Investing

The National Association of Realtors agreed to a $418 million settlement in an antitrust lawsuit last week.
The proposed settlement is likely to change the way Americans buy and sell homes.
While it may take time for these changes to materialize, here’s what to consider if you’re entering the housing market this year.

A landmark class-action lawsuit may change the way Americans buy and sell homes.
The National Association of Realtors agreed to a $418 million settlement last week in an antitrust lawsuit where a federal jury found the organization and several large real-estate brokerages had conspired to artificially inflate agent commissions on the sale and purchase of real estate. 

The NAR’s multiple listing service, or MLS, used at a local level across areas in the U.S., facilitated the compensation rates for both a buyer’s and seller’s agents.
At the time of listing a property, the home seller negotiated with the listing agent what the compensation would be for a buyer’s agent, which appeared on the MLS. However, if a seller was unaware they could negotiate, they were typically locked into paying the listed brokerage fee.
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The proposed settlement would have the commission offer completely removed from the NAR’s system and home sellers will no longer be responsible for paying or offering commission for both the buyer and seller agents, said real estate attorney Claudia Cobreiro, the founder of Cobreiro Law in Coral Gables, Florida.
“The rule that has been the subject of litigation requires only that listing brokers communicate an offer of compensation,” the NAR wrote in a press release.

“Commissions remain negotiable, as they have been,” the organization wrote.
However, some of these changes may take time to materialize, experts say.

Settlement process ‘can take some time’

If a settlement agreement is accepted within a lawsuit between two people, the court generally won’t look at the settlement. Yet, in a federal class-action lawsuit, one that affects a large number of people, there will be a period for the court and interested parties to review the settlement and offer commentary and feedback on the agreement, Cobreiro said.
“That’s the process that we’re about to enter, and that process can take some time,” she said.
As proposed, the settlement would have the NAR completely remove commissions from its MLS system by July. That may be optimistic, Cobriero said.
“It would be more realistic to see this being implemented later this year,” she said.

In the meantime, it’s “business as usual” for buyers and sellers, Cobreiro said. “There is nothing that agents should be doing differently currently in their ongoing transactions.”
A buyer or seller already in the market is probably not going to be affected by the settlement unless their property happens to be on the market a little longer than what’s customary, she said.
“The big gray area here is how will buyer [agent] commissions be handled moving forward,” said Cobreiro, as there is no finalized agreement yet that clearly indicates how that will be handled.

What the settlement could mean for homebuyers

The settlement agreement doesn’t say that the buyer’s agent will not be paid nor that the buyer’s agent cannot charge fees.
“The big question here is who is going to pay for those services moving forward. Will it ultimately be a buyer that will have to get the buyer’s agent’s commission together, on top of closing costs and on top of down payment?” Cobreiro said.
While commission fees are negotiable between involved parties, knowing what cards you have on the table as a homebuyer will be more important now than before. Using an agent will still be a smart way to achieve that, experts say.
“A great local agent can give you a competitive advantage,” said Amanda Pendleton, a home trends expert at Zillow Group. That’s especially true as low-priced starter homes are expected to remain in demand, she said.
Here are two things to know about how the settlement could change the process of buying a home:
1. Buyers could be responsible for their agent fees: Historically, real estate commissions typically come out of the seller’s pocket, and are split between the buyer’s and seller’s agents.
As a result of the settlement, the seller will no longer be responsible for commission fees for a buyer’s agent. So this is a new potential charge buyers need to consider in their budget. Historically, if a buyer’s agent got half of a 5% or 6% commission, that equaled thousands of dollars.
For example: The median home sale price by the end of 2023 was $417,700, according to the Federal Reserve. That would mean commissions at a 5.37% rate — the 2023 average rate, according to Lending Tree — amount to roughly $22,430, about $11,215 of which might go to the buyer’s agent.
But bypassing an agent’s services may not lead to direct savings, especially for first-time buyers, experts say. You could put yourself at risk by leaving the homebuying process entirely to the seller and their agent, said Cobreiro.
Sometimes things show up in your home inspection report that merit a credit from the seller, but if you don’t have an agent, the seller’s agent may not volunteer that, said Cobreiro.
Doing so would be a breach of their fiduciary duty to the seller, and it affects their commission if the price of the property declines, she said.
“Signing the contract is the least of it; there’s so many things that happen throughout the transaction that really require the expertise and the navigation by someone who understands the process,” she said.

