Like many
others, I was once subject to those monthly letters from Sallie Mae,
only to remind me of the tens of thousands of dollars I owed due to my
education. This lens is for those of you who continue to be plagued by
big bad Uncle Sam and his never ending, relentless pursuit of your hard
earned money. Take back control of your life Today. Find out how you too
can apply and/or receive student loan debt forgiveness.
Student Loan Debt Forgiveness
According the Department of Education
there are "certain" types of students who are "eligible" to have their
loans forgiven, or discharged.....you ready:
-Permanent Disability
-Death
-Bankruptcy(In Rare Cases)
-The School Closes
Or
Perhaps you were a service man of some sort; i.e. a fireman or a soldier. This is called Public Service Loan Forgiveness. And then there is the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program.
So you're still reading this and you say, "Well I'm only 20 somethin' and I'm no teacher nor soldier". Yup, you guessed it. Us "regular" student MUST repay. The DOE states that student loans are non dis-chargeable. So as stated above, unless you die or you break both legs and arms, you gotta pay those loans back at some point or another.
But here's the bright side of things. And I use that term loosely. If you think your life if over because you don't apply for student loan debt forgiveness, cheer up! See, a few years back I was searching around on Sallie Mae's site, in my account of course and stumbled upon something interesting. Now maybe you know about this, and maybe you don't, but there is a way for you to actually reduce your monthly payments or even push them off for a year or so.
Now, if you chose the latter and prolong your payments you can bet your last nickel you'll have the interest penalty to show for it. But more about that in a minute. What I'm gonna talk about right now is how to go from paying $100 plus per month to less than $20 bucks. Now, of course, the interest still tacks on due to the length of the debt, but it's better than not paying at all, right?
So, there's a small section on the site, inside your account of course. Assuming you have student loan debt, and you're familiar with Sallie Mae' site. But you can apply for a reduction of your monthly payments. Personally, it was just faster to call the 800 number and speak to someone directly. But log story short, the mailed me a couple of forms to fill out which basically asked for my income and my bills, etc. A few weeks later I checked my account, because I hadn't received any letter, a to my surprise I went from paying just under $150 per month to less than $25. I don't know about you but that surely helps a poor guy like myself.
As I mentioned earlier, there is a way to put off paying your student loan debt. It's called deferment. I've personally done this once myself. It's an online process, you don't need to call anyone. Simply find the section in your account that relates to "other payment options" and you'll find the sections about deferment and forbearance. You want to click on deferment. Then you'll see a list of "reasons" why you would need to apply for deferment. I personally picked "income". This section states that if you work less than 30 hours a week then you basically qualify.
You don't need to print anything nor download. Just fill out the form, click submit and wait a few days. You'll notice that your payment "due date" has been deferred at least 5 months. My first payment went from being due in April to around October. That length of time isn't typical, that's just my experience.
So, that's my little spiel on student loan debt forgiveness programs. Even thought "most" of us don't qualify, there still is a way to get a little help with your student loans.
-Permanent Disability
-Death
-Bankruptcy(In Rare Cases)
-The School Closes
Or
Perhaps you were a service man of some sort; i.e. a fireman or a soldier. This is called Public Service Loan Forgiveness. And then there is the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program.
So you're still reading this and you say, "Well I'm only 20 somethin' and I'm no teacher nor soldier". Yup, you guessed it. Us "regular" student MUST repay. The DOE states that student loans are non dis-chargeable. So as stated above, unless you die or you break both legs and arms, you gotta pay those loans back at some point or another.
But here's the bright side of things. And I use that term loosely. If you think your life if over because you don't apply for student loan debt forgiveness, cheer up! See, a few years back I was searching around on Sallie Mae's site, in my account of course and stumbled upon something interesting. Now maybe you know about this, and maybe you don't, but there is a way for you to actually reduce your monthly payments or even push them off for a year or so.
Now, if you chose the latter and prolong your payments you can bet your last nickel you'll have the interest penalty to show for it. But more about that in a minute. What I'm gonna talk about right now is how to go from paying $100 plus per month to less than $20 bucks. Now, of course, the interest still tacks on due to the length of the debt, but it's better than not paying at all, right?
So, there's a small section on the site, inside your account of course. Assuming you have student loan debt, and you're familiar with Sallie Mae' site. But you can apply for a reduction of your monthly payments. Personally, it was just faster to call the 800 number and speak to someone directly. But log story short, the mailed me a couple of forms to fill out which basically asked for my income and my bills, etc. A few weeks later I checked my account, because I hadn't received any letter, a to my surprise I went from paying just under $150 per month to less than $25. I don't know about you but that surely helps a poor guy like myself.
As I mentioned earlier, there is a way to put off paying your student loan debt. It's called deferment. I've personally done this once myself. It's an online process, you don't need to call anyone. Simply find the section in your account that relates to "other payment options" and you'll find the sections about deferment and forbearance. You want to click on deferment. Then you'll see a list of "reasons" why you would need to apply for deferment. I personally picked "income". This section states that if you work less than 30 hours a week then you basically qualify.
You don't need to print anything nor download. Just fill out the form, click submit and wait a few days. You'll notice that your payment "due date" has been deferred at least 5 months. My first payment went from being due in April to around October. That length of time isn't typical, that's just my experience.
So, that's my little spiel on student loan debt forgiveness programs. Even thought "most" of us don't qualify, there still is a way to get a little help with your student loans.
