What To Do When Student Loans Start Piling Up
By Lynne Adkins
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Your son has just graduated from college and is looking for work. But, he's thousands of dollars in debt and it's time to start re-paying those loans. What do you do?
The worst thing you can do is ignore the debt, according to Tom Smedile, a CPA with Swarthmore Financial Advisors in Media. If you're broke and have no income, call (don't text) the lender and ask for help. So, how do you find out who to call?
"Either contact your financial aid office to get the specifics of what you really borrowed or go to a website called StudentAid.ed.gov."
If you need help, contact the lender and ask for a deferment or forbearance, "where, due to circumstances, they could be entitled to hold off on payments for a particular period of time or restructure the loan to reduce the amount of payments and extend the term."
But, if the money isn't repaid, there's less cash for the needy incoming freshman.
