First American’s Real House Price Index showed buying power rising as income growth and lower rates outpaced near‑flat price gains, echoing broader data on stabilizing prices and higher inventory in parts of the country.
At the same time, average 30‑year rates dipped below 6% in late February 2026 for the first time since 2022, offering buyers a rare affordability tailwind heading into spring.
Budgets outpaced sticky asking prices
“Spring break may be arriving a little early for home buyers this year,” Williamson said.
“Late last year, house-buying power surpassed the national median list price for the first time in more than three years, which could support a more vibrant spring home-buying season than in recent years, as more homes fall within buyers’ budgets.”
For most households, the decision to buy hinged less on the asking price and more on whether the monthly mortgage payment fit within their budget, a calculation driven by overall house-buying power
I’ve been getting a lot of updates lately from operators I’ve invested with. And the tone has shifted. Not dramatically, but enough to notice. Distributions paused here. A refinance that didn’t go through there. Language that used to feel confident now feels careful.
And here’s the thing. The properties are fine. Occupancy is solid. The markets are doing okay. On paper, nothing about the actual assets looks broken.
But the deals are under stress.
If you’ve been investing passively in real estate over the past few years, there’s a decent chance you’ve gotten a version of that same email. Maybe it was a capital call. Maybe it was a timeline extension. Maybe it was just a shift in tone that made your stomach tighten a little.
And if you’re like most physicians I talk to, the question running through your head is: I thought this was a good deal. What happened?
I’ve been sitting with that question a lot lately. Not because I have some magic insight, but because I think the answer is simpler than people realize, and also more important to understand than most of the noise out there right now.
Here’s what I’ve found. Most of the deals that are struggling right now aren’t struggling because the property is bad. They’re struggling because of the debt.
That distinction matters more than almost anything else in this cycle.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Any investment involves risk, and you should consult your financial advisor, attorney, or CPA before making any investment decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The author and associated entities disclaim any liability for loss incurred as a result of the use of this material or its content.
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The Part Nobody Talked About on the Way In
Let me explain what I mean.
Between roughly 2019 and 2022, a lot of real estate deals were structured around a very specific set of assumptions. Interest rates were historically low. Lenders were aggressive. And the business plans were built on a pretty straightforward formula: buy the property, improve it, raise rents, refinance or sell in three to five years at a higher valuation.
It made sense. And for a while, it worked beautifully.
But here’s what was baked into almost every one of those deals that most investors, myself included, didn’t spend nearly enough time thinking about: the debt had an expiration date.
Most of these deals used short-term, floating-rate debt or bridge loans. The kind of financing that gives you flexibility on the front end but assumes you’ll be able to refinance into something more permanent down the road. The whole plan depended on a future event going right, specifically, that interest rates would stay low enough or the property value would grow fast enough to make that refinance possible.
When rates went from 3% to 7%, that future event stopped cooperating.
Now you’ve got a property that’s performing well operationally, tenants paying rent, occupancy holding steady, but the loan is maturing and the math doesn’t work anymore. The refinance terms are dramatically worse than what was projected. The exit valuation hasn’t kept pace. And suddenly the operator is facing a gap they can’t close without more capital or more time.
That’s not a bad property problem. That’s a debt structure problem.
And it’s happening everywhere right now, even to experienced operators, even in strong markets.
I think about it like this. Imagine you bought a house that’s in great shape. Good neighborhood, solid tenants, everything works. But you financed it with an adjustable-rate mortgage that just reset, and your monthly payment doubled. The house didn’t change. Your income didn’t change. But the terms underneath you shifted, and now you’re squeezed.
That’s what’s playing out across thousands of deals right now at a much larger scale.
What This Cycle Is Actually Teaching Us
I had a conversation recently with a physician who’s been passively investing for about four years. Smart guy. Did his homework. He was in three syndications, all solid operators, all in growing markets. Two of those deals are now in some form of restructuring. Not because the properties failed. Because the loans came due at the worst possible time.
He told me something that stuck with me. He said, “I feel like I studied for the wrong test.”
