SoFi Refinance Forum

[Old Gregg]

^ yes you choose exactly which loans you want to refinance. I am thinking about going half and half (refinancing my 7.9% loans, keeping the ones at 6.8%). Still really paranoid about it since I am not sure how long I want to be a lawyer.

It would make sense even if you weren't a lawyer... assuming your new occupation isn't "unemployed."

Yup.

[sharkweek]

If you're going to do SoFi, you should use the referral program. You get $100 and so does your friend who referred you. They're not great at advertising it but as you get $100 each for clicking a link it's a pretty good deal and easy to set up.

If you don't have any SoFi-referring friends you can of course use my link:

http://friends.sofi.com/3brBs

[horriblegb]

So from my understanding of SoFi v. Darien Rowayton is just personal rates. I have not really heard much about one or the other, but I did not want to pick a refinancer without having an idea about the company, or does this not really matter?

And I guess just to reiterate, if I am looking at paying off in 10 years, it seems that fixed would be the safer way to go, but with SoFi if the variable interest rates start to climb, then I can refinance again into fixed?

Sorry haha I just I want to make sure I am not illiterate in all of this haha

[Danger Zone]

So from my understanding of SoFi v. Darien Rowayton is just personal rates. I have not really heard much about one or the other, but I did not want to pick a refinancer without having an idea about the company, or does this not really matter?

And I guess just to reiterate, if I am looking at paying off in 10 years, it seems that fixed would be the safer way to go, but with SoFi if the variable interest rates start to climb, then I can refinance again into fixed?

Sorry haha I just I want to make sure I am not illiterate in all of this haha

Fixed is always the "safest" way to go, but you will pay extra for that safety. As far as student loans go, ten years is a relatively short repayment period. The shorter the period, the safer a variable rate is, which in turn lessens your incentive to choose the fixed rate. Ultimately it's up to you and your personal level of risk aversion, but I think you would be crazy to pay for the fixed rate on such a short repayment period. You can always switch to fixed later if you think that's necessary. Read this.

What do you want to know about the companies that would sway you one way or another? Really not sure what you're looking for with that first paragraph. Just go with whichever offers the cheaper rate.

[horriblegb]

So from my understanding of SoFi v. Darien Rowayton is just personal rates. I have not really heard much about one or the other, but I did not want to pick a refinancer without having an idea about the company, or does this not really matter?

And I guess just to reiterate, if I am looking at paying off in 10 years, it seems that fixed would be the safer way to go, but with SoFi if the variable interest rates start to climb, then I can refinance again into fixed?

Sorry haha I just I want to make sure I am not illiterate in all of this haha

Fixed is always the "safest" way to go, but you will pay extra for that safety. As far as student loans go, ten years is a relatively short repayment period. The shorter the period, the safer a variable rate is, which in turn lessens your incentive to choose the fixed rate. Ultimately it's up to you and your personal level of risk aversion, but I think you would be crazy to pay for the fixed rate on such a short repayment period. You can always switch to fixed later if you think that's necessary. Read this.

What do you want to know about the companies that would sway you one way or another? Really not sure what you're looking for with that first paragraph. Just go with whichever offers the cheaper rate.

awesome thanks a lot for the reply. I guess I am so economically illiterate i did not realize that ten years is a short repayment time. I guess I was just wondering if one has a bad rap or something like that. I didn't want to get screwed by going with the wrong company, for example, for me, SoFi is a little bit higher rates but I have generally heard good things about them, where as with DRB, it is lower, but I dont know much, if that all makes sense.

Thanks for the response and link!

[sharkweek]

Whether or not 10 years is a "long" time depends on a lot of different things like your total debt amount, how long you plan to (or can reasonably expect to) stay at your current job/salary, what your future financial plans are etc. There is an online calculator that calculates total interest paid at different terms and interest rates:

http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml

it's a good idea to plug in all the numbers and see the actual difference. I know it's like playing with monopoly money sometimes but it's good to be able to see a hard figure when making loan decisions. Variable rates can't be predicted with certainty of course, but even a small reduction in a fixed rate can save you thousands of dollars. If you're not planning on doing IBR or a public interest forgiveness program you should really pay attention to the exact amounts.

[Old Gregg]

Sofi provides a calculator which determines total amount paid over the applicable period.

