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I received extra money and wanted to pay off 12k of my 144k balance (the 12k loan is my highest interest loan). My monthly minimum is $1005. Would paying off that loan change my minimum? ChatGPT said it wouldn’t and would only change my payment term by 2 years, so it doesn’t seem particularly worth it.

TLDR: Any tips on when to move from an IBR plan to a standard repayment plan and/or refinance loans? Monthly IBR payment going from $564 to $1,900. Standard repayment option is $1,700 at 6.9%. Great credit.

I want to start by saying that I fully recognize that I am among the lucky top third of earners in the U.S. with a 6-figure salary. I used to think I could stay on IBR for 25 years, get my balance forgiven, pay the taxes, and move on. But now my IBR payment is larger than the standard payment plan option.

My principal loan balance from undergrad + law school is $168K. Graduated from law school in 2013. Had 6 months of deferment then consolidated all my federal loans and enrolled in the IBR plan. My payments were $0 for a while, then slowly creeped up to $564 a month after my income increased. I last had to recertify my income in fall 2019. Since then, my income went up substantially, I got married, we started filing our taxes jointly, and we moved to Los Angeles. The move came with a big raise but also a huge cost of living increase.

Now I have to recertify my income by mid-July, or my monthly payment will go up to $1,962 starting in September. If I do this, my "end of payment balance" will be $88K. I am 13 years into the IBR plan and have roughly 12 years left before the balance will be forgiven.

Alternatively, the standard repayment plan option is $1,741 a month for 20 years. I'll pay off the loan, but per the application, I will have paid a total of $424,777 at that time.

My current interest rate is 6.9%. Not a single payment I've made over the last 3 years has gone towards principal. It has all been interest (and not high enough to even cover the accrued interest for each billing period. I also have been able to repair my credit and get my credit score over 800. Is now the time to get off IBR and refinance?

Edit: the standard repayment plan option through FedLoan is for 20 years, not 10. So far it looks like I can refinance with Sofi at around 5% interest with monthly payments of $1,500 for 20 years. That looks like the best option so far.

I am an international student looking for an education loan to fund my graduate studies in the USA. The total tuition and mandatory fees exceed $100K (cost of living and etc. is not included).

I came across MPower and Prodigy Finance, these two are extensively promoted everywhere online. Any idea about the interest rates !!??

I am also exploring options with a U.S. based cosigner. I came across options like Sallie Mae, College Ave, SoFi and many others. Please tell me are any of these actually worth it? Since my total cost of program exceeds $150K (including living expenses) what should I do? Which of these offers lowest interest rate for this big amount??

What is the best way to fund my education? I am open to all suggestions. One thing's for sure that my university will not provide any funding opportunities like scholarship/financial aid, even if they do it would be just $5000-$10,000, which probably does not make much difference.

Please share your opinions and suggestions!!!!! : ))

I am considering allied healthcare professional prorgam

I am a physcian resident with 2 years left in my program working in a public city hospital. My SAVE application has been pending since July 2024, and Edfinancial I think shows "administrative forbearance" and $0 for each payment month due since starting. I'm not even sure whether my PSLF form was processed because everything seemed to have been stuck since July 2024. I've been avoiding this topic since starting. My understanding now is that we have to switch to something else 90 days after the deadline in this July for SAVE or something bad will happen and I really am unsure what repayment plan to choose next or if I even need to?

More info:

~30M, single, no children. I have ~$221k in loans ($209k principal, ~$11k accrued interes. My income is ~$95k. I have never made a payment during residency so far. My budget is super tight right now and I really can't afford much extra. I don't trust the government and my luck that PSLF will workout for me in the future and I'm leaning towards conituing to live as a resident for my first few years out to aggresively pay the loan on my own.

TLDR: I don't see much advice for people who aren't interested in PSLF to manage their loan payments as cost effectively as possible and would apperciate any feedback on this point as well.

Any advice from physicians, residents, or student loan experts would be greatly appreciated.

I have 3 federal loans

$6k with 3.4% interest rate

$6k with 4.7% interest rate

$7k with 5.2% interest rate

I just went with the auto payment to pay them off over 10 years, so an equal amount of $230 gets dispersed to them a month. (It’s what was suggested to me by the loan website)

My first question is: should I instead be paying that $230 directly to my highest interest loan? So that it goes down faster?

