Search here...
Home Blog

Does It Change the Tax Strategy?

globalinvestmentstrategy.com
-
0


This article is presented by Cost Segregation Guys.

One of the most common questions I get from real estate investors is whether owning a short-term rental changes how they should think about taxes.

The short answer is yes, and in some cases significantly. The type of rental you own affects how your income is classified, how your losses can be used, and whether strategies like cost segregation will actually move the needle for you. 

Let me walk through the key differences so you can see where you stand.

STR vs. Long-Term Rental Tax Treatment Basics

When you own a long-term rental, the income you earn is treated as passive income under the tax code. That means if your property generates a loss, which is common in the early years when depreciation is high, that loss can only be used to offset other passive income. 

Unless you qualify as a real estate professional, you generally cannot use rental losses to offset your W-2 or business income. There are some exceptions, including a $25,000 allowance for active participants with adjusted gross income under $100,000, but for higher-income investors, passive loss limitations are a real constraint.

Short-term rentals operate under a different set of rules, which is where things get interesting. The IRS does not automatically classify STR income as passive. If you materially participate in your short-term rental, meaning you are actively involved in running it and meet one of the IRS material participation tests, the income and losses from that property are treated as non-passive. 

That one distinction opens up a door that long-term rental investors typically cannot access: the ability to use rental losses to offset ordinary income.

How Accelerated Depreciation Interacts with STR Income

This is where cost segregation becomes especially powerful for STR owners. When you commission a cost segregation study on a short-term rental, you are not just accelerating depreciation in the abstract. If your STR qualifies as non-passive activity through material participation, the large depreciation deductions generated by a cost seg study can flow directly against your ordinary income in the year you take them. For an investor in a high tax bracket, that can mean tens of thousands of dollars in real tax savings in year one.

For long-term rental owners, the math is different. A cost segregation study will still generate substantial accelerated depreciation, but if you cannot use those losses against ordinary income due to passive activity rules, they carry forward until you have passive income to absorb them or until you sell the property. The deductions are not lost, but they are deferred, and deferred savings are worth less than immediate savings.

There is an important exception here for real estate professionals. If you or your spouse qualifies as a real estate professional under IRC Section 469, your rental activities are not subject to the passive loss rules, and accelerated depreciation from a cost seg study on any of your rentals can offset ordinary income. 

This is a significant planning opportunity, but the requirements are strict: You must spend more than 750 hours per year in real estate activities and more than half of your total working hours in real estate.

Who Benefits More, and Why

STR investors who materially participate in their properties are often the biggest beneficiaries of cost segregation, particularly in the first few years of ownership when bonus depreciation is in play. The combination of non-passive treatment and accelerated depreciation can create a paper loss large enough to eliminate a significant portion of the investor’s tax bill for that year, even when the property itself is cash flow positive.

Long-term rental investors still benefit from cost segregation, but the benefit profile looks different. The value tends to show up over time as losses offset passive income from other properties or as a large deduction in the year of sale. Investors who own multiple long-term rentals and generate passive income across their portfolio can often absorb the losses generated by a cost seg study more effectively than someone with a single property and no other passive income.

The investor who benefits least from cost segregation is someone who owns a single long-term rental, earns a high W-2 income, does not qualify as a real estate professional, and has no other passive income to absorb the losses. That does not mean cost segregation is useless in that situation, but it does mean the timing of the benefit is different, and the study needs to be evaluated accordingly.

Situations Where Cost Seg Timing Matters

Timing is not just about when you do the study. It is about making sure the depreciation hits in a year when you can actually use it.

Year of purchase

The best time for most investors to do a cost segregation study is in the same year they purchase or place the property in service. This is when bonus depreciation can be applied to the reclassified assets, and it is when the deductions are largest. Waiting a year or two does not eliminate the benefit, but it does reduce it, since bonus depreciation percentages have been stepping down each year.

Before a high-income year

If you know you are going to have an unusually high-income year, whether from a business sale, a large bonus, or a significant capital gain, that is an ideal time to accelerate depreciation on a property you own. Pairing a cost seg study with a high-income year can offset income that would otherwise be taxed at the highest marginal rates.

Before a property sale

This one surprises some investors: Taking accelerated depreciation through a cost seg study does not eliminate depreciation recapture when you sell. However, if you are planning a 1031 exchange, the recapture gets deferred along with the gain, and the accelerated deductions you took in prior years were still real savings in real dollars. The timing of a study relative to a planned sale is worth a conversation with your CPA.

When you convert an STR to a long-term rental, or vice versa

If you are converting a property from short-term to long-term use or planning to, the tax treatment of any existing cost seg study does not reset automatically. But your ability to use the losses going forward may change significantly depending on how the converted property is classified and whether material participation still applies. This is a situation where getting in front of the numbers before the conversion, not after, makes a real difference.

