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Upcoming Student Loan Law Speaking Engagements

August 17, 2016 | Adam S. Minsky, Esq. Articles Student Loans 101

HeadshotI’m excited to announce several upcoming events where I’ll be presenting on student loan law topics. Check it out:

  • September 15, 2016, “Student Loans: Debt and Forgiveness 101,” Association for Behavioral Healthcare, Natick, MA.
  • September 18, 2016, “Student Loan Intensive: A full-day workshop for financial advisors,” 2016 Conference, XY Planning Network, San Diego, CA.
  • October 5, 2016, Student Loan Management for Attorneys and Law Students webinar, North Carolina Bar Association Center for Practice Management.
  • October 6, 2016, Student Loan Management for AmeriCorps Members webinar, AmeriCorps Legal Advocates of Massachusetts.
  • October 7, 2016, Student Loan Management for Financial Planners, Financial Planning Association of Massachusetts, Quincy, MA.
  • October 21, 2016, “Developing a Student Loan Practice,” Consumer Rights Litigation Conference, National Consumer Law Center and National Association of Consumer Advocates, Anaheim, CA.

Are you interested in a student loan training or workshop for your organization? Find out more, and let me know.

Articles Student Loans 101

8 Student Loan Tips for Recent Grads

August 10, 2016 | Adam S. Minsky, Esq. Articles Student Loans 101

If you’re a recent graduate from college or graduate school, you probably have a lot on your mind – employment, housing, bills, maybe even professional licensing examinations (I’m still traumatized from the bar exam). If you took out student loan debt to finance your education, you should be thinking about your student loans, too, even if you don’t want to.

A lot of people have advice and suggestions for what recent graduates should do with their student loans immediately after graduating. However, I have the unfortunate position of seeing what happens when borrowers don’t do the right thing – they may make a seemingly innocuous error or oversight, which can come back to bite them later in a very big and damaging way. The system shouldn’t be so tricky to navigate and so riddled with land mines, but unfortunately, that’s the student loan landscape that we currently have to work with.

Here’s what you should be doing and thinking about as a recent graduate with student loans:Read More

Articles Student Loans 101

Introducing “The Student Loan Handbook for Law Students and Attorneys”

April 4, 2016 | Adam S. Minsky, Esq. Articles Private Student Loans Student Loans 101

The Student Loan HandbookI am thrilled to announce the release of my new book, The Student Loan Handbook for Law Students and Attorneys, published by the American Bar Association. It’s the first and only book of its kind: a concise student loan management guide geared specifically to lawyers and soon-to-be law grads.

Here’s what the ABA has to say about the book:

Getting student loans is remarkably easy – but dealing with student loan repayment can be a nightmare. And as student loan debt continues to grow and repayment programs get even more complicated, it’s no wonder that so many borrowers feel lost. The typical college graduate takes on an average of over $30,000 in student loans, and the numbers are even more staggering for law school graduates. Considering the combined cost of an undergraduate and law school education, the average law school debt burden can easily exceed $100,000. With the many challenges unique to new lawyers, it can be difficult to create an effective plan for managing student loans while studying for the bar exam, searching for a job, and adjusting to a new work environment.Read More

Articles Private Student Loans Student Loans 101

Student Loan Scammers Using New Tactics to Target Borrowers

December 1, 2015 | Adam S. Minsky, Esq. Articles Student Loans 101

It’s no surprise that student loan scam operations have been cropping up all over the country. Given the exponential increase in student loan debt burdens, the complete disaster that is our student loan servicing system, and insufficient oversight by the federal government, it’s no wonder that people are looking for help anywhere they can get it. And whenever there are people in need, there are others who are looking to take advantage.

Luckily, we’re beginning to see law enforcement crack down. Just last week, the Massachusetts Attorney General announced a settlement with several major student debt “assistance” companies that charged excessive fees and engaged in overly aggressive and deceptive marketing practices.

I’ve already written several articles about predatory tactics that these scammers have been employing. These approaches include direct mail that uses official-looking letterhead (making it seem like it’s coming from the government); anonymous, non-credentialed staff selling services that borrowers can obtain for free; and advertising that references the Obama administration to make the services seem more “official.” Once a borrower makes contact and engages with the company, they are often charged excessive fees for services that can otherwise be done completely for free – and in the process, the companies sometimes mess up, make misrepresentations, fail to deliver, or they provide inadequate counseling, leaving borrowers in an even worse position than they otherwise would have been.

