SoFi Technologies told federal securities regulators that its private student loans can be wiped out in bankruptcy under certain conditions, a quiet admission that cuts against one of the most repeated lines in personal finance.

The disclosure sits in SoFi's annual report (a Form 10-K filed with the SEC) for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025. In the Risk Factors section, the company warns investors that its "private education loans may be discharged in bankruptcy in certain situations," including when a court finds the debt is not a qualified education loan or that repayment would cause undue hardship. SoFi adds that a private loan can also be discharged if the borrower dies or becomes disabled.

Why It Matters

Borrowers are routinely told private student loans are the one debt bankruptcy can't touch. That belief keeps people paying and keeps them from asking whether their specific loan even qualifies for the protection lenders imply is automatic. 

A lender can shape its marketing, but a public company has to disclose real risk to shareholders. SoFi's filing is that disclosure.

The Legal Reality

Federal law does not shield every education debt. Under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8), only three categories survive bankruptcy without a special showing: government- or nonprofit-backed loans, an "educational benefit," and a "qualified education loan" as defined in 26 U.S.C. § 221(d)(1).

A private loan that fits none of the three can be discharged much like credit card debt with no undue hardship proof required.

What A Real Bankruptcy Attorney Looks For

Joshua Cohen, a consumer attorney known as The Student Loan Lawyer, says private loans are "still a bear to discharge," but that specific facts can push a loan outside § 523(a)(8)(B)'s protection — meaning it can be discharged simply by filing, no undue-hardship fight required.

His list of loans that often fall outside the definition:

• Money lent to a student who never earned a high school diploma or GED
• Loans for an unaccredited school or a non-degree program, "like a bar study loan or flight school that does not award a degree"
• Loans made above the school's cost of attendance
• Loans backed by a cosigner "who had no dependent relationship with the student such as grandparents, friends, neighbors, siblings," or even parents once the student was in graduate school.

Cohen notes the cost of attendance argument usually requires an adversary proceeding, "which can be hard fought and expensive," and that case law there isn't settled.

But he points to a quieter dynamic in borrowers' favor: "Most private lenders do not want published case law that differentiates private loans from federal loans." When the facts raise a real question for a judge, he says, "settlement is very likely."

"Most private lenders do not want published case law that differentiates private loans from federal loans."

For qualified loans, discharge still runs through an undue-hardship claim, where most courts apply the demanding Brunner test. A 2022 Justice Department memo told government lawyers to stop fighting these cases so hard, but that guidance covers federal loans, not private lenders like SoFi.

How This Connects

We've long covered why student loans rarely get discharged in bankruptcy and what borrowers should know about private student loans before signing.

With Americans carrying more than $1.8 trillion in student loan debt, the distinction between a "qualified" and non-qualified loan is not academic.

Our definitive guide to student loan debt walks through the wider picture, and if you're weighing a lender or a refinance, see our SoFi student loans review, our list of the best private student loan lenders, and the best student loan refinance lenders.

Also worth knowing: what really happens when you stop paying and the full list of ways to get student loan forgiveness.

SoFi isn't accused of doing anything wrong. This filing simply states the law and is required. But it's a useful receipt: the company holding the loan concedes to Wall Street what borrowers rarely hear. Whether any single loan can be discharged depends on how it was originated, so pull your original loan documents and ask a consumer bankruptcy attorney before assuming that "no" is the answer.

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Federal student loan borrowers are reporting a new email from the Department of Education telling them their income-driven repayment application produced an incorrect monthly payment because of an error and that they have to submit an entirely new IDR application to fix it.

The email lands in the middle of the tightest deadline window borrowers have faced in years. The Department began sending 90-day notices to more than seven million SAVE plan borrowers on July 1, which puts the decision deadline for the first wave of them at September 29. Anyone forced to reapply is losing days they don't have.