And I think a lot of us feel that way right now. For years, the conversation in real estate investing circles was almost entirely about the asset. The market, the submarket, the rent comps, the value-add plan. And those things matter. But what I didn’t hear enough people talking about, and I’ll include myself in this, was the financing structure. How much leverage was being used. What kind of rate. What happens if the exit doesn’t go as planned.
Those questions feel obvious now. They weren’t obvious to a lot of us three years ago. Or maybe they were obvious, but they felt theoretical. Rates had been low for so long that the idea of them doubling felt like a stress test scenario, not a real one.
Here’s what I’ve noticed talking to physicians who are feeling uneasy right now. The discomfort isn’t really about one deal. It’s about trust. They did their due diligence. They picked good operators. They invested in solid markets. And they’re still getting emails they didn’t expect. That shakes something deeper than a balance sheet.
I get that. I feel it too.
But I think the right response isn’t to pull back from real estate entirely. It’s to get smarter about what you’re actually underwriting when you invest.
Because the deals that are holding up right now? They have a few things in common. They used fixed-rate or long-term debt. They didn’t over-leverage. They built in margin for the unexpected. They weren’t dependent on a perfect exit to make the math work.
Those aren’t flashy characteristics. They don’t make for exciting pitch decks. But they’re the difference between a deal that weathers a storm and one that gets swallowed by it.
I looked at a deal recently and the first thing I did was skip past the projected returns and go straight to the debt terms. Fixed rate. Conservative leverage. A loan that doesn’t mature for seven years. The projected IRR wasn’t the highest I’d seen that month. But I could actually see how the deal survives if things don’t go perfectly. That used to be a secondary consideration for me. Now it’s the first thing I look at.
I’m also thinking differently about returns in general. For a long time, the highest projected returns got the most attention. But a lot of those high projections were built on aggressive leverage and optimistic timelines. I’d rather take a more moderate return built on a structure that doesn’t need everything to go right.
That’s not a more conservative approach. I’d call it a more honest one.
I know this isn’t the most exciting thing to read. Nobody shares articles about conservative debt structures on social media. But if you’re a physician who’s been investing passively and you’re trying to make sense of what’s happening right now, this is the thing I’d want you to understand.
The properties aren’t the problem. The debt is.
And the physicians who internalize that distinction are going to make much better decisions in the next cycle. Not because they’ll avoid all risk, but because they’ll understand where the real risk actually lives.
That’s the part I wish someone had said more clearly a few years ago. So I’m saying it now.
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How to Calculate EMI per Month #EMICalculation #LoanEMI
EMI यानी Equated Monthly Installment को कैसे कैलकुलेट किया जाता है?
चाहे आप Home Loan लें, Car Loan या Personal Loan — हर जगह EMI calculation जरूरी है।
इस वीडियो में जानिए एक आसान फार्मूला जिससे आप अपनी मंथली EMI खुद निकाल सकते हैं।
Learn how to calculate EMI per month using a simple formula.
Whether it’s a home loan, car loan, or personal loan — understanding EMI is essential for every borrower.
This short explains EMI calculation with real-life examples.
Update 3/1/26: Available again until 3/7, in store and online this time.
The Offer
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The Fine Print
Expires 12/27/25
Valid when shopping In store only
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Limit $40 in points earned. Points will be earned on the amount paid at checkout (rounded down to the nearest dollar), excluding taxes and shipping fees.
While supplies last. Offer available to Staples Easy Rewards™ members only.
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Offer may not be combined with any other Staples Easy Rewards promotion in a single transaction.
Not valid on prior purchases or purchases made with Staples Advantage In-Store Purchase Program.
Our Verdict
I find these deals useful if I need to make a purchase at Staples that can be bought with points anyway, basically freebies.
As Israel unleashed a sweeping military response to the brutal Oct. 7, 2023, assault by Hamas, it aimed punch after punch at the power of Iran, the militant group’s longtime sponsor, and its other proxies and allies in the region.
