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See Which 20 Colleges Give You the Biggest Bang for Your Buck

March 4, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: Money.com, SUCCESS

Is college worth it these days? It’s a question weighing on the minds of millions of students and parents across the U.S.

While public opinion in recent years has been creeping toward “no,” new data from the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University shows that in the overwhelming majority of cases, a college degree or certificate comes with a significant return on investment.

The center analyzed data on the cost of attendance and median earnings for enrollees at 4,600 different colleges and universities to determine each institution’s return on investment, or ROI. Researchers looked at how much alumni earned cumulatively after 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 30 years and 40 years — minus the cost of attendance.

Across school type and credential (certificate, associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree), the typical college enrollee had an ROI of $174,000 after 10 years of attendance and $1.5 million after 40 years.

However, the ROI can vary widely between colleges and degree types, and in some cases, certain schools (typically those related to fine arts, music or theological studies) have little-to-no ROI for upwards of 15 years. That means students who attended those schools hadn’t earned enough to cover the price tag of attendance after 15 years of working.

Overall, Georgetown researchers noted some certificate or associate programs tend to have higher ROI after 10-years than traditional bachelor’s degrees — or in other words, the certificates tend to pay for themselves faster — but that bachelor’s degrees have higher long-term earning potential. That’s likely because of the price tag of the credential: Shorter programs are typically much cheaper than a four-year degree.

Here’s a closer look at the best colleges and universities for ROI in the U.S.

Top 10 colleges for ROI on an associate’s degree

When it comes to associate’s degrees, private nursing schools dominate Georgetown’s analysis.

Helene Fuld College of Nursing in New York: $604,000 ROI after 10 years; $3.8 million after 40
St Paul’s School of Nursing-Queens in New York: $500,000 after 10 years; $3.4 million after 40
St. Joseph’s College of Nursing in New York: $463,000 at 10 years; $2.7 million at 40
Belanger School of Nursing in New York: $448,000 at 10 years; $2.6 at 40
Emory University-Oxford College in New York: $429,000 at 10 years; $3 million at 40
Pomeroy College of Nursing at Crouse Hospital in Georgia: $408,000 at 10 years; $2.4 million at 40
Ambria College of Nursing in New York: $403,000 at 10 years; $2.5 million at 40
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Illinois: $398,000 at 10 years; $3.7 million at 40
Mercy College of Ohio: $397,000 at 10 years; $2.3 million at 40
Southeast Missouri Hospital College of Nursing and Health Sciences: $389,000 at 10 years; $2.1 million at 40

Top 10 colleges for ROI on a bachelor’s degree

Several of the nation’s most prestigious universities also have the highest return on investment of four-year schools, but many lesser-known institutions — particularly those with an engineering or medical focus — also provide incredible bang for your buck.

California Institute of Technology: $627,000 ROI after 10 years; $3.9 million after 40
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: $579,000 after 10 years; $4.5 million after 40
Stanford University in California: $509,000 after 10 years; $3.9 million after 40
University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis, Missouri: $502,000 after 10 years; $4.7 million after 40
Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in New York: $492,000 after 10 years; $4.4 million after 40
Franklin W Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts: $483,000 after 10 years; $4.2 million after 40
Princeton University in New Jersey: $477,000 after 10 years; $3.9 million after 40
Harvey Mudd College in California: $476,000 after 10 years; $4.5 million after 40
United States Merchant Marine Academy in New York: $453,000 after 10 years; $3.1 million after 40
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus: $407,000 after 10 years; $3.4 million after 40

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7 Best Credit Monitoring Services of March 2025

March 1, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: Money.com, SUCCESS

If personal details like your Social Security number or bank account information have ever been compromised, or you’re looking to increase your credit score before you buy a home or finance a car, you may be looking for a way to stay up to date on how your credit is being used.

A credit monitoring service, which can notify you when a credit application has been made in your name, could be a good solution. These companies vary in cost, services and tools, so it’s important to understand exactly what you’re looking for (and what you’re likely to get). Some people may just want to know that their name is being used to open a new credit card, for example, while others might prefer in-depth reports and thorough identity protection measures.

Read on for our picks of the best credit monitoring companies.

What to know about credit monitoring

We found that the best credit monitoring services are transparent about their fees and services, provide frequent credit reports and score refreshes, offer identity theft insurance and have helpful tools for protecting your identity.
All of our picks have dark web scanning and educational content on credit monitoring or identity protection (or both).
Experian is the best overall credit monitoring service while Aura has low costs for both its individual and family plans, and PrivacyGuard makes sense for people specifically worried about identity protection.

How we chose our top picks

Our editors and writers reviewed a variety of free and paid credit monitoring services to ensure our content is precise and guided by editorial accuracy. We spoke to experts about what to look for when choosing a credit monitoring service and ultimately decided our ranking based on 16 data points, including cost and how often reports are provided.

Credit monitoring services can keep track of the data in your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — but they don’t all offer three-bureau monitoring. For this list, we considered whether services had one-, two- or three-bureau monitoring alongside like dark web scanning for potential signs of identity theft and cybersecurity features to protect your phone and computers.

Read the full methodology to learn more.

Our top picks for credit monitoring services

Experian — Best Overall
Aura — Best Low-Cost Credit Monitoring for Individuals or Families
PrivacyGuard — Best for Credit Reports and Identity Protection
Credit Karma — Best Free Credit Monitoring Service
IdentityForce — Best for Identity Theft Features
IDShield — Best for Cybersecurity Features
myFICO — Best for Access to FICO Score

Pros

Has a free and paid version
Offers FICO score
Personal privacy scans and other good features
Family plan includes up to 12 people

Cons

Need to pay for three-bureau monitoring (otherwise it’s just Experian)
Free version is very basic

HIGHLIGHTS

Cost:: Free; $24.99 per month for Premium; $34.99 per month for Family

Number of credit bureaus monitored:: Three

Credit score model:: FICO

Trial period:: Seven days

Why we chose it: Experian is one of the few services on this list that monitors your FICO score, the credit-scoring model used by the majority of lenders. The company offers free version that’s fairly basic and only offers information from your Experian report — though, depending on your needs, that may be enough. The free version also comes with a personal privacy scan that can show whether your address, age, phone number, relatives’ names and more are publicly available.

The paid version offers more bells and whistles, such as helping remove any personal information found in the personal privacy scan from websites, as well as three-bureau monitoring. It’s a bit pricier than some other services we listed, but the extra identity protection features could be worth it, and the family plan covers two adults and up to 10 children.

Read Money’s full Experian review.

Pros

24/7 phone support
Monitors up to 70 items
Online safety features including a password manager and antivirus protection
Family plan includes five adults and unlimited children

Cons

Pricier than other services on our list
Customer complaints about app stability and functionality

HIGHLIGHTS

Cost:: $15 per month for Individual; $29 per month for Couple; $50 per month for Family plan

Number of credit bureaus monitored:: Three

Credit score model:: VantageScore

Trial period:: 14 days

Why we chose it: Aura is a bit more expensive than other services on this list, but that added cost unlocks a full suite of comprehensive identity protection tools. The three-bureau monitoring service can monitor more than 70 items — such as your driver’s license number, passport and email addresses — for data breach exposure, alerts you if your identity is used for high-risk transactions, scans every new file for malware on up to 10 devices per adult, handles junk mail and spam call removal requests, comes with a password manager extension and more.

The family plan includes five adults, unlimited children and up to 50 devices, which is more than what you’ll get with Experian’s family plan (but at a higher price).

Read Money’s full Aura Identity Theft Protection review.

