Student loans

[may]

Hi;
Have any of you refinanced your student loan? My wife is a registered nurse and has a student loan that seems outragious.
Thanks
Paul

[Pat]

You didn't say if it was outragious in interest, principal, or terms and conditions. If the interest is very high and you have any equity or collateral to leverage it might be advantageous to get funds from another source to pay it off/down. Llending institutions rarely volunteer to lower interest rates and you usually have to re-fi to get a better deal -- B U T-- it can't hurt to negotiate with them. For instance, if they are currently makeing better loans in the same situation perhaps they would rather give you the current deal than have you re-fi and pay them off.

NOTE: lending institutions DO NOT WANT you to pay off your loan- lump sum, especially now. They want you to make the payments so they get the interest. If you give them their money back they have to try to loan it out again and in today's market they will probably put it out with a lower rate of return. This gives you a bargaining position but many institutions, as a matter of policy, won't cut you a better deal on an existing loan.

Best of luck, hope this wasn't too boring and that it might help you clalrify your options.

Patrick

[MDSteve]

My student loans were only about 10-12K for school. I worked 2 jobs during school to keep the loan amount down. My interest is only about 2%. It started at 8% and has come down over the last 5 years. Remember the interest on some of the student loans are tax deductable. My Loans are through Citi Bank I think?

Steve

[Chuck52]

Paul,

I just noticed this on my Netscape homepage. Have no idea if it's worthwhile. It's a secure site, so you get the message announcing that.


<a href="https://www.collegeloan.com/consolid...D=65" target="_blank">https://www.collegeloan.com/consolid...D=65</a>


Chuck

[Clint]

Paul,

My wife and I almost weekly receive letters from companies wanting us to switch our loans from Sallie Mae. These companies offer extremely low interest rates to entice you to switch and also give percentage discounts if you make every payment for the first 60 months, or 1/2 percent less if you do direct payment from your bank account.

Also, depending on the amount of the student loan, you probably could stretch the loan over quite a few years. When I finally finish school (T - 10 months), then I plan to defer for the allowed 5 years until my income grows, then I will stretch the payments at least 15 years, if not more.

My wife's loans are much more manageable and we just plan to pay her's once I start working.

Clint.

[may]

Clint;
I guess the problem is that she has consolidated her loans in the past, which makes her inelligible for most refinance offers. Anyone have an other suggestions?
Paul

[AndyF]

If you're flexible as to where you live, take a look at some healthcare programs which will pay off the loan as part of their compensation package. There are underserved areas which do this for doctors and may do it for nurses also.