Brief summary of my situation: I attended four years of school at an out-of-state institution. My parents took out Parent PLUS loans with the understanding that I would be the one to repay them down the road, as they make a modest living. At the time, they were not fully informed as to how imposing the restrictions would be on me due the loans legally being in their name. I am now saddled with loan payments of $1,100-ish per month on a salary of $40k/year. This accounts for nearly half my monthly income after taxes.

Through research I am fully aware that I have no simple options in terms of income-based payment related to the Parent PLUS loan as they simply do not seem to exist. Do you have any suggestions/recommendations for an individual in my predicament? I have been steadily employed since I graduated nearly four years ago, yet have little-to-nothing to show for it as it is impossible to amass any kind of savings given how restrictive my monthly payments are against my budget. In desperate need of help as I feel like I am drowning in this debt.

Has anyone else been in this situation and come across any kind of solution/relief/anything to make payments more manageable? Are there any ‘loopholes’ available that would allow me to move the loan debt into my name so my income can be taken into consideration? Or any help available at all?

It doesn’t appear possible to move the loans into your name. 

Who actually signed for the loan?  What was their AGI for 2013?

If only one of your parents signed for the loan, what is that particular parent’s income?

My father signed for the loans. My parents file jointly so both of their incomes are taken into consideration. Their AGI in 2013 was $135k I believe.

From all appearances there seems to be no options out there for me. I just can’t believe no one has found a loophole, anything, to make PLUS loan payments more manageable.

If your father is the one who signed for the loans, he is the one who is liable.  If your parents filed separately, what would his AGI look like?  How old is he?  Is he nearing retirement?  You are paying about $1,100.  Is this with a ten year payment plan, 25 years, or what?

The reason I’m asking these questions is because it may work out best if they filed separately, he does a direct consolidation loan, and he stretch out the payments as long as possible.

I get that he is liable, but I am the one repaying them (as was always the understanding) and trying to see what (if any) options there are to make the payment more manageable. Even on his income, $1,100/mo. is unrealistic to maintain.

They filed jointly, but if he did file separately, his AGI would be approx. $69,000. He is 54 so he is still about a decade away (I’m guessing) from retirement.

My repayment plan is as extended as it can get; 25 or 30 years, I can’t remember exactly, just that he had it lengthened as long as possible.

Appreciate any input you can provide.

Right, your father is liable because he is the only one who signed.  If your mother didn’t sign, she isn’t liable. 

Check this out:  https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/mobile/repayment/repaymentEstimator.action

Does his job make him PSLF eligible?

Right now it looks like the loans could be consolidated and with ICR the payment would still be about $950, or so.  The calculator does make assumptions that his income will go up a certain % each year, but if he’s retiring in about 10 years, it probably won’t actually continue to do that.  It seems a good start would be to see if there are ways his AGI could be reduced by 401k/traditional IRA contributions, etc.  It looks like if he could defer another $6k a year, that would make about a $100/month difference to the payment, and, maybe your own income could go up as you progress in your career to make the payment less of a bite of your income each month.  So, maybe, with this idea your payment could go down about $250 a month to about $850.  A big downside to this, though, it could cause the combined income tax for your parents to be higher than what it would be if they continued to file jointly. 

If consolidating and filing separately doesn’t really help, take a look at each of the loans taken out each year while you were in school.  I suspect all the interest rates are similar or the same.  I get that making the payment now is really pushing you, but if you have any additional funds available, pay it extra against the loan with smallest balance until it is paid off to free up the monthly payment for that particular loan. 

That’s all I have for now, but I’ll still think about it and see if I might come up with any additional ideas you might investigate.  In the meantime, maybe you and some others will have some additional ideas, too.