If you’re one of the more than forty million Americans with student loans, you know what a drag they can be on your financial life.
Right out of grad school my wife and I owed approximately $1,000 a month (minimum) towards student loans. It doesn’t take a mathematician to realize what a drag that can be on your finances.
The impact of student loans can go beyond simply impacting your finances, though. It can be exhausting dealing with them. It can take a toll on your mental health, relationships, and even your physical health.
After going through the process of writing my first book, I wasn’t sure I would write a second. It had to be the right topic.
Student loans was the right topic.
I’ve seen firsthand (and experienced) what an incredible burden student loans can be. I’ve also noticed the troubling divide we are seeing in our society between those with student loans and those without.
Simply put, those with student loans need to be more focused, work harder, and be on top of their money more than those who don’t have them. Every financial decision needs to be made in context of those loans, especially those with $25k, $75k, $200k, or more.
That’s where my new book comes in. Student Loan Solution: 5 Steps to Take Control of your Student Loans and Financial Life is meant to be the ultimate book for those with student loans.
Based on the research I did for this book, I strongly believe that most student loan borrowers are unaware of their repayment options, nor whether or not they are leveraging the best strategy. I myself virtually stumbled upon Public Service Loan Forgiveness, not knowing what a huge benefit it could be for me and my wife (she’s a therapist who works for an eligible nonprofit employer).
If you have student loans you NEED to understand your loans and options.
In the book I go through all the ins and outs of student loans, including:
- Finding your loans
- Creating a Student Loan Snapshot
- The different types of student loans
- Deferment and Forbearance
- What to do if you fall behind on your payments (including if you default on your loans)
- Student loan refinance
- Student loan consolidation
- The standard ten-year repayment plan
- Income-driven repayment plans
- Other repayment plans
- Opportunities for loan forgiveness (including Public Service Loan Forgiveness, or PSLF)
Unfortunately student loans are complicated, and if you are pursuing something like Public Service Loan Forgiveness you may have a lot riding on making the right choices. Student loan servicers have received a ton of bad press lately because they have fed borrowers, at times, information that is totally false. You need to understand your loans and repayment plan, because servicers can’t be trusted to give accurate advice.
I have a free companion student loan spreadsheet (you can download it here) that goes with the book. There are a handful of calculators and resources within the spreadsheet to help you keep track of your loans, see what different repayment plans would cost you, and more.
But wait!
One of my biggest goals with this book was to not simply organize a bunch of information on student loans and put them in the book. My focus and my heart has always been for helping people improve their financial life.
It would be a missed opportunity if I simply stopped at explaining the ins and outs of student loans.
So what I did with this book was cover topics that ultimately hit on a bunch of ways to evaluate your finances and ultimately improve them. The best thing about improving your finances is that it is a lifelong journey. Each day, week, month, and year you can make progress towards your financial goals and put yourself in a better place financially.
I interviewed a dozen experts and I dive into topics such as:
- Money Mindset – Student loans can have a negative impact on your mindset and outlook on yourself as an individual, your life, money, relationships, and more. In fact I think this is such an important topic that it’s the very first thing I go over in the book. And yes there absolutely are exercises included to help you move into a more positive mindset that is life-giving and feeds you truths instead of lies.
- Budgeting – (cue the groans) yes budgeting isn’t the sexiest thing in the world, but I truly think that in order to make the best financial decisions you need to, at minimum, understand your income and expenses. In the book I talk a lot about options and strategies for budgeting, but we start by looking at your past three months of income and expenses and go from there. You can’t budget or have control of your money without understanding your spending!
- Credit – Credit impacts your interest rate and your ability to borrow. Understanding credit is important for maximizing your financial life so I go over the ins and outs of it in the book.
- Saving More Money – Saving money isn’t about cutting back on everything until you are miserable. It’s about prioritizing how you spend your money so that you are spending more of it on things you value, and less on things you don’t value. In the book I go category-by-category and provide potential “opportunities” where you can save more money.
- Other Debt – Student loans aren’t the only debt! Most people who have student loans also have other debt, whether it’s credit card debt, personal debt, a car loan, or a mortgage. Sometimes this debt can be crushing, and in the book I interview an expert on this topic to give you a clear “next step” if you are struggling with debt beyond student loans.
- Emergency Fund – You already have huge student loan payments, how in the world could you possibly set aside more money each month to build an emergency fund? This is an extremely important topic and in the book I talk about a specific reason those with student loans need to make an emergency fund their top priority.
- Investing – Investing, like an emergency fund, may feel impossible for some student loan borrowers. But what if you can afford the minimum payment? Should you invest any extra money or put it towards your debt? I bring in an expert to give their feedback, plus I reveal in the book why it might make logical sense to put as much as you can towards tax-advantaged accounts (i.e. 401k, 403b, HSA, etc.) if you are on the path to Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
- Mental Health – Many who have student loans, especially those who struggle to pay them, feel shame. They suffer quietly and silently, and some do consider drastic measures like suicide. It’s so important for us to bring mental health into the student loan conversation.
- Relationships – As I mentioned earlier one damaging aspect of student loans is the growing divide between those who have student loans and those who do not. This can have an impact on your relationships, and if you have student loans I desperately want a relationship for you where you are valued and your student loans are not something your partner holds against you. We discuss this important topic in the book.
- Making More Money – My entire first book was about making extra money above and beyond your 9-5 through side hustles. I condensed this content and included a section about it in Student Loan Solution as well, because I think creating side income streams can be powerful. I also interviewed a career expert to get her thoughts on increasing income at your 9-5, which can be easier to do than starting a side hustle (not that you can’t still start a side hustle if you succeed in this).
I went all out making sure that anyone who reads Student Loan Solution is given a ton of value. Like I said, this isn’t simply a book that goes over the basics of student loans. If you read this book you will have a great base of knowledge of student loans but also have a path for improving your overall financial life. But unlike most books and blogs, every topic I hit on, whether investing or emergency fund or relationships, is discussed in the context of student loans.
Please consider purchasing a copy of Student Loan Solution! And if you don’t have student loans please consider getting it for someone you know. Thank you!
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