These courses provide a foundation in budgeting, borrowing, investing and overall financial awareness. We run into these topics in our everyday lives, but according to the National Financial Educators Council, we don’t completely master them: participants on average score a 65% in their financial literacy test.

But if you look for free online finance courses for beginners, what you’ll often find can be hit-or-miss. For example, do trained instructors teach the courses? And can you take the class at your own pace or do you need to follow a schedule?

In this article, we provide an overview of our favorite personal finance courses. The list has something for everyone: from budgeting and debt management to investing. We present the list in no particular order.

1. Making sense of your personal finances (Udemy)

This free course teaches you how to set S.M.A.R.T. financial goals and work out how much you need to achieve those goals. It’a as short class lasting one hour and 22 minutes and uses on-demand video.

This course reveals basic money skills you should learn and shows you how to:

• Understand and set financial goals
• Prepare a budget
• Save effectively
• Manage your debt

This basic money management class is conducted by the Institute for Financial Literacy of Singapore. They provide free and unbiased financial education programs to various organizations.

2. Financial literacy (Alison)

Master how to manage your money effectively by learning to budget and save with this free personal finance course.

The course will guide you through personal finance essentials, including the main methods for managing money, budgeting, saving and staying out of debt. It’s not an overly long course, lasting an expected 6 to 10 hours, depending on your pace.

In addition, you’ll learn about checking and savings accounts; how to deal with unexpected events and debt; how credit cards work and planning for retirement.

To obtain an Alison Graduate certificate of completion, you’ll need to score 80% or higher in each course assessment. Worth it? It’s a nice way to motivate yourself and show your improvement.

3. Learn and master the basics of finance (Udemy)

This Finance 101 course is meant for beginners and intermediate level students of finance who would like to get a better understanding of financial concepts.

For example, if you’d like to get a better grip on the financial section of The Wall Street Journal, this course is for you.

It’s over 3 hours long and will teach you a range of topics: from basic banking concepts to more complex derivative products. The course keeps things simple and builds gradually to learn the more complex financial subjects. 

4. Personal finance management (edX)

This course is taught by Sugato Chakravarty, a professor from Purdue University (PurdueX). You’ll learn about investment, credit, insurance and retirement topics. And it teaches you how to manage your money more effectively.

This class requires a bit of commitment as it’s 5 weeks long, requires 3 to 4 hours per week, and follows a course schedule. Topics covered in this program include: how to make better financial decisions; the time value of money; the basics of stock markets and investments, and the proper role of credit and how to use it judiciously.

The course also covers how insurance works; the interplay between investments, credit and insurance, and the importance of saving for retirement sooner rather than later.

5. Personal finance co-pilot: Achieve your financial goals (Skillshare)

With this course, you’ll learn how to set up a budget and a personal financial plan to help you achieve your goals. The course walks you through the steps you need to take for that financial plan (your co-pilot) to help you save, pay down credit cards or meet unplanned expenses.

The class instructor suggests the use of a personal financial tool to track day-to-day transactions and help you meet the course goals.

While free, the course requires you to sign up for a free trial.  

6. Finance for everyone: Smart tools for decision-making (edX)

This free course from the University of Michigan offers an introduction to finance and teaches you how to apply concepts and tools for understanding and making everyday financial decisions.

This self-paced class will show you how to value the impact of your financial decisions: from renting vs buying, refinancing a student loan, evaluating personal loans, or simply learning how the financial world works.  

The course is taught by finance professor Gautam Kaul, at the Ross School of Business (RSB), University of Michigan. It’ll take you six weeks to complete and will require a time commitment of about 5 to 6 hours per week.

7. Personal & family financial planning (Coursera)

This course has a little of everything: it’ll show you how to manage your finances using budgets, cover credit basics and debt management, plus discuss insurance and investment fundamentals. 

Unlike other online courses in this list, this one mixes things up a bit. In addition to instructional videos, you’ll be using reading materials and completing practice exercises in each of its modules. 

Michael S. Gutter, a professor at the University of Florida teaches it. This online course has flexible deadlines and will take about 15 hours to complete.

8. Investment vehicles, insurance, and retirement (Khan Academy)

As you start thinking about investing for retirement, you’ll run into acronyms such as ETFs, IRAs and 401(k)’s. If you want to learn more about those investment vehicles or are curious to know the differences between hedge funds, private equity or venture capital, then this personal finance course is right for you.

The lessons are taught by Mr. Khan himself and grouped into five units. All videos are self-paced and do not require you to sign up.

9. Introduction to simple and compound interest (Alison)

If you have a checking account, credit card, or loan, you’ve come across aspects of simple and compound interest. This brief course will teach you the distinction between the two.

Interest is the cost of borrowing money and the way it’s calculated is crucial in helping you make better financial decisions. You’ll become proficient at calculating it and will learn the differences between simple and compound interest. 

10. Personal finance essentials (McGill)

This free online class is provided by McGill University, a top school in Canada. The course covers the basics of budgeting, borrowing, real estate and investor behavior. 

It’s open to all individuals who wish to improve their financial literacy. However, the course content is based on the Canadian financial system, so any details related to taxation or retirement savings products may not apply in the US. 

The course is taught by professors from McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management and is taught in eight modules. Registration is open four times a year. 

11. Introduction to managing your personal finance debts (Alison)

If you want to become debt free, this online course in managing personal financial debts will show you the way. It’ll teach you solid financial management practices and useful tips for dealing with your debts. 

Sometimes the unexpected happens, which can lead to financial problems. Folks often have no other choice and get into debt, which can become unmanageable quickly. This free online course will show you how to reduce your personal debt and eventually become debt-free. 

12. Shed debt faster (Walletero)

This downloadable free guide by Walletero isn’t technically a course, but it’ll help you get out of debt faster. It provides easy-to-follow tips and action steps to:

• Review your finances
• Get organized
• Take action to reduce your debt
• Improve your credit
• Adopt healthy credit habits and
• Live debt free

You’ll find plenty of tips and insights to get a better grip on your financial situation, get organized quickly, and start lowering your debt.

The post 12 Free Personal Finance Courses to Handle Your Finances appeared first on Walletero.

But learning what’s a good salary in the US, or at least one that’s higher than that of half the population may surprise you.

And how much you’re compensated on average each month varies with age and education. A quick look at the wage distribution in the US across age group or education level will, in fact, confirm it. 

In this article, we delve deep into data gathered by the US Census Bureau and the Social Security Administration to reveal what’s the median and average income in the US.  

Average income reported in 2020 (from 2019 data)

The US Census Bureau releases its annual report on household income every year during the month of September. It presents information on income and poverty in the United States based on the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements (the CPS ASEC survey).

