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If you could shave $5,000 off your student loans with one simple move, would you do it? What if you could save $10,000? What about $20,000, or more?

It’s no secret that the longer your repayment terms are and the higher your interest rate, the more money you’re going to pay. Perhaps you’ve already made the mistake of locking yourself in to a bad loan. But it’s not too late to fix that.

Through refinancing, you can replace your high-interest federal and private student loans with a loan that has a lower interest rate and/or better terms. When your new lender pays off your current student loans, you’re left with a single loan and potentially no payment due that month.

And with Credible, student loan refinancing is a breeze. In as little as one business day, you may be able to get a brand new loan that potentially saves you thousands of dollars in interest fees.

Wall Street Insanity readers get a $300 bonus through this link when they refinance at least $50,000 in student loans with Credible.

Do You Know What You’re Up Against?

Say you’re carrying $30,000 in total student loan debt. With an average interest rate of 7% and roughly a 10-year term, you can expect to pay well over $11,000 in interest fees alone. And that’s without even factoring in loan fees!

And of course, the larger your debt and the longer your terms, the more you’re going to pay in interest fees.

So, if you have $60,000 in student loan debt across 20-year terms, you’re looking at more than $51,000 in interest fees alone — causing you to pay close to double the amount you initially borrowed!

If you’re $100,000 deep in student loan debt that you plan to repay over the next 20 years, you could easily end up paying over $86,000 in interest fees. For many, that’s enough to keep them enslaved to student loan debt forever.

In refinancing your student loans through Credible, however, you may be able to lock in a fixed interest rate that is less than half your original rate. In this case, total interest fees would drop to just over $33,000.

That’s roughly $53,000 you just saved!

How Can I Refinance My Student Loans Through Credible?

While refinancing may sound tricky, Credible makes it easy.

Check your refinancing rates in just two minutes by filling out a short form. In doing this, you’ll receive potential offers from up to 10 lenders.

With all of your options in one place, you’ll be able to compare terms and rates.

Credible does not charge any fees for using their service. Furthermore, the site uses 256-bit encryption and SSL technology to protect your data.

The entire process of refinancing your student loans may take as little as a day to complete. If you need assistance at any point, Credible’s expert Client Success team is available and ready to help.

Get your $300 bonus today while also saving a ton of money on your student loans!

The post Ask This Website To Lower Your Student Loan Bill, Seriously appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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Few college graduates manage to escape their institution of higher education without a mountain of student debt. Said student debt tends to stick around for years due to their high dollar value.

There isn’t much you can do to eliminate your loan balance (barring loan forgiveness programs for certain occupations), but wouldn’t it be nice if you could score a lower interest rate on your debt without looking around for hours and sifting through tons of options?

You could find a lower rate in 2 minutes by using Credible, an online student loan refinancing marketplace that does the hard work for you.

Checking your student loan refinancing rate with Credible is free.

What is Refinancing?

Refinancing is the process of replacing a current debt of yours with a new one under different terms.

People refinance their loans for several reasons: securing a lower interest rate, consolidating multiple debts into one loan with better terms, lowering the monthly payment amount, and generally simplifying their debt situation. Overall, refinancing is best used when it can save you money.

When you’re approved for refinancing, the bank gives you the entire loan upfront just like any other loan. You then use this loan to pay off your old obligation, then you begin your monthly payments for the new loan.

Now, you already know that shopping for a loan can be time-intensive. But what if you could compile several refinancing options that you’re qualified for in a couple of minutes?

That’s where Credible comes in.

Use Credible to Find A Better Rate and See How Much You Could Save

When you’re looking to refinance your student loans to a lower rate, you can spend hours shopping around for options, let alone ones that you’re qualified for.

Credible does all that work for you. You spend all of 2 minutes filling out information about your education and finances.

Credible instantly presents you with prequalified refinancing options from up to 10 lenders.

In just a couple quick minutes, you could get a better interest rate on your student loans, helping you to save thousands over the lifetime of those loans.

Refinance your student loans through Credible today!

The post This 2-Minute Move Can Save You Thousands On Your Student Loans appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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Paying off student loans is a widespread, relatable struggle that many of us are currently dealing with.

The current national student loan debt in the United States is more than 1.5 trillion dollars. This means that there are tens of millions of Americans that have student loan debt. Additionally, there are many Americans that are struggling with making the minimum payment on their student loans each month which often causes one’s debt load to grow gradually larger and larger. For many, paying off student loans early can feel like an insurmountable challenge that they will never be able to dig their way out of.

Lucky for you, this article is filled with 12 great tips on how to pay off student loans fast. Stop struggling to make the minimum payment every month and put those student loan bills behind you.

