“I’m a senior medical writer living in Berkshire and following the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement with my husband (A). We hope to be financially independent by the time we reach our mid 40s,” in today’s edition of the Money Diary.

“8.30pm: Home again. Snuggle on the sofa to watch a film, then head to bed where we listen to The Planets audiobook before falling asleep.

Total Spent Today: £0″

CNN: “881,000 Americans filed initial claims for benefits last week on a seasonally adjusted basis,” which is less than one million for the first time in a month.

“Continued jobless claims, which count people filing for benefits for at least two weeks in a row, also offered some good news: It stood at a seasonally adjusted 13.3 million, falling by more than 1 million from the prior week.”

Time Magazine: “TikTok isn’t just about dance challenges and viral memes—you might pick up some financial advice, too.”

“Delyanne Barros, 37, who goes by @DelyanneTheMoneyCoach, began posting about debt payoff, investing and financial independence on TikTok in February 2020. Barros, an employment attorney by day, first began sharing her personal financial journey on Instagram, which evolved into a side business coaching others to do the same. She says her primary focus on TikTok is driving awareness.”

With the pandemic continuing to ravage the United States, does it make sense to pay for a freshman year of college which will be taught virtually?

“Taking a gap year between high school and university is fairly common in many parts of Europe, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. In the US, the practice is less common, but attracted mainstream attention in 2016 when Barack Obama’s daughter Malia took a gap year before attending Harvard University,” writes the BBC.

“It’s a sentiment that Joshua Kim and Edward Maloney, authors of Learning Innovation and The Future Of Higher Education, understand.But Kim, the director of online programs and strategy at Dartmouth College, says, “I think you really have to distinguish between true gap year experiences and simply stopping for a year or waiting for a year.”

“The Department announced it has now contracted with five new companies that will take responsibility for servicing many of the outstanding student loans borrowers owe,” reports Christy Bieber.

“The Education Department has also severed ties with some existing loan servicers, including Great Lakes and Nelnet.”

Q: Which student loan servicers have consistently ranked the highest in customer satisfaction? 

A: Great Lakes.

“The Trump administration has announced an order to suspend the possibility of eviction for millions of renters who have suffered financially because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the order was an emergency action, which it is entitled to take under the law,” writes Ron Lieber.

Who is eligible?

“You must meet a five-pronged test.”

“And just like that, everything changed in an instant. That glimmer of hope is now sparkling so… we booked a flight to Panama!” reports Route to Retire.

“On Tuesday, 08/25/20, the Panamanian government finally announced a re-opening plan. This was what we’d been waiting to see for months – just something to give us an idea of what to anticipate instead of being left in the dark.”

Jim Dahle: “I have often said that beginning investors have trouble following their plan at market lows, intermediate investors have trouble following their plan at market highs, and experienced investors follow their plan all the time.”

“I am seeing a lot of posts out there with people nervous to put money into any asset class at market highs. I agree that it is not so fun to put money in at market highs. However, the only thing worse than investing at market highs is not investing at market highs.”

Harry Sit gets the numbers published early.

“The total employer plus employee contributions to all defined contribution plans by the same employer will increase by $1,000 from $57,000 in 2020 to $58,000 in 2021. The age-50-or-over catch-up contribution is on top of this limit. If you work for multiple unrelated employers in the same year, you have separate limits at each employer.”

Also: “The HSA contribution limit for single coverage will go up by $50 from $3,550 in 2020 to $3,600 in 2021. The HSA contribution limit for family coverage will go up from $7,100 in 2020 to $7,200 in 2021.”

“Even before Covid-19 shuttered economies across the world, many women faced retiring with less savings than men. Now, that gap is set to widen further in some of the world’s biggest pension systems,” reports The National.

“In an April survey, fielded after several states issued stay-at-home orders and large sections of the US economy were temporarily shut down, 25 per cent of women said their confidence in their ability to retire comfortably had dropped due to the pandemic, compared to 21 per cent for men. Some 39 per cent of women aren’t saving for retirement, compared to 22 per cent for men.”