My second question is: if I have some extra money saved up (maybe like $1000 every 6 months) should I spend that equally on all 3 loans, or all on the highest interest one?

If you could help me understand this in simple terms, it would be so appreciated!!

And please don’t insult my intelligence, this is not my area of expertise whatsoever 🥲…

My partner and I are trying to figure out if we should just do a temporary ceremonial marriage or government marriage because of my student loans. I am on an IDR plan and don’t pay much because we have a household size of 8. His income is quite higher than mine and he works two jobs. I work 3 jobs, one of which is contract work for which I get a 1099 at tax season. I don’t know how to figure out which option will be best for us right now. I’ll quality for student loan forgiveness in about 34 months.

I understand these questions are specific and the information is quite vague but I’ve run into some roadblocks in trying to get help with this and am looking for somewhere to start. Any help is appreciated!!

DO vs PA given debt, no cosigner, and possible loan caps? Looking for realistic financial advice.

I'm trying to decide whether it makes more financial sense to continue pursuing medical school or pivot to PA school, and I'd appreciate honest perspectives from people who have been in similar situations.

Total debt: about $171,000

relevant factors:

• First-generation college student
• Currently completing a master's program
• No significant family financial support beyond living with my parents so they pay the rent
• Parents are retired and primarily live on Social Security
• No available cosigner
• Fair credit

My current plan is to retake the MCAT this summer and apply primarily to DO schools in August. However, I'm becoming increasingly concerned about the financial side of medicine, especially with discussions about potential federal student loan caps and the possibility that future medical students may need to rely more heavily on private loans.

Given my current debt burden, fair credit, and lack of a cosigner, I'm worried about whether I could realistically finance medical school if substantial private borrowing became necessary.

If you were in my position, would you still pursue medical school, or would PA school be the more financially responsible choice?

I'm not asking about prestige or scope of practice. I'm mainly interested in the financial realities, risks, repayment burden, and whether pursuing medicine still makes sense from a financial standpoint given my circumstances.

I'd especially appreciate hearing from anyone who entered professional school with significant existing debt, limited family support, and no cosigner.

Hi everyone,

I'm 23 years old and recently graduated. I'm currently working in a tier-2 city in India and earning ₹20,000 per month.

Here's my loan situation:

* Original education loan: ₹3,00,000
* Total loan amount after interest during my 4-year degree: approximately ₹3,70,000
* Interest rate: 10.55% p.a.
* Amount repaid so far: around ₹60,000
* Current outstanding loan balance: ₹3,12,000
* Current monthly payment: ₹15,000

My goal is to become debt-free as quickly as possible, so I've been putting ₹15,000 (75% of my salary) toward the loan every month. That leaves me with only about ₹5,000 for all other expenses.

I live in a tier-2 city, so my expenses are relatively low, and I'm managing for now. However, I'm wondering whether this is the smartest approach.

Some questions I have:

1. Should I continue paying ₹15,000 per month, or is there a better repayment strategy?
2. Would making lump-sum prepayments whenever I get bonuses or extra income make a significant difference?
3. Should I focus more on increasing my income through upskilling, switching jobs, freelancing, etc., rather than aggressively paying down the loan?
4. At 10.55% interest, should I prioritize loan repayment over investing?

My primary goal is financial freedom and clearing this debt as soon as possible. I'd appreciate any advice, especially from people who paid off their education loans early.

Thanks!

Hi everyone I graduated out of my university three years ago with a masters degree in Aerospace (STEM but not engineering) and i had to take out Student loans (SAVE) to finish it. And thought I was going to land at NASA, Boeing, Lockheed, Northrop and such.

However I been encountering obstacles that made it difficult and getting constant rejection letters and it got to the point that I developed a depression. Making me feel hopeless thinking what I did wasn't good enough.

Also I been working in retail for the past 18 years and I am tired of it. I want to be in my field already. I want to build rockets, rocket engines, build fighter jets, super fast vehicles and the most powerful vehicles on the planet and to other celestial bodies in the Cosmos.

I do want to continue my education and get the engineering degree I need but the issue I am running into Student loans. I dont know what to do since I am in the middle of applying for a scholarship the SMART Scholarship and Apprenticeships. But I am scaried now that my current plan is ending and I will have to pay it back even though I am in a career transition, and relocation process and i am almost 40 and I want to build rockets. Am I a loser?

