The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 allows employers to provide up to $5,250 annually for student loan assistance as a tax-free benefit until Dec. Tip 2: Check with your employer to see if they offer student loan repayment assistance. If you qualify for either of those programs, you may want to discuss your situation with your loan servicer about whether paying down principal now makes sense. Under that program, you may have some of your balance forgiven after you’ve made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan. The government also offers income-driven repayment plans, which could lower your payments. Note: If you work for the federal, state, local, or a tribal government, serve in the military, or are in the nonprofit sector, you may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). Any payments you make now will go toward your principal since the interest rate is temporarily 0%. The federal loan “pause” still has a few months to go. Tip 1: Use the federal student loan moratorium to pay down principal. Similarly, if you have a graduate in your life, you can help them prepare.

If you’ve grown accustomed to having some extra play in your budget, now’s the time to start preparing so you don’t feel the squeeze when that first payment notice arrives.

(Check with your loan servicer about the actual start date.) 1, and the first payments are due in October. Are you ready? After a series of pandemic-related suspensions, thwarted forgiveness attempts, and court challenges, federal student loan payments are coming back.Īs things stand, interest will start accumulating on federal student loan balances from Sept.

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