My Journey Through Student Loan Forgiveness

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Here's the link to a thread from last summer: link


Chronicle Post #1

---

So I'm a public school teacher.
While we started working and thus paying our loans prior to 2007 when the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program started, I have spent the last few months transferring my loans over to this program, and I thought I'd start a thread on that process and its results. The program says it's retroactive, so the fact that I have waited to apply hopefully isn't detrimental to me, but we'll see if that's accurate. 

I know when the board discussed this last summer, many of you sneered at those who would take advantage of this program. (link above)
I'm applying for the program. Any animosity in this thread toward someone/me for using this program will not change my mind about this. I just thought I'd share my personal anecdote and how the finances will affect us. If you have derogatory remarks regarding that, I'll most likely ignore you.  


Why I have student loans: 
I made it through my bachelor's degree without any debt. However, I was exhausted when it came time for my MAT, and I also had to pay for DD#2 to be in day care full time; I'd been able to avoid day care due to how I scheduled my undergrad classes, but my master's classes were a strictly pre-determined schedule. I stopped working altogether, and I still needed to pay my share of the household expenses (with XH). Also, I had to have the master's degree to get my teaching license. My state only had that requirement for about five years, but it was the five years I was going through my college education. 

Again, my intent is to document the process, discuss the process, see what financial advantage comes up, have you point out something I may not have thought of.   
A side question you might want to respond to: Is it YM to pay the loans myself and DH pay his himself? Or is it YM to take advantage of the program at hand?



This is long already. I'll post more later--how much we originally borrowed, how much we've paid, etc.  

[justme]

I think the issue to be aware of is that it seems so far there are very few that have actually gotten their loans forgiven. I honestly haven't looked into the why, but if it's because it's ridiculously more complicated than it seems.

Are you really still over 10 years from paying them off?

[Lizard Queen]

Businesses will take advantage of all kinds of government programs and credits, and no one bats an eye. Even if they file chapter 11, we might even call that a smart move. I say, take advantage of whatever program you need to that will work for you.

[tcu2003]

It’s there, so if your loans qualify, you should take advantage of it. That said, as justme noted, VERY few loans have actually qualified, despite how many were told their loans did qualify. My other question is based on your girls’ ages, do you really still have 10 years left on your loans? I wouldn’t want them hanging around that much longer, if I could help it.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Feb 12, 2019 23:05:35 GMT -5 justme said:

I think the issue to be aware of is that it seems so far there are very few that have actually gotten their loans forgiven. I honestly haven't looked into the why, but if it's because it's ridiculously more complicated than it seems.

Are you really still over 10 years from paying them off?

That's part of my intent with this thread. What is the process, is it complicated, is forgiveness attainable?


For your last question: yes and no. We've chosen income-based-repayment for the last decade.  If I keep it at IBR, it will be at least another 15 years before they're paid off. We've not paid any extra toward these loans as we've had other debt to target. We chose that route because all but one of our student loans are federal, and those are forgiven in the case of death. I've paid off a non-federal student loan that I took out in 2011 for a post-graduate certificate. That interest rate was at least 4% higher than my federal loans' rates. I could divert money to these federal loans, but I"m going to wait until I've finalized this PLFS program to determine if I'll do that. As Lizard Queen said, I'm going to take advantage of the program. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Feb 13, 2019 0:56:22 GMT -5 tcu2003 said:

It’s there, so if your loans qualify, you should take advantage of it. That said, as justme noted, VERY few loans have actually qualified, despite how many were told their loans did qualify. My other question is based on your girls’ ages, do you really still have 10 years left on your loans? I wouldn’t want them hanging around that much longer, if I could help it.

I'll post numbers tomorrow. 

[justme]

Feb 13, 2019 1:15:48 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Feb 12, 2019 23:05:35 GMT -5 justme said:

I think the issue to be aware of is that it seems so far there are very few that have actually gotten their loans forgiven. I honestly haven't looked into the why, but if it's because it's ridiculously more complicated than it seems.

Are you really still over 10 years from paying them off?

That's part of my intent with this thread. What is the process, is it complicated, is forgiveness attainable?