The bottom line is that short-term and long-term rentals are not taxed the same way, and they should not be approached with the same tax strategy. Cost segregation works for both, but the timing, the benefit size, and the mechanics are different, depending on which type of property you own and what your broader tax picture looks like.

Want to Know What Your Property Could Generate?

If you are trying to figure out whether a cost segregation study makes sense for your rental portfolio, whether it is a short-term rental, a multifamily, or a mix of both, I recommend reaching out to Cost Segregation Guys. They specialize in working with real estate investors and will run a free analysis for you before you commit to anything. They bring licensed engineers and real tax expertise together, which is exactly what you need to make sure a study is done right and holds up if the IRS ever comes knocking.

Write Press Releases That Generate Real Media

globalinvestmentstrategy.com
-
0
Write Press Releases That Generate Real Media


Catch the Full Episode:

Overview

Most small businesses have written off the press release as a relic. They should not have. In this episode, John Jantsch sits down with Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases, to make the case that earned media is more valuable now than it has been in decades — and that AI is changing how smart businesses write press releases, but not in the way most people think.

Kennedy draws on over 25 years of press release distribution to explain why 97% of press releases fail to generate a single article, and what the other 3% have in common. The conversation covers story arc, the contrarian angle, using surveys to manufacture news, and why putting the spotlight on a customer often works better than talking about your own product.

The AI component here is practical and specific. Kennedy walks through a paragraph-by-paragraph approach to using AI as a writing tool — not a strategy tool — and explains why letting AI decide what to write about is where most people go wrong. If you are a small business owner who has dismissed PR as too expensive or too complicated, this episode will change that.

About Mickie Kennedy

Mickie Kennedy is the founder of eReleases, a press release distribution service he launched in 1998 after watching small businesses get priced out of PR agencies charging $20,000 minimums. eReleases gives small businesses and entrepreneurs access to the same national newswire infrastructure used by major corporations, at roughly a quarter of the cost. He has worked with more than 32,000 clients and distributes around 10,000 press releases per year. He teaches PR strategy through a free masterclass at ereleases.com/plan.

Key Takeaways

  • Syndication links are not earned media. Getting your press release replicated on 200 subdomains means nothing if no journalist wrote an article about you. The only metric that matters is whether a human being covered your story.
  • AI is changing the value of earned media. Search engines and AI tools lean on credible industry publications as sources. One article in the right trade publication now carries more weight than it ever did.
  • 97% of press releases fail to generate coverage. The ones that do share common patterns: a story arc, stakes, a contrarian angle, or a data-backed finding from an original survey.
  • Do not let AI decide what to write about. Use AI to structure and write the press release once you have a strong strategic idea. The idea itself has to come from you.
  • Build press releases paragraph by paragraph with AI. Ask for structure first, then headline options, then opening paragraph variations. The whole process takes about 12 minutes and produces far better results than a single prompt.
  • Find an enemy or a blind spot. The carpet company that called out big box home improvement stores got picked up in every major flooring trade publication. Nobody had said it before. That is the opportunity.
  • Put the spotlight on a customer, not yourself. A story about a company that was losing money for three years and turned profitable using your software is more interesting than a feature list.
  • Surveys manufacture news in any industry. Partner with a smaller trade association, run a survey, find the most surprising result, and build the release around that finding.
  • The contrarian position is less crowded. Journalists outside of politics want balance. If everyone in your industry agrees on something, being the thoughtful voice of dissent gets you quoted every time the topic comes up.

Timestamps

[00:01] — Opening hook: the press release is not dead, but there is a catch when AI is involved.

[01:30] — How PR and press releases have changed since the web arrived, and why syndication feeds created a false sense of results.

[03:51] — Earned media vs. owned media, and why AI is pushing earned media back to the top of the priority stack.

[06:15] — The waste management client who got one article and landed $30 to $40 million in contracts from Australia.

[08:27] — How to find a newsworthy angle when you are not naturally in a newsworthy business.

[10:13] — The carpet company in New Jersey that called out Home Depot and Lowe’s and got picked up everywhere.

[12:05] — Why blasting a media database is killing your chances with journalists and what to do instead.

[14:47] — How to use AI to write press releases the right way: structure first, headlines second, paragraphs third.

[18:28] — Using AI for deep research and brainstorming contrarian ideas by industry.

[19:09] — Why the contrarian position is strategically underused and how it gets you recurring media mentions.

Memorable Quotes

“When a journalist writes an article about you, it’s an implied endorsement. Someone has transformed the press release into a written article.”

“You have to take what you want, and that’s the pill. Sometimes you’ve got to put it in cheese to get the journalist to swallow it.”