The result has been a rapid and systematic degradation of Iran’s clout across the Middle East over the past 2½ years, a seismic change that led directly to this weekend’s devastating attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel.
“Certainly the Oct. 7 events were a turning point in this long conflict between Iran and Israel,” said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, an expert on Iranian politics at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. “I think it provided Israel with the argument or justification to deliver a strong blow.”
The most devastating hit so far came this weekend when President Donald Trump and Israeli leaders launched a wave of attacks on Iran, killing Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and inflicting widespread destruction. But the war, while still in its early stages, is part of a much longer continuum of events that have severely weakened Iran, Hezbollah and other proxy militias, and upended political balance in the region.
“It’s a very bloody, a very violent but transformative moment that the Middle East is going through,” said Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow focused on the Middle East at Chatham House, a British think tank. “We don’t know where this will end up.”
The war in Gaza was the wellspring
The damage to Iran’s power radiated from the war in Gaza, where Israeli forces followed Hamas after militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages during the Oct. 7 attacks. Israel has since killed more than 72,000 Palestinians in Gaza, nearly half of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas government and which does not distinguish between militants and civilians.
The conflict quickly expanded, though, to include other groups in the Iran-sponsored Axis of Resistance.
In Lebanon, the powerful militant group Hezbollah had long been considered Iran’s first line of defense in case of a war with Israel. It was believed to have some 150,000 rockets and missiles, and the group’s former leader, Hassan Nasrallah once boasted of having 100,000 fighters.
After Oct. 7, the group launched rockets across the border to Israel, seeking to aid its ally Hamas. That drew Israeli airstrikes and shelling and the exchanges escalated into full-scale war in the fall of 2024.
Israel inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah, killing Nasrallah and other top leaders and destroying much of the militant group’s arsenal, before a U.S.-negotiated ceasefire nominally halted that conflict last November. Israel continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon and to carry out near-daily airstrikes.
Hezbollah was further weakened when rebels overthrew the regime of key ally Syrian President Bashar Assad, cutting off a major supply route for Iranian weapons.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, also sponsored by Iran, joined the expanding conflict, firing rockets at vessels in the Red Sea and targeting Israel. U.S. warships and the Israeli military returned fire.
Israel left the status quo behind
As the conflict expanded, leaders of Iran and its proxies failed to recognize that Israel had abandoned the long-tense status quo and was trying to engineer a fundamental shift, Mansour said.
The toll on Iran escalated last June when Israel launched a surprise offensive aimed at decimating Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program while Iran and the U.S. were in negotiations for a nuclear deal. The 12-day war that followed saw bombing attacks of Iran’s energy industry and Defense Ministry headquarters.
Iran’s weakened proxy groups largely stayed on the sidelines as their sponsor came under direct attack last year. So far in the new war, they’ve done much the same.
“It’s very much about survival” for Hezbollah and the other Iran-backed groups, Mansour said. He noted that over time the Axis had become less driven by top-down orders from Iran, and the groups have become more autonomous. “And survival to them is based on calculations that aren’t necessarily about Iran’s survival.”
Since Israel and the U.S. launched a barrage of strikes on Iran Saturday, Tehran’s allies and proxies in the region have had a minimal role in the response.
Hezbollah appeared to change that early Monday, even though the group has been under great pressure by Lebanese officials not to enter the fray in defense of Iran out of fear of another damaging war in Lebanon.
Hezbollah issued statements condemning the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and mourning the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Then it hinted it might get involved. Early Monday, it did, firing missiles across the border. Israel promptly retaliated with strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut. It was the first time in more than a year that Hezbollah has claimed a strike against Israel.
Hezbollah said in a statement that the strikes were carried out in retaliation for the killing of Khamenei and for “repeated Israeli aggressions.”
How might other proxy groups react?
How other proxy groups could react to Khamenei’s death remains to be seen. Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said Israel’s actions since 2023 may give such groups pause.
“Previous bouts of conflict since Oct. 7 appear to have underlined the existential risk associated with making yourself a target,” Lister said in an email responding to questions from The Associated Press.
In Iraq, a coalition of Iran-backed militias calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed several drone strikes targeting U.S. bases in Irbil, the capital of the semiautonomous Kurdish region in the country’s north. The extent of damage caused by the attacks is not clear. But the Kurdish region has seen widespread power outages after a key gas field that supplies much of the region’s electricity stopped operations, citing security concerns.
Two officials with different Iran-backed militias in Iraq told the AP that a meeting took place two months ago between Iranian officials and allied Iraqi militias to make plans for a response in case Iran was attacked, including distributing tasks among the Iraqi armed groups.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. One of the officials said it was decided that the response would target U.S. forces and interests in Iraq’s semiautonomous northern Kurdish region and in neighboring Jordan.
There’s often a misconception that Iran issues orders to its proxy militant groups and they all fall in line, Boroujerdi said. But independent decisions the groups have made so far to stay clear of the conflict are a sign of the overall weakening of Iran’s network.
“The dominoes started to fall with the October 7 events,” Boroujerdi said. “Just take note of everything that has changed since then in terms of the balance of power.”
___
Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.
Student loans exist on both sides of the Atlantic, but the UK system has changed a lot in the last few years, and the differences matter more than ever.
In the US, student loans often behave like a traditional debt: you borrow a set amount, you owe it back (plus interest), and repayment depends on the plan you choose.
In the UK, student loans are closer to a hybrid between a loan and a payroll-based graduate contribution – and since 2023, England’s system has shifted again with Plan 5, a new repayment structure that can keep borrowers paying for up to 40 years (suddenly RAP’s 30 years doesn’t seem so bad).
Here’s how UK student loans work today, how they compare to US loans, and what the US could learn (and what it should avoid).
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UK “Student Loans” Aren’t One System
When Americans say “UK student loans,” they often mean “the UK government loan program.” But repayment rules differ by plan, and plans depend on:
Where you live in the UK (England vs. Scotland vs. Wales vs. Northern Ireland)
When you started your course
Whether the loan is undergraduate or postgraduate
This article focuses primarily on England, because England’s rules drive most of the UK-wide debate and the biggest recent changes.
Getting a UK Student Loan and The Costs of Tuition
The UK has two different types of student loans:
Tuition Fee Loan: This is the loan that covers your tuition
Maintenance Loan: This is the loan that you can get that covers your living expenses
This is different than in the United States, where all of our loans essentially cover both tuition and living expenses if needed, plus anything else that a student wants to spend the money on. The UK government caps the maximum amount that students pay for tuition each year.
For years, England’s undergraduate tuition fee cap was £9,250 – but it increased for the first time in a long stretch. In 2026-27, the cap increased to £9,790 (which, as of 2026, was approximately USD$13,200).
As for that loan? The UK will lend up to £9,790 each year as well, so you can always get a loan to cover your full tuition each year if you need it. And even if you don’t get a loan, that’s still the maximum amount you’ll pay in tuition. It makes for much easier planning and budgeting.
The US federal government also has caps for what they will lend, but not what colleges can charge.
As for that maintenance loan, there are caps on the amount they lend, which varies based on your living situation. Here are the UK maintenance loan caps for the 2026-27 academic school year:
Living with your parents — Up to £9,118
Living away from your parents, outside London — Up to £10,830
Living away from your parents, in London — Up to £14,135
You spend a year of a UK course studying abroad — Up to £12,403
If you’re 60 or over on the first day of the first academic year of your course — Up to £4,582
That means, if you take on loans for tuition and for living expenses, and go to school for 4 years while living away from your parents in expensive London, the most you’ll ever be in debt is £95,700 (about USD$129,000 in 2026). And while that may seem like a lot (it is), it is the absolute maximum. That differs from here in the United States, where students can borrow just about any amount they want, and spend it as they wish.
The average amount of student loan debt in the UK for students who began school in 2024 is forecasted to be £53,000 (roughly $71,472). For comparison, the average student loan debt for the 2024 graduation year is estimated to be $38,370. While that is not a perfect comparison, it’s still surprising to learn that UK students have nearly double the student loan debt than those in the US, on average.
