Sunday, March 18, 2007

Student Loan Consolidation - Save Money, Pay Less and Spend More

by Michael

Save Money, Pay Less and Spend More on.

What do you want? Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Well, if you'll spend a few minutes for learning about student loan consolidation, you'll soon be armed with enough information to make some really good decisions begin loaning for learning and help you achieve all of the above, and more.

Student loans are available to students and parents in need of help with living costs while studying and working on a degree program. For many students, student loans are their largest source of cash and income in some cases, their only source. What often happens, is students acquire multiple student loans, then begin to have cash flow problems, which leads to charges on one or more credit cards. These credit cards are typically issued with very high interest rates, often 20% or higher this case. This is a severely problematic financial trap and a very tough way to get started in life for a young person who is still in school or just about to graduate.

So, how does student loan consolidation work anyway? Well, unfortunately, too many students leave college with debt that weighs them down heavily, burdening their lives with debt that will haunt them for many years to come. More often than not, students accumulate multiple loans from various lenders. This leads to multiple payments each month and often several loans with unfavorably high interest rates.

Loan consolidation allows for students to combine multipleloans into a single instrument, one loan from a single lender. In effect, this is like refinancing a mortgage, credit card or other debt consolidation - multiple debts reduced to one. The balances of the multiple loans are paid off by the loan consolidation lender and voila' - a single loan payment at a more favorable interest rate.

Translation: lower monthly payments, less overhead costs for the borrowed money and more immediate cash flow to spend on more important items today.

A student should seriously evaluate consolidating loans if the consolidated loan would result in a lower interest rate that the current student loans, especially if the student is struggling to make multiple student loan repayments.

Often times, the merged loan includes a more flexible set of repayment options, plus no charges, fees or prepay penalty. In some cases, there may even be no pesky credit checks, loan collaterals or cosigners involved.

Student loan consolidation can reduce payments up to 60 percent of amount saved will depend upon the existing loan interest rates). The other factor is the term of the loans. Typical loans are for a 10 year term. When consolidating student loans, its possible to refinance for up to 30 years (like a home mortgage). It's important that there be no prepayment penalties, since the student will likely want to pay these loans off much sooner, once their earning power is improved after graduating and progressing in a career that pays reasonably well. Of course, the longer the loan period, the higher the interest rate, and lower the initial payments, which frees up precious cash flow when it's needed most - while the student is in school.

So, if a student has multiple loans, typically in excess of $7,800 total, there are many benefits of looking seriously at a student consolidation loan. It's a great way to free up cash flow, pay less cost each month and save your money while in school.

About the Author: http://students-loaning.blogspot.com

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Negotiate Your Student Loan Debt

by Cory Taylor

Negotiate Your Student Loan Debt

Outstanding student loan debt is a major problem for many graduates. It is possible to negotiate with your creditors and possibly reduce or even eliminate your student loan debt. If you're not up to the negotiations yourself, you can hire a company to negotiate with creditors on your behalf. However, if you fully intend and have the ability to pay your debt, it's usually better to contact your creditors yourself. If you reach the stage where you can't keep up with the repayments, it's vital that you contact your creditors as soon as possible and explain your situation.

It will help your situation greatly if you manage to contact your creditors before they contact you. Professional debt negotiating programs offer plans, similar to debt consolidation services: They negotiate with your creditors provided you have saved the minimum balance to settle the debt. Before signing on with a debt negotiation or consolidation service, you might want to check and ensure your creditors are willing to work with the agency you plan to choose. Consider using agencies that offer actual counseling and education, instead of simply enrolling all clients in a debt management program.

Debt negotiation is a process where you negotiate with your creditors to pay off your debts at a reduced amount - for example, if your student loan was for $16,000, you can negotiate a payoff of $7,500. Creditors will report accounts that have been reduced, and it will stay on your credit history for seven years. Note that creditors have no requirement to negotiate with you or a debt negotiation company and that they will often play "hard-ball" at the beginning of the negotiation process.

The very fact that you have appointed a debt negotiator on your behalf is a sign that you are a bad risk. Most creditors will settle for cash now as opposed to the balance over the next 10 years or so. Beware of debt elimination scams that insist consumers are not under obligation to repay their debts because creditors charge illegal interest rates. This is simply not true.

No matter what the state of your finances, there are positive solutions for both you and your creditors. Explain to them right up front what your situation is and how you believe that things can be worked out so that everyone will benefit.

