NWR : Student Loan Debt

I know this has been touched on so many times but I need advice....

I have TONS of student loans both private and federal. They're with about 4 different lenders now and each one wants about $300/month or more. I just can't do it. One of my lenders is impossible to deal with in terms of getting deferments, etc. If I consolidate some of loans with lower interest will go up due to consolidation with higher interest loans.

I really have no idea what to do and it's stressing me out beyond believe. Should I go speak to a financial advisor? Do I shop around and consolidate?

I tried Nelnet and the payment was smaller but still HUGE!

HELP!

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

research nyour payment options consolidations would prob be your best bet!

I would go speak to someone! Good luck Ill be in your boat in a couple years!

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

I would talk to a financial advisor. When I got out of school my loans were crazy and I couldn't afford the payments - i kept deffering them and set up different payment plans on others, finally I consolidated all of the federal loans, so I had only 2 payments: the federal and the private.

last year FH looked at my loans and it turns out on one of them I had only been paying the interest and on the ones I consolidated, the term had been extended to 10 years!

I was very stressed over the payments and didn't look into what I was doing enough, we corrected the one loan so I am paying on principle now (but the payment went from $128 to $485 a month!) but the other loans are still at a long term, frankly we couldn't afford if that loan went up to $500 also, so I won't be refinancing that one for awhile.

Definatley talk to someone who has your best interest in mind.
Good Luck! College shouldn't be so expensive ...but that's another debate I won't get into here

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

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Posted by Nina_m74

I would talk to a financial advisor. When I got out of school my loans were crazy and I couldn't afford the payments - i kept deffering them and set up different payment plans on others, finally I consolidated all of the federal loans, so I had only 2 payments: the federal and the private.

last year FH looked at my loans and it turns out on one of them I had only been paying the interest and on the ones I consolidated, the term had been extended to 10 years!

I was very stressed over the payments and didn't look into what I was doing enough, we corrected the one loan so I am paying on principle now (but the payment went from $128 to $485 a month!) but the other loans are still at a long term, frankly we couldn't afford if that loan went up to $500 also, so I won't be refinancing that one for awhile.

Definatley talk to someone who has your best interest in mind.
Good Luck! College shouldn't be so expensive ...but that's another debate I won't get into here

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AGREED!

Thanks ladies. I now need to find a good financial advisor!!!

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

I'm going to be in this position next year and I also need advice.

I am on a full ride to law school, so all of my debts are undergrad debts. the first few undergrad loans I took out had a fantastic interest rate (I had a cosigner). For the last loan, I was approved on a standalone basis (they didn't give me the option for a cosigner at that point) and I just looked the other day and the interest rate is RIDICULOUS (13%).

Am I locked into this interest rate forever, or can I somehow bring this down by refinancing or consolidating? Any advice??

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

Definitely talk to someone and research your options. I ended consolidating my student loans all under SallieMae, which also gives you several payment options. I actually ended up with a graduated payment option where the monthly in the beginning is low (taking into account your are not making much yet) and will gradually increase over time and your earnings increase. They also allow you to change your payment plans when you want depending on your financial situation.

They always tell you to go out and get a college education, but it's so expensive. College should not be that expensive!

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

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Posted by Jess125483

I'm going to be in this position next year and I also need advice.

I am on a full ride to law school, so all of my debts are undergrad debts. the first few undergrad loans I took out had a fantastic interest rate (I had a cosigner). For the last loan, I was approved on a standalone basis (they didn't give me the option for a cosigner at that point) and I just looked the other day and the interest rate is RIDICULOUS (13%).

Am I locked into this interest rate forever, or can I somehow bring this down by refinancing or consolidating? Any advice??

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Consolidating your loans usually brings down your rates. 13% is insane...I pay, I believe about 4% (if even) on my loans. Most places will also lower your rate after you have kept up with payments for a certain number of months.

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

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Posted by rkl1130

Definitely talk to someone and research your options. I ended consolidating my student loans all under SallieMae, which also gives you several payment options. I actually ended up with a graduated payment option where the monthly in the beginning is low (taking into account your are not making much yet) and will gradually increase over time and your earnings increase. They also allow you to change your payment plans when you want depending on your financial situation.

They always tell you to go out and get a college education, but it's so expensive. College should not be that expensive!

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I did my undergrad at NYU, so man oh man do I feel the pain of that expensive education, lol!

