Student Loans

Here's a number that surprises most borrowers: a $50,000 balance forgiven under an income-driven plan in 2026 could add roughly $11,000–$12,000 of federal tax at a 22%–24% marginal rate—before accounting for deductions, bracket effects, or exclusions such as insolvency.

In late 2024, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York estimated that 9.7 million student loan borrowers had debt at least 30 days past due as the federal on-ramp ended.

More than 7.5 million borrowers just got a letter that changes the math on this question entirely.

Here's a number that reframes the whole decision: at Citizens, 98% of undergraduate private student loans are issued with a cosigner.

If you're one of the roughly 7 million borrowers who spent the last two years parked in SAVE forbearance, your servicer is about to send you a letter with a 90-day clock attached.

If you signed up for the SAVE plan back in 2023, you've spent the last two years watching your student loans get tossed around like a legal hot potato. Court injunctions. Forbearance. Interest that stopped, then started again. Emails from your servicer that raised more questions than they answered.

Using a federal student loan to buy a car isn't just discouraged — it's a violation of your Master Promissory Note, the binding contract you sign at disbursement.

You're scrolling through your credit report, and there it is: that student loan balance staring back at you, dragging down a number you're trying so hard to lift.

Roughly 43 million Americans carry student loan debt — but fewer than half could accurately describe what happens to their loan when they miss a payment. That knowledge gap is expensive. Depending on whether your loan is federal or private, the financial consequences of a single missed payment can range from a minor administrative headache to a credit-score collapse and immediate legal exposure.