Saturday, 2 June 2012

How do you pay student loans

How do you pay student loans is a question being asked more frequently every month -
not just by students but by the media and politicians too!
Below is a chart showing the frequency and trend of internet searches for the question "how do you pay student loans".


Managing debt is not as easy as many people think. Those who have little financial training often recommend debt consolidation - when in fact ithat is more often than not counter-productive. Instead of consolidating debts into one package it is generally wiser to keep your debts in separate compartments and to retain some liquidity.
If you are concerned about your student debt or even just your home mortgage the one thing you should not do is "consolidate your debts". Once your debts are consolidated you lose the flexibility of how to deal with your debts. And you lose the ability to negotiate with some of the current lenders - who just might be prepared to waive some of the accumulated interest charged in exchange for a repayment of the principal.
Do not follow the advice of lay people or those who work with bureaux - and especially do not listen to those working for debt consolidators, who have a vested interest in conning you into debt consolidation plans.

The two most sensible approaches to dealing with the question of "How do you pay student loans" are:
1) Invest the spare money you may still have or that which you are still able to borrow into an investment or business where the returns you can achieve are higher than the interest rate of your loans

2) Earn additional income - either by working extra hours or at an additional job; or better still in running your own business.

The benefits of running your own business are twofold.
You can not only make extra income but you can also gain some attractive tax savings - which you can not get by simply working for someone else.

A starting point for both positive steps could be gaining additional qualifications as a teacher and start your own tutoring business. A great method to achieve that is the Mentors College Bonus Income program. Well worth checking out asap.