My loan servicer is Aidvantage. I’ve been in administrative forbearance for over a year, and with all the recent changes, I have no idea what’s coming next. I haven’t gotten any clear guidance. I’m the first in my family to go through this, so I feel lost. Before forbearance, my monthly payment was $100. What should I expect now? I’m really stressed about this.
If you end up on IBR, your monthly payment could be around $194, assuming you’re filing taxes as single.
irenewalsh said:
If you end up on IBR, your monthly payment could be around $194, assuming you’re filing taxes as single.
How is that number calculated? I’m making more now than I was when SAVE first rolled out.
@Jai
You might want to check if you qualify for IBR or PAYE. To get on one of those plans, you need to show ‘partial financial hardship.’ Here’s a link that explains it: Federal Student Aid doesn’t have that requirement, though.If IBR or PAYE isn’t an option, your next choices would be ICR or a standard repayment plan.
Jai said:
@Harlow
I honestly have no clue how to check if I qualify. This is so overwhelming.
This might help: Partial Financial Hardship Calculator.
@Jai
A rough way to estimate it is to look at line 11 on your tax return. Take that number, subtract $22,500 (if you have dependents, subtract an extra $8,000 per dependent), and then multiply the result by 0.00833. That’s your estimated monthly payment.
@irenewalsh
How does this work for married couples filing jointly? I’m also on SAVE, but I don’t think my payment will change much if I get moved back to REPAYE or IBR. I file jointly with my spouse, and we have two kids.
@Onyx
Your AGI (adjusted gross income) is what matters. If you file jointly, it’s your combined AGI. Here’s the formula:AGI - $22,500 - (3 * $8,000), which simplifies to:AGI - $42,500.Then multiply that by 0.00833.*The 3 represents your spouse and two kids.If both you and your spouse have loans and file separately, your combined payment will usually be about $94 less than if you filed jointly. But most of the time, the tax savings from filing jointly are higher than the amount you’d save on loan payments.
@irenewalsh
Thanks. Luckily, my spouse doesn’t have student loans, but I have a big federal law school loan that I’ll probably never be able to pay off. I also have a much smaller FFELP undergrad loan that’s almost paid off.I thought my spouse’s income didn’t count for income certification, but maybe I misunderstood?
Jai said:
@irenewalsh
Appreciate it. So they’re using my 2023-2024 AGI then?
Yep, they’ll go by whatever is on your last tax return.
Nobody really knows what’s going to happen next. My guess? They’ll sell our loans to private companies, and suddenly we’ll see interest rates jump to 30%. It all feels intentional.