Section Menu
Meet Joe
- Age: 27
- Income: $34,000 per year
- Schooling: Bachelor's degree from a 4-year university
- Loan debt: $24,000 federal, $4,000 alternative
Joe's situation
Joe has been making monthly student loan payments (on time) for more than 5 years. But Joe just lost his job…
Read Joe's story
Joe is in a panic. He's out of work, but he still has a lot of bills to pay. Fortunately, as part of his monthly budget, Joe saved 5% of his salary for emergencies, and he's eligible for unemployment assistance. It's a small relief that he can keep paying his $1,000 mortgage while he looks for work.
But Joe is facing a slew of other bills—utilities, groceries, car payments, health insurance. He's managing for now, but the $315 he pays each month on his student loans is killing him.
The recession—he didn't see it coming. He never thought he'd lose his job.
Joe doesn't need a fancy lifestyle, but he does want to get married and have kids someday. Joe worries he'll have to put his entire life on hold now that he's out of work.
He's so overwhelmed he doesn't know where to begin. If he could just do something to lessen or postpone his student loan payment, it would be one less thing he'd have to worry about until he gets back on his feet.
Joe CAN deal with it
- Joe needs to call his loan servicer as soon as possible. Joe is not alone. He needs to contact his loan servicer to explain his situation and find out the options he has.
- Joe should not worry about making this call. Loan servicers are accustomed to talking with borrowers who are having financial difficulties.
- Joe may qualify for a deferment or forbearance. A deferment or forbearance would allow Joe to stop making loan payments while he is out of work. This temporary suspension of payments will give Joe some time to get his affairs in order and find another job. When he returns to work, he can resume making loan payments. He may also be responsible for paying any interest that accrued during his deferment or forbearance.