Author: Ashira Quabili

Student Loan Changes During COVID-19

Student Loan Relief

With unemployment levels rising and many employers cutting work hours, lots of college grads are now struggling to meet their student loan payments. Thankfully, the federal government has passed legislation to ease this burden. Unfortunately, though, many borrowers are confused about the terms and conditions of these changes.

Here’s all you need to know about the changes to student loan debt during the coronavirus pandemic.

All federal student loan payments are automatically suspended for six months

As part of The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act) signed into law on March 27 all federal student loan payments are suspended, interest-free, through Sept. 30, 2020. If borrowers continue making payments, the full amount will be applied to the principal of the loan. The suspension applies to all federal student loans owned by the Department of Education as well as some Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) and some Perkins loans. Students do not have to take any action or pay any fees for the suspension to take effect.

Additionally, during the suspension period, the CARES Act does not allow student loan servicers to report to the credit bureaus borrower nonpayments as missed payments. Therefore, the suspension should not have a negative effect on borrowers’ credit scores.

If you’re not sure whether your student loan is federally owned, you can look it up on the Federal Student Aid (FSA) website. Be sure to have your FSA ID handy so you can sign in and look up your loans. You can also call your loan servicer directly to clear up any confusion.

Here is the contact information for federal student loan servicers:

Suspended payments count toward Public Service Loan Forgiveness and loan rehabilitation. 

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) is a federal program allowing borrowers to have their student loans forgiven, tax-free, with the stipulation that they work in the public sector and make 120 qualifying monthly payments. A disruption of these 120 payments can disqualify a borrower from the program.

According to the CARES Act, suspended payments will be treated as regular payments toward PSLF. This ensures that borrowers who have been working toward these programs will not lose the progress they’ve made toward loan forgiveness.

The same rule applies to individuals participating in student loan rehabilitation, during which borrowers with defaulted student loans must make nine out of 10 consecutive monthly payments to pull their loans out of default. The U.S. Department of Education will consider the six-month suspension on payments as if regular payments were made toward rehabilitation.

Some states and private lenders are offering student loan aid for struggling borrowers.

If your student loan is not federally owned and you are struggling to meet your payments, there may still be options available, such as loan deferment or forbearance. If you are in need of such assistance, contact your lender directly to discuss your options.
Consider an income-driven repayment plan.
If you have an FFEL that is ineligible for suspension, you can lower your monthly payments by enrolling in an income-based repayment plan, which adjusts your monthly student loan payment amount according to your discretionary income. Other lenders offer similar plans, often referred to as income-driven repayment plans. If your salary was cut as a result of COVID-19, or you are currently unemployed, these plans can provide relief by making your monthly payments more manageable.
Employers can contribute toward employees’ student loan debt for temporary tax relief
The federal government offered temporary tax relief for employers contributing up to $5,350 toward their employees’ student loan payments. This benefit is in effect until Jan. 1, 2021 and it can be used for any kind of student debt, whether federal or private.

If you don’t qualify for the student loan payment suspension, you can try speaking with the human resources department at your workplace to find out how they can help you with your student loan debt at this time.
Seeking New Student Loans During the Pandemic
Students and families should start with savings, grants, scholarships, and federal student loans to pay for college. Students and families should evaluate all anticipated monthly loan payments, and how much the student expects to earn in the future, before considering a private student loan.

Freedom is now partnering with Sallie Mae to enable Freedom members access to student loan options that fit their specific educational needs.

Learn More about Freedom’s Student Loan Program.

Your Turn: Have you taken advantage of student loan debt relief offered during the coronavirus pandemic? Tell us about it on Facebook.

I Think Therefore I Am

July 17, 2020

I think thinking is good.  I think about thinking a lot; especially these days because there is so much more to think about.  I think we even think about things we never thought about before and think about what we’re going to need to think about in the future.  You think more about where to go, how to go, the known and unknown.  You think more about family and friends.  You may think more about strangers and what they’re thinking.  You may even think about how much thinking people are not doing these days.  You think about how they act rather than think because thinking takes too much effort.  I must say, however, I think there is some non-thinking that is actually good.

