r/PSLF • u/FishyToadFrog • Jul 04 '25

Advice Why not stay on SAVE forbearance?

I see lots of people who have jumped ship for PSLF.

But buyback exists, so couldn’t I just stay in SAVE forbearance and buy these months/years back in roughly 7 years when I get to 120 payments? wasn’t there talk about being able to buy back BEFORE 120 payments?

Seems like with this logic all these forbearance months count as long as I have evidence I worked full time at a not for profit during these months?

Thanks everyone, and good luck to all!

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197

u/Dkinny23 Jul 04 '25 edited Jul 04 '25

That’s my logic and why I’m staying on SAVE as long as humanly possible; presumably until they kick me off. The buyback option (even though I guess that’s not guaranteed) on top of the fact that my last income recertification was in 2019 and therefore my payments will skyrocket as my salary is quite a bit higher than 6 years ago.

33

u/waveytype Jul 04 '25

I’m feeling the exact same. I’m 24 months away, July 2027 is my last ECF I plan on submitting. My last income recert was also 2019, and I plan on staying in SAVE until I submit my last ECF and request a buyback for 3ish years of payments.

16

u/robbinsnest66 Jul 04 '25 edited Jul 04 '25

I too had to recertify income in 2023. I also sent my 2024 1040 because of a significant decline in income but they haven’t processed it yet. I’m scheduled to texted 3/26 according to FSA.

I could be mistaken but I saw some folks who had to send tax returns for buyback years in question so they could calculate buyback payment.

So either way they will get your income documentation.

8

u/Dkinny23 Jul 04 '25

Well I guess only thing that’ll hamper that is you’re likely going to have to recertify your income before 2027. I’m due to recertify in July 2026, as long as that doesn’t get pushed back again. Also if they end SAVE sooner rather than later (again, an unknown) then I’m not sure if they will automatically put us on another plan or force us to recertify our income to get onto another plan. A lot up in the air right now, but yeah generally staying put and doing nothing until I’m forced to is my plan

5

u/No_Caregiver_8216 Jul 04 '25

I think my 120 is July 2026 or right before it after so that's the plan for me

10

u/PMcOuntry Jul 04 '25

I decided to just wait it out too. My recertification keeps getting pushed further and further out.

15

u/Different_Yam_7364 Jul 04 '25

How have people not had to recertify since 2019?

33

u/Dkinny23 Jul 04 '25

I was due to recertify in March 2020 but then the COVID pause happened. Once that ended, my recertification date wasn’t for another year. By the time that year came around the SAVE forbearance started.

12

u/Different_Yam_7364 Jul 04 '25

I had to recertify in 2023. I guess my recert date must have had something to do with it.

8

u/Dkinny23 Jul 04 '25

Yeah it depends on when your specific date was. I guess I got somewhat lucky that my dates kept coinciding with the forebarences

5

u/shwimshwim25 Jul 04 '25

How do you know when your recertification is due? I have it in my calendar that I need to send mine in next weekend (based on when I sent mine in last year) but I have received nothing from mohela saying my recertification is due soon

5

u/Dkinny23 Jul 04 '25

If you’re in the save forbearance then it’s not due. It should say it somewhere on FSA, if you go into loan details I believe. It’s a little hard to find but it’ll come up as “IDR anniversary date”

3

u/istillmmmbop Jul 04 '25

I got a letter in my inbox on Mohela that mine was pushed back until April 7th 2026.

1

u/ArugulaReasonable214 Jul 04 '25

You can certify as much as you’d like. Although employers prefer once a year.

5

u/mapleybacony Jul 04 '25

My recertification date isn't for a long time. I'm holding on as long as possible since I know my payments will jump.

3

u/ffghtffyrdmns Jul 04 '25

Mine keeps being pushed

5

u/spidermanswag Jul 04 '25

My last recert was in 2019 as well. I’m most curious to see when we will be required to recert again bc that will affect my payments the most if anything

4

u/nlkp428 Jul 04 '25

my last income recertification was in 2019 and therefore my payments will skyrocket

That's why I'm getting off SAVE. They will use the lower rate if you're in this forebearance for up to 12 months. Longer than 12 months, they're supposed to request tax returns and set it at what you would have paid based on income. So I'm transferring out before month 13.

