. Until then, we’ve got the small things”

That was how my longtime girlfriend finished our conversation about some of the things we’re currently working towards; none of which are particularly exciting or exotic. In fact, most people have similar goals on the surface but dig deeper and they become uniquely ours for unique reasons.

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The Risk of Using Home Equity to Pay Off Student Loans

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You had damn good timing!

You bought a house in late ’09 or ’10 after graduating college and getting a good job, maybe even starting a family. A few years later, with a rebound in both housing and the overall economy, your home is worth substantially more than what you owe on it....

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You Should Use Credit Cards, They Are Awesome. (When Used Responsibly)

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You Should Use Credit Cards, They Are Awesome. (When Used Responsibly)

Let’s start out with this, credit cards are not evil! In fact, debt as a financial instrument is not evil. It has many useful and reasonable purposes. To turn a phrase: debts don’t kill your finances; you kill your finances (by making bad choices).

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Every Way To Pay Off Your Student Loans

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Every Way To Pay Off Your Student Loans

Have a student loan? You’re not the only one. 40 million US citizens have some form of higher education loan.

I imagine that number will continue to climb in the years ahead. As you can imagine, many of those 40 million people have questions. To help out this group of people, we’re going to run through a bunch of possible ways to work towards repaying your student loans.

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