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A new savings account for children that comes with a $1,000 deposit from the federal government remained in the U.S. Senate’s version of President Donald Trump’s budget bill.
Funds in the so-called “Trump accounts” can be used for education expenses or credentials, the down payment on a first home or as capital to start a small business. 
Qualified withdrawals are taxed at the long-term capital-gains rate, while distributions for any other purposes are taxed as ordinary income.

How Trump accounts work

Not unlike a 529 college savings plan, Trump accounts come with a tax incentive. Earnings grow tax-deferred, and qualified withdrawals are taxed as long-term capital gains.
Under both the House and Senate versions of the bill, withdrawals could begin at age 18, at which point account holders can tap up to half of the funds for education expenses or credentials, the down payment on a first home or as capital to start a small business.
At 25, account holders can use the full balance for expenses that fall under those same guidelines and at 30, they can use the money for any reason. Distributions taken for qualified purposes are taxed at the long-term capital-gains rate, while distributions for any other purpose are taxed as ordinary income.

$1,000 baby bonus: Who is eligible

Pekic | E+ | Getty Images

For children born between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2028, the federal government will deposit $1,000 into the Trump account, funded by the Department of the Treasury, as part of a “newborn pilot program,” according to the Senate Finance Committee’s proposed text released on Monday.
To be eligible to receive the initial seed money, a child must be a U.S. citizen at birth and both parents must have Social Security numbers.
If a parent or guardian does not open an account, the Secretary of Treasury will establish an account on the child’s behalf. Parents may also opt out.

Trump account pros and cons

The White House and Republican lawmakers have said these accounts will introduce more Americans to wealth-building opportunities and the benefits of compound growth. But some experts say the Trump accounts are also overly complicated, making it harder to reach lower-income families.
Universal savings accounts, with fewer strings attached, would be a simpler alternative proposal at a lower price tag, according to Adam Michel, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute, a public policy think tank.
“I’m disappointed the Senate did not take the opportunity to improve these accounts,” Michel said. Still, “provisions that remain in both the House and Senate text, we should expect them to become law, and this provision fits that criteria.” 

Mark Higgins, senior vice president at Index Fund Advisors and author of “Investing in U.S. Financial History: Understanding the Past to Forecast the Future,” said the key is “if the benefits comfortably exceed the cost.”
According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Trump accounts would add $17 billion to the deficit over the next decade.
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The Senate Finance Committee proposed a “no tax on tips” measure as part of a multitrillion-dollar package of tax cuts.
Senate Republicans would cap the tax deduction on tips at $25,000 a year. The House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act didn’t have a cap.
The tax break wouldn’t be available to many people, experts said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), left, listens to Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), center, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, speak to reporters outside of the West Wing of the White House on June 4, 2025.
Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Republicans proposed offering a tax break to tipped workers, as part of a package of tax cuts the Senate Finance Committee unveiled Monday. GOP lawmakers are trying to pass their multitrillion-dollar megabill in coming weeks.
The Senate measure — which aims to fulfill a “no tax on tips” campaign pledge by President Donald Trump — is broadly similar to a provision that House GOP lawmakers passed in May as part of a domestic policy bill.

In both versions, the tax break is structured as a deduction available on qualified tips. The Senate legislation defines such tips as ones that are paid in cash, charged or received as part of a tip-sharing arrangement.
Taxpayers — both employees and independent contractors — would be able to claim it from 2025 through 2028. Filers could take advantage whether they itemize deductions on their tax returns or claim the standard deduction.

Key differences in ‘no tax on tips’ proposals

However, the Senate proposal is different from the House version in two key ways, Matt Gardner, senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, wrote in an e-mail.
First, the Senate legislation would cap the tax deduction at $25,000 per year, while it is uncapped in the House bill, Gardner wrote.

Also, the income limits work differently in the Senate legislation, he wrote.

