If you have too much student debt with many loans you have to pay simultaneously you should consider student debt consolidation. Student debt consolidation differs from regular debt consolidation mainly because student loans come with fewer interest rates and longer repayment programs.
Consolidating student debt will reduce your monthly payments to a single installment while at the same time reducing the average interest rate and extending the average length of your loans. This will lift the heavy burden of student debt from your shoulders and help you make ends meet.
Different Repayment Plans
Given that student loans are repaid over a long period of time, repayment plans are the essence of student loans. When you decide to apply for a loan, the differences between repayment plans are the key issue that will determine which student loan is suitable for your needs.
Traditional Repayment Plan
The common repayment plan consolidates all your student debt into a single loan that can be repaid in up to 12 years with usually a fixed interest rate (variable interest rates can be obtained though). This is the most common repayment plan with balanced interest rate and repayment term.
Income Based Repayment Plan
In this kind of repayment plan, the monthly payments are not set but determined each period by the outstanding debt, market conditions (interest rate) and mainly, your income. This is obviously great for people who do not have a steady income, since the amount you will have to destine for repaying the loan will not be fixed. If any month you earn more, you will be paying a higher amount and thus cancelling your loan faster. If on the other hand, you earn too little on certain month, you will not have to worry since your loan installment will also be reduced.
Graduate Repayment Plan
There are two kinds of graduate repayment plans. The first can be paid in up to 35 years but will not be due till you graduate. Thus during the whole period of college studies, you will not have to put aside any money for paying off the loan. The second type of loan has the same term as the first one, though it usually lasts less, but it includes monthly installments during college. These installments only cover the principal. The interests on the loan will only be paid after graduation. With this graduate repayment plan, the monthly payments during college are greatly reduced.
Extensive Repayment Plan
The extensive repayment plan can last as much as 35 years and works exactly as the traditional repayment plan. It has a higher fixed interest rate (your can have it reduced by selecting a variable rate. Highly risky though). Bear in mind however, that though the monthly payments are significantly reduced and affordable. The loan term implies that you will be paying sometimes more than 100% of the amount borrowed over the whole life of the loan.
When it comes to consolidating debt, you need to consider all your options and request loan quotes from lenders. Compare interest rates and fees and decide which repayment program is best for you. Whichever your decision is, make sure you will be able to meet your monthly payments and have a surplus to cover for unexpected events.
Showing posts with label LOAN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LOAN. Show all posts
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Financing College Expenses With Student Loans Or with Credit Cards?
Students always need finance to cover the expenses of daily life. Buying books, paying for rent, groceries, services, etc. can add up to considerable amounts that must be paid somehow. The easiest way is to use a credit card; credit cards are always in hand and are a very comfortable payment method.
But what happens when you will not have enough money by the next month to pay the whole balance? Or, in other words, what if you need finance to make ends meet? Is a credit card the best source of finance or are there other options that you can turn to if you need funds to cover your expenses?
All these questions will be answered in the following paragraphs. What we want to make students understand is that finance is a serious issue that should be well thought. Rushing in and choosing the easiest path can lead to unfortunate consequences that can easily be avoided by doing a bit of research and making conscious decisions.
Other Finance Sources
The truth is that when it comes to students, lenders are more flexible and a student will be able to get finance at low interest rates without too much hassle as long as he is willing to go through the process of applying for a loan.
Many people feel that using a credit card and getting finance through it is not borrowing money, but it is. There is no difference between that and applying for a loan. So, given that either way you will owe someone money, you might as well borrow money with a lower interest rate.
Federal Loans carry the lowest interest rates when it comes to student loans. The interest rate charged for a federal loan is usually below 6%. Another benefit that comes with this kind of loans is that the repayment is deferred till graduation. Moreover, you can sometimes agree a deferment of up to a year after graduation.
Regular loans on the other hand carry somewhat higher interest rates but nevertheless lower than other unsecured personal loans. Repayment can also be deferred and payment schedules can last longer than federal loans. Also, private loans provide higher loan amounts than federal loans.
Credit Cards
If you choose to finance yourself with credit cards, you must understand that costs will be a lot higher. Unless you always pay your balance in full (in which case you would not be financing) the interest rate you will be charged for credit will be as high as 20%, let alone other charges and fees like insurance, issuing costs, etc.
Not only is the interest rate a lot higher, but it is also not fixed. So variations in market conditions may increase the interest rate charged and you will end up paying a lot more than you expected. Besides you cannot defer payment, you will have to begin to pay for your purchases the following month. And if you choose to pay the minimum you will end up accumulating debt which is a dangerous thing to do as the minimum will increase every month and you will end up being unable to pay your credit card balance.
But what happens when you will not have enough money by the next month to pay the whole balance? Or, in other words, what if you need finance to make ends meet? Is a credit card the best source of finance or are there other options that you can turn to if you need funds to cover your expenses?
All these questions will be answered in the following paragraphs. What we want to make students understand is that finance is a serious issue that should be well thought. Rushing in and choosing the easiest path can lead to unfortunate consequences that can easily be avoided by doing a bit of research and making conscious decisions.
Other Finance Sources
The truth is that when it comes to students, lenders are more flexible and a student will be able to get finance at low interest rates without too much hassle as long as he is willing to go through the process of applying for a loan.
Many people feel that using a credit card and getting finance through it is not borrowing money, but it is. There is no difference between that and applying for a loan. So, given that either way you will owe someone money, you might as well borrow money with a lower interest rate.
Federal Loans carry the lowest interest rates when it comes to student loans. The interest rate charged for a federal loan is usually below 6%. Another benefit that comes with this kind of loans is that the repayment is deferred till graduation. Moreover, you can sometimes agree a deferment of up to a year after graduation.
Regular loans on the other hand carry somewhat higher interest rates but nevertheless lower than other unsecured personal loans. Repayment can also be deferred and payment schedules can last longer than federal loans. Also, private loans provide higher loan amounts than federal loans.
Credit Cards
If you choose to finance yourself with credit cards, you must understand that costs will be a lot higher. Unless you always pay your balance in full (in which case you would not be financing) the interest rate you will be charged for credit will be as high as 20%, let alone other charges and fees like insurance, issuing costs, etc.
Not only is the interest rate a lot higher, but it is also not fixed. So variations in market conditions may increase the interest rate charged and you will end up paying a lot more than you expected. Besides you cannot defer payment, you will have to begin to pay for your purchases the following month. And if you choose to pay the minimum you will end up accumulating debt which is a dangerous thing to do as the minimum will increase every month and you will end up being unable to pay your credit card balance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)