“AI is very good at writing the press release. The ideas behind it — it’s not very good at that. It’ll make a press release like you see out there, and you’re like, this is as good as that one. Well, that one probably didn’t get any pickups either.”

“The contrarian position is a much easier place because fewer people are competing for that spot.”

Learn more at ereleases.com. Mickie’s free PR strategy masterclass is at ereleases.com/plan.

Canada loses 112,000 jobs over four months, most since 2021

globalinvestmentstrategy.com
-
0
Canada loses 112,000 jobs over four months, most since 2021




The Canadian economy has shed 112,000 jobs so far this year, the weakest four-month stretch since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

Dad Jokes: Remarks At The 13th Annual Conference On Financial Markets Regulation

globalinvestmentstrategy.com
-
0


By Press Release


This post was originally published on this site.

Sponsored Links by DQ Promote

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.



Tim Cook and Reed Hastings just showed every CEO how to leave gracefully

globalinvestmentstrategy.com
-
0
Tim Cook and Reed Hastings just showed every CEO how to leave gracefully


In September 1960, John Updike sat in the Fenway Park stands and watched Ted Williams take his final at-bat. He drove a fastball 440 feet over the right-centerfield wall, rounded the bases head down and disciplined, and ran straight into the dugout. The crowd begged him to come out, tip his cap, take their adulation. He didn’t. The opposing pitcher waited on the mound, certain Williams would relent. Most players would have. Williams waved him off and never came back out.

Updike titled his account of that afternoon Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu — one of the greatest pieces of sportswriting ever published, about one of the greatest exits in the history of American sport.

Sixty-five years later, two of the most consequential business leaders of this century — Tim Cook of Apple and Reed Hastings of Netflix — have given us the corporate equivalent. No grandstanding. No extended farewell tours. No carefully staged vulnerability on a podcast circuit. Just a clean, disciplined exit. In a business culture that increasingly rewards visibility over substance, both men offered a different model. Neither built their careers around personal brand. They weren’t the story, and they weren’t trying to be. They focused on building institutions that would endure — and in doing so, reshaped entire industries: how we communicate, how we consume media, and how we spend our time.

Like Williams, they understood that how you leave is part of what you built. And in both cases, the exit was as instructive as anything they did in the corner office.

The Impossible Job Tim Cook Made Look Routine

Cook had the nearly impossible task of following Steve Jobs. Rather than imitate him, he redefined the role. Under his leadership, Apple became not just a product company but an operational machine and a supply chain marvel. Most companies make a tradeoff between scale and margin. Apple, under Cook, managed both — and that is extraordinarily rare. It requires not just vision, but execution at a level that compounds over time: thousands of small decisions made well, supplier relationships managed tightly, production scaled without losing quality. There is very little glamour in that kind of work. It does not lend itself to headlines. But it is, in many ways, the difference between a good company and a great one.

Cook also brought steadiness to Apple at a moment when that was exactly what the company needed. Following a founder like Jobs is not just a strategic challenge — it is a psychological one. The temptation is to mimic, to chase the aura. Cook did neither. He leaned into his own strengths and in doing so extended Apple’s trajectory in a way that few successors in any industry ever manage.

The Disruptor Who Kept Disrupting Himself

Hastings, by contrast, was a scrappy and visionary disruptor. His career is a masterclass in seeing where the world is going and getting there before the competition knows it’s changing. From DVDs disrupting Blockbuster, to streaming, to binge viewing, to collapsing traditional release windows, Hastings consistently moved ahead of the market. Importantly, these were not isolated bets. They were part of a sequence. Each move built on the last. DVDs created a direct consumer relationship. Streaming removed friction. Binge viewing changed behavior. Original content shifted the power dynamic with suppliers. Over time, Netflix moved from distributor to platform to studio.

Hastings also rethought how companies operate. His shift from the idea of a “family” to a “professional sports team” — where every position is constantly evaluated against the best available — wasn’t cultural rhetoric. It was a recognition that in fast-moving industries, sentimentality can be a liability. Performance matters. Fit matters. The willingness to make hard decisions matters.

The Exit Strategy Nobody Teaches

What is almost never discussed — and what may be their most durable contribution to leadership practice — is how both men handled succession. In many companies, leadership transitions turn into awkward internal contests: quiet bake-offs where senior executives are pitted against one another, with one winner and several visible losers. Those who don’t get the job leave diminished, sometimes humiliated, and the institution absorbs the damage quietly for years. Cook and Hastings avoided that dynamic entirely.

Their transitions were clear, deliberate, and respectful of the broader organization. They signaled confidence in the next generation without creating internal drama or uncertainty. That discipline is not just good governance — it preserves culture, protects the institution, and reinforces that the company is bigger than any one individual.