[sharkweek]

That's true but you have to create an account (and all SoFi loans are 10 years). I found the FinAid calculator easiest to access/use when deciding between keeping your government loans for a longer period or refinancing with someone else. It's also convenient for calculating interest paid over the course of other loans (mortgage, car, etc.).

[Old Gregg]

Nope. Sofi repayments vary from 5 to 15 years. 10 years or less with variable. 15 yeas or less when you do fixed. With the interest rate cut, you're making pretty similar min payments under 15 year fixed as you are with 30 year fixed on grad plus.

[sharkweek]

Interesting, I didn't realize the fixed rate offered a longer term. That's amazing that the term of years is basically cut in half compared to gradplus. I'm glad we have the government programs, but also really glad someone has realized they're kind of ridiculous given the current fed rate.

[Anonymous User]

I'm currently a 3L going to biglaw and want to refinance my federal loans asap. Has anyone applied to SoFi right after passing the bar or did you have to wait until you got admitted? Their website says "If you are applying from a law program, you must have passed the bar and be licensed", but when I called they said I just need my bar results.

[jitsrenzo]

I thought a lot about SoFi and refinancing in general. A few points:

1) Refinancing is absolutely critical.

The interest rate on student loans is killer. I have loans at 7.9% and 6.8%. The "tyranny of 7.9%" has become a meme among law students for a good reason. Only once you start trying to repay them does it become apparent what such a high interest rate really means. I've been making minimum payments for 3 months (totaling less than $5000), of which $2000 has gone just to interest. In less than a month, $700 of unpaid interest has accrued. And I didn't even pay close to sticker.

I just refinanced at around 3.9% variable. That's literally less than half of the GradPlus rate.

2) Fixed or variable? Downsides of refinancing?

I chose variable, but there are reasons to pick fixed as well. SoFi's variable rate is based on the 1-month LIBOR. Short term interest rates are projected to remain low for the next few years. Since I plan on paying off my loans in that time frame, variable made the most sense.

If you're truly concerned about the possibility of rising short-term interest rates, and you're planning to take 10 years to pay off the loans, then it's more tempting to go with fixed. To me, the tradeoff of the higher interest rate doesn't seem worth it.

I had some Perkins loans at 5% fixed. I didn't refinance those.

A few people I know looked into SoFi but don't want to refinance because they may quit biglaw and go into government/PI and take advantage of LRAP/IBR/PSLF. This is pretty much the only reason NOT to refinance.

3) My experience with SoFi

To answer the poster above me: you can apply to SoFi right after receiving bar results -- you don't have to wait until the swearing-in. The application process is pretty easy. All I did was take pictures of my ID, billing statements, etc and upload them to the site. Whenever I called SoFi, their customer service people were pretty knowledgeable. The hold time over the phone is 5-10 minutes though.

As another poster mentioned, the best way to apply to SoFi is to use their referral program. You and the referring friend both get $100. One of my friends told me about this, and I literally started a new application to claim it. As long as you set up your account and refinance after clicking on the link, you are entitled to the fee. Obviously using a friend's would be best, but if you need a referral, mine is

http://friends.sofi.com/3lZqQ

[horriblegb]

Uh, I have another stupid, rainbow land/hypothetical question

so, I know generally speaking that if you file for bankruptcy your student loans cannot be forgiven

but what about if you refinance through one of these private companies, does it still stand?

Just curious

[Elston Gunn]

Couple questions:
1) Has anyone done the math on SoFi vs. PAYE if you're starting in BigLaw?
2) Any thoughts on what to do if you're clerking->BigLaw. Is TCR, just suck it up, refinance, and be poor while you're clerking? Or will you get a worse rate if you apply while you're making less money?

[POTUS2044]

Uh, I have another stupid, rainbow land/hypothetical question

so, I know generally speaking that if you file for bankruptcy your student loans cannot be forgiven

but what about if you refinance through one of these private companies, does it still stand?

Just curious

It's still a student loan = not dischargeable

[horriblegb]

Uh, I have another stupid, rainbow land/hypothetical question

so, I know generally speaking that if you file for bankruptcy your student loans cannot be forgiven

but what about if you refinance through one of these private companies, does it still stand?

Just curious

It's still a student loan = not dischargeable

Thats what I thought, it would be too easy to go through that loop hole, thanks!