Refinancing your student loans can be a fantastic way to save some money and pay off your debt more quickly. But what if you opt for a shorter term when you refinance? Can you extend these terms in the future? It’s possible, but there are caveats that make it more complicated than simply calling up your lender and asking for longer repayment windows.
What are student loan refinance terms?
- Refinance terms are the length of time you will take to pay back your loan.
- Most student loans have a 10-year term, but longer-term options exist. “You’ll need to perform continuous refinances to reach up to a goal of a 30-year student loan refinance,” as Lantern by SoFi professionals says.
- The longer the term, the lower your interest rate is likely to be because it takes more time to pay off a loan with a lower monthly payment amount and less interest paid over time.
Why should you extend your student loan refinance terms?
There are a few reasons why you should extend student loan refinancing terms.
- You’ll lower your monthly payments and pay less interest over time. By extending the term of your loan, you’ll be able to pay off the principal faster than you would with a shorter term.
- You can get rid of your private student loans by consolidating them into one federal or government loan with fixed interest rates instead of variable ones that are tied to market conditions and not controlled by any organization. This will also help reduce monthly payments because there’s no need for multiple lenders with varying reputations and practices when they’re all under one umbrella like Sallie Mae or Nelnet (for example).
- If you have some high-interest debt still on top of your student loans–like credit cards–refinancing them into low-interest loans could help clear things up so that all those payments go toward getting rid of those debts instead!
How can you extend your student loan refinance terms?
If the prospect of paying off your loans in a shorter period of time is daunting, or if you simply want to spread out your payments over a longer period, you might be able to get an extension. Depending on the lender, this may come with some strings attached: For example, a rate increase or higher fees. So before overextending your term (and thus risking default), consider first whether this is what’s best for your financial situation and how it will affect repayment options down the road.
Refinancing without extending your term
- If you’ve already refinanced but would like to lower your monthly payments or pay off your student loan faster, consider using a lender that allows you to refinance without extending your term.
- This means that the total amount of interest you’ll pay is equal to or less than what you’d pay if you extended the term.
Not all student loans are created equal, and the right one might be a good option for you. If you want to extend your current refinance terms, take some time to research different lenders and their rates.
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