so ive been paying my student loans for a while now and i keep seeing people talk about refinancing but honestly im kinda confused about how it actually works. like i get that its supposed to lower your rate or monthly payment but im not sure what the catch is
my situation is pretty basic i think. steady job for about a year now, credit is decent but not amazing, and my current monthly payment feels a bit high for what im making. im not drowning or anything but it would be nice to have a little more breathing room each month
i started looking into it and saw a bunch of lenders but it all feels overwhelming and kinda risky. like how do you even know if youre getting a good rate or if youre just locking yourself into something worse long term
has anyone here gone through refinancing their student loans recently? what was the process actually like and did it end up helping or just shifting things around?
also how much does your credit really affect the outcome? and is it better to wait until your score improves more or just go for it if you qualify now?
just trying to figure out if this is something worth doing or if i should leave things as they are for now
how to refinance student loans without messing it up?
byu/PrendaSst inpersonalfinance
Posted by PrendaSst
1 Comment
A lot of refinancing is a scam. The federal loans offer protection – if you die, the loans end. If you become disabled the loans end. If you are unemployed, there is grace. If you fail to make payments they cannot take your house. If you refi to a private loan, you lose all these protections. Look carefully at the protections/benefits you have now, and look at the restrictions/ costs of the new loan.