SoFi

You wouldn’t start out on a trip without a map. Yet, many of us are on a financial journey without a clear plan of where we want to go and how we’re going to get there. Only 67% of Americans report having a budget.

A personal budget can provide a roadmap for achieving financial goals, from saving for retirement to planning for a big trip.

Some people avoid making a personal budget because they don’t know where to start—others find the idea of tracking every single thing they spend money on overwhelming.

But without a personal budget, the little expenses can quickly add up quickly. That can make it harder to save money for the things you really want to have money for.

What is the goal of using a personal budget? Ultimately, it’s to help you achieve your own financial goals. A budget can help with planning expenses, plotting out where the money goes, and how much you need for a home down payment or a new car.

Here’s some information you might find helpful about making a personal budget.

What is a Personal Budget?

A personal budget is what it sounds like—a budget for your life and personal expenses. This can be as complicated or as simple as you want.

Just like budgeting for a company or a business project, budgeting for your life can let you plan out your finances and spend your money on the things you really want, instead of accidentally spending in bits and pieces and then not having enough left over for bigger goals.

To make a personal budget look at your income and expenses, then allocate money in distinct budget categories and plan ahead to figure out how much is needed for your financial goals.

How to Make a Personal Budget in 5 Steps

Step 1. Track Current Spending

A good first step to making a personal budget is tracking current spending. You probably need to know how much money you have and how much you’re spending in order to make a realistic budget and plan for the future.

Tracking your current spending can also help you identify areas of overspending and measure actual expenditures vs. expected expenditures.

It’s possible to track spending manually by gathering account information and going through last month or the past few month’s worth of expenses—don’t forget one-time expenses that might not have occurred in the previous month, like annual insurance payments.

Step 2. Create Spending Categories

You may also want to determine what categories to track in your spending — groceries, car expenses, housing, medical, etc — and then plot it out.
However, it doesn’t have to be complicated.

Too many categories can actually be counterproductive by making it overly difficult to track and harder to stick to. There are also a growing number of personal budgeting apps and services that make it easier to track expenses.

SoFi Relay allows you to connect all your accounts to one mobile dashboard and track spending habits in real-time.

Step 3. Calculate Recurring Expenses and Discretionary Income

After tracking spending, it is then possible to plot out how much you have in recurring expenses each month — rent or mortgage, student loans, utilities, etc. — and how much discretionary income.

You can review expenses and see where there’s room to trim spending in some places or to put more money towards other things. Creating a realistic and straight-forward budget makes it more likely you can stick to it.

Those with a budget are more likely to spend less than their income — generally a good thing.

Step 4. Set Financial Goals

Then you may want to set financial goals. Setting goals is at the crux of making a personal budget. That’s what separates proactively sticking to a budget from just passively tracking spending after the fact.

What do you want to spend money on? What are your long-term goals, short-term goals, debt obligations? How do you want to prioritize different spending and savings goals?

Talking to your significant other about individual and joint financial goals, even planning a weekly or monthly budget meeting, can help with setting a budget as a couple or a family.

Step 5. Create Budget for Each Category

Once expenses, income, and goals, have been plotted out, you could write down your target budget in each general category for the month. Actually writing down goals increases the odds of achieving them. And then at the end of the month you can evaluate how you did and adjust as necessary.

Tips for Creating a Personal Budget You Can Stick To

•   Simplicity is key to a good personal budget. Yes, you can track dozens and dozens of expense categories and put every single tiny transaction in a different spending bucket, but too often people get overwhelmed by the number of expense categories they’re attempting to track. Keeping it simple cuts down on the time it takes and increases the odds of actually sticking to your budget.

•   The 50/30/20 rule means 50% of after-tax income goes towards essential expenses, 30% goes towards discretionary expenses, and 20% goes towards savings goals. Essential expenses are things like housing, utilities, food, childcare, and medical expenses. Discretionary spending is stuff like shopping, entertainment, and travel. Savings includes retirement funds, like a 401k, and things like emergency funds and long-term goals. While the 50/30/20 rule has been around for years, it was popularized in Elizabeth Warren’s book, All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan.

