As a parent, there’s nothing more you want for your child than for them to be happy and well-off.
I guess that explains why American adults with children these days owe $88.9 BILLION in student loans.
If you’re someone who’s put their golden years on the back burner for the sake of your son or daughter’s education, here’s 2 things you can do about it.
According to the numbers, student loans are now the second highest consumer debt category in the country.
The only thing that has it beat is money borrowed for mortgage payments.
You’d think that this type of debt would only fall on the students themselves, but the parents out there working to put their kids through college will tell you otherwise.
Believe it or not, the highest increase in student loan debt over the past 5 years is from 60 to 69-year-olds.
Maybe you’re one of them…
If so, it may be comforting to know that MILLIONS of others are in your same exact shoes.
Either way, there’s no reason to let the financial strain of taking on student loan balances hold you back from retirement.
At this point in your life, you should be pouring your savings into post-career plans, rather than prepping your child for the real world.
But the majority of us won’t even consider passing this burden to our kids, which is why I’m here to help you out.
If your goal is to escape debt and get on with retirement ASAP, then you really only have 2 options at your disposal: transferring and refinancing.
Once your kids are on their feet and able to fend for themselves, you can always transfer these loans back to them.
One thing to keep in mind is if you’ve borrowed money via Parent PLUS, the federal government does NOT permit you to transfer what you owe directly to your kid.
Don’t worry though. An easy way around this is to refinance whatever student debt has already accumulated.
It’s actually a win-win, considering your son or daughter will end up with a lower interest rate and the payments will be completely out of your hair. The only catch is your child must have a good enough financial and credit profile to be approved.
Then again, if you’re happy paying off the loan yourself, you can refinance it with a private lender instead.
This will also lower your interest rate and save you money in the long-run.
In order to qualify, your income, employment and monthly cash flow must be evaluated.
Even though this option still requires you to pay off student debt instead of solely focusing on retirement, it has the potential to save you thousands in the process.
Sure, transferring debt is the ideal choice if you want to get on with your golden years, but just know that It’s not the only play you can make in this game of loans.
If the timing isn’t right and your child’s not ready to take on the costs of college, don’t get discouraged. Refinancing is still the way to go.
You won’t be completely absolved of these financial obligations, but it’ll still expedite your travel time on the road to retirement.