Pros

Monthly credit reports and scores
Wide range of identity protection features

Cons

Lowest-priced plan doesn’t include credit monitoring features and only most expensive plan has credit and identity protection
No customer service help via chat

HIGHLIGHTS

Cost:: $19.99 per month for Credit Protection; $24.99 per month for Total Protection

Number of credit bureaus monitored:: Three

Credit score model:: VantageScore

Trial period:: 14 days (for $1)

Why we chose it: If you’re looking for advanced identity protection services, you may want to opt for PrivacyGuard Total Protection, which includes both credit and identity protection. You’ll get monthly three-bureau reports and scores. That’s in addition to features like a dedicated agent to walk you through what to do if your identity is stolen and a credit score simulator, which lets you see how changes in behavior can impact your credit score. The least-expensive PrivacyGuard plan is only $9.99, but it doesn’t come with credit monitoring, so we didn’t factor it into our ranking.

Read Money’s full PrivacyGuard review.

Pros

Free credit monitoring
In-depth educational content on a wide range of personal finance topics

Cons

Credit score only comes from Equifax and TransUnion
Pervasive card and loan offers

HIGHLIGHTS

Cost:: Free

Number of credit bureaus monitored:: Two

Credit score model:: VantageScore

Trial period:: Not applicable (free)

Why we chose it: Credit Karma is a free credit monitoring service that checks your credit reports daily from Equifax and TransUnion for changes. However, the service only provides your VantageScore.

Note that the Federal Trade Commission has taken action against Credit Karma, alleging that the many people who received “pre-approved” credit offers did not actually qualify, wasted time applying and, in some cases, saw their credit scores drop when their applications were denied. However, if you’re looking for the very basics, it could be a good option.

Pros

Wide range of identity theft features
$2 million in identity theft insurance
Access to a dedicated restoration specialist if your identity is stolen

Cons

Less expensive plan doesn’t have credit monitoring
No free trial for plan with credit monitoring

HIGHLIGHTS

Cost:: $34.90 per month for UltraSecure+Credit Individual

Number of credit bureaus monitored:: Three

Credit score model:: VantageScore

Trial period:: None

Why we chose it: IdentityForce from TransUnion is more focused on identity theft than credit monitoring, but its UltraSecure+Credit Individual plan offers coverage for both. Its identity theft features include access to a dedicated restoration specialist who will help you restore your identity if it’s compromised, risk scores for each dark web hit, phishing monitoring and more. It also comes with $2 million in identity theft insurance ($1 million is a common industry standard).

We didn’t consider the UltraSecure Individual plan, which has a 30-day free trial, for $19.99 per month, because it doesn’t include credit monitoring.

Read Money’s full IdentityForce review.

Pros

Protects three devices from viruses, malware and ransomware
Identity threat alerts and social media monitoring
24/7 emergency assistance when fraud occurs

Cons

Need to pay extra for three-bureau monitoring
No free trial

HIGHLIGHTS

Cost:: $14.95 for one-bureau monitoring Individual Plan; $19.95 for three-bureau monitoring Individual Plan; $29.95 for one-bureau monitoring Family Plan; $34.95 for three-bureau monitoring Family Plan

Number of credit bureaus monitored:: One or three, depending on tier

Credit score model:: VantageScore

Trial period:: No

Why we chose it: IDShield focuses on identity protection and cybersecurity threats. That means you’ll get features like viruses, malware and ransomware protection on devices, but the credit monitoring is a bit more limited. You’ll have to pay extra to get three-bureau monitoring, and while the service provides monthly credit scores, you won’t get credit reports.

Read Money’s full IDShield review.

Pros

Provides FICO scores instead of VantageScore
24/7 emergency support for ID theft
Free version

Cons

$1 million identity theft insurance only comes with paid plans
Limited cybersecurity and identity protection features

HIGHLIGHTS

Cost:: Free; $29.95 per month for Advanced; $39.95 for Premier

Number of credit bureaus monitored:: One or three, depending on tier

Credit score model:: FICO

Trial period:: No

Why we chose it: If you’re looking for a service that provides your FICO instead of VantageScore, there aren’t many options — but myFICO is one. The free plan offers one-bureau coverage with updates available monthly, the Advanced plan offers three-bureau monitoring with updates available every three months, and the Premiere plan offers three-bureau monitoring with updates available every month.

However, you can get identity theft and cybersecurity features as well as credit monitoring with other companies at a similar price point.

Read Money’s full myFICO review.

Other credit monitoring services we considered

We assessed many credit monitoring services that ultimately did not make our list. Below are several companies that were not named on our list but that may be a fit depending on your situation.

Credit Sesame

Pros

Free version
Can pay for either one-bureau monitoring or three-bureau monitoring

Cons

First paid version only has one-bureau monitoring
Few identity protection and security features compared to other services

HIGHLIGHTS

Cost:: Free; $12.99 per month for one-bureau Credit Sesame+ membership; $24.99 for three-bureau Credit Sesame+ membership

Number of credit bureaus monitored:: One or three, depending on tier

Credit score model:: VantageScore

Trial period:: Seven days

Credit Sesame allows you to get your daily credit score for free, but you’ll have to pay for the two premium tiers — one that offers one-bureau monitoring and a more expensive one that offers three-bureau monitoring — for more detailed reports. The service only provides your VantageScore and offers far fewer identity protection features than some of the other services on the list.

Equifax

Pros

All plans come with daily Equifax credit report
Ability to easily lock credit report

Cons

Low TrustPilot and BBB customer ratings
No free version

HIGHLIGHTS

Cost:: $16.95 per month for Equifax ID Patrol; $19.95 per month for Equifax Complete Premier; $29.95 for Equifax Complete Family Plan

Number of credit bureaus monitored:: Three

Credit score model:: VantageScore

Trial period:: Seven days

Equifax has three plans. One provides a three-bureau credit report annually. Another that adds extra features such as identity restoration help as well as your three-bureau credit score annually and one-bureau credit score daily. The most expensive option adds services for a second adult and up to four children. All the plans come with Equifax credit reports. But Equifax has poor customer service reviews, and in 2017, the company announced a data breach that exposed 147 million peoples’ personal information.

ID Watchdog

Pros

Premium plan offers $1 million stolen-fund coverage, as well as 401(k) and health savings account (HSA) insurance
Premium plan has Equifax credit report lock, which is similar to a freeze

Cons

No free version or free trial
Three-bureau report and score only shared annually (only for Premium plan)

HIGHLIGHTS

Cost:: $14.95 per month for ID Watchdog Select; $21.95 per month for ID Watchdog Premium

Number of credit bureaus monitored:: One or three, depending on tier

Credit score model:: VantageScore

Trial period:: None

ID Watchdog offers either one- or three-bureau monitoring, depending on the tier you pay for. The cheaper plan only offers a one-bureau credit report and score monthly while the Premium one offers those reports and scores daily and the three-bureau report and score annually, which is less often than other services.

What to know about credit monitoring

Credit monitoring can be an important part of a personal finance plan, because it alerts you of any suspicious activity regarding your credit. Depending on the service you opt for, you can also get in-depth information on why your credit score has changed — including for legitimate reasons, such as if you get a new credit card — which can be useful if you’re trying to boost your score.

“For people just starting out who are trying to buy a home, even increasing their credit score by 20 or 50 points is pretty meaningful,” says Ben Loughery, a financial advisor and founder of Lock Wealth Management. “It’s good hygiene to check in every six months at minimum.”

How does credit monitoring work?

Credit monitoring services will kick off their work by asking you for some personal information, such as your date of birth, address and phone number. It will then access your credit reports from the credit bureaus (up to three, depending on the service), and monitor those reports on an ongoing basis.

The services will alert you when there’s activity in your accounts. That can include new credit inquiries from a lender, landlord or employer, as well as new accounts being opened, an address change or a change in public records. They can also notify you specifically about an increase or decrease in your credit score.

The frequency of the reports and score refreshes — as well as other services like monitoring credit cards and investment accounts for suspicious activity — will depend on the company. Keep in mind that credit monitoring can’t prevent your identity from being stolen, but it can help you prevent further damage. Loughery recommends pairing credit monitoring with other protective measures, like using a password manager.

How to choose a credit monitoring service

Credit monitoring services come with a wide range of fees and services. Here are some factors to consider when choosing.

