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My wife has $30,000 in student loans that just came due. I'm starting my master's this fall. My tuition will be about $44k and my parents are giving me $17K to put toward school. Would it be a better idea to put all 17k straight into my wife's loans or should I just take out $27k worth of loans for myself.
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Jun 4, 2013 04:36
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| # ? May 31, 2024 10:36 |
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Omits-Bagels posted:My wife has $30,000 in student loans that just came due. I'm starting my master's this fall. My tuition will be about $44k and my parents are giving me $17K to put toward school. Would it be a better idea to put all 17k straight into my wife's loans or should I just take out $27k worth of loans for myself. Depends on the interest rates involved. Depends if they are private or federal loans. Depends on the future earning potential of you and your wife.
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Jun 4, 2013 04:59
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Roger_Mudd posted:Depends on the interest rates involved. Depends if they are private or federal loans. Depends on the future earning potential of you and your wife. Both are grad plus loans which are at 6.8%. No idea on our future earnings but I'm guessing she'll make upper 30s/low 40s and I'll hopefully make mid 40s to mid 50s (but it will be in a high cost of living area).
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Jun 4, 2013 06:39
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So, if I'm understanding correctly you have no other financial backing. So the question isn't "Should I put the $17k towards my wife's loans OR should I take out $34k in loans", it's "Should I put $17k towards my wife's loans AND take out $34k in loans OR should I take out $50k in loans". Technically, paying off her loan first makes more sense than paying tuition first because interest won't accrue for your loan until you graduate (correct me if I'm wrong, I've never had a Grad Plus Loan).
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Jun 4, 2013 11:55
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It is over.  Holy poo poo what a relief this is to have loans paid off. My credit is most going to be wrecked for a bit from being dirty poor before, but I'll manage. No loans!
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Jun 4, 2013 12:26
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SaltLick posted:It is over. Congratulations!!! Omits-Bagels posted:My wife has $30,000 in student loans that just came due. I'm starting my master's this fall. My tuition will be about $44k and my parents are giving me $17K to put toward school. Would it be a better idea to put all 17k straight into my wife's loans or should I just take out $27k worth of loans for myself. Any chance of saving the 17 K in a nice CD with high returns? For that amount of money you might find something worthwhile to put your money into for the next little bit. Otherwise, I always recommend paying as much as possible on the loans only because you never know what will happen in the future. But make sure you have an emergency fund as well! ohemgee posted:In December, I graduated from college. This left me with 5 subsidized loans totaling $21k, and 4 unsubsidized loans totaling $8250. All but 2 are through the DOE/Nelnet, and two are through M&T Bank (which I guess bought out Suntrust because that's who the loan was originally with). My grace period ends on June 12th, but Nelnet's website is telling me that my next due date is 8/2/2013. (Yes I should have been dealing with this sooner but I recently moved out of state). Check IBR first only because if the payment comes out very low (or even zero), you won't need to use your other deferment/forbearance time. As for consolidation, I'm not sure what you mean about which to include - do you have GradPLUS loans or Perkins? If so, whether you should include them or not will depend on the payments and interest rate fluctuation. Perkins is a good thing to include, interest rate wise. GradPLUS, not always a good idea, so you definitely want to check on that. If you have private loans, you can't consolidate those with the federal loans.
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Jun 4, 2013 19:58
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Wiggy Marie posted:Check IBR first only because if the payment comes out very low (or even zero), you won't need to use your other deferment/forbearance time. I will check out IBR, thanks.
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Jun 6, 2013 00:12
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Once I've sent in the forms for IBR on my undergraduate Stafford loans, how do I know if my request has been granted? Is there a confirmation e-mail or an indication on the myfedloan.org website, or do I have to wait until the next billing statement to find out?
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Jun 7, 2013 14:15
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My loan just got sold to FedLoan Servicing/PHEAA! I've been paying the loans down rapidly and now I'm reading horrible reviews of this new company. How is this legal? Am I freaking out for no good reason?
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Jun 12, 2013 05:48
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Does anybody have any thoughts about SoFi? https://www.sofi.com/ I have a lot of student loans from law school that I could refinance at a lower rate and pay roughly the same amount per month that I'm paying right now. It appears to be available only to students and alum of certain schools, and it's been featured in the New York Times and Washington Post. Are there any downsides to refinancing student loans with these guys?
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Jun 12, 2013 06:05
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Those look terrible. Their whole selling point appears to be that the rates are slightly lower than the federal rate, yet wouldn't you lose IBR/PAYE and loan forgiveness on your federal loans by consolidating them with that company?