For your last question: yes and no. We've chosen income-based-repayment for the last decade.  If I keep it at IBR, it will be at least another 15 years before they're paid off. We've not paid any extra toward these loans as we've had other debt to target. We chose that route because all but one of our student loans are federal, and those are forgiven in the case of death. I've paid off a non-federal student loan that I took out in 2011 for a post-graduate certificate. That interest rate was at least 4% higher than my federal loans' rates. I could divert money to these federal loans, but I"m going to wait until I've finalized this PLFS program to determine if I'll do that. As Lizard Queen said, I'm going to take advantage of the program. 

I just don't have that detailed knowledge to tell you. I haven't worked a job that qualifies and don't have student loans so I haven't looked into particulars. I just know from randomly reading articles that they're saying it's not as many people qualifying after 10 years - and we just hit the first 10 years a few months back so it's still new. Seems like you might think you're doing everything right for 10 years but then they'll smack you with some small detail. I also don't know if it's at the whims of politicians vs set in stone.

If I was eligible I would 100% look into it though.

[zibazinski]

Anyone who is willing to teach should have loan forgiveness.

[NoNamePerson]

Feb 13, 2019 5:59:09 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Anyone who is willing to teach should have loan forgiveness.

And be paid Hazardous Duty pay also!  

[Deleted]

Feb 12, 2019 23:32:37 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

Businesses will take advantage of all kinds of government programs and credits, and no one bats an eye. Even if they file chapter 11, we might even call that a smart move. I say, take advantage of whatever program you need to that will work for you.

I'm all for taking advantage of whatever help is out there too, but SLF program seems to be more of a sham than anything, and the current administration is wanting to do away with it entirely.  If you're no worse for wear for applying, go for it, but it seems a lot of people are finding out years later they didn't dot some i or cross some t and were booted along the way and on top of it owe more than they did originally.  Ten years is a long time to depend on the government to come through on something. 

[MJ2.0]

Feb 13, 2019 10:51:27 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Feb 12, 2019 23:32:37 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

Businesses will take advantage of all kinds of government programs and credits, and no one bats an eye. Even if they file chapter 11, we might even call that a smart move. I say, take advantage of whatever program you need to that will work for you.

I'm all for taking advantage of whatever help is out there too, but SLF program seems to be more of a sham than anything, and the current administration is wanting to do away with it entirely.  If you're no worse for wear for applying, go for it, but it seems a lot of people are finding out years later they didn't dot some i or cross some t and were booted along the way and on top of it owe more than they did originally.  Ten years is a long time to depend on the government to come through on something. 

yup. I'd definitely apply but be wary that things might change.

[TheOtherMe]

Feb 13, 2019 9:30:27 GMT -5 NoNamePerson said:

Feb 13, 2019 5:59:09 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Anyone who is willing to teach should have loan forgiveness.

And be paid Hazardous Duty pay also!  

Definitely!

[haapai]

Feb 12, 2019 22:25:22 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

This is long already. I'll post more later--how much we originally borrowed, how much we've paid, etc.  

I love numbers but I'd like to point out that how much you originally borrowed, why you borrowed it, and how much you've paid are pretty irrelevant.  You do not have to justify participating in this program to us. 

The numbers that matter are the existing balance and the costs of all of the options in front of you.  It's a hell of a lot of math and careful reading even before you start analyzing the risks and intangible costs of participating in the program. 

It bothers me quite a bit that you are asking if this process is complicated.  What I've outlined above is just the process that you should go through in order to make a decision regarding whether or not to PSLF might benefit you. 

From what I have heard, being in the program is hellish.   You never get any good information from anyone and it is entirely up to you to do everything correctly, and make sure that it is correctly recorded, for ten years minimum.  Do you really want to play snakes and ladders for ten years? 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Feb 13, 2019 12:56:00 GMT -5 haapai said:

Feb 12, 2019 22:25:22 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

This is long already. I'll post more later--how much we originally borrowed, how much we've paid, etc.  

I love numbers but I'd like to point out that how much you originally borrowed, why you borrowed it, and how much you've paid are pretty irrelevant.  You do not have to justify participating in this program to us. 

