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It’s easy to drown in the financial details of student loan repayment. Here’s a life preserver. The rules of thumb listed below were culled from interviews with two experts on student loans. Craig Lemoine is program director for the American College of Financial Services, which trains financial planners.

One reason more people don’t feel wealthier is that the current gain has been “muted by sector-oriented inflation and taxes,” said Craig Lemoine. “Families are now required to carry health insurance,” he pointed out, “and those premiums have been increasing.”

Wells Fargo & Co.'s settlement with regulators last week over its cross-selling, and continuing investigations into the matter, raise questions for consumers over the practice, and its benefits and risks. Cross-selling is a widely used sales technique in which companies pitch consumers of one product on complementary products or extra features, such as a warranty, for an added fee.

The Department of Labor’s conflict of interest rule, often referred to as the fiduciary rule, has arrived on the financial services scene. Its reception has been predictably divisive. The first few lawsuits in what will likely be a parade of litigation have been filed, aiming to stop, dismantle or delay the rule.