gobel - graduation debt; how to manage student loans and live your life (2010)

Visit us online @ CliffsNotes.com ® “Gobel writes in a straightforward, matter-of-fact way that makes it easy for the reader to understand the nuances of student debt without feeling overwhelmed. This book is full of relevant information that is organized perfectly for someone who wants a quick but thorough understanding of how to repay student debt in an effi cient yet manageable way.” —Erin Joyce, Managing Editor, Investopedia; President and Owner, E3 Writing Services der t o full of oroug h Services Reyna Gobel, M.B.A., M.J. • Evaluate Your Student Debt Situation • Consolidate Your Federal Loans • Manage Your Private Loans and Payoff Strategies • Pay Off Your Non-Student-Loan Debt Graduation Debt Graduation Debt How to Manage Student Loans and Live Your Life How to Manage Student Loans and Live Your Life Gobel $14.99 US/$17.99 CAN 9780470506899_RB3.PDF Get a plan to manage student loan debt! Are you up to your eyeballs in student loan debt? You aren’t alone! This trusted guide gives you a step-by-step road map for getting out from under student loan debt while keeping the rest of your fi nances on track. You’ll get expert advice on how to: • Evaluate your student debt situation • Organize your student debt payments • Consolidate your federal loans • Manage your private loans and payoff strategies • Budget for your lifestyle and your loans • Pay off your non-student-loan debt • Understand how your debt looks to lenders • Budget during infl ation, layoffs, pay cuts, and career changes • Pay off your student loans early Reyna Gobel, M.B.A., M.J., is a freelance journalist who specializes in fi nancial fi tness. Her fi nancial advice appears regularly on www.investopedia.com and Yahoo! Finance, as well as other print and online outlets. 506899_cover.indd 1506899_cover.indd 1 2/3/10 2:18 PM2/3/10 2:18 PM 01_506899-ffirs.indd ii01_506899-ffirs.indd ii 2/16/10 10:03 PM2/16/10 10:03 PM Graduation Debt 01_506899-ffirs.indd i01_506899-ffirs.indd i 2/16/10 10:03 PM2/16/10 10:03 PM 01_506899-ffirs.indd ii01_506899-ffirs.indd ii 2/16/10 10:03 PM2/16/10 10:03 PM How to Manage Student Loans and Live Your Life by Reyna Gobel Graduation Debt 01_506899-ffirs.indd iii01_506899-ffirs.indd iii 2/16/10 10:03 PM2/16/10 10:03 PM CliffsNotes ® Graduation Debt: How to Manage Student Loans and Live Your Life Copyright © 2010 by Reyna Gobel. All rights reserved. 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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Gobel, Reyna, 1977- Graduation debt : how to manage student loans and live your life / by Reyna Gobel. p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-0-470-50689-9 ISBN-10: 0-470-50689-X 1. Student loans. 2. Education, Higher Finance. I. Title. LB2340.G63 2010 378.3’62 dc22 2010002930 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Book production by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Composition Services 01_506899-ffirs.indd iv01_506899-ffirs.indd iv 2/16/10 10:03 PM2/16/10 10:03 PM Peggy Engel, Dr. James Conover, Grace Freedson, and Jeff Inman; my family; and my Miniature Schnauzer, Mauser. Without any of these people—or my dog sitting behind my office chair to keep me from getting up while writing—this book wouldn’t have happened. 01_506899-ffirs.indd v01_506899-ffirs.indd v 2/16/10 10:03 PM2/16/10 10:03 PM 01_506899-ffirs.indd vi01_506899-ffirs.indd vi 2/16/10 10:03 PM2/16/10 10:03 PM vii Acknowledgments Thank you: Peggy Engel, my mentor, for believing a book on repaying student loans needed to be written, and that I was the one who should write it. Grace Freedson, my literary agent, for sticking by a first-time book author through fruition. Greg Tubach and the rest of the gang at Wiley for giving me the honor of writing under the CliffsNotes brand. Adrienne Fontaine and Malati Chavali, for helping me get the word out that this book exists. And, of course, my editor, Lynn Northrup, who kept my writing on track when I started to go off on tangents. My interviewees, who agreed to talk conversationally about their subject of expertise: Tom Harnisch, Barry Paperno, Robbi Ernst III, Mar- tha Holler, Patricia Christel, Debby Hohler, Jim Southwell, Bob Mei- ghan, Teri Gault, Chelsea Marti, Tony Bambacino, and Dr. James Conover. My real-life interviewees, who trusted me enough to share their debt stories: Dawn, Melissa, and Kristen and Erik. All the editors who let a former and still occasional entertainment and pop culture writer near the subject of personal finance, especially Glenn Rosen, Carin Hughes, Tara Struyk, Erin Joyce, and Lisa Ocker. My mom and dad, who taught me to find a way to help others, and to do math problems without a calculator. My husband, who supports me in everything that I do, including tell- ing a few stories from our relationship in this book. My journalism professors, who tolerated me in class and taught me a thing or two: George Getschow, Dan Malone, Katherine Jones, Dr. Land, Dr. Koehler, and Dr. Lambiase. Stephanie Babyak and Jane Glick- man, for their invaluable research help on student loan regulations. My first writing mentor, Jeff Inman, who was the first person who taught me how to write well. Finally, I’d like to thank my co-worker, my Miniature Schnauzer, Mauser, who sat behind my chair every day while I wrote this book— except when barking at whoever dared to walk by our home or at me when he craved attention, a treat, a walk, or a car ride. 01_506899-ffirs.indd vii01_506899-ffirs.indd vii 2/16/10 10:03 PM2/16/10 10:03 PM 01_506899-ffirs.indd viii01_506899-ffirs.indd viii 2/16/10 10:03 PM2/16/10 10:03 PM [...]