What The Email Says

• Borrowers who recently applied for IDR received an incorrect monthly payment amount "due to an error."
• They must submit a new application to enroll in the plan they want and get the correct payment.
• If a borrower never received notification from their servicer that the application was processed, it wasn't processed — it was canceled.
• Borrowers are directed to log in to StudentAid.gov and check "My Activity" to confirm status.

The catch: That third point is the one that will catch people. A canceled application doesn't necessarily announce itself. Borrowers who submitted paperwork and assumed silence meant processing may find nothing in the queue at all and no forbearance protecting them while they wait.

It echoes what happened to borrowers with pending SAVE requests, whose applications servicers began denying outright earlier this month.

The Bigger Picture

This isn't an isolated glitch. CNBC reported in June that the online IDR application was failing to display all plans a borrower qualified for, particularly PAYE, and was showing inaccurate monthly payment figures, by quoting $50 per month regardless of income.

Forbes contributor Adam Minksy documented additional failures, including miscalculated payments for married borrowers and prompts pushing people toward consolidation. This is important because consolidating in 2026 can quietly erase forgiveness progress and isn't helpful for most borrowers who aren't exiting default.

Protect Borrowers reported that roughly 530,000 IDR applications were sitting unprocessed, a figure that matches the last court-ordered status report.

The GAO warned in March that the Department had cut its workforce roughly in half and discontinued assessments of servicer accuracy and call quality across a portfolio exceeding $1.6 trillion.

And the monthly status reports that let the public track any of this have now ended since the original settlement agreement that required them only allowed six.

How This Connects

We've tracked the IDR backlog through its full arc: from 1.9 million stuck applications in April 2025, down to 576,609 in a March court filing, with the Department finally processing more applications than it received and new online applications clearing in roughly three to seven days.

That improvement is exactly what makes this email frustrating. The process finally got faster, and then a calculation error pushed some borrowers back to the fray.

The stakes are also higher than normal since 7 million people have to leave SAVE. This means picking the right plan is essential.

Getting the wrong number in front of you at the moment you choose between them is a costly mistake. Run and validate your own figures through our Student Loan Calculator or the RAP Calculator before you trust the application's estimate. We also have an easy to use Student Loan Calculator App as well.

What to do: Log in to StudentAid.gov, open "My Activity," and confirm whether an IDR application is actually pending. If there's no record and no servicer confirmation, treat it as canceled and reapply. Screenshot everything. And be skeptical of anyone offering to fix it for a fee as deadline pressure is a favorite setup for student loan scams.

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If you're considering joining Greek life, the biggest question on your mind is how much joining a sorority or fraternity is going to cost you.

Every school is different. Depending on where you go and the prestige of the organization you join, Greek life can run anywhere from a few hundred dollars a semester at a smaller chapter to more than $8,000 a semester at a big SEC school where you live in the house. That includes membership dues, room and board if you live in the house, as well as miscellaneous costs like your ticket to the spring formal or participating in a philanthropy event.

Before you join Greek life you'll want to crunch the numbers to make sure it fits in your budget. Here are some of the biggest costs of joining a sorority or fraternity and maybe it can help you decide if you go greek or stay geed in college.

Recruitment Costs

Before you even join a sorority or fraternity you'll have to register for formal recruitment, also known as rush. This is a process where potential new members – called PNMs – visit different Greek houses. Rush lasts several rounds before culminating in Bid Day when a Greek organization issues a formal invitation for a PNM to join their house.

The registration fee for rush varies a lot by campus. At the University of Alabama – well known for its Greek culture – a ticket to participate in sorority recruitment costs $375, and you'll pay another $185 in early move-in fees to arrive in time for rush week. The University of Arkansas charges $330 and the University of South Carolina charges $185. Meanwhile, rushing a fraternity at a school like North Carolina State University runs $70 for fall 2026 recruitment. We broke down the full week's tab in our guide to how much it costs to rush.

There are other expenses associated with rush that add up too. You'll have to follow a dress code for each round of the process. If you're trying to join a more prestigious house, be prepared to fork over some cash to build a wardrobe around top name designer brands. A realistic rush wardrobe at a competitive Southern school runs around $450 if you shop carefully, but the viral TikTok versions of these hauls have topped $10,000.

