529 plan performance is tough to measure — it's not just investment returns, but also tax benefits and fees. A low-cost plan sounds great on paper, but a generous state income tax break can more than make up for a plan with higher fees.

If you've heard the phrase: William D. Ford student loan forgiveness... run! While the William D. Ford student loan program is real, many scams use this phrase to hook victims.

Student loan repayment can be a byzantine mess for all 45 million student loan borrowers in the United States. And the confusing web offers scammers a gold mine to trick borrowers out of their hard-earned money.

Posing as legitimate government workers, student loan scammers will use official sounding phrases to lure unsuspecting individuals into their traps. Phrases like “aligned with the Department of Education” or “under the William D. Ford Act” dominate the scamming landscape.

Despite the fancy sounding titles or official sound programs, scam companies are out to make a quick buck without providing any value in return. In this article we explain how to spot an “official” sounding scam, and what to do to protect yourself from scammers.

How much you should be saving for college for your child? It's one of the biggest questions we get asked almost everyday. How much should we have in a 529 plan? How much should we save for college? How much do we need to worry about this? And the answer is tough - it depends.

The idea of a 529 College Savings Plan is great: you can contribute money into an account and it will grow tax free to someday pay for your child's education. And you can contribute a lot of money too (up to $300,000 in most states). That's not where the trouble arises.

The real trouble comes from rising tuition costs and how much every "college savings calculator" says you need to save for your child's education. According to The College Board, the average cost of a public 4-year college in 2025-2026 was $11,950 for in-state tuition. The average cost for a private college was $45,000.

When you start plugging those numbers into the college savings calculator, suddenly you're supposed to start saving over $500 per month for your child. Then, add that into your own savings for retirement, and you're not going to have anything left for yourself each month!

So let's dive in and see how much you should have in a 529 plan.

With the cost of college constantly on the rise, simply putting money away in a savings account for a child’s educational future may not be enough. Setting up and contributing to a 529 — a tax-advantaged savings plan for educational costs — is one of the best ways to start saving early and maximize those savings.

The most recent data from the Federal Reserve showed that the average student loan payment for borrowers in 2016 was $393. Adjusting for inflation, the average monthly student loan payment in 2025 is $503.

However, the average student loan payment can vary a lot based on factors such as repayment plan, interest rate, and loan term. It's also important to note that 38% of respondents said that at least one of their loans were in deferment (meaning they weren't currently making any payments at all).

Among borrowers that are actively paying down their student loans, the average student loan monthlys payment is much higher. This article explores the average student loan monthly payment in the US and what you can do to manage your own student loan debt.

Have you heard of an equal weighted index fund? It's a unique fund that balances every holding equally.

We love index fund, and we've recommended several in our Guide To Investing. However, equal weighted index funds are gaining in popularity, and I think that has a lot of merit.

An equal weighted index fund is just like it sounds - everything inside the index fund is equally weighted. This differs from other index funds, in that most are capitalization-based, meaning stocks with higher market capitalization (or value) are held as a higher percentage of the fund.

Let's see how that really breaks down...