Sallie Mae seems to have a lot of bad press, especially by you-tubers. I can just say how I was treated when I graduated in 2004 from graduate school. First of all, student debt has to be accepted and not ignored. I think a lot of people say, "out of sight, out of mind", but I am of the belief that arming yourself with all the information is best. Now, my Sallie Mae debt is currently $47,000 and it was originally $54,000. Five years has passed and I've paid down $7,000.
Practically the day after graduation, I called Sallie Mae to ask about possibilities regarding repayment. I had a nice grace period prior to having to start repayment, which was very helpful! Also, the man I spoke with really took the time to explain all of my options and was very knowledgeable. He did not try to rush me and was very polite. I probably spent about 1 to 1.5 hours on the phone with him. After all my annoying questions, I decided the best option for me was to take advantage of the extended repayment plan, which extended my payments out for 25 years. In addition, I consolidated at a crazy low rate, at 3.125%. This low interest rate helps because even though Sallie Mae holds a large portion of my debt, they have one of the lowest payments.
When I decided to get my MBA, Sallie Mae was very understanding. They placed me in automatic deferral due to my student status, but I made the decision to continue my normal monthly payments during my 2.5 years of part-time school. I was working full-time during school and was able to continue the payments. The best thing about this was that my payments of my subsidized loans during the 2.5 years was interest free due to the deferment. All of my payments went directly towards the principal. I highly recommend anyone who will be going into deferment, try to keep the payments up if you can. If you can't make the whole payments, you should at least try to pay the interest which accumulates on the unsubsidized loans.
Basically, thank you Sallie Mae for being great to me. I'm sorry for all of you who have had bad experiences. I can't say I never will, but for the time being, they have been pretty cool!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Student Loans Suck (but they are a necessary evil)!
Hello, I am excited because this is my first post. Has anyone struggled with paying back student loans? Feel like you will never get ahead? If you answered yes to these questions, you have a friend in me. I've been paying down my massive student loan debts for 5 years now. I have learned the ins and outs of the student loan industry, with terms like cancellation, deferment, forbearance, and default. Ugh!
I have been pretty good so far with budgeting my money, and as a result, I have paid down and cancelled approximately $43,000 so far. Only $140,000 left! Don't worry if you're in the same boat. I always read stories of people in $20,000 of student debt, and I think, why are you complaining? I'm sure you may be asking, how in the heck did you get yourself into this? I am here to say that if you want a top-tier education from the top-25 rated colleges in the country, and you need to pay the education by using student loans, be prepared to pay over $100,000 of loans back when you graduate!
I started with 9 separate loans to pay down, and now I have 6. Yes, I have paid off 3 of my loans completely, and I can't tell you how nice it is to read "Loan Closed" when I login! My loans are both governmental and private in nature, with interest rates both fixed and variable. Some have been as high as 7.75% and some as low as 3.275% (thank goodness for this rate, which accounts for about $47,000 of my existing debt)! In addition, I have all different amounts of time to pay off the loans, from 10 to 15 to 25 years. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
It's not that I want to complain, but I think education today is slightly outragous. My parents said their debts after college were about $7,000. Plus, life doesn't just revolve around paying down student loans. I have a mortgage and car payment, in addition to all other monthly expenses. Did I mention that I do actually like to go out and have fun sometimes??? Paying for the occasional night out requires planning. You're probably thinking, this girl is a lunatic taking on all this debt. I guess I am, and I am so lucky to still be able to save for retirement (in a 403b, of course). I can't say I have much of an emergency fund in my savings account. Lucky for me I work in the healthcare field, which historically is recession-proof.
Speaking of recession, I am originally from Detroit, and my poor hometown is bearing a big brunt of the recession. I feel for everyone who is suffering and I am praying for you. I look forward to hearing from everyone!
I have been pretty good so far with budgeting my money, and as a result, I have paid down and cancelled approximately $43,000 so far. Only $140,000 left! Don't worry if you're in the same boat. I always read stories of people in $20,000 of student debt, and I think, why are you complaining? I'm sure you may be asking, how in the heck did you get yourself into this? I am here to say that if you want a top-tier education from the top-25 rated colleges in the country, and you need to pay the education by using student loans, be prepared to pay over $100,000 of loans back when you graduate!
I started with 9 separate loans to pay down, and now I have 6. Yes, I have paid off 3 of my loans completely, and I can't tell you how nice it is to read "Loan Closed" when I login! My loans are both governmental and private in nature, with interest rates both fixed and variable. Some have been as high as 7.75% and some as low as 3.275% (thank goodness for this rate, which accounts for about $47,000 of my existing debt)! In addition, I have all different amounts of time to pay off the loans, from 10 to 15 to 25 years. Does this sound familiar to anyone?
It's not that I want to complain, but I think education today is slightly outragous. My parents said their debts after college were about $7,000. Plus, life doesn't just revolve around paying down student loans. I have a mortgage and car payment, in addition to all other monthly expenses. Did I mention that I do actually like to go out and have fun sometimes??? Paying for the occasional night out requires planning. You're probably thinking, this girl is a lunatic taking on all this debt. I guess I am, and I am so lucky to still be able to save for retirement (in a 403b, of course). I can't say I have much of an emergency fund in my savings account. Lucky for me I work in the healthcare field, which historically is recession-proof.
Speaking of recession, I am originally from Detroit, and my poor hometown is bearing a big brunt of the recession. I feel for everyone who is suffering and I am praying for you. I look forward to hearing from everyone!
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