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Pompous Rhombus posted:Quick question: Federal loans do, I don't know about private. I would check with the institution that will be issuing the loan.
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Sep 29, 2014 15:43
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Pompous Rhombus posted:However, is there any problem with getting a private loan, paying my tuition bill through a credit card, and then paying the credit card off instantly with the loan money in my bank account? The money doesn't go directly to the institution from the loan provider, right? I'm not sure if it's different internationally, but I believe most private education loans still go directly to the school and then the school will reimburse you for any amount sent over the cost of tuition/fees. I guess it's possible you could time it so you take out the loan, pay the school with your card while the loan is being disbursed and then get the full amount of the loan sent back to you to pay the card...but that sounds like some form of fraud. I don't know what dollar amounts you're talking for tuition or card rewards, but I feel pretty safe in saying the game you're trying to play isn't worth it. I'd avoid private loans as much as possible. Pay as much as you can in cash (get the card and use the cash to pay that off if you want), but take as small of private loans as you can and get rid of them as soon as possible.
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Sep 30, 2014 03:40
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Pompous Rhombus posted:It'd be a private loan, this particular university doesn't do anything with US federal loans. Isn't this a red flag for a university?
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Sep 30, 2014 18:13
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RogueLemming posted:I'm not sure if it's different internationally, but I believe most private education loans still go directly to the school and then the school will reimburse you for any amount sent over the cost of tuition/fees. I guess it's possible you could time it so you take out the loan, pay the school with your card while the loan is being disbursed and then get the full amount of the loan sent back to you to pay the card...but that sounds like some form of fraud. I have enough money saved to probably avoid loans if I need to, but my living expenses for two years + tuition will basically run through all of it if I can't find a job/don't have time for one. I can only work 20hrs/week during school, unlimited during breaks, but there are mandatory unpaid internships (teaching, yay!) as part of my programme and the labour market in Tasmania is the shittiest in Australia, so I'm not budgeting any income right now. If I didn't take out any loans I'd probably be pretty much penniless when I graduate, and there are major life expenditures around that time (wedding, etc) that I need to take into consideration. Worst case with the tuition loans, I could repay them from savings within 6 months of graduating without having had to pay any interest, right? dalstrs posted:Isn't this a red flag for a university? Not for ones outside of the US, no 
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Sep 30, 2014 19:35
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Pompous Rhombus posted:If I didn't take out any loans I'd probably be pretty much penniless when I graduate, and there are major life expenditures around that time (wedding, etc) that I need to take into consideration. Worst case with the tuition loans, I could repay them from savings within 6 months of graduating without having had to pay any interest, right? From your previous post, I thought you were just studying abroad, so my answer was assuming US private loans and US laws. It doesn't appear you're using either of those, so I can't comment.
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Oct 4, 2014 02:29
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RogueLemming posted:From your previous post, I thought you were just studying abroad, so my answer was assuming US private loans and US laws. It doesn't appear you're using either of those, so I can't comment. Yeah, I actually called Wells Fargo up yesterday to check on whether the funds were dispersed to the student or the institution (for the record, the regular grad loan it looked like it goes straight to the institution, although some other types can/do go directly to the borrower), and found out that they don't have any arrangements with my university-to-be, so can't loan me anything. The CSR was apologetic and helpfully suggested talking to the university's international student office to see if they knew of any other Americans who had done something similar, which sounds like a good bet. If they come back with nothing I'll do some more looking on my own. I have a feeling there's got to be a way to do it, although I may not like the interest rates. I will say, would be sweating serious bullets right now if I didn't have the money saved anyways.
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Oct 4, 2014 17:13
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Has anyone here had luck consolidating or refinancing their private debt? Is it worth it? I honestly don't want to extend the lifespan of my loans, I just want a lower interest rate. I have four loans, one of which is federal. I'd like to keep the federal loan out of this as I know I have various options like forgiveness or IBR to avail myself of. Does anyone have any banks or credit unions to recommend for this sort of thing?
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Oct 6, 2014 20:37
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Radio Talmudist posted:Has anyone here had luck consolidating or refinancing their private debt?
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Oct 7, 2014 00:02
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Tyro posted:Federal loans do, I don't know about private. I would check with the institution that will be issuing the loan. Federal loans definitely do. And should, frankly. If a student drops out of school and gets all of the funds for the loans given straight to them, or gets them when it later turns out that they shouldn't have received them, then the student has to pay it all back. It's a massive nightmare and headache.
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Oct 7, 2014 06:56
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Hmm. Maybe I should just call CU up and see what they can do for me. I've had quite a few places recommended to me for consolidating my loans, and I'm having trouble figuring out who I should go with.
