Markus Andrews

The Biden administration is expected to move to forgive the student debt of tens of millions of borrowers as soon as October.
These are the four groups that may benefit from partial or full debt relief if the plan survives the next round of legal challenges.

President Joe Biden visiting a library in Culver City, California, on Feb. 21, 2024.
Irfan Khan | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

As the Biden administration prepares to forgive the student debt of tens of millions of borrowers — a move experts say could happen as soon as October — it has issued new guidance on who will most likely be eligible for the relief.
That is an important distinction from President Joe Biden’s first effort at sweeping student loan cancellation. With this attempt, the U.S. Department of Education revised its forgiveness plan to be more targeted, with the hope that this aid package survives the inevitable next round of legal challenges.

The Department of Education is still working out the details of the plan, and will notify eligible borrowers soon.
“Once these rules are finalized, 30 million Americans will get to benefit and experience the life-changing impact of student debt cancellation,” said Aissa Canchola Bañez, policy director at the Student Borrower Protection Center.
These are the four groups that stand to benefit from partial or full debt relief if the plan survives the next round of lawsuits.

1. Borrowers who owe more than at start of repayment

Those who hold Direct or other Education Department-held loans and have a current balance greater than when they entered repayment may be able to get up to $20,000 forgiven, according to Department of Education guidance. The amount of relief they will receive will depend, in part, on how much their balance has grown.
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Experts say the Department of Education will likely compare borrowers’ present balance to the total principal and interest they owed when they began paying down their debt, whenever that was.
Single individuals enrolled in income-driven repayment plans who earn less than $120,000 could get the entire amount on their debt that has grown since they entered repayment, both principal and interest, erased. The income cap for married borrowers who file joint taxes is $240,000.

2. Those already eligible for relief

The Department of Education could also forgive the debt of the many borrowers who are eligible for relief but either have not enrolled in the right program or have not applied for the aid yet.
Many student loan borrowers are not aware of the relief options available to them, such as income-driven repayment plans and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, consumer advocates say.

3. People who have been paying for many years

If you have only undergraduate student loans and entered repayment on or before July 1, 2005, you will likely be eligible for the aid.
For those with just graduate loans, or a mix of undergraduate and graduate debt, repayment must have begun on or before July 1, 2000, according to the Department of Education guidance.

Those who have consolidated their loans along the way should not worry that their timeline reset. The Department of Education says it will look into when those underlying loans initially entered repayment.

4. Attendees of troubled schools

In the fall, the Department of Education will also likely try to cancel some or all of the debt of those borrowers who attended schools that lost their eligibility for federal funding, suddenly closed or provided “low financial value,” the agency said.

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While market declines during a sell-off can induce fears, experts say it’s important you don’t stray from your retirement goals.
“Today you’re getting to buy it at a discount,” said Winnie Sun, co-founder and managing director of Sun Group Wealth Partners in Irvine, California. “It’s better to buy things on sale than to buy at full price.”

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Picture this: You walk into a big grocery store and everything is deeply discounted, said Winnie Sun, co-founder and managing director of Sun Group Wealth Partners in Irvine, California.
“What would you buy that you know that your household would need for the future?” she said. “That could be like paper towels, it could be toilet paper, it could be things that you know that you’re going to need long term.”

It’s smart to adopt a similar mindset when the stock market pulls back as it did Monday, said Sun, who is also a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council. Think of positions that you would like to add to your portfolio.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 2.6% to start the week, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 3.43% and the S&P 500 slid 3%. The blue-chip Dow and S&P 500 registered their biggest daily losses since September 2022.
“When the stock market pulls back at these levels, these are great opportunities to invest in core names or a quality portfolio that you always wanted,” she said.
“Today you’re getting to buy it at a discount,” Sun said. “It’s better to buy things on sale than to buy at full price.”

‘The biggest mistake’ to avoid

While market declines can make investors nervous, experts say it’s important you don’t stray from your retirement goals. That means staying invested and keeping on schedule with regular contributions.
“Turning off your retirement contributions is really not the way to go, especially when the market gets volatile,” said Clifford Cornell, certified financial planner and associate financial advisor at Bone Fide Wealth in New York City. 
“Find comfort in the fact that markets do recover,” Cornell said. 
In fact, stocks picked up on Tuesday: The Dow was up 1.45% shortly before close, while the Nasdaq and S&P were up 1.84, and 1.83%, respectively.

“The biggest mistake,” is when individuals sell off their assets during market downturns, according to CFP Stacy Francis, president and CEO of Francis Financial in New York City.
Then they “miss out on the wonderful rally that we’re seeing today,” said Francis, a CNBC FA Council member.
That’s not an unusual pattern: In a JPMorgan Asset Management analysis spanning Jan. 1, 2003 to Dec. 31, 2022, seven of the market’s 10 best days happened within two weeks of its worst 10 days.
Francis also cautioned that the market will likely continue to see volatility leading up to the presidential election.
“You can’t control the market, but you can control how you react to that,” Francis said. “How you react is going to spell your long term success.”  More

Over the past three months, the segment of marginally attached workers grew by a monthly average of 247,000, an economist said.
That can be a “warning sign” for the U.S. labor market.
However, experts believe it may be too early to tell if the marginally attached worker labor segment will continue to grow, and at such a rapid pace.

Ezra Bailey | Stone | Getty Images

The unemployment rate jumped in July, and there is a detail in the data that has alarmed some economists.
So-called marginally attached workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, are those who are available to work and want a job, but have not searched for a job in the four weeks preceding the survey.

People in that category are at risk of transitioning into “disconnected workers,” or participants who completely drop out of the labor force, whether it be because of too-low wages or because of high competition. 
Over the past three months, the segment of marginally attached workers grew by a monthly average of 247,000, according to an analysis from Alí Bustamante, a labor economist and director of the Worker Power and Economic Security program at the Roosevelt Institute, a liberal think tank based in New York City. Bustamante assessed marginally attached workers plus unemployed workers as a group, which the BLS refers to as U-6.  
“That’s a warning sign” for the labor market, he said.
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A sustained increase in marginally attached workers would be a negative indicator for the U.S. labor market, said Nick Bunker, economic research director for North America for Indeed Hiring Lab. It is a sign that people want a job, but are having a hard time finding a job, he said.

A ‘new phase’ for the job market

However, experts believe it may be too early to tell if the marginally attached worker labor segment will continue to grow, and at such a rapid pace.
“If there is a sustained increase in marginally attached workers, that would be concerning. But I don’t see a sustained increase right now,” Bunker said.
“This is one category that we really will look at for the next month,” said Teresa Ghilarducci, a labor economist and professor of economics at The New School for Social Research.

The jump could also reflect a correction after much-stronger-than-expected jobs reports in the past three months, said Ghilarducci, who is also the director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis and The New School’s Retirement Equity Lab.
Job growth has begun to slow down as more people look for jobs and increase competition for open roles, which showcases a potential “new phase” in the market, Bustamante explained.
“In its new phase, the U.S. labor market remains strong but workers are facing much more competition for open jobs than in the past year,” said Bustamante. “This means that incumbent workers are switching jobs much less often and new entrants to the labor force are experiencing longer job searches.”

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Collectively, Americans owe a record $1.14 trillion on their credit cards, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
As credit card debt mounts, young adults, who are likely renters with less of a financial cushion than their elders, are increasingly falling behind.

Who is falling behind on credit card bills

These borrowers “may have overextended during the pandemic,” the New York Fed researchers said on a press call Tuesday.
Delinquent borrowers are often renters, with shorter credit histories and lower credit limits, making them more likely to be financially vulnerable and miss a payment, the researchers said.
Over the last year, roughly 9.1% of credit card balances transitioned into delinquency, the New York Fed found.

In the years since the pandemic, homeownership has been one of the greatest tools of wealth creation — and those who have been priced out of the housing market have disproportionately struggled to achieve the same level of financial security, according to Brett House, economics professor at Columbia Business School.
Among the millennials transitioning into delinquency, many also entered the labor market during the Great Recession and may be experiencing the prolonged negative effects of graduating into an economic downturn, the New York Fed researchers said. Those who join the workforce in a period of elevated unemployment have lower long-term earnings, many studies show.