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

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Posted by Jess125483

I'm going to be in this position next year and I also need advice.

I am on a full ride to law school, so all of my debts are undergrad debts. the first few undergrad loans I took out had a fantastic interest rate (I had a cosigner). For the last loan, I was approved on a standalone basis (they didn't give me the option for a cosigner at that point) and I just looked the other day and the interest rate is RIDICULOUS (13%).

Am I locked into this interest rate forever, or can I somehow bring this down by refinancing or consolidating? Any advice??

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You can look into consolidating that loan with other loans depending on whether or not it is private. If it is a private loan, your options are limited. One thought is if you own a home, you can refinance and pay off the loan and the interest rate would probably be lower than 13%

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

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Posted by rkl1130

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Posted by Jess125483

I'm going to be in this position next year and I also need advice.

I am on a full ride to law school, so all of my debts are undergrad debts. the first few undergrad loans I took out had a fantastic interest rate (I had a cosigner). For the last loan, I was approved on a standalone basis (they didn't give me the option for a cosigner at that point) and I just looked the other day and the interest rate is RIDICULOUS (13%).

Am I locked into this interest rate forever, or can I somehow bring this down by refinancing or consolidating? Any advice??

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Consolidating your loans usually brings down your rates. 13% is insane...I pay, I believe about 4% (if even) on my loans. Most places will also lower your rate after you have kept up with payments for a certain number of months.

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How can you be paying 4% (that's less than prime)? I think maybe you're talking about federal loans? I'm talking about private....

I have fantastic credit, so there should be no reason for a high rate other than the fact that I was 20 years old at the time I was approved as a standalone.

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

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Posted by tbone66

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Posted by Jess125483

I'm going to be in this position next year and I also need advice.

I am on a full ride to law school, so all of my debts are undergrad debts. the first few undergrad loans I took out had a fantastic interest rate (I had a cosigner). For the last loan, I was approved on a standalone basis (they didn't give me the option for a cosigner at that point) and I just looked the other day and the interest rate is RIDICULOUS (13%).

Am I locked into this interest rate forever, or can I somehow bring this down by refinancing or consolidating? Any advice??

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You can look into consolidating that loan with other loans depending on whether or not it is private. If it is a private loan, your options are limited. One thought is if you own a home, you can refinance and pay off the loan and the interest rate would probably be lower than 13%

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Fortunately, we are homeowners and if my consolidation options are limited on the private end, I think that's actually a great idea - we can definitely take a home equity loan or refinance at about 5% interest for just that one loan if I can't figure out another option. Wow, I feel relieved - thanks!!!

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

For stafford (federal) loans Congress sets the interest rate for consolidation each July. I believe the current rate is about 6.25%. Timing matters a lot. When I graduated law school interest rates were even higher, so now I'm locked in at around 7%. FH graduated two years later and rates had dropped dramatically. He locked in around 3.8%. With incentives (consolidation while in grace period, automatic deduction for payments, 36 consecutive months, he will be at 1.8% in a few months, which is almost like free money. If you consolidated now, you'd probably be around 5% if you used the incentives, which is pretty good.

The 13% loan has to be commercial, which means you can't use federal consolidation. But at that rate you'd probably do better just taking about a line of credit with a bank! That's almost credit card interest. My commercials are adjustable, and they are about 8% right now.

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

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Posted by Jess125483

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Posted by rkl1130

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Posted by Jess125483

I'm going to be in this position next year and I also need advice.

I am on a full ride to law school, so all of my debts are undergrad debts. the first few undergrad loans I took out had a fantastic interest rate (I had a cosigner). For the last loan, I was approved on a standalone basis (they didn't give me the option for a cosigner at that point) and I just looked the other day and the interest rate is RIDICULOUS (13%).

Am I locked into this interest rate forever, or can I somehow bring this down by refinancing or consolidating? Any advice??

---

Consolidating your loans usually brings down your rates. 13% is insane...I pay, I believe about 4% (if even) on my loans. Most places will also lower your rate after you have kept up with payments for a certain number of months.

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How can you be paying 4% (that's less than prime)? I think maybe you're talking about federal loans? I'm talking about private....

I have fantastic credit, so there should be no reason for a high rate other than the fact that I was 20 years old at the time I was approved as a standalone.

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I lucked out in that all my loans were federal, so I was able to get a low rate. I also consolidated a while ago when the rates were lower.

