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You may be wondering whether it makes sense to prepay student loans. The answer, not surprisingly, is that it depends. It depends upon your current financial situation, as well as your projected one. In general, there are three main issues you may want to consider:

•   Your cash reserves
•   The cost of your debt
•   The expected return on any investments

Your cash reserves are simple to understand and can be broadly summarized by your answers to the following questions:

•   Do you have enough cash saved up for unexpected bills? A commonplace goal is to hold six to 12 months in cash or very liquid, safe securities for an “emergency fund.”
•   If you lost your job, would you have enough cash reserves to find another one that you wanted?

If the answers are “no,” then building up sufficient savings before considering early student loan repayment is probably a smart idea. For the sake of this post, though, let’s assume you are okay with your cash reserves. The rest of this post can help you analyze those two key bullet points, as well as help you determine benefits of paying student loans early—and the life stages at which it might make good sense to do so.

Calculating the Cost of Your Debt

To determine the true cost of your debt, you’ll need to know what the real rate of interest is on your loans. With a credit card, it’s your annual percentage rate (APR). With student loans, the net cost of the loan is the rate you pay, adjusted for any tax benefit .

You may be eligible to deduct up to $2,500 in interest expense on your qualifying federal student loan. However, you only get this full deduction if you are making under $80,000/year ($165,000 for married filing jointly).

Calculating the Expected Return on Investments

Next, you need to determine what your expected return on investment could be for any cash that you’ve freed up and made available for investment purposes. It’s probably wise to consider the risk involved in each investment.

You can find basic information about common types of investments, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds and alternative investments in our blog post titled, “How Investments Make Money.” This post also shares information about typical levels of risk for various investment vehicles to help you decide your personal investment risk tolerance (or whether to invest at all).

Consider Your Loan and Investment Options

Armed with all this information, you can now more easily assess your options. If it’s important to you to begin investing for retirement, then it may make sense to keep investing and paying down your loans simultaneously, as opposed to dedicating all your resources to debt pay off.

Here are a few more things to consider: First, paying down any loans will generally help improve your FICO® score. That could be important to you if you are considering a large purchase in the future, like buying a home, which takes your credit score into account. Second, when measuring investments against debt, keep in mind whether you can afford to be wrong. What if that great stock tip tanks? Are you in any financial danger having not paid off your loans and put money toward riskier stocks instead?

If you’ve decided it’s time to invest more strategically, then check out an investment account with SoFi Invest®, where you get the combined benefits of automated-investing algorithms and advice from experienced human professionals. And, if student loan prepayment intrigues you, read on, keeping in mind that advice given in this post is shared on the assumption that you have sufficient emergency savings and isn’t intended to be financial or investment advice.

Potential Benefits of Paying Student Loans Early

Paying your student loans off early can make excellent sense because you’ll pay less interest during the life of the loan—sometimes significantly less. Money you would have paid in interest can be spent elsewhere, perhaps contributing to the down payment of your dream home or invested towards your retirement, as just two examples. Just make sure you let your lender know where to apply those prepayments and that you aren’t advancing your due date!

Here’s another possible benefit: If you’re buying a house or making another purchase of significance, lenders typically want to see that your total monthly payments will fit under a certain percentage of gross monthly income, often 43%. This is typically called your debt-to-income ratio. By paying off student loans early, you can reduce your debt-to-income ratio because the size of your debt might decrease once your student loans are out of the picture.

And, let’s face it—paying off debt provides a sense of relief, perhaps even of accomplishment. So, another potential benefit of paying your student loans early is peace of mind, which is priceless.
When It Might Make Sense to Prepay Student Loans

There are some stages in life that make it easier to prepay student loans than others. Times when it often makes sense to pay early include when you don’t have many other debts of significance, when you get a nice bonus at work, or when you get a raise. In fact, any time you discover extra wiggle room in your cash flow or have an unexpected windfall, consider whether it makes sense to pay more on your student loan balance.

Warning: Loan Prepayment Penalties

While student loans do not come with prepayment penalties, other loans sometimes do. If you’re paying off a personal loan early, for example, you may be hit with prepayment penalties. So be sure to check the loan notes you signed to see whether this type of penalty is included in the terms and conditions of your loans.

If there is a prepayment penalty included in one or more of them, this generally means the lender requires you to pay a certain amount of interest before you can pay off your loan. If you pay it off before you’ve fulfilled the minimum interest requirements, you can be charged a penalty.

Different lenders calculate prepayment penalties differently so, if this situation applies to you, find out how yours would be calculated. Some, for example, may charge you a year’s worth of interest as a penalty, while another may use a percentage of remaining principal to calculate the fees. Still others have a flat fee you pay, no matter how early the prepayment or how much you owe.