The House bill makes the tax deduction completely unavailable once an individual’s income hits $160,000 per year.
By comparison, the Senate bill would gradually reduce the value of the tax deduction once an individual’s income exceeds $150,000, or $300,000 for married couples. The Senate would dilute the tax break’s value by $100 for every $1,000 of income over those thresholds.
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Senate Republicans, like those in the House, would limit the tax break to tipped workers in occupations that “customarily and regularly” had received tips on or before December 31, 2024.
The bill text directs the U.S. Treasury Secretary to publish a list of those occupations within 90 days of the legislation’s enactment.

Few workers would benefit from ‘no tax on tips’

A “no tax on tips” proposal seems to have bipartisan appeal in the Senate, which unanimously passed a similar standalone measure last month. Former Vice President Kamala Harris also supported a tax break on tips during her 2024 presidential campaign.
However, the tax break wouldn’t benefit many workers, tax experts said.
There were roughly 4 million workers in tipped occupations in 2023, about 2.5% percent of all employment, according to an analysis last year by Ernie Tedeschi, director of economics at the Budget Lab at Yale and former chief economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Biden administration.

Additionally, a “meaningful share” of tipped workers already pay zero federal income tax, Tedeschi wrote. In other words, a proposal to exempt tips from federal tax wouldn’t help these individuals, who already don’t owe federal taxes.
“More than a third — 37 percent — of tipped workers had incomes low enough that they faced no federal income tax in 2022, even before accounting for tax credits,” Tedeschi wrote. “For non-tipped occupations, the equivalent share was only 16 percent.”
Tax deductions reduce the amount of income subject to tax (or, taxable income) and are generally more valuable for high-income taxpayers relative to tax credits.
The Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, said it believed a better way to help workers would be to raise the federal minimum wage.
A “no tax on tips” provision “gives the illusion of helping lower-income workers — while the rest of the legislation hands huge giveaways to the rich at the expense of the working class,” EPI economic analysts wrote Thursday. More

GOP lawmakers are moving in their “big, beautiful bill” to nix payment pauses for student loan borrowers who’ve lost their job or experienced other financial hardship.
“I’m concerned this is going to lead more people to default on their student loans when they encounter a job loss, surprise medical expense, or other economic hardship,” said Abby Shafroth, director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project.

Vitranc | E+ | Getty Images

One provision in Republicans’ “big beautiful” bill would narrow the relief options for struggling student loan borrowers. House and Senate Republicans both call for the elimination of the economic hardship and unemployment deferment.
Those deferments allow federal student loan borrowers to pause their monthly bills during periods of joblessness or other financial setbacks, often without interest accruing on their debt.

Less attention has been paid to the GOP plan to do away with the deferments than its proposals to eliminate several student loan repayment plans and to establish a minimum monthly payment for borrowers.
The House advanced its version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in May. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions released its budget bill recommendations related to student loans on June 10. Senate lawmakers are preparing to debate the massive tax and spending package.
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Nixing the deferments could have major consequences, said Abby Shafroth, director of the National Consumer Law Center’s Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project.
“I’m concerned this is going to lead more people to default on their student loans when they encounter a job loss, surprise medical expense or other economic hardship,” Shafroth said.

The Trump administration said this spring that the number of student loan borrowers in default could soon rise from more than 5 million to roughly 10 million in the coming months.

How unemployment, hardship deferments work

Under the Senate Republicans’ proposal, student loans received on or after July 1, 2026, would no longer qualify for the unemployment deferment or economic hardship deferment. The House plan does away with both deferments a year earlier, on July 1, 2025.
The unemployment deferment is typically available to student loan borrowers who are seeking but unable to find full-time employment or are eligible for jobless benefits, among other requirements, according to the National Consumer Law Center. Under the deferment, borrowers can pause their payments for up to six months at a time, and for a total of three years over the life of the loan.
The absence of the relief “means that for someone who lost their job and is struggling to keep their head above water, the government will demand monthly payments on student loans,” Shafroth said.
The bill comes as the share of entry-level employees who report feeling positive about their employers’ business prospects dropped to around 43% in May, a record low, according to a recent report by Glassdoor.

