{"id":2743,"date":"2012-07-09T10:30:22","date_gmt":"2012-07-09T15:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/?p=2743"},"modified":"2012-07-09T10:30:22","modified_gmt":"2012-07-09T15:30:22","slug":"managing-a-multitude-of-student-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/?p=2743","title":{"rendered":"Managing a multitude of student debt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"lead\">Graduation is a milestone in every student&#8217;s life. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>It is a time to celebrate accomplishments, reflect on memories, and look towards the adventures that await.<\/p>\n<p>For many university graduates, however, it also means it is time to begin paying back the student loans they have acquired throughout their education.<\/p>\n<p>The process of repaying debt can be especially difficult for recent grads with more than one form of loan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStudents with both government and private student loans graduate with an average of $37,000 in student debt upon completion of a four-year bachelor degree,\u201d according to the Canadian Federation of Students.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, there are many resources students can use to get advice as well as financial assistance in order to help pay back multiple loans.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"subhead\">Straightforward advice<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Michael McIntyre, a financial expert at Carleton University, provided the following advice for students attempting to pay back their debt:<\/p>\n<p>\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If possible, use a loan with a low interest rate to pay off one with a higher rate.<\/p>\n<p>For example, a student line of credit could be used to pay off credit card debt to reduce the amount of total interest paid on the loans.<\/p>\n<p>\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Try not to borrow back money from a debt that has already been paid off.<\/p>\n<p>\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Set realistic, achievable goals for paying debt. Being too aggressive too soon can lead to disappointment and frustration.<\/p>\n<p>\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Keep track of spending to understand where money could be saved and used towards paying off a loan.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"subhead\">Some flexibility<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Ontario Student Assistance Program gives new graduates a six month \u201cgrace period\u201d during which they are not charged any interest on their loan. The program, along with many banks, also offers modified repayment terms for those in a desperate financial situation.<\/p>\n<p>Students who are motivated and use available resources to repay their loans one by one will be rewarded in the end.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you treat loans responsibly, you will build a good credit,\u201d says McIntyre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Graduation is a milestone in every student&#8217;s life. It is a time to celebrate accomplishments, reflect on memories, and look<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-personal-finance-2012"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2743"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2825,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2743\/revisions\/2825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}