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If you have federal student loans it
is more than likely you
are receiving letters and email that are warning you it is
time to consolidate your loans in order to pay less interest
over the life of your loan and have smaller monthly
payments. However, people are still wondering if they should
consolidate or not. Here are some of the reasons why.
Current college students can for the first time in the life
of repayment of student loans consolidate their loans while
they are still in school. Since you have this opportunity it
would behoove you to take advantage of it. Even if you will
need to take out more loans to continue your college
education, you should still consolidate now. The reason for
this is your future loans will not have this opportunity and
if you do not consolidate the ones you have then all of your
loans will experience interest rate increases, which means
you will have to pay more money every month due to increased
interest rates. This opportunity is a once in a lifetime
opportunity for individuals still in school, so take
advantage of it while you can.
If you are a recent graduate do not waste your entire six
month grace period considering whether you should or should
not consolidate your loans. Simply do it because you will be
doing yourself the biggest favor ever. Not only will you
reduce your monthly payment by as much as several hundred
dollars, but you will also be saving yourself many thousands
of dollars in interest over the life of the loan. If these
are not worthy reasons to consolidate, then there are not
any. Interest rates are guaranteed to increase and are
scheduled to rise by at least two percentage points this
summer. So, if you have not already done so start the
consolidation application process immediately. You will
thank yourself every year when the percentage points rise
yet again. Lock in the low interest rates and enjoy making
low payments on your loan.
Unbelievably, despite all of the information regarding
consolidating student loans and the thousands of dollars it
can save students over the lifetime of the loan, there are
still people waiting to consolidate their loan or wondering
if it is the best thing to do. The truth is there is no
other real option. Interest rates are scheduled to raise by
at least two points this year. Multiple that two percentage
points by the amount you owe to find how much more money you
will have to pay each month. If this does not motivate you
to consolidate immediately, then nothing will. Interest
rates will only continue to rise, so do the smart thing and
consolidate immediately. There really is not much time left
to lock in the current low rates.
Another reason to consolidate your loans is that there is no
credit check conducted. If you have outstanding federal
loans then you simply apply to have them consolidated, fill
out the paperwork and then enjoy paying the lower monthly
payments as well as the fact that your interest rates will
not move any higher because they are fixed. This is
certainly a lot more comforting than watching the interest
rates move higher every year.
The best thing you can do is consolidate your loans
immediately. The longer you wait means you are risking rate
increases and higher monthly payments due to interest rates.
Joanne Poll is the Operater of
YConsolidate - which is an
excellent place to find
consolidate links, resources and articles. For
more information go to:
http://www.yconsolidate.com |
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