Three strategies that can help you pay your student loans faster

Getting a degree is an important part of an individual’s life irrespective of background or potential occupation.

While stories of those dropping out may discourage you, a degree is proven to increase an individual’s chances of moving out of one financial bracket into a higher one.

But a recurring problem witnessed by every graduate is the challenge of dealing with their student loans.

Not only do student loan payments stop one from achieving financial independence and other financial goals such as investments in property or assets, they can be very draining mentally.

Below are three strategies that can help you pay your student loans faster that you should abide by:

1. Consolidate multiple loan payments

It is not uncommon for students to have multiple loan payments. In the US, these can usually be in a combination, such as multiple federal student loans, multiple private student loans, or a combination of both. The treatment for each of these combinations may differ if you are hoping to efficiently deal with your loan payments.

Students with multiple federal loans can consolidate all their payments into a single plan through a direct consolidation loan which would lower their monthly bills and help extend repayment terms. The same treatment applies to multiple private student loans, however, the consolidation cannot be directed federally. For students with a combination of federal and private loans, all debt would have to move into private loans to be consolidated.

2. Seek help from personal finance experts

If you feel overwhelmed by the sheer value of your student loan payments and find yourself struggling to make payments every month, it is a good idea to seek help from personal finance experts and companies such as Creditfix.

Such companies offer their customers assistance in dealing with student loans, and also offer debt help for other types of loans.

Since failure to repay student loans can result in your credit rating getting affected, in addition to having your loan constantly hovering over your head, debt help companies can offer substantial help in these circumstances. They can guide you about payment schedules, write-off eligibility, consolidation, and offer sound financial advice

3. Pay towards your principal

While the monthly loan payment indicated by your loan provider is the lowest amount you can pay towards your student loan without incurring any late fees, it is wise to always pay extra towards your principal, in addition to your monthly payment. This would, of course, be possible only if you have extra income to spare for paying off your principal.

Not only would this strategy help you pay off your loans faster, but it would also help you lower the amount of interest you pay each subsequent month due to the principal amount going down considerably. However, while paying extra, be sure to notify your loan provider that the extra payment is to go towards writing off your principal rather than towards future interest or monthly payments.