Probably not. If you’re trying to pay off your loans faster and plan to make extra payments, and income-driven plan likely wouldn’t impact that much, if at all. IDR plans simply lower monthly payments based on income. While you could still make extra payments on IDR plans, it likely wouldn’t give you any sort of…

Glad to hear you like the stories! Thanks for your support. Like most types of loans, it can be tough to get the lowest rates that are advertised. Borrowers generally need to have an excellent application and financial profile to do so. A co-signer could help, but that’s no guarantee either.

There are a lot of different forgiveness programs to keep track of, and a lot of rules to be cautious of. We wrote an article on the types of forgiveness and when you’ll owe taxes here. At a high level, the forgiveness will be considered taxable income. So, it depends on your salary, your tax brackets, etc. You can…

This is a really good question. Our team recently wrote a really good blog post on Public Student Loan Forgiveness, as it could get quite difficult to find all the necessary information in one place. According to the Student Aid Website, to qualify for PSLF, you must be employed by one of the following:

Student loans are distributed for the purpose of covering educational costs. Choosing to use those funds to invest in the stock market is a risky move. If you spend your loan money on non-educational expenses, you run the risk of legal action from your loan provider if they find out what you’re up to. We wouldn’t…

So, no matter what, the more you pay every month, the faster you’re going to pay off your loans and the less interest you’re going to pay overall. So no, there’s no benefit to choosing an income-based plan and paying extra vs. choosing the 10 year plan and paying extra as long as the total amount you pay is the same.…

There really aren’t any downsides to making extra payments on student loans. We always encourage borrowers to make extra payments towards their student loans if they’re able to afford it. This will help them save on interest as well as pay off the loan faster.

Great question! Refinancing generally works best when you can find interest rates lower than the ones you currently have. The answer also really depends on a few other things things.

As a married couple, you might want to consider tackling your student loan debt together, but you still have the option to keep your debt obligations separate. For example, if your husband acquired debt before your marriage, you will not be held responsible for the student loan debt, unless you co-signed the loan.…

Student loans are a part of your credit score, but they’re not factored in the same way credit cards are. Credit cards are considered revolving debt while student loans are installment loans.

A lot of different people will tell you a lot of different things for this. Our suggestion? Pay off your debt as fast as possible. Ideally, you’ll be able to pay off your debt ASAP while also meeting employer match on your 401(k) if applicable, and making some other retirement contributions (like in your Roth IRA).…

Good for you! You’re making amazing progress on your student loans. A lot of financial experts will tell you a lot of different things with a lower balance and lower interest rate like yours. We’ve seen how damaging student loans can be, so our suggestion is typically to pay off your loans as soon as possible, even if…

Congratulations! Really excited for you and your journey. Keep us updated on how it goes. Here’s the biggest question: How much is this going to cost you out-of-pocket? Try to minimize the cost as much as possible. The best solution tend to be scholarships. There are TONS of scholarships out there, including a great…

I definitely understand your apprehension about using PSLF, and unfortunately we don’t have a crystal ball here over at Student Loan Hero. You’re right that there has been discussion about capping PSLF forgiveness or even killing the program completely, but there hasn’t been any serious movement in that direction yet.

With interest rates the same, this is definitely different than what most borrowers ask. :) Here’s how to think of your situation: there are two main schools of thought to pay off your debt: debt snowball or debt avalanche. Debt snowball means you pay off your smallest loans first to start building those “small wins”…

Thanks for reaching out! The primary borrower is always responsible for the loan, regardless of who it is for. If your mother and sister cannot pay the loan, the loan will become delinquent after it is one day late and it will likely be reported to credit bureaus after 90 days of delinquency. After 270 days, the loan…

Great question - and great that you’re already contributing to both! As for which you should focus on more fully first, that’s a question to talk to a financial planner about. The reason being he or she can take a look at your age, your rate of savings, your debt, and your goals and use all of that information to help…

The simple answer is “probably”. (However, it does depend on your situation.) Here’s the reason why: most variable rates are based on the 1-month LIBOR. Recently, rates have been going up which directly impacts your student loan interest rate. The benefit to getting a fixed rate is you’re not at the mercy of the…

Good question, and it gives me an opportunity to discuss the difference between the federal program known as Direct Loan consolidation and the more general process of consolidating and refinancing. Direct Loan consolidation is a federal program available to all borrowers that combines all of your federal loans into a…

That’s a personal decision, but there are several important factors to consider before deciding whether paying off all your student loans is right for you. First, do you have an emergency fund? In addition to saving, you might want to consider paying off any high-interest debt first. In short, it makes more sense to…