Credit monitoring offering

FICO scores are used by 90% of top lenders, but VantageScore has emerged as a viable alternative (and is commonly used by credit monitoring services). If you’re OK with getting your VantageScore instead of FICO — which for most people, will work well for credit monitoring purposes — you’ll have more options.

When choosing between companies, look at how many reports you can get access to, since some only offer reports from one credit bureau while others offer two or three, says Chris Mankoff, a wealth advisor at JTL Wealth Partners. Ideally, you’ll want to choose a plan that has three-bureau monitoring and allows for regular score refreshes and reports. You’re probably going to have to pay more for monthly reports than annual ones, but depending on your needs, that may be worth it.

Cost

Many credit monitoring services are free, and Mankoff says that the basics may be enough for many people. His wife, for instance, received an alert via their free service that said a credit card was taken out in her name. She hadn’t opened the account and, out of caution, they both froze their credit.

But if you want more regular reporting, identity protection and cybersecurity features, and more than one person on your account, you’ll have to pay for it.

Features

Some credit monitoring services have extra tools to help keep your identity protected, as well as specialists who will work one-on-one with you if it’s compromised. Most have some form of identity protection insurance and dark web scanning, but you may want to check for offerings like social media monitoring, a password manager, VPNs and more. Mankoff says some services partner with different lending companies that can provide you a snapshot of what type of loans are available to you based on your score, which can be helpful if you’re looking to consolidate debt.

Customer service

These services tend to offer phone, chat or email services, or a combination. Before choosing a company, make sure you’ll be able to easily contact them when you need help. It can be helpful to review customer reviews via TrustPilot and the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Latest credit monitoring news

In January, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sued Experian for allegedly failing to properly investigate consumer disputes. The bureau said in a news release that Experian “does not take sufficient steps to intake, process, investigate and notify consumers about consumer disputes, resulting in the inclusion of incorrect information on credit reports.” The news is related to Experian’s credit reporting, not necessarily its credit monitoring services.

Credit monitoring FAQs

What is the difference between credit monitoring, credit repair and identity theft protection?

While credit monitoring services continuously scan your credit file and alert you of changes, credit repair services can help you remove errors from your credit file and navigate the dispute process. Identity theft services scan for your personal information on the dark web, social networks and public records.

Why is it important to monitor your credit score?

Monitoring your credit can help you catch errors and suspicious activity on your report. While credit monitoring services are typically used to monitor for identity theft, they can also provide you with more information on your own credit activity and why it may be impacting your credit score.

Does credit monitoring affect your credit score?

No, credit monitoring will not affect your credit score since it’s a soft inquiry. Only hard inquiries, such as applying for a new loan, will impact your credit score.

How we chose the best credit monitoring services

To find the best credit monitoring services, we compared plans from 16 companies. To create our methodology, we narrowed in on 16 data points. The data points fell into five categories: credit monitoring offering, cost, features, customer service and ease of use. Credit monitoring offerings made up 23% of the scores while cost made up 25%, as these are two of the main factors we believe customers should consider. Features, customer service and ease of use made up 20%, 17% and 15%, respectively.

Below are more details on the data points considered within each category.

Credit monitoring offering: We considered the number of credit bureaus monitored, the credit score model used and how often reports and credit score refreshes are available.
Cost: For the cost factor, we considered the fees, whether there is a free version of the service and whether there is a free trial.
Features: We assessed companies based on their identity theft insurance and dark web scanning offerings, as well as other security and identity protection features.
Customer service: This scoring took customer service availability, TrustPilot and BBB reviews into account.
Ease of use: For insights on ease of use, we considered mobile app ratings, availability of educational material and transparency about the costs and features.

Summary of our top picks for credit monitoring

From Scrambling Tofu to Renting Chickens: 5 Hacks People Are Using to Avoid High Egg Prices

February 28, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: Money.com, SUCCESS

As egg shortages worsen and prices for a dozen approach the $5 mark, you may be wondering if it’s even worth it to buy them anymore.

The average price of Grade A eggs was $4.95 per dozen in January, according to the latest government data. Prices have jumped 15% from their December average of $4.15 because bird flu cases keep cropping up, requiring farmers to cull whole flocks and drastically reducing the nation’s supply of eggs. The eggs you buy in the store, when cooked, are generally safe t o eat, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be cheap.

Prices could still get worse before they get better. A forecast from the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts a 41.1% increase in egg prices 2025. The agency reports that 18.8 million egg-laying hens were lost last month, the highest yet since the outbreak began.

As prices continue to rise, some shoppers are saying enough is enough. But here are five ways Americans are getting around the high cost of eggs:

Shopping around

Higher prices and local shortages mean there’s more price variation from one store to another. You may see $4 cartons one day but $7 ones the next time you’re shopping somewhere else.

Consumers are being more deliberate about where they shop for their eggs, and neighbors are even helping each other out by sharing pointers in city-specific subreddits and Facebook groups for where to find the cheapest eggs.

Given that eggs can last over a month in your fridge, some shoppers are buying more eggs than usual, however, experts warn that this “panic buying” trend may lead to shortages and more inflation.

Buying liquid eggs

At your supermarket, you may see that liquid eggs — pasteurized and sold in cartons with an even longer shelf life — are cheaper than shell eggs. For example, Lucerne’s 16-ounce egg cartons are available for as little as $2.99 at some grocery stores.

A carton of that size equals about eight eggs. While savings may not be huge, it may worth doing a comparison if you don’t mind switching to liquid eggs. While they’re not as fresh, certain grocery shoppers find them more convenient.

Cooking without eggs

On social media sites, users are sharing their distaste with grocery stores’ egg prices and saying they refuse to pay these record amounts.

Some folks who can’t find affordable eggs are cooking egg-free meals at home and using substitutes for recipes that call for eggs. To capitalize on the trend, food publications have released roundups of egg-free recipes for dishes like tofu scramble and edible cookie dough for readers to try while the cost of eggs is high.

Prices for egg-based meals at restaurants and diners have also increased, so you may find that other menu options offer better value. Denny’s is the latest chain to add a surcharge for all meals with eggs (at some locations), following a similar move by Waffle House earlier this month.

Buying vegan egg substitutes

Companies including Eat Just, which makes the plant-based product Just Egg, have reported booming sales for their vegan egg alternatives. In a news release last week, the company said it’s growing five times faster than it was at this point last year, noting that “Just Egg’s key ingredient, the mung bean, is not susceptible to bird flu and the inflationary pressures driving egg prices to record levels.”

Vegan egg alternatives are still pricey, however. A 16-ounce carton of the Just Egg product is usually well over $5.

Raising backyard chickens

If you have space in your backyard and your family eats a lot of eggs, you may be wondering if it’s time to get chickens. You’re not alone: According to ABC7 San Francisco, for example, Mill Valley Chickens, which sells chickens and chicken coops, has seen a 50% spike in business in recent weeks.

Building a coop and raising chickens can be cheaper than buying eggs at the store, but you have to be willing to make the initial investment and take on the work of caring for them. The largest expense, the coop, will likely cost over $300 even if you just want a relatively basic setup for 6 hens, which will typically lay a dozen and a half or two dozen eggs per week, assuming they’re young egg-laying hens.

Bigger chicken coops can cost thousands of thousands of dollars to build. Beyond the coop, there are the costs to buy heat lamps, chicken feed and other supplies.

Hesitant about owning chickens? Rent the Chicken is a company that will loan you two hens and a small chicken coop for half the year. It markets itself as a way to try out having chickens before making a long-term commitment. While the cost is high, $495 or more depending on the market, the service is getting more popular — and it frequently sells out.

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What to Do if Your Information Is Found on the Dark Web

February 27, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: Money.com, SUCCESS

In the wake of several high-profile data breaches in 2024 — including one of the largest to date — Americans have once again turned their attention to the dark web. Stolen data often ends up for sale on this secret section of the internet, where the total amount of money made by markets and fraud shops amounted to $1.7 billion in 2023.

Discovering that your personal information has been leaked on the dark web can be deeply unsettling. But while you might not be able to remove it entirely, you can take steps to avoid, or at least minimize, the damage.

