What To Do Before Your First Student Loan Payment Is Due

American Investment Planners LLC

500 North Broadway, Suite 260, Jericho, NY 11753

(516) 932-5130 / (866) 932-5130

For those of you who graduated from college this past spring or summer (either from undergraduate or graduate programs), the due date of your first student loan payment is likely approaching rather quickly. And with that, we know, comes a lot of questions regarding how to best tackle repayment. While you may not have had a need to think too deeply about student loans following graduation due to a grace period offered by your lender, now is the time to start planning for a successful repayment experience and get the answers to those questions you have.

To help you out to some extent, here are three tasks we encourage you to complete prior to the first due date:

1. Organize yourself: Most importantly, you must get organized. After all, with potentially thousands of dollars in student loans in your name, you want to minimize any chances of missing a payment - the consequences aren't always nice! Before your first payment is due, make it a priority to put together some sort of folder that details all loans, including lenders, loan amounts and future due dates. 
2. Develop a budget: Now that you have a new payment to make each month, you may need to adjust your budget to make room. Since putting this off until after you start repayment could make your finances a bit messy, it's best to take care of this well in advance. This way, you can start cutting back where necessary if needed and get yourself into a new routine.
3. Learn about repayment plans: If after creating a budget you realize your current minimum payments are not affordable, you may be able to speak with your lender about other options that work in your favor. Should this be the case, you'll want to have this discussion as soon as possible to avoid the potential for defaulting if the payment hasn't changed.

Although paying back your student loans can be a bit of an intimidating experience, it definitely doesn't have to be! By staying on top of it and keeping communication open with your lender, it can be a seamless process that leaves you with no concerns.

Aside from the process of paying back student loans, do you have other questions about your finances as they relate to college, such as what the best approach to saving for tuition is? For information on this topic, please contact American Investment Planners LLC at (516) 932-5130. As a team of financial planners who have experienced this ourselves, we know what it takes to make the entire process a success!