⛹️‍♀️ The Woman Behind the WNBA’s Moment

If you’re one of the 43.6 million borrowers whose federal student loans were paused during the pandemic, you’ll need to start paying again in October — whether you’ve been out of school for a decade or you just graduated last year. Student loans can be a budget burden, but thankfully, there are ways to soften the financial blow and successfully adjust your financial life.

First, you might have heard there’s a “grace period” or “on-ramp” for those starting to repay again. It's important you understand exactly what that means. “Even though there’s a 12 month on-ramp, all that is doing is suspending negative reporting to collection agencies and credit bureaus,” explains college financial expert Mark Kantrowitz. “When the 12 month period is over, if you haven’t made any payments, you’re gonna have to get caught up, or your loans will be delinquent or even in default.”

In other words, the grace period is a safety net — interest will still accrue during this time, so it’s not an excuse to simply not pay for the next year. It’s merely there to ensure that a missed payment mistake doesn’t damage your credit, which could have a lasting impact on your financial life long-term. If you need more advice on fitting student loans into your budget when payments resume, click here.

Worried He Might Cheat? Consider An Infidelity Clause In Your Prenup

These days, prenups aren’t just stuffy or offensive. Instead, they’re widely recognized as practical, forward-thinking financial management tools. A basic prenuptial agreement establishes each spouse’s property rights and expectations in case of divorce. These days though, many prenups contain provisions known as “lifestyle clauses.” Couples use these to establish guidelines for behavior within the marriage. Some might include how often the in-laws are allowed to visit or even how often they expect to have sex. In general, the spouse who doesn’t hold up their end of the deal could face financial consequences.

When it comes to lifestyle clauses, the “infidelity” clause is gaining popularity in prenuptial agreements. An infidelity clause can sometimes be effective simply because a cheating partner may not want proof of their affair to be aired in a public courtroom and therefore, won’t challenge it. “In my experience, most people are unwilling to raise this defense,” Los Angeles attorney Kelly Chang Rickert explains. “For example, if you have a clause in your prenup that says cheaters must pay a certain amount, the cheater is probably not going to challenge this. This is especially true in high-profile divorces where hush-hush is the norm. Also, most people (for moral and ethical reasons) are pretty unwilling to challenge something they already signed.” Here’s more on how an infidelity clause could protect you, and your money, if your relationship heads south.

Women’s basketball is having a moment, and if you’ve been watching more than usual these days, you’re not alone. In fact, you’re among millions. This year, the WNBA had its most-watched regular session in 21 years. One of the women behind the WNBA’s surge in popularity is the league’s first-ever commissioner, Cathy Engelbert. In this week’s How She Does It Podcast, proudly supported by iShares, Engelbert joins Karen Finerman to talk about her path from being the first female CEO of Deloitte (and the first woman to lead a Big Four firm, no less) to Commissioner of the WNBA.

Although Engelbert played Division I basketball in college, she never thought her next move would take her to women’s sports. However, when the opportunity was presented to her she knew she could do it because “sports is big business, and big business is about relationships.” Hear how Engelbert navigated the pandemic successfully, worked to get Britney Griner released from detention in Russia, and her plans for the future of the WNBA on this week’s episode of How She Does It.

The Secret Life-Changing Money Habits of Super Savers

Super savers are essentially modern-day financial unicorns who move a lot of money to their retirement accounts every year. The global investment management firm Principal defines “super savers” as those who annually defer 90% or more of the IRS maximum to their retirement accounts or put away 15% or more of their salary for retirement annually. In a recent survey conducted by Principal, more than half of Millennials and Gen Z said they were planning to save more than $20,000 for retirement this year.

You might be reading this and thinking “there’s no way I could save $20,000 per-year.” If you’d like to reach that goal though, you can start small and put into practice some of the habits of super savers…things like opting for staycations instead of long, expensive trips and older cars versus brand new vehicles. “If there’s one common trait of the super savers, it’s that they are dogged savers that are laser focused on accruing enough wealth to create a better financial picture for themselves,” says Sri Reddy, senior vice president of retirement and income solutions at Principal. If you want to join the ranks for super savers, one of the first things you should do is prioritize monthly contributions to your 401 (k). That means if your employer offers a matching contribution, max out that paycheck deferment to ensure you get the match. The match is essentially free money, notes Reddy.

Psst–we’ve got our own crew of super savers here at HerMoney. They’re part of Jean Chatzky’s FinanceFixx program and making progress every day toward building better money habits. Want to join them? Click here.

From Broke To Millionaire With Chloe Elise

Chloe Elise found herself in almost $40,000 worth of debt in her mid-20s. To pay it down, she turned to many of the world’s popular financial gurus to help get her spending in check. Only what she found was that their tough-love, shame-based approach didn’t apply to her, so she created her own method for paying down her debt. Fast forward to today, and now she’s officially a millionaire at age 27. As CEO of the financial literacy company “Deeper Than Money,” she works with women to ban restrictive spending habits and instead spend in alignment with their priorities.

Elise found the problem with the messaging she heard from financial gurus was shame-based: They put the blame on us for making the wrong decisions, rather than empowering us to make better decisions in the future. On the most recent HerMoney Podcast*, Elise sits down with Jean Chatzky to share her tips for living a life of abundance while paying down debt or saving for a big goal.

One piece of advice? Don’t deprive yourself. According to Elise, it creates a vicious cycle of restriction and overspending. Instead, she suggests trying this brain teaser the next time you walk into a store: Tell yourself you can have anything you want, then, consider your priorities: “Do I want to take the money that I was going to put toward debt and put it toward these leggings instead? Or is my top priority paying off this debt? The key is, you are allowed to make either decision,” Elise says “If your decision is the leggings, that is completely fine, but then you are not paying off debt as fast.”

Have a great week!

The HerMoney Team

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