1. Student Loan Refinancing

You may be eligible for a much lower interest rate through student loan refinancing and not even know it! You have probably heard of student loan refinancing but do you know what it really means?  Basically, student loan refinancing lets you pay off your existing student loan and assume a new student loan with a lower interest rate. This means that you could have a lower monthly payment than your original loan. Additionally, this type of loan is usually unsecured which means you won’t need to put up any collateral in order to get it approved.

The interest rate for student loan refinancing can depend on a variety of factors. Some of these factors are things like the borrowers’ credit score, their credit report, and their debt-to-income ratio. If you have a good credit score, as well as a good debt-to-income ratio, then you would be considered a low-risk borrower. This means that you could be eligible for better interest rates than borrowers who may be deemed as a credit risk.

Refinancing student loan debt to get a lower interest rate from a trusted lender is fast and easy, and it’s a go-to strategy for paying off student loans early. Below are a few of the top student loan refinancing options for you to consider:

• Credible pulls together rates from up to 8 lenders in only two minutes for anyone who wants to refinance federal student loans, private student loans, or Parent PLUS loans. Checking your rate doesn’t impact your credit score. If users can find themselves a cheaper rate on another site, Credible will give them $200 with its best rate guarantee (terms apply).
• Lendkey links up borrowers with trusted community banks and credit unions. These financial institutions occasionally offer cheaper rates than traditional lenders. Loan terms range from 5-20 years, with competitive variable and fixed APR options. There are no origination fees, and LendKey’s customer reviews are a whopping 4.7/5 stars!

2. Maintain the Student Lifestyle

This one may sound difficult at first but it actually is much easier than the alternative – especially when you’re working toward paying off student loans fast.

When you graduate college and get your first post-grad full-time job, you will likely be making more money than any other point in your life. This means that people stop eating ramen and start going out for sushi. Instead of having wine nights in with their friends they can spend upwards of $100 at the bar in one night.

The trick to this is to maintain your student lifestyle in post-college life for as long as possible. Even though you will be making more money, you don’t necessarily have to upgrade your lifestyle. By eating out less, staying in with friends and keeping your costs low, you will be able to pay off your student loans faster than if you had upgraded your lifestyle.

Who cares if you have to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and microwavable mac and cheese for one more year? Check out some other easy ways to save money, to help you on your journey.

3. Get a Side Hustle

We are currently living in the “gig economy,” where almost everyone has taken on a side hustle to help pay the bills or make bigger payments on their student loans. Many people falsely believe that they do not have time for a side hustle, but there are plenty of gigs that you can work with limited free time.

Whether it be walking dogs during your lunch break at work or freelancing on the side. For example, if you are working in marketing, you could spend a few hours a week working on a couple marketing projects for small business owners in your area.

Check out our list of best side hustles to start making extra cash now.

4. Increase Your Monthly Payment

Increasing your monthly payments can help you pay off your student loans much quicker, especially if you’re paying well above the minimum payment each month. If you can’t afford to do this all the time, take advantage of the times during the year where you have extra cash. These times could include if you get a tax refund or unexpected money for your birthday.

5. Start Paying Your Loans Off Before You Graduate

Paying off student loans early while you are still in college may not sound like a lot of fun, but it can be an amazing way to get ahead of your debt.

If you are working while in school, you can put some of that money towards repaying your student loans. No matter how small your payments are, it’s never too early.

Take a look at some of the best jobs for college students.

6. Try Out the Snowball Method

The snowball method may initially sound confusing but it is actually a great way to start paying off student loans fast so you can get out of debt sooner. The first step for the snowball method of getting rid of debt is making a list of your student loans, ranging from the smallest loan to the largest loan.

This is where the “snowballing” aspect comes into play. You will snowball all of your money that you set aside for your loans and put it towards paying off the smallest loan first, while still paying the minimum for all of your other loans. This sounds crazy to some people because they believe that you should try to pay off your largest student loan first because it has the most debt. However, with that method, your smaller debts will also begin to grow and it will take you significantly longer to pay all of your student loans off.

By using the snowball method, you will have fewer loans as you continue to pay off the smallest loans first. This means that ultimately you will have fewer loans and less debt over time than if you had tried to pay off your largest loans first.

7. Make More than One Payment Every Month

This method involves the least amount of hassle and effort on your part if you have the funds. Instead of making one monthly payment, you can sign up to make weekly or bi-weekly payments.

Many people align their bi-weekly payments with their paychecks. This means that every payday some of their money goes straight to paying off their student loan debt.

By paying more each month through these extra payments, you will put yourself in a position to pay off student loans fast.

