How to minimize monthly interest ($550/month) accruing on student loans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ sorry, just read the rest of your post and saw you refi’d so PSLF is off the table. Why not pursue PSLF when you had the chance?

What is the point in discussing this? What's done is done.

To add to the community knowledge base. OP might have had a perfectly good reason in forgoing PSLF and the rest of us might learn something.

NP. Many of those who once thought straight old government work would qualify for PSLF have been sadly disappointed when they are denied the repayment after 10 years of work. PSLF is for very specific public interest jobs, many of which wouldn't come with a six-figure salary. I think it was reported that 95% of those who applied in the last year or two (as the program has only been around long enough for a few cohorts to actually have completed their 10 years of work) were denied. That would be a punch to the gut, for sure.

I was wrong. It's apparently 99%

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2018/09/24/public-service-loan-forgiveness-rejected/#305721e71824

Yeah the program sucks as far as I’m concerned. I was all ready to apply when I found out I was on the wrong repayment plan. If I had switched to the right one, my 10 year clock would have started ticking at that point (after already having 5 years of payments), and I would have had my loan paid off before then anyway.

[Anonymous]

The PSLF program is appalling - https://www.npr.org/2018/10/17/653853227/the-student-loan-whistleblower

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/18/658447443/i-am-heartbroken-your-letters-about-public-service-loan-forgiveness

You'd be crazy to base any loan decisions on it. I feel awful for the people who counted on it and have been defrauded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ sorry, just read the rest of your post and saw you refi’d so PSLF is off the table. Why not pursue PSLF when you had the chance?

What is the point in discussing this? What's done is done.

To add to the community knowledge base. OP might have had a perfectly good reason in forgoing PSLF and the rest of us might learn something.

NP. Many of those who once thought straight old government work would qualify for PSLF have been sadly disappointed when they are denied the repayment after 10 years of work. PSLF is for very specific public interest jobs, many of which wouldn't come with a six-figure salary. I think it was reported that 95% of those who applied in the last year or two (as the program has only been around long enough for a few cohorts to actually have completed their 10 years of work) were denied. That would be a punch to the gut, for sure.

I was wrong. It's apparently 99%

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2018/09/24/public-service-loan-forgiveness-rejected/#305721e71824

Department of Education says all government jobs are eligible for PSLF.

While some rejections are certainly due to non-qualifying jobs, there is no requirement that it be a specific type of government job to be PSLF eligible.

[Anonymous]

^ here’s the DOE website:

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service

“Government organizations at any level”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what kind of degree do you have and do you make? Just trying to wrap my head around the amount of student loan debt you have.

Not OP but my husband had almost this much student loan debt.

Just from law school, since he had a full ride to college.

This was twenty years ago.

Yeah seriously. I graduated law school 18.5 years ago with $160k in loans. Now I hear of kids graduating with two and three times that much. (Which blows my tiny little mind - I am still 4 years from being done with my loans; I can't imagine how these new grads are ever going to get done with theirs).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what kind of degree do you have and do you make? Just trying to wrap my head around the amount of student loan debt you have.

Not OP but my husband had almost this much student loan debt.

Just from law school, since he had a full ride to college.

This was twenty years ago.

Yeah seriously. I graduated law school 18.5 years ago with $160k in loans. Now I hear of kids graduating with two and three times that much. (Which blows my tiny little mind - I am still 4 years from being done with my loans; I can't imagine how these new grads are ever going to get done with theirs).

Particularly if they won't or can't do a stint in Biglaw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The PSLF program is appalling - https://www.npr.org/2018/10/17/653853227/the-student-loan-whistleblower

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/18/658447443/i-am-heartbroken-your-letters-about-public-service-loan-forgiveness

You'd be crazy to base any loan decisions on it. I feel awful for the people who counted on it and have been defrauded.

A federal judge ordered Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Education, led by Betsy DeVos, must implement immediately an Obama-era student loan forgiveness rule.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2018/10/17/student-loan-forgiveness-devos/#3a076a296fd6

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^ sorry, just read the rest of your post and saw you refi’d so PSLF is off the table. Why not pursue PSLF when you had the chance?

What is the point in discussing this? What's done is done.

To add to the community knowledge base. OP might have had a perfectly good reason in forgoing PSLF and the rest of us might learn something.

NP. Many of those who once thought straight old government work would qualify for PSLF have been sadly disappointed when they are denied the repayment after 10 years of work. PSLF is for very specific public interest jobs, many of which wouldn't come with a six-figure salary. I think it was reported that 95% of those who applied in the last year or two (as the program has only been around long enough for a few cohorts to actually have completed their 10 years of work) were denied. That would be a punch to the gut, for sure.