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Jun 12, 2013 14:15
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oldmangloom posted:Once I've sent in the forms for IBR on my undergraduate Stafford loans, how do I know if my request has been granted? Is there a confirmation e-mail or an indication on the myfedloan.org website, or do I have to wait until the next billing statement to find out? You should receive comfirmation that the payment plan has been set up. purpleandgold posted:My loan just got sold to FedLoan Servicing/PHEAA! I've been paying the loans down rapidly and now I'm reading horrible reviews of this new company. How is this legal? Am I freaking out for no good reason? As long as you keep making your payments, you should be fine. Make payments and try to deal with them as little as possible. If you have to call customer service, have very specific questions. The company isn't terrible, they're just...Pennsylvanian. qwertyman posted:Does anybody have any thoughts about SoFi? https://www.sofi.com/ It looks like a private loan consolidation for federal loans, which means you lose all of the associated benefits with federal loans (deferments/forbearances/forgiveness programs/etc.). I've not heard of this company but I would be very leery of a "deal" like this.
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Jun 12, 2013 15:32
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22,000 @ 5% 24,000 @ 6.8% 12,000 @ 8.8% I recently graduated and make 45k/year. I can afford to pay about 800/month towards student loans. I also have 7k in the bank. Should I take a huge chunk out of that 8.8% loan immediately? Should I be worried about my income to debt ratio?
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Jun 12, 2013 18:08
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marsisol posted:22,000 @ 5% Assuming the 8.8% loan is a private loan based on that rate, yes, absolutely. You want to get rid of it ASAP. I would make a point of keeping enough of your savings to live in case of emergency for at least 2 months, 3 if that's more comfortable. Don't wipe out your savings if you can help it.
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Jun 12, 2013 18:45
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My wife has 44k worth of student debt. Her parents made all the loan arrangements and kept her relatively ignorant of what was going on while she was in school. My wife's mom handled most of the finances in her family and after she died her dad allowed the loan to slip into collections. It has been several years since my wife found out about the debt, and she has tried to arrange a payment plan with various debt collection agencies. Until recently, these agencies were not interested in working with her to set up payments. She only makes $10/hr and I'm a grad student on a fixed stipend, so our ability to pay is pretty limited. Recently, she made an arrangement with the latest agency to hold the debt to make payments of $50/month. We have come to realize that this isn't even enough to cover interest. Her dad has been very unhelpful. He doesn't want to be confronted with the idea of paying back the loan and keeps telling us "not to be intimidated" by creditors. He has given about $400 towards the debt a few months ago after my wife set up payment arrangements with the new debt collector, but has done little else. We're not sure how to proceed. We can't make the sort of monthly payments it would take to get the load paid off and it doesn't seem like there is any help out there for our particular situation. What resources are available for us?
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Jun 14, 2013 19:43
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What kind of loans does she have? Federal and private loans have very different repayment criteria, so we'll need to start with what kind of loans she has. If you're not sure, can you tell me the interest rates and companies? It's normally a good tell. Another way to check is have her log in to the NSLDS: nslds.ed.gov . Loans that show up there are federal; anything that doesn't is a private loan.
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Jun 14, 2013 20:27
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Wiggy Marie posted:What kind of loans does she have? Federal and private loans have very different repayment criteria, so we'll need to start with what kind of loans she has. If you're not sure, can you tell me the interest rates and companies? It's normally a good tell. Another way to check is have her log in to the NSLDS: nslds.ed.gov . Loans that show up there are federal; anything that doesn't is a private loan. I believe they are private loans, but I'm not sure. I'm not sure about her interest rate either. My calculations were based on 6.8%. I'll ask her. Are there general things we can do for private or federal loans?
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Jun 14, 2013 20:45
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Uberskooper posted:I believe they are private loans, but I'm not sure. I'm not sure about her interest rate either. My calculations were based on 6.8%. I'll ask her. Are there general things we can do for private or federal loans? Well, the options available change drastically depending on what kind they are. Assuming they're private loans, your options are to try and consolidate the loans through a private lender such as Wells Fargo, and/or try to call the companies and explain the situation to see if there's any different repayment plans available. Be very frank with them about your situation and ability to pay, but also be aware that there might not be any kind of different options to help out.
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Jun 14, 2013 23:28
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My wife has one last semester of Grad school and will be done mid-August. So now we need to figure out loan consolidation. Currently I have one loan I am making payments (minimal, but now is a good opportunity to start proactively paying it off). She had almost all scholarships in College, so I don't think she has much of anything but the upcoming grad loans. My loan is divided into subsidized and unsubsidized Type: Direct Consol $13,000 Subsidized Rate: 5.875%, they mark it down to 5.63% because i am on auto-debit My second loan: Type: Direct Consol $1800 Unsubsidized Same rate Both are under Ed Financial. My wife's loans I need to figure out tonight, I know she has a combo of federal and private loans. My main question is if there is anyway to consolidate our loans together (or is that a good idea)? I'll update with her info whenever I can get it from her, the next question is basically best way to pay it off?