2. Buyers may be required to sign a contract early on: If buyers become responsible for their agent’s commission, you’re likely to see more agents asking buyers to sign a buyer-broker agreement upfront, before the agent starts helping them find a property.
Most brokerages have a buyer agency agreement, but it’s common for real estate agents to wait to present the contract.
“They want to win the person’s business, they don’t want to scare them with having to sign any contracts,” said Steven Nicastro, a former real estate agent who writes for Clever Real Estate.
Moving the contract talks to earlier in the process is a precaution to protect buyer’s agents in the market.
“That could lead to negotiations actually taking place at the first meeting between a buyer and the buyer’s agent,” Nicastro said.
Know you can negotiate the commission rate as well as the duration of the contract, which can span from three months to a year, Cobreiro said. More

New Social Security Commissioner Martin O’Malley has unveiled a four-step plan to change the way the agency handles overpayment issues.
Some beneficiaries have received notices demanding repayment of benefits, sometimes for sums totaling tens of thousands of dollars.

Former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-MD), President Biden’s nominee to be the next Commissioner of Social Security, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on November 02, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images

Three months into his role as commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Martin O’Malley unveiled a new plan to tackle overpayment issues that have led the agency to demand some beneficiaries repay benefits.
“We are no longer going to have that clawback cruelty of intercepting 100% of a payment if people do not respond to our notice,” O’Malley told the Senate Committee on Aging on Wednesday.

The plan comes after some beneficiaries who received excess benefit payments have received letters from the Social Security Administration demanding repayment of those sums.
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One overpayment notice for $58,000 was recently sent to a Savannah, Georgia, resident “through no fault of her own,” Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, noted during the hearing.
Because that beneficiary could not afford to repay the sum to the SSA, the agency reduced her monthly benefits, Warnock said. As a result, she could no longer pay her rent.
“That’s the human cost, the human face of these policy issues,” said Warnock, and indicated that his office frequently hears from constituents about overpayments issues and clawback notices.

The overpayment and underpayment of beneficiaries’ monthly checks is one of three service issues O’Malley said he plans to tackle in 2024. He also plans to address the long wait times for service on the agency’s 800 number, as well as a backlog in disability benefit applications that leads to long wait times for approval.
During the hearing, he also called on Congress to provide additional support, pointing to President Joe Biden’s proposed budget that calls for a funding increase for the agency.
“We are in a customer service crisis,” O’Malley said, due to underfunding and understaffing.

How Social Security overpayments handling will change

During the Senate hearing, O’Malley introduced a new four-part plan to change how the Social Security handles overpayment issues.
Starting Monday, March 25, the agency will no longer intercept 100% of a beneficiaries’ monthly benefits if they do not respond to a repayment notice, he said. Instead, the agency will use a “much more reasonable” default withholding rate of 10%, according to O’Malley.
Second, the claimant will no longer have the burden of proof to show whether they were at fault in causing the overpayment.
“We should have to produce that reason, not them,” O’Malley said.
Third, for beneficiaries who work to establish repayment plans with the Social Security Administration, the maximum time will be extended to up to 60 months from 36 months.
Finally, it will now be easier beneficiaries to request a waiver so they do not have to repay the money to the SSA if they are not at fault or do not have the ability to repay the money.
“We’re looking to do more as well; I’m not able to announce that now,” O’Malley said.
The changes will require changes to training and systems that beneficiaries encounter when they visit one of the 1,210 Social Security field offices with an overpayment notice, he noted.

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Interest rates for credit cards are likely to continue at elevated levels for the rest of 2024, even if the Federal Reserve cuts rates.
Rates for savings accounts continue to be high, but likely won’t stay there for much longer.
Rates for home mortgages could continue moderating as the year progresses.

Hinterhaus Productions | Digitalvision | Getty Images

Savings accounts

Higher rates mean that consumers have to pay more to service their debt, but it also means that banks pay higher rewards to savers. It’s one of the silver linings to the current rate environment, said Ted Rossman, chief credit card analyst at Bankrate.
“There’s also been remarkable stability at the top of this market,” Rossman said. “The highest savings rate right now is 5.35%.”

That top rate is considerably higher than the national average for savings rates overall, which has been just below 0.6% for the past two months. But even that overall average is more than double its level of 0.23% 12 months ago.
Rossman added that plenty of high-yield savings accounts, mostly available online, are still paying close to or even above 5%. These kinds of accounts keep money easily accessible while earning solid returns and are great options for emergency savings.

Certificates of deposit

Interest rates on savings accounts are higher than they’ve been in decades, but there has been recent softening in returns on certificates of deposit, data from the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. shows.
The average yield on a 12-month certificate in March 2024 was 1.81%, down slightly from its high in December and January, according to the FDIC.

Despite the dip, CDs are good savings vehicles that avoid risk but still provide a return if you’re willing to tie up your money for a set period of time, Rossman said. The current environment will likely remain good for savers until the Federal Reserve initiates its rate cuts.
“There’s been remarkable stability at the top of this market, even though we expect cuts are coming,” he said. “These shorter-term rates don’t tend to move until the Fed moves.”
Until then, savers should take full advantage.

Credit cards

The flip side to the positive environment for savers is the expensive credit card market: Consumers carrying balances on their cards face historically high rates. The average credit card rate has been well above 20% for the past 12 months and will continue to stay there for some time, Rossman said.
“Sometimes rates bounce around a little bit if offers come on and off the market,” Rossman said, but “we’ve plateaued since that last rate hike as of late July.”

The key for consumers to remember is that credit card debt is expensive, and that will still be true even after the rate cutting starts, he said.
“The Fed is not going to come to your rescue on credit card rates,” Rossman said. “Even if rates fell a couple of points in a couple of years, they’d still be high.”
His best advice for consumers is to prioritize paying off credit card debt, if possible with the help of a balance transfer card, which lets consumers carry balances from one credit card to another for a low fee and an extended period of no or low interest.

The Fed is not going to come to your rescue on credit card rates.

Ted Rossman
Senior industry analyst, Bankrate

Rossman added the offers from balance transfer cards continue to be very favorable with low fees and generous repayment windows.
“The balance transfer market has been remarkably stable and strong,” he said. “It speaks to a strong job market and the strong economy. People are paying these bills back,” despite the fact that more consumers, on average, are carrying more expensive debt.

Mortgage rates

While savings and credit card rates are very sensitive to maneuvers from the Federal Reserve, the area that might see the most movement is housing.
“Unlike some of these other products, mortgage rates tend to move in advance of the Fed because they tend to track 10-year Treasurys,” Rossman said. “It’s more about investor expectations for the Fed and for economic growth.”
That’s reflected in the data. Mortgage rates peaked in October 2023 at about 8%, followed by a steady decline. And after a brief jump in February, they seem to be settling back to where they were at the beginning of 2024, when a 30-year fixed rate mortgage was about 6.6%.

“We think there’s a good chance that the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage could be around 6% by the end of the year,” Rossman said, which would be a much needed reprieve for a highly competitive housing market that is still undersupplied.
High mortgage rates have kept many sellers — who are locked into lower rates from years’ past — from putting their homes on the market. Lower rates could get them to list, Rossman said.
“The closer we get to 6% and then eventually into 5% territory, that gets some people off the fence and they list their home and then inventory improves,” he said. “Then that gives some some relief on the price side for would-be buyers.”

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The Federal Reserve held rates steady at the end of its two-day meeting Wednesday, delaying the start of rate cuts.
For consumers, this means relief from high borrowing costs — particularly for mortgages, credit cards and auto loans — isn’t coming just yet.

The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it will leave interest rates unchanged, delaying the possibility of rate cuts as well as any relief from sky-high borrowing costs.
Overall, expectations that the Fed is pulling off a soft landing have increased, but that offers little consolation for Americans with high-interest debt.