Read on to learn more about the dark web and how to protect yourself from fraud if your data turns up there.

What is the dark web?

The dark web is an intentionally hidden part of the internet that requires specialized software, like the Tor browser, to access. Unlike the surface web, which is accessible to anyone using the internet, and the deep web, which is hidden only from search engines, the dark web is designed to keep users anonymous by masking their location and IP address. (Confusingly, the dark web is actually part of the deep web.)

While some use the dark web for privacy and free speech purposes, its characteristic anonymity has also attracted cybercriminals and other malicious actors who carry out illicit activities online.

Many illegal goods and services are bought and sold on the dark web, including stolen financial information, counterfeit money, weapons, malware, hacked accounts and drugs. These so-called darknet transactions often involve cryptocurrencies like bitcoin to further obscure users’ identities.

What to Do if Your Information Is on the Dark Web

Even the best identity theft protection can’t prevent every data leak. If you believe your personal info has ended up on the dark web — for example, as a result of a data breach or a phishing scam — you should act right away to protect your finances. Here are some steps you can take to limit the impact.

1. Identify the leaked information

Your first and most important step is to determine what type of information was exposed.

Finding your full name and email address on the dark web can be concerning, but a leaked Social Security number (SSN), driver’s license or credit card number is far more dangerous. The former might just get you more spam sent to your inbox, while the latter puts you at risk of becoming a victim of identity theft or fraud.

Online tools such as DeHashed and Have I Been Pwned can check whether your email account has been associated with any known breaches. If you receive an alert from a dark web or credit monitoring service, assess the report carefully. Data breaches can include multiple types of information, and not every piece of leaked data should be addressed the same way.

2. Scan your device(s) for malware

Malware is harmful software designed to disrupt, damage or gain unauthorized access to a digital device. Although data breaches are the most common way for your personal data to end up on the dark web, cybercriminals can also gain access to your information — and later sell it to the highest bidder — through the use of trojans, viruses or other forms of malware.

Verify that your antivirus protection is up to date and perform a thorough security scan on all your devices. If you find malware, take steps to isolate the device by turning on airplane mode or manually turning off network access and Bluetooth. This will disable the malware’s ability to infect other devices and allow you to then attempt to remove it.

3. Change any compromised credentials

Any login credentials (usernames and passwords) or PINs that are found on the dark web should be changed immediately.

Make sure to create unique passwords for every online account, as reusing them can increase the risk of multiple accounts being hacked. For a strong password, remember to keep it long and complex: at least eight characters — preferably 12 or more — and a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and punctuation.

If you have trouble remembering multiple passwords, consider downloading a password manager. These tools generate and store complex passwords, keeping track of them while helping you stay safe so you aren’t clicking “Reset your password” every time you log into an account.

4. Check your credit information

Take a look at your credit score and make note of any recent changes to it. An unexpected drop in your score can indicate illegal activity, fraud or identity theft, and should be taken seriously even if it doesn’t trigger a fraud alert.

A reliable way to pinpoint the information that could have caused your score to drop is reviewing your credit report. You can request free credit reports online weekly from the three main credit reporting bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — using AnnualCreditReport.com.

Report any unauthorized accounts and ask the credit bureaus to remove fraudulent items from your credit report. Consider placing a credit freeze if you suspect foul play, as doing so prevents anyone from opening new accounts or taking out loans in your name.

5. Secure your financial accounts

If you find unauthorized activity or transactions you weren’t aware of, contact your bank or card provider to notify them of the suspicious activity.

Request a new card number and consider asking your bank to freeze your credit or debit card temporarily. If you notice any fraudulent charges, report and dispute them immediately. In some cases, your bank may recommend additional cybersecurity measures, such as setting up transaction limits or requiring approval for large purchases.

You should also think about enabling fraud alerts and two-factor authentication when possible. Two-factor authentication requires you to provide secondary information, like from a text message or a code provided by a third-party app, when logging into an account.

Using two-factor authentication or more complex multi-factor versions makes it significantly harder — though not impossible — for someone who has found or bought your usernames and passwords on the dark web to access your accounts.

6. Keep an eye out for scams

After your data has been leaked, cybercriminals may still need a few missing pieces of information to access your accounts. Some of them might rely on multi-pronged scams, including phishing and other forms of manipulation, to get what they need.

Be wary of unexpected messages that ask for sensitive information, contain urgent warnings or threats (“Your account will be locked unless you verify now!”) and have suspicious links or attachments. Never click on unknown links or download attachments from unsolicited emails.

Be especially careful with social media apps. Many apps are susceptible to scamming activity, such as WhatsApp scams, in which criminals pose as a family member or friend calling from a new phone number and claim to have an emergency.

How to Find Out if My Information Is on the Dark Web FAQ

How do you do a dark web scan?

A dark web scan indexes collections of stolen data and compares them to your established identity profile to see if your information has been compromised. It requires specialized skills and software, so you’ll probably need professional help.

Look for an IT security or identity protection agency to carry out a dark web scan on your behalf. Remember that dark web scans are complicated, even for companies specializing in them.

It’s impossible to search the entire dark web for your information because it’s designed to hide what’s stored within it. The most that a typical scan can do is determine the date your data may have been exposed. Still, there’s always the chance that more of your data is out there than can be detected.

Can you remove your information from the dark web?

Once your information is on the dark web, removing it can be difficult, or even impossible. Dark web repositories of stolen personal data generally operate in support of criminal activity. Even if you could get in touch with an administrator, they likely would ignore your message.

Even if you could remove your information from one dark web location, there is no guarantee that it hasn’t been copied or posted on other sites. Instead of removing information that has been compromised, focus on changing passwords, notifying your credit card companies and ensuring the stolen data becomes irrelevant.

How did my information get on the dark web?

Learning that your information has been stolen in a data breach can be shocking. Still, it can be somewhat reassuring to know that the thieves probably didn’t target your data in particular, but rather stole thousands of records at once.

The most common way personal data gets stolen is through data breaches at banks, credit card processing companies and online retailers. Even government agencies can fall victim to cybercriminals.

Other risks include using public Wi-Fi for banking transactions or throwing away sensitive documents. To stay secure, always use a virtual private network (VPN) — a service that isolates and encrypts your internet connection — or a private Wi-Fi network you trust. To avoid leaving a paper trail, invest in a paper shredder.

What if my SSN is on the dark web?

Social security scams are on the rise. If you can verify that your Social Security Number is available on the dark web, take action immediately to minimize how much it affects you. Review the six steps outlined above, and contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to place a fraud alert on your credit report. You can contact the FTC at www.ftc.gov/idtheft or 1-877-438-4338.

‘DOGE Dividends’: Will You Actually Get a $5,000 Check From Trump?

February 25, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: Money.com, SUCCESS

The Trump administration is considering sending out direct payments to millions of Americans next year.

If implemented, checks of up to $5,000 per household — dubbed “DOGE dividend” payments — would go out after the non-governmental Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by multibillionaire Elon Musk wraps up its work in July 2026.

President Donald Trump recently told reporters aboard Air Force One that he “loves” the idea of the dividend checks. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House’s National Economic Council, have also signaled their support, although no official policy or legislative proposals have been released.

Tasked with eliminating wasteful spending by the federal government, DOGE set a goal of uncovering $2 trillion worth of spending cuts by July 2026, when the agency is set to dissolve. For reference, the U.S. annual spending budget is roughly $6.7 trillion. Two-thirds of that is congressionally mandated spending, largely on federal programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Assuming DOGE meets its goal, 20% of the savings, or $400 billion, would be earmarked for DOGE refunds. The payments would need to be authorized by Congress.

The idea was developed by James Fishback, a DOGE supporter with connections to the Trump administration who posted a viral four-page proposal on Musk’s social media platform, X. It gained the attention of Musk, who then pitched it to Trump.

Here’s what to know about the potential of stimulus-style tax refund checks from DOGE.

Are ‘DOGE dividend’ checks likely?

