Merit Aid for College
If you’re the parent of a 6th through 11th grader and you haven’t listened to ChooseFI Episode 460 with Brian Eufinger, you need to drop everything and listen to that episode.
This was the most eye-opening episode I’ve recorded in years, as I was completely unaware of “merit aid grids” based on GPA and ACT/SAT test scores.
It isn’t an exaggeration to say this episode changed the trajectory of our college search for our older daughter, who is now in 11th grade.
A college we really like here in Virginia publishes this merit aid grid and it seems plausible to get up to a full tuition scholarship. We simply wouldn’t have known this existed if Brian hadn’t come on the show.
Reminder that Brian suggests all parents of 10th graders review the presentation they have available on this “Sophomore” page on their site and sign up for one of 50+ entirely free mock testing sessions to determine if the ACT or SAT is better for your student to focus on.
To paraphrase Brian, “better to be Varsity in one test instead of JV in two.”
Savings on Medical Care
I’ve been meaning to revisit some of the best tips from past FI Weekly newsletters, so when Keenan wrote in, it provided the perfect excuse to highlight some ways to save on medical care.
Here’s Keenan’s email:
“I wanted to share two discount pharmacies that I've learned of that have saved people I know hundreds or thousands of dollars:
Cost Plus Drugs (Mark Cuban’s company)
For instance, I have a family member whose Anthem Blue Cross medical insurance wouldn't cover Mesalamine and the quotes were between $600-900 for a 30 day supply. It's only $32.40 at Cost Plus Drugs (Brad note: I’m seeing this down at $26.70 now). A truly astounding difference.
Hopefully this may help others out!”
Here are two other medical savings tips highlighted in a prior newsletter:
· MDSave.com for hundreds of different procedures, scans and tests at a fraction of what you’d pay your local hospital or imaging center through insurance
· Ulta Lab Tests for a la carte blood testing at extremely reasonable rates and easy scheduling
10th Anniversary of Leaving Work
This is a big week for me: It marks the 10th anniversary of leaving my corporate CPA career.
January 31, 2015 was my last day ever working a 9-5 job and I started Travel Miles 101 the very next day on February 1st. This helped propel my entrepreneurial journey and was ultimately how Jonathan found me and reached out.
We started recording ChooseFI episodes a few short months after we met and really went live in early 2017.
It’s astonishing to think that ten years ago I was sitting in an office park in Richmond, VA doing corporate state tax returns day after day, year after year and now I’ve recorded over 650 episodes that have been downloaded tens of millions of times and have helped millions of people take action to improve their lives.
Never forget how powerful the Path to FI is and how it can take you to places you couldn't have dreamed!
I want to sincerely thank you for being here – I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you read this newsletter and listen to the podcast.
ChooseFI Community Taking Action This Week
My 1% better this week was to start writing about my FI journey. This is my second year and I've accomplished a lot. In 5-10 years I want to remember all the ups and downs. Putting it in writing makes it easier to tell my story later.
- Laura
My 1 % better story is: I discovered FI about a year or two ago. I always have been somehow frugal, never understood why and how I could accumulate money while my friends with similar salary/living situation would not. Then I became a petty high income earner a few years back (that tech bubble thing..). I always felt pretty alone on my FI journey, talking money with my friends is not really a thing, specifically when you earn a lot. Though, I noticed two of my friends recently were very interested in investing and FI. My 1% better is that I invited them over and explained [to] them how I budget, manage my money, invest and plan to be FI in 4-6 years at 38-40 years old. I was so happy to share all the knowledge I have and see that it's truly helpful to them. They are reading a few books (Simple Path to Wealth, Psychology of Money and more) and listening to podcasts (ChooseFI!!) now. They started to contribute more to their registered accounts and understand better how those work! I'll have them over again to help them on the next steps. The 1% better is mostly for them, but I enjoyed it so much and feel less alone on the journey, I'm happy I can share my milestones with them now! Which is a 100% better for me!
- Noémie
My 1% better is I've downloaded the Hoopla app and I'm listening to that only to/from work. First book up is C.S. Lewis's "The Screwtape Letters".
- Morgan
So much more than 1% better, but it all started with listening to Episode 391, The Student Loan Reset with Travis Hornsby. We learned of the benefits of the PSLF waiver (now expired) and we meticulously tracked payments, employment periods, forbearance periods, etc. to ensure we had reached 120 qualify periods (minimum of 10 years of public service). With all the litigation around student loans we were thinking this would be years and years of waiting after reaching 120 qualifying periods in April 2024. But to our surprise, this week the Dept. of Education began discharging the loans of folks that reached 120 periods of qualifying service! $211,000 ending school balance, $58,000 in student loans discharged through PSLF after meeting the obligation of 10 years (120 payments) in public service. $170,000 paid off from the National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Program (NIH LRP). This is for doctoral research in medicine related fields (we are not medical doctors), research was conducted while a college professor, making an average salary of $75,000. Such a huge burden lifted off our shoulders.
- Nate
My 1% better is automating my ETF investments! I started investing $1000/month into my taxable brokerage account back in 2018 after listening to your podcast. I've always had to remind myself to do it the first of every month. Now I can automate my ETF investments at Fidelity and it's one less thing I have to think about!
- Julie
I read the ChooseFI: Friends of the Library section and just learned about something that has blown my mind that I need to share with you. I live in Pittsburgh, PA and Pennsylvania has a Statewide Library Card Program which increases the availability of library materials for Pennsylvanians by allowing eligible residents (you must live in a municipality in which a state-aided local library is supported) to register for a library card at any participating library. After learning this, I went to the Free Library of Philadelphia's website to get a library card. I registered using my Pittsburgh address and voila! I now have a Free Library of Philadelphia library card. I added this card to my Libby account and now when I'm looking for an ebook or audiobook, I can access both library systems. Sometimes one library has material the other doesn't and sometimes one library has a much shorter wait or no wait at all compared to the other. It's amazing! I'm not sure if other states have this type of program, but I'd encourage the community to look into it!
- Justin
Click HERE and let me know what you did to make your life 1% better this week!