How can you manage student loan payments?

• Sign up for autopay. Falling behind on your student loan payments can lead to late fees, and if you were to become truly delinquent, you could face even bigger troubles, such as wage garnishment. To avoid these problems, you can enroll in autopay, in which you move money automatically from a checking or savings account to your student loan provider. In addition to staying current on your loan, you might earn a .25 percent rate reduction, which is offered by many lenders and loan services to those who enroll in autopay. 
• Refinance your loan. With a steady income, a reasonably good credit score and a manageable number of other debts, you might be able to refinance your student loan and reduce your interest rate, which will enable more of your monthly payments to go toward the principal. 
• Look for employer benefits. Some employers — typically the larger ones — offer student loan repayment help to employees, so check with your human resources department. 
• Make extra payments. If you feel strapped just making your regular student loan payments, you may not be able to make extra ones. But if you can afford to add to your payments consistently, you could pay off your loan earlier than you had thought. But just because you make an extra payment, the money doesn't necessarily go toward reducing your principal — student loan services generally apply payments first to late fees and then to accrued interest. If you pay online, you should have an option to apply extra payments to the principal. Your loan servicer could also provide you with other ways of paying more toward principal.
• Choose a payoff strategy. If you have multiple student loans, and you can make more than the minimum payments, you may want to be strategic in how you pay off your loans. You could choose the "snowball" method by getting rid of the smallest loans first — a technique that can give you feelings of momentum and satisfaction. Or you could take the "avalanche" approach by first going after the loans with the highest interest rates. Either route could save you more money in the long run. 

Neal Secures $700,000 for North Adams Flood Chutes Project

12:13PM / Friday, May 17, 2024

Mayor Jennifer Macksey at last August's signing of an agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — U.S. Rep. Richard Neal has secured $700,000 in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' budget to complete a feasibility study of the Hoosic River flood chutes.  

 

The Corps of Engineers is in the midst of a three-year, $3 million study of the aging concrete flood chutes that control the passage of the river through the city. 

 

North Adams has ponied up $500,000 as part of its share of the study and another $1.5 million is expected to come from state and federal coffers. Neal previously secured $200,000 in the fiscal 2023 omnibus spending package to begin the feasibility study. 

 

The additional funding secured by Neal will allow for the completion of the study, required before the project can move on to the next phase.

 

Neal celebrated it as a significant step in bringing the flood chutes project to fruition, which he said came after several months of communication with the Corps.

 

"The residents of North Adams have long advocated for much needed improvements to the city's decades-old flood chutes. This announcement is a substantial victory for the city, one that reaffirms the federal government's commitment to making this project a reality," said the congressman. "As a former mayor, I know firsthand the importance of these issues, especially when it comes to the safety and well-being of residents. 

 

"That is why I have prioritized funding for this project, one that will not only enhance protections along the Hoosic River Basin and reduce flood risk, but also make much critical improvements to the city's infrastructure and create jobs."