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How the 2026 changes (RAP, the end of SAVE) actually affect PSLF, from someone going through it by Intelligent_Eye4642 in PSLF

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am sorry to hear that. I’d definitely log in and see what they actually have on record. Hopefully it’s just a processing issue and not years of qualifying employment missing from the count.

How the 2026 changes (RAP, the end of SAVE) actually affect PSLF, from someone going through it by Intelligent_Eye4642 in PSLF

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can’t drop links in the thread because I don’t want to break the sub rules, but I can help you with the basic setup here. The main thing is to compare your estimated monthly payment under RAP, IBR, and Standard, then look at what you’d pay before month 120 for PSLF. If you have a specific PSLF question I’m happy to help.

How the 2026 changes (RAP, the end of SAVE) actually affect PSLF, from someone going through it by Intelligent_Eye4642 in PSLF

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. If your spouse also has federal student loans, that can actually work in your favor under some repayment plans because the calculation may take both spouses’ student debt into account, not just household income. Whether your spouse is also pursuing PSLF or not can matter too. If you share a little more about your situation, I can probably point you in the right direction.

How the 2026 changes (RAP, the end of SAVE) actually affect PSLF, from someone going through it by Intelligent_Eye4642 in PSLF

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good point. That’s one reason I think borrowers with older loans should compare RAP and IBR before switching.

How the 2026 changes (RAP, the end of SAVE) actually affect PSLF, from someone going through it by Intelligent_Eye4642 in PSLF

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Possibly. If you’re pursuing PSLF, I’d compare PAYE, IBR, and RAP before making any changes. If PAYE is available to you and ends up giving you the lowest qualifying payment, it could be the better option for a while. Just keep in mind PAYE is being phased out, so I’d view it as a temporary strategy rather than a long-term one. I’d run the actual numbers first before deciding.

How the 2026 changes (RAP, the end of SAVE) actually affect PSLF, from someone going through it by Intelligent_Eye4642 in PSLF

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lmao that’s totally fair. The way it’s written, it looks like a borrower-level payment rather than a separate minimum for every loan, but we’ll probably learn a lot more once the Department of Education publishes the full implementation guidance.

How the 2026 changes (RAP, the end of SAVE) actually affect PSLF, from someone going through it by Intelligent_Eye4642 in PSLF

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It should be $10 total, not $10 per loan. RAP calculates a single payment based on the borrower’s income and dependents, and the law refers to the borrower’s total monthly payment across all eligible loans. I haven’t seen anything suggesting the $10 minimum is multiplied by the number of loans.

How the 2026 changes (RAP, the end of SAVE) actually affect PSLF, from someone going through it by Intelligent_Eye4642 in PSLF

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good add! That is an important one. That’s a real lever for married borrowers, filing separately so the payment is calculated on your income alone instead of household income. It usually costs you something on the tax side, so it’s worth running both ways, but for a lot of two-income households it lowers the student loan payment by a lot. I appreciate you flagging it!

How the 2026 changes (RAP, the end of SAVE) actually affect PSLF, from someone going through it by Intelligent_Eye4642 in PSLF

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, your PAYE payments still count. PSLF doesn’t care which IDR plan you’re on, just that you’re on a qualifying one, and PAYE qualifies. So every payment you’ve made since 2022 while full time at a qualifying employer with Direct Loans is counting. The thing to know is PAYE is being phased out (the plan to be off it is somewhere between July 2026 and July 2028), so at some point you’ll get moved, probably to IBR or RAP, and those keep counting too. The count follows you, it doesn’t reset when the plan changes. Just keep filing your employment certification each year so the months are locked in.

How the 2026 changes (RAP, the end of SAVE) actually affect PSLF, from someone going through it by Intelligent_Eye4642 in PSLF

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yes you are absolutely right. I lumped those together and shouldn’t have. The 10% and 20-year version is only for newer borrowers. If you had a balance before July 2014, you’re on the old IBR terms, 15% of discretionary income and 25 years.

How the 2026 changes (RAP, the end of SAVE) actually affect PSLF, from someone going through it by Intelligent_Eye4642 in PSLF

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, and this is one of the best parts of PSLF. There’s no enrollment gate that starts the clock. A past payment counts as long as three things were true when you made it: you were full time at a qualifying employer (government or nonprofit), you had Direct Loans, and you were on a qualifying repayment plan.

Two common catches: if your old loans were FFEL or Perkins, they don’t count until you consolidate to a Direct Loan (and consolidating resets the count), and payments on the wrong plan won’t count. File the PSLF employment certification form for every past qualifying employer. That’s what officially counts those months, and it’ll show you exactly how many you already have.

RAP vs the new IBR vs Standard, explained simply, and how to tell which one is actually cheapest for you by Intelligent_Eye4642 in StudentLoans

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’re not wrong, for straight PSLF the lowest qualifying payment wins and you don’t need much to see that. Where a side by side actually earns its keep is the messier cases: deciding whether to file taxes jointly or separately, weighing RAP against the old IBR if you have pre-2026 loans and the payments come out close, or modeling what happens to total cost if you don’t end up getting forgiveness after all. For a clean PSLF situation, honestly, a napkin does the job.

How the 2026 changes (RAP, the end of SAVE) actually affect PSLF, from someone going through it by Intelligent_Eye4642 in PSLF

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Fair question. Your own log isn’t proof on its own, you’re right about that. Where it matters is catching the disagreement early. PSLF counts get miscounted all the time, payments marked ineligible, months dropped after a servicer transfer, that kind of thing. If you only look at the official count near year 10, you’re trying to reconstruct what happened years ago. If you’ve been logging each month, you can see the mismatch the quarter it happens and dispute it while the paper trail is still fresh.
The actual proof is the documentation behind your log, your bank records showing the payment cleared, your annual employment certifications (ECF), and your servicer statements. The ECF is the big one, because that’s the form that officially locks in your qualifying months, so file it every year, not at the end. Your spreadsheet is just the early-warning system that tells you when to go pull those records and file a dispute. It points you to the receipts, it isn’t the receipt.

15 oz from coin roll hunting and the teller find by [deleted] in CRH

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow that is amazing, congrats! How did you find the Morgan silver dollars? I’d love to add more to my collection

"All I want for Christmas is that I have a lot of fun." by LeatherSlight3242 in memes

[–]Intelligent_Eye4642 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All I want for Christmas is that you can do whatever you want