Related: How Student Loans Work: Applying, Borrowing, And Paying Back
Paying Back A UK Student Loan
Just like in the United States, you must pay back your student loans. However, the UK has an interesting repayment process that makes it easier for borrowers to get started without drowning in student loan debt.
First, you only make payments on your student loan if your income is over a certain threshold, depending on which Loan Plan you are on (which varies based on which part of the UK you are in) and your payment frequency.
Students who started undergraduate courses in England from 2023 onward are on “Plan 5.” Plan 2 is the main option that applies to many borrowers who started between 2012 and 2023.
Plan 5 was created to reduce government subsidy and increase long-run repayment. The UK government has repeatedly frozen (or constrained) the Plan 2 threshold instead of raising it with earnings – meaning more graduates repay more each year due to “fiscal drag.”
Plan Type
Yearly Threshold
Monthly Threshold
Weekly Threshold
Plan 1
£26,900
£2,241
£517
Plan 2
£29,385
£2,449
£565
Plan 4
£33,795
£2,816
£650
Plan 5
£25,000
£2,083
£480
Postgraduate Loan
£21,000
£1,750
£403
You have to pay a percentage of any income above those thresholds to repay your student loans. You’ll repay 6% of your income over the threshold if you’re on a Postgraduate Loan plan, and 9% of your above-threshold income if you’re on any other Plan.
Also, just like in the United States, you’ll have to pay interest on UK student loans. How much interest you’re charged depends on which plan you’re on. As of 2024, the interest rates were:
Plan Type
Interest Rate
Plan 1
6.25%
Plan 2
7.60%
Plan 4
6.25%
Plan 5
7.60%
Postgraduate Loan
7.60%
The interest rate is tied to the rate of inflation, so it can vary over time.
The average student loan payment in the England is £85 per month (about $108). While the average student loan payment in the US is $503. This is where the affordability issue comes in for the US.
Plus, in this income-based repayment system, the loans will be canceled under the following scenarios, even if they aren’t fully repaid:
After 30 years
If the borrower dies or becomes disabled
So, unlike in the United States, where you will have your loans forever if you can’t repay them, the UK system discharges them at 30 years in Plan 2, but 40 years in Plan 5.
Another interesting feature of UK student loan repayment is that it is handled like payroll taxes once you’re employed. Since all of the loans are handled by the government, once you’re working, your repayment amount is taken out of your paycheck with your taxes. So, you never need to worry about it unless you work abroad.
There are private student loan companies in the UK, but those loans are not given any special treatment, and are treated just as any other personal loan. The payments are not income based or written off after any set amount of time.
Related: How To Pay For College: The Best Order Of Operations
Takeaways Here For The United States
Despite the fact that loans are actually higher in the UK, the monthly payments are much lower and then discharged after 30 or 40 years. It’s an interesting system that if implemented here would provide a lot of relief to borrowers.
The fact that we have a thriving private student loan industry here makes things a little bit more complicated, but starting with changes to federal loans would be a good start. Payroll-based collection removes the complexity of servicers, missed bills, and delinquency for many borrowers.
Repayments are triggered by income and scale with earnings – so payments aren’t “the same bill” whether you earn $45,000 or $145,000.
FAQs
What is Plan 5 student loan in the UK?
Plan 5 is the student loan plan for students in England who started university from September 2023 onward. Borrowers repay 9% of income above £25,000, interest is tied to inflation (RPI), and any remaining balance is written off after 40 years.
Are UK student loans written off after 30 years?
No. Plan 2 loans are typically written off after 30 years. However, Plan 5 loans are written off after 40 years. The write-off period depends on which repayment plan you are on.
Do UK graduates repay more than US graduates?
It depends on income and career length. UK graduates often have higher total loan balances, but repayments are income-based and collected through payroll. In the US, repayment depends on loan type and plan, and many borrowers pay fixed monthly amounts unless enrolled in an income-driven plan.
