October 6, 2024

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The Healthy Lovers

Student Loan Debt Relief: Federal Benefits Rescue Potential Problems

Student Loan Debt Relief: Federal Benefits Rescue Potential Problems

It may shock you to know just how many people have not taken advantage of federal student loan debt relief programs. With about 20 million Americans attending college every year, is estimated that at least 60% of students use some sort of loan to afford college costs. There are about 37 million Americans with outstanding student loan debt and at least 14% of these people have one or more loan payments past due.

Since federal student loans are accompanied with payment benefits, it is important to spread the word and motivate people to apply for debt relief programs. It’s tough enough to manage everyday living costs, but when there is added college debt; budgets are failing to keep up with on-time payments. If you or someone close to you is in this financial position, it is important to get student relief in motion.

People have default debt for different reasons. Some are unemployed or underemployed; some are barely making ends meet while others contribute their troubles to debt beyond home mortgages. It’s time to get these people into Income-Based Repayment programs. In these federal student loan relief programs, monthly payments are calculated based on income and family size. A small percentage of their discretionary income is all it will take to keep these loans up to date.

If you have college debt in default status, it isn’t too late to turn it around. Federal student debt is very forgiving once on-time payments are back in play. Place your debt into relief programs and make the change. Once loans are back on track, credit can rebuild and federal benefits will once again be an option.

Some people will continue to ignore their debt and find out the hard way that these loans are not typical debt. Government controlled loans have more options in order to regain outstanding debt. As a debtor, you will face more than just collectors. The government can have your employer garnish your wages. It is safe to say that amount garnished would be more than 15% of your discretionary income (the amount used to calculate IBR payments). There will be more hardships to handle when debt reaches this point. There is also the opportunity the government has to offset your tax return. That’s right, the money you count on each year to help pay down debt, pay property taxes or save for emergencies could instead be withheld to use as payment towards your outstanding debt.

It is always better to tackle a problem head on rather than ignore it and/or suffer worse consequences later on. Student loan debt is no longer a problem you have to tackle on your own. There are services like available to help find you an affordable way to take care of college debt. Similar to tax services, these student loan debt services will process your loans into eligible federal benefits. Whether you just need more time to get on your financial feet through deferment or would like to find an IBR to make the monthly costs fit into your current budget find a way to take advantage of the benefits provided for your federal student loan debt.