The Census measures household income by surveying a sample of people 15 years and older on the amount of income received in the preceding calendar year from various sources. These sources include earnings, interest, dividends, veteran’s payments, rents, etc. and exclude certain income sources such as capital gains. 

It reports data on household, family and personal or per capita income. Here’s how each term is defined:

• Household: A household consists of all the people who occupy a housing unit and can be related or unrelated.
• Family: A family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, adoption, or marriage and living together.
• Personal: Any household member 15 years old and over.

These income figures are calculated as a median and an average (or mean). They’re all measures of central tendency in numbers. Here’s the difference between them:

• Median: Is the midpoint of a data sample. The median is calculated by listing all data points in ascending or descending order and simply picking the entry in the middle of that list. 
• Average or mean: The term is used interchangeably, and it’s calculated as the sum of all values in a sample divided by the total number of values.

Average reported income figures in the US are larger than their median counterparts because the income of the very wealthy influences the average. 

Median income figures in the US

Median household income: The US Census Bureau states in its annual report that in 2019 the median household income was $68,703, an increase of 6.8% from the prior year, which was $64,324. Both were records for their respective years. These figures come out to an average of $5,725 per month in 2019 and $5,360 per month in 2018.

The figures above can be interpreted this way: in 2019, half the households in the US had an income of less than $68,703 and the other half had more than that amount.

Median family income: The median family income in the US was $86,011 in 2019, increasing 7.4% from $80,071 in 2018. This figure has been increasing steadily since 2014 when it was $72,027.

Median personal income: The Bureau also reported that in 2019 the median personal or per capita income in the US was $35,977, marking an increase from the prior year. The number reported in 2018 was $34,317

Average income figures in the US

Average family income: The report also revealed that the mean or average family income in 2019 was $116,735, up from $107,966 in 2018. These figures include the incomes of the very wealthy and skew the average number higher. That’s why you’ll often see people quoting the median when discussing household income.

Average personal income: In 2019, the average personal income, also known as per capita income, was $54,129, up 7.4% from $50,413 in 2018.

Distribution of household income

The following table highlights the distribution of household income by range and the percentage of households falling in that range for 2019. 

Household income dispersion

The table below shows household income percentiles for 2019. One way to read the table is as follows: Half the population made less than $68,703 in 2019. 

Average wage index or AWI

One alternative to using Census data to understand how much money Americans earn on average is to use information from the Social Security Administration (SSA). The SSA produces an Average Wage Index or AWI in its calculation of national average wages. 

The AWI is linked to changes in average wage data and includes compensation that would be reported in a W-2 by an employer, including wages, tips and the like and is subject to federal income taxes. 

It also includes contributions to deferred compensation plans, but excludes taxable distributions from retirement plans. The SSA uses this index to calculate retirement benefit payments.

The average wage index in 2019 was $54,100, and in 2018 it was $52,146 or an increase of 3.75%. The AWI shows that average wages in the US, in fact, have been increasing every year since 1985, except for 2009 when they fell by 1.51%. The following table highlights the AWI and the average wage per US worker using raw data from the SSA.

Each year, the AWI is calculated by taking the prior year’s value and multiplying it by the percentage change in average wages over the same period. The SSA does this to decouple benefits from inflation and tie them instead to wage levels. 

How much do you need to be in the top 1% 

To be in the top 1 percent of earners in the United States in 2019 you had to earn more than $250,000. Actually, it was closer to $287,000 or more, using interpolated figures from the SSA.

The exact ranges are as follows:

• Earning $250,000.00 to $299,999.99 puts you in the top 1.11% in 2019
• Earning $300,000.00 to $349,999.99 puts you in the top 0.81% in 2019

The top 10%

To make it to the top 10% of wage earners in the US in 2019 you needed annual earnings of around $102,500.

The salary range provided by the SSA is $100,000.00 to $104.999.99 

The median 50%

The median wage in the United States, that is, the wage that put you in the top 50% of the population in 2019 was $34,248 a year. That’s 4.3% higher than the $32,838 required in 2018.

So what is a good salary in the US? If you made more than $34,248 in 2019, you were ahead of half of your fellow Americans. This is based on data from the SSA.

Median income for households by age

Overall, people tend to earn more as they mature and accumulate work experience. Median income increases steadily and peaks at the 45 to 54 year old bracket according to US Census data (see table below.) 

Past the age of 55, incomes start to drop off and fall even further as folks enter retirement age. As explained elsewhere in this article, average wages are higher than median wages because high wage earners influence the average. 

The data below is for the householder or person who owns or rents the household surveyed by the US Census while gathering income information. 

Average household income by education

The table below highlights that people with a better education make more money, in general. As the table illustrates, on average, six-figure incomes become prevalent for people with a college degree or higher. 

The above information is based on US Census data for each householder.

The wealth gap continues to widen

Despite the fact that American incomes have been rising over the past few years, the wealth gap between lower, middle and upper income earners continues to grow.

According to the Pew Research Center, upper income families were the only income tier able to build on their wealth from 2001 to 2016. This is due to the fact that upper income families derive a larger percentage of their wealth from financial assets.

It’s easier to understand this dynamic when you realize that the S&P’s long term average annual return is 9.8%. What are the chances that you get a salary increase of 9.8% every year? Exactly.

Image credit: https://www.lesfinances.ca/

The post What Is The Average Income in America And How Much Does It Take to Make The 1% in 2021? appeared first on Walletero.

If you’re a self-filer, you know that filing your taxes online is simple and can help you get your tax refund faster. But people’s tax situations evolve; for example, you may have new tax considerations due to the pandemic. So switching software platforms can make sense and could even help you save.   

There are several digital tax preparation alternatives to consider. Our list of the best TurboTax alternatives includes some the most popular names you need to know. 

TurboTax vs. other tax software options – free and paid

The table below gives you a brief overview of options and pricing for the popular tax software options we cover in this article.

About TurboTax

The free version of TurboTax works well for filing simple federal and state tax returns. A form 1040 and state return are standard as is free eFiling. With this version, you won’t be able to include additional schedules or itemize deductions. 

For those who need more heft with their taxes, TurboTax has the following paid online versions of their product: Deluxe, Premier and Self-Employed.

Their prices range from $60 to $120 depending on the tier you choose, and include your completed federal tax return. Your state taxes have a separate cost of $50 per state.

• The Deluxe tier offers searches of 350+ tax deductions and credits, aims to maximize mortgage and property tax deductions and turns donations into deductions. 
• Their Premier version covers the features available in Deluxe plus investments and rental property. 
• The Self-Employed product includes all the features in Premier plus personal & business income and expenses.