In an era of celebrity CEOs, there is something almost countercultural about that approach. Today, many leaders are rewarded for visibility, narrative, and personal brand. The performance can become the point. The storytelling can outpace the substance. Cook and Hastings offered a different model. The work was the point. The results were the reward.

Both men, of course, made mistakes. No career at that level is flawless. But over long arcs, they were consistently effective — grounded in strategy and innovation, willing to take intelligent risks, and honest enough about their own limitations to plan their own obsolescence rather than resist it.

What Williams Knew That Most Leaders Don’t

Great leadership isn’t about visibility or personal brand. It’s about making a series of high-quality decisions over time, often without recognition in the moment. It’s about building systems and cultures that outlast you. And, ultimately, it’s about knowing when to step away.

That last part is often harder than it looks. Many leaders, like athletes, stay too long. They chase one more win, one more cycle, one more moment in the spotlight — and in doing so, risk diminishing everything they built. Updike understood what made Williams’ exit so moving: it wasn’t just the home run. It was the refusal to cheapen it with a curtain call.

Cook and Hastings didn’t linger. They did the job. They changed the game. And then, like Williams rounding third and disappearing into the dugout, they left the field. No curtain call. No farewell tour. No tip of the hat. Just the record, standing on its own.

Hub fans bid kid adieu. And this time, the kids were in the corner office.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

Doctorate in Business Administration Online | PhD Admission 2025 #Business #Leadership #Doctorate

globalinvestmentstrategy.com
-
3
Doctorate in Business Administration Online | PhD Admission 2025 #Business #Leadership #Doctorate



Doctorate in Business Administration Online | PhD Admission 2025 #PhDvsDBA #BusinessLeadership #DoctorateDegree

Are you planning to pursue a DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration) in 2025?

A DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration) is a prestigious degree designed for professionals aiming for leadership roles in business, academia, and consulting. Here’s everything you need to know about DBA courses, subjects, and the admission process!

📌 DBA Course Details:
✅ Duration: Typically 3-6 years, depending on research progress
✅ Eligibility: Master’s degree (MBA, M.Com, or equivalent with work experience preferred)
✅ DBA Entrance Exams: GMAT, GRE, UGC NET, or university-specific tests
✅ Coursework & Research: Initial coursework followed by independent research under expert supervision
✅ Thesis Submission & Viva: Final defense of research before obtaining the DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration)

📌 DBA Subject Details:
A DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration) allows specialization in various fields, including:
📊 DBA in Finance | 📈 DBA in Marketing | 🏛 DBA in Business Strategy
💻 DBA in Information Systems | 🤝 DBA in Human Resources | ⚖ DBA in International Business
📡 DBA in Supply Chain Management | 🌍 DBA in Entrepreneurship & Innovation | 💼 DBA in Leadership
…and many other business disciplines!

🎯 DBA Admission 2025 – How to Apply?
🔹 Select a Reputable University & Research Guide
🔹 Clear Entrance Exams (if required)
🔹 Submit a Strong Research Proposal
🔹 Prepare for DBA Interview & Admission Process

💰 DBA Salary & Career Growth:
📈 A DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration) can open doors to C-level executive positions, consulting roles, and academic careers with salaries ranging from ₹1,00,000 to ₹5,00,000 per month, depending on experience and industry.

🔔 Subscribe for more updates on DBA careers, salaries, and academic opportunities!

#DBACourseDetails #DBAAdmission2025 #DoctorateInBusinessAdministration #DBASalary #ExecutiveEducation
#DBAJobs #DBAResearch #PhDvsDBA #BusinessLeadership #DoctorateDegree

For Queries:- 👇
✅️ VISIT AIMLAY –
✅️ CONTACT AIMLAY – +91 8071714159

And for more updates, you can follow us on our other social media platforms

👉Instagram:
👉Twitter:
👉Facebook:
👉LinkedIn:
👉Pinterest:

Tags:
business,
administration,
business administration,
management,
business management,
management of business,
business and management,
mba,
bachelor,
master business administration,
master of business administration,
bachelor business administration,
bachelor of business administration,
bba,
business administration course,
mba business administration,
administrator,
management and administration,
diploma,
business management course,
commerce,
business administration and management,
bachelor in business administration,
ba,
mba business management,

source

‘You should not be in this game’: Social media sold credit card points dreams, but left out the debt

globalinvestmentstrategy.com
-
0
‘You should not be in this game’: Social media sold credit card points dreams, but left out the debt



There is a genre of content on social media where people sit in front of a camera and read their credit card balances out loud—and not from one card, but all of them. $7,500 on one, $8,900 on another, $10,000 on a third. Then a fourth, a fifth. “Everybody wants an Amex Pink card until they have to pay this,” says another user, alluding to the Rose Gold variant, before flashing a five-figure balance. The total climbs past $30,000, $50,000, sometimes $60,000, and that’s before student loans, car payments, and personal loans. The caption is always some version of “pay off debt with me in 2026.”

