Have Student Loans? What You Need to Know Before Buying a House

Credit & Debt , Loans , Mortgage

It might be wise to weigh your options.

Have you put off buying a house because of your student loan debt? You’re not alone. A study conducted in 2018 shows that 45 million Americans owe more than $1.5 trillion in student loans. With mortgage debt on the rise as well, prospective homeowners have to wonder if buying a house while owing student loans is such a good idea.

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Factors to Consider

If you’re planning on buying a house with student loans, here are some factors that banks and lenders rely on when deciding to issue a mortgage.

Understanding Debt-to-Income Ratios

Having student loans will not prevent you from applying for a mortgage. Banks or lenders will, however, look at your debt-to-income (DTI) ratios to determine your ability to take on a mortgage payment. There are two ratios to look out for, specifically front-end and back-end DTI.

Front-end DTI, or housing ratio, compares your monthly payments to your gross monthly income before taxes. Lenders prefer a front-end ratio of about 28%.

Back-end DTI is calculated by comparing the total debt obligation of the applicant to their gross monthly income. This includes credit card minimums, car payments, and student loans. Most lenders prefer a back-end ratio of 36%.

Student loans can raise your DTI ratios, but it is important to note that if you make enough to offset your DTI, your application won’t be negatively affected.

Credit Score & History

Contrary to popular belief, student loan debt does not lower your credit score. 35% of the FICO score calculation is dependent on payment history. So this means that as long as you make your student loan payments on time, that will be a plus point on your credit history.

Repayment Status

For student loan borrowers on deferment, it may be wise to wait until the deferment period has ended before applying for a mortgage. This is because banks and lenders will take into account the total amount you owe on your student loans when calculating your DTI ratios. This could negatively impact your DTI, as their estimated payment amount will more than likely be higher than what you actually pay monthly.


How to Buy a House with Student Loan Debt

Let’s look at some ways that you can prepare for the mortgage application process to improve your chances of getting approved.

Prepare to Make a Down Payment

The minimum down payment that most banks and lenders look for is about 3%-10%, based on your credit. The ideal amount is 20%, but not everybody can afford that. The smart move will be to plan a budget to put away money each month to be able to put down a larger down payment.

Pay Off Your Student Loans Quicker

One way to improve your DTI ratios is to make more than the minimum payment on your student loans. This will mean a more favorable DTI ratio which in turn means a higher chance of getting approved for a loan.

Enroll in an IDR program

If you would like to lower your DTI ratios but cannot afford to make higher payments on your student loans, you can enroll in an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan. IDRs are available for federal loans, and they can significantly reduce your monthly payments which in turn lower your DTI ratio.

Improve your credit score

It never hurts to give your credit score a boost, and you can do so by managing your debt in a responsible fashion. Keeping your credit utilization as low as possible, as well as keeping your accounts in good standing by making payments on time. This will show the banks and lenders that you have a history of on-time payments and good credit management skill.


Final Thoughts

In the end the decision lies with the prospective homeowner’s goals. Is it more important to you to save money on the interest by becoming debt free? Or is it more important to become a homeowner first, saving money on renting? The answers to these questions depend on the individual’s situation and resources.

If you decide that you need help with consolidating your student loans however, the Financial Helpers are ready to assist you.

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36% of College Students Say a Degree isn’t Worth Student Loan Debt

Student Loan Consolidation

There’s some new statistics out regarding student loan debt. 36% of college graduates found that taking out student loans was not worth it. They don’t regret going to college necessarily, but say that taking on the student loan debt wasn’t worth it. Merrill Lynch conducted a survey involving 2,700 young adults.

Another poll from GoBankingRates came to the same conclusion with their own pull. Again, they’re not saying going to college was a bad thing. They’re finding that the financial hardships that their student loan debt puts them in almost doesn’t make it worth it. Many millennials are struggling to build their life after they’ve graduated.

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We’ve written many articles here at Financial Helpers about the problems student loan debt causes. At the age when you should be building your life, those with debt are putting off major life decisions. The younger generations are waiting longer to have children, get married, and buy a house. All of this is a major cost to the U.S. economy.