At schools where rush is a highly competitive process, some PNMs go the extra mile by hiring professional consultants and mentors. Pricing runs the full spectrum: It's All Greek to Me sells a two-hour seminar for $650, while Recruitment Ready's Bid Day Bundle – unlimited support, a social media edit, and styling consultations – goes for $3,997. Full-service rush coaching and styling packages have been quoted as high as $5,500. Here's what to know about sorority rush consultants before you hire one. The bottom line is that before you're even an official member of Greek life you could wind up spending several thousand dollars just to try to join an organization.

Costs of Membership

Dues

Once you become a member of a house you'll be on the hook to pay dues. These dues go to the national organization you're part of, the local chapter you're a member of, as well as dues to umbrella organizations like the National Panhellenic Conference. New members can expect to pay higher dues during their first year as they transition from pledge to active member.

Dues vary enormously by house and by campus. At the University of Arizona – a good example of a mid-range public school – Panhellenic sororities average $2,429 in new member fees and $1,953 per semester for active members who don't live in. Arizona's IFC fraternities average $1,853 for new members and $1,490 per semester for actives living out of the house.

Elsewhere, semester dues have been reported at roughly $820 at Clemson, more than $1,600 at Lehigh, up to $1,700 at UCLA, around $2,200 on average at LSU, and $4,605 at the University of Oklahoma. At the top of the range, new member dues at the University of Alabama average about $4,800 per semester for the 2026-2027 school year, with some chapters charging north of $5,000.

Culturally based and historically Black Greek-letter organizations tend to cost significantly less. Intake fees commonly run in the $850 range with active dues around $200 per semester, though many of these organizations don't publish their financials, so you'll need to ask directly.

Whatever your chapter charges, get the number in writing before you accept a bid and build it into your college budget.

Room and Board

Aside from dues, room and board is one of the most expensive parts of joining a fraternity or sorority. Most Greek life organizations maintain residential houses. Rather than living on campus, you can live in your house instead.

Depending on your house and the expectations of your campus, you may or may not have a housing requirement. In some cases, living in your sorority or fraternity house might be comparable to living in a campus dorm. In other cases, you might forfeit the opportunity to live in a cheaper off-campus apartment if you have to fulfill your sorority or fraternity's housing requirement.

Living in is where the bill really jumps. At Arizona, Panhellenic members who live in the house pay an average of $4,465 per semester versus $1,953 out of house, and IFC members in the house pay $5,973 versus $1,490. At Oklahoma, sorority housing has run over $12,200, and at Alabama it can reach $15,000 – roughly $8,400 per semester once dues and housing are combined.

Most houses also come with a staffed kitchen, which means you'll be on the hook for paying rent as well as maintaining a meal plan. Even if you don't live in the house, you might still be expected to have some sort of meal plan, especially if a chapter meal is included as part of your membership. Ask your financial aid office whether Greek housing counts toward your cost of attendance, because at some schools it does and that changes what aid can cover.

Social Events

Greek life is known for social events and parties. Whether it's spring formal or a themed event, parties cost money. Some houses have a budget for social activities but not everything is included. Formal events, for example, are usually hosted off campus. These are more expensive and you'll probably have to pay out of pocket to attend. Not to mention you'll want to dress up for the occasion.

If you're trying to figure out how much joining a fraternity or sorority is going to cost you, talk to existing members to get a sense of what their social expenses are. If you wind up joining a house that likes to party it can cost you over the course of your college career.

Gear

Once you join a Greek organization you'll be expected to look the part too. Instead of wearing pink on Wednesdays, you might have to wear your Greek letters. Expect to pay out of pocket for hoodies, t-shirts, bags, and other gear to represent your organization.

