10. Pay for College Without Going Broke

A college degree is quickly becoming what a high school diploma once was: the minimum requirement for a decent job and a reasonably prosperous economic future. Some kind of post-secondary education is all but essential these days if you want to even stay in the middle class.

But spiraling college costs and loose lending practices are burdening too many students with far more debt than they can comfortably repay. Students and their parents need to make sure they’re buying an education they can actually afford.

If You Can Save for College, You Should

Q: I would like to know how best to use a $100,000 inheritance. I am a stay-at-home mom, age 46. My husband, 42, earns $100,000 a year.

We owe $132,000 on our ...

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