Elsewhere on social media, a different kind of creator flashes a metal card, walks through an airport lounge, settles into a lie-flat seat, and tells you this could be yours if you just sign up, with the link in bio.

The credit card influencer industrial complex has never been bigger, or more consequential. At a moment when American credit card debt has hit an all-time high of $1.28 trillion and average APRs have climbed past 21%, a generation of consumers is making financial decisions based on 45-second videos created by people who are paid to get them to apply.

A record high, and rising

Americans’ total credit card balance hit $1.277 trillion as of the fourth quarter of 2025, the highest since the New York Fed began tracking the data in 1999. The average cardholder now carries between $6,500 and $6,800 in revolving debt, well above pre-pandemic levels. According to Bankrate’s 2026 survey, 47% of American cardholders carry a balance from month to month, with the rate climbing to 53% among millennials and Gen Xers. That’s complicated with interest rates: the average APR four years ago was less than 15%. By 2024, it was over 21%, and a growing number of Americans now face rates above 30%. As Fortune reported in January, credit card companies are taking larger interest payments from those who carry a balance and redistribute them as rewards to people who don’t.

Nick Ewen, editor-in-chief of The Points Guy, holds 28 active credit cards. He audits every one when the annual fee posts. His wife carries a handwritten cheat sheet of which authorized-user card to use for which purchase category, updated every three months. When asked which card to get, he recommends a lifestyle audit. But he, a man whose full-time job is monitoring credit cards, has a cheatsheet to stay on top of the perks, and the balances.

“I have never once paid a cent of credit card interest,” he says. “If you are carrying a balance month to month, you should not be in this game.”

“These premium cards, the increased annual fees and all of these new benefits, it takes time to understand them and to utilize them properly,” Ewen says. “You have to be honest with yourself. Are you going to take the time to learn how to use all of them? Because if you don’t, you’re leaving money on the table, and there is most likely a lower fee or a no fee card that would be a better fit.”

Richard Kerr, head of travel at Bilt and a veteran of the points-and-miles space since before Instagram existed, uses an analogy he returns to in every talk he gives. Picture a traffic jam on the 405 outside LAX. Everyone within a mile gets out of their car. You ask all of them to explain the best way to use airline miles.

“Three people are going to know how to answer that question,” Kerr says. “It is such a niche space of how many people fully understand this.”

“I would say 90% of people who ask me what travel card to get, I end up not recommending a travel card for them,” he says. “I’m like, tell me where you’re flying this year. And they’re like, ‘Oh, we might go see grandma in Florida.’ You probably don’t need a travel card. You probably need a shopping or cash back card.”

Kerr has watched the influencer ecosystem grow around credit cards for over a decade. He doesn’t dismiss the influencers outright. But he doesn’t endorse what the ecosystem is producing either. “They’re doing a good job doing what their job is, which is influencing people to make decisions. I just don’t know if encouraging that deep of a rabbit hole behavior is a good thing.”

Kerr got into the points-and-miles world by creating a viral Facebook group about credit card rewards before eventually joining The Points Guy. The Instagram points influencer, he notes, didn’t exist when he started. “It’s really done its job,” he said, “and sold the dream to people who probably don’t need that dream sold to them, and should just be getting a flat 2% cash back card.”

A generation going deeper

A 2026 Bankrate survey found that 34% of Gen Zers have no emergency savings at all. Members of Gen Z are carrying $500 more in credit card debt than millennials did at the same age. And a lot of it is induced by what they see on social media. The problem is so widespread in China that the country last year passed a law requiring any content creator discussing medicine, health, law, finance, or education to prove verified professional credentials before posting or going live.

What the content doesn’t show is the effort it requires: tracking rotating bonus categories across multiple cards, comparing portal prices against direct booking rates, understanding transfer partner valuations, running an honest annual calculation of whether each card’s benefits exceed its fee. Ewen and Kerr do this professionally. The person who signed up for a $695 card after a 45-second video almost certainly does not.

“The average American is not going to do that,” Kerr said, advising most to realize that they just don’t have enough self-control and these cards were not meant for them.

Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree, said the influencer incentive structure makes this worse. “I don’t think a lot of influencers do a good enough job explaining how hard managing points and miles actually is,” he told Fortune. “And I completely understand why they don’t, because it’s in their own interest not to.”

Credit card affiliates earn commissions when a viewer applies through their link. Schulz says the sign-up bonus itself is frequently misunderstood. “People don’t necessarily understand that the sign-up bonus is actually a ‘spend $5,000 in three months and then get the bonus’ bonus,” he said. “People end up getting over their skis, and when you’re talking about 25% APRs, it outweighs the perks in a big hurry if you end up carrying a balance.”

