If you’ve been enjoying the golden age of high-interest savings, consider this your final boarding call. The Federal Reserve concluded its final meeting of 2025 on Dec. 10 with another 0.25% rate cut, bringing the target range down to 3.5% to 3.75%. This marks the third cut of the year, and banks are already beginning to slash their own rates in response. While the Fed does not directly set…
Federal lawmakers and the Department of Education were active this week, advancing proposals that could reshape how students understand college costs, borrow for graduate programs, and access student loan forgiveness. From new financial aid disclosure bills to continued student loan processing delays, these developments carry real consequences for students and families planning for college or managing debt.
Here’s a quick look at the most important stories shaping higher education and student finances this week for December 19, 2025.
The College Financial Aid Clarity Act (H.R. 6502) was introduced in the House this week, aiming to improve how colleges communicate financial aid eligibility and expected costs to students before enrollment. The bill would require institutions to use a federally designed financial aid award letter – which would be a vast improvement of the myriad of financial aid award letters currently being used.
Supporters argue that current award letters often obscure true costs, making it harder for families to compare offers or understand borrowing needs. Here’s our guide on how to read a financial aid award, so you can see how confusing it can be.
➡️ Impact: Clearer financial aid award disclosures could reduce borrowing surprises and help families avoid committing to colleges they cannot realistically afford.
A companion bill, the Student Financial Clarity Act of 2025 (H.R. 6498), would create a centralized universal federal net price calculator. Like existing net price calculators, it would show students their estimated total cost of attendance, net price after aid, and expected debt at graduation.
Lawmakers backing the bill say inconsistent formats and vague terminology have left students confused about what college will truly cost.
However, there are concerns about the massive amount of data required to be collected and how this would actually work in practice.
➡️ Impact: If enacted, families could more easily compare colleges on price and debt outcomes, rather than relying on sticker prices or confusing award letters.
More than 100 members of Congress sent a bipartisan letter (PDF File) urging the Department of Education to reconsider draft guidelines that exclude graduate nursing programs from the list of “professional” degrees eligible for higher federal loan limits.
Under the department’s current approach, many advanced nursing students would face lower lifetime borrowing caps than students in law or medical programs. Lawmakers argue this could limit access to nursing education and worsen workforce shortages.
You can see the full breakdown on graduate vs. professional degrees.
➡️ Impact: Borrowing limits directly affect who can afford advanced nursing degrees, particularly students without family financial support.
A newly filed Student Loan Status Report shows that the backlog of income-driven repayment (IDR) applications remains near 800,000, despite some improvement following the federal shutdown. The report indicates ongoing delays for borrowers seeking IDR enrollment and PSLF buyback processing.
Many borrowers are still waiting months for decisions that affect monthly payments and forgiveness timelines.
➡️ Impact: Processing delays leave borrowers in limbo, facing incorrect payments or stalled progress toward forgiveness.
I already compiled and posted my annual list of 2026 mortgage rate predictions.
But one more mortgage rate prediction just dropped, and it’s a doozy.
Yes, I’m being mostly facetious, but I still have to report it and let you digest it as you will.
It came during President Trump’s speech last night, where he briefly touched upon housing affordability.
Namely that it has improved during his first year in office, slowly restoring the American Dream in the process.
During a speech at the White House Wednesday evening, President Trump brought up a lot of things.
But the only thing pertinent to this post was his brief remarks about the housing market and mortgage rates.
He said, “The yearly cost of a typical new mortgage increased by $15,000 under Democrat rule. In 11 months. We’ve already gotten that annual cost down by $3,000 and it’s coming down a lot lower.”
This in reference to the 30-year fixed averaging around 7.25% in January versus about 6.25% today.
Adding that, “Wait until you see, the numbers are going to be shocking.”
He did the usual comparison to mortgage rates under Joe Biden, where they eventually skyrocketed late in his term due to the end of the Fed’s massive MBS buying spree known as QE.
Of course, Joe was also in office when mortgage rates hit record lows in 2021.
Anyway, forgetting the past and their ongoing rivalry, the part that stood out was Trump saying mortgage rates are going to come down a lot more.
And not just eventually, but “early in the new year.”