All of the above plans are do-it-yourself. If you need help, you can upgrade your plan to have a licensed tax practitioner (an Enrolled Agent) or a CPA review your taxes. You’ll be able to connect live on your screen when you need advice or guidance as you do your taxes. 

TurboTax also offers an audit support guarantee for federal and state returns. This guarantee gives you free guidance from a tax pro to help you understand your IRS notice and answer your audit-related questions. It covers returns prepared starting in 2017. 

Here’s the online portal for TurboTax.

H&R Block vs. TurboTax

Both TurboTax and H&R Block offer free federal and state filing of your taxes online. However, H&R Block free offers several additional advantages vs. TurboTax free:

• Child and dependent care expenses
• Student loan interest deduction
• Tuition and fees statement
• Unemployment income (Form 1099-G)
• Technical support via chat

If you have a simple tax situation and earn income from one job, have no children, get one W-2 and no other deductions or credits to claim, then the free versions of both programs will do. However, if you have kids and education costs, H&R Block free will be a better option. 

For those with a more complicated tax situation, the paid versions of H&R Block offer a better value than those of TurboTax. 

H&R Block’s tiers compare in price with TurboTax as follows:

• Deluxe Online is $49.99 vs. $60 for TurboTax Deluxe 
• Premium Online is $59.99 vs. $90 for TurboTax Premier
• Self-Employed Online is $104.99 vs. $120 for TurboTax Self-Employed

You can start using both products for free and pay when your taxes are filed. The paid versions of both tax preparation products have an additional fee of $50 per state filed.

With both products, you can add support from a tax professional at an extra cost.

TaxAct vs. TurboTax

When it comes to digital tax preparation solutions, TaxAct is one of the more affordable options in our list.

While TaxAct offers email and phone support, their wait times with the latter can be longer than expected. But if you’re looking to save and get your taxes done, you’ll like their prices.

TaxAct’s online packages are priced as follows:

• Free: $0. For simple filers with dependents, college expenses and retirement income. One state return is included.
• Deluxe: $29.95. This option is for homeowners with deductions and credits. Each state is an additional $39.95
• Premier: $39.95. For those with capital gains or losses from investments, rental property income and foreign bank accounts. Each additional state is $39.95
• Self-employed: $74.95. For freelancers, independent contractors and business owners. Additional state returns are $49.95 per state filed.

If you need a higher level of customer service and help from tax specialists, TaxAct may fall short of your customer care expectations. TurboTax or H&R Block would be a better fit given their higher levels of customer support. 

TaxSlayer vs. TurboTax

A combination of attractive pricing and highly-rated customer support make TaxSlayer one of our favorite digital tax filing solutions. All TaxSlayer package options come with unlimited phone and email support to answer your questions. In addition, the company boasts an ‘excellent’ rating on TrustPilot from satisfied customers:

“I’ve used TaxSlayer for the past several years when filing my taxes. I like the easy, step by step instructions. TaxSlayer walks me through everything I need to do to reduce my tax bill and increase my tax refund.”

TaxSlayer’s tiers are priced as follows:

• Simply free. $0. For those with a simple tax situation (Basic 1040). It includes one free state return.
• Classic. $17. Caters to all tax situations, including all the forms you require. Add $39 per state.
• Premium. $37. This package includes all deductions, credits, and forms you need plus extra help from a tax expert. Each state is an additional $39.
• Self-Employed. $47. A solution for contractors, 1099’ers, side hustlers, and the self-employed. Each state is $39. 

How does TurboTax compare to TaxSlayer?  The free versions of both products are comparable and when it comes to customer support, both products shine. TurboTax offers free videos, a community of users and tax experts plus free tax calculators and tools. 

While TaxSlayer doesn’t have a community of users, it holds its own when it comes to its free tools and a searchable knowledge base. Overall, their customer service and pricing make TaxSlayer a top choice for online tax software.

Other tax software options worth considering

FreeTaxUSA 

FreeTaxUSA supports all major tax situations for free, whether you have dependents, have itemized deductions or are self-employed. Filing simple or more advanced federal returns is free with FreeTaxUSA.

So how do they make money? They charge you for each state return plus additional options. State returns are $14.99 each. And their Deluxe option gives you unlimited amended returns, priority live chat support and their Audit Assist service for an additional $6.99. 

An affordable service like this necessarily has to cut corners somewhere. There’s no auto import of all the required forms and the software isn’t as intuitive as TurboTax. Overall FreeTaxUSA could be a fit if you have a simple tax situation and don’t need much hand-holding.

Credit Karma Tax

In addition to a free federal and state tax return, Credit Karma Tax (soon to be part of Square Inc.) covers all itemized deductions, profit or loss from your business (also known as business income or expenses), self-employment tax, and capital gains and losses.

Credit Karma Tax is 100% free and supports the most common forms and schedules. To use their tax service, you’ll need to open a free Credit Karma account. How do they make money? With this account, you’ll get free access to their other services and receive product recommendations for which they receive a commission.

If you’re interested in saving or investing your next tax refund, consider the following articles:

• How to Save For And Build an Emergency Fund
• 9 Personal Capital Alternatives That Might Serve Your Needs
• 12 Best Vanguard Index Funds to Choose Now

The post The Best 3 TurboTax Alternatives To Know appeared first on Walletero.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the majority of Americans don’t have a will. In fact, according to a survey conducted by Caring.com, in 2020 only 32% of adults have a will. 

You owe it to yourself and to your heirs to plan in advance and write your will. It’s the responsible thing to do. Creating one isn’t complicated, and it avoids delays and unnecessary hassles to your family. The peace of mind you get in return is worth your time.

Writing a will isn’t something you do only when you hit a certain age. Indeed, if you have young kids, you should consider making one. In this article we discuss nine things you need to consider when writing a will.

What is a will?

A will is a legal document that sets forth how you want all your worldly possessions distributed after you pass away. It covers not only how you want your property divided among your loved ones, but also your wishes regarding care for your young children, if you’re a parent.

If your kids aren’t adults by the time you die, a will lets you designate the person you want to take care of them. That is, it lets you establish guardianship of your children.  

While your will determines who gets possessions like the house, your stocks and grandma’s china, for example, some exceptions apply. Assets like retirement accounts aren’t included in your will as these already have beneficiaries assigned to them. You likely listed them when you set up the accounts. Also, real estate or bank accounts held in joint names with right of survivorship aren’t included.

In some cases, a will may not divvy up everything outright. It may create new trusts that can continue for some time if your affairs require them.  

What happens if I die and I don’t have a will?

If you haven’t made a valid will before you die, you’re said to have passed away intestate. When that happens, the distribution of your property is determined by statutory laws called intestate succession laws, which vary depending on where you live. 

