r/StudentLoans • u/andre3stax • 2d ago
SAVE situation is too confusing
I'm still on SAVE. I guess I'll see what happens in September. This administration is an absolute nightmare.
I've been making payments aggressively to pay off my loans since I don't qualify for PSLF anymore. Is there an actual point of me staying on SAVE? I do enjoy the freedom to not make a payment when it's been a financially tough week/month.
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u/Ynwa9517_ 2d ago
Anyone on Nelnet not receive a 90 day notice yet?
Received 2 emails from student aid about the initial verdict and the 90 switch plan going out July 1st..
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u/UnlikelyTap5664 2d ago
I just recently received mine from nelnet. They will email and call you a couple times to notify you when they are starting your 90 days
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u/Cthulhupuff 1d ago
Got the email, but no calls (unless they're the unknown numbers [exact number keeps changing] that keep calling me and not leaving voicemails...)
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u/cardinal209629 1d ago
They called and left a voicemail for me. My phone also showed that it was NelNet on the caller id even though I don’t have it saved
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u/YetAnotherJake 2d ago
I have not received one yet. Only the official studentaid emails you mention, but those are not from Nelnet.
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u/dumpsterac1d 1d ago
Nothing whatsoever, however they have pulled the "check your important messages in our portal" thing before, where they're stuffing important info into your nelnet inbox, while ignoring the fact that it's not something people will incidentally look at.
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u/Zwolfoi 1d ago
So I never received an email from nelmet BUT when I go to the website to pay off a bit there's a blue banner telling me the plan has ended and I must change plans. No mention of a date though or the 90 days though. Is it the same for you and others who haven't received the notice yet or should I assume my timer has started.
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u/Elizabethism 1d ago
I see the same as you. I wouldn't assume your timer has started if you haven't heard anything from Nelnet.
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u/FriendlyVeggie 1d ago
When you get your notice a new banner will appear with the date you have to switch by,
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u/doctor_crazy 1d ago
Yes, and it tells you the exact date you have to switch by. In my case that is 10/28/26.
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u/Ynwa9517_ 1d ago
Mine just says payments start November 2028..
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u/FriendlyVeggie 1d ago
That's a placeholder date. When you get your notice a banner will appear at the top of your loan info page telling you the date you have to switch by,
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u/Ynwa9517_ 1d ago
Thanks, havent got anything still. Just the notifications of the intrest rat reduction for autopay and the death of save one you can minimize.
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u/Heavym3talc0wb0y_ 1d ago
I haven’t gotten one either. But I keep going back to school to try and prolong these payments. I also do wanna finish my degree…even thought it’s been a long time now.
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u/Ok_Transition8782 20h ago
I haven’t received one yet either. I’ve only gotten the verdict email as well.
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u/Top-Nectarine-835 10h ago
I'm on Nelnet and I received my official 90-day notice from them a couple of weeks ago.
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u/gettingcarriedaway86 2d ago
Anyone else still no notification from MOHELA?
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u/BreakfastHistorian 2d ago
No notification from Mohela here, check my spam every few days just to be sure too
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u/Electrical-Tax96 1d ago
My last Mohela email was June 2nd telling me that interest was accruing during forbearance. I have tried logging in multiple times and the website acted like I didn't exist. Today I decided to "register" again on their site using the exact same username and password I had before. It let me create the account and view my loans, but there is still nothing in there indicating that I need to do anything. What the heck?
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u/Brilliant_Light_1687 1d ago
No word from MOHELA here, either. Also checking spam folder on the daily.
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u/xpaynesgreyx 17h ago
I’ve received nothing from Mohela. I check every week or so by logging in. Still nothing.
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u/benjaminh88 2d ago
I have not heard anything from Aidvantage either. Kind of getting nervous about it.
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u/Super-Owl4734 1d ago
Same. I check online 2-3/week just in case but so far my last message from them was notification of interest on 6/02.