I was wrong. It's apparently 99%

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2018/09/24/public-service-loan-forgiveness-rejected/#305721e71824

Yeah the program sucks as far as I’m concerned. I was all ready to apply when I found out I was on the wrong repayment plan. If I had switched to the right one, my 10 year clock would have started ticking at that point (after already having 5 years of payments), and I would have had my loan paid off before then anyway.

Me again, to add to the suckiness of the program. They started a fund for those who were rejected because they were on the wrong payment plan. That would have been me - but when I realized I was on the wrong plan, I did not apply. Why apply just to be rejected? Well, I couldn't take advantage of this new fund because I never applied in the first place. You are only eligible if you were previously rejected. So I would have had to have had a crystal ball that told me "oh, maybe 5 years down the line they may offer something to those on the wrong payment plan, so go ahead and apply for PSLF (knowing you will be rejected) just in case." Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what kind of degree do you have and do you make? Just trying to wrap my head around the amount of student loan debt you have.

Not OP but my husband had almost this much student loan debt.

Just from law school, since he had a full ride to college.

This was twenty years ago.

Yeah seriously. I graduated law school 18.5 years ago with $160k in loans. Now I hear of kids graduating with two and three times that much. (Which blows my tiny little mind - I am still 4 years from being done with my loans; I can't imagine how these new grads are ever going to get done with theirs).

My son just graduated from UVA with a business degree in 2016. Including EVERYTHING, his education was 136K for 4 years (this included food and entertainment). He worked PT during the school year and FT during the summer except one summer he had an internship. his required contribution to his education expense was 20%. With that motivation he secured himself 20K in scholarships, and contributed another 7K of his own hard earned money and had much of his own income left over for travel and fun. If we had not been there to help him, he would potentially have 109K in loans and this is in 2016. A kid in his shoes without parental help, could easily cut that loan in half by paying cash from jobs for 50% of the cost of their education without even breaking a sweat. His first job out of college was for 70K, he started a new job at the start of 2018 with a salary of 110K.

What blows my mind, is what moron graduates with hundreds and thousands in debt? If you want a mid 6 figure education, you need to have wealthy indulgent parents to fund that. I feel absolutely no sympathy for bad financial choices. If my son had wanted to go to an out of state or private school, I would have looked at myself in the mirror and wonder how I had raised such a financially illiterate child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what kind of degree do you have and do you make? Just trying to wrap my head around the amount of student loan debt you have.

Not OP but my husband had almost this much student loan debt.

Just from law school, since he had a full ride to college.

This was twenty years ago.

Yeah seriously. I graduated law school 18.5 years ago with $160k in loans. Now I hear of kids graduating with two and three times that much. (Which blows my tiny little mind - I am still 4 years from being done with my loans; I can't imagine how these new grads are ever going to get done with theirs).

My son just graduated from UVA with a business degree in 2016. Including EVERYTHING, his education was 136K for 4 years (this included food and entertainment). He worked PT during the school year and FT during the summer except one summer he had an internship. his required contribution to his education expense was 20%. With that motivation he secured himself 20K in scholarships, and contributed another 7K of his own hard earned money and had much of his own income left over for travel and fun. If we had not been there to help him, he would potentially have 109K in loans and this is in 2016. A kid in his shoes without parental help, could easily cut that loan in half by paying cash from jobs for 50% of the cost of their education without even breaking a sweat. His first job out of college was for 70K, he started a new job at the start of 2018 with a salary of 110K.

What blows my mind, is what moron graduates with hundreds and thousands in debt? If you want a mid 6 figure education, you need to have wealthy indulgent parents to fund that. I feel absolutely no sympathy for bad financial choices. If my son had wanted to go to an out of state or private school, I would have looked at myself in the mirror and wonder how I had raised such a financially illiterate child.

You sound lovely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The PSLF program is appalling - https://www.npr.org/2018/10/17/653853227/the-student-loan-whistleblower

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/18/658447443/i-am-heartbroken-your-letters-about-public-service-loan-forgiveness

You'd be crazy to base any loan decisions on it. I feel awful for the people who counted on it and have been defrauded.

A federal judge ordered Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Education, led by Betsy DeVos, must implement immediately an Obama-era student loan forgiveness rule.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2018/10/17/student-loan-forgiveness-devos/#3a076a296fd6

Basically everyone who was rejected, was rejected because they were trying to get out of private loans, needed to correct paperwork mistakes, stuff like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what kind of degree do you have and do you make? Just trying to wrap my head around the amount of student loan debt you have.

Not OP but my husband had almost this much student loan debt.

Just from law school, since he had a full ride to college.

