Anyone have thoughts on repayment? I'm considering accellerating payment on my loan or even paying it off in full... has anyone done this? I know some people who've chosen to pay theirs off early, just to get it over with and be done with it. I have some other friends who've made minimum payments instead, figuring any extra income they have they can invest at a higher return than the apr (~3.5% for mine). Are there any other considerations? I'm leaning to paying them off just for the peace of mind, but I don't know if that's the right call.
Because student loans will probably be at rock bottom interest rates (unless you were foolish enough to consolidate at higher fixed rates). And unlike consumer loans, they may be tax deductible (depending on your income) without itemizing.
Depends - do you have something better in mind that might return better than 3.5%? Let's say you're saving for a house. Well, delaying the student loans and saving up enough for a downpayment to a home would be a better idea than paying off all the loans. If you're going to buy a car soon - same thing. Car interest rates are a lot more than 3.5%. If you're going to just let the money sit there in a savings account, then by all means pay it off.
Yea, I am looking at purchasing a house in the near (not immediate, but soon) future. And home interest rates are going to be higher, right? I like the idea of being out of student loan debt, but I have to weigh that against other purchases like you've said.
I'm in no hurry to pay mine off early. I have a good rate. Much better than any other loan you'll ever get. I say let 'em ride 'til they're done.
My first priority after law school was repayment, repayment, repayment. So I was very agressive and was able to kill about 85k worth of debt over about 3 years. For the remaining 25k or so, I've actually consolidated at about the same rate as you and been paying the minimum for the past year. It's a decent rate, i'd rather have the cash, and I'm liquid enough to repay them if I want, but there's just other things that I'd rather have flexibility to do (i.e., quit my job) Plus I was able to make 5-10% back on investments over the past year, making it a smarter option than the 3.5% loss I'm taking in loans. You can't really go wrong though. If it was like 1% interest, then you should defintiely not pay it off, but 3.5% is sort of in that middle zone, where you can do either and justify it.
