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Post by bartiks on Feb 24, 2020 4:18:36 GMT -5
So I'll give the abbreviated version. Got a call from the wife, she gets these calls about her student loan debt all the time. So this time I figured i would call and see if they had anything that we could work with.
The person I talked to said that we were eligible for something called the "RePAYE" program=Re-Pay As You Earn. Something our friend Obama started I believe. The guy I talked to laid out all the numbers, it wasn't going to cost us anything up front per say and that it would drastically drop our (wife's) monthly payments by like $155/month. I'm thinking this could work, the only thing is he said every year we would have to send in proof of her income. Sure no problem since I'm doing the "lion's share" of the work. Said our payments would stay really low unless my wife's income jumped up significantly and by that I mean like a jump of $14-15 an hour. So we are set.
The guy said that we would need to send in her pay stubs to prove how much she makes. After reading the fine print on the contract that we signed it said that we would need to send in a 1040, pay stub and letter from place of employment. So I do some research on this gift from Obama, the "RePAYE" program. According to everything i've read it says that it is based off of your A.G.I. No big deal right, here is the kick in the sac. The A.G.I. of you and your spouse. So our savings of $155/month is now looking like it is going to cost an extra $135/month. So I get to call today before the first draft hits our account and terminate the contract.
I guess the moral of the story is, sounds to good to be true, it is.
We really got our hopes up there for a couple of days thinking we could really start paying off all this debt we have. Oh well I guess that is why they have jobs out there right.
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Post by saltydog on Feb 24, 2020 5:50:17 GMT -5
Happy for you that it worked out before you were roped into more money.
I refinanced my daughters school loan her sophomore yr. thinking that I would help save some money until I could refinance her last to yrs. Nope Your only aloud to consolidate 1 time. Took 10 yrs to pay it off.
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Post by bartiks on Feb 24, 2020 6:11:22 GMT -5
My wife has had her student loans so long it's like we have a pet that we never see but we have to pay for it every month. Sick of them.
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Post by jbird on Feb 24, 2020 12:31:51 GMT -5
Welcome to dealing with the government! Especially when it comes to money....it seldom has anything really positive when it comes to the middle class!!! Tax breaks for the rich or hand-outs for the poor or both.....all off the back of the middle class!
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Post by steiny on Feb 24, 2020 15:58:52 GMT -5
According to everything i've read it says that it is based off of your A.G.I. No big deal right, here is the kick in the sac. The A.G.I. of you and your spouse. You are married, so like it or not "her debt" is pretty much your debt too now. Assume you file a joint tax return? |
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Post by bartiks on Feb 25, 2020 9:38:11 GMT -5
We have yes several times. Basically since we got married. So update on this, I called them last night after leaving numerous messages finally talked to someone. She said she was the supervisor of the department. So she was saying that the monthly amount we put towards the loan is just going towards "servicing the loan". I then told her that we only had like another 4 years to pay on her loan, will we get roped into the 15 year program. She stated yes, I asked her what if we wanted to drop out of the loan once we signed up for it. She beat around the bush and said that they would recapitalize the loan.
So that immediately started sounding off alarm bells. I then asked her at the end of the program what happens to the loan she said that it is "forgiven", good idea right? Wrong, this is when the IRS comes into play and says that is a form of income and it must be taxed. To coin the phrase "TAX BOMB", yep we would be responsible for that as well. So I just told the lady to terminate the agreement, after a back an forth for about 5 minutes of "guess how much money you could be saving". I eventually had to go a little "red neck" on her to which she said that we weren't enrolled in the program anyway since we haven't supplied pay stubs to them and it hasn't gone thru processing.
But rest assured I will be keeping a close eye on our credit as well as our bank account. I guess my meal ticket to paying off debt sooner than later will have to wait. Anyone hiring part time? Can't win for losing sometimes. Just be warned of this program or anything like it, definitely a lose-lose situation for those who enroll in it.
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Post by firstwd on Feb 25, 2020 11:16:48 GMT -5
Never anything as good as "I'm from the government, I'm here to help" to raise red flags.
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Post by treetop on Feb 25, 2020 13:09:22 GMT -5
I found over my lifetime the best way to pay off loans is to just suck it up and pay extra each time I know that’s not easy all the time but you’d be surprised at how much money you can find if you really pay attention to what you spend every day
I’ve also found out the best way to not have loan payments is not to sign on the line a lot of stuff we think we have to have we really could wait till we could pay cash for
Been there myself sir not preaching just saying how I got myself in a better place in life
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Post by esshup on Feb 25, 2020 14:24:12 GMT -5
I don't know where these student loan repayment places get their information. I don't have no ever did have any student loans and I keep getting calls about repayment programs to take care of them.
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Post by bartiks on Feb 25, 2020 14:41:58 GMT -5
Everything sounds legal and all, I guess the first thing that made me a little quizzical is the fact from the first time I called the number to the next time I spoke with 2 different companies. I get that the number you called just put you in a "pool" and the first one to pick up had the best shot.
At any rate I agree with treetop and it goes along with what my thinking was the whole time. I was just looking into a way that we could pay off a couple of loans and essentially be debt free by the time that the program came to an end in 15 years, with the exception of the house. Just need to get my wife "sick and tired of being sick and tired" is all.
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Post by medic22 on Feb 25, 2020 14:59:28 GMT -5
I looked into loan forgiveness for public servants once.
Required a bunch of paperwork hoops and no late or missed payments for 120 payments. Long story short I only had 125 payments left to make. In the end it would have saved me $1500 and the headache wasnt worth it.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2020 15:14:13 GMT -5
My two oldest sons went to UC where there is a CO-OP program (4 plus 1 yr working). Both CO-OP and only my oldest had a 10K student loan. 2nd is an EE and Co-OP pays better and covered his costs. My youngest did technical school and worked at the same time to pay for it. All three took courses that had jobs when graduated. CO-OP and selecting the right subject is so important. It is still possible to go to college and graduate with little to no loan. All three just graduated in the last 3 years.
Today's students have no idea what a 50k to 100k plus loan is. Some parents fit the same bill.
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Post by jbird on Feb 25, 2020 16:42:10 GMT -5
Not to worry....ole Bernie will fix all of it....everything will be "free"!
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Post by steiny on Feb 26, 2020 10:25:57 GMT -5
I found over my lifetime the best way to pay off loans is to just suck it up and pay extra each time I know that’s not easy all the time but you’d be surprised at how much money you can find if you really pay attention to what you spend every day I’ve also found out the best way to not have loan payments is not to sign on the line a lot of stuff we think we have to have we really could wait till we could pay cash for Been there myself sir not preaching just saying how I got myself in a better place in life Best advice on the whole thread ! I might also add, that most of us could find a few extra hours every day and on weekends to work a second job of some type, bringing in a couple more dollars. |
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Post by MuzzleLoader on Feb 27, 2020 8:50:33 GMT -5
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