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zot1

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by zot1 » Thu Nov 10, 2016 2:51 pm

bk1 wrote:
beach_terror wrote:
beach_terror wrote:Debt: 175k
Payments: 1k minimum (lowest available), additional 3-3.5k/mo for now to the highest interest loan, pay it off, rinse and repeat
Income: over $100k
Plan: 25 year fixed (hope to be done in 4-5 years)
Note: living at home to knock off as much principal as possible until after New Years
About 3 years from my original post now. This spiked up to ~$181k before I started repayment and I'm currently sitting at $101k. After bonus this year, I'm hoping to be around $85k, but we'll see. My loans were between 6 and 8% and I'm down to around 4% after two refis. Not fun.
Congrats on getting to 5 figures!
Not sure I'll ever know what this feels like, but still happy for you, dude!

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by bjohnsobf » Fri Nov 11, 2016 7:24 pm

bk1 wrote:
Pomeranian wrote:Thoughts on what a Trump Presidency and a Republican controlled House/Senate will mean for federal loan assistance programs?
Nobody knows. I suspect nothing will change.
Why I just read an article that said he said PSLF is prob done and he has his 15 year at 12.5% of income plan and he doesn't even need congressional action just a DOE rule.

Thats huge for me another 2.5% per year for 10 years plus 12.5% for an additional 5 and a tax bomb, I'm assuming.

http://time.com/money/4564513/what-trum ... d-parents/

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Johann

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by Johann » Fri Nov 11, 2016 7:59 pm

yeah i locked in a 3 month forbearance until trump announces his plan. no rush to chalk up any payments towards the 240 payments until he says what the fuck hes doing.

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JenDarby

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by JenDarby » Fri Nov 11, 2016 8:44 pm

JohannDeMann wrote:yeah i locked in a 3 month forbearance until trump announces his plan. no rush to chalk up any payments towards the 240 payments until he says what the fuck hes doing.
srs question, what did you say to your loan servicer to get forbearance with biglaw salary?

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Johann

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by Johann » Fri Nov 11, 2016 9:02 pm

JenDarby wrote:
JohannDeMann wrote:yeah i locked in a 3 month forbearance until trump announces his plan. no rush to chalk up any payments towards the 240 payments until he says what the fuck hes doing.
srs question, what did you say to your loan servicer to get forbearance with biglaw salary?
they give you like 3 years of forbearance in the bank to use over the life of your 20 year loan. i just said "can i have a 3 month forbearance" and the person said "sure, you have plenty of months of forbearance available"

eta: considering a refi (depending on trumps plan), in which case id rather have the money sitting in my bank than knocking the loan balance for the good credit/lower rate terms.
Last edited by Johann on Fri Nov 11, 2016 9:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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JenDarby

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by JenDarby » Fri Nov 11, 2016 9:04 pm

JohannDeMann wrote:
JenDarby wrote:
JohannDeMann wrote:yeah i locked in a 3 month forbearance until trump announces his plan. no rush to chalk up any payments towards the 240 payments until he says what the fuck hes doing.
srs question, what did you say to your loan servicer to get forbearance with biglaw salary?
they give you like 3 years of forbearance in the bank to use over the life of your 20 year loan. i just said "can i have a 3 month forbearance" and the person said "sure, you have plenty of months of forbearance available"
wow, I had no idea. that's pretty awesome

(continues to make giant refi payments every month and hope I made the right decision)

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Johann

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by Johann » Fri Nov 11, 2016 9:05 pm

im pretty sure you def made the right play now. im basically hitting the point where its time for me to shit or get off the pot and at more than 10% of income, it almost def becomes a better option to refi because my PAYE payments would be damn near my refi-ed payment

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by bk1 » Sat Nov 12, 2016 1:14 am

JenDarby wrote:(continues to make giant refi payments every month and hope I made the right decision)
x1000

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by esther0123 » Sat Nov 12, 2016 1:25 am

This might have been asked elsewhere, but is there a downside to just throwing your entire bonus as lump sum to your loans?

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A. Nony Mouse

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by A. Nony Mouse » Sat Nov 12, 2016 1:52 am

bjohnsobf wrote:
bk1 wrote:
Pomeranian wrote:Thoughts on what a Trump Presidency and a Republican controlled House/Senate will mean for federal loan assistance programs?
Nobody knows. I suspect nothing will change.
Why I just read an article that said he said PSLF is prob done and he has his 15 year at 12.5% of income plan and he doesn't even need congressional action just a DOE rule.

