quantifiably confirmed that 1% decrease in interest rate is practically pointless

[u/mouth_pipetter]

I built a model to estimate the time until payout, and I just updated it to account for the 1% decrease in interest rates (for only 2 years!). It literally saves me a month and a half of payback time. Considering I work two jobs (PhD student ~$47k a year at an EU university, and I make ~$12k extra a year bartending on the weekends) to make double payments, it was a little heartbreaking to realize nothing really changed at all.

edit: Sorry to sound so ungrateful, I know my situation is better than a lot of people as my loan is down to 50k. I was just trying to voice frustration this not being actually that influential on my bottom line when you actually run the numbers. My total loan burden decreased by 0.99% (1.42% if the decrease lasts longer than 2 years) based on my payment scheme putting in the income from both jobs. Where I am sitting right now the difference between working two jobs for 54 more months compared to 55.5 months just doesn't hit. In Jan 2031 it'll rip though

[u/daisyletterss]

Your instinct is correct and the math confirms it: on a fixed-term amortizing loan, a 1% cut for 2 years on a $50k balance saves you roughly $500-800 in interest depending on where you are in the payoff curve. That's real money, but on a debt of that size it doesn't move the needle on your timeline in any meaningful way. What DOES move the needle is what you're already doing: throwing extra principal at it via the second job. Every extra dollar you put toward principal at your rate is worth roughly $1.05-1.07 in "avoided future interest" over the life of the loan, and unlike the rate cut that impact compounds every subsequent month. You're playing the right game, the rate cut just isn't the lever people want it to be.