STUDENT LOAN DEBT

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Susannah Snider covers higher education for Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine where she writes about college financing and repaying student loans. You can find her stories in print and at Kiplinger.com.

Follow her @SusSnider

Susannah Snider

Joe Mihalic wrote a blog at nomoreharvarddebt.com that chronicled his mission to pay off his burdensome $90k of student debt in seven months with an after-tax salary of $74k. He attributes his success to his ability to retrain his mind to avoid consumption and to find ways to supplement his salary.

Joe Mihalic

Betsy Mayotte is the director of regulatory compliance for American Student Assistance, a Boston-based nonprofit organization with 50+ years’ experience helping people make better decisions about financing their education and repaying student loans. She is also a frequent contributor to saltmoney.org. Follow her @asa_org

Betsy Mayotte

Brandon EndsleyBrandon Endsley graduated from Purdue University in 2011 from the College of Health and Human Sciences with a Bachelor in Science in Financial Counseling and Planning.

Brandon has worked at the Division of Financial Aid at Purdue University since May of 2008, and in February 2012 Brandon became a full-time Financial Aid Administrator overseeing Financial Literacy which houses MyMoney, a website dedicated to financial literacy awareness.Follow him @MyMoneyPurdue

Stephanie draws comics about money at The Empowered Dollar, a personal finance web comic dedicated crushing debt and creating financial freedom.

When she's not doodling or blogging, she's helping startups and nonprofits design financial education apps and programs. Follow her @EmpoweredDollar

Stephanie Halligan

Claire Murdough is a 2010 UC Santa Cruz graduate. She lives in the Bay Area and writes for ReadyForZero, a company empowering people to organize their debt repayment in the most efficient way possible.

In addition to student loan repayment, she has a special interest in affordable travel and discovering good food on the cheap. Follow @Claire_Murdough @ReadyForZero

Claire Murdough

John is an Analytics Consultant at Experian. He has 20+ years of experience working in the consumer finance industry with JP Morgan Chase and Capital One Financial. Follow @Experian_US

John Derdevanis

Balances of student loan debt are now greater than any other consumer loan product - with the exception of residential mortgages.

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Paying half your student loan payment every two weeks

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Betsy Mayotte @asa_org

works out to a full extra payment a year.

Already in college and want to lessen that student debt load?Keep applying for scholarships and fill out the FAFSA every year.

@EmpoweredDollar

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Hat tip to @BrokeMillennial

BrokeMillennial.com

Q3: Any favorite apps or sites to help you research a home?

#CreditChatWednesdays | 3 p.m. ET

HOW TO PAY COLLEGE DEBT FASTER

You’ll earn a 0.25% point interest rate reduction.

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Susannah Snider @SusSnider

When repaying your federal loans, sign up for automatic payments.

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Don’t be afraid to ask questions,

Brandon Endsley @MyMoneyPurdue

it’s the only way to understand your student loans.

Student loans represent a serious financial contract --research all your options before committing to a loan program.

@Claire_Murdough

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What are you wasting your money on?

Joe Mihalic, NoMoreHarvardDebt.com

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What can you start today to make more money?

Really important to understand what type of loans you have - federal/private, interest rate, variable vs. fixed, term-length, etc.

John Derdevanis, Experian

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bit.ly/studentdebtchatCheck out the full video chat and resources: