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Just ahead of its mega <keyword id="20008249" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="FPO" source="keywords">FPO</keyword> opening to <keyword id="21332860" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="public-investors" source="keywords">public investors</keyword>, <keyword id="19899016" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vodafone-Idea" source="keywords">Vodafone Idea</keyword> (<keyword id="20062540" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vil" source="keywords">VIL</keyword>) has announced closure of its anchor book allocation, raising about Rs 5,400 crore from marquee global as well as domestic investors, according to a statutory filing by the <keyword id="20132985" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="telco" source="keywords">telco</keyword>. This could be the third-largest anchor book after One 97 Communications and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC). One 97 Communications and LIC had raised Rs 8,235 crore and Rs 5,627 crore in the anchor round, respectively. In a notification to the exchanges on Wednesday, VIL said it has allotted 490.9 crore shares to 74 funds at Rs 11 apiece, which is also the upper end of the price band. This translated into a transaction size to Rs 5,400 crore. Of the total allocation to <keyword id="21330641" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="anchor-investors" source="keywords">anchor investors</keyword>, 79.52 crore stocks, or 16.2 per cent of the total, were allocated to five domestic mutual fund through a total of 11 schemes. Those who were allotted shares include GQG Partners Emerging Markets Equity Fund, Fidelity, UBS Fund Management, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Australian Super, Troo Capital, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Global Markets Mauritius, and Jupiter Fund Management. Additionally, domestic investors, including Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund, HDFC Mutual Fund, SBI General Insurance and Quant Mutual Fund, were allocated shares in the anchor round. The Rs 18,000-crore FPO of Vodafone Idea will open for public subscription on April 18 and conclude on April 22, marking the biggest FPO in the country. The price band has been set at Rs 10-11 per share. Prior to this, the largest FPO in the Indian market was a Rs 15,000 crore share-sale by YES Bank in 2020. The fundraise would give the ailing telco the firepower to improve its positioning in the Indian telecom market, where it currently trails larger rivals such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, by a wide margin. The funds will also help VIL shore up finances for the much-delayed <keyword id="20366727" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="5G-rollout" source="keywords">5G rollout</keyword> and strengthening 4G services, and payment of vendor dues. On April 6, the VIL Board approved raising Rs 2,075 crore from promoter Aditya Birla Group and increasing its authorised share capital to Rs 1 lakh crore. Earlier this year, Vodafone Idea had outlined plans to raise Rs 45,000 crore through a mix of equity and debt as it looked to match services offered by rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel and arrest an alarming and prolonged subscriber churn. VIL has also been fighting a desperate battle for survival, saddled with debt of Rs 2.1 lakh crore and quarterly losses. According to Trai data, Vodafone Idea continued to bleed on the subscriber front. VIL lost 15.2 lakh wireless subscribers, plunging its mobile subscriber base to 22.15 crore in January, in sharp contrast to subscriber gains by Jio and Airtel.

