Doctors Renée and Nii Darko pursued the medical field to help save lives and to make their immigrant parents proud. However, the couple initially w asn’t aware of the dent the pursuit would make in their pockets.

Five NAACP students will be leaving college debt-free, thanks to Pharell Williams. The iconic record producer and philanthropist kicked off his Something In the Water Festival in Washington D.C. on Friday, June 17. Just hours before the musical event began, Williams surprised the student leaders with the groundbreaking news during a panel pertaining to the Black student debt crisis at the St. Regis hotel in D.C, ABC 7 News reports. “For all of you on the stage, we are clearing your current student loan debt,” said a moderator during the event. Breaking: #SomethingInTheWater just announced they’re paying the student debt of all 6 panelists/NAACP members! #CancelStudentDebt pic.twitter.com/BqBS9AqIoc — NAACP (@NAACP) June 17, 2022

Comedian Earthquake fell on hard times while living right beside one of Hollywood’s highest-paid Black actors, Jamie Foxx. The comedian explains that while he was a neighbor to the renowned entertainer, who has an estimated $170 million net worth, he had somehow acquired $3 million in debt. For Earthquake, it’s a difference between “being broke” and “being in debt.” He further explained during an appearance on “Club Shay Shay,” the podcast led by former NFL superstar Shannon Sharpe.

Being debt-free is an ultimate goal for many, but it’s a journey that some struggle to find out how to achieve. For Brandyn Rodriguez, a mother of two, two methods were her saving grace to clearing off $137,000 in debt. Rodriguez revealed to Good Morning America that after several failed attempts at getting out of debt, she started following the debt snowball method and a zero-based budget. She describes the debt snowball method as listing your debts from smallest to largest and then focusing on the smallest first while submitting payments on the other debts. The ultimate goal is for you to “repeat the process and continue building the ‘snowball’ until you finish paying off the largest debt last.” Along with her methods, Rodriguez balanced working as a restaurant server and at the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County. “Every single time I opened up that billfold to give a customer their receipt or to write an order like, hey, you’re here for this. This is not the sexiest, fun...

Have your finances been rocked by the coronavirus? Your credit card issuer might be willing to offer a helping hand, but you’ll likely have to ask for it. As America and the rest of the world wrestle with the COVID-19 pandemic, more daily lives are being upended. Lockdowns, self-quarantines and other drastic measures to stop the spread of the virus are becoming more common here in the U.S., leading to missed paychecks and unpaid time off from work and other hardships. For many Americans, whose financial margin for error is tiny even in the best of economic times, these disruptions can be a really big deal. They can make it hard to pay your mortgage, car loan or credit card bill, for example. The good news is that these disruptions will likely only be temporary, but that doesn’t make things any easier in the short term. Fortunately, you can take steps right now to help your situation: the simplest step is to call your credit card issuer and ask for help. Many credit card issuers have...

Unfortunately, Social Security payments can be garnished if you default on federal student loans , as many retired borrowers find out the hard way. Called an offset, more people than ever are losing out on Social Security benefits due to federal student loan debt. However, there are limits to how much can be garnished for student loans, though these limits don’t go far enough. If you’ve defaulted on your student loan debt, here’s what you need to know about student loans and Social Security benefits, as well as your options for student loan forgiveness at age 65 and above. Can student loan debt threaten your Social Security payments? What’s the Social Security garnishment limit? How many Americans had their Social Security payments garnished? What can people do to save their Social Security payments? What can you do to avoid student loan default? Student loans and Social Security payments: The bottom line Can student loan debt threaten your Social Security payments? Yes — and the...