Is the IBR payment calculated based on income left after taxes and health insurance are taken out? Does it take private loans into account when coming up with our payment amount?
Husband and I are on SAVE with $0 payment right now but looks like our payment will be around $250 depending on the above. We pay $400 a month for private student loans. Our loans were taken out in 2009 and earlier.
Once SAVE ends, we’ll have to cut down on our food/toiletries/etc budget and then will have nothing extra at all. We won’t be able to save anything for retirement, won’t be able to save for emergencies, house repairs, vet bills, doctor visits. I’m panicking about what we’ll do when one of those things come up and how my husband will ever be able to retire.
I know we owe what we took out, but wish the payments accounted for these things. I am sick and can’t work but our payment amount doesn’t change if I get a disability discharge. My husband’s payment just goes up. Our mortgage is very low, we don’t have a car payment, and nothing to cut out.
I know we’re lucky to at least have a place to live and food but I feel like going to college shouldn’t make us unable to retire or unable to go out to eat ever or unable to pay a medical bill or fix something necessary on our house.
How to make it work once payment goes up?
byu/JadedKaleidoscope261 inStudentLoans
Posted by JadedKaleidoscope261
5 Comments
IBR is based on your AGI which you can lower with 401K, traditional IRA and HSA contributions. So saving for retirement or medical expenses will lower your IBR payment. If you get a disability discharge I don’t understand why your husbands payment would go up.
What is your husbands income? What are the loan balances? What are the interest rates on the private loans?
No. Are your taxes based on your loan payments? How about your health insurance?
It’s up to you to make everything work. Your payments are not based on 100% of your income.
At ~10%, there is an assumption you will have other expenses. It’s up to you to budget appropriately.
I’m pretty sure the expectation is that you repay what you owe before saving for tomorrow.
Do your mortgage or car payments go up or down based on your other expenses, let alone your income? Having IDR as an option is a HUGE benefit. Expecting it to be further scaled based on other expenses is just expecting too much.
> Does it take private loans into account when coming up with our payment amount?
No
> We pay $400 a month for private student loans
Who owes private student loans, him or you? If it is you, some private student loans have a disability discharge.
Also if you are disabled bankruptcy may be an option ymmv
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