Most luxury travel content, Schulz noted, is funded not by personal spending but by business expenses run through a card. “That’s how a lot of big influencers afford all of this. They’re putting all of their business expenses on credit cards and turning it into first class on Emirates to Dubai. And the average person is like, ‘I just want to go to Disney once a year.’”

“We’ve seen data over the years that say that most people just want a simple card,” Schulz says. “And for most people, the extra effort isn’t really going to move the needle all that much.”

Ewen, Kerr, and Schulz all arrive at the same recommendation for most consumers: a no-annual-fee card with a flat 2% cash back on everything. “Never a wrong way to go,” Kerr says.

How To Get A Student Loan (Federal and Private)

globalinvestmentstrategy.com
-
0
How To Get A Student Loan (Federal and Private)


About two-thirds of families borrow student loans to pay for college – but can be confusing on how to get a student loan, especially depending on the type of loan you need.

Whether you need a Federal student loan, or a private student loan, there are certain things you need to know about how to take out a student loan.

While it would be great to cover all your college costs using a combination of savings, help from family members, scholarships, and your personal income, those funds aren’t always going to cut it. Many college-bound students will need to apply for student loans to cover the gap between the cost of education and their limited resources.

This guide explains how to apply for student loans, and how to select the amount to borrow when you take out the loans.

A good starting point: How To Find The Best Student Loan Rates >>

Table of Contents

How to Apply for a Federal Student Loan
Criteria And Requirements For A Federal Student Loan
Fill Out the FAFSA
Review the Aid Offer from Your School
Take Out The Appropriate Student Loan Amount
How to Apply for Private Student Loans
Gather All Your Documents
Compare Rates from a Few Lenders
Apply for Identical Loans from at Least Two Lenders
Take Out The Best Student Loan Offer

How to Apply for a Federal Student Loan

For U.S. citizens applying for educational loans in the U.S., the FAFSA application is the starting point for Federal student loans. Here’s how you apply for Federal student loans.

Criteria And Requirements For A Federal Student Loan

If you’re looking to get a federal student loan here’s the criteria:

  • Have a valid Social Security number.
  • Men must be registered with the selective service. Male students between 18-25 have to register with the selective service to receive loans.
  • Be a citizen or eligible noncitizen. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible to receive federal or state funding. Permanent residents with green cards can apply for aid. Immigrants with T-1, battered-immigrant-qualified alien, or refugee status may also be eligible.
  • Have a high school diploma or equivalent, such as a GED or certificate from a homeschooling program.
  • Enroll in an eligible school. Students at unaccredited schools might not qualify for federal aid. Some schools also choose not to receive federal aid.
  • Fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Any high schooler interested in financial aid needs to fill out the FAFSA, a form that asks for your family’s financial information to determine how much you qualify for. Even those with little to no demonstrated need can be eligible for student loans, so officers encourage everyone to apply. Without the FAFSA, you won’t receive any federal loans, scholarships or grants.
  • Be in good standing with federal financial aid. Students can’t be in default on other federal loans or owe money on a federal grant.
  • Maintain a 2.0 GPA. Students need to maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA or risk losing financial aid until their grades improve.
  • Be at part-time status or more. Students must be considered part-time to be eligible for loans. Each college determines what part-time and full-time status means, so ask your financial aid officer how many credits you’ll need to take.

Fill Out the FAFSA

Applying for Federal student loans starts by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). To fill out the application, you’ll need your information and your parents’ information from tax filing from two years ago (for the 2026-2027 school year, you’ll need the 2025 tax returns), plus information about your parents’ assets, your assets, and other financial details.

Once you submit the FAFSA, your school (or schools of choice if you’re still deciding where to attend) will create a student aid report for you. This report will include information about free aid (such as grants, scholarships, and more). It will also show information about work-study options and, of course, student loans.

In the United States, almost all schools use the FAFSA to issue need-based aid to students. Even if you don’t plan to take out student loans, you should be completing the FAFSA. You may learn that you qualify for grants or extra scholarships from your school of choice based on your financial status.

Some schools may use the CSS Profile, but that’s for financial aid, not student loans.

Review the Aid Offer from Your School

About two weeks after you submit the FAFSA to your school, you can expect to receive an aid offer (most financial aid offers usually arrive between January and March). The offer will include information about all sources of aid including:

  • Scholarships
  • Grants
  • Work-study programs
  • Subsidized student loans
  • Unsubsidized student loans

In general, you want to take all the free money you can get. That means accepting the scholarships and the grants. If you plan to live on campus, you may want to consider taking the work-study offer too.

However, consider work-study as a baseline for your earnings, not a cap. Often, work-study jobs do not pay very well. Side hustles like reffing soccer or basketball, tutoring, waiting tables and tending a bar, or any form of skilled labor typically pay much better.