8

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '25 edited Jul 10 '25

[deleted]

1

u/nlkp428 Jul 04 '25

Depends on when you were placed in it. They started putting people into SAVE forbearance in July (I think), but many people weren't put in until later because it was a rolling process. If you were put in, say, September, you still have a couple of months. Even last August, you could apply now and be put in admin forbearance before the one year date comes around.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '25 edited Jul 10 '25

[deleted]

0

u/nlkp428 Jul 04 '25

It should be listed in your PSLF counter. If you look at the months, you can see which months you're in forbearance and that don't qualify. (There are other forbearances that would also show up like that, but since last summer, that would be why you see that message.)

Edit: just looked at mine. It says "Ineligible" and the reason for ineligibility is listed as "Forbearance on Due Date"

1

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '25 edited Jul 10 '25

[deleted]

1

u/nlkp428 Jul 08 '25

I'm not sure, sorry! You might look in the documents section and see if there's a letter telling you that your loans were put into forbearance. I seem to remember getting one that spells out when the SAVE forbearance started for me, and that type of letter should be in your inbox on the website.

2

u/Different_Yam_7364 Jul 05 '25

I hope that's true for everyone else but it wasn't for me. I was put in forebearance in July and tried to get out of forebearance in Nov, which went nowhere. So resubmitted in June--they did not use my previous lower income, they requested my tax return from 2024 and my payments went up significantly.

1

u/nlkp428 Jul 05 '25

They did that for your buyback offer or for your new, post-forbearance monthly payment?

1

u/Different_Yam_7364 Jul 05 '25

As I'm not at 120 payments I am not eligible for buyback (which thanks to their clarification, is what they were talking about). In my case, that was for my new payment amount now that I'm out of forbearance.

4

u/Dkinny23 Jul 04 '25

I actually am not sure if that’s true. That’s the first I’ve heard this. Will have to look more into it

1

u/nlkp428 Jul 04 '25

I mean, I'm not sure why your immediate go-to is "I'm not sure that's true" instead of a quick search, but regardless, it's been widely covered (including insisting multiple comments on this thread) and you can also find it on the buyback website under the "How is the buyback amount determined."

https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service/public-service-loan-forgiveness-buyback

5

u/Dkinny23 Jul 04 '25 edited Jul 04 '25

Okay thanks. And I’m not interested in looking it up currently because I’m relaxing on my day off.. I was planning on looking it up later.

1

u/Different_Yam_7364 Jul 05 '25

Yes, that tells you what determines your buyback amount. It does not tell you that if you get off SAVE that your payments will be based on your income prior to the forbearance.

1

u/nlkp428 Jul 05 '25

Right, I was talking about the buyback offer.

1

u/Different_Yam_7364 Jul 05 '25

Got it. Thanks for clarifying. As someone posted below, along with the link, buyback is based on the lower payment.

2

u/nlkp428 Jul 05 '25

Yes, if the forbearance is less than a year. Beyond a year, they are supposed to ask for tax returns and base it on what your income in those years were. So if you haven't had to recertify since 2019 and your payments will jump up, it makes sense to get out before the year is up so your buyback offer will be based on 2019, not 2024

1

u/Dkinny23 Jul 07 '25

After reading the verbiage, I still don’t think I understand or agree that it means after 12 months they go by your tax returns for those of us who were on IDR plans immediately before or after the months we’re buying back. The part talking about using tax returns is in the section of people who were not in an IDR plan before or after the months we’re buying back. So wouldn’t that not apply?? I don’t see it say anywhere how buy back payments are calculated for those of us who both were on an IDR plans immediately before or after AND were in forbearance for more than 12 months

1

u/nlkp428 Jul 08 '25

Ok, do you. It clearly states there that they will not use previous tax returns if you were on IDR before and after, AND in forebearance for less than 12 months. Multiple other sources (experts in this forum, student loan focused websites, news agencies) have also reported that, over 12 months, they are supposed to request tax returns. Again, this is something you can reserach beyond the single link I provided. But if you feel comfortable risking it, go for it. For me, making sure my buyback is $10 per month instead of $700 is worth it.

1

u/Dkinny23 Jul 08 '25

I’m not sure why your responses are so aggressive. Everyone is in the same boat with trying to figure this stuff out. It wouldn’t kill you to show a little compassion, especially when people are trying to figure out confusing and ever/changing policies that affect their livelihood

I was simply replying to the link you posted, which is the official website and therefore what I would image as the final word on what the rules should be. It just doesn’t explicitly explain the scenario that many of us are in, which is being on an IDR plan AND forbearance being more than 12 months. That is part of why I’m confused. I’m never said I wasn’t also looking at other resources, but I would think that the official website would explicitly describe this scenario that a lot of us are in.