By aggressively taking matters into your own hands, your creditors will know that you mean business and are motivated to seek remedy. Yes, asking your creditors to simply forgive some of your debt is always one option and is a good starting point when negotiating your student loan. Don't expect your creditors to roll-over, however! But it does show them that you expect some action.

Consolidation versus Forgiveness

Debt consolidation is the better of the two when it comes to influencing your credit score. If you choose a debt consolidation company, your creditors may report delayed payment. When searching for a debt negotiation company, one of the best places to start is with debt consolidation lenders.

While credit counseling and debt consolidation are both pretty straightforward services, many people have trouble understanding the difference between debt negotiation and debt management. Many debt consolidation lenders provide detailed information about student loan debt, student loan debt consolidation and more.

Your financial situation may allow you to take out a debt consolidation loan. A debt consolidation loan helps manage your debt because the loan is usually over a longer period of time and possibly at a lower interest rate than your existing debt. It is a more aggressive approach to getting out of debt than making minimum payments, using credit counseling, or trying to negotiate with your creditors. If possible, consider borrowing from a friend or relative as the interest paid can be far less than from a financial institution. Please know however, that a debt consolidation loan is nothing more than a way of putting off the evitable: The loan will evenually have to be paid off.

When your monthly bills become too much for you to handle, it makes sense to use debt consolidation or debt negotiation for solving debt and credit problems. If bills and other heavy payments are bogging you down, take action sooner than later to find solutions to your problem. Continued financial stress and burden can ruin everything in it's path, not to mention permanently damaging your credit. If a student loan is at the heart of the problem, debt negotiation and/or consolidation can help you get back on track and out of debt.
About the Author:
Cory Taylor is a financial services expert and a contributing editor for http://www.winwin-negotiation.com

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Look these gift in the mouth of Student Loan Consolidation

by Freddy

Student loans? Who needs them? Take charge of your money for the rest of your life.

Part I Avoid student loan consolidation by avoiding debt Part II Student loan consolidation has big benefits for losers And part III Idea beats student loan consolidation and creates a winning mindset.

You'll never need student loans with these ideas from...

1. Grants - Supreme way to avoid student loans

A grant is a gift of money that you don't have to repay. Isn't a $50000 grant better than taking out student loans every year for four or five years? There is a club that keeps its members abreast of grants that they might use. You can avoid student loans. These grants aren't confined to education so you aren't confined to avoiding student loans. If you get a grant, save actively to build a nest egg and the right mindset.

2. Part Time Earning

There are lots of ways for you to work your way through college. What I like is that they encourage an aggressive "go and get it" mindset. Student loans encourage the "wait for it to come to me" mindset. I have details of how a teenage girl made a profitable website. She'll never need student loans! One girl runs dogs. That's right, she runs for half an hour with 4 dogs that need lots of exercise, then picks up the next 4 dogs. Don't lose sight of your target. You want to avoid student loans, not impress your friends with how much you can spend.

3. Economising

I had a grant for University. Fellow students complained their student loans or college grants were too small. I saved money from the grant by economising.

A dollar saved is four dollars earned. You pay back about twice as much as you borrow, with money from which the IRS has stolen 50%. So each dollar you save avoids earning four.

You can economise on these and have better health. Such as...

3.1 Food

Learn to cook. You're at the mercy of food suppliers until you can cook. One student got into the news because student loans only covered tinned dog-food for him to eat. That's too expensive! I'm cooking my own food and eating well on about$17 per week.

3.2 Lodgings

I can only suggest that you shop around. Remember that $20 saved per week is $1000 saved from your student loans each year even without interest payments.

3.3 Health

The damage you do to your body adds up over your lifetime, so it's a good idea to stay healthy. What has that to do with student loans? It turns out that fast food is bad for your health, and so are most processed foods, and cooking your own food means that you can avoid trans-fatty acids, sugar, and all the other things that cause obesity. Curry, broccoli, tomatoes, garlic, brazil nuts, and cabbage among other things fight cancer. And they all make less demands on student loans.

3.4 Transport

Make enquiries. How much would you save from your student loans by buying a bike instead of a car? Would public transport be better? Would walking or running for exercise be even better? How much would it cramp your style for dating? Remember, buying a car with a student loan involves not only repayments, but fuel and oil, repairs, licensing, and depreciation. I travelled 2 hrs/day on my pushbike getting exercise and no college loans.