The numbers that matter are the existing balance and the costs of all of the options in front of you.  It's a hell of a lot of math and careful reading even before you start analyzing the risks and intangible costs of participating in the program. 

It bothers me quite a bit that you are asking if this process is complicated.  What I've outlined above is just the process that you should go through in order to make a decision regarding whether or not to PSLF might benefit you. 

From what I have heard, being in the program is hellish.   You never get any good information from anyone and it is entirely up to you to do everything correctly, and make sure that it is correctly recorded, for ten years minimum.  Do you really want to play snakes and ladders for ten years? 

I'm not asking if the process is complicated. Could you tell me where I indicated that so I can edit it?

My intent is to document the process--mostly because I'm on medical leave and bored. 
For me personally, though, I never intended to pay more than the IBR payment until I was in a financial position to do so. Even if I'd gone through this process when it was originally announced in Oct 2007 when it was announced, I would have made the same amount of payments to date. 


My posting my SL numbers is more to just give concrete feel to this situation rather than an abstract feel. 

[WholeLottaNothin]

Feb 13, 2019 1:15:48 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Feb 12, 2019 23:05:35 GMT -5 justme said:

I think the issue to be aware of is that it seems so far there are very few that have actually gotten their loans forgiven. I honestly haven't looked into the why, but if it's because it's ridiculously more complicated than it seems.

Are you really still over 10 years from paying them off?

That's part of my intent with this thread. What is the process, is it complicated, is forgiveness attainable?


For your last question: yes and no. We've chosen income-based-repayment for the last decade.  If I keep it at IBR, it will be at least another 15 years before they're paid off. We've not paid any extra toward these loans as we've had other debt to target. We chose that route because all but one of our student loans are federal, and those are forgiven in the case of death. I've paid off a non-federal student loan that I took out in 2011 for a post-graduate certificate. That interest rate was at least 4% higher than my federal loans' rates. I could divert money to these federal loans, but I"m going to wait until I've finalized this PLFS program to determine if I'll do that. As Lizard Queen said, I'm going to take advantage of the program. 

That is probably where the other poster got it from

[haapai]

Feb 13, 2019 13:09:41 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

I'm not asking if the process is complicated. Could you tell me where I indicated that so I can edit it?

My intent is to document the process--mostly because I'm on medical leave and bored. 
For me personally, though, I never intended to pay more than the IBR payment until I was in a financial position to do so. Even if I'd gone through this process when it was originally announced in Oct 2007 when it was announced, I would have made the same amount of payments to date. 


My posting my SL numbers is more to just give concrete feel to this situation rather than an abstract feel. 

You seem to be asking that question in post #4. 

Perhaps I have badly misunderstood your posts.  It now sounds like your intent is to give us a chronicle of your student loan repayment and its complications.  If that is your intent, my hat is off to you.  I could learn quite a bit from your story. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Feb 13, 2019 13:21:30 GMT -5 WholeLottaNothin said:

Feb 13, 2019 1:15:48 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

That's part of my intent with this thread. What is the process, is it complicated, is forgiveness attainable?


For your last question: yes and no. We've chosen income-based-repayment for the last decade.  If I keep it at IBR, it will be at least another 15 years before they're paid off. We've not paid any extra toward these loans as we've had other debt to target. We chose that route because all but one of our student loans are federal, and those are forgiven in the case of death. I've paid off a non-federal student loan that I took out in 2011 for a post-graduate certificate. That interest rate was at least 4% higher than my federal loans' rates. I could divert money to these federal loans, but I"m going to wait until I've finalized this PLFS program to determine if I'll do that. As Lizard Queen said, I'm going to take advantage of the program. 

That is probably where the other poster got it from

Ah! That makes sense. Thank you

Feb 13, 2019 13:25:00 GMT -5 haapai said:

Feb 13, 2019 13:09:41 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

I'm not asking if the process is complicated. Could you tell me where I indicated that so I can edit it?

My intent is to document the process--mostly because I'm on medical leave and bored. 
For me personally, though, I never intended to pay more than the IBR payment until I was in a financial position to do so. Even if I'd gone through this process when it was originally announced in Oct 2007 when it was announced, I would have made the same amount of payments to date. 


My posting my SL numbers is more to just give concrete feel to this situation rather than an abstract feel. 

You seem to be asking that question in post #4. 

Perhaps I have badly misunderstood your posts.  It now sounds like your intent is to give us a chronicle of your student loan repayment and its complications.  If that is your intent, my hat is off to you.  I could learn quite a bit from your story. 

Yes, my intent is chronicle the journey and discuss it with all of you. I don't know that you misunderstood so much as I miscommunicated. I think I'm fully functioning even though I had two minor surgeries last week, but I've been told by my husband, my child, and a few colleagues that I've emailed, that I'm not on top of my game.  I appreciate your discussion and questions. 

[Deleted]

Feb 13, 2019 13:37:16 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Feb 13, 2019 13:21:30 GMT -5 WholeLottaNothin said:

That is probably where the other poster got it from

Ah! That makes sense. Thank you

Feb 13, 2019 13:25:00 GMT -5 haapai said:

You seem to be asking that question in post #4. 

Perhaps I have badly misunderstood your posts.  It now sounds like your intent is to give us a chronicle of your student loan repayment and its complications.  If that is your intent, my hat is off to you.  I could learn quite a bit from your story. 

Yes, my intent is chronicle the journey and discuss it with all of you. I don't know that you misunderstood so much as I miscommunicated. I think I'm fully functioning even though I had two minor surgeries last week, but I've been told by my husband, my child, and a few colleagues that I've emailed, that I'm not on top of my game.  I appreciate your discussion and questions. 

Just having a thread last 10 years to chronicle it seems daunting.  We haven't even had a YM board last that long without migrating somewhere!

But, it you've been paying for 12 years and have to pay for another 10 to be eligible for forgiveness, how much can possibly be left by that time?  I know you're on IBR, but you're also high income so you shouldn't be making tiny payments either. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Feb 13, 2019 13:57:36 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Feb 13, 2019 13:37:16 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Ah! That makes sense. Thank you

Yes, my intent is chronicle the journey and discuss it with all of you. I don't know that you misunderstood so much as I miscommunicated. I think I'm fully functioning even though I had two minor surgeries last week, but I've been told by my husband, my child, and a few colleagues that I've emailed, that I'm not on top of my game.  I appreciate your discussion and questions. 

Just having a thread last 10 years to chronicle it seems daunting.  We haven't even had a YM board last that long without migrating somewhere!

But, it you've been paying for 12 years and have to pay for another 10 to be eligible for forgiveness, how much can possibly be left by that time?  I know you're on IBR, but you're also high income so you shouldn't be making tiny payments either. 

But it shouldn't last ten years. Payments are supposed to be counted retro-actively. That's part of my curiosity as to what the program will tell me. And if the thread fizzles, it fizzles. You  do realize we've "known" each other since you around the time you had Carrot right?   Ten years goes by quickly. 

[Deleted]

Feb 13, 2019 14:10:00 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Feb 13, 2019 13:57:36 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Just having a thread last 10 years to chronicle it seems daunting.  We haven't even had a YM board last that long without migrating somewhere!

But, it you've been paying for 12 years and have to pay for another 10 to be eligible for forgiveness, how much can possibly be left by that time?  I know you're on IBR, but you're also high income so you shouldn't be making tiny payments either. 

But it shouldn't last ten years. Payments are supposed to be counted retro-actively. That's part of my curiosity as to what the program will tell me. And if the thread fizzles, it fizzles. You  do realize we've "known" each other since you around the time you had Carrot right?   Ten years goes by quickly. 

I did not realize they counted back payments. 

I've known people here a lot longer than Carrot.  Back to before older son was born, but we've jumped boards.  This one is on year 9. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Feb 13, 2019 14:15:54 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Feb 13, 2019 14:10:00 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

But it shouldn't last ten years. Payments are supposed to be counted retro-actively. That's part of my curiosity as to what the program will tell me. And if the thread fizzles, it fizzles. You  do realize we've "known" each other since you around the time you had Carrot right?   Ten years goes by quickly. 

I did not realize they counted back payments. 

