[24640] in APO-L
[APO-L] FYI- Financial info for graduating and alumni brothers
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Kathryn Zibell)
Fri Apr 1 04:59:21 2005
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 2005 09:57:21 GMT
Reply-To: Kathryn Zibell <kzibell@juno.com>
From: Kathryn Zibell <kzibell@juno.com>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
Brothers-
An excellent article about student loan refinancing was posted recently on smartmoney.com. The interest rate on many student loans is reset every July 1 for the next twelve months. This rate is expected to go up siginificantly this year as the Federal Reserve keeps raising interest rates. Those graduating in May need to consider whether they want to refinance immediately to lock in a lower rate for the life of their loan or keep their six months of no payments after graduation. Even if you can't consolidate at the lowest rates that graduating seniors can, you need to consider if you want to lock in a consolidated fixed rate as there is a movement in Congress to eliminate the current fixed rate refinancing of loans. The article explains multiple scenarios in detail which may be relevant to your personal situation.
http://www.smartmoney.com/consumer/index.cfm?story=20050331
If the link doesn't work, go to smartmoney.com, then go to the Consumer Action section and search for "Student Loans Get More Expensive" by Aleksandra Todorova.
Just thought I'd bring this to the attention of those who may benefit. Remember you can deduct student loan interest up to $2,500 per return on your federal 1040 if your modified adjusted gross income is below the phaseouts ($50,000 for single/head of household or $100,000 for married filing joint).
Kathryn "Kat" Zibell,
UMKC Masters degree student in Accounting
IRS Enrolled Agent
PS File your tax returns by April 15. If you can't meet the deadline, file an extension but remember that an extension is only extra time on filing the paperwork, not sending in the money.