3.5 Social Life

Look for free pastimes. If your friends aren't interested in ways to avoid college loans perhaps you have the wrong friends. If you finish study at 25 and work till 60 that gives you a working life of 35 years. So a 25 year student loan takes a big chunk out of your life, even if you are never unemployed. And that's before you take out a mortgage!

Other ways to economise

Buy second-hand whenever possible - even your textbooks. Clothes from the Salvation Army are cheap. Use eBay, but don't buy anything you don't need. My first boss said I'd furnished my house for less than he spent on his bedroom.

Negotiate - Important for second hand, even more for new goods. When you go in to buy a new fridge, the attendant waits to see if you're stupid enough to pay the price tag, or ask for a discount.

Remember a dollar saved is four dollars in student loans that you won't have to pay back.
About the Author: Student Loaning and Homeschools

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Understanding Student Loan Consolidation

by Antonio Vargas

People take loans, meet their needs and repay the loaned amount in time. However sometimes situation becomes different. After taking loan people fail to pay back within proper time frame. It leads them to debts and ever increasing anxieties. Thanks to debt consolidation loans, which are now helping people to remove their debts and forget all such anxieties. These loans are open for all. Even a student can also opt for such loans in the form of student loan consolidation.

Student loan consolidation helps a student to pay off his or her multiple debts into one single loan. To make it more simple it gathers all the outstanding debts of student from multiple lenders and merge all these debts into one single loan.

With student loan consolidation, a student can enjoy a stress less education far away from the strain of debts. Student loan consolidation helps borrower to lower their monthly payments. Moreover he or she needs to pay a lower rate of interest. Add to this they get the chance of easy repayment option with no extra fees, penalties etc.

Bad credit score is not a bar while opting for student loan consolidation. This loan is open for all and even gives bad credit holders a chance to improve their credit score.

You can opt for student loan consolidation from banks or any loan lending organization. But if you want to apply for these loans quickly and with a better service, go for online method. It helps you to meet innumerable trusted lenders of the online loan market. They offer free loan quotations and attractive loan terms. Just by applying your own mind, you can select the best lender for you with the best offer.
About the Author:
Antonio Vargas has been associated with Student Loan Debt Consolidation. His articles provide you useful knowledge to find the right financial product at the right price. To find student loan debt consolidation, student loan consolidation, student debt consolidation loans, debt consolidation loan student visit http://www.studentloandebtconsolidation.co.uk

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Consolidating Student Loans Can Help Reduce Your Debt

by Rob Hickey

Consolidating student loans is a savings option available through lending companies to assist graduating students when they leave college. This is done through one combined loan with an extended payment schedule which results in a smaller monthly payment. Would this benefit you? If you are like most students, you had to take out numerous loans for college, each with its own interest rate and its own monthly payment. It didn't matter at the time because you needed to finish up school and get the tuition bills paid. Now that its time to start repaying those loans, its understandable that you may be getting frustrated and confused over not only managing those different loans but having to make the monthly payments. It's a good idea to consider consolidating your student loans as it can really help you ease the financial burden, and give you some peace of mind.

Research

Do your research when investigating lenders. Don't assume all lenders are created equal. Its unfortunate but not all consolidation companies on the block are genuine. Just like you did in college, you need to make sure you do your homework and find a credible lending institution.

Consolidate your federal and private loans separately

Many times graduates in haste will try to consolidate all their federal and private student loans into one. This can cause you to lose some of your federal loan benefits. One example is if you combine both private and federal loans you can lose out on the interest tax deduction benefit you get with your federal student loans. You'll need to be careful as there are many benefits to keeping these loans separate, especially when consolidating.

Extended payments

When consolidating student loans, lenders can extend the payment schedule to 10, 20 or 30 years. Be aware that you are mainly getting the benefit of a lower monthly payment because the payments have been extended and not necessarily because of the lower interest rate. The way to make this work to your benefit is, once you have obtained the lower interest rate, pay more towards the monthly bill. This way you will pay off your loan faster than normal and at a lower rate. Keep in mind that you should only put more towards paying it off when you can afford it.

While comparing and choosing the best lender, try to consider those who offer flexible application procedures. The lenders that offer online applications including online account management facilities give you the flexibility to manage your accounts from virtually anywhere. Whether you simply want the ease of paying one monthly bill or you want to lower your interest rate and monthly payment, consolidating student loans can help to reduce your debt.
About the Author:
For more resources to help you with consolidating student loans, visit http://www.student-loan-zone.com.

