My student loans are in 8 different accounts through Nelnet over $70k total. I recently filled out an IDR application and my payments are jumping to $440/month.
Last week, I filled out an application to have my loans consolidated but have seen mixed reviews after. I have 10 business days to accept the request or it’ll be canceled. My payments don’t seem to change, but was hoping they’d be lower.
I’m afraid I won’t be able to consistently make that payment each month for X amount of years. I’m getting married later this year and hope to have kid(s) someday. Would those payments lower after having a kid?
I also read that if we later file taxes jointly after getting married that payments could get even higher?
Any help would be appreciated!
Any Tips? What to do with Nelnet loans
byu/TShaw1990 inStudentLoans
Posted by TShaw1990
2 Comments
I would cancel the consolidation application unless you have a specific reason to do so, like that you need to do it to be eligible for a certain plan (for example, if you have parent PLUS loans and you wanted to maintain eligibility for an income driven repayment plan). There are cons to consolidation, including that your accrued interest will capitalize, and you lose the ability to allocate extra payments you make towards the loans with the highest interest rates. Consolidation will not make your payments lower, and having several different loans on your account doesn’t really matter. You still make one monthly payment. What is your income and what IDR plan did you apply for?
What kind of loans? Just direct sub/unsubsidized?
There’s likely no benefit to consolidation and could potentially be harmful.
What’s your income and what IDR plan?