First of all, congratulations! Your hard work HAS paid off. It may seem anti-climactic with the lack of formal celebration, but we are proud of you and we are cheering for you!

One of the more important things to remember as a new grad is that the transition into the “real world” (as many call it) can be challenging. It’s not easy to go from higher education to working a full-time job! It is also important to remember that your plans have likely changed, it may be challenging to get a job right now, and even if you are fortunate enough to have secured one, it probably doesn’t look the same as it did a few months ago. For these reasons and more, it can be hard to have a clear plan of what is next. College graduation can be a tough transition for many and is even tougher now, due to the impact COVID-19 has had on higher education and the global economy. This is why it is more important than ever to be easy on yourself. Remind yourself of why you got a degree, and of how proud of yourself you are for completing it. Be gentle with yourself.

If you have student loans, you know the interest charges are killer. It accrues daily and can quickly balloon the size of your loan. In order to save money, you might consider student loan refinancing. 

When you refinance student loans, you can potentially get a lower interest rate that saves you thousands of dollars. While refinancing can save you money as you're paying off student loans, it is irreversible and there are questions you should ask yourself before doing it. Here are six questions to consider before refinancing your student loans. 

Whether you should consolidate or refinance is a personal decision. If your main goal is to save money, refinancing can help. If you want to simplify your payments, consolidating can be a good option. Like any loan-related decisions, you want to read the fine print, know your interest rate, repayment term and monthly payment. Think of the short-term and long-term benefits, weighing the pros and cons to come to a decision that works for you.

Let’s talk about repaying student loans as soon as possible and debunk some of the myths about them.