One important thing to note is that sororities and fraternities are ritualistic organizations. You'll have a dress code for chapter meetings which includes wearing your badge. Depending on your budget, you can get a cheap badge or splurge on a jeweled one. Just keep in mind that there's a lot of peer pressure in Greek life. You might feel the urge to buy gear that is outside of your budget just to fit in. These are exactly the kinds of purchases our list of ways to save money in college can help you push back on.

Fines

Speaking of rituals, if you're planning on joining a fraternity or sorority you might want to keep a sinking fund for penalties. Some organizations charge fees if you're late to an event or skip out on a chapter meeting. Think of fines in Greek life like getting a parking ticket in the real world. They're annoying and you don't intend to get them, but life happens and you do.

Hidden Costs

In addition to formal events, you'll also need to budget for informal ones. Think spotting a sister the next time you pop into Starbucks or picking up the tab next time you and the brothers go out. These are things you'd expect to pay for during your college career, but the cost can increase when you join a fraternity or sorority thanks to the social element of these organizations.

Again, you will want to fit in, so at some point it'll be your turn to cover the cost for something, even if it's not in your budget. Plan on these types of little expenses when you're considering whether or not to join a fraternity or sorority.

Alumni Dues

Once you graduate from college and your Greek days are behind you, you'll still be on the hook to pay dues if you want to stay active. To be eligible for alumni benefits you'll have to pay fees as an alum. These dues double as donations and can be tax-deductible in some cases. Fortunately, they're much cheaper. Kappa Delta, for example, charges $40 per year for alumnae dues or a one-time $497 payment for lifetime membership, which is fairly typical across national organizations.

Is Joining a Sorority or Fraternity Worth the Cost?

Depending on what your goals and expectations are, joining a sorority or fraternity can be worth the cost.

Greek life provides an entire social network during college, not just with the house you join but with other Greek houses on campus too. These groups not only provide lifelong friendships but they can establish important professional relationships too. A Gallup study of more than 10,000 college alumni – commissioned by the National Panhellenic Conference and the North American Interfraternity Conference – found that 54% of Greek alumni landed a job within two months of graduating, compared to 36% of unaffiliated grads. It's worth noting the study was paid for by the trade groups that represent Greek life, so read it with that in mind. But 84% of members surveyed said they'd join again.

That being said, there are other organizations on campus that provide the same benefits as Greek life for a fraction of the cost. You can join an academic group or a club sports team and develop relationships that can also help you land a job or build lasting friendships too. It's the same math you'd run on whether college itself is worth the investment – what you get out has to justify what you put in.

How to Pay to Join a Sorority or Fraternity

If you're set on joining a fraternity or sorority and you aren't independently wealthy, you'll want to develop a plan to pay for it. The good news is you have lots of options. The bad news is not all your options are going to be good ones. Here are a few ways to pay for Greek life.

Payment Plan

When you join you’ll probably get information about the costs broken out by semester. This can be a lot of money upfront and can be hard to balance with your tuition bill. Talk to your organization to see if they can put you on a payment plan. This can help break up payments throughout the calendar year rather than by the academic year.

Scholarships and Grants

Like college admissions, Greek life offers scholarships and grants that can offset the cost of joining. Some scholarships are offered by specific Greek organizations while others are offered by umbrella organizations like the Interfraternity Council. These can be quite competitive and you might need to join a Greek organization first before you’re eligible to apply.

Student Loans

Depending on your financial aid package, you might be issued a refund by your school’s bursar’s office. This money is intended to cover costs not directly billed by your school such as books. It can also be used for other expenses like housing or Greek life.

Even though this might feel like free money it isn’t really. You’ll be on the hook for paying it back, with interest, once you graduate. While you technically can use it to cover Greek life dues and expenses, just be mindful that it’ll cost you later on.

Credit Cards

Similar to your student loan refund, credit cards or other lines of credit can also be used to cover expenses associated with Greek life. While your credit limit might not cover the full bill, it can cover things like trips to Starbucks or buying a dress for formal.

