I apologize for the long post, but I’d like to fully explain my situation so that hopefully I can receive the most informative and productive suggestions.

I have a Bachelor’s degree I obtained in 2010, and a Master’s degree I obtained in 2012. I was working a job in my field from 2011-2014 but my pay was VERY low (approximately $20,000/yr). So, after all of my expenses, there was no way I could afford to make minimum payments towards my loans. I had a handful of individual loans, all of which I then consolidated into two loans (subsidized and unsubsidized) at 6.62% by Sallie Mae. The total amount of the loans is just shy of $90,000. I requested forbearance because I simply could not pay anything towards the principal during this time. I attempted finding a better job, advancing in my current job ... but nothing worked. I then made a calculated decision to switch career paths. I am now working in real estate. After making the switch, I was able to enroll in the Income Based Repayment program (IBR) and my payments were $0. This was good having no payments, but KILLER knowing interest was accruing on such a high principal. My pay is commission only. However, I do some online work that generates income part-time, but it’s not at all consistent. With real estate, the first few years are tough. And to be honest, I may move on to something else if this doesn’t pan out. I’d put my income in the range of $20k-30k with both sources contributing. This is in the infantile stages - so I assume they will increase in future years.My income fluctuates. Some years it’s good, others it’s not good, some years it appears worse but is actually better due to deductions, etc. My credit score is very good, and I have no other credit other than a few thousand on a credit card that has 0% APR. I can pay that off if needed.

However, I would like to pay off my loans. I have no problem paying what I owe. I just have a problem with paying $800 worth of interest every month, or whatever ridiculous number it will end up being. I simply cannot afford more than a few hundred each month. But can’t risk more than that. And paying a few hundred to satisfy a fraction of the interest is just absurd.

Ideally, I would love to just have an interest rate reduction to 1% or 2% and make a $400-500/month payment towards the student loans. I realize this is likely not an option, but I’m hoping for some advice. I should note that the loans did get transferred to Navient as being my new servicer. I just received paperwork to reapply for the IBR, but I’m hesitant to do so before exploring any and all options - which is why I’m writing this post to you all.

With my income being non-guaranteed, I cannot afford to give up $500-1000+/month towards loans, because I still have tons of daily expenses to pay for, and I don’t have much left in savings at all. If I deplete my savings then I’ll simply be scraping to live off of credit - and I do NOT want to do that.

Of course I’m hoping for a break in my career, financially speaking. That would help things greatly. But even in the mean time, I’d love to make payments towards my principal knowing that interest would not accrue.

Is that possible? Would Navient allow me, in my current IBR $0 payment situation, to make $400-500/month payments with the interest rate down to 0% or 1% possibly?

Are there any banks/private entities who would buy my loans and allow me to refinance? Maybe some sort of government-backed entity, that way it would not need to profit if funded by the government?

I know I may be spinning my wheels here, but I figured I’d ask.

I WANT to pay off my loans. I HATE having them. And I can pay SOME. But I can’t pay a ridiculously high minimum payment based on the principal and not based on my income. However, with the IBR I’m still accruing 6.62% interest on the principal - so how is that helpful at all?! My loans are going up and up!

It’s not like I want to ignore them and have them go away, nor do I want to pay any less than what I borrowed. However, It would be nice to have an interest reduction to 0% so that it wasn’t and endless slippery slope to climb!

Any help/comments/tips/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I just wanted to bump this up to see if anyone can help?!

Thanks!

Hello, I feel your pain.  I would stay on IBR simply because you don’t want the loan to go into default if you can’t make the monthly standard 10 year payment. You can ALWAYS pay more than the monthly amount due under IBR… But I would clarify that with your servicer as I’m not sure how they apply overpayments by default. Plus there is loan forgiveness after 25 years, but this is not recommended because A) any amount forgiven is treated as taxable income and B) who really wants to keep paying their loans after 25 years?  I don’t think you can do anything about your interest rate except refinance and I’d be very careful about doing so, as private entities are much less forgiving on repayment terms. Are any of your consolidated loans direct loans? (They’d say direct in their title) if so you might be eligible for PSLF but you’d have to work in the non profit area for 10 years. This type of forgiveness is tax free. I’d explore your options to see if PSLF is an option. If not, stay on IBR and try to earn more to pay them off, and who knows, maybe congress will change IBR to make the forgiveness tax free. It’s definitely being discussed…