What To Do About Student Loans After Graduation
It’s a confusing time to know what to do about student loans after graduation. Between reports that the federal student loan rates will jump starting July 1 and the Department of Education’s proposed budget that could make it harder to obtain and repay student loans, it’s difficult to know how to get started in handling your student loan after graduation. Student loan debt is now at $1.4 trillion. Of that, approximately 1 million borrowers have defaulted on (could not pay back) their loans. People are even trying crowdfunding to help pay off their loans. Singer Nicki Minaj has even offered to help some of her fans with their student loans. Below are some helpful tips to help you deal with student loans after graduation.
7 Tips to Handle Student Loans After Graduation
1. Learn About Your Loan
Managing student loans after graduating might be the last thing you want to do after all of those years working hard in school, but you need to have a clear understanding of your loan(s). Start by learning the basics: how much is the overall loan, how can you make your payments, when are payments due and how much is due each month?
2. Get to Know Your Loan Servicer
This is key. Loans can be tricky to navigate. Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and ask your loan servicer any questions you don’t have answers for. It’s to your benefit to build a good relationship with your loan servicer. For instance, if you fall behind on a loan in the future and you have an established relationship with your servicer — then they may very well may work with you to lower your payments or work with you on a payment plan.
3. Know Your Student Loan Repayment Options
There are income-based repayment plans that allow you to pay back a percentage of your monthly income depending on how much you make. Find out if your student loan has a deferment option. A deferment means you can stop making student loan payments for a specific period of time because of a definitive occurrence that is happening in your life, such as returning to school, losing a job or other economic hardships.
4. What is the Grace Period for Your Student Loan?
Meaning, how long after graduation do you have to start paying your student loan back? Most loans offer a 6-month grace period (or deferment) after the date of your graduation. There may be an option to change your grace period, so make sure to check your specific loan for such an option.
5. Make a Budget and keep expenses low.
A common student loan mistake that new grads make is to not make a budget upon graduation. You need to know exactly how much money you have coming in each month and what your expenses are. With the excitement of graduation, it can be difficult to buckle down and focus on keeping expenses low. Taking your grace period into consideration, make a budget for when you need to start making monthly student loan payments and stick to it.
6. Side Hustle: How to Get Rid of Student Loans Quickly
“Side Hustle” is a huge buzz word right now and for good reason. If you want to pay off student loans quickly, then you need to make more money with a side job. It’s that simple. Read about these inspiring millennial women who have overcome crushing student loan debt.
7. Ask for Help
No one wants to see young graduates falling behind as they are just starting out in life. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau offers considerable help to recent graduates.
Help for Student Loan Debt After Graduation
If you are still worried about what to do about student loans after graduation or are worried you won’t be able to pay your loans on time, then you might want to seek the help of a student loan debt lawyer. I offer student loan debt relief in San Diego, but also have helped people all over the country get into repayment plans and helped those who have defaulted on their loans with a debt settlement. In fact, we saved our client over $100,000 on a Navient student loan debt settlement. If you have any questions about the best ways to pay off your student loan debt, I offer a free consultation — so give me a call at 858–217–5051.
Story originally published on GamezLawFirm.com. Daniel R. Gamez, an attorney focusing exclusively in debt relief, is licensed to practice in all state and federal courts in California and Texas. Mr. Gamez owns and operates the Gamez Law Firm in San Diego and Los Angeles. For more information, please contact Daniel Gamez at 858–217–5051, daniel@gamezlawfirm.com or use our online contact form. Stay updated about the latest debt relief tips by following on Facebook and Twitter and read about client success stories on our website.