Thats huge for me another 2.5% per year for 10 years plus 12.5% for an additional 5 and a tax bomb, I'm assuming.

http://time.com/money/4564513/what-trum ... d-parents/
Okay, it's true that we don't know what's going to happen yet, at all, so there are no guarantees and it's reasonable to be concerned. But to be fair, all that article actually says is, "Trump made a brief comment in his October speech that suggested he might want to eliminate Public Service Loan Forgiveness." That's hardly "PSLF is prob done."

(The 12.5% for 15 years is kind of better for non-PSLF people since it lets you get forgiveness sooner than either PAYE, REPAYE, or IBR, and it's a lower cap than IBR.)

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by bjohnsobf » Sat Nov 12, 2016 9:05 am

Yea its better for non pslf its also more expensive and I'm not sure congress will like that. The crowd in full control is not exactly a crowd that wants to incentivize working for the government. They generally think working for the government is something you should do briefly if at all before getting back to the private sector. I think PSLF is in serious jeopardy which sucks for people who made career choices based on it, but maybe career choices based on it were ill advised.

More broadly, I think you have to consider forgiveness plans generally in jeopardy. Its basically an expensive entitlement that services a crowd, educated young people, that overwhelming did not support him.

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Calvin Murphy

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by Calvin Murphy » Sat Nov 12, 2016 4:43 pm

esther0123 wrote:This might have been asked elsewhere, but is there a downside to just throwing your entire bonus as lump sum to your loans?
It depends on what you consider to be a downside. I would argue that the short answer is "probably not," especially if you know that you'll be paying your loans off in full.

Having said that, if you are planning on paying off your loans in full, then you probably want to refi (again, a very fact-dependent inquiry). If you've refinanced, then your bonus money might earn more in investment income than it would offset in loan interest. If that is true, then it would be better put to work in an investment account; however, that option assumes some rate of return--the peace of mind that comes from seeing your balance go down may be worth more to you than the difference between your projected rate of return on investments and your current interest rate.

Also note that if you haven't refinanced yet (there is plenty of discussion in this thread on pros and cons), and you decide to put the entire bonus toward loans, you should be sure to put it toward the highest interest loan first.

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Nov 17, 2016 8:54 pm

Just talked to FedLoans and apparently there's an interest reduction deal if I sign up for automatic payments from my bank account. Are y'all doing this? Is this a trick?

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by bk1 » Thu Nov 17, 2016 8:56 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Just talked to FedLoans and apparently there's an interest reduction deal if I sign up for automatic payments from my bank account. Are y'all doing this? Is this a trick?

Note: posting anon in the rare event FedLoans reps browse through this forum.
Huh? It is very common for student loan servicers to offer an interest rate deduction if you sign up for autopay.

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Nov 17, 2016 8:57 pm

bk1 wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Just talked to FedLoans and apparently there's an interest reduction deal if I sign up for automatic payments from my bank account. Are y'all doing this? Is this a trick?

Note: posting anon in the rare event FedLoans reps browse through this forum.
Huh? It is very common for student loan servicers to offer an interest rate deduction if you sign up for autopay.
Been talking to FedLoans for over a year and this is the first time they've offered this. Joke's on me, I guess.

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by bk1 » Thu Nov 17, 2016 9:06 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Been talking to FedLoans for over a year and this is the first time they've offered this. Joke's on me, I guess.
Direct Debit is a free, automated payment service. It's not only convenient — you don't have to write a check or pay for a stamp — you also qualify for a 0.25% interest rate reduction when you use Direct Debit.
https://accountaccess.myfedloan.org/con ... pic_key=11

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by Mr. Peanutbutter » Fri Nov 18, 2016 12:07 pm

It's also all over the account page online, brave anon

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zot1

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by zot1 » Fri Nov 18, 2016 12:33 pm

Mlk&Ckies wrote:It's also all over the account page online, brave anon
I'm okay looking stupid from time to time. I realized after the fact they likely get many calls per day.

But yeah, I don't go to the website often. Perhaps I should.

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by JenDarby » Fri Nov 18, 2016 12:36 pm

zot1 wrote:
Mlk&Ckies wrote:It's also all over the account page online, brave anon
I'm okay looking stupid from time to time. I realized after the fact they likely get many calls per day.

But yeah, I don't go to the website often. Perhaps I should.
:lol: I love that you both went anon because of the chance a fedloans csr would see you posting about your innocuous question on TLS and that you then came forward and owned it

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by Mr. Peanutbutter » Fri Nov 18, 2016 12:37 pm

Don't wanna risk that TLS surcharge

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by zot1 » Fri Nov 18, 2016 12:37 pm

JenDarby wrote:
zot1 wrote:
Mlk&Ckies wrote:It's also all over the account page online, brave anon
I'm okay looking stupid from time to time. I realized after the fact they likely get many calls per day.

