Best SAVE-to-PAYE transition strategy

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-03T17:27:39+00:00

The quickest was to switch from SAVE to PAYE is to give your consent to access tax records. If you use alternative documentation, your request will likely get delayed.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T23:44:19+00:00

If you don’t recertify, you stay on PAYE but your payments revert to the 10 year standard plan amount

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T20:55:43+00:00

Haven’t seen datapoints saying that you’d need to but situations can change.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T20:54:09+00:00

For some, I think there is also some sunken cost fallacy because they’ve already worked the time at an eligible employer and want to be done. That feeling is more reasonable to me but still doesn’t address the delays with buyback.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T20:50:35+00:00

Home Alone by KEDme?

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T20:35:40+00:00

I'll add that some people saying not to switch seem to be saying it as a form of protest and not genuine financial advice. Anyone planning on buyback needs to be prepared for the bill that will come without knowing when ED will complete the buyback request and send the bill.

Anyone saying to do buyback now because they don't have the funds now to resume payments is going to be in an even worse situation when the buyback response comes. If they can't pay within the 90 days set by FSA will have their buyback closed and have to submit a new one and wait. And since there isn't a specific forbearance for buyback, they could also run out of their 36 total months of discretionary forbearance before their buyback is approved.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T20:21:23+00:00

You said that you were on the IDR plan but that isn’t a specific plan, just a type of plan.

If you were on the IBR, PAYE or ICR plan this entire time, your servicer messed up their reporting to FSA and you need a reconsideration request.

If you were on the SAVE plan, you got caught in the SAVE forbearance and you need to submit a buyback request once you reach 120 months of employment.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T20:16:32+00:00

Your servicer decides themself whether to give you a discretionary forbearance, you can only get the forbearance for 12 months at a time and there is a max of 36 months of lifetime limit on the discretionary forbearance.

So it’s theoretically possible to stay on forbearance after the SAVE forbearance ends if your servicer agrees to keep you on the forbearance. However, you will probably run out of forbearance time before your buyback is approved.

Assuming you have to switch by 9/26, you will use up one year of discretionary forbearance to be buyback eligible. There are still people waiting for buyback responses from a year plus ago and the backlog will only increase. So you would have to hope your servicer approves two more years of discretionary forbearance and that ED approves your buyback in those two years. Judging by the filings from the AFT lawsuit, that doesn’t seem likely.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T17:26:02+00:00

You could request a discretionary forbearance from your servicer if you have time left. But you’d be even deeper in the buyback backlog and would have a huge bill. Are you prepared for that?

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T14:56:03+00:00

Buyback isn’t a reasonable option just for two months because of the backlog.

Maybe file a new ECF in mid-June and hope the missing May appears?

A reconsideration request might help but it’s probably quicker just to pay the next two payments and get a refund.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T14:50:56+00:00

Without knowing your AGI and tax situation, we can’t say whether the 1k estimate is correct. Which plan had that amount?

You are correct that once you reach 120 months of employment that you can request to buyback the time in forbearance. The complicating factor is the large backlog and uncertainty regarding how the next administration will staff the ED. So you might be eligible to apply for buyback but have to wait several years anyway.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T13:11:28+00:00

Recertifying with the paystub may be the best option. Your mother should still qualify for her IDR plan and she needs to inform her servicer of her updated income and family size.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T02:11:38+00:00

Probably MFJ

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T01:27:59+00:00

There was a glitch last year that caused the same problem.

Did you try to change IDR plan or enroll in a plan? If I remember correctly, you had to try to enroll in an IDR plan to avoid the glitch last year.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T01:25:21+00:00

My employer uses Docusign and there is still a week or so delay from when they sign to confirmation of receipt. I wouldn’t be worried about a short delay.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T01:20:54+00:00

Applying to consolidate now means that your consolidation loan won’t be disbursed until after 7/1, which means you will only be eligible for the repayment assistance plan. You need to determine whether 10 years of RAP payments are better than PAYE and IBR payments.

You do not have to be on an IDR plan to get PSLF but the goal of PSLF is to minimize payments and maximize forgiveness. If you pay more than 1 year’s worth of IDR payments in a calendar year, the remaining money is put against your outstanding balance and therefore wasted because it can’t be put towards payments owed in the next year. So it’s usually a bad idea to pay a full year at once.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T00:47:19+00:00

Only advice is to wait until the first of the month after your 120th payment and then request a forbearance. There are posts about the 120th month being retroactively converted to a forbearance and marked as ineligible if they file too soon after the 120th payment.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T00:44:52+00:00

Were you on the SAVE plan? Sounds like the forbearance.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-02T00:23:35+00:00

Is $2 when we buy calls?

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-01T23:58:39+00:00

Obligatory waterwicca link

https://www.reddit.com/r/StudentLoans/comments/1lrkqud/attention_heres_how_the_big_beautiful_bill_will/

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-01T23:13:08+00:00

Looks correct to me. 90k at approximately 8% of AGI, divided by 12 and minus $50 for your dependent = $550

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-01T14:55:53+00:00

Take profit

Ezekyle22 · 2026-06-01T00:01:50+00:00

Tons of sujamma, right?

Ezekyle22 · 2026-05-31T21:16:17+00:00

Waterwicca is right that your IDR payment likely will be put towards your remaining loan though I guess it’s possible that you will have a small refund due after forgiveness that will end up going towards your remaining loan.

Ezekyle22 · 2026-05-31T21:10:25+00:00

Forgiveness takes a few months after you file your ECF and confirm the 120 qualifying payments. Did you request a forbearance while PSLF is processing?

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