The Public Student Loan Forgiveness Fix Isn’t Going Well

Written by adminOctober 30, 2018
Student Loan Consolidation

Just when you thought the government was ready to help! But, of course, it seems anything the government tries to fix only ends up getting worse. Earlier this year, Congress signed a 350 million stimulus fund to help give a boost to the student loan forgiveness program. Many students buried under mounds of loan that thought they were going to get help.

However, that isn’t the case. This program is called the temporary expanded public service loan forgiveness program. So far, it is denied 90% of all the applicants looking for additional help. This is according to Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. He wrote a letter to CNBC after being asked how this program is working for students.

Michael Sonn is just one of the students who got excited about the student loan forgiveness fix. Sonn is just one of many who made a decade’s amount of payments, only to get denied. Apparently, he was enrolled in the wrong repayment program, which was enough to deny him student loan forgiveness.

When Congress passed this new bill, Sonn grew excited. He thought he was finally going to receive student loan forgiveness. To be debt-free is a great thing, especially after having this type of debt hanging over your head for that long. The problem is, he got denied help from a program designed to fix the original program

If you’re interested in learning more about student loan forgiveness, and to see if you qualify, go Financial Helpers today. We love to talk about your situation and see how we can help. You can call us at:

Call Now 844-332-2079

The Government Doesn’t Care about Student Loan Forgiveness

At this point, it’s obvious that the federal government does not care about helping students. Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s Education Secretary, was just taken to court over this matter. Instead of allowing students to obtain student loan forgiveness, she’s done her best to delay the program.

Under the current law, if you work in a public service and make on-time payments for 10 years, you can have your debt forgiven. Except, many people like Sonn are rejected. They’re being misguided to prevent them from obtaining student loan forgiveness. After a decade of payments, there told the missed one requirement.

http://financialhelpers.com/student-loan-debt-creates-pessimistic-attitudes-towards-college/

Congress passed this new law to help those students. Yet, they are not being helped. You have a government that doesn’t want to tackle the problem and service loan providers that purposely mislead student so that they end up having to pay their entire bill. That means consumers are not being protected.

Sowing Confusion

By giving students the runaround, it only seems to frustrate them into giving up. Sonn was hopeful because he did everything he was supposed to do. In the end, they told him he didn’t make enough payments. “That doesn’t make sense,” said Sonn, who works for the Minnesota Department of Transportation. “I’ve been paying for 12 years now.”

He has a right to feel frustrated. Because he consolidated his loans in 2012, he was later told that that reset the clock. He wouldn’t be able to obtain student loan forgiveness now until 2022. By then, the government ‘fix’ will be gone and depleted of funds.

“It feels like the hoops were put in place to not pay out in the end,” Sonn said. “I hope the Trump Administration will turn things around by creating a simple process that gives fair consideration to the teachers, military personnel, law enforcement officers, and other public servants who apply for this debt relief,” he said.

Read More

Student Loan Debt Creates Pessimistic Attitudes Towards College

Written by adminOctober 29, 2018
Student Loan Consolidation

As students start their 4-year climb through high school, most of them already know they want to go to college. Everything they do from that point on is to prepare them for college life. But major student loan debt is making millions of people question whether if it’s really worth going to college anymore.

44 million Americans hold over $1.53 trillion worth of student loan debt. This is a number that is due to climb into the stratosphere. College tuition is only getting more expensive. The average person cannot afford it on their own without getting a loan. Interest rates combined with low entry-level pay creates a perfect storm of debt and struggle.

YouGov did a survey and found that 1/3 of people who obtained a student loan felt it wasn’t worth the cost. Yes, they did receive an education, but having that degree didn’t translate into better jobs. And that’s part of the problem. Many colleges make dishonest claims about exceedingly high job placement rates.

More often than not, those colleges are more expensive. They use these tactics to draw in desperate people who want to support their family. They prey on their belief that a college degree will get them a better life. Yet, all they end up doing is burdening themselves with student loan debt.

Call Financial Helpers today to learn more about student loan forgiveness programs. You can reach us at:

Call Now 844-332-2079

Education is the Key to Solving Student Loan Debt Problems

If you have an abundance of student loan debt, you don’t have to suffer in silence. The key to fighting back is educating yourself on your options. Thankfully, Financial Helpers is here to help you do just that. We create daily content to help students overcome this burden. But, we’re not the only ones who recommend students remain educated on their options.

Ameritech Financial came out last week and shared the same sentiment. Ameritech believes that fewer students would regret taking out student loans and going to college if they knew more about repayment plans. Student loan debt continues to grow because these lenders deliberately mislead people to prevent them from easing the tension.

“It’s unfortunate that students have to take out loans in the first place,” said Tom Knickerbocker, Executive Vice President of Ameritech Financial. “But it’s even worse to go through college and come out feeling like it wasn’t worth it and now you have a substantial amount of debt to boot.”

http://financialhelpers.com/new-millennial-class-warfare-brought-on-by-student-loan-debt/

The average student leaves college with $37,000 in debt, with an average monthly payment of $300. That’s the average. Some are paying upwards of $1,000! That’s the cost of a decent mortgage payment. It’s forcing students to postpone major life decisions they hoped a degree would expedite.

To those who are just graduating and looking for work, paying $300 per month is no easy task. These days, degrees don’t automatically guarantee a job, much less a high-paying one. Gallup released a poll that said 36% of graduates would choose a different field of study if they knew their current field paid so little.

Extreme Pessimism

Students hold so much student loan debt that 37% don’t believe they’ll ever pay off their loans. 46% (nearly half) believe they are unable to see the end of their student debt problem. It can take anywhere between a decade and 25 years to pay back all that student loan debt. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

This is why Ameritech believes Income-Driven Repayment plans are extremely helpful. Before you start paying back loans, the lender will look at how much money you’re making and set monthly payments at what you can afford. It allows you to make more manageable payments, but it can still take 25 years to pay it all back.

“College is a huge commitment that requires a lot of sacrifice from students,” said Knickerbocker. “They shouldn’t feel like it was all for nothing, or like they’re still sacrificing so much of their lives after graduation. Income-driven repayment plans can help turn that pessimism to optimism: there is an end in sight to student loan debt.”

Read More

New Millennial Class Warfare Brought on By Student Loan Debt

Written by adminOctober 25, 2018
Student Loan Consolidation

From the time your child, you’ve been told that if you want a better life, you need to go to college. Getting an education and the degree is the only way to be successful. But lately, for millions of people with student loan debt, that’s proving to be untrue. Taking out a student loan is an irreversible decision that is destroying lives.

Still, it seems like a worthwhile decision. When you graduate college, it’s a natural decision. Go to college, graduate, find a great job, and so on. No one hardly ever questions it. If you hope to own a home and be able to take care of your family, getting a degree will make that dream more plausible. But, that’s not today’s reality.

If you take on student loan debt to go to college, you’re more likely to have LESS money and more problems. These adult decisions about the rest of your life will probably get pushed back. You won’t be able to afford them. Yet, no one tells you this before you apply. It will even delay your ability to save for retirement.

How Student Loan Debt Affects a Person’s Life

The key to avoiding this problem is understanding how student loan debt will impact you. Don’t just assume going to college is the best bet. In today’s economy, going for a trade has a better return. It costs much less than going to a university and it’s almost guaranteed you’ll find a job after you leave. Not just any job, but a high-paying career.

You might not think this is true, as it goes against years of teachers and parents telling you college is the only way. But the Federal Reserve released data in 2016 that proves it. According to their info, millennials who had student loan debt had 75% LESS net worth than their counterparts who didn’t.

That’s right, the difference between millennials who had more money and had less depends on who had a student loan. Even looking at how much money they had in their bank accounts, those with student loans had much less money saved. They were, on average, delaying major life decisions, putting off getting married and buying a house.

To learn more about student loan debt and whether you qualify for forgiveness, call Financial Helpers today. We’ve helped thousands of people overcome their debt and gain financial freedom. We’d love to hear from you. You can reach us at:

Call Now 844-332-2079

The Crisis Takes Hold

Brian Karimzad, the co-founder of MagnifyMoney, spoke candidly about the snowball effect student loan debt has on graduates. He spoke with VICE about the Federal Reserve report.

“This is the first time we’ve seen an update in this federal data since the financial crisis. We wanted to get a sense of how net worth has changed for people with student loans and where they stand, and how this has evolved from a simmering problem to a crisis level for many graduates—particularly people who graduated into the recession, which was ten years ago.”

http://financialhelpers.com/student-loan-debt-can-sink-the-u-s-economy/

“What we saw was startling in terms of the absolute gap in net worth. But one thing that was kind of interesting for us is the difference in net worth—and this is constant dollars—for people [who are under 35] with and without student-loan debt, is that if you look back in 2004, it was around $70,000. Now it’s around $80,000,” he said.

