Student loan refinance experiences?

[willfrye027]

I’ve spent a lot of time considering this. Like many here I had student loans from medical school. I had planned to refinance but then covid happened and my loans were paused with no interest so I’ve been waiting to see what happens.

Here’s my general view of pros/cons:

Pros of refinancing:
- lower, single consolidated interest rate
- new terms for loan duration
- one company to pay and unlikely to change servicers

Cons of refinancing:
- no forgiveness if you die
- not eligible for loan forgiveness
- not eligible for emergency pauses such as the current one due to covid
- no ability to change monthly payment or go into forbearance if your financial situation changes.

As an aside, if you’re not familiar and in medicine, check out the following podcasts and affiliated websites::
- White coat investor (buy his book)
- Your financial residency

Your refinancing cons are not quite accurate, at least not with my loan terms. All programs are gonna be a little different of course.

Mine are forgiven in death
Not eligible for federal forgiveneness but other programs exist
I can pause or go into forbearance if needed..they offered that when I was between residency and my attending job but I just decided to pay and skip the paperwork

 

[ztc92]

Your refinancing cons are not quite accurate, at least not with my loan terms. All programs are gonna be a little different of course.

Mine are forgiven in death
Not eligible for federal forgiveneness but other programs exist
I can pause or go into forbearance if needed..they offered that when I was between residency and my attending job but I just decided to pay and skip the paperwork

Thank you for pointing that out, I wasn’t aware any refinancing options existed that still had that flexibility. That would definitely take away some of the risks I see with refinancing.

Would you mind sharing additional info about the group/company you used and your experience so far?

 

[willfrye027]

Thank you for pointing that out, I wasn’t aware any refinancing options existed that still had that flexibility. That would definitely take away some of the risks I see with refinancing.

Would you mind sharing additional info about the group/company you used and your experience so far?

SoFi originally but they changed it to MOHELA. I’ve had no issues. Autopay is easy and the app works well enough. I checked rates with a few companies and they were pretty much the same but I think SoFi had like 0.25% more discounts so I went with them

 

[Machingeaneer]

Another happy sofi refinance here. It's saving me big time.

 

[Z Barebow]

Great topic! (And of interest to me as a father of a dental student)

She is finishing up Y2 in pursuit of a dental degree. I have been cosigning her loans. (But in a different twist, we are using the Bank of North Dakota for loans. (The only state run bank)The interest rates are slightly lower than feds, and customer service is much better. I am estimating she will have $450K of debt when she graduates. (She knows/understands this is more debt than I can afford to pay back on my salary, and impact my retirement nest egg immensely if defaulted!)

I was not aware of the possibility of refinancing these private loans. When she graduates, I see this high on the priority list (Assuming lower interest rates)

One of the things we (wife/I) did was we took out a $500K 20 year term life insurance policy on her. The intent is obvious. Once loans are paid off, she will assume payment responsibility and she can change beneficiary if she wants. And getting a 20 year term on a 22 year old is cheap. (Comparatively)

 

[Patriotshooter]

Once tried sofi

 

[TNRB]

2nd not to cash out retirement. I didn’t realize student loan interest rates had doubled since I paid mine off.

 

[Rich M]

My student loan from 2010-2012 was like 5.8%, close to 6%. Only financed what had to (kept it low) and worked thru the last half of my second degree. The school loan folks were pushing/selling taking more student loans and I was like, I don't want to be paying on this for years and years.

 

[DuckDogDr]

My student loan from 2010-2012 was like 5.8%, close to 6%. Only financed what had to (kept it low) and worked thru the last half of my second degree. The school loan folks were pushing/selling taking more student loans and I was like, I don't want to be paying on this for years and years.

I was fortunate and had 0 loans from undergrad. Actually had a negative balance.

Vet school is where all of mine came from. Just a cockhair under 6 figures.. but some folks didn’t realize the implications
One of my co-workers that spared no expense graduated with $220k

 

[Rich M]

I was fortunate and had 0 loans from undergrad. Actually had a negative balance.

Vet school is where all of mine came from. Just a cockhair under 6 figures.. but some folks didn’t realize the implications
One of my co-workers that spared no expense graduated with $220k

Some folks have no idea that a student loan payment is essentially the same as a mortgage payment.