And now there may be fewer interest rate cuts on the horizon after hotter-than-expected inflation reports sent the message that “we are moving in the right direction, but we’re not there yet,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com.
For consumers, that means “a very slow downward drift in savings rates but no material change in borrowing costs for credit cards, auto loans or home equity lines of credit,” McBride said.
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Inflation has been a persistent problem since the Covid-19 pandemic, when price increases soared to their highest levels since the early 1980s. The Fed responded with a series of interest rate hikes that took its benchmark rate to its highest level in more than 22 years.
The federal funds rate, which is set by the U.S. central bank, is the interest rate at which banks borrow and lend to one another overnight. Although that’s not the rate consumers pay, the Fed’s moves still affect the borrowing and savings rates they see every day.

The spike in interest rates caused most consumer borrowing costs to skyrocket, putting many households under pressure.

Even with some rate cuts on the horizon later this year, consumers won’t see their borrowing costs come down significantly, according to Columbia Business School economics professor Brett House.
“The costs of borrowing will remain relatively tight in real terms as inflation pressures continue to ease gradually,” he said.
From credit cards and mortgage rates to auto loans and savings accounts, here’s a look at where those rates could go in 2024.

Credit cards

Since most credit cards have a variable rate, there’s a direct connection to the Fed’s benchmark. In the wake of the rate hike cycle, the average credit card rate rose from 16.34% in March 2022 to nearly 21% today — an all-time high.
With most people feeling strained by higher prices, balances are higher and more cardholders are carrying debt from month to month compared with last year.
Annual percentage rates will start to come down when the Fed cuts rates, but even then they will only ease off extremely high levels. With only a few potential quarter-point cuts on deck, APRs would still be around 20% by the end of 2024, according to Ted Rossman, Bankrate’s senior industry analyst.
“If the average credit card rate falls a percentage point from its current record high of 20.75%, most cardholders would barely notice,” he said.

Mortgage rates

Although 15- and 30-year mortgage rates are fixed, and tied to Treasury yields and the economy, anyone shopping for a new home has lost considerable purchasing power, partly because of inflation and the Fed’s policy moves.
But rates are already lower since hitting 8% in October. Now, the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is near 7%. That’s up from 4.4% when the Fed started raising rates in March 2022 and 3.27% at the end of 2021, according to Bankrate.
Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae, expects mortgage rates will end the year at 6.4%, but that won’t provide much of a boost for would-be homebuyers.
“The housing market is likely to continue to face the dual affordability constraints of high home prices and elevated interest rates in 2024,” Duncan said. “The problem is still supply. If rates come down and it ramps up demand and there’s no supply, the only thing that happens is that home prices go up.”

Auto loans

Even though auto loans are fixed, payments are getting bigger because car prices have been rising along with the interest rates on new loans, resulting in less affordable monthly payments. 
The average rate on a five-year new car loan is now more than 7%, up from 4% when the Fed started raising rates, according to Edmunds. However, competition between lenders and more incentives in the market have started to take some of the edge off the cost of buying a car lately, said Ivan Drury, Edmunds’ director of insights.
Once the Fed cuts rates, “that gives people a little more breathing room,” Drury said. “Last year was ugly all around. At least there’s an upside this year.”

Student loans

Federal student loan rates are also fixed, so most borrowers aren’t immediately affected. But undergraduate students who take out new direct federal student loans are now paying 5.50% — up from 4.99% in the 2022-23 academic year and 3.73% in 2021-22.
Private student loans tend to have a variable rate tied to the prime, Treasury bill or another rate index, which means those borrowers are already paying more in interest. How much more, however, varies with the benchmark.
For those struggling with existing debt, there are ways federal borrowers can reduce their burden, including income-based plans with $0 monthly payments and economic hardship and unemployment deferments. 
Private loan borrowers have fewer options for relief — although some could consider refinancing once rates start to come down, and those with better credit may already qualify for a lower rate.