•   Within these broader guidelines, it’s important to adjust a personal budget based on your specific goals and expenses. For example, if essential expenses take up more than 50% of income, then it might be possible to look at spending in more specific categories and see if there are places to cut down on costs, like eating out at restaurants vs. spending your food budget at a grocery store. Or if discretionary spending is taking up more than 30% of post-tax income, then it might be possible to cut down on shopping or miscellaneous expenses.

•   Aligning goals with spending might make it easier to stick to a budget too, because it can make the budget more realistic and motivating. For example, if travel is important to you, then you might want to build your budget accordingly — spending less somewhere else. If you value getting out of credit card debt above all else, then build your budget accordingly — possibly setting aside more money towards that savings goals.

•   One of the biggest challenges people have is sticking with a personal budget after they make one. It can be important to stay on top of tracking your expenses even after you make a budget and re-evaluating the math regularly, like at the end of every month. If you’re struggling to meet your budget targets, then examine the numbers in more detail and adjust. Why are you struggling? Where is the extra money going? One last thing that can help is to spend only what you can see — ie. using cash or prepaid debit cards can limit your spending in a way credit cards can’t.

Common Mistakes in Personal Budgeting

Besides making a personal budget overly complicated or failing to accurately track expenses and align them with realistic goals, there are some other common mistakes when making a personal budget. Here are some common tips that might help you create a budget you can actually stick to:

•   Budget with after-tax income. This is known as net income, after you pay taxes to Uncle Sam. Gross income is the amount you make before paying taxes, but it doesn’t do much good to budget with money you don’t really have. And maybe don’t plan in a bonus or tax refund until you actually receive it.

•   Though you want to be relatively simple in planning your budget, with the 50/30/20 rule, you do want to be accurate in your recording. It’s easy for small expenses to add up — an Uber ride here, a coffee there — and the only way to really know what kind of money you have is to keep track of all the details. Using a budgeting and financial tracking app, like SoFi Relay, can make that easier.

•   Plan ahead, especially for the inevitable. Christmas is always Dec. 25. Taxes are always due on April 15. In your budgeting, you might want to save for the things you know are coming. As much consistency and planning as possible makes it easier to not get caught by surprise and end up blowing your whole budget on Christmas presents.

•   Set goals and be consistent. It’s one thing to track your spending, but without setting targets it’s hard to know if you’re really on track for what you want. If you don’t set long-term goals, then you’re more likely to spend small amounts of money on immediate gratification (new shoes, an extra glass of wine) and then not have that money later. Consider getting into the habit of paying yourself first — ie. including in your budget an amount designated for savings.

The Benefits of a Personal Budget

Maybe this all sounds like a lot of work and you’re not sure why you should bother. It might not seem clear what the goal of using a personal budget is, but tracking expenses and budgeting your spending have a number of benefits — all of which might be helpful in achieving your overall financial goals and all the things you want to do.

Budgeting can help control spending, especially unnecessary spending, by providing feedback. According to one study , consumers who received feedback on credit card receipts spent 9.6% less over the course of the trial than those who didn’t receive feedback.

This is especially important in the digital era. About 60% of all payments these days are made via non-cash methods, such as credit or debit cards. And research shows many consumers spend more with a credit card than they would with cash. They’ll even spend more on the same thing if they buy with a credit card vs. cash. It’s easy to lose track without budgeting. And that’s why, if you’re struggling to stick to a budget, operating with just cash can help.

Budgeting can also reveal opportunities to reduce expenses, either by highlighting where spending is higher than intended or where there might be a disconnect between your financial goals and financial reality.

Creating a budget can also help reduce financial stress by adding structure and clarity. According to a new study , more than half of all millennial respondents said that they were stressed “a lot” or “some” about their debt. A budget can help!

Tracking Your Spending With SoFi

If you need help with tracking your spending, opening an online bank account with SoFi may be a good option. You can easily see your weekly spending in the SoFi app to help you determine if you are on track with your budget.

Get started with SoFi Checking and Savings® and stay on track with your personal budget.