Student Loan Debt by the Numbers

Currently in the United State, 44 million people owe $1.53 trillion worth of student loan debt. As of 2017, the average amount of debt owed per student is $28,650. This is due to a recent report released by the Institute for College Access and Success. Younger Americans carry even more debt.

It was found that students aged 18 to 34 owe on average $36,888. That’s because the cost of tuition keeps climbing exponentially. This data is from the Federal Student Aid Office of the U.S. Department of Labor. This year, the average monthly student loan debt payment will be around $371. If you make $50,000 per year, that’s around 9% of your pre-tax salary.

With costs that high and stacking student loan debt, many wonder if it’s worth the investment. Students definitely do better if they have a degree, but do they do well enough? Author James Altucher has been quoted as saying “a degree means nothing”. In a lot of cases, he might just have a point. Others appear to be leaning against it.

Grant Cardone, one of the most popular online figures and a self-made millionaire says, “Most people should not be going to college.” Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has also asked if student loan debt is worth the degree. Personalities like Mike Rowe believe it’s best go the route of seeking a trade rather than a 4-year degree.

Questioning if Student Loan Debt is Worth It

While critics are certainly unhappy with the situation, experts say it pays off in the end. We live in a time where immediate satisfaction is king. If you have to wait ten or more years to pay something off, of course you aren’t going to be happy in the moment. But, if you wait for it to pay off, you might feel differently later.

The Pew Research Center found that eventually, a college degree is worth the fuss. When you look at the overall financial situations between people who went to college and those who didn’t, there’s a huge divide. Having a degree can make all the difference. Ramit Sethi is the author of the book “I Will Teach You to be Rich.” He says:

“I want to encourage everyone here to not just take advice from a bunch of people on Twitter who are telling you, ‘Drop out of college — student loans are bad,’” he says.

Think of it like this: there’s good debt and there’s bad debt. Good investments and bad investments. Good types of debt, like student loan debt, serves a greater purpose. It can definitely lead to a much higher earning potential. The problem is, people want satisfaction immediately. They might not find themselves in that great scenario right away.

“Given the modest levels of student debt that the typical millennial grad is taking on, it still looks like college is working out pretty well for them,” Richard Fry, a senior researcher at Pew Research Center, told CNBC.

Salary Differences

The research done by Pew found a very large gap in salary between people who have a degree and those who don’t. It’s about a $20,000 per year difference. The median annual salary of someone with a bachelor’s degree is around $56,000. Millennials who didn’t complete college earn around $36,000.

That extra $20,000 per year can go a long way towards paying back student loan debt. In fact, by living under their means they can get it over with in a few years. Then you can really start to see that extra money stack up throughout the person’s lifetime. Again, that means allowing the investment to work for you over time.

“For the average millennial grads, relative to their counterparts who stopped their education in high school, they tend to do much, much better,” Fry says. “And those with at least a bachelor’s degree will continue to receive those gains throughout the next two to three decades of their working life.”

https://financialhelpers.com/beyonces-homecoming-reveals-her-work-ethic-after-having-twins/

When it’s all added up, people with degrees make, on average, $1 million more than those without. There are plenty of other benefits as well. When the economy goes down, having a degree gives you a leg up. You’re more likely to find profitable work. In that way, degrees can be recession-proof, depending on the field in which you work.

“Don’t buy the typical advice that everyone seems to be throwing around these days saying college loans are the worst thing on earth. They’re not,” Sethi says.

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Looking to Get Out of Paying Student Loans? Here’s How

Loans , Student Loan Consolidation

Many student loan borrowers find themselves stuck paying off their loans for years, even decades. There exist, however, standard and some more unorthodox ways to get out of paying your student loans.

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Enroll in a Federal Program

There are a number of federal programs that borrowers can enroll in to get reduced monthly payments, a deferment, or even loan forgiveness. Here are 5 different programs to help you pay off your student loans:

  1. Income-Driven Repayment – One of the more popular programs, IDRs help to lower monthly payments and after 20 to 25 years of payments, any remaining balance is forgiven. To request an IDR, you can fill out a form on studentloans.gov
  2. Deferment or Forbearance – Deferment is usually a last-ditch option for borrowers undergoing a financial hardship, granting a temporary respite from monthly payments. For some, forbearance could be another option for borrowers looking for a shorter payment pause. However this usually accrues interest on the loan during the forbearance period.
  3. Student Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAPs) – For college graduates going into public-oriented careers, applying for a LRAP could result in a portion of their loans being forgiven. LRAPs are usually awarded based on an applicant’s income in comparison to their total debt amount.
  4. Closed School Discharge – To qualify for a closed school discharge, one must be enrolled in a program when the school closes or have been enrolled in the previous 120 days.
  5. Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) – If by some circumstance a borrower becomes disabled and unable to make student loan payments, they might qualify for a full loan discharge.

