Author Topic: Killing student loans while living abroad...advice needed!  (Read 1312 times)

RetireeInTraining

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Killing student loans while living abroad...advice needed!
« on: January 20, 2018, 02:06:43 PM »
Hey everyone,

My wife and I are moving to Switzerland through a company job transfer that we're super excited about. We are about one year from finishing paying off our student loans (after two years of super aggressive paying that began when we discovered MMM).

We're looking for tips from expats about the best way to keep paying off student loans from abroad without incurring massive/constant foreign exchange fees, etc. Any advice??

Thanks!

RetireeInTraining

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Re: Killing student loans while living abroad...advice needed!
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2018, 01:41:13 PM »
Sorry for the bump, but perhaps I was too specific in my request.

Does anyone have experience paying U.S. student loans (or other regular bills) while living somewhere abroad and earning money in another currency? Got any tips/thoughts?

Circuit

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Re: Killing student loans while living abroad...advice needed!
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2018, 12:23:03 PM »
I did this for a few years and didn't have any major problems. I maintained a US bank account with autopay setup for my student loans. I also maintained a foreign bank account where my pay was deposited and I paid in-country expenses. Every 3-4 months I would do a wire transfer from my foreign bank account to my US bank account to replenish the funds depleted by the student loan auto pay. I think I paid ~$20 in fees for the wire transfer so I minimized that cost by not transferring every month. I kept a several thousand dollar buffer in my US bank account so I would only have to transfer money occasionally.

Have fun on your international experience!