Dad Joke
Someone just threw mayonnaise at me.
What the Hellman?
Now Let’s Make Your Money Smile
If you have no income, your student loan payment is not zero. Not anymore.
This one changed out from under people and almost nobody has been told. Under the new Repayment Assistance Plan — the federal plan that launched July 1 — a borrower with zero income does not get a $0 payment. The law sets a $10-a-month minimum for everyone whose calculated payment comes out below that. No income exemption. The Department of Education says it in plain language in its own final rule.
Here’s the part that matters more than the ten dollars. Ten dollars is not the problem. A missed payment is. If you are sitting there believing your bill is zero because it always was, nobody is going to call and correct you — you find out when it is already late.
And there is a door here that a lot of people still have open and don’t know it. The older IBR plan still has a real $0 floor, and it forgives what’s left five to ten years sooner than the new plan does. But it closes the moment you take out any new federal loan — including a consolidation, which is the kind of tidy housekeeping people do without thinking. I wrote the whole thing up here, with the regulation quoted so you can check me.
Go look at which plan you’re actually in. Not what you think you’re in — what the servicer says you’re in.
The unsolicited package isn’t the scam anymore. The QR code inside it is.
You’ve heard of brushing — a box shows up you never ordered, because somebody used your name and address to post a fake verified review. Mildly creepy, basically harmless. The FTC flagged a new wrinkle yesterday: some of these boxes now come with a QR code and a note offering to help you find out who sent it. Scan it and you’re handing over information, or installing something.
The instinct that gets people here is a good instinct — you want to know who has your address. Just don’t let the box tell you.
If you have a lawyer, the collector is not allowed to call you. That’s the whole rule.
Two complaints landed this week that are the same story twice. In one, a Florida woman alleges that LVNV Funding and Resurgent Capital contacted her directly about a disputed debt while knowing she was represented by an attorney. In the other, a Pennsylvania woman alleges Portfolio Recovery kept up a campaign of calls after she repeatedly asked them to stop.
These are allegations. No court has found anybody liable, and I’m not telling you these two companies did it.
I’m telling you the rule, because it’s the part people don’t know: once a collector knows you have a lawyer, they’re supposed to go through the lawyer. Not you. Same with a written request to stop calling. Those aren’t favors you ask for — they’re the law, and when a collector runs over them it’s the collector with the problem, not you. I’ve never sued a collector myself. Plenty of my clients have, and won.
Quick hits.
Credit bureau lawsuits keep coming — at least 69 new federal cases against Equifax, Experian and Trans Union in the last three days alone, and that number is a floor twice over, since we only see federal courts and the index runs a week or two behind. What it tells you isn’t “sue somebody.” It’s that the dispute process has a next step, and almost nobody uses it.
And if you’re in a Chapter 13 and somebody’s suggested a title loan to get through a rough month — read this first. Short version: permission has to come before you sign, not after, and the rules differ so much by district that your neighbor’s answer isn’t yours.
What people are actually asking me.
A pattern I keep seeing: somebody sits down for dental work, and somewhere between the exam and the treatment plan a credit application appears. Not a payment plan — a credit application, with a real interest rate, signed in a chair while you’re already anxious about your teeth.
There is nothing illegal about it. But being handed credit at the exact moment you’re least able to shop for it is not a coincidence, it’s a business model. If that’s happened to you, ask me about it. It’s free and private and I’m not selling anything.
This week’s show.
Damon and I went at the big one: Bankruptcy Isn’t Failure — It’s a Financial Tool. Whether bankruptcy is a moral failure or the smartest tool on the table when the math has stopped working, and what it costs you to decide that question out of guilt instead of arithmetic.
One more thing. If you want the longer versions as they land, that’s the Weekday Briefing, and it’s free. And if the student loan thing at the top applies to somebody you know — somebody out of work, somebody between things — send it to them today. That’s the one where believing the old rule actually costs money.
This is my read and my opinion after thirty-plus years of this, not legal or financial advice for your specific situation. Your facts matter, and so does your state’s law.
Here’s the thing I actually believe, and I’ve watched it happen more times than I can count: people get out of this. Not by winning something, not by a windfall — by looking at one honest number and making one decision, and then doing it again next month. That’s it. That’s the whole trick. You’re allowed to start with the small one.
Back Monday.
— Steve
Bonus Section
A few places I actually use, and what I get out of telling you. Each one shows a plain link and my referral link. If you use mine, the company may hand us both a small bonus. The plain link goes to exactly the same place — it just pays me nothing, and you nothing. Use whichever you like; genuinely, it’s your call.
I’ve also listed places I like that pay me nothing at all, so you can see the difference.
Cash that actually earns something
Betterment — their Cash Reserve account is the closest thing here to a plain high-yield savings account. (my referral link)
Saving without having to think about it
Acorns — rounds up your spare change and invests it automatically. I pay for it, and the reason is simple: it saves money I’d otherwise spend without noticing. (my referral link)
Investing
Robinhood — the platform I run my own experiment on. (my referral link)
And three I recommend on merit, where I get nothing at all: Vanguard for low-cost index funds, Schwab for a full-service brokerage, and American Century — I was a happy customer there for decades.
Rates and terms move, and each of these has its own conditions. Go look at today’s numbers before you move a dollar.
A free conversation about your situation
Damon Day is an independent debt coach, and my co-host on Get Out of Debt Guy — you can also hear us on Spotify. I want you to know that before you decide anything. I receive no payment for this referral.
The consultation is free. The only time money changes hands is if you decide you want to hire him as a consultant. Go to DamonDay.com and schedule — he doesn’t cold-call anybody, and neither do I.
Or ask me, anonymously
Ask Steve — free, private, and I’m not selling anything. No account, no email, no sales pitch at the end of it.