More Methods to Get Out of Paying Student Loans

If you don’t like any of the above methods, perhaps you will consider these decidedly more creative ways to get out of paying your student loans:

  1. Relocate to a different state – Certain states like Kansas offer incentives for out-of-state transplants. Kansas’ Rural Opportunity Zones program offers waivers of student loans of up to $15,000 over five years. Similar programs include the Opportunity Maine Tax Credit and the Hamilton Ohio Foundation.
  2. Talk to Cosigner – A Cosigner will be responsible for the debt once a borrower fails to make payments, so it will be in their best interest to help cover loan payments until the borrower is financially solvent.
  3. Employer Student Loan Benefits – The IRS recently ruled that employers could offer student loan payment matching in concert with existing 401(k) plans. This is still relatively new but could prove prevalent in the future.

The Bottom Line

Once a student loan has been taken out, the debt has to be repaid. Hopefully the suggestions above can help borrowers steer clear of default and protect their credit. And as always, the Financial Helpers are only a phone call away.

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Beyoncé’s “Homecoming” Reveals Her Work Ethic After Having Twins

Life Style

Beyoncé is one of the biggest superstars in the world right now. If her own musical achievements weren’t enough, getting her own concert special on Netflix is good. Being a superstar is hard work and dedication. But recently, Beyoncé has been dealing with another major item on her plate: motherhood.

The 37-year-old singer revealed her latest obstacles in her movie “Homecoming”, Beyoncé revealed her struggles. Now the mother of twins, their birth wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. She called it an “extremely difficult pregnancy”. Beyoncé endured preeclampsia which caused several complications.

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It was so bad the singer was forced into an emergency C-Section. She had planned on performing at Coachella in 2017, but was forced to miss out. “I was supposed to do Coachella the year prior but I got pregnant unexpectedly,” Beyoncé said in Homecoming. “And it ended up being twins which was even more of a surprise.

Beyoncé Getting Back to Work Wasn’t Easy

As you can imagine, being away from work for awhile can be stressful. Things that were once familiar to you might seem foreign. Especially after your body just enduring giving birth to twins. Being a mom and getting back into shape is difficult for any woman. For Beyoncé, she had to put on a show.

It wasn’t all physical, either. Everything the singer went through was also mentally draining.

“And you know, a lot of the choreography is about feeling, so it’s not as technical, it’s your own personality that brings it to life. That’s hard when you don’t feel like yourself,” Beyoncé confessed. “I had to rebuild my body from cut muscles. It took me a while to feel confident enough to … give my own personality.”

It can be difficult to concentrate on the work at hand.

“In the beginning, there were so many muscle spasms and just internally, my body was not connected. My mind was not there. My mind wanted to be with my children,” she continued. “What people don’t see is the sacrifice.”

https://financialhelpers.com/elizabeth-warren-is-proposing-massive-student-debt-cancellation/

In 2018, Beyoncé was back and in charge. She headlined the Coachella acts that year, the first black woman to do so. “I just feel like I’m just a new woman in a new chapter of my life and I’m not even trying to be who I was,” Beyoncé said in the documentary. “It’s so beautiful that children do that to you.”

Photo Credit: Rolling Stone

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How to Avoid Student Loan Default

Credit & Debt , Loans

Learn to steer clear of default, your wallet will thank you.

Loan default is somewhere you don’t want to be, and for the borrower just out of school this financial mistake could come with significant costs. John Heath, credit expert and directing attorney at credit repair firm Lexington Law, suggests taking a deferment or forbearance period.

“These alternatives permit you to temporarily stop making payments or reduce your monthly payments,” Heath says could give some breathing space. But borrowers shouldn’t forget that interest continues to accrue while student loans are in forbearance.

