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The State of Student Loan Forgiveness as 2026 Begins: Who Got Relief and Who Didn’t
45 minutes ago
Many federal student loan borrowers have faced difficulties accessing forgiveness this year due to ongoing court cases and changes to the student loan system. However, as the new year begins, the Department of Education has resumed several forgiveness programs that were delayed in 2025.
Firstly, before former President Joe Biden left office in January 2025, his administration approved billions of dollars in forgiveness to borrowers through various forgiveness programs, including income-based repayment plans, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, total and permanent disabilities, or borrower defense, where a borrower’s school engaged in certain types of misconduct.
Investopedia / Photo Composite by Elizabeth Guevara / Getty Images
One main route to forgiveness that was blocked in part of 2025 was income-driven repayment plans, where borrowers can get the remainder of their loans forgiven after they have made 20 or 25 years of payments. In addition, many public service workers and some nonprofit workers are waiting to complete their 10 years of payments and receive forgiveness through the PSLF program.
Read the full article here.
–Elizabeth Guevara
These Economists Nailed Their 2025 Forecast: Here’s What They Say About 2026
1 hr 18 min ago
The year ahead will feature stubborn inflation, an improving job market, and solid economic growth, according to a group of forecasters who nailed their outlook for 2025.
With all the different 2026 forecasts out there, it’s hard to know whom to trust. So Investopedia reviewed the 2025 outlooks in The Wall Street Journal’s annual survey of economists and found one team that was pretty spot on with their predictions for this year: the group led by Joseph Davis at Vanguard.
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In December 2024, Davis predicted the unemployment rate would be 4.4%, the economy would add an average of 97,500 jobs per month, and the Consumer Price Index would have increased 3% over the year. The year isn’t over yet, but these figures all are on track to be close to those levels, and among the most accurate of the 73 economists surveyed by the Journal.
“We always have humility with the forecasts, no question about that,” said Josh Hirt, a Vanguard economist who helped prepare the forecast. “But I think we’re in a very good range.”
Read the full article here.
–Diccon Hyatt
Social Security and the New Reality of Retirement: Work That Doesn’t Stop with Benefits
1 hr 43 min ago
While most Americans stop working once they claim Social Security benefits, many still need to work to keep up with their expenses, a new report found.
In 2022, approximately 40% of Social Security recipients worked at some point after claiming benefits, according to an analysis from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Some of these workers began receiving Social Security benefits before they retired. But others had to return to work to supplement their benefits to make ends meet.
Lawmakers and advocates have argued that Social Security benefits are not keeping up with retirees’ rising expenses. Between 2010 and 2024, the annual cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security have not kept pace with inflation, resulting in a loss of approximately 20% of buying power for beneficiaries, according to a report by The Senior Citizens League.
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About 68% of the beneficiaries who are still working claimed their Social Security benefits before their full retirement age.
Researchers at Boston College found that early claimants who are still working are less likely to have a college degree or have a managerial or professional occupation compared to claimants who claimed their benefits after their FRA. This group was also less likely to report they were in good health than those who waited until their FRA.
Read the full article here.
–Elizabeth Guevara
IRS Discontinues Free Direct File Tool—What Can Taxpayers Use Now Instead?
2 hours ago
A free tax preparation program used by thousands of taxpayers will not be available in the upcoming filing season.
The IRS Direct File program, which provided free tax software directly from the IRS website to taxpayers in 25 states, has been suspended. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, also the current interim IRS commissioner, told reporters that there are “better alternatives” and “that the private sector can do a better job.”
Following an order from the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” an IRS task force was recently created to research the costs of Direct File and the price of replacing the program. The bill called for the IRS to expand its use of the Free File program, which is free federal tax preparation software distributed by private sector companies for taxpayers with an annual income of $84,000 or less. The program is currently available to approximately 70% of taxpayers, but only about 2% of taxpayers used it in the last tax filing season.