Savings rates

While the central bank has no direct influence on deposit rates, the yields tend to be correlated to changes in the target federal funds rate.
As a result, top-yielding online savings account rates have made significant moves and are now paying more than 5% — above the rate of inflation, which is a rare win for anyone building up an emergency savings account, McBride said.
Since those rates have likely maxed out, this is the time to lock in certificates of deposit, especially maturities longer than one year, he said. “There’s no incentive to hold out for something better because that’s not the way the wind is blowing.”
Currently, one-year CDs are averaging 1.73%, but top-yielding CD rates pay over 5%, as good as or better than a high-yield savings account.

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The Mega Millions jackpot hit an estimated $977 million without a winner from Tuesday’s drawing.
It’s the sixth-largest prize in the game’s nearly 22-year history, with a pretax lump-sum payout of $461 million.
The next Mega Millions drawing is Friday at 11 p.m. ET.

A person plays lottery at a 7-eleven store as Mega Millions jackpot reaches $ 1 billion 580 million, in Redwood City, California, United States on August 8, 2023.
Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

‘Keep your mouth shut’

Hundreds of millions of dollars can be life-changing for a lottery winner, their family and other loved ones. But certified financial planner Kashif Ahmed, president of American Private Wealth in Bedford, Massachusetts, has simple advice for the lucky recipient: “Keep your mouth shut.”  

Some states allow you to claim the prize anonymously, but public disclosure laws vary by state, according to Mega Millions.
Keeping your winnings private could avoid requests from “dozens of new relatives and friends you never knew you had,” Ahmed said.

‘Don’t rush to claim the money’

Ahmed also recommends immediately hiring a team of experts, including a financial advisor, estate planning attorney and certified public accountant.
“Don’t rush to claim the money before you have assembled this team,” he said. You’ll have a specific window to collect the prize, but the deadline varies by state.

Consider ‘asset protection strategies’

Once you have a team of experts, you should work to safeguard your wealth with “asset protection strategies,” according to Ashton Lawrence, CFP and director at Mariner Wealth Advisors in Greenville, South Carolina.
“This may involve setting up trusts, establishing legal entities, private foundations, purchasing insurance coverage,” or other measures to shield assets from possible creditors, lawsuits and other risks, he said. Some of these may be beneficial to have in place even before claiming the prize.
Of course, the best strategy depends on the winner’s unique needs. 

Mega Millions isn’t the only chance to win big. The Powerball jackpot has grown to an estimated $687 million without a big winner from Monday night’s drawing. The odds of scoring the grand prize for that game are roughly 1 in 292 million.

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Efforts to bring high inflation back to normal may take longer.
But your investment strategy shouldn’t change, experts say.

Woman shopping for groceries in Brooklyn, NY, on September 15, 2023.
Paola Chapdelaine | The Washington Post | Getty Images

A recession that was in the forecast for 2023 never came to fruition.
That has led to optimism that the Federal Reserve can reduce inflation and slow the economy without a recession, in what is called a “soft landing.”

But inflation may remain higher than the central bank’s 2% target for some time, which means the economy instead may be headed for a “deferred landing,” according to Roger Aliaga-Diaz, global head of portfolio construction and chief economist for the Americas at Vanguard.
“If the economy remains strong, that could mean that inflation actually does not come back down as quickly as we thought,” Aliaga-Diaz said.
Vanguard no longer has a recession as a baseline for 2024, according to its latest forecast, though it projects a “soft landing” could still happen. The firm has also revised its forecast for stronger U.S. gross domestic product growth — from 0.5% to 2% — and lowered its projections for year-end unemployment — from 4.8% to 4%.

At the same time, it bumped up its 2024 forecast for core inflation — defined as price growth excluding food and energy — from 2.3% to 2.6%.
The Federal Reserve will remain “cautious,” Vanguard predicts, and that could mean it maintains its target rate near the current 5.25% to 5.5% range.

How consumers feel about the prolonged fight to bring inflation down will depend on their personal inflation rate — the basket of goods and services a particular family spends money on, Aliaga-Diaz said.
If their spending is disproportionately focused on categories that are seeing higher rates of price growth — such as education or health care, for example — they will feel the effects of higher prices more acutely, he said.
“The average inflation rate masks a lot of variation, and you can see very different experiences there,” Aliaga-Diaz said.

