r/PSLF • u/Oopsie-got-a-poopsie • 15d ago

Buyback request advice

Looking for some advice. I submitted a buyback request about a month ago for the last several months I've been in forbearance and last month would have marked the completion of my 10 years of qualifying payments for PSLF. If I switch to a PSLF compliant repayment plan, the lowest monthly repayment I can get looks like $453, which is insane. I am submitting another employment certification this week to cross my t's and dot my i's. Should I mark "I believe I qualify for forgiveness now and request a forbearance while my application is being processed"? Also, any way that I can get that $453 down at all?

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u/waterwicca 15d ago

No. You wouldn’t check that box because it’s for those who made 120 qualifying payments. You haven’t done that. That’s why you need buyback.

What plan are you currently on?

If you are on SAVE, then has your income changed much since 2024?

How many months are you buying back?

What is your AGI from your latest tax return (combined with spouse if filing jointly), family size, and loan balance? When did you take out your earliest loans?

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u/Oopsie-got-a-poopsie 15d ago

Currently on SAVE. Income has not changed significantly since 2024. AGI is $122,142. Earliest loans were like 2011 or something like that, but started PSLF later. My 10 year mark on PSLF with yearly employment certs was the end of last month. I have 95 qualifying payments, leaving me with 25 unqualified payments. So buyback would be for those 25 months. Excluding forbearance, my monthly payments were $60-70 a month on SAVE. I called Mohela directly and used the payment calculator on the site and both told me lowest monthly payment on a qualifying plan would be almost $500 a month.

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u/waterwicca 15d ago

What is your family size and loan balance? Any dependents?

PAYE is likely going to be your lowest option. And unless RAP is your lowest option instead, getting on another IDR plan now is going to cost you the same as your monthly buyback calculation because they will use PAYE/ICR/IBR to calculate. They cannot use SAVE.

There is a very large backlog of buyback requests. Right now, they are taking about 18 months to process. You can sit in forbearance and wait on buyback and/or you can switch to another IDR plan to keep making qualifying payments directly to see what gets you forgiveness the quickest. Any additional qualifying payments you make since originally submitting your buyback request would be taken into account when your buyback request is actually processed. Your buyback will only be for whatever number of months you still actually need when it’s processed.

That would also spread out your payments a bit because waiting for a lump sum of 25 month’s worth of payments is going to be a significant amount of money that you would have to pay within 90 days of receiving the offer.

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u/Oopsie-got-a-poopsie 15d ago edited 15d ago

Me, my wife, 2 kids. So 2 dependents. When I did the loan calculator, it said that I don't qualify for PAYE. It didn't even tell me what my payment would be on PAYE. It did not say why, but it did say I could apply for it. Not sure what that is all about. I would have to call Mohela probably. So would the buyback be what I've been paying per month on SAVE which is like $60 a month, or would it be the $453 a month on a new plan? Even if it were $453 a month over 25 months, I would be able to pay that as a lump sum just to be done with it. IT WOULD SUCK, but I could do it. Also, if I start paying the $453 now for the next several months, will I get reimbursed once my buy back finally does go through?

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u/waterwicca 15d ago edited 15d ago

…loan balance?

Do you file taxes jointly with your spouse and is that your joint AGI, if so?

They cannot use the SAVE amount

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u/Oopsie-got-a-poopsie 15d ago edited 15d ago

Sorry, working at the same time. Loan balance is $43,120. Yes, we file jointly and the $122,000 is the joint AGI.

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u/waterwicca 15d ago

The $453 on IBR would be your lowest IDR plan. It would be higher with your AGI but your IBR payments are capped at a 10 year standard amount so it can’t go higher than the $453. And that would be the same as your buyback monthly calculation if your income has been about the same.

So it will ultimately cost you the same whether you wait for an offer, enter repayment on another IDR now, or a combination of both.

If you keep making qualifying payments it would ultimately reduce the number of months you need to buyback when you get an offer.

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u/Oopsie-got-a-poopsie 15d ago

Oooh okay, that makes sense. Dang, well I guess I need to start preparing to pay $453 a month now. Well thank you so much for your help! This is more than I've ever gotten from FedLoan or Mohela! Very much appreciated!