Federal student loan borrowers are preparing for their loans to go back into repayment.
Before bills are sent out in October, experts recommend a few steps to make sure you're covered.
First, find out who your student loan servicer is. Borrowers can go to Studentaid.gov to find out who their student loan servicer is and make sure they have your up-to-date contact information.
Second, find out how much you owe each month. If your monthly payment is too much, try applying for the new income-based plan, the SAVE program.
"I applied for the SAVE plan, it was super easy," Taylor Odle, Assistant Professor of Educational Policy Studies at UW-Madison, said. "I already got a letter from my servicer calculating my student loan payment, and it's much less per month than I was slated to pay."
Experts recommend applying for the SAVE plan by the end of August to reduce your monthly payments by October.
The Biden-Harris administration also created a 12-month on-ramp program to help get the country back in the swing of repayments that run from October 1st of this year to September 30th of 2024.
"So, if you miss a payment during that time ...you won't be delinquent, you won't go to collection, you won't be in default, but the department will be heavily focused that everyone is on the right repayment plan," Odle said.
If the thought of paying student loans back makes you nervous, an area financial planner recommends creating a budget to know where your money is going.
"There are a lot of programs out there that can help people with financial counseling, many certified financial planners are committed to offering what are called pro bono hours," Jason Glisczynski CEO of Silvertree said. "Then there are courses at the public library and other resources, so I would say you do not have to go it alone."