If it's a private loan, your options may be more limited. At 13%, you can always get a consolidation loan at the bank or a line of credit to consolidate, which will probably give you about 8%.

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

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Posted by BbyJenny

For stafford (federal) loans Congress sets the interest rate for consolidation each July. I believe the current rate is about 6.25%. Timing matters a lot. When I graduated law school interest rates were even higher, so now I'm locked in at around 7%. FH graduated two years later and rates had dropped dramatically. He locked in around 3.8%. With incentives (consolidation while in grace period, automatic deduction for payments, 36 consecutive months, he will be at 1.8% in a few months, which is almost like free money. If you consolidated now, you'd probably be around 5% if you used the incentives, which is pretty good.

The 13% loan has to be commercial, which means you can't use federal consolidation. But at that rate you'd probably do better just taking about a line of credit with a bank! That's almost credit card interest. My commercials are adjustable, and they are about 8% right now.

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Yes, I am referring to a commercial, private loan.

Since I finished undergrad a few years ago, I locked in my federal loans right before t he rate was increased to 6%. I believe I am locked in around 4% on my federal loans.

With respect to my private loans, the first 3 years of my undergrad are at 7.25%. This last year, where I went standalone, is 13%. So, I guess the most specific thing I'm wondering is if it is possible to consolidate the 7% private loans in with the 13% private loan. If it brings the other loans up at all, it's definitely not worth it and I think I will just take out a home equity loan. We had one previously for FH's student loan and we were approvied at around 5.5%. We've since paid that loan off, so we might as well go for another round of that, considering 13% is basically financial rape! Oh, if I only knew at 20 years old what I know now!!!

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

Also, I'm not yet in repayment on any of these loans because I have a year of law school remaining. However, I'm accuring interest on this pain in the but 13% loan. Am I able to pay this loan off now (hypothetically, if i were to take out a home equity loan and use those funds to pay it off) despite the fact that it's not in repayment yet?

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

Yeah, that is brutal. If I understood this stuff at all I would have waited for rates to go back down on my federal loans before consolidation...would have saved at least 3%.

I know that do have private loan consolidation available, but since Congress isn't setting the rates, they are usually Prime or Prime +, which means they are about 8-$8.5% right now (we've been helping my sister pick her lenders for law school this month). That would mean that on a blended basis you are probably paying about that much right now, so it's not that much of a savings.

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

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Posted by Jess125483

Also, I'm not yet in repayment on any of these loans because I have a year of law school remaining. However, I'm accuring interest on this pain in the but 13% loan. Am I able to pay this loan off now (hypothetically, if i were to take out a home equity loan and use those funds to pay it off) despite the fact that it's not in repayment yet?

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Technically you should be able to pay off this loan and/or the interest even if you are not in repayment and not get penalized. Talk with your loan provider though, because there are some loans that do penalize you for pre-payment.

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

Oh my, I totally hear you...I cringe every time I go out to the mailbox. Private loan companies are criminal and disgusting...they have no consideration that we might want to eat or live with a roof over our head.

I had to take loans out for law school. I could have a house with my law school debt. One wants 900 a month! (That is the private loan). I also have no idea what to do, as I work in the public interest sector and make little...I would try to re-consolidate...good luck!

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

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Posted by Mich0621

Oh my, I totally hear you...I cringe every time I go out to the mailbox. Private loan companies are criminal and disgusting...they have no consideration that we might want to eat or live with a roof over our head.

I had to take loans out for law school. I could have a house with my law school debt. One wants 900 a month! (That is the private loan). I also have no idea what to do, as I work in the public interest sector and make little...I would try to re-consolidate...good luck!

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Thanks...I hear ya...I have about $100,000 in loans and they are growing so fast with interest. Some say to take a private loan and pay off some but that's still 8%. I'm so lost. I told FH we need to buy a house just to get a home equity loan, haha....

I seriously have no idea what to do!

Re: NWR : Student Loan Debt

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Posted by Mich0621

Oh my, I totally hear you...I cringe every time I go out to the mailbox. Private loan companies are criminal and disgusting...they have no consideration that we might want to eat or live with a roof over our head.

I had to take loans out for law school. I could have a house with my law school debt. One wants 900 a month! (That is the private loan). I also have no idea what to do, as I work in the public interest sector and make little...I would try to re-consolidate...good luck!

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Did you check this with your law school? A lot of law schools have loan repayment assistance for people in public interest!! Your school might pay back some of your loan for you.