Student Loans Consolidation Must Known Secrets

If you have reached your wit's end with your school loans, consider a student loans consolidation. It is a popular means of loan debt consolidation intended to simplify the whole process of repayment. This form of debt consolidation loan also gives you the opportunity to lock in your interest rate for the entire length of your loan. It is no surprise that more students each year are looking into obtaining a student loans consolidation.

Students in the United States will find their student loans are consolidated differently than other types of debt, such as credit card debt. Loans that come from the government, or federal loans, are 100% guaranteed by the U.S. A federal loan is consolidated when a company that handles loan consolidation buys existing loans. The interest rate used for the consolidation is then determined by the year's student loan rate as of May of the current calendar year.

Those who look into student loans consolidation will discover a wide range of potential interest rates. These rates can be as low as 4.7% or as high as 8.25%. Keep an eye on the rise and fall of interest rates, and then act accordingly to strike when the rates are low. You will benefit by having an affordable rate in place during the entire length of repayment of your school loans.

Loan debt consolidation is not an endless road of opportunity. You are allowed to consolidate once with a private lender, and then once more with the Department of Education. You have one chance to get it right, so do your homework. Be sure that you have researched all of the consolidation companies. Make it a priority to find the most reputable companies and the ones that offer the lowest rates.

People often refer to federal student loans consolidation as refinancing, but this is not entirely correct. With this form of loan debt consolidation, your loan rate will not change, regardless of how different your previous loans were. It will merely be set at a fixed rate. Keep in mind that all of your previous loans will be weighed to find an interest rate that is appropriate in light of the current rate. As with all aspects of financial matters, there are a number of elements that will affect the rate at which your interest is compiled.

For the many students struggling with school loans, student loans consolidation remains an appealing option. It is important, however, that students do their financial research, and be aware of the pros and cons of loan debt consolidation. It has its drawbacks: Monthly payments, although combined into one, will be extended over a greater period of time than if the student had not consolidated the loans to begin with. In spite of this, student loans consolidation can be invaluable for students struggling with payments, and its benefits lure more students every year.

The 4 Types Of Student Loan Debt Consolidation

If you have several student loans to pay concurrently, it can be hard and financially difficult to manage. Luckily for students, there is the option to consolidate all your student loans together. We called it Student Loan Debt Consolidation.

What is student loan debt consolidation?

It simply means consolidating all your student loans into one so you only have to make monthly payments to one lender instead of several. The advantage is that you pay lower interest rates and most student loan debt consolidation have higher repayment periods.

There are many financial institutions and banks that offers student loan debt consolidation. They will pay off your existing student loans to their respective lenders. They will then consolidate the loans into one. The interest rate of the new student loan debt consolidation is then calculated by taking the average of the interest rates of your previous student loans. That is why your student loan debt consolidation’s interest rate is lower.

Some student loan debt consolidations are payable at a fixed rate though so be sure to check with your lender first.

There are 4 different types of student loan debt consolidation plans available from lenders each with its pros and cons.

1. Standard Repayment Plan

Standard Repayment Plan offers a maximum of 10 years to repay your student loan debt consolidation at a fixed rate. Payments are calculated by dividing the loan amount within that time period at a fixed interest rate.

2. Extended Repayment Plan

There is also the option of an extended repayment plan. It is the same as standard repayment plan except it stretches the repayment period to a maximum of 30 years. The length of repayment is dependent on the total amount borrowed.

You should note that you may ended up paying more by opting for an extended repayment plan because of the fixed interest rate. On the other hand, the monthly payments would be easier to handle so you will have to decide how much you can afford to pay each month.

3. Graduated Repayment Plan

The Graduated Repayment Plan has a maximum repayment period of 30 years which is the same as extended repayment plan. However, the amount of your monthly payments will increase every two years.

4. Income Repayment Plan

For income repayment plan, the monthly payment is not fixed. Rather it is determined by several factors such as your total student loan amount, the size of your family and your income level. The maximum repayment period is 25 years.

So how do you decide which student loan debt consolidation is suitable for you? Here’s a few tips. If you are close to repaying your student loans, then there is no need to get a student loan debt consolidation unless you foresee some cash-flow problems in the coming months. Consider your financial status now and in the coming months or years. Are you able to comfortably pay the loan? Getting a new student loan debt consolidation is also a good way to improve your credit score since you have effectively cleared your old student loans and getting a new one.

Loan Consolidation Basics

Loan consolidation has many benefits. But before you sign up for one, it is important that you are well informed on the basics and the pros and cons of student loan consolidation.

Rising tuition fees means that student loans are becoming larger as students pursue their studies and carriers. Subsequently, due to high student loans, it has become common for students to have student loans that heavily impact on their day to day living and financial situations for a long time during and after their studies. Due to the potentially huge amounts of students’ loans, the debt could impact on your future decisions and your credit history. In order to have a good credit history, your student loan debt should not exceed 8% of your income.

How can you reduce your student loan debt burden?

* You could eliminate or reduce the primary balance.

* You could reduce the monthly total payment. Given that debts are measured by comparing your income to the loan payment, if your payment is reduced, it will help you in evaluating the credit.

What are the main types of student loans?

Although there are various kinds of student loans, the most common are the federal and private student loans. The federally funded loans are managed by the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid programs. It is easy for anyone to get a federal educational loan. These loans are funded the U.S government though grants, work-study support and loans.

Private student loans are controlled by standard lending facilities. The most common student loan program could be obtained at renowned banks such as Citibank, and normally these kinds of lenders charge high interest rates and provide unsecured loans.

One is better off with federal student loans as compared to private student loans. The interests on federal loans are tax-deductible and if you decided to go back to school, you can also defer the payments. On the other hand, private loans do not provide any benefit.

If you have a private and federal loan, it is not recommended to consolidate and mix them together. The best way of doing it is to consolidate every one of your federal student loans and then could consolidate your private loans separately. If one was to combine both the federal and private loans in consolidating, all of the federal benefits will be ineffective.

What are the main 3 criteria used to determine one’s eligibility for consolidating his federal student loans?

1. Firstly, the person should no longer be enrolled in school.

2. Secondly, the person should be actively repaying the debt or at least be in the grace period of the loan.

3. Thirdly, consolidation companies require the customer to have a minimum loan amount. The average amount is $10,000. Student debt consolidations come with many plans. These plans offer basically the same services. These key benefits which one can get are a reduction in the size of monthly payment, lowering the monthly payment, improvement of the overall credit rating and saving useful money.

If a student had a huge student loan, and they do not consolidate it, this will impact on their ability to acquire any mode debt in the future such as mortgages or car loans among others. By consolidating your student loan, you improve your financial situation, and you get a lot more flexibility with your finances.