Great question, John.

My inclination is to say that yes, SAVE would help you, even at your current income level. However, it would depend on a number of factors. Are you married? Do you have kids? Are you setting aside money for retirement? What other debts do you have? What does your income look like over the next 10 years?

My best guess is that SAVE is a good option for you, but because you are near the border, there are a ton of factors that come into play when putting together an optimal repayment strategy.

Hi Michelle,

You first questions are the easy ones: the time during the payment pause will count toward IDR forgiveness.

Additionally, some of your time from before you were on IBR may also potentially count toward that 25 years required, thanks to a progress update scheduled to take place this year.

Your last question is a bit harder to answer as it’s hard to say for certain without knowing more information. However, I will say, there is a very real possiblity that you will be much better off on SAVE. It will lower your monthly payments, and that subsidy will keep your balance from growing which is huge if the forgiveness is eventually taxed or you get a big raise and it makes sense to pay off the balance in full.

One last quick heads up, based on when you finished school and your loan balance, you may have FFEL loans. If you do, odds are pretty good that you will want to do a direct consolidation before April 30 due to the IDR adjustment deadline.

What’s you opinion on someone with $190k loans, been on IBR since 2017 (out of school since 2010). AGI $83k, 3 dependants – filing status married, but separated. So when applying I sent pay stubs for verification of only my income…

My thing is – I will obviously pay the whole 25 years, so do I worry about the balance (subsidy)? I don’t want to lose the IBR because you can’t go back after July. But I don’t want to miss this great SAVE if it will benefit me.

It is really hard to say what the “general” recommendation is because each situation is different. Do you both have student loans? Do You have kids? Will filing separately cause you to miss out on any tax breaks?

I’d suggest looking at the different considerations that go into deciding whether to file jointly or separately. I know it might seem complicated at first, but if you read the article that I linked to, the best route will hopefully stand out.

Also, if you both have student loans, this article tackles the tax status question for couples who are both on IDR plans like SAVE.

Feel free to reach out again if those two articles don’t answer your questions.

Many of the federal tools mistakenly assume that borrowers will be starting repayment for the first time when they enroll in an IDR plan. You will still keep your years of progress toward student loan forgiveness.

Bingo! Even if you plan on getting forgiveness, the SAVE subsidy is a game changer.

This is huge! Looking at a Tax bomb on 180k vs 300+K is amazing news!