2025 FinHealth Spend Report Shows the Price of Participation in America’s Financial System Hit $455 Billion in 2024, with Financially Vulnerable Bearing the Heaviest Burden
Fees and interest surged by nearly $100B over two years as student loans resumed and credit card debt grew, costing Financially Vulnerable households 17 times more of their income than Financially Healthy households.
FinHealth Spend 2025: The Cost of Financial Services For American Households
Financial Health Network research reveals that Americans spent $455 billion in financial services fees and interest in 2024 as credit costs, student loans, and deep inequities strain households.
From Poverty to a College Degree: Angel’s Story
Without a financial safety net, one college graduate’s journey to a diploma was paved with setbacks and plenty of resolve.
Financial Health Pulse 2025: Financial Health Challenges Persist, Student Debt and Insurance Raise New Alarms
Lower-income, lower-wealth households saw modest gains in savings and debt manageability, while concerns rise over insurance adequacy and impacts from resumed student loan repayment.
600 Job Applications, No Offers: Zerui’s Story
After earning his master’s with honors last year, Zerui is getting by on low-wage work while he continues to apply for jobs. Still, he remains hopeful.
FinHealth Spend Report 2024
Amidst a year of high interest rates and decelerating inflation, spending on financial services tops $400 billion for the first time.
Summer: Helping Borrowers Secure Student Loan Forgiveness
Learn how fintech Summer partnered with the Financial Health Network to help students pay down debt and build their financial health.
FinHealth Spend Report 2023
What are Americans paying for financial services as the country emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic? This year’s FinHealth Spend Report – our long-running national study on the costs of financial services to U.S. households – reveals that spending has soared in the past year amid a turbulent economy and persistent inflation.
Pulse Points Spring 2023: Bracing for the End of Student Loan Forbearance
New analysis suggests that many borrowers anticipate difficulty restarting payments when forbearance likely ends this summer – but proposed policy changes could help.
FinHealth Spend Report 2022
This year’s annual FinHealth Spend Report examines how households in America managed their finances and accessed credit during the second year of the pandemic, analyzing year-over-year trends for more than two dozen financial products and services.
Two Ways Policy and Technology Can Support Struggling Student Loan Borrowers
Student debt remains a critical topic for both borrowers and policymakers. Many borrowers now face the added financial challenge of unemployment as a result of the pandemic, and policymakers are urgently seeking ways to support these individuals. Now consider that Black and Latinx borrowers are disproportionately affected by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while […]
Driving Cross-Sector Solutions: Responding to the Unemployment and Student Loan Crises
As the pandemic was initially unfolding and unemployment rates in the U.S. made headlines, research showed that Americans facing both unemployment and student loan debt experienced serious risks to their financial health. One in five unemployed U.S. adults report that they or someone in their household has a student loan, and the 45 million Americans […]
3 Tips for Managing Student Loans as an Entrepreneur
By John Hammond, StartU Today marks the 3rd annual #FinHealthMatters day; an event started by the Center for Financial Services Innovation to draw attention to the 57% of Americans — approximately 138 million adults — that are struggling financially today. This year’s theme is student health; emphasizing the financial health of college students in America today. At StartU, this…
What I Wish I Knew About Student Loan Debt That I Know Now
By Justine, from Debt Free Millennials Forget student loan debt. When I think about my college experience, it’s filled with memories of purple everything, late night study sessions at Hale Library, $2 You-Call-Its at O’Malley’s, and being flat broke. Me and my girls. All purple. Cheap beer. K-State Wildcats. And dirt poor! I was clueless…
5 Rebellious Student Loan Acts – Why #FinHealthMatters
Good financial health starts with being proactive and getting rebellious with your finances. And there is no better day than today.
Shining a Spotlight on Student Financial Health
#FinHealthMatters Day 2018 April 25, 2018 was the third annual #FinHealthMatters Day. Each year, #FinHeathMatters Day brings attention to Americans’ financial health through a thunderclap of social media activity, news stories, blogs, podcasts and more. Over the past years we have seen 240+ blogs posted, 2,500+ influencers tweeting nearly 6,000 times, and ultimately, close to 27…