8. Sign up for Automatic Payments

An automatic payment program can be a helpful solution for people who are worried they will not remember to make a payment each month on time. Adult life right after college can be stressful and hectic as you start a new job and move on to a new section of your life. Put your student loan payments on autopay and put your mind at ease knowing that you won’t forget.

Many student loan programs have autopay options that will also give you a discount if you enroll, so this is something to take advantage of.

9. Negotiate for a Raise or a Higher Salary

When you’re looking for a job right out of college, it is always important to negotiate for a higher salary than what they offer you upfront. Now, it is not realistic to negotiate for an exorbitant amount more than they originally offered you. Make sure that you do your research ahead of time on the average salary for the position.

Having a higher starting salary can obviously help you to pay off student loans fast. Additionally, if you have been working a job for a few years and have not received a raise, it could be time to start looking into negotiating a raise with your boss.

10. Start by Paying Off High-Interest Loans First

Another helpful strategy for paying off your student loans is to begin by paying off the loans with the highest interest first. Even if you make the minimum payment every month on your high-interest student loans, the balance will barely go down because of the interest.

By paying off your higher interest loans first, you will be able to save money in the long run. While paying the monthly minimum on your other loans, make sure that you are putting the majority of your money towards your highest interest loan every month. This means that you will have it paid off much sooner than the rest of your loans and will have an easier time paying off student loans in the long run.

11. Find a Job With Student Loan Repayment Assistance

In addition to offering health and retirement benefits, many companies today are offering student loan repayment assistance. Although it is a fairly new trend among companies, you will see that more and more jobs are adopting this benefit.

Some of these companies that have student loan repayment assistance benefits will give money directly towards your loans as taxable income, while other companies will pay your loan servicer directly.

12. Take Advantage of Tax Deductions

Did you know that you may be eligible for tax deductions because of your student loans? For example, according to the IRS, anyone paying off their student loans could be able to deduct up to $2,500 of the interest paid in the past year on a qualified student loan. But keep in mind that this deduction is only available to anyone making less than $80,000 a year.

Some other qualifications for this student loan tax deductions are that the loan has to have been for a student enrolled, at least half time, in a program leading to a degree. This means that if you got a loan from a relative or through an employer plan to pay for your college that you are not eligible for this tax deduction.

Luckily, many post-grad students are not making more than $80,000 a year as a starting salary and may be able to deduct up to $2,500 from their taxable income. Make sure to consult with a accountant.

The post Pay Off Student Loans Fast With These 12 Strategies appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

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Tens of millions of Americans have student loan debt to the tune of more than one trillion dollars. If you’re one of them, you might be considering applying for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, a student loan forgiveness program offered by the federal government.

The program allows those who work full time in public service for a qualifying employer and who have made ten years of loan payments under a qualifying plan to have the remainder of their student loan debt forgiven.

Qualifying employers include federal, state, local or tribal government organizations, non-profit organizations, and full-time AmeriCorps or Peace Corps volunteers. Qualifying repayment plans include Income-Based Repayment, Pay As You Earn Repayment, Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment, Revised PAYE, Income Contingent, and Standard Repayment.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? You’re going to submit the application and required documentation (a ponderous process) right now. I hate to disappoint you but don’t bother. You’re wasting your time. A staggering 99% of applications are rejected. If you want to reduce your student debt, student loan refinancing will actually save you money.

Forget Student Loan Forgiveness – How About Refinancing?

Student loan refinancing means taking out a loan to pay off all or some of your student loans. These loans are typically unsecured meaning you don’t need collateral to be approved. The loans are not that different from personal loans which you can also use to pay off your student loan debt, but the new lender will pay off a borrower’s student loans directly. The loaned money never actually comes to the borrower.

The interest rate a borrower is offered depends on factors including their credit score, credit report, and debt-to-income ratio. Borrowers considered low risk based on those factors would be eligible for better interest rates than those deemed a credit risk.

Refinancing your student loan debt for a better interest rate from a trusted lender can be done right from your computer in just a few minutes.

• Credible shows you rates from up to 8 lenders in just two minutes. If you find a better rate elsewhere, Credible will give you $200.
• PenFed offers student loan refinancing for amounts from $7,500 to $150,000 and there are no application or origination fees and no penalty for early repayment.
• Lendkey connects borrowers with credit unions and community banks which can sometimes offer better rates than traditional lenders.

Who is Eligible for Student Loan Refinancing?

The student loan forgiveness program is only open to a narrow group of borrowers so even if it worked, many people wouldn’t meet the requirements. Further, only those with federal student loans are eligible, so if your loans are private, you can’t participate. And private student loans often have higher interest rates than federal loans so some borrowers who are paying through the nose for their loans would be left out in the cold.

