SoFi Blog

Other than your love life, finance might just be the last topic you’d ever want to discuss with your parents. Not only could it potentially open you up to unnecessary and unwanted criticism (ahem, like comments about avocado toast), but financial advice from a baby boomer can sometimes feel a little irrelevant. The financial climate has changed considerably since your parents were in their 20s or 30s. The cost of higher education has gone up 1,120% in 30 years, and millennials (i.e., you) are carrying majority of the $1.2 trillion in student loans Americans currently owe and are paying back.

It’s law school graduation season, which means the newest generation of lawyers has officially entered the playing field. If you’re anything like me after I graduated from Northeastern, you’re probably spending every waking minute studying for the bar exam and daydreaming about the moment you see your name on the pass list. While you might not feel like you have room in your head to think about anything else, managing your finances in advance of your first post-bar paycheck is one of the most important ways to set yourself up for financial success as a new attorney.

Entering the working world among an MBA class of ambitious post-grads can be like the Hunger Games. I’ve been there: Desperate former students scramble to not just score their dream job, but figure out how to pay for their—let’s not beat around the bush—very expensive education. Going to Columbia Business School was definitely a worthwhile investment, giving me a big-picture view of how companies work that would help me pursue my future goals in marketing. But, after two years of $60K tuition, I was over $100K in debt—which was pretty overwhelming, to say the least.

Of course, money can be a significant source of stress in long-term relationships. It just comes with the territory of important, but less enjoyable, aspects of combining two lives over time—like meeting the in laws and figuring out how to share a space. As you grow your life together, you also grow your finances together, and inevitably conflict can arise when you’re having heavy talks about things like savings goals and spending habits.

For borrowers who are eligible, the decision to refinance student loans is typically a no-brainer. Not only does refinancing allow you to choose between lower monthly payments and a shorter payment term, but it also lets you consolidate your monthly bill and – most importantly – save a significant amount of money over the life of the loan.

But even if you’re excited about the idea of sticking it to your student loans, you may be concerned about how much work will be involved in the refinancing process. Which is understandable, given that most important financial transactions involve a mountain of paperwork and multiple calls to an unhelpful customer service center.