The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Unionville on February 11, 2014, 03:12:36 PM
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I'm trying to help a cousin who just graduated and can't find work. She has $45,000 in debt with a private Sallie Mae Loan for 10%. Unlike government loans, you can't work them off in the Peace Corp. What options does she have to transfer them to a lower rate or have them forgiven? She lives in a rural area that pays very little and it appears her parents (neither of whom went to college) didn't know what they were signing up for.
( I know... I know...)
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Move to where there are jobs. Seriously. Get out of that area where there is little hope of reasonably paying off that student loan. Rent the least expensive place possible in a safe area. Only minimally furnish it from local thrift shops, free cycle, etc.
Student loans are there for life unless paid off so using that education and getting a job that pays the rent and pays it off is the best answer.
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Long term, everything that Crochet said is accurate. I would also immediately look at refinancing at a lower rate, which shouldn't be too difficult as 10% is very high. I just refinanced with SoFi (as have a few others on the message boards recently), but I don't know if that would be possible for your cousin due to the lack of job. Your cousins' parents would likely be able to cosign on a loan to make it easier to get a lower rate. I'm providing a link for SoFi and as a disclaimer I get $100 for the referral and so does your cousin, once the application has been submitted (win/win in my books).
http://friends.sofi.com/32Jqz
Best of luck to your cousin! I know it can be stressful, but at least she is looking to right the ship.
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Your cousin needs to do her research. Currently, private student loans cannot be forgiven. If she cannot make her payments, she should contact her lender and discuss deferment/forbearance options (after doing her research). Then she obviously has to move to a location with jobs.
Finaid.org has a lot of information. Here is the link for private loan consolidation (if she has more than one private loan): http://www.finaid.org/loans/privateconsolidation.phtml
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What options does she have to transfer them to a lower rate or have them forgiven?
I'm not seeing a lot on forgiven, but some employers will offer signing bonuses and whatnot for certain fields. There are also some employer loan-repayment assistance programs out there. What field is your cousin in?
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If they cant find a job they gotta go where they can find one. I think that's the only solution. It has to be paid back so while perhaps you might find a reduction in rates the real point is getting a job wherever that might be.
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I had 3 private student loans for a similar amount between 8 and 9.5% and refinanced them to 5.5% with http://www.custudentloans.org/.
When I refinanced, I did not have a cosignor, but I have a job for about 1 year.