The economic hardship deferment, meanwhile, is generally available to student loan borrowers who receive public assistance, earn below a certain income threshold or work in the Peace Corps. The total time a borrower can spend in an economic hardship deferment is also three years.
The end of the deferments “eliminates one of the key benefits on subsidized loans,” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
Persis Yu, deputy executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, agreed.
“The ability of borrowers to pause payments and interest on subsidized loans during financial shocks and hardship is a critical benefit of the federal loan program,” Yu said.

The ability of borrowers to pause payments and interest on subsidized loans during financial shocks and hardship is a critical benefit of the federal loan program.

deputy executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center

Around 150,000 federal student loan holders were enrolled in the unemployment deferment in the second quarter of 2025, while around 70,000 borrowers had qualified for an economic hardship deferment, according to data by the U.S. Department of Education.
The absence of the deferments will push more federal student loan borrowers into a forbearance, experts say, during which interest continues to climb on their debt and borrowers often resume repayment with a larger bill.
Republicans say doing away with the payment pauses will encourage borrowers to enroll in repayment plan they can afford.

GOP: Bill helps those who ‘chose not to go to college’

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said in a statement on June 10, that his party’s proposals would stop requiring that taxpayers who didn’t go to college foot the loan payments for those with degrees.
“Biden and Democrats unfairly attempted to shift student debt onto taxpayers that chose not to go to college,” he said.
Cassidy said the higher education legislation, which also stretches out student loan repayment timelines, would save taxpayers at least $300 billion.

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As Senate Republicans release key details of President Donald Trump’s spending package, lawmakers are still debating the federal deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT.
The Senate’s proposed text released on Monday includes a $10,000 SALT deduction cap, which is expected to change amid negotiations.
That limit is down from the $40,000 cap approved by House Republicans in May.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) speaks at a press conference following the U.S. Senate Republicans’ weekly policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 10, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters

As Senate Republicans release key details of President Donald Trump’s spending package, some provisions, including the federal deduction for state and local taxes, known as SALT, remain in limbo.
Enacted via the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or TCJA, of 2017, there’s currently a $10,000 limit on the SALT deduction through 2025. Before 2018, the tax break — including state and local income and property taxes — was unlimited for filers who itemized deductions. But the so-called alternative minimum tax reduced the benefit for some higher earners.

The Senate Finance Committee’s proposed text released on Monday includes a $10,000 SALT deduction cap, which is expected to change during Senate-House negotiations on the spending package. That limit is down from the $40,000 cap approved by House Republicans in May.
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The SALT deduction has been ‘contentious’

“SALT has been contentious for eight years,” said Andrew Lautz, associate director for the Bipartisan Policy Center’s economic policy program.
Since 2017, the SALT deduction cap has been a key issue for certain lawmakers in high-tax states like New York, New Jersey and California. These House members have leverage during negotiations amid a slim House Republican majority.
Under current law, filers who itemize tax breaks can’t claim more than $10,000 for the SALT deduction, including married couples filing jointly, which is considered a “marriage penalty.”

However, raising the SALT deduction cap has been controversial. If enacted, benefits would primarily flow to higher-income households, according to a May analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Currently, the vast majority of filers — roughly 90%, according to the latest IRS data — use the standard deduction and don’t benefit from itemized tax breaks.

Plus, the 2017 SALT cap was enacted to help pay for other TCJA tax breaks, and some lawmakers support the lower limit for funding purposes.
In the Senate, “there isn’t a high level of interest in doing anything on SALT,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said June 15 on “Fox News Sunday.”
“I think at the end of the day, we’ll find a landing spot, hopefully that will get the votes that we need in the House, a compromise position on the SALT issue,” he said. 
But some House Republicans have already pushed back on the proposed $10,000 SALT deduction cap included in the Senate draft. 
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., on Monday described the Senate proposed $10,000 SALT deduction limit as “DEAD ON ARRIVAL” in an X post.
Meanwhile, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., on Monday also posted about the $10,000 cap on X. She said the lower limit was “not only insulting but a slap in the face to the Republican districts that delivered our majority and trifecta.” More

Despite escalating political pressure, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold its benchmark short-term borrowing rate steady at its meeting this week.
All sorts of consumer borrowing costs could be impacted by the Fed’s upcoming decision.

