About Student Loan Debt Consolidation

Going for loans is not a great stuff to do. But still you may be in dire need of money for some reason sometime, so you get it. This article is reminding you the factors that are indispensable for the consolidation of student loans.

Factor a) in the beginning same rate of interest for all

Every federal student loan consolidation rates should commence with the rate as instructed by Congress each year. It is mandatory for all the student loan consolidation companies to offer all an equal federal rate.

Factor b) saving money on the benefits

In case you are consolidating your loans for the first time, you can save a considerable amount in the discounts and benefits of signing up.

Standard benefit- for utilizing automatic checking account withdrawal, 0.25% off your rate.

Standard benefit- for consolidating in your grace period, 0.6% off your repayment rate.

Extra benefit- in case you are having over $20,000 in federal student loans, after your premier 36 payments on time, 1.0% off.

Let's take an example, you have $25,000 in federal Stafford loans and before July 1, 2006, your rate at 3.37%. Your rate will fall to 2.875% in case you are still in your grace period which is 6 months before you're paying off begins and which is exclusive for graduates.

The automatic checking account withdrawal will diminish again to 2.625%. Moreover, after you have paid the first 36 payments on time, your rates will further reduce to 1.0% leading to a novel low of 1.625%. So you see the workings of student loan consolidation and you realize how you actually save a handsome amount of money.

Factor c) before signing up read the fine print.

Many companies will provoke you to sign up with them by offering you a list of borrower's benefits. Say for instance, you will obtain 1%off in case you can pay off 24 payments on time. It sounds great but you may afterwards realize (when it is too late) that in the fine print it can be only accessible in case your loan is more than $50,000. I will advise you not to deal with this company since statistically just 17% of all graduates have such a high loan debt.

Some companies can offer you better benefits such as 2.5% of your rate but with a grace period of 3days. But what if you don't check your mail or your mail gets delayed? You can guess what these accidents may cause you. So considering all these facts, always read carefully the fine print before you sign up. Thus you can have the benefits.

Factor d) quality customer care
The student loan companies are always desperate to ring you up; however, when you are need you may find none at your service. A number of companies don't have trained telephone staff that is able to answer your simple queries. When you contact a company, ensure they know about their services, rates etc. also check out if your call is attended to pretty fast.