“I would have expected it to maybe have doubled in that time, so it wasn’t as striking as I thought, which may be a function of the fact that the backgrounds of the people taking on student-loan debt were probably similar-enough situations. That said, it’s clearly going up.”

Savings at Risk

The goal of financial freedom is to allow a person to be able to save money. To have money in the bank to cover emergencies and to be able to save for retirement is key. No one knows what path their life will take. That includes how the economy will play out the next decade. Regardless of how things will turn, having a major debt can set you back.

If you’re paying the equivalent of a mortgage payment towards your student loan debt, life is going to be difficult for you. Right out of college, hardly anyone will be able to afford rent, insurance, gas, and their student loans. It’s why a lot of millennials are still living at home into their 30’s. They get made fun of, but they’re trying to make the best out of a bad situation.

Someone who doesn’t have student loan debt has about $40,000 saved for retirement on average. Those with debt have about half that at $21,000. To save enough money to make it through all your golden years, you need to start saving young. Waiting until you’re almost 40 isn’t going to cut it.

The student loan debt problem isn’t going anywhere. Right now, the government doesn’t seem to care about struggling Americans. That means you’re going to have to make hard decisions. Educate yourself about your options and call Financial Helpers today.

Read More

Student Loan Debt Can Sink the U.S. Economy

Written by adminOctober 24, 2018
Student Loan Consolidation

Student loan debt has reached an astounding $1.53 trillion through the second quarter of 2018. That’s a massive amount of debt, second only to mortgage debt. This number has tripled since 2004 and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Throw in a variety of economic struggles and volatility, and you have a problem on your hands.

The reality is, many Americans struggle from time to time. Income volatility happens to us all, which can make it extremely difficult to fulfill our obligations. It’s difficult to afford rent, insurance, and our student loan debt.

It was estimated that as many as 8.2 million of us get behind, owing as much as $83 billion to the IRS just in taxes. Add that to the trillions of dollars owed in other debts, people are fighting to keep up during a time when the economy constantly bounces from one extreme to the other.

There are numerous reasons why this happens. It can be anything, such as their life is completely out of control, to simply not having enough money to pay their debts. Life disruptions, such as a death, sickness, and divorce, happen to most of us.

Income and economic volatility make it difficult as well. If you don’t know what your income will be any given year, it makes it downright impossible to guess if you’ll be able to pay off your student loan debt. The economy can fall through the floor tomorrow and leave thousands of people without work.

To learn more about student loan debt, and how Financial Helpers can help you overcome it, call us today at:

Call Now 844-332-2079

Who Should Pay for Student Loan Debt?

“There has been a big shift in terms of who should bear the burden of the cost of education,” said Benjamin Keys, a Wharton real estate professor with a specialty in household finance and debt. “We know the stories of our parents, that they could earn enough working as a lifeguard in the summer to pay for a semester of college. The growth of tuition costs relative to teen wages — indeed, all wages — has veered sharply upwards.”

“We’ve come to a place where most students have to borrow in order to pay the cost of completing a bachelor’s degree,” said University of Pennsylvania professor Laura W. Perna, executive director of Penn’s Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy.

Right now in the U.S., there are 44 million people who have some type of student loan debt. The average amount of debt students hold is $37,000. That can take them up to a decade or more to pay off. Due to this, it is forcing young people to put off making major life decisions. There’s a lot of evidence that student loan debt is doing just that.

http://financialhelpers.com/new-game-show-focuses-on-student-loan-debt-crisis/

Because student loan debt disrupts so many lives, students all over the country are asking the government to step in and help. While the person did decide to take on debt to go to school, it’s not their fault that the economy was crashing. Many also fell victim to predatory advertisements from for-profit schools.

“They are certainly starting off at a disadvantage relative to previous generations, and a lot of the scrutiny of millennials is really misplaced given the disadvantages they’ve had in terms of their costs of education and poor labor market upon entry,” Keys continued. “It’s hard to say that they won’t eventually catch up. It depends on the health of the labor market, and how stable the economy is.”

