Did You Know?
• You can check your own credit report as much as you’d like and it does not affect your score. You get 3 free credit reports, 1 from each of the 3 credit bureaus each 12 months, at www.annualcreditreport.com.
• If you use more than 20-30% of your credit limit, it hurts your credit score.
• If your credit union is part of the shared branching network (also known as CU Service Centers), you can complete most routine transactions from anywhere, including: make deposits at any credit union that’s part of the network, or withdraw cash from a teller.
• If you originally declined all or part of your student loans, you can usually contact the Office of Student Financial Assistance and ask them to reinstate the loans should you need to accept them later in the school year.
• You can complete the FAFSA up to the end of the school year for the current academic year BUT you should submit early by your school’s priority date to be consider for the limited type of aid.
• Paying the interest that is accumulating now on your unsubsidized loans, via your student loan servicer, will prevent it from being capitalized and added to the principle of your loan at the end of your 6 month grace period.
• A store can run your debit card as a credit transaction so that you can received the additional consumer protection offered credit cards, but the funds are still deducted from your current checking account balance.
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness is a legitimate federal student loan forgiveness program still available for federal direct student loans when a borrower works fulltime in qualified nonprofit or government employment while making qualified payments for a total of 120 months (and it does not have to be a consecutive 120 months). Learn more at https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service
• Most employers will let you “Pay Yourself First” and automate your savings by putting an amount of each paycheck directly into savings and the balance into your checking account.
BONUS TIP OF THE WEEK:
Putting the name of specific financial goals on sub-savings accounts can help you better focus on putting money aside for each goal (ex. “2020 Vacation to Spain – Savings Account” is much more effective than a generic “Savings Account”).
Jodi Kaus, JD, CTFA
Director
Powercat Financial
powercatfinancial@ksu.edu