While the proposal skyrocketed in popularity on the social media site X and appears to have won the approval of the president and his economic advisors, many experts are doubtful the checks will come to fruition as proposed.

The first hurdle is economic. The $5,000 check is based on the premise that DOGE reaches its goal of eliminating $2 trillion in wasteful federal spending. Musk himself has already cast doubt on that. In an interview in January, Musk said $2 trillion was the “best case outcome.”

“You have to have some overage,” he added. “If you try for $2 trillion, you have a good chance at getting $1 [trillion].”

The DOGE website says the cost-cutting initiative saved an estimated $55 billion during the first month of Trump’s presidency. To stay on track to meet its target, however, DOGE would need to be saving over $110 billion per month.

“The size of the checks is out of proportion with the size of cuts,” says Ernie Tedeschi, the economics director of the Budget Lab at Yale University.

The second hurdle is political. As with stimulus checks, direct payments to Americans would need to be authorized by Congress.

Already, the proposal is facing opposition from some Republican lawmakers. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would prefer the money go toward U.S. debt payments. Similarly, Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) said Friday that the U.S. is not in a position to be sending checks to Americans.

Ultimately, Tedeschi notes, it’s too early to say whether DOGE checks are likely to happen.

Who would be eligible?

According to Fishback, who is also CEO of investment firm Azoria, the refund payment would go to households that pay federal taxes.

Roughly 70% of U.S. Americans have a federal tax liability, meaning that an estimated 80 to 90 million households could be eligible for a check under this stipulation.

Millions of low-income Americans do not owe federal income taxes due to deductions and tax credits. Therefore, they would not qualify for a check if Fishback’s qualifications are used.

This is a direct reversal from stimulus checks sent out during the pandemic, as they excluded high-income earners.

Would the checks spur inflation?

Many politicians and economists point to pandemic-era stimulus checks as a major contributor to the recent bout of inflation in the U.S.

The three rounds of stimulus checks, which were dispersed mostly over a three-year period, totaled approximately $815 billion.

Now, with policymakers still struggling to get inflation in check, many economic experts are wondering what injecting $400 billion all at once in the form of $5,000 checks might do to consumer prices.

When asked whether DOGE checks could be inflationary, Hassett of Trump’s National Economic Council recently said, “absolutely not,” stating that the DOGE checks would be coming from money that was already set to be spent by the government. Similarly, Treasury Secretary Bessent claimed that “everything that President Trump’s administration is doing will be disinflationary.”

Economists outside the Trump administration aren’t so convinced. Nonpartisan policymakers at the Federal Reserve — the U.S. central banking system that controls interest rates — are already concerned that fresh tariffs from the Trump administration could reignite inflation, according to minutes of the latest Fed meeting (at which they held rates steady).

With tariffs and threats of tariffs already impacting U.S. supply chains, an infusion of $5,000 checks to millions of households may pour gasoline on the fire by spurring consumer demand — or in other words, incentivizing people to go buy stuff at the same time businesses are struggling to get items onto shelves.

As we saw during the pandemic, supply-chain issues plus increased consumer demand are a recipe for inflation.

Certain goods could be at particular risk of price hikes. According to Tedeschi, “consumers are more likely to spend lump-sum checks on large durable goods,” which are major purchases like cars or appliances. These types of goods are among the many items expected to become more expensive due to tariffs and resulting supply-chain issues. Increased demand for those goods would exacerbate the issue.

Another way the dividend checks could spur inflation, Tedeschi says, is if DOGE doesn’t meet its spending-cut goal. For example, if the department decided to send out the full $5,000 but missed the $2 trillion mark, that could cause prices on everyday goods to rise, too.

“This might happen,” Tedeschi says, “if the administration exaggerates how effective DOGE has been.”

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Will Overdraft Fees Increase Under Trump? Here’s What 7 Banks Told Us

February 22, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: Money.com, SUCCESS

Many Americans celebrated last year when government officials announced a restriction on $35 bank overdraft fees for checking accounts. But with the change in leadership in D.C., it’s now unclear whether this will happen.

President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk want to dramatically reduce — if not kill — the regulatory authority of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the 14-year-old agency behind the rule limiting overdraft fees. This could mean that high overdraft fees, which can be a significant financial burden for folks tight on funds, are here to stay after all.

Some banks, like Citi and Capital One, have fully eliminated overdraft fees and told Money they’re committed to their policies — no matter what happens at the federal level.

However, other major banks have yet to offer the same relief to customers. Banks including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank and PNC still charge overdraft fees of $34 to $36, collecting hundreds of millions per year off them. These banks are likely hoping that the Trump administration and the GOP-controlled Congress can reverse the Biden-era regulations.

Trump admin looks to undo ‘midnight’ rule on overdraft fees

In December, the CFPB announced a final rule that would end “excessive” overdraft fees effective Oct. 1, 2025, capping the charges — which typically run around $35 — at $5. Alternatively, banks could charge an overdraft amount just high enough to cover their costs or losses. Or they could offer overdraft loans (if the terms and interest rates for these credit lines were disclosed).

While many consumers were excited about this change, the regulation is now in jeopardy. An effort in Congress spearheaded by Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., aims to repeal the CFPB rule before it takes effect this fall.

Meanwhile, the banking industry hasn’t given up fighting it in court.

A spokesperson for the Consumer Bankers Association, a group that represents retail banks, tells Money that the rule “is an illegal and harmful overreach that threatens millions of Americans’ access to liquidity.” Banks also argue that overdraft fees support their ability to let customers pay for some transactions with negative balances, which can help people access necessities like food and utilities — just at a very high cost.

What the CFPB shakeup means for overdraft fees

CFPB Interim Director Russell Vought said in a post on X that he is “grateful” for the legislation aimed at rolling back the Biden administration’s “midnight rule” limiting overdraft fees, adding that the repeal attempt aligns with Trump’s “deregulatory agenda.”

Earlier this month, the president picked Vought to lead the bureau after firing Rohit Chopra, the agency’s director under former President Joe Biden. Chopra’s CFPB had estimated the overdraft rule would save Americans a collective $5 billion per year.

The Trump administration appears to be still determining exactly what it wants to do with the CFPB — an agency that figures including Musk have indicated they want to “delete.” Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has already fired dozens of CFPB staffers.

But as the Trump administration eases back on bank regulation and halts CFPB activity, consumer advocates say bank customers are the ones who will suffer.

Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center, argued in a Feb. 13 news release that “Republican leadership is siding with Wells Fargo and other big banks over working families hurt by abusive overdraft fee practices.” (The NCLC is part of a group that has filed a lawsuit trying to stop the Trump administration’s efforts to “dismantle” the CFPB.)

Right now, the fate of the rule is still up in the air, and there’s also uncertainty around what would happen to overdraft fees if it were to go into effect. But while the situation unfolds, here’s what seven banks are saying about their policies:

Wells Fargo

Overdraft fee: $35
Overdraft fee revenue: $937 million

In 2022, the CFPB took action against Wells Fargo over certain overdraft charges, ordering the bank to pay $205 million in redress. The bank still took $937 million in overdraft/non-sufficient funds fee revenue in 2023, according to an April CFPB report. When contacted by Money, a spokesperson for the bank said they did not wish to comment on future plans for overdraft fees.

JPMorgan Chase

Overdraft fee: $34
Overdraft fee revenue: $1.1 billion

Chase customers can be charged a $34 fee if their account is overdrawn by more than $50. The bank did not respond to Money’s request for comment about any possible plans to lower that fee.

Bank of America

Overdraft fee: $10
Overdraft fee revenue: $140 million

Bank of America reduced its overdraft fee from $35 to $10 in 2022 and also eliminated its non-sufficient funds fee, which applied when certain transactions were denied. A spokesperson for the bank declined to comment on future plans.

U.S. Bank

Overdraft fee: $36
Overdraft fee revenue: $214 million

The overdraft fee charged by U.S. Bank is among the highest. The bank did not respond to Money’s request for comment about any possible plans to change that fee.