Pre-Recession Data

This crisis owes its existence to both the Great Recession and the increasing cost of a college education. Just a decade ago, student loan debt was way below auto loans, credit card debt, and more. According to the Federal Reserve Bank, it now surpasses all these forms of debt. The correlation between higher debt and lower homeownership can’t be understated.

The Federal Reserve has released data proving that as student loan debt increased, the number of people buying homes has steadily decreased.

“A $1,000 increase in student loan debt lowers the homeownership rate by about 1.5 percentage points for public four-year college-goers during their mid-20s, equivalent to an average delay of 2.5 months in attaining homeownership,” write Alvaro A. Mezza, Daniel R. Ringo, Shane M. Sherlund and Kamila Sommer in “Student Loans and Homeownership.”

This further proves that student loan debt will only destroy the economy the worse the problem gets. The government needs to step in and help as soon as possible.

Read More

How to Spot and Avoid Student Loan Scams

Written by adminOctober 23, 2018
Student Loan Consolidation

There’s an epidemic happening in America today. Millions of people across the country collectively owe more than $1.5 trillion worth of student debt. It’s not just a simple car loan being paid off. No, companies are destroying the lives of people who can’t pay back their student loans and are desperate for help.

These graduates earned their degree, but have lost their license to work. The lenders have all sorts of tools in their back pocket to get the money owed to them. Not only can they revoke your service license, but they can also garnish wages, take your tax refund, and so much more. There’s nothing anyone can do, except hold on and wait for the government to help.

In some small ways, they have. The Obama administration instituted student loan forgiveness programs, but it’s not broad enough. There are other ways to pay back student loans and lower monthly payments. The problem is, whom can you trust? As with any industry, there are many scammers out there looking to take advantage of desperate students.

Financial Helpers is an example of a company who simply wants to help students by providing information and seeing if you qualify for various programs. To learn more about Financial Helpers and how we can help you with your student loans, call us at:

Call Now 844-332-2079

Student Loans and Common Scams

Scams are becoming common in the world of student loans. It’s so prevalent that the Consumer Financier Protection Bureau has recently put out several warnings. They want to protect borrowers from scam artists promising to help them get rid of their student loans. They have no real goal of helping anyone but themselves.

Still, there are legitimate companies out there who will help you. The trick is to know the difference between a scam and a real company looking to help students. This article will help you determine what is right and what to avoid. Here are a few of them for you to decide for yourself:

Is It Too Good to Be True?

One way to tell the difference between legitimate companies and scam artists are the ways they deal with customers. A high-pressure sales tactic isn’t necessarily a sign of concern. These companies will most likely charge a fee, but there are red flags. If they immediately guarantee they’ll get your loan forgiven, then they’re probably scamming you.

http://financialhelpers.com/3-ways-to-save-money-if-youre-a-millennial-with-student-loan-debt/

Another line is saying you’re ‘pre-qualified’ to lower your loan. The reality is, no company can know if you’re pre-qualified for loan forgiveness. They’ll have to personally take a look at your loan and weigh it against the current laws and regulations. Whatever step you choose will require a credit check (for refinancing) and look at your financial information.

They Try to Force You onto a Plan

The right company will do its best to help you where you’re at and within your budget. It’s ultimately your decision what plan works for you. The scamming company will tell you to sign on today because offers will expire soon or push you into a deal that doesn’t make sense.

Examples of this are companies that say you’ll go to jail if you don’t pay your loans. There are plenty of bad consequences for defaulting on your student loan. The government may even take you to court, but they won’t just throw you into jail. The scam artist will put on the pressure to make you think your livelihood is in jeopardy unless you take care of it today.

Law Firm Scams

This scam is mostly based on advertisements that promise to settle your debts. They pretend to be lawyers working for a law firm. Some of them might be real lawyers, but the way they deal with people is criminal. They make many promises to the borrower they often don’t keep.

To get you in the door, they promise to settle your debt for less than you owe. It sounds like a great deal! They’ll even tell you to make full payment to the firm. Except, they don’t do anything. They sit on it until your loan goes into default. At that point, it’s too late.

Debt Elimination

The only way you can have your debt canceled is through legitimate and qualifying reasons. You owe money to the federal government, and that money you must return. You can refinance and consolidate, but not have it completely wiped out. A scammer might try to get someone by saying, “The President signed an executive order to forgive all student debt!” It’s not true.

