Sunday, 27 January 2008

Getting The Most From School Debt Consolidation

By John Doyle

Description: School loans consolidation programs offer everything that debt consolidation programs are supposed to offer. But there are ways to even save more in interest on your school consolidation loans.

There are a number of programs out there designed to help you consolidate your multiple school loans. Each one offers similar things, namely, lower interest and more manageable debt. How, then, do you start to make the most of these loans?

The first step, and it is an important one, is to realize that it really does pay to shop around. By looking at a number of lenders and getting multiple quotes, you will find out where to get both the best interest and the best repayment rate and terms in one loan. Compare the quotes from a number of lenders, three or more, before you decide which company you feel can offer you the best loan.

Of course, as with any loan, the lower the interest rate, the less you will pay in total. The interest rate on school consolidation loans is a fixed rate, meaning that while your rate can go down at any time, it can never go above a low fixed point.

If you pay on time, then you will benefit from reduced interest rates. An example of this is when you agree with your lender to an interest rate of 5%. You also agree that your lender will reduce your interest rates by 1.25% if you pay on time, without fail, for the next 24 months. The simple math is that after 24 months of judicious payments, your new interest rate will be 3.75% (5%-1.25%).

With a loans consolidation program, it is easier to set up an automatic payment system from your bank account to your lender's bank account. Automatic payment can also reduce your interest rates from between 0.25% to 0.5%. With this kind of set-up, your bank account is automatically deducted the monthly payment on your loans consolidation.

In order to get the maximum benefit from your loan consolidation, it is wise to try to pay off the loan as early as possible. The shorter time frame you pay off your loan in, the less you end up paying in interest.

As a tip, do not be content with just paying the monthly due, try paying more each month. Suppose if you have a student loan amounting to $60,000 at an interest rate of 5.5% and if you have the option of a ten-year term of a thirty-year term. If you choose to pay off in ten years, you pay around $90,000, but if you pay in thirty years, you will end up paying $120,000. We need not tell you that $30,000 is a lot of money in savings.

Make your variable Stafford Loans a priority in your debt payment. Try consolidating your Stafford loans within six months after graduation. And just why should you do this? Your interest rate rises 0.6% six months after graduation.

The best way to see for yourself the benefit of consolidating your student loans is by doing some math. Figure your payout including interest on your loans separately, and then do the same for your consolidated loan. Another reason for consolidating your student loans is that if you default on even one of your loans, your credit will be damaged and it will become difficult if not impossible to make a major finance purchase, such as a home or a new car. Defaulted loans and missed payments can do substantial damage to your credit report.

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