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Oct 7, 2014 14:25
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Couple questions. I've been out of school since May 12 due to medical reasons. It says the first payment on my loans is due on 01/12/14, why is this longer than 6 months? Shouldn't the grace period end on 11/12? If I enroll for spring semester, does this extend my in school deferment even though the first day of class is a couple of weeks after first payment is due? If I need to enter forbearance, when should I file the paperwork?
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Oct 8, 2014 17:27
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Marvin Freeman posted:Couple questions. I've been out of school since May 12 due to medical reasons. It says the first payment on my loans is due on 01/12/14, why is this longer than 6 months? Shouldn't the grace period end on 11/12? 1. Your servicer has to give you advance notification of any payment amount change. So if someone's grace period ended on 11/20/14 and their next payment is due on 12/19/14, that's not enough time for us to send out notification of your payment amount. So you'd get an administrative forbearance to give us time to let you know payments are going to start, and would leave your next payment due on 01/19/15. Your grace period and the interest subsidization would end in November, you just wouldn't be required to pay until January. 2. It would not, because you will have used up your grace period and entered repayment. However, if you put a six month forbearance on the loan and go back to school after a month, the servicer would have to shorten your forbearance and start your in school deferment on the date that the school states you are enrolled at least half time. 3. Less than 60 days before the next payment due date, and preferably, give the processing a week to get the forbeance onto the account, though if you end up being 2-3 days late by the time that the forbearance is put on, it is no big deal.
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Oct 8, 2014 23:20
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Thanks! 
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Oct 9, 2014 17:54
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Hey folks, quick question: I've got private loans with Sallie Mae and my family had been gracious enough to extend me a personal loan for the rest of my Sallie Mae loan balance. I want to pay off my loan in full but I want to make sure that Sallie Mae doesn't screw me over. I talked to a rep at my bank and he suggested using a bank check at a minimum, but I want to see if you folks had any advice as well. Thanks!
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Oct 11, 2014 16:28
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Blinkz0rz posted:Hey folks, quick question: 1. Call them and get a payoff letter emailed/mailed/faxed to you. The letter states if you pay off your loan by X day, you will pay $X. Expect them to take 3-5 days to send you a 7-day payoff letter. I recommend immediately asking for a manager because Sallie Mae customer support staff is garbage. Last time I checked (February) you couldn't get this info on their website either. 2. Once you have your payoff letter make a copy of it and include it with the payment you are going to mail to them. Also include a demand for a letter verifying that your debt with them is completely paid off. Write the check for more than the payoff amount by like 30 bucks because they're going to ignore the payoff amount anyway because Sallie Mae is garbage. 3. Wait about three months until they eventually get around to sending you a letter confirming your debt is paid and a check for the over-payment you sent minus any additional interest they decided to tack on anyway. Make several copies of that letter and keep it in your records because Sallie Mae is garbage. 4. Tell all your friends Sallie Mae (now Navient) is garbage and not to get any loans through them. Feel free to start doing step 4 right now. 100 HOGS AGREE fucked around with this message at 17:00 on Oct 11, 2014 |
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Oct 11, 2014 16:57
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^Honestly don't even bother finding the payoff. Just figure out your daily interest and add 5 days worth. Yeah you overpay but who cares. It is worth your $10-40 to be rid of them.Blinkz0rz posted:Hey folks, quick question: All you have to do is pay it online and be done with it. I would not mail them a check. Pop in all the info online and it is all good. I would pay a small amount more so that you pay it off since they don't have a pay in full option. They will send you a check back in a month or so for the balance they owe you. V: Double Edit: I paid my wife's off in May this way. But you could be right. spwrozek fucked around with this message at 17:09 on Oct 11, 2014 |
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Oct 11, 2014 17:01
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spwrozek posted:All you have to do is pay it online and be done with it. I would not mail them a check. Pop in all the info online and it is all good. I would pay a small amount more so that you pay it off since they don't have a pay in full option. They will send you a check back in a month or so for the balance they owe you. Sallie Mae is garbage.
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Oct 11, 2014 17:06
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Okay, this is my first foray into loans and I'm so, so confused even after reading all of the things. I'm trying to figure out how I can afford Graduate school. I have $25k in mutual funds at the moment but need to accrue somewhere around $48k to pay for three years of graduate school. So I need about $23K in Graduate Stafford loans. That's the easy part. The hard part is deciding whether or not I clean out my mutual fund account first and then rely on loans or if I use loans to pay for the first year of school and a bit of the second and then hit up my mutual fund money. Or should I go halfsies all throughout school? I think it'll cost me $10k in interest by the time I've paid off the loans. But maybe I'd earn more through my mutual fund than I'd pay in fees? I'd love to know if anyone has suggestions on this. What should I use to pay for school in what order? I'm trying to save the most money I'm able.
