The Don’ts of Student Loan Consolidation

The Don’ts of Student Loan Consolidation

by | Apr 9, 2018 | Consolidation

Photo credit for this awesome image: Gratisography

 

Read this if you’re thinking about consolidating your student loans. Estimated read time ~4 minutes.

Making a mistake with your student loans feels like a punch in the face. I mean seriously, you already owe tens of thousands of dollars (hundreds of thousands even) and now you messed something up because even though you’re smart as hell you didn’t learn a thing about repaying your debt in college.

No worries, today’s post is here to help you out. Here’s what every borrower should know about consolidation.

 

What is student loan consolidation?

 

Student loan consolidation combines multiple smaller federal student loans into one big loan, now called a Direct Consolidation Loan. Student loan consolidation can be a handy way to simplify your repayment.

 

Don’t do this:

 

  • Consolidate your federal student loans if you’re planning on getting PSLF or income-driven loan forgiveness and have already made eligible loan payments. A new Direct Consolidation Loan will start your 120 payments (for PSLF) or 20-25 years (for income-driven) all over again.

 

  • Plan on getting an interest rate discount. The interest rate on your Direct Consolidation Loan is a weighted average of your existing loans. Student loan consolidation doesn’t lower your interest rate.

 

  • Pay any type of fee or apply through any company other than the US Dept of Ed. Consolidation is free and easy to apply for. Save your money for paying down your student loans.

 

  • Let interest wipe you out. Consolidated loans are often eligible for longer repayment terms. If you take more time to repay your newly consolidated loan than you would have to pay your current loans you could spend thousands of dollars extra on interest.

 

  • Lose your six month grace period if you need it. You can consolidate your student loans when they’re in the six month grace period. However, payments on consolidated loans start 60 days after you consolidate. That means you could shorten your grace period by four months. It’s fine if you’re ready to pay back your loans, but no good if you planned to have six months before you started repaying.

 

Do this instead:

 

  • Keep making payments as you are and leave your student debt as multiple student loans to keep your forgiveness clock marching forward.

 

  • Plan on getting a fixed interest rate. All Direct Consolidation Loans have a fixed interest rate that doesn’t change throughout your repayment.

 

 

  • Consider what an affordable monthly payment is for you and calculate the interest you will pay under different repayment plans. Choose the plan that sets an affordable monthly payment and minimizes interest.

 

  • Indicate on your application if you would like the loan servicer to delay your consolidation until closer to the end of your grace period. This will keep your six month grace period payment free of payments so you can look for a job.

Have you considered consolidating your student loans? Let me know why you did or didn’t in the comments below or on the Repayable Facebook Page.

Ask Jeni: Can I Use my GI Bill to Repay My Student Loans

Ask Jeni: Can I Use my GI Bill to Repay My Student Loans

by | Apr 5, 2018 | Ask Jeni

Ask Jeni is brought to you in partnership with tuition.io, a company dedicated to helping the best companies free their employees from student loan debt.

I’m a veteran of the US Navy. I don’t know why I didn’t take advantage of the GI Bill for college, but I got talked into taking out regular student loans. Is there a way to have my student loans covered by the GI Bill or is it too late?

Thank you for your service in the Navy.

Are you finished taking out student loans? If you’re still going to college and taking courses you can use your GI Bill for new tuition and other qualifying college expenses.

If you’re done with school and strictly wondering about repayment, unfortunately the GI Bill can’t be applied to repay student loan debt.

There is a benefit program available for military folks who enlist for three years of active duty that repays a capped amount of student loan debt. I believe that benefit may be targeted to new enlistment not veterans but you could check with your VA office or a recruiter. It also means you would have to re-enlist for three years which may interrupt your current career track.

How I’m Tackling My Own Student Loan Debt

How I’m Tackling My Own Student Loan Debt

by | Apr 2, 2018 | #Millenniallife, Mindset, Money Matters

This post is for anyone wanting to see how I approach solving my own student loan debt. I’ll share my specific monthly payment goal and how I pay that amount each month. I’ll also share my first quarter progress. Estimated read time ~9 minutes.

 

My Student Loan Debt Goals

 

At the peak of my student loan debt right after I finished residency in 2014 I owed $132,000 in federal Direct Loans. After paying 6.8% interest on those loans for a couple years I discovered refinancing and it changed everything.

January 1st 2018 I owed $64,672.61 in student loans.

I knew the end was near and I could get out of debt before 2019 was over if I set an aggressive goal and stuck to it. So my student loan repayment goal for 2018 is to pay $3,000 per month on my student loans.

 

How I pay $3,000 a month on my student loans.

