Student loan refinancing has been a hot topic during the past several years. Trendy new companies – like SoFi, Earnest, LendKey, and CommonBond – have been offering slick refinancing products to entice borrowers. Major banks and credit unions have also jumped in, sometimes offering tantalizingly low interest rates. The best loan products are generally marketed to doctors, lawyers, and other high-income professionals who tend to have large amounts of federal student loan debt, but great earning potential and excellent credit.
A lower interest rate is often the central reason to explore refinancing; after all, a lower interest rate will save you money in the long run, and could lower your monthly payments, as well. But that’s not the only thing borrowers should be considering. Turning federal student loans into private student loans through refinancing can have major, irreversible consequences, and it’s important to know what you might be giving up in exchange for that lower rate.Read More