Be mindful that you’ll have to pay all that back at double-digit interest rates. If you’re new to credit cards and are unsure how to budget, it can lead you into debt very quickly.

Working a Part-Time Job

Once you join Greek life you might be surprised to learn that many Greeks aren’t independently wealthy. In fact, a lot of Greeks work part-time jobs to cover their costs. This can actually work to your advantage. If you work at a late-night dive and can bring leftovers back to the house after your shifts, your brothers and sisters will love you.

Joining a fraternity or sorority isn’t cheap. There are a lot of extra costs beyond just paying dues. Before joining you’ll want to create a budget. In your budget, think about the extra cost of living in the house and participating in social activities. While Greek life can be a good investment, it’s only a good one if you can afford to take advantage of it. If you’re too broke to socialize with your brothers or sisters it might not pay off in the way you hope it will.

The good news is not all Greek organizations have to cost an arm and a leg. There are service organizations like Alpha Phi Omega and a whole host of social clubs on campus that provide many of the same benefits as Greek life for a fraction of the cost. Evaluate the costs and figure out what makes sense for you before joining.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to join a sorority or fraternity?

It depends almost entirely on the school and the chapter. Semester dues run around $800 at a school like Clemson, roughly $2,000 to $2,500 at a mid-range public university like Arizona, and close to $4,800 at the University of Alabama. Add house living and the total can reach $6,000 to $8,400 per semester.

Is it cheaper to join a fraternity or a sorority?

Neither is consistently cheaper, but they cost money in different places. Sorority dues are often higher because national organizations bill more per member and recruitment is more structured and formal. Fraternity housing, on the other hand, is frequently the more expensive line item. At Arizona, for example, IFC members living in the house average $5,973 per semester versus $4,465 for Panhellenic members.

Do you have to pay dues if you don't live in the house?

Yes. Dues and housing are billed separately. Out-of-house members still pay chapter dues, national dues, and often a partial meal plan if chapter meals are included in membership.

Does financial aid cover sorority or fraternity dues?

Not directly. Greek life dues aren't a billed institutional charge, so they're not covered by aid the way tuition and dorm housing are. If your aid package generates a refund, you can spend it on dues, but that's borrowed money you'll repay with interest. Greek housing is sometimes an exception at schools that count it toward your cost of attendance, so ask your financial aid office.

Are there scholarships for Greek life?

Yes. Most national organizations run foundation scholarships for their own members, and many campus Panhellenic and Interfraternity Councils offer need-based grants. The catch is that you usually have to be a member first, which doesn't help with the initial bill. Start your search here.

What is the cheapest way to join Greek life?

Look at culturally based and historically Black Greek-letter organizations, which typically charge intake fees around $850 and semester dues near $200. Service fraternities like Alpha Phi Omega are cheaper still. Within traditional IFC and Panhellenic chapters, living out of the house is the single biggest cost saver.

How much do sorority rush consultants cost?

Anywhere from $175 for a one-on-one Zoom session to $3,997 for a full recruitment package, with some full-service coaching and styling packages quoted as high as $5,500. They're entirely optional, and no chapter requires one. Here's what to know before hiring one.

Do you keep paying after you graduate?

Only if you want alumni status and benefits. Alumni dues are far cheaper than collegiate dues, commonly around $40 a year, and many organizations offer a lifetime option in the $500 range.

Can you quit a sorority or fraternity if it gets too expensive?

You can, but read your membership agreement first. Most chapters bill by the semester and won't refund dues you've already paid, and if you signed a housing contract you may owe the balance for the full academic year even after you disaffiliate.

Borrowers who believed the student loan payment pause would keep getting extended (or that their debt would be forgiven outright) cut their payments, spent more, and are now more likely to be delinquent, according to a new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper.

Economists surveyed borrowers about their expectations during the pause and the 2022 forgiveness announcement, then linked those responses to credit bureau, employment, and spending data.

The key finding: policy uncertainty itself changed borrower behavior, and the costs are still showing up in student loan debt statistics today.