Balanced portfolios will pay off, experts say

The current interest rate environment has paid off for some investors. For the first time in years, fixed income investments have provided positive real returns, Aliaga-Diaz noted.
As the Federal Reserve works to bring inflation down to 2%, that likely won’t mean interest rates will go back to 2010 levels, he said.
“We think we have entered a new world in which rates will stay higher for various reasons,” Aliaga-Diaz said. “We call it a return to sound money.”
Higher rates will be good news for people who depend on their portfolios for income, such as retirees.
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Investors who want inflation protection can look to Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, or TIPs, Aliaga-Diaz said. But it is important to remember that inflation hedging is not the only risk to watch for, he said.
For the rest of 2024, a balanced and well diversified portfolio is still the goal.
“I would advise people to not do anything different with their long-term plans,” said David Rea, president of Salem Investment Counselors, a firm that was No. 27 on the 2023 CNBC FA 100 list.
If your target asset allocation is 60% stocks and 40% bonds — or 80% stocks and 20% bonds — that should not change based on a future guess as to where inflation may land, Rea said.
“Even if you get it right, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’d be better off with stocks or bonds,” Rea said. More

Women and Wealth Events
Your Money

Social Security rules allow a qualifying former spouse to claim benefits based on the work history of a higher-earning ex.
These benefits are worth up to 50% of that former spouse’s Social Security benefit at full retirement age. However, if that former spouse dies, the benefit’s value is worth up to 100%.
“Your ex is worth twice as much dead than alive,” said Mary Beth Franklin, a certified financial planner and Social Security expert.

red_moon_rise

The rules around claiming Social Security benefits are full of caveats and nuances.
Among them is a valuable quirk for certain divorced spouses: In many cases, the monthly Social Security benefit you can claim based on a former spouse’s work history essentially doubles when they die.

“Your ex is worth twice as much dead than alive,” said Mary Beth Franklin, a certified financial planner and Social Security expert. She spoke at Financial Advisor Magazine’s recent Invest in Women conference in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The same concept can also apply for married couples. The calculus assumes the first spouse to die had a larger Social Security retirement benefit than the survivor.
Women in heterosexual couples tend to derive the most value from these Social Security rules, since they tend to live longer and retire with less wealth, financial planners said.
“Social Security is one of the most popular benefits the government offers,” said Natalie Colley, a CFP based in New York and senior lead advisor at Francis Financial. “And it’s a lifetime annuity. It’s one of the best [financial] protections anyone has against old age.”

Social Security rules for married, divorced spouses

The federal government determines Social Security benefits based on age and earnings history.

Married couples are eligible for spousal benefits. The lower earner can receive a benefit worth up to 50% of the benefit to which their spouse is entitled at full retirement age.
Here’s an example from the Social Security Administration: Sandy qualifies for a monthly retirement benefit of $1,000 based on her earnings record. She also qualifies for a spouse’s benefit of $1,250. At Sandy’s full retirement age, she’d get her $1,000 benefit plus $250 from her spouse’s benefit, for a total of $1,250.
The formula for divorced couples — when both individuals are alive — is similar: An ex is entitled to up to half of their ex-spouse’s Social Security benefit.

More from Women and Wealth:

Here’s a look at more coverage in CNBC’s Women & Wealth special report, where we explore ways women can increase income, save and make the most of opportunities.

The claimant must be at least 62 years old and must not be remarried. (Your ex must also qualify for benefits, meaning they’d generally also be over 62.) To qualify, the couple must have been married for 10 or more years before divorcing.  
“There must be at least a decade between ‘I do’ and ‘I don’t,'” Franklin said.
Additionally, the couple must be divorced for at least two continuous years.
Claiming benefits based on an ex-spouse’s earnings record doesn’t affect or reduce that former spouse’s benefits, Colley said. The ex is never even notified by the Social Security Administration about a claim, she added.
She recommends retaining an ex-spouse’s Social Security number, as well as the couple’s marriage and divorce certificates, to streamline a future claim.
Then, “it’s really a very seamless process,” Colley said.