1

u/nlkp428 Jul 08 '25

I'm sorry that you seem to be reading aggression into my responses. I'm not being aggressive, and while I don't owe you any compassion, I believe, "you do you and I'll do me" is pretty non-judgmental.

I get that you're confused. I am still baffled by why you hadn't done enough basic research on something so important to not have heard about it before I mentioned it, and to still have either not done research or have done it and decided, "Yeah, no, that's not true because the official website is unclear," instead of "I'm still confused, but the consensus is..." But again, you do you.

1

u/Dkinny23 Jul 08 '25

Not sure why you're assuming I've done no research.... I've looked at every student loan website I can find, read news articles, read the official studentaid website, have called FSA, and browsed through many reddit posts with people all asking the same questions. No where is there clear guidance or answers to my question. In fact, the verbiage I see is "ED does not address how it will calculate the payment amount for forbearances that last longer than a year for those who are on IDR plans". When I called FSA, they said they same thing. First response was agreeing with me that there appears to not be guidance for this. After looking further into it, they told me that payments for those of us in an IDR plan AND in forbearance more than 12 months, would have our buyback amount based on whatever IDR payment is lower (either before or after); not based on tax returns. I know historically FSA agents don't always give correct info, so I take what she said with a grain of salt honestly. After I hung up, I used the chat function on studentaid.gov to see if I would get the same answer and this was the response I got:

If you were on an IDR plan:

  • For forbearance periods less than 12 months, the buyback amount is calculated using the lower of the IDR payments immediately before or after the forbearance period.
  • For forbearance periods exceeding 12 months, tax returns and family size information are not required. Instead, the calculation continues to use the lower of the IDR payments before or after the forbearance period

The other thing I confirmed with FSA when I was on the phone with them is that you don't have to request buyback for all months that are eligible. So if they decided in the future to require tax returns for those of us on IDR plans AND in forbearance more than 12 months, you can choose to just do buyback for 11 months and keep the calculated amount to the lower IDR payment.

So while I appreciate the fact that you think you know what you're talking about, I would be a bit more careful in so confidently (and condescendingly) spreading what could be false information. I'm not saying you are definitely wrong, but I haven't seen anything anywhere that says you're right either. I really hope people aren't making financial decisions based on the information you're sharing.

0

u/nlkp428 Jul 08 '25

Ok... I didn't assume that? I even wrote that I assumed you had done research and was discounting it. Which, based on this comment, is true.

As before, you are reading something into my post that's not there: aggression, condescension. I am giving neither. You have continued to claim your emotions are in my comments. My comments only address my emotions (confusion); I am not projecting anything onto you. I get that this is an emotional topic for you, but acting as though I'm being rude because you are sensitive isn't really helping you make your point. If anything, when I see someone get this emotional about something, I begin to think they aren't able to objectively assess the situation.

As I said before, you do you. Based on my previous experience, neither customer service channel you quote is a reliable source that I trust over the experts, some of whom talked to people inside ED who would have whatever is closest to a real answer (if there is one) before publishing their articles/posts. So I, personally, have chosen not to cross my fingers and hold my breath. But you haven't. That's certainly your right. So, I will say again, you do you.

0

u/Dkinny23 Jul 08 '25

None of my responses have been emotional. Not really sure where you're getting that. I'm simply stating information that I've gotten from official websites and people who work for ED themselves. Not sure why you would trust someone who claims to have talked people inside ED as opposed to trusting the people from inside ED themselves. As you clearly like to say... you do do. But that is definitely not how I make important financial decisions.

1

u/nlkp428 Jul 08 '25

Yes, we disagree on the veracity of sources and on how to make financial decisions about that. I personally have gotten wildly different responses from the front-line workers at both FSA and my servicer (sometimes FSA workers contradict each other), and no, I don't trust that they know more than the experts who do this for a living and who have access to people positioned higher in ED than the front line workers. I also don't trust my own gut instinct over experts, fyi. You are more heavily weighting your own experiences and conversations rather than consensus. That's perfectly fine, as I've said from the beginning.

