Laura Grace Tarpley

“The article should be 800 words…maximum.”

I can’t count the number of times an editor has assigned me a word count for a piece. In the world of writing, word count matters more than we might think. Many publications determine how much to pay for freelance writing jobs based on article length.

Word count matters for book writers, too. How many words in a novel? Did you know novels should be at least 50,000 words? And that memoirs should be under 100,000 words, but biographies can be up to 200,000 words?

As a medical school student, you learn to deal with annoyances you didn’t see coming when you applied for the program. Like working through sleep deprivation after a night shift. Or ending the day with bodily fluids on your clothes. Or navigating the maze of student loan payments.

Most people you know are probably in debt from college. But medical school graduates’ loans can be staggering.

When you graduate college with debt, you probably have more than one student loan to manage.

Maybe you have four federal loans. Or three public loans and two private loans. Or a couple with reasonable interest rates, but one annoying loan with a 9% rate. You might struggle to remember which day of the month you’re supposed to pay which loan with which servicer.

It’s a lot of information to keep track of.

Refinancing your student loan debt is one way to eliminate these inconveniences from your life.

What would you do if money was no object? Travel around Europe? Maybe you’d buy a house or have a child. Heck, you might order pizza every night just because you could.

Unfortunately for many people with student loan debt, money is an object. Many of us dream of paying off our loans so that we can finally attain other financial goals.

We talked to representatives at two top private student loan lenders for tips on how to pay off private student loans more quickly… and strategically.

As of fall 2019, 136,473 student loan borrowers had applied for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), according to the Federal Student Aid office.

Guess how many had been accepted for the program? Only 1,561. That’s 1.14%.

Imagine receiving the letter stating you’d been rejected for Public Service Loan Forgiveness — after dedicating years to public service, making payments on time, and planning your future based on the assumption that the balance of your loans would be forgiven.

In college, I worked hard to stay out of debt. I avoided taking out student loans by attending the school that offered me the best scholarship. In my mind, finances were black and white. Loans and debt were just plain bad.

When I graduated, I knew it was time to start building credit. If I wanted to move out of my parents' house, get a good credit card, and buy a home one day, I needed strong credit.

So, I did something I swore I'd never do: I took out a personal loan. I was officially in debt for the first time.

Filing your taxes can be a bit like your first trip to the gym — you don't want to spend the money, you aren't sure how everything works, and you keep putting it off. But if you use the right equipment, the process isn't as terrible as you expected.

TaxSlayer is a tax preparation company for people filing their taxes online from home. But does it include the right equipment for your tax needs?

Hiring a CPA to file your taxes can cost a pretty penny. So you'll just file your own taxes online, right?

Well, depending on which tax preparation software you use, filing online can be more expensive than you might think.

For example, there's a cost to filing online if you're paying off student loans. Oh, you own a rental property? You'll pay a little more. Are you a freelance worker? You'll pay even more.

So if you're filing on a shoestring, which software should you use? One of the most budget-friendly options out there is FreeTaxUSA.

Watch movies to learn Chinese, they said.

It’ll be fun, they said.

But if you aren’t already proficient in the language, watching Chinese movies is just plain overwhelming.

It’s a tricky language! How are you supposed to follow along well enough to actually learn?

That’s where English subtitles come in.

College Chinese courses.

One-on-one tutors.

Chinese textbooks.

I won’t lie—these are all fantastic resources for learning Chinese.

But they all come with one major drawback: They can be expensive.

We often equate higher costs with higher quality.

But here’s the thing: You can learn Chinese for free without compromising on quality.

Okay, so there’s pinyin and characters.

That’s pretty simple, right?

Wait. When learning Chinese characters, you can either learn simplified or traditional characters. Or both.

There are also four tones. But also a neutral tone. So… are there five tones?

When it comes to learning Chinese, there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle.

Figuring out how to learn the Chinese language can actually be one of the hardest parts!

No two tax-preparation services are the same, but there's no cut-and-dry answer as to which one is best. It all depends on what you want out of your tax software

When you ask your friends for advice, they may direct you to some big-name online companies. Are you looking for the best user interface on the market? Someone will probably tell you to file with TurboTax. Is customer service the most important thing? H&R Block might come up in conversation.

E-file.com is one of the lesser-known companies in the industry. How does this little David compare to Goliaths like TaxAct and TaxSlayer?

Saving for retirement isn't as simple as just putting money into an account. You have to make numerous decisions, and if you don't know the ins and outs of investing, the process can become confusing.

For example, should you invest in a target date fund or an index fund? And what's an ETF? What does it mean to diversify your portfolio?

When you aren't an expert in investing, it's hard to know if you're making the right decisions with your retirement account. That's where Blooom can be useful.

“To be, or not to be. That is the question.” –“Hamlet”

“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” –“Casablanca”

“We’re the three best friends that anybody could have!” –“The Hangover”

The verb “to be” is everywhere, in one form or another.

When learning French, the verb “to be,” or être, is one of the first verbs you should memorize and learn how to conjugate.

You know that catchy (albeit annoying) song, “Anything you can do, I can do better?”

Well, you know what I say?

Anything you can do, I can do online. For free.

Yep, even learn Spanish.

In the 21st century, doing something online is often the way to do something better.

You don’t have to leave your home. You can stay in your pajamas. And, best of all, plenty of online Spanish courses are free.