When you think about it, our brains are a marvelous thinking machine and I find myself thinking about how much thinking my thinking machine can take.  Which is why, I think, it’s good to take some time not to think, but not in the way most people aren’t thinking these days.  For example, if I go to the beach I see lots of people reading books or scrolling on phones and tablets.  Not me.  I took a book once and read only three chapters in a week.  I took a comic book for the entertainment value and minimal time it took.  Mostly though, I just sit and stare off.  Perhaps play some music, but it’s just background.  I sit and think of nothing.  I take in the wind and sounds and visual rhythms that pass before me, but I don’t think about them; they just are.  As I think about it now, I realize when I don’t think, sometimes I think the best. When you tune out the all the thoughts that constantly plague your mind, when you take a few moments to clear your head, it’s like a reboot to your entire system and when you tune back in, there are amazing ideas, a greater appreciation of things and a renewed focus on what needs to be done.

Of course, you don’t need to be on a beach.  You can do it anywhere.  Sometimes I take a few moments to get up from my desk and look out the window.  You just need to make time, for a few brief moments, at home, in your car, walking a trail, anywhere, to let it all go, breath deep, and don’t think.

Thinking is good, thinking is necessary most of the time, but not thinking for even just a little bit here and there, is a really good thing too.   I think.

 

Mike

Freedom Federal Credit Union Expands Field of Membership
to Include Baltimore County

July 2, 2020Welcome To Freedom

The Credit Union Was Approved by the National Credit Union Administration to Serve Residents and Businesses of Baltimore County

Freedom Federal Credit Union announced that they received approval from the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) for their request to expand their field of membership.  Effective immediately, Freedom membership is now open to businesses and any individuals who live, work, worship, volunteer, attend school, or has family in Baltimore County.  Prior to NCUA approval, Freedom’s field of membership was focused solely on Harford County.

“This is a very exciting time for Freedom Federal Credit Union, our members, and residents of both Baltimore and Harford Counties, as a whole”, stated Mike MacPherson, President and CEO of Freedom. “With NCUA’s approval, we can now provide what we call the “Freedom Advantage”, our unique credit union service offering, to the greater Baltimore County communities. We will be able to better serve a larger group of Maryland consumers and businesses who have currently been underserved, and address their immediate and long-term savings and lending needs as only a credit union, like Freedom, can do”.

Freedom Federal Credit Union was founded in 1953 as MATCOM Federal Credit Union. The Credit Union started in Baltimore and later moved to Harford County in support of the Edgewood Arsenal, (which became part of Aberdeen Proving Ground). Freedom received their Harford County community charter in 1999 and changed their name to Freedom of Maryland Federal Credit Union in 2000.

The expansion into Baltimore County was a logical step in the Credit Union’s evolution.  Freedom already serves over 3,000 members that are Baltimore County residents and were able to join because of some affiliation with Harford County.

MacPherson continued: “We feel Freedom is an organization best qualified to meet the financial service needs of the expanded community. We’re financially strong, with full service, easily accessible locations, user-friendly tools for remote accessibility, and a wide range of products, services, and technology. Additionally, Freedom has always focused on our social responsibility, generously supporting the communities we serve.  We now have even more opportunity to do good in the community, for even more organizations, businesses, and people across both Baltimore and Harford Counties”.

“Strategic growth is vital to our long term strength and viability”, stated Mike Kaiser, Chairman of the Board for Freedom. The entire Board of Directors saw the wisdom and value in our expansion, not only for the organization, members and communities we currently serve, but also for our future members, and unanimously adopted the expanded field of membership”.

Kaiser continued: “Expanding our field of membership to Baltimore County will also allow us to provide cutting edge products and services to many more members.  As a full-service financial institution, Freedom has long catered, and is uniquely structured, to serve a wide variety of consumers, including those of low and modest means.  We believe that Freedom is positioned to provide the value of a local, community-focused, ‘people helping people’-centric financial institution, while we continue to adhere to the principles, mission, and values that we have developed over our more than 67 year history”.

As part of the expansion, Freedom will look at all options with respect to new, physical locations, in both Harford and Baltimore Counties, as well as how best to leverage technology for those who like and want to conduct business electronically and remotely, whenever and wherever it is convenient for them.

About Freedom Federal Credit Union

Freedom Federal Credit Union is a community-chartered federal credit union offering consumer financial services to those who live, work, volunteer, worship, attend school, or have family in Harford and Baltimore Counties. Additionally, Freedom offers a full-line of banking services for all businesses, associations, and other organizations that are based in Harford and Baltimore Counties. To learn more, visit freedomfcu.org.