4 Ways to Get Student Loan Debt Relief

Student loan debt relief can seem like a hassle to find. It can be well worth the energy however to look in to the different programs available to you.

Step One- Loan Forgiveness

The first thing you need to look in to when looking for student loan debt relief is a forgiveness program. The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was put in place to help people who go in to careers in public service pay down their debt without causing financial hardship. The program recognizes that many service fields that require a college degree don't always start out with high wages. Paying these loans back can cause problems for people later on. If you've gone to work for any public service such as legal aid, nursing, non-profit organizations, or have devoted yourself to volunteer work through AmeriCorps or the Peace Corps, you may qualify to have part or all of your loans forgiven.

Step Two- Forbearance

If you are experiencing a temporary hardship and need student loan debt relief right away but don't foresee this being a long term situation, then a forbearance may be a good option. This will basically freeze the loan without penalty for a short period of time. This will allow you time to pay down other bills without having to worry about your student loan defaulting. This is not a long term solution, but it can offer relief temporarily.

Step Three- Deferments

If you need extra time to pay your loans, you can get student loan debt relief by deferring the payments. This won't reduce the amount the of the loan, it will simply push back the final payment date to allow you a few more months without having to worry about the loan. To find out more about deferments consult your loan provider.

Step Four- Income Based and Contingent Repayment Programs

These programs are great ways to offer student loan debt relief to anyone who feels they can't afford the payments. The income based repayment program will allow you to make payments based on your income. The amount of your loan repayment will be based on a sliding scale, and will never require you pay more than 15% of your income, even if you make more than 150% of the national poverty level. If you fall under the 150% mark, your payments would be $0.

The income contingent program is similar to this. This is based on your adjusted gross income from the previous year. Your loan amount will be adjusted yearly based on this. You will generally not be required to pay more than 20% of your expendable income towards your loan. You can also use the contingent repayment program for up to 25 years beyond your graduation date.

Justin R Stewart

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How to Terminate Student Loan Debt

Dealing with student loans is an unpleasant part of receiving an education. Here are some simple ways you can learn how to terminate student loan debt.

First- Be Proactive

If you can think about how to terminate student loan debt before it gets out of hand you will be much better off. If you're still attending college look in to the work programs they offer. Often you can reduce your overall debt in the long run by taking advantage of these opportunities.

If you've already entered the work force you can easily pay down your loans much faster by sending extra money each month towards your loan payments. Create a budget and figure out what your expendable income is. With that figure in hand you can avoid spending money on unnecessary expenses. Putting that extra money towards your loans will go a long way in helping to reduce the overall debt. If you pay over your loan amount each month, generally that extra money will go to the principal amount of the loan. Not only will you pay off the loan faster, you reduce the overall amount that you pay interest on.

Second- Research Consolidation

While consolidation can be a great money saving tool, it may or may not be a good option in looking at how to terminate student loan debt. Before you opt for consolidation, be sure you research it thoroughly. Make sure the company you've chosen for consolidation isn't just extending the length of time you have to repay the loans. This will lower your monthly payment, but will end up costing you more in the long run because of interest. Consolidation can make your life much easier however by taking several small loans and lumping them in to one easy payment.

Third- Payment Activity

One of the most important ways in learning how to terminate student loan debt is understanding how your payments work. Most loans will have provisions that additional money is applied to principal. However, some also have penalties attached to overpayment. This won't help you pay down the loans at all. You also need to understand how the interest itself works. Often times making a payment late, or missing a payment can jump the interest rate. Some times the jump can be considerable. This will add on to the amount you are paying over time and will take you longer to pay the loan off. Always make sure your payments are made every month on time. Set up a direct debit program to help with this if the lender offers it.

Justin R Stewart

Find out how to terminate student loan debt. If you are trying to consolidate student loans, visit our site now to learn how to start saving money today!

The Top 3 Ways to Eliminate Student Loan Debt

The ability to eliminate student loan debt is at the forefront of a lot of graduates minds. There are ways to accomplish this. Follow these simple steps and you will have a good way to pay the loans off without much of a hassle.

Step One - Payment Schedules

The first step to eliminate student loan debt is to have a realistic payment schedule. Understand the terms of your loan, and make a schedule for payments that fits within your means. Try to stay with a standard schedule instead of deferring the loan or taking forbearance options. These may be enticing since they will lower your monthly payments, it will eventually cost you more and prolong the amount of time you will be paying on your loans. Only use these options if it becomes absolutely necessary.

Step Two - On Time Payments

To eliminate student loan debt you must make your payments on time monthly. There is no bending this. Skipping a payment or forgetting to make it on time can and will cause your interest rate to increase. Often times the increase is great. This will cost you a lot more money in the long run. Once the interest rate increases, you will continue to pay that increased rate until you are able to negotiate a lower rate. This can cost you thousands of dollars over the term of the loan. Most lenders will offer a direct payment, or direct debit program. Enroll in this if it's available. The money will just automatically be withdrawn from your checking account each month around the same time. You will never have to worry about a payment posting late, and never have to worry about forgetting a payment all together.

Step Three - Know When To Negotiate

If you've been making your payments on time without fail, you can help eliminate student loan debt by understanding the interest rates. Interest rates are never set in stone. Congress will determine the rate cap each year at the beginning of July. Once you know what the new cap is, look at your loans and the interest associated with them. It never hurts to call the lender and see if you can negotiate a new rate. If you can lower the rate, even by half a percentage point, this will translate in to savings that will be noticeable over the life of the loan. If the lender tells you they are unable to offer a lower rate, find out why. If you've made a late payment or two in the past, they may be able to negotiate the rate at a later time. Follow their directions, and you should be able to shave valuable money off your loan.

Justin R Stewart

Learn more ways to eliminate student loan debt once and for all. Expert advice is available for anyone looking to consolidate student loans.

Student Loans - Online Student Loan Consolidation

Over the years, student loan consolidation has taken the advantage of internet and started to offer its service online. Although filing your loan consolidation online can seem convenient, it is your responsibility to understand the pros and cons of online student loan consolidation.

The pros

The first advantage when you are consolidating your student loans online is that you can do it at your own convenient. With that being said, you can file your application whenever and wherever you are. You can even do it when you are in the office. Of course you shouldn't do that. It was merely an example to show you the convenience of doing this online.

During the older days, the client and the agent have to meet up face to face for loan consolidation and that take a lot of time and effort. But with the help of the internet nowadays, you can most of the things done over the internet. You can fill in the application and attach the documents online, discuss further progress through email and you can even pop a question through the messenger. This can save a lot of time and traveling hassle.

And to make your life easier, many loan consolidators are moving toward online payment and you can earn some incentive when you join this service. This is certainly a win-win situation where the consolidators will get their payment on time by charging your credit card and you can save some money in the process.

The cons

As you might have guessed, all good things always come with flaws and this goes the same to online student loan consolidation. There are a lot of scammers online trying to take your money even though you don't have much money as a student or fresh graduate. Their logic might be that fresh graduates are easy prey and it is easier to get money from you all.

So, when you got an offer that seems to be lower than the market rate, don't be too happy about that. In fact, you have to be cautious about the offer and check the legitimacy of the website with the Better Business Bureau.

Besides that, some online loan consolidators might ask for advance payment in excuse as processing fee and this fee might not be significant. Please don't believe in that because the application for student loan consolidation should be free.

And to be sure that you know this, you should never review your credit card and social security number to any online loan consolidators before you agree on their service. They might claim that these details are to use for your credit check. Again, these are just excuses scammers made up to steal your identity. Legitimate loan consolidators will only ask for these details when you have decided to adopt their service.

Michael Wai W

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