---

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

Tax Information: This article provides general background information only and is not intended to serve as legal or tax advice or as a substitute for legal counsel. You should consult your own attorney and/or tax advisor if you have a question requiring legal or tax advice.

SoFi Invest®
The information provided is not meant to provide investment or financial advice. Investment decisions should be based on an individual’s specific financial needs, goals and risk profile. SoFi can’t guarantee future financial performance. Advisory services offered through SoFi Wealth, LLC. SoFi Securities, LLC, member FINRA / SIPC . The umbrella term “SoFi Invest” refers to the three investment and trading platforms operated by Social Finance, Inc. and its affiliates (described below). Individual customer accounts may be subject to the terms applicable to one or more of the platforms below.
SoFi® Checking and Savings is offered through SoFi Bank, N.A. ©2022 SoFi Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.
SoFi Money® is a cash management account, which is a brokerage product, offered by SoFi Securities LLC, member
FINRA / SIPC . SoFi Securities LLC is an affiliate of SoFi Bank, N.A. SoFi Money Debit Card issued by The Bancorp Bank.
SoFi has partnered with Allpoint to provide consumers with ATM access at any of the 55,000+ ATMs within the Allpoint network. Consumers will not be charged a fee when using an in-network ATM, however, third party fees incurred when using out-of-network ATMs are not subject to reimbursement. SoFi’s ATM policies are subject to change at our discretion at any time.
SoFi members with direct deposit activity can earn 4.60% annual percentage yield (APY) on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Direct Deposit means a deposit to an account holder’s SoFi Checking or Savings account, including payroll, pension, or government payments (e.g., Social Security), made by the account holder’s employer, payroll or benefits provider or government agency (“Direct Deposit”) via the Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) Network during a 30-day Evaluation Period (as defined below). Deposits that are not from an employer or government agency, including but not limited to check deposits, peer-to-peer transfers (e.g., transfers from PayPal, Venmo, etc.), merchant transactions (e.g., transactions from PayPal, Stripe, Square, etc.), and bank ACH funds transfers and wire transfers from external accounts, do not constitute Direct Deposit activity. There is no minimum Direct Deposit amount required to qualify for the stated interest rate.

SoFi members with Qualifying Deposits can earn 4.60% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Qualifying Deposits means one or more deposits that, in the aggregate, are equal to or greater than $5,000 to an account holder’s SoFi Checking and Savings account (“Qualifying Deposits”) during a 30-day Evaluation Period (as defined below). Qualifying Deposits only include those deposits from the following eligible sources: (i) ACH transfers, (ii) inbound wire transfers, (iii) peer-to-peer transfers (i.e., external transfers from PayPal, Venmo, etc. and internal peer-to-peer transfers from a SoFi account belonging to another account holder), (iv) check deposits, (v) instant funding to your SoFi Bank Debit Card, (vi) push payments to your SoFi Bank Debit Card, and (vii) cash deposits. Qualifying Deposits do not include: (i) transfers between an account holder’s Checking account, Savings account, and/or Vaults; (ii) interest payments; (iii) bonuses issued by SoFi Bank or its affiliates; or (iv) credits, reversals, and refunds from SoFi Bank, N.A. (“SoFi Bank”) or from a merchant.

SoFi Bank shall, in its sole discretion, assess each account holder’s Direct Deposit activity and Qualifying Deposits throughout each 30-Day Evaluation Period to determine the applicability of rates and may request additional documentation for verification of eligibility. The 30-Day Evaluation Period refers to the “Start Date” and “End Date” set forth on the APY Details page of your account, which comprises a period of 30 calendar days (the “30-Day Evaluation Period”). You can access the APY Details page at any time by logging into your SoFi account on the SoFi mobile app or SoFi website and selecting either (i) Banking > Savings > Current APY or (ii) Banking > Checking > Current APY. Upon receiving a Direct Deposit or $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits to your account, you will begin earning 4.60% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% on checking balances on or before the following calendar day. You will continue to earn these APYs for (i) the remainder of the current 30-Day Evaluation Period and through the end of the subsequent 30-Day Evaluation Period and (ii) any following 30-day Evaluation Periods during which SoFi Bank determines you to have Direct Deposit activity or $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits without interruption.