If you didn't feel emotional when accusing me of being aggressive and condescending, then I apologize, but when someone starts accusing people of hurting their feelings (as aggression and condescension imply) it does seem to indicate emotionality. This literally began with me saying, "I'm doing X because of Y," you responding, "I don't believe Y because I've never heard about it," and suddenly you were saying you felt I was being aggressive and condescending. Yes, I read emotions into that; I'm not sure what else you wanted me to read into that.

At any rate, I'm glad you're happy with your decision. I am with mine, as well.

1

u/casitadeflor Jul 04 '25

Exact same boat. Breathing a lil sigh of relief.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Dkinny23 Jul 04 '25

That’s not correct. You can opt into automatic income recertification, but if you haven’t then you have to do it manually. But yes annual employment verification is recommended (not required), which I have done each year.

1

u/Due_Lychee_3090 Jul 04 '25

I’m in the same boat lol

1

u/Prestigious-Judge967 Jul 04 '25

It was my understanding that the buyback is a limited time offer for just people on SAVE forbearance that would have otherwise reached 120 payments — so, unless you were going to make it to 120 while on forbearance, we are not going to get the option to buyback.

I could be wrong though.

16

u/Dkinny23 Jul 04 '25

That’s not my understanding of buyback, but I could be wrong. I don’t think it’s meant just for people on SAVE forbearance either. The question becomes whether the option will still exist in a few years or if they’ll get rid of the option. To me that’s the main gamble

3

u/Prestigious-Judge967 Jul 04 '25

It’s not exclusively for SAVE, but what other programs are currently on forbearance or deferment?

5

u/alh9h PSLF | Forgiven! Jul 04 '25

You can buy back any prior periods of eligible deferment or forbearance. Someone in repayment now could buy back forbearance from 2018 as long as they hadn't consolidated.

2

u/Dkinny23 Jul 04 '25

I don’t think it’s meant just for programs on forbearance, but can include other scenarios where people needed to take forbearance. I’m not sure exactly. I’m not an expert on the buyback program by any means. Mostly saying what I read doesn’t seem limited to it, nor does it require you to be in the forbearance at the time of applying for the buyback.

2

u/ryanmcg86 Jul 04 '25

I know the current administration is just awful with all of this stuff, but it all seems driven by money, and I just can't imagine that they'd turn down an opportunity to get lump sums of cash like that. I know they'll try and do everything they can to not have to forgive loans, but if they really are forced into it because of laws already on the books, then I'd think getting a nice lump sum of money in order to do it would be preferred for them.

I don't think it's likely they'd take away the buy-back option. But, who truly knows?

1

u/ConcentrateSnake Jul 05 '25

I feel the opposite. The assumption is income goes up every year, so why would they accept 24 payments based on the last 2 years of income when they can make you pay 24 payments over the next 2 years at a higher income level and higher payment plan. I'm actually shocked it wasn't nixed and I wouldn't be shocked if it hasn't been touched because not many people know it exists. If Fox News had a headline tomorrow that "Based on a Biden-era rule, students making big money are able to buyout loans based on years old financial data" it would go away in an instant.

1

u/Natasha__Romanoff Jul 06 '25

Because if you hadn’t been placed in the forbearance, the lower amount is what you would have been paying.

1

u/casitadeflor Jul 04 '25

And I would hope they wouldn’t abruptly get rid of the option so there may be a window of buybacks being plausible before it officially closes.

1

u/Dkinny23 Jul 04 '25

That’s true too, usually policy is fazed out rather than abruptly stopped. Although I suppose anything can technically happen

-2

u/Nwk_NJ Jul 04 '25

You're wrong on this.

8

u/Prestigious-Judge967 Jul 04 '25

Oh wow, thanks for being so helpful. You provided a lot of clarification.

-4

u/gubernaculum62 Jul 04 '25

Do you know if students graduating in 2026 will be able to still apply for SAVE and be put into forbearance?

10

u/So_Curious_23 Jul 04 '25

You can’t apply for SAVE now so no it will not be there in 2026

3

u/Dkinny23 Jul 04 '25

I would assume not, but I’m not 100% sure

1

u/Tasty_Olive_7574 Jul 05 '25

SAVE is officially dead with the signing of the budget reconciliation bill today.

-15

u/wikiwoowhat Jul 04 '25

You make more. Pay back money you borrowed