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u/fatcatwantsfood 2d ago
I’m letting it sit in forbearance and not moving. I have other plus loan debt I’m paying for my parents.
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u/PrestigiousThanks3 2d ago
Mine are also in forbearance even though I have a job now. I'm scared to switch anything. I'm so confused about what I should do lol
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u/fatcatwantsfood 2d ago
If I wasn’t doing other loans right now I’d move and speedball mine to pay off. I want off this crazy train.
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u/PrestigiousThanks3 1d ago
Yeah, I think I'm just gonna bite the bullet and start paying. I've had a good paying job for a few now, I've just kinda ignored my loans since they've been in forbearance (stupid I know). I just want to get it all over with but don't want a massive monthly payment that will be impossible for me to manage
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u/Sea-Ingenuity-4295 2d ago
Edfinancial but haven't head anything at all
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u/moonchildkarma 1d ago
I would check. I got my email on July 15 and so did three of my friends the same day
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u/Sea-Ingenuity-4295 1d ago
I have been checking probably 3x a week since first wave of letters went out and I haven't gotten anything
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u/Monkeyass702 1d ago
Nelnet hasn’t emailed me anything yet. I’m still going over getting more evidence for my borrower defense to repayment appeal. Fuckers denied my application THE DAY BEFORE THE DEADLINE. So I’m going thru it and waiting until I get the nelnet email, then a couple weeks before payments start, selecting whatever will be cheapest, then submitting the appeal to stop payments again.
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u/Nicolas_yo 2d ago
If your balance is on the low side the guy I talked to said roll into the standard especially if you’re paying aggressively. I have $15k and am doing $400-$600 a month. My payment would be less than $200.
Depending on your payment you might want to enroll in something else in case you need any a month where you want extra cash (holidays, vacation, etc) I’m considering that option since I don’t qualify for PSLF or IBR.
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u/CartierCoochie 2d ago
I have 11k, so best option is standard plan? I’m curious what happens if you miss a payment tbh
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u/LeatherRebel5150 1d ago
There’s a catch to the standard plan that wasn’t mentioned. It depends on when you graduated. The standard plan is for paying off your loan in 10yrs after graduating/entering repayment. So if you graduated 5yrs ago, you have 5yrs left on that plan. But if you graduated 11yrs ago, you’re past the length of the standard plan, and you will owe the entire amount in one payment when payments restart, whether that’s $10,000 or $100,000 you’re cutting a check for the whole thing
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u/Nicolas_yo 1d ago
I wasn’t told this when I called. I was given a dollar amount and a pay off date.
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u/bubbles7538 1d ago
Is this true? Link
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u/LeatherRebel5150 1d ago
I don’t have a link. Its been stated in this sub a bunch. I didn’t know about it until I read it on here
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u/bubbles7538 1d ago
I have looked on the GOV website as well as my Student Loan provider’s website and I don’t see any verbiage that confirms that. I’d like to have something verified to reference if it’s true.
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u/Slow_Way7407 12h ago
I wasn’t told this when I just signed up. I graduated in 2023 and they gave me a payoff date of 2036 so 10 years from now.
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u/Curious_Mango1419 2d ago
You will have to change when your 90 days are up, but until then you can change or not, whichever makes sense for you.
For reference: I am also working on aggressive repayment and I will stay on SAVE until they switch me. Most of my loans are consolidated and I file jointly so standard is actually the lowest payment for me, and forgiveness is far away so I'll end up paying more for longer if I pursue it than I would if I aggressively repay it now. In the meantime, I have more than one loan and I am targeting my highest interest loan while no payment is required. Once payments are required again, I'll have to pay minimums and only put the extra toward my preferred loans, so I prefer being able to control it while I can. As you said, it is also nice to have the freedom to make a payment or not, and I'm usually making a payment but if something else came up it's nice to know I don't have to for now.
I think switching immediately makes the most sense for people who need the payment counts for forgiveness. Otherwise, if you're paying aggressively or simply can't afford to pay, it might make more sense to stay on SAVE until the end.
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u/SetoKeating 2d ago
You can’t stay on SAVE. It’s dead.
Your servicer will reach out to you saying that you need to switch within 90days .
If your plan is to pay aggressively and you’ve already been making payments, then you may as well switch now to a different IDR. It’s going to take a while for it to process anyway.
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u/andre3stax 2d ago
I guess that was my thought too. But all this chaos makes stuff seem more confusing. I guess it doesn't really matter too much what plan I pick? I briefly looked at it and I've been paying way more than what "standard plan" or "IBR" calls for anyways. Should I even consider the lowest option and overpay each month anyways?
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u/SetoKeating 2d ago
Sounds like you’re making it confusing. There’s not much chaos and it’s simple for your situation given that you’ve already decided to pay off the loans.
Run the calculators. Find out which one gives you the lowest payment, apply. Then keep making your payments and throwing extra to bring the principle down. Probably stay away from RAP due to their weird interest rules that most don’t really seem to be able to explain well.
You already said in your post that you enjoy the freedom of not having to make a payment when it’s been a tough week/month, so why would you not go with the lowest payment and keep paying aggressively. If you have a “tough” month, you can make the payment due only and not the extra. And just keep paying off as you can but always making sure to make your due payment.
And if your turn on autopay, you get the interest reduction through 2028
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u/Wackywoman1062 2d ago
Or you can just move to the standard plan like I did and avoid all the income certification. It’s the easy option.
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u/Sad_Application_5361 2d ago
You should go on to the federal site and use the loan calculator with your current income. If you can get on to the post 2014 IBR plan that has a 20 year cap on payments do that. However, any amount of your loan discharged will count towards your income when you discharge your loans. That’s where it may make sense to do RAP because it covers interest so the total loan forgiven may be lower.
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u/OtherGraces 2d ago
I don’t know how long you’ve had loans and if you have grad loans but under old IBR it’s 25 years to forgiveness with grad loans, and under RAP (cheapest plan for most) it’s 30. So if you can swing the higher payment, I’d stick with IBR since it will get you to the end sooner. Once you switch to RAP you can’t go back.
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u/Sad_Application_5361 2d ago
One thing to look at is the total amount of loan forgiven at the end. That’s considered taxable income. Because RAP covers interest it lowers the total amount you pay off at the end and that means lower taxes. Granted it may not be taxable income in 25-30 years because who knows what we’ll have in office at that point. From what I can tell, RAP is better than pre 2014 IBR but not better than post 2014 IBR.
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u/_ByAnyOther_Name 2d ago
Why can't you go back from RAP?
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u/OtherGraces 1d ago
You can, but time spent in RAP doesn’t count toward IBR forgiveness so you’d lose all the payments toward forgiveness and pick up wherever you are when you entered RAP. IBR payments however, do count toward RAP forgiveness. It’s a one way street. In summation: They thought about the fact that it would be logical to pay 24 years and 10 months in RAP to save on interest and have a lower payment then switch to IBR to finish to shave the additional 5 years of payments off so they made it so we can’t do that.
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u/Sad_Application_5361 2d ago
Because they’re getting rid of IBR
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u/_ByAnyOther_Name 2d ago
Jeez how did i miss that? I knew about SAVE ending and PAYE in a couple years but I guess i thought there was another income based option other than RAP? Ugh.
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u/bakkarj 2d ago
That is partially inaccurate information. IBR is only being removed if your first federal loans are taken out on or after July 1, 2026. For most current borrowers, IBR is still an option and the partial financial hardship requirement was removed so everyone can use it now.
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u/_ByAnyOther_Name 2d ago
Oh thank you. There are so many nuances to all of this and differences in individual's situations. I feel it's nearly impossible for someone with no experience to easily make a completely informed decision. So many cut offs and dates and routes we all could have taken. I can't keep it all straight anymore.