Ahead of FPO, Vodafone Idea garners Rs 5,400 cr from anchor investors

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A Philadelphia Federal Reserve paper examined $0 monthly student-loan payments on income-driven payment plans.</li><li>It found that while $0 payments can help borrowers in the short-term, it might not be as benefical down the road.</li></ul>A <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-debt-borrowers-apply-income-driven-repayment-save-plan-2023-7">$0 monthly student-loan payment</a> might only help some borrowers for so long.With student-loan payments often presenting a significant financial burden for borrowers, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-idr-student-debt-relief-account-adjustment-biden-2023-7">income-driven repayment plans</a> were created with the idea that borrowers would face a monthly payment they can afford based on their income. They would also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-student-loan-debt-forgiveness-idr-account-adjustment-2023-7">receive debt cancellation</a> after at least 20 years of qualifying payments.In some cases, IDR plans would give borrowers a $0 monthly payment that would still count toward their forgiveness process. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve released a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/working-papers/2024/wp24-08.pdf">working paper</a> examining the impacts of $0 payments, and it found that while those payments can provide significant financial relief for borrowers in the short term, that might not end up being the case down the road.For example, borrowers on IDR plans must recertify their incomes yearly to ensure their payments are still justified based on income. Using data from first-time IDR applications from 2015 to 2018, the Fed researchers found that borrowers who have $0 monthly payments in their first year on the repayment plan are 3% less likely to reapply for IDR and are 4% less likely to be an IDR plan over the next two years. If they don't do so, they could miss out on forgiveness down the road."A $0 payment increases the likelihood that an inattentive borrower becomes disconnected from the student loan system," the paper said."These findings suggest that waiving payment requirements provides insurance to struggling borrowers against immediate financial consequences, but when paired with the requirement of an annual IDR recertification, some borrowers experience increased risk of longer run financial distress," it continued.The researchers also found that 18 months after IDR applications are submitted, borrowers who qualified for a $0 monthly payment are 14% more likely to be delinquent on their student loans than borrowers with incomes above the $0 payment threshold.There could be several reasons borrowers do not recertify their incomes on IDR plans — if their income increases, for example, a different payment plan might be more affordable than remaining on IDR. However, other borrowers may have trouble navigating the recertification process, or they simply might not know they need to recertify, potentially keeping them from lower payments in the future.The recertification date for borrowers varies because it's typically based on when they first applied for the repayment plan. However, the Education Department recently announced it <a target="_blank" href="https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/idr-recertification-extended">extended the deadline to November 1</a>, meaning the earliest borrowers will have to update their information is September."During the COVID-19 payment pause, we paused the requirement for you to provide us with your income and family size information in order to keep your IDR plan up to date," the department wrote on its website. "We are now announcing the end date of this pause as part of our continued support for borrowers as they return to repaying student loans."Still, as the Fed paper explained, $0 payments can cause borrowers to lose track of the requirements for remaining on an IDR plan, and the Education Department's new SAVE income-driven repayment plan could help address that.Implemented in the summer, the SAVE plan has a range of new provisions intended to give borrowers some more relief. Earlier this year, the department <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-debt-cancellation-save-income-driven-payment-plan-2024-2">implemented one of the provisions ahead of schedule</a>: debt relief for borrowers with an original balance of under $12,000 who made as few as 10 years of qualifying payments.There are other provisions expected to be implemented this summer, one of which includes the option for the Education Department and student-loan servicers to <a target="_blank" href="https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/save-plan#benefits">automatically recertify</a> a borrower's income if the borrower agrees to disclose their tax information.Borrowers will still be able to do so manually, but the automatic option could protect those with $0 monthly payments from falling behind on the payment plan's requirements.