Is the UK student loan system better than the US loan system?
The UK system offers automatic payroll deductions and income-based repayment for all borrowers. However, Plan 5 extends repayment to 40 years, meaning many graduates may pay for most of their working lives. Whether it is “better” depends on income level, career path, and total lifetime repayment.
What are your thoughts on the UK student loan system, and what we could do better here in the United States?
Editor: Ashley Barnett
Reviewed by: Robert Farrington
The post How Student Loans Are Different In The UK vs. The US appeared first on The College Investor.
Everyone wants lower mortgage rates. This is no secret.
Ever since they surged higher in early 2022, we’ve wanted them to come back down.
Their meteoric rise from 3% to 7%+ quickly eroded housing affordability and pushed the mortgage and real estate industries into recession.
Home sales hit 30-year lows, lenders closed shops, and the housing market essentially came to a standstill.
But lately, mortgage rates have been steadily improving, hitting the lowest point since mid-2022 by some measures.
The problem now might be WHY mortgage rates are falling.
Are Mortgage Rates Falling for The Right Reasons?
Mortgage rates are essentially driven by economic conditions.
In short, if the economy is cooling, rates tend to come down to encourage more lending and growth.
If the economy is running too hot, rates rise to curb excess borrowing and cool things off.
Very recently, mortgage rates have rallied due to concerns about AI taking all of our jobs.
And despite a hot inflation report this morning via the Producer Price Index (PPI) report, which would typically lead to higher bond yields (and mortgage rates), they continued to sink.
In fact, the 10-year bond yield fell below the key 4% threshold for the first time since November.
Normally, this might be viewed as good news, as 30-year fixed mortgage rates tend to move in lockstep with 10-year bond yields.
But if this is happening while inflation seems to be worsening, it points to bigger problems in the economy.
Notably, that we might be on the cusp of another recession, driven by fears that AI could soon replace large swaths of white-collar workers.
That would lead to a huge uptick in unemployment, outweighing the inflation problem.
As such, the Fed could continue to cut its own federal funds rate to address this potential downturn.
Long story short, recession fears driven by AI trump near-term inflation concerns.
So while there might be renewed worries of stagflation, they are currently being outweighed by a wider economic slowdown.
Is the AI Job Displacement Narrative Real or Just Misplaced Fear?
The big question though is if this whole AI-driven recession is real, or just fear mongering.
It all kind of got going earlier this week thanks to an essay by Citrini Research that painted an economy demolished by AI.
The whole robots take our jobs because you can just use a chatbot instead, leading to unemployment at 10% or higher!
But it was refuted just a couple days later by Citadel Securities, which argued that AI adoption will be slow and once it does set in, it will lead to higher productivity at a lower cost (sounds like new Fed chair Kevin Warsh).
This will apparently lead to lower prices and increased “real purchasing power for consumers, which in turn increases consumption.”
The firm noted that “every major technological leap,” whether it was the steam engine or the internet itself, led to positive economic outcomes.
So why would AI be any different?
They have a point and noted that software job listings are actually on the rise. Someone has to work among all this new tech right?
Either way, it seems like the rollout will be longer than anticipated, similar to the original hype of the internet that took years to turn into the e-commerce powerhouse it is today.
We also all know the internet led to scores of new jobs and opportunities, including this very website you’re on right now.
So it might not be all doom and gloom.
It could just be a classic flight to safety from stocks to bonds because last I checked, the stock market was near all-time highs on a lot of speculative AI-driven growth.
The Health of the Economy Is More Important Than Low Mortgage Rates
While low mortgage rates are good for home buyers and existing homeowners looking for payment relief, we want them to come down for the right reasons.
The right reason is generally low inflation, a balanced labor market, and perhaps tighter spreads due to increased MBS appetite.
The wrong reasons are a recession and rising unemployment, at which point you start to cancel out the benefit of lower interest rates.
After all, if prospective home buyers don’t have a job, it doesn’t matter how low mortgage rates go.
