Should You Consolidate Your Student Loans?

By Christine Aberworthy

There are quite a few advantages to be had by consolidating student loans. In many instances, making the effort to do so results in paying less per month than you would without the consolidation. This is because of the fact that you are paying interest on the basis of one source of money rather than many varying sources. As you can obtain one interest rate for all of the loans that you possess, you often lower the rates you are paying for several of your loans. Also, taking the time to consolidate student loans results in the fact that you will only have to remember to make one remittance instead of many. Since forgetting to pay a bill is the single most cause of late payments, you can prevent this from damaging your credit rating.

Once you come to a decision to consolidate student loans, there are a few factors that you will want to keep in mind. For starters, you will need to ensure that your interest rate is similar to when you got the loan. While you could end up making reduced monthly payments now, you could wind up with a much higher bill afterwards. Companies like to promote loans with low monthly payments and lengthier amortization periods because this allows them to get a higher yield. The longer your loan lasts, the more interest that they accrue on a monthly basis.

If you are considering consolidating your student loans, research the final figure after interest has all been paid off. Although your monthly installment might be lower, it might cost you a great deal of money in additional payments if you select a lesser payment over a more prolonged amortization period.

The next thing you need to think about when it concerns consolidating your student loans is the global financial situation. If the economy is offering very low interest rates, it could be worth consolidating, as your total amount payable and your monthly installments would both decrease. Conversely, if the marketplace is doing poorly, you might not save a lot on your monthly installment and end up having to pay a great deal of extra cash you would not have needed to if you had left your loans alone.

Unless you settle on your loan, consolidating your student loans will not create any problems pertaining to your credit rating. This is because you are still paying the same base amount, you are simply altering the way in which you are paying it off. It is only once you make changes and settlements that alter the base amount that your credit rating might be damaged.

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