Were that to happen, your state may decide an order of distribution among your family members that may or may not be aligned with your wishes. With a will you can make life easier on your family. 

Additional benefits of having a will include that it:

• Names an executor. An executor or personal representative is the person named in your will to handle your estate. Absent one, the law will appoint one for you.
• Assigns a guardian for your kids. By choosing a legal guardian for your infant children or other incapacitated dependants you avoid a court-appointed one. 
• Avoids further delays from a probate process. Probate is a court-supervised process of distributing your property according to your will. In many states, a well-drafted will can avoid some of the steps required in the probate proceedings.

Making a will is important, but it’s also important that it’s valid. Otherwise, it won’t afford you any of the above benefits. All wills must have witnesses to be legally valid.

Do you need a lawyer to make a will?

The complexity of your estate will dictate whether you need to hire a lawyer. Some people can do without an attorney and write the will themselves. For others, it makes sense to seek the advice of legal counsel.

• Will checklist form. If your holdings are simple, you can find will preparation worksheets online and prepare your will on your own. Try searching for “will template” to get you started.
• Will preparation software. As your asset situation begins to evolve and increases in complexity, you can write a will with the help of estate planning software. A simple search for “will making software” will point you in the right direction.
• Get a lawyer to craft a will. When your estate planning is more complicated, retain legal counsel to help you. A board-certified lawyer is your best bet and you can find one at the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils. You can search their directory to find the right professional for you.

Once you complete your will, make sure it’s accessible to your loved ones. Otherwise, the state could end up deciding how your belongings get distributed.

If you’re concerned about meeting state guidelines or reducing disputes among heirs, consider hiring an attorney. 

Who should be the executor of your will?

You can name a trusted relative or friend as the executor of your will. In fact, any adult family member can act as executor. In that role, he or she will be in charge of settling your affairs according to the terms of your will. 

Including an executor in your will is important; if you don’t, the state will assign one for you and you’ll depend on their interpretation of your wishes. Be aware, though, that being an executor isn’t a minor responsibility. 

Whoever you appoint as executor will be in charge of gathering your assets, paying debts, settling business affairs, filing tax returns and distributing any remaining property as per your directions. If you have complicated holdings, you should consider appointing an attorney as your executor.

What to include in a will and testament

Specificity is important in your will. Leaving all your assets to your partner thinking they’ll then pass them on to your children may not be specific enough. They may remarry and perhaps have other kids. What then?

You need to specify your beneficiaries, the assets they are to receive and when. At a minimum, the following four things should be included in your will:

• Real estate assets. This includes your primary residence and other property or properties you may hold.
• Guardianship. Not only of your minor children, but also of your pets.
• Stocks and bonds not in a retirement account. These usually don’t require you to assign a beneficiary and thus should be included in your will.
• Cash. Not only the cash sitting in your banking accounts, but also in money market accounts you may hold.

You need witnesses when you sign your will

To be valid, your will needs to be signed in the presence of at least two witnesses who shouldn’t be beneficiaries of the will. Most states require two witnesses. But if you live in Vermont, you’ll need three.

If your will includes something called a self-proving affidavit (which is a sworn statement), a notary will need to sign the affidavit. You’ll need to find a notary public.

Where to store your will

Keeping your will under lock and key may sound like a good idea, but it’s not. The original must be accessible to your heirs should they need to gain access to it.  Otherwise, if you’ve locked things up, a court action will be required to get access to it unless you’ve provided authorization.

Making your original signed will accessible can reduce family conflict and help avoid intestate succession laws. Let someone you trust know where you keep yours. 

How often do you need to update a will?

As your life situation changes, you’ll need to start making adjustments to your will. For example, if you have more children, buy property or your marital status changes, you’ll want to update your will.

Also, if you moved to another state or built a business you’ll want to revisit your will and update it accordingly.   

Can anyone challenge my will?

People can challenge the validity of your will. For example, direct beneficiaries, business associates or extended family members can contest your will. 

To reduce the chances of a successful challenge, it’s important that your will is signed in front of witnesses, that it meets your state’s requirements and that all legal formalities are met. 

A person can challenge or contest your will on the following grounds:

• You’re incapacitated. For instance, if you weren’t sound of mind when you created your will.
• When fraud is committed. For example if you signed a document you didn’t know was a will.
• Lack of formalities. Procedures such as witnesses being included were not followed.
• Undue influence. You were unduly influenced in crafting your will to the detriment of other beneficiaries.

If the will is challenged, it’ll disrupt the probate proceedings and can take months or even years to settle. If you’re concerned about your will being contested, retain an estate planning attorney to help you navigate the process.

Assets that you should not put in your will

There are some types of property that you shouldn’t include in your will because they already have beneficiaries assigned or joint tenancy attached to them. 

Examples of assets you don’t need to put in your will include:

• Retirement plan proceeds from accounts such as 401(K)’s and IRAs for which you’ve already assigned a beneficiary or beneficiaries.
• Life insurance policies whose proceeds pass to a beneficiary by designation.
• Assets you’ve already placed in a living trust
• Jointly owned property with right of survivorship

The post 9 Things To Consider When Making a Will appeared first on Walletero.

The Fed System follows a standard holiday schedule during which the U.S. Federal Reserve Banks and Branches are closed. While banks and credit unions aren’t required to close during these holidays, most usually do.

Keep in mind that during the pandemic, banks are closing some branches and reducing hours of operation. Check your bank’s website to look up the hours of the branch nearest you.

If your bank isn’t open, you can connect to your accounts and make payments, transfers, deposits and other routine banking business through your bank’s web or mobile app. In this article, we refer to when physical bank branches are open or closed. 

National bank holidays

Banks don’t follow the exact same business hours when it comes to their branches, but they’ll follow the Federal Reserve’s holiday calendar. It includes the 10 standard federal holidays, which include:

• New Year’s Day
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Presidents’ Day 
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Columbus Day
• Veterans Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

When a holiday falls on Saturday, banks and credit unions are typically open the preceding Friday. If the holiday falls on Sunday, banks are usually closed the following Monday. This follows a convention set by the Federal Reserve. 

In addition, federal law established that some of these holidays be observed on Monday. These include: 

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day: third Monday in January
• Presidents’ Day (Washington’s birthday): third Monday in February
• Memorial Day: last Monday in May
• Labor Day: first Monday in September
• Columbus Day: second Monday in October 
• Veterans Day: fourth Monday in October

Calendar of banks’ opening (and closing) days

While the actual date of most bank holidays above may change from year to year, the following holidays always fall on the same date:

• New Year’s Day, January. 1
• Independence Day, July 4
• Christmas Day, December 25

Bank hours

Banks are generally open by 9.00 am on weekdays and close anywhere from 4.00 pm to 5.30 pm depending on the institution and its location.

