Tag Archives: help

Student Loan Consolidation Program – Are The Benefits Worth Your Effort? (Page 1 of 2)

There are a lot of benefits one can get when he or she consolidates his or her student loans. But just as there are benefits, there are also some disadvantages. It is best therefore for you to read and know all you can on consolidating your student loans before making that all important decision and therefore sealing your financial fate.

But loans being as they are – annoying and relevant at the same time, the kind you cannot live with but at the same time cannot live without – you just can’t help but avoid thinking of them until that period where you have no choice but to pay up. But do not fear, the federal government is here – believe it or not – to help ease your payment of your student loans.

With the help of Congress, all your student loans could now be combined into one. Not only that, doing so results in automatically lowering the payment you have to pay every month. Plus you are provided with very flexible means of payment. Not only that, there are also features where you could – if you wish – extend the period you want to pay your student loans.

Still not convinced or are you still confused? Okay, to make it clear, the following are the benefits one could acquire when he or she gets to consolidate any or all their student loans.

You get to have the advantage of making payments that are lower than the ones you regularly pay every month.

Not only will you get to have monthly payments that are lower, you also will get to pay one and only one loan per month. This is in lieu of the several loans you may have if you do not consolidate your loans.

Besides only one payment made each month and a low one at that, the interest rate attached to the loan is a fixed one! It should and must not get to be over 8.25% at any period during the whole duration of the payment for your student loan. This is enough to get anyone going especially now that interest rates available nationally are at their lowest in over forty years.

And here is the best part, the process one goes through when applying for a consolidation of student loans is very simple. Believe it or not, the application does not involve any forms of credit check. There is also no fee involved for processing the application for consolidating student loans.

When you consolidate, you could also avail of a plan for payment that is flexible. This means you will basically be able to create a plan of repayment that you think suits you the best, financially of course. This is a great opportunity for you to assess your current financial needs as well as your financial needs in the future.

Also, if you decide to pay your loan via electronic means, you will be able to decrease your interest rate by .25%. Doing electronic payment also keeps you updated in your payments and decreases your chance of ever forgetting to pay.

Another thing, when you consolidate your student loans, you will have an option to, if ever you decide, to prepay the loan you have at any given time with no penalty whatsoever.

School Loan Deferments and Forbearance

Student loans are designed to be quite easy to pay off, but there are times when students simply can’t make the payments. Because student loans and school loan consolidation can make the balance of your loan add up, there may come a time when you have trouble meeting your required payment. In this case, it is important to take steps to protect your personal credit in order to build a financial future in the long term. It is never good to default on a loan, and it is even worse to default on a federally funded student loan.

When you can’t make your payments and student loan consolidation isn’t an option, you might want to consider a last resort. Gaining a deferment on your student loan is an excellent way to get a break. Many people have trouble paying back loans of all kinds, so lenders have developed this option to help. They are just as eager to get their money back as you are to pay it, so they will work with you in order to find a solution that works for everyone.

And important thing to remember about school loan deferments is that you can not apply for this type of help after you’ve already defaulted. If you feel like the burden of the student loan is going to be too much to bear, talk to your creditors before it gets to that point. Once you go into default, your credit will be ruined and there will be no deferment option to bail you out.

Deferments will allow you to put off the payments until a later time. Obviously, this will not eliminate your debt, but it will give you some room to breathe. There are fees and charges associated with putting off the repayment of a loan, but it is better to pay these fees than to have a large student loan go into default.

Before you get to the point where deferment is necessary, consider calling up a student loan consolidation company. If you have private lenders for the student loan, they can sometimes work with your lenders in order to lower the rates that you pay. In some cases, they can even help to develop a repayment plan to keep you out of default. This is an option that works for lots of folks.

If you aren’t comfortable with school loan consolidation, then forbearance is another option to strongly consider. As with deferment, this isn’t the most pleasant outcome to the problem, but it beats the alternative of defaulting on the loan. Like deferment, forbearance must be applied for specifically. Some cases will be granted and some will not. It all depends upon your lender and your circumstances. During forbearance, you payments are temporarily suspended or reduced for a certain period of time. This is usually more of a short term fix when deferment or student loan consolidation is not an option.

School loan forbearance and deferment is a good way to keep yourself out of financial trouble. Defaulting on a loan can be financial death, so any way around that is a good thing.

Copyright (c) 2008 USUniversityReviews