No one but the government can forgive what you owe. Situations like death, disability, service work, and identity theft are handled through the proper channels. If you pay for a company’s help, they may represent you, but they cannot eliminate your debt

The best advice is to do your research before choosing a company. Don’t get caught up in the promises designed to feed on your desperation. The federal government does try to help, but there are many hoops to jump through to qualify. Find the legitimate companies who excel at assisting borrowers in getting out from under their burden of debt.

Read More

3 Ways to Save Money if You’re a Millennial with Student Loan Debt

Written by adminOctober 22, 2018
Student Loan Consolidation

Make no bones about it. If you have student loan debt, then you have much less money than the rest of Americans. While the student loan crisis picks can pick on anyone, it’s a reality that millennial’s it way worse. Student loan debt has recently reached $1.53 trillion. Most of that has come within the last decade.

We have that much debt, it’s going to hurt you and every other facet of your life. How can you save money when you have monthly payments nearly as high as your rent? How can you get a mortgage or car loan when you’re $50,000 in debt? The simple answer is: you can’t. And worse yet, how can you afford to save money for emergencies?

If you’re millennial who carry student loan debt, you have 46% less money than other millennials who don’t have debt. Millennials with student debt at $19,000 less in their retirement savings than those who don’t. Millennials with student debt have much less money and their checking and saving’s account than those who don’t.

This gap between the haves and have-nots is pretty shocking. You’d assume going to college was a great idea for taking the next step in life. You’d believe that you’re setting yourself up for a great future and to have more money for your family. But the way things are going, that’s not the future for a lot of people who go to college.

To learn more about student loan debt and the options you have for paying it off, call Financial Helpers today! We’d love to hear from you. Call us at:

Call Now 844-332-2079

Don’t Let Student Loan Debt Take Over Your Life

If you have student loan debt, these monthly payments take a huge chunk out of your income. You have to figure out a way to save money. You could be paying your student loan debt for a decade or more. This is the age where you have to start saving for retirement if you’re going to make it in your golden years.

You need to start saving for a down payment for a house if you want to start a family. And more importantly, you need a healthy emergency fund in the event that something happens outside of your control. Without that, you can rack up thousands of dollars of debt on top of your student loans.

The goal is to have at least three months of living expenses in your bank account just in case. But, how can you manage that if most of your monthly income goes toward your student loan debt? Here are three things you can do right now to help save money for the future:

1) Get a Side Gig

It’s understandable that this isn’t the best option for a lot of people. But, an estimated 44 million people have a side gig. They have to. There’s no other choice to get through life than having an extra source of income. Imagine driving for Uber a few nights a week and bring in an extra $500 a month.

That’s enough to pay for your student loan debt, freeing up the rest of your income. Or it can go directly into your savings account. You can have as much a $6000 saved after your first year. Work a few hours a night bagging groceries. It doesn’t matter what you do, but you have to work a little harder for a while and make more money.

2) Refinance those Loans!

This option won’t be immediately available to you after you graduate. Going to have to put a little work in. You see, when you start college and you have little to no work experience, your credit score probably isn’t that good. That means banks or other financial institutions are going to rake you over the coals bit.

The amount of interest that you’re paying, including the amount you pay back each month, is directly impacted by your credit score. Now, imagine a few years after you graduate, you’re doing better. You have a great record of on-time payments, you have a great job, and your credit scores improving.

http://financialhelpers.com/obamas-student-loan-forgiveness-rule-ordered-to-go-into-effect/

At this point, you can refinance your student loan debt. Not only will you get a lower interest rate, but your monthly payments will be less as well. Imagine getting a car loan with bad credit versus the car loan with excellent credit. If you have bad credit you to pay through the nose because creditors can’t trust you. It’s the same way with student loans.

3) Find a Way to Lower Your Costs

Of course, this is easier said than done. We all want new things. We want to have cable, fast internet, to buy our first home. The problem is, people with student loan debt can’t really afford it. So, what they do is, put themselves at greater danger by taking out more loans. Millennials like to indulge on fancy things they probably can’t afford.

If you can find a way to pick up an extra job and lower your expenses, you’re well on your way to paying off your debt faster. Instead of buying a house, split the rent and bills with a roommate for a few years. Use Netflix instead of wasting hundreds a month on cable. Use public internet. Don’t buy or lease a brand new phone every year.