This was twenty years ago.

Yeah seriously. I graduated law school 18.5 years ago with $160k in loans. Now I hear of kids graduating with two and three times that much. (Which blows my tiny little mind - I am still 4 years from being done with my loans; I can't imagine how these new grads are ever going to get done with theirs).

My son just graduated from UVA with a business degree in 2016. Including EVERYTHING, his education was 136K for 4 years (this included food and entertainment). He worked PT during the school year and FT during the summer except one summer he had an internship. his required contribution to his education expense was 20%. With that motivation he secured himself 20K in scholarships, and contributed another 7K of his own hard earned money and had much of his own income left over for travel and fun. If we had not been there to help him, he would potentially have 109K in loans and this is in 2016. A kid in his shoes without parental help, could easily cut that loan in half by paying cash from jobs for 50% of the cost of their education without even breaking a sweat. His first job out of college was for 70K, he started a new job at the start of 2018 with a salary of 110K.

What blows my mind, is what moron graduates with hundreds and thousands in debt? If you want a mid 6 figure education, you need to have wealthy indulgent parents to fund that. I feel absolutely no sympathy for bad financial choices. If my son had wanted to go to an out of state or private school, I would have looked at myself in the mirror and wonder how I had raised such a financially illiterate child.

You are an idiot. You said his education cost 136K. To pay half that "without breaking a sweat" would require about 68K after taxes, so lets call that 80K in earnings over four years before taxes. What mythical college student can earn 20K annually while attending classes full time? At typical high-school graduate hourly pay, you are going to need to work 30-40 hrs a week for 50 weeks a year to make that money. Good luck attending class, studying and sleeping while working basically full time hours with a tiny number of days off. And 70K is not the average salary for a college graduate. Further the high student debt loans on this thread are largely from graduate school, which is an entirely different ball game, and which has very few scholarships. Its not unreasonable for people without wealthy parents to want to be doctors or lawyers - "cheap" accredited law schools and med schools don't really exist. I went to an inexpensive in state law school (which is no longer inexpensive) and paid my loans early, but I do not fault my peers who were not so lucky. They did the same thing that the previous generation did - get good grades and go to professional school. Its just that the cost of these schools rose exponentially with no corresponding rise in salaries. Tuition at my state law school rose by about 40% in the 3 years I was there - what exactly were the students supposed to do about that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what kind of degree do you have and do you make? Just trying to wrap my head around the amount of student loan debt you have.

Not OP but my husband had almost this much student loan debt.

Just from law school, since he had a full ride to college.

This was twenty years ago.

Yeah seriously. I graduated law school 18.5 years ago with $160k in loans. Now I hear of kids graduating with two and three times that much. (Which blows my tiny little mind - I am still 4 years from being done with my loans; I can't imagine how these new grads are ever going to get done with theirs).

My son just graduated from UVA with a business degree in 2016. Including EVERYTHING, his education was 136K for 4 years (this included food and entertainment). He worked PT during the school year and FT during the summer except one summer he had an internship. his required contribution to his education expense was 20%. With that motivation he secured himself 20K in scholarships, and contributed another 7K of his own hard earned money and had much of his own income left over for travel and fun. If we had not been there to help him, he would potentially have 109K in loans and this is in 2016. A kid in his shoes without parental help, could easily cut that loan in half by paying cash from jobs for 50% of the cost of their education without even breaking a sweat. His first job out of college was for 70K, he started a new job at the start of 2018 with a salary of 110K.

What blows my mind, is what moron graduates with hundreds and thousands in debt? If you want a mid 6 figure education, you need to have wealthy indulgent parents to fund that. I feel absolutely no sympathy for bad financial choices. If my son had wanted to go to an out of state or private school, I would have looked at myself in the mirror and wonder how I had raised such a financially illiterate child.

So basically, you've affirmed that a public state school is now a six-figure education, and the only reason your child does not have thousands of dollars of debt is that he had wealthy indulgent parents.

Most kids do not, and graduate with thousands in debt even when they choose the in-state option, as your child did. I mean, certainly you can take the stance that college ought to be available only to the elite who can pay out of pocket, but...ugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what kind of degree do you have and do you make? Just trying to wrap my head around the amount of student loan debt you have.

Not OP but my husband had almost this much student loan debt.

Just from law school, since he had a full ride to college.

This was twenty years ago.

Yeah seriously. I graduated law school 18.5 years ago with $160k in loans. Now I hear of kids graduating with two and three times that much. (Which blows my tiny little mind - I am still 4 years from being done with my loans; I can't imagine how these new grads are ever going to get done with theirs).