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Oct 13, 2014 15:41
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JibbaJabberwocky posted:Okay, this is my first foray into loans and I'm so, so confused even after reading all of the things. I'm trying to figure out how I can afford Graduate school. I have $25k in mutual funds at the moment but need to accrue somewhere around $48k to pay for three years of graduate school. So I need about $23K in Graduate Stafford loans. That's the easy part. The hard part is deciding whether or not I clean out my mutual fund account first and then rely on loans or if I use loans to pay for the first year of school and a bit of the second and then hit up my mutual fund money. Or should I go halfsies all throughout school? I think it'll cost me $10k in interest by the time I've paid off the loans. But maybe I'd earn more through my mutual fund than I'd pay in fees? I'd love to know if anyone has suggestions on this. What should I use to pay for school in what order? I'm trying to save the most money I'm able. I never went to grad school so I'm not sure if there are subsidized/unsubsidized distinction with GradPlus oans like there is for undergrad. Things to consider: *If your loan is subsidized the government will pay your interest while you're in school, so I would take the loans first and let your mutual funds accrue whatever interest until you need them to pay the rest. *If they are unsubsidized, interest will accrue in school (and on 23K even with a good rate over 1.5 years it could lead to a chunk of change) and then capitalized which you really want to avoid as much as possible. In that case paying cold hard cash for the first half seems to be the better choice so the interest on your loans doesn't have that much time to build. *Study the history of your degree program to check your COA for the last decade or so. I'm presuming you're not a science/engineering major since they typically get stipends for grad school, and not med school/law school since those are like 48K a year not 48K for three years. Tuition and fees have a way of going up, up, up. Not really sure where I'm going with this but it's worth factoring into your calculations. *I am not a financial advisor and this is all interest rate dependent.
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Oct 15, 2014 00:10
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seacat posted:I never went to grad school so I'm not sure if there are subsidized/unsubsidized distinction with GradPlus oans like there is for undergrad. Things to consider: I'll be paying 6.8% interest on unsubsidized loans, which is across the board what is available for Federal grad student loans. I'm unsure if a mutual fund is likely to increase that much on a yearly basis or not. Actually, I'm not even sure at what rate they do take interest for the loans. Someone who knows more about Stafford loans might be able to help...
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Oct 15, 2014 20:25
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Your mutuals could also tank. I would cash flow as much as possible and use loans later. Alternatively, interest rates on loans may go up. Everything is a risk, which way do you want to hedge your risk?
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Oct 15, 2014 22:52
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I'd go the other way. Student Loan debt is incredibly easy to manage and the downside risk is generally reasonable.
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Oct 16, 2014 05:15
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I saw earlier in this thread an online bank called SoFi that had unbelievable rates available for student loan refinancing. I entered my SSN (a soft credit check) and got declined for 17,000 dollars. I have a credit score in the 750 range and make a little less than 35k a year. Any idea why I wouldn't be accepted? I'm thinking it's either the age of my student loans (they are just now coming due) or my income. Also, what alternatives are there that might be able to beat 5.41 to 6.8%?
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Oct 18, 2014 02:09
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I don't know if they have changed their business model but Sofi used to only offer refinancing to graduates of schools they had approved, in order to maximize their expectations of being repaid.
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Oct 18, 2014 12:24
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What was the rate you were trying to get?
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Oct 18, 2014 12:45
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They sent an email out this morning with the official reason: not enough income. Oh well. I'll try my luck again next year after I get a raise.Tyro posted:I don't know if they have changed their business model but Sofi used to only offer refinancing to graduates of schools they had approved, in order to maximize their expectations of being repaid. My school showed up on their list when I was filling out my profile. It's a state school in Florida, so I hope it's one of their approved ones.  100 HOGS AGREE posted:What was the rate you were trying to get? I didn't get to select a rate; I filled out a short questionnaire about income, work history, etc. and then it just gave me the option to "check my rate" which is when it told me I was declined.  Since my credit score is pretty good, (according to the Adverse Notice, Experian puts me at a 772  ) I was hoping to land their lowest rate for a fixed loan at 3.63%. I would take anything below my weighted average though, which is currently around 5.73%.