Another solution will be to consider switching to an income dependent repayment plan if you don’t want to put your student loan payments on hold. An income repayment plan could make monthly payments more manageable as well.

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It may also be worthwhile to ask your lender to provide a grace period in the event of a difficult financial situation, for example an unforeseen job loss or illness. The flip side is that a payment plan extends the repayment period which means higher interest charges. But that’s a better option than defaulting.


What to Do If You’ve Already Defaulted on a Loan

If you’ve already defaulted on a loan, here are some tips for damage control:

  1. Pay the late amount – This will help you avoid any more negative impact on your credit score, any additional interest, and late fees.
  2. Get a new payment plan – Call your lender to discuss restructuring your payment plan so you can catch up.
  3. Contact special programs to get out of default – For federal student loans, consider loan rehabilitation in the short term.
  4. Negotiate a settlement – If you’ve been in default for an extended period of time, your lender may contact you to accept a settlement for less than what you owe.
  5. Check your credit reports and scores – Stay up to date with your credit score as you make your payments or if you settle a defaulted loan. Ensure that your payments are reported accordingly.

The most important tip though, would be to avoid doing nothing. Creditors prefer borrowers to take the initiative when it comes to their defaulted loans. If you have any other queries, the Financial Helpers are just a call away.

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Elizabeth Warren is Proposing Massive Student Debt Cancellation

Politics , Student Loan Consolidation

As we get nearer to the 2020 elections, we’re starting to see the candidates roll out their promises. Earlier today we revealed a plan by Andrew Yang to give $1,000 to each American every month. Now Elizabeth Warren is trying to tap into the freebee game. She’s offering complete student debt cancellation for millions of Americans.

That’s right. If you have student loan debt and your income is under $100,000, her proposal will wipe out your debt. Well, there is a limit of $50,000, but the average amount of debt owed is $37,000. Student debt cancellation is only one of Warren’s big ideas. She also hopes to add a new corporate tax, give universal child-care coverage, and more.

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Under Warren’s student debt cancellation plan, this money wouldn’t be taxed. Currently, you still have to pay debt, even if you have your debt forgiven. She says she understands the burdens and wants to help others.

“The enormous student debt burden weighing down our economy isn’t the result of laziness or irresponsibility,” Warren, whose first bill as a Senator sought to provide relief to student borrowers, writes. “It’s the result of a government that has consistently put the interests of the wealthy and well-connected over the interests of working families,” said Warren.

Student Debt Cancellation Plan Details

According to Brandeis University, Warren’s plan would make 75% of borrower’s debt-free. 95% would receive some type of help. The cost of student debt cancellation plan is estimated around $1.25 trillion. She figures her tax on ultra-millionaires will be enough to pay for it. Not only that, but Warren hopes to help the lower class.

She wants to give a $100 billion boost to Pell Grants for low-income people and students of color. This would also include a ban on schools receiving massive federal dollars. Many suspect that the schools receiving federal money allows them to dramatically increase tuition. That increase hurts low-income people and puts them in major debt.

https://financialhelpers.com/is-andrew-yangs-universal-basic-income-plan-good-for-america/

“We got into this crisis because state governments and the federal government decided that instead of treating higher education like our public school system — free and accessible to all Americans — they’d rather cut taxes for billionaires and giant corporations and offload the cost of higher education onto students and their families,” Warren writes. “The student debt crisis is the direct result of this failed experiment.”

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Is Andrew Yang’s Universal Basic Income Plan Good for America?

Politics

The Democratic field is currently packed with interesting (and not so interesting) candidates. With a mere 19 months until the 2020 elections, many Dems are coming out of the woodwork. They feel that whoever makes the nomination should have an easy route against President Trump. So far, you might think that the word of the day is socialism. Another might just be universal basic income.

Socialism seems to be on the rise among young voters. So, in a bid to attract the future voters of America, many candidates are pulling out the stops. At the very least, they want to appear so in order to attract young votes. But one Democratic candidate wants you to know he’s definitely a capitalist.

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As a capitalist, Andrew Yang has a good idea he wants to share with Americans. He’s proposing a universal basic income payment to every American. He calls his plan a “Freedom Dividend”. This Freedom Dividend promises to give every American adult an additional $1,000 per month to help them get by.

