52k officially paid in full! Student Loans |
- 52k officially paid in full!
- I am functionally all done!
- Should I take a gap year to pay down my debt?
- Do previously defaulted fed loans become current after CARES Act?
- What federal student loan repayment option makes the most sense for me?
- Paying Off Student Loans via PSLF vs. Higher Salary
- Does forebearance just push the schedule back for repayment plans, or will my minimum payments increase to make up for lost time?
- Payment allocation
- What are my options?
- 55k in debt, at federal pell grant limit, struggling with mental health, not sure if dropping out and coming back in 2 years is feasible. If I don't drop out, not sure I can easily stay afloat financially.
- Federal Graduate loans due date
- NelNet loans won't put my extra payments toward my principle
| Posted: 25 Oct 2020 08:21 AM PDT Took a little over 4-years, but with that paid off I am officially debt free! (Excluding my mortgage) [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 Oct 2020 10:06 AM PDT Well I still have a balance of $15,988.93 all sitting at 0% with the interest waiver, but I have enough earmarked in a HYSA to clear it all. Two accounts: $7,078.59, former Perkins consolidated to Direct, 4.75% $8,910.34, Subsidized, 3.15% I will make a lump payment to close out the Perkins loan at the end of year (or whenever the interest waiver ends, if it is extended). I am also doing a night MBA program (funded my employer), so the subsidized amount will be in deferment until Spring 2022 so I will wait close that out right before graduation. I graduated in 2013 with a BS in Chemistry from small state liberal arts school. My parents paid about a quarter of the costs, a scholarship covered another quarter, and $32k in loans covered the last half. I worked a few jobs in college: bagging groceries, waited tables, research lab on campus. I paid down some debt during that time, so I managed to graduate with $25k. I should have paid off more, but in the end spending the extra money on fun activities was worth it (beer money, one week-long trip to Germany). Here is a timeline: 2013: The summer after graduation, I went back to my high school job bagging groceries and knocked out all of my unsubsidized loans before entering graduate school for a PhD in Chemistry that fall. $22k student loans. 2013-2018: Graduate school stipend was $23k. Lived with multiple roommates the first few years, so I could have paid a lot towards my loans.. but I didn't. I made some payments here and there to make myself feel good, but it wasn't much. I didn't even save that much honestly. I was in a bigger city so I spent a lot of it doing stupid things with my cohort and college friends. Again, in hindsight it was worth it, lots of good memories. By the end of grad school I was living by myself and running negative month-to-month. $21k student loans, $5k credit card debt. 2018: Met a girl towards the end of grad school and got a good feeling about it. Turned down some opportunities to move away and stayed at my graduate institution as a post doc making $48k. Immediately paid off the credit card debt and entered repayment. $20k student loans, no other debt. 2019: Got married, moved together to a new city together for new jobs for both of us. $53k (post doc again) for me, $44k for her (with her bringing in no debt to the marriage, thankfully). We had a very small wedding, but even so between that and moving cities, we didn't attack my loans too much. $18k in student loans 2020: I know its probably crass to say, but COVID was good to us. I was able to make a huge career jump to a big pharma company to work on their vaccine candidate, and we didn't have to move again. My salary jumped to $91k with a $10k signing bonus, my wife got a COL raise to $46k. I had been planning on starting an MBA with my previous employer paying for it, and luckily my new company also offered tuition reimbursement. Between my giant salary jump and our decreased spending, we have been putting a lot of money in the bank. Our goal now is to buy a house in 2021. $16k student loans, with enough in the bank to clear it I know some folks would probably just pay off the accounts now to get it off their mind, but I have no problem letting that money sit in a HYSA while interest rates are at 0%. I know there is a lot of criticism about student loans in the US and even though this system worked for me, it easily could have gone the other way if I hadn't gotten lucky at quite a few steps:
Cheers to everyone here, I've enjoyed reading everyone's success stories here over the years. I hope to read a lot more, good luck to everyone! [link] [comments]  |
| Should I take a gap year to pay down my debt? Posted: 26 Oct 2020 01:27 AM PDT I am graduating with my Associates Degree of Psychology in June 2021. I was originally planning to transfer to a university but after assessing my debt I am rethinking that decision. Here it goes: -$10,605 in credit card debt -$12,361 student debt (first payment will be 6 months after graduation) -$10,221 car loan Up until tonight I have been planning to transfer and continue as a part-time student. This means I will take on more student debt (3,750 per semester) without the ability to pay down my current debt. Should I take a gap year or two so that I can work full-time and pay down this debt? Or should I keep paying my minimum payments, pay more when have the extra cash, and worry about my student debt after graduating? I need advice! [link] [comments]  |
| Do previously defaulted fed loans become current after CARES Act? Posted: 25 Oct 2020 10:59 PM PDT I was in default of my federal loans before the CARES Act took effect. I made a payment 3/5 on all of my loans but not enough to cover the past due payments/interest. However, as per the FedLoan servicing site, it says that all payments during Covid forbearance go to the principal, not the interest. However, that's not the case when I look at the payment details. Here's my mistake- Forgetting my loans were defaulted, I paid one of the smaller ones off last week which does not wipe out nearly enough of the past due payments/interest. FedLoan site says Covid payments can be refunded- I'm sure it's not easy. My plan is to call to see if I can get back that $5k and if *they* can put it toward my outstanding interest and/or past due payments and interest (can someone explain the difference between outstanding and past due?). Then I also need to ask about why the 3/5 payment was distributed the way it was and possibly get a refund on that too? The purpose for the refunds, I'm thinking, is to pay all of the past due payments when January's bill hits. BUT - I had heard (or read) that past due bills will be brought "current" when forbearance is over. BUUUUUUUT I also want to see if I can get a FedLoan person to apply payment to the interest so that doesn't get capitalized when forbearance is over. I know my post is disorganized, but any advice would be much appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| What federal student loan repayment option makes the most sense for me? Posted: 25 Oct 2020 06:25 PM PDT (cross-posted to r/personalfinance as well) I'm 26 years old and will graduate dental school in May 2021. I will have taken out $390,000 in loans, with $24,000 interest already accrued. I don't know my starting salary, but estimate it will be $110-140K. I could theoretically make up to $200K, but it would be unlikely and would require crazy hours. 15-20 years down the road, if I were to own my own practice, I could make $250-300K. I "live like a resident" and plan on continuing to do so. I genuinely don't have an interest in flashy brands, cars, houses, etc. I'm very minimalist. My monthly expenses hover around $2000 total. Expenses per month = $2000
I absolutely love my life and don't ever feel like I'm restricted at all, I feel like I have the money to do whatever i want. I don't for-see too much lifestyle creep or increased expenses, except that I may rent a more expensive 1 bedroom apartment (currently living with roommates), so my rent + utilities may jump to $1300 total. I'm childfree and will never have kids. Loans ~$230K federal graduate plus (average interest rate ~7%) What loan repayment option makes the most sense? Post-tax monthly income estimated at ~$6000 for 100K salary, ~$11K for 200K salary. (1) "Normal" repayment ASAP
(2) Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
(3) Income-based repayment for 20 years, then loan forgiveness & "tax bomb"
Looking at it objectively, PSLF makes the most sense. It's the thought of being locked in or "trapped" for 10 years that makes me nervous. But I likely cannot afford "normal" repayment, nor does it even really make sense with these insane numbers. What do you think? [link] [comments]  |
| Paying Off Student Loans via PSLF vs. Higher Salary Posted: 25 Oct 2020 06:09 PM PDT I am an attorney, have a lot in student loans, and work for the government. The goal has been to have my loans forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. For those who don't know, the government will forgive your federal student loans if you work for a non-profit/government organization for 10 years, while making regular payments based on your income. If I leave the government and work for a firm, I will more than double my salary. How do I calculate the point at which, from a purely financial perspective, I should go to a firm or stay in the government? In other words, how do I figure out the tipping point for staying in the government and relying on the PSLF, or going to a firm and paying it off the old-fashioned way? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 Oct 2020 11:37 AM PDT I am currently on the 10 year repayment plan, which began for me January 2020. Will I now have my repayment plan pushed back into 2031, or will my minimum payments increase with my final payment still coming in January 2030? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 Oct 2020 01:23 PM PDT Hi all, I'm planning to put a $10,000 payment on my student loans at the end of the year, assuming the 0% interest holiday ends on Dec. 31st. I have a little over $100,000 in loans, with about $4000 in accrued interest that has not yet been capitalized. To be honest, I don't fully comprehend how the grace period and interest capitalization works. Would it be more advantageous to apply my payment to the accrued interest, with the remainder going to my highest interest rate loan? Or would it be more advantageous to just apply the $10,000 to my highest interest loans? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 Oct 2020 04:14 PM PDT I have somewhat of an odd financial situation and I'm not entirely sure where to go. I am young, 20, and debt-free. I live in the US. Student loans scare me. I have a pretty good chunk of change from a personal injury lawsuit. I immediately started an ira with that and have been sitting on the remainder of the settlement since. I currently have a national certificate for a job/skill in the medical field that I was planning on using as a stepping stone to further a medical career. I recently discovered that I don't want to be in the medical field. At all. The certificate is an excellent thing to fall back on, but I basically want to go to school in a completely different direction. The aforementioned personal injury happened in 2018, right after high school, and took me out of the game. I was in the certificate program for the certificate I currently hold and had to drop it. I had to quit my job. It was a whole thing. I got back into the program in 2019 and saw it through. That being the case, I have no general credits or anything that could really transfer. I would essentially be starting at square one for higher education. I want to go back to school and do a traditional undergraduate leading immediately into graduate school. So first of all, how does that work? The ideal for me is deferred payment or interest-only payments while in school since I won't be working, but are there options that carry all the way through? Are there options that cover living expenses? And then there's my real dilemma. I'm currently renting in an area where the housing market is Very Good and now is the perfect time to buy since interest rates are so low and the average home price is rising almost exponentially. I started building my credit as soon as I could and currently have a score in the high 700's. I have enough money to comfortably put a 20% down payment on a home now, but I don't have a job so I can't get a mortgage. What I want is to have a mortgage whose monthly principal and interest is covered within my student loan while I am in school. I know this sounds very much like I want to have my cake and eat it, too. That may be the case. I don't want to keep renting as that is such a waste of money. Are there options? Do I have to suck it up and get a job in my certificate's field in order to get a mortgage in the near future and go back to school later in life? Or do I have to suck it up and keep renting while I'm in school for the next 6+ years? Any insight would be appreciated. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 25 Oct 2020 03:15 PM PDT total loans: 55369.44 Subsidized: 23900 Unsubsidized: 32000 I've reached my lifetime federal pell grant limit. I dropped out after a computer science degree in 2010-12. I attempted a computer networking degree 2016-2019 but realized even if I completed that degree that I would absolutely hate it. Switched to a Human Services this year. I should be able to complete it in 2 years at a regular full-time class schedule. I love the subject. I love the potential career. I know for a fact that it would be a fulfilling experience, and I'm not sure about most things in my life. A little over a year ago I got professional mental help and found out I have ADHD, depression, and a handful of anxiety disorders. I am still in a constant struggle to understand and aleviate my symptoms both in therapy and in medication. Reading is still nearly impossible for me outside of very short bursts. In short, if I continue in school I will absolutely struggle for at least another year. With my federal pell grant lifetime limit happening this year, as well as some unexpected major financial hits, money has been a bit hellish. If I continue, I will have to work more hours-something that I find difficult even without school. I'm absolutely terrified of dropping out. My primary concern is that I will never go back to college, which sucks considering I finally figured out what I want to do. I have all this debt and have sincere trouble seeing myself getting a decent above-minimum-wage job without a degree. Stuff like sales or insurance that I've seen family/friends get into to make good money is a no-go for me. I'm not particularly physically capable. I work 20 hours a week at a warehouse and I'm at my physical limit, so other labor jobs would be very quickly destructive to my body. I'm scared and don't know what to do. I don't know what a path forward dropping out looks like. I'm not sure I'm using loan calculators right, and I don't fully understand their answers. If I dropped out, how much do I HAVE to be paying monthly a year from now? What happens if I pay absolute minimum for 2 years, then attempt college again once I've got my mental health under control. Would I even be eligible for federal loans? Would it be enough to cover tuition at least? Would any college even consider me? Would I still be able to attend "in state"? I grew up in Arizona and have been living in another state for 2 years, and plan to move again a year from now. I currently attend an AZ university as a in-state student(not technically online campus) because it's much cheaper. I realize this might be a lot of information but I don't know what is and isn't completely relevant. [link] [comments]  |
| Federal Graduate loans due date Posted: 25 Oct 2020 11:25 AM PDT Hello, Did anyone else's graduate federal loan due date get pushed back? I just noticed it's now due in May 2021. It used to say January 2021, and my undergrad loans are still due in January. I graduated in May 2020, and I've been making payments since graduation while taking advantage of the 0% interest. I have about $11k left, and I think I can pay it off by February. Did covid push it back? I just find it strange since my undergrad loans are still due in January. Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| NelNet loans won't put my extra payments toward my principle Posted: 25 Oct 2020 03:53 AM PDT Hi! So I hope I am just overlooking something, but everytime I pay more than I owe monthly on my student loans, the extra money just goes toward credit for the next month's payment and not toward my principle, so I am still accruing interest on the larger amount! I have looked at my payment options, and none seem to allow me to change this. Is that right? It's so frustrating to feel like I am making NO progress. Thanks! [link] [comments]  |
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