Student Loan Payments

Answer 1

Anyone who has gone to college knows that you have to repay any loans you have taken out upon graduation. No matter how large your debt is, you have to pay back the balance in full, unless other arrangements have been made. There are few avenues of recourse available to you should you fall behind on payments and wish to discharge them.

Bankruptcy Will Not Alleviate The Pain

The biggest thing to understand about student loans is that they cannot be discharged in a bankruptcy. The reason for this is because the loans are low interest loans that are guaranteed by the government. This means they have to be repaid no matter what. The best thing to do is to try to claim an undue hardship if you cannot pay your bills at all.

Income Based Repayments

If you ever have issues repaying your student loans. you should opt for income based repayment plans, or a plan where you only pay the interest. Note that most repayment modifications apply to federal student loans only. However, your lender may be willing to work with you to come up with a new plan of payment. Make sure you understand all of your options before taking out a loan in the first place.

Don't Forget To Consolidate Your Loans

You are allowed to consolidate all of your loans and take advantage of a lower interest rate. This also allows you to make a single payment each month on your student loans. You are allowed to do this only once, so make it count. Look for the lowest rate you can find. Another option you might want to consider is paying off your student loans, and then finding a credit card with a lower rate than your student loans. A long shot, but it could happen.

Paying student loans is never fun, but you need to be able to make the payments each month. You don't want to find yourself in default, or sent to court over non-payment, and you cannot get rid of them, so it has to be your first priority.