On Saturday, most banks and credit unions have reduced business hours: they’re generally open by 9.30 am and close usually by 1.00 or 2.00 pm, with some closing as early as noon.

Most banks close on Sunday. However, there are a few exceptions, such as TD Bank, which keeps Sunday hours.

These are indicative hours and may differ for some institutions.

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Personal Capital is a popular financial tool that helps you keep track of your net worth and organize your financial life. And while it has something for everyone, people’s finances seldom are a one-size-fits-all.

Perhaps you’re already using the app, but are wondering if there’s anything better. In this post, we discuss our nine best Personal Capital alternatives.

What is Personal Capital?

Personal Capital is an online financial planning and advisory platform that helps you understand, track and manage your net worth. The main areas where Personal Capital excels are money management and long-term financial planning. 

The money management component of the platform helps you to:

• Track your net worth. Your net worth is the sum total of what you own net of what you owe. Easily calculate and track this key financial metric through your free personal Dashboard.
• Plan savings goals. The savings planner feature helps you track how much you’re saving vs how much you should be setting aside to reach your savings goals.
• Set budgets. Set spending targets and quickly see if you’re over or under your planned goal.
• Manage your cash flow. Easily review your past 30 days spending and income and track your progress towards your financial goals.

The financial planning aspect of Personal Capital includes the following tools:

• Retirement planner. Set a retirement date and check if your savings are on track to meet your retirement goals. Run different retirement scenarios, anticipate large expenses and see their impact on your retirement plan.
• Education planner. Get help planning how much you should be saving to cover future education costs and link an existing account to monitor your contributions.
• Investment checkup. With this tool you can review your investments performance and the risk you’re taking in your portfolio. Review your holdings and goals and get a customized plan based on these.
• Fee analyzer. Uncover hidden fees in your investment accounts. Research low-cost investment substitutes for your portfolio.

You get free access to Personal Capital’s tools and Dashboard by opening an account. After you sign up, start by linking your bank, credit card, investment and retirement accounts. On average, users link 6 accounts. We found the process to be quite fast and easy.

As you link your accounts, the platform immediately begins calculating your net worth. For example, your linked investment accounts go into your asset side and your linked credit card bills go into your liabilities side. 

You’ll get an easy-to-read overview of your financial life through the software’s Dashboard under the “Overview” menu item.

In addition to free financial tools, Personal Capital provides access to registered financial advisors at a fraction of their typical cost. They can help you craft an individualized well-diversified investment portfolio aligned with your goals. 

In our view, it’s this marriage of technology with old-fashion advice that sets Personal Capital apart.

But what if you need help with your investments and financial goals? Personal Capital also offers wealth management services. You’ll need to commit at least $100,000 of your financial assets and their all-inclusive annual management fee is 0.89% for the first $1 million. The fee has a sliding scale and decreases as you commit more money to the platform.

If you become a wealth management client, you’ll get access to additional exclusive financial tools.

Is there anything better than Personal Capital?

Personal Capital is an easy-to-use platform to keep track of your financial life. While its tools are free and the web and app interfaces are clean, you still may be asking yourself: are there better alternatives?

The answer to that question really depends on your individual needs and preferences. For example, if you’re someone who likes working with spreadsheets to keep track of your money, an app like Tiller Money might be an alternative for you.

Or maybe you do need help with your investments, but aren’t ready to commit to Personal Capital’s minimum investment required. In that case, your definition of “best alternative” will incorporate that particular need. 

Perhaps you’re someone who only needs to get your family’s budget under control at this time and wants a personal finance app that focuses on creating budgets. 

You get the point. People have different financial needs. Which is why we’ve crafted this list of Personal Capital alternatives. 

Best Personal Capital alternatives

The following list of Personal Capital alternatives covers a range of features that might suit your needs. Here it is, in no particular order.

1. Betterment

Betterment is a low-cost robo-advisor that offers automated investment management plus a checking and cash reserve account. If you’re interested in reaching specific financial goals, Betterment might be a good fit. 

As with other robo-advisors, you start by telling Betterment about your spending, goals and other financial information and the app provides you recommendations to manage your money.

For example, you might be interested in saving and investing to:

• Build your emergency fund
• Make major purchases like a home or wedding
• Save for college
• Build your wealth
• Retire

This financial app caters to a broad customer base regardless of whether you’re in school, pursuing your career or in retirement. 

Their investment and retirement accounts have an annual fee of 0.25% based on your balance, which comes out to about $25 per year for every $10,000 invested. When you open an account, there’s no minimum balance required. 

Other benefits of Betterment include:

• Personalized financial advice
• Automatic rebalancing to maintain your target allocation
• Tax-saving strategies
• Customer service

Betterment provides financial advice with licensed experts. And their advisory packages come with a live call, educational materials and a written plan. 

Unlimited access to certified financial planning professionals is standard in their premium service, which might be a better alternative for those with larger portfolios.

2. Wealthfront

Wealthfront is another robo-advisor similar to Betterment. Their app provides software-driven investment strategies plus interest checking. 

Once you open an account, you’ll need to answer a few questions and the app builds you a portfolio based on your goals. Their approach is driven by passive investing coupled with global diversification. The investment portfolio consists of low-cost investments from 11 global asset classes using exchange traded funds.

These asset classes include U.S. stocks, real estate, municipal bonds, corporate bonds and U.S. government bonds, among others. The minimum you need to invest is $500.

Wealthfront has no trading commissions, withdrawal fees, minimum fees, or transfer fees. Their advisory fee is 0.25% on your account balance plus a fund fee that ranges from 0.06% to 0.13%

Unlike Betterment, Wealthfront offers lending. Accounts that meet a minimum investment threshold receive a line of credit automatically. And since loans are backed by investment balances, there’s no credit check. You can borrow up to 30% of your account balance.

Another difference is that Wealthfront does without live financial planning. Instead, they provide an automated advice engine they call Path, which is free. It helps you project your net worth over time and calculate your all-in costs for certain milestones such as home ownership.

3. Mint by Intuit

Mint, also known as Intuit Mint, is a free personal financial management website and app with a long track record, having been founded in 2006. If budgeting is important to you and you need to stay on top of your spending, Mint is a sensible alternative to Personal Capital.

In addition to creating budgets, Mint allows you to set financial goals and track your bank, credit card, investment, loan balances and transactions through a single dashboard. 

But unlike Betterment and Wealthfront, Mint doesn’t provide access to investments or investment strategies. Instead, you can link your investment accounts to get a consolidated view of your finances. Here’s a summary of services that Mint offers:

• Bill payment tracker
• Budgeting
• Free credit score
• Investment portfolio tracking
• Alerts

Mint does a better job as a personal financial hub the more accounts you link to it. That’s because it updates and categorizes your information automatically and can connect to virtually every US financial institution.

