FormerLoanCollector

The three best options, in order are:

• Payment: If you can make more than the minimum payments, do it. Make higher interest loans a priority to get those paid off faster. If you can't afford your payments, talk to your lender about income based payment options.

• Deferment: If you are unemployed, serving in the armed forces or Peace Corps, on disability, enrolled in class, or have any other situation that makes it difficult to pay, you may be eligible to defer your payments for a set amount of time. Your lender will have the paperwork you need on their website or they can send it to you. For federal loans, you will not accrue interest on any subsidized amount during your deferment period.

• Forbearance: This is the last resort! If you don't qualify for any other options, you may be able to place your loans in forbearance for a set time period. This will defer your payments, but you will still accrue interest! Additionally, private lenders can charge a fee for forbearance, and there is normally a set amount of months that you can use it (60 for federal loans)

I'd go someplace sunny, personally.

No matter how high your loan amount is, you can usually work with your lender to arrive at a manageable payment amount. Also, some loans are forgiven after a set amount of time making payments. Student loan debt is pretty daunting, but lenders are normally pretty good about getting you into an affordable repayment situation due to the fact that if you can't pay, nobody wins.

3 Million.

Not at all! SAC and Sallie Mae are required to abide by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act of 1977. This prohibits collectors from intentionally harassing borrowers, disclosing information to unauthorized 3rd parties, and continuing communication after a written request to cease.

We did have a few bad eggs that would ignore these practices and call people more times than they were allowed to, or use strong-arm tactics on borrowers. Read and understand your rights as a borrower, and hold these assholes responsible! They are violating your rights, and company policy, and should suffer the consequences!

These are all good points, and definitely things to keep in mind when making investment decisions. Thank you.