Hi Migrod - Great question!

Unfortunately, if you refinance with a private lender, you’ll lose access to any federal student loan forgiveness options.

Hi,

Hi KHead,

If you are married and filing jointly, any income-based repayment plans will base your payments on you and your spouse’s combined income. If both you and your wife have student loans, your total combined payment will still only be 15% (on IBR) or 10% (on PAYE or REPAYE) of your total household discretionary…

@SaveTheManualsNow - just to clarify, the federal government does not charge fees to consolidate your student loans (or to go on an income-based repayment plan, etc.), and the private lenders that we work with do not charge origination fees to refinance.

Hi Kathryn! No refinancing isn’t always the best thing to do, especially if you plan to take advantage of Public Service Loan Forgiveness or Income Driven Repayment plans... Generally refinancing works best for private loans with high interest rates (above 6%). Refinancing can be a great tool to lower interest rates…

Hi K.G.,

@SaveTheManualsNow - just to clarify, the federal government does not charge fees to consolidate your student loans (or to go on an income-based repayment plan, etc.), and the private lenders that we work with do not charge origination fees to refinance.

Hi Middler,

Thanks for your question. In your situation looking into refinancing some of your loans might make sense. However, keep in mind that when you refinance federal student loans you’ll lose access to income-driven repayment options as well as federal student loan forgiveness options.

If you want to learn more…

Unfortunately, there aren’t many repayment options for private student loans, except refinancing.

Hi Dan,

Great question.. Most financial experts will argue with me on this point, but I believe you should use surplus cash to prepay your student loans.

Why? Your student loan debt has a guaranteed cost (interest rate), while your 401(k) does not have a guaranteed return.

Lots of assumptions go into this equation... estimated…

Great question! Especially for folks who are just entering repayment now...

Step 1) Check with your loan servicers to make sure your contact information is up to date, including email address, phone, and mailing address

Hey everyone! Andy here from Student Loan Hero... Excited to answer all of your student loan questions. : )

Some example topics:
Income Driven Repayment Plans
Most Effective Debt Repayment Plans
Refinancing student loans
Investing and student loans