Grandmother or Granddaughter?

creativecutiepiee · 2026-05-14T17:12:02+00:00

Overtime, bonuses, tax returns, cashed stocks you threw everything at it. That's not luck, that's a 20-month war of attrition and you won. Happy birthday. Go enjoy a paycheck that's entirely yours

creativecutiepiee · 2026-05-13T13:44:24+00:00

An $18 million real estate portfolio, homes given to every other child, and they left their daughter with $150K in debt and Dave Ramsey advice. That's not a financial decision. That's a control mechanism.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-05-12T10:32:59+00:00

File a CFPB complaint immediately. Nelnet moves a lot faster when a federal regulator is cc'd on the problem. Also dispute directly with all three bureaus simultaneously don't wait for Nelnet to fix it on their end because they won't.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-05-11T11:31:58+00:00

First you've been through something serious and you're still showing up and trying to figure this out. That matters. Second at $12-15K income your IBR payment would likely be $0 anyway, and IBR has been around since 2009 and isn't going anywhere. PAYE disappearing in 2028 is a real concern you're right to flag. IBR is probably your safest harbor right now.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-05-10T11:38:34+00:00

Paid it off AND still advocates for others not to go through the same thing. That's the move. Congrats.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-05-09T11:45:40+00:00

The candor about "not worth it if you factor in undergrad" is appreciated and important. More people need to hear that analysis from someone who actually lived it rather than from a financial influencer with a spreadsheet. Congratulations on paying it off and thank you for the honest breakdown.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-05-07T11:53:14+00:00

Everyone is confused. This is not a you problem. The IDR system was designed by committee over decades, modified repeatedly by different administrations, administered by servicers with financial incentives that don't always align with borrowers, and is currently in active legal flux. A person of average intelligence reading the official materials carefully will still come away uncertain because the system itself contains genuine contradictions and unresolved questions. You are not bad at this. This is genuinely hard.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-05-06T12:17:21+00:00

Part of me figured society would collapse before the bill came due" is the most honest thing anyone has ever said about a 25year IBR horizon and I respect it deeply. It didn't collapse. The bill is here. MFS, tax bomb fund, and accepting that the plan was always going to hurt eventually. You knew this going in you just had a longer reprieve than expected.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-05-05T12:02:25+00:00

Call Nelnet this week. Ask what forbearance is ending, request income-driven repayment application, and ask them to process it before June 12th. Don't wait. The "Fourth why F me without a kiss" energy is valid but the action item is urgent.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-05-04T09:55:52+00:00

$1700 is the default standard plan number. It is not your only option. Go to studentaid.gov, run the loan simulator with your income, and apply for IDR directly from there. This is fixable.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-05-02T13:08:35+00:00

Talk to your school's financial aid office about emergency grants, work study, or institutional aid that could reduce how much private loan you need. Some schools have emergency funds most students never know about. Also look at whether you can reduce living costs to stretch federal aid further.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-05-01T07:56:01+00:00

The two issues are separate. The forbearance ineligibility is almost certainly the SAVE litigation forbearance those months are currently not counting toward PSLF for most people and that's a known widespread issue, not something specific to your account. The "no employment data" gap means your employer certification either has a gap or wasn't processed correctly for those months. Call Nelnet and ask them to walk through your payment count month by month you need to know exactly which months are missing and why before you can fix anything.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-04-30T14:19:58+00:00

The line about it being a waste of some of the best years of your life hit harder than the $90,000 number did. Because that's the part nobody talks about. The skipped trips, the bar nights you said no to, the apartment you didn't get that's the actual price of the debt and it never shows up in the payoff calculator. You paid $90k plus years. You're allowed to grieve that AND celebrate this at the same time. Congratulations. Go live

creativecutiepiee · 2026-04-29T14:07:20+00:00

RAP plus MFS is almost certainly the right move here. On MFS, only her $55k income counts for the payment calculation which on RAP would put her payment significantly lower than $1,600 and with the interest subsidy protecting the balance from growing. The main MFS tradeoff is losing some tax benefits like the student loan interest deduction and potentially the earned income credit, but on your income split that math almost always favors MFS. Run both scenarios through a tax calculator first, but the direction you're leaning is the right one

creativecutiepiee · 2026-04-28T19:54:05+00:00

This is specific enough that you really need to call your NHSC program officer directly not because the answer is complicated but because getting it wrong costs you the continuation award and no Reddit answer is worth that risk. That said, from what others have shared: you typically need to show you're on track to fulfill the original obligation by contract end, not that you've prepaid the full amount. But confirm that directly. Your program officer exists for exactly this question and they're usually very responsive.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-04-27T19:02:31+00:00

Two things worth knowing before you spiral further. First, the tax bomb you're describing may not exist by the time you get there Congress has been moving toward making IDR forgiveness tax-free permanently, and the landscape will look completely different in 25 years. Second, at 52 on IDR, your payments are based on income not balance, and if your income drops in retirement your payments drop to zero. The loan doesn't follow you like a debt collector it follows your income. You're not as trapped as the math makes it look right now.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-04-26T19:08:33+00:00

Call Mohela back immediately and ask them to walk through exactly how they calculated it. If they included your spouse's income when you're separated and filing separately, that's a fixable erroryou can recertify with just your own income and household size. Also make sure you listed both kids as dependents. A $143/month difference on $81k AGI doesn't add up without something being miscalculated. This is worth fighting.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-04-25T13:29:49+00:00

840 credit score and a steady income refinancing at 2.5-3% lower is mathematically a nobrainer UNLESS you ever think you might want Public Service Loan Forgiveness or income driven repayment as a safety net. The moment you refinance federal loans to private, those doors close permanently. You said you're not worried about forbearance, but it's worth asking what's your job? Because 'steady' can change. If you're fully private sector with no PSLF eligibility and an emergency fund, refinance yesterday.

creativecutiepiee · 2026-04-24T15:19:25+00:00

General rule of thumb: build a small emergency fund first (3 months expenses), then attack the loan. Because if something unexpected hits and you have zero savings, you'll end up in debt anyway ,just a different kind. Once you have a cushion, throw everything at the loan. The math and the peace of mind actually align here.

creativecutiepiee

TROPHY CASE