There are consumers who are trying to make
sense of their student loan payments.
Not exact matches
If you currently have a
student loan with a very low fixed interest rate, it makes more economic
sense to pay only the minimum
payments because
of the low fixes rate and because
of inflation.
To take the above example further, it's likely to make even more
sense to pay less on
student loans when you're at risk
of missing
payments or defaulting on your
loans.
Having open and honest dialogues with your children about
student loan debt, and even asking for support with the
payments, may make a lot
of sense for some families.
My spouse and I are about to buy our first house, and while we have enough saved up currently for our down
payment, we're considering whether it makes
sense to use some
of that to pay off small
student loans and then borrow from our 401k's to make up the down
payment.
While it can be more difficult to save up a down
payment and qualify for a mortgage if you have significant
student loan debt, before you give up on your dream
of owning a home sooner rather than later, sit down with a calculator or a financial planner to see if it makes financial
sense to buy a home now.
However, if you're having difficulty making
payments, specifically due to the amount
of your
student loan (under any standard repayment method), Obama's PAYE plan or IBR (Income Based Repayment) may make the most
sense for you.
I even gave them my credit report to show I manage a mortgage auto and multiple lines
of payment and that it makes no
sense for me to miss my
student loan deliberately.
Prolonging your
student loan payments to take advantage
of tax deductions may make no
sense at all.
I get a
sense of satisfaction with every bit
of my paycheck I'm able to put into my savings and I know that I'll be able to save more once I can consolidate my
student loans into a single
payment at a lower rate.
If you owe multiple
student loans to multiple lenders and
student loan programs at a variety
of interest rates, it might make
sense to consolidate your
loans into one monthly
payment at one interest rate.
The only situation it really makes
sense to refinance your Federal
student loans is if you can make
payments under the Standard 10 - Year Repayment Plan, don't plan on taking advantage
of any forgiveness programs, and don't foresee any financial hardships occurring in the future that could lower your income.
Maxing out your
student loan payments and retirement contributions may not make
sense right now if you have a high level
of credit card debt or if you want to put a down
payment on a house.
The Basic
Student Loan Payment Calculator on this site should help you to get a sense of how your payment and total repayment obligation vary given different interest
Payment Calculator on this site should help you to get a
sense of how your
payment and total repayment obligation vary given different interest
payment and total repayment obligation vary given different interest rates.
Review the current interest rates on all
of your education
loans before refinancing, and consider whether excluding
loans that already have low - interest rates, or consolidating your entire
student loan debt into one
loan with one monthly
payment, makes
sense for you.
This is a great example, where if you can afford the monthly
payments, going with a P2P consolidation
loan could make a lot
of sense for your
student loan debt.