Repaying Student Loans 2009/10 guide discussion

Poolie

slam3000 wrote: »

Just a quick one. Can anyone tell me what the current salary threshold is for loans taken out pre-1998? I'm not working at the moment and have deferred until April 2012 but am hoping to get a job before too long and need to know how much I can earn before SLC start asking for repayments.

Apologies in advance if this has already been asked/stated.

Thanks.

This year it is £26,449 per annum

http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=93,3867045&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

slam3000

Poolie wrote: »

This year it is £26,449 per annum

http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=93,3867045&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

Thanks for that.

Do you know how they calculate the threshold each year?

Poolie

Its based on the average earnings of people in the UK.

Stephen_Dryden

Hello, I'm having a nightmare trying to work out whether I should pay more of my student loan off each month or just pay the minimum.

I started Uni in 2006 and I graduated last year with around 20k worth of debt, which is increasing £25 each month due to interest.

I'm Currently earning just over the £15k threshold meaning I pay around £7 towards my loan each month. This means that my loan is getting larger and larger.

Now I know that in theory, if I only ever earned the wage I'm on at the moment my loan would get cancelled before I pay it off. But can I rely on this? Is it possible that this 'cancelled after 25 years' thing could be dropped? Would it be worth paying £26 each month for example so that my loan doesn't grow?

melancholly

you'll never get a loan on better terms - you'd be better off paying £20 a month into a savings account to use for anything you need.

amiehall

It really is a personal decision. Since I left uni, I've always made sure I pay at least enough to cover the interest each month mainly because compounding makes me cry. It's not necessarily something that is all that "money saving" or whatever but a student loan is only ever going to be cleared by chipping away at it so I do like to keep chipping.

Oldernotwiser

amiehall wrote: »

It really is a personal decision. Since I left uni, I've always made sure I pay at least enough to cover the interest each month mainly because compounding makes me cry. It's not necessarily something that is all that "money saving" or whatever but a student loan is only ever going to be cleared by chipping away at it so I do like to keep chipping.

But it might be cleared by reaching the point when it's wiped out.

amiehall

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

But it might be cleared by reaching the point when it's wiped out.

My loan atm is around £9k so I'm pretty sure I would manage to pay it off under normal repayments. It makes me feel better to know the interest is always being paid. Either way, I just think £15 a month is a small price to pay for the peace of mind it gives me. It's not money down the drain and it is coming off my account balance.

saselite

hi,

so i recently recieved my students loans letter saying how much i owe and i have a few questions i thought i would put to you guys first. sorry if they're obvious..

my repayment letter states i owe approx £29,5K and that its already added interest over the last 7 months... i cant seem to figure out how and where they are making that amount of interest which varies between £35-£40.. ? and is there any way that this can be dropped or stopped until further notice?

the 2nd thing is. according to the repayment calculator i wont be able to pay my loan off within 25 years so it will get wiped clean... but im assuming when i do earn over 15k they will start deducting from my earnings.. so am i right that even though the 'money saving expert' says dont pay back your loan, it is in fact that i will be paying the loan back plus all that interest until either 25 years is up, or if i dont earn over 15k, or i manage to pay it all depending on my income.

i graduated last year and i am now working self employed, so i have to sort out all the paperwork etc.

any help is much appreciated just so i am clear on a few things.. thank you guys!!

MrsManda

saselite wrote: »

my repayment letter states i owe approx £29,5K and that its already added interest over the last 7 months... i cant seem to figure out how and where they are making that amount of interest which varies between £35-£40.. ? and is there any way that this can be dropped or stopped until further notice?

Interest is accurred daily from the day it enters your account until the day you pay it off/it gets cancelled. The interest rate changes every year. There is no way of stopping the interest being added other than paying off the loan.

saselite wrote: »

the 2nd thing is. according to the repayment calculator i wont be able to pay my loan off within 25 years so it will get wiped clean... but im assuming when i do earn over 15k they will start deducting from my earnings.. so am i right that even though the 'money saving expert' says dont pay back your loan, it is in fact that i will be paying the loan back plus all that interest until either 25 years is up, or if i dont earn over 15k, or i manage to pay it all depending on my income.

You signed a contract when you received your loans that you would pay 9% of everything you earn over £15,000 in repayments until the loan is repaid or swiped. This is what you will do.
MSE suggests not repaying when you don't need to (i.e. over 9% of what you earn over £15,000), not wholescale avoidance.