Aloha!
A hack to share:
If you work for a non-profit, state, or federal organization full-time, you are eligible for 10 year public service loan forgiveness.
This is helpful if you have large loans and/or if you have low-ish income.
After 120 payments WHILE ON INCOME-BASED PLAN, they forgive the remainder of your debt.
REPAYE is the cheapest plan if you're single. (If you marry perhaps a different plan is better. It depends.)
Make sure to get your employment certified every year so each monthly payment counts.
I'm on the 10 Year PSLF plan and learned a new hack:
My income actually went up, but I contributed significantly more money to my retirement accounts (any pre-tax account could count, including HSA accounts).
My paystub shows my monthly adjusted gross income which is nice (AGI). As long as you have proof of pre-tax contributions, it should work.
I submitted a copy of my paystub and applied for an "immediate recalculation" of my income, based on a "change in AGI."
My monthly loan payment went from $200 monthly to $141 monthly.
(This is good b/c on the 10 year plan, whatever remains at the end is forgiven).
It works! (My fiance's idea - got to give the credit.)
