Student Loan Forgiveness for University Employees

Guest Blogger: This post was written by Mary Carroll, a senior studying Financial Planning at the University of Illinois.  Mary is working towards becoming a Certified Financial Planner. She serves as President of U of I’s Financial Planning Club and is currently an intern at Bluestem Financial Advisors, LLC. One of the biggest fears students have is getting a zero on an assignment. There are times however when the goal of the assignment IS to get a zero. That’s right, you may be able to zero out your student loan debt in five steps. This assignment may not be an “Easy A”– but it could save you thousands on your student loan repayment.

Before we jump into the five steps, a quick history lesson: In 2007, President Obama signed into law the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program to ease the overwhelming student loan burden for many entering full-time public service jobs, often at lower pay than in private sector jobs. PSLF is designed to forgive the remaining balance (and accumulated interest) on federal student loans for certain borrowers after they have made 120 qualifying payments while employed full time by certain public service employers.

There are five “Rights” to Student Loan Forgiveness to ensure you don’t get it “Wrong”:

1) The Right Loan: applies to Federal Direct Loans ONLY. Direct Loans include subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans, PLUS loans, and Direct Consolidation Loans. This program does not apply to any private student loans.

2) The Right Repayment Plan: You must be using one of three repayment plans that base payments on income: • Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) or Revised Pay-As-You-Earn (REPAYE) • Income-Based Repayment (IBR) • Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR)

3) The Right Kind of Employment: Full-time employees at Universities (that are not-for-profit) and tax-exempt organizations under section 401(c)(3), such as the University of Illinois, qualify you! “What qualifies as full-time employment?” Is a common question. The answer is an average of 30 hours per week for the year. As a teacher (or other employee) under contract for at least 8 months for the year, you meet the “full-time standard” if you work an average of at least 30 hours per week during your contractual period. Additionally, the PSLF program applies to other jobs besides University Employees. Qualifying public service employment in the government, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, full-time AmeriCorps position, the Peace Corps, or a private “public service organization” qualify you as well.

4) The Right Number of Payments: Rinse, lather, and repeat 120 times (once a month for ten years). The only payments that count are payments that you have made while doing Steps 1-3 any time after October 1, 2007. This means that payments made before electing an income-based payment plan and prior to beginning public service work, won’t count toward the 120 number you need. Payments must also be made on-time (meaning no later than 15 days after their due date).

5) The Right Documentation: Show your work!! How many times do you have to tell your students that one? Show your work and turn in an employment certification form periodically to the Department of Education. They will let you know if you are on the right track to receive loan forgiveness. You don’t want to get to the end of your 120 payments only to learn you messed something up!

An added bonus point to the assignment: Typically, when a debt is forgiven the IRS includes the amount forgiven as taxable income in the tax year the loan is forgiven. However, any amount forgiven at the end of the 10 years due to the PSLF program is forgiven tax-free. This means you avoid paying federal income tax on the amount forgiven, which is an additional savings! Thank you, teacher!!

Don’t be tardy – start on these 5 steps today!

For more information check out the resources provided below.

Unsure of what type of loan you have? Visit: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/?login=true Income Drive Repayment Plans: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/understand/plans/income-driven Employment Certification Form: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/public-service-employment-certification-form.pdf https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/public-service-loan-forgiveness.pdf https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service#qualifying-payment

Supreme Court Rules Illinois Pension Reforms Unconstitutional

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled today that Illinois State Pension Reform signed into law in 2013 is unconstitutional.  This ruling does not come as a surprise.  Previous rulings on healthcare indicated the court would interpret constitutional protection in favor of participants and strike the reform down. What does this mean to me?

Immediately, participants will not notice any major changes.  With court challenges to the original reforms, implementation of reforms had already halted in 2014.  This means none of the changes designed to reduce benefits or change contributions had been implemented.  This applies to both those who are active participants and retirees.

Longer term, it is still unclear what will happen.  Reforms were enacted to plug massive state budget deficits.  The fiscal situation of the state is still dire.  Current Governor, Bruce Rauner, has stated he intends to move forward with new reforms.  It is unclear exactly what these changes look like, but proposals have included:

• Shifting future pension costs to local governments and universities
• Changing the way in which future pension benefits accrue
• Moving from defined benefit type (pension) plans to defined contribution (401k style) plans

Since a majority of Bluestem's clients are current participants or retirees of the State University Retirement System (SURS) or other Illinois Pension Systems, we will continue to monitor this situation.  Planning during this time will continue to be a challenge as proposals will be a moving target until passed into law.  As always, contact us if you would like an individual review of your retirement plan.

Update on State Employee Retiree Health Insurance Premiums

The following is an update to previous postings regarding State of Illinois Pension Reform and Insurance for retirees. You can read those prior posts here. Following a court ruling that the State of Illinois wrongly withheld premiums for health insurance from retiree pension payments, members of the State’s five pension systems, including the State University Retirement System (SURS), are set to receive a refund. Refunds will be based on health insurance premiums paid from members’ pensions from July 1, 2013 through September 1, 2014. The premium refunds must be sent to members by June 14, 2015.

If you are affected, you should have received this State issued written notice informing you of options regarding the premium refund. The following is a summary of those options:

1. Do Nothing Members who do nothing will receive their full premium refund (and possibly interest) less their proportionate share of legal fees for the class action lawsuit, Kanerva v. Weems, whose settlement resulted in the premium refund.
2. Request to Opt-Out Members may notarize and submit an Opt-Out Notice. Members who opt-out would NOT be eligible to receive a refund of premiums as part of the class action settlement, their premium payments would be placed back in the Health Insurance Revolving Fund, and the member would be responsible for the legal expenses of any separate legal action. The Opt-Out Notice must be submitted by March 11, 2015.
3. Members who do NOT opt-out, may object to the Legal Fees Members may send a written objection to the legal fees that are deducted from their pension refund. Members who object to the legal fees can be heard by the Sangamon County Court on April 1, 2015. Any objection must be submitted by March 11, 2015.

The amount of legal fees to be subtracted from members’ refunds remains undetermined. The State Universities Annuitants’ Association’s (SUAA) attorneys and others are pushing to base the legal fees on the number of attorney hours worked and a reasonable hourly rate, rather than on a flat percentage of the total settlement.

The Sangamon County Court ordered that the SUAA establish a website to provide information about the health insurance premium refund. The website contains a number of court orders and documents related to Kanerva v. Weems. You can access this website here.

Other Pension Updates At this time, implementation of the pension reform bill passed in 2013 is still pending the outcome of legal challenges to its constitutionality. Oral arguments are expected to begin in March 2015. In his recent budget address, Governor Bruce Rauner proposed new reforms as part of his effort to close the State’s budget gap. At this point, proposals are very preliminary. We believe any legislative action on such proposals is unlikely until a ruling by the Illinois’ Supreme Court on the legislation passed in 2013.

Jake featured in Alumni Magazine

Advisor Jacob Kuebler was recently featured in the 2014 Winter ACES Alumni Newsletter. The article, A career in finances about more than just money, highlights Jake's passion for fee-only financial planning and the benefits that come along with it.  See the full article below or click the image to see the full magazine.