And, of course, starting a business may be the best way to earn money during college.

The last form of aid will be student loans. These will include subsidized loans, which have a lower interest rate (and interest doesn’t accrue while you’re in school), and unsubsidized loans (where interest starts accruing right away).

Read our full guide to paying for college here >>

Take Out The Appropriate Student Loan Amount

Once you review the offer, you can accept any part of the offer you want. You do not have to take out all the loans. In fact, I recommend borrowing as little as possible to pay for your tuition and other upfront costs. You also have to content with federal student loan borrowing limits, which are very low.

Between savings, frugal living, and working, most undergraduate students can pay for their living expenses without borrowing money.

Student loans aren’t free money. You will have to pay them back. It always makes sense to look for alternatives to borrowing to pay for your education.

It may seem smart to borrow a little extra now, but I advise against that. After college, you may have a salary of $50,000 to $60,000 to start (or even lower in many fields). That sounds like a lot of money, but paying back $50,000+ of student loans on a starter salary is a huge challenge.

Think about your future self, and limit your borrowing today. You might also want to make sure you complete the student loan entrance counseling first so you have a good understanding of the expectations for repayment. You can also use The College Investor’s How Much Student Debt Can You Afford Calculator to see what the future repayment would look like.

Finally, remember that the collateral for student loans is your future earnings!

Collateral For Student Loan Debt | Source: The College Investor

Source: The College Investor

How to Apply for Private Student Loans

In some cases, students in the U.S. may want to apply for private student loans rather than Federal student loans. A few reasons to consider private loans include:

  • You want to attend a non-accredited educational opportunity (such as a coding bootcamp).
  • You plan to take one course at a time (you need at least half-time enrollment to qualify for most Federal programs).
  • You’re not a U.S. citizen, so you don’t qualify for Federal loans.
  • You have a strong income and a strong credit score, so private lenders may offer better rates than the unsubsidized Federal loans.
  • You’re refinancing your existing student loans to a private lender with a substantially lower interest rate.

If one of these situations applies to you, then follow these steps below to apply for private student loans.

Gather All Your Documents

When you apply for any loan, you’ll need documents to prove your income, credit score, and whether you have assets. In general, you’ll need the following:

  • Tax returns or W-2 forms from the previous years.
  • Employment pay stubs.
  • Personal identification information (driver’s license, etc.).
  • Bank statements.
  • If you’re applying for private loans while attending school, you’ll need information about the cost of attending.
  • If you have a cosigner, you’ll need their information too.
  • Loan documents for existing student loans (if refinancing).

Compare Rates from a Few Lenders

Once you’ve gathered up the information, start doing some loan shopping. We recommend the lenders on our Best Places To Find Private Student Loans list.

Many lenders allow you to preview rates without having a hard credit pull. You can also “shop” for rates using sites like Credible.

Comparing rates using an aggregation site (like Credible) will help you get a feel for the interest rates and terms available to you.

Apply for Identical Loans from at Least Two Lenders

After unofficially comparing rates, apply for loans from at least two lenders. That way you can pick the best possible interest rate. The underwriting and approval process can take anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks depending on the lender.

Remember to also compare key features like loan repayment terms, loan discharge options (like disability discharge), and more.

Take Out The Best Student Loan Offer

When you have a few loan offers in hand, compare them to see which loan is the best for you. Then sign the loan documents and move forward with your education or paying off your loans.

If you have a cosigner, you may also want to get a term life insurance policy to protect your cosigner should anything happen to you. A term life insurance policy for the loan balance (when you’re a young adult) can be very inexpensive.

Remember, some private student loans require immediate payments, so make sure you double-check your lender and their repayment plans before you commit.

Editor: Clint Proctor

Reviewed by: Colin Graves

The post How To Get A Student Loan (Federal and Private) appeared first on The College Investor.

Chase Sapphire Preferred 10% Anniversary Bonus Going Away

globalinvestmentstrategy.com
-
0
Chase Sapphire Preferred 10% Anniversary Bonus Going Away


Chase Sapphire Preferred 10% Anniversary Bonus Going Away

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers a 10% anniversary points bonus. Each account anniversary year, you’ll earn bonus points that equal 10% of your total spend in points from purchases made with your credit card during the previous account anniversary year at a rate of 1 point for each $1 spent.

This bonus is just based on the total spend for the anniversary year, and not the points you have earned during those 12 months. So if you spend $50,000, you will receive an anniversary bonus of 5,000 points. 

It’s just an extra 0.1X on all your spend so it’s not a huge bonus. But it’s apparently big enough for Chase to take it away. Some Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders are now seeing the following message in their app:

“The Anniversary Bonus is retiring. You will continue to earn 10% of your spend through 10/1/26.”

