Just How Are You Going To Pay Your College Loans?
Now that you’ve graduated college, you’re probably focused on finding that first job. With many jobs hard to find, paying off your college debt is probably at the bottom of your priority list. However, for those who take paying off their college debt seriously, the burden of being in debt is significantly reduced, building credit and allowing you to stay ahead of the financial curve.
There are a number of pays to pay off your college debt. Fortunately for those who have taken Federal loans, grace periods and deferments can help you until you find a full time job that allows you to begin making payments against your loan. Regardless of your employment situation, the responsibility of loan repayment is yours and yours alone.
Depending on how recently you graduated and type of loans you’ve taken out to pay for college, you may qualify for different loan repayment options. One of my personal favorites is student loan consolidation. The benefit here is that you aggregate all of your outstanding loans into a single loan with different payment terms. This may result in a lower interest rate and smaller monthly payment.
Some individuals who consolidate see longer repayment periods. However, a little known method of reducing your payment period is by making one extra payment towards the principle of the loan each and every year. For longer repayment periods, this reduces the amount owed and the life of the loan significantly.
Before sending your lender any extra money, begin with an open dialog. Do they penalize those who attempt to pay off their loan prior to expiration? In the past this was a common issue. Today, because of increasing defaults and the difficult economy, most lenders are happy to get their money back. If the bank accepts early payment, then do your best to stick to an additional payment each year.
What difference can an extra payment make? As I’ve already explained, it is significant. So make sure that when you send in the extra payment, you explicitly indicate that the payment is go towards principle, not your regularly scheduled payments. If it doesn’t go towards the base amount, you’ve done nothing other than prepay next month’s bill.
Get yourself into the habit of making one extra payment each year. This may seem like a difficult task, but think of it this way. Even if your monthly payment is 350 dollars, saving 30 bucks a month to put towards your loan at the end of the year is really no big deal. The result is you will only be making payments for say, 7 years versus 10. Short term pain equals long term gain. Imagine what it would be like to not have that monthly loan.
Some people are truly overwhelmed by the idea of paying back a large amount of debt. The key is to focus on making your monthly payment and at the same time, lowering your overall outstanding amount. Speak with your bank, creditors, and lender to understand how they can help ease the repayment process. Over time you will find you debt has vanished and you saved thousands in repayment.
