How To! How To Outsmart Your Student Loans
Feb 18, 2025
Yanely Espinal, a financial educator and author of "Mind Your Money," shares her expertise on managing student loan debt. She discusses the emotional and practical realities of student loan repayment, emphasizing the importance of financial literacy. Yanely offers smart strategies like loan consolidation, automatic payments, and understanding credit scores to tackle debt effectively. She also addresses the risks of using retirement funds for repayment and encourages proactive financial planning to achieve independence from student loans.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Valerie's Debt Struggle
- Valerie, nearing 40, wants to aggressively pay off her $25,000 student loan.
- She recalls struggling with minimum payments, wage garnishment, and defaulting after job loss.
Early Neglect of Loans
- Valerie admits to not understanding the loan terms initially and neglecting repayments in her 20s.
- Living in New York City while working retail made consistent payments challenging.
Debt Management Strategies
- Yanely Espinal advises consolidating debts and creating a repayment plan.
- Track spending and consider increasing income through skill development or additional work.
