Question: Dear Steve, This is concerning student college loans… I enlisted in the Army Reserves in 1994, did not get the loan repayment option in my contract (nor did I know about it at the young age of 17). I attended college, by use of unsubsidized Stafford Loans. Graduated college and have been serving active … Read more
Recently President Trump directed the Department of Education to wipe out the federal student loan debt for 25,000 completely disabled veterans, who appear to be the group already in default. He received a lot of praise for this effort. One headline read “Trump’s debt forgiveness for disabled veterans is ‘our duty as Americans.” Watch the … Read more
The Department of Education has identified 42,000 veterans who are entitled to a federal student loan discharge without any risk of paying federal taxes on the forgiven debt. However, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has said even though the Department of Education has matched student loan records with disability records from the Department of Veterans Affairs, … Read more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has put out information that does a great job illustrating how badly military servicemembers have been and continue to be screwed over by crappy student loan servicers. Here is what the CFPB shared today. — The unique nature of life in the military can create financial challenges for servicemembers. This … Read more
When I signed up for the Army, it was not a popular time to serve our country in the military. People who understood what it meant to serve congratulated me, while others thought I was making a big mistake, or worse, ridiculed me because of Vietnam, but I wanted to follow in the footsteps of … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, Well I have a 3 fold question or problem I guess you could say. First one is regarding my daughter, Sarah. Sarah has over $60,000 in student loan debt. She graduated, top of her class with a Bachelors in Graphic Design, was out a year and could not find a job. She … Read more
Members of the U.S. armed forces, Coast Guard, veterans, and their families face financial challenges often not adequately addressed by resources designed for the general public. Two leading nonprofit organizations are now working together to deliver financial education solutions to members of the military and their families in libraries across the country. The National Foundation … Read more
“Dear Steve, I work retail making $11 hr. I’m also in the army reserve. I was attending Everetts College before I was deployed to Afghanistan. I was there for 1 year. I was not able to continue classes. When I returned and tried to get back in school I was refused that because there was … Read more
“Dear Steve, My husband is in the US Army has been proudly servicing since 1998. He is considering retirement (he has prior service before 1988 which counts towards his 20 years). He has about $44,000 left of his student loans. His loans were consolidated since shortly after 1998 (his graduation from vet school). We don’t … Read more
by Paul Kiel, ProPublica, and Mitchell Hartman, Marketplace, May 15, 2013, 5:50 a.m.by Paul Kiel and Krista Kjellman Schmidt, ProPublica, May 15 This story was co-produced with Marketplace. Listen to their coverage. Seven years after Congress banned payday-loan companies from charging exorbitant interest rates to service members, many of the nation’s military bases are surrounded … Read more
More and more at GetOutOfDebt.org we are getting questions about how to get your student loans eliminated, forgiven, or discharged if you are in or served in the military, police officer, teacher, librarian, or other public service employee. It is absurdly ironic that members of the military can go into harms way, fight in combat … Read more
“Dear Steve, 12 years of military service. 1 bad decision to get student loans while active duty. I have accrued some debt with student loans while on active duty and have defaulted because I am overseas and don’t have the info for the lenders and now Im afraid they are going to take my tax … Read more
“Dear Steve, I am so glad to have come across your website. I am presently in a situation for which I need help. I have recently retired from the Navy. Unfortunately my income has dropped by approximately 70% and my expenditures have increased, i.e. monthly co payment/deductibles for Health/Dental insurance. I thought I could manage … Read more
“Dear Steve, Military Member in the Reserves, Student loan forgiveness and lender credit freeze at a 6% interest rate How does the loan forgiveness work for military members? I have been in the Army Reserves for the past 2 years does the program apply to me? I was also wondering about the 6% interest freeze … Read more
“Dear Steve, I am recently military retiree (Jun 2012) who was making around $135K, upon retirement and losing my civilian job a few months ago I found myself in a real hole living off about 40% of $135K or about $48K and a small teaching job of $900 per month. TO make a long story … Read more