Andrew Yang and Universal Basic Income

When you think of a universal basic income plan, you might thing Yang is a socialist. He is not. In fact, he claims to be very much on the side of capitalism. He might just be moderate enough to do well in the primaries and even pull some Republican support. He even founded a non-profit that helps train young entrepreneurs.

So, many might be asking how Yang proposes to pay for his Freedom Dividend. The answer sounds a little like socialism, but he says it’s not. He said companies like Amazon would fund his program. This company and many others get away with paying zero income tax. Therefore, they might feel compelled (probably by force) to supply the money.

“We all can see that Amazon paid zero in federal taxes last year despite record revenues. And so, ff we know that the big winners in the new technology age are going to be paying zero taxes then of course were not going to have enough money to go around,” said Yang.

“But if we follow other countries examples and create a mechanism where we all benefit from these innovations, then we can pay for a $1,000 dividend for every American adult. Our economy is up to a record $20 trillion. Just the problem is those benefits are not being felt by the average American family,” he said.

The Plan

Still, it doesn’t matter what your income is. Every American adult over the age of 18 would receive a universal basic income payment of $1,000. Just imagine what that would do for struggling Americans. Who couldn’t love that idea? One’s work or disability status wouldn’t matter. It would apply to EVERY adult.

https://financialhelpers.com/how-much-did-the-mueller-report-actually-cost-taxpayers/

“Under my plan, the ‘Freedom Dividend,’ if you put $1,000 a month in the hands of every American consumer, a lot of that money would get circulated through economy over and over again and it would create hundreds of thousands of new jobs in main street economies around the country,” Yang said.

What do you think? Will this be something you support?

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The Impact of Defaulting on a Loan

Defaulting on a loan can be detrimental in more ways than one.

You may have applied for a loan with the intention to pay it back in full, but sometimes unforeseen circumstances may throw you off schedule. Missing one payment and then a few more could result in you defaulting on your loan.

If you currently have a loan in repayment, understanding the risks of default can help in creating an action plan to avoid it.

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Loan Default & Your Credit Score

35% of your FICO score is dependent on your payment history. CardGuru COO Dan Soschin states,”Even a few late payments can negatively impact your credit score.”

Just one late payment could decrease a score by 100 points or more, and the negative marks could remain on your credit report up to seven years from the delinquency date. This could result in higher interest rates on loans and lines of credit taken out in the interim, which in turn means a higher overall cost of borrowing.

John Heath, credit expert and directing attorney at credit repair firm Lexington Law, says that the negative effects of defaulting on a loan do not stop at just your credit score. They can also prevent a borrower from getting new credit, buying a new cellphone, or even apply for a job.

According to a 2017 survey conducted by CareerBuilder, a whopping 72% of employers said they perform background checks on applicants. This could constitute a credit check too, and a low credit score could dissuade employers from offering a position especially if it’s financially sensitive.


Other Impacts of Loan Default

The negative impact on a credit score may be worrisome, but that’s not the only thing you have to be aware of when in loan default.

You could be put in collections, which means calls and letters coming in demanding payment, or even lawsuits of these demands go unanswered.

Creditors could also take further action by repossessing your assets, such as vehicles in the case of an auto loan default or initiate foreclosure on your property if you default on your mortgage.

In case of a loan default where there is no collateral, creditors could come after you by garnishing your wages or put a levy against your bank account. In the event of a federal student loan default, your federal income tax refund could be taken too.

If you are in danger of defaulting on your loan, it might be time to start taking your financial decisions seriously. And as always, the Financial Helpers are readily available to assist you.

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How Much Did the Mueller Report Actually Cost Taxpayers?

Politics

Yes, it’s the day after the Mueller report was finally released to the public. While about a third of it was redacted, the results will probably feed your bias. If you thought President Trump was guilty before, you probably still feel that way. Of course, if you thought he was innocent before, you feel as if he has been exonerated.

Still, this website is called Financial Helpers. We’re not here to tell you how to interpret the report (nor will we take sides). Instead, let’s talk about how much the Mueller report cost taxpayers. It’s been a major concern on whether this report was a waste of taxpayer dollars. Whether it was a waste of money, again, depends on your bias.