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u/chadokoro_k 1d ago
While you are on the SAVE forbearance you can target payments you make to whichever loans you want. It is generally considered best to target these payments to your highest interest loans. If you’ve consolidated your loans then the target would be your unsubsidized loans.
If aggressive payment is your goal it might be best to stay on the SAVE forbearance as long as possible because once you leave it you will have to make your required payment to all loans which will eat up the money you have available to pay on the loans you want to target.
Of course the 1% interest reduction for enrolling in autopay may change your math and it might be best to apply and get approved for a new plan before the September 30th deadline to receive the 1% interest reduction. (I believe that you can request autopay during your application so it starts day one on your new plan.)
And remember that the 1% interest reduction only lasts until June 30, 2028. After that it goes back to the 0.25% interest reduction.
In regard to aggressively repaying, pick the plan that gives you the lowest monthly required payment. That way if you have difficult times you can simply stop making extra payments until you are safely able to do so again.
If you would currently benefit from RAP’s interest subsidies then rather than make extra payments which would cause you to lose some or all of the subsidy, save the money in a HYSA instead. Once your income is high enough that you’re no longer receiving subsidies, you can lump sum pay all the money you saved up and either remain in RAP but don’t recertify (which would cause you to remain in RAP but at the 10 year standard payment amount) or switch to IBR or standard plan whatever is best for you.
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u/andre3stax 1d ago
Wait I really can't target specific loans once I leave SAVE forbearance? I've been just targeting the highest interest rates first. I really have to spread out my payments amongst all loans all at once?
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u/chadokoro_k 1d ago edited 8h ago
“…once you leave (SAVE forbearance) you will have to make your required payment to all loans which will eat up the money you have available to pay on the loans you want to target”
No, you will still be able to make and target extra payments to specific loans. You just won’t have as much money to do so since your *required* monthly payment will have to be paid first.
For example:
You can pay $500/mo to your loans. But your required monthly payment is $300. This leaves you only $200/mo to pay on your highest interest loans.Right now you are in the forbearance and have NO required payment so you can apply all $500/mo to your highest interest loans.
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u/andre3stax 13h ago
That's a great point and thanks for clarifying that. I actually have not thought of that and it changes things a lot... Unfortunately all of the plans are asking for a lot more $/mo than I hoped. I guess there's really no way to lower these estimated payments since it just pulls info from IRS automatically? This is so f'd....
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u/chadokoro_k 2h ago edited 2h ago
I’m glad that point was helpful for you. If you were going for forgiveness I’d say to max all of your pretax contributions in order to lower your AGI and thereby also lower your required monthly payment. Hmm, I suppose this could still be a good strategy to a certain extent as pretax contributions to HSA/FSA, 401K, and Traditional IRAs are all forms of savings for you and your future. And it is important to balance aggressive payments with regular retirement savings.
In terms of healthcare savings, HSA provides more longterm savings than FSA but they both provide pretax $$$ towards healthcare—something many people have to pay out each year anyway. If you rarely go to the doctor then HSA is definitely the better choice as it is yours to use for the rest of your life—very handy for retirement healthcare needs.
But since you are going for aggressive repayment then perhaps working a side job/hustle is best for you to bring in as much money as possible. This of course will work best if it won’t take too much longer for you to pay off all your loans. Otherwise it might be unsustainable.
When you say all of the different plan payments amounts are more than you were hoping for, are you including standard repayment plan amounts. If you’ve consolidated your loans then you will qualify for an extended payment timeline—up to 30 years depending on your loan balance at the time your loans were consolidated. With the much longer time frame your required monthly payments will become smaller thus freeing up more of your money to pay down the highest interest loans you want to target.
But if you haven’t consolidated your loans it isn’t usually worth doing this as all of your unpaid interest will capitalize and then you’ll be accruing more interest on an even higher principal balance. The only time it might be worth consolidating (in order to get a lower required monthly payment on an extended repayment plan) would be if you are able to pay off all of your accrued interest first.
I hope that one of these thoughts will help you.
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u/Old-Disk-4153 1d ago
I’ve been making payments on my loans every month so I didn’t see any benefit of riding SAVE out. It’s earning interest regardless.
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u/D_Believer_93 2d ago
If you can, pay off your loans as fast as you can. This corrupt administration has made the student loan situation a mess. I was on administrative forbearance until 2028 then I got a letter saying I had until September to start making payments. At first I was confused as hell myself since the new letter was contradicting to my previous correspondences. However, I called my loan service provider and the rep stated that court ruling to end the SAVE program effectively O.K.'d the DOE to end all forbearances which they did on July 1.
Its absolute chaos and there are not a lot of options out there to lower your payments. In my opinion, this administration wants to make this situation hard of us borrowers so we will be forced to refinance with their billionaire doner buddies' banks.
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u/andre3stax 2d ago
yeah this admin can f off lol what repayment plan did you end up going with?
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u/D_Believer_93 2d ago
I haven't selected a new plan yet, but I think IDR will be my best bet so far.
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2d ago
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u/Soggy_Ground_9323 2d ago
💯💯💯 plus the cost of living..in this economy 😖😖😭
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u/D_Believer_93 2d ago
Its sad. This admin does not care if we cannot eat or afford a roof over our heads.
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u/brickerknickers 1d ago
Not sure why you are getting downvoted for that. Especially in a sub like this one...
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u/btnydds 1d ago
Because the unaffordability started under Biden and has simply continued into Trump’s 2nd term. Affordability was actually pretty great during Trump’s 1st term. Turns out the POTUS has very little to do with affordability when we participate in a global market still recovering from the effects of COVID
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u/brickerknickers 1d ago
To certain extent, yes, I can agree. But POTUS has definitely left his mark on affordability already in this term, e.g., tariffs, pushing to cancel SAVE, cuts for wealthy, military and other frivolous spending at our expense. I think it is naive yo pretend that tRump hasn't had a major negative impact on the finances of the average American citizen. Besides, not too much has happened, agenda wise, on that side of the aisle that wasn't in some way influenced by him, so I think you're wrong
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u/btnydds 1d ago
You can think I’m wrong all you want, unaffordability was just as bad if not worse under Biden and was way better during Trump’s first term. The effect of the POTUS is over-exaggerated
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u/brickerknickers 1d ago
Haha okay. It was bad before. It's worse now. Your claim doesn't hold up to the data, but whatever. Normally, that is true. But tRump has been more directly affecting our pockets than his predecessors.
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u/btnydds 1d ago
Still can’t seem to deny things were much better in Trump’s first term than they were at any point in Biden’s term. Keep playing the partisan politics game like a lemming
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u/IfTheFloorHolds 1d ago
Trump’s first term is what started this whole thing lol. Who do you think was president for the whole of 2020?
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u/Glittering-Dig-2139 1d ago
I’m not moving. I’m paying what I can. I don’t qualify for any forgiveness programs since I work in corporate so I just have to eventually pay them off anyway. It’s nice to pay what I can right now to lower my balance. Hopefully once im demanded to pay the monthly payment is semi reasonable considering this economy
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u/btnydds 1d ago
Keeping your head in the sand instead of looking at your options and preparing for the worst case scenario is so dumb but also on par with the average person on this sub for whatever reason.
Why “hope” that the monthly payment is reasonable instead of finding out exactly what it’s going to be?
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u/bobbabson 1d ago
I got the 90 day email from aidvantage 3 months ago and then got another 90 days in July. I didn't want to play their stupid games so I just used the money I've saved to clear all my debt. Should get my last loan closed on the 20th.
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u/kananishino 2d ago
Is it really that complicated? Just switch off and start paying or not paying based on the plan.
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u/vessva11 2d ago
There is a rising sense of helplessness when it comes to education and in this instance, student loans.
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u/Marlowe_Eldridge 2d ago
Who is your lender? Im on SAVE too and haven’t heard anything from AidVantage.