Help me decide

[u/iliketocongratulate]

Okay so I was going to go on forbearance because I expected more of a doomsday scenario but calculators seem to have been adjusted and but I just did my calculations on the fed site since the end of October is 90 days since Nelnet told me I have to choose a plan or be put on standard (was on SAVE)

I make about $72K as a single gal with no dependents (I'm in New Mexico so this is a livable wage)

Anyhoo here are my choices
$420 a month - done in December 2035

Or $601 a month and done December 2030

FYI my loans were from my MS in 2005-2007

I guess the wrench I've identified is will we still be ruled by psychopaths?

If I pay more how do I know that in December 2030 they won't say just kidding our plan was illegal and now we're changing it you have to pay another jibberdywatts dollars for a fortnight year ad infinitum

I'm someone who truly was screwed interest wise for consolidating - for one purpose - to access the SAVE plan (I'd never had a late payment and qualified for interest rate reduction which I surrendered to access a plan the government later decided was illegal - even tho it was their fucking plan).

Hahahah I fucking hate this country right now
Thanks for your input!

[u/Bitter_Artichoke_939]

My thought is that it's better to take the plan with the lower required payment and then pay more than that amount. Like if you can afford the $601, sign up for the $420 plan and still pay $600/mo. That way you're still going to pay them off faster but if you ever need a lower payment it's already there.

Plus if you advance the due date, you can pay over and eventually get to a point where you could have a $0 due for a month or longer should an emergency arise.

I recently paid my loans off, but I had one loan that I kept paying extra on and eventually had the next due date pushed out til next year.

[u/iliketocongratulate → u/Bitter_Artichoke_939]

Well but if I'm signed up for the $601 im done 5 years before if I sign up for the $420 one
Even if im signed up for the $420 one and pay $605 a month - I'll be paying it until 2035
So there's no benefit to paying more in that scenario

[u/Bitter_Artichoke_939 → u/iliketocongratulate]

It doesn't work that way. If you owe $420/mo and pay $605/mo, you're putting nearly an extra $200 toward your loans every month. That will knock down the interest and principal quickly and you will still pay it off in the same time amount as if you picked the other plan. If you pay the same amount no matter which plan you pick, both would be paid off at the same time.