50% of Americans are carrying a balance

These days, 57% of consumers rely on credit cards to make ends meet, according to a separate survey by Achieve, and 36% of consumers said it is difficult to pay recurring debts on time. Achieve polled 2,000 adults with one or more kinds of consumer debt in June.
Of those surveyed who had missed a payment, most cited a job loss or reduced income as the main reason they have recently fallen behind.
Now half of cardholders carry debt from month to month, according to another report by Bankrate.  
“High inflation and high interest rates have eroded Americans’ savings and more people are carrying more debt for longer periods of time,” said Ted Rossman, Bankrate’s senior industry analyst.

Credit card rates top 20%

At the same time, credit cards have become one of the most expensive ways to borrow money. Credit card rates, already high in recent years, spiked when the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates to tame inflation.
Since most credit cards have a variable rate, there’s a direct connection to the Fed’s benchmark. As the federal funds rate rose, the prime rate did as well, and credit card rates followed suit.
Lower-income households, who had to stretch to cover price increases, have been hit especially hard after a string of 11 rate hikes lifted the average credit card rate to more than 20% — near an all-time high.
“With credit card balances at an all-time high and the average credit card rate hovering near record territory, it’s more important than ever to pay down this debt as soon as possible,” Rossman said.
With that annual percentage rate of 20%, if you made minimum payments toward the average credit card balance of $6,218, it would take you 18 years to pay off the debt and cost you more than $9,300 in interest in that time period, Rossman calculated.
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Brokerage firm Robinhood announced on Monday evening that it would not offer overnight trading due to an issue with its execution venue.
The company said in a post on social media site X that Blue Ocean ATS, the third-party firm that Robinhood works with for round-the-clock trading, has suspended its overnight market.

“Robinhood 24 Hour Market’s execution venue, Blue Ocean ATS (BOATs), has suspended overnight trading for tonight. 24 Hour Market orders that are open as of approx. 8 PM ET will be routed for execution starting at approx. 4 AM ET tomorrow. You may cancel your order at any time, and can still place an order for another trading session,” the statement said.
It is not clear if the suspension will last beyond early Tuesday morning, or if other brokerage firms that offer overnight trading are affected.
The announcement from Robinhood comes after several firms, including Charles Schwab, suffered technical issues on Monday that temporarily prevented some of their users from accessing their brokerage accounts.
Global markets saw a steep sell-off on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 1,000 points and the S&P 500 posting its worst day since 2022.
Robinhood first introduced “24/5 trading” — running from 8 p.m. ET on Sunday to 8 p.m. ET on Friday — in May 2023. Overnight trading is typically limited to the most liquid stocks and ETFs in the market.
Blue Ocean did not immediately respond to a request for comment. More

Amid stock market volatility, it’s critical to avoid emotional moves that could stunt long-term portfolio growth, financial experts say.
U.S. stocks on Monday plunged as part of a global sell-off fueled by U.S. recession fears. But investors should avoid panic-selling to maximize long-term returns.
“Don’t panic and make some crazy, rash decision that veers away from your game plan,” warned certified financial planner Lee Baker, owner of Apex Financial Services.

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Amid stock market volatility, it’s critical to avoid emotional moves that could stunt long-term portfolio growth, financial experts say.
U.S. stocks on Monday plunged as part of a global sell-off fueled by U.S. recession fears. The U.S. dip followed a more than 12% drop for Japan’s Nikkei 225, its biggest one-day loss since Wall Street’s 1987 Black Monday crash.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average earlier Monday fell by more than 1,200 points but recovered slightly to 1,032 points, or 2.6% down, by about 3 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 3.9% and the S&P 500 lost 3.2%.
“Don’t panic and make some crazy, rash decision that veers away from your game plan,” warned certified financial planner Lee Baker, owner of Apex Financial Services in Atlanta. 
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Panic selling can ‘crater your portfolio’

Some investors are prone to panic selling during periods of volatility and then often miss the stock market recovery with cash sitting on the sidelines, research shows.
“The roller-coaster ride back up happens just as quickly,” and missing recovery days “can crater your portfolio,” said Baker, who is also a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council.

To that point, missing the 20 best days in the stock market from Jan. 1, 2003, to Dec. 30, 2022, would have cut your total portfolio returns by more than half, according to J.P. Morgan.
Ultimately, staying invested pays off long-term because “it’s a loser’s game” to try to time the market, Baker said.

‘Sleep better at night’ with cash reserves

During periods of market volatility, it’s important to focus on what you can control, rather than broader economic uncertainty, said Douglas Boneparth, a CFP and president of Bone Fide Wealth in New York, who is also a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council.
Your existing cash reserves, for example, can cover emergencies or provide funds to “take advantage of opportunities,” he said. “This is the number one thing that can allow people to sleep better at night.”

While many experts suggest keeping three to six months of living expenses in cash, Boneparth recommends six to nine months, which “lends itself to staying the course” after stock market dips. If cash reserves are low, it may be a good time to revisit plans to rebuild.
One benefit of extra cash is you could use some of the funds to buy discounted assets after a market downturn, depending on your goals, he said.
“I’ve never come across someone who was upset that they had a little bit more cash than they needed,” Boneparth added. More

TikTok’s “#underconsumptioncore” trend has been displaced by the start of the back-to-school shopping season — and with it “#backtoschoolhauls.”
This latest hashtag trend comes surprisingly swiftly on the heels of a movement centered around resisting overspending.

Customer shopping for school supplies with employee restocking shelves, Target store, Queens, New York.
Lindsey Nicholson | UCG | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

Just when it seemed more Americans were inspired by the ideas of “underconsumption core” and “conscious consumerism,” which aim to put a lid on social media-influenced overspending, the back-to-school shopping season kicked off early — followed by TikTok hashtag #backtoschoolhauls.
As of the beginning of July, more than half, or 55%, of students and families had already started buying supplies for the start of the academic year, according to the National Retail Federation.

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“The back-to-school shopping season has increasingly started earlier each year,” largely driven by retail strategies, said Cassandra Happe, an analyst at WalletHub.
Sales events like Target Circle Week and Amazon’s Prime Day started even earlier in 2024, “aiming to capture early-bird shoppers and outpace competitors,” Happe said.

Back-to-school spending could reach nearly $40 billion

Families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend an average of $874.68 on school supplies, just $15 less than last year’s record of $890.07, according to the NRF.
Altogether, this year’s back-to-school spending, including for college students, is expected to reach $38.8 billion, the NRF also found. That’s the second-highest tally ever, after last year’s $41.5 billion marked the most expensive back-to-school season to date.

According to another report, by Intuit Credit Karma, nearly one-third, or 31%, of parents said they can’t afford back-to-school shopping this year and 34% expect to take on debt to cover the cost of supplies.
Higher prices are partly to blame: Families are now paying more for key back-to-school essentials such as backpacks ahead of the new school year. CNBC used the producer price index — a closely followed measure of inflation — to track how the costs of making certain items typically purchased for students has changed between 2019 and 2024.

On the upside, starting earlier may offer the best opportunities to find the best deals, a separate survey by Deloitte found, at a time when household finances are particularly squeezed.
“However, this approach can also lead to increased spending due to rising costs and the temptation for impulse buys,” Happe said. “Parents might find themselves spending more overall, especially on high-ticket items and electronics.”
More than 75% of parents said they believe schools ask them to buy too much during back-to-school season, another report by WalletHub found.

Parents influenced to splurge on ‘must-have’ items

“Back-to-school hauls have started infiltrating TikTok earlier than I’ve ever seen it,” said Casey Lewis, a social media trend expert and founder of trend newsletter After School.
“As soon as the Fourth of July holiday weekend was over, I began seeing them — and not just shopping hauls, but also outfit ideas and calls for advice about the best shoes and backpacks to buy this year,” Lewis said.
Despite having to navigate tight budget constraints, 85% of parents said they could be influenced to splurge on a “must-have” item or brand, Deloitte also found.

According to Lewis, low-rise jeans, $110 Adidas Campus sneakers and Jester backpacks from North Face, which retail for $75 or more, are topping this year’s wish lists.
“There’s a lot of pressure to have the right look,” Lewis said. And as trends cycle through faster and faster, “young people have even more pressure to keep up,” she added. “It feels like their popularity and perceived coolness rides on the products they have.”