Make smarter spending decisions. Put all that extra money into your loans and pay them back faster so you can get on with your life. If you don’t, you will only set yourself up for failure. Going into default because you can’t afford your student loan debt will destroy your credit. Be smart and think ahead in all things.

Read More

Student Loan Debt Just Hit $1.53 Trillion and Trump is Fighting Against Students

Written by adminOctober 19, 2018
Student Loan Consolidation

As of the second quarter of 2018, the student loan debt has risen again. This time it has reached $1.53 trillion with no slow down in sight. It’s on pace to break the $1.6 trillion mark by next year. And rather than standing behind students and offering a means of protection, President Trump is against student loan forgiveness.

That’s right, the president has no plans for forgiving any student loan debt. “We would like people to repay their debts,” Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney said. “We think that’s a fair thing to do.”

Yet, it’s no surprise to Mulvaney that student loan debt has risen to high. The federal government is the largest originator of these student loans. Why would the government give students a free pass when they will make money from these loans? That is, if you pay them back. They’ll make thousands on interest alone, per student.

When you consider there are 44 million Americans with student loan debt, that’s a lot of extra cheese. Of course, the government doesn’t want to spend a dime helping students. Nor do they want to just forgive the debt and miss out on a huge payday. According to Mulvaney, the government would rather educate young people when it comes to taking out loans.

“It’s like, look if you’re going to borrow this money make sure you’re using it to get an education that can get you a job that helps you pay it back,” said Mulvaney.

To learn more about current student loan forgiveness programs, and to see if you qualify, give Financial Helpers a call today. You can reach us at:

Call Now 844-332-2079

Student Loan Debt is Destroying Lives

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has a different view of student loan debt. He knows that this type of debt is derailing lives for millions of Americans. It’s this derailing that can impact the economy in more ways than one. In fact, NeighborWorks America has released a survey that indicates 59% of millennials know someone who put off buying a home.

Why did they put off buying a home? Because of their student loan debt. This extends into every other part of life. Millennials are delaying all sorts of life decisions because their debt is too high. Credit scores are dropping, hindering every aspect of a young person’s economic life. It can take anywhere between 10 and 25 years to pay back a student loan.

http://financialhelpers.com/the-student-loan-debt-crisis-is-going-to-be-worse-for-the-next-generation/

While Powell believes Congress should stand up and face the problem head-on, Mulvaney disagrees. Why should the government force taxpayers to pay for student loans people willingly apply for?

“Face it: If you’re borrowing money right now to go to school, you’re borrowing from the taxpayers,” he said. “And if you ask for loan forgiveness, what that really means is you want other taxpayers to give you money to go to school and that’s not part of our program.”

The Battle Between Democrats and Republicans

The current government doesn’t seem to want to help students overcome their debt. But, does Mulvaney have a point? Should taxpayers foot the bill and pay for other people’s student loan debt? The battle will continue to rage on between Democrats and Republicans. Many Democratic lawmakers, like Bernie Sanders, hopes to make college education free.

Some states, like New York, are already experimenting with free college options. Still, the federal budget $21 trillion in the hole. Should the government add another $1.53 trillion worth of debt to the deficit? It’s an expense that would assuredly raise taxes and take a massive bite out of economic growth.

Read More

The Student Loan Debt Crisis is Going to Be Worse for the Next Generation

Written by adminOctober 18, 2018
Student Loan Consolidation

Right now, the stock market and US economy is booming. Almost every day Pres. Donald Trump talks about his accomplishments when it comes to jobs. While this might be true in most instances, it’s not true for college students. Student loan debt is getting worse for millennials and it’s interfering with their lives.

Imagine graduating from college already $50,000 in debt. Immediately after you graduate, you have to start paying it back. It’s not going to go anywhere. Every month, you’re expected to pay back the equivalent of a rent payment. In some cases, the debt so high, that students have to pay the equivalent of a mortgage.

How are you expected to start your life or raise a family so much debt weighing you down? Federal student loans are the only segment of debt in the United States with continuous cumulative growth. This growth has continued exponentially since the Great Recession. Yet, the crisis we’re experiencing today isn’t the worst of it.

All indicators point towards student loan debt to grow even higher. There’s been 157% growth over the last decade. In comparison, auto loan debt has only grown 52% while mortgage and credit card debt has fallen. Student loan debt is the second largest amount of debt owned by Americans, and it keeps getting worse.

