Jobless grad struggling with student loans can get help

DEAR CARRIE: I am unemployed and need some advice on how to reduce the monthly payments on my federal student loan debt. Without a job, I can’t afford my current payments, but I don’t want to default. The debt is from loans I incurred for a master’s degree. Do you have any suggestions on how I can lower my payments? I have been repaying this loan since 2008. Please help. — Student Debt Crisis

DEAR STUDENT DEBT: For answers I turned to the Higher Education Services Corp., which is New York State’s college financial aid agency.

“A federal student loan borrower who is unemployed and struggling to make his or her student loan payments has several options,” the HESC said.

First, federal student-loan borrowers who are experiencing economic hardship can seek deferments or forbearance, which would allow them to temporarily postpone or reduce their loan payments, thus helping them avoid default, the agency said.

It suggested that you contact your student loan servicer to look into those options. In the meantime, the agency said you should keep making payments on your loans until you are approved for one of those alternatives.

Second, if your federal student loan debt is high compared with your income, you may qualify for an income-driven repayment plan, or IDR.

These repayment plans are based on your income, family size and other factors, and are designed to make student-loan debt more manageable by reducing your monthly payment amounts, the agency said.

Being up to date on your payments is also key here.

“You must be current on your loan repayment to be eligible for an IDR,” the agency said. “So it’s important that you stay current on your monthly payments.”

Again, you should contact your student loan servicer to apply for an IDR.

This wouldn’t apply to you but bears mentioning for more recent grads who are struggling with debt:

Graduates who obtained degrees from a college or university in New York State after November 2014 may qualify for the state’s Get on Your Feet Loan Forgiveness Program.

The program provides up to 24 months of federal student-loan debt payments to recent grads who are enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan and are paying 10 percent of their discretionary income toward their student loan debt.

DEAR CARRIE: When I was in my teens and twenties, I worked for a supermarket chain on Long Island that has since gone out of business. I worked as a part-time cashier and was a member of a union. I am now in my fifties and wonder if I will be entitled to any retirement benefits based on my 10 years of union membership. — Pension Update

DEAR PENSION: Whether you are eligible depends on whether you were vested in the plan. And 10 years is a common waiting period for becoming vested. Defined benefits plans, which are based on salary and years of service, often don’t begin paying retirees a pension until they turn 65. Even though your former employer has gone out of business, if you were vested, you would still get your pension. So check with your former union. If that doesn’t work, check with the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. at pbgc.gov.