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Six Student Loan Myths to Avoid

Six Student Loan Myths to Avoid

Are you feeling down because of your student loan? Worry no more! The misconception that surrounds student loans is mostly the reason for the fear of it. To help clear up your confusion, you are always free to call your student loan servicer to ask your questions. To give you more detail, below are some student loan myths.

Until I graduate, I shouldn’t worry about my loans 

While you are still in school, it is better to start paying off your student loan. This can be highly beneficial to you in the long run. After you graduate, drop below half-time student status, or drop out, you will be given around six months of the grace period (which many federal loans give) to financially secure yourself. However, during this period, interest begins to emanate. By the end of the grace period and you haven’t paid any of your loans off, you will have more interest. Therefore, it can be helpful while you are still in school to make some payments even small ones. 

You should keep careful track of your loans regardless of whether or not you choose to make payments early. Better take note of your interest rate, how much you owe, etc. 

 I should prioritize in paying off my student loans 

This actually depends after you will compare the interest rates you get on your various debts. Because you should always prioritize your debt that has the highest interest rate. For example, your credit card bill has a smaller amount on it but has a higher interest rate, then you should prioritize that since everything is all about balance. At the moment, what can you pay off? If you will wait, what will possibly make you pay more? It will be very helpful if you will keep track of your interest rates. 

I should have Loan Consolidation since it’s always helpful

To only pay one bill per month by consolidating your loan might seem like a good idea if you do have loans from multiple sources (which is not so common these days). Your loan servicer will round up after taking a weighted average of your interest rates when you consider doing that. If you had kept them separate, you may actually end up paying more than what you would have depending on your plan. Some benefits (like loan forgiveness might disappear in addition to that. Always be curious and ask relevant questions, especially about the outcome or overall effect of it.  Maybe you should just keep them separate if it’s more negative. Better safe than sorry, right?

My entire loans should be paid back

Well, that’s a fact to most people but it is never a bad idea to see if you qualify for a forgiveness program. A good example is The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. If you work a qualified job in the government for full-time, then your loans can be forgiven after ten years of successful loan payments. Other types of forgiveness may be coming but as of now, Teacher and Disability Forgiveness is available. The availability of other future forgiveness depends on who we elect as President and the government. 

My repayment amount cannot be adjusted

This is actually an erroneous statement. You can adjust yours while the standard ten-year repayment plan is what everyone’s bill is set. Viable options that can decrease the amount you owe each month are Graduated, Income-Based, Extended, and Pay-As-You-Earn. It is very important to always remember that you should stay ahead of the interest rate when you are extending how long you plan to take to repay your loans. Owing more than when you started might what happen to you if you will not do and think so!

To lay out the differences between repayment plans, better check out a great site: Federal Student Aid.

My credit score will not be affected by my student loans

Actually, they do. A form of credit is what loans are. Credit cards are having rate but are really just short term-loans if you will think about it. You will have a negative impact on your credit score if you will miss a payment or pay late. Then it can actually affect a lot such as your eligibility to apply for a new credit card, more loans, and even renting a house or an apartment. Better make your payments on time to either increase your credit score or maintain it.  

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