A $0 monthly student-loan payment could hurt some borrowers in the long term. An upcoming policy could change that.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>I had massive student loan debt due to a combination of low teacher pay and accumulating interest.</li><li>Thanks to recent changes to student loan repayment programs, my $370,000 in loan debt was forgiven.</li></ul>This spring, I received some of the best news of my life: My $370,000 in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-borrowers-debt-cancellation-new-bankruptcy-guidance-justice-education-2024-7">student loan debt</a> was forgiven.For over a decade, my loans were an albatross. The amount of debt I owed was so massive that I felt nauseated every time I looked at my balance. I had no idea how I'd ever pay off that much money, and the burden of making payments on my meager <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teacher-salary-in-every-state-2018-4">teacher's income</a> was a constant struggle.I got some relief when the COVID-19 pandemic brought a yearslong, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/credit-cards/best-zero-apr-business-credit-cards">interest-free payment</a> pause. But I knew that would end at some point. I couldn't stick my head in the sand forever.Fortunately, the US Department of Education made some changes to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-which-borrowers-are-eligible-debt-relief-plan-2024-8">student loan repayment</a>, and the day came when my debt was forgiven. I finally felt free.<h2 id="dec5f22e-a7a7-44c7-b9e9-00344d1d7895">How I got into this much debt</h2>Between my undergrad studies and my combined MA/Ph.D. program, I borrowed about $238,000. This was a massive amount on its own — but not unheard of for 10 years of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-at-nyu-stern-found-supportive-community-2023-11">higher education</a>.Teaching wasn't always on my radar. I graduated with a BA in criminal justice and political science, but by graduation, I knew I no longer wanted to work in that field. So, I took a short detour through law school, but that wasn't for me either.While trying to figure out my next steps, I got a job as a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/earning-extra-money-holiday-expenses-substitute-teaching-2023-11">substitute teacher</a>. That was when I discovered a passion for teaching.Subbing also taught me I had no interest in managing behavior. But teaching college meant I'd be teaching adults, so I shouldn't have to worry about classroom management. Even better, it also meant pursuing my love of research and writing. But becoming a full-time professor typically required a Ph.D., so it was back to school for me.Unfortunately, I had no idea until well after I graduated how difficult it is to land a professorship. Thanks to an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jobs-report-labor-market-hiring-layoffs-quits-recession-sahm-rule-2024-8">oversaturated job market</a>, only a tiny fraction of those who earn doctorates to become professors ever get to be one.But I didn't learn this until after I'd borrowed multiple six figures to get an education for a job I'd never have. I spent most of my academic career as an adjunct lecturer, working at multiple schools to earn barely above <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jobs-labor-market-federal-minimum-wage-raise-small-business-2024-8">minimum wage</a>.Meanwhile, I enrolled my student loans in an income-driven repayment plan. As a poorly paid adjunct, my <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/student-loans/how-to-apply-for-income-driven-repayment-student-loans">income-based payments</a> were lower than the interest due on my loans, which at one point amounted to as much as $2,000 a month. Thus, my loans ballooned during the decade after my graduation, accruing $132,000 in interest.<h2 id="a8ad8373-d088-4303-9785-4c39c0d8c0e8">The role of luck</h2>I didn't think I'd ever be able to climb out of that much debt, especially since it wasn't fixed debt like a mortgage or a car loan. Instead, thanks to negative amortization, which happens when you pay less than the amount of interest due, my loans continued to grow despite making payments.Additionally, as an adjunct, I didn't qualify for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-borrowers-debt-cancellation-pslf-back-processing-applications-2024-7">Public Service Loan Forgiveness</a>, which comes with a shorter repayment term and tax-free forgiveness. Even though adjuncts often work 60-plus hours a week, adjunct hours were reported as classroom hours and didn't include all the additional time spent on class prep and grading.But new fixes to the student loan system eliminated these barriers for me. For one, the new income-driven SAVE plan eliminates negative amortization, which means borrowers' loans won't grow if their payments are less than the interest due.Additionally, the Department of Education closed the loophole for adjuncts by introducing its own method for calculating teaching hours. When I heard that news, I literally sat down and cried.Next, the temporary recount meant that the years I'd spent in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/investing/are-we-in-a-recession">economic hardship</a> deferment would count toward my total number of required payments.Because of all these changes, I received a letter in the spring of 2024 announcing, "Congratulations! Your loans are forgiven." It felt like I'd won the lottery.<h2 id="2c77dc5f-5a7f-4ef6-a9a4-ce09f339afc7">You shouldn't bank on the same luck</h2>Several pieces had to fall into place for my loans to be forgiven. This included pandemic-era relief and an administration that was friendly toward student loan forgiveness.As an English teacher and the director of the writing center at a small <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-kings-college-financial-troubles-small-christian-college-2023-3">liberal arts college,</a> I work with students who borrow six figures or more to get an education. I feel for them, as college has become prohibitively expensive, and student loans help keep college accessible.Yet student loan debt can become a huge financial burden that impacts students' ability to do things like buy a home, have children, or build savings. Certainly, if I had the chance to do it all over again, I would have made different choices, and I hope my students do too.