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Oct 18, 2014 14:58
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JibbaJabberwocky posted:I'll be paying 6.8% interest on unsubsidized loans Not to pick nits, but I think the rate for grad loans for 14/15 school year is 6.21%. Doesn't really change the situation much though. SiGmA_X posted:Your mutuals could also tank. I would cash flow as much as possible and use loans later. Alternatively, interest rates on loans may go up. Everything is a risk, which way do you want to hedge your risk? ^This. What if there's another financial market crash when you graduate? If you took out the student loans and and kept your mutual funds, you'd have a bunch of debt and your assets would've dropped significantly in value. If the market just crashed you'll probably have a hard time finding a good job, making your debt burden less sustainable. You can defer student loans for a while, but they can practically never be discharged unless you die or are seriously disabled. Plus, if things turn out great and you get a good job, you can always buy more mutual funds later. I know the consensus is that student loans are a piece of cake, but I'd bet most people never worked in payroll and saw how many people making crap wages have huge student loan garnishments. By the time your wages get garnished, you'll have interest and penalties, making the hole that much harder to dig out of. On an unrelated note, I just checked on my student loans, and saw my 6.8% fixed loans that the gov't sold to Sallie Mae are now 6.55% loans owned by Navient. Any idea what happened? I know Sallie Mae rolled off their loan wing, but why the rate drop? posh spaz fucked around with this message at 00:53 on Oct 26, 2014 |
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Oct 26, 2014 00:45
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posh spaz posted:Not to pick nits, but I think the rate for grad loans for 14/15 school year is 6.21%. Doesn't really change the situation much though. If the market crashes you file for IBR and pay nothing. People having anything coming out of their paycheck have hosed up royally in ways that have nothing to do with their mutual fund management. Student loans are a piece of cake because if things get bad you can pay less on them and then they all go away if you never make enough money; their worst case scenario is 20 years of 15% flat deduction in wages (adjusted for poverty level), and their best case is you getting the career you want paying it off with the assets you've saved at a higher return than your loans. If you put money in an S&P 500 index on October 17th 2008, you'd have made 4% year over year to present. That's the worst case scenario the market has seen in the last 40 years, so the downside risk with student loans are all pretty solid.
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Oct 26, 2014 02:20
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MJBuddy posted:Student loans are a piece of cake because if things get bad you can pay less on them and then they all go away if you never make enough money; their worst case scenario is 20 years of 15% flat deduction in wages (adjusted for poverty level), and their best case is you getting the career you want paying it off with the assets you've saved at a higher return than your loans. IBR still requires quite a lot of money if you're poor. The poverty level calculations for garnishments is hilariously miserly. I have personally seen lots of people's paychecks where after taking 15% of their discretionary they wouldn't be able to afford rent where they live. No one goes to college planning on working part-time for minimum wage afterwards, but thousands of people do. I'm talking about tail risk here, not most likely outcomes, but tail risk has hosed a lot of unlucky people over. Just don't pretend it doesn't exist.
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Oct 26, 2014 03:58
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posh spaz posted:IBR still requires quite a lot of money if you're poor. The poverty level calculations for garnishments is hilariously miserly. I have personally seen lots of people's paychecks where after taking 15% of their discretionary they wouldn't be able to afford rent where they live. No one goes to college planning on working part-time for minimum wage afterwards, but thousands of people do. I'm talking about tail risk here, not most likely outcomes, but tail risk has hosed a lot of unlucky people over. Just don't pretend it doesn't exist. If you work part time for minimum wage you will pay $0. It's also on a one year lag. That means if you work for next to nothing and pay $0, and get a job that pays better, you get about a year of delay on it, followed by year of partial pay, since it's based on previous year taxation UNLESS you file to adjust immediately (if your salary suddenly falls). You're the one exposing someone to tail risk, which is graduating with no prospects and no assets and student loans due with no cash flow or savings. I'm suggesting a downside risk that preserves assets, liquidity, flexibility, and in the upside you just pay the loan off the day you graduate if you're fine.
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Oct 26, 2014 04:58
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posh spaz posted:On an unrelated note, I just checked on my student loans, and saw my 6.8% fixed loans that the gov't sold to Sallie Mae are now 6.55% loans owned by Navient. Any idea what happened? I know Sallie Mae rolled off their loan wing, but why the rate drop? Fed Loans get a .25% interest rate deduction if you sign up for auto pay.
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Oct 26, 2014 06:00
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MJBuddy - I don't want to argue about it,but Jibbajabberwocky was asking about unsubsidized loans. Under IBR interest is still accrued, and there are realistic scenarios where someone gets a low-paying job for some years after college, then makes more later. if you count on IBR you could end up paying 10's of thousands more over the life of the loan. spwrozek posted:Fed Loans get a .25% interest rate deduction if you sign up for auto pay. I had autopay set up on my Sallie Mae account too. Weird.
