Student loan payments: get advice and actual numbers here Forum

[fats provolone]

im locked in until Nov 15 as well so probably no reason to play with fire for an extra 6 months

[Anonymous User]

If I see the eurozone really isnt getting stronger economically in a year and a half,

How is this relevant?

Loans based on 1-month LIBOR

Wait... so you think the ECB's decision to keep interest rates (for the Euro) at 0% will keep LIBOR low, despite the Fed probably raising interest rates on the USD mid-2015?

Well, yes, duhhhhh. I mean, I know FFR and Libor pretty much mirror their movements, but that is not always the case (i.e. the financial crisis), especially when either the US or Eurozone is experiencing market turbulence. I wouldnt be surprised to see a slight FFR increase do little to nothing to LIBOR with the current situation in Europe.

I also don't think the Fed is going to raise interest rates this year, and if they do, it will be a minor bump back up. Pretty sure yields are dropping still for T-bills, so I guess the markets agree, otherwise, why are people buying with an expected hike coming? Especially with yields already so low? Equity markets are experiencing volatility not seen in years, commodities markets are crashing and energy markets are doing the same, I think it will be a few years before a rate hike is seen that would make my variable rate not worth it.

My rate is actually lowered since I began my variable re-finance and a lot of the clients that we work with are taking the view that LIBOR is going to drop as well over the next 18 months, so I am pretty happy with how things are turning out.

[Johann]

yeah i mean were getting such a ridic benefit id jsut not worry about following up with them. but in nov 2015 they will ask you for your 2014 taxes filed in march 2015 as those are most recent. that should be stub year income for you, so still a payment based on $65k instead of $160k. if all else fails, just have a kid and claim a dependent to get your payment lower.

[Johann]

I like fat ducks most recent explanation of why he is not paying off loans. I am now regretting all the money I throw at loans and my refinancing application, and I'm thinking maybe I should go back to the drawing board.

you can come to me and fatducks tax bomb party and make fun of us later though. we will spend lots of money on this elaborate party to decrease our solvency and thus decrease our tax bomb.

[Old Gregg]

Seems like the SNB is betting that USD interest rate will go up this year...

[fats provolone]

I like fat ducks most recent explanation of why he is not paying off loans. I am now regretting all the money I throw at loans and my refinancing application, and I'm thinking maybe I should go back to the drawing board.

you can come to me and fatducks tax bomb party and make fun of us later though. we will spend lots of money on this elaborate party to decrease our solvency and thus decrease our tax bomb.

I'm gonna reincorporate in barbados for my 50th birthday

[JenDarby]

I like fat ducks most recent explanation of why he is not paying off loans. I am now regretting all the money I throw at loans and my refinancing application, and I'm thinking maybe I should go back to the drawing board.

you can come to me and fatducks tax bomb party and make fun of us later though. we will spend lots of money on this elaborate party to decrease our solvency and thus decrease our tax bomb.

Sold. A few days ago I threw an extra 1k at loans. I felt no joy, it was really the most disappointing use of money.

[fats provolone]

yea I feel the same way about credit cards. I'm pretty bad with money though. see eg my gambling addiction

[Johann]

JD for real - some of that extra money should be thrown in the S&P500 or held as cash for real property(but you are in NYC so lol unless you want a parking spot) or downturn in economy. I understand that it probably feels like a lot to be in six figures of debt, and it is, but you have to think of it as any business would. Debt to an extent is healthy. You are on 10 year, now correct? If you are, keep up with those payments, and to the extent you have extra cash at the end of 3 or 4 months you should at least split it between loans and another type of investment. If you dont own any stock outside of your retirement, you should buy a couple grand worth of an index fund and just hold it for years. Just my 2 cents. Or just keep the cash in your bank account in case stock prices fall out to buy cheap, or you decide you want to own real property eventually.

[JenDarby]

JD for real - some of that extra money should be thrown in the S&P500 or held as cash for real property(but you are in NYC so lol unless you want a parking spot) or downturn in economy. I understand that it probably feels like a lot to be in six figures of debt, and it is, but you have to think of it as any business would. Debt to an extent is healthy. You are on 10 year, now correct? If you are, keep up with those payments, and to the extent you have extra cash at the end of 3 or 4 months you should at least split it between loans and another type of investment. If you dont own any stock outside of your retirement, you should buy a couple grand worth of an index fund and just hold it for years. Just my 2 cents. Or just keep the cash in your bank account in case stock prices fall out to buy cheap, or you decide you want to own real property eventually.

I maxed out Roth IRA for last year (I also do 401k), and then just started throwing some extra money at loans. It basically came down to loan payoff or Burberry trench coat, and I think I came out the wrong end. I'm anticipating a decent tax return so I will put that towards savings.

I really enjoy when Mint.com randomly emails me my net worth.

