Long Story $hort Money Management International (MMI)

Join us as we wrap up season three of the podcast with MMI staff Maura Attardi, the Director of Financial Wellness; Tara Alderete, the Director of Enterprise Learning; and Amy Lins, the Vice President of Customer Success. Adam and the team from MMI discuss the broad range of MMI clients, the services MMI offers, budgeting trends made popular by social media, and common scams with the financial industry.

Today on the show, three professionals join Adam to discuss all things student loans. Amy Lins is a Financial Educator at MMI, Adam Minsky is a Student Loan Attorney, and Zina Kumok is a Personal Finance Writer that specializes in student loans. Our three guests discuss loan repayment and forgiveness, how to apply for repayment initiatives, and the mental impact that student loans can have on the borrower.

Melissa John is an attorney from Salisbury, Massachusetts. In her twenties, she didn’t have a strong grasp on how to responsibly use credit cards. This, mixed with some medical costs and law school tuition left Melissa entering her thirties with $70,000 of debt. When she reached out to a financial advisor, he recommended MMI. Now, in just three years, Melissa has paid off the debt and says that she’s living in peace.

When Sarah found herself in $70,000 of credit card debt, she reached out to Money Management International for assistance in paying it all off. She first got into debt when she was in college and didn’t have a strong understanding of how credit cards work. Now debt-free, Sarah is more intentional with her spending and advises people in similar situations to take action as soon as possible when paying off their debt.

Michael McKeaney is no stranger to debt, having gone into it multiple times in his life. However, during his second round of attempting to pay it off, Michael reached out to MMI in hopes of finding an easier way to reach his goal. With the help of MMI, Michael was able to pay off around $40,000 in just under five years and increase his credit score by 120 points. Now, Michael is able to regularly contribute to his savings while living debt-free.

Kristin Pierre is a freelance singer and model, as well as executive assistant from Weehawken, New Jersey. As a freelancer, Kristin found her income to be unpredictable and she quickly found herself racking up credit card debt from shopping. When she reached her breaking point, Kristin reached out to MMI and was immediately comforted by a MMI counselor. Now, Kristin has paid off $20,000 in five years and increased her credit score by 120 points.