The irony is that for the 30-year fixed to improve markedly anytime soon, we’ll need more bad economic data.
Likely driven by a worsening labor picture with a higher rate of unemployment and jobless claims.
In other words, careful what you wish for when you’re promising materially lower mortgage rates in a short amount of time, but conveying the message that the economy remains strong.
We could potentially see mortgage rates improve for other reasons though, such as continued improvement in inflation readings, or more MBS buying from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which would help with spreads.
There’s also the thought of a new Fed chair being nominated, though that will happen later in the year when Powell’s term ends in May.
To that end, Trump said, “I’ll soon announce our next chairman of the Federal Reserve, someone who believes in lower interest rates by a lot.”
Most understand that the Fed doesn’t control mortgage rates, largely because they only focus on short-term overnight lending rates.
And mortgage rates are the exact opposite, very long rates such as the 30-year fixed mortgage.
However, there can be some correlation as Fed expectations can drive long rates, such as 10-year bond yields, lower.
But that only tends to happen if the underlying economic data warrants a drop in bond yields, typically because of cooler economic conditions.
So ultimately the Fed is simply reacting the news we already know and not the one actually pulling the strings.
If Trump has bigger plans, such as another round of QE that involves mortgage-backed securities (MBS, that’s a different story.
However, it seems very unlikely that’s the case so it’s best to ignore this stuff and continue to focus on the data.
I do give him a tiny little bit of credit for staying on message though and continuing to promise a glorious return to low mortgage rates, something he heavily campaigned on.
The good news is politics aside, the 30-year fixed is expected to dip into the 5s in 2026, even without direct intervention or a friendlier Fed.
Read on: How are mortgage rates determined?
Sutherland and ComplyAdvantage have united to develop an AI-driven financial crime management solution designed to help banks and fintechs respond to the rapid rise of AI-designed fraud, complex AML risks, fast-evolving financial crime threats, and complex compliance requirements.
Today, financial crime requires sophisticated, AI-intelligence-based solutions, as traditional risk and compliance controls cannot keep up. The Sutherland-ComplyAdvantage solution transforms financial crime management by delivering a single AI-native intelligence layer that continuously enhances screening, transaction monitoring, fraud prevention, case investigations, and regulatory reporting. This solution delivers consistent compliance, which is scalable and balances compliance and customer experience.
“Financial crime today behaves like an intelligent, adaptive network,” said Banwari Agarwal, CEO of banking and financial services at Sutherland. “This partnership brings together AI, advanced analytics, and real-time intelligence to strengthen screening, monitoring, investigations, and operations. Our customers can now detect risk earlier, act faster, and operate with far greater accuracy and compliance.”
“The true hurdle in financial crime isn’t piling on more tools—it’s architecting systems that scale seamlessly and intelligently,” said Doug Gilbert, CIO and chief digital officer at Sutherland. “Through this partnership, we’re delivering a unified AI intelligence layer that spans data, models, and operations, empowering banks and fintechs to evolve their compliance programs with precision, speed, and zero added friction.”
The solution combines Sutherland’s 2,400-plus financial crime experts, AI-native digital accelerators, including Agentic AI, Sentinel AI, ID Scan, and HelpTree GenAI, and ComplyAdvantage’s Mesh, an AI-native platform that unifies customer and company screening, customer risk scoring, transaction monitoring, and real-time payments analysis in one intelligent system. Built on large language and predictive machine learning models, Mesh leverages agentic AI to learn, act, and adapt across the full compliance lifecycle.
The joint solution creates a unified intelligence layer. This allows financial institutions to:
Detect converging threats: Identify complex patterns that span both fraud and money laundering.
Respond in real-time: Move from reactive case management to immediate threat mitigation.
Unify the lifecycle: Monitor and respond to risk throughout the customer lifecycle, from onboarding to daily transactions, without data handoffs.
“The convergence of fraud, AML, and risk is the critical path forward for modern financial institutions,” said Vatsa Narasimha, CEO at ComplyAdvantage. “By bringing together our real-time risk intelligence and Sutherland’s digital transformation capabilities, we are empowering leaders to build FinCrime programs that are not just compliant, but actively resilient against the speed of new threats.”
