If your income has been impacted by COVID-19 or you’d like to lock-in lower monthly payments beyond 2021, consider enrolling into an income-driven repayment plan.
Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans cap your required monthly payments in proportion to your discretionary income, with monthly payment caps ranging from 10%, 15%, or 20%, depending on the plan you choose.
For borrowers with a large amount of debt relevant to their income, IDR plans can especially be beneficial due to the forgiveness potential after 20-25 years of repayment. And as of March 2021, IDR forgiveness is tax-free!
But then again, 20-25 years is a long time. Democratic Presidential candidates could cancel $10K for each borrower, or even make total student loan forgiveness a reality. It’s hard to tell in the coming decades how Congress will deal with the student loan debt crisis.
If you know your income isn’t going to increase much come October 2021, and you couldn’t or you’d struggle to make payments now if you had to, you should definitely consider enrolling into an IDR plan now so when payments do resume, you’ll be set.
If you are one of those borrowers with a lot of debt compared to your income, (an example of this is if you have $45K in debt and make $18K in income)—you may actually benefit from IDR forgiveness!
If this is you, enrolling into an IDR plan now will benefit you even more since suspended payments actually count toward IDR forgiveness. In other words, even if you don’t make any payments until October, the months until then will count toward the 20-25 year required repayment term for IDR forgiveness (that’s 10 months free toward the 240). And if you were already enrolled in an IDR plan, you’ve had 11 months count so far!
If you are on an IDR plan and your income has changed significantly, you can update your information and get a new payment amount based on your current income that you can lock-in beyond October, 2021.
Our Explore tool will help you determine which IDR Plans you’re eligible for, what your monthly payment would be, as well as the pros and cons for each plan. And if you’d like, a Chipper Concierge can help you decide which plan will be best for you and your unique financial situation. For a limited time too, we’re offering Chipper+ for FREE until the end of the year.
Use Chipper for Lower Payments
Chipper can help you find a student loan repayment plan that actually fits into your budget. You simply fill out your information and link your student loan account for us to generate your options in seconds. We help the average student loan borrower save over $300 a month off their student loan monthly payment. Lowering your monthly payment plan can game changing for your personal finance and can be done in minutes! Sign up for Chipper today to get on track with your student loans.
Use Chipper for The Best Path to Forgiveness
Finding your path to student loan forgiveness is easier than ever before. Chipper helps members find better Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) plans every day. Once enrolled in an eligible repayment plan, we can help you explore your forgiveness options and understand your path towards forgiveness. Sign up with Chipper today and get on track with your student loans.
Use Chipper for Round-Ups
Paying off your student loans doesn’t have to be a long and painful journey. Round-Ups are a way to directly pay off your loans with your everyday spending! By tracking your linked spending account(s), we will calculate the rounded up amount from each transaction in a week (IE spending $4.28 would add $0.72 to the weekly amount). We then initiate a payment towards your student loan for the weekly amount. Get chipping away on your student loans with Chipper today.
Use Chipper for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program was created to provide relief to borrowers aiding the public sector. Unfortunately, 30% of applicants are denied due to incorrect paperwork. We can help! Chipper was created to solve this issue by assisting borrowers in understanding their options as well as allowing forgiveness eligible users enroll into the best forgiveness program available. Sign up for Chipper today to see your student loan forgiveness options and get the forgiveness you deserve.
Use Chipper for Teacher Loan Forgiveness (TLF)
The Teacher Loan Forgiveness (TLF) program was created to enable teachers working in Title 1 schools to receive student loan forgiveness of up to $17,500 (depending on their teaching subject). Chipper has helped teachers from all over the country qualify for TLF program and can help you get the forgiveness you deserve today. Find out if you qualify for forgiveness in minutes with our employer search tool.