Why It Matters

Between March 2020 and 2023, the payment pause was extended eight times, often at the last minute after being framed as "final." President Biden's August 2022 mass forgiveness plan was announced, litigated, and struck down by the Supreme Court in June 2023, but borrowers had already adjusted their finances as if relief was coming.

The study puts hard numbers on what that whiplash cost. Borrowers who bet on relief that never arrived paid more interest, fell behind more often, and in some cases are thousands of dollars worse off. You can see in the chart below how many borrowers were making payments over almost the last decade:

By The Numbers

Borrowers who were optimistic about loan forgiveness reduced their student loan payments by $40 per month and increased spending on non-durable goods by $100 per month, even as payments were set to restart.

Borrowers who expected another pause extension also cut payments by $40 per month and were 7.5% more likely to be at least three months delinquent by May 2025, well after payments resumed.

The study's authors found that losses from incorrect beliefs about forgiveness can exceed 43% of a borrower's initial loan balance.

The American Enterprise Institute notes that reduced payments made in anticipation of forgiveness cost borrowers up to 7% of their balances in added interest, which equates to thousands of dollars on a typical loan balance.

What The 43% Loss Figure Really Means For Borrowers

That 43% figure doesn't mean loan balances grew 43% (though balances did grow). 

Here's the simple version: imagine you owe $100, and someone in charge keeps hinting the debt might be erased. So you stop paying and spend the money elsewhere. Three costs pile up while you wait: 

1. Your debt keeps growing due to interest, so the $100 balance increases.
2. When the forgiveness never comes, you're out of the habit of repayment and more likely to miss payments, bringing late-payment damage like a wrecked credit score (which is separately very costly). 
3. The money you spent while waiting went to choices you wouldn't have made if you'd known the truth.

The economists added up all of that harm (what they call a "welfare loss") and compared it to the original loan. For the borrowers who bet hardest on forgiveness that never came, the total damage can be worth more than 43% of the starting balance. It's a worst-case estimate, not the average borrower's experience.

If you want to focus just on extra interest accumulated, that cost is the "up to 7%" figure. That's similar to the estimates of $3,500 in extra interest costs for those who've been staying in the SAVE forbearance.

The Bigger Picture

"When policymakers announce policies that later face legal or political obstacles, households may adjust their spending, saving, borrowing, and repayment decisions in anticipation of benefits that may never arrive." the study's authors write.

That pattern hasn't gone away. The Department of Education partially resumed involuntary collections in 2025 (including wage garnishment and tax refund offsets) then abruptly halted them again in January 2026 with no firm timeline for restarting.

Borrowers sitting in default while collections are on hold continue to accrue interest and fees, meaning balances will be larger whenever enforcement returns.

How This Connects

The study helps explain the delinquency wave we've been tracking. Education Secretary Linda McMahon told senators that roughly 1 in 4 federal student loan borrowers are now delinquent or in default, and New York Fed data showed 3.6 million borrowers newly in default, with credit scores dropping an average of 91 points. Defaulted loan balances have reached $179 billion and are now set to be collected by a downsized Treasury.

The research suggests these numbers aren't just about borrowers who can't pay. Years of stop-and-start policy taught many borrowers to expect that payments were optional or forgiveness was imminent and rebuilding repayment habits is proving slow and expensive. For borrowers already in default, options like loan rehabilitation can stop the damage from getting worse.

The paper's warning applies to the current administration as much as the last one: every open-ended pause or vague "we'll resume collections eventually" signal shapes borrower behavior now.

The Education Department has already told borrowers to expect repayment, not forgiveness — the study suggests clear timelines and credible commitments cost less, for the government and for borrowers, than relief that may never arrive.

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What Is FutureMoney?

What Does It Offer?