I've known people here a lot longer than Carrot.  Back to before older son was born, but we've jumped boards.  This one is on year 9. 

My brain is fuzzy right now, and I couldn't remember how long we'd been here. I started at MSN also, but I didn't post quite as much. 
It takes me a while to acclimate online. I'm almost ready to be FB friends! 

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

IIRC Midjd was doing PSLF. But I don’t think she’s posting here anymore.

[bean29]

Feb 13, 2019 14:58:22 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

IIRC Midjd was doing PSLF. But I don’t think she’s posting here anymore.

I think Carl was very interested in it for his wife's student loans too, but I don't know what they decided to do.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Feb 13, 2019 14:58:22 GMT -5 GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl said:

IIRC Midjd was doing PSLF. But I don’t think she’s posting here anymore.

Yeah, where's she been?

midjd?

[debthaven]

But it shouldn't last ten years. Payments are supposed to be counted retro-actively.

Knee Deep in Water Chloe I think most people don't know this. You might want to add it to your OP.

[bean29]

I thought they said the reason why so few people qualified was that if you did anything wrong along the way, you were disqualified. If they count your service backwards, wouldn't there be more people that qualify?

DH and I paid off our student loans within a year of getting married, and we probably don't have a year of public service employment between the two of us. So we don't have a horse in this race anyways.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Chronicle Post #2

---

In Summer 2018, we had a thread about about student loan forgiveness. I realized that I’d started that process a few years ago--probably 2015. However, it turned out that I did it completely wrong. I used the wrong forms. When that thread came up, I added figuring out the student loan forgiveness to my to do list.
At points between August and November, I managed to
Find the correct forms to apply for PSLF
Complete the forms and send them to my four different employers of the last 15 years.
Get those back with my employer’s HR person’s signature. Print them all. Snail mail them in because using the fax machine at my work is tedious and the government doesn’t have email.

Around Christmas, I received snail mail notifications that three of my four employer forms had been accepted. The fourth one is my current employer. The EIN wasn’t written on the EIN line. I finally got around to filling out the form again. I realized there was no mailing address on the letter I’d received to know where to send the revised form.

By mid-January, I called the customer service line. The lady who answered was able to change input the EIN over the phone. IT”S THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HOW DID THEY NOT HAVE THE FREAKING Employer Identification Number IN THE FIRST PLACE

I’d also received notifications via email that I need to re-apply for an income-based-repayment plan. Another example of the bureaucracy--since 2005 I’ve been on IBR! But, I went through the application process this week. It really did only take a few minutes.

I called again on Monday because part of the process is validating employment post-2007 and determining the number of qualifying payments while employed by an appropriate public school.

Questions I have regarding how many payments will have qualified: When I was switching school districts, does that mean my July payments will not count because technically I wasn’t employed that month of those years. However, the person I spoke to on Monday stated that my part of the application regarding qualifying payments is still under review. I asked how long that normally takes. She responded with” they used to give us a time frame to say, but we’ve been told for the last month that they are so back up that there’s no way to tell how long it will be.”

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Feb 13, 2019 16:24:17 GMT -5 bean29 said:

I thought they said the reason why so few people qualified was that if you did anything wrong along the way, you were disqualified. If they count your service backwards, wouldn't there be more people that qualify?

I don't know, but the (correct) forms are pretty clear that they review payments and employment from 2007 on. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

From the myfedloans.org site: 

Teaching
If you are a teacher who does not teach during the summer months, otherwise qualifying PSLF payments you make during the summer will count if:

You have a contract for an employment period of at least 8 months and you work an average of 30 hours per week during that period, and
Your employer still considers you to be employed full-time during the summer break.
NOTE: In this circumstance, your employer should include the dates of the summer break when reporting your dates of employment on the PSLF Employment Certification Form (ECF), even though you are not actually teaching during that period.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

from myfedloan.org:

Make 120 Qualifying Payments
Must have been made:

After October 1, 2007
While employed full-time at a qualifying employer
Under a qualifying repayment plan
On-time (no later than 15 days after the scheduled due date)
Each month, satisfying the installment amount due for that month in full
When the loan is being actively billed, and is not in a default status