SAVE repayment plan - will this work?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Logs

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2011
Messages
308
Reaction score
7
I have been trying to figure something out that I hope you guys have an answer to. The biggest issue is the interest in paying the student loans out as fast as possible. I am currently on the PAYE but am thinking of switching to the Save program because it says that if I just pay the minimum the unpaid interest is canceled.
My hopes is that I pay the minimum payment for each individual loan and then focus my money on paying 1 loan at a time. I just want to make sure that idea actually works, because as of now I have to pay the minimum plus all the interest that grew for the month for each loan so that none of the student loans go up and keep growing as I am focusing on paying off one at a time. Does that make sense?

Well here is my thought process. The way I am tackling the student loans is using the snowball method.
These numbers are just examples to make the math easier.
Student Loan 1 = $20,000 at 6% -> $100/month of interest
Student Loan 2 = $30,000 at 6% -> $150/month
Student Loan 3 = $40,000 at 6% -> $200/month
Student Loan 4 = $50,000 at 6% -> $250/month

These makes it $700/month of interest that is accruing. So if I budget, for example, $2,000/month for student loans. I pay the interest for each one of these loans and that will insure that none of the loans are building up interest. I have stopped the bleeding. Honestly, the minimum payment doesn't matter because I need to make sure the balance of the loans do not get larger because at that point I will be wasting money. That leaves $1,300 left for the principle, which I then place it all on student loan 1. I do that every month till the first one is finished and move on to the second and third, etc.
The question than goes to the SAVE program. If the "minimum" payment for each of the loans is smaller than the monthly interest than the remaining interest is then subsidized. So for example:

Student Loan 1 = $20,000 at 6% -> $100/month (minimum payment due is $50)
Student Loan 2 = $30,000 at 6% -> $150/month (minimum payment due is $100)
Student Loan 3 = $40,000 at 6% -> $200/month (minimum payment due is $150)
Student Loan 4 = $50,000 at 6% -> $250/month (minimum payment due is $200)

Total monthly interest is $700 but I paid the minimum of $500. All the remaining unpaid interest of $200 is subsidized. I now have $1,500 left to throw into student loan 1, instead of the $1,300. What I am trying to find out is if this will work because that will save money on interest which will than allow to pay off the debt faster. Not only will this give more money to use for the debt but it will prevent the loans from getting larger.

I know that refinancing with a private company will be the best way to lower the interest rates but I have 12 different student loan payments and I don't want to consolidate all of them because it defeats the benefits of the snowball. Plus, having that backup benefit that if something ever does happen to me which causes my income to drop, the income base payments will shine and that I can fall back on the loan forgiveness. Not to mention that if I die the loans die with me.

Members don't see this ad.
 
I think I get what you're saying, but I need to write it out another way to make sure we're thinking the same:

Student Loan 1: $100/month interest - minimum payment is $50
Student Loan 2: $150/month interest - minimum payment is $75
Student Loan 3: $200/month interest - minimum payment is $100
Student Loan 4: $250/month interest - minimum payment is $150

Minimum payments above are based on distribution of loans assuming a total minimum payment of $375 as calculated by the SAVE program (rather than your calculated minimum).

You can designate to pay $150/month on Loan 1, $75 on Loan 2, $100 on Loan 3, and $150 on Loan 4. Your total monthly payment is $475 with an extra $100 designated to Loan 1. You will still pay the $100 interest on Loan 1 and the extra $50 ($150-100) will go towards principal. On Loans 2-4, you're paying less than the interest each month, so you get an interest subsidy of $275, and there is no change in the loan balance.

Theoretically, this works, though I cannot guarantee that the government will do the math the same way you and I do. But I designate a little extra money towards two of my loans each month to actually pay down the principal (as the interest was previously paid off) and still accumulate interest on the other loans.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Top