Saturday, 26 January 2008

Why Parent Plus Loan Consolidation Is Such A Good Thing

By John Doyle

Many parents choose to take on the added obligation of the secondary education of their children. A good thing to consider upon graduation, however, is the consolidation of all of those loans with the Parent PLUS loan consolidation program.

Parent PLUS loan consolidation loans are the ultimate solution for parents who are knee-deep in debt trying to get the children through college.

Here in the United States, there is a federal loan program designed to enable parents to acquire education loans on behalf of their children. These loans are known as Federal Parent PLUS Loans. They can be taken out for every minor child a parent has, as long as the child is a dependent of the parent and is currently enrolled in an undergraduate university program.

Federal Parent PLUS loans are guaranteed by the federal government, and part of that guarantee ensures that they have low interest rates. The main benefit to these loans is that parents can borrow toward all education costs, including tuition, housing, laboratory fees, travel expenses and much more.

A simple credit score is all that is needed to determine if a parent qualifies to obtain a Parent PLUS loan. Bad credit can be a hindrance to getting these or any other loans, and the government looks for a history of payments more than ninety days late in the last five years.

Parent PLUS Loans are more beneficial to parents because the interest rates are capped at eight and a half percent and the interest is tax deductible. This type of loan is also good because it does not require collateral.

Parents who have too many PLUS loans to pay comfortably can reap the benefits of PLUS consolidation. The debt accounts are simplified into one single account. If a parent also took out federal and private loans, they will not all be able to be consolidated together, and the parent would have to use both federal and private consolidation.

Parents who took out PLUS loans can find some much needed breathing room with the PLUS loan consolidation program. The loans will still of course have to be repaid, but they will be much more manageable. Interest rates on these loans are calculated by the weighted average of all of the original loans, thus giving them a lower interest rate.

In most cases, parents get an incentive, i.e., Interest rates are reduced, if they set up their payment system on auto-debit. The prevailing interest rate on your parent plus loan consolidation can be tax deductible. As of the moment, taxpayers can get as much as $2,500 off on qualified education loans.

On top of these benefits, plus loan consolidation programs can also improve credit scores. Outstanding debts, especially if you default on them, can adversely affect your credit score. With an improved credit score, children of loaning parents can qualify for financial comforts beyond college, like having a place of their own or having a brand new car.

The interest rates on Parent PLUS loan consolidations vary, but are typically the LIBOR average plus a small percentage of the total debt.

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