But yeah, I don't go to the website often. Perhaps I should.
:lol: I love that you both went anon because of the chance a fedloans csr would see you posting about your innocuous question on TLS and that you then came forward and owned it
The world is gonna end Jan 1 so what's the point anymore?

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by zot1 » Fri Nov 18, 2016 12:39 pm

Mlk&Ckies wrote:Don't wanna risk that TLS surcharge
I have too many of those already :lol:

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Nov 18, 2016 8:29 pm

Need some assurances that I am doing the right thing here:

I am a 2016 graduate with a 180k biglaw gig. I owe about 200k in student loans but also around 15k in credit card debt. I am not looking to be chastised about the cc debt--I know it's terrible and all that and I've learned my lesson. My question is: Should I go on IBR (already applied and was approved using last year's tax return) and make minimal payments on those student loans (~$150/mo) until my cc debt is paid off? And then refinance my student loans and start attacking that? I think this is the right plan since my cc debt obviously has much higher interest rates than my student loans. However, I just hate the fact that my already massive amount of student loans will just be growing for a while. Advice/thoughts/comments?

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by Mr. Peanutbutter » Fri Nov 18, 2016 8:35 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Need some assurances that I am doing the right thing here:

I am a 2016 graduate with a 180k biglaw gig. I owe about 200k in student loans but also around 15k in credit card debt. I am not looking to be chastised about the cc debt--I know it's terrible and all that and I've learned my lesson. My question is: Should I go on IBR (already applied and was approved using last year's tax return) and make minimal payments on those student loans (~$150/mo) until my cc debt is paid off? And then refinance my student loans and start attacking that? I think this is the right plan since my cc debt obviously has much higher interest rates than my student loans. However, I just hate the fact that my already massive amount of student loans will just be growing for a while. Advice/thoughts/comments?
I'm in the exact same boat except my CC debt is about half that. I'm doing income base and only paying the minimum until my CCs are paid off. If I like my job, then I'll refi.

One thing that makes that make sense in my mind, aside from the inherent logic of paying off 29% interest before paying off 6.5% (plus your student loans don't compound so it's an even better deal. There's also some kind of interest forgiveness voodoo that johann talks about that I don't quite understand) is that my credit is currently shot. Paying off my credit cards aggressively and then saving so I never use them again is 100% necessary if I have a shot at getting a decent refi. If your credit is decent then maybe your calculus can be different, but again it's hard to argue that it's better to pay off the low interest debt while CC debt is hanging around.

I haven't decided where I land on the argument about just aggressively paying the government loans or refi'ing, but that's not an option for me right now and who knows where interest rates will be in a year or two.

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Re: Student loan payments: Actual numbers

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Nov 18, 2016 8:39 pm

Mlk&Ckies wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Need some assurances that I am doing the right thing here:

I am a 2016 graduate with a 180k biglaw gig. I owe about 200k in student loans but also around 15k in credit card debt. I am not looking to be chastised about the cc debt--I know it's terrible and all that and I've learned my lesson. My question is: Should I go on IBR (already applied and was approved using last year's tax return) and make minimal payments on those student loans (~$150/mo) until my cc debt is paid off? And then refinance my student loans and start attacking that? I think this is the right plan since my cc debt obviously has much higher interest rates than my student loans. However, I just hate the fact that my already massive amount of student loans will just be growing for a while. Advice/thoughts/comments?
I'm in the exact same boat except my CC debt is about half that. I'm doing income base and only paying the minimum until my CCs are paid off. If I like my job, then I'll refi.

One thing that makes that make sense in my mind, aside from the inherent logic of paying off 29% interest before paying off 6.5% (plus your student loans don't compound so it's an even better deal. There's also some kind of interest forgiveness voodoo that johann talks about that I don't quite understand) is that my credit is currently shot. Paying off my credit cards aggressively and then saving so I never use them again is 100% necessary if I have a shot at getting a decent refi. If your credit is decent then maybe your calculus can be different, but again it's hard to argue that it's better to pay off the low interest debt while CC debt is hanging around.

I haven't decided where I land on the argument about just aggressively paying the government loans or refi'ing, but that's not an option for me right now and who knows where interest rates will be in a year or two.
Yeah, my credit is shot too. I enjoy the job so far (2 months in so obviously extremely premature). But I think I can last 5 years or so without issue. Goal is to pay of cc debt completely by end of 2017 and then hopefully refinance (assuming my score goes up which it should). Just going to avoid looking at my student loans balance during that time to avoid the crushing feeling of seeing 200k+ staring back at me.

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