Early enterprise deployments of the integrated solution have demonstrated tangible operational improvements, including:
The Justice Department’s extensive redactions to the Jeffrey Epstein files on Friday don’t comply with the law that Congress passed last month mandating their disclosure, according to Rep. Ro Khanna.
The California Democrat and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., led the effort on the legislation, which required that the DOJ put out its entire trove of documents by today.
But he blasted the document dump and singled out one file from a New York grand jury where all 119 pages were blacked out.
“This despite a federal judge ordering them to release that document,” Khanna said in a video posted on X. “And our law requires them to explain redactions. There’s not a single explanation. That entire document was redacted. We have not seen the draft indictment that implicates other rich and powerful men who were on Epstein’s rape island who either watched the abuse of young girls or participated in the abuse of young girls in the sex trafficking.”
He said Attorney General Pam Bondi has been “obfuscating for months” and called the files on Friday “an incomplete release with too many redactions.”
The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a separate X post, Massie agreed with Khanna, saying the DOJ “grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law” that President Donald Trump signed last month.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress that the Justice Department had identified 1,200 victims of Epstein or their relatives and redacted materials that could reveal their identities, according to the New York Times.
Earlier on Friday, Blanche told Fox News that “several hundred thousand” pages would be released on Friday. “And then, over the next couple of weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more,” he added.
“Thomas Massie and are exploring all options,” Khanna warned. “It can be the impeachment of people at Justice, inherent contempt, or referring for prosecution those who are obstructing justice. We will work with the survivors to demand the full release of these files.”
Capital One, JPMorganChase and Bank of America are responsible for 75% of all AI-related patent filings since 2023. What’s more, U.S.-based banks are outpacing global peers when it comes to AI patent filings and are responsible for 85% of AI related patent filings through 2023, according to a recent report from think tank Evident AI, which tracked 1,516 patents filed by 21 banks since 2023. While patents are not required to be made public by […]
This week, a new report from economist Will Page revealed that the global value of music copyright reached an all-time high of $47.2 billion in 2024.
Meanwhile, YouTube announced it will stop providing data to Billboard‘s US charts after more than a decade, following changes to Billboard’s streaming methodology.
Elsewhere, HYBE made a push into Africa via a new partnership with Tyla’s managers Brandon Hixon and Colin Gayle.
Also this week, The Weeknd closed a reported $1 billion catalog deal with Lyric Capital while maintaining creative control.
Additionally, MBW broke the news that Universal Music Group proposed divesting Curve to address European Commission competition concerns over its $775 million acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings.
Here are some of the biggest headlines from the past few days…
The global value of music copyright (both recordings and compositions) reached a new all-time high of $47.2 billion in 2024.
That’s according to a new report from Will Page, the former Chief Economist at both Spotify and UK collection society PRS for Music, published on Page’s website, Pivotal Economics.
The 2024 figure was up just $2.3 billion (5.2%) on the prior year. According to the report, “growth is slowing largely because this is the first year where the pandemic effects have vanished”… (MBW)
YouTube says it will soon stop providing data to Billboard for inclusion in the US charts, ending a partnership that has lasted more than a decade.
The decision, announced on Wednesday (December 17) by Lyor Cohen, YouTube’s Global Head of Music, comes just one day after Billboard revealed changes to its chart methodology that will actually narrow the weighting gap between paid and ad-supported streams.
Under Billboard’s current formula for the Billboard 200, one album ‘unit’ equals 1,250 paid/subscription streams or 3,750 ad-supported streams — a 1:3 ratio.
Billboard’s new methodology tightens that ratio to 1:2.5, with one album unit now equalling 1,000 paid streams or 2,500 ad-supported streams… (MBW)
South Korea-born entertainment giant HYBE has been rapidly growing its geographic footprint beyond its home market over the past few years.
First, it expanded into Japan, followed by the United States, and then Latin America in late 2023.
More recently, the company established operations in China (April 2025) and India (September 2025). Now, after expanding across Asia and the Americas, HYBE is making a push into Africa… (MBW)
The Weeknd has closed a deal with Lyric Capital Group that brings outside investment into his music catalog while keeping the artist and his team as shareholders with “creative control” over his catalog.