What good is a 4% mortgage rate if you don’t have the income to pay the mortgage each month?
My guess is this is a lot of near-term noise and simply more positioning from investors being uber-bullish to being more middle of the road or even defensive.
That could mean lower stock prices and lower bond yields, which equates to lower mortgage rates.
But likely nothing drastic, perhaps just a more solid 5-handle for the 30-year fixed as the year goes on.
Before creating this site, I worked as an account executive for a wholesale mortgage lender in Los Angeles. My hands-on experience in the early 2000s inspired me to begin writing about mortgages 19 years ago to help prospective (and existing) home buyers better navigate the home loan process. Follow me on X for hot takes.
Years of success and methodical design in Europe have Pliant well-prepared to compete in the United States. Co-founder and CEO Malte Rau believes Pliant’s genesis in a region with strict regulations prepares it for success in America.
Pliant offers a comprehensive B2B payment solution. Beginning with travel, the company built a modular, API-first platform offering card issuance, processing, FX, white-labeled UI, real-time APIs, spend management, and embedded credit lines. Rau said it targets the many complex processes that happen post-payment.
“That’s where the majority of the work is,” Rau said.
Why Speedinvest bet on Pliant
In April 2025, Speedinvest co-led a $40 million Series B in Pliant as part of a group that also included PayPal Ventures.
“The timing for Pliant couldn’t be better outside of what’s going on with macro trends in embedded finance,” Speedinvest said last April. “Businesses across travel, e-commerce, SaaS, and fintech are facing cost pressures in the form of margin compression that demand innovative solutions.
“Speed, flexibility, and control over cash flow are no longer nice-to-haves; they’re must-haves. Traditional banks have sadly struggled to address these needs.”
Speedinvest later noted that Pliant timed its expansion to coincide with European macro changes to become the first digital card provider with a credit line across al 30 EEA countries. That gives it a strong competitive advantage.
Pliant’s European education, especially in unique verticals like travel, where some consumer traits and wants are ahead of the United States, prepared it to help modernize American B2B payments. Rau also sees strong opportunities for spending controls and other modern tools with the increase in phone and virtual card usage.
AI and spending controls
Consider someone tasked with buying food for a staff meeting. Often, they’d need some cash and get a receipt. At month’s end the bills are correlated and submitted, with fingers crossed that they balance. Now, click a picture with a phone and you’re good.
“The card is the perfect payment method for the AI agent,” Rau said.
Perfect, with the right guardrails, he added. Agents can be programmed for spend categories and amounts. Rau is less optimistic about the AI’s current utility for programming, especially in areas requiring optimal precision.
“As long as you can limit the room for error, you can give it a chance to do what’s best,” Rau offered. “But if you let it free roam, that’s another topic.”
How the European experience helps Pliant
Pliant’s origins in Europe’s stricter regulatory environment leave it prepared for whatever it finds stateside. That has changed, as fintechs saw closer attention in 2024 and 2025.
“Outside payments, the regulatory environment here is so lightweight; I can’t say it otherwise,” Rau said. “With the school of thought you have in Europe, things correlate eventually. They’re independent regulatory frameworks, but they eventually want to look at the same things.
“If there’s a problem, it will have the same solutions. I’m also confident that if there is more tightening, we can easily adapt.”
Build vs. buy?
Innovation is hard in B2B fintech because so many facets are involved. Multiply that when you operate in multiple regulatory jurisdictions.
That makes buying mostly more prudent than building. If a company chooses an effective solution used by many, it is especially true.
“If the wheel you’re spinning is big enough, it becomes true,” Rau said. “There are so many components, it’s just not tech – they need a compliance team, a risk team. If you look at the cost of setting up a program right now, it’s at least $2 – $3 million and you haven’t sold a card yet.”
Speedinvest co-led a $40 million bet that many will buy, not build. And when they buy, many will opt for Pliant.
“This isn’t just a play on B2B credit card issuing,” Speedinvest said in 2025. “It’s a bet on the future of spend management, credit infrastructure, embedded finance, and ultimately, the re-bundling of B2B payments.