Since Mint is free, they make money by recommending loans, checking, savings, credit card, brokerage, and even life insurance offers. So you get a great free product in exchange for receiving marketing offers. 

4. YNAB

Another alternative to consider if you’re looking for a comprehensive budgeting tool is You Need A Budget. YNAB is a well-regarded personal budgeting software that links to your financial accounts to track your budget using a modified version of the envelope method.  

With YNAB you decide which of your spending categories is most important to you. So if you overspend in some areas, your YNAB budget will adjust in others to help you come out ahead. The software helps you prioritize, plan and take control over your paycheck and manage your money more effectively.

Also, their mobile app syncs with your online budget spreadsheet to track your spending in real-time from any device, helping you keep an eye on your goals. Its main distinction versus competing products is that if you go over-budget during a given month, it’ll force you to cut back somewhere else, keeping your spending in check. 

YNAB’s budgeting method is based on four simple rules:

• Give every dollar a job. That is, prioritize your dollars to whatever is most important to you
• Break up big infrequent expenses. Car repairs, holiday spending, and other large infrequent expenses enter your monthly budget by breaking them up and funding them every month.
• Address overspending. As circumstances change and you overspend in one category, you adjust another category to keep a balanced budget.
• Spend old money. Spend money you earned last month to cover this month’s expenses. It forces you to build a cushion, get a month ahead, and spend less than you earn.

YNAB comes with a 34-day free trial. When it expires, it’ll cost you $11.99 a month or $84 a year. 

5. Tiller Money

Are you more of a spreadsheet person? If so, Tiller Money might be a good option for you. Tiller is an automated personal finance tool that updates Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel with information from your financial accounts. 

Because Tiller automates spreadsheets, you can use it to work up a realistic budget, track expenses, payoff debt, monitor your net worth, or check other aspects of your daily finances. But you won’t need to build your own spreadsheets from scratch: This tool comes loaded with templates and you can link up to five spreadsheets at a time. 

Triller helps you track your daily finances by connecting all of your accounts with banks, credit cards, loans and brokerages in one place. The software allows you to:

• Link and unlink accounts to your sheets
• Make your own categorization rules
• Choose auto or manual data updates

You have unique financial goals. The platform allows you to organize all your transaction data to suit your own needs. It features automated transaction updates, automatic categorization, and customizable personal finance templates to help you manage your financial goals.

Tiller Money comes with a 30-day free trial. After it expires, it’ll cost you $79 annually.

6. Simplifi by Quicken

Simplifi takes a straightforward approach to budgeting. This mobile and web app by Quicken helps you craft a personalized spending plan based on your income and expenses to take control of your finances.

The app connects to your financial accounts to provide multiple insights and help you stay on top of your money, including:

• A simple dashboard to check all your accounts: banking, credit card, loans and investments
• A high-level personalized spending plan based on your income and spending
• Automatic projected balances based on your earnings and bills
• Watchlists to help you monitor what you actually spend on any activity you choose
• Saving goals you can easily create and add to your monthly spending plan

While this alternative to Personal Capital is developed by Quicken, it’s not the same product as the Quicken mobile app. So if you already use Quicken, Simplifi won’t be compatible.

Simplifi offers a 30-day free trial and costs $35.99 annually thereafter. If you prefer a monthly plan, it’s $3.99 a month.

7. Moneydance

Moneydance is a personal finance application designed for desktops. It comes with online bill pay, banking, account management, budgeting and investment tracking. 

One important distinction of this platform vs others highlighted here is that it connects to a limited number of financial institutions. So if one of your banks is not supported, you’ll need to enter your information manually.

On the flip side, once you buy the software, that’s it. You don’t have to pay an annual fee. In addition, you’ll get regular updates. 

The software’s features include:

• Summary overview. The summary dashboard gives you an instant overview of your finances in one place.
• Online banking. Download transactions and send payments online.
• Account registers. This is where you enter your financial information. It works like a paper checkbook register where you enter, edit and delete your transactions. 
• Investments. Downloads current prices for stocks, bonds, CDs and mutual funds, allowing you to track their performance.
• Graphs and reports. Moneydance comes with a graphing tool to generate visual reports of your income and outlays.
• Budgeting. Easily create weekly, biweekly, monthly and annual budgets. The application displays “budget bars” to monitor how much you’ve spent for a given category.
• Reminders. You can set up recurring transaction reminders.

Moneydance sells for $49.99, but you can download a limited free trial to see if it’s right for you. It’s available for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Moneydance also has a free mobile app which allows you to enter or edit transactions and view balances on the go. It’s available for both iOS and Android devices.

8. Banktivity

Another budgeting app that helps you track your savings and net worth is Banktivity. Similar to YNAB, Banktivity uses the envelope budgeting system to help you plan your money more effectively.  

But unlike YNAB, with Banktivity you can also do online bill pay, retrieve quotes, analyze your investment portfolio, print checks and other useful features. Banktivity also connects with your financial data to bring your banking, credit cards, loans, investments and retirement accounts under one roof. 

In addition to budgeting, the software makes it easy to calculate your key financial health metrics such as your:

• Savings rate: Banktivity tracks your savings rate automatically – an invaluable piece of information if you want to build wealth.
• Net worth: The app tracks your net worth through time
• Investment performance: Add your investment accounts to track their performance

The platform provides technical support through live chat 7 days a week, which comes in handy if you run into an issue. They also provide free weekly webinars to help you get started with Banktivity and master envelope budgeting.

Unlike other platforms, this software only works with Apple devices. However, this specialization means that the app works well with the latest versions of macOS and iOS. Banktivity’s price is $69.99 and comes with a 90-day risk-free guarantee.

9. PocketSmith

PocketSmith is another alternative that takes a fresh look at budgeting and personal finance software in general: you can schedule your bills and manage your budgets through a calendar interface.

PocketSmith’s budget calendar is a visual way to help you plan the future. Its intuitive interface:

• Is simple to understand with its click, drag and drop functionality
• Allows you to calculate projections and forecasts in minutes
• Can compute daily projected cash balances
• Helps you spot future potential gaps in your cash flow

But that’s just one aspect of this tool. With PocketSmith you can track and stay on top of your daily expenses across different bank accounts. So if you are a double-income household, you can see exactly how much each person earns and spends and match it against your budget.

The tool’s dashboard provides a quick summary of your money. You’ll find information about your bank, credit cards, loan accounts, budgets and an overview of your earn / spend categories.

