Posts Tagged Private Student Loan Consolidation
Looking at Student Loan Debt Consolidations
Posted by admin in Student Loan Debt on September 22, 2010
Many students have had to take out loans to help pay for school, and almost just as many are having a difficult time paying off those loans now that they are out of school. For some of them, even their parents are working to pay off some of these loans. Many of the people in this situation are often wondering if what their options are for paying these off faster and easier.
Student loan consolidation is often the answer to the problems. With student loan consolidations, the numerous and hard to pay bills are turned into one low, monthly payment to help make living easier. Thanks to these low payments, it is often easier for people to pay for their other living expenses, like groceries, and even the occasional movie ticket.
When undergoing a student loan consolidations there are several different things that people must consider. The first and maybe biggest thing is grouping. Many students have both federal student loans and private student loans. It is very important to keep these two types of student loans separated when undergoing student loan consolidation because the federal student loans offer a few important things that you can no longer get if they are consolidated with private student loans.
One of these wonderful things is tax breaks on the interest rates. As you all know, tax breaks can be really nice to have. If you try to combine federal student loans with private student loans though, you will lose this because it is impossible on the private loans.
Another thing that you can look forward to with federal student loans, that is impossible when your student loan consolidation combines both federal and private student loans, is the possible pardons on specific loans that you can get.
The next important thing to look at is the interest rate. If your loans that are going to be combined all have the same interest rate, then it will be a little higher, but there will be no extra fees. If the student loan consolidation combinations that you are going to be using have different interest rates, then your rate will be somewhere between both the highest and the lowest rate that you currently have. Again, for the most part, except with special loans, you will not be charged any fees. Even with those that you are charged a fee for, it will be small and it will never be an upfront fee.
When you are looking at the interest rates offered, you may be told that your interest rate is lower than the rates you currently pay. This will pretty much never be true. Your rate will always land somewhere between what your highest and lowest rates are.
If you find a student loan consolidation program that requires an upfront fee, then there is a very good chance that you have stumbled onto a scam. Scams are something that you defiantly want to watch out for when you are looking for a student loan debt consolidation program.
Eliminating Debt Early With Private Student Loan Consolidation
Posted by admin in Private Student Loan on March 14, 2010
Many recent graduates are finding it harder and harder to stretch new paychecks. Graduation may be a milestone in itself, but alongside a college diploma are the endless monthly bills. Living on one’s own has never been easy. Private student loan consolidation is often used to lower monthly payments and improve credit ratings.
Accumulating Debts
Often, the accumulation of other debts is to blame for such a sorry state of affairs after graduation. Take the case of 25-year-old Tamika Gambrel, who has a $60,000 a year job but still finds it difficult to make ends meet. She has to pay $840 for the apartment, $280 for the car note and a hefty $24,000 credit card debt that came from her college days. She speaks frankly about her debts:
“After four years, I walked away owing only $28,000 in loans. Considering that tuition and room and board alone at Colby was $35,000 a year, I think I did alright.”
Not everyone could put up such a brave face in the face of debt. Some just decide to file for bankruptcy, instead of getting a private student loan consolidation.
Fees Not Letting Up
According to the College Board:
“The cost of attending a public, four-year college or university in the 2007-08 school year–including tuition, fees, and room and board–was $12,796, up 35% over the past five years; for private schools, the cost was a hefty $30,367.”
These figures are by no means fixed. As we all know, tuition fees and other related fees increase and decrease depending on inflation and other economic forces. But people still want to borrow money for their college days, because indeed it’s a chance to get a better shot at life. Private student loan consolidation becomes a chance to get better rates in the end.
Know Your Debts First
To “retire” your student loans faster, you have to know your loans. Log on to www.nslds.ed.gov (National Student Loan System) to read about the specific details of different student loans. Check the status of your loans, as well as the variable interest rates and the principal. Make sure too that you obtain the required personal identification password (PIN). This can be obtained from the Department of Education. Log on to www.pin.ed.gov for more details.
Another important thing to remember is that federal loans and private loans are different. Federal loans have caps on their interest rates while private loans do not. Often, private loans are costlier. And another thing: federal loans and private loans cannot be consolidated by one large loan. They must be consolidated separately. And again, federally subsidized loans have the government backing it up (Uncle Sam pays the interest rates while you’re in school).
Make sure that you only go to attractive private student loan consolidation deals. The case of Gambrel was actually good: she had been able to get consolidation at a 2.87% interest rate. Gambrel acknowledges: “I got very lucky. At the time I graduated, jobs weren’t plentiful, but student loan consolidation programs were very, very attractive.” This just goes to show that careful financial planning can lead to beneficial results.
Options With Student Loan Consolidations
Posted by admin in Student Loan Consolidation on February 12, 2010
Congress has recently decided to change rules for student loan consolidations.
One of the changes effects the payment of student loan consolidations, both for federal and for private student loans. The payments will now be based on the student’s income. If a student can show that he or she suffers from ‘partial financial hardships’ then the payments made monthly on a student loan consolidation will be limited at about 15 percent taken from a students current income, instead of a set price for every student. This is a part of their College Cost Reduction Act along with their Access Act. Those changes will take effect the year 2009 as of July first.
For those students that spend at least ten years in what the government considers to be a qualifying public service position, for example teaching or maybe charitable work, then the remaining amount of a students current loans can be forgiven. Unfortunately, it is only with the loans that are funded directly by the federal government. This option became available for students on October first of the year 2007.
As of July 1st 2008, those students who move FFELP or Federal Family Education Loan in a direct loan program by using a loan consolidation plan can also qualify for the above.
Just pain consolidating student loans is also an option. A lot of the time students will consolidate funds in order to extend the amount of time they have to pay, and lower the monthly payments that they make. When they go to consolidate their loans, students have many things to look for, and many benefits they can get from consolidating their loans.
One reason why students use student loan consolidation is the escape from changing interest rates that randomly go up. Some are just looking to make fewer payments a month and a lower payment at that.
When choosing to use student loan consolidation, timing is essential. Instead of just picking one at the spur of the moment, a student should wait until after the US Treasury Bond Auction. This generally occurs in the very last week of May, and takes effect on the first of July. This usually gives each of the loaners to take a month to decide if it would benefit them to do consolidations under their current rates, or if it would be better to wait until the new rates take effect in the beginning of July. And it will give a student a chance to look for lower fixed rates.
Since private loans are not the same as federal loans, therefore these new rules that apply to federal student loan consolidation do not apply to private student loan debt consolidation. For this reason federal loans can be used only to consolidate the loans that are backed federally and private loans must be consolidated using other private consolidation methods.
If you are, or know a student who is currently looking for student loans, it is always better to use federal student loans, and federal student loan consolidation options. If you go to consolidate all of your loans you need to be sure to have two groups, one federal student loan consolidation and one for private student loan consolidation.