Greetings to you, our (presumably) indebted clients and readers. We hope you’re staying warm and enjoying the final weeks of winter.
For starters, a special shout-out to those who have recently received loan forgiveness. Our own PSLF success stories keep growing, most recently a long-time client who saw a $335k balance reduced to $0!
The latest PSLF report shows $23 billion forgiven as of 12/31/22, up over 1100% from the prior year. We don’t expect this exponential growth to subside anytime soon… and here’s the latest for those of you in the queue:
Tax Season, Tax Strategies
Our lead story this month concerns taxes. While you may remember that taxes are a big part of your repayment/forgiveness strategy (particularly if you’re married), it’s been a few years since we dove into the weeds on strategy due to the payment pause. Plus, there are some unique considerations with the CARES Act still lingering for an uncertain amount of time during 2023.
We’ve drafted a completely fresh article here, which summarizes most of the tax concerns. While the DWOQ advisors are not CPA’s, they have become quite proficient with taking advantage of tax strategies in order reduce cost and maximize forgiveness. Register for a consultation if you’d like some personalized advice before filing this year.
MOHELA: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Like a malfunctioning Milli Vanilli tape, MOHELA continues to sporadically send both payment and IDR recertification notices to borrowers during CARES to Direct Loan borrowers. Just to reiterate, absolutely no payments on Direct loans are due while the Cares Act is still in place. When CARES is finally lifted (no later than June 30th), no payments will be due for 60 days, and no one needs to recertify their IDR plans before November of 2023. We’ll provide more clarity here as the Supreme Court Showdown unfolds.
Fresh Start Initiative for Borrowers in Default
For borrowers who fell into default before the payment pause, the Fresh Start initiative is a huge relief for those who follow the minimal steps required to get back in good standing. In the past, defaulted borrowers were required to follow a strict rehabilitation process over many months before they could get their loans back into good standing and then qualify for normal repayment and forgiveness plans.
The Fresh Start program allows borrowers to enter repayment, including IDR plans, creating affordable payments which align with your financial circumstances. This also makes those loans eligible for IDR and PSLF forgiveness if applicable. Click here to learn more and enroll for the program.
Social Media Resources
Would you like to get student loan updates more than once or twice each month? If not, will you help out anyway? We’ve increased the frequency and value of our social media content on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and recently launched a TikTok account as well. Here you will find recent stories (both organic and from other outlets), quick videos, collaborations with other partners, and information regarding DWOQ services and promotions. If you will please take a moment to like/subscribe/follow as appropriate, we would really appreciate it.
Consultation Capacity
Just a quick note here for both current and prospective clients. We are partnering with a record number of schools this year, and we expect our consultation calendar to be inundated with 2023 graduates in April, May and June. If you’re planning to connect with us this spring, we recommend you register now and grab your timeslot.
That’s all for now. As always, reach out to us at Help@slplive.wpengine.com if you have questions.
Brandon Barfield is the President and Co-Founder of Student Loan Professor, and is nationally known as student loan expert for graduate health professions. Since 2011, Brandon has given hundreds of loan repayment presentations for schools, hospitals, and medical conferences across the country. With his diverse background in financial aid, financial planning and student loan advisory, Brandon has a broad understanding of the intricacies surrounding student loans, loan repayment strategies, and how they should be considered when graduates make other financial decisions.
