These days, student loans seem to be a almost a right of passage for college-aged individuals. The costs of higher education have increased to such a degree that some borrowing appears inevitable for most. Read the article below to get a good feel for the right and wrong ways to get the funds needed for school.
Understand the grace period of your loan. This usually means the period of time after graduation where the payments are now due. Keep this information handy and avoid penalties from forgetting your loans.
Learn the requirements of private loans. You should know that private loans require credit checks. If you don’t have credit, you need a cosigner. They must have good credit and a good credit history. Your interest rates and terms will be better if your cosigner has a great credit score and history.
If you’ve taken out more than one student loan, familiarize yourself with the unique terms of each one. Different loans will come with different grace periods, interest rates, and penalties. Ideally, you should first pay off the loans with high interest rates. Private lenders generally charge higher interest rates than the government.
Paying your student loans helps you build a good credit rating. Conversely, not paying them can destroy your credit rating. Not only that, if you don’t pay for nine months, you will ow the entire balance. When this happens the government can keep your tax refunds and/or garnish your wages in an effort to collect. Avoid all this trouble by making timely payments.
Reduce the principal by paying the largest loans first. If your principal is ower, you will save interest. Focus on paying the largest loans off first. Once you pay off a large loan, use the money allotted to it to pay off the one that is the next largest. This will help you decrease your debt as fast as possible.
For those having a hard time with paying off their student loans, IBR may be an option. This is a federal program known as Income-Based Repayment. It can let borrowers repay federal loans based on how much they can afford instead of what’s due. The cap is about 15 percent of their discretionary income.
When calculating how much you can afford to pay on your loans each month, consider your annual income. If your starting salary exceeds your total student loan debt at graduation, aim to repay your loans within 10 years. If your loan debt is greater than your salary, consider an extended repayment option of 10 to 20 years.
It is best to get federal student loans because they offer better interest rates. Additionally, the interest rates are fixed regardless of your credit rating or other considerations. Additionally, federal student loans have guaranteed protections built in. This is helpful in the event you become unemployed or encounter other difficulties after you graduate from college.
A PLUS loan is a loan that can be secured by grad students as well as their parents. Their interest rate does not exceed 8.5%. While this is generally higher than either Perkins or Stafford loans, it still has lower interest rates than the typical personal loan. This loan option is better for more established students.
If you have yet to secure a job in your chosen industry, consider options that directly reduce the amount you owe on your loans. For example, volunteering for the AmeriCorps program can earn as much as $5,500 for a full year of service. Serving as a teacher in an underserved area, or in the military, can also knock off a portion of your debt.
Wipe away the thoughts about not paying back your student loans and thinking the problem will just go away. Unfortunately if you do this, the federal government will use all means necessary to recover this debt. For instance, you might see money withheld from Social Security payments or even your taxes. It could also get part of your income as well. You could end up worse off that you were before in some cases.
To get the most out of your student loan dollars, spend your free time studying as much as possible. It is good to step out for a cup of coffee or a beer now and then, but you are in school to learn. The more you can accomplish in the classroom, the wiser the loan is as an investment.
If you are having a hard time paying back your student loan, you should check to see if you are eligible for loan forgiveness. This is a courtesy that is given to people that work in certain professions. You will have to do plenty of research to see if you qualify, but it is worth the time to check.
If you take out loans from multiple lenders, know the terms of each one. Some loans, such as federal Perkins loans, have a nine-month grace period. Others are less generous, such as the six-month grace period that comes with Family Education and Stafford loans. You must also consider the dates on which each loan was taken out, as this determines the beginning of your grace period.
To get the most out of your student loan dollars, make sure that you do your clothes shopping in more reasonable stores. If you always shop at department stores and pay full price, you will have less money to contribute to your educational expenses, making your loan principal larger and your repayment even more expensive.
With college costs rising almost by the day, just about everyone needs to explore the possibility of getting at least one student loan. However, there are definitely things that can be done to minimize the impact such borrowing has on one’s financial future. Apply the tips presented above and get on solid footing starting now.