Citi

Overdraft fee: None
Overdraft fee revenue: N/A

Citi became the largest major bank to remove overdraft fees in 2022. “The recent overdraft fee rule had no bearing on our decision one way or another,” spokesperson Colin Wright tells Money.

PNC

Overdraft fee: $36
Overdraft fee revenue: $258 million

PNC charges a high overdraft fee but touts that customers can only be charged once a day. PNC did not respond to Money’s request for comment about any possible plans to change the fee.

Capital One

Overdraft fee: None
Overdraft fee revenue: N/A

A spokesperson tells Money that Capital One “proactively” decided to fully eliminate overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees in 2021.

“We will not be making any changes to our policy regardless of how the effort to roll-back the overdraft rule unfolds. No-Fee Overdraft has been a centerpiece of our mission to provide best-in-class, no fee and no minimum products and services to our millions of customers,” the spokesperson adds.

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Answer These 6 Questions to Find the Right Debt Payoff Plan

February 21, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: Money.com, SUCCESS

If you feel overwhelmed thinking about debt, you’re not alone. Nearly four in 10 Americans say they don’t feel very confident in their ability to create a plan to get out of debt, according to the Pew Research Center.

Crafting a solid plan to leave your debt in the rearview mirror takes some planning, but it doesn’t need to be particularly complicated. Like most things in life, it’s about finding the best “fit” for you.

Answer these six questions to figure out which debt plan aligns with your goals.

1. How did you end up in debt?

Before you can find a good solution, you first have to identify the problem. In this case, that means you can’t properly consider the options to get out of debt until you’ve figured out how and why you ended up there.

Maybe your debt is a result of falling behind on payments after overextending your credit, leaving you with a mountain of residual interest. Or you could have struggled to keep up with your bills after an unexpected medical emergency. The important thing is to identify the cause.

“The most common mistakes are ignoring the problem and continuing the same habits that got you into debt in the first place,” says Raenna Jefferson, an associate planner with Zenith Wealth Partners. “Creating the plan is a one-time act, but changing your habits takes a lot more time.”

And the only way to break out of old patterns is to acknowledge and talk about them, according to Tara Unverzagt, president of South Bay Financial Planners. She says that the underlying beliefs we have about money — about how we should spend, save and invest — can lead us back into the same unstable financial situations we are trying to escape from.

Two examples of this behavior are avoiding talking about financial topics altogether and compulsively saving money. Identifying the root cause of your financial woes should allow you to isolate and correct the behaviors that left you in debt. It can also help you rule out payoff strategies that don’t make sense for you.

2. How much and what types of debt do you have?

A clear picture of how much you owe and to whom will allow you to choose a plan that focuses on the debts that are causing greater stress on your finances. For instance, high-interest credit card debt should almost always take precedence over low-interest student loans.

Knowing the types of debt you carry can also help you explore specific relief options. Loans secured by property like a house or vehicle, for instance, may have more limited options than unsecured loans.

Jefferson recommends you put all of your debts on a single sheet of paper and only then decide which debt payment avenue you want to take. You can categorize your debts by type, such as:

Credit card debt: High-interest and typically unsecured.
Student loans: May have flexible repayment options or be eligible for forgiveness programs.
Medical bills: Often negotiable, with options for reduced payment plans.
Auto loans or mortgages: Secured debts tied to assets you might risk losing if payments are missed.

If you have multiple high-interest debts, a debt consolidation loan can simplify payments and reduce interest. The average rate of a credit card is currently 23%, while Jefferson says rates on a consolidation loan are often under 10%.

Plus, “with a fixed payment schedule, you understand when your loan will be paid off and instead of paying multiple creditors, you are only paying one,” she says.

For medical bills, negotiating directly with healthcare providers or exploring hospital assistance programs may help. And if student loans are a large piece of your debt pie, you might want to look into income-driven repayment plans, which set your monthly payments based on what you’re earning, or refinancing options, which may help you lower your monthly bill through a lower interest rate or longer repayment term.

3. What are the interest rates on your debts?

The interest rate you already have (and what sort of new interest rate you can qualify for) will determine what sort of options are available to you.

Debts with high-interest rates accrue additional charges faster, making them more expensive to maintain. Credit cards are the best example of this. “Just understanding how a credit card works is huge,” Unverzagt says.

If you don’t pay off the balance on your card each month, that means you’re paying more than you might think for any purchases you make: A $100 pair of jeans only costs that amount if you pay it off before the interest kicks in.

Getting a balance transfer credit card to temporarily reduce interest and accelerate payments on high-interest credit card debt is one option. But Jefferson cautions against this. “Many will continue using the credit card and get back in credit card debt, while still paying off the balance transfer … putting you in a worse position than you started,” she says.

A debt consolidation loan might be a better solution for lower-interest debt — for example, debts with rates under 10% — but only if you can qualify for a rate that’s low enough to actually result in savings after you factor in any applicable fees. Otherwise, you may want to consider a self-directed payoff strategy like the debt avalanche and snowball methods.

The former prioritizes paying off the highest-interest debt first, saving money over time. On the other hand, if you need quick psychological wins to stay motivated, you might prefer the latter method, which focuses on repaying the smallest balances first.

4. Can you afford to make your payments on time?

Consistently making on-time payments is crucial to avoiding penalties and damaging your credit score.

If you’re struggling to keep up with payments, a debt management plan (DMP) offered by a nonprofit credit counseling agency is another option. These plans come with a small monthly fee. In exchange, you’ll work with a credit counselor to create a payment plan that usually includes reduced interest rates.

This is likely a better option if you need a little more hand-holding to get on the right track, Jefferson says. When you enroll in a DMP, you have to close out all your credit cards, so you don’t have the option of spending more. Plus, credit counselors keep “your other monthly expenses in mind when calculating your monthly minimum payment,” she says.

If you’re already behind on your payments and you’ve had a financial hardship (like a job loss or divorce), you could also try to settle your debts for less than you owe. You can do this yourself via negotiating or by working with a debt relief company.

While you’re focusing on how to get out of debt, don’t forget about savings. While it’s hard to accomplish both, try to build up at least a small emergency fund as you pay down your debt. Without a financial safety net, unexpected costs could easily disrupt your payment plan and send you spiraling further into the hole.

5. Do you have a strong credit score?

Your credit score is one of the main criteria that affects your eligibility for certain debt payoff options. Naturally, consumers with a better credit score will have access to a wider variety of choices and better terms overall.

With good to excellent credit (670 and above) you may qualify for balance transfer credit cards, low-interest personal loans or refinancing options that lower your rates. With fair to poor credit (below 670), your access to favorable terms will be limited, but other ways to get out of debt, like secured loans or credit counseling, can still provide relief.

6. Is your income low relative to your debt?

If your income is insufficient to cover your debts, you may need to explore alternative strategies. Ask yourself:

Can I increase my income? Side gigs, part-time work and freelance opportunities can boost your regular earnings.
Are assistance programs available to you? Nonprofit credit counseling agencies can help you create a manageable repayment plan. Programs like income-driven repayment (IDR) plans can reduce federal student loan payments based on your income.
Is debt reliefan option? For those facing extreme financial hardship, negotiating with creditors to settle for less than the full balance might be worth exploring. Keep in mind this typically only works if you’re delinquent on your bills, which will hurt your credit.
Can you qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy? This type of bankruptcy allows most of your unsecured debts to be discharged, meaning eliminated, in as little as four to six months. You do have to qualify via a means test that considers your income and finances relative to your debt, but for those who do, the success rate is very high. This will stay on your credit report for a decade.

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Worried Your Retirement Savings Won’t Last? Consider This Alternative

February 20, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: Money.com, SUCCESS

I call it the “desert island dilemma” — a reference to being stranded alone with a single barrel of water, having to decide how long it might last and how much you can afford to drink every day.

In personal finance terms, rather than water, imagine the barrel is filled with the savings you’ve accumulated to live on in retirement, and you must determine how long you can survive on those proceeds and at what rate you can afford to spend them.

