Name: The average borrower takes 21 years to repay their student loans. Here are 3 ways to cut that in half
Brand: fool.com
SKU: fool-com-58
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

The average borrower takes 21 years to repay their student loans. Here are 3 ways to cut that in half

preview

A shorter payoff schedule means you'll have to make higher monthly payments, which could require some financial sacrifices to afford them. But, if you watch your spending for a short time and keep on track with that payoff plan, you'll be saying goodbye to your debt in much less time than your peers. You'll free up cash then to focus on other things, like growing your 401(k) balance.The career you choose can help you to become free of your student debt in half the time of a typical borrower.If you have federal student loans alone and take a job working full-time for the government or a non-profit, you should be able to qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness and have any remaining balance of your debt forgiven after 120 qualifying on-time payments. This means after a decade, you could be done with your debt for good.Some government agencies, non-profits, and even private companies also either offer direct loan repayment assistance or make you eligible for loan repayment programs. Taking advantage of these could allow you to repay your debt more quickly -- often in half the time of a typical borrower or less.Finally, you can cut your payoff time considerably by paying more than you're required to. If you pay extra each month on your loans, focusing on those with the highest interest rates first, you will pay down your balance faster. As your balance falls, the interest you owe is reduced since you're paying interest on a smaller sum. So, more of your payment will start going toward the principal, and your balance will decline more quickly.

A shorter payoff schedule means you'll have to make higher monthly payments, which could require some financial sacrifices to afford them. But, if you watch your spending for a short time and keep on track with that payoff plan, you'll be saying goodbye to your debt in much less time than your peers. You'll free up cash then to focus on other things, like growing your 401(k) balance.The career you choose can help you to become free of your student debt in half the time of a typical borrower.If you have federal student loans alone and take a job working full-time for the government or a...

public

Christy Bieber

The Motley Fool

Making the world smarter, happier, and richer.

fool.com

Credible

Speculation

Anecdotal Evidence

Generalization

Stacking the Deck

Appeal to Authority

Straw Man

Slippery Slope

Emotional Appeal

Red Herring

False Dilemma

Illogical

Moral Equivalency

Ad Hominem

Correlation w/o Causation

Semantics

Begging the Question

Faulty Analogy

Non Sequitur

Bandwagon

Dogmatism

Failing Occam's Razor

Biased

Pure Opinion

Hit Piece

Racial Bias

National Bias

Religious Bias

Financial Incentive

Political Agenda

Gender Bias

Misused Image/Video

Study Misinterpreted

Mistake

Misused Term

Science Misrepresented

Factual Error

Satire

Surface Level

Lack of Reliable Sources

Sensational

Not Credible

Investigative

Balanced

Well Sourced

Great Context

sports

entertainment

U.S.

international

business

technology

science

culture

politics

media

health

The average borrower takes 21 years to repay their student loans. Here are 3 ways to cut that in half

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS