Spread the love















With the amount of college debt soaring in the United States, it only makes sense to seek out student loan help from professionals. Unfortunately, some of the student loan debt advice is not good.

It’s only natural to get some student loan debt help, but be careful where you get it from. There are some myths and rumors floating around out there, with cases of people being told that they don’t have to actually pay back their student loans.

Don’t believe everything you read out there. Check with a professional before you make changes to your college debt. Here are 5 examples of student loan help that is just wrong:

1. You Only Need To Make Monthly Minimum Payments

Many people are satisfied with only making their monthly minimum payments, but this is not a viable strategy. Unless there is a penalty, your goal should be to pay off your student loans as soon as possible. Paying off your student loan early means that you won’t have to pay anymore interest (even if it is low and tax deductible). Additionally, paying it off early means that you will have more time to invest your money so that it can grow.

2. You Don’t Have To Actually Pay Your Student Loans

People seeking student loan help might discover that they can avoid paying their debt by deferring it. In fact, more than 3,000 people default on their students loans every day for various reasons. There are numerous repercussions when you don’t pay your loan. First, your credit score will likely drop and you could end up with major legal problems. More importantly, you will not be eligible for student loan forgiveness programs. Also, any loan that is not subsidized by the government will have interest that continues to accumulate.

3. You Shouldn’t Invest In A 529 Plan

529 plans are great way to pay for upcoming college expenses, and thus lowering your need for student loans, because of the tax benefits. However, some people don’t save in a 529 plan because they are afraid that it might diminish their potential federal aid. What most people don’t realize is that if the 529 plan is owned by the parents, it will only impact about 5 percent of financial loan eligibility. In short, more money in a 529 plan means that you will have to borrow less money for college.

4. You Should Get More Student Loans Because You Want To Improve Your Credit Score

There are cases of people who might take out more student loans than what they actually need just to improve their credit score. The problem with this is that the amount of student loans does not impact the credit score. In fact, making timely loan payments has a bigger impact on credit score. Also, it should be noted that a credit score is not the most important financial number.

5. You Should Turn To Credit Cards For Student Loan Help

As a way to get rid of student loan debt, some people might be told to pay off the loans with a credit card and then just pay the credit card off as time goes on. This is a pretty silly move. Interest rates on student loans are low and interest rates on credit cards are high. For the sake of student loan help, please don’t use your credit cards.