student loans

Hi there
My wife has moved to the UK and has been here almost a year. she still has her student loan as does most US people. She currently sends payments back home and use's a company called sallie mae. Has anyone got any ideas on cutting costs or get student debts some relief. In the Uk we can pay any unsecured debts what you can afford but my wife says you can declare your self bancrupt but not stop paying your student loans...crazy. so anyone that has some help in this area let me know.

Thanks
stew

I just throw money at my loan when the exchange rate is good (like now!).  Fortunately mine was only $8000, so the exchange rate has helped me pay it down quickly.

I don't know about federal loans, though -- mine was sponsored by my state.

I know if she had a teaching degree in the US she would be forgiven some of the loans (depending on the state), but she would have to be working in the US, so unfortunately this doesn't help you.

Alternatively short of taking out a loan here in the UK & using those finances to pay off the loans in the US there really isn't anything you can do to "consolidate" student loans in the US...  (This may actually be a good idea as the pound is quite strong at $2.09 per pound as it was announced this morning!)

What she says is correct with student loans - if she would declare herself bankrupt she still has to repay the loans.  The only real way to have a stop on paying loans is to go back to school, however that just adds up more debt.   

Good luck!

I know if she had a teaching degree in the US she would be forgiven some of the loans (depending on the state), but she would have to be working in the US, so unfortunately this doesn't help you.

That's what mine were -- I repaid some of mine in service and then moved here, so now I'm paying the balance.   

Hi there
My wife has moved to the UK and has been here almost a year. she still has her student loan as does most US people. She currently sends payments back home and use's a company called sallie mae. Has anyone got any ideas on cutting costs or get student debts some relief. In the Uk we can pay any unsecured debts what you can afford but my wife says you can declare your self bancrupt but not stop paying your student loans...crazy. so anyone that has some help in this area let me know.

Thanks
stew

If she's with Sallie Mae I would think that she has many options to consolidate or try to negotiate a lower payment (esp if you are having financial problems). Assuming, of course, that the loans are not private ones (which I'm guessing not as I don't think Sallie Mae deal with them).

If you're having problems paying, your best bet is to contact them and see what they can help you do. If you just are annoyed you have this debt, I'm afraid you're just gonna have to deal with it!

Could you refinance your mortgage, pay off the loans, and then deduct the increased mortgage interest on  your taxes?

I'd pay off as much as possible with the exchange rate as it is.  The price of the loan is getting lower every month as the dollar collapses.

Student loans not only survive bankruptcy, but they often survive the debtor.  They sometimes go after the parents in cases where the student has died.

Thanks for all the advice, very helpfull. hope Sallie Mae are as helpfull


cheers

Sallie Mae have been pretty helpful with me - much more so than AES who SUCK. 

I would completely agree with those who have said that you should throw money at it now if at all possible while the exchange rate is what it is. In fact I'm presently skimping on absolutely everything else so that I can keep paying a reasonably high payment rather than negotiating an interest only payment or something like that - honestly do what you can to pay now if you're earning in £!!

Sallie Mae have been pretty helpful with me - much more so than AES who SUCK. 

AES blow.

I haven't had a problem with them, yet.

I haven't had a problem with them, yet.

I'm sure they're lovely until you miss a payment. Or unless you have a hard time figuring out how to pay them from abroad. Then they're rude, unhelpful, and evil.

When I moved I closed all of my US accounts, knowing I had no interest in coming back. When I started having to pay back student loans, I very happily started (and continue to) pay Sallie Mae with my UK debit card - they run it as a credit card payment and everyone is happy. But AES won't take credit cards. Or wire transfers. So I explained to them MANY times on the phone and by email that I was working on getting a new account (no easy feat from abroad - you can't do it by post so I had to use a relative's address, etc) as quick as I could (and reminded them that if they would just take a flippin' credit card like Sallie Mae none of this would be happening) and even though I was keeping them abreast of my situation and even though I applied for forebearance to buy me a couple of months to sort out a bank account, they actually had the balls to ring my brother at 6am one day trying to track me down. This after they'd spoken to me umpteen times and were **well** aware of where I was and how to contact me.

Oh, and don't even get me started on the fact that they continue to send all correspondance to my parent's address even though I've had ONE piece of mail to my UK address so I know that they know where I am.

So then I rang and asked for their complaints procedure. They don't have one. So I asked to speak to an ombudsman. Nope. So I asked how I complain. They told me to use the "feedback" function on their website.

   AES absolutely suck a$$.

Oh Anne. Yuck. I've had similar problems. Only worse since I've pretty much run out of forbearance time.  They are completely and utterly useless unless you are a model borrower.