This is showing under Rewards Activity, but I don’t see it in my account. Maybe they jumped the gun on publishing it, and they removed it. Or maybe it’s only showing for some people.

Update: I reached out to Chase for comment and they said the following via email:

“This update appeared early in our app. The benefit will be discontinued as we regularly evaluate and update our benefits based on cardmember feedback and what benefits resonate most. We look forward to sharing additional updates to the Sapphire Preferred card in the near term.”

HT: BillardMcLarry

Is The Trade Desk Stock Finally a Buy? Or Is Its Slide Justified?

globalinvestmentstrategy.com
-
0
Is The Trade Desk Stock Finally a Buy? Or Is Its Slide Justified?


Shares of digital advertising specialist The Trade Desk (TTD 2.15%) tumbled on Friday morning after the company reported its first-quarter results late Thursday. The sell-off added to what has already been a brutal stretch for the growth stock, which is now down more than 40% year to date.

So is the steep pullback finally a chance to get into a name once viewed as a high-quality way to play the shift of advertising dollars to the open internet? Or is the stock’s recent beating justified?

Despite the stock’s meaningful decline this year, I’ll be staying on the sidelines — at least for now.

Image source: Getty Images.

A growth story losing steam

The Trade Desk’s first-quarter report wasn’t necessarily bad. The ad-tech company posted revenue of $689 million during the period, up 12% year over year, living up to the company’s guidance for revenue of “at least” $678 million. Additionally, customer retention remained above 95%, as it has for over a decade. And free cash flow stayed healthy, at $276 million — 40% of revenue.

But when viewed in the context of the type of growth the Trade Desk shareholders are accustomed to, it’s pretty disappointing.

Revenue grew 25% in the first quarter of 2025. By the fourth quarter, the growth rate had slipped to 14%. The first-quarter 2026 figure of 12% marks yet another step lower. And profitability went the wrong way, too. Non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share fell to $0.28 from $0.33 a year earlier, with adjusted EBITDA margins compressing meaningfully versus the year-ago period.

This is the kind of trend that should give investors pause. After all, even at much lower stock prices, investors are still paying for growth, given the stock’s valuation. Shares trade at a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.

The Trade Desk Stock Quote

Today’s Change

(-2.15%) $-0.51

Current Price

$22.98

A tough macroeconomic backdrop and weak guidance

But here’s my main concern.

During The Trade Desk’s first-quarter earnings call, CEO Jeff Green indicated that the current macroeconomic environment is weighing on its business.

“The macro environment has certainly become more complex in 2026,” Green said. “Geopolitical tensions have increased. All advertisers and agencies are navigating a rapidly evolving landscape. Global economic pressures, wars, and tariffs have created an environment that is harder for some brands and some brand categories to grow.”

That backdrop helps frame management’s softer outlook for the second quarter.

The Trade Desk guided for second-quarter revenue of at least $750 million — an outlook implying year-over-year growth of just about 8%. This would be yet another notable step down from the 12% growth posted in Q1.

During the earnings call, management cited the macroeconomic environment as one of the factors behind the company’s lower growth rates in 2026. But here’s the issue. There’s no guarantee that the global economy will improve anytime soon, and you can’t rule out things getting worse before they get better. Tariff policies remain unsettled, and geopolitical tensions could take years to ease. Further, new economic issues could arise.

Sure, The Trade Desk’s stock isn’t priced like it was a year ago. Shares are down sharply from their 52-week high of $91.45, and the stock’s forward price-to-earnings ratio has compressed substantially to just 19. But cheaper isn’t the same as cheap enough — not when revenue growth has dropped from the mid-20s to low double digits and is staring down a backdrop that may take a while to improve (or could even get worse).

I’d rather put my money to work in a business growing at strong rates relative to its valuation — one that doesn’t need a meaningful improvement in the macro environment to deliver. Until The Trade Desk’s growth shows signs of reaccelerating, or the stock comes down even further to compensate for these risks, I’m comfortable watching from the sidelines.

123...683Page 1 of 683

About Us

Get the Latest Insights based on: business, finance, mortgage, credit cards, Investments and better Ways to Make Money Online

Categories

Latest news

Does It Change the Tax Strategy?

Investments 0

Write Press Releases That Generate Real Media

Business 0
Catch the Full Episode: Overview Most small businesses have written...

Canada loses 112,000 jobs over four months, most since 2021

Mortgage 0
The Canadian economy has shed 112,000 jobs so...

Popular news

Does It Change the Tax Strategy?

Investments 0

Write Press Releases That Generate Real Media

Business 0
Catch the Full Episode: Overview Most small businesses have written...

Canada loses 112,000 jobs over four months, most since 2021

Mortgage 0
The Canadian economy has shed 112,000 jobs so...

© 2024. All Rights Reserved.