The answers vary by individual, of course, but they have led to the creation of a one-size-fits-all solution known as the 4% rule. It’s the traditional idea that you can safely withdraw that percentage — plus a little extra for inflation — of your savings each year and still make it through up to 30 years of retirement without running out of money.

But there are issues to this approach. Notably, many would-be retirees haven’t accumulated a large-enough nest egg for 4% of it — even with Social Security income added in — to be enough to live on. With the 4% rule, withdrawing $50,000 annually in retirement means you’d need to have saved more than $1.25 million. That’s roughly twice the average savings of about $600,000 that retirees now have, according to the Federal Reserve.

The sizable requirement is among the reasons to consider a retirement alternative that’s rooted in the era when pensions, rather than 401(k)s, were the cornerstone of retirement security. As a retirement planner, I call the approach Pension 2.0. While it flies in the face of what some other retirement experts advise, this strategy might be the ticket to a less stressful, more bountiful retirement for some people.

A pension-like strategy

Once upon a time, more workers had access to pensions that offered retirees steady, reliable life long income. Couples often had two options: opt for a reduced pension that continued for a surviving spouse or choose a higher payout that ceased upon the pensioner’s death.

Pension 2.0 starts by replacing what a pension used to do with the purchase of an annuity — specifically a single premium immediate annuity (SPIA). This one-time purchase (usually at retirement) provides a high guaranteed lifetime payout because the life-only option does not offer survivor benefits – and so delivers more in income. Today, SPIAs can provide payouts of 7–8% annually, which is double, or nearly so, the amount that people draw from their retirement accounts under the 4% rule.

For $50,000 in annual income, you’d need an SPIA with just $625,000 — still a hefty sum, but about half what you’d need in a retirement account to yield that same income if following the 4% rule.

If a couple secures an SPIA to guarantee a certain income, any remaining funds can be allocated for other purposes, and perhaps with a willingness to be a little less conservative with investments than people tend to be under the 4% rule. But upon the death of the annuitant, the annuity income stops. That’s where the second component of Pension 2.0 — life insurance — comes into play.

Life insurance as a backstop

To protect the surviving spouse and ensure that the funds used to purchase the SPIA are eventually returned to the family, Pension 2.0 incorporates a permanent life insurance policy, which can come in several forms – whole life, indexed life or variable.

Unlike term life insurance, which risks expiring before the annuitant’s death, a properly maintained permanent policy is guaranteed to provide a death benefit whenever the insured annuitant passes away. This ensures the refunding of the SPIA amount for the benefit of the survivor or children — closing the loop elegantly for the family.

There’s also a cash accumulation component to permanent life insurance policies. That cash value can accumulate over time, eventually delivering an additional cash value that can increase the policy’s death benefit or be used to pay the policy’s premiums.

The cons to the approach

No retirement strategy is perfect. While the permanent life insurance required under Pension 2.0 delivers security to the surviving spouse, it requires understanding the benefit and being comfortable with the higher cost of such a policy compared with term coverage; for example, the average monthly premium for a $500,000 policy of the whole life type can be at least $400 a month, according to Policygenius.

Buying life insurance later in life is costly and risky because you could be denied coverage due to health issues. So it’s ideal to secure a policy early and have it fully funded before retirement.

Additionally, permanent life insurance is a conservative growth vehicle, with returns that are closer to those of bonds than of a typical retirement account based on stock market returns. That said, any retirement portfolio usefully contains less risky investments, and the insurance policy can contribute to creating that balance.

Another reason some retirement advisors steer clients away from annuities is that, once you’ve purchased one, it can’t be reversed; it’s already destined to deliver monthly income to you for as long as you live. (You can, however, opt for a more flexible annuity, but these have smaller payouts than the life-only SPIA type. It’s important to review your annuity options, perhaps with an advisor)

How this strategy can work

It’s not for everyone, but Pension 2.0 can deliver well, and not only to those who lack the savings to weather retirement in good financial shape. Admittedly, its appeal might be greatest to retirees who might otherwise be unable to create a viable income from their modest retirement nest egg.

But the approach has advantages even for those who are comparatively well-prepared for their retirements. By combining the stability of an SPIA with the certainty of permanent life insurance, this strategy all but relieves retirees of having to worry about the unpredictabilities and inherent volatility of the stock market.

Depending on your risk tolerance and financial goals, the funds remaining after purchasing an annuity and insurance policy could be invested a little more aggressively in the market through Pension 2.0.

Pension 2.0 is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. Rather, it provides an additional option as families work to create a secure retirement. Work with a financial planner or professional to evaluate your unique needs to ensure that this strategy aligns with your retirement goals.

This hybrid solution might not fit every retiree, but for those seeking security and simplicity, it could redefine financial freedom in retirement.

Walter C. Young, MBA and RICP, is a Seattle-based financial planner and the author of The 5th Option: Why Your Retirement Plan Won’t Work the Way You Think It Will. Advice from guest contributors like Walter does not necessarily reflect that of Money and its staff.

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Why So Many Homes Today Are Being Sold to Cash Buyers

February 19, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: Money.com, SUCCESS

The percentage of homebuyers who purchased with cash dropped last year, but is still well above pre-pandemic norms.

Just under one-third (32.6%) of homes sold in the U.S. last year were bought in cash, according to an analysis by Redfin. While this is lower than the roughly 35% of cash home sales that took place in 2023 and on par with the percentage of cash sales in 2022, it’s considerably above the approximately 26% recorded at the beginning of 2020.

A considerable body of research finds that would-be homebuyers who have to borrow money are at a disadvantage — even when rates are more attractive than they are today. Many sellers prefer the certainty of a buyer who comes with cash in hand, rather than accepting an offer contingent on the buyer’s ability to secure mortgage financing.

Although frustrated home shoppers across the country have found themselves outbid by cash buyers due to a combination of constrained supply and booming demand, researchers have found that sellers are willing to accept less for their homes if a buyer offers cash. A 2021 study from the University of California San Diego found that cash buyers pay between 6% and 17% less, depending on the strength of the local current housing market and the buyer’s credit profile.

The bad news for buyers today, especially first-time homebuyers, is that the historically high share of cash buyers is likely to persist through 2025, according to Redfin economic research lead Chen Zhao.

“It really feels right now like the 2025 housing market will look a lot like the 2024 housing market,” she predicts. “It feels like overall housing transactions will stay very close to the same volume. Because of that, the all-cash share would probably stay pretty similar.”

Zhao says the increase in cash sales between 2020 and 2023 was driven by a combination of factors. Initially, investors piled into a hot housing market, seeking homes to rent or flip, while the post-pandemic housing migration gave homeowners moving from high- to lower-cost housing markets the buying power to purchase their new homes with cash.

When the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in 2022 to try to rein in runaway inflation, the fallout hit ordinary families — already struggling with home affordability as prices notched record after record — faster and harder than investors. “The main thing that drives the share of homes that are purchased with all cash is mortgage rates,” Zhao says.

While higher borrowing costs also have dampened investors’ appetite over the past couple of years, she says, the plunge in homebuying activity overall has been so sharp that it has led to cash sales comprising a greater share proportionately.

When the Fed began a rapid series of rate hikes, bringing its benchmark fed funds rate from near zero to an effective rate of 5.33% over the course of 16 months, economists, executives and ordinary Americans braced for a recession.

To the surprise of many, that didn’t happen. “The Fed’s rate hikes have not put us into a recession, and that’s highly unusual,” Zhao says. “A lot of it is because the economy is less interest rate-sensitive than it was in the past,” she adds, in part because so many homeowners took advantage of the plunge in mortgage rates in 2020 to buy or refinance homes, contributing to the “lock-in effect” that has acted as a brake on housing market activity.

“The lock-in effect is fading, but it’s fading at a slow pace,” Zhao says.

On the flip side, inflation has been higher for longer than many predicted: A look at Fed officials’ evolving views in the projections the central bank publishes four times a year shows that the persistence of inflation caught even the experts by surprise. With this scenario in place, economists now take an increasingly dim view of any rate cuts this calendar year. Unfortunately for would-be homebuyers, this means cash buyers are likely to have outsized influence on the housing market for the foreseeable future.