My son just graduated from UVA with a business degree in 2016. Including EVERYTHING, his education was 136K for 4 years (this included food and entertainment). He worked PT during the school year and FT during the summer except one summer he had an internship. his required contribution to his education expense was 20%. With that motivation he secured himself 20K in scholarships, and contributed another 7K of his own hard earned money and had much of his own income left over for travel and fun. If we had not been there to help him, he would potentially have 109K in loans and this is in 2016. A kid in his shoes without parental help, could easily cut that loan in half by paying cash from jobs for 50% of the cost of their education without even breaking a sweat. His first job out of college was for 70K, he started a new job at the start of 2018 with a salary of 110K.

What blows my mind, is what moron graduates with hundreds and thousands in debt? If you want a mid 6 figure education, you need to have wealthy indulgent parents to fund that. I feel absolutely no sympathy for bad financial choices. If my son had wanted to go to an out of state or private school, I would have looked at myself in the mirror and wonder how I had raised such a financially illiterate child.

You are an idiot. You said his education cost 136K. To pay half that "without breaking a sweat" would require about 68K after taxes, so lets call that 80K in earnings over four years before taxes. What mythical college student can earn 20K annually while attending classes full time? At typical high-school graduate hourly pay, you are going to need to work 30-40 hrs a week for 50 weeks a year to make that money. Good luck attending class, studying and sleeping while working basically full time hours with a tiny number of days off. And 70K is not the average salary for a college graduate. Further the high student debt loans on this thread are largely from graduate school, which is an entirely different ball game, and which has very few scholarships. Its not unreasonable for people without wealthy parents to want to be doctors or lawyers - "cheap" accredited law schools and med schools don't really exist. I went to an inexpensive in state law school (which is no longer inexpensive) and paid my loans early, but I do not fault my peers who were not so lucky. They did the same thing that the previous generation did - get good grades and go to professional school. Its just that the cost of these schools rose exponentially with no corresponding rise in salaries. Tuition at my state law school rose by about 40% in the 3 years I was there - what exactly were the students supposed to do about that?

No, you are the idiot.

136-20k in scolarships=116k/2=58k/4=$14,500 one must earn to only have to take out 50% in loans. My son didn't even try that hard for the scholarships, just wanted to buffer his 20%. A kid who's parents have no money is going to rightfully have way more scolarships open to them than my kid had access to.

During school working in Charlottesville, he made ~1.2 k/mo . The summer he picked up an extra 7k.

And for entry level jobs, the salary range his friends entered at was 55k to 75k. Were not talking a degree in women's studies here either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what kind of degree do you have and do you make? Just trying to wrap my head around the amount of student loan debt you have.

Not OP but my husband had almost this much student loan debt.

Just from law school, since he had a full ride to college.

This was twenty years ago.

Yeah seriously. I graduated law school 18.5 years ago with $160k in loans. Now I hear of kids graduating with two and three times that much. (Which blows my tiny little mind - I am still 4 years from being done with my loans; I can't imagine how these new grads are ever going to get done with theirs).

My son just graduated from UVA with a business degree in 2016. Including EVERYTHING, his education was 136K for 4 years (this included food and entertainment). He worked PT during the school year and FT during the summer except one summer he had an internship. his required contribution to his education expense was 20%. With that motivation he secured himself 20K in scholarships, and contributed another 7K of his own hard earned money and had much of his own income left over for travel and fun. If we had not been there to help him, he would potentially have 109K in loans and this is in 2016. A kid in his shoes without parental help, could easily cut that loan in half by paying cash from jobs for 50% of the cost of their education without even breaking a sweat. His first job out of college was for 70K, he started a new job at the start of 2018 with a salary of 110K.

What blows my mind, is what moron graduates with hundreds and thousands in debt? If you want a mid 6 figure education, you need to have wealthy indulgent parents to fund that. I feel absolutely no sympathy for bad financial choices. If my son had wanted to go to an out of state or private school, I would have looked at myself in the mirror and wonder how I had raised such a financially illiterate child.

So basically, you've affirmed that a public state school is now a six-figure education, and the only reason your child does not have thousands of dollars of debt is that he had wealthy indulgent parents.

Most kids do not, and graduate with thousands in debt even when they choose the in-state option, as your child did. I mean, certainly you can take the stance that college ought to be available only to the elite who can pay out of pocket, but...ugh.

Sure, I said that, but you are not critically reading. I was responding to the claim that the poster who graduated with 160k in loans are now seeing kids graduating with 3xs that. If a "kid" is graduating with 480k in school loans they are indeed an idiot. You all can scream yourselves into a hysterical fit about that for all I care.

Your second sentence is incoherent babble. I'll just assume you started happy hour early.