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    My spouse is a US citizen, and hasn't paid student loans for ~10 years - Please suggest our best options... Student Loans

    My spouse is a US citizen, and hasn't paid student loans for ~10 years - Please suggest our best options... Student Loans


    My spouse is a US citizen, and hasn't paid student loans for ~10 years - Please suggest our best options...

    Posted: 29 Dec 2018 10:43 PM PST

    If anyone is able to provide advice as to how we should proceed to limit the financial hit for our family I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm not a US citizen and am trying to understand / negotiate the confusing amount of information out there with regard to US student loans.

    To summarise our situation:

    • My wife has lived in Australia with me for 10 years, and her mother had told her that she was servicing her US federal student loans (at a minimal rate).
    • Her mother recently forwarded us letters she'd received from 'Alltran', stating that Alltran is collecting the ~55k outstanding on these loans, and requesting that my wife contact them within 30 days.
    • My wife has contacted Alltran, but received contradictory information the two times she's called:
    1. The first call, the person she spoke to advised that she had to enter a payment plan and pay the full amount within 10 months. (This is not at all possible).
    2. The second call, she was advised that Alltran will assess what her repayment amounts are, based on our joint income and expenses in Australia. (This will severely impact on our ability to save and plan financially for our growing family, including saving for a house deposit and planning for retirement).
    • I've started reviewing the FTC sites to familiarise myself with all of this US student loan bizzo, and it looks like Alltran is a legit collections agency once your loans have been placed in default.

    I guess my questions are:

    - Are there simple minimal repayment options that can be taken? (To allow us to keep planning financially for our future, we're close to 40yo now and need to do this now as we've only wised up recently financially and started to save).

    - What are our best options to negotiate with Alltran or the Education Department?

    submitted by /u/wreddite
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    Thank you for recommending Sofi!!!

    Posted: 29 Dec 2018 04:09 PM PST

    I have been creeping on r/studentloans for awhile and saw a lot of people talking about their experiences with refinancing with Sofi. I have almost $40k in loans from my undergrad and I was dragging my feet to refinance them, for no particular reason. The amount actually was made up of 3 different loans at variable interest rates (because I was dumb when I was 18/19 and noone gave me solid financial advice) and I was worried I would never pay them off. Fast forward to a month ago, I decided to take the plunge (thanks to all of you guys) and it could not have been any easier. Everything was done online and anytime I had a question, I would call and talk to a PERSON in less than 5 minutes. I got a decent rate (I would have liked better, but the Fed screwed me over on that one) and I will have it paid off in 7 years! I know it is a boring topic, but I am actually really excited about it. Thanks to you all!

    submitted by /u/tishthabish
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    What's the best bet for IDR and marriage filing

    Posted: 29 Dec 2018 12:04 PM PST

    Hi all.

    I got married in 2017, so last year was our first time doing our taxes together. I have an accountant do my taxes because in some years I have some consulting income. I emailed at length with the accountant about how I was nervous about how we file because of my income-based repayment.

    Also possibly relevant, I have a child from a previous relationship that I claim on my taxes.

    Also possibly relevant, I make quite a bit more than my spouse does.

    Also possibly relevant, I will do PSLF fairly soon.

    So what is the best way to file so that we have a lower income-based repayment, also considering that filing separately we lose the child tax credit?

    Accountant said this: "I did a projection and by filing a joint return I project that you'd save around $1000 as compared to filing as married filing separate. This has to do with the fact that you would lose the child tax credit when filing separately... Also, in the REPAYE program it doesn't matter if you file a joint or separate return. That program factors in combined income regardless of how you file. I don't know all the details of your loan so I'm not sure what your options are for changing to a different program but if you aren't eligible for a different program then filing a joint return will be your best bet moving forward."

    But I just re-certified my income-based repayment and my payment went from $450 -> 679.48 with REPAYE. When I do the online payment estimator, the estimates are so wide that they aren't helpful. Obviously we have more income than we used to because of my spouse, but this seemed like a pretty big jump. I did a manual re-certification request because in 2017 I had an unusual bump in salary that won't be present in future years.

    Thoughts?

    submitted by /u/Pikaus
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    Hate to be the one to ask, but does the government shut down effect my IBR recertification?

    Posted: 29 Dec 2018 05:48 AM PST

    Haven't received any word back and I usually do by now.

    Tried Googling and all I could find was info on NEW applications, saying that they would be put on hold. Does this mean IBR recertification applications are on hold, too?

    submitted by /u/Unilaterally-
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    IBR - Does spousal income inclusion mean spouse is liable for payment?

    Posted: 29 Dec 2018 02:02 PM PST

    My outstanding balance is ~245k, and I cannot make the $1,350/month payments. Spouse income is much higher than mine and he has his own loans, but at 30k and easily managable on his salary. Loan servicer says I need to do an IBR plan if I can't make the payment and they want spouses income and loan / tax information.

    House is in spouses name, as are both cars and he carries our insurance.

    If I do an IBR and include his info, are we bound to use his income to repay this loan? And if I still cannot make payment of (guessing here) 1,000/month, then what? Does the loan servicer garnish his wages ? Can they attach lein's on his (our) home or cars? We're trying to fully understand the lay of the land before putting all this together and committing to something that could end up bad for both of us instead of just me.

    Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

    submitted by /u/tossaway338848321
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    Teacher Student Loan Forgiveness

    Posted: 29 Dec 2018 03:36 PM PST

    Hey everyone, I know that teachers who teach in a Title 1 school for 5 consecutive years, can apply for 5k to 17.5k in forgiveness. This is my fifth consecutive year, so that leads into my question. My question is, who here has successfully done it? How long after you submitted paperwork did you receive the money off?

    Trying to pay off my student loans within next year but want to time it right so that I get to "save" 5k. Thanks for any help!

    submitted by /u/JimmyWoodson
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    529 for Student Loans?

    Posted: 29 Dec 2018 11:31 AM PST

    Hi my family has had a 529 plan for me for several years and I'm nearing the end of professional school. Is it possible to use the 529 fund toward student loans (principal or interest)? Thanks!

    submitted by /u/bradfordbb
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    Can I get my payments recalculated under REPAYE once I file my taxes?

    Posted: 29 Dec 2018 02:55 PM PST

    I am up for recertification. My wife did not work this past year, but our most recent tax return is from 2017 when she did work. It makes more sense for me to file my paystubs, but this of course does account for my 2018 AGI. Can I submit my taxes as soon they are available on the IRS retrieval tool to have my payments recalculated with my AGI? I read one post indicating FedLoan will only look at paystubs for midcycle recalculations

    submitted by /u/5050winner
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    Any info would help!

    Posted: 29 Dec 2018 09:03 AM PST

    Ok here goes. I am now currently a single mom of 4 going through a divorce. I have decided to go back to college. So let me explain the "go back" part. When I was 20 after my first born i started college. I registered into the radiology department for a b.s. radiologic science. This program has 2 phases. A pre professional phase and a professional phase. This is an accredited college and the field is super competitive as in they only accept 24 people into the professional phase per year. Now at the time in 99 i completed almost to the professional phase to apply but instead changed my major to accounting. I went until a hurricane here and lost my job. ( there was other factors that also caused my grades to go from an almost 4.0 to a 2.5) after losing my job my loans went into default due to a paperwork issue. Since 2005 my life has been up and down. But in the last 4 years i have been married and now going through a divorce have a new 2 yr old. I have gotten my loans out of default and decided to finish school and complete my radiology degree. Had to use stafford loans I have finished my first semester with a 3.8. I am ECSTATIC. I was chosen Out of 75 people one of the 24 spots. I filled out my fafsa for next year and filled out financial aid for summer because the classes are only scheduled specific dates and times. I was notified today that not only do i not qualify for aid during the summer i also have reached max limits and get NO more aid. I am crushed. I dont know how i am supposed to finish. Ive tried sallie mae, bank of america, and 2 other websites for student loans my father is willing to cosign. But they are being denied. I feel so hopeless at the moment. I was so proud of after everything i have been through to be able to finish this and show my kids its never too late. What do i do?? I just want to finish school.

    submitted by /u/pandorasgate
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    Do I understand how IBR works? Maybe not?

    Posted: 29 Dec 2018 04:50 AM PST

    I am committed to public sector work, with s Masters Degree in nonprofit management. I am under the impression that I am on track to have it forgiven thru PSLF in 6 years, but who really does know, amirite? I'm carrying $70K of SL debt. I'm in the process of making 1000% sure I'm ij good standing for forgiveness.

    Suppose something happens and my loans aren't forgiven thru PSLF. Can I stay on IBR til I die or will I 100% definitely get tax bombed if I stay in the program? Until recently I hadn't entertained the idea that PSLF would fail me, so I haven't done much plan B research.

    submitted by /u/Ahlervsqueezies
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    Parent loan and taxes

    Posted: 29 Dec 2018 06:02 AM PST

    I graduated in December 2017 and began paying back a Navient parent loan this year. It's in my moms name but has automatic payments withdrawn from my account monthly, she does not make payments. The payment amount is based on her income, however.

    Who will claim the 1098 form ?

    submitted by /u/t_brad93
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    Getting divorced... recertifying for PAYE post divorce and post 2018 tax filing...

    Posted: 29 Dec 2018 06:24 AM PST

    So my wife and I are getting divorced. Should be finalized in the next couple of months. The timing of everything is what I'm contemplating/wondering about.

    My recertification for my PAYE plan comes up in May. Filing taxes here in the next couple of months. I made ~$80k last year and she made ~$50k.

    We have two kids and we will each get to claim one child each as dependents on our taxes (we will be having joint/equal custody of the kids)—I assume this same arrangement would go to our "household size" too when recertifying my PAYE correct? So when I recertify after the divorce, my household size will just be myself and one kid?

    We were planning on just filing our 2018 taxes jointly—is there a reason we might want to file separately? I don't want to have her income used on my PAYE recertification, but I figured I could just use pay stubs and either a divorce decree/signed letter from both of us explaining the divorce/claimed dependents agreement.

    Thanks for any thoughts!

    submitted by /u/nf9805
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