“Speedinvest’s own portfolio companies are lining up to explore integrations. That’s when you know a company is moving toward something bigger. We believe that Pliant is not just building a 10x better credit card product – it’s building the future infrastructure of corporate payments.”
I have a tendency to be a pretty stubborn person. If there’s a food item I don’t care for, I probably won’t try your version of it, even if you swear it’s different than anything I’ve tasted before. If I have a preferred driving route, I generally won’t veer from it — even if you find me a faster way to go.
Similarly, I once had a very stubborn view of Social Security. Specifically, I was convinced that claiming benefits at 70 was the best option for most people, myself included.
Image source: Getty Images.
I’ve since changed my tune on Social Security. Here’s why.
How your filing age affects your Social Security benefits
Before we talk about my change of heart in the context of claiming Social Security, let’s run through some filing options.
Full retirement age is when you get your benefits without a reduction. That age is 67 if you were born in 1960 or later.
Age 62 is the soonest you can sign up for Social Security. Each month you claim benefits before full retirement age reduces them slightly. Filing at 62 with a full retirement age of 67 results in a roughly 30% reduction.
Age 70 is when delayed retirement credits stop accumulating. You get those credits for waiting past full retirement age to file for benefits, and they’re worth 8% per year you wait.
Why I no longer think 70 is the best age for Social Security
You can probably figure out why I once thought claiming Social Security at 70 made the most sense. At that age, you’re getting the largest possible monthly paycheck you can — for life.
Here’s the problem with that. While waiting until 70 results in larger paychecks, it also results in a smaller number of paychecks. If you’re delaying your claim past a full retirement age of 67, for example, filing at 70 means accepting 36 fewer Social Security payments in your lifetime.
That might work out in your favor if you end up living a long life. If you don’t, you could end up with less total Social Security income by virtue of waiting.
And the tricky thing is, you can’t predict how long you’ll live. You could find yourself in outstanding health at age 62 or 67 only to decline rapidly in your early 70s. You could still be running half marathons at 74 only to pass away from a heart attack at 75.
These things are unpleasant to think about. But it’s important to consider them when deciding when to claim Social Security.
And you may, like me, reach the conclusion that waiting until 70 to file is a riskier proposition than expected. In exchange for larger individual benefits, your total lifetime payout from Social Security could end up being lower if you don’t live as long as expected.
Claiming Social Security earlier has other perks, too
The main reason I’ve changed my mind about when to claim Social Security is that I realized that unless you live well into your 80s, you may not come out with more lifetime income from the program if you delay your benefits until 70. But that’s not the only thing that spurred my change of heart.
I’ve also realized that Social Security has different functions for different people. For retirees without a lot of savings, those benefits become essential for paying everyday bills. And people who need their Social Security checks to keep the lights on probably shouldn’t take benefits early unless there’s a good reason to.
But not everyone ends up reliant on Social Security in that same way. If you end up retiring with a $3 million IRA, you may be able to use your Social Security checks as extra money to pay for travel, hobbies, and entertainment. And in that case, you may want to start getting benefits sooner to maximize strong health years.
Just as you can’t predict your own life expectancy, you can’t predict what sort of turn your health will or won’t take. But if you’re in great shape to take that month-long European trip at 62 or 63, you should. And if claiming Social Security early is your ticket to doing so, you shouldn’t force yourself to wait until 70 to take benefits if you have a nice nest egg to fall back on.
It pays to be open-minded
Although I can own up to being a stubborn person, I recognize that it helps to be open-minded about certain things. You’re never going to convince me that banana bread is delicious, because I happen to think bananas are the most loathsome food item ever created.
But when it comes to financial matters, it’s important to look at big decisions from different angles. Doing so helped me realize that claiming Social Security at 70 isn’t automatically the best option universally. And I no longer think it’s the best option for me personally.
Your filing decision should hinge on your income needs, goals, and health. And I strongly encourage you to explore different options before making that decision official, even if you already have your mind set on a specific strategy.