What happens to benefits when an ex-spouse dies

When a former spouse dies, the benefit formula changes.
Surviving ex-spouses (and widows) are eligible for up to 100% of the decedent’s benefit, rather than the prior 50% maximum. These are known as “survivors benefits.”
Remarrying after reaching age 60 won’t affect your eligibility for survivors benefits, according to the SSA. Remarrying earlier than that disqualifies eligibility.

Survivors can claim these benefits as early as age 60 — two years earlier than traditional retirement benefits, Colley said. However, such benefits would be lower than if one waited at least until full retirement age, she said.
Social Security enacted this safety net for survivors because women traditionally hadn’t worked outside the home and instead stayed to take care of the children, and therefore had less retirement security in the event of a spouse’s death, Colley said.
“We’re seeing women in divorce today who are of the generation where they just didn’t work their entire life,” she said.

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The Biden administration has forgiven the student debt of nearly 4 million borrowers.
How to know when and if your turn will come.

The Good Brigade | Digitalvision | Getty Images

Over the last few years, the Biden administration has repeatedly announced that it was forgiving student debt for small groups of qualifying borrowers.
So far, it has canceled the loans for almost 3.9 million people, totaling $138 billion in relief.

Those who haven’t qualified for the aid are likely wondering, “When will my turn come?”
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Here’s how borrowers can figure out if, and when, they may be eligible for debt cancellation.
“These forgiveness opportunities are fantastic, but they are complicated,” said Elaine Rubin, director of corporate communications at Edvisors, which helps students navigate college costs and borrowing.

‘Over 100′ student loan forgiveness programs

If you’re not enrolled in a program that leads to student loan forgiveness, you can find “great information” on the U.S. Department of Education’s website, Studentaid.gov, about the different opportunities, said Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a nonprofit.

Mayotte said students should “read all the things. They can also contact their loan servicer to talk about their potential eligibility and steps they may have to take to qualify.”
Two of the most popular debt cancellation avenues are the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which leads to a debt jubilee after a decade of payments for qualifying workers, and the income-driven repayment plans. Those plans, which cap a borrowers’ monthly bill at a share of their discretionary income, lead to debt erasure after 10 to 25 years of payments. There are currently four different plans, each with different rules.
Much of the relief the Biden administration has delivered so far has been through fixes to these two programs.

But there are also “over 100 other forgiveness programs out there to explore,” Mayotte said.
“Many are offered by states looking to encourage certain types of employment, such as health care and public defenders,” she said.
Mayotte’s website, FreeStudentLoanAdvice.org, has a database of these programs, she said.
Meanwhile, after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden’s sweeping student loan forgiveness plan in June, his administration began working on a revised relief plan. The administration could roll out that “Plan B” program before November, and as many as 10 million people could benefit, according to one estimate.

Track qualifying payments, required steps

The loan forgiveness programs can be confusing and many borrowers have run into walls trying to access the relief to which they’re entitled. Given those difficulties, once you know the student loan forgiveness plan you’re pursuing, experts recommend keeping a record of the requirements you’ve met along the way.
For example, borrowers in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program are required to make 120 qualifying payments. They should be able to get a history of their payments at StudentAid.gov by looking into their loan details, Mayotte said. (They can also ask their servicer for a complete history.)

There have also been many policy updates of late for borrowers, almost all of which are positive.
“The changes implemented under the Biden administration will get borrowers closer to forgiveness,” Rubin said. “Especially borrowers who have been in repayment for some time.”
The Education Department has been reviewing the accounts of borrowers in income-driven repayment plans, and in some cases giving people credit on their forgiveness timeline for periods that didn’t qualify previously. (For example, some past deferments or forbearances may now count.)
If a borrower has multiple loans, meanwhile, they can apply for consolidation — which combines federal student loans into one new loan — and get credit going back as far as their first loan payment on the oldest of their original loans in that bundle. The deadline for consolidating and getting credit under the income-driven repayment plan recount is April 30.
If a borrower believes there is an issue with their payment count, they can talk to their loan servicer or submit a complaint with Federal Student Aid, Rubin said.

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