Wrap Up Your Tax Year with a Student Loan Bonus

For those on income-driven repayment plans (IDRs), your student loan payments are recalculated each year based on how much money you made the year before. This is typically done using your AGI, taken directly from last year’s 1040—you can even link your tax documents directly from the IRS when you submit your income recertification. By reducing your AGI through pre-tax contributions, you save the tax on the deferred income, your annual tax bill, and on your monthly student loan payment. Between the three, that can add up to significant savings!

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Qualifying for Loan Forgiveness the Easy Way: The PSLF Help Tool

The PSLF Help Tool is designed to guide borrowers through the steps of determining if their employment qualified them for PSLF, making sure they’re on the right repayment plan, and filling out the ECF properly.

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The Gift of PSLF for Future Generations

We and our partners are working to make sure that PSLF stays strong, works better, and endures. You may not be able to wrap it and tie a bow around it, but—for many—PSLF is a gift that keeps on giving, and one that can last for generations.

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In the News: What in Tarnation is an FFEL Loan?!

Under the recently announced Limited Waiver Opportunity for PSLF, FFEL borrowers have an opportunity to pursue PSLF without restarting the clock. As long as the other conditions for PSLF were met—full-time employment at a public service organization like a 501(c)(3)—previous payments made on FFELs will count towards PSLF as long as they are consolidated before October 31, 2022 and submit the appropriate employment paperwork.. Finally, borrowers under this orphaned loan program will be able to enjoy PSLF without the added hurdle of 10 extra years of repayment.

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Missing QPs: Real-life Solutions for Nightmare Problems

If your QPs go missing, don’t panic! It’s usually a simple mistake that can be corrected with a little patience. If this happens to you, give us a call—we’re here to guide you through thick and thin!

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Spooky Student Loans: The Case of the Missing QPs

She pulled up last year’s form, which she had saved to the cloud. It looked identical to this year’s—just the date was changed—no new qualifying payments, 12 shy of the number she expected. Her heart sank: this was wrong. Was it her fault? Did she forget something? How could this have happened? Almost worse than the results was the fact that now she would have to call. She’d have to dial her servicer, sit on hold, and be told that she’d made a mistake.

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Big Changes Coming to Public Service Loan Forgiveness

As borrowers make plans to resume making student loan payments in February, they may have questions about who will be servicing those loans. We learned earlier this year that two large student loan servicers—PHEAA and Granite State—would no longer service federal student loans. The former, through its subsidiary FedLoan, is responsible for all borrowers pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a program that has been under intense scrutiny throughout the student debt crisis. Just last month, yet another major servicer—Navient— announced that it would no longer manage federal loans, transferring them to another company.

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Embattled Student Loan Servicers Are Jumping Ship

As borrowers make plans to resume making student loan payments in February, they may have questions about who will be servicing those loans. We learned earlier this year that two large student loan servicers—PHEAA and Granite State—would no longer service federal student loans. The former, through its subsidiary FedLoan, is responsible for all borrowers pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a program that has been under intense scrutiny throughout the student debt crisis. Just last month, yet another major servicer—Navient— announced that it would no longer manage federal loans, transferring them to another company.

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Buying a Home with Student Loans

Good news for Navigate clients: many lenders accept the monthly student loan payment estimates we run with you for DTI purposes. That way, we can help you avoid taking your loans out of COVID forbearance!

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Student debt cancellation: What’s the hold up?

Over the past nine months, two questions have dogged the student debt cancellation conversation: does the President have the authority to forgive student debt without Congress, and—if so—how much should he forgive?

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