To learn more about student loan debt and to see if you qualify for loan forgiveness, give Financial Helpers a call today at:

Call Now 844-332-2079

Student Loan Debt Keeps Growing

As the population of the United States continues to grow, more people are going to college than ever before. With the economy of the last decade, as well as the rise in the costs of a college education, have made getting a degree that much more unaffordable. This is forcing students to get a student loan at unprecedented rate.

Is not just the cost of college either? Interest rates on student loans are at their highest level. The cost of getting a college education is so expensive, that is much as 85% of students are working a job instead of studying. It’s expected that by 2020, over 43% of student loans will go into default.

http://financialhelpers.com/obamas-student-loan-forgiveness-rule-ordered-to-go-into-effect/

“Students aren’t only facing increasing costs of college tuition; they’re facing increasing costs of borrowing to afford that degree,” said John Hupalo, founder and chief executive officer of Invite Education, an education financial planner. “That double whammy doesn’t bode well for students paying off loans.”

It wasn’t really until the Great Recession when students started becoming delinquent on their student loan. For-profit colleges started making promises that they didn’t keep. The schools said they had a high job placement rate at a time when people were desperate for high-paying jobs. It all turned out to be a predatory marketing ploy.

By the time the students graduated, they had no job and a degree that didn’t help that much. Add in between $25,000 and $50,000 worth of student loan debt, you’ll start to see how much more difficult this made life for students. Ultimately the students were left with debt that they couldn’t pay back.

For-Profit Schools Under the Gun

By 2011, for-profit schools represented nearly half of student loan borrowers across the country. The students who went to the schools accounted for 70% of all student loan defaults. The default rate skyrocketed to 11% the next year alone. Less than a decade later, the rate hasn’t changed despite a better economy.

“There’s a systemic problem in the student loan market that doesn’t exist in the other asset classes,” said Hupalo. “Students need to get a job that allows them to pay off their debt. The delinquency rate will rise as long as students aren’t graduating with degrees that pay back that cost.”

The problem is only going to escalate for future generations. The cost of borrowing for school has risen in the past two years. That rate is not going to change anytime soon. Interest rates have jumped 5% this year alone. As more students are slated to go into default in the future, it’s only going to make the US economy that much worse.

Student loan debt is unpayable, students will end up in default. That means they won’t be able to get a mortgage, a car loan, or even get married. Research is already revealing that millennials are putting off major life decision solely because of student loan debt. As college gets more expensive and interest rates continue to climb, this problem will only get worse.

The Fed chairman, Jerome Powell, agrees.

“You do stand to see longer-term negative effects on people who can’t pay off their student loans. It hurts their credit rating; it impacts the entire half of their economic life,” Powell testified before the Senate Banking Committee in March. “As this goes on, and as student loans continue to grow and become larger and larger, then it absolutely could hold back growth.”

Read More

Obama’s Student Loan Forgiveness Rule Ordered to Go into Effect

Written by adminOctober 17, 2018
Student Loan Consolidation

Financial Helpers previously wrote an article a few weeks ago about how a judge put a hold on President Obama’s student loan forgiveness rule. After hearing cases from both sides of the argument, it appears the rule has been greenlighted. Now, students have the protection they’ve long desired.

During the waning months of President Obama’s administration, he put in place student loan forgiveness protections. These protections were designed to allow students to apply to have their loans wiped away. Not just any student loans, but those obtained through fraudulent schools.

Many for-profit schools outright lied and used predatory tactics to attract students. They bragged about their job placement rates and told students they would help them find work. After the students graduated, was later found that these claims were untrue. That’s why Obama put together a plan to prevent students from being suckered.

Pres. Obama called this program a defense for borrowers. It allows student loan forgiveness for student federal loans. The Trump administration did their best to delay this federal rule. Present Trump and Betsy DeVos set out to create their own income tiered program.

To learn more about student loan forgiveness and to see if you qualify, call Financial Helpers today at:

Call Now 844-332-2079

Borrowers Qualify for Student Loan Forgiveness

There are now over 100,000 borrowers who qualify for student loan forgiveness. These students attended for-profit schools that abuse the system. Some of these schools include ITT Tech and Corinthian, who recently went out of business

“We’re really gratified,” said Eileen Connor, the director of litigation at Harvard Law School’s Project on Predatory Student Lending, “These regulations have a lot of critical protections in them for student borrowers and taxpayers.”

http://financialhelpers.com/new-bill-would-encourage-employers-to-pay-off-student-loans/

The new rule was supposed to go into effect July 2017. Just before that happened, education secretary Betsy DeVos decided to do some a little different. She suspended the Obama era rule and implemented her own. The problem is, federal agencies must do things the right way. DeVos didn’t follow the specific procedures for implementing a rule change.