SoFi Bank reserves the right to grant a grace period to account holders following a change in Direct Deposit activity or Qualifying Deposits activity before adjusting rates. If SoFi Bank grants you a grace period, the dates for such grace period will be reflected on the APY Details page of your account. If SoFi Bank determines that you did not have Direct Deposit activity or $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits during the current 30-day Evaluation Period and, if applicable, the grace period, then you will begin earning the rates earned by account holders without either Direct Deposit or Qualifying Deposits until you have Direct Deposit activity or $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits in a subsequent 30-Day Evaluation Period. For the avoidance of doubt, an account holder with both Direct Deposit activity and Qualifying Deposits will earn the rates earned by account holders with Direct Deposit.

Members without either Direct Deposit activity or Qualifying Deposits, as determined by SoFi Bank, during a 30-Day Evaluation Period and, if applicable, the grace period, will earn 1.20% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances.

Interest rates are variable and subject to change at any time. These rates are current as of 10/24/2023. There is no minimum balance requirement. Additional information can be found at https://www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet.

SOMN19148

Read more

The list of fees that banks might charge you is pretty darn long and, on average, they can cost you more than $161 per year. Per year.

Some of the more typical bank fees include monthly maintenance fees, overdraft charges, returned item fees, ATM fees, and foreign transaction fees. Some of these charges, such as the overdraft and returned item fees, can hit people the hardest when they have the least amount of money available to pay them.

So, if you’ve ever been frustrated by having to pay bank fees, or have been surprised when a charge showed up on a bank statement, this post will share tips on how to avoid those fees in the first place.

And, when thinking about bank fees, here’s something else you could consider: Picture what you would do with an extra $161. Save it? Buy something special? Also, think about how long you’ve had a particular account. If it’s been 10 years, for example, imagine how you’d spend an extra $1,610! That’s money you could put back into your pocket.

At the end of this post, you’ll find a possible way to avoid paying bank fees altogether.

Monthly Maintenance Fees

If your bank or financial institution charges maintenance fees, you may be so used to watching that money disappear out of your account each month that you’ve simply stopped trying to figure out how to make it stop.

It isn’t unusual for banks to charge about $12 a month in maintenance fees, nearly $150 a year for this fee alone.

If you keep a large enough balance in this account, you can typically avoid paying a monthly maintenance fee at many banks. That’s great for those who have that kind of money, but this is the type of fee that often hits those who don’t have a lot of money in their accounts.

If keeping a larger balance in your account isn’t practical right now, then it can make sense to explore online-only financial institutions that are more likely to not charge this fee.

Online-only banking doesn’t mean banks that they offer mobile services, though—it’s banks that don’t have a physical location and are online only, who have less overhead and, therefore, the opportunity to pass on more savings to you, the customer.

Overdraft Fees

Banks often have an overdraft program, so if you withdraw more than what’s currently available in your account, the bank won’t “bounce” the check. Instead, it will be covered, but often with a fee attached.

So, let’s say that you deposited $200 in your checking account but $100 of it has a short-term hold on it. This means that even though you have $200, only $100 is currently available. This is a common practice among financial institutions. So, if you withdraw $150 during this time, you could be charged an overdraft fee, depending upon your bank’s policies.

These types of fees can average around $35 per instance. To avoid being charged, you could decline to sign up for overdraft service (which may lead to bounced checks or declined debit card transactions).

Or you could ask if your bank has a service where, if you overdraft on your checking account, then the amount would be covered from your savings account. Note, though, that this kind of transfer may also come with a fee.

What may be most important here is, you may want to be clear about what your bank or financial institution will do in a certain circumstance. Let’s say that you’ve signed up for automatic bill pay at your bank. What will your financial institution do if there aren’t enough funds?

Pay it anyway and charge you an overdraft fee? A little research with your own financial institution could reveal the answer, and if it’s not what you want to hear, you could see if another institution handles the situation in a way that works better for you.