I was drowning in $370,000 of student loan debt with my salary as a teacher. Then, it was all forgiven.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Shireen Nagdive worked as a software engineer in India when she applied for a master's in the US.</li><li>She told Business Insider it was a big risk taking out a $59,000 loan for her studies.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with 29-year-old Shireen Nagdive from Kalyan, India, about her experience moving to the US and working for Salesforce. The following has been edited for length and clarity.I grew up in a very small town in India called Kalyan, near Mumbai. I've been interested in computers since I was a child and wanted to pursue a career in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/computer-science-job-market-was-tougher-than-i-expected-2023-12">computer science</a> since the eighth grade.I did my bachelor's degree in computer science at Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/indians-leaving-big-tech-to-launch-startups-back-home-2024-9">India</a> from 2012 to 2016. In the last year of my course, I got an offer as a software engineer for a multinational company in India.I'm the first woman in my family to graduate from college and work for a big corporation.<h2 id="a8a22fef-ba92-45d4-8510-b66557966d2f">I applied for a master's in the US</h2>I moved in with some roommates from work. They were all sitting the graduate record examination, which can help with admissions to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/graduate-school-masters-mba-college-regret-2024-7">business schools in the US</a>.I'd never heard of it. No one close to me had pursued a career outside our hometown, let alone in the US.At 23, I knew I wanted to spend my whole career in tech, and it seemed like a good time to study for a couple of years in the US. I wanted to deepen my understanding of computer science and work on more complex projects. I decided to do the exam and see what happened. Every day after my 9-to-5, I'd study for the exam.I sat the exam and got decent marks, so I applied for several master's degrees in computer science in the US in 2017. I had a rough idea of how expensive they were, but I didn't know how I'd pay for them. I got into the computer science master's program at Stony Brook College in New York to start in 2018.<h2 id="e52405e2-72cb-4d22-aabd-529d38764bc3">I took a big risk taking out a loan</h2>I'd funded my examination and college application fees through my job, but I had no idea how I would finance a master's degree in America.The course fees were $59,000. That is a lot of money, which my family didn't have.I'd have to take on a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/professor-student-loan-debt-suddenly-forgiven-2024-8">lot of debt</a>. One option was to take out a collateral loan on our family home. The bank would be able to take the property as collateral if I didn't make my payments. My dad and I discussed this, but we didn't want our only house to be an asset on the loan.I decided to take out a non-collateral loan to cover the fee cost, which has a higher interest rate.Relatives asked me why I was taking on so much debt for my education instead of buying a house in India, building my own company, or making an investment. My dad, who had paid for my bachelor's degree, was worried, but my mom encouraged him to trust me.I questioned whether it was worth it, but I wanted to invest in myself. I thought: "If I don't take this risk now, I will regret it for the rest of my life."To counteract my doubts, I developed a calculated risk framework. What would be the worst thing that could happen, and how I would resolve it?The worst-case scenario was that I didn't get a job in the US, and it would take me a lot longer to repay my debt, including more interest. My solution was to return to India, where I knew I could get work. It might take me a decade to repay my debt, but at least I'd have no regrets.<h2 id="2e018fd4-9e86-4790-b36d-30a1edca9c44">I focused on what I could control</h2>I'd never been to the US before, but my debts scared me more than moving to a new country. Stony Brook is in New York. I visualized skyscrapers like in movies, but the college was actually in Long Island. My room was cramped. I initially wondered why I had come, but I made friends and adjusted to the city.Two weeks after I started, my friend and I wanted to try out salsa classes. That day, I heard from my roommates that someone on the course had already landed an internship with Microsoft. I hadn't even started preparing to apply to internships. I ditched the salsa and told myself I'd focus solely on my applications to tech jobs and interview preparation.Landing an internship could help my résumé and could be converted into a full-time offer. I worked day and night at college and gave my 100%. Working so hard on application alongside my course and assignments was pretty stressful. All the computer science students worked and lived on the same campus – it felt competitive, but also motivating.I was often homesick and called my parents daily. I liked hearing about what they had for lunch and dinner, just the basic things.