ORLANDO, Fla. – America, time is running out!
Oct. 1 marks the end of the “pause” for an estimated 45,000 who currently hold student loans that have been on hold for more than 40 months.
If you are surprised, you are not alone.
A new CNET survey found that over 40% of federal student loan borrowers don’t know if they’re eligible for an income-driven repayment plan, “an awareness gap,“ writes CNET editor Nick Wolny, “that could lead to both budget turmoil and increased susceptibility to financial scams for millions when payments resume next month.”
Wolny told News 6 he recently applied for a monthly payment adjustment under the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan, announced by the Biden administration in late August.
After crunching the numbers, he cut his monthly student loan payment to a more affordable number.
“In layman’s terms, it really is going to be half the payment or less,” Wolny said. “I think one of the reasons consumers are slow to pick up on it is because student loans have been in the news for a while now, people say, ‘Oh here we go again,’ but this time it’s for real.”
Find more reports from News 6 Investigators on YouTube:
The plan is based on your income and with 1 in 5 borrowers facing a monthly payment of more than $500 it is worth reviewing.
According to the Federal Student Aid web site, the SAVE Plan “calculates your monthly payment amount based on your income and family size. The SAVE Plan provides the lowest monthly payments of any IDR plan available to nearly all student borrowers.”
The thing you must remember is part of the loan is not forgiven, you are simply extending the length of the loan to lower your monthly payment.
That brings us to the con games.
New research by Transaction Network Services found that imposters posing as representatives of financial institutions have been flooding phone lines with robocalls to the tune of 350,000 calls in a two-week period in September.
The trusted site to apply for a save loan adjustment is: studentaid.gov/save.
If you have a consumer, unemployment or banking issue email makeendsmeet@wkmg.com.
Or text the words “make ends meet” at 407-676-7428.
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