Returned Item Fees

If you don’t opt in to have overdraft protection on an account, banks typically decline or bounce, the transaction if there aren’t enough funds to cover a transaction.

Besides the problems associated with a bounced check, there is typically a returned item fee, averaging around $35 for each occurrence. And, unfortunately, sometimes a returned item fee can take an account balance to the point where another check may bounce, causing the situation to become increasingly worse.

ATM Fees

ATM fees come with unique pain points that can be especially frustrating. That’s because you sometimes have to pay a bank or a random ATM just to get your own money! And sometimes you’ll pay ATM fees twice on the same transaction: once in a surcharge by the ATM being used and, second, by the bank that issued your card.

To make matters more frustrating, out-of-network surcharges from ATM owners keep increasing, becoming the highest to date in 2018. In fact, it’s 36% higher than it was almost a decade ago, with an average out-of-network ATM charge costing users around costing users around $4.68 , on average!

This situation isn’t especially likely to change, because the very nature of an out-of-network surcharge means that people getting socked with extra fees are non-customers.

If you’re trying to budget carefully, this can be painful. To reduce how much you could pay in ATM fees, pre-planning might help. You could research locations of in-network ATMs and only make withdrawals there.

If you know you’ll be shopping at a business or attending an event that operates as cash only, you could withdraw more than you might need, just in case, so you can avoid using an out-of-network ATM nearby.

When you go into a store, pharmacy, and so forth, you could also check to see if the ATMs located in them are part of your bank’s partnership network. Even if you don’t need cash right away, it might be a good idea to file away that information for when you do need it.

Here’s another idea: Many grocery stores and even some big box stores will let you get cash back when you make purchases there. This could be another way to circumvent ATM fees.

Foreign Transaction Fees

If you’ll be going abroad, then you will likely need to deal with foreign transaction fees. Credit card companies add these onto transactions processed by or passing through foreign banks.

A typical fee is 3% of the transaction amount. There is often a fee charged by the credit card network and another one by the card issuer. Some credit card companies charge fees in addition to network ones, while others don’t.

Credit card issuers typically don’t mention these fees up front (unless they’re advertising that they don’t charge them), so they can come as a surprise when the next statement arrives.

Just one foreign transaction fee might not seem like a big deal, but when you consider how many times you might use a credit card during a trip, it can really add up. And, often, you don’t earn any credit card rewards on these fees.

Returning to the painful subject of ATM fees, banks often charge an additional 1% to 3% for this type of fee on international transactions, meaning beyond what you’d normally pay on ATM withdrawals and debit card purchases.

To help mitigate these fees, you could check with your bank to see if they have affiliate banks in regions where you’re traveling and ask if you can withdraw from those ATMs without paying the additional international fees. You could also ask if your bank reimburses fees that you’ve paid.

As another way to reduce bank fees, you could exchange US dollars to foreign currency before you leave the country, perhaps eliminating the need for ATM withdrawals while traveling. Your bank might do this with no fees.

Online-Only Banking

With online-only banking, there are no physical branches, so overhead costs for the financial institution can be lower, giving them the ability to provide certain perks to customers, such as lower fees.

Sometimes, certain fees aren’t charged at all. Just like with traditional banks, policies differ from one online-only financial institution to another.

If this sounds appealing, you could consider investigating how online-only institutions might help you avoid fees. Many, for example, provide ATM services for free or refund ATM fees up to a certain amount each month.

Money and Millennials

A Kasasa study points out that an overwhelming percentage of millennials they surveyed—93% of them—say that fee-free banking is important to them. They note that no-fee banking matters to them when choosing a bank for everyday banking needs.

SoFi Checking and Savings®

SoFi Checking and Savings® is a checking and savings account where you can spend, save, and earn all in one place. You’ll earn 0.20% APY (annual percentage yield) on all your cash with no account fees (subject to change).

You can sign up for and open an account in just 60 seconds, and the account is FDIC insured for up to $1.5 million with additional fraud insurance.

Discover more about SoFi Checking and Savings today!