<h2 id="af48b5f8-1d58-4940-a393-2a3efa2f747a">I landed a job with Salesforce</h2>I got an internship with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/salesforce-ping-pong-work-flexible-2024-7">Salesforce</a> in the summer of 2019 while doing my master's. It was in Washington state. I got to work on a project. I realized it was a great place for engineering and innovation and I really liked the culture. It helped me figure out I wanted to work on the backend side of things, on large scale systems.My manager was a great mentor and when I finished the project, I was offered a full-time role on the technical team that aligned with my interests. It was based in the Bay Area.I felt so relieved, and happy that my hard work had finally paid off. Not only could I repay my debt, but I could contribute to a great tech product at Salesforce.<h2 id="8a98083b-2e92-4cf4-85d8-b5f826c379d4">I moved to Silicon Valley</h2>I moved to the Bay Area in February 2020. I realized how much <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/san-francisco-new-york-london-tech-where-to-live-2024-8">tech innovation is happening in the area</a> and how many opportunities there were to build relationships with people in the industry. But I was <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moved-to-us-from-india-big-tech-changed-me-2024-7">homesick</a> because I couldn't travel home to India during the pandemic.I managed to pay back my loan in 2020.I've been here for four years, with Salesforce sponsoring my visa. I'm enjoying life in the US and haven't got plans to return to India. I'll figure that out in a couple of years.I'm so grateful I get to work with smart engineers on my team on a daily basis. I've seen an improvement in my problem-solving and communication skills in engineering.Last year, I was able to bring my parents to the US for a holiday. It was a dream for me to show them around all the beautiful places in California. I've grown so much over the last few years both as a software engineer and as a person. Starting from scratch in a new country makes you tough. I'm so glad I invested in myself.For other students who don't have a family background where they know how to figure all this out, if I can achieve my <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-the-american-dream-gen-zers-flexibility-freedom-individualism-2023-5">American dream</a>, you can too.If you've taken a significant career risk and would like to share your story, email <a target="_blank" href="mailto:ehopkins@businessinsider.com">ehopkins@businessinsider.com</a>.

I moved to the US from India and took out a $59K loan to follow my dream of landing a job in Big Tech. My risk paid off. 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Biden has implemented targeted student-loan forgiveness efforts over the past few years.</li><li>BI spoke to some millennials who received relief through different programs.</li></ul>Scott M. Smith, 40, wasn't expecting <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-student-loan-forgiveness-borrowers-save-plan-pslf-debt-cancellation-2024-4">student-loan forgiveness</a>.After receiving his master's in education administration in 2015 — preceded by his undergraduate education degree in 2008 — Smith held a student-loan balance of about $30,000 from both degrees. Since his work has been in public service, currently as a teacher, Smith decided to apply for the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-who-qualifies-for-latest-debt-relief-idr-2023-12">Public Service Loan Forgiveness program</a>, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after 10 years of qualifying payments.But despite working full time for a qualifying employer, Smith said, he wasn't hopeful for forgiveness because his student-loan servicer told him in 2022 he hadn't met his qualifying payments.That all changed with a letter from his servicer — reviewed by Business Insider — on February 15, 2023, stating: "We determined you have successfully met the requirements of the PSLF Progam and your loans listed below have been forgiven. Thank you for your public service!"With that letter, Smith's remaining $23,086 student-debt balance was officially gone."I was shouting it from the rooftops and walking around my school like, 'Hey, everybody who's been out of school for 10 years or so,' advertising that," Smith told BI. "So then I was helping a lot of my colleagues to get that information, as well."<div type="image" title="Scott M. Smith" height="315" width="420" msid="112523207" hostid="261" sizebytes="11892"></div>Since the Supreme Court <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-blocked-supreme-court-strikes-down-debt-cancellation-2023-5">blocked President Joe Biden's broad student-loan forgiveness plan</a> last summer, the Education Department has erased debt piecemeal by focusing on existing programs like PSLF. Many of these previously did not work as intended due to administrative hurdles and paperwork errors that left borrowers paying off more than they might've owed.Such <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-debt-cancellation-payment-pause-borrowers-disabilities-defrauded-2021-6">programs have provided relief to millions of borrowers over the past few years, including </a>borrowers <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-education-department-cancels-student-debt-borrowers-disabilities-paperwork-cardona-2021-3">with a total and permanent disability</a>, those <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-wiped-out-student-debt-education-department-corinthian-college-2022-6">defrauded by the schools they attended</a>, and those who had <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-debt-cancellation-save-income-driven-payment-plan-2024-2">made at least 20 years of qualifying payments</a> on income-driven repayment plans but had yet to receive the relief they were eligible for.The relief is a particular bright spot for people of Smith's age.Millennials who've gotten their loans wiped out told BI that they're now able to celebrate by investing in their futures and pursuing other life goals, such as buying a home, that their generation has famously lagged in pursuing.In the $1.7 trillion student-debt crisis, which affects over 40 million Americans, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/typical-student-loan-borrower-balance-millennial-woman-debt-relief-biden-2023-11">millennials, who are roughly 28 to 43, today </a>hold a significant portion of the load. According to recent Federal Student Aid <a target="_blank" href="https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/portfolio">data</a> for the third quarter of 2023, 14.8 million student-loan borrowers ages 25 to 34 — older Gen Zers and younger millennials — hold $483 billion outstanding in student debt. That same data shows that 12.2 million borrowers ages 35 to 49 — older millennials and younger Gen Xers — hold $534 billion outstanding in student debt.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2023-report-economic-well-being-us-households-202405.pdf">According</a> to the Federal Reserve, the median amount of student debt borrowers held in 2023 was between $20,000 and $24,999, and borrowers with higher levels of education were more likely to carry larger student debt loads.This relief could not have come at a better time for Smith. He said that he and his wife were hoping to grow their family with a second child but that his nearly $600 student-loan payments being deducted from his bank account each month strained their budget, making it difficult to plan for baby No. 2. The loan forgiveness has freed up their budgets to buy a larger car for their family — and he and his wife are now expecting."We have another thousand dollars every two months that we could put into something else," Smith said.Knowing how many borrowers have student debt, Smith said he's grateful for this relief, which allows him to move forward in life and grow his family without that financial burden weighing him down."It was huge. It really started things to be as great as they are right now," Smith said. "I'm the happiest that I've ever been, and that was a definitive point. February of 2023 was when things started to get better again."<h2 id="10129122-48c9-4ef3-a0e4-36323175654d">The freedom to go back to school</h2>For Paul Smylie, 39, student-loan forgiveness means something else.After graduating with an undergraduate degree in geography in 2007, Smylie had a student-debt balance of just over $36,000. He began repaying those loans on an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-idr-student-debt-relief-account-adjustment-biden-2023-7">income-driven repayment plan</a>, which promises debt relief after at least 20 years of qualifying payments. As of 2024, Smylie was able to get his balance down to $9,811 — but that was after paying about $46,000 because of interest.Given that Smylie had not yet completed his 20 years of payments, he didn't qualify for relief through his income-driven repayment plan. However, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/save-plan-student-loan-borrowers-new-debt-relief-save-income-driven-plan-2024-2">Biden's new SAVE income-driven repayment plan</a> offered a glimpse of hope — a provision within the plan allowed for student-loan forgiveness on loans with an original balance of $12,000 or less after as few as 10 years of payments.After SAVE was implemented in July 2023, Smylie enrolled in the plan and had four loans remaining to pay off — each of which was under $12,000. On February 21, the Education Department announced it would be implementing the new forgiveness provision ahead of schedule, announcing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-debt-cancellation-save-income-driven-payment-plan-2024-2">$1.2 billion in relief for 153,000 borrowers</a>. To Smylie's surprise, he was one of them.As of August 9, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/save-plan-blocked-cheaper-student-loan-payments-relief-new-ruling-2024-8">blocked SAVE</a>. Students with loans enrolled in the program have been placed into forbearance pending the results of continued legal battles over whether the lower payments and forgiveness measures in the payment plan can continue.While some experts have suggested a complete reversal of the SAVE plan could result in forgiveness being rolled back and loans being reinstated, the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/student-loan-cancellation-debt-college-forgiveness-c3ec59d4c1d89e77bc1afc6c8ded1615">Associated Press</a> reported that reinstating loans on such a large scale would be unreasonably costly and politically fraught, making such an outcome unlikely. However, it will be up to the courts to determine what to do with previously forgiven loans if the SAVE plan is ended entirely.For Smylie, the forgiveness granted by SAVE has been a godsend."It was a total shock," Smylie told BI."I teach yoga, and so it was 20 minutes before I was supposed to start to teach a class and I see this email, and I'm like, 'Wait a minute, is this serious?' And I just couldn't process it," he said. "I remember having a hard time teaching. I was just in this fun little cloud of joy. But it's one of those moments you just never think would ever come true, and then it did."