Now she can get rid of debt, add to savings or invest

Q I am a 24-year old graduate student living in Minneapolis. I have very little take-home pay as a result of my tuition deduction (about $11,000 for the academic year). But I have secured a job for the summer that will provide me with about $7,000 between May and August. What you think I should do with this extra income?

Should I leave the money in my savings account? Invest it? Or should I pay the remaining $3,000 on my car loan? (I don't have any student loans.) I invested a significant proportion of my additional income last summer in relatively low-risk mutual funds and have watched it dwindle away in the last six months, so I was unsure about that route this year.

Read the rest of this article by Chris Farrell on Star Tribune.

Forgiving Student Loan Debt Would Stimulate Economy

The rich get richer, and when they get poorer...well, they get bailed out. That's how it seems lately. As Congress prepares to spend a trillion bucks (in addition to the $700 billion bailout from last fall), it makes one wonder when the working middle class will get some love. The pending American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (H.R.1) will no doubt help our economy in some form, but it's not nearly enough and it's not aimed at all demographics. If we can save the suits, why can't we save the common man, right?

Robert Applebaum, an attorney from New York, thinks so and has an idea on how to help many in his shoes -- and trust me, there are many -- while stimulating the economy at the same time. The 35 year old started up an online campaign this month to bail out those "hard-working, educated middle class" suffocating in college loan debt on Facebook. He formed the group "Cancel Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy" because he believes forgiving student loan debt for those making under $150,000 annually would help boost the economy from "the bottom up."

Read the full article on Huffington Post.

Managing Your Student Loans Through Consolidation

by Darren Cason

Paying interest on several student loans every month, worrying about the upcoming payback on those loans, or seeing that your credit is lower now that you have all those loans on it from school is not a fun thing. It’s something that many people, fresh out of college, have to worry about, though. Thankfully, there is a solution in student loan consolidation. This solution has many benefits.

One of these benefits is usually lower monthly payments, since you only pay fees to one institution and since it’s usually at a lower interest rate and a better payment schedule. Student loans (and consolidations) are regulated and guaranteed by the government, so they have specific interest rates they must offer and specific payback schedules to use. When you apply for student loan consolidation, they usually consider your credit score without the interference of the current student loans, which means your score will be higher and get you a better rate too.

Other benefits can include electronic or automatic payment deductions from your checking or savings accounts, so you won’t forget a payment and you’ll usually qualify for a discount on your interest rate too.

In addition, if you haven’t yet made a payment on your loans because you’re still in your deferment (or grace) period on them, you can probably qualify for better student loan consolidation options than otherwise available. These can include better rates, easier processing of the loan, or even an increase in grace period before your first payment is due.

Often, the loans you received while you were in school are at higher interest rates than you’d get otherwise because the financial institution wanted to get the higher rate and you or your admissions counselor just wanted to get the tuition paid for. Now that you’re looking at those payments, you’re probably regretting those decisions, most especially if you are experiencing a poor credit situation. But there is hope and usually consolidation loans have lower interest rates than what you were given when you applied for the loans to start with.

Because of the government involvement in the rules and regulations of student loans, you could qualify for more options like lower rates, discounts, or even payoffs from grants and more.

So look at what you can gain by getting a student loan consolidation and reducing your payments, interest rates, and more, so you can focus on your new life now that college is over. Student loan consolidations are a quick way to get peace of mind, allowing you to focus on the new life ahead of you.

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