Graduation day is over; degree in hand, the chilling reality of your student loan is looming large. You do not start repaying you loan until 6 months after graduation. When loan repayment begins, you have to pay at least $50 a month until your entire student loan and interest is paid off.
It makes sense to repay the loan amount early, so that you trim the interest, which will continue building on your loan. Financial planners recommend that you pay the minimum balance on your student loan and try to save as much as you can for retirement. In any given month, you can opt to pay off more than your monthly requirement without penalty.
There are mainly four options of repayment which you can choose from. If you land up with a good job once out of college, and can afford to make steep monthly payments, go with the standard payment schedule. Under this option, you can pay off your debt within 10 years with the best interest rate. Its the quickest way to pay off your loans. However, it requires high monthly payments.
Graduated payment is an option if you expect to make a modest but steadily increasing wage. The payment requirements will start off gentle, and will...