Was this the right reddit to post or did I do a mistake?

I have unsubsidized student loans that are currently at $221,259.85. My current annual income is $88,500, which will hopefully increase overtime but I am thinking no more than $150,000 in the next 10 years.

I am looking at payment plan options and IBR or PAYE give me the lowest monthly payments and lowest payment overtime. I know the payments will change with income but using the calculator estimating up to 150,000 my payments would still be lower than the standard repayment or the other fixed options.

Looking into the IBR, I learned of the “tax bomb” at the end of the 20 years of payment. I know there is an ability to declare insolvency. But I do not fully understand everything about this.
If I have $400,000 or so that is forgiven, there will be an unreasonable amount that is taxed. I can’t imagine there is a way I would have the income to pay it. Is that true? What would qualifying for insolvency do?

I have read about choosing IBR and investing extra money into some account (401k, Roth, etc?) to save up for the tax bomb. The IBR payments would be pretty low that I could afford to throw a few hundred into a savings account each month. I still don’t know if that would give me enough to pay it off or if I would want to be saving money that I could use/save elsewhere just to give it away to the IRS haha

The standard repayment plan would be $2726 per month. I definitely would not be able to afford this payment right now or in the near future. The other fixed payment options are still pretty high, and I would end up paying around $550,000 in the end.

I really am just looking for guidance on if the IBR plan is a mistake, or will the tax bomb not be nearly as bad as it seems.

In case you haven’t heard yet

Hi all. Just got my numbers for nursing school and it’s quite steep. For half of the tuition that isn’t covered by grants and federal loans, they’re asking for $16k due before July 23rd and $1500 a month for 19 months. Or I can do private loan for this amount. Any advice on how and what I should do? Did you do private loan? Monthly? Did a nice old man give you the money lol any advice helps

how are you guys affording graduate school? what private lenders are you using? how are you affording to pay for housing and food?

Hey everyone, I'm here in hopes of some judgement free advice before reaching out to apply for Bankruptcy.

Some facts about my situation:
I am single, unemployed, disabled and have no unplanned income. My income is from Disability in BC.

I've been accepted to go back to school at a University this fall, I've already accepted it is uncertain if I will be able to attend.

I have Student Debt with BC and Ontario, under 35k including interest. My loans we're for 2011 and 2012 and have been dormant and unpaid since 2014.

I am hoping to apply for Student Loans with BC this Fall or Winter again but of course that isn't currently possible so far as I can tell.

I don't have family support, but I do have a small community of friends who are able to support each other from time to time.

Some things I've tried:

- Applying for RAP-D with BC Student Aid even though it requires active loans, out of dormancy.
- Applying for an 'Request for Appeal of BC Student Loans after Default,' case with BC Student Aid, stuck in limbo since March 17th. (They can't accept or deny it until my Loans aren't in Default, which makes no sense to me)
- Applying for Disabled Student Status with OSAP (Retroactive in my case) and a Hardship Appeal Consideration for my Student Debt.
- Contacting the CRA and getting a statement of my debt and the needed interest and lump sum payments to get my student loans in good standing again.
- Contacting the NSLSC for clarification and advice, to no avail.
- Contacting Credit Counselling for advice, beyond their means unfortunately.
- Contacting a LIT for a free consultation about Consumer Proposal, was suggested to apply for bankruptcy through a goverment funded program.

What I haven't tried yet but am aware of:

- Contacting collections and insisting on lack of ability to pay. (Very honest in my case, unsure what this would do to try)
- Contacting my bank to ask for a debt consolidation loan to address my debt.

Any advice on my situation would be super awesome and much appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Last year was really rough money-wise and I ended up missing 5 student loan payments. I’m back on track now and current again, but my credit score is still pretty beat up from it. I’m trying to understand how long this is going to hold me back and what I should focus on first, trying to fix the damage and not stay stuck for years

My grandparents are willing to co-sign on a private student loan for me, but only problem is they say they might retire in the next year or maybe even sooner.

They aren’t sure if this will have any effect for Medicaid later on and I’m not sure either. I know I could always reach out to the financial aid office at my school but I’ve been emailing them all month for any resources, scholarships, and funding that’s available for me.

Has anybody gone through anything similar or is familiar with any of this?