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Republican lawmakers have previously called for the elimination of the Direct File program, arguing it is “unauthorized and wasteful.” The program cost approximately $41 million to operate during the 2024 tax year. Some 0.2% of all tax returns—a total of 296,531—were filed using Direct File during that year.
Although the program has low utilization, the majority of taxpayers held a favorable view of it. Almost three-fourths of tax filers were interested in using Direct File, according to a December 2024 survey by the Urban Institute. Of the taxpayers who used Direct File this year, 94% said their experience was ‘Excellent’ or ‘Above Average’ in the IRS 2025 filing season report.
Read the full article here.
–Elizabeth Guevara
Will 2026 Bring Inflation Relief? Economists Weigh In
2 hr 22 min ago
We’re still waiting for consumer price increases to simmer down to the levels we got used to in the pre-pandemic years.
And if 2026 forecasts are correct, we may have to keep waiting.
Prior to 2021, prices as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditures index excluding food and energy typically rose less than 2% each year. But in 2022, that key inflation measure surged to an annual increase of 5.6%, the highest in nearly four decades.
Economists’ year-ahead forecasts for 2026 vary considerably, but most expect the key inflation measure to remain at least slightly above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2% for at least another year.
Raquel Natalicchio / Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
Predictions are never easy, and they’re made all the more complicated this year by the economy’s many crosswinds. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have pushed up consumer prices, and no one is certain exactly how long that will last. Another wildcard: Trump’s crackdown on immigration, which could push up wages in industries where a lot of immigrants work, which in turn would potentially push prices higher.
Read the full article here.
–Diccon Hyatt
Tesla Reports Q4 Deliveries Below Expectation
2 hr 31 min ago
Tesla (TSLA) ended a disappointing year of sales with a rough fourth quarter.
The electric vehicle maker reported 418,227 deliveries in Q4, down 16% year-over-year and below the 422,850 consensus of 20 sell-side analysts it had reported Monday in advance of the release.
Tesla delivered 1,636,129 vehicles in 2025, 9% below 2024’s figure. It was the company’s second straight yearly decline.
However, investors have looked past slumping EV sales to focus on the rollout of Tesla’s robotaxi service and its broader mission to pioneer physical AI. Wedbush analyst and noted Tesla bull Dan Ives predicted in a note last month that 2026 will be a “game changer” for the company, expecting Tesla to begin volume production of Cybercabs by May and accelerate its robotaxi rollout with the help of federal regulators.
Shares rose 1.4% at the bell Friday. They entered the day up about 19% over the past year.
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Here’s How Much Mortgage Rates Must Fall to Make Housing Affordable for Buyers
2 hr 57 min ago
Some housing markets are so expensive that they would still be unaffordable even if rates plummeted. In other areas, a small decline in rates would be enough to make homeownership possible for many buyers.
A 2025 Zillow report found that mortgage rates nationwide would need to fall more than. 4% to make the typical home affordable for a median-income family. Currently, the average mortgage rate on a 30-year, fixed-interest loan is around 6.18%.
The study assumed a 20% down payment and defined affordability as a monthly mortgage payment of less than 30% of the median household income. New York, Los Angeles, and Miami are examples of big cities with rising home values that wouldn’t be affordable even with a 0% mortgage rate. New York’s average home value is over $800,000, while in Los Angeles it’s just shy of $1 million.
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Boston and Seattle are also pricey, and borrowing costs would have to fall to below 1% to achieve affordability. Dallas, New Orleans, and Nashville would have to see rates drop by more than two percentage points in order for housing to be affordable there.
Other areas of the U.S. have lower prices, meaning that housing would still be affordable even if rates climbed above 6.7%, Zillow said.
Read the full article here.
–Terry Lane
High School Seniors Enter a New Student Loan Era in 2026
3 hr 22 min ago
High school seniors planning to attend college in the fall of 2026 will face a significantly different landscape when it comes to federal student loans, compared to previous years.
‘The One Big Beautiful Bill’ made many changes to student loans, most of which will take effect on July 1, 2026. Some of these updates will affect existing borrowers, but the majority of the changes will affect current college students and high school seniors preparing for college.
