The Unique Finance Blog

Traditionally, one has looked to claim the payment of state income taxes as a deduction on federal taxes in one form or another. Recent legislative changes have added sale tax payments into the equation.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Ron Piner and I’m a practicing CPA in Maryland. From the time I was a young fellow in high school, I knew I wanted to be an accountant. Believe it or not, when I attended the University of Maryland, all I could think about was passing the CPA exam. The thought of being able to help individuals and businesses with financial issues ranging from the very basic to the most complex is an excitement I still carry this day. I love fielding questions, I love identifying the issues at hand, and I particulary love dealing with folks who take interest in their financial matters on a proactive basis.

It is schooldays and its memories, which often knock our mind in loneliness. These carefree days are again replaced by college days, when we start thinking seriously about our career. These days various kinds of pressure tend to revolve around the mind including all the bills, which were left unpaid. Subsequently, a student falls in debts and it starts growing day by day. However, with the help of a debt consolidation loan, a student can change the story.

Keeping in mind that the cost of college education is much higher than it used to be, by the time you graduate from high school you already need to consider applying for one or several student loans. Fortunately, taking up several student loans is not complicated as there is a student loan consolidation program available to you that will roll all your existing loans into a single one. The federal government, in its efforts to provide accessible and affordable education for all, has set low and fixed interest rates on all federal student loans and is also offering a student loan consolidation program with flexible repayment schedule and reduced interest rates. All the advantages of loan consolidation are available to you: you make a single payment every month instead of the several payments you initially had, the amount of money you pay is lower than the sum of amounts you had on your previous loans and there is only one lender that you make the payment to. Also, applying for a student loan consolidation program is an easy process that does not involve any credit checks and does not require you to pay any additional fees or charges. Advantages and disadvantages of a student loan consolidation program With the student loan consolidation program you get all the advantages that come with rolling several different loans into one. The interest rate is lower than the average of your previous interest rates, which means you can actually save money while you are repaying the loan, and it is not subject to change for the duration of your repayment schedule. The repayment plan is flexible, you can extend the period you need to pay back the loan, or you can choose to pay the entire sum earlier with no additional prepayment penalties. There is also the option of making the payments online which decreases the rate of interest by 0.25% and also keeps you constantly up to date with the details of your repayment status. There are, however, a few disadvantages. For instance, before applying for a student loan consolidation program you need to do the math of your existing loans properly. If some of your loans have extremely low rates of interest it is not advisable to consolidate them because after they are averaged with the interest rates of your other loans the rate will increase and you will end up paying more money. In this situation it is better to pay your low interest loans separately and only consolidate your other student loans. Also, always keep in mind the repayment schedule flexibility offered by the student loan consolidation program. You can stretch the payments to a period of 30 years, but it is advisable that you prepay the loan if such an opportunity arises. This will save you the interest added in time, therefore meaning that the amount you prepay is much lower than the overall sum you would pay in 30 years. The student loan consolidation program is an effective tool in simplifying your repayment schedules and lowering your interest rates.

If you are an American student or one studying in an American school, then you are eligible for federal student loan consolidation from the U.S government.

Federal student loan consolidation plans are applicable for all students whether you are still in school or a recent graduate or already into your new career.

The Federal Student Loan Consolidation Program offers numerous benefits including locked-in interest rates that may save borrowers thousands of dollars and may cut monthly payments by up to 60 percent. NextStudent, the Phoenix-based premier education funding company, takes those incentives one step further by offering students a .6 percent discount if they consolidate their student loans during the six month grace period after graduation.

You are getting a few student loans to support your study. After the graduation, you need to start repaying these student loans. These student loans come with different interest rates and they have different repayment due date for each month. You may find it difficult to manage your multiple student loans and any late payment or miss payment may hurt your credit rating.

Getting a personal loan to finance student debts allows you to combine all federal student loans into one loan with one single monthly repayment. These payments are considerably lower than those required for the normal ten-year payment option. Through the FFEL (Federal Family Education Loan) Program all banks, credit unions, and other types of lenders can offer this loan. The federal government also provides this loan through the Direct Loan Program (William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan).

Federal Student Loan Interest Rate and Consolidation Fact Sheet.

Click here to download interest rates table.

It is quite difficult for graduates to find easily and immediately a job to be able to cover their daily expenses and pay back the loans for their recently graduated studies. Most lenders offer a period of grace for six month after graduation, but sometimes it may take more than a year for a graduate to find a decent job. Even if they do find such a job, they discover that as a beginner they are underemployed, work part-time or even have a temporary employment with no perspectives. So, after the six month period of grace the re-payment is supposed to begin, and they need help if they are in the impossibility to cover all their expenses, including the loans.