Accelerate your payments as your income grows

The main and primary financial benefit of loan consolidation is simplified your payments. Rather than five, ten, or more payments every month, you have only one or two payments to make. Your options depend on many factors, including: whether your loans are federal or private (and you may have both), how much you earn, what assets you have, and whether you’re being contacted for collections.

In many cases, debt consolidation stretches the term of the loan, so you may actually pay more in interest over the life of the loan. If possible, try to accelerate your payments as your income grows to avoid paying additional interest. However, any discounts you receive for consolidating student loans will reduce the total interest you pay over the life of the loan.

Finally, student loan consolidation makes it easier to keep track of total annual interest paid. That figure is important if you are eligible for the student loan interest tax deduction. Although the deduction will not save you a lot of money, every little bit helps. It is hard to give any specific, helpful advice, without knowing more details about situation. A first step is trying to speak to creditors or debt loan consolidation lenders, in order to work out some kind of payment plan.