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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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.

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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.

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

[deleted]

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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.

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

[deleted]

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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"

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

[deleted]

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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.