---

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

SoFi® Checking and Savings is offered through SoFi Bank, N.A. ©2022 SoFi Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender.
SoFi Money® is a cash management account, which is a brokerage product, offered by SoFi Securities LLC, member
FINRA / SIPC . SoFi Securities LLC is an affiliate of SoFi Bank, N.A. SoFi Money Debit Card issued by The Bancorp Bank.
SoFi has partnered with Allpoint to provide consumers with ATM access at any of the 55,000+ ATMs within the Allpoint network. Consumers will not be charged a fee when using an in-network ATM, however, third party fees incurred when using out-of-network ATMs are not subject to reimbursement. SoFi’s ATM policies are subject to change at our discretion at any time.
SoFi members with direct deposit activity can earn 4.60% annual percentage yield (APY) on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Direct Deposit means a deposit to an account holder’s SoFi Checking or Savings account, including payroll, pension, or government payments (e.g., Social Security), made by the account holder’s employer, payroll or benefits provider or government agency (“Direct Deposit”) via the Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) Network during a 30-day Evaluation Period (as defined below). Deposits that are not from an employer or government agency, including but not limited to check deposits, peer-to-peer transfers (e.g., transfers from PayPal, Venmo, etc.), merchant transactions (e.g., transactions from PayPal, Stripe, Square, etc.), and bank ACH funds transfers and wire transfers from external accounts, do not constitute Direct Deposit activity. There is no minimum Direct Deposit amount required to qualify for the stated interest rate.

SoFi members with Qualifying Deposits can earn 4.60% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Qualifying Deposits means one or more deposits that, in the aggregate, are equal to or greater than $5,000 to an account holder’s SoFi Checking and Savings account (“Qualifying Deposits”) during a 30-day Evaluation Period (as defined below). Qualifying Deposits only include those deposits from the following eligible sources: (i) ACH transfers, (ii) inbound wire transfers, (iii) peer-to-peer transfers (i.e., external transfers from PayPal, Venmo, etc. and internal peer-to-peer transfers from a SoFi account belonging to another account holder), (iv) check deposits, (v) instant funding to your SoFi Bank Debit Card, (vi) push payments to your SoFi Bank Debit Card, and (vii) cash deposits. Qualifying Deposits do not include: (i) transfers between an account holder’s Checking account, Savings account, and/or Vaults; (ii) interest payments; (iii) bonuses issued by SoFi Bank or its affiliates; or (iv) credits, reversals, and refunds from SoFi Bank, N.A. (“SoFi Bank”) or from a merchant.

SoFi Bank shall, in its sole discretion, assess each account holder’s Direct Deposit activity and Qualifying Deposits throughout each 30-Day Evaluation Period to determine the applicability of rates and may request additional documentation for verification of eligibility. The 30-Day Evaluation Period refers to the “Start Date” and “End Date” set forth on the APY Details page of your account, which comprises a period of 30 calendar days (the “30-Day Evaluation Period”). You can access the APY Details page at any time by logging into your SoFi account on the SoFi mobile app or SoFi website and selecting either (i) Banking > Savings > Current APY or (ii) Banking > Checking > Current APY. Upon receiving a Direct Deposit or $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits to your account, you will begin earning 4.60% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% on checking balances on or before the following calendar day. You will continue to earn these APYs for (i) the remainder of the current 30-Day Evaluation Period and through the end of the subsequent 30-Day Evaluation Period and (ii) any following 30-day Evaluation Periods during which SoFi Bank determines you to have Direct Deposit activity or $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits without interruption.

SoFi Bank reserves the right to grant a grace period to account holders following a change in Direct Deposit activity or Qualifying Deposits activity before adjusting rates. If SoFi Bank grants you a grace period, the dates for such grace period will be reflected on the APY Details page of your account. If SoFi Bank determines that you did not have Direct Deposit activity or $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits during the current 30-day Evaluation Period and, if applicable, the grace period, then you will begin earning the rates earned by account holders without either Direct Deposit or Qualifying Deposits until you have Direct Deposit activity or $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits in a subsequent 30-Day Evaluation Period. For the avoidance of doubt, an account holder with both Direct Deposit activity and Qualifying Deposits will earn the rates earned by account holders with Direct Deposit.

