The End of My Student Loan Term
I’ve written a lot about my student loans over the years as a blogger here. At this point, student loans are my last remaining debt (besides the mortgage), and this is the year they will officially be EXISTING! I can’t wait!
That said, I continue to find the process completely confusing and the online systems counterintuitive. I am in the Public Employees Loan Forgiveness Program, which is supposed to pay off the loan balance after 120 timely payments are made.
I currently have 3 loans outstanding totaling just over $26,000 (the balance has grown because the interest is more than the $180/month monthly payments I was applying for).
On the Federal Student Aid stage, it says i have 113 eligible payments (7 left). It also says Estimated Payment End Time is September 2026.
However, I have to re-verify my work every year and the last time I did so was at the end of August 2025, so my 113 eligible payments will only arrive in August 2025.
I also have 6 more payments due (Sept 2025 – Feb 2026), which means after my March payment later this month…I must meet my 120 required payments and qualify for student loan forgiveness all my balance owed!
This is obviously a slight difference from the predicted date of September 2026 listed in their system. I absolutely plan on reconfirming the job at the end of the month and I’m crossing my fingers and hoping and wishing and praying that this is IT! That after almost eleven years of faithful payments (even during the pandemic when everyone got paid for a while – I continued to pay every month because I kept trying to pay off my debt before the forgiveness deadline)…..
I can’t tell you what this community has meant to me to help guide, give advice, and cheer me on my way! It wasn’t always easy – I graduated with over $100k in student loan debt, by myself! But steady progress over time has been key. And to be honest, I have benefited a lot from the community of students here who give me your good advice all the time.
The question is…what’s next?
I love talking about money (a very unpleasant thing in everyday life, but we talk openly and freely in this space)! And you all have helped me think about long-term financial planning, thinking about retirement, health care, teaching my children (now grown!) financial literacy, etc. What do you think? Should I stick around BAD for a while or is it time to move on? I haven’t fully made up my mind yet so I’d love to know your thoughts on whether the content I’m providing is interesting or useful or if it’s time to say goodbye when my last remaining credit is gone! Thoughts?
What do your plans for a debt-free life look like? Where do you focus your financial energy?
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