Check to see if your loan allows a partial payoff without penalty. In that case, you may be able to pay your loan down faster without having a penalty attached. Also, check to see if conditions of your prepayment penalty lessen over the years. Remember, it never hurts to talk to your lender to see if there are ways to sidestep or at least reduce the penalty.

Plus, here’s a piece of information to protect you in the future: Because of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), personal loan lenders must provide you with a document that lists any fees they will or can charge, including prepayment penalties. Armed with that knowledge, you can shop around for lenders that don’t charge them—such as SoFi.

Refinancing Student Loans with SoFi

SoFi is the leading student loan refinancing provider, with $18 billion in refinanced student loans from more than 250,000 members. Refinancing your student loans can allow you to shorten your term length, lower the interest rate on your loans, or lower your monthly payment by extending your loan term.

If you have unsubsidized federal loans, interest will begin to accrue during your six-month grace period. However, for those who qualify, you can refinance with SoFi during this period, and we will honor the first six months of any existing student loan grace period.

The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.
Notice: SoFi refinance loans are private loans and do not have the same repayment options that the federal loan program offers such as Income Based Repayment or Income Contingent Repayment or PAYE. SoFi always recommends that you consult a qualified financial advisor to discuss what is best for your unique situation.
SoFi does not render tax or legal advice. Individual circumstances are unique and we recommend that you consult with a qualified tax advisor for your specific needs.
The information provided is not meant to provide investment or financial advice. Investment decisions should be based on an individual’s specific financial needs, goals and risk profile. Advisory services offered through SoFi Wealth, LLC. SoFi Securities, LLC, member FINRA / SIPC .
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Starting your own business is one of the most challenging—and rewarding—leaps you can take with your career. Turning your idea into a successful, thriving firm takes ingenuity, determination, and grit. It also takes a decent chunk of capital. You have to spend money to make money, right?

According to the U.S. Small Business Association, 57% of start-up businesses rely on personal savings to get their firms going. But if you’re just starting out or are planning an expansion to take your business to the next level, you might need more than you feel comfortable taking out of your savings.

Luckily, there are other sources of financing available that can help offset your costs. In fact, a recent National Small Business Association report found that available financing for small firms is on the rise, with 73% of businesses being able to access the financing they need.

Whether you need to get your business off the ground, expand your reach, or have cash on hand, it can take some creativity to find the right financing to help you thrive. Here are the basics of debt financing to help you find the right solution for your business.

What is Debt Financing?

Debt financing is the technical term for borrowing money from a lender to help run your business (as opposed to raising equity to cover your costs). Examples of debt financing include small business loans and lines of credit. Small businesses use debt financing to cover a range of expenses including start-up costs, operations, equipment, and repairs.

How Does Debt Financing Work?

Essentially, debt financing means borrowing money from a lender that you agree to pay back, typically with interest. If you’ve ever taken out a loan, you’ve financed a debt. The terms of the financing are agreed upon in advance, and you are mostly free to use the money however you wish.

Getting debt financing with favorable terms can be dependent on your credit score and financial profile. However, it is a relatively quick way to secure funds.

What’s the Difference Between Debt Financing and Equity Financing?

Equity financing refers to selling shares of a business in exchange for capital. Basically, this means finding investors who, in exchange for a portion of the business, help fund it. Equity financing can include everything from raising funds from friends and family to securing multiple rounds of financing from angel investors and venture capital firms.

A benefit of equity financing is that it’s money that is given rather than lent, meaning that you won’t have to pay interest. Another benefit is the investors themselves: Having good relationships with them can lead to important connections, mentorship, and resources to help your business grow.

Of course, a potential downside to equity financing is losing some control over the business and its operations (for example, many investors may want a seat on your board in exchange for funding . It can also take a long time—and a lot of effort—to attract and secure investors.

What’s the Difference Between Short and Long-Term Debt Financing?

Debt financing can be divided up into categories of short-term and long-term. Short-term debt financing refers to loans that are repaid over a period of a year or less. This includes everything from using a credit card, to opening a line of credit that you repay as you use it. Short-term financing can be useful for everyday expenses, small emergency repairs, and to cover cash flow.

Businesses use long-term debt financing to cover larger purchases such as expensive equipment, renovations, or real estate purchases. This can include mortgages or business loans which have multiple-year repayment plans. Often lenders require these types of loans to be secured by the assets that they are helping you purchase. For instance, a property mortgage would be secured by the property itself.

What Debt Financing Options are Available?