With PocketSmith you can easily review your actual closing balances compared to your forecast for different categories. This helps you check how you’re doing on your monthly spending in each category.

PocketSmith has three plans: basic (free), premium and super. The basic version accommodates the casual budgeter and comes with manual imports and limited functionality. The premium version is $9.95 / month and offers full functionality. The super version has all the premium features plus unlimited accounts and 30 years forecasts for $19.95 a month.

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And, of course, you’re not alone. According to the Project on Student Debt at the Institute for College Access and Success, more than 62 percent of students graduating from college in 2019 had student debt, owing an average of $28,950.

But now that you’re done with school, you’ve entered a 6-month grace period where you’re not required to make payments on your federal loans. 

So it’s the perfect time to contact your loan servicer, and review the available resources to help you get ready for when you have to start paying back your student loans. Your loan servicer was first assigned when your loan funds arrived at your school.

If MyFedLoan is your loan servicer, you’re at the right place. In this article, we take a deep dive into MyFedLoan and provide some useful tips on how best to use it.

What is MyFedLoan?

MyFedLoan is the online platform of FedLoan Servicing, a non-for-profit organization established by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) in 1963. Their stated goal, according to their website, is to service federal loans and support borrowers with easy ways to manage their student loans. 

They service Direct Subsidized loans, Perkins loans, Direct Unsubsidized loans, and Direct PLUS loans. 

MyFedLoan serves as your primary point of contact to manage your loans. They’re a loan servicer assigned by the Department of Education to handle the billing and other services on loans they own.

Through MyFedLoan you can:

• Make online payments 
• Review your payment history 
• View your total loan balance 
• Check the status of all your loans, and 
• View the interest rate details
• Compare repayment options, 
• Review payment alternatives, 
• Change your due date and 
• View several years of tax information applicable to your loan

If you’re unsure whether MyFedLoan is your loan servicer, call the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) at 1-800-433-3243. If you’re still in school, contact your school’s financial aid office directly for information about your loan status and loan disbursement amount.

Is MyFedLoan a legitimate loan servicer?

MyFedLoan is one of several organizations that service student loans owned by the federal government. It’s a legitimate, non-for-profit loan servicer. 

FedLoan Servicing is one of a limited number of companies approved by the Department of Education to service student loans. And it’s grown into one of the leading national providers of student financial aid services. 

Here’s the complete list of servicers for loans owned by the Department of Education:

• CornerStone
• ECSI
• FedLoan Servicing (PHEAA)
• Granite State – GSMR
• Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc.
• HESC/Edfinancial
• Maximus Federal Services
• MOHELA
• Navient
• Nelnet
• OSLA Servicing

How to use MyFedLoan

Now that you’re paying back your student loans, the first thing you need to do is to create your online account at MyFedLoan.org. Once you’ve signed in, you can view your loan balance and review your contact information to make sure it’s correct and update it as needed. 

To open the account you’ll need to provide basic personal information including name, email, date of birth, and your account number. If you don’t have your 10-digit account number handy, you can enter your SSN. But if you’re uncomfortable using your social security number, you can call them at 1-800-699-2908 to obtain your account information.

Once logged in, you can enroll in electronic communications and check details about your loan(s) such as:

• The loan disbursement date
• Your loan program or payment type
• Outstanding interest
• If you qualify, the amount you’ve paid towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
• The monthly total and breakdown of your monthly payment for each loan
• The total amount paid to date on your loans

In addition, if you’re still in your grace period (that is, you’re out of school, but not yet in repayment), MyFedLoan has a repayment schedule estimator to calculate what your monthly payment may be. 

And you can also manage your payments through their mobile app, online, or automatically through direct debit. Their direct debit service is available after you receive your first bill. You’ll receive a 0.25% interest rate reduction, lowering your student loan repayment cost.

Useful loan information on MyFedLoan.org

MyFedLoan offers a wealth of information to help you navigate some of the most relevant topics involving your student loans. These include: 

• Student loans 101. Here you’ll find resources to help you understand the different steps in the lifecycle of your loan; the pros and cons of different types of loans and borrowing tips, among others. 
• Information about your account. Here you’ll learn more about the features of MyFedLoan’s online account management tool. These include your account details, profile, payment history and online payments.
• Repayment strategy. This section helps you craft a loan repayment strategy according to your loan details and repayment goals.  
• Loan consolidation. This part of the website explains the benefits of a direct consolidation loan and whether it might be right for you. It also explains the consolidation timeline.
• Postponing payments. Here you’ll learn postponement options available to you. If you need to stop making payments for a short period of time, you’ll find out whether deferment or forbearance is suitable for you.
• Loan forgiveness and discharge. If you’re employed full-time with a qualifying public service organization, you could qualify for forgiveness on your Direct Loans under certain conditions. This section of MyFedLoan explains how. 
• Special programs. Depending on your current situation, you may be able to qualify for special programs to help you repay your student loans. These include options for service members, TEACH grants and public service loan forgiveness programs.
• Missed payments. Missing payments or failing to pay when your monthly amount is due will have adverse consequences on your credit. MyFedLoan explains your options and how you may qualify for a low monthly payment. 

How to make loan payments with MyFedLoan

MyFedLoan offers several convenient ways to pay your student loan bill including: 

» DIrect debit. Direct debit deducts your payment from your savings or checking account electronically, every month. It’s a free service that qualifies you to a 0.25% interest rate reduction. You set it up once and forget about it: your payments are made on time every time and are credited to your account the day the payment is due. 

After you apply, you’ll need to continue making your regular payments until you receive confirmation that direct debit is up and running.

» Pay online. You can pay online through MyFedLoan’s Account Access tool any time. The service saves your bank accounts for future payments. In addition, you can schedule payments in advance, and target extra payments for a faster loan payoff. 

» By mobile app. The FedLoan Student Loans mobile app is available in iOS and Android. The app adds an extra layer of convenience to managing your loans and is highly rated. The Apple version is rated 4.8 / 5.0 and the Android version has a rating of 4.7 / 5.0.

» By phone. Should you have any issue connecting electronically, you can always reach MyFedLoan through the phone and make a payment. Their automated phone system is available by calling 1-800-699-2908.  

» Pay by mail. Should you need to send your payment through regular mail, you can do so by sending your check or money order payable to FedLoan Servicing to:

Department of Education
FedLoan Servicing
P.O. Box 790234
St. Louis, MO 63179-0234

FedLoans recommends mailing your payment at least 5 to 7 business days before your due date to ensure it’s processed on time.

» Use a third-party bill pay service. You can schedule your monthly payments through your bank or any other third party bill pay service. It’s a convenient way to make your payments automatically and on time. However, MyFedLoan can’t offer you a 0.25% discount through third parties. It’s only available through their service. 