[middlemarch]

Re: Obama's tax plan. "But it would also wipe away the often surprising tax bill owed when a student’s loan debt is forgiven under “pay as you earn” and other income-based repayment plans."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/your- ... v=top-news

[fats provolone]

yea we talked about that a while ago in here, seems unlikely to pass

[fats provolone]

although ljl if they horse trade a pslf cap for removing the tax bomb. wonder how many congressional kids are in biglaw

[XxSpyKEx]

JD for real - some of that extra money should be thrown in the S&P500 or held as cash for real property(but you are in NYC so lol unless you want a parking spot) or downturn in economy. I understand that it probably feels like a lot to be in six figures of debt, and it is, but you have to think of it as any business would. Debt to an extent is healthy. You are on 10 year, now correct? If you are, keep up with those payments, and to the extent you have extra cash at the end of 3 or 4 months you should at least split it between loans and another type of investment. If you dont own any stock outside of your retirement, you should buy a couple grand worth of an index fund and just hold it for years. Just my 2 cents. Or just keep the cash in your bank account in case stock prices fall out to buy cheap, or you decide you want to own real property eventually.

I maxed out Roth IRA for last year (I also do 401k), and then just started throwing some extra money at loans. It basically came down to loan payoff or Burberry trench coat, and I think I came out the wrong end. I'm anticipating a decent tax return so I will put that towards savings.

I really enjoy when Mint.com randomly emails me my net worth.

Yeah, def should've gone with the burberry trench coat

[anonnymouse]

SoFi now offering 2.17% interest rate. Incredible.

Fixed or variable? 5yr or 10yr?

[Old Gregg]

SoFi now offering 2.17% interest rate. Incredible.

Fixed or variable? 5yr or 10yr?

check the goddamned website.

also with autopay discount, you're looking at 1.92% interest rate. basically free money.

[Big Shrimpin]

SoFi now offering 2.17% interest rate. Incredible.

Fixed or variable? 5yr or 10yr?

check the goddamned website.

also with autopay discount, you're looking at 1.92% interest rate. basically free money.

fuk my ass i have 3.17

guess i shoulda waited a few months

[Old Gregg]

SoFi now offering 2.17% interest rate. Incredible.

Fixed or variable? 5yr or 10yr?

check the goddamned website.

also with autopay discount, you're looking at 1.92% interest rate. basically free money.

fuk my ass i have 3.17

guess i shoulda waited a few months

U can refi broheim. Maybe cop dat referall fee in the mean time

[Big Shrimpin]

refi like 3 mos after i opened it?

[JCougar]

Dr. Cougarlove: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Debt

There was once a time where a deeply-ingrained sense of personal responsibility and self-efficacy made me terrified of taking on debt I couldn't easily pay off. I believe this stemmed psychologically from my upbringing, in which my parents made a bunch of risky and unsuccessful financial choices that left my nuclear family buried in debt until sometime after I went off to college.

I decided to be a hero and go off to law school, and thought my intellect and relevant prior work experience would lead me to a paying job after school. After all, my school said the "median salary" was $120,000/year starting. I knew their statistics were rife with legerdemain and obfuscation, but I figured they couldn't have been that much of an exaggeration, and even if I ended up somewhere making $80K/year, I, being thrifty, could make it work out. After all, how could such a nationally-renowned and prestigious institution be a thorough and complete fraud?

20 months later, and I've made a grand total of $0 in payments on any of my school loans. I am on PAYE or whatever it's called. I've done only volunteer work so far, so I can't pay anyway. I haven't looked at my loan balance since last March. I have no idea how much interest has accrued over the last year, and quite frankly, I'm terrified to look.

The trick is that sometime around last year, I was able to convince myself that this is joke money. The legal education bureaucracy is such a big scam that it's literally a laughable joke. Same thing with our government, with its incompetence in managing college pricing/student debt. As such, I no longer had to feel responsible for what I owed.

Now, inches away from a PSLF job, it really doesn't matter. 10 years, 10% of pay. The rest of it gets shifted around in some crazy accounting scheme where the DOE makes profits on interest now, but forgives it later. I guess it's all water under the bridge--deferred compensation for my volunteer years. And if for some crazy reason I fuck up and don't get it...well the joke's on them. Can't squeeze blood out of a turnip.

And so I learned to be at peace with this crazy, incompetent bureaucracy.

[fats provolone]

amen

[Johann]

the truth will set you free. glad you have accepted this.

[jess]

.

[Johann]

they usually ask you to resubmit every year until its paid off

[A. Nony Mouse]

It is every 12 months; they'll let you know when you need to resubmit and if you don't do it on time, you get switched to the standard 10 year plan. If your income changes you can download the forms to recertify at the new income (to be honest I only do this before I'm required to if my income goes down).

(This reminds me I have to recertify, like, this week.)