student loan consolidation

[Kev]

if i want to consolidate my federal student loans, do i have to double the payment term? i can get a lower interest rate if i consolidate, but it seems that i'm stuck paying for 10 extra years if i do so. am i missing something here?

 

[alent1234]

if you have never consolidated before then get quotes from any bank you can think of.

if you have consolidated once then it will be harder. google rightrate to see what you find.

remember the goal of consolidation is not to pay less, but to consolidate many loans into one. Say you have 10 different loans at $2000 each and the minimum payment is $75 on each of them. That is $750 per month. Consolidating will pay them off and give you a new loan of $20,000 and a minimum payment of $200 or whatever depending on the term. If you pay the minimum then you will end up paying more. If you pay more, then you can pay it off very fast and save money.

 

[Jumpem]

Originally posted by: alent1234
remember the goal of consolidation is not to pay less, but to consolidate many loans into one.

I disagree. The main point to consolidation is getting a lower interest rate while combining debts.

 

[alent1234]

what if you take out loans today and consolidate 5 years from now when the rates go up?

 

[Jumpem]

Originally posted by: alent1234
what if you take out loans today and consolidate 5 years from now when the rates go up?

In that case I wouldn't. But for the most part, everything I have seen lately has lower rates.

 

[LuckyTaxi]

Originally posted by: Jumpem

Originally posted by: alent1234
remember the goal of consolidation is not to pay less, but to consolidate many loans into one.

I disagree. The main point to consolidation is getting a lower interest rate while combining debts.

BOTH!

I remember the first time I got my notice from my financial aid dept after i graduated. I was going to be paying $400+ per month and I'm like WTF!!! I thought all my student loans were one BIG loan just dispursed at different times. I was wrong, but luckily I consolidated and am now paying $146.

My brother just consolidated his loan @ 2.65% and he's paying a little over $100/month.

 

[randomlinh]

i need to consolidate soon as well.. lock in something low before they start crawling up again. So.... any suggestions on where to go i've gotten offers from nelnet, CFS... mainly those two. I need to call them some day.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: lnguyen
i need to consolidate soon as well.. lock in something low before they start crawling up again. So.... any suggestions on where to go i've gotten offers from nelnet, CFS... mainly those two. I need to call them some day.

I just did it through the goverment. They will give a extra % off if it is tied to your bank accoutn and if you need to stop paymebt, you just go online and click a couple buttons.

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: lnguyen
i need to consolidate soon as well.. lock in something low before they start crawling up again. So.... any suggestions on where to go i've gotten offers from nelnet, CFS... mainly those two. I need to call them some day.

I just did it through the goverment. They will give a extra % off if it is tied to your bank accoutn and if you need to stop paymebt, you just go online and click a couple buttons.

I didn't even know they had something available. But most of these places do the same, some deduction for bank auto-debits, and then another half point for 3yrs on time, etc, etc.