I’ve continued to monitor the operations of these companies, and lately I’ve been seeing some new marketing tactics that I wanted to share with you all:Read More

Articles Student Loans 101

Four “Secrets” About Income Based Repayment

September 16, 2015 | Adam S. Minsky, Esq. Articles Income-Based Repayment Income-Driven Repayment Pay-As-You-Earn Student Loans 101

Income-driven repayment plans such as Income-Based Repayment (IBR) and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) offer millions of federal student loan borrowers the opportunity to have a uniquely tailored monthly payment based on their income and family size. The programs also offer forgiveness of any remaining loan balance at the end of their respective repayment terms (20 or 25 years, depending on the program). Although far from perfect, for many borrowers these programs are the only thing standing between them and default, as “regular” repayment plans based on the loan balance would be unaffordable.

Income-driven repayment plans can be complicated to navigate, however, and not everyone knows some of the features that can provide even more relief. Here’s a short list of the most glaringly lesser-known programmatic features of income-driven repayment:Read More

Articles Income-Based Repayment Income-Driven Repayment Pay-As-You-Earn Student Loans 101

Updated Edition of “Student Loan Debt 101” Now Available!

August 24, 2015 | Adam S. Minsky, Esq. Articles Site & Practice News Student Loans 101

I am pleased to announce that my book, Student Loan Debt 101: The Definitive Guide to Understanding and Managing Your Student Loans, has been re-published to reflect recent changes in student loan law. This second edition contains critical new updates about federal student loan repayment plans, forgiveness programs, and federal default resolution programs.

Ebook-Cover-Small

The book is available in paperback and Kindle format, so check it out!

Articles Site & Practice News Student Loans 101

5 Ways Student Loan Borrowers Can Guard Against Identity Theft

July 7, 2015 | Adam S. Minsky, Esq. Articles Student Loans 101

There’s somewhere around $1.3 trillion in student loan debt out there, and millions of individual student loan borrowers. Those numbers are only going to continue rising, as evidenced by statistics from the Classes of 2015, 2014, and 2013.

Given these figures, student loan borrowers are being increasingly targeted by scammers and other entities that are looking to take advantage of people or steal sensitive personal data. What can you do to protect yourself?Read More

Articles Student Loans 101

Student Loan Benefits for Military Service Members

July 1, 2015 | Adam S. Minsky, Esq. Articles Income-Driven Repayment Loan Forgiveness Student Loans 101

There was a time when serving in the military could essentially guarantee a young American a free college education. Not anymore. Today, many people who serve in our armed forces are also student loan borrowers. Luckily, there are some important student loan benefits and programs that are specifically geared towards military service members, although too few people are aware of them:Read More

Articles Income-Driven Repayment Loan Forgiveness Student Loans 101

Adam S. Minsky is Lead Presenter at Student Loan Webinar

June 23, 2015 | Adam S. Minsky, Esq. Articles Default Income-Driven Repayment Site & Practice News Student Loans 101

I am thrilled to be the lead presenter tomorrow at the National Consumer Law Center’s webinar, “Federal Student Loan Repayment Options and Default Resolution.”

Tune in on Wednesday, June 24 at 2:00pm for an overview of options available to borrowers to repay their federal student loans and get out of default. The webinar is FREE and open to the public.

Articles Default Income-Driven Repayment Site & Practice News Student Loans 101

Understanding Student Loan Consolidation, Modification, and Refinancing, Part III: Refinancing

June 2, 2015 | Adam S. Minsky, Esq. Articles Student Loans 101

Many people want to better manage their student loans and optimize how they repay them. There are a variety of ways to achieve this, but (as is the case throughout many aspects of the student loan world) understanding the confusing array of options can be challenging.

In my next several articles, I’m going to give you a crash course in student loan “consolidation,” “modification,” and “refinancing.” People often casually use these terms interchangeably, but they actually can mean very different things, and it’s important to understand their definitions.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have discussed student loan consolidation, where you take out a new student loan to combine several different student loans, and student loan modification, where you change the terms and conditions of an existing loan. Today, the topic is student loan refinancing.

Student Loan Refinancing

Refinancing a student loan specifically means changing the loan’s interest rate, usually by taking out a new student loan with a lower interest rate to pay off and replace the loan with the higher rate. Refinancing can also act as a consolidation if you are including multiple student loans in a single refinancing program. If you lower your interest rate, you can potentially lower your monthly payments and pay less money in total over the course of the loan’s repayment term.Read More

Articles Student Loans 101

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Books by Adam S. Minsky

The Student Loan Handbook for Law Students and Attorneys

The Student Loan Handbook for Law Students and Attorneys

Student Loan Debt 101

Student Loan Debt 101: The Definitive Guide to Understanding and Managing Your Student Loans

Student Loans for Parents and Cosigners

The Student Loan Guide for Parents and Cosigners

617-936-2788
asminsky@minsky-law.com
By Appointment Only 265 Franklin Street, Suite 1702
Boston, MA 02110

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