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Plan Your Education with Student Loan Services

by Julia Russell

Knowledge is power and holds special significance in every aspect of life. And every thing comes for a price. You may be making savings for a long time for your child's learning, but, when the proposed time came, the cost of your preferable course must have risen to a considerable extent. You may not even afford it. What will you do in such situation, whom to ask for help? Well a viable option will be applying for student loan services. But, before opting for any kind of loan, you need to be completely aware of the terms and conditions of that particular loan amount.

There are a large number of lenders offering student loan services at nominal rates. All you need to do is search well through various online sources and crack the best deal. For student loan services, you can easily qualify for lower rate of interest, longer repayment term, and flexible terms and conditions.

As inferred by its very name, student loan services are meant for students to fund their education. These are most flexible in terms of repayment of the loan amount. You do not have to worry about the repayment schedule of the loan amount. These loans will give you enough time to complete your qualification, take up some job and then only repay the loan amount. Search well; with proper search you may student loan services, which may cover all your expenses including books, computer, hostel fees etc.

Search through various online sources. There you will find a large number of lenders at a single place. Compare and contrast the various quotes of student loan services, offered by the different lenders. It is advised to always borrow up to a limit, which you require and can repay easily. You can also engage in some part time job to trim down the burden of student loan services.

About the Author:
Julia Russell works as an executive in financial department for Poor Credit Car Loan. She has a lot of experience in finance field. To gain more information about student loans, student loan services,student loan online, college student loans, student refinance loans, direct student loans visit http://www.get-student-loans.com

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Study Abroad Programs Covered by NextStudent PLUS Loans

by Jeff Mictabor

In this day and age of international business that knows no borders and foreign relations that demand at least a familiarity with foreign cultures, many students are seeking to expand their perspectives through studying abroad. No longer content with a singular understanding of the world, a large number of college graduates are rounding out their college experience by immersing themselves in a foreign learning experience.


The Federal PLUS Loan (Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students) is a little-known but wise method for covering the costs of study abroad programs, according to NextStudent, the Phoenix-based premier education funding company. The reason PLUS Loans are such a great choice for study abroad students is because it is available year-round, and just about everyone is eligible since it is not need-based. The major stipulation is that borrowers must have completed their FAFSA in order to qualify for a PLUS Loan.

Streamlined Application Process for PLUS Loans


Applying online for a NextStudent PLUS Loan is a simple, easy procedure. When parents contact NextStudent, they are assigned their own personal Education Finance Advisor who will guide them step-by-step through the student loan process, from start to finish. Borrowers usually know within minutes if they are qualified and may consolidate multiple PLUS Loans, even if they are from different students. In order to qualify for the Federal Student Loan Consolidation Program, all PLUS Loans must have been disbursed through one parent's Social Security number. Since there is no grace period for Federal PLUS Loans, repayment begins after 60 days of loan disbursement.


Parents may apply for PLUS Loans even if they already have taken care of all other education expenses for the year, including tuition. As long as the study abroad program is sponsored by an accredited college in the United States, they may use PLUS loan funds for this purpose. The federal government funds these student loans, and NextStudent offers distinguishing benefits and incentives to parents.


Enticing Incentives for PLUS Loan Borrowers


In order to take advantage of significant savings, parents may opt for several benefits. If they choose to pay via Auto-Debit, they will receive an automatic .25 percent reduction in interest. Once they make 12 months of consecutive on-time payments, they will receive a 3 percent cash rebate on the remaining principal balance of their student loan. If they continue to keep their payments current, after 48 months of consecutive on-time payments, they will receive a 2 percent interest rate reduction.


PLUS Loans Makes It Possible

Whatever a student's background, studying abroad can be the opportunity of a lifetime. Not the extended international vacation that many students perceive it to be, studying abroad can be a challenging endeavor that encompasses learning a foreign language, immersing oneself in a different culture and surviving in a foreign environment. Contrary to popular belief, funding the experience does not have to be from cash savings, but may be covered by the Federal PLUS Loan through NextStudent.


NextStudent believes that getting an education is the best investment you can make, and it is dedicated to helping you pursue your education dreams by making college funding simple. Learn more about student loans and student loan consolidation at http://www.nextstudent.com/.

About the Author:
Jeff Mictabor is an enthusiast on the topic of student loan issues in the news. He has been writing for the past 10 years for a variety of education publications. He now offers his writing services on a freelance basis.

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