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Jun 20, 2013 14:48
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Spousal consolidations were eliminated several years ago because they were such a cluster. You'd need to consolidate hers separately from yours. As for paying off, first you'll need to figure out the balance and what kind of payments you both can afford. If you decide to consolidate (check the interest rates!), once that's done call up the servicers and discuss payment plans. Congrats to your wife!
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Jun 20, 2013 16:34
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Great thread, extremely informative. Once I go back to school hopefully I'll be able to make it less painful! Anyway, on to my question. What is the difference between student loan debt and back tuition owed directly to a university? When the latter goes into collections, is it reflected on your credit report? I just checked my Equifax credit report today, and even though I owe several thousand in back tuition, there's no entry for it under Negative Accounts, Collections, or Public Records.
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Jun 21, 2013 20:14
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Student loans would be handled by either a private lender or the government, depending on the type of loan. Tuition owed to the school wouldn't be handled the same way. It's basically treated like a bill. How the school handles collections is up to the school. You'd need to contact the bursar/cashier's office to discuss your options with them.
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Jun 21, 2013 20:36
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I manage my student loan through myfedloan.org. I've recently joined the fortunate - I paid off my loan a week ago. Zero balance. Celebrations are in order. However, last night I received my monthly "your bill is due" notice. I'm told I have until 7/13 to make my next payment. I don't even have a "make payment" button on the website anymore. I could not be less worried about missing this phantom payment, but I'm curious, is there anything I should be doing to formally wrap up the loan?
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Jun 25, 2013 12:05
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First off, congratulations! As for your question, how recently did you pay off the loan? It's possible the notice was sent before the payment was processed. Assuming the loan is paid in full and any accrued interest was also paid (the only thing you would want to double check on), they loan servicer will send you a "paid in full" letter soon. It wouldn't hurt to call to double check your balance, but it sounds like it was probably a timing issue.
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Jun 25, 2013 14:48
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I've got about $50,000 at an average of slightly below 6.55% in loans from going to Grad School (useless) and have worked for the last year and a half. I've been paying $700 (which is about 125 over what i needed to be paying) I wanted to buy a place in the next year or so but am unable to decide if it'll be worth buying something or paying off student loans instead, due to the low housing cost/interest rates right now. The thinking behind that is instead of spending $900+ on rent a month, I could be throwing that into a house and getting something of value. Too bad I can't get a 2% loan to cover my student loans and pay that off instead, I find that kind of dumb. Sorry to go off on a tangent. Anyway, I have about $30,000 saved up, not really doing much of anything, and I don't have many expenses other than rent, student loans, and food/entertainment. I feel like at this point I need to determine what to do with that money -- invest, pay off loans, look into buying a place? Letting it sit there isn't really doing me much good except to see the numbers rise and think I can buy a better place, eventually. Long story short: 50,000 in student loans with 6.55% interest $700 a month in payments (125 over minimum, ten year loans) 30,000 sitting in savings gaining minimal interest Drop 10k on student loans? Save it for a house? What's the best option?
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Jun 26, 2013 00:11
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Wiggy Marie posted:First off, congratulations!
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Jun 26, 2013 01:38
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MC Fruit Stripe posted:I'll bet it's a timing issue - the payoff and the bill notice were only a few days apart. It's good to hear I can expect a paid in full letter. This is the first loan I've had/paid where there's not a Title on the other side of it. I didn't know if for a debt like this, if they'd sorta acknowledge our business is finished. Good to hear that they will, I want everything nice and official. I think if I receive a bill next month I'll contact them. Check your little inbox on the site too. They always have a copy of everything they've sent in the mail, and it often shows statements and notifications a day or two before they print and mail them. It's possible that you have the bill notice and then a couple days later a letter stating that you're paid in full
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Jun 26, 2013 02:42
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To Vex a Stranger posted:Long story short: I always, always suggest paying off the loans ASAP, because I have seen too many "if only I had" situations. Once you've got the loans gone, all that money you're paying toward them can go 100% to a home loan instead. I bought my house when I had no student loans, and it will be a crunch when I start paying on my student loans AND mortgage. However, I will qualify my biased advise by saying I am no financial advisor, and I highly suggest you contact one or a trusted relative/friend to discuss your thoughts.