Federal Judge Randolph Moss stated last month that the US education Department did not follow proper procedures. But before putting forward the Obama era rule, he wanted to hear the argument on both sides of the aisle. Prominent Democrat lawmakers, as well as school associations and the for-profit schools, to get a chance to defend their argument.

As a result of this delay, there were many thousands of loan discharge requests for student loan forgiveness waiting for answers. Finally, the judge ruled against DeVos and the Trump administration. Now, with every obstacle out of the way, student loan forgiveness can move forward without delay.

The Fight May Not Be Over

According to Liz Hill, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, the fight isn’t over.

Ms. DeVos “respects the role of the court and accepts the court’s decision. However, Ms. DeVos still hopes to rewrite the rule. The secretary continues to believe the rule promulgated by the previous administration is bad policy, and the department will continue the work of finalizing a rule that protects both borrowers and taxpayers,” Ms. Hill said.

In order to change this rule, the education department must wait until July 2020. Which means students have until then to obtain full student loan forgiveness. As of right now, there are 106,000 claims still pending that were on hold. These legal fights are likely to continue, as even Judge Moss cited in his decision that this is not the last chapter of the fight.

Come back to Financial Helpers to learn more as it develops.

Read More

New Bill Would Encourage Employers to Pay Off Student Loans

Written by adminOctober 16, 2018
Student Loan Consolidation

Student loan debt is continuing to skyrocket past $1.5 trillion. Many of the 44 million Americans who have student loans are begging the government to step and help them. Many have so much debt it will take two decades to pay it off. Now, they might be getting their wish as a new bill is being proposed.

Senator Cory Gardner from Colorado has proposed the Student Loan Repayment Acceleration Act. This bill is designed to allow employers to make tax-free contributions towards their employee’s student loans. It wouldn’t just be student loans either. Retirement contributions, health insurance, and other benefits would also be on the bill.

“Student loan debt makes it harder and harder for graduates to get ahead,” Gardner said in a statement.

“I’m hopeful my legislation can make it easier to pay off loans by allowing employers to contribute to their employees’ student loans as many do for 401(k) plans. Every little bit helps, and this can be a model for further policies to deal with the growing problem of student loan debt.”

To learn more about student loans, and to see if you qualify for student loan forgiveness, give Financial Helpers a call at:

Call Now 844-332-2079

Allowing Employers to Help with Student Loans

The government has been debating about how to handle the student loan debt crisis. Several candidates and lawmakers believe the government should make college free. They run on that semi-successful platform. Others, like the Trump administration, are completely against that approach. In fact, they’ve attempted to wipe out student loan forgiveness altogether.

According to President Trump, it’s unfair to expect taxpayers to foot the bill. A person decides to go to college and take on student loans to pay for it, they should pay what they owe. Still, that hasn’t dampened the cries of many students looking for help. The cost of a college education is growing exponentially.

How this Plan Would Work

Senator Gardner is hoping that incentivizing employers to make contributions makes the most sense. Rather than taxing companies to death, give them a tax break to encourage them to contribute. The SLRAA would allow your company to give up to $10,000 per year towards existing student loans.

http://financialhelpers.com/new-game-show-focuses-on-student-loan-debt-crisis/

In a lot of ways, it will be like a 401(k) payment. Employers can choose to structure the program so the employer matches every payment their employee makes towards their loan. This isn’t dissimilar to what a lot of companies are already doing. According to CNBC, many employers are already helping their workers pay off student loans.

Earlier in 2018, Fidelity Investments introduced a new program called Student Debt Employer Contribution Program. More ideas like this will be put into action if this new law is enacted. It’s really the middle ground between students who want the government to pay their loans and the government who doesn’t want to.

Either way, the SLRAA will help cut debt from student loans significantly. If you want this proposal to pass into law, call your senators and ask them to support it. This is the only way to show the government how badly students need relief. So, if you have student debt, help may be on the way. Come back to Financial Helpers for more as it develops.

Read More