How to keep back-to-school spending in check

Consumer savings expert Andrea Woroch advises families to shop for gently used clothing, sporting goods, school supplies and certified-refurbished electronics on resale sites, use a price-tracking browser extension or app and apply coupon codes. There are a growing number of online retailers that offer children’s product overstock, open-box and returned goods, often at a significant discount.
Also take advantage of sales tax holidays when you can, she said. Review the 2024 Sales Tax Holiday list to see if and when your state lifts sales taxes for a few days.
Otherwise, shop your own stock, which is what TikTok’s #underconsumptioncore is all about. “Rip out pages in a partially used notebook, collect scattered markers and crayons to make a full set and clean up last year’s backpack and lunch tote,” Woroch said.
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#Underconsumptioncore is taking over TikTok.
I’ve been on the underconsumption train long before it was trending. But given the barrage of influencer marketing these days, it’s a lifestyle that is increasingly harder to maintain.
Now the stakes are higher as more consumers are feeling cash-strapped.

Recently I posed this question to my teenage daughter: Aren’t we tired of influencers?
“No,” she said.

But despite my daughter’s opinion — she’s 16 — I know I’m not the only one fed up with the barrage of things I’m told to buy on social media. Which is why the rise of “underconsumptioncore” came as a welcome shift away from influencer culture — and made me finally feel seen.
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Years ago, I made a commitment to live with less. But adhering to a standard more in line with minimalism than overconsumption is a vow I’ve had to renew yearly, monthly, daily.
Let’s just say it’s a struggle. Instagram doesn’t help.
Increasingly, I have found the incessant shilling of everything from protein shakes to private vacation villas exhausting. Not to mention how this steady stream of influencer marketing is often at odds with my own lifestyle aspirations (and budget).

Pro tips: I have a screen time limit set for Instagram, keep sponsored posts “snoozed” and regularly “report” ads that feel intrusive. Also, I follow “the 48-hour rule,” which requires waiting at least two days before making any discretionary purchase, through social media or otherwise.

‘An arms race for consumer dollars’

Although most Americans say they are living paycheck to paycheck, consumers routinely spend more than they can afford on impulse purchases, many studies show — particularly those advertised on sites such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
“We are bombarded with shopping opportunities,” said Casey Lewis, a social media trend expert and founder of trend newsletter After School. “Now it’s sort of an arms race for consumer dollars.”
One report by Intuit Credit Karma found that roughly 2 in 5 Americans have purchased products advertised on social media in the past year, and nearly a quarter — 23% — of them coughed up $1,000 or more on those purchases. 
Generation Z, especially, makes shopping decisions heavily driven by TikTok and Instagram, where influencer recommendations play a very significant role, another KPMG report showed.

The rise of #underconsumptioncore

TikTok’s latest financial trend, #underconsumptioncore, is about making the most of what you already have and rejecting the temptation to buy more (and more and more). That’s also something personal stylist Allison Bornstein told me in 2023, which has stuck with me ever since.
The timing is on point, given that consumers feel increasingly cash-strapped and their confidence in the economy is showing signs of strain, according to Brett House, economics professor at Columbia Business School. “It’s a movement that is cyclical, driven by macroeconomic conditions,” he said.

In fact, the idea behind underconsumption has emerged with “predictable regularity” at similar times in recent history, including in the early 1990s, then when the dot-com bubble burst in early 2000 and again during the Great Recession, House said. “In each case the aesthetics were a little different, but it represented a back-to-basics mentality.”
This time around, #underconsumptioncore stems from a number of other factors, as well, including a desire to live more intentionally and sustainably. Gen Z is also the most eco-conscious generation.
But still, this trend is primarily born out of necessity. To be sure, few people can afford all of this stuff.

Young people are just sort of like ‘enough, we can’t possibly keep up.’

Casey Lewis
social media trend expert

Americans are feeling the pain of persistent inflation, with various reports showing many have exhausted their savings and are now leaning on credit cards to make ends meet.
Financial well-being is deteriorating and young adults, especially, are struggling.
Similarly, interest in “conscious consumerism” and “de-influencing” have also peaked, both of which aim to put a lid on social media-related overspending.
“Young people are just sort of like ‘enough, we can’t possibly keep up,’ and it doesn’t feel good anymore,” Lewis said.
But whether #underconsumptioncore is simply a mood or a movement, it’s still hard to say. “The lifespan of this trend depends, in a lot of ways, on how long the economy continues to slow and incomes remain below price gains,” House said.
Lewis is skeptical about whether this trend will have any sustained traction at all. Already, her feed is being overrun with #backtoschoolhauls, including outfits, gear and dorm décor, she said.
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