FutureMoney has expanded its product lineup over the past couple of years. Here's a closer look at its key features: 

Junior Roth IRA

The Junior Roth IRA remains FutureMoney's signature product. Unlike a custodial Roth IRA, the Junior Roth IRA doesn't require your child to have earned income. Instead, it uses a 529 Plan structure that can potentially be rolled into a Roth IRA after meeting IRS requirements. This way, families can begin saving for retirement from birth.  

According to FutureMoney, parents can contribute up to the applicable lifetime rollover limits while investments grow tax-free inside the account. FutureMoney automatically manages the portfolio using diversified ETFs, and you can invest as little as $1 at a time through regular contributions. 

Custodial Roth IRA

FutureMoney has introduced a traditional Custodial Roth IRA for children who earn legitimate income. It allows parents to establish IRS-compliant household employment so children can contribute earned income to a Roth IRA while building retirement savings from a very early age. FutureMoney can also help with payroll documentation and tax reporting, streamlining what can otherwise be a complicated process. 

Trump Account (530A)

One of FutureMoney's newest features is support for Trump Accounts (also known as 530A accounts). These accounts are designed for eligible children born between 2025 and 2028. They allow qualifying newborns to receive the federal government's $1,000 seed contribution. With FutureMoney, you can manage these accounts alongside the rest of your family's investments through the same app. 

Sidecar Investing

Sidecar is a flexible taxable investment account that works alongside a child's Trump account. It allows families to save for goals that don't fit inside a tax-advantaged retirement or education account. It also gives you more control over when you withdraw money. For example, you can choose whether to take money from the Sidecar account or the Trump account first, in order to lower the taxes you pay over time. 

Are There Any Fees?

Families with more than $20,000 invested typically pay an annual management fee based on a percentage of assets, with fees ranging from 0.20% to 0.25%. FutureMoney has introduced the following premium memberships that come with additional features: 

How Does FutureMoney Compare?

It's important to note that FutureMoney is not a self-directed online brokerage. Account holders can invest in fully managed portfolios, but they don't have the option of buying individual stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs). 

If you are looking for a fully self-directed option, Robinhood is an online brokerage offering a wide range of investments at a low cost. You can trade individual stocks and ETFs commission-free. However, unlike FutureMoney, it does not offer a 529 Plan account option, only taxable brokerage accounts and IRAs (traditional and Roth). 

SoFi Invest is similar to Robinhood in that it offers a fully self-directed investing option with zero-commission stock trades. It also supports fractional shares. SoFi Invest also offers managed investing, like FutureMoney. However, unlike FutureMoney, it does not support 529 Plans.

How Do I Open An Account?

To open an account,  download the FutureMoney app. You’ll be asked a few questions about your financial goals and to verify your identity. Accounts can be funded with as little as $5 and take a few minutes to open.

Is It Safe And Secure?

FutureMoney uses industry-standard security, including AES-256 encryption and SOC 2 compliance, to protect its customers' information. Investment assets are held by SEC-registered custodians, including Alpaca Securities and Altruist. 

Investors' accounts are covered with up to $500,000 of SIPC protection (including up to $250,000 for cash) in the event of a brokerage failure. As with any investment, returns are not guaranteed; SIPC coverage does not protect against market losses. Also, 529 accounts are not covered by SIPC. 

How Do I Contact FutureMoney?

Customer Service

The FutureMoney app has 4.2 stars on Google Play (53 reviews) and 4.8 stars on the App Store (168 reviews). While there aren't a huge number of reviews, it indicates a positive user experience overall. 

Is It Worth It?

FutureMoney has evolved well beyond its initial product offering, which was mainly the Junior Roth IRA. Today, I would consider it one of the more comprehensive investing platforms designed specifically for families. Its recent additions, including Custodial Roth IRAs, Sidecar investing, and support for Trump accounts, make FutureMoney far more compelling than when we first reviewed it in 2024. 

If you're looking for a simple, hands-off way to help your children build long-term wealth, it's a solid option. If you want the ability to invest in individual stocks, you'd be better served with a traditional self-directed brokerage account, like Robinhood, SoFi, or something else. 

Check out FutureMoney here >>