Comments on: Which Student Loan Repayment Plan Is Right For You?

By: SuburbanFinance

SuburbanFinance — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 10:14:44 +0000

Fortunately I didn’t have to take out loans when I was in college, so I don’t know there are a lot of options to pay back your loans. Thanks for sharing, will refer to it in the future in case someone I know need it.

By: No Nonsense Landlord

No Nonsense Landlord — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 03:07:11 +0000

I am glad I paid my loans off shortly after graduating. I only had $7,500 or so, and I paid like mad to get rid of them. They were at 7% I think.

But they did help me to graduate. I thought about dropping out of school a few times, but knew I would be forced to pay them back right away if I did. So I stayed in school and kept the loans at bay. No interest either while in school.

By: ferventfinance

ferventfinance — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 17:31:05 +0000

One of my goals once finishing college was to pay these stupid things off ASAP. I never spent time researching or trying to understand the different payment plans as I knew I’d always be making a payment more than the minimum, and ensuring the excess was paying down principal and not extending the next due date. I know this isn’t a possibility for everyone but is definitely a good financial goal to have and takes away the time needed to research the payment plans and stress over which one is right for you.

By: fitisthenewpoor

fitisthenewpoor — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 16:24:31 +0000

Another thing to add is that you will have to pay the taxes on any forgiven amount. And it is a complete hassle. My mom had a 20k loan forgiven and ended up owing around $6k in taxes from that loan alone (even though she basically makes no money and is on perm disability).

For us, we do income contingent since both of us are in nonprofits and never expect to make much.

By: blonde_finance

blonde_finance — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 14:57:11 +0000

I do not have student loans and it was one of the greatest “gifts” my dad has ever given me; however, I advise a number of people who have them, it is a very complicated process. Thanks for sharing this info in one place!

By: FrugalRules

FrugalRules — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 14:32:53 +0000

It seems as if the payment options have increased in number over the years. I was on a standard repayment plan and thankfully killed the last one several years ago.

By: Andrew LivingRichCheaply

Andrew LivingRichCheaply — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 13:36:08 +0000

That’s a very comprehensive explanation…thanks! I’m on the 25 extended payment plan…yea those student loans will be here for a while. I paid off the higher interest ones though so the ones left have pretty low interest so I’m not too worried about them. They range from 2% to 4%. I looked into the IBR and loan forgiveness (I work in the public sector), but based on the loan amount and my wife and my income…the IBR would have made me pay based on a 10 year schedule and non debt would have been forgiven. That’s what it seemed when I used the calculator. The pay as you earn would have been different but my loan doesn’t qualify.