Would You Let This Company Pay Off Your Student Loans?

Student loans are quietly crushing so many of us.

Americans collectively have an enormous $1.5 trillion in student debt, according to the Federal Reserve. Borrowers with education debt typically owe $20,000 to $25,000, and 20% of them have started missing payments.

Translation: A whole bunch of us — tens of thousands of us — are falling behind on our student loans.

Let This Company Help You Pay Off Your Loans Faster

If you’re in this boat, you might have options you haven’t explored.

When it comes to paying off loans, one of the smartest steps you can take is to save money by paying a lower interest rate.

Try getting a lower interest rate on your federal and private student loans by refinancing with a company like Credible. Other companies offer similar services, but we like that the average Credible user saves about two interest points on their current federal loans.

Credible is an independent student loan refinancing marketplace. Unlike a bank, which will give you just one offer — or none — the site shows you a range of personalized offers from a variety of lenders.

Refinancing will generally mean replacing your laundry list of loans with one (or a few) loans that bring all of your student debt under one umbrella.

This could simplify your life with one monthly payment, instead of several. It may also lower your monthly payment, improve your interest rate and/or give you more time to pay.

It might seem like a small difference, but a lower interest rate can mean a lot of savings over time. It’s helping grad Ashley Williams save more than $18,000 in interest over the life of her loan!

“Refinancing knocked off at least five years in payments,” she says. Plus, Credible got her a 5% interest rate through Citizens Bank — much lower than the 6% to 9.5% that she was previously paying on her loans.

Mike Brassfield ([email protected]) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder. He’s done with student loans, thank God.