SoFi Blog

SoFi has been out on the road these past few weeks, visiting universities around the country and spending time with student loan borrowers.  We wanted to learn more about these soon-to-be graduates and their challenges with education debt, so that we can better serve them with our products.

One thing we discovered is that they wanted to learn a lot more about us, too.  Here were some of the most frequently asked questions – and answers – from our spring tour.

When was the last time you revisited your student loan repayment strategy?  If you’re like most borrowers, it’s probably been awhile.  That monthly payment may be an irksome reminder of the debt you’re chipping away at, but otherwise you try to avoid thinking about your loans on a regular basis.  Because – let’s face it – thinking about student loans is kind of a bummer.

The problem with this “out of sight, out of mind” mentality is that it can end up costing you more interest than is necessary over the long run – which is bad for your bottom line.  Luckily, there are a few interest-saving strategies that can make a big difference without requiring a lot of time or effort.  We shared three of our favorite strategies over on the Student Loan Hero blog this week – check out the full post here!

When we started SoFi back in 2011, my co-founders and I felt we were on to something special.  We knew there was a problem with financial services, and we wanted to fix it.  Two-plus years and 5,000 members later, our original vision is coming to fruition.  The $80 million round we closed in April will help solidify our position as something much more than a student loan business.  We are on a path to deliver a better model for consumer finance.

Want to know the secret to an effective job search?  Here it is: There is no secret – at least not one that works for everybody.

Are there best practices?  Absolutely, and you probably already know most of them.  Are there wrong ways to go about it?  Yes, and they’re pretty obvious, too.  But if anyone tells you that the secret to getting a job is “doing X to your resume” or “doing Y with your LinkedIn account,” they’re missing a critical point – which is that every candidate is different and therefore needs to take a different approach.

Spring has sprung – at least officially – and with it the urge to open all the windows, break out the broom and clean house.  But why stop there?  Your finances can also benefit from a little spring cleaning, and it’s something you can do even if it still feels like winter outside.

As a busy young professional, it can be tough to closely monitor your money situation on a daily basis.  But if you’re willing to spend a few of these extra daylight hours getting organized, you can save yourself a lot of time, stress and even cold hard cash in the long run.  Here are six essential and effective ways to do it: