तलको ब क्समा थिच्नुहोला ।
Advertisement 
|
|
Advertisement
|
I have a simple question: Is there currently a better option to
help finance my sophomore daughter's college education than a PLUS loan?
— Alan S.
When considering how to finance a college education, there are many
options, including federal education loans, private student loans and
non-education loans. It is important to carefully weigh the costs,
benefits and risks of each option. These include the interest rates
and fees on each loan, whether the interest rate is fixed or variable,
when repayment begins, repayment plans, options for dealing with
financial difficulty and the consequences of default.
Federal Education Loans
The Federal Parent PLUS loan is borrowed by parents of dependent
undergraduate students. The annual
limit is up to the full cost of attendance minus other aid received,
with no aggregate limit. Payments on the Federal Parent PLUS loan can be
deferred while the student is enrolled on at least a half-time basis
and for six months after graduation.
Eligibility for the Federal Parent PLUS loan does not depend on
financial need, so even wealthy parents may borrow from the Federal
Parent PLUS loan program. There is a modest credit check that looks for
adverse events in the borrower's credit history, such as delinquences,
defaults, bankruptcy discharge, foreclosure and repossession. The
credit check does not, however, consider credit scores or
debt-to-income ratios.
The Federal Stafford loan is borrowed by students, not parents. It is
a less expensive option, but it has lower loan limits. The Federal
Stafford loan comes in two versions, subsidized and
unsubsidized. Eligibility for the subsidized loan depends on financial
need, while the unsubsidized loan does not. Neither version involves a
credit check, so even a borrower with a bad credit history can
qualify. The federal government pays the interest on subsidized loans
during deferments, such as during the in-school deferment and the
economic hardship deferment.
Repayment options for Federal Stafford and PLUS loans include standard
repayment (10-year term), extended repayment (10 to 30 year terms
based on the loan balance) and graduated repayment (payments increase
every two years). Income-based repayment is available for federal
student loans but not federal parent loans. (Income-contingent
repayment, a predecessor of income-based repayment, is available for
Federal Parent PLUS loans that have been consolidated into the Direct
Loan program, if the parent did not enter repayment prior to July 1,
2006.) Income-based repayment is a safety net that bases the monthly
payment on a percentage of the borrower's discretionary income, not
the amount owed. Federal student loans offer forgiveness for
borrowers who work full-time in a public service field while repaying
their loans under income-based repayment in the Direct Loan program.
[page]
Both the Federal Stafford and PLUS loans offer a variety of options
for borrowers who encounter financial difficulty. Payments may be
suspended using the economic hardship deferment for up to 3 years and
forbearances for up to 5 years. Interest, however, will continue to
accrue on unsubsidized loans during a deferment and on both subsidized
and unsubsidized loans during a forbearance. Accrued but unpaid
interest will be capitalized, which adds it to the loan balance. These
loans may also be canceled if the borrower dies or becomes totally and
permanently disabled.
The optimal strategy from a cost perspective is to have the
student borrow from the Federal Stafford loan first. Only if the
student has exhausted the Federal Stafford loan limits should the
parent consider borrowing from the Federal Parent PLUS loan.
There's also the Federal Perkins loan, which is currently a subsidized
loan with a 5% fixed interest rate. Funding for this loan program is
limited, with loans awarded by the college financial aid
office. President Obama has proposed expanding the program from $1
billion in loans a year to $8.5 billion, but the expanded loan program
would offer unsubsidized loans with a fixed 6.8% interest rate.
Private Student Loans
Private student loans include non-federal loans from commercial
lenders and from non-profit state loan programs. Most interest rates
on private student loans are variable, although some lenders have
started offering fixed rates with short repayment terms. More than 90%
of new private student loans require a creditworthy cosigner. (A
cosigner is a coborrower, equally obligated to repay the debt.)
Interest rates are usually based on the borrower's credit scores and
the credit scores of the cosigner. Very few borrowers get the lender's
lowest interest rate; the majority get the highest interest
rate. Repayment terms are less flexible than the federal education
loans.
Non-Education Loans
There are also a variety of non-education loans, such as home equity
lines of credit (HELOC), home equity loans and credit cards. Repayment
on these loans begins immediately. These loans usually do not offer
deferments, forbearances, loan forgiveness or flexible repayment
plans. The monthly payment on a credit card is usually a percentage
of the outstanding balance, yielding a higher initial minimum monthly
payment that decreases over time.
Loan Interest Deductions
Up to $2,500 in interest paid on federal and private student loans is
deductible on the borrower's federal income tax return as an above-the-line
exclusion from income. The taxpayer does not need to itemize to take
advantage of this student loan interest deduction.
Interest paid on up to $100,000 in principal on a home equity loan or
HELOC is also deductible, but only if the taxpayer itemizes. This
deduction may be limited if the taxpayer is subject to the Alternative
Minimum Tax (AMT).
[page]
Lower Variable Rates May Cost More Than Fixed Rates
In some cases a private student loan or non-education loan will offer
a variable rate that is initially lower than the fixed rate on a federal
education loan. But these variable rates have nowhere to go but
up. The variable rates may remain low for the next few years, but will
start increasing as soon as the Federal Reserve stops suppressing
interest rate changes. The interest rates will then start increasing
by about 1.5% per year until they return to the neighborhood of
interest rates from before the credit crisis. To calculate the
equivalent fixed rate for a variable rate loan with a 10-year term,
add about 4 percentage points to the interest rate. So unless the
borrower plans on paying off the loan in full in a few years, a
variable-rate loan may ultimately cost more than the fixed-rate
federal education loans, despite the nominally lower interest rates.
Signs of Over-Borrowing
Needing to borrow beyond the Federal Stafford loan limits is often a
sign of over-borrowing, regardless of whether it involves a Federal
Parent PLUS loan, private student loan or non-education loan.
Total student loan debt at graduation should be less than the expected
annual starting salary. If total student loan debt is less than the
annual income, the borrower will be able to repay the debt in ten
years or less. Otherwise the borrower will struggle to repay the loans
and may need an alternate repayment plan, like extended repayment or
income-based repayment, to afford the monthly loan payments.
Parents should also be careful about the amount of debt they
incur. Parents should borrow no more for all their children than they
can afford to repay in 10 years or by the time they retire, whichever
comes first.
Risks of Education Financing
There are also a variety of serious risks associated with borrowing
for a college education. Federal and private education loans are
almost impossible to discharge in bankruptcy. The federal government
has very strong powers to compel repayment of defaulted federal
education loans, including garnishment of up to 15% of the borrower's
income and Social Security benefit payments and the offset of federal
and state income tax refunds (and state lottery winnings). The federal
government can block renewal of a professional license. Borrowers who
default on federal education loans are ineligible for FHA and VA
mortgages and may not enlist in the military. Private student loans
may also garnish wages and seize assets, but only after suing the
borrower and obtaining a court judgment.
[page]
If a borrower defaults on a student loan, the lender may turn the loan
over to a collection agency, which is paid a commission based on the
amounts recovered. Collection costs are paid by the borrower, not the
lender, so the lender has little or no incentive to limit collection charges.
Collection charges of up to 25% of the principal and interest payment
(20% of the total payment) may be deducted from voluntary and
involuntary payments on a defaulted Federal Stafford or PLUS
loan. Collection charges on the Federal Perkins loan may be up to 30%
of the payment for principal, interest and late charges for a first
collection attempt and up to 40% for subsequent collection
attempts. If a defaulted federal education loan is rehabilitated,
collection charges of up to 18.5% may be added to the loan
balance. Private student loans may charge higher collection fees on
defaulted loans.
Defaulting on a student loan will ruin the borrower's credit (and the
credit history of the cosigner, if any), making it difficult for the
borrower to get new credit cards, auto loans and mortgages. The
borrower may even find it difficult to rent an apartment or get a job,
since many landlords and employers check for bad credit.
If a borrower defaults on a home
equity loan or line of credit, the borrower may lose the home.
See also
Ask Kantro: What are the Downsides to Using Home Equity to Refinance
Student Loan Debt.
Source feed Post from fastweb //www.fastweb.com/financial-aid/articles/is-there-a-better-option-for-financing-a-college-education-than-a-parent-plus-loan
via IFTTT
|
Advertisement
|
0 comments:
Post a Comment