Newsletter

Quick housekeeping before we dive in:

Apologies for the delay.
This newsletter usually hits your inbox on Sunday, but thanks to a little technical glitch (and let’s be honest — a little real life), it’s showing up today.

Good news?
You’re still getting all the value-packed, no-fluff updates — just with a little extra Monday morning energy.

Now, onto this week’s stories…
Thanks for sticking with me through the delay.

We’re back on track — and better than ever.

Let’s dominate this week.

Stay sharp,
Carlos Samaniego
Founder, Income Unchained

Why INCOME UNCHAINED? Because I'm tired of seeing hard-working Americans:

• Student Loans Are Back — And Here's Why Small Business Owners Should Care

• The IRS Can Cancel Your Passport — Here’s How to Stop Them

• The Most Powerful Marketing Move You’re (Probably) Not Using

• The Nest Is Getting Quieter

Trending

Student Loans Are Back — And Here's Why Small Business Owners Should Care

Wake up and smell the debt, folks.

After a four-year breather, student loan payments are officially back on the menu.
And President Trump’s latest move to reactivate federal student loans isn't just a college kid problem.
It’s about to hit small business owners harder than a surprise tax bill in October.

🚨 Why It Matters

• 43 million Americans are dusting off their loan servicer logins and facing monthly payments again.

• That’s $10 billion a month getting yanked out of the economy — starting immediately.

• Translation: Less consumer spending. Less discretionary cash. More financial freakouts.

And guess who feels it first?
Local shops. Restaurants. Service businesses. Freelancers. YOU.

When budgets are tight, so are sales, especially for non-essential stuff.

📉 The Domino Effect

• Coffee shop sales? Down.

• Boutique spending? Down.

• New client projects? Ghosted.

• Luxury service packages? Kiss them goodbye (unless you pivot).

People are re-budgeting their lives around $300–$700 monthly student loan payments.

FINANCIAL

The IRS Can Cancel Your Passport -Here’s How to Stop Them

You thought the TSA was your biggest travel nightmare?

Wrong.

As of 2025, the IRS is officially in the passport business, and if you owe back taxes, they can yank your passport without warning.

More than 800,000 Americans are about to find that out the hard way.
Here’s what’s happening, and what you need to do before you get grounded.

✈️ The Rule That's About to Wreck Your Travel Plans

Buried deep in the tax code (Section 7345) is a little gem:
If you owe $62,000 or more in unpaid taxes (including penalties and interest), the IRS can label you "seriously delinquent."

Once that happens, they send your name to the U.S. State Department.
And the State Department can:

• Deny your passport renewal

• Refuse a new passport application

• Even revoke your current passport

No hearing. No warning. No mercy.

And no, you don’t have to be a millionaire hiding on a beach in the Cayman Islands.
This can hit ordinary people — freelancers, small business owners, retirees — anyone who fell behind and didn’t fix it. molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?

MARKETING SALES

The Most Powerful Marketing Move You’re (Probably) Not Using

When I started Income Unchained, I wasn’t trying to be a newsletter guy.

I wasn’t dreaming about open rates, subject lines, or click-throughs.

I just wanted one thing:

To stay connected to my people — both clients and future clients — without chasing them.

And sending a simple, weekly newsletter turned out to be one of the smartest decisions I’ve ever made.

Here’s why.

Why You Need a Weekly Newsletter (Even If You Think You Don’t)

Right now, you’re probably sitting on a goldmine of people:

• Past clients

• Current clients

• Potential clients

• Leads who ghosted you

• People who heard about you but never pulled the trigger

And what are you doing with them?

Probably nothing.

Maybe a birthday card once a year.
Maybe a "Hey, just checking in" email that even you’re embarrassed about.

Meanwhile, the people who already know you, and could have bought from you again (or referred you), are forgetting you even exist.

Out of sight = out of mind.
Out of mind = out of wallet.

A weekly newsletter fixes that.

It keeps you in their brain.
It builds trust automatically.
It turns cold leads into warm buyers without you lifting a finger after you hit "send."

What a Weekly Newsletter Actually Does for Your Business

ENTREPRENEUR LIFE

The Nest is Getting Quieter - Reflections on watching your last child prepare to leave home — and what it teaches about business and life.

Sixty days.

That’s all the time we have left before my daughter leaves home for the United States Coast Guard Academy.

I keep saying it out loud, hoping it’ll feel real.

It doesn’t.

This weekend, we just got back from her final volleyball tournament — the US Junior National 18s.

Seven years of club volleyball.
Seven years of high school games, hotels, long drives, lost Saturdays, packed gyms.
Seven years of cheering and yelling and secretly stressing about the costs and the time and the endless travel.

And then..
She served the final ball.
We won bronze.
And I sat there in the stands, crying.

Because I realized...

That was the last time I would cheer for her as my young, teenage daughter.
The last point.
The last serve.
The last everything.

In sixty days, she won’t be down the hall anymore.
She won’t be leaving her volleyball shoes in the living room
She won't be saying, "Dad, I got some "tea"
She won’t be asking, “Hey Dad, can you come outside and help me with something?”

She’ll be halfway across the country, doing something extraordinary.

And I’ll be here, in the house that suddenly feels way too big.

As entrepreneurs, we’re so busy sometimes.
Building.
Chasing.
Hustling.

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