Lora Shinn Expertise: Insurance, Credit Cards, Mortgages, Student Loans Education: University of Washington, Seattle Highlights Reports and writes for The Balance about insurance, credit cards, mortgages, loans, and more Started writing about personal finance in 2008 Dozens of articles with her research, reporting, and analysis have been published by The Seattle Times, CNN Money, Redbook, LendingTree, U.S. News & World Report, and Bankrate Experience Lora Shinn has worked for The Balance since 2019, first as an editor and now as a writer, where she decodes auto and homeowners insurance topics so that we all can understand them. She also writes about credit cards, mortgages, and loans. In addition, you can find her personal finance journalism in outlets such as Bankrate, The Seattle Times, CNN Money, Redbook magazine, U.S. News & World Report, and LendingTree.Lora started writing about personal finance shortly after the 2008 financial meltdown with an article on making ends meet while pregnant (for Pregnancy magazine) and planting a garden to save money on groceries (for Bankrate). Since then, she has written scores of personal finance articles covering a wide range of topics: money-saving travel tips, renovations to increase home value, inherited financial lessons from family, credit card and debit card reviews, saving money on auto and home insurance, and funding college with loans, scholarships, and federal financial aid. Education Lora has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Portland State University in social sciences, and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Washington. About The Balance The Balance, a Dotdash Meredith brand, makes money easy to understand. We give people tools they need to not only make smart financial decisions but also prepare for the experiences they will have along the way. Our team of expert writers and editors have extensive qualifications in the topics they cover, and many of them have MBAs, PhDs, CFPs, and other advanced degrees and professional certifications. We require our writers to use primary sources in their articles, which are also approved by our Financial Review Board and fact-checked. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in our editorial policy.