The Possible · Issue 1 · October 2026

Let Me Reintroduce Myself

Same heart, a wider door, and a note that will land for you every month.

From Rachael

Let me reintroduce myself.

Ten years ago I was a single mom on welfare, raising my kids and staring at more than $111,000 in student loan debt, with no one coming to save me. I did not have a plan. I had long nights, a stubborn refusal to believe that where I was standing was the end of the road, and slowly, one hard lesson at a time, a way out. I founded Key 2 Debt Free in 2017, and in 2022 I earned a full discharge of my own federal loans. I tell you that not because it is tidy, but because I remember exactly how alone it feels in the middle of it.

Here is why you are hearing from me now, and why this looks a little different. Everything I do is moving under one roof, my own name, at a new home online that is coming soon at RachaelJKatz.com. Key 2 Debt Free and the student loan work are not going anywhere. They were always one key I hold, not the whole of who I am. Under my name you will find the three things I care about for you, your Wealth, where the money and debt work lives, your Faith, and your Wellness, because I learned the hard way that not one of them stands up alone.

This letter is the first of a note I will send you at the close of every month. It will always be for you, and it will never be a pitch. Welcome. I am glad you are here.

You are not behind. You are somewhere on the road, and the road keeps going.

The Spotlight

Student loans: what the noise is not telling you.

If your head is spinning about federal student loans right now, you are not doing anything wrong. The ground genuinely shifted in 2026. The repayment plan known as SAVE ended, new repayment options opened, and a lot of people are being asked to look at their own loans and their own plan again. When that happens, the question is not what you have always done. It is what applies to your loans now.

Two things are true at once. The programs are real, forgiveness and consolidation and income based repayment all exist, and also no one can promise you a fast, guaranteed outcome. Anyone who does is the person to hang up on. The Federal Trade Commission has spent this year warning borrowers about operations that promise guaranteed forgiveness, claim a special connection to the government, ask for your Federal Student Aid login, or want money before they do anything at all. The official federal help is always free at StudentAid.gov.

You do not have to read all of it alone. The student loan side of my work runs through Key 2 Debt Free, and my team has sat with a lot of people to help them understand their own account, their loan type, and the questions worth asking before they sign anything or pay anyone. We will only ever help you understand your options, and we will never promise you an outcome.

What Changed

If you were on SAVE, read this.

If you were ever on the repayment plan known as SAVE, this one is for you. A court order ended SAVE on March 10, 2026, and since then interest has been building again on those loans, even for people whose payments were paused. Many borrowers are now receiving a notice that starts a short clock, around ninety days, to move to a new repayment plan.

Here is the honest part. Do not switch in a panic, and do not ignore the notice either. Look at your own account first and confirm what plan you are on and what your real options are, because a lower monthly payment is not always the cheaper choice over the life of the loan. You can see all of it, for free, at StudentAid.gov, and if you want a second set of eyes before you choose, that is what we are here for.

Straight Answers

The questions people actually ask.

Can you get my loans forgiven fast?: No, and neither can anyone else, at least not honestly. The forgiveness programs are real, but every one of them depends on your loan type, your history, and the current rules. I had my own loans discharged, so I believe relief is possible. I just will not pretend it is instant.
Someone messaged me about forgiveness. How do I know if it is real?: Slow down before you respond. Confirm who your official servicer is, and hold what you were told up against what your own account at StudentAid.gov actually shows. If they promise a guarantee, claim a special government connection, ask for your Federal Student Aid login, or want money up front, walk away.
Should I refinance to get a lower interest rate?: Be careful here. Refinancing federal loans with a private lender can lower a rate, but it turns them into private loans and you give up federal protections like income based plans and forgiveness. For a lot of people that trade is not worth it. Understand what you would be giving up before you sign anything.

Here When You Need Us

Have a question?

Have a question, or want someone to look at your own account with you before you decide anything? We are glad to help, and it costs nothing to ask.

Call 888 999 9076 · info@key2debtfree.com

The Shelf

If you ever want the longer story.

It lives in two books, both on Amazon. One is where I began. One is the method I built along the way.

Welfare to Wealthy
Where I began, the honest account of a single mom on public assistance finding the way out.
The Key
From financial survival to financial freedom, the plain steps from getting by to genuinely free.

Stay Close

Until next month.

Follow along at rachaeljkatz on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Facebook, and watch for my new home coming at RachaelJKatz.com, where all of this, the money work, the books, and what comes next, will live in one place. If this reached you at the right time, pass it to one person who is still stuck, because your word will reach them in a way mine cannot. And if my team has ever made a hard thing a little easier, a short review on Google helps the next person find us when they are searching late at night.

Next month: what to do with the first money that is finally yours to keep, once the loans are handled.

Onward, together

Rachael J Katz is a financial educator. The student loan help referenced here is provided through Key 2 Debt Free, a private company that is not a government agency, is not affiliated with the United States Department of Education, and is not a loan servicer. Nothing in this letter is a promise of a specific outcome. The official federal help is always free at StudentAid.gov.