U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks at the White House in Washington on Nov. 2, 2017.
Carlos Barria | Reuters

Political pressure is mounting against the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and yet the Fed is expected to hold interest rates steady at the end of its two-day meeting this week.
Despite a wave of recent attacks on Powell from President Donald Trump, futures market pricing is implying virtually no chance of an interest rate cut, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch gauge.

The president has argued that maintaining a federal funds rate that is too high makes it harder for businesses and consumers to borrow, adding more strain to the U.S. economy. The fed funds rate sets what banks charge each other for overnight lending, but also affects many of the borrowing and savings rates most Americans see every day.
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With a rate cut likely postponed until at least September, consumers struggling under the weight of high prices and high borrowing costs aren’t getting much relief, experts say. 
“The combination of high interest rates, stubborn inflation and economic uncertainty is a pretty challenging one,” said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree. “Most Americans don’t have a ton of wiggle room and today they have even less.”
From credit cards and mortgage rates to auto loans and savings accounts, here’s a look at how the Fed plays a role in your finances.

Credit cards

Credit card debt continues to be a pain point for consumers struggling to keep up with high prices. Since most credit cards have a variable rate, there’s a direct connection to the Fed’s benchmark.
But even with the central bank on the sidelines, credit card rates have edged higher. The average annual percentage rate is currently just over 20%, according to Bankrate, not far from last year’s all-time high. 
“This is a sign of banks trying to protect themselves from the risk that is out there in these uncertain times,” Schulz said. However, in this case, there is something consumers can do about higher APRs.

“The truth is that people have way more power over the rates they pay than they think they do, especially if they have good credit,” Schulz said.
Rather than wait for a rate cut that may be months away, borrowers could switch now to a zero-interest balance transfer credit card or consolidate and pay off high-interest credit cards with a lower-rate personal loan, he said.

Mortgages

Since 15- and 30-year mortgages are largely tied to Treasury yields and the economy, those rates haven’t moved much — and that hasn’t helped would-be buyers.
The average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage has stayed within the same narrow range for months and is currently near 6.9%, according to Bankrate. Tack on the nationwide problem of limited inventory and housing affordability remains a key issue, regardless of the Fed’s next move.
“I don’t see any major changes coming in the immediate future, meaning that those shopping for a home this summer should expect rates to remain relatively high,” Schulz said.

Auto loans

Auto loan rates are fixed, and not directly tied to the Fed. But payments are getting bigger because car prices are rising, in part due to impacts from Trump’s trade policy.
Currently, the average rate on a five-year new car loan is 7.24%, according to Bankrate.

The growth in median car payments is outpacing both new and used car prices, according to separate data from Bank of America. Now, of those households with a monthly car payment, 20% pay more than $1,000 a month.
“Combine that with the potential for tariffs to drive auto prices even higher, and it adds up to a really challenging time to buy a car,” Schulz said. “However, shopping for the best rate and getting approved for financing before you ever set foot in the dealership can bring significant savings,” he added.

Student loans

Federal student loan rates are set once a year, based in part on the last 10-year Treasury note auction in May and fixed for the life of the loan, so most borrowers are somewhat shielded from Fed moves and recent economic turmoil.
Current interest rates on undergraduate federal student loans made through June 30 are at 6.53%. Starting July 1, the interest rates will be 6.39%.
Although borrowers with existing federal student debt balances won’t see their rates change, many are now facing other headwinds and fewer federal loan forgiveness options.

Savings

On the upside, top-yielding online savings accounts still offer above-average returns and currently pay more than 4%, according to Bankrate.
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 — so holding that rate unchanged has kept savings rates elevated, for now.
“The thing that is lost in this, is that savers, including millions of retirees, are actually earning good income on their savings, provided they have their money parked in a competitive place,” said Greg McBride, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst.