» Set up advance payments. You’re also able to schedule your payments into the future by phone or through MyFedLoan’s Account Access tool with a maximum of 8 payments up to 60 days into the future. This feature can be useful if you wish to make several payments in a given month.

MyFedLoan repayment options

Your student loans offer a variety of repayment options, unlike other types of loans. Which option is right for you depends on your repayment goals and your particular situation. 

If you’re looking for the fastest loan payoff, consider the Standard Repayment and Graduated Repayment alternatives offered by FedLoan Services.

Standard fixed repayment

According to MyFedLoan, the Standard Repayment is considered the fastest and most cost-effective plan with a repayment term of 10 years for unconsolidated loans. For this reason, your loan is under this repayment plan by default unless you select a different one. 

With the Standard option, your payments of principal and interest remain relatively the same throughout repayment. And your monthly payments remain fixed with few exceptions, such as when interest capitalizes.

Graduated repayment

Similar to the Standard option, the Graduated Repayment alternative offers a 10 year repayment term for unconsolidated loans, but has lower monthly payments that increase over time. Initially, your payments only cover interest, making them lower. 

Your payments then increase every two years throughout the repayment period. You’ll end up paying more over the life of your loan than on the 10-year Standard Repayment plan.

Alternative income-driven repayment programs on MyFedLoan

If your loan payments are too high, MyFedLoan offers income driven repayment plans (IRD) to help lower your monthly bill and help you accommodate your situation.

Pay as you earn (PAYE). The payment amounts under this plan are based on your income and family size. Payments generally represent 10% of your income and you’ll make them for up to 20 years. Because your income may change from year-to-year, you must recertify annually. In addition, the plan offers loan forgiveness after 20 years of qualifying payments.

Income-based repayment (IBR). Similar to PAYE, the payment amounts under this plan vary depending on your income and family size. Payments are generally 15% of your discretionary income, though they can be 10% if you’re a new borrower. Under this plan, you’ll be making payments for up to 25 years.

Income-contingent repayment (ICR). This plan offers reduced monthly payments calculated using your discretionary income, family size, and total amount of eligible loan debt. Monthly payments are generally adjusted based on your income using the lesser of: 20% of your discretionary income and the amount you would pay under a 12-year fixed repayment plan. This plan has payments for up to 25 years.

Revised pay as you earn (REPAYE). Under this plan, your monthly payments are calculated using your discretionary income, including that of your spouse, if applicable. Payments generally represent 10% of your income. Under this plan, you’ll make payments for up to 20 years. But it goes to up to 25 years for those who have Direct Loans for graduate and professional study.

MyFedLoan common concerns

Similar to other student loan servicers, MyFedLoan has received its share of complaints and unfavorable press in the recent past.   

Customer complaints

The Better Business Bureau does not accept complaints for FedLoan Servicing, given its affiliation to the Department of Education. But the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) does. It has received 1,656 complaints for the 12 months from 10/10/2019 through 10/10/2020. According to the CFPB, MyFedLoan provided a timely response to all these complaints.

About 93% of the complaints related to one of the following four issues:

• Dealing with the servicer (57%)
• Incorrect information on your report (18%)
• Struggling to repay loan (9%)
• Problem with a credit reporting company’s investigation into an existing problem (9%)

In addition, a quick web search highlights several customer complaints about MyFedLoan from a survey conducted by Student Loan Planner in 2018:

• Poor customer service
• Mishandling of IDR plans
• Improper payment processing
• Incorrect calculation of PSLF program payments

The last point has been a recurring issue, with the states of New York and Massachusetts filing lawsuits against the company.

Lawsuits regarding the PSLF program

The Washington Post reported that the New York attorney general sued FedLoan Servicing, for mishandling the public service loan forgiveness program. It’s a federal program that encourages college graduates to enter fields serving the public good with the promise of having their student debt canceled.

FedLoans runs the program for the Education Department and it allegedly miscounted payments, provided inconsistent information and failed to inform borrowers of their right to appeal mistakes.

Also, in 2017, Massachusetts filed a similar lawsuit against the company. However, the report underscores, the vast majority of processed program applications were denied because borrowers did not meet at least one program requirement.

MyFedLoan alternatives

If you’re unhappy with your servicer, make sure you file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) first. You’re likely to receive a timely response from your provider and they may be able to rectify the issue. 

If you still want to switch, know that you can’t keep your same loan and switch to another servicer at the same time. To change your servicer, consider the following options:

Refinance with a private lender. You can change your loan servicer by refinancing with a private lender. However, if you do so, you will no longer qualify for current or future benefits applicable to federally held loans. 

Consolidate your loans. You can combine one or more federal student loans into a single loan with a new servicer. It’s called a Direct Consolidation loan. It may make loans eligible for PAYE, REPAYE, and ICR repayment programs. There are some disadvantages with consolidation, so review your options before making a decision.

What happens if you miss a MyFedLoan payment?

If you miss a loan payment, your loan will become delinquent the day after the first missed due date. Missing a payment can hurt your credit as MyFedLoan reports the status of your loans to the consumer reporting agencies every month.

If you’re 270 days delinquent, your loan goes into default. Defaulting on your loan will:

• Cause damage to your credit rating because of negative credit reporting
• The government can garnish your wages
• Your tax refunds may be withheld
• Cause the loss of eligibility for federal and state financial aid 

What is MyFedLoan contact information?

This loan servicer has multiple ways to reach them. Here’s MyFedLoan’s contact information:

By telephone

Domestic toll-free

1-800-699-2908
Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM (ET).
For TEACH Grant support: Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM (ET).

International

717-720-1985
Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM (ET).

TTY #

Dial 711.
Support for hearing and speech-impaired callers available Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM (ET)

Fax 

717-720-1628
In case you’re returning or verifying documentation, etc.

By mail

Send payments to:

Department of Education
FedLoan Servicing
P.O. Box 790234
St. Louis, MO 63179-0234

Send Direct Debit application forms to:

FedLoan Servicing
P.O. Box 3661
Harrisburg, PA 17105-3661

Send letters and correspondence to:

FedLoan Servicing
P.O. Box 69184
Harrisburg, PA 17106-9184

Send Credit Disputes to:

FedLoan Servicing Credit
P.O. Box 60610
Harrisburg, PA 17106-0610

Send Consolidation related letters and correspondence to:

FedLoan Consolidation Department
P.O. Box 69186
Harrisburg, PA 17106-9186

Contact the Office of Consumer Advocacy at:

Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency
The Office of Consumer Advocacy
1200 North 7th Street
Harrisburg, PA 17102

You can find additional information by visiting their contact us page.

FAQ’s

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