 

Let me make something explicitly clear. My education and student loan debt earned me a job that pays well. That means I can comfortably afford to repay my student loans aggressively.

 

There’s nothing magic about what I repay, and this post isn’t going to share  BS ideas about making money appear from nowhere to eliminate your debt. I’m privileged to be paid six figures a year and I’m privileged to be able to tackle my student loans aggressively without sacrificing actual needs.

 

This post shares my personal experience repaying my debt. Your experience may look totally different and that’s OK.

 

I spend my money intentionally.

 

When I first became a pharmacist I wanted to stop pinching pennies and living like a poor college student because I wasn’t anymore. I was making six figures and dammit I wanted a taste of that standard of living. I wanted to buy clothes that actually looked good not just ones that were on sale, I wanted to buy organic food and fuel my body because health is wealth, I wanted to adventure and see new things because life is short, and I wanted to buy myself, my family, my friends dinner out without being wracked with guilt. So I did.

When I was staring in the face of six long years of student loan repayment I couldn’t stand the thought of sacrificing these things when I could actually afford them now.

So, I half-assed my financial sacrifices.

To be fair I didn’t live like a queen but if I wanted something I got it. I was worn out from denying myself through six years of college plus a year of residency while working two part-time jobs. I earned good money and I wanted to spend it.

 

Now that the end was in sight though I wanted to speed up my repayment. So I made paying $3,000 toward student loans my first priority (bills and investments already accounted for) and my wants came later. It was hard to say no to myself at first. I would want to try some new makeup or pick up a few little things on a whim.

 

I started waiting until my next bi-monthly paycheck. To see if I still wanted this “stuff”. I discovered that most of the “stuff” I wanted was a fleeting interest and that when I really did want something I could buy it. This is the delayed-gratification mindset that got me through college in the first place.

 

I put all my surprise extra money toward student loans.

 

Specifically I’m talking about my tax return. Putting 100% of my tax return toward my student loans was a tough thing for me to do. Ever since I started working at age 14 and I’ve filed my taxes my tax refund has been my money to do whatever I want with.

 

I’ve always viewed tax returns as fun bonus money. I remember using my first tax return to buy an iPod Nano with a massive 1 G of storage space!

 

This year I put all $1,400 of my tax refund toward my student loans.

At first it was kind of depressing because I really wanted to revamp my professional wardrobe. But then I reminded myself that using this tax return to pay down my student loan debt gets me two weeks closer to freedom.

 

I save up for big spends.

 

I got used to my pharmacist cash flow and not really having to save for somewhat larger spending like a vacation. I would just not pay an extra $1500 on my student loans that month and boom vacation funded. But the problem was, I did that a few times a year and was slowing my repayment down.

 

My 3 month emergency fund is topped off and now anything over that amount is mine to spend. I’m saving that money for travel, a wardrobe revamp, or something else that comes up. Since January I’ve put just over $1,000 in there.

 

The mindset that helps me pay my loans aggressively AF.

 

This year is the first year the end of my student loans is in sight. I have 18 months left of repayment at this rate. I can truly believe and feel that these small sacrifices are only temporary. I don’t know about you but for me sacrificing my present standard of living to pay student loan debt is hard.

 

When I pay my student loan debt it feels like I’m investing in my past rather than my future.

 

I’m already reaping the benefits of a higher salary in work I enjoy because of my education. I already sacrificed to study and worked to pay for college years ago. Now it’s tough to keep paying for it after the fact.

 

I seem to find myself stuck in a counterfactual mind-game. Thinking Oh imagine if I had this $10,000 to invest and save and spend. But without the student loans I wouldn’t be making six figures. So it’s an endless cycle of wanting my cake and eating it too.

 

Now I can see how being rid of this debt makes my future self free. My future self is working 0.8 instead of full-time. She doesn’t have to do all her blogging on weekends and evenings and all the space between her full-time job. She still has money to invest and save and spend. That version of me is almost here. So for now I’ll say No thanks to piddly stuff and bring on my #debtfreedream!

 

How did I actually stack up on my $9,000 goal?

 

My goal was to pay $3,000 a month on my student loans so I should’ve paid $9,000 in the first quarter of 2018. Because of my tax return and a little extra contribution on my part

 

I paid $10,545 in the first quarter of 2018 and exceeded my goal.

 

I still have $54,702.65 left to go but that freedom is coming.

 

What are your student loan debt goals? I would love to hear them, we’re all in this repayment boat together so let’s inform, inspire, and encourage one another. Please share your goals in the comments below or on the Repayable Facebook Page so I can cheer you on!