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A sign is posted on the exterior of a Verizon store in Daly City, California, on Sept. 30, 2024.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Trade negotiations and heightened geopolitical conflict are weighing on market sentiment, but investors seeking stable income can solidify their portfolios through the addition of dividend stocks.
Tracking the recommendations of top Wall Street analysts could inform investors as they hunt for attractive dividend stocks, given that the investment thesis of these experts is backed by an in-depth analysis of a company’s fundamentals.

Here are three dividend-paying stocks, highlighted by Wall Street’s top pros, as tracked by TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.

Verizon Communications

Telecom giant Verizon Communications (VZ) is this week’s first dividend pick. The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.6775 per share, payable on Aug. 1. VZ stock offers a dividend yield of 6.3%.
Following a meeting with Verizon management, Citi analyst Michael Rollins noted that the company is upbeat about bolstering its leadership in broadband and converged services over the next few years. The company aims to double its converged wireless subscriptions (customers having both wireless and broadband subscriptions) from the current level of 16% to 17% of its customer base over the next three years.
Given the ongoing promotional backdrop in the wireless space, Rollins noted that competitive data points are still mixed. Nonetheless, Verizon is highly focused on customer retention and improving churn to rebound to its BAU (business as usual) levels in the second half of this year, partly supported by its new upgrade program.
Rollins noted that Verizon is optimistic about improvement in its performance in the second half of the year and continues to expect to add more postpaid phone subscriptions in 2025 compared to the previous year. The analyst sees the possibility of Q3 results, and not the Q2 performance, acting as a catalyst for Verizon stock, if the loss of postpaid phone customers starts to recede. Rollins continues to expect Verizon to lose 75,000 postpaid phone customers in the second quarter.

Overall, Rollins is bullish on VZ’s long-term growth potential, noting the “under-appreciated value for its financial prospects.”  The analyst reaffirmed a buy rating on Verizon stock with a price target of $48. Interestingly, TipRanks’ AI analyst has a buy recommendation on VZ stock, with an expectation of a 14.3% upside.
Rollins ranks No. 249 among more than 9,600 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 69% of the time, delivering an average return of 12.7%. See Verizon Insider Trading Activity on TipRanks.

Restaurant Brands International

Let’s move to the next dividend stock: Restaurant Brands International (QSR). This is a quick-service restaurant chain that owns iconic brands like Tim Hortons and Burger King. QSR offers a quarterly dividend of 62 cents per share. At an annualized dividend of $2.48 per share, QSR’s dividend yield stands at about 3.7%.
In May, Restaurant Brands said that it still expects to achieve its long-term algorithm, which projects 8% organic adjusted operating income growth on average between 2024 and 2028.
Evercore analyst David Palmer said that the company can deliver on-algorithm 8% profit growth in both 2025 and 2026, despite his estimates indicating below-algorithm systemwide sales growth of 5% and 6% in 2025 and 2026, respectively. He explained that despite lower sales, the company could achieve its profitability target in 2025 due to its cost management and lower stock-based compensation.
Palmer added that with QSR stock trading at significant discount to Yum Brands and McDonald’s, he sees the company’s earnings delivery as “step one to upside.”  He also highlighted other catalysts for QSR stock, including ongoing above-consensus International same-store sales growth, positive same-store sales growth for Burger King U.S. and Tim Hortons Canada, and a resale of the China business, which is expected to drive improved income in 2026.
Overall, Palmer is bullish on QSR stock and reiterated a buy rating with a price target of $86, which reflects a P/E (price-to-earnings) multiple of 23x and 22x based on 2025 and 2026 earnings estimates, respectively. The analyst contends that QSR commands a valuation multiple closer to rivals that are currently trading at 24x or higher.
Palmer ranks No. 632 among more than 9,600 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 63% of the time, delivering an average return of 7.1%. See Restaurant Brands International Technical Analysis on TipRanks.