Members without either Direct Deposit activity or Qualifying Deposits, as determined by SoFi Bank, during a 30-Day Evaluation Period and, if applicable, the grace period, will earn 1.20% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances.

Interest rates are variable and subject to change at any time. These rates are current as of 10/24/2023. There is no minimum balance requirement. Additional information can be found at https://www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet.

SOMN19111

Read more

We all know paying student loans on time is important, but sometimes life gets in the way. Perhaps you’ve been laid off or are having trouble finding a job. Maybe you’ve run into an unexpected expense, like car repairs or medical bills. Or maybe you got so busy with work and personal commitments that you just forgot.

If you’re behind on student loans, you’re not alone. As the cost of college and total student loan debt continues to rise, it is naturally becoming increasingly more difficult to keep up. In fact, over 10% of borrowers are more than 90 days behind on their student loans. And recent research suggests that nearly 40% of borrowers may default of borrowers may default on their student debt by 2023.

If you are falling behind on your student loan payments, just about the worst thing you can do is … nothing. Letting your loan payments lapse can have serious consequences for your financial future.

The good news is there are options for getting back on track with your loans and choosing a repayment plan that works for you.

Student loans can feel like a burden, but they don’t have to hold you back. By taking the right steps for you, you can help make your student debt manageable.

Why You Shouldn’t Ignore Missed Payments

Denial is a normal response when you’re feeling overwhelmed. But avoiding your late payments isn’t going to solve the problem and could potentially make things worse for you down the line.

Once you miss a payment, your loan is technically delinquent. With federal loans, if you make the payment within 90 days, everything will go back to normal. If more time passes, your loan servicer will likely report the delinquency to the major credit reporting agencies, and your credit score will suffer.

If you continue to be behind in payments, usually for 270 days, your loan may go into default. This is serious: Your entire loan amount may become due right away, and you won’t be able to take advantage of deferment, forbearance, or other options for relief until you get out of default.

This could harm your credit score, and the government may eventually be able to garnish your tax refund and more. If you miss a private student loan payment, the lender can usually take action more quickly by adding on late fees, referring your loan to a debt collection agency, or more.

Unlike other types of debt, student loans generally can’t be discharged during bankruptcy except in cases of undue hardship. As you can see, the consequences of ignoring an overdue loan are serious. Luckily, there are things you can do to avoid that.

Review Your Spending by Making a Budget

It sounds simple, but many of us don’t have a clear idea of how much money we have coming in and going out—or what we’re spending it on. If you’re having trouble keeping up with any of your bills, including student loans, making a budget is a good first step towards seeing your whole financial picture.

The total of your after-tax salary or wages, any income from a side hustle, and any help you might regularly get from family will be the starting point at which you can see how much money is coming in.

Next, tally up your expenses—how much money is going out. This includes fixed expenses, which typically stay about the same every month, such as rent, insurance, utilities, transportation, and groceries. Include your minimum loan payment in this calculation. This tally might also include variable expenses, which may fluctuate month to month, such as money spent on shopping or eating out.

If your spending exceeds your income, that could be a contributing factor if you’re unable to afford your loan payment. To address this, you might consider thinking about ways to increase your income or to reduce your expenses.

Can you ask for a raise or get a supplemental gig? Can you cancel that gym membership and jog outdoors instead? Or propose low-cost activities, like a picnic, instead of going out to bars and restaurants with friends?

Making a workable budget—and sticking to it—can go a long way to ensuring you have money in your account to make payments on time. And setting up auto-billing (sometimes called autopay) with a bank account or loan servicer may also help ensure payments are made automatically.

Looking into Deferment or Forbearance

Sometimes, making a budget isn’t enough. If you’re going back to school or encountering an economic hardship, it might not be feasible to pay your loans for a certain time period.

In cases like this, if you have federal loans, you can apply for a deferment or forbearance with your loan servicer. Both of these options could allow you to temporarily stop payment or reduce the amount you pay.