<div type="image" title="Paul Smylie" height="2069" width="2758" msid="112523208" hostid="261" sizebytes="330684"></div>This relief is allowing Smylie the freedom to "have real true financial goals" with his retirement — and it's even opening the door for him to consider furthering his education. The idea of returning to school or seeking higher education in the first place has brought diverging views across generations.As BI has previously reported, many <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-value-of-college-higher-education-student-debt-tuition-2023-12">Gen Zers have chosen to forego college</a> due to high student debt loads and the availability of jobs that don't require college degrees. But for some millennials, Gen Xers, and even boomers, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-xer-why-going-back-school-50s-was-worth-it-2024-5">going back to school</a> is an opportunity to advance their careers, earn more money, and give themselves a chance at trying something new — an opportunity they might not have had when they were younger. For example, a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gallup.com/analytics/644939/state-of-higher-education.aspx">report</a> from Gallup and the Lumina Foundation found that "adults' interest in pursuing some form of higher education is at the highest level" the organizations ever recorded.Smylie's student-loan forgiveness is giving him the financial freedom to consider doing just that."It's taken a weight off of me, but it also inspired me to go back to a master's program that I had my eye on for a bit," he said.BI spoke with five financial advisors who primarily work with millennials. Each indicated that student debt remains among the top financial concerns their clients report having."There's not a lot of wiggle room in some cases as they're paying off student loans, to prioritize other short-term things or really save aggressively outside that debt," Chloe Moore, a certified financial planner who founded Financial Staples, told BI. "So having those student loans paid off really makes a difference."The advisors said most of their clients who have student loans carry between $20,000 to $100,000 in student debt, with those who pursued master's degrees and other advanced education tending to hold more than $50,000. Regardless of the degree, the advisors said their clients with student loans tend to put off other major investments — like buying a house, saving for retirement, or starting a family — until their education debt feels more manageable, which they described as a subjective measure that varies by person."The hardest thing, I think, for millennials that have any range of debt is making those tough choices between saving, paying down debt, and investing because the loans can be pretty burdening on cash flow," said Keenan Casey, a certified financial planner for Facet Wealth. "It can mean that you're making some really, really tough choices with the other aspects of your life."CiCora Leigh, 34, is all too familiar with the tough choices her student debt presented her. Leigh's educational path was unconventional — after graduating from high school in 2008, she fully funded her community-college education in Mississippi through scholarships and federal grants. However, after the death of a family member, she took a break from her education and decided to enlist in the Army with the hope that it would pay for her to eventually earn her law degree. Things didn't work out as she intended, though, and she ended up taking out about $70,000 in student loans to complete her degree at the University of Mississippi in business administration.As a single mom, Leigh felt significantly weighed down by the debt. "It was really making things tight for me and my son," she said, adding that the debt was sinking her credit score.<div type="image" title="Cicora Leigh" height="867" width="694" msid="112523206" hostid="261" sizebytes="31614"></div>All of that changed when she received a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-disabilities-qualify-for-student-loan-forgiveness-from-department-education-2021-3">total and permanent disability determination</a> from Veterans Affairs. In a rule first established under President Barack Obama, any student-loan borrower who can prove they are totally and permanently disabled is eligible for student-loan forgiveness. This determination can be made by the VA or a physician and includes any physical or mental impairment that inhibits employment.The VA informed Leigh of her disability status in February 2023, and just five months later, the Education Department had wiped out her $72,000 student-loan balance."It was truly a relief," Leigh said. "I was able to use those funds to start putting toward my son's college fund, and then I was able to publish my second book. That was such a relief to receive the letter. I was so happy."