What the f*ck is going on with student loans right now? 🤷

Good afternoon. You may have noticed that I haven’t been sending many emails lately. Truth be told, there’s just been so much back and forth on the payment pause, the Supreme Court Case and it’s really taken it’s toll, I’m sure for many of us.

With that being said, I think there’s a real opportunity to continue with Dwindle and help others with staying on top of the recent news. Even with Student Debt Relief in limbo, I started Dwindle with an aim to help others stay informed and motivated while getting out of debt - and I plan to continue this!

I’ve noticed over the past 2 years that posts or updates about what’s going on in the news, broken down in my own words, have performed really well. So here’s to 2023 and a little of what you’ll see from Dwindle in the future.

Recent news

A summary: The Supreme Court heard arguments on February 28 regarding student loan forgiveness. At this time, it’s a waiting game. I follow a few reporters who were live tweeting while arguments were given and it sounded as though student debt forgiveness has a shot of going through.

On the other hand, many news reports came out shortly after the hearing claiming student debt forgiveness would likely be shot down. So which is it? 😅

We just have to wait and see. Reports say most Supreme Court decisions are issued in June.

A summary: If you haven’t heard, Silicon Valley Bank was in the news last weekend as it was being shut down for basically being run poorly. Essentially as a bank, they take depositors money and invest them in.. normally safe things (like bonds). However, with the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates to slow down inflation 🙃 those bonds turned out to be a not so great investment.

Lines of people could be seen trying to withdraw their money as panic set in and big name Venture Capitalists started to tell their companies to pull their money out of the bank while they could. So is this considered a bailout?

Many can be seen arguing over the internet about this being a bailout for the rich or not. The fact is the government stepped in, within 48 hours, to help resolve this whole mess. Why don’t those with student loan debt get the same resolve? Why is student debt forgiveness at the mercy of the Supreme Court, where we have to wait until June for an answer?

Helpful information

A summary: Check out this blog article if you want some more information on what an employer student loan repayment benefit is and which companies offer them. I’ve been at my full-time position for close to 3 years now and have received $1,000 each year, as a lump sum, towards my student loan debt. In June, I’ll be receiving $6,000 towards my student loan debt as this is a part of the benefit I have at Chegg.

It may seem like a never ending fight to pay off your student loan debt, but this is an absolute hack to make more of a dent and pay down the principal balance much faster.

A summary: Do you know who your student loan servicer is? A couple weeks ago I logged into EdFinancial only to find out that my student loan balance was $0. LET’S GO!!

Hold that thought.. turns out Nelnet, another federal student loan servicer, paid off my balance as my balance was essentially just transferred to yet again another servicer. I did not receive an email, no phone call, no notification that this was happening. In the past 2 years my loan has been moved from FedLoan Servicing, to EdFinancial, and now to Nelnet. 🤔 

Do yourself a favor and get in touch with your student loan servicer and confirm everything is squared away so you are ready to make payments again, pending when the pause ends.

That’s it for now

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please let me know! I’d love your feedback on if this was helpful or if you have any requests. My goal is to get something like this out once a week, or bi weekly.

Have a great rest of your weekend and be on the lookout for future emails!

- Jesse