If you’re looking for an immediate solution, short-term debt financing may be a good place to start. For covering smaller day-to-day expenses that you plan to pay back quickly, a credit card might be the easiest and most familiar option.

Opening a line of credit can also be a handy way to manage cash flow or finance an expansion over a period of time. A line of credit works a bit like a credit card, but with more flexibility.

Lines of credit tend to be larger than credit card limits, and they usually have more competitive interest rates. Just like a credit card, you can borrow what you need as you need it, and then make monthly repayments.

About SoFi

SoFi is a new kind of finance company that offers personal loans, student loan refinancing, mortgage refinancing, and more. Learn more today to see how SoFi can help you reach your financial goals.

The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

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You love your car, whether it’s a bare-bones hatchback or a souped-up Escalade. After all, it gets you places and keeps you from having to wait outside in the cold for the bus.

But maybe you’re struggling to make the payments on your auto loan, or you’re worried your interest rate is higher than it should be. No one likes to overpay, and there are a lot of reasons why you might be paying more than you need to on your auto loan. So how do you lower your monthly car payment?

The easiest fix is to refinance your auto loan. Refinancing a car will allow you to potentially qualify for a lower interest rate on your loan. This could potentially save you money, lower your monthly payment, or both. Or, you can also look into extending your repayment over a longer period of time.

But before you get on the phone with your car dealer to ask about your auto loan, you might want to consider the different ways you can refinance. Many people assume that the only way to refinance an auto loan is to replace it with another auto loan—but that’s not actually the case. In fact, you might find that using a personal loan to refinance your auto loan is actually a better idea.

When it’s Smart to Refinance a Car

There are a lot of reasons refinancing a car could be a great idea. One common reason is that you have improved your credit score since originally taking out your auto loan, so you’re likely to qualify for a more favorable rate now.

That’s partly because if you take out an auto loan and make your payments on time, often your credit will naturally improve as long as you’re diligent when it comes to credit in other areas of your life as well.

But there are other reasons you might suddenly qualify for a better interest rate. Maybe interest rates have gone down since you originally took out your loan, or maybe a slick car salesman convinced you to get an auto loan directly from the dealership–and charged you a premium for it. You might have gotten your ride more quickly, but you’ve since realized that you’re throwing money away on your auto loan.

One final factor that could be important when considering when to refinance a car is whether you need a lower monthly payment. Life changes fast—and sometimes you don’t have as much expendable income as you once did. Refinancing allows you to lower your interest rate, but it also lets you extend the term of your auto loan so that you end up paying less monthly.

Auto Loans vs Personal Loans

When it comes to refinancing your car loan, you can either get another car loan, or you can think outside the box and get a personal loan to pay off your car. An auto loan is a secured loan in which your car is used as collateral.

That means that if you don’t make your payments, your car can potentially get repossessed. In contrast, a personal loan is an unsecured loan that you can take out for [personal, family or household purposes. There is no collateral involved. Personal loans often have broader terms, options, and rates—and they can cost you less over the course of your loan.

One important thing to note is that since auto loans are amortized loans, you pay more interest at the beginning of your loan. So the sooner you’re able to refinance your auto loan for a lower rate, the more you’ll save.

To start the refinancing process, you first need to consider how much you’re currently paying on your auto loan. Look at both your monthly payment and your interest rate. Then you need to figure out what your refinanced interest rate and monthly payment would be if you used an auto loan versus a personal loan.

If you didn’t have great credit when you took out your auto loan, you could be paying from 7% to 15% interest on your car loan. By refinancing, you might be able to qualify for a new auto loan or a personal loan, with interest rates starting around 4% or 5%.

Deciding Between the Two

Personal loans are beneficial because you can take them out for personal, family or household purposes, and you have a wide range of what the loan can cover. Also, if you have good credit and a steady income, the interest rates that you’ll qualify for on a personal loan can be very competitive.

You’ll likely be able to get better terms on your personal loan—like the option to extend your payment schedule—and there might be fewer hidden fees. SoFi, for example, offers personal loans with zero fees or hidden costs.

When it comes to refinancing your auto loan with a brand-new auto loan, one key benefit is that you could be more likely to qualify if you don’t have good credit. And you could still get a lower interest rate, because it’s a secured loan.

However, the terms on your refinanced auto loan aren’t likely to be as good. For example, if your car is too old, you might not qualify for refinancing at all. Furthermore, an auto loan is usually tied to things like the age, make, and model of the car.

If you are able to refinance, you might not qualify for a desirable term length because the depreciation on your car might not make it worthwhile as collateral. In addition, you could struggle to refinance your auto loan if you currently owe more on your car than your car is worth—either because you paid too much for your car or because your car depreciated quickly.

Disclaimer: Many factors affect your credit scores and the interest rates you may receive. SoFi is not a Credit Repair Organization as defined under federal or state law, including the Credit Repair Organizations Act. SoFi does not provide “credit repair” services or advice or assistance regarding “rebuilding” or “improving” your credit record, credit history, or credit rating. For details, see the FTC’s website . on credit.

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Credit card debt is now the most widely held form of debt, according to the most recent Survey of Consumer Finances from the Federal Reserve . This means owing money on credit cards is incredibly common. And credit card debt can, unfortunately, add up quickly, especially when finance charges are thrown into the mix.

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Now, simply using a credit card or having a balance on your credit card isn’t necessarily a problem—as long as you consistently pay your statement balance in full at the end of each billing period. In fact, if you just use your credit card for convenience or to earn rewards, and then pay the balance every month, then you’re probably all set.

Congratulations! The rest of us, though—the 65% of credit card users under the age of 50 who carry credit card debt from month to month—have a revolving door of debt. And that’s where the problem occurs.

Even if you’re making minimum payments, credit card debt can stay with you for years, as interest accumulates on the existing balance. The fastest way to pay off credit cards might be to make a payment plan or to consolidate the debt with a personal loan.

How Credit Card Debt Works Against You

The average annual percentage rate (APR) on a credit card, across all commercial accounts in the country, was 13.16% at the end of 2017 . But on accounts that have started to accrue interest, the average APR was higher, at 14.99%.

The problem is that even if you make the minimum payment on your credit card bill, the remainder of the balance still accrues interest, and that starts to add up. Not to mention if you miss a minimum payment, you’ll see added fees and penalties.

And more than two missed payments will likely cause your interest rate to go up. Once your interest rate goes up, it will likely stay there until you make at least six on-time payments. (This is all in the fine print of the credit card terms, which most of us immediately throw out.)

Think of it like this: Most credit cards charge compounding interest either monthly or daily, meaning you actually pay interest on the interest charges as it adds up. For example, if your credit card APR is 10%, then your daily periodic rate is 10% divided by 365 days — in this case, 0.027%. If your interest compounds daily, then credit card companies use that daily periodic rate to calculate the interest you owe every day you have a balance.

For example, if you carried a $5,000 balance at a 10% APR for 30 days past the due date, then you’d be charged 0.027% (the daily periodic rate) x 30 days x $5,000 (the amount you owed each of those days), which comes out to $40.50 in interest for the month. Add that to your balance, and if you don’t pay it off, then you’ll owe more interest on that new amount.

The fastest way to pay off credit card debt is to pay the full balance—including all the interest that has compounded. Of course, that’s not always possible. If you have a credit card balance that is growing with interest charges every month, then you need to start thinking about a pay-off plan to get out of debt.

Make a Plan to Get out of Credit Card Debt

To figure out how long it’ll take to pay off your credit card, you have two options. First, you can figure out how much you can afford to pay each month, and then calculate how long it’ll take to pay off your debt. Or you can decide when you want your credit card paid off by, and then calculate how much you need to pay each month in order to meet that goal.

Because you need to factor in the compounding interest rate while you pay off your debt, it can get complicated trying to figure out how long it’ll take to get out of credit card debt. You can do the math yourself, but it’s often easiest to use a credit card payoff calculator to figure out a payment plan that makes sense. You can also consult our Credit Card Interest Calculator to see how much interest you will pay on your debt.

Think of it like this: Say you have that same $5,000 balance from above at 10% APR, which works out to a daily interest rate of 0.027%. Based on that daily interest rate, in the first month you owe $40.50 in interest, making your new balance $5,040.50.

If you didn’t make any payments, it would just keep accruing interest. But let’s say you decide to make monthly payments of $200 to slowly pay down the balance. That first month, $40.50 of your $200 goes toward interest and $159.50 goes toward your $5,000 balance. Now, the second month you only owe $4,840.50.

For the second month, you calculate your interest at the same daily interest rate (0.027%) for 30 days and you owe $39.21 in interest, so more of your monthly payment will now go toward the principal. You can see how your $200 monthly payments ultimately dwindle down the balance—as long as you don’t charge any more to your credit card.

But if you’re making $200 payments every month, it would still take 29 months to pay off your $5,000 debt. And you’d ultimately end up paying $630 in interest on top of your initial balance. But if you take that same amount of debt and APR, and make a budget to pay it off within a year, then it’d take a monthly payment of $439, and you’d only pay $274 in interest—saving yourself money in the long run.