Lending limits for subsidized and unsubsidized loans that are taken out by undergraduate students will remain the same. However, parents or grandparents who want to help their student pay for college with a Parent PLUS loan will be subject to new loan limits.
Investopedia / Photo Composite by Elizabeth Guevara / Getty Images
Currently, Parent PLUS loans allow parents and grandparents to borrow up to the student’s cost of attendance, minus any financial aid they receive. There is currently no aggregate limit on the total dollar amount of Parent PLUS loans that can be taken out for a student’s education.
However, families of high school seniors entering college in the fall 2026 semester can only borrow up to $20,000 a year, and will have an aggregate limit of $65,000 per child.
Read the full article here.
–Elizabeth Guevara
Federal Loan Access for Graduate Students Is Shrinking. These Are Alternative Financing Options
3 hr 52 min ago
Starting with the 2026-2027 school year, graduate students will no longer have access to a key federal loan program to help them pay for their education, and many will need to find other options to finance their graduate degrees.
The “One Big, Beautiful Bill” has reduced the amount of loans students and their families have access to for all kinds of education costs.
Many graduate students will be affected, since the legislation eliminates their ability to take out Grad PLUS loans. In the 2024-25 award year, about 545,000 graduate students had a PLUS loan.
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Students who have taken out a Grad PLUS loan before July 1, 2026, can still borrow PLUS loans for up to three more years, or until their program ends.
Additionally, starting in the 2026-27 academic year, non-professional graduate students will be limited to borrowing up to $100,000. Professional graduate students, including those studying medicine and law, can borrow a maximum of $200,000 in unsubsidized loans throughout their educational career.
Read the full article here.
–Elizabeth Guevara
More Employees Are Accessing Their Retirement Savings—Here’s Why It Matters
4 hr 18 min ago
It is becoming increasingly difficult for many Americans to accumulate sufficient savings, and many struggle to afford emergency expenses, especially as the costs for things like home repairs and hospital stays increase faster than inflation.
Workers are having to find alternative ways to afford these unexpected costs, such as taking out loans or reducing their retirement savings. At the end of 2024, about 5% of employees had taken a hardship withdrawal from their retirement savings account, compared with the 2% of employees who did this in 2018, according to Fidelity Investments data.
All withdrawals from a traditional individual retirement account (IRA) or a 401(k) are subject to standard income taxes. If a withdrawal is made before the age of 59½, a 10% penalty tax is levied on the amount distributed. However, if an early withdrawal is made based on a hardship, defined as “an immediate and heavy financial need,” the money taken out is not subject to the additional tax.
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With inflation remaining high in 2025, it has become increasingly difficult for Americans to set aside money for an emergency savings account. In 2024, 13% of adults reported that they would be unable to pay a $400 emergency expense by any means, and 37% said they would cover the expense by borrowing money or selling something, according to the Federal Reserve’s most recent report on the economic well-being of U.S. households.
Read the full article here.
–Elizabeth Guevara
Trump Promises ‘Aggressive’ Housing Reforms in 2026. Here’s What We Know So Far
4 hr 56 min ago
The housing market has been plagued by high costs and limited supply. Are reforms on the way?
That’s what President Donald Trump promised in a Dec. 17 address. What precisely those reforms could entail remains uncertain, though Trump could use 2026 to move forward with proposals he’s touted since taking office.
“Mortgage payments will be coming down even further,” Trump said. “Early in the new year you will see this. I will announce some of the most aggressive housing reform plans in American history.”
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Some officials in government and the housing industry have said that the federal government needs to take action on issues that are driving housing costs higher.
Elevated mortgage rates that have been stuck at over 6% for more than three years have made borrowing more difficult for homebuyers. A shortage of homes for sale has also helped keep prices elevated.
Read the full article here.
–Terry Lane
Stock Futures Rise to Begin 2026
5 hr 23 min ago
Futures contracts associated with the Dow Jones Industrial Average pointed 0.4% higher.
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S&P 500 futures rose 0.6%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 1%.
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