Mike Myers - Financial Advisor

10/24/2022

Student Loan Forgiveness Update:

On Friday U.S. Appeals Court temporarily blocks student loan forgiveness. This puts a pause (at least) on the loans being dispensed. We will see what actually comes about from this block, but there will most likely be more updates with the general election on November 8th.

If you are planning to apply for forgiveness and haven't done so, you can still apply at this time. Applications will still be reviewed, and the application process only takes a few minutes. https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief/application

Also, the application for extended Public Service Loan Forgiveness ends on Oct 31, 2022. This extends qualifying payments for PSLF to give credit for certain payments that may not have originally qualified. If you believe you may qualify you can find out more here: https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/pslf-limited-waiver One common example of this extended credit would be for payments made under the standard 120 payment plan instead of income-based repayment.

08/29/2022

Student Loan Forgiveness Update:

Last week Wednesday President Biden announced the updated student loan forgiveness plan. More information should be made in the next couple of weeks but here is what it sounds like so far:

-Current federal loan payment pause will be extended for a final time and payments are set to resume in January 2023

-$10k in forgiveness on federal loans for borrowers who make $125k or less a single tax filer, or $250k for joint filers

-An additional $10k in forgiveness for Pell Grant recipients (A potential total of $20k forgiveness for this group)

-It seems like the forgiveness should automatically apply to those who are eligible, but the Department of Education is working on an online portal to ensure income on record is up to date.

-The Department of Education will post the most up-to-date information here https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/

-You can get refunded payments made from March 13, 2020. If you've made payments since then, and these payments would have fallen under the forgiveness, it may be worth reaching out to your student loan provider.

-It does not seem like income taxes will be owed on the forgiven amounts

More information will come in the next few weeks. I will try to post about any clarifications and significant updates or changes.

New one-time student loan cancellation to be granted based on income; and student loan payment pause extended through Dec. 31, 2022

05/16/2022

A reminder that this Thursday is my social security webinar. More details are under the events page. I'm looking forward to helping you be more confident in your social security strategy.

04/28/2022

We are three weeks away from my social security webinar. Let me know if there are any specific areas of social security you would like me to cover.

04/11/2022

Have you ever wondered if you were getting the most from your social security? On May 19th I will be hosting a webinar on social security and will cover maximization strategies, situations where you may qualify for higher amounts than you are currently getting, and more. If you are interested, you can like the Social Security Webinar under the event page to get reminders.

04/04/2022

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0) last week. It still needs to go through Senate, but there are some potential planning opportunities that are being considered.

Some include:

- Increasing RMD age from 72 to 75 (phased in over a decade)
- Higher catch up contribution limit - up to $10k
- Allow employers to "match" contributions to retirement plans for employees student loan payments (even if employee is not contributing to the retirement plan)
- Allow matching contributions to be made as Roth contributions

Take a look at the specifics:

SECURE 2.0 Approved by House in 414-5 vote

03/09/2022

Thank you, Colleen Woggon for allowing me to share my story to the sophomore class of New Lisbon as they learned about the career opportunities at the credit union. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the work study program (for a short stint) with New Lisbon School and Oakdale Credit Union, and my time at the credit union had a major impact on my career choice, and has developed into a wonderful partnership today. I would highly recommend work study to high school and college students. Not only do you get to test out potential career paths, but you get to expand your network that may turn into opportunities later in life.

Ben Morey does a great job at facilitating the program at New Lisbon. He would be a great contact if you know someone that would be interested to learn more.

02/14/2022

Reminder of my investment webinar this Thursday at 5 pm. The event page has the link for the webinar and you can also like the event to get a reminder. I'm looking forward to it!

02/07/2022

In a time where news sources will use scary headlines to get clicks, it's hard to know what to believe. This article by TheBalance outlines some different economic indicators in a fairly easy to understand way, and also gives an update on where we stand.

The U.S. economy’s health is determined by indicators like the gross domestic product (GDP), unemployment, inflation, and more. Here's what it means for you.

01/31/2022

Reminder of my investment webinar on the 19th of February. There is an event page if you would like to attend and could use a reminder. Let me know if there is something specific you would like me to cover. I am looking forward to sharing!