EOG Resources

Finally let’s look at EOG Resources (EOG), a crude oil and natural gas exploration and production company with proved reserves in the U.S. and Trinidad. The company recently announced a deal to acquire Encino Acquisition Partners for $5.6 billion.
The company highlighted that this deal’s accretion to its free cash flow supports its commitment to shareholder returns. Notably, EOG announced a 5% increase in its dividend to $1.02 per share, payable on Oct. 31. EOG stock offers a dividend yield of 3.1%.
Reacting to the Encino acquisition, RBC Capital analyst Scott Hanold said, “Encino’s assets makes sense from a strategic and value adding perspective, in our view.” The analyst reiterated a buy rating on EOG stock with a price target of $145. TipRanks’ AI analyst has a buy rating on EOG Resources with a price target of $132.
Hanold highlighted that the deal increases EOG’s Utica position to a combined acreage of 1.1 million acres, producing 275 Mboe/d (million barrels of oil equivalent per day). The analyst expects the combined acreage in Utica to surpass 300 Mboe/d by early 2026, which is second only to EOG’s Permian position. Hanold expects scaled development to begin in 2026.
The analyst added that following the acquisition, EOG’s net debt to book capital stands at 0.3x, with the company still boasting a peer-leading leverage ratio and balance sheet. Hanold pointed out management’s commentary about shareholder returns remaining similar to those of recent quarters at 100% of free cash flow, with buybacks continuing to be a priority. He also noted the 5% rise in EOG’s fixed dividend.
Hanold ranks No. 15 among more than 9,600 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 69% of the time, delivering an average return of 29.6%. See EOG Resources Stock Buybacks on TipRanks.

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The Senate GOP reconciliation bill’s higher education provisions “would cause widespread harm to American families,” said Sameer Gadkaree, the president of The Institute for College Access & Success, by “making student debt much harder to repay” and “unleashing an avalanche of student loan defaults.”
Gadkaree and other consumer advocates have expressed concern about how the new terms could imperil many borrowers’ ability to meet their monthly bills — and to ever get out of their debt.
Senate Republicans say their proposal would stop requiring taxpayers who didn’t go to college to foot the loan payments for those with degrees.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., leaves the senate luncheons in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, June 3, 2025.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

Senate Republicans’ proposal to overhaul student loan repayment could trigger a surge in defaults, one expert said.
The Senate GOP reconciliation bill’s higher education provisions “would cause widespread harm to American families,” Sameer Gadkaree, the president of The Institute for College Access & Success, said in a statement. The proposals do so by “making student debt much harder to repay” and “unleashing an avalanche of student loan defaults,” he wrote.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions introduced bill text on June 10 that would change how millions of new borrowers pay down their debt. The proposal made only minor tweaks to the repayment terms in the legislation House Republicans advanced in May.
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With control of Congress, Republicans can pass their legislation using “budget reconciliation,” which needs only a simple majority in the Senate.
Gadkaree and other consumer advocates have expressed concerns about how the new terms would imperil many borrowers’ ability to meet their monthly bills — and to ever get out of their debt.
More than 42 million Americans hold student loans, and collectively, outstanding federal education debt exceeds $1.6 trillion. More than 5 million borrowers were in default as of late April, and that total could swell to roughly 10 million borrowers within a few months, according to the Trump administration.

Borrowers may be in repayment for 30 years

Currently, borrowers have about a dozen plan options to repay their student debt, according to higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
But under the Senate Republican proposal, there would be just two repayment plan choices for those who borrow federal student loans after July 1, 2026. (Current borrowers should maintain access to other existing repayment plans.)
As of now, borrowers who enroll in the standard repayment plan typically get their debt divided into 120 fixed payments, over 10 years. But the Republicans’ new standard plan would provide borrowers fixed payments over a period between 10 years and 25 years, depending on how much they owe.
For example, those with a balance exceeding $50,000 would be in repayment for 15 years; if you owe over $100,000, your fixed payments will last for 25 years.

Borrowers would also have an option of enrolling in an income-based repayment plan, known as the “Repayment Assistance Plan,” or RAP.
Monthly bills for borrowers on RAP would be set as a share of their income. Payments would typically range from 1% to 10% of a borrower’s income; the more they earn, the bigger their required payment. There would be a minimum payment of $10 a month for all borrowers.
While IDR plans now conclude in loan forgiveness after 20 years or 25 years, RAP wouldn’t lead to debt erasure until 30 years.
The plan would offer borrowers some new perks, including a $50 reduction in the required monthly payment per dependent.
Still, Kantrowitz said: “Many low-income borrowers will be in repayment under RAP for the full 30-year duration.”

