One rule to live by is to try to limit your total amount of student loans to a small percentage of what your expected annual salary may be from the first job you get after college. For the purpose of this activity, we'll allocate 10 percent of your gross income for debt repayment.
Generally 10 percent of your discretionary income.
For student loans, it is best to have a student loan debt-to-income ratio that is under 10%, with a stretch limit of 15% if you do not have many other types of loans. Your total student loan debt should be less than your annual income.
The student loan payment should be limited to 8-10 percent of the gross monthly income. For example, for an average starting salary of $30,000 per year, with expected monthly income of $2,500, the monthly student loan payment using 8 percent should be no more than $200.
For the 2020-21 cycle, if you're a dependent student and your family has a combined income of $27,000 or less, your expected contribution to college costs would automatically be zero. The same goes if you (as an independent student) and your spouse earn no more than $27,000 annually.
Also, the family may have special circumstances that affect their ability to pay for college. Eligible students may also qualify for other forms of financial aid, such as institutional grants. For example, some students whose parents earn $100,000 or more will qualify for grants from their college.
While the average student loan debt for college students is $39,351, it isn't uncommon for students to leave school with $80,000 or more in education debt. Tackling this amount of student loan debt can be difficult and time consuming.
With $50,000 in student loan debt, your monthly payments could be quite expensive. Depending on how much debt you have and your interest rate, your payments will likely be about $500 per month or more.
If your DTI is 35% or less, you're doing well. Your repayments are manageable, and you may have room for another financial obligation. If you have a DTI ratio between 36% and 49%, you're not doing too badly—but you have room to improve.
Any outstanding balance on your loan will be forgiven if you haven't repaid your loan in full after 20 years or 25 years, depending on when you received your first loans. You may have to pay income tax on any amount that is forgiven.
Federal student loans are forgiven after you pay on your loans for 25 years while in an income-driven repayment plan. You can get your federal student loans forgiven after 25 years — but only if you pay your loans under an income-driven repayment plan.
The income assessment is based on your household's gross income, this means your own personal income for the relevant academic year (see 'your income' below for what income needs to be declared) plus your parent(s) and their partner's income, unless you are an independent student (see next section).
If your student loan interest rates are higher than that, you'd save more money by paying them off — and avoiding interest charges — than by investing. If your student loan interest rates are less than 6%, putting extra money toward retirement or a brokerage account for nonretirement investing is a better bet.
The $1.7 trillion student debt crisis is largely due to interest that grows each year, so even borrowers who consistently repay their debt face high interest rates that keep their debt equal to what they initially borrowed — or higher.
You can still buy a home with student debt if you have a solid, reliable income and a handle on your payments. However, unreliable income or payments may make up a large amount of your total monthly budget, and you might have trouble finding a loan.
Do student loans go away after 7 years? Student loans don't go away after seven years. There is no program for loan forgiveness or cancellation after seven years. But if you recently checked your credit report and are wondering, "why did my student loans disappear?" The answer is that you have defaulted student loans.
The typical monthly student loan payment among borrowers who were actively repaying their loans in 2019 was between $200 and $299, according to the Federal Reserve. But your monthly bill may be much lower or higher than that.
Here's why you should avoid using your 401(k) to pay off student loans: You'll pay extra taxes. You'll automatically lose 20% of your 401(k) withdrawal to taxes if you take out money before age 59½. That means if you withdraw $20,000 to pay off student loans, you'll receive $16,000.
The average student borrower takes 20 years to pay off their student loan debt. Some professional graduates take over 45 years to repay student loans. 21% of borrowers see their total student loan debt balance increase in the first 5 years of their loan.
A typical student loan is structured to take 10 years to pay off. But research has shown it actually takes 21 years, on average. So, when you're just out of college and expecting to be out of debt by the time you're 32, the reality is that Sallie Mae could follow you well into your 40s!