A few weeks ago I posted about the greatness that is SoFi. While some readers sent me positive first hand experiences with the company, others were disappointed to find the rates they qualified for wouldn’t help them out much.
Here’s the good news: SoFi isn’t the only student loan refinancing company.
In fact, there are about a dozen other well-respected options. They might not all boast skydiving for singles like SoFi, but they’re still very capable of saving you thousands of dollars on your student loan payments.
Here’s the rub. Not all student loan refinancing companies offer the same rates to everyone. In the world of debt, a few fractions of a percent can add up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars* of savings.
*The average savings from refinancing student loans to a lower rate is anywhere from $13-$20,000. No matter which way you slice it, that’s a metric F^@K ton of money.
The traditional way of finding the best interest rates involves first researching which refinancing companies are trustworthy, filling out lengthy applications, hoping this all wasn’t a huge waste of your time, then doing it all over again.
It’s a process that is timely, to put it kindly, and a huge pain in the ass, to put it accurately.
Instantly Comparing Student Loan Rates with LendEdu
Forget wasting time on research and applications – LendEdu is a one stop tool for window shopping student loan refinance rates.
LendEdu is a completely legit aggregator of student loan options. Think Lending Tree or Expedia.com for student loan refinancing.
Their program will walk you through 10 quick questions, then automatically show you the type of refinancing offers that work for your individual situation.
Once you’ve answered the questions, LendEdu allows you to easily compare all your pre-qualified offers from the 12 best refinancing companies. Completely free.
LendEdu was actually founded by few normal guys with student loans themselves, who became frustrated with the obstacles to finding good refinancing rates. When they couldn’t find any tools to help them through the process, they decided to create their own.
Because these guys know how overwhelming the whole student loan process can feel, their team designed LendEdu be as easy and painless as possible. Here’s how simple the process is:
1. Answer 10 easy questions.
Don’t worry, this isn’t a test. The questions include a bunch of gimmes… I mean, your first and last name make up two of the ten questions. Other brain killers include where you went to school, your degree, and address.
2. Three minutes later, finish answering those questions.
Remember when I said they were easy? Unless you type slower than a 1930s typewriter, you should be done with the whole process in less than 3 minutes.
Go ahead, time me. I’ll wait.
3 minutes… That’s less time than the skillet dinner recipe you just watched on Youtube, and I don’t know of any skillet dinners that come topped with $20,000.
3. Compare your interest rates across 12 of the top student loan refinancers in the country. (Including SoFi)
It really is just window shopping for student loans. See a rate you like? Go ahead and save a few thousand dollars. Don’t see anything good? You’re only out about 3 minutes of your time.
FAQs:
Is LendEdu free?
Yes.
Really?
Yes, completely free.
Does LendEdu impact my credit score?
Nope. The program uses what’s called a “soft pull” which does not impact your credit score at all.
Is there some sort of catch once I check my interest rates?
Nope. LendEdu is just a tool to see what your options are. Browsing their free tool puts you under no obligation to do or buy anything.
Is my information safe with LendEdu?
LendEdu is totally legit and uses Norton level security, so fear not. I wouldn’t worry too much about this one anyway; your name and address are about as personal as LendEdu’s questions get.
Conclusion
If I could earn a few thousand dollars for 3 minutes of work, I’d lock myself in my office and swear off sleeping forever. If you have student loans, there’s no question you should take those three minutes and potentially save yourself thousands.
I’ve said it before – trying to build wealth while paying interest on debt is like swimming against the current… with an anchor around your leg.
Put simply, LendEdu is the best tool I’ve seen to help you cut off that anchor for good.
Click here to see how much you can save, or click the banner below:
Last updated January 2017.
“If I could earn a few thousand dollars for 3 minutes of work, I’d lock myself in my office and swear off sleeping forever.”
Awesome!
That sad part? It’s not too much of an exaggeration…
It might be worth adding a note for readers that aren’t as familiar with finance that the savings number they show you only applies if you still have 10 years left to pay off your student loan. If you’re looking to refinance a few years into making payments, it might not be as good of a deal as you think.
For me, SoFi showed an estimated savings of $4,400. When I run the numbers myself, I only save $320 and extend the amount of time it will take me to pay off my student loans from 7 back to 10 years. My monthly payment would be a little lower, but to me it wasn’t worth the risk of switching from a fixed to a variable rate and adding another 3 years to repayment.
Still a great tool, but people need to be aware that you have to look at more than the monthly payment and expected savings they quote you.
Would you care to elaborate a bit on your comment; that savings is a bit to the right from your left…. not a whole lot of savings that you calculated than what was calculated from SoFi.
This is great information! Thanks for sharing this.
Refinancing options work for borrowers with good jobs and good incomes – and are useless to borrowers with low-wage dead-end jobs. Better to stick with my Income Based Repayment plan which requires NO monthly payment until a borrower’s income exceeds 150% of poverty level and forgives unpaid balances after 25 years.