The amount of money that you have to spend on your student loan is ridiculous.
Your income can go to other places: it can go into your rent, traveling to other locations, an early retirement account. Needless to say, it’s a lot of money that can go elsewhere.
Luckily, a silver lining exists! It can reduce the amount that you are currently forfeiting in student loans – especially if it’s extremely astronomical and insane.
I Would Like To Lower Student Loan Payments!
There are various ways that you can take advantage of today to help you reduce that amount of money that you are forced to pay. Below, there are alternatives that you can take advantage of to reduce your student loan payments.
Option 1: Income-Driven Repayment Plan
If your income isn’t exactly what is originally suspect or even hoped for, there is luck and salvation in applying for an income-driven plan that allows repayment.
What makes these plans fantastic is that these plans are crafted in a way that makes it affordable for you to pay your loans in a way that matches the amount of income that you have.
“So, what are the options?”
REPAYE (Revised Pay As You Earn)
The newly unveiled REPAYE plan is available to most federal student loan holders.
Highlights:
- If paying monthly, just pay at 10% of your income.
- Did you ask for a loan as an undergrad, if paid consistently, then they are automatically forgiven.
- Graduate loans, though having longer terms of forgiveness, are forgiven after 25 years.
Upsides:
- No income restrictions.
- Borrowed a federal loan, then it is very likely that you are very eligible for this plan.
Downsides:
- Your payments will rise if your income rise.
- Matters are complicated if married. Your spouse’s income will be a determinator, too.
- Forgiven loans are a taxable event.
Pay As You Earn
A more recent incarnation of PAYE, the plan allows you to pay back your loans as you earned them.
What You Need To Know:
- Your once-a-month bill are capped at 10% of income
- Loans are relieved after 20 years of consistent repayment.
- This plan is only available to a subset of borrowers
Upsides:
- Your payment are capped at 10% of discretionary; overall, it would be much less than the 10-Year Restructuring Plan.
Downsides:
- Not everyone would be able to participate: they are ineligible. You have to apply in order to get into this plan.
- To even be considered, must have a new borrower as of October 1, 2007.
- Any forgiven balance is subject to taxes.
Income-Based Repayment (IBR)
You can use this plan as a method to pay back loans when your current income cannot support it.
What You Need To Know:
- Depending on the time of your loans, your repayment bill is put at 10 to 15 percent of your income.
- Depending on how much you have borrowed, your loans can be relieved after 20 to 25 years of consistent repayment.
Upsides:
- Your bill can be $0 if your monthly salary prevents you from making payments on your student loans.
Downsides:
- Again, not everyone qualifies. You have to apply to be eligible.
- You also have to be a new borrower as of Oct. 1, 2007 and have received a disbursement of a Direct Loan on or after Oct. 1, 2011.
- Any relieved balances can be taxed
Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR)
Another method that can be used to lower your loan. This is available to most federal student loan borrowers.
What You Need To Know:
- Payments are kept at 20 percent of discretionary income, or what the payment would be on a fixed, 12-year payment plan, adjusted according to income.
- If you continue repaying your loans for 25 years consistently, they are forgiven.
Upsides:
- If you had taken out a loan from the federal government, then you can be a part of this plan..
- This is the only alternative for Parent PLUS borrowers who are looking to consolidate their loans.
Downsides:
- A relieved balance is a taxable event
Option 2: Graduated Repayment Plan
Consider a Graduated Repayment Plan instead.
What this repayment plan is that you are able to start paying small amounts upfront first but then, as you get better within your career, it will gradually get higher and higher.
Upsides:
- You can pay a lower amount of the loan back completely..
- 10 years of repayment is much shorter than the other alternative.
Downsides:
- The Standard Repayment Plans may be cheaper.
Option 3: Extended Repayment Plan
Under the Extended Repayment Plan, you can extend the length of time to pay back your bills.
To accepted into this plan, you have to have borrowed more than $30,000 before October 7, 1998.
Upsides:
- You can pay back the loan in up to 25 years..
- The bills are more manageable.
Downsides:
- The interest will be higher to pay off.
- Under this plan, your loans are not forgiven.
Option 4: Combining your loans
If you have multiple loans from the government, you can easily consider combing your loans together.
Through a Direct Consolidation Loan, you can make repayment easier.
Upsides:
- Instead of making multiple repayments, you are just making 1 payment.
- Your paying period can be lengthen up to 30 years.
- Your payments are lower.
Downsides:
- Pay more in interest over time.
- Your interest cannot be forgiven.
- Your loans are less likely to be forgiven under this plan.
Option 5: Refinance your loans
Got private loans? It can easily refinance your loans instead.
Upsides:
- Don’t have to pay multiple repayments to federal and private loans, instead, you can make a consolidated plan.
- More likely to get approved at a lower interest rate, saving you thousands of dollars.
- Your payments are lowered by extending the repayment period.
Downsides:
- More is paid in interest because of the extended repayment plan.
- Your loans cannot be based on your salary nor will your loans be forgiven.
Option 6: Student loan help through your employer
Employers are not stupid. They know that their workforce are stuck with student debt. However, there are a certain number of company who are doing this – such as:
The global consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), in 2015, by announcing it will aid employees pay $1,200 annually for their loans to attending universities for up to 6 years.
Chegg also announced that it would assist its own employees to giving them aid for their student aid.
One thing to consider that this isn’t a mainstream option.
Upsides:
- It’s an aid the gives you money to pay off your student loans.
Downsides:
- Niche strategy that only a certain few companies are doing.
- Even, this type of aid is taxable.
Option 7: Move to a different state
One unorthodox strategy to move to another state is key. Some states like New York, Kansas, and Michigan, are helping people pay back their college loans
Upsides:
- Getting additional money to help you pay off your student loan.
Downsides:
- Moving is drastic.
Option 8: Sign up for auto-pay
Interest rate: the true evil when it comes to paying off your student loan debts.
You can register for auto-pay. You can sign for a 0.25% interest rate normally by doing this and paying on time.
Over time, it’s best to keep your interest payments down, thus saving you money in the long time.
Upsides:
- Never miss a payment.
Downsides:
- Decreasing your interest rate to about 0.25% less isn’t the best impact that you can have.
Option 9: Join Upromise
Just sign up, register the credit cards and your debit cards, and get started with Upromise, you can send some of the money towards your college loan debts.
Upsides:
- Your earnings from this platform can be applied to pay your college loans
Downsides:
- Spend money upfront to help you cover your student loan bills.
- Tiny rewards.
Option 10: Use credit card rewards strategically
Directly, it is hard to use credit card rewards to pay off your loans but you can use some of the reward points to indirectly pay off your student loans.
One option you can get credit card that services your loan debt. If you have good credit and you are not in credit card debt, you can take advantage of this option.
Upsides:
- Earn rewards from your everyday purchases.
Downsides:
- Be super careful to not go into credit card debt..
- Not everyone can register for these cards
What Did We Learn?
There is excessive confusing information out there; luckily, with this, just make use of ways to pay off your college debt without getting into too much trouble.
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