<h2 id="c131ac21-94ee-48b1-b9f0-49d058417940">Saving for retirement</h2>The monthly student-loan payments of nearly $500 that Beverley, 38, has been making since 2014 took a heavy toll on her finances.Beverley — who requested her last name be withheld for privacy — told BI that when she first started her career in the nonprofit sector, she was paid a very low wage and struggled to afford her monthly student-loan payments from both her undergraduate and graduate degrees on top of her other basic expenses. This led her to go into forbearance for a year to allow her to afford her everyday needs."It was really hard," Beverley said. "Paying rent, paying for monthly bills and food and everything, that basically left $100 in my bank account for anything else. It was impossible to save money."Beverley now works in the government and has been in the public sector her whole career, making her eligible for PSLF. But since she didn't start making payments until 2014, she thought she wouldn't see any student-loan forgiveness until 2024 at the earliest, assuming everything went perfectly with her paperwork.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/public-service-loan-forgiveness-program-major-overhaul-student-debt-biden-2021-10">A limited-time</a> change implemented by the Education Department in October 2021 changed that. Using a waiver that expired in October 2022, the department allowed borrowers to count payments that were previously deemed ineligible for PSLF toward forgiveness progress, including some periods in which borrowers' loans were in deferment or forbearance. That was great news for Beverley — her loans were on forbearance for a year after she graduated while she was working at the nonprofit, meaning the waiver brought her to the payment threshold for forgiveness a year ahead of schedule.On December 13 of last year, she finally received confirmation that her nearly $54,000 student-loan balance was wiped out. "Congratulations!" the letter from her servicer, reviewed by BI, said. "You have successfully met the requirements of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program and all or a portion of your loans listed below have been forgiven. Thank you for your public service."This relief not only opened up hundreds more dollars each month to make payments toward her mortgage — it finally allowed her the freedom <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loans-retirement-savings-employers-match-debt-payment-contributions-401k-2024-1">to put money toward retirement</a> for the first time."The thing that I'm most excited about is saving for retirement," Beverley said. "I have a lot of money that I was putting towards loans that can now go towards my future. I feel like I'm starting really late for retirement stuff, but it's better than having to pay for however many more years if I didn't get the forgiveness."Grayson Hofferber, a financial advisor and president of Millennial Wealth Management, says the cash-flow burden created by student-loan debt means many of the clients he counsels have to play catch-up for years to get on track for retirement or set up an education fund for their own children."I would say the vast amount of folks will focus on maximizing their retirement savings, whether through their 401(k) or their IRA, after paying off their student debt," Hofferber said. "For the majority of our clients, they generally will take that same kind of repayment dollar amount that they're putting toward student loans, and they'll reinvest that for their future. So they'll put that into an investment account, whether that's to buy a home or to pursue an early retirement."Though some financial advisors noted that once borrowers unlock the money earmarked to pay down debt, they also often want to celebrate."Whether it be student loans, credit-card debt, auto-loan debt, any form of debt that someone's paid off that has felt like a burden for a prolonged period of time, there is the propensity to feel like they have been sacrificing and that they want and deserve to spend the money after that point," Casey said.The financial advisors who talked to BI said that while their clients tended to be financially savvy and prone to prioritizing long-term investments, the post-student-loan splurge is a common phenomenon they see among millennials. And the splurge can take many forms — whether music festival tickets, or buying a Tesla, or taking an international vacation.While retirement is still a ways away for Beverley, she said she's grateful for Biden's changes to PSLF — and the freedom it opened up for her to make larger investments down the road."The limited waiver opportunity basically saved me a year of payments that I would still be making now," Beverley said. "So, for me, it's like keeping a promise that was made a long time ago that if we work in public service, we can have this opportunity."

Meet the millennials who got student-loan forgiveness and now have the freedom to save for retirement, grow their families, and consider going back to school

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Meet the millennials who got student-loan forgiveness and now have the freedom to save for retirement, grow their families, and consider going back to school

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