Anyone with federal or private student loans is a candidate for student loan refinancing although each lender will have their own set of criteria they use to determine who they will approve.

Generally, to be approved for student loan refinancing, you’ll need a Fair to Excellent credit score,  a debt-to-income ratio below 45%, steady history of employment, and a college degree. If you can’t qualify on your own, applying with a creditworthy cosigner can improve your chances.

Save and Simplify with Student Loan Refinancing

Interest is a powerful thing. It’s the cost of borrowing money whether it’s for student loan refinancing, a home, or a car. The higher your interest rate and the longer the life of the loan, the more expensive it is to borrow that money.

Some borrowers may have more than one student loan. If you maxed out the amount you could borrow for a federal loan, you might have had to take out private loans as well. This means you have various interest rates and payments spread out among different lenders.

When you refinance your student loans, there are a few benefits. The most recognized is lowering your interest rate because it saves you money. Consider this, you refinance a balance of $15,000 with an interest rate of 6.8% to 3.5%. Over the life of the loan, you’ll save nearly $3,000 in interest.

Not only can you lower your interest rate when you refinance, you can change the terms, or length, of the loan. Most lenders off terms of 5, 7, 10, 15, or 20 years. The faster you repay the loan, the less interest you’ll pay.

If you refinance $30,000 at 5.0% interest and a 15-year term, you’ll end up paying a staggering $12,703 in interest. If you choose a 5-year term, you’d pay just $3,968 in interest.

If you have loans spread across multiple lenders, it makes your finances more complicated than they need to be. You have to keep track of multiple due dates, interest rates, and terms. When you refinance, you’ll have one monthly payment, one interest rate, and one term.

Some Student Loan Refinancing Cautions

Refinancing student loans will be beneficial for most people but there are a few things you need to know before making the decision.

When you refinance federal student loans, you lose repayment options meant to help those struggling to make their payments. While student loan forgiveness is a sham, these programs actually do what they’re intended to do.

When you’re window shopping for refinancing terms and you start running possible numbers through student loan calculators, it’s easy to be swayed into choosing a variable APR because those rates are lower than fixed APR rates.

Variable rates will increase if the Fed raises interest rates. If this happens, you could end up with a rate higher than the one you refinanced from. The same caution should be applied to choosing the length of the loan. It’s tempting to choose a shorter term because it saves money over time but it typically increases the amount of your monthly payment.

If you are a relatively high earner with a secure job, it can be worth the gamble to refinance to a variable rate and shorter term loan. If you don’t meet those criteria, it’s better to choose a fixed rate (the rate remains the same over the entire life of the loan) and a longer term.

Where to Refinance Your Student Loans

Refinancing your student loans is quick and easy. You can do everything online and the process from start (applying) to finish (your old loans are paid off and you have the new loan) typically takes just a few business days.

Credible lets you window shop for the best student loan refinance rates and terms for both federal and personal loans. Enter in a few basic pieces of information and Credible will show you up to 8 customized offers based on your financial history with no impact on your credit score. This allows borrowers to play around with the numbers to see what rates and terms make the most sense for them without committing to anything first.

Let Credible find you the best student loan refinance rates.

PenFed offers refinancing for both federal and personal student loans. There are 5, 8, 12, and 15-year terms. Parents with Parent Plus or private student loans are eligible for refinancing with PenFed. They also offer a great deal for married couples who want to refinance their loans together. PenFed will refinance based on the highest credit score and combined incomes which can mean a better interest rate than each spouse would get separately.

Check your PenFed student loan refinance rate.

LendKey lets borrowers see rates from several different lenders and charges no application or origination fees. While LendKey doesn’t loan the money, they do handle the entire loan process including payments and have one of the highest customer service ratings n the industry. LendKey also has programs in place to help borrowers struggling to meet payments.

Let LendKey match you with the best lender for you.

Sorry to Disappoint You

Federal student loan forgiveness is great in theory. Not only does it help ease the burden of debt but it rewards people for going into jobs that are vital but don’t pay particularly well. And because student loans are no longer dischargeable in bankruptcy (except in a very narrow set of circumstances), student loan forgiveness would give many people the clean slate they can no longer get through bankruptcy.

That’s in theory. In practice, student loan forgiveness is basically as mythical as the unicorn. I guess it could exist but if you believe in it, people will think you’re a little crazy.

So don’t bother with a student forgiveness program that exists only on paper. Go for student loan refinancing, which actually exists and will potentially save you thousands of dollars. Unicorns are for kids.

The post Turned Down For Student Loan Forgiveness? Try Student Loan Refinancing appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.