Borrowers may qualify for federal student loan deferment if they’re in school at least half-time, are on active military duty, or while you’re in certain graduate fellowships. You may also be eligible for up to three years of relief if you’re unemployed, in the Peace Corps, or facing economic hardship.

If granted deferment status, a borrower won’t be responsible for the interest that accrues on certain types of federal student loans, including Direct Subsidized Loans, Federal Perkins Loans, and other subsidized loans; however, borrowers will likely need to pay interest on Direct PLUS loans and other unsubsidized federal loans.

Borrowers could be eligible for federal student loan forbearance if unable to pay their loans because of medical bills, changes in employment (such as reduced hours, reduced pay, or job loss), or other financial difficulties. In these situations, it’s up to the loan servicer to decide whether to grant a borrower forbearance.

In other selective situations, on certain qualifying loans they must grant it. These include if a borrower is completing a medical or dental internship or residency, serving in AmeriCorps, or using 20% or more of their gross income each month for student loan payments.

It’s important to note that with forbearance, borrowers are responsible for interest that accrues regardless of the type of loan they have. And all that unpaid interest will be added back onto the principal of the loan—which could make the total amount you’ll eventually have to repay substantially higher.

Private lenders, on the other hand, aren’t required to offer relief if you’re struggling financially, but some are willing to temporarily reduce your payments if you’re unemployed or have another short-term setback. It could be worth reviewing your contract terms or reaching out to your provider about options.

Considering an Income-Driven Repayment Plan

If your financial situation doesn’t seem like it’ll improve anytime soon, and you can’t make ends meet while paying your student loans, there are federal repayment programs that may be able to help.

With federal loans, you may have the option of switching to a repayment plan that ties your monthly payment to your discretionary income in order to make it more affordable. The plan you may qualify for depends on the types of loans you have, your financial situation, and when you took them out.

All income-driven repayment plans limit monthly payments to between 10% and 20% of discretionary income. If the loan is not fully repaid at the end of the repayment period, the loan balance may be forgiven. However, a number of factors will determine if there will be a balance to be forgiven, such as income increase over the life of the loan and debt-to-income ratio.

The downside to going with an income-driven repayment plan is that you may end up owing more in interest compared to some other plans, since the term is longer.

If the monthly payment is not enough to cover the monthly interest charge, all or a portion of the difference will be paid by the government, depending on the type of income-driven repayment plan you have. There may be some instances in that the unpaid interest is capitalized, meaning added back to the principal balance of the loan.

Either way, making the minimum payment on time every month can be an important factor in having strong credit and avoiding negative consequences.

Refinancing Your Student Loans

Another potential solution to unaffordable payments can be student loan refinancing. Federal or private student loans may be able to be refinanced by taking out a new loan with a private lender, which will pay off your existing student debt.

The new loan may come with a lower interest rate or a lower monthly payment than the existing loans, especially if the borrower has a strong credit and employment history. Refinancing with SoFi means there won’t be any origination fees or prepayment penalties.

It is important to remember that if you refinance your student loans with a private lender you will lose access to federal benefits such as deferment, income-driven repayment plans, and public student loan forgiveness.

Getting Your Loans Back on Track

Missing student loan payments is a sign that you need to take action. Ignoring the problem and letting late notices pile up won’t make the issue go away and could open you up to serious consequences.

But if you face the problem head on, you have options for catching up and getting back on track.

Looking for ways to make student loans more manageable? Consider refinancing with SoFi.

---

SoFi Student Loan Refinance
If you are a federal student loan borrower, you should consider all of your repayment opportunities including the opportunity to refinance your student loan debt at a lower APR or to extend your term to achieve a lower monthly payment. Please note that once you refinance federal student loans you will no longer be eligible for current or future flexible payment options available to federal loan borrowers, including but not limited to income-based repayment plans or extended repayment plans.

External Websites: The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third-party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. Links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement.

Financial Tips & Strategies: The tips provided on this website are of a general nature and do not take into account your specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. You should always consider their appropriateness given your own circumstances.

SoFi Loan Products
SoFi loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., NMLS #696891 (Member FDIC). For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal. Equal Housing Lender.

SOSL18217

Read more