Have you heard that large lump sum payments may be key to speedy student loan repayment? LendEDU recently completed a survey with their findings hitting exactly on that point. As LendEDU states in their article, written by Mike Brown, “The fun years of college, potentially made possible by student loans, inevitably lead to the not-so-fun years of repayment. Unless you happen to be one of the few borrowers that qualifies for student loan forgiveness, student loan debt must be paid back or the consequences can be severe.”
Continuing education is important but not being able to move on with your life after college can be detrimental to many. You potentially miss out or have to put off major life events such as buying a house or traveling to focus on paying back student loans.
LendEDU surveyed 1,000 U.S. respondents with a balance of at least $15,000 of student loan debt and here are some of their findings:
- Once student debt was paid off, 15% of respondents started contributing more to their retirement, while 13% started saving for a house down payment. Another 12% were able to contribute more to their savings, while 12% were able to pay down other forms of debt. 10% of respondents were able to pay for health insurance, while 7% indicated they traveled more.
- While repaying their student loan debt, 14% of respondents said they were not able to travel, 11% said they limited their social expenses, 7% could not save for retirement, 6% could not buy or lease a car, and another 6% had to hold off on starting a family.
- 42% of respondents were able to repay their student loan debt in 1-5 years, and only 8% of them regretted taking that amount of time to repay their debt.
Lastly, LendEDU states “The results from our survey also seem to indicate that the larger the payments, the better off the borrower will be.” With respondents confirming these results by stating their strategy of, “making more than the minimum payment” is what helped them successfully pay off their student loans.
Educating yourself on the career field of your choosing, know the terms and future repayment are feasible, are important items when selecting your student loans. However, for those who were not privy to the education about student loans and are struggling with student loan debt, contact a student loan debt attorney at McCarthy Law about your situation. We would be happy to provide a free consultation on what we can do to provide relief from the burden of private student loans.
To read the full article and survey: https://lendedu.com/blog/student-loan-repayment-strategies-survey/