Ready, set, go…student loan payments are set to resume!
For the past 28 months, student loan interest has been 0% and payments have been suspended. But the COVID-19 Relief for Student Loan Borrowers is set to expire on August 31, 2022. If you took advantage of the COVID forbearance, now is the time to make sure you are all set to resume your payments. Here are some tips to make sure you are good to go!
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- Update your contact information– You may not have been in contact with your loan servicer for a while. Make sure they have your current contact information. Confirm that you can login to your student loan dashboard. Also, if you used auto debit to make your payments pre-pandemic you may need to go through the process to set it up again.
- Confirm your first payment amount and due date– Your first payment will most likely not be due on August 31, 2022. You will have at least 21 days to make your payment. Make sure you revisit and understand the terms of your loan: monthly payment, interest rate, number of payments made, repayment plan, and remaining term.
- Adjust your budget– Did you redirect the money you were using to make your loan payments somewhere else? Now is the time to make sure that you will have the funds available to make your student loan payment monthly. Review your budget and adjust expenses or savings so you can make your payments on time.
- Revisit your plan to pay off your student loan– Now is a good time to revisit your repayment plan. Has anything changed with your employment that would change your eligibility for the Public Student Loan Forgiveness program? Perhaps there is a repayment plan that would suit your current situation better.
If you are in the Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, be sure to qualify all your employment before 10/31/2022, when the Limited-time PSLF Waiver Opportunity is set to expire. The Limited-time PSLF Waiver Opportunity relaxed eligibility rules for PSLF. Be sure to take advantage of this chance to potentially have payments that previously may not have qualified to be qualifying payments toward loan forgiveness.
There is some speculation out there that the forbearance period could be extended again. Also, the Biden Administration is promising to provide some level of targeted student loan forgiveness. We will have to wait and see.
Uncertainty surrounds student loan debt these days, the best course of action is to have a plan that considers all the potential scenarios. If you need help navigating your student loans, please feel free to reach out.
