After loan forgiveness, refinancing was the most popular topic you all sent in questions about this week.
The few companies that would allow me to gave me a rate of 6.25%.
Do companies not trust recent grads to pay back loans?
Who is it that gets those 3% interest rates all those refinancing companies advertise?
Is this just part of a conspiracy to get cosigners on student loans?
Theres a lot to unpack, so lets get to it.
Refinancing vs.
But there are a lot of considerations to take into account before you do so.
First, theres a difference between consolidation and refinancing, though they do often go hand-in-hand.
You dont want to lose credit for the years of payments youve made toward forgiveness.
None of that applies with private loans.
I wish I knew more 10-12 years ago when I was taking out loans.
Any insight on how to deal with Private loan consolidation would be helpful!
Its actually the other way around.
In terms of consolidating, theres only one option for federal loans, which is thefederal Direct Consolidation Loan.
(Youll find more info here.)
On the other hand, there are many options for consolidating and refinancing private loans.
Horsnby says Jon is likely only familiar with SoFi because of their aggressive marketing.
But sites like Student Loan Planner and many others allow you to compare rates.
And its not a one-and-done situation.
Whether or not they want to work with you is a different story.
Companies like SoFi have really strict underwriting rules, according to Yu.
Lenders arent willing to do much for their clients if they get into financial trouble.
Ultimately, you should probably consider what your goal is.
If your goal is to pay your loan off quicker, know youll be paying more now.
But if it’s possible for you to swing it, its worth the effort.