... 2/1/1999 14 Graduation Debt: How to Manage Student Loans and Live Your Life Checklist for Understanding Your Individual Charts ✓ Click on the number next to the loan you’d like information on to pull up charts on an individual loan ✓ To find out if you have a variable- or fixed-rate loan, go to your Amounts and Dates chart and check the Interest Rate column ✓ To find out the most recent status of your loan,... the Types of Loans and Loans Chart Categories lists in this chapter ✓ Refer to the lists if you have questions as you get further into organizing your debt FIND ALL OF YOUR STUDENT LOANS When you look at your first chart on the opening page of your file on the National Student Loan Data System Web site, you see information that 8 Graduation Debt: How to Manage Student Loans and Live Your Life you never... example, if your challenge question is “What is the name of your high school?” 4 Graduation Debt: How to Manage Student Loans and Live Your Life and you attended Century High School, you won’t be able to access your account if you type in CHS Name changes will not affect your PIN for all of your previous loans Your PIN is attached to the name you had when you borrowed the money However, if you return to college,... recently built with your outstanding interest onto your loan—usually since owed your last payment Evaluating Your Student Debt Situation 9 Checklist for Understanding Your Loans Chart ✓ Log on to the National Student Loan Data System to view your Loans chart ✓ Print out your chart and highlight which loans you still have balances on based on seeing an owed amount in your Outstanding Principal column... financial life without feeling like your debt will be a hindrance to anything you want to accomplish xvi 1 Evaluating Your Student Debt Situation If you pay your student loan bills every month, and then try to forget the giant pile of debt to which your loans are attached—stop! In order to work toward paying off your student loan debt, you need to be aware of the existence and the amounts of each loan You... System All your loans are listed in order from your newest to your oldest Thus, if you’ve consolidated your loans into one or two spiffy new loans with one convenient payment, these will more likely be numbers 1 and 2—unless you received more loans after you consolidated your loans into one loan For example, if you went back to school for a graduate degree and went a little deeper into student loan... to have our student debt around for up to 30 years, we need to learn to manage our payments as another bill we have to pay, similar to an electric bill or a rent payment You can manage your student debt while maintaining a lifestyle that is productive in the grand scheme of a financially secure future By the end of this book, you will learn how to find loans for semesters you have long forgotten, and. .. direct lending or another servicer • Perkins: This category of student loans is fairly rare and is normally reserved for low-income families If you have these, you may have additional options for loan forgiveness 6 Graduation Debt: How to Manage Student Loans and Live Your Life Loans Chart Categories Not sure what all the terms mean on your Loans chart? Use the following term list as a guideline for... first two letters of your last name during college, your date of birth, and your PIN The first page you will see is a chart displaying a list of your loans with Type of Loan, Loan Amount, Loan Date, Disbursed Amount, Canceled Amount, Outstanding Principal, and Outstanding Interest What do all these terms mean and how is this chart going to help you manage your loans? The chart on the student loan data... too much, or if you should have rejected the part of your student loan you used for spring break Your new focus is on making small changes to pay off your loans faster without impacting your life The first step on this path is looking up the specifics of all your federal loans in the National Student Loan Data System Facing Your Student Debt Demons Where do you begin when it comes to dealing with your . Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Gobel, Reyna, 197 7- Graduation debt : how to manage student loans and live your life / by Reyna Gobel. p. cm. ISBN-13: 97 8-0 -4 7 0-5 068 9-9 ISBN-10: 0-4 7 0-5 0689-X 1. Student. Debt Graduation Debt How to Manage Student Loans and Live Your Life How to Manage Student Loans and Live Your Life Gobel $14.99 US/$17.99 CAN 9780470506899_RB3.PDF Get a plan to manage student. lifestyle and your loans • Pay off your non -student- loan debt • Understand how your debt looks to lenders • Budget during infl ation, layoffs, pay cuts, and career changes • Pay off your student loans