How long you take to repay your student loans and how much you pay each month could make a difference of hundreds — or even thousands — of dollars in the amount of interest you’ll pay.
As you’ll see by using the student loan calculator below, the longer you take to repay your student debt, the more you’ll ultimately pay in interest. So the faster you pay off your loans, the better. Even if you stick with a standard 10-year term, any extra money you pay beyond your minimum monthly amount will cut the interest you’ll owe.
Plug your student loan information into the calculator below to see what your monthly payments will be, based on your interest rate and term length.
Repayment tip: You could also lower the total amount of interest you’ll owe over the life of your loan by refinancing. Use this student loan refinance calculator to estimate how much you could save by refinancing through Credible, a student loan refinancing marketplace and NerdWallet partner.
However, remember that if you refinance federal student loans, they’ll become private loans and you’ll lose out on certain borrower protections, including income-driven repayment plans and federal forgiveness programs.
More from NerdWallet
A guide to student loan forgiveness
Student loan refinancing: Compare and apply to save
Find the best student loan repayment plan
Teddy Nykiel is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: teddy@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @teddynykiel.
Image via iStock.
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