“It’s a shame our country had to go through this,” Trump said back in March. He’s long since called the Mueller report a ‘witch hunt’, a ‘hoax’, and an ‘illegal takedown that failed.’ Again, whether those are true are for you to discern. But if it was indeed a hoax, how much did it cost? Inquiring financial minds want to know!

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The Cost of the Mueller Report

Trump tweeted that Mueller and his team of “angry Democrats” wasted $40 million. That figure appears to be a vast exaggeration according to Politifact. Back in September of 2018, Mueller filed an expense report that showed the investigation had cost around $25 million. If that rate of spending remained true until this day, then we can assume that he spent around $32 million.

This is much less money than previous investigations have cost. $104 million was spent collectively between the Reagan Iran-Contra and Clinton investigations. Therefore, one can conclude that this investigation, while expensive to the common man, wasn’t a money pit. There are other factors to consider.

Charges and Fines

One of those factors are the fines levied throughout the Mueller report investigation. Is it possible that this investigation, when all is said and done, will result in a net profit? That could very well happen. When you take a good look at all the fines and seizures, the investigation made more money than it lost. Charges and Fines

Overall, 37 people and entities found themselves under the weight of the Mueller report. These are names you’ve probably heard in the news over the past several years. Guys like Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, and even Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen. They were all fined substantial amounts of money.

While it’s unknown exactly how much money the Mueller report brought in, it’s easy to count the reported settlements. The total sum of the settlements appears to be around $28.6 million. That certainly makes up the bulk of what the report cost overall. There are still other factors to consider.

https://financialhelpers.com/dont-let-student-loans-ruin-your-credit/

Paul Manafort was perhaps hit the hardest in all of this. Not only did he get prison time, but he had to forfeit a lot of New York real estate. The estimated worth of his holdings could total $46 million alone when resold.

So, while the contents of the Mueller report are to be interpreted by the people, the cost certainly isn’t. You can’t ignore the numbers. Whether the report was worth our time and energy are debatable, but it wasn’t a waste of money.

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Don’t Let Student Loans Ruin Your Credit

Credit & Debt

The No. 1 way to lose points on your credit score is to miss a payment.

With student debt in 2019 topping $1.52 trillion, most millenials are just one financial emergency away from tanking their credit scores.

A study conducted by credit scoring company FICO found that 63% of borrowers found no improvement to their credit score over a year, while 15% experienced a 40 point drop, a statistic that FICO VP Ethan Dornhelm called a “significant change in that short a period of time”.

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The study looked at two groups of borrowers, separated into “score increasers” and “score decreasers”, and the results were intuitive to say the least. “The score increasers were consistently paying their bills and reducing their amounts owed” Dornhelm explained, “they were actively working on improving their picture.”

To understand why some borrowers’ credit score are better than others, one first needs to know what makes up a FICO score.


How does FICO calculate your score?

These are the five key factors that make up a credit score:

  1. Payment history – The biggest driver of the score calculation at 35%, this looks at whether the borrower historically pays their bills as agreed, or how recent and severely they missed their payments.
  2. Amount owed – Coming in at 30% of the score calculation, this looks at all the debt a borrower has and their utilization level, not just student loans but also credit cards and mortgages. Higher levels of debt and utilization ratios generally mean higher risks and lower FICO scores.
  3. Credit history – This makes up 15% of the score calculation, and what this simply means is that the longer one has been managing credit on their file, the higher their score will be compared to someone who just started using credit.
  4. New Credit – Contributing to 10% of the score, this looks at how often a borrower applies for credit. This can be significant for a borrower just starting out, as more frequent credit applications result in the individual being seen as a higher risk.
  5. Credit Mix – The last 10% of the score is determined by how a borrower balances different kinds of credit, from loans to credit card debts.

Advice for student borrowers

Dornhelm is one of many that feel college is a meaningful investment, but emphasizes the importance for student borrowers to have a plan to pay back their loans.

“Owning an active loan is a great way to start building credit from a young age,” Dornhelm says. “On one hand it educates borrowers as to how credit works, it also allows them to plan for the future.”

In the end it’s all about striking a balance. Student borrowers can keep their FICO scores in good shape if they manage their revolving debt and keep them low, spending within their means, and paying their bills in a timely fashion.

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