Managing your debt
You'll have new sources of income, different types of expenses and, very soon, you'll begin repaying your student loans if you are not already. Here are some things you may need to account for.
Make a plan
You're on your way to a new career and new financial challenges. It's time to update your budget based on your post-school life. Make sure you take into account the following:
- Your salary
- New expenses (rent, groceries, utilities, etc.)
- Old expenses (cell phone, memberships, entertainment)
- Transportation (bus fare, gas, maintenance, car insurance)
- Student loan payments
- Retirement savings
Use College Answer®'s Monthly Budget Calculator to identify key budget items to better understand your financial situation.
With extended repayment, you may have up to 25 years to repay your federal student loans and up to 30 years to repay your eligible Sallie Mae private loans. While reducing your monthly payment, this option will increase the overall cost of the loan. Minimum cumulative outstanding loan balance by private student loan program requirements apply.
Build good credit
Your credit report details your credit habits from the day you began purchasing items on credit to the present. To ensure a good credit history, do the following:
- Pay your bills on time. If you don't have a long credit history, this is the most important thing you can do to get a high credit score.
- Don’t have too many open lines of credit, particularly revolving credit such as credit cards.
- Pay credit card balances completely each month.
- If you must keep balances on your credit cards, don't max out one card while maintaining smaller balances on others. Try to keep a small balance on each card.
- Avoid bankruptcy and tax problems.
- Regularly monitor your credit report for identity theft and reporting errors. You can get one free copy of your credit report per year. Visit AnnualCreditReport.com for details.
Get federal income tax relief and take advantage of education-related tax credits and deductions.* These benefits can significantly reduce your tax liabilities, by thousands of dollars in some cases.
*Consult your financial advisor for more information or visit http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/index.html.