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Jun 27, 2013 02:25
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I have a FAFSA question, specifically about appeals and the quantity of documentation they're wanting. The situation is as follows: My sister, brother-in-law, and their two children have been living with me since October 2012. He started receiving unemployment in December 2012, and was unemployed through May 2013. He took up employment from May 2013 until about mid-July, when he'll be separating from this employer. Then he will not be on unemployment. It is expected that they will move out around October 2013. I have revised my FAFSA to include them in the household size (it's projected that they will be able to be claimed as dependents if they remain until October 2013), and I have documentation proving that he was on unemployment (so he's been receiving assistance from me), I have documentation proving that he was employed, and I have a notarized statement from both him and myself stating that he received/I supplied over half of his aid to him and will continue to do so, making him and his family claimable as dependents. This is all the documentation that I can produce, and I'm worried that it still won't be enough for them to be able to approve my appeal. Does anyone know much about the appeals process? Wickerman fucked around with this message at 13:18 on Jun 28, 2013 |
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Jun 28, 2013 13:13
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What they need is something showing that you are providing over 50% to him and his family. Some schools will just take a statement for this (I provide over 50% support to - and then list their names, ages, relationships), but some will dig deeper. Honestly, if he's receiving unemployment the school can say that nope, you're not providing over 50% support, but they could just take a statement too and be done with it. One final thing I'll say is, on the FAFSA when it asks about household, it specifies: • other people if they now live with you, you provide more than half of their support and you will continue to provide more than half of their support between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014. A lot of schools take this to mean that you will provide the support for the entire aid year, not just a portion. So if they're moving out in October, that is another potential reason that the school will say no. It's not a guarantee, but I wanted to give you a head's up just in case.
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Jun 28, 2013 13:34
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Wiggy Marie posted:It's not a guarantee, but I wanted to give you a head's up just in case. Should I even bother with it then? Or just submit the statements and see what happens?
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Jun 28, 2013 15:24
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It doesn't hurt to submit the documents. You won't be penalized or anything, since you're changing your household to include more people, not the other way around. The worst that will happen is your information stays the same in the school's system.
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Jun 28, 2013 15:28
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I'll go ahead and submit the statements and the documents then. I didn't realize that when I submitted my FAFSA back in March and made a revision one week later to include this household size change that my institution would only pull the FAFSA once, and any additional pulls would require an appeal process.
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Jun 28, 2013 16:49
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They can pull the FAFSA more than once, but changes to household size require additional verification because it has such a large impact on the EFC.
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Jun 28, 2013 21:29
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purpleandgold posted:My loan just got sold to FedLoan Servicing/PHEAA! I've been paying the loans down rapidly and now I'm reading horrible reviews of this new company. How is this legal? Am I freaking out for no good reason? The federal government can transfer your loans wherever they want. My loans have transferred three times and I have not really noticed a difference between any of the servicers. Namirsolo fucked around with this message at 02:27 on Jun 29, 2013 |
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Jun 29, 2013 02:22
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Effexxor posted:
Trying to go to grad school in the fall, after unsubsidized Stafford loans I'm $12-12.5k/yr short currently, and trying to figure out the best way to bridge the gap. Thanks in advance if anyone can offer any insight.
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Jun 29, 2013 18:15
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Perkins must be offered by the school, but in terms of hierarchy they're the best option. As for Grad school, you could potentially receive Perkins or unsubsidized, and then apply for a GradPLUS or private loan separately. I would always opt for a gradPLUS before a private loan because of repayment terms, but the interest rate is higher: 7.9%.
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Jun 29, 2013 23:31
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I'm freaking out that I've taken out way too much in loans and will have a bill over my head for the rest of my life. Or at the very least (calculated out) the next 15 years or so after I graduate college next year. How realistic is this? I've already taken out $17,000 and this year I have the option to take out $16,000 or possibly more and only $6,000 of it I need for tuition. However a large chunk of that $16,000 loan for this year would seriously help with certain expenses. (knocking out my Bill Me Later bill once and for all so I no longer have to deal with it, medical expenses that I need) I would owe roughly $34,000 by the end of 2014. (I graduate this next May) I feel like short of having a job on Wall Street I'm basically boned for the rest of my adult life. Would they allow the $200 or so minimum to pay back per month even with a fee that high? Because if there (was some crazy high income job I managed to get in a year-unlikely) was a way to give them $1,000 a month I'd be all set in almost 3 years which I could handle. Actually, to be fair I don't even care about not having it fully paid until a little over a decade later, I just worry it's going to be a huge hassle on my other expenses when I start living independently. (food, rent, things you typically need to survive as a twentysomething/human being)
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Jul 1, 2013 15:56
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The payment plan will probably depend heavily on your income, although with an amount like that consolidation might be a good idea to cut down on the standard monthly payment (you can always pay more/pay off early). Assuming these are entirely federal loans, it's a manageable amount, but you should only take what you absolutely need to cut down on your future debt. If you can swing just taking out what you need for tuition, that would help you in the future - but if you NEED the medical/etc., then do what you gotta do!
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Jul 1, 2013 16:17
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| # ? May 31, 2024 10:36 |
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Thanks for the advice Wiggly Marie. I don't qualify for Perkins, but have been awarded the max amount of unsubsidized Stafford loans and applied for GradPLUS.
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Jul 1, 2013 21:30
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