finances

Last year's chaotic FAFSA rollout and the Trump administration’s goal of closing the U.S. Department of Education have some Kansas City area college students nervous about access to some of their main sources of financial aid being further complicated or lost entirely.

El año pasado, la solicitud de ayuda federal para estudiantes fue lanzada con muchos problemas y fallas, dejando los planes universitarios de algunos estudiantes en el limbo. Ahora, los asesores universitarios del área de Kansas City se aseguran de que los estudiantes puedan completar el formulario de este año con menos problemas.

Last year's federal student aid application launched with glitches and issues, leaving college plans for some students in limbo. Now, Kansas City area college advisors are ensuring students are able to complete this year's form with fewer problems.

Learning how to navigate important and often confusing student loan decisions can be difficult. KCUR's Up To Date spoke with two financial advisors to learn helpful tips that can make it more manageable.

This year's new version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid was delayed and glitchy, so many students struggled to complete it. College classes start soon, so education professionals are still helping students fill it out to get financial aid.

Federal student loan payments are resuming this month for about 1.2 million Missourians and Kansans after being paused in 2020. But the landscape has changed in the last three years: Borrowers now have new options for payment plans, and their loans could be held by different entities than the last time they paid.

Installed inside gas stations, liquor stores and smoke shops, cryptocurrency kiosks tend to be placed in Kansas City neighborhoods with larger numbers of Black and Latino residents. Critics say they're a targeted attempt to exploit financially vulnerable people with steep fees for a volatile product.

The former U.S. Senator who represented Missouri from 2011 to 2023 told Up To Date he has “no doubt” a deal to raise the debt ceiling will be made between President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy before money likely runs out in early June. The debt ceiling currently stands at $31.4 trillion.

Earlier this week, Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York collapsed, prompting the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to take them into receivership. Then, it caused the stock of UMB Bank in Kansas City to drop.

Esther George, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, will retire at the end of January after a 40-year career at the bank. She leaves as the U.S. faces a challenging economic landscape.

The military provides career stability, but service members can be relocated any number of times. This often increases the financial strain on service members and their families.

WeDevelopment Federal Credit Union, which opens this weekend at Linwood Shopping Center, is taking on the mission of increasing financial literacy in communities east of Troost.