Loan payments could cost an extra $2,929 a year

A typical student loan borrower with a college degree could pay an extra $2,929 per year if the Senate GOP proposal of RAP is enacted, compared to the Biden administration’s now blocked SAVE plan, according to a recent analysis by the Student Borrower Protection Center.
The Center included the calculations in a June 11 letter to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

“As the Committee considers this legislation, it is clear that a vote for this bill is a vote to saddle millions of borrowers across the country with more student loan debt, at the same moment that a slowing economy, a reckless trade war, and spiraling costs of living squeeze working families from every direction,” Mike Pierce, the executive director of the Center, wrote in the letter.

GOP: Bill helps those who ‘chose not to go to college’

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, said the proposal would stop requiring that taxpayers who didn’t go to college foot the loan payments for those with degrees.
“Biden and Democrats unfairly attempted to shift student debt onto taxpayers that chose not to go to college,” Cassidy said in a statement.
Cassidy said his party’s legislation would save taxpayers at least $300 billion. More

Workers value summer Fridays — a policy that allows workers to take Friday afternoon off over the summer months — over any other seasonal benefit, a new survey by Monster found.
Yet, employers have steadily phased out that perk as work-from-home Fridays became more common.

People enjoy an unusually warm day in New York City as temperatures reach the low 80s on June 4, 2025 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Summer Fridays may be considered the most desirable perk of the season, but fewer employers are on board with the shortened workweek.
Companies have steadily phased out summer Fridays — a policy that allows workers to take Friday afternoon off over the summer months — as work-from-home Fridays became more common, experts say.

“Pre-pandemic, summer Fridays were thing, but hybrid overall has taken over,” said Bill Driscoll, technology workplace trends expert at staffing and consulting firm Robert Half.
As more commuters settle into flexible working arrangements, fewer workers are making Friday trips at all compared to mid-week traffic patterns, according to the 2024 Global Traffic Scorecard released in January by INRIX Inc., a traffic-data analysis firm.
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Among employees, however, summer Fridays are the most valued summer benefit, followed by summer hours and flextime, according to a new survey by job site Monster, which polled more than 400 U.S. workers in June. 
“Summer Fridays are highly valued among workers because, for many, they represent more than just a few extra hours off,” said Scott Blumsack, Monster’s chief strategy and marketing officer. This perk “can go a long way in showing employees they’re valued, which can help prevent burnout, boost morale, and improve retention during a season when disengagement can run high.”

Still, 84% of workers are not offered any summer-specific benefits, even though 55% also said those benefits improve productivity, Monster found.

Instead, hybrid — and to a lesser extent fully remote — job postings have increased in the last year as employers compete for talented job seekers who prioritize flexibility, according to research by Robert Half.
“Hybrid is a highly desirable situation right now and one that all levels of employees are looking for,” said Robert Half’s Driscoll.
More than five years after the pandemic, 72% of organizations also have return-to-office mandates, according to a separate hybrid work study by Cisco.
But, even with the mandates, employees are less likely to work in the office on Fridays, and much more likely to commute Monday to Thursday, Cisco found.

Employees value flexibility

As employee burnout and disengagement grows amid the wave of in-office mandates, work-life balance and flexible hours have become increasingly important, other studies show.
Corporate wellness company Exos, which works with large organizations such as JetBlue and Adobe, says burnout has gone down significantly among employees at firms that have made Fridays more flexible. Exos also tested out “You Do You Fridays” — and found significant benefits.
The more adaptable the schedule, the more positively employees view their company’s policies, the Cisco report also found.
With hybrid arrangements now common, workers put a high value on that flexibility — and 63% of all workers would even accept a pay cut for the option to work remotely more often, according to Cisco’s global survey of more than 21,500 employers and employees working full-time.
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