Month: February 2021

Is it Legal to Invest in Bitcoin Using One’s Student Loan?

Posted on by Ned Trisha

Sometime in August 2020, “The Student Loan Report” revealed that more than ⅕ of university students had used their student loan to invest in digital currency. Prior and during the period, the bitcoin price was already on an upward trend, as trading prices closed between $9.5k and $11.5k price ranges. Today the current bitcoin price is at the $50k mark, although the previous week sent the BTC price soaring to an all time high of $58K +. Stiil, it denotes that students who are still holding on to the bitcoins purchased last year have already earned for themselves, a passive income with bitcoin.

Passive income by the way means earnings from an asset investment, usually from a rental property,or from a limited business partnership in which a person is a silent investor and not one who is actively involved in the operation of the business. If so, it would be best for students to be on their toes by monitoring the best time for them to convert their bitcoin into fiat money. That way they will be able to realize optimum benefits while there is still passive income in their BTC holdings.

While the U.S. Department of Education, which administers the Federal Student Aid did not pursue investigations in relation to the report, the department nonetheless reiterated guidelines on how student loan recipients should spend money received as funding for college education.

Why No Legal Issues were Raised Against Students Who Used Student Loan Money to Buy BTCs

Based on the general guidelines, funds received as proceeds of student loans are forwarded to the college in which the student is enrolled. The educational institution in turn, will apply the money as payment of enrollment costs. Now the amount received by the college is usually in excess of the enrollment costs, since a certain portion will be used by the student for other educational expenses. The rule though is that students can use the excess funds that way see fit, whether to buy supplies, or purchase clothes or save it for a spring break vacation.

The bottom line is that the portion of the student loan used by students to buy cryptocurrencies were the excess funds that the college administration released as refunds. Technically, investing the excess money in bitcoin was not illegal since students used discretionary funds. Besides, regardless of how they spent the excess money, students will still have to pay the entire amount of student loan they took out as college money.

Secretly Mining for Bitcoins in Dorm Rooms is Illegal

One thing students should not do is to mine for bitcoins using campus electricity being paid for by the educational institution. This was the case sometime in 2018, when the amount of electrical power in college campuses soared, which led to the discovery that some students were secretly mining cryptocurrencies in their dorm. The likeliest punishment on those who found to have been doing so was incarceration for stealing electricity; although not much has been reported about them.

In 2019, The findings were confirmed by research conducted by tech behemoth Cisco, which published a report stating that universities and colleges were the second largest group of miners in the country.

Looking For The Best Wealth Management Firms

Posted on by Carey Sammie

Wealth management starts with knowing and understanding the value of money over time. If you are able to understand this basic principle, it will motivate you to look for resources that could aid in ensuring your success when it comes to managing your personal funds. You can read through articles and books on wealth management as well as do your research on various helpful topics which can help you build and establish a much stronger understanding of how to make financial decisions much better.

While educating and developing yourself are worthwhile efforts, there are certain aspects in wealth management that necessitate the years of specialized knowledge, skills as well as experience of a professional. This is particularly true when you are handling millions worth of wealth. Hence, having an expert and experienced wealth manager can greatly help in planning for your financial future and success.

However, as there are a lot of wealth managers in the market, choosing the best wealth management firms can be an overwhelming process as you want to make certain that your needs are met as well as your financial goals. So, how do you find the right wealth manager to work with?

Looking For The Best Wealth Management Firms

Not all wealth managers are created equal or provide the same kind of service. But, if you are able to find the best wealth management firms, you will be sure that they will put your best interest first. With that, here are some of the things you need to consider in order to find a reputable and dependable wealth manager.

AVAILABILITY

Choose a wealth manager or advisor that you can communicate with on a relatively regular basis. Ask your prospective wealth manager how frequently they meet with their clients, when you expect a call from them, as well as when you could drop-by or check-in to have a discussion regarding your investments. Also know their communication preference, to make certain it also matches yours.

TYPE OF CLIENT

Wealth managers aren’t the same since some are dedicated to working with high-net-worth individuals whereas others are dedicated to helping ult-high-net-worth individuals. You then have to know which category you belong to in order to find the right wealth manager who could competently help you with your unique needs and goals.

INVESTMENTS AND FINANCIAL GOALS

Wealth management firms have different approaches with regards to your finance. While they do consider your financial goals, they have diverse philosophies in terms of investments in order for you to achieve those financial goals. Know how their approaches and how they have worked with their other clients. Although as clients you also have diverse goals, they must be able to back up their claims on their approaches with previous experiences.

Education Institutions Receive Flexible Funding Under Biden Administration

Posted on by Ned Trisha

Through the $1.9 T stimulus fund that Congress passed via a reconciliation process, Biden’s administration will allocate $35 billion to education institutions. President Biden will make good on his promise to the community colleges and the minority-serving institutions like the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

 

Additionally, part of the allocation includes supplementary support to students in the amount $1,700 in financial aid in meeting their college expenses. Actually, the $900 billion COVID-19 relief fund approved by the Trump administration last December includes funding for financial assistance to students currently enrolled in higher education levels.

December Coronavirus Relief Fund is Now Available

According to the Education Department the $21.2 billion relief included in the $900 billion COVID-19 relief is now available to higher education students seeking for financial assistance.

As opposed to the previous grants under the CARES ACT, the $21.2 billion fund qualifies more students in becoming eligible to receive emergency student grants. Even universities and colleges will have greater flexibility on how they could spend their respective grant money.

However, it is not sure whether undocumented students are now eligible since they have been disqualified to receive help under the previous administration.

ACE senior VP Terry Hartle and Justin Draeger, president of the NASFAA, under the previous CARES Act, undocumented students not eligible to receive student grants from the CARES Act. Based on their analysis of current guidelines released by the Education Department, there is still no mention whether undocumented students are qualified or not.

Under farmer Education Department Secretary, Betsy Devos, the Education Department insisted that undocumented students did not migrate legally. That being the case, they remain disqualified from receiving andy federal aid in accordance with the federal law.