That’s according to a report from Variety over the weekend, which cited confirmation from representatives for the artist. The reported confirmation arrives less than four months after Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the Canadian singer is looking to raise roughly USD $1 billion in financing backed by his stake in publishing rights and master recordings.
The news outlet reported at the time that New York-based Lyric Capital was leading the talks and that the artist already reached out to other investors to assemble the financing package of up to $1 billion… (MBW)
Universal Music Group has proposed divesting Downtown’s Curve royalty accounting business to address European Commission competition concerns over its $775 million acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings.
UMG submitted formal commitments to the EC on December 11, outlining a plan to sell Curve Royalty Systems as a standalone business to an independent buyer approved by the Commission.
The EC sent out letters last week to potential buyers as part of the proposed divestment process. A document outlining the remedies package, seen by MBW, commits UMG to divesting the entire Curve business, including all employees (except two retained engineers), customer contracts, and the Curve Platform software and related assets... (MBW)
Partner message: MBW’s Weekly Round-up is supported by BMI, the global leader in performing rights management, dedicated to supporting songwriters, composers and publishers and championing the value of music. Find out more about BMI here. Music Business Worldwide
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I learned early on that baking doesn’t need to be fancy to be good.
If something smells right and fills the house with warmth, it’s usually worth eating. I never worried about perfect shapes or smooth tops. Those things don’t change the taste, and nobody remembers them once the plate is empty.
A small notebook in the kitchen makes a difference. Not for complicated recipes, but for little notes… how a cake turned out with less sugar, or how much flour it took when the dough felt too soft. Those quiet lessons prevent mistakes and save ingredients later.
When the oven is on, I make sure every bit of heat counts. I slide apples onto the lower rack to soften for tomorrow, or toast stale bread while something else bakes. Heat costs money, and I don’t let it go to waste.
I don’t bake to impress you. I bake so there’s something ready when you get hungry. A simple cake on the counter keeps hands away from expensive store treats and disappears faster than anything fancy.
Over time, I stopped being afraid of substitutions. If you’re short on milk, thinning yogurt with water works just fine. When butter runs low, oil steps in without fuss. Baking is kinder than it looks, and it rewards confidence more than strict rules.
I taste as I go, but carefully. A small bite of batter tells me more than any written recipe. That way, I don’t overdo sweetness or waste ingredients trying to fix things later.
I don’t throw food away just because it’s imperfect. A cracked loaf still feeds people. A dry cake can be toasted or softened with a little milk. Waste is what truly ruins a recipe, not flaws.
Above all, I bake with intention. I bake because it will be eaten, shared, and enjoyed. That’s how baking stays frugal, and that’s how it has always made sense to me.
You’ll love: $50 Grocery List For 2 And Weekly Meal Plan
Baking at home has always been one of the best ways to save money on food.
Long before specialty flours and fancy mixers, people baked with what they had and made it work.
Frugal baking isn’t about cutting corners, it’s about habits that save money while still producing good, comforting food.
The cheapest baked goods usually come from the simplest ingredients.
Flour, sugar, eggs, oil, butter, baking powder, and baking soda can be used in dozens of recipes.
When you build your baking around these staples, you avoid spending money on one-use items that end up forgotten in the back of the cupboard.
Buying flour, sugar, and oats in larger bags is often cheaper per kilo, especially if you bake regularly.
Stored properly, these basics last a long time and give you more flexibility when you want to bake.
Some ingredients sound essential but can be easily replaced. Buttermilk can be made at home by adding a little vinegar or lemon juice to regular milk.
Oil can often replace butter in cakes and muffins, cutting costs without changing texture too much. Applesauce or mashed bananas can replace part of the fat in many recipes and work especially well in quick breads.
Skipping expensive flavorings can also save money. Vanilla extract is nice, but many baked goods taste just as good without it, especially when cinnamon, cocoa, or fruit is already doing the heavy lifting.
Homemade baking is almost always cheaper than boxed mixes or bakery items.
Pancakes, muffins, banana bread, and brownies are especially affordable when made from scratch. Once you learn a few basic recipes, you can adjust flavors and add-ins based on what you already have at home.