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Oct 26, 2014 14:59
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posh spaz posted:MJBuddy - I don't want to argue about it,but Jibbajabberwocky was asking about unsubsidized loans. Under IBR interest is still accrued, and there are realistic scenarios where someone gets a low-paying job for some years after college, then makes more later. if you count on IBR you could end up paying 10's of thousands more over the life of the loan. I was unemployed a year out of grad school and then worked part time min wage and three years out we have a household income that would make my IBR double a 20 year rate. I know how it works. You're assuming no one ever pays over minimum on a 7% loan which is absurd if they get a decent job. IF they don't, their loan is entirely forgiven after 20 years so those 10s of thousands that don't exist even in favorable calculations. The only place you really get nailed for high negative value is if you get a 30k/year job with six figures in student loan debt, about 40-50% in unsub loans and you never get a raise or promotion for your life. So yeah, that's bad. Every other scenario in life, including flipping burgers, taking the loan makes more sense.
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Oct 26, 2014 18:48
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IBR doesn't apply to private loans and there's a ton of people (I actually know a few) with 100k plus in private loans. It's not a panacea.
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Oct 28, 2014 01:08
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mastershakeman posted:IBR doesn't apply to private loans and there's a ton of people (I actually know a few) with 100k plus in private loans. It's not a panacea. The question was about federal loans. Private loans are a different animal, of course, but I (nor the original question) are addressing them here. I'd treat the private loans like a last resort, though, because all of the upside isn't there regarding management.
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Oct 28, 2014 05:10
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What's the best way to ascertain whether Income Based Repayment, Pay As You Earn, or Income-Contingent Repayment is best for me? I've got zero income at the moment while I prepare to move overseas for work, which is probably a 6 month process. After that, my income will probably stay pretty freaking small for at least 2 years? I'm carrying $34,000 worth of eligible loans, and $13,000 institutional, which I don't think I have any options for. Also, since these loans have a couple of years of repayment already into them with deferments and such as well, does that count against the 20 or 25 year loan period, or am I starting from square one as of applying for IBR, PAYE or ICR?
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Oct 29, 2014 22:22
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blackjack posted:What's the best way to ascertain whether Income Based Repayment, Pay As You Earn, or Income-Contingent Repayment is best for me? I've got zero income at the moment while I prepare to move overseas for work, which is probably a 6 month process. After that, my income will probably stay pretty freaking small for at least 2 years? You start from square one, but your current plan doesn't carry any of the payments forward either. IBR has better terms but requires you to file for hardship. ICR has worse terms but you can just do it with a request. Pay As You Earn seems better than both, but only applies to new borrowers (because if you got to graduate into the recession market, gently caress you!).
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Oct 30, 2014 01:54
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MJBuddy posted:You start from square one, but your current plan doesn't carry any of the payments forward either. I think I'll qualify pretty handily for that. Thank you.
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Oct 30, 2014 02:56
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blackjack posted:I think I'll qualify pretty handily for that. Thank you. Remember that the payments adjust 1 year after you file, and that they adjust to your most recent tax filing. So if you, say, file now, get a job that pays well next year, and re-file next November, you will do so with this year's income, giving you two years of low/zero payments. I don't suggest putting them off forever or anything, but in my case I have two loans with higher rates and by keeping the payments low on everything I can pay tge same amount I'd normally pay but all onto the highest rate loan.
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Oct 30, 2014 04:28
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I just got married 1 month ago. My wife has 210k in debt from undergrad/law school. She failed the bar by 1 point and is currently earning 39k per year while her appeal for 1 more point is considered. She has a job offer at a law firm making real money if she passes, but the review board is taking longer than expected to consider it. I graduated 3 years ago and have paid off about half of my student loans since then. I currently owe 15k and make 55k per year. We haven't chosen how to file taxes yet - jointly or separately. I assumed we would file jointly, but it appears income based repayments are a percent of our combined pay. Her projected payments are 2.6k per month currently, which would be very stressful financially. It sounds like income based repayments have to be applied for, though. Since I owe very little does she have a chance of getting this kind of payment scheme? Would it help if we filed our taxes separately - or would that not really affect much since I don't make a bunch of money anyway? We can manage 2k per month loans, I suppose - but the projected forgiveness amount just looks too good to be true. I have seen some reasons in this thread discussed detailing some hidden issues with paying based on income.
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Nov 3, 2014 00:32
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