Once you figure out what monthly payment you can afford, incorporate debt payoff into your budget. If you have debt on multiple credit cards, then you may want to start by paying off the one with the highest interest rate (while still making minimum payments on all your debt to avoid penalties).

Once you’ve paid off your debt on the highest interest card, you can work on paying off the card with the next highest interest rate, and so on. If managing a payment schedule with multiple credit cards seems overwhelming, it might be simpler to consolidate your credit card debt with a personal loan.

What is the Fastest Way to Pay off Credit Card Debt?

The fastest way to pay off credit cards might be with a personal loan. If you have mounting credit card debt, then a personal loan can actually make your debt cost less.

A personal loan gives you the chance to consolidate and pay off your credit card debt. You essentially use the personal loan to pay off your credit cards. Then all you have to worry about is paying off the personal loan in monthly installments.

But personal loans don’t accumulate compound interest in the same way as credit cards. That means as long as you make the monthly payments, your debt won’t increase—no complicated math necessary. Additionally, if you have good credit, your personal loan interest rate can be more reasonable than the rate on your credit card. (Use our personal loan calculator to see how much you’d save paying off your debt with a personal loan.)

And you can decide on manageable loan terms with your lender, so that you’re making monthly payments you can afford. SoFi offers three, four, five, six and seven-year personal loan terms. Typically, the longer your loan term, the lower your monthly payment (though you may pay more in interest).

The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

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Many lenders—including both online lenders and brick-and-mortar banks—advertise guaranteed-approval personal loans. Also known as payday loans, guaranteed personal loans are usually secured by your paycheck. Basically, lenders use this type of loan to approve anyone, regardless of his or her credit score. Some lenders will offer cash on the same day that you apply for the guaranteed personal loan, even without checking your credit.

These offers can sound appealing, especially if you have shaky credit, don’t have savings to fall back on, or need money immediately for a financial emergency. But unfortunately, guaranteed-approval personal loans usually come with a catch. Often the only sure thing with a guaranteed personal loan is that you are more likely to owe more than you bargained for down the line. They usually come with high interest rates, among other extremely unfavorable terms.

It may feel like taking out a guaranteed personal loan is your only choice, but you have other options. Consider asking family or friends for help, requesting an advance from your employer, or applying for emergency help from a local community organization. If those options aren’t available to you, try applying for an unsecured personal loan.

Lenders offering unsecured personal loans won’t guarantee your approval, but many, including SoFi, look at more than just your credit score to determine your eligibility and you may be surprised to find that you still qualify.

Further, many online lenders are trying to make the process of getting funded for unsecured personal loans quicker as well. If you do, taking out an unsecured personal loan can be a safer bet for getting the cash you need now without paying dearly for it later.

The Drawbacks of Guaranteed Personal Loans

Guaranteed-approval personal loans may indeed get you money fast, but we all know there’s no such thing as a free lunch. The repayment terms you may be stuck with will often be extremely disadvantageous, even predatory.

For example, lenders who offer guaranteed loans could ask you to repay the debt in a matter of weeks. If your finances don’t improve and you can’t pay back the loan, your debt could grow exponentially. Guaranteed personal loans might even charge the equivalent of 400% interest . So if you’re already having a tough time financially, taking out a payday loan can be on slippery slope.

Unsecured personal loans, on the other hand, aren’t secured by personal assets to recover in case of default, which is why lenders are more careful about who they lend to.

Why an Unsecured Personal Loan Might Cost Less

The easy money that comes with a guaranteed-approval personal loan can bear a high cost. When you take out a payday loan, you might end up paying $10 to $30 for every $100 borrowed. That means if you borrow $300, you could have to pay back up to $390 in a short period of time. And if you don’t pay the loan off completely, you could face additional fees.

An unsecured personal loan is not guaranteed-approval, but it could cost you less in the long run. Unsecured personal loan rates usually aren’t as low as interest rates on some student loans or mortgages, but they could still be lower than rates associated with payday loans.

Furthermore, taking out an unsecured personal loan can come with a more reasonable repayment timeline that could help prevent you from falling into default or mounting high-interest debt.

What does SoFi consider when issuing personal loans?

SoFi offers unsecured personal loans from $5,000 to $100,000 with low fixed interest rates and flexible repayment terms. You won’t have guaranteed approval, but SoFi takes a number of factors into account to make sure all applications are fairly considered.

SoFi looks not just at your credit score but also at your financial history, your monthly income and expenses, your career experience, and your current employment. If you qualify, a personal loan can be a more responsible and less costly way to deal with a financial emergency.

SoFi Lending Corp. or an affiliate is licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Financing Law, license number 6054612.
The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

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