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Freedom Debt Relief Review

February 15, 2025 Ogghy Filed Under: Money.com, SUCCESS

Freedom Debt Relief is one of our top picks for the best debt relief companies. The firm offers debt settlement programs to borrowers dealing with overwhelming credit card debt and other unsecured debt.

While you can negotiate debt settlements on your own, one of the benefits of working with a reliable debt relief company is that it can reduce the time you spend dealing with creditors. And since these companies have experience working with creditors, they may be able to secure a larger reduction in your debt balance (though the fees will reduce your overall savings).

Freedom Debt Relief (FDR) is one of the largest companies in the industry. According to a company spokesperson, FDR has settled more than $19 billion in debt for over 1 million clients since 2002. The company also reports that over two-thirds of its clients get their first settlement offer within three months.

Freedom Debt Relief Overview

Pros

Has a lower minimum debt requirement ($7,500) than some other companies.
Program guarantee with a commitment to refund fees if the client’s settlement and fees are more than what they originally owed when they enrolled in the program.
Includes legal support services in the debt settlement process at no additional cost.

Cons

No online chat option to speak with an agent.
Not available to residents of all states. (See the detailed list below.)

There are other drawbacks to be aware before you consider debt relief. These apply to the whole industry, not just Freedom Debt Relief, but they are important enough to call out here:

You cannot negotiate on unsecured debt such as auto loans and mortgages or on federal student loans.
There’s no guarantee that creditors will be willing to work with the debt relief company — any company that promises it can settle all your debt is a red flag.
Depending on your existing credit, you could see your credit score drop during the debt settlement process since it typically requires you to miss payments. If you are current on your payments, creditors don’t have an incentive to settle.

Freedom Debt Relief Services

Freedom Debt Relief negotiates with creditors to reduce what you owe and agree on a debt settlement — typically a one-time, lump sum payment — on your behalf. The company also offers a range of debt and money management resources.

When you sign up for Freedom Debt Relief’s program, an advisor from the company will offer you an initial financial evaluation free of charge to discuss options and determine whether debt relief is an appropriate path. (If the company’s program isn’t the best fit for a particular customer, Freedom Debt Relief may refer them to partners who specialize in other types of debt solutions such as debt consolidation, credit counseling and bankruptcy.)

If you do enroll in FDR’s debt relief program, the company will run a detailed cash flow assessment. This allows them to recommend a monthly deposit amount that you can afford based on your current finances. You’ll deposit that amount into an account to build up funds for any possible settlements.

In keeping with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rules, Freedom Debt Relief doesn’t charge upfront fees. Instead, it takes a cut of the final settlement it negotiates with your creditors as payment. Freedom Debt Relief also offers its clients a program guarantee: If the total amount of settlement is more than the total amount of debt a client enrolled in the program, FDR will refund the difference.

While enrolled, clients have access to an online dashboard to track their debts and the balance in their savings accounts, as well as access to customer service seven days a week. There’s also a mobile app where clients can quickly review and approve settlements as they come in.

Requirements to qualify

Freedom Debt Relief only works with borrowers who have at least $7,500 or more in unsecured debt, such as credit cards, medical debt, personal loans, private student loans and payday loans. The company may also help with some business debts on a case-by-case basis.

The candidate must also be experiencing some form of financial hardship that’s making it hard to pay unsecured debt such as credit card bills, medical bills or personal loans. Examples of financial hardship include unexpected medical issues, divorce, unexpected expenses and job loss or reduced income.

Cost

You can expect to pay a service fee ranging from 15% to 25% of the enrolled debt. For example, if you have a $15,000 credit card debt, the fee could range from $2,250 to $3,750, depending on the length and complexity of the negotiation.

Freedom Debt Relief will charge this fee after the debt is negotiated, the settlement is approved and the client makes the first payment. Before the company settles each account, it will contact the client to authorize the settlement and the associated service fee.

Clients also have to pay a one-time $9.95 fee to set up a dedicated account where you will accumulate debt settlement funds. Once you pay the setup fee, there is an additional $9.95 monthly to service the account.

Company credentials

Founding member of the American Association for Debt Resolution (AADR), which promotes and upholds best practices in the debt settlement industry. During the AADR accreditation process, an independent third-party auditor reviews the member companies’ compliance with federal and state laws and the AADR’s industry standards.
Member of the International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators (IAPDA).
FDR’s debt consultants are certified by the International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators (IAPDA), a nonprofit organization that provides education and training resources to industry professionals.

Customer satisfaction

Trustpilot: 4.6/5 star rating, based on over 44,000 reviews
Better Business Bureau (BBB): A+ BBB Rating and an average of 4.5/5 stars, based on 1,900+ customer reviews
Google Reviews: 4.7/5 star rating on Google Reviews, based on 500+ reviews

Availability

Freedom Debt Relief is authorized to do business in the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.
Additional states require that consumers obtain these services from a law firm. Freedom Debt Relief provides debt settlement services through legal partners in Connecticut, Georgia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Ohio, South Carolina, and Virginia.
The company doesn’t offer debt settlement services in: Colorado, Hawaii, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming.

What to know about the debt settlement industry

Debt relief can be tricky to navigate alone. Consumers have to negotiate with creditors who have a vested interest in persuading them to pay the highest amount possible. So, many people engage the services of a debt relief agency for this task.

But debt settlement isn’t a surefire solution. For starters, not all debt is eligible, just unsecured debt including credit card debt, medical debt, personal loans or department store debt. You’ll need to consider other solutions if you are struggling with federal student loans, your mortgage or your car loan.

There is also no guarantee that a debt settlement company will be successful in negotiating your debt. A creditor may outright refuse to work with a debt settlement company or renegotiate your debt. One study on the financial outcome of debt settlement programs found that 74% of borrowers successfully settle at least one account within three years starting a debt relief program. But that also means that 26% weren’t able to settle a single account.

You should also keep in mind that interest and fees still accumulate while the company negotiates for you, so your debt balance often grows. And missing payments can hurt your credit score.

Know that debt relief companies are not your only option for dealing with debt. Other options include:

Consumer credit counseling: Consulting with a nonprofit credit counseling organization can be a good first step. These organizations offer free financial evaluations to identify the best way to tackle your debt. If your debt is eligible, a credit counseling company may also offer to enroll you in a debt management plan for a monthly service fee. Through this program, the company will negotiate a lower interest rate with your creditors and create a new repayment plan that fits your budget.
Debt consolidation programs: This is an option for people who have several debts with different creditors and have good enough credit to qualify. A debt consolidation loan combines everything you owe into one account and gives you a single monthly repayment amount.
Bankruptcy: If you have no other recourse, bankruptcy is another option. This is a legal process through which borrowers can either eliminate some of their outstanding debt or renegotiate a new plan to pay it off over time. However, the decision to file for bankruptcy should not be taken lightly. It will have a long-lasting effect on your credit score (the negative mark can stay on for up to 10 years), making it very difficult to get approved for new lines of credit.

Are all debt relief companies legitimate?

Freedom Debt Relief is a legitimate debt settlement company with over two decades of experience. But not all debt relief companies have a solid and proven reputation. Always look out for these signs of potential scams:

Asking for upfront fees: It is illegal for a company to charge fees before it has reached a settlement on your behalf and you’ve approved the settlement.
Requiring you to stop communicating with creditors: Although debt relief companies will take over much of the communication between you and the creditor, they shouldn’t block you from speaking with creditors if you wish to contact them.
Not explaining your legal rights: All good companies should know consumer law thoroughly and advise you on your rights if you ask.
Speaking about a new “government program” to bail out people with debt: Unless you find information on this from another reputable source, don’t fall for it.
Promising to protect you from any legal action: In reality, there’s always a risk that a creditor will sue you if you’re not making payments, even if you pursue a debt relief program.

You can contact your local consumer protection agency to check for negative reports about the company you’re considering before hiring its services.

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