As recent graduates enter their professional lives with student debt, effective management of it is vital for establishing good financial habits and reaching other goals such as homeownership or retirement savings.
Once your loan payments resume following graduation, consider these strategies to minimize interest payments and shorten repayment timeframe.
Pay More Than the Minimum
Paying more than the minimum payment on student loans is an effective strategy to lower debt and cut the total interest cost by lowering its principal balance.
Both federal and private lenders permit borrowers to make additional payments without incurring prepayment penalty fees, helping you lower overall costs of their loans and escape debt faster. This option gives a great way of cutting expenses quickly while paying down debt more quickly.
Some borrowers use signing bonuses, annual raises or even unused vacation time as incentives to increase their monthly payment. It is essential that before undertaking additional repayment efforts it ensures you can afford these new payments.
Make Biweekly Payments
Many students and graduates struggle to pay off their student loans as quickly as possible, yet there are several effective strategies that can help save money while speeding up repayment of debt faster.
One way is to make biweekly payments on your loan. Since there are 52 weeks in a year, making half payments every other week instead of once monthly can act like making one extra payment each year and thus reduce loan term length and save a great deal in interest charges.
Make the most of any unexpected windfalls to contribute towards student loan repayment, such as tax refunds or performance bonuses, but be sure to contact your lender or servicer so that these payments go toward paying down principal balance rather than future installments. Alternatively, use the “debt snowflake” approach where small amounts from each paycheck go toward student loan debt reduction.
Take Advantage of Interest Rate Reductions
As you pay off student loans, interest rates will decrease. Take full advantage of this by prioritizing paying off those with the highest rates – this will save money in the long run and can shorten your repayment timeline.
Refinancing can also help lower the interest rate on your student loans; however, this strategy carries certain risks and should only be undertaken after fully understanding all its advantages and disadvantages.
Other strategies you can employ to reduce student loan debt include opting for an income-driven plan such as Pay As You Earn or Income-Contingent Repayment and making biweekly payments. Furthermore, using any financial windfalls such as lottery winnings or work bonuses toward your student loans could significantly shorten the debt repayment timeline – just make sure your lender applies any extra payments directly towards principal balance rather than interest charges!
Make Extra Payments
Except with federally subsidized student loans, interest is charged during your time at school and during any grace periods following graduation or periods of deferment or forbearance. When repayments resume after these breaks have concluded, any unpaid interest will capitalise and add it to your principal balance; prioritising student loan payments can reduce overall interest costs by keeping debt-to-income (DTI) ratio low and paying your loans on time.
Determine what you can afford each month using an online budgeting tool or spreadsheet and use the avalanche or snowball method to prioritize payments: pay off higher-rate loans first before moving on to lower interest loans.
When making additional payments, be sure to inform your servicer that the extra funds should go directly toward reducing your principal balance rather than being applied towards an advanced monthly payment date. Otherwise, they could end up applying the extra cash toward increasing monthly payments instead of decreasing it.