Baking from scratch also reduces waste because you’re using ingredients you would buy anyway, rather than purchasing a mix that only serves one purpose.
Frugal baking often starts with saving food that might otherwise be thrown away. Overripe bananas are perfect for banana bread or muffins.
Stale bread can be turned into bread pudding or baked French toast. Leftover oats can be mixed into cookies or breakfast bars.
Using ingredients at their “last chance” stage is one of the easiest ways to bake cheaply without planning ahead.
Ovens use the same amount of energy whether you bake one loaf or three.
Baking in batches saves electricity and time. Muffins, cookies, and sliced quick breads freeze very well and make easy snacks later.
Having homemade baked goods in the freezer also reduces the temptation to buy expensive store-bought snacks.
You don’t need special pans, silicone molds, or gadgets to bake well.
Most recipes can be made with a bowl, a spoon, and one or two basic pans. Simple tools not only save money but also make baking less stressful and easier to clean up.
Classic flavors are usually the cheapest. Cinnamon, cocoa powder, citrus zest, and raisins add a lot of taste without adding much cost.
Trendy ingredients often cost more and get used once, which is rarely a good deal.
Simple baked goods tend to be the most forgiving and the most popular, especially for everyday eating.
Butter, chocolate, and nuts can be expensive, but they often go on sale. When they do, buying extra and freezing them can save money over time.
Baking supplies are also heavily discounted after major holidays, making it a good time to restock.
Frugal baking works best when it replaces something you would otherwise buy. Baking snacks for school lunches, simple desserts for the week, or bread to go with meals keeps costs low and reduces food spending elsewhere.
When baking is part of your everyday routine instead of a special event, the savings add up quickly.
Couponing and shopping apps can quietly lower baking costs when used with intention.
Instead of chasing every deal, it makes sense to focus on staples that are bought anyway, like flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and oil.
Digital coupons and cashback apps work best when paired with sales, especially for higher-priced items like butter and chocolate.
Even small savings add up over time, and checking an app before a regular grocery trip often turns planned purchases into cheaper ones without extra effort.
Used this way, couponing supports frugal baking without leading to overspending or buying things that weren’t needed in the first place.
Hi, I’m Ashley a freelance writer who’s passionate about personal finance. Ever since I was young, I’ve been fascinated by the power of money and how it can shape our lives. I’ve spent years learning everything I can about budgeting, saving, investing and retirement planning. So if you are looking for tips, advice, or just a little bit of inspiration to help you on your financial journey, you have come to the right place. I am always here to help, and I am excited to share my passion for personal finance with you.
Update: Mesa have now shared on its website that it will automatically redeem all remaining eligible rewards points for statement credit, which only gets you a value of 0.6 cents per point. Not great value, but better than nothing for those who were not able to trabsfer their rewards. Here’s the relevant text:
To ensure all cardholders receive the full value for their accrued rewards, we will be applying all remaining eligible rewards points as a statement credit that will automatically be applied to your account.
Mesa has abruptly closed all cards. They sent out these emails to all cardholders yesterday:
We are reaching out today to share the unfortunate news that, effective immediately, your Mesa Homeowners Card account will be closed. As such, your credit card will be deactivated and you will not be able to make any new purchases or earn Mesa Points. We will provide you with separate guidance with regards to your remaining Mesa Points balance. This account closure has nothing to do with your account standing and is not the result of any wrongdoing or any actions taken by you with regards to your account.
IMMEDIATE ACTION CHECKLIST
We understand this is an inconvenience, and we are committed to making this process as smooth as possible.
There’s also a message on the website confirming that all accounts are closed.
Effective as of December 12, 2025, all Mesa Homeowners Card accounts are closed. All credit cards have been deactivated and you are no longer able to make any new purchases or earn Mesa Points.
A comment at DoC, you can still transfer points out. I’m not sure if this is still working or not, but worth a try. Here’s how:
Do an instant transfer since you never know how long this option will last. Instant transfer options include:
You also have the option to redeem for statement credit, but only at 0.6cpp.
HT: Richard in DDG Facebook Group
