Student Loans
Federal student loans for college can be an investment in your future.
Be strategic and deliberate about student loans
There’s a little bit of cognitive dissonance in spending so much time talking about minimizing debt and now talking about borrowing. It’s hard to hear the phrase “student debt” without adding “crisis” on the end. But for a lot of families, student loans are what makes college possible, and if you’re going to borrow, you need to be able to make good decisions about it.
The following sections will you understand “Student Loan Types" and “How Loans are Used” to pay for college. My College Financial Plan Masterclass contains deeper insights and lots of tools to help you understand student loans and how to pay for college that are likely to meet your budget and also your expectations of what constitutes a good educational experience.
Student Loan Types
Understanding your student loan options is the best way to save money on the cost of borrowing. Families who borrow for college have a lot of choices: federal or private student loans, personal loans, home equity loans, 401k loans… How do you decide? Let’s look at pros and cons of some of these, starting with the federal loan programs.
Learn more about:
Federal student loans and why they’re almost always your best option
Other loan types
And what you should never do
How Loans are Used
Ensuring that you and your student fully understand how loans work is essential to developing a plan to pay back that money you borrow.
I’ll cover:
Two components to student loan disbursement
More stuff
Income-driven repayment (IDR)
And more…
Building a College Plan
Planning puts you in control. It helps you achieve your goals, and gives you framework to guide your student. The earlier you plan, the greater the range of future choices you will afford for your student.
If you’re ready to build your plan, signup for my College Financial Plan Masterclass. The online self-paced e-course provides all the insights, tools, and resources required to successfully build your college plan.
In this section, I’ll cover the following key topics to help you develop a realistic and actionable plan:
Talking with your student about college: why it’s important to go, what your family’s budget supports, what is their long